The Chaos Lands (Part 4)

Excitement spiked in him as he prepared to swing and activated Imbued Strike. A pulse of energy ran from his hands through his weapon, causing it to glow with a faint red light. He swung the ax and, with another deep crack like ice on a frozen lake, the ax cleaved through the trunk.

After recovering from the follow through of his swing, Idris turned to see the tree still standing.

“What?”

Eana rushed forward to take a look at the result. “This wood is something else,” she said, pointing into the gap where the ax had passed through.

Idris bent to take a look and saw that, although he had cut clean through the tree, a portion of the edge remained and the entire tree still stood, unbending, despite the removal of most of its support.

“Seriously?” Idris shouted, then started front kicking the trunk trying to break it the rest of the way. Eana joined in and they took turns taking running jump kicks at the tree. After a few more traded blows, Idris checked the cooldown on Imbued Strike, motioned Eana aside, and gave it a final hit backed by Imbued Strike. The Ironwood tree cracked and with a lurch, fell to the ground.

Quest Update

Ironwood Vandal

These cracking noises are uncharacteristically loud. Bring down more trees to attract the guardian.

Felled trees - ½

“My quest log updated. Just one more tree,” Idris said, looking around for another that was similarly thin.

“Before you chop it down, shouldn’t we like… prepare or something? What even is a Forest Guardian?” Eana asked.

Without stopping, Idris curved around back toward the felled ironwood tree and replied, “That’s exactly what I was thinking. Preparation first,” He gave Eana a wink and she just rolled her eyes.

“Actually if it won’t come out until we take down another tree, maybe I can chop the limbs off this one and get you a passable staff,” Idris mused, “It would be pretty crude. We can get it crafted into something really good back in Irondale but for swinging around it should do the trick.”

“Good plan! Want to switch off with the ax so we both get some practice using Imbued Strike?” Eana suggested.

Checking his progression toward level two proficiency with Imbued Strike, 4% complete, and doing some quick math Idris expected it would take about fifty total strikes to reach the next level. Depending on how tough this tree was to work with maybe he could finish it out by shaving off every branch.

“Sounds good,” Idris said, imbuing the ax. He swung and cleaved off a thicker branch near the bottom. The crack wasn’t near as loud as when he sheared through the trunk, but it was satisfying enough. He handed the axe off to his sister

“Set your feet and get a good grip,” He said, eyeing her stance. He was no Conrad but he knew how to swing heavy things at unmoving targets.

Eana looked as if she barely heard him as she imbued the ax.

She swung hard at one of the thicker branches, like he had, but the force only nicked the wood and caused the tree to turn. Idris motioned for her to hand the ax back but she shook her head, set her foot against the tree to brace it, and then, amazingly, imbued the ax a second time and swung.

This time the ax bit deep and she had to wiggle it to get it out, but that wasn’t what Idris was focused on.

“How did you do that?” He asked, stunned.

“Oh!” Eana said, flattered, “I put my foot on it so it wouldn’t move, that way the ax could cut deeper and - “

“No, no not that,” Idris said, “It couldn’t have been more than a few seconds between your first use and your second. Imbued Strike has a 30 second cooldown for me. I can’t use it again even if I want to.”

“Really?” Eana said

“Yes really!” Idris said, “Conrad was just as shocked when you did the same thing earlier! So out with it - what’s the secret?”

Looking confused, Eana just shook her head, “I just use it again. There’s no cooldown. How do you even know you can’t do it again?”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Because,” Idris explained, “The icon for imbued strike gets a countdown when I focus on it. And while that’s happening I cant activate it. I’ve been trying since I watched you do it again but it only just came off cooldown.”

Eana looked him straight in the face as she imbued the ax for a third time, “I don’t know what to tell you. It just works.”

She turned, set her foot, and swung again, cleaving the branch off.

“Maybe because your strength is lower, and you’re younger, Order is compensating to make the skill more useful?” Idris wondered aloud.

Eana handed him back the ax so he could take a swing, “I’ve been a warrior for like two minutes longer than you have. I have no Idea. But I am doing it. So like… about time I got an advantage?”

It was tempting to argue with her about advantages and just what advantages she already had, but Idris didn’t see any point to it. She was right, she didn’t have any special insight into being a Warrior or using Warrior skills and everything she knew she basically learned right alongside him from Conrad.

He took his swing.

They carried on like that for nearly half an hour, the ground littered with every little twig and branch they could shear off the trunk. Most of the small ones even Eana could have taken off with just a normal swing, but grinding out the first proficiency level was the true goal.

Eana hit it first. Hitting three to four times for every one Idris could do with his cooldown was feeling more and more unfair, but he felt mollified when she looked at how much progress she was making after she reached level two proficiency.

“It takes me like four casts to get one percent!” she moaned, “I’m going to sit for awhile while you finish - did you bring anything along from breakfast?”

Idris shook his head and checked his progress. This was it. Last swing. Knowing his progress would slow just as much as Eana’s didn’t stop him from grinning ear to ear when a small rush of energy flowed through him and he was greeted with a prompt:

Proficiency Level Up

Skill: Imbued Strike - 2/5

Progress: 0%

Description: At level two, the cooldown for Imbued Strike reduces by 10% for a current cooldown of 27 seconds

Reward: 5XP

Ten percent didn’t seem like a lot, but it was just the first level. That small change might change the time before his next level up by a few days or even a week.

“This cooldown perk should be pretty useful,” he said to Eana who had managed to collect a few edible mushrooms and was hunting around for more as she munched.

“I guess,” she said, “Doesn’t really affect me so I’ll be waiting for the next one. Think Conrad will tell us what comes next?”

“I don’t see why not,” Idris said, “But don’t you want to find out for yourself? More fun that way I think.”

Eana just kept on looking for anything edible while Idris went ahead and dumped every piece of the ironwood tree he could find into his inventory, intending to see if it was worth anything back in town or, at least, to feed into the shimmering rocks and earn a little more XP.

When it came to the trunk he eyeballed the size, figured Eana could use a staff up to about her shoulder and started swinging. It took two casts, but he got through a bit easier than when it was a full tree.

Staring at the resulting possibility of two staves he decided to give a little bit of a choice to his sister. He wedged the thinner of the two similarly lengthed staves against some small boulders and began the process of hacking away at one end until, after a few minutes, he had a modestly sharp spear point.

“What do you think?” Idris called out. He held up both weapons for Eana to inspect.

She rushed over and looked them over. As she reached out to hold the staff he sent it into his inventory with a thought, making Eana grab at the air.

“Hey!” She yelled, surprised.

“Oops! Sorry, not used to the skill yet. Try this one,” He held out the spear.

Without hesitation she reached for it. And again, he made it vanish into his inventory as she grabbed.

“Too easy!” he laughed

“Idris! Come ON!”

“OK, OK,” Idris said, bringing out the spear and tossing it to her.

She caught it and did a few experimental thrusts with it into the air, then into one of the nearby ironwood trees. Although it didn’t harm the bark of the ludicrously strong wood, amazingly, the point remained sharp despite the thrust.

“Not bad!” she said.

“Imbue it. See if you can make it stick,” Idris said

She did, and as the red energy coursed over the makeshift spear she thrust. The impact was impressive, not in the damage it caused, but in the way that it made the spear fire backward and out of Eana’s hands. It landed a few feet behind her.

“Huh,” Idris said.

“OK, then,” Eana said, “I guess I need a little more strength to hang onto the spear if I’m imbuing it.”

“After having seen it, yes, that makes a lot of sense,” Idris said. He walked over to the spear and swapped it in his inventory for the staff.

“Try swinging this instead,” he said.

Eana did, and while the reverberations from the attack were obvious in her little arms, she managed to hang onto the staff.

“How’s that for preparing?” Idris asked.

Eana, looking determined, gripped her staff and nodded, “We doing this thing?”

“Oh,” Idris said, hefting his hammer in one hand and the ax in the other, “We doing this thing.”

No matter how awesome he felt he looked carrying both weapons and how, for some reason, none of this felt really serious or real, he knew on another level he should at least try to be serious. He sent the hammer into his inventory and stepped up to the next closest ironwood tree.

At a nod of agreement from Eana, he imbued and swung. The time spent in the grove practicing his new skill on the other tree had honed his aim and technique and, in a single motion, the ax swept through the ironwood trunk completely. A massive cracking sound exploded from the trunk and, a moment later, it fell to the ground with a crash.

Quest Update

Ironwood Vandal

It’s coming.

Felled trees - 2/2