The four of us looked down at the pile of loot curiously. I wasn’t feeling very elated by the picking either. For the boss of a secret dungeon it was pretty awful in a lot of ways. A simple iron circlet lay on the floor where the boss had fallen, along with a one of its skeletal hands. I picked up the hand between two fingertips as if it was something disgusting and inspected it with a gimlet eye.

The King’s Hand

Magical [Boss]The right hand of Vizier Farzin. Once the closest adviser to the Mahajan, Farzin supposedly strangled his lord while the orcs were besieging the place. This let him assume the throne, however his reign was short-lived as the palace guards only held the wall for two hours before they breached the walls and slaughtered all the human’s inside.

The Crown of the Skeleton King

Magical [Boss]

The crown of H’ern was pure gold set inlaid with the city's crown jewels. However, the crown was looted by the orcs after the cities was raised. The crown is the focus of the necromantic energies that let Farzin command his legions.

I scowled as I examined the items. They were pretty good but pretty good was a long way from what I’d consider a good rewards for was much hassle as this place had been.

“How do we divide the loot?” Mo asked as I continued to scowl. He looked a little unhappy as well but it was more frustration than anger. Then there was the more obvious issue of us having two pieces of loot and a four people.

I said nothing for the moment and instead wandered over to the opened door and looked inside. The small room was almost identical to the one that had opened in my first dungeon. The room was the base of a circular tower the walls smooth brick covered in a layer of thick dust. A circular dias took up most of the space leaving only a few feet of clearance to walk around the stone pillar. However, unlike the room before this one did not hold an orb of corruption. Instead an intricate framework of thin golden wire held up a pure white crystal, that looked to me like a clear diamond cut into an elongated rhombus nearly a foot in length. Beside the crystal centerpiece a small wooden box sat on the table. The dark wood that made up it’s top caved into odd geometric patterns.

I looked at the crystal closely trying to figure out what it was when a series of pop-up windows appeared before me.

Shrine of PowerA relic of power created from a small piece of crystallized divine essence. The effects vary but all such shines provide enhancement to most sentient creatures. This particular shone provides direct physical or mental enhancement to any creature that touches it.

Effect: Provides +5 to a single attribute of the user's choiceYou Have Received A Class Quest!Rise of the GeomancerA geomancer does not seek a knight’s honor or a wizards knowledge. They seek not power or fame. Their calling is that of the Earth, to explore to the deep places and those secrets man has long since forgotten. They seek to recover that which has been lost, to rebuild that which has been destroyed and to set foot where man has yet to tread.

Shrines of Power Needed for Class Advancement: 1/3

You Have Completed A Quest!Lost City Of H'ernThe Free City of H’ern was once one of the richest cities on the continent. Placed strategically between the Zann Empire in the South and the Fedor Republic in the north it handled nearly all the trade between the two nations.

However, when the Warlord Rashid Al’Zahim united the desert tribes of Eastern Zann and overthrew the Emperor in 1347 R.E. the empire collapsed into civil war.

This lead to the slow downfall of H’ern until the city was finally sacked during the Fourth Orcish Uprising in 1565 R.E.. Due to The Fedor Republic’s own political turmoil of the time and it’s eventual fracturing into the 10 Kingdoms, H’ern was not reclaimed for almost three-hundred years. When the second King of the new Kingdom Drannel finally reconquered the area there was nothing left of the once great city but ruins. The King had a new city built over-top of the old and renamed it Hernberg.

Although the city is lost, some of its riches and magic still remain buried far below Hernberg.

Completion Rewards: 30 Gold, 20,000 xp

Bleep-De-Leep-Bleep

Blue light flashed in the small room sending out a cascade of swirling light as the crystal refracted it. I raised a speculative eyebrow. I’d been wondering if there was some sort of job upgrade system but I’d had other things on my mind. Between Baria, those idiot guides, and woman drama my mental docket had been pretty full.

There were soft footstep behind me before Meredith spoke up from behind me. “You always seem to come across the most interesting finds Mr. Slayer.”

I turned so she was in my periphery as I continued to read pop-ups. There was a lot of text to skim through and I read furiously while Meredith reached out to touch the crystal. There was another flash of light, this one blinding white and I blinked my flash-blind eyes a few times as Mo and Jasmine came over.

“So who’s getting the drops?” Jasmine asked in her normally blunt manner. “And what’s with that crystal?” She asked as she saw Meredith holder her hand over the glowing crystal.

“It boosts base stats. Apparently it’s some sort of add-on reward for completing the dungeon. “ I said with a shrug. “And I honestly don’t care. I just want to be done with this place. As soon as I finish up my other quest I’m getting outta this damn town.”

Jasmine scowled at me for a moment and I thought we were going to get into another fight but the crystals light died and Meredith spoke up. “I feel that Francis’s and my contribution were rather limited. You and Jasmine should take the boss drops.”

“Works for me.” I said as I stretched out my own hand and touched the crystal. The effect was instantaneous. More white light shined in the room and more pop-up windows bombarded me. This was getting ridiculous.

Shrine Activated!Select An Attribute

I didn’t really need more strength, I probably had the most in the game. My Con was good, Wis was alright. Coordination and agility were the ones I really needed. Those skeletons had made me realize how slow I actually was. Granted, it was still enough to keep up with any of the players I’d come up against so far, but If I didn’t find a way to raise my Agi and Cord higher I was going to end up on the end up against some crazy ninja-rogue who’d run around me in circles while they sliced me to ribbons.

Select Agility…..

The white light died and I stepped back as the others took their turn.

“So what now?” Mo asked as he looked around the small room. It wasn’t a particularly impressive place and I turned and headed up the stairs.

“I’m heading out. Your a free gnome now, and the girls are going to want to use the sewers to sneak out of the city.” I gave a shrug and headed toward the stairs. I wasn’t 100% sure but they should probably lead back up into the sewers.

“Please wait.” Meredith said as she trotted up the stairs after me. She walked next to me until we were alone near the top of the stairs. She looked at me seriously then opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something before closing it again. I raised an eye brow in question which made her scowl. The expression was adorable and I let her off the hook.

“What’s up?” I asked, still trying to figure out what the girl wanted.

“You……” She stopped, then took a breath and restarted.

“I’m not very good at this.” She said finally as she looked up at me. “I know things between you and Jasmine have …..”

“Stop” I said cutting her off. I really did not wanna have this conversation. “It’s done. She made herself pretty damn clear on at least three different occasions.”

Meredith sighed heavily, which she made look a little to good for my comfort. “You're being unfair. I know she reacted rather badly, but things got out of hand and she hasn’t had time to deal with everything.”

Women……

This was why emotional complexity is horrible disability. It makes simple things like relationships and personal feelings into something needlessly complex.

“Look Meredith, I get it. You're her friend and you don’t want us at loggerheads, but this is a mess she and I will have to sort out ourselves.” I said, trying to be resonable for once.

She gave me her best cold haughty look. “Yeah, because you two seem to doing so well at talking things out.”

I raised my hands defensively. “You… maybe have a point.” I said chagrined. I sighed then opened my menu and sent her a friend request.

“If you need something just shoot me an IM. It’s been a blast but I’ve got places to be.” I said as I shrugged my pack up onto a shoulder.

She rolled her eyes. “At least help us out of the city. If we get mobbed again I don’t want to end up back in Hernberg. Jasmine has an unfortunate tendency to sulk.”

“Alright, fine but once you're out of the city I’m out.”

*************************************************************************************

“Why the hell are we out here Greg?” The large high-schooler next to Greg asked as he sat on a stump while he sharpened the massive axe he was using. They’d been out here all morning and American football players were not the most patient individuals.

“Because this is one of the two places where someone can exit the sewers outside the city walls and this one is on the South side of town.” Greg said exacerbated. He’d already answered the question a half-dozen times and he was starting to lose it.

“Who are we looking for again?” A slightly smaller guy in a ridiculous looking red-robe said from beside the grated entrance. Greg sighed as he looked over at the other boy.

“Where the hell did you get that robe? And what kind of Fullback picks a wizard.” Greg asked incredulously.

“Firstly I’m a sorcerer not a wizard, and secondly I get beat to hell during practice and games. Why would I want to get beat to hell playing this? Melee players are crazy.”

*********************************************************************************************

“Are we there yet?” Mo asked as we continued to trudge through the sewer. We’d left the dungeon an hour ago and had been wandering through the sewers since then. Unfortunately, I’d only explored some of the tunnels and finding an exit outside the walls wasn’t as easy as I’d imagined it would be.

We walked another hour before we finally found daylight. The tunnel ended at a grate that seemed to empty into a stream running away from the city. I walked forward to examine to bars and frowned as I considered how to break them.

“Why are you pretending. Everyone knows you're just going to smash it to show us all how manly you are.” Jasmine said with a small sarcastic smile.

“Well, I do have the destruction skill, and sixty strength. As for my manliness I’d think you’d be the best judge of that.” I said with a smirk.

She scowled making her blue eyebrows knit together. I ignored her and pulled my hammer from my bag. Then summoned up Strength of Stone waiting until the stone gauntlets formed over my hands before I swung my hammer into the bars. The impact sent a loud clang echoing through the tunnel and the shock of the impact sent a heavy reverberation up my hands. Brick cracked and mortar crumbled but the bars didn’t give immediately. I continued my assault on the bars and after a good dozen swings I’d managed to make a hole large enough for us to squeeze through.

I stepped back to wipe the sweat from my brow and the hair on the back of my neck suddenly stood up. It was a familiar sensation but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Then it hit me and I reached for my magic. The world shifted slightly and a fog of red power appeared in my vision. It pressed in through the grate filling the tunnel and my head cocked in confusion. It wasn’t my magic and I couldn’t figure out……

“DOWN!” I yelled as I grabbed Meredith and flug both of us down into the reeking water. The putrid water filled my nostrils as my head went under and filthy dark water enveloped both of us as the world exploded in flame.

I stayed under for a three count then tried to stand as the current swept Meredith and I toward the grate. My shoulder hit a bar I hadn’t broken out and I tilted crazily in freefall for a second before I was out in the sunlight and I plunged back into more water. I sloshed around for a moment trying to get my barring before I rolled up onto the bank and came to a knee as people rushed towards me with weapons drawn.

I heard more splashes behind me as my eyes swept the area and tried to figure out what the hell was happening. Steel shined in the afternoon light as more than half a dozen men rushed at me with a variety of weapons and armors. The hostile intent poured off of them and I did the only thing I could think of.

“Dragon's Breath!” I shouted then inhaled sharply as my lungs became a bottomless swirling vortex. I poured in my magic and life until it felt like I was going to burst then exhaled into the charging men. Fire spewed from my mouth as I exhaled but instead of incinerating the charging soldiers the fire stopped in mid-air as if it had hit some sort of screen. That had never happened before. I looked around confused before I saw a short stocky teenager in a red robe with his arms extended towards my flames. Red power powered off him and wrapped around me fire feeding it while at the same time coaxing it under his power.

That tricky bastard……

I thought as the wall of fire started to move itself backwards towards me. The fire had stopped the charge of the other fighters and my own allies were pulling themselves from the river. That however, was little comfort at the moment as the temperature around me started to rise as the ball of flames crept closer to me . I flung out my own hand and pushed my own mana towards the raging flames. My magic met the other sorcerers and a mental pressure fell upon my mind as I engaged in a meta-physical tug-of-war,both of us battling for control.

The fighters ran around the edge of the flames and I shuffled side-ways to by time as I continued to fight the other sorcerer. I could tell his strength was starting to flag but I had a bunch of a crazy guys with weapons charging me and didn’t have time for a battle of attrition. Instead I performed the mental gymnastics necessary to use two types of mana at once and tapped into my least used element. Water mana poured out behind me calling to the stream at my back as I continued to press against the other sorcerers will.

There was a sharp shrill cry like a hunting hawk from behind me and I glanced over a shoulder. Meredith stood on the bank, her staff raised, water dripping from her russet coat and green light pouring off her body. An echoing cry from the distance answered her call, but I didn’t have time to track down the source. The fighters were nearly on-top of me and I cut my fire mana letting the other sorcerer have control of the flames.

The effect was instant. The wave of fire that had once been my dragon’s flames swiftly moved in my direction along with the charging fighters but I was ready for them. I raised my arms with a shout and thrust them forward. A four-foot high-wave of water rose from the stream and rushed forward crashing into the lead attacker as he swung his massive axe. The water rolled forward engulfing the ball of fire and sweeping away the other fighters. Water boiled as fire met water and people started to scream as the cloud of boiling steam billowed over them.

The fighters fell to the ground in soggy heaps but I’d burnt up nearly all of my own magic as well. I fell to a knee panting for breath. I’d won our mage duel but I hadn’t really accomplished anything. All their fighters were mostly uninjured. I had managed to buy some time though and blue-white light glowed behind me as a slightly singed Mo Problems sent waves of freezing power sweeping over the area.

A layer of frost appeared on the wet grass as ] his ice-magics started to suck the heat from the area. The fighters staggered back to their feet slowly, their speed reduced heavily by Mo’s spells and the battle dissolved into a general melee. Normally the fight wouldn’t have been close, but that damn sorcerer had made me waste all my magic and I’d lost my hammer somewhere in the water. So now we had me, with no weapon and no magic, a one-armed Jasmine, Mo, and Meredith against a horde of idiots.

I let out a humorless snort and waded into the fray. I hadn’t seen Jasmine yet but hopefully she’d come help. Even with one arm none of these guys should be a match for her individually, but who the hell knew what she’d decide to do. She might let me get chopped to ribbons just for a laugh.

I stepped towards the first attacker. He was a stout high-schooler with a broad-sword and rounded shield but he apparently didn’t see me as a threat unarmed. Which was unfortunate for him. He dropped his shield and thrust with his sword at my heart but I swatted the strike aside. A dull clang reverberated through the air as as steel met the stone encasing my left hand. He looked stunned for a moment but the expression was short lived as my right fist collided with his jaw and he went spinning to the dirt.

A short spear jabbed me in the side as I stepped past the downed foe. The attack missed the bronze plates on my armor and pierced the leather, making a small wound in my side. The wound was light but I had the feeling it wouldn’t be the only one I ended up with. I spun and caught the spear before the fighter could withdraw it completely. Then I jerked it out of his hand and lashed out with a front kick. The kick caught him in the stomach and sent him stumbling backwards into his fellows. The collision slowed the horde and gave me some space to work with. I took the time to look around for somewhere I could pick a fight without getting surrounded.

Arrows and bolts of frost whizzed by overhead as Mo exchanged fire with an archer. I tried to keep my head down as I circled until I finally caught sight of Jasmine. She apparently had decided to help and I gave a mental snort as I saw her leap onto some guys shoulders and beat him about the head with her single axe and the stump of her arm.

Then someone plowed into my side and sent us both sliding across the wet, frozen grass. I was stunned for a moment by the collisions and then pain exploded from my side as I saw the flash of of knife. The guy stabbed me three times before I managed to catch his hand and I let out a roar of rage as I squeezed and crushed the bones of his wrist. I drove an elbow down onto the back of his head while he was still stunned and rolled away from his limp body. I came up to a knee and looked up in time to catch a shield-bash right in the face.

The blow smashed my nose flat and I gagged on a mouthful of blood as I tried to right my spinning vision. Then a soothing green glow washed over my body and my vision cleared a moment before the shield came again. This time I reached out and grabbed it. Yanking it away from the tall and broadly build teen holding it before I smashed it down on top of his head. He dropped like a stone and I flung the shield like a frisbee at the next charging attacker who blocked it with his own shield.

An arrow pinged off my armor and I turned slightly to find the archer while I tried to circle away from the next warrior. The archer was standing a good thirty feet from me with one foot frozen to the ground, but I he must have won his battle because I didn’t see anymore of Mo’s spells flying around. The archer raised his bow and nocked another arrow but froze as another shrieking hawk’s cry filled the area. This one was much closer and everyone in the area looked up to see what was happening. A shadow dove downwards like a thunder-bolt and stretched it’s gleaming talons toward the stupefied archer. He tried to shield himself but it was useless. The giant hawk Meredith had apparently summoned simply batted aside his arms and ripped his throat out with it’s beak.

Looks like Meredith did have some useful magic. With the ranger out of the fight things were looking much better for us. A quick glance at the fallen bodies let me know it was now 3v3 instead of 8v4. I hadn’t seen the sorcerer so I assumed he’d just fled after using all his mana. That left them with only three capable fighters and our healer was still up. They really didn’t have a chance now, even as battered as I was.

The big one with the axe came forward again and I held up a hand to stop him.

“You sure you wanna keep this up? At this point you guys are just padding my bank account.” I said as I looked over at him. He grimaced and his steps slowed as he approached, but he didn’t lower his weapon.

“Why do you guys follow that ass hole anyway? He’s just feeding you guys to the wolves.” I added, just to rub it in.

“I don’t have a choice.” He said bitterly but he still didn’t attack. I saw Jasmine stalking up behind the group of them and I did my best not to give anything away.

“Well, there it is then. Since he seems to have made himself my mortal enemy I guess knocking some levels off of his underlings is my best plan in the long run.” I stepped to the right, as if starting to circle, which turned their backs to Jasmine’s approach. She leapt like a cobra and buried her axe into the back of of one of their heads. That left only two.

I charged forward, trying to get inside of the apparent leaders swing before he chopped off something vital. His axe whistled as it cut the air and I tried to dodge but was too slow. It crashed into a bronze plate and I could feel my ribs break under the weight of the strike. Luckily, my armor had held because it probably would have killed me otherwise.

I grabbed his axe and used it to pull him off balance in my direction while I slid around behind him and pulled the haft of his axe across his throat. The motions hurt like hell but I’d had worse and i wasn’t about to let the bastard off now. He struggled wildly but I was too strong for him. I heard Jasmine dispatch the last attacker while I choked the life out of my victim.

Once he stopped struggling I held on for another ten count then stood up with a wince. I’d gotten myself beat to hell again. Which I supposed was a good thing as it let my constitution grow faster, but the pain was terrible. I staggered and tried to breathe as shallowly as possible for the sake of my ribs.

“You know there is a thing called dodging. You should look into it.” Jasmine said as she sauntered up next to me. I didn’t bother to reply and instead just flipped her the bird as I spat out another mouthful of blood.

She grinned a satisfied little smile as her eyes took in my battered state. The look was a good one on her which made me irrationally angry.

“What happened to Mo?” I asked when I’d gained some breath back. My voice came out with a nasally sound from my broken nose.

“Ate an arrow in the neck while he was fighting with that archer. Meredith didn’t see him until it was too late.” Jasmine said with a shrug. She did look a little upset about it. Apparently, I was the only one she got a vindictive satisfaction out of seeing abused.

“Well at least we won. Although you and Meredith should probably get going. I’m sure more people will be coming and you could use the head start.” I said as I bent over and started picking up all the gold scattered on the ground. Pking did pay well.

Jasmine started to pick up coins as well as Meredith trotted up to us, her hands already full of coins. The three of us worked in silence while we gathered the loot. It totaled up to a good fifty gold, and that wasn’t counting what Mo had dropped. We split it then stood around awkwardly for a moment. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to say and the look of slight consternation and embarrassment on Jasmine’s face let me know she was thinking something similar. It was one thing to bicker while she was around, but I didn’t really know how I felt about her leaving.

I scratched the back of my head as the silence drug on. Then Meredith walked over and stood next to us as Jasmine and I stared awkwardly at each other.

“Oh good lord, you two are like middle schoolers at a dance.” Meredith said with a snort.

“That’s rich, coming from someone who’s never even had a boyfriend.” Jasmine said with a scowl.

“Well, you ladies have fun. I’m off into the sunset.” I said as I turned and started toward the steam. I still had to find my hammer. Then I turned back toward them and added. “Oh and try to stop picking on defenseless noobs. Other wise you’ll end up on more wanted posters.”

I turned and waved as both of them shrugged their packs onto their shoulders and walked away. It had been an interesting couple of days and I couldn’t wait to get back to the horse and four and soak in one of their baths but first I had to track down Mo and give him back the money he’d dropped.

____________________________________________

AN:.....

Apparently the New Chapter functionality doesn't work very well. Since it deleted all but the first paragraph I posted. Trying to Fix now..

Edit1: Looks like everything is there now.... But the formatting is still borked..... Will continue trying to fix.

Edit 2: Not quite right yet, but much better.