Chapter 22

Tosin: Healer; Level 32 Flagstaff

Allmeer: Ancienne; Level 210 Vine of Bear

Wesley: Ancienne; level 304 Galnokrah’s Bark

Belpheus: Mage; level 190 Necrotic Crush

Samantah: Healer; Level 444 Toppirius’s Lantern

Antoine: Healer; Level 102 Gryf’s Hawk Familiar

“Full moon tonight,” Allmeer said.

“I’m going to sprout the Daeder Oak,” Wesley said. “You’re going to trade?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Allmeer said.

We traveled by foot since there was no real rush like last time to get a rare spawned item. Samantah assured us the Obsidian Shard wasn’t going anywhere.

The anciennes with us were excited for the full moon. Only once a month could they call upon the Daeder Oak and trade for powerful spells and items of their class.

Anciennes possessed a power bar called Ancienne’s Nature with which they absorbed all matter of nature—living or dead. It was once explained to me that it worked the same way money did. The more nature they absorbed, the more powerful trades they can make for spell upgrades and artifacts and all manner of magic acquisition and improvement. I’d never actually seen the Daeder Oak myself so I was quite curious.

“Do you feel prepared for a level 3 dungeon?” Samantah said, drawing my attention.

“I do,” I said, glancing up at Ghospo’s Braid which hung from one of the eight eyelets on my flagstaff. The braid was emerald green and made entirely of hair. I’d looped the braid through itself over the eyelet and it hung down about 1 whole meter.

“A bit macabre, isn’t it?” Samantah said, gesturing to the braid. “Being made of hair.”

“Yea, but like I said, it wards poison. 50% chance to ward poison for me, and 10% chance to ward poison for party members.”

Not only was I equipped with my new ward poison artifact, but I had leveled up a number of things. Ten of Gryf, Zekaidean’s Anvil, my inventory pouch, my cloak, and my Dungeon Boss Health Lens had all been leveled. None more so than Zekaidean’s anvil. I’d spent 15 permanent mana points towards a power rune so that it now healed 3 points per strike. The flag’s level was now at 17. I’d leveled up my inventory pouch by 10 points of capacity and my cloak by 5 durability. My flagstaff was really starting to amass quite a lot of articles.

On our way so far, we’d defeated a level 1 dungeon for practice. I kept the mana crystal in order to replenish some of my mana in the level 3 dungeon we would arrive at in a few days time. For loot, I’d received 27 copper coins, 1 mana potion, and a bundle of lavender sprigs.

“This will be the highest level dungeon you crawled, is that right?” Samantah said.

“Yea. So I’m guessing it’ll be longer and more grueling,” I said.

“It’ll be a little bit more difficult than the dungeon with the bandits I think.”

That night, we camped off the main road. Belpheus torched a path through the snow until we were deep enough in the surrounding forest. Secluded.

Allmeer and Wesley went out on their own to sprout the Daeder Oak in private. Samantah, Antoine, and I, shared a decent meal of smoked meat, bread, and water. For some time we ate companionably, letting the sound of snowfall repeat its endless story.

All of a sudden green light erupted in the distance. From the light grew a massive tree made of half light and half bark. It grew exponentially, only slowing when it seemed to fill the entire sky, bending at the dome of the stratosphere. Even still it kept growing horizontally instead.

“The Daeder Oak,” Samantah said with reverence and awe.

Though it was winter, the tree was lush with neon green leaves. The snow around us reflected bright green. That’s how the evening passed. We laid down to sleep, watching the Daeder Oak perpetually grow. We fell asleep beneath the wondrous sight. When we woke, it was no longer there, and both Allmeer and Wesley were just rousing with the dawn as well.

The rest of our journey was uneventful. I was preoccupied the entire time with memories of my visit to Ghospo's temple. The catharsis I’d experienced was at the forefront of my thoughts.

I was content with the alignment. The only condition was that I not employ the use of poisonous items. I was encouraged to destroy poisonous items in return for favors and boons from the divine goddess, but it wasn’t a requirement. She’d mentioned that if our alignment were to strengthen, then she would ask more of me. For the time being, I didn’t want to become too attached to the whims of such a divine. I wouldn’t go destroying poisonous items just yet—if ever, to be honest.

By the time we’d reached the level 3 dungeon, wherein the cauldron wielding hag resided, I had earned myself an additional 71 mana points from my spellbook, bringing my new total to 333. That would be enough for me to confidently support my teammates. With an additional two healers, we should be fine in a level 3 dungeon.

The mouth of the dungeon was half submerged in swamp water. It was a tent of dead roots and decomposing animal hide. We had no choice but to wade through.

I removed my cloak and stuffed it in my inventory pouch in place of the waterskin which I put in my bag. Until we found dry land, I didn’t want the weight of a soaked cloak to hamper me.

As soon as we passed through the tent, the swamp was different. The water was tepid and came up to our thighs. Samantah was a sight. She’d put her hair up and her mess of curls morphed in endless depictions of woodland settings. She wore a tousled crown of storytelling. The anciennes loved it and obsessed over the magic.

“It’s a calming spell earned from my mentor, Toppirious,” Samantah said.

“It’s beautiful,” Wesley said. “I’d grow my hair out to such lengths just for that alone. I’d like to meet this Toppirious.”

“Alright team,” Belpheus said. “There’s no path. Water and trees extend in every direction. Any ideas?”

“Careful,” Allmeer said, equipping his spear.

Giant tortoise shells bobbed in the water around us. Their shells were patterned hexagonally and each piece tapered to weathered points. They came circling around us as though curious. Ripples occasionally passed through us from their movements.

We all quietly kept our weapons before us. Belpheus flowed his mana bar out above his head as though it were a blue halo. He was bald and currently topless, having removed his mage robes to keep them dry in his inventory pouch.

“Let’s wade out for a bit in a straight line going forward,” Allmeer said. “We’ll keep the dungeon entrance in our sights and check things out. There’s always a path, so keep your eyes peeled.”

We slowly moved through the swamp water, doing our best not to engage the tortoises. I could see nothing beyond a few centimeters in the water, and wondered if any lurked beneath the surface. We learned to keep a certain distance from the tortoises when Allmeer passed too close to one of them. The giant tortoise had spun with alarming speed. It brought its head up and snapped its jaws in the ancienne’s direction. Allmeer had only been two meters away. The sound that the tortoise's snapping mouth had made was terrifying. It sounded as though both a human and tree were being simultaneously crushed in half.

The event had obviously disturbed the rest of the turtles. The nearest dozen bobbed and spun about in agitation.

“Angry turtles,” Allmeer said, hefting his black barbed spear. “Looks like they’re hungry too.”

Several tortoise mouths surfaced. Each one snorted a spray of water and steam. Their eyes were yellowed with jaundice. They circled us, forcing us together.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Wesley said. “We’re going to have to fight.”

Samantah equipped Toppirius’s Lantern. Antoine and I flowed our mana bars in similar halo fashion as Belpheus.

“Galnokrah’s Bark,” Wesley said. He raised his hand before him and took a deep breath. His skin began to harden and darken, forming crag jagged formations of bark. The armor grew and grew until he resembled a living tree. His face had transformed into the trunk of a tree with a slight expression of menace. He unsheathed two canine shaped daggers from the belt at his waist and even the hilts grew bark.

Antoine was ready with the necks of potion bottles between the knuckles of both hands. I was perhaps the most at a disadvantage. If I hefted the flagstaff sideways, the flags and banners would all drag in the water, slowing any of my attacks and greatly increasing the weight. I had to act as 100% support this time.

“Wait for my attack,” Belpheus said.

He began to chant and circle his hands as though gathering a small cloud before him. Black lightning began to fizz and gather into several hovering balls of nether. More globes of nether formed throughout his chanting.

“Bhel Dheu. Sag Dheu. Dhe Dheu. Gwel Dheu.”

Massive amounts of mana stripped from his mana bar with each coalescing orb of nether until there totalled six. One by one each globe careened towards a different target. Each globe passed through the shell of each tortoise without effect. Then Belpheus said, “Bher Dheu,” and crushed his fists closed.

The light of the world momentarily dipped into each tortoise, as though sucked in. Above each tortoise appeared a brief funnel separating light and shadow. Light returned to the world in the next instant and each tortoise shell burst apart. Shell and blood exploded outward. Purple and black lightning flickered in a small circumference around each of the six beasts. They hoarsely gargled water as they died.

“Now!” Belpheus shouted.

“They’re corrupted!” Samantah shouted, pointing to incoming tortoise shells.

Between the hexagonal shell patterns glowed lines of yellow-green. As the shells glowed, they were totally exposed, easily spotted above the water. I counted ten more. The six Belpheus had killed slowly sank.

“They’re fast!” Wesley shouted, already engaging with the thrashing jaws of a tortoise. The tortoise’s bite was powerful. Though the beast had received dagger stabs to both eyes, rendering it blind, it clamped onto Wesley’s bark covered arm and tried to drag him beneath the water. In their splashing struggle, I saw the tortoise’s tongue dart out and slather around Wesley’s arm. The tongue was bright yellow-green and riddled with rows of shallow but sharp teeth. As it licked and laved, I cringed at the sound of teeth crunching and scraping across bark. Wesley’s health took damage. His health bar blinked green.

Samantah was already sending orbs of healing toward the ancienne, who stabbed at the tortoise's neck with his free hand.

I retrieved my spellbook, opened to the first written page and flowed 30 points of mana into the cure poison rune. I faced Wesley, aiming the spell’s effects toward him. The surface of the water dipped around him and the sound of bubbles came from nowhere. His health bar flashed a final green before no longer blinking. However, another lick of the tortoise's tongue applied the poisoned effect yet again. I grimaced, realizing I’d better wait until after the battle to apply cure poison.

Belpheus chanted his Necrotic Crush spell once more. Allmeer was being swarmed by three other tortoises. Thrusts of his spear kept them at bay. In a brief break of battle, he waded backwards and took in a deep breath. His cheeks puffed out wide, then they enlarged to an even wider degree, then to impossible balloon sizes. He brought his spear tip to his mouth and spit a yellow ooze over the metal. When one of the giant tortoises rushed him, he thrust forward, putting the spearhead through the cheek of the beast and pushing it down its throat. It screamed and reared back in a mad escape from the pain. Then the whole tortoise blinked a dull yellow. It’s movements slowed and it sauntered away in a creeping retreat.

I sent Fist of Wind sailing out towards incoming beasts behind Samantah and I, keeping them at bay. Belpheus’s black orbs of nether absorbed into six more tortoises.

“Bher Dheu!” he said, finishing the spell. The two tortoises I’d held at bay, and four more that flanked us burst apart, then sunk beneath the water. The corpses released bubbles that floated to the surface, leaving yellow gaseous vapors to dissipate in the air.

Between the two anciennes, the rest of the giant corrupted tortoises were taken care of. It was then that I was able to apply cure poison to Wesley. He gave a simple thanks as if my actions were nothing more than commonplace. However, I felt accomplished, and my spirits soared. I felt useful for my team.

Antoine handed out healing potions while we all gathered ourselves together to seek the way forward.

“I found the path,” Wesley said. He was grinning from ear to ear, drenched from his battle. “When I was dragged underwater, I saw the path. It’s beneath us.”

The water was too murky to see it from above. We resolved that there was only one way to be sure we stayed on path. One of us would have to go swimming.