A quick stop at a leatherworker got Cassandra a sheathe and hanger for her rapier, which she immediately strapped to her side, and David a hanger for his new axe. Then it was off to lunch at a fancy restaurant. While they ate, Duncan quizzed his roommates about their dungeon preparedness. “So you all have adequate gear for a dungeon run of an appropriate level now?” All three nodded. “And you’ve got Techniques to carry you through?”

Cassandra and Amelia nodded confidently, but David looked despondent. “My Techniques are aimed at campaigning with troops or sailors. I don’t have much in the way of specific combat Techniques.” He shared his soulgem information with them.

Name:

David Taggart

Class:

Mage

Level:

23

Profession:

Str (Body):

42

Int (Static):

60

Dex (Body):

42

Wis (Mind, Spirit):

55

Agi (Body):

44

End (Body):

46

Concurrent Active Techniques:

1

Health:

2759

Health Regen:

144/hour

Stamina:

690

Stam Regen:

1438/hour

Mana:

5175

Mana Regen:

2013/hour

Affinities:

Body

Weak

Ice

Weak

Water

Strong

Decay

Moderate

Corrosion

Weak

Spirit

Weak

Mind

Moderate

Techniques

Active

Rank

Passive

Rank

Water Wings

4

Water Sense

4

Touch of Rot

4

Ignore Pain

2

Purify Water

4

Whirlpool

2

Rainfall

2

Skills

Rank

1H swords

2

Riding

3

1H axes

2

Sailing

4

Leather Armor

2

Navigation

3

Swimming

4

Shields

1

Leadership

2

Tactics

2

“If I were you, I’d use the two Technique stones you’re holding,” said Duncan. “You’ve got no defensive power, and no ranged attack. Also, take the Regeneration passive. Even with a weak affinity, you can get it to rank four, and that will really help your recovery after a fight. And there’s a Decay Technique that summons a cloud of gas that decays everything in it. It’s quite strong. That said, by all means wait for your advisor’s advice.”

He paused, then said, “Am I being too pushy in encouraging you guys to delve to gain strength? I know the Academy is a finishing school for leaders rather than a school to produce adventurers.”

“It feels a bit weird after you’ve essentially avoided us for two months,” said Amelia. “And now you’re giving us gear and wanting to escort us through a dungeon.”

Duncan shrugged. “That’s a valid viewpoint. From my perspective, you’ve been trying to be nice to me, and I’ve been pretty indifferent, so I decided to try to be nice back. You’ve taken me shopping, which is your idea of fun, maybe? So I’m offering to take you delving, which is my idea of fun.”

“You are a strange man, Duncan of the Valley,” said Cassandra. “We should go to our fittings now.” What did I do to deserve this torture?

They paid for lunch and entered the carriage Cassandra had waiting for them outside the restaurant to take them to the tailor. As they rattled down the street, Duncan tried to listen politely to the conversation the others were having. The carriage came to a stop, and the driver jumped down to talk to Cassandra. “I’m sorry, Countess, but I can’t proceed any further. There seems to be a large commotion ahead. The road’s completely blocked by people running towards us.”

Duncan stuck his head out and sure enough, there were hundreds of people in the road rushing towards them. That’s not normal. He stepped out of the carriage and equipped his armor and weapons. As the crowd surged past, he could hear people screaming about monsters. He stuck his head back into the carriage and said, “I’m going to investigate. I suggest you prepare for trouble, or head back to the Academy. There’s no way he’s turning the carriage around, though, so you’ll need to abandon it.”

The screaming from outside grew more intense. “Take me with you,” said Amelia. “I want to help if I can.” Metal armor grew out of her skin and she summoned her sword from her storage. Ok, that’s a neat armor Technique!

Cassandra nodded and equipped her armor and new rapier. “We can’t run away.”

David sighed, and said, “I’ll come but I don’t know how much help I’ll be.” He pulled his new armor pieces and axe out of his new storage ring and equipped it.

They stepped out into the press of people. The runners were looking more ragged. Several people had fallen and been trampled. Duncan stepped onto a sword, grabbed David and Amelia by the waists and rose above the crowd, heading in the direction they were fleeing from. Cassandra flew alongside him. In only a few minutes they reached the trailing edge of the crowd.

Bells rang out ahead, and the alarm was picked up by more and more bells all over the city. “What’s that for?” Duncan asked.

“It’s the emergency alarm, calling the militia and guards out and warning everyone else to take cover,” said Amelia. “Something big is happening.”

A few blocks later, they saw the cause of the alarm. Hundreds of zombies were swarming down the streets. Duncan cast a Bladestorm that completely blocked the road and chewed up dozens of the monsters. “I’m going to look for the source,” he said. “Do you want me to drop you here to fight these, or do you want to come along?”

“We’re with you,” said Cassandra.

They flew over the horde of zombies, then Amelia said, “It’s the graveyard! They’re coming from the city’s graveyard.” She pointed, and Duncan picked up speed.

“Wait!” shouted David. “Over there, a guard post is being overrun.” They could see several guards fighting to hold off more than a score of zombies led by some undead warriors and mages. Duncan dropped a Bladestorm on the monsters and kept going. It shredded the zombies and greater undead alike.

They came to the graveyard, and saw the entrance guarded by some more dangerous undead. Zombies were running out in groups of a dozen or so, but there were two tall skeletons wielding halberds guarding the entrance. “Let’s test these, see what we’re dealing with. I’ll take the left, you three take the right? I’ll help if it’s scarier than it looks.”

He dropped Amelia and David off ten meters from the entrance and Blinked to the skeleton guard on the left. He smashed his sword into its leg and bone chips flew but the joint held. It snapped its halberd down in a diagonal cut at his head, and he blocked with his shield and countered with a cut to its ribs, shattering one. “They’re quite strong!” he shouted. “Be careful.” He stored his metal sword and summoned his spirit sword, idly blocking the monster’s next halberd attack with his shield – except it disengaged under his block and smashed the blade into his knee. Shit, that was careless. Am I showing off? His knee buckled a bit under the blow, but his armor and hardened skin held.

The second skeleton smashed an overhead blow at Amelia, and she blocked with a hanging parry. The halberd slid off her sword and shattered a paving stone. Her counter blow to the skeleton’s arm barely chipped the bone. David struck it with his axe, and a creepy green miasma radiated from where his blade impacted the skeleton. Cassandra sent a Wind Blade through the zombies coming out of the gate, cutting several apart.

Duncan swept his Spirit Sword through the skeleton and was pleased to see its health drop noticeably in his assessment. It was still in “barely wounded” territory though. The skeleton tried to parry his sword, but its spirit blade passed through the weapon as easily as it did the bones. I may not be able to parry with this sword, but I can’t be parried, either.

The second skeleton kicked David in the chest, knocking him back five meters and sending him tumbling. Shit, I hope that didn’t kill him! He’s very fragile. Duncan Blinked to appear in front of the second skeleton and swept his sword through it. I have no means of gaining or holding their attention; I’m not a protector. This is why I delve alone. Well, that and I have no one to delve with.

The skeleton swept its halberd with the blade at ankle height. If Duncan leapt over it, it would hit Amelia, so he took the hit and countered with another slash through the monster’s ribcage. His feet were swept out from under him – he might be strong, but so was the skeleton, and his strength didn’t translate to much extra weight. As he fell, he Blinked behind the skeleton, re-orienting himself to land on his feet. A third swing of his sword and the monster was wounded rather than barely wounded. I could take these comfortably if I didn’t have to worry about them killing my companions. The skeleton’s swing had continued after it swept Duncan’s feet from under him and had done the same to Amelia. It appeared that her metal armor had withstood the impact, but she was knocked down in front of it.

The first skeleton had closed the distance between them and thrust at Duncan’s side as it approached. He blocked the attack with his shield and could only watch as the second skeleton brought its halberd down on the prone form of Amelia. She blocked frantically with her longsword and used some sort of Technique that helped her direct the halberd head offline, so it missed her by a few centimeters. She scrambled back as Cassandra hit the monster with a Wind Blade.

Duncan stepped between the second skeleton and Amelia, hitting it again. That put his sword side to the first skeleton, but it couldn’t be helped. It swung at him, and he used a fold in space to block the attack. At rank five, he could form the folds almost instantly near his body. He pressured the second skeleton, using his shield to steal the momentum from every move the skeleton made with its weapon. He used folds in space to block the attacks from the first skeleton but focused his attacks on the second.

Cassandra and Amelia also kept their focus on the second skeleton, and together they whittled it down. The first skeleton continued to attack Duncan, and he threw an occasional attack at it when his positioning allowed. He also used his Bladestorm to wipe out groups of zombies from time to time as they made their way out of the gates. David didn’t move from where he’d fallen, and Duncan feared the worst. Once the second skeleton finally fell to pieces, they turned their attention to the remaining one and it was easily taken down as well with Duncan smothering its attacks. These things are strong and sturdy, but they have no Techniques.

David was still lying where he’d fallen. Cassandra checked him the moment the skeletons fell, and shouted, “He’s alive. We’ve got to get him to a healer.” For a moment, Duncan wished he had a healing Technique that wasn’t self-only. But that would only make sense if I were regularly operating with a group, and I simply don’t do that often. He scooped up David’s body, and said, “Where do I find a healer?”

“There are a few healing orders with facilities in the city, but they may be overwhelmed. Getting him to the College of Healing is probably the best bet, and I know where that is,” said Cassandra. “Follow me.” She flew up and hovered as Duncan adjusted his hold on David to free up one hand for Amelia. We’ve gotta get her a flying Technique.

“Two more ranks in my Manipulate Metal Technique and I’ll be able to lift myself by my armor,” Amelia said, almost as though she’d read his mind.

Duncan followed Cassandra through the air to the College of Healing. No one’s complaining about us flying, at least. They landed in the courtyard, and a young Level 18 Healer ran up to them. He used a healing technique on David without having to be asked.

“You two stay with David and help guard the college. I’m going to go clear out whatever’s occupying that graveyard. Maybe that’ll stop the zombies,” Duncan said. He didn’t wait for a reply; he flew back to the graveyard at top speed. He flew over occasional pockets of fighting but didn’t stop as the zombies were decrepit and incredibly weak. The guards should be able to take them easily. Hells, a shopkeeper with a broom should be able to take them easily.

The graveyard was large. It had probably been quite pretty before thousands of zombies clawed their way out of their graves and invaded the rest of the city. Now it was fields of broken ground with several dozen mausoleums scattered throughout. It’s like an open-air dungeon. Do I fly straight to the boss in the big masoleum in the middle or do I learn all about the lesser monsters first? It makes more sense to learn what I can before diving right in, I think. I’ll check out at least a couple of the smaller mausoleums first.

Duncan dropped to the ground in front of the nearest mausoleum and entered through the already-opened door. Several steps led down into a chamber which contained perhaps fifty small drawers where presumably less-important family members had been interred. Those were all broken open and empty. There was also an additional set of stairs leading down into an additional chamber below. Duncan took the stairs and found a much larger room with several dozen alcoves in it, each containing an open coffin. Yet more stairs led down at the far end of the room.

The new set of stairs led to an even bigger chamber containing an ornate shrine and two large biers. The room was as empty as the others had been. A small doorway in the far corner was the only other exit. Duncan moved to the doorway and saw a tunnel leading off into the distance. There was enough light for Duncan’s shadow sight technique to function well, as a dim enchanted light was embedded in the ceiling every twenty meters or so. Catacombs? This place really could be a dungeon.

He set out into the catacombs looking for any signs of activity or monsters. It didn’t take him long to run into a guard – another one of the skeletons like the two outside the gate. This one had a sword and shield instead of a halberd, which would doubtless have been awkward to wield in the cramped tunnels. Without companions to protect, Duncan had no difficulty with it, blocking its attacks with his shield or folds in space, and sweeping his spirit sword right through its shield and into its body. After it died, he stored its intact corpse in a storage device. Maybe they’ll tell me what this is in Monster Identification class…

He encountered several more of what he was later told were bone guardians, storing their gear and bodies for later examination. He found another mausoleum and exit to the surface, but that wasn’t what he wanted, so he returned to the catacombs and kept exploring. After an indeterminate length of time, he heard chanting from a chamber ahead. Entering, he saw two skeletons in ornamented plate armor (bone knights, he’d later learn), and an undead with leathery flesh wielding a large staff, chanting over a pile of dead bodies in various stages of decay. A deep red glow was rising from the pile, and the corpses were starting to move.

The two bone knights immediately rushed to attack Duncan while the undead animator (as he’d later learn it was called) continued to chant. Duncan Blinked past the onrushing knights and swept his spirit sword through the animator. The blade and its echoes did no visible damage, but Duncan’s Assessment Technique showed he’d done significant harm to the monster. He had time to land two more swings before the bone knights recovered from their initial charge and engaged him. They attacked in a coordinated fashion, flanking him, one swinging high on Duncan’s sword side, the other low to his shield side.

Duncan crouched to block the low attack with his shield, nullifying the blow’s momentum. At the same time, he produced a fold in space to block the attack sword-side. He took a fourth swing at the animator instead of countering either bone knight. An intense red light rose from the pile of corpses, and they began clambering to their feet.

The bone knights attacked again, both moving more quickly than Duncan had expected. He was able to block the shield-side attack but couldn’t generate a fold in space in time to prevent the other sword from clipping his helm. His head was snapped to the side by the force of the blow, and his helm couldn’t protect him fully. The blade made contact with his skull, and his head rang. He didn’t bleed, thanks to his Coagulation Technique, and the bone didn’t crack. But a black cloud began to encroach on the edge of his vision.

Duncan Blinked away and used his Bladestorm Technique to shred the pile of zombies. The animator and bone knights were also struck, but the bone knights’ armor resisted the effects of the low-ranked Technique. The animator, already badly wounded from Duncan’s earlier attacks, looked to be on the verge of death as it stumbled out of the area of effect.

Duncan’s Assessment Technique told him he was affected by an affliction called Impending Doom. He took a moment to remove the affliction, then, as the bone knights reached him, he Blinked past them back to the animator and finished it off with another sweep of his spirit sword. He stored the corpse and engaged the oncoming knights.

A Mind Spike injured and briefly stunned one of the knights, to Duncan’s surprise. So they are thinking creatures, not just mindless undead. Ghostly chains erupted around him, fastening him to the ground and sending an ominous chill through him as they drained his life. He Blinked out of the chains, appearing behind the knight he’d briefly stunned, and cut through it with his spirit sword and its echoes. It appeared slightly wounded to his assessment, and Duncan settled in for a battle of attrition. The bone knights were very fast with their swords, and he was hard pressed to consistently block their attacks. His new Blade Sense helped with understanding where he needed to place his folds in space to block attacks, but the bone knights were so fast that his new Technique struggled to keep up.

Still, he could remove the impending doom affliction, blink out of the draining chains, and heal the damage done by the attacks that got through his stout defense, and he wore the bone knights down. He stored their gear and corpses and took a short rest to recover his mana fully.

The large room appeared to contain hundreds of burial nooks, doubtless where the corpses had come from. There were three other exits, and Duncan chose the one at the opposite end from where he’d entered. It was slightly wider than the rest of the catacomb tunnels had been, and soon opened into another burial chamber. This one had already been emptied of its corpses, so he proceeded on, through several more empty chambers, until he came to an occupied room. Two more Bone Knights stood protecting a doorway on the other side.

A quick repeat of the previous fight, and Duncan stored the corpses and moved on, until he came upon an enormous crypt. In it, he saw six three-meter-tall bone monstrosities, each with four arms and four large weapons, plus eight bone knights and an undead mage seated on a bone throne addressing three undead animators.

As soon as Duncan appeared in the doorway, two of the huge bone monstrosities rushed toward him along with two of the bone knights. The mage on the throne gestured and an inky black beam spanned the distance between it and Duncan. The pain was unbearable. Duncan Blinked straight up as far as he could. He appeared well above the graveyard, and promptly summoned a sword to fly on. He checked his soulgem and saw that that single attack from the mage on the throne had taken three quarters of his health. It did fifteen thousand damage to me with a single attack. That is insane.

He used half his mana to heal himself with Destrin’s Restoration, then flew back to the College of Healers where he’d left his roommates. On the way, he stopped to help a small troop of city guards who were surrounded by a vast horde of zombies and a few undead warriors and mages. He hovered directly above the guards and cast several Bladestorm techniques that utterly shredded the tightly packed undead. “Do you have anyone in dire need of healing? I’m flying to the College of Healers now and can carry a couple of people, if need be,” he called down to the guards.

“We’re ok,” shouted a grizzled guard. “They had us pinned down but couldn’t really do a lot to us. Thanks for the assistance. What’s your name, Warrior?”

“Duncan of the Valley. I’m from the Academy of Steel. The zombies seem to be coming from the graveyard, but there are some seriously nasty undead roaming around in there.” Duncan waved at the troops and continued on toward the College of Healing. He had to stop twice more to rescue civilians from smaller hordes of undead and arrived at the College carrying two wounded guardsmen who’d been part of a patrol overrun by a group of zombies with four undead mages.

There was a small tent city in the grassy courtyard at the center of the college that seemed to be a field hospital. Duncan landed in an open space, and a healer immediately rushed over to stabilize his two passengers. “I’m looking for Cassandra York and Amelia Daughtry. I left them here a few hours ago to help out,” he said to the healer, who looked like he needed a rest.

“Check at the administration office,” the healer said, pointing to a tall section of the college to the East.

“Thanks!” Duncan flew just over the height of the tents to get to the building, then stowed his sword and entered. A frazzled young man said, “How can I help you, Warrior?”

“I left Cassandra York and Amelia Daughtry here a few hours ago along with a wounded man. Do you know where I can find them?”

“Their ladyships are in the courtyard helping with the wounded. I can’t be more specific than that.”

“Thanks!” Duncan turned and left, then resummoned his sword and flew around over the tents until he saw Cassandra and Amelia at a tent with a short plump Level 61 Healer. He landed nearby and approached.

“Duncan! You’re back!” said Amelia.

“How’s David?” he asked?

“He’s fine. His pride’s still wounded, but that’s it. We got here early enough that the healers had plenty of mana to heal him up. Now, they’re just stabilizing the wounded; they’ll heal them fully once the emergency is over,” Amelia explained.

“Do either of you know how I can talk to someone in charge of the response? I found the source of the zombies, but I am nowhere near strong enough to take out the undead mage in charge in there, and it had a lot of strong guards,” said Duncan.

“The Duke of Lanport will be directing the response from the Citadel,” said Cassandra. “You won’t get in there alone, but I can get you in.” She turned to the plump healer. “With your permission, Lady Heatherstone, I’ll depart for a while.”

“Go on, girl,” the healer said, “It sounds like you can be more useful in the Citadel.”

Great white wings exploded from Cassandra’s back, and she leapt into the sky. Duncan followed a moment later on a sword. She led him towards the harbor and landed in front of a large stone castle that overlooked both the city and the harbor. As Duncan landed beside her, she stored her bloodstained clothes and equipped a formal dress in her house colors and a coronet. She kept the rapier Duncan had given her on a hanger from her belt. “I have to ensure they’ll recognize me to grant us entry,” she explained.

Duncan nodded, leaving his armor equipped. Cassandra stepped up to the door, and it swung open as she approached. A liveried guard bowed to her, “Countess, how can we help you today?”

“I need to speak with his Grace at once regarding the source of the undead invasion,” she said.

“He’s in the war room. Follow me, if you would.” The guard turned and led the way into the citadel. The building was ornately furnished and decorated with a lot of statues and paintings of stern looking men in military garb. After a few minutes, they arrived at a pair of large wooden doors reinforced with metal bands. Two guards in fine mail with halberds guarded the door. They eyed Duncan warily, but he was clearly with Cassandra, and they thumped on the door twice, then opened it for her.

Inside, a distinguished looking man (a Level 104 Warrior) with a neatly trimmed beard and moustache was standing at the head of a large table. Around it were several men and women in military uniforms, plus Eric Dalgleish (a Level 102 126 Warrior), head of the Academy of Steel, an imposing woman in deep purple robes (a Level 96 Mage), and a motherly looking woman (a Level 106 Healer). On the table was a detailed map of the city and its immediate environs. Tiny models of guard units and zombie hordes were depicted throughout the city.

“Cassandra, what brings you here on this most inauspicious of days?” the bearded man asked.

“Remi, my friend here has important information about the source of the undead.” Cassandra replied.

“Speak up then, Warrior. Who are you and what information do you have for us?” the Duke said.

Duncan dismissed his helmet and replied, “I’m Duncan of the Valley, a student at the Academy of Steel. The undead are based two hundred meters under the city graveyard, in the catacombs. They have been raising all the dead in the graveyard and sending them into the city. I fought my way to their leader but was driven off immediately. It’s an immensely strong undead mage.”

“Pfft. We cannot trust the word of a baby-faced youth, no matter how inflated his level may be,” said one of the military men, a Level 60 Warrior.

“Commander,” interjected Eric, “I know Duncan, and in a fight between him and anyone else in this room, my money would be on him. He clears the Sawiskin dungeon on his own for relaxation.”

I didn’t know he knew that, Duncan thought.

“Go on, lad,” said the Duke. “What else can you tell us?”

“The outer layer of guards are these things, roaming in pairs on the surface, and alone in the catacombs,” Duncan said, producing a corpse.

“Bone Guardians,” said the mage in purple. “Level eighty equivalent.”

“Beyond them, these things stand guard in pairs.” Duncan produced another corpse, one of the armored skeletons.

“Bone Knight, level one hundred equivalent,” said the mage.

“These things,” Duncan produced an animator corpse, “are roaming around with bone knight protectors raising the dead in the catacombs and mausoleums. Most of the dead seem to become weak zombies.”

“Undead Animator, level ninety equivalent.”

“In the central chamber, I saw eight bone knights, three undead animators, six three-meter-tall humanoid bone monstrosities with four arms each, and an undead mage sitting on a throne made of bone. The mage hit me with a beam of darkness that did over fifteen thousand damage to me in an instant. I fled immediately. I am extremely hard to kill, but I suspect that thing could have managed it pretty easily.”

Eric whistled. “I don’t know what we’ve got locally that can take out something like that.”

Duncan stored the corpses again. “I killed a dozen or so bone guardians, four bone knights, and one animator, but I don’t know how many more are in the catacombs with that mage.”

“The evidence the boy produced is compelling,” said the mage in purple. “The presence of undead animators explains the sudden appearance of so many zombies and lesser undead. And there’s clearly at least one animator, since he showed us the corpse. I don’t know what explains the appearance of the greater undead though.”

There was a knock at the door, and it opened to admit a Level 84 Mage. “Ah,” said the Duke, “Michel. So good of you to join us.”

“Apologies, your Grace. The guild communication channels have been flooded with requests for help. Every city in the empire, and all the nations we have contact with are reporting undead incursions. There’s an army of a hundred thousand undead marching on Harrish, in addition to the incursion within the walls there,” the newcomer said.

Duncan knew from his Geography class that Harrish was the capital of the empire, a huge city to the North. Pelleas said the undead stirring was related to the powerful beings who arrived from another world. I guess this is their first big move. I’m not ready to face them!

Everyone in the room stared at the newcomer in horror. “What news from York?” Cassandra demanded.

“The same, my lady. An undead incursion in the city.”

“Very well,” said the Duke. “No outside help is forthcoming. We will have to take care of Lanport ourselves. Michel, post a job to your job board. I am paying ten gold for each body of a greater undead your adventurers turn in. Bone guardians and up.” He turned to Duncan, “Would that whet your appetite, young adventurer?”

“I get all the gold I need from dungeons, your Grace,” said Duncan. “I will kill the undead because they need to be killed. The gold is nice, but not motivation for me. I understand that I’m a bit unusual, though. Ordinary adventurers may leap at the offer. I don’t know.”

There was another knock at the door, and a page was admitted. The youth said, “Sir, report from first precinct, sir. There are high level undead roaming around raising all the corpses in the city. They slew the patrols we sent to stop them and raised them as undead, sir.”

“Thank you, son. Dismissed,” said the Duke, and the page left.

“By your leave, your Grace, I’ve provided the information I have. I am capable of wiping out the animators and their escorts, and with your permission I’ll go start that now,” said Duncan.

“Thank you, Duncan. Dismissed,” the Duke replied, and Duncan Blinked straight up, then activated his flying sword, and began patrolling the city, looking for undead animators and other high level undead.