Chapter 25 – What Slumbers Beneath

  I steadily walked down the hallway, the muscles in my legs tensed at every little sound, making me want to slap them in nervous frustration. As we edged around the corner, light beams were visible through old stone gaps. It reminded me we were in an old fort.

  As I leaned in to look down, there was an expansive circular chamber, with remnants of what must have once been an awe-inspiring training arena. Now, it lay in disrepair, chunks of stone pillars enveloped in ice, a real battle scape.

  The once-grand viewing balconies now sagging under the weight of snow, and some completely broken. The icy grasp of winter had left its mark on the architecture, creating a haunting atmosphere, and many swords of fallen soldiers frozen in time.

  There was four massive chandeliers suspended high above the center of the chamber. A remnant of the grandeur that this place once possessed, adorned with frozen crystals and intricate metalwork.

  Crrrnch... Clank-Clank

  The sound of chains startled us both. Underneath the balconies large chains ground over iron joints as they moved, a piece of large ice broke open, revealing where it encircled the middle of a hulking giant monster. The creature was unlike anything I had ever seen in this frozen realm. It looked out of place, as if it had been transplanted from the depths of a swampy, untamed jungle. The only difference was, it was an icy blue.

  The monster was a formidable sight, its massive frame exuding power and menace, a large scaled tail swung back and forth. Its skin was covered in frozen vines and river sand, and its eyes glowed a bright green with an otherworldly malice. And as the chains held it captive, the creature thrashed and roared. It had massive arms as thick as tree trunks with large hands that ended in claws of blackened ice.

  Talia and I exchanged wide-eyed glances as the gravity of the situation sunk in. That was no ordinary opponent.

  It was a raid boss.

  There at the base of it’s imposing size was five ice embraced gremlins. They didn’t pose nearly as much a threat to us any more, not after gaining a primary class. But caution had brought me this far and I wasn’t going to take any chances.

  “Identify,” I whispered under my breath at the main Gremlin.

  Ice Embraced Gremlin Chief

  [Monster]

  Level 45

  These strange Gremlins are not common and even more dangerous than their normal brethren. It is said they have been altered by an ancient ice consumed evil that lurks below the frozen lakes. Only rumours exist of what that encounter did to them. But, one thing is clear. They mention their master, and they do its bidding coming to search the topside lands for some mysterious reason.

  [Extra info] Their bite can cause tissue to freeze over. If not warmed by fire or a suitable heating source, it will spread.

  [Clawed Leap] They are known to jump several metres to catch their prey off guard

  [Ice Sphere] A slow casting spell of pure ice. Dangerous.

  [Call of the Ice] In reach of their master, they gain a slowing aura.

  [Dangerous][Avoid taking on more than one.]

  That one was the highest of the 5, and a chief to boot. The Ice Sphere info unlocked, a nasty ability sure, but... I stared at another newly revealed part that was previously hidden. A slowing aura...

  “Talia, listen to me. We have to hurry and stop them before they finish releasing that monster. But, you should know, they have a slowing aura now, so be careful when in close proximity to them.”

  “Right. I don’t plan on getting bitten again this time.” Talia said, brandishing her new shield and short sword.

  “Okay, so let’s work on the plan...”

  The snow crunched softly under my fur armor as I slid on my belly over one of the balconies towards the closest ice embraced gremlin. As I reached the edge, I peaked over and saw two of the creatures standing right below me, about twice my length down. As much as I wanted to make sure I got it perfect, I looked at the chief gremlin swirling its staff close to the raid boss.

  By the minute the ice encasing the monster became less and less, and I had a sinking feeling, once it disappeared, the monster would eat the artifact of ice that for so long imprisoned it and become so much more deadly.

  We were fortunate enough that it hadn’t reached its full strength yet... However, I had no desire to fight that thing once it was free. We didn’t have the numbers at all!

  So, with a slow movement I drew Xianmou out with my left hand. I needed my right for this to work effectively. I focused on the mana in my right arm and felt the air start crackling with electricity. Time to put my primary class to work.

  One look at Talia on an opposite balcony who nodded, I jumped down.

  In an instant Xianmou sliced through the one gremlin.

  Critical strike!

  It fell to the side, the combo circle started spinning and I spun my right hand towards the other gremlin. The leather taut under my tightening fingers as I shouted,

  “Re! Va!”

  Lightning twirled around my forearm before instantly bursting out as a bolt of lightning as it slammed against the gremlin with a flash of color.

  Two.

  Talia slammed into another with her shield, sending it stumbling towards me. And with a rush I stabbed the sword forward, piercing it through.

  Three.

  I didn’t want to risk going for more hits to get higher tier unlocks just yet. Not with the risk of missing.

  So, I immediately activated my Watcher’s Strike Combo. My sword lifted above me and gleamed with light as with a flurry of steps, I swept forward and aimed for the Chief, holding the artifact.

  SHOOSH!

  The cold radiating object flew from its hands and was sent clattering across the arena. And with a quick reverse swing, I aimed to finish the Chief Gremlin.

  But, then as I slashed forward, suddenly everything felt sluggish, and instead of finishing the creature, I just wounded it.

  I should have known.

  The slowing buff would affect normal strikes far more than combo strikes.

  But no matter. I walked towards the gremlin trying to form an ice sphere. It finished faster than I thought.

  And in a last second, I quickly grabbed my shield from my back and the ice crashed over it, making my feet slide back a bit with the force.

  Phew!

  That was close. Too close. I quickly lunged forward and my sword ended the chief gremlin. I looked over to Talia who finished her opponent with a deft strike.

  I smiled.

  Wooosh!

  Then a colossal force slammed into me and sent me cartwheeling across the arena, as I flew hand over feet, I crashed with a loud impact into ice shattering it in a thousand pieces.

  Everything hurt. My head pounded.

  The ice crunched under my trembling arms as I tried pushing my torso up. With a deep shuddering breath, I looked up. The raid boss from between its mossy bangs had a malicious smile on its face. Most of it’s body was freed, apart from one large chain remaining firmly on one of its arms, still bolted deep into the stone.

  “Identify” I finally panted, pushing up against the hard surface.

  Taravog, the Giant Ice Embraced Mire Tyrant

  [Raid Boss] Level 60

  What lurks in the deep swamps of Sturm Tsadar. This monstrous beast is not to be trifled with. Are you prepared to team up and face the sheer terror of taking on the monster that once made a nation tremble?

  [Extra Info] ??

  [Ground Slam] The massive fists of this monster has crushed many a foe.

  [??]

  [??]

  [??]

  [??]

  [Extremely dangerous] Do not attempt this boss without a party of at least 4.

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  That’s just great...

  I got up, my legs shaking a bit. With a quick tap, I checked my health.

  Health: 717/867

  Energy Bar: 100/834 [Tier 5 accessible]

  Mana: 4830/5130

  Armor Rating: 111

  150! What the heck! That was just a side swipe. I licked my lips as that infuriating sweating mechanic started up. But, I was shocked enough by the developments that it hardly even registered.

  Ping!

  I looked to Talia standing behind a stone pillar with no place to really run.

  We had trouble.

  ~

  As I popped one of my four healing potions to bring my health up by a hundred. I checked my latest notification. Congratulations for finding a secret boss in Southern Arctic Region.

  + 1 Intelligence

  Congratulations for finding one of the secret raid bosses of Sturm Tsadar!

  + 2 Willpower

  More major attributes. I kind of expected the one from the Southern Arctic. But that second one was intriguing... and it giving me +2 in Willpower finally cleared up something for me. This was a challenge zone. Luckily not an elite zone. But challenge zones held lots of secrets but the difficulty put off most of your average players.

  Wait! Southern Arctic! Sturm Tsadar was in the Southern Arctic! I had read the name in a tome in one of the villages near the Frozen Spine. We always thought it was the edge of the world, though there still tales from the other side to fill in the story.

  Finally I knew relatively where I was in the world. But that little tidbit had to wait.

  I looked toward the arena below. To be honest, even in its chained compromised state of the raid boss, I didn’t know if we could greatly wound the thing, much less beat it. Even if we tried.

  All I knew was, if it somehow gets hold of that old ice artifact, there would be no place to run. There might be a blizzard blowing up outside for all we knew!

  No, we needed to do something and do it fast.

  I was comforted slightly as I felt Battle Observer kick in. That at least would count in our favor.

  As I glanced around, I saw age old gears still with frost covering them, but I couldn’t see how I would use their existence in the battle.

  I shook my head and motioned for Talia to stay behind the pillar. I needed to see what we were truly up against. With a deep breath, I activated Dance of the Ninja Mouse. The 3 minutes it would run for would help... I think.

  [Active]

  +3 Blind Awareness

  + 5 Stealth

  + 5 Reflexes

  With that, I ran towards the boss monster and drew my sword Xianmou.

  The stealth wouldn’t be of real help with it seeing me, but I hoped that if it lost sight of me that it would be a challenge to find me again.

  Almost immediately the creature perked up and lifted his huge free claw with its black ice talons and swiped down at me.

  I jumped forward and the claw crashed into the stone floor.

  CRAAAAAASH!!

  The earth quaked beneath me and I sprinted towards its legs as a cloud of dust rushed past me. The momentary concealment didn’t comfort me as I came up to its huge foot.

  It’s large toe was bigger than me! It’s toe!

  So, I stabbed it.

  ROOOOOOAAAAAR!!!!

  As the blade came free, I booked it in the other direction as Taravog stomped down on the place I had just been. Briefly still in concealment, I rolled behind a rock and looked up at its health bar. The damage I just did was a sliver of a sliver.

  Uh oh...

  I needed to up the ante. At this rate, I couldn’t imagine us hurting the thing. And even if we did, what about the next stages of the fight?

  I pulled out one of the fangs from the ice-embraced gremlins. “Worth a try...”

  I checked my first tier combos list. If I could use a large vertical swing move, I might be able to hammer the fang into its foot.

  Fang in hand, I ran back to the raid boss and luckily the stealth and the barely lingering dust cloud helped me come close without being noticed.

  I needed five hits within short intervals from each other. How hard could it be on something that large?

  Xianmou swung and sliced into the giant’s foot once more, and I spun it around and sliced again. The creature roared again, but this time I ignored it and I swung for the third time.

  But just as I swung for the fourth hit in the combo, the foot came down with a bang.

  CRAAAAASSSHH!!

  I barely jumped out of the way of ice stalagmites that popped through the floor in time. Even then, the shock wave of the stomp still sent me flying over a fallen pillar. Groaning, I got up and rushed forward over the distance I got flung, but just before I could close the gap and land the fourth hit in the combo, the timer ran out and the combo reset.

  I swung nonetheless and started it again at one. But within getting a third strike, another shock wave of a stomp sent me stumbling.

  Darn!

  As I got up, I ran towards where Talia was standing behind the pillar. I briefly looked back at where Taravog stood, expecting it to be staring at me. But the moment I left it’s perimeter, it turned its attention to the massive chain still keeping it in that area. It started slamming into it.

  CLANG!

  CLANG!

  Not ideal at all! If it managed to break that chain, we would be in big doo doo.

  “Talia, I quickly need your help. We need to do some damage to that thing that would distract it. We need to see if there are any writings in this area that would give us a clue to previous accounts of fighting this monster. Okay?”

  “Okay, but I don’t think we can beat this monster Leo-”

  CLANG!

  CLANG!

  “If we don’t try, and it breaks free... it would rampage across this land again.”

  Talia straightened her shoulders. Her eyes fierce in that moment. “How do I help?”

  I laid out my plan and Talia drew her sword as I grabbed some stones lying around.

  Then I walked into middle of the large chamber and looked at the raid boss striking at the chain.

  “Oi! You there. Don’t you dare forget about me.”

  Taravog turned and glared down at me, it’s teeth flashed underneath slimy tendrils of swamp grunge, and I couldn’t help but gulp. I do not want to be gnawed on by that thing. It wasn’t clean at all!

  Just then the raid boss’ eyes flashed in pain and it looked down. Talia looked downright miniscule against the giant monster’s foot. She quickly withdrew her sword and ran.

  And just as the monster lifted his foot up in the air to stomp, I ran forward, and planted the fang in a crack in the floor and jumped away.

  CRAAAASH!!!

  Again spiked stalagmites broke through the floor with the stomp and I barely tumbled across the floor from being so close to it. Even lost ten health for my efforts.

  But it had worked, at the top of the Taravog’s health bar, a small blue debuff appeared. Though I had no idea how much the gremlin’s fang would affect a Raid Boss.

  What at least helped was the fact, The boss looked agitated and for a moment not focussed on the chain keeping it in place. Man! Without that chain, I wouldn’t even have tried fighting that thing.

  As Talia threw sharp objects at the creature from a safe distance, I slowed my breathing and closed my eyes for a moment. I couldn’t waste my next ability, I needed to be in control of my body.

  I activated Whispers Edge I [Expert]

  [Active] Upon activating Whispers Edge, you greatly focus to glean the secrets in your vicinity. (1 minute)

  +50 % Chance to see the things hidden from view and perception. [7 hour cool down.]

  Immediately, I opened my eyes and looked around. There was dots of light on several places around the room, but there was no way I could check out all of them in 1 minute. And that 7 hour cooldown loomed over me. So, I tried to see if there was a place with concentrated points of interest.

  Quickly, quickly...

  With 25 seconds to go, my eyes fell on a book that glowed brightly on top of one of the broken balconies. I ran forward and activated Wind Step

  20 Steps

  1 second cooldown between steps.

  Final Cooldown: 1 minute

  I used ten of the wind steps to get up to the balcony and I grabbed the book and hurriedly flipped through it until I hit the page that was glowing so brightly. As I looked at the page as the last few seconds ticked off, a part of an old drawing from the Mire Tyrant glowed high on its back, before my ability wore off.

  Looking at the book, it was clear it was written by one of the knights that managed to lead the monster into this massive chamber before the frost consumed the land in the party’s sacrifice.

  There was faded text below, “... a ballista shot a harpoon into the back of the beast, and for the first time since our siege on the abomination begun, we started weakening it...”

  Fascinating.

  Oi! Level designers! How on earth should players normally ever have found that?!!I shook my head and looked down at the creature trying to swat at the quick moving Talia. An idea started forming in my mind. Obviously my fellow devs liked to brag about how they sometimes added more than one way how their in-game bosses could be taken down. So, it got me thinking about the Arena we were in. I looked at the one skew Chandelier a part of it frozen in ice on the one side.

  Sure, if it was just players with a full party they might think of using a full on mage with explosions or team mate that had a class around bombs and the like to destroy the chain on the chandelier. But...

  We had none of that.

  Tsk.

  I gnawed on the knuckle of my finger. How can I get that chandelier drop on this creature without explosions?

  With a leap, I jumped down. I had to think. It had an ice debuff to it now with fang in its foot. But that didn’t help me with getting how on earth to break that ice on the chandelier. For now, I gritted my teeth and ran into the fray. Chopping at it’s giant big toe to get my combo up. I sliced under the large nail, scoring the first strike and my second. Talia leapt onto its knee from a broken pillar and ran up to it’s old sandy belt. The monster boss focussed on her and swiped.

  This opened a window for me and I scored my third, fourth and fifth strike on it’s foot. My first combo meter opened up. And I... no two more! I rushed forward as it lifted it’s foot for a massive stomp.

  It was risky. But I had to try something. I flashed forward and swung underneath it’s foot as I let my blade slice three more times and activated my most vertical combo slicing into it’s foot.

  I jumped forward after to get out of the way.

  It was too late.

  The giant foot came down, and my eyes opened wide. Just a second more and I would have gone out from under it.

  I heard water sounds, but I couldn’t begin to look. I braced my arms.

  Next thing I knew, the giant raid boss’ foot swung to the side and as I glanced over. It’s entire form lost it’s balance and tumbled into the froze ice wall.

  CRRAAAAAASSSH! SHICK! SHICK!

  Ice shattered and the first frozen chandelier swung free.

  “What the...”

  I stared flabbergasted at the scene with the Mire Tyrant on its back. A tenth of its health gone. What just happened?

  My eyes slid over to Talia standing with her arms out frozen streaks of water in spikes on the floor. She breathed heavily but smiled at me.

  “I thought if I cast water under it’s foot, it would freeze and make him slip.”

  “Whoa. That is... so cool! Wait, how can you cast water?” I asked in utter confusion.

  Talia giggled, and I couldn’t help but smile.

  “’We seek the way of Stars.’ Remember?” Talia said and our dual unlock of the path of stars popped into my head.

  “You are a Star Cartographer too! Of course.” I said, and I was about to go on about it when we heard the arena tremble.

  We turned and stared at the hulking form of the giant monster and knew the fight was far from over.

  Immediately I shouted, “You go to the left, distract him somehow. I will bring the first chandelier down!”

  Talia nodded and we both scrambled in opposite directions. I activated Dance of the Ninja mouse again just as I ran behind broken pillars. And the stealth worked as the boss turned towards Talia.

  My Battle Observer also kicked in again.

  +10 Perception while in battle.

  +5 Insight while in battle.

  +30% chance to reveal objects that can be used in a fight.

  Again thankful of unlocking that thing! Even if it was under heavy duress. I scanned and located the slight glow of the ancient gears under the chandelier’s chain. I ran towards it and stopped. I was there alright.

  Um... how do I activate it...

  I hadn’t the foggiest idea.