382 days until the Arkon Shield falls

1 day, 23 hours until Dungeon Purge

Jan Lin,

Your report on the human has me intrigued. Instruct our spies to dig deeper and find out the source of Orgtul’s interest. Keep me apprised of any further developments. —Queen Ionia Amyla.

I woke up hours later with my pools of energy restored. Sleeping on the hard stone ground and amidst the wind and rain had not been comfortable, and for a time, I had believed I would never manage the feat but eventually, I dozed off.

The day had taken a more brutal toll on me than I’d thought. My sleep had been undisturbed, and nothing had triggered the life monitor ward I had placed over the steps.

I glanced up at the sky. It was still raining, but the green sky had lightened somewhat, its only concession to the new day. I rose to my feet and, turning my gaze inwards, queried my core.

Time remaining before the Primal Keep is purged: 1 day and 23 hours.

I had nearly two days left. I hobbled down the steps; it was time to enter the Keep.

✽✽✽

The double wooden doors were unlocked.

Bracing myself against the Keep’s outer wall, I summoned a magma buckler into existence but left my wizard staff strapped across my back.

Alert and ready, I pushed lightly on one of the doors. The hinges had been well-oiled, and the door swung open a touch. Moving with care, I peeked through the narrow slit.

It was dark and unlit inside. Drawing on my magic, I poured mana into my eyes and cast night vision. The concealing shadows disappeared, revealing an entry chamber. The little I could see of it was empty.

I edged the door open further and, craning my neck, peered through.

The room was long and narrow. A grey woolen carpet ran the room’s length to a studded metal door at the far end. There were no other furnishings in the chamber, nor were there any hostiles in sight. I swept my gaze over the area again to be certain. It looks—

Out of the corner of my eye, I spied motion.

I stiffened and managed—barely—to stifle the impulse to jerk back my head. Quick movements would only attract attention.

Whatever I’d spotted was near the studded metal door. Staying unmoving, I waited. A heartbeat passed. Then another. And still, the creature didn’t react to my presence.

Sure now that I remained unseen, I turned my head minutely and took a second, longer look at the room’s far end.

Nothing was there.

I blinked, startled. I was sure I’d seen something move near the door. Where has it—

I sensed movement again.

It had originated from the same spot, and this time I’d been looking at it head-on. A moment later, the half-glimpsed shape vanished.

My brows furrowed. There was something there. I was sure of it. Narrowing my eyes, I studied the area anew.

Nothing.

I didn’t believe my eyes this time. Opening my magesight, I looked again.

Two chaotic swirls of spirit snapped into focus. Ah. Something was there. Two somethings.

The pair were located on either side of the door, and from what I could divine from their spirit signatures, they were willowy and stick-thin. More disturbing, the creatures’ feet—if they even had feet—did not touch the ground.

They’re floating.

The entities were either cloaked behind a veil or almost entirely made of… air, fast-moving currents that were only visible from the dust and debris they caused to swirl around them. Leaving my magesight open, I reached out with my will and analyzed one of the hidden enemies.

The target is a level 54 lesser wind elemental. It is gifted with Magic, has low Resilience, and has neither Might nor Craft.

So. A wind elemental.

I found that fact unsurprising. Given the foes I had already encountered, it was clear the Keep had a strong elemental contingent. What did confuse me, though, was the creature’s Potentials.

They were in the strangest configuration I’d yet encountered and almost a match for its odd appearance—or lack thereof.

No Might? I mused. How was that even possible? Might encompassed nearly all the bodily Attributes: strength, agility, perception, and vigor—everything needed to effect physical attacks. No Might meant… no physical attacks.

It’s a creature of almost pure spirit.

But only almost. The wind elemental had some Resilience, which was a relief. The creature had a body—even if it was nearly imperceptible—and therefore, it could be killed. The elemental’s Resilience was as low as a roc’s too, which meant its health pool would be negligible.

Easy kills, then.

So why was I uneasy? That was simple enough to divine. It was the creatures’ magic. While the two wind elementals were physically weak, their magic was many times stronger than the other elementals I’d encountered so far.

I licked my lips. And magic was nothing, if not unpredictable. Who knew what unseen tricks the pair had? Still, I had the advantage of surprise. The elementals were unaware of my presence, and it would take only a few good hits to put down the elementals.

It was decision time.

I had two options. Enter the hall and initiate the encounter, or draw the elementals into the bailey and fight them there. But given that the wind elementals appeared to be flying creatures, fighting them outside would only give the two a considerable altitude advantage.

Better to face them inside.

Moving with deliberate care, I crept into the room and soundlessly slid the door shut behind me. I kept my magesight open to watch my foes, but they still didn’t react to my presence.

Crouching down, I reached over my back and pulled out my staff. I stuck out the magma buckler in front of me and braced the Focus against it, keeping its point fixed on the elemental on the right. Here goes.

Weaving mana and lifeblood together into a fire ray, I threw a beam of dragonfire across the room. The jet of flames clipped my target on the shoulder, and it spun about in surprise.

I swore. I had nearly missed. As it was, my opening salvo was not the best. I didn’t let it distract me, though. Keeping my attention fixed on my chosen prey, I altered my aim and hurled another fire lance at it. This time, I struck it dead center.

The elemental jerked again and shot straight upwards to huddle against the roof. Perhaps it thought to hide there, but with my magesight still open, I picked it out easily enough.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the second elemental weave strands of magic. It was casting. But I could not spare the time to disrupt whatever spell it was summoning. I had to kill my target before it thought to do the same. Hurrying through my own castings as fast as I could manage, I struck my foe twice more in rapid succession.

It was enough.

With shocking suddenness, the creature burst into flames before vanishing altogether. It was dead. My gaze darted sideways to search out its fellow.

It was gone.

I bit off a curse. Impossible, I thought. With my magesight opened, the wind elemental couldn’t hide its presence. Unless—

At a half-seen blur of motion on my flank, I threw myself forwards.

I was too slow.

Lightning forked through the air to strike my unprotected back, and a torrent of current surged through my body. My dive transformed into a fall, and I crashed to the ground, limbs spasming uncontrollably.

Damn, that hurts. Starkly aware that I was lying face down and defenseless, I tried to roll over, but my arms refused to obey.

What—?

I knew I’d been hurt, but not so seriously that my limbs had stopped functioning. So, why couldn’t I move? I flicked my attention inwards and queried my core for an explanation.

You have failed to resist a magical attack and have been stunned.

The blood drained from my face. I was stunned, but for how long? Even a second more was too long. If I could have, I would have activated invincible then and there, but the ability was still on cooldown and would be for hours yet. Gritting my teeth, I strained to move.

A heartbeat passed. Then another. And still, I lay helpless.

Fear coiled in me as I imagined a second lightning bolt driving into my unprotected rear, sending more coils of damaging charge coursing through me, and worse yet, stunning me anew. God, am I going to be stun-locked?

The numbness in my limbs faded.

Instantly, I flung my body into motion, rolling side over side to shift position. A split second later, the room flashed white as the wind elemental discharged a second bolt.

The attack missed, aimed at where I had been but moments ago.

I rolled onto my back, not daring to take the time to rise to my feet yet. Chest heaving, I swung my staff around to point to the floating figure I had spied on my left.

It was no longer there. Urgh, another teleporter?

I whipped my head back and forth to search for the wind elemental and spotted it just as it reappeared a few yards away on my right. A moment later, strands of magic formed about the creature. It was casting again. Realizing that another attack was imminent, I began my own spell.

In a heartbeat, I formed the spellform of fire ray in my mind. In the next, I charged the weaves and sent them racing through the intervening space towards the elemental. Its own weaves, growing more complex by the second, were still forming.

As powerful as the wind elemental’s lightning bolt spell was, it was unsurprising that its casting time was longer than my own simpler fire ray.

The beam of dragonfire struck the elemental. The creature recoiled but somehow managed to retain its concentration and keep casting.

My lips tightened. Knowing what was coming, I flung up my shield. White, crackling energy arced across the room to strike at me but found my magma buckler instead.

Heart in mouth, I waited. A heartbeat passed, but my arm didn’t grow numb, nor did torrents of charge didn’t assail my body. I breathed out in relief. The buckler had repelled the attack.

Rising to my feet, I began a second casting while from afar, I sensed the elemental do the same.

Once more, I beat the elemental to the draw, and my beam of fire raced across the room before its own lightning was fully formed. Dragonfire burnt at my foe, and it swirled in agitation. This time, the flames eating at the creature proved too much to ignore, and the weaves of its spell dissipated.

I smiled grimly. Taking a step forward, I hit the elemental with another fire ray. The creature tried to retaliate, but my attacks outpaced it, and before its own spell was half-formed, I interrupted its concentration.

The advantage was firmly with me now. Time to end this. Striding forward, I hit the elemental again. Once. Twice, and thrice more.

Then it was over.

✽✽✽

In the battle’s aftermath, the room had grown silent again, with no sounds intruding from beyond the studded metal door or from the Keep’s exterior. After tending to my injuries, I approached the site of the closer dead elemental.

There was no corpse. But as I drew nearer, I encountered a familiar bubble of strangeness. This one was not of cold but of static. Reaching out, I stuck my hand through the faint haze and watched curiously as static buzzed over my fingers.

This confirms it, I thought. All elementals leave behind fragments of themselves. Wading through the charged air, I knelt down and picked up the sliver of translucent crystal sitting on the floor.

You have acquired an elemental fragment of air. Current state: dormant.

The special properties of this item are: unknown. Your lore skill is insufficient.

I pocketed the fragment, ignoring the pins and needles it sent coursing through my hand. Then I made my way over to the second wind elemental and collected its crystal too.

With my looting done, I turned my attention to the waiting Trials messages.

You have gained in experience and are now a level 40 Trainee. Your elemental resistance has increased to level 10 and reached rank 2, Trainee.

Your skill in sneaking has advanced to level 6.

I had advanced another three levels, which was great but further confirmed that my leveling rate had decreased. If this kept up, I would soon stop gaining levels from every encounter. Still, I was pleased. Despite my other mishaps, at least in this aspect, my dungeon run was proceeding as I’d hoped.

Better than hoped, if I’m being honest.

I wasn’t in the dungeon only to gain levels, though. I was here for the dungeon’s first clearance rewards, too: bonus Traits and Feats, and for those, I needed to find and kill the guardian prime. My gaze fell on the studded door, the room’s only exit. It lies that way.

I took my time studying the door. It had a handle but no lock. Placing my ear against the cool metal surface, I listened intently for a minute.

I heard nothing, but whatever lay on the other side, I was betting it included more elementals. Setting my hand on the handle, I turned it slowly and pushed the door open a sliver.

No light shone through. The room beyond was just as dark. Leaving the door slightly ajar, I braced my back against the adjacent wall and prodded at the door with the tip of my staff.

It swung all the way open. I waited.

A full minute passed, and no attackers emerged. Judging it to be safe enough, I leaned forward and poked my head into the doorway.

The entry hall led to a narrow corridor that was about twenty yards long. There was a single open entryway on the left, another two on the right, and a set of closed gilded double doors at the far end.

To all intents, the corridor was unoccupied. And safe. I grunted, unconvinced by my own conclusion. Still, I had no choice but to move on.

Warily, I ducked into the corridor. I took a step. Paused. Another, paused again. No attacks came, and finally convinced that I was alone, I let the tension in my shoulders wash away.

Turning a slow circuit, I surveyed the corridor again. It was a crossroads of sorts, offering four different avenues of exploration. I pursed my lips as I considered the options before me.

Explore the open entrances first, I decided. Placing my back against the left wall, I slid up to the opening on its side. It was the closest one. I heard no sounds emanating from whatever lay beyond, but that didn’t mean much. I peeked around the edge.

There were no hostiles in sight. Only another stretch of empty corridor. This one was also twenty yards long and had two closed wooden doors leading from it, one on the right and left apiece. I rubbed at my chin in consideration but made no move to enter the second passage. Let’s see what lies beyond the other entrances first.

I limped across the corridor and to the first entrance on the right side. Ducking my head inside, I saw a stone staircase spiraling upwards. To the second floor, I assumed.

I stepped across the entryway and, peering into the next opening, found more steps. These, though, led downwards.

Hmm… I mused. Three closed doors and stairways leading down and up. Which to explore first?

✽✽✽

In the end, I decided to venture down first.

From my study of the Keep’s outside dimensions, I already knew the approximate size of its aboveground levels, which meant I could roughly estimate the time needed to explore the ground and first floors. However, I had no idea how deep belowground the Keep extended. Considering that the clock was ticking on my dungeon run, that was a matter of concern.

The stone steps spiraled tightly downwards, limiting my vision to only what lay a few feet ahead. Like the rest of the Keep, the staircase was unlit and contained little in the way of furnishings.

I estimated that I had descended thirty feet when the steps finally came to an end. I paused on the last step, testing the air. The stairs had opened up into a large expanse of space, a stale and musty room.

I smiled wryly. Well, Jamie, you wanted dank and dark for your dungeon. Here you go.

My amusement faded, though, when I took in the chamber’s contents. Rows of metal cages lined the left wall, and crates covered the right one. Dry, congealed blood was spattered on the floor, and stacked on the room’s multiple wooden tables were what looked like devices designed to inflict pain.

Damnation, this is a torture chamber.

My hands tightened uncomfortably around my wizard staff. Instinct urged me to flee. But I held myself in place and slowly swiveled my head from left to right. As revolting as the room’s décor was, the area was empty.

There’s no danger here, I told myself.

A groan—shockingly loud—broke the stillness.

I whipped my staff upwards and summoned dragonfire to hand while I searched for the source of the noise.

“Is someone there?” a voice whispered feebly from an unseen corner.

I froze. Somebody was here? A person? It couldn’t be. Not in a dungeon.

“Can you help me?” the speaker continued. “Please. If you’re there. If you are real. Don’t leave me. H-h-he—help me. I beg you, don’t…”

The voice faded into silence. I lowered my staff uncertainly.

What in hells was I supposed to do now?