Five days into our journey, something notable finally happened. We were coming around a particularly steep bend when we noticed a log in the road. As I suspected, it was a ploy set by bandits lying in wait. They shouted from the forest, "We have you surrounded! Lay down your arms and surrender the goods, and you can leave with your lives!" I looked to Xantcha to see what she wanted to do. As she pulled out her weapon and melted into the shadows, I knew the plan.
Preparing my own weapons, it served as the signal to begin the assault. Arrows started peppering the caravan from both sides of the road. After a minute of this, the foot troops of the bandits rushed out of the underbrush. I scanned them and saw:
Bandit Level: 18 HP: 700 Mana: 300 Stamina: 250
The fight was over before I knew it, taking maybe less than a minute. There were calls of retreat and fallback from the bandits. It all started with me hitting the first one with Rippling Mountain, knocking everyone in the area to their backs. At the same moment, Xantcha struck at the leader. The second-in-command saw what happened and made the snap decision to call for a retreat.
After the skirmish, I noticed not everyone had been idle; there were injured people everywhere and more than a couple of dead bandits. I gathered the injured in one area and began treating them one by one. Then, I remembered that I had a spell that could heal a lot of people at once. So, once the arrows were pulled, I cast my spell:
Revitalizing Restoration MP: 600 SP: 100 CT: 10 CD: 5min. This healed everyone for 1660
This brought most people up to full health, as the total health regeneration was greater than their health pool. With that taken care of, I turned my attention to moving the log that was blocking the road. Several people had long poles in an attempt to roll the log, but I brushed them aside, saying, "Let me take care of this." Using my command over nature, I shaped the area around one side of the log into a slope about a foot deep over 10 ft. Then, I pushed the log, and it tumbled out of the way more easily than I expected.
Once everything was looted and packed away, we were back on the road, and nothing notable happened for a long while.
On the 9th day of our trip, as we entered the lightly forested plains near the orcish city of Zomick, we encountered our first real challenge. A pack of large beasts, similar to rhinos but covered in long porcupine quills, attacked us. This fight was a struggle as we lacked impactful long-range attacks. The battle consisted of us lobbing spells at them while they retaliated by throwing quills at us. After losing about half of their pack, they broke their tail and fled. Seizing the opportunity, I quickly looted the fallen creatures, but all I got were quills and some meat.
After another day of travel, we arrived at the dense forest surrounding Urza, and in just three more days, we would be in the city. The road narrowed to the point where we had to break down the cart until it widened out. This was the most dangerous part of the whole trip. As we traveled through the forest, the nerves of the whole caravan were fried. The first attack came from the one direction that we were not watching - the canopy. It was a pandemonium of parrots - or rather, parrot-looking monsters made out of vines, with areas covered in patches of fur from different creatures woven to look like feathers. Their beaks and claws were made out of a metallic substance. I was able to scan them briefly before having to dive back.
Vine Elemental: Level 35 HP: 5000 Mana: 2500 Stamina: 700
The elementals were about 3 feet tall, and there were about 15 of them swarming down from the canopy. Amurak was ready and the fastest to react; he slid to the side and shouted at the group of enemies. A red light flashed out from him as he called out, "Over here, you abominations!" and one of their flight pivoted to Amurak. Now that he taunted the mobs, he called to us, "Splash the area with spells." I was already casting before he finished the call-out. Ten seconds later, I sent a Magma bomb flying high into the grouping of monsters. Out of the 15, I was able to hit 10 of them. As I watched for damage, I saw that all of their health bars dropped by a fifth. Taking a peek at my combat log, I saw that fire damage was doubled. Right on the heels of my spell was a ball of ice that sailed into the center of the lava pool. It exploded in a flash and gust of frozen wind. A second, larger explosion happened as the pool of lava rapidly cooled and exploded, sending shards of stone flying in all directions.
One of the shards caught me right in the chest. Looking down at the shard of stone sticking out of my chest on the right pectoral, it was one foot long, jagged, and as black as the night. I could feel it grinding on my shoulder blade, meaning it had almost gone all the way through. I might have been the most unlucky in the lot of us. Out of the 15 of us on this trip, most had some stone sticking out of them, but their health looked stable, which was more than I could say about the surviving 3 parrot elementals flying off. All the other birds were dead or dying on the forest floor. Some looked to have been bisected, which must have been Amurak using his bulwark spell. Looking around for Xantcha, I saw her walking out of the forest behind Amurak. She saw my condition and rushed over.
"Can you get it out?" Xantcha asked.
"Nope, I am going to need help. If you would," I said.
"Of course. That was unexpected. I am glad that the monsters soaked up most of the projectiles. Ok, on the count of 3," she said while looking me in the eyes. I nodded as she started to count. "One," she said, as she ripped out the chunk of stone.
I let out a scream and then looked at her with a look of betrayal. "You did not even make it past one. I did not know that you couldn't count?" I said, mock scolding in my tone. Once the stone was out, I moved over to the rest of the injured and cast Revitalizing Restoration. It brought everyone back to health except Amurak, who took the brunt of the attacks and damage from the explosion. I hit him with a channeled Healing Essence Roots.
Once the bodies were looted, we headed down the path. There were a couple of attempts to ambush a member of the party who was not close enough to the group. It seemed that the first fight was enough to scare off most of the other Vine monsters. Once we arrived at the area where we could redeploy the wagon, everyone could breathe easily.
"Now that we have a break, I have a question about your origins. I mostly want to know where all of you come from. Are any of you from off-world?" I ask, and they each look at each other. Xantcha is the first to pipe up with an answer.
"I am from a city called Vokkeck. The city of Vokkeck is known as the Silk City because the entire city is made entirely out of silk. Every color and hue, the buildings, and even the roads are made out of silk. It is truly a beautiful place. Too bad the Matriarch hates outsiders. Not too long ago, there was an attack on the city from a group of monster hunters. They claim that because we are spawns of a Progenitor, they will continue to hunt us," Xantcha says.
"What is a Progenitor?" I ask.
"That's right, you would not know what that is. It was a monster that reached over level 400. Once a monster reaches that high, it can force evolution onto other monsters that they control, creating a whole new race. That's all I will answer on this topic as it is a sore spot between me and the Matriarch," Xantcha says, turning away.
"That is fair enough, and I won't press. I hope to see such a stunning city. Also, wow, level 400, can you believe it? That seems like it would take thousands of years," before I could say anything else, Trila interrupts me with a flood of words.
"I come from the most amazing city, Astromore," she says, waving her arm in an arch while sparks trail behind her hand. I chuckle at the showmanship. "The city of Astromore is an aristocracy where mostly wealthy merchants make the rules. It is one of two floating cities in the world. The island city is floating 1000 feet in the air. Inside the city is the best school of magic, Magistrorum Of Radigar," Trila says excitedly.
"That sounds Latin. I think that means 'Teacher of Radigar.' Still, a dope name, and I hope to study there or at least dig through the library. How about you, Amurak? Where are you from? You don't have to answer if you don't want to," I say.
Stolen story; please report.
"No, it's fine. I just don't agree with the path my people are walking. I come from Thundervale, the city of Thundervale is spread across the Thundervale Mountains. These mountains are known for the massive thunderstorms that are an effect of the colossal creature known as the Lightning God. As it slumbers, it puts out a tremendous amount of mana, creating a never-ending storm that has existed for over 2 thousand years. I fear for my people; they walk a path that is taking them away from tradition and toward destruction. They seek to harness that god's power. Many believe that the god will not even care that they are stealing its power, but if it awakes, it could spell doom for my people," Amurak says. A silence fills the air as we all process that.
"Well, I hope that does not come to pass, but a never-ending storm does sound pretty cool to see. I bet the city looks cool, like a steampunk heaven with pipes everywhere and lightning instead of steam. Lightning punk sounds way cooler," I say, trying to relieve the stress and half-working as they just look confused. Amurak starts to laugh, "It does kinda look like a city of stone with lightning pipes everywhere. Thanks for the laugh." We all slip into a comfortable silence, which is interrupted by me training my spells.
The rest of the trip passed peacefully, and we finally reached the gates of Urza. I reviewed the small changes I made to my spells and abilities during the 12-day journey. The most notable was discovering that I could manipulate the earth to create walls, ramps, bulges, and even a cavity with my Contour Nature spell. Over the 12 days, I managed to level up most of my spells once or twice. However, the two notable exceptions were Magma Bomb and Contour Nature.
Congratulations! The spell Magma Bomb has increased to level 8, and Contour Nature to level 25.
The gates to Urza were massive, banded with at least three different kinds of metal. To both the left and right of the gates stood Clockwork Giants, rough facsimiles of men merged with machines. These Clockwork Guardians were the protectors of the city's gates. As we approached, I scanned one of the Guardians and saw that it was level 300, but the rest of its stats were question marks. When we came within 100 feet of the gate, the Guardian on the right side moved forward and declared in a booming voice:
"All adventurers, please stand to the right of the caravan and have either your adventurer's badge or the token of offering ready, so you may enter the city. Everyone else, have your caravan license out and ready for inspection."
Since we were the only adventurers in the caravan, we stood aside and waited to enter the city. Following our party leader, we presented the token of offering and were allowed to pass through the gates.
The city of Urza was a sight to behold. As a city of magic, there was no common theme to its architecture, nor was there standardization of materials. In the first five buildings we saw, there were structures made of stone, wood, crystal, black obsidian rock, and even a building grown into a tree or the tree around it. The city was built on a slope, with structures rising from the center and sloping towards the sides, providing a view of most buildings leading out to the center. The heart of the city was dominated by six crystal towers, with a massive stone tower at the center. The stone tower was at least 2 miles tall, four times the height of the Burj Khalifa. As we looked upon it for the first time, the tower reached into the clouds and seemed to pierce through, giving the impression that the earth had speared a cloud. The towers surrounding the central spire were about a quarter of its size.
As we made our way down the bustling street, I asked a local guard for directions to the adventuring guild. He pointed towards a big red tower and explained that each tower represented one of the guilds, which, in turn, made up the council. Following his guidance, my team headed toward the red tower, which was relatively short compared to other structures in the city. Despite its size, it still took us two hours to reach it due to the city's vastness. During our journey, I observed a myriad of races and the impressive displays of weapons, armor, and other trinkets belonging to the Crafters' district where we entered.
Arriving at the adventuring guild wasn't much of an event until we attempted to complete the quest by delivering the package. The receptionist got quite flustered when I mentioned who the package was for and hurriedly fetched their supervisor. We were led into a separate room and asked to wait until the guild head became available. Though I wanted to wait no longer than an hour, there seemed to be little choice in the matter. After about half an hour, the guild head arrived in the room with an air of authority. She was a very tall half-orc, half-giant, standing an impressive 12 feet tall with muscles that seemed beyond human. Despite her imposing size, she possessed a captivating beauty. Her long legs met a curvy waist, and her waist-long hair framed a face that bore the scars of battle but remained undeniably attractive. The scar running down the right side of her face added an intriguing asymmetry.
As I met her gaze, she noticed me looking at her, and a small smile appeared on her face before she turned her attention to our party leader. She inquired about the package and why it was entrusted to us. Our leader explained that it was part of the entry cost to the city. The guild head seemed incredulous that a single item had been divided among all of us. Our leader, with a playful wink, clarified that it was actually two times. She laughed lightly and then gestured for us to share the full story. After we conveyed the tale, she sighed, appearing overwhelmed, and massaged her temples.
She speculated about the reason for the return of the undead wars after over 200 years, wondering if it had to do with the integration and awakening of the sower. Perhaps they had run out of resources and needed to expand. We handed her the box containing the heart and body of the inquisitor, and when she opened it, her hope that we were lying vanished. She acknowledged the significance of what we had brought – a complete and mostly undamaged inquisitor. The guild head explained that their team could extract information from the memory left in the skull. She realized the enormity of the service we had unknowingly rendered and wanted to hear the story of how we had removed the core with minimal damage to the skull.
"How about over dinner, if you know of a good restaurant in town?" There was a sharp inhalation of breath from both the guild attendant and Xantcha right before they both shouted at me. The attendant exclaimed, "The audacity! Know your place!" while Xantcha shouted, "Havoc, have some respect! She is the head of the guild, the whole guild!"
Before I could respond and defend myself, Olkeka burst into laughter after patting the attendant on the back. "You caught me off guard there. It has been a long, long time since anyone has had the temerity to so casually ask me to dinner. I will take you up on the offer at a later date. You need to be at least level 100 to survive this ride," she said with a chuckle. This statement left everyone slack-jawed, except me.
I fired back, "Then you have a deal, and the challenge is accepted. I hope you have clothing that shows off that stunning body. Do you have any preferences for my attire?"
A mischievous grin appeared on her face. "If you can reach level 100 in one year's time, I will take you to the finest restaurant."
"Deal," I said, sticking out my hand. As we shook on it, I couldn't help but add, "After all, it has only taken me 3 weeks to reach level 28. I can gain 72 levels in a year." She let out another boom of laughter. She bid us to enjoy the city but warned us to ask the guild first and the crafters second if we wanted an equipment upgrade. The attendant then beckoned out of the room while shooting me a death glare, which I shrugged off. Haters gonna hate.
Once the guild master left, Xantcha spun on her heel and turned her own death glare on me. This one had more effect as I cared about what Xantcha thought. "What were you thinking?" she hissed. "You could have gotten us kicked out or fined. You walked the line of disrespect. She is far above you in levels and guild rank."
"Sure, I will concede that she is both a higher rank and higher level. That does not make her above me. Where I come from, no one is above anyone else when it comes to love and relationships. I was very respectful when asking her to dinner, leaving it open-ended on whether it was business or pleasure. She picked pleasure. If she had refused or rebuked me, then I would not have ever mentioned or thought about it again."
"Did you have to ask her? She runs the whole guild, every branch, every adventure, and everyone knows the stories of Olkeka, the Blade of the Rage."
"That is such a cool title. I can't wait to hear the story behind that. Maybe I can get it out of her over dinner," I said with a cheeky grin, earning a slap on the arm from Xantcha.
"In the future, can you not go after one of the most powerful people on the continent? What about your wife? I would think trying to find her is more important than dating the guild head," Xantcha said.
My eyes narrowed dangerously, and the skin on my knuckles turned white. "Don't you think making friends with ‘one of the most powerful people on the continent' would open doors and give me a better opening to finding my wife in this massive city? Assuming that she is still even here, where do I start? Do I go on a rampage, shouting and raving for them to bring me my wife? I am going to have to take this slow and carefully, in case the people that took her don't react well to someone trying to take back the people that the system absconded with. Plus we are in a polyamorous relationship. So I am free to date anyone I want."
"I think the first place that I'm going to go look is the Scholars Guild. Hopefully, they might have more information about where they do training for people with high mana affinity. In the meantime, how about we find somewhere to stay and maybe a quest to go on as a cover for why we are in the city?" I say.
Asking around the guild almost immediately netted many possibilities for inns to stay at for an extended period of time. Out of all the options, the Bloody Shield seemed like the best within our price range. Having spent almost all of my coin in the other town, I was not looking to head to the market anytime soon. Instead, once we settled into the inn, which was a medium-sized, semi-busy tavern that had rooms available for 10 silver per night, we each paid 2 gold up front to ensure that we had good service and a happy innkeeper. With a home base established, I headed off to the Scholars Guild for more information on where to find my wife.