The Dragon's Wrath: Ashes of the Fallen (2 page)

Chapter 42: Quest Chains 'n Stuff

(Wednesday, May 26th Game Day / Thursday, February 18th Real Day)

That fresh, crisp morning air after a light rain.

Something about it, I couldn't quite place.

But in the end, it calmed my soul.

Gazing out at the forest in front of me, there was nothing more than trees as far as the eye could see. Light had just graced the world and soon adventurers would fill the space between. Waiting in the darkness just off to the side of the dungeon, I had been calmly biding my time in the summer rain.

That was about to come to an end.

Yeah, it wouldn't be long now.

A burly dwarf soon appeared in the distance, not quite as short in stature as I would have imagined, but still quite short nonetheless. A man maybe five feet tall, with shield and sword followed by two males in robes and a fourth man with a bow. Adventurers, here to conquer the dungeon, I suppose.

Without a fifth member, I became a little anxious at the prospect.

Having already turned in the first portions of the chain quests, I was now sitting on [Outing the Outcasts, Part 2] and [Bringing down the Guard, Pt. 2]. Now, all I needed was a party that was looking to clear the second level at the minimum.

I could only hope that they were on the same page.

As the dwarf walked within earshot, I decided to take a chance.

"Hey, do you guys need a fifth?" I called out while making eye-contact.

With a bit of a
tsk
and a face that couldn't care less, the dwarf looked me up and down before deciding on his reply.

"Yeh, wha' do you do?" he coolly questioned in return.

Caught a little off-guard by the bluntness of his response and an accent that reminded me of the land down under, I started wondering what role would be best. A look at the group in front of me told me they had two casters of some sort, an archer, and a tank.

I guess it wasn't a hard decision after all.

"I'm a mage," I said bluntly with some conviction.

The dwarf stood still for a moment, looking once over at the group behind him as if to reassure himself. In truth, I wasn't much of a mage but it definitely sounded better than archer or off-tank. Plus, it certainly wouldn't hurt to raise my proficiency with Lightning Magic.

Continuing where he left off, "got any experience?"

"Yeah, I'm on the second quest," I confidently stated.

"Right, let's go then," replied the dwarf with a quick nod.

What… that was it?

Well, that was easy… if only every group invite went as smoothly.

An invite to the group and a quick step through the portal a second later brought me back to that dimly lit cave that stunk of urine and puke. That sudden change was unnerving yet again, and I wasn't sure if I would ever get used to it. Going from the refreshing cool air of the forest to the cold, empty yet muddy-feeling of the portal, with it all culminating in that overly humid and rancid environment that was called a dungeon; it simply was an odd transition.

There was definitely a separation between worlds.

With the rest of the party appearing directly behind, we were finally ready to get things started. I could only hope that these guys were decent. The confidence of the dwarf next to me was at least reassuring. It was actually strangely a bit too reassuring, and with a quick check of the options, I found out why.

It appeared that the dwarf had an aura that bolstered morale.

Well, he was still a confident fellow and that did help in addition to his aura.

Quickly checking all my items and statuses, I was ready to go. But before we could begin, the dwarf had glanced at me and seemed startled. Confusion displayed clearly across his face as he asked, "how the hell do ye 'ave so much health!? I'm level thirty-seven and ye've got as much health as I do…."

Oh, so he does have emotions.

I laughed a bit to myself before deciding on how to reply. "Bonus attributes man. The UR-Exam gave me a wee bit of a boost." Following that up with a wink, I let a grin slip out as well. Yeah, I had two-hundred more health than him and was only level thirty-one. An axe-wielding mage with the health of a tank, nothing too out of the ordinary here!

Shaking his head, the dwarf let a grin of his own shine through before replying in kind. "No shit. I didn't think it was worth, but if a mage has more health than a tank I should get my freakin' stubby ass down there." As he finished talking, he continued to walk forward until he reached the middle of the room. Suddenly stopping and without turning around, he raised his voice for all to hear.

"Right, who's pullin'? I'll AoE taunt them off ye," he said loudly.

With a quick glance at the archer who didn't seem to care, I figured now would be a good time to shine. Like a kid raising his hand to answer the teacher's call, I eagerly replied. "I can pull. I've got a good AoE to start it."

"Ye do that then," the dwarf stated calmly.

Without a moment to lose, I quickly walked around the corner and down the dark narrow passageway. I had yet to actually use [Chain Lightning] but they didn't need to know that. They were on a need to know basis, and they didn't need to know. I mean, what was the worst that could happen anyhow?

Staring at the goblin camp, five of those disgustingly filthy creatures were settled by the fireside munching on what appeared to be roasted rat. With their height ranging from four feet tall to four foot six, oversized heads with odd spade-like ears and hourglass eyes… they were just as repulsive as the first time I encountered them.

It was of no matter though, as they would die all the same.

Gathering myself and getting into position, I began a chanted verse while focusing my attention on casting a [Chain Lightning]. The cast time itself was quite short, comparable to a [Lightning Bolt] at two seconds but it cost over twice the mana. There was also a cooldown period of eight seconds as well, so it couldn't be used repeatedly in quick succession. Fortunately none of that really mattered; I had enough mana to cast quite a few of them and it looked to be a very powerful spell.

As four distinct miniature lightning bolts started to take shape between my hands, they had started to entwine into a single yet separate mass. The cool off-white light radiating from my hands was a sight to behold, and I couldn't wait for what was to come. Building up the charge to its maximum three verses, I focused my attention on the [Outcast Goblin] far out in front.

Extending my arms outwards with palms open, I quickly yelled out, "Chain Lightning!" In a flash I saw the four intertwined bolts of lightning surge forth and nearly instantaneously explode in a shower of sparks. The four miniature bolts had hit the goblin in the center of his chest and as he was paralyzed from the sudden electricity coursing through his veins, each individual bolt arced off and bounced to a nearby goblin.

The four goblins behind him were each hit with one of the four bolts and started to convulse as well while taking a quarter of the damage compared to the initial target. As all five goblins stood temporarily paralyzed I high-tailed it out of the room without a moment to lose, hastily retreating to the safety zone behind my little dwarf tank. It was only a few seconds of running, with a stop on a dime to turn around to prepare for the oncoming wave.

Starting another full chanted verse for a [Lightning Bolt], I needed to time it with the goblins currently rushing through that narrow passageway that connected the rooms. Since [Lightning Bolt] was a straight-line skill shot, I only needed to aim properly and didn't require a target in line of sight to cast beforehand. Five seconds was more than adequate for those goblins to catch up, anyways.

As the first [Outcast Minor Goblin] turned the corner, I had just finished my cast and let it fly. The lightning bolt flashed out of my open palm and connected straight with the goblin as it fell to the floor, twitching slightly with its face in the dirt.

It died before it even hit the ground.

That, was the power of lightning magic.

High cost yet high reward, perfect for small skirmishes and one on one battles.

Of course I had already dropped twenty-two percent of my mana in two casts, but that was the last thing on my mind. Starting up another [Lightning Bolt] with the intent to capitalize on the chaining bonus which ramped up damage by ten percent per, up to fifty percent in total, I looked on with eager eyes.

No longer did I have to be the one getting stabbed and sliced at, receiving excessive pain in order to tank a bunch of mobs.

This was something I could get used to.

Yeah, this may just be my calling.

Not more than three seconds had passed before the remaining four goblins appeared in front of us, with the dwarf using his [Call to Challenge], an Area of Effect taunt to pick up the loose mobs. The goblins couldn't resist the direct challenge and blindly swarmed the poor man, energetic and enraged from the taunt.

As the goblins wildly attacked the dwarf, he was steadfast with his defense, keeping his shield high and in front, easily deflecting the oncoming blows of the lower level goblins. The tank had no issue controlling the four of them and made me rethink my stance on tanking without a shield.

It all looked too easy for him.

I certainly took the harder path.

Looking over to my left was the Frost mage, who had nearly completed his full chanted verse [Frost Bolt], while to my right the Holy priest was starting a chanted [Holy Light] to heal the dwarf. The three of us stood in a line and it was kind of a neat sight. Three people chanting away with glowing hands.

It was something you wouldn't see in real life.

Witnessing it in a party setting made for an interesting experience, too.

There was also an archer somewhere about, but no one cared about him.

He shot his bow, like they all do.

Thwack, thwack
.

And as I finished my thought, the first [Frost Bolt] left the mage's hands as a cold light-blue ball of ice shot out at an incredible speed, leaving a trail of crystalizing ice fluttering to the ground in its wake. Following the bolt as it impacted into the nearest minor goblin, an explosion of white mist enveloped the target, shrouding it entirely in a thin layer of frost.

It was a spectacular sight to behold, and it was the first time I had seen it in person. But, it wasn't a heavy hitter and the minor goblin although slowed, was still quite alive and well.

Well, not for long.

Completing my second [Lightning Bolt], the frosty minor goblin nearly instantly slumped to the floor as electricity discharged from its body and into the ground below. A second later, and the dwarf was engulfed in that warming golden light that restored him to full health with ease.

Ten seconds had passed since I pulled, and the third minor goblin fell to the archer's volleys leaving only the two [Outcast Goblins] still standing. Three [Frost Bolts] and two [Lightning Bolts] later, and we were down to one.

Repeating the process, the fight was over in less than forty seconds.

These fights took well over a minute with the [Liberated Souls] group that was composed of a rogue and two archers. Having two offensive casters certainly warranted some respect, for this type of pacing was definitely easier for everyone involved.

The only issue… was our mana consumption.

Well, mainly my mana consumption.

A [Lightning Bolt] used up nearly 7% of my mana while a [Chain Lightning] used up almost 15%. The math on the spell cost was partially percentage based plus a small number, so even with a larger mana pool I wouldn't be able to cast indefinitely. The Frost mage on the other hand was using something like 3% of his mana per [Frost Bolt].

Needless to say, after that fight he was sitting at 76% remaining mana while I was down to 43%. Pacing was important since a full rest could take up to five minutes with the lousy provisions we had.

Maybe in the future I'll make sure to carry around some higher quality food. I couldn't be the one slowing down the group after all. With only my mana pool depleted and everyone else sitting around waiting for me… that didn't bode well for future invites.

As I sat on the cold mossy ground floor of the dungeon, the dwarf walked over with a smile on his face. With actual emotion compared to before, he spoke up. "Hey lightning mage, ye do good work. Those spells of yers stunned 'em every time. Made my job a hell'uva lot easier."

And with that he gave me a pat on the back and nodded.

He was ready to start the next group, whenever I was.

The second fight proceeded just like the first, and by the third trash group I had ended up switching to my bow due to my mana shortages. The priest had actually shown some concern when I went to pull that third group with only 15% mana remaining, which was something I valued in a party member.

He was watching my mana bar during the fight.

That was a sign of a good player.

Especially when one considers that a healer should be attentive to his or her party's needs. It's imperative that they know the condition of the party before, during, and after a fight. As a former healer, I could really appreciate when others showcased good habits.