385 days until the Arkon Shield falls

Chief Zel Foghorn,

The one I seek is a human named Jameson Sinclair. He entered Overworld through one of the neutral gates and will be recognizable by a hobbled left foot. Those damnable elves and gnomes are interfering with my scrying, and I can’t pinpoint his exact location, but I am confident he is somewhere in the west of the domain.

Capturing him is your only priority. Find him, and you will be rewarded. Fail, and… well, you don’t want to fail. —High Shaman Orgtul Silverbane.

The maggots were halfway through the mud when Giselle ordered the scouts to fire.

Martin and his companion, Yana, had positioned themselves on either side of me. Going down on bended knees, the two scout-archers fired from beneath the queen’s raised torso. Given the spider’s height and broad, flat body, this was much easier than it sounded.

Intently, I watched their attacks. Both of the pair’s arrows found a mark—but then again, given the maggots’ close-packed forms, the scouts could hardly have missed.

“Well done,” I crowed as two arrows thudded into the lead maggot, puncturing through its skin without resistance. Burning blood spurted out and sizzled as it hit the mud. The creature shrieked, the sound echoing weirdly in the cave’s confines.

“It’s working!” I yelled unnecessarily to Giselle. The scouts’ success was encouraging, and the pair kept firing. The lead maggot, twisting in pain, fell behind and was overtaken by its fellows.

Above me, I sensed the spider queen tense. The sergeant had ordered her into play. A second later, coils of silk shot into the cave to wrap around the fire maggots.

The queen’s attack, though, did not fare nearly as well as it should have. The spiderwebs wrapped themselves around the creatures, only to fall away a second later, burnt to cinders. Hard, piercing attacks were what was needed. If only we had more archers, I despaired, this battle would already be over.

Meanwhile, the forefront of the maggot wave neared the entrance. “Ready yourselves!” Giselle ordered. “Use the wall as cover. Jab and back!”

Release the spellform in my mind, I let magic slip down my arms and coat my palms in a gentle blue-white glow that was lay hands.

Then I waited.

The first maggot reached striking distance. The spider queen struck out with a forelimb, pinning the creature down. Darting her head downwards, she tore through the creature with sharpened fangs.

The maggot squirmed in her grasp, then burst, spilling magma-like blood outwards and drenching the queen.

As I suspected, the maggots’ blood burned. Where it touched the queen, the delicate hairs on her legs shriveled away, and even her hardened carapace became pockmarked, unable to resist the fire’s touch. I slapped my hand to the creature champion, instantly soothing her burns and mending damaged flesh.

Another maggot closed. Releasing the quickly- shrinking remains of her first foe, the queen turned her cold glare upon her next prey and struck out with both fangs and limbs again.

It, too, died as easily as the first.

The warren guards weren’t idle either. The scouts continued their barrage while from the queen’s flanks, spearmen fell into their own rhythm, lunging forward to blindly thrust their weapons into the writhing maggot mass before falling back a second later to shelter behind the rock walls.

Boiling blood spurted outwards from the dead and dying maggots, splattering the soldiers. The ground became treacherous too, slippery and thick with burning ichor.

Inevitably, injuries mounted amongst the spearmen. At first, they were minor only and easily ignored. But then, the insides of a maggot squirted directly into one of the soldier’s faces.

The spearmen screamed and staggered back. Dropping his spear, he clutched at his melting face. I rushed to his side, restoring burnt skin with lay hands.

It took three separate castings. Human flesh, it seemed, didn’t have the same natural resistance the spider queen had, and even while I healed the original damage, the maggot’s blood kept burning ever deeper.

Eventually though, I mended the last of the soldier’s destroyed flesh, and his screams cut off abruptly. “Thanks,” he gasped, quivering from the sudden release of pain.

“No problem,” I murmured and shoved him lightly away when he made to pick up his spear. “Take a moment to rest,” I urged.

The soldier hesitated, then jerked his head in agreement. “All right,” he said, letting himself collapse to the ground.

Turning away, I took a moment to study the skirmish still raging on. Half the maggots were dead already. The rest crowded the cave mouth, competing to reach the spearmen and the spider queen. More often than not, the soldiers were able to avoid the creatures’ snapping maws, but when they weren’t, the maggots left behind blackened armor and smoldering skin.

More blood pooled on the floor, hissing and sizzling. The spearmen were doing well to avoid the danger underfoot though and, while some winced and cursed as the blood soaked into their boats, none looked in imminent danger.

We were holding, I thought, and if we just kept going a bit longer, the battle would surely be ours. Hobbled forward, I took my place at the back of the line again, hands outstretched and ready to heal the next soldier.

✽✽✽

Five minutes later, it was all over.

We had won and, to my great delight and lasting relief, I’d managed to keep everyone alive. Sitting down on the rocky ground, I chewed through a field ration while I recuperated.

I had spent my magic lavishly in the skirmish, and my mana pool was down to a quarter. I grimaced. The lost mana left me more vulnerable than I liked, and I still had a long day ahead, but I wasn’t about to complain.

I had gotten off lightly.

Things could have turned out much worse. It was a miracle no one had died. If they had, it would’ve been my fault. In hindsight, I realized deciding to attack the fire maggots without even conducting the most basic test of their abilities had been rash.

I had been in a hurry, overconfident, and too sure of my power. And in the process, I endangered the lives of Giselle and her soldiers. I swallowed bitterly.

What hurt even worse was that I had behaved in precisely the manner Tara had said I would. Her predictions had been accurate.

I was reckless.

Letting my head hang, I sighed. When would I learn? The soldiers’ lives were not mine to spend. You have to do better, Jamie. Or one day, you won’t be so lucky anymore.

A shadow felt over me. I looked up to find Giselle standing before me, her face expressionless.

“Why the long face?” the sergeant asked.

“I took a foolish risk,” I admitted.

The big woman nodded. “You did,” she said, “and I won’t lie, at the beginning of the battle, I could’ve about strangled you. I thought we were all about to die.” She sat down beside me and squeezed my shoulder. “But you kept that from happening. Thanks to you, all my people are still alive.”

I stared at her for a moment, uncertain how serious she was being. From her solemn face, she wasn’t joking. “It could have turned out very differently,” I protested.

I wasn’t sure why I was arguing with her. She was excusing my behavior after all. But at heart, I knew my actions were indefensible.

Giselle shrugged. “It could’ve,” she agreed. “But it didn’t.” She held my gaze. “Results matter, Jamie. And whatever else anyone may say about you, you get the job done.” She grinned. “Now shut up and enjoy the victory.”

I ducked my head, reluctantly ceding the point. A moment later, I jerked it back up as the rest of what she said penetrated. “Wait, what do you mean, ‘what they say about me?’”

A merry laugh was the sergeant’s only response.

Staring at her deadpan expression, I knew she wasn’t going to answer me. With another sigh, I let the matter go, and we fell into a companionable silence.

“How is the queen doing?” I asked finally.

Giselle chuckled. “I’m no expert in spiders, but I’d swear the young lady is prancing in delight over our triumph.”

I glanced over at the cave mouth. The creature still hovered over her kills. Two of the queen’s forelegs waved in the air, and the other six moved about in an elaborate pattern that still somehow managed to keep her stationery. I smiled.

The sergeant was right. It did look like the spider was dancing. Reaching out with my will, I cast analyze on the queen.

The target is a level 23 young brown spider queen.

“Well, well,” I murmured.

The sergeant glanced at me questioningly.

“The queen gained three levels from the battle,” I said. I knew many of the soldiers had likewise advanced during the battle, and I myself had gained a level too.

“Yeah, I saw that,” Giselle said, scratching the back of her head. “But I’ve no idea what to make of it.” She studied my face. “From your expression, I take it that it is a good thing?”

I laughed. “Oh, it’s a very good thing, sergeant. It means our new queen can be trained. If we can get her to the level of her predecessor, I believe she will become a real force to be reckoned with.”

Giselle frowned in confusion.

“Imagine something like the murluk chieftain fighting on the side of Sierra,” I explained.

The sergeant’s eyes widened in understanding. “You think she could get that strong?”

I nodded. “Stronger even.” I rose to my feet. I was done moping, and it was time to move on.

But I had a few things to take care of first.

✽✽✽

My first order of business was inspecting the fire maggot corpses. Using the end of my staff, I carefully sifted through the creatures’ entrails. Most still glowed like dull embers.

After a few minutes of careful study, I received the expected Trials message.

You have uncovered a fire maggot’s Trait: Magma Blood. Your skill in anatomy has advanced to level 8.

With that done, I searched out the two scouts. “Martin, Yana, can I speak to you for a second?”

The pair, who were exploring the inside of the cave, turned around at my approach.

“What can we do for you?” Martin asked as I drew up alongside them.

“Were you two the ones that found the dungeon hereabouts?”

Martin shook his head. “No, that was Lora’s squad.”

“Oh,” I said, my shoulders sagging in disappointment.

“Why do you ask?” Yana inquired.

“I intend on heading that way and was hoping you two could direct me.”

“Oh, we can still do that,” Martin replied. “Lora passed on the information. The dungeon is in a valley northeast of here. You will have to venture into the mountains’ lower ranges to reach it.” He glanced doubtfully at my foot. “You won’t get there today, though. Best if you set out tomorrow.”

Yana nodded. “We can show you the way in the morning.”

I shook my head. “I can’t afford the delay.”

Yana stared at me. “You mean to set out immediately?”

I nodded.

“That’s insane!” Martin exclaimed. “You will have to camp overnight in the foothills. No one has survived that yet. You sure you want to do that?”

“I am,” I said grimly. “Give me the directions, please.”

The scouts exchanged glances, then Martin shrugged. “On your head be it then,” he said and proceeded to tell me what I wanted to know.

“Thank you,” I said when he was done. Leaving the pair, I returned to Giselle. She was directing the soldiers as they dissected and packed away pieces of the maggots.

“You’re looting the corpses?” I asked.

“Yeah,” the sergeant replied. “The maggots’ body parts are highly combustible. If nothing else, they will make for good fire starters.”

I nodded. It was a good idea. “I’m leaving,” I said.

Giselle turned to face me. “To the dungeon?”

“Yes, the scouts have told me how to get there.”

A troubled look flitted over the sergeant’s face. “You should wait for morning.”

I didn’t say anything, and the sergeant sighed. “Travelling overnight is dangerous, but you know that already. I can see you’ve made up your mind already, so I won’t try convincing you otherwise.” Her gaze flitted to the spider queen. “I wonder though… have you considered taking her along?”

I hesitated. I had considered the idea but had eventually decided against taking the queen to the dungeon. I didn’t know what would happen if the queen died. Would the village lose the lair? Or would a new queen arrive? Not understanding the implications, I couldn’t risk the spider in the dungeon.

A battle against a few maggots was one thing; a dungeon was another matter entirely. The creature champion was too precious a resource to jeopardize so. If—no, when—I cleared the dungeon, and we better understood its dangers, then the queen could be more safely trained using the dungeon.

“Thanks for the suggestion, but it’s too risky,” I said.

Despite making the offer, Giselle looked relieved that I had declined. “Well then, Mage Jamie, I guess this is goodbye.” She stuck out her hand. “Good luck.”

I took her hand and shook it. “You too, sergeant,” I said, then swung away to resume my journey.

✽✽✽

After leaving the others behind, I headed east and let myself drift slowly northwards. According to Martin and Yana, the dungeon was in one of the mountain range’s southern valleys.

Martin had suggested that I undertake as much of the journey as I could while in the foothills. Hiking across the mountain slopes would be much harder to manage. The advice was sound—especially for me—and I followed it happily.

As I walked, I kept a watchful eye on the surrounding hills. Notwithstanding my low reserve of mana, I was confident about my ability to handle any threats that appeared. I had yet to use invincible today, and between it and dragonfire I was sure I would be fine.

But the encounter with the maggots had gone some way to unsettling my confidence. So far, my magical studies had been almost solely in the Discipline of dragon magic. That, I was now beginning to realize, had been shortsighted.

I needed more versatility.

But achieving that was harder than it sounded.

The unhappy truth was that there weren’t many offensive spells available to low-ranked players in any of the other schools of magic. Worse yet, I knew from my time studying the wiki that of the few traditional spells I could conceivably learn, all were touch-based castings.

I had long suspected that ranged spells were beyond the ability of fledgling mages, and the lore the Trials had granted me after I created the fire ray spell had only confirmed this. Reaching to the core within me, I recalled the lore note and studied its exact wording again.

…Simple touch-based spells are not fully realized in the world and only exist while their spellforms remain connected to their caster’s mana pool.

Projectile spells are different and ordinarily are too complex to be cast by novice mages. Their spellforms must be tied off so that the casting can exist even when disconnected from the caster…

I sighed. Projectile spells were what I craved, but they still seemed achingly beyond my reach. I had been fortunate indeed with fire ray.

There was no doubt dragon magic was different from the other schools of magic. It was perhaps this uniqueness that had allowed me to modify the touch-based spell flare and create a ranged variant. And while fire ray was not a genuine projectile spell, it was close enough.

I suspected, though, I would not be able to repeat the same feat with spells from the traditional magic Disciplines. All the other magic schools had been extensively studied. By now, every possible variant had surely been discovered and documented, at least at the low ranks. I was certain that if a ranged variant of a traditional spell existed for novice mages, it would have been listed in the Trials Infopedia.

Still, I wouldn’t let the knowledge stop me from trying to spellcraft one. Who knows, perhaps, I’ll discover a traditional spell that no one else has yet managed in the many eons of the Trials. I snorted at the ridiculousness of the idea. Fat chance.

Chances were that until I became a Seasoned player, I wouldn’t be flinging around traditional magics with ease. Dragon magic was a whole other matter, and it was anyone’s guess what was possible with it. Still, I could see a few ways to successfully employ touch-based traditional spells in combat with my wizard’s staff, and I chewed over my options.

Tonight, I will experiment further with my magic, I decided. I returned my attention to the surroundings. But for now, I had to cover as much ground as I could.