Jace knew he couldn’t last much longer. For a while, the only significant enemies left were the ones who could withstand dragon fire: vampires, demons, and monks. Most of the orcs, goblins, and ogres had been reduced to burnt corpses, though a few still filled the ranks. Jace guessed they must be spawning directly in the cavern, though he hadn’t seen it happen directly. He was too busy fending off the minions around him.
His ability to control stone gave his enemies pause, but it took too much of his concentration, and casting the spells left him Flat-Footed to attacks from behind. Eventually, the clever enemies figured this out, advancing in one direction to get Jace to summon a wall or a spike that might impale one of them, while a trio of foes attacked from behind, usually getting to the orc before he could spin to meet them. He had picked up a sword another orc had dropped, but his proficiency was in two-handed weapons, and he didn’t have a chance to hit these advanced foes whose levels all landed in the mid to high teens.
Jace felt, rather than saw, the moment when Draya crashed into the wall, and an avalanche covered her. At any moment, he expected Karo to storm toward him and finish him off with a final gout of demon fire, but it never came. He didn’t have time to find out why, as his attention couldn’t leave the varied foes around him. After a few more rounds of cat and mouse, he was sure the enemies were respawning as a group of four goblins charged him, waving spears and howling.
This time, the shaman didn’t take the bait. He half closed his eyes in concentration as if preparing a spell, but instead of skewering the small creatures before him, he raised a wall directly behind, letting the goblins crash against his raised shield. Jace heard the crunch of bones as the more advanced enemies ran into the rock behind him and found that the Dazed goblins before him were more susceptible to his sword. After dicing them apart, he flipped around and, without looking, summoned stalagmites from the ground directly behind the six-foot wall he had called into existence.
Jace heard cries of pain from the far side and raced around the barrier to find his impaled enemies. He hacked apart their captured bodies and then had to raise his shield again as orcs charged from his left. The bigger adversaries tried to barrel him over, but his Stone Footing held firm, and they bounced back. However, vampires used the distraction to hit him from the right. One slashed a sword across his side while the other Grappled him from behind.
Again, Jace’s Stone Footing saved him, and the undead fighter couldn’t render him Helpless. Instead, he struggled to get his teeth aligned with the big orc’s neck. Jace didn’t fight too much, instead summoning another stalagmite directly behind him. The spike shot up, catching the vampire between the legs and lifting him off the ground in the most painful way imaginable. Jace let him suffer and turned his shield toward the other vampire to catch his second strike against the stone guard. Unfortunately, he had forgotten about the orcs who had initiated this prolonged encounter, and without a shield in the way, their combined weight was enough to throw the shaman from his feet.
Jace tucked and rolled with the shove, hoping to come up far from the dangerous combatants. He did and rose to find most of his enemies keeping their distance, standing in a wide ring around him. At first, Jace misunderstood their caution, but then he saw the reason. Two recognizable figures stood before him, ready to take up the fight, and the nameless minions gave them initiative.
“You put up a valiant effort,” Atrax said, brandishing a moon blade and shield. “I don’t know how you undid our ceremony, but I assume the angels are still in the realm somewhere. Vithium is no great loss. He only slowed us down. After we kill you,” he looked sideways to Tristan, who stood with a blade in each hand, magic sizzling and cracking off the enchanted steel, “we should have no problem finding them.”
The vampire laughed. “You’ve only ensured for them for a second painful death. I’ll be the one to get Esther. Without you around to protect her, she should be easy to fin-” his voice cut off as the tip of a flaming rapier poked through his chest.
“I’m right here, honey,” Esther said, ripping the blade back out and sending her sire to his knees. Jace expected her to continue slashing him up, but she sheathed her weapons and grabbed the Dazed vampire by the shoulders to spin him around. “Look me in the eyes when I kill you,” she said, lifting the wounded foe’s chin. She paused for a moment, then Grappled him to a Helpless condition and snapped his neck.
Tristan turned toward the dangerous woman, his blades raised and his eyes glowing with a light that would prevent any stealthy movements from the rogue. She didn’t advance, instead glancing behind the spellsword, giving away the second attack. Tristan turned just in time to collect Kai’s shield bash on his crossed weapons and tumbled backward into a controlled somersault.
“Ah,” the spellsword said. “The weak link in the angel’s group. You wish to challenge . . .” his voice trailed off as Kai nodded toward him, and the faint shimmer of magical protection that had been enveloping the sword wielder vanished. Tristan looked suddenly nervous and charged. Jace wasn’t sure what had happened, but he guessed Kai had just dispelled all of the mage’s defenses. Now, the paladin raised his shield toward the coming attack.
Tristan didn’t try to avoid the block and let his right-handed weapon hit solidly against the barrier. Jace watched magic rush over the guard, hit Kai’s left hand, and then vanish. Tristan stepped back, stunned when the knight didn’t drop his shield. Kai only smiled and struck back. Jace didn’t need to watch, feeling confident in the inquisitor's chances against the magic-dominant fighter. Kai was a hard counter to Tristan’s strengths. He turned instead to Esther. She was busy kicking Atrax’s corpse and muttering.
So far, the surrounding enemies hadn’t attacked, undoubtedly scripted to allow the fight between named NPCs to play out first. Jace guessed Tristan wouldn’t last too long and didn’t want to tempt the timing. “Esther!” he cried. She glanced up, and Jace saw her eyes look at him for the first time since he had taken her head. “Esther,” he said again, his voice cracking under the emotional strain. “I’m sorry . . .” his voice tailed off as he saw her roll her eyes into her inventory. He wanted her full attention for the apology.
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When she came back, she held Diamond Etcher. “Save it,” Esther said, tossing the weapon to him. “You did what you had to. No hard feelings.”
Jace dropped his inferior weapons to catch the two-handed sword. As soon as the pommel touched his hands, everything happened at once. He heard Tristan cry out in death, the minions around him charged, and he felt a surge of energy within him as if the soundtrack to this adventure was finally kicking in. He turned to parry the first few attacks and felt trumpet blasts and percussive beats each time he hit a weapon. With the enemies reeling from his blocks, he went on the offensive and felt the music move through him as if his sword was a bow pulled across violin strings. Jace fell into a rhythm he had never experienced before, and enemies died around him.
“Are you playing a Hans Zimmer soundtrack in the background?” Jace asked as he dispatched one group of monsters to move to the next.
{No,} Gracie answered. {That is Tami singing.}
“This is her voice?” he asked incredulously.
{Yes,} she replied deadpan. {It’s called magic, Jace. Remember, you are in a video game.}
The shaman ignored the sarcasm as he spun through the minion crowd, blocking strikes and taking head. Bard's abilities were typically mocked in traditional tabletop RPGs, but if this is what they could do in the Realms of Infamy, he might have to get one. “So all the angels have returned?”
{Yes,} Gracie confirmed. {Pyscho, Delly, and Leah are taking on Karo. They need your help.}
“What can I do?” Jace said. “One hit of demon fire as an orc, and I’m done for.”
{Then change back,} Gracie said.
Jace faced off against an ogre, parried his massive wooden club by actually shearing it in two, and then reversed his strike to cut the fat monster across the belly, spilling his guts to the floor. A few goblins slipped on the mess, and Jace hit the ogre again to drop the dead creature on top of the smaller foes.
“I thought I only got ten rounds as an elemental,” he said as he caught his breath between rounds.
{You only get ten free rounds. You have to pay for everything else, but you can use your Armanacore, which means you can be an elemental for as long as you like. The mana generation for that core in this environment is more than double the cost of the spell.}
Jace dispatched two more vampires as he listened. The orcs, ogres, and goblins might be respawning, but the vampires and demons were limited. It made more sense to kill them first. He had claimed the stronghold, but the option to turn off the respawning of enemies was grayed out. Jace guessed he needed to kill Karo first.
“I thought you said that Draya could only extend her dragon form using her human mana core.”
{That is true for Draya,} Gracie confirmed. She paused as Jace dealt with two demons. One cast fire against him, taking a third of his health, but he killed them both before they could get in a second magical attack. {Her dragon body is completely magical, and her dragon core is tied up maintaining it. Her fire, strength, ability to fly, et cetera come from her dragon core. Anything else she wants to cast, including the spell to be a dragon, must come from her personal core. With you, in this cavern, you drew stone from your environment to build your body, meaning it was real. Your Armanacore didn’t have to make it out of thin air, thus freeing it to sustain the spell. Now, if you want to turn into a stone elemental in a forest, I’m guessing it will be different.}
“That’s great,” Jace said, blocking attacks from two orcs before slicing them up. “But I’m still mincemeat in front of him. I didn’t even last a minute.”
{That’s my fault,} the operator admitted. {I didn’t know you were going to become Shimbatu’s champion. As his follower, you get all the basic free abilities, but as his champion, you get to pick feats and abilities to fill the unique slots at 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20.}
“That is still active,” Jace asked. “I thought the spell only lasted ten rounds.”
{The Divine Alliance spell only lasted 10 rounds,} Gracie agreed. {But once you agreed to be Shimbatu’s champion, that lasts until the combat is resolved. I gave you Mastery in unarmed combat and a critical knockdown ability.}
“Why not the Stun ability?” Jace asked. He didn’t use it very often now, but when he first started the game and constantly went up against enemies more powerful than him, the ability to Stun them was invaluable. Now, he could kill lesser enemies in one strike, and spending the criticals on damage made more sense.
{Foes defend against the Stun ability using their Magic Defense. I’m guessing Karo’s is quite high. They defend against the knockdown ability based on their Dexterity. Besides, you already have the critical Stun ability. It doesn’t matter what weapon you use. Though, I wouldn’t recommend trying it.}
Jace knocked two more enemies to the ground and had time to look around. Esther had been doing just as good a job of cleaning up as him and had dispatched all the vampires and demons first. Kai wasn’t as proficient at killing, but he still had a full health bar, something Esther and Jace didn’t have.
Finally, he looked over at Karo. Delly stood by his feet, trying to chop him down like a tree. She whittled away at his health but not very fast. Occasionally, the demon took the time to focus on her and kicked out at the much shorter woman, sending her flying into a stone wall. The resilient barbarian bounced off the rock and came charging back in.
Each time Karo focused on the woman, a single arrow flew in with tremendous force, and the demon cried out in pain, and his health dropped by a few hundred. This brought Karo’s attention back to Psycho, and the elf needed to jump and dodge to avoid the fire attacks. When this happened, the archer could only get off quick shots that mostly bounced off the demon’s scales. However, Delly would soon wade in again, and the whole cycle would start over.
A few thunderous booms brought Jace’s attention to the cavern’s entrance, and he saw Gromphy on Adam’s back. The golem kept watch at the door and smashed any of the respawning giants that tried to come through. Jace wished the pair would take on Karo directly, but he understood Gromphy wouldn’t survive one hit from the demon.
Jace looked again at Esther and Kai and figured they could handle the rest of the minions. He put his sword away, cast a fresh Damage Sink totem, and walked determinedly toward Karo. “Hey, Demon Breath!” Jace shouted in his booming orc voice. “I’m back!”
Karo turned to look at the relatively puny character and laughed. “Your friends are no match for me, and neither are you.” He punctuated the sentence with a kick, and Delly flew away from him, hitting the stone awkwardly and rolling to a stop near where Jace stood. Her health had finally dipped below a quarter. While this might activate further rage abilities, she was on the verge of dying.
“We’ll see about that,” Jace said. As Delly pulled herself off the ground slowly, the shaman motioned for her to stay down. “I got this,” he said quietly. Turning his eyes back to Karo, he felt like Bruce Banner morphing into the hulk as he walked toward the demon, didn’t break stride, and transformed into a stone elemental.