timewalk

  Aliandra

  Your Tunnel Weaver has beeed.

  Ali frowo see the sudden surprising message. It was not that her boss had beeed that was frustrating her, but the fact that it was a surprise.

  The notification itself served as a kind of a warning, but the point of giving the boss enhanced perception was so that she had earlier warning of intruders – but that would do her no good if she didn’t actually che her monsters regurly. Sure, she had been busy fighting, but her intelligeribute was over two hundred now, she could afford the small amount of focus required to keep tabs on her dungeon.

  She ranged around with her awareness until she found a Tunnel Weaver that had not been killed, hiding in a side branch of the spider wing, aled into its point of view for a moment. Its uny web sense was not nearly extensive enough to see the boss’s ir, so she had it crawl over there to scout. What she found was a little fusing, but only because she hadn’t takeime to learn how tnize people with web se. By the time the spider got close enough, she could actually see the party standing there looking at the corpse of her spider boss.

  Sabri and Brena. She reized the two easily. A shaven-headed boy was sitting in a meditation pose simir to Malika with a staff resting across his crossed thighs and a small fme dang in the air in front of his chest. A catkin girl was excitedly harvesting mushrooms and webbing while a huge padin shiny pte armor was whirling a massive ichor-covered hammer around, cradled in his arms in what looked like a bizarre waltz. Relieved that it was a ‘normal’ guild group, and not some ued attack, she withdrew her scout, rather tha ambush them in their moment of victory and released it to focus ba her notifications.

  Grove Warden has reached level 55 (+2).+20 attribute points.

  sideriruggles, Ali’s choices were not hard. She quickly speeen points on wisdom, signifitly increasing her avaible mana, and put the st two into vitality. A little extra buffer would go a long way whehing burned or exploded.

  Are Insight has reached level 28.Barrier has reached level 40.Martial Insight has reached level 33.Empowered Summoner has reached level 26.Minion Teleport has reached level 16 (+2).

  Inspiration has reached level 10.

  Ali joined Malika at the corpse of the Living Fme – really just a core that eled the enormous power of its fire mana. Malika pushed it over to her with her foot, revealing several darkly fming essences which she scooped up excitedly.

  “There you go,” Malika said.

  “Thanks,” she said. “By the way, Sabri and her group just defeated my spider boss, and I think she just reached level eight.”

  “Oh great!” Malika seemed particurly happy with the news.

  Ali reached down to the sed elemental core and destructed it.

  [Sage of Learning]Domain Magialyzed: Affinity Aura (Fire). Domain Magialyzed: e.

  “Oh, I got some new domain magic,” she said. She had already learned Affinity Aura from the twin wights – and seeing the notification of the powerful domain magic spell, it was quite clear why the Living Fmes’ auras had been so much rger and more potent. However, she had only been able to use Death, Nature, and Are affinities with the domain skill, and this boss had the fire version. Eagerly, she opened her skill list to check, and sure enough, her options had been updated.

  Affinity AuraRequirements: Choose a patible Magibsp;affinity.Source: Twin Wights, Living Fme, CssAffinities: Death, Nature, Are, Fire. Enhance your summoned creature’s natural affinity to produ aura of magic that fills the area around it. The nature and effects of the aura are depe oype of mana affinity. When used with a raid enha it will produce a signifitly more powerful effect.Skill – Domain Magic

  Death affinity didn’t seem particurly useful, although she did have the oh-affinity kobold variant, so perhaps she could make a boss with that. Fire, oher hand… she had lots of ideas for fire!

  “Morwynne and Eliyen are going to be overjoyed with that,” said.

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “I see that look in your eye,” grinned. “You’re thinking about making a fire kobold boss with that aura?”

  “Guilty,” Ali admitted. “But what does that have to do with Morwynne and Eliyen?”

  “The guild is about to bee a solid er of fire elixirs,” said.

  “ht!”

  , Ali found the e skill and studied the new magic, deg quickly to share this new ability with her friends, too.

  eRequirements: Creature with mana.Source: Living FmeDomain Respawes two [boss] or three [raid] identical copies of this monster. Each e of the enhanced monster gains the following skill:Mana: You may domain respawn any dead e. Requires full mana pool and focus – getting hit cels the summoning. Cast Time: 10 seds. Skill – Domain Magic

  “So, that’s why there were two of them,” said, getting out his notebook, and then hastily st it again as it spontaneously caught fire.

  “Yup, and it expins the domain respawn trick it tried to use in the middle of battle. It was trying to resummon its friend,” Ali said.

  “Why did it keep doing it even when you destructed the corpse?” asked.

  “My monsters respawn without corpses…”

  “Oh, good point.”

  It was quite fortunate for them that they had shattered the barrier shield when they had – the fme tornado spell fully regeed the monster’s mana, satisfying the requirements for the respawn. If they had not shattered the barrier withiime tee its mana pool and the ten seds it o cast the spell, they would have had to tend with the e being respawned on top of them.

  “Well, that’s terrifying,” muttered. “I think I might use my Righteous Fury to crack the first shield if we have to do this again.”

  “Yes, but what about the sed one?” Mato asked. “I think this is a damage check ability.”

  “Or we bring them both down at the same time, perhaps?” Malika suggested.

  “That will be tricky with the regeion,” said, but he was nodding.

  While that was a real worry, Ali’s mind was instead filled with ideas for how to use this new and impressive ability to make a boss of her own. Something with a lot eion, she thought, sidering maybe a raid boss Forest Guardian with enormeion. There would be three of them if she used the raid enha. Or maybe Acolytes with Prayer tee. But finding a way to make them immuo all hits for the ten seds it took to cast the spell would be quite a challenge.

  “Hey guys, there’s something over here you o see,” Mato called out from the other end of the Landing.

  Ali gnced up, her body tired and sore from the stant fighting, being burned, and catapulted into the air by the crushing bst waves. I need some rest, she thought as she made a barrier and carried herself across the Landing to where Mato stood.

  She had not had reason to e down here often, but from what she remembered, this entire chamber had been some kind of clearing house or ste area for ore and equipment used by the miners, now long gone, presumably destructed by the dungeon or decayed away by the inexorable march of time. The va pools and the casg rivers of molten rock at the edges of the ndihe work of the dungeon itself – she was certain she would have remembered something like that.

  Ali stared at the fruits of their hours of hard bor – the entire vast chamber was empty, free of elementals, and missing the bustle of the long-dead miners.

  Along the far edge of the Landing, where Mato stood, were the three giant stone doorways that led further into the mine. She had not remembered them being closed, but they were now, and the far wall was buttressed with reinforced stohat rose up to the high ceiling overhead.

  She followed Mato’s gaze and found a giant ruched into the smooth stone surface of the door, bzing with an intense fire-affinity mana – a deep blue-bck color that seemed to match the cores of the Living Fmes. With a gnce, she firmed a rune in each of the other two doors, one bzing with an intense e-white fme, and the far one, an ominous bck, hungry fire.

  Rune of Living FmeRune of InfernoRune of Hellfire

  Her runic script skill allowed her to read them, so she shared the information with her friends. Not that it helped much, she didn’t know what it all meant, other than Living Fme matched the names of the elemental bosses that had been guarding the room.

  “Any idea how we open the doors?” she asked. “The door behind the bck fme – the Rune of Hellfire – is the passage to the fe and anvil Thuli is looking for.” Her runic script gave her no further clues.

  “Appraise says the runes are the keys to opening the doors,” Malika said with a thoughtful expression on her face. “But it doesn’t give muformation on how to use them – just that it requires something that put out the fme.”

  “I’m going to try something, maybe stand back a bit?” Ali said.

  “Ok, but be careful, Ali,” Malika said.

  As soon as her friends had a little distance, Ali created a barrier to protect her body and reached past it to use her destru. The moment she touched the Rune of Hellfire, she recoiled in pain as the fme seared into her hand, ing her skin and flesh rapidly. She cried out in agony, and, in an instant, Malika appeared, p her healing mana into her, but it took several seds of excruciating burning for the magic to overe the fme aore her hand. Even with the assistance of all her Acolytes.

  “I don’t think you should touch that again,” Malika said. “Whatever this fme is, it’s nasty. It has some way of resisting my healing.”

  “I was trying to destruct the rune,” she finally mao get out. She was loath to touch it again – she had been fighting fire elementals all day, and she had even grown somewhat used to the pain of being tinually burnt by the enviro or the fme auras. But the fire of the Living Fmes didn’t e close to the excruciating pain she had just experienced.

  “Maybe try that one?” Malika suggested, pointing at the Rune of Living Fme. “I’ve been pig up Essence of Living Fme, and it doesn’t burn much.”

  She nodded and moved over to the ruh the bluish fme. She felt a rush of relud hesitation as she reached past her new barrier. She was grateful that Malika had decided to stand with her this time, one hand toug Ali’s shoulder, ready if her healing was needed. But other than a small burniion, it was nothing like the hellfire rune. A trickle of Malika’s mana was all that was o keep her healed.

  She eled her destru into the rune, but as the magic reached the surface of the ru was dispersed by the domain of the fire dungeon in a spectacur dispy of sparks and fme. She forced more and more of her mana intic, but other than fueling the fireworks, and Malika’s healing mana increasing a little to match the extra damage, there was ion. The dungeon’s domain quite effectively repelled and dispersed her magic.

  “It doesn’t work…” Ali’s voice betrayed her inner surprise and shock. She was used to destru w ohing she tried it on, but the dungeon or the runes seemed to be actively resisting her magic with a barrier of fire that made it impervious to her skill.

  I guess destru does require the target to be uing. She just hadn’t expected the inanimate ruo resist her.

  “It’s ok, Ali, you tried.” Malika’s voice carried sympathy and sotion. It was quite frustrating to spend all that time and energy finding fire resistance gear, potions, and killing all the dungeon monsters only to be stopped dead by a door. It seemed Malika uood without her needing to expin her frustration.

  They spent quite a while trying various things – including trying to destruct the door or the walls themselves – but nothing seemed to work, aually, it was who suggested they return home.

  “The dungeon is going to respawhing at some point,” he said. “Probably there are already respawns at the entrance by now. We should recall out of here unless you want to fight our way back to the library.”

  “We o think about this,” Ali agreed, nodding slowly. “Seems a waste, though…”

  It was frustrating to have to leave with the puzzle unsolved, but he was right.

  “I’m sure these Living Fme Essences are the key somehow,” Malika said, holding one in her hand and looking at the Rune of Living Fme. “I want to do some resear town – maybe ask a few crafters what they think.”

  “Morwynne, maybe?” Ali asked, getting a nod from Malika. But the vocally expressive Gnome robably going to want to see the runes in person, which meant they would have to fight their way back down here again before they got an answer.

  Unless… She suddenly had an idea.

  “Hey, give me a few minutes,” she said and began to rapidly inscribe her runic magi the floor, making two circles supported by her mana.

  Static Teleport – level 35 (Are)Teleport to a preset teleportation locus.Locus: Novaspark Academy of Magic, Myrin’s Keep.Runic Circle

  Teleportation Locus – level 42 (Are)A magical locus that serves as an enhaeleport destination.Runic CircleYour reserved mana has increased by +355.

  Oof, it’s a good thing I chose wisdom. It was a ton of reserved mana she could barely afford, but it would be temporary. She could already feel the dungeon’s domain beginning to erode her creations, but it would st a few hours by her quick estimate. Enough to return to town and teleport back here if Morwynne o see the rune.

  Sabri

  Sabri stood over the corpse of the Tunnel Weaver spider for a long moment. It had been aremely long and challenging fight. Her armor was heavily scored from the incredibly powerful spear-like strikes of the spider’s razor-sharp legs, and her shield still dripped viscous green venom.

  She had learned several important lessons during her first boss fight. The importance of healing – there was absolutely no way she would have made it through the fight with health potions aloheon had grudgingly agreed to heal whenever she asked, and she had deliberately waited till she was below half before she asked him, relying on a heavily deferategy. She didn’t want to annoy him, but she wasn’t certain if it was the smartest approach, but at least it took advantage of her Tenacious aptitude to boost each of the heals he had given her.

  Her sed lesson was the importance of the guild, and proper information and resources. She had used all of Basil’s antidote potions in the fight, but they had made such a crucial differehat they had defeated the boss on the first try.

  I gaiwo levels, she thought, but she would look at that ter.

  “Malise, you help me gather some of these mushrooms? I promised Basil I would collect them so he make poisons.”

  “Poisons, you say?” Malise’s head cocked to the side, a strangely intense, covetous expression on her face, and a low sound like a purr ing from her throat. “This Basil, he is a guild herbalist?”

  “Yes,” Sabri said, shaking off her teammate’s creepiness and pointing out the red-and-white toadstools. Malise had Herb Gathering, and that would be needed if she wao harvest them effectively.

  “Too bad this thing has no loot,” Theon said, kig the spider.

  “Brena said there’s a quest on the jobs board for monstrous spider silk. It pays quite well,” Sabri said, pointing up at the roof. She had memorized all the jobs that she thought she might have a shot at or paid well. And there was more web than she could carry in her ring.

  “Oh!” Theon excimed. “Now you’re talking!”

  Brena gave her a grateful look, and she was somehow certain it was for more than just the reminder of the job. They had all succeeded as a group, and everyone had leveled up – ime the fight would be easier.

  After she had filled her ste entment with poisonous mushrooms ahey all turo head back to the guild.

  I just hope that repairing my armor and shield won’t cost too much…

  Aliandra

  They knocked on the door to Pretty Powerful Potions, but their only answer was a series of muffled thumps from somewhere inside. Mato turhe handle and pushed the door open. As soon as Ali entered, she was assaulted by a shockwave of sound as a series of explosions ripped through a table full of apparatus over by the far wall, filling half the room with a cloud of dense white smoke and sending shards of gss and debris flying everywhere. A long and iive series of curses could be heard as the explosions ceased. Ali waited, but after a few moments even she was being impressed with just how creative the iive was. By the time Morwynne emerged from the smoke, covered in soot, she still hadn’t repeated herself even once.

  “Oh, hi!” she called out in a bright voice that seemed to pletely ighe damage and swearing from just a few seds ago. She walked over to greet them, hopping up on a chair so she could be on the same level as Malika and Ali sitting on her barrier.

  “We were w if you could help us with some research,” Malika said, reag out and healing the Ghis thing seems to be an alchemical reagent, but we were w if you knew what it could be used for, or how to use it?” She pulled out one of the Essence of Living Fme, holding it in her hand and showing it to the pink-haired gnome.

  Sitting there on the palm of her hand, the deep blue undying fme was certainly ag sight.

  “Oh!” Morwynne said, following the excmation with some elvish swearwords spoken in aruck voice. She peered closer, pulling her goggles down over her eyes. She rummaged around in a poud extracted several other lenses, putting one of them over her left eye. It glowed e as she eled some skill into it while examining the reagent.

  “That’s quite a find,” she answered finally. “I use that for quite a few elemental structs and potions, typically more powerful versions of the regur potions, or more esoteries. I would buy it from you just to experiment if you’re looking to sell. You didn’t, by any ce, find more of them?”

  “I have about ten,” Malika answered.

  “I doubt I could afford all of them,” Morwynne answered, pursing her lips.

  “There was something we wao ask for your expert opinion on,” Ali said, ing to the crux of the problem. “Down in the dungeon, we found a Rune of Living Fme which is barring our passage through a doorway. We’re sure it has something to do with this essence, but we are stumped.” Morwynainly seemed knowledgeable about the essence – at least more so than they were.

  “You don’t say?” Morwynne answered, her face lighting up. “I would love to see that! It sounds like a fun little puzzle to solve, doesn’t it?”

  “I teleport us down there right away if you don’t mind me inscribing the runes on your floor,” Ali said. Just talking with Morwynne was easing her frustration – at least it felt like they were doing something productive instead of staring at the rune fes.

  “Go ahead, let me gather some things quickly,” Morwynne said, and Ali began inscribing the runes for her Static Teleport, adjusted tet the temporary locus she had inscribed deep underground in the Landing.

  It took only a few minutes before she was ready, and they all stepped through the teleport circle and appeared ba the Landing. Morwynne immediately let off a string of dwarven swearwords as she hopped up and down in obvious pain.

  “Oh, sorry,” Ali said and hastily directed her Acolyte to heal her. The dungeon’s mana must have been quite a painful shoing into it unprepared and she had simply fotten to warn Morwynne what to expect, but the healing seemed to substantially ease the pain as her stream of iive sed over to Elvish and she quaffed a protective potion.

  Ali was beginning to get the hang of her patterns. It seemed she used dwarven swearwords when she set, or something o be told off. Elvish swearwords were for emphasis and for sounding sophisticated. Swearwords in the on nguage served more as punctuation than meaning. Examining the Landing, the stru of the giant doors and the magic of the runes id out before them seemed to be impressive enough to the Go warrant a long string of Elvish.

  Morwynne examined each of them at length, using different tools and goggles that buzzed and clicked and shot tiny bursts of mana. She applied several different skills, and even burnt herself twice, which caused her to let off a long series of dwarven profanity even though Ali’s Kobolds healed her quickly.

  Eventually, Morwyuro where they were waiting.

  “ I see that essence again?” she asked Malika, her expression fully focused.

  Wordlessly, Malika simply retrieved it and ha to the Gnome. She exami carefully and finally ha back.

  “I have good news and bad news,” she said, looking surprisingly serious for a ge. “I have a recipe for a queng potion that could take care of one of the runes.” She ointing at the Rune of Living Fme. “As far as I tell, ohe fme is doused, it should unlock the rune.” She took a deep breath. “That’s the good news.”

  “The bad news is, it will require one of those essences you have, and it will also require an essence of cold, a lot of mana-purified water, and a retively high-level water mage. I hire Serendipity Puddlecrash from yuild for the water mage, but the cold essence will o be huhey e from the corpse of an ice elemental or simir monster, and I’m certain nobody in Myrin’s Keep has anything like that in stock. Or a retively high-level cold entment on something you don’t miroying, but I have no idea where to find those.”

  Ali’s hope had risen on the good news, and immediately sunk once again, but before it could drop too far, spoke up.

  “Will this work?”

  With a great ctter, he dumped a heavy blue-and-bck pte armor on the ground and added a greatsword. Both items emitted a powerful freezing aura, overing the heat from the ambient fire mana around them and leaving a broad patch of frost on the ground.

  Ali reized the Death Knight’s gear instantly, feeling the sympathetic chill running right through her at the sight.

  “Where did you get that?” Morwynne excimed, following it with a singur Elvish word that had no transtion in on.

  “Lyeneru gave me this to sell as a reward for helping her kill the Death Knight,” answered, his face flushing instantly at the sudden attention he was getting. “Will it work?”

  “You have a Death Knight’s sword and armor!” Morwynne swore colorfully while dang up and down in time to the rhythm of her words.

  Despite the terrible source for the items, Ali couldn’t help but grin at the antics of the progressively more and more etrie.

  “Hell yes! That’s perfect! I will need about a day to find someone high enough level to cast dismantle on that and find Serendipity. e fiomorrow and I’ll have something for you to try.”

  “Are you sure about this, ?” Malika asked. “That was your reward for an insane fight, and those items are worth a fortune.”

  “If it helps us get through the door, then I’m happy to spend them,” said.

  “Just as long as you know that sword alone is worth more mana potions than you drink in a lifetime,” Malika said.

  Poor , Ali thought. She had never seen a half-elf turn that shade of green before – not even if they had a Wood Elf parent. But he was adamant, and they sent Morwynne bae with the Death Knight gear, an Essence of Living Fme, and a stocher full of mana-purified water from the ke.

  ----------

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