Chap 10

Mal sipped on the cold brown liqueur with smoke rising from it and felt the warmth spread through him like only alcohol can. Mal looked up at the blue flames illuminating the room in contentment as he was feeling the fresh buzz filter into his consciousness.

Mal and Omega were sitting in the lounge area on the first floor of the Mage tower enjoying their drinks. Camilla along with Turok, who had gladly rejoined them, sat with them passing the evening away. The group was waiting on Alison and Sylvester to arrive after Mal let her know where they were via a quick message.

Turok and Omega clinked glasses with a toast to the power of magic. The two of them were becoming fast friends and Mal thought it was partly due to the way Turok was laying the flattery down on Omega. Omega seemed to quite enjoy the attention and the not quite obvious hero worship. After his time in the slums it must have been a stark difference to the way he had been treated previously, as a drunk.

Mal produced his pipe and took a few puffs of the sonus herb. Much to his delight Camilla gave him a small magical pen that was basically a lighter and by her generosity it was a gift for him. Just as he was putting his pipe away Alison burst into the room.

“Well there you are!” she said mock accusingly to Mal and Omega. “Hi y’all.” she said greeting the others she didn’t know. She slapped Mal on the shoulder and he had to steady his drink to keep from spilling any.

“Kept me waiting for over two hours don’cha know.” Alison said sitting down next to Mal.

“Sorry! Here let me get you a drink to make up for it.” Mal said moving to get up.

“Nonsense, I’ll get it.” Camilla said and with a wave of her hand and some under her breath spell words a glass floated over to Alison who plucked it from the air.

“Thank you! What are we celebrating? Because this looks like the good stuff!” Alison said cheerfully.

“Magic!” Turok said a little too enthusiastically making it apparent he was well along to being drunk.

“Mal has a spellbook now.” Omega said quietly.

Alison raised an eyebrow at Mal as she toasted her drink in his direction. They all clinked glasses again and enjoyed the rich liquer. Mal didn’t quite see what the big deal about having a spellbook was but it must be the connection to the Royal Casters he reasoned.

“So, what did you buy with my hard earned gold?” Mal said with a half smile to Alison.

“Hard earned, pfft it was practically given to you.” she replied lightly. “Sly! Come here you bundle of rocks.”

Sylvester moved away from the shadows of the entryway and right away Mal could see some of the modifications Alison had made. Mal had only mentioned in passing that he thought it would be a good idea to set Sylvester up since weight wouldn’t be an issue for the stout bruiser.

On Sylvester’s back there was still the large pack given to them by Tallum at the trader camp but there was much more added around the pack now. There was a latticework of wood around the pack with numerous pouches and bags as well as other useful gear strapped right to framework. Mal saw a long pack of throwing javelins on one side and opposite that on the other side was strapped a magnificent looking crossbow next to what looked like a full on lance that almost doubled Sly’s height.

“Is that an enchanted golem? My I haven’t seen one of those in quite some time.” Camilla stated.

“Aye, a lucky find is the truth of it.” Mal said holding up his wrist with the magical bracelet, the source of Sylvester’s power. The other few mages still awake at this later hour also commented on Mal’s golem and he started feeling self conscious about it all until Alison rescued him.

“What do you think?” Alison said somewhat tentatively which was unlike her.

“I think it’s perfect! The changes you made were just what I had in mind.” Mal said smiling at her.

Alison smiled right back then leapt up and began to patter and chatter quickly about all the little improvements she had made. Mal just tried to keep track of what she was saying but the whole room was now buzzing and it seemed everyone was talking at once. Mal had always hated that and this wasn’t even an overly crowded room. So he just focused on the lovely Alison and sipped his drink nodding to her when appropriate, catching what bits of what she was saying he could while still being aware of the rest of the room.

“Oh and here we have a pack of caltrops that can easily be scattered!” Alison continued on. Mal nodded to her again and took a sip. “You know if we are being chased” She said assuredly.

“And here are some smoke grenades in this pouch and next to that some firebombs. You never know when you need a bang!” Alison said rambling on.

“A big bang, eh?” Mal said quietly and Alison didn’t quite register what he said.

“And finally the piece de resistance! An enchanted repeating crossbow!” Alison said unhooking the impressive looking weapon. “See it’s pump action like that weapon you have back where you come from. What was it? A shotty you called it? Anyway the enchantment greatly reduces the strength needed to pull back the string so that makes it simple to get 5 shots off in rapid succession!” She finished a little too pleased with herself at the tools of death and destruction she had gathered but Mal couldn’t blame her. He would much rather be over prepared than under prepared, the boy scouts had taught him at a young age to always be prepared.

“Well done lass.” Omega said turning his attention back to Mal and Alison. “But nothing beats a well timed and well cast spell.” he said almost arrogantly.

Alison rolled her eyes.

“Or a well sung magical song, old man.” She countered with.

“Or a well placed swing with an enchanted staff.” Camilla added in with a rap on the table with her staff a clear note like a pure bell echoed through the room causing a slight pause. Camilla seized the conversation with her melodic note and looked Mal in the eye in the silence.

“So what is next brave adventurer?” Camilla said with that strange way NPCs could talk.

“You mean like tomorrow or on down the line?” Mal answered her question with a question.

“What’s your end game, bub?” Alison interrupted the fierce look between Camilla and Mal.

Mal thought to himself that he had half a mind to say ‘My end game is you Alison.’ He looked at her sharp blue eyes and imagined her harmonic magical singing voice. Yes, Mal thought if he was being honest with himself he was starting to crush on Alison a bit. But instead he turned back to Camilla as he was not quite sure what to make of his growing feelings for Alison who wasn’t even a real person, self awareness notwithstanding.

“My end game is Shiva.” Mal said surrendering to the moment and confessing his ultimate goal.

Omega let loose a hearty laugh. “You can’t be serious?” He said after composing himself around a few stray chuckles. Omega’s laugh trickled away when he saw the stoney grim expression on Mal’s face. The color drained from Omega’s face.

“But she is death itself!” Omega exclaimed when he saw Mal was serious.

“It makes no matter to me, that dear Alison is my end game, the defeat of Shiva. It doesn’t have to be tomorrow or even next month but at some point I fully expect my path to cross with Shiva’s and there my fate will be made known to me.” Mal said and the room had fallen eerily silent as if just speaking Shiva’s name had put a suffocating blanket over the formerly festive room.

“Well that settles that….hic. I was going to ask to travel with you...hic….but not if you are suicidal.” Turok said into the strange silence as he hiccuped through his booze.

“I am not suicidal, I expect to grow my power over time and learn the ways of the Spellsword as well as finding fierce allies to help me in this cause. That being said I would understand if you didn’t want to travel with me any longer.” Mal said looking from Omega to Alison and back again.

“I’m with you!” Alison said reaching out and placing her hand on his. Alison knew the stakes of this larger game Mal had gotten caught up in since she had become self-aware and knew Shiva was really the evil AI keeping everyone trapped in this world.

“Yes, no doubt about it. We will surely face Shiva together for not only have you saved my life once since we met but in another way you have saved it many times over simply by opening my mind to the true world.” Alison said firmly.

Mal glanced at Turok and was glad he was drunk or the Player would have picked up on the fact that the things Alison were saying were odd for an NPC.

“We shall see what time and the tides bring us I suppose, I’m with you for now young pup” Omega said a great deal less enthusiastically than Alison.

“Thank you, both of you. I appreciate you.” Mal said around the lump in his throat. He had felt a surge of emotion at his comrades words, especially Alison’s.

You have gained the skill Leadership level 1, I would rather face an army of lions led by a sheep than an army of sheep led by a lion, don’t you agree adventurer?

“Well, you still haven’t answered my question fully. What is next for you and your brave group adventurer?” Camilla persisted.

“We had that quest from Atish, remember Mal?” Alison said with a reassured nod.

“Ah yes, he said that may serve as a base for us as well so that is next. So when we wrap up our business here in town we’ll head in that direction.” Mal replied.

“What quest is that? You mentioned this before but I know little about it.” Omega leaned in and took a slice of cheese off the tray floating gently in the center of their group. He popped the morsel into his mouth after asking his question with an eyebrow raised. Mal and Alison both started speaking at once to answer Omega then the two of them stopped mouth open and glanced sidelong at each.

Alison burst out with a giggle “You tell them!” she gestured with her hand in a hurrying fashion.

Mal smiled then continued “Well apparently there is a hidden valley up in the mountains, towards dwarf territory, and if we can unlock or defeat the force guarding the place it could be ours.”

“Hmmm.” Omega said swallowing his bite of food. “How far? Where abouts exactly? In dangerous territory?” he followed up with.

“Well let’s see, one sec I’ll pull up my map.” Mal said.

Turok began snoring quietly and the common room was just their group now at this point as the hour was getting late. Alison stifled a yawn waiting for Mal to consult his map.

“Ah here it is.” Mal said consulting his holographic map floating before his vision that only he could see. “A good deal east of the Gates of Fortitude and up in the mountains.” Mal zoomed in on the small text highlighting the area Atish had guided him towards. “It’s called The Vale of Lost Heroes, it says here.” He finished and glanced around as he minimized his map.

“I think I’ve heard of a place by that name before, it’s on the tip of my tongue but I just can’t quite recall.” Omega said thoughtfully. He thought for a minute “Bah! I’ve drank too much of these fine spirits, my mind fails me.”

“It’ll come to you if it’s important.” Mal said consolingly.

“Well anyway, We’ll head for that quest in the morning. We definitely could use a strong base of operations if we are going to grow our power and acquire allies to face Shiva. Shall we go find an inn? I’m exhausted and could use a comfy bed after sleeping on the ground so much.” Alison said stifling another yawn.

“Inn? Nonsense! Mal has a contract with the Triple Towers now and Omega has a place here always. You three can sleep in the recruit quarters upstairs.” Camilla insisted. “So adventurer, you are headed to The Vale of Lost Heroes.” Camilla said rather formally. “Let me show you to the recruit quarters.”

Mal awoke and sat bolt upright in bed. His hand reached back over his shoulder for his new longsword before he realized he was in bed. He was sweating profusely and shivering at the same time. Damn what a dream he was having or borderline nightmare. The details were getting fuzzy even as he lay back but he did recall that there had a giant silver reptile with fearsome fangs. It had spoken to him in a hiss and said “You must face your deepest fear….”

Mal drifted off back to sleep.

The adventuring party exited the northern gates of Clear Waters as the sun was just rising into the sky. They didn’t want to waste a moment of daylight so Omega had gotten them up and moving early. A rooster crowed at them as way of farewell as they passed through the farm yards outside the city walls.

Mal munched on some fresh bread drizzled in butter that was still warm they had picked up at a bakery shop. There wasn’t too much activity on the road that quickly turned into more of a trail the further away from the city they traveled. The roads around Clear Waters weren’t very developed Omega had mentioned to Mal due to most of the heavy and serious traffic being done by the waterways.

The party kept a wary eye on the terrain around them looking for bandits or PKs who no doubt were out there somewhere hunting prey. The last mounted guard patrol was well in their rearview by early morning. Omega took point position since he had spent most of his life since the alpha days in Clear Waters and knew the way to the Gates of Fortitude. They would head for the Dwarven Gates it was decided then turn off into the mountains later only when they were forced to in order to reach their destination.

Mal was hopeful Alison would break out into a magical song to ease the grind of hiking northwards but he was disappointed. She brought up the rear of the group and kept looking behind them making sure they weren’t being followed.

By mid morning Omega had taken them off the beaten path and into the untamed woodland with their route. There was a more beaten path but Omega assured them this was a quicker way. It was easy going as the trees weren’t too thick and the underbrush wasn’t overgrown. The group made good time moving at decent pace and they were refreshed by the beautiful weather and the natural calm of woodlands they were moving through.

Mal saw several herbs he thought may be worth picking and would veer off to collect them then he would hustle to catch up. He didn’t get any rare prompts but most of the herbs had some use or another. In the back of his mind he was thinking of that open quest from the old lady herbalist back in Clear Waters. From experience in other games daily quests or open quests you could repeat were always a good way to level up.

Omega of course teased Mal “Young pup, picking flowers! Haha!”.

Mal just ignored him thinking of that sweet XP he would get.

When the sun was high in the sky they took a midday break for a quick meal of hardtack and what was left of the fresh bread. As they ate Omega began Mal’s education into being a spellsword with some basic theory he laid down so Mal would get some of the introduction into his class.

“Now let’s see young pup, where to start with you?” He looked over at Mal from his seat on a fallen log. “I suppose since you know so little about Magic you don’t really know what a spellsword even is do you?” He took a big bite of cheese and bread waiting for Mal’s response.

“Well no not really. All I know is Atish suggested it to me as the best choice that suited me.” Mal said and took a sip of his waterskin. “I imagine it has to do with spells and swords.” Mal stated the obvious.

“Well of course it does, young pup. Here let me break it down for you. Most casters use light armor or no armor at all due to the fact it can hinder your casting if you are wearing the heavier more restrictive armors. There is a static debuff if you are wearing the heaviest armors that causes spell failures or miscasts.” Omega explained.

Mal nodded listening intently soaking up the knowledge as he continued eating his lunch.

“Now the exceptions to that are Spellswords and Battle Mages. Well also a few others to a lesser degree like Paladins and Death Knights but their spells are quite limited early on compared to pure casters. More marital those two classes. Anyway, Spellswords and Battle Mages are full blown casters but can also use medium and heavy armor with much smaller penalties to casting failure. That is where the similarities end. A Battle Mage is focused on ranged damage and full offensive abilities where as a Spellsword is more focused on boosting his blade, his stats and his defense.” Omega continued.

“Let’s move out boys!” Alison said getting up from her lotus position as they finished their break.

“Walk with me young pup.” Omega took point again with Mal a half step behind. “Now as you level up many and many options will open up before you with the Spellsword class including what speciality and prestige class you may want to take up. But those choices are well down the road.” Omega checked the position of the sun as Mal continued along next to him.

“Your key first spells that will be your foundation will be Mana Blade, Spellshield, and the basic buffs.” Omega scanned the horizon as they hiked along before continuing. “The buffs are obvious, they simply boost your basic attributes and make you stronger. They vary in power and what stats they effect but they are simple spells which will be good for you to cut your teeth on. Now Mana Blade and Spellshield are your bread and butter. You will be using those spells until the end of your days in the Spellsword school of battling. They are never outgrown because they level up as you do and as the mana cost increases so too does their power.” Omega said to Mal’s delight.

“When can I learn these spells?” Mal said excited to have such powerful sounding spells in his repertoire.

“Well that depends on-” Omega began before Alison cut him off.

“SHHH. Stop.” She hissed at the two of them and she drew her rapier.

Mal and Omega were immediately on guard at whatever Alison had detected. Mal unclasped his shield from his back and hefted his short spear looking around but he saw no threat. Omega on the other hand had dropped into a crouch and tilted his head back and forth listening.

“There is no bird song. It’s too quiet.” Omega whispered. Mal realized he was right even the gentle breeze had stilled as if the forest was holding it’s breath in anticipation.

“Yes something is off.” Alison whispered quietly.

Omega quietly cast a spell and his spell book gave off a faint glow then so did his eyes as he looked left to right. When he looked to the east his gaze held there for a moment.

“There are two types of magic being used to the east. Nature magic I think and something more sinister as well.” Omega informed them.

“Well let’s go check it out.” Mal said taking point and moving off in the direction Omega indicated.

As they moved deeper into the trees they began to see flashes of green light ahead of them that were answered with flashes of black. Then they heard the unmistakable universal sounds of violence. Cries of pain and shouts of anger started to filter through on the air along with the clash of weapons or the thump of something striking something. To Mal’s surprise he thought he also picked up the sound of a squealing pig.

Mal saw an outcropping ahead of him that rose up above the general levelness of the land and steered his party towards it. When they reached the top of the small rise the battle that was taking place spread out before them giving them an easy view of what was taking place.

The adventuring party saw below them there was a clearing in the trees with a large rock in the center of it. There with her back to the rock was a wild looking woman wearing animal skins and covered in a strange armor that looked to be made of various bones of animals. On her head was the top half of a wolf skull as a helm. She was twirling a staff and calling out challenges to the creatures that had her surrounded.

“Darklings” Omega hissed with hate in his voice. Mal peered at the grey skinned things and they were truly an anathema to nature. Sharp pointy teeth and beady black eyes went with their loin cloths and primitive weapons.

Then Mal saw the source of the squealing he had heard, a giant boar was circling the rock trotting around with it’s dangerous looking tusks gleaming in the sunlight. The boar seemed to be protecting the woman as they watched it became clear that it was. Three of the darklings with spears and daggers approached the woman from her blindside. The boar saw them however and did a mock charge driving them back.

As they were driven back under the treeline the woman turned casting a spell with her free hand and the vines of the tree the darklings had been driven under sprang to life with the green glow of magic. The vines snatched one of the darklings up into the air hanging him by his neck like it was the gallows. The other darklings scrambled away from the deadly nature magic.

Then in response to this Mal saw a darkling who was larger than the others with a staff with human skulls on the end of it. A shot of dark energy shot from the staff and the vines withered and died. The almost hung darkling collapsed on the ground gasping for breath. A darkling shaman Omega told them. The shaman also shot a bolt of dark energy from his staff but at the woman who ducked under it just in time. The rock behind her where the bolt had hit bubbled a nasty black miasma from the strike.

Will you help the Druid and her animal companion from the darkling threat? Reward unknown, failure penalty loss of reputation with Omega and Alison

Mal accepted the quest that had popped up.

“We gotta help this woman, there are too many for her.” Mal whispered. “Get ready to attack” he finished urgently.

Alison disappeared from view as she activated her stealth and Omega cast a spell on himself boosting his damage with ranged damage spells. Mal plunged his spear into the earth at his feet and drew his crossbow taking careful aim at the darkling shaman.

Just then a darkling had climbed and crept up the backside of the large boulder the druid had her back to. Both the woman and the boar were unaware of this threat being so focused on the shaman. Mal saw the movement out of the corner of his eye as the darkling prepared a spear thrust to the unprotected back of the druid that surely would have been her death.

Mal reacted without thinking as he had in the bandit fight against the bandit chief. Going on pure reflex he shifted his aim and held his fire for a split second then knowing he was out of time he gently squeezed the trigger on his light crossbow.

The bolt found the mark.

The darkling gurgled around the steel tipped bolt in it’s throat and tumbled down the side of the boulder. Everyone in the clearing froze and all eyes turned to the outcropping Mal and Omega were on. The shaman gave a bark of an order and several darkling peeled away from the main group and advanced on the two adventurers.

Omega finished his cast and a fireball appeared in his between his gesturing hands. Pushing both outstretched palms at the shaman the fireball hurtled toward the shaman. The shaman crouched and held it’s staff aloft and a shimmery shield went up before it. The fireball impacted the shield and the shaman staggered under the blow as a wash of flame splashed around the shaman.

The druid was not one to waste the opportunity at this shift in the battle. A green glow coated her hands and staff as she shouted out words of power intimidating the darkling group that was charging her in a fury. She finished the spell as the boar realigned and started his own charge. A cloud of insects appeared all around the charging darklings and their howls changed from anger to pain as the wasps started stinging them.

The confusion was enough to allow the boar to finish his charge. The great beast knocked the darklings to the ground scattering them like bowling pins. The boar stomped down on the smaller darklings and tossed his head back and forth goring with his tusks. Bones snapped and blood flew up into the air.

Four darklings charged at Mal and Omega’s position just as Mal finished reloading his crossbow. Alison suddenly appeared behind the darklings, she was down in the clearing now nearer to the druid. With a snap of her wrist a deadly throwing knife was embedded deep into the back of one of the advancing darklings. The sneak attack did extra damage and the darkling gasped it’s last breath.

Mal quickly aimed his shot and fired catching one of the darklings charging him in the thigh and the thing tumbled to the ground. It was Omega’s turn to raise a shield and he deflected a dark bolt flying his way with a shield of flame in the nick of time.

“We must kill the shaman! He is the leader!” Omega called out to Mal over the cries and screams of battle.

“I have just the thing! Sylvester KILL!!” Mal shouted and pointing at the shaman.

At his master’s urging the rock golem flowed down the hill like an avalanche batting aside the two still charging up the slope almost as an afterthought. Mal let his crossbow drop to his side on it’s sling and grabbed his spear out of the earth. Running forward he cocked his arm back and then with a mighty heave cast it forward at the shaman. The deadly missile shot through the air over Sly’s head. The spear crashed into the magic shield with a loud twang but didn’t penetrate. Cracks were starting to form in the shield though under the assault. Another fireball washed over the shield causing more damage to it.

Mal drew his Blessed Darksteel Longsword from over his shoulder and charged the 3 darkling who were shakily regaining their feet half way up the slope. He was hoping to get to them before they could regroup and reform.

A cry of pain came from the druid woman as she had taken in arrow in her forearm and several more darkling charged the druid with hatred in their black eyes. The druid had gone down to one knee from the pain and Mal feared for her life as he completed his own charge. Mal swung to his left and right and death followed his blows on the off balance darklings.

Mal looked up and saw he was too far away from the druid to give aid but then suddenly Alison simply appeared out of thin air in their midst. In a span of 3 seconds 3 darklings died to her flurry of blows with her rapier in one hand and dagger in the other. Her attack broke the charge and the other darklings fled to the tree line.

The boar was still stomping on the darklings caught in the insect swarm. The darklings were not faring well against the large beast. The battle was turning in their favor it seemed and the darklings started pulling back into the treeline. Their movements were tentative and fearful. No longer were they calling out threats of death and dismemberment.

Then the straw that broke the camel’s back hit the darkling’s morale when Sylvester reached the shaman. Sly plowed through the weakened shield which made a loud bang as it dissipated. The shaman cried out in terror holding it’s staff before it but Sly’s fists smashed the staff. Then those same fists began mashing the shaman to pulp.

The sight was too much for the remaining darklings who were cowards at heart. Their easy prey of just the druid had flipped on it’s head as 4 new combatants had entered the fray. With screams of fright the darklings ran for all they were worth away from the Mal’s party and the Druid hoping to never see them again.

After a moment the only sound in the clearing was the whimpering of the dying and heavy breathing of victors.

Mal thrust his bloody sword high into the air a released a pent up cry that had been building in his chest the whole battle as the tension had raised and raised.

“VICTORY!!!” Mal shouted and his comrades echoed his cry.