Chapter 84: The Shattering Pt. 3
Aegis pulled the reins to steer the wings of the gryphon westward. The strength of the wide heavy wings flapping reverberated back across the body of the gryphon, causing a strange forward jerking motions that Aegis wasn’t ready for. Moreso, he was not properly holding onto the gryphon as he pulled the reins back and accidentally told the Gryphon to fly upwards.
The gryphon listened to Aegis' unintended instruction and flew straight up with a few violent flaps of its wings, causing Aegis to lose his seat and slide backwards down off of the rear of the gryphon in a free fall. Panicked, Aegis desperately grabbed out to stop himself from falling out of the sky, managing to find the gryphon's tail and wrap his hands around it tightly. The gryphon did not take kindly to this and curved its beak around with an angry squawk, snapping at Aegis hand with a piercing bite of its beak, forcing Aegis to let go of the tail. The weightless fall through the night sky was awakening fears in Aegis he didn’t know he had as he felt the wind rushing against his back, watching the ground of Hrath’mir get closer and closer.
You take 156 329 Bludgeoning damage.
You have died.
Resetting Dungeon...
Dungeon Reset
Aegis sighed in frustration as the dungeon reset and watched the opening dialogue play out again.
“Ok, it’s a bit harder than I thought.” Aegis grumbled as he waited for the gryphon to land again. Once it had, he approached the take off with much more caution. Aegis had a sense for how to ride a gryphon thanks to his riding skill, but no practical idea on how to control it. A horse was simply direction and speed, but the gryphon had an upward and downward component to it, and on his second attempt, Aegis accidentally told the gryphon to do a maneuver where he plummeted out of the sky into a nosedive and was propelled forward off the front of the beast into the top of a Hrath’mir tower, dying painfully.
Whenever he thought he was getting the hang of it, he’d accidentally do a movement that triggered a maneuver in the gryphon he wasn’t expecting.
Level Up!: Riding has reached level 31!
An accidental barrel roll sent Aegis flying off the side of the gryphon. A cartwheel maneuver sent him plummeting of its back out of the sky. A sudden midair break with the wingspan spread wide caused Aegis to fly forward over the head of the gryphon.
Level Up!: Riding has reached level 34!
He knew deep down he was on the right track, but the way his riding experience was going up felt different. When he’d learned beginner skills, each level seemed to enhance his knowledge thanks to the games assistance, but now, as he gained these intermediate levels, it felt like every time he personally figured out something about controlling the gryphon, he gained a chunk of experience. Instead of the skill level showing him what he could do, it was beginning to feel like what he could do was being shown by the skill level. That being said, it was a longer journey to learn how to ride a gryphon than Aegis was anticipating. He couldn’t have thought of a better circumstance to train it though, with the ability to recover from dying instantly. Despite the dungeon not granting him combat experience, he was able to take advantage of the dungeon option to teach himself how to fly a gryphon.
Level Up!: Riding has reached level 41!
After nearly a day of Aegis repeatedly failing maneuvers, asking the Eirene soldier for tips, and practicing flying it, Aegis was able to stay on the back of the gryphon regardless of its maneuver, and slowly got the hang of what was triggering it to do certain movements.
Level Up!: Riding has reached level 45!
Aegis made one last flight to confirm he was ready to continue with his attempts at completing the quest. He hopped on the back of the gryphon at the start of the dungeon and flew it down into the 2nd level of Hrath’mir, carefully navigating the gryphon to weave around the towers and other buildings, then cautiously landed on the north wall beside the Zeus Commander for practice, before soaring back up into the sky and jumping off of the gyphon to intentionally fall to his death for a reset. He’d grown accustomed to it now, and though he wasn’t completely free from a fear of fights, his brain had come to terms with the fact that he was in a game world and despite its realism, the consequences were minor, particularly in this dungeon’s environment.
When the next reset began, Aegis waited for the gryphon to land and the soldier to tumble off, then, with confidence, he mounted the gryphon and flew it westward.
He soared over the soldiers manning the outer walls western gate as they looked on over the fields, expecting an army to approach, but there was none. Aegis continued to fly a great distance, to see the city of Hrath’mir disappear from his view in the distance as the terrain shifted to a forest, and a mountainous region.
Despite it being dark, the moonlight and clear skies allowed Aegis to see that a road ran through the forest westward and he steered the gryphon to stay above it. Eventually, he’d spotted what he knew he needed to look for. A bright glowing dome of light could be seen underneath the trees, just barely, as something like black crows were swarming around the dome of light, obscuring Aegis’ view of it.
As Aegis attempted to fly the gryphon closer, Aegis felt it hesitating for the first time, and not so willing to follow his commands.
You are immune to the effects of [Aura of Fear]
The message popped up in front of Aegis’ face as he got in range of the black winged creatures swarming the skies around the dome of light. Within the dome, Aegis could see figures wearing armor and wielding weapons, with the silhouette of a woman at the center of it kneeling in prayer, but more details than that were impossible to ascertaine. [Reaper of Fear - 30] was floating above the black winged beasts swarming about. They varied in size, some the size of large bats, others nearly matching the size of the gryphon. They resembled bats with their wings, but they had no eyes and wide jaws covered in teeth that sat on the outside of their mouths, visible even while their jaws were closed. The teeth were white, making it the only detail easy to spot under the glow of the moonlight and the light of the magic dome below them. They were otherwise just dark leathery winged beasts. They let out horrific screeches and they circled the dome rapidly, like a tornado of darkness.
Aegis could see from above that from the west, that same wave of dark mist had flooded over the landscape and engulfed the forest, but it was being held up just outside this dome of light. He knew that the Avatar of Eirene was likely at the center of the dome, and the Avatar of Fear must’ve been nearby, but he couldn’t make out much in detail from being so high up.
He tried ordering the gryphon to fly downward to see more, but the gryphon was refusing to fly any closer. He had a hunch it had something to do with the Aura of Fear effect that he was immune to, thus opted to instead land the griffin on the forest road a bit ways east of the swarm of Reapers, running to the dome of light on foot along the road.
When he got close enough to the dome of light, the swarms of Reapers became aware of his presence and they began swooping down at Aegis to attack him. First a few, which he could block easily, but this only seemed to provoke them, and before he could get within 20 meters of the dome, they bombarded him with hundreds of attacks, depleting his mana and health quickly.
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“Shit.” Aegis shouted in frustration once he’d returned to the start of the dungeon. It’s always something else. He paced angrily, tapping his foot as he waited for the gryphon rider to reappear. He couldn’t just run through the reapers, and the gryphon was too afraid to fly any closer. He started doubting if he was even on the right track anymore, and was surprised to see that his viewership had now dropped low to 1000, but Aegis decided he didn’t care much about that right now.
As he paced patiently and saw the gryphon landing, he thought back on everything that he’d seen and heard so far, and recalled the requirements for this class. The Great Prophet in Arallia said that this quest would help him understand why he needed these skills to walk her path, so it would likely mean he would have to use a good deal of them.
He thought about this as he stroked the feathers on the gryphon's neck, and in that instant he came to the realization that riding wasn’t the only thing he needed to raise. Taming, to help the gryphon fight through its fear. He needed to train the gryphon to overcome the fear of the reapers if he wanted to stand a chance at rescuing the Avatar of Eirene. With this in mind, he hopped back on its back and soared westward.
He started slow, this time trying to encourage the gryphon to trust him and approach the swarm of reapers from the land, slowly on foot he tugged the gryphon closer. Once a reaper spotted them from the swarm it broke off and attempted to swoop down on both Aegis and the gryphon. Aegis blocked one strike from it, and a second after that the gryphon lunged forward and dug its talons into the reaper, ripping it to shreds with its beak in a matter of 6 quick and consecutive attacks.
“You’re not afraid of the reapers. It’s the Avatar of Fear.” Aegis realized as he gently stroked the gryphon’s neck again. “You don’t need to be afraid, little guy, I’ve got a shield. I can protect us.” He said as it looked as though the beast was listening to him, looking him in the eyes. “But if I don’t get to that dome of light, we’re never going to survive this night. And I can’t do it without your help.” Aegis said as he continued to stroke the beast and calm it down.
He watched as the gryphon turned from him and looked straight ahead. As if the beast had understood his words, it knelt down to be mounted and lightly pawed the ground in anticipation.
Level Up!: Taming has reached level 31!
The message appeared in front of Aegis’ face as he climbed back onto the back of the gryphon, and it broke into a running sprint before launching itself forward into the air. The gryphon flew incredibly fast towards the swarm of reapers, swooping in and gathering their attention with several loud squawks before pulling off and away. A large portion of the reapers broke off from the spiraling swarm and flew after the gryphon, and thanks to that, Aegis could see the dome of light more clearly. He’d also garnered the attention of those within the dome of light and saw them looking up at him, but with this many reapers following him and his gryphon, he had no way to approach.
The gryphon and he made another pass near the swarm and got even more on his tail. It was clear the majestic beast he was riding outclassed these reapers in both strength and speed, but their numbers were insurmountable.
“Fly me down low, so I can jump down to the dome, then lure these things away and escape safely, okay?” Aegis patted the neck of the gryphon and it let out an acknowledging squawk. He wasn’t sure if they could understand his language, but it seemed at least this gryphon knew what he wanted and swooped around in a wide arc, diving towards the dome of light through the swarm of remaining reapers, with a countless number of them chasing behind. As they got low to the dome of light, Aegis jumped off the side of the gryphon into a forward roll and tumble, while the gryphon just clipped the canopy of the treeline with his talons before swooping back upwards, the reapers hot in its tail. Several of them broke away from the gryphon to pursue Aegis in his tumble, but as Aegis passed through the dome of light, the reapers crashed into it and burned up from coming in contact with it, taking massive holy damage as they cried out in pain and hit 0 health.
You take 2210 Bludgeoning damage.
It hurt a lot, the impact of the fall at that speed caused his bones to feel like jelly for a moment, but he recovered quickly and stood up to look around him. The Avatar of Eirene was focused on her prayer and hadn’t reacted, but the Eirene Soldiers surrounding her in a circle all looked. They wore full suits of iron with iron shields containing the crest of Eirene engraved on their fronts.
Aegis looked and saw that the Avatar of Eirene was incredibly beautiful with long wavy blonde hair that seemed to shimmer with white light. She wore simple white vestments with the yellow star embroided all over them. Her eyes were closed but a light glowing white light piercing through her shut eyelids. In front of her, what she appeared to be focused on, was a small black blob of jelly that was pulsating and vibrating strangely.
[Avatar of Fear(Elite) - ??] was above the blobs name, and the Avatar of Eirene had her hands overtop of it, glowing with light, as if she was torturing it.
“What’s going on?” Aegis asked the soldiers as they held their ground at the edges of the dome.
“The Avatar of Eirene used her bravery and the light of the stars to contain the Avatar of Fear here, where no one is afraid of him. He is weak and powerless. We only hope that by stopping him here, the forces of Hrath’mir stand a chance against the remaining three.” One of the soldiers explained. Aegis understood, they’d done well, but he knew the outcome.
“It won’t work. Hrath’mir will fall regardless. The other Avatars have gotten too strong.” Aegis explained, which caused it the Avatar of Eirene to open her eyes.
“You are spreading fear, be careful with your words.” She said coldly to Aegis as he watched the bloblike Avatar suddenly pulsate and grow in size.
“Avatar of Eirene, if we can get you back to Hrath’mir, can you do this to the other Avatars of Darkness?” Aegis asked as he looked at the blob with disgust.
“It’s taking all of my strength to contain him and his forces of darkness. Perhaps I could help, but that would mean releasing him.” She motioned to the blob, and Aegis could see the great amount of strain she was under on her face.
“So this isn’t it…?” Aegis said to himself curiously as he watched the reapers soar away, chasing after his gryphon over the forest through the transparent white dome. He was still missing something, but he felt like he had all of the puzzle pieces, he just hadn’t placed them together properly. It was then, as he looked up at the swarming reapers, that he once again saw the two stars shining above. Aegis, and Lindor.
“Eirene stood against the darkness, but not by fighting. She’s the reason the islands stay in the light…” Aegis mumbled as he paced, repeating the basic description of the game world that he’d read in the game’s manual, and thanks to that, he realized the answer. “Eirene did it. Eirene is the reason this world is Shattered.” Aegis said out loud. “Avatar of Eirene, there is no way for us to win this battle. Hrath’mir falls, that’s why there isn’t an island called Hrath’mir. But protecting the rest of the world from these avatars, and the abyss, is something you can still do. That’s how we survive.”
“What are you saying?” One of the soldiers said worriedly as the Avatar of Fear pulsed violently, making odd bubbling sounds as it grew ever so larger.
“I’m saying that the Avatar of Eirene has to shatter this world. Surround the remaining kingdoms with the light, raise them up out of the darkness, so that it can’t reach them.” Aegis explained to her, and though the other soldiers were afraid, she seemed to agree with Aegis and looked at him with a light nod. “Can you do something like that?” He asked her.
“It may be possible to call down the light of the stars, but I would need the aid of prayer, from many voices, all at once.” The Avatar responded as her focus on the Avatar of Fear wavered and the light dome around them started to flicker and weaken.
“So you need to get back to Hrath’mir, where the Great Prophet is? He said he was able to pray to the other priests across the land.” Aegis replied.
“Yes, perhaps all of us together would be able to pull down the light of the stars onto this world and protect it from the darkness, but, doing something like that cause leave permanent and irreversible damage to both this world, and Eirene.” The Avatar replied anxiously.
“It’s either that, or lose everything.” Aegis shrugged to her.
“Will we make it back in time?” One soldier asked.
“It’s impossible, there’s too many reapers.” Another said as he motioned to the swarm still circling outside the dome of light.
“The moment the Avatar ends her spell, the Avatar of Fear will be unleashed once more.” A third one commented.
“You’re right.” Aegis said as he put his hand to his chin. "The city falls so fast, and we’re so far from Hrath’mir, the only way to get the Avatar back in time is if we had an army of gryphon riders…” Aegis said, and as he did, he remembered one final detail from the start of the dungeon. “Or, an army of something else with wings,” he said as he placed the final piece of the puzzle down in his mind. “I know how to clear this quest.” A big grin came over his face, and he held his arms out wide while stepping out of the dome of light, allowing the reapers to violently tear him to shreds in a matter of seconds.