Somnia Online: Fragments - Chapter Five (Patreon)

Of Undead Dwarves

Somnia Online location: Ululate

Beneath the Dunkel Tavern: Rogue Trainer Lair

Day Eleven

Jirald was unimpressed. Severely in fact. He sauntered into his trainer's lair in order to pick up the few spells he'd need for when he hit his next ability level. After all twenty-five was meant to be a big one. And once he'd hit twenty, he'd simply chosen a hybrid class that could best enhance his dark assassination flair. Having elements of a dread knight at his disposal wasn't as ideal as the necromancer would have been, but it was still quite amazing. He'd even gained a life leeching minor self heal.

He wasn't surprised to see Sidius waiting for him instead of Talyn. After all, the luna rogue was on the mayor's council and often spent time advising the man about ways to make the city more prosperous, and of course by default allowed that to trickle through to himself and his den of thieves.

"You failed."

Even after only two meetings, Jirald was fully aware that Sidius didn't mince words. Jirald shrugged. "She's got a bit of a level difference on me. That, and a guild with the same. We have a plan though. We'll simply level away, catch up, and steal all of the shards she has on her."

Sidius blinked at him, his eyes moving fast as if he was trying to find fault in the statement. "That's actually not a bad plan, as long as you do, indeed, catch up to them."

"We will. We always do, and this time we'll have tailored ourselves to achieving exactly what it is we need to. This class system lets us enhance specific aspects of ourselves." Jirald grinned. "But to do that we'll be changing continents, so if you want to see me, I'll be on Fiturlai with my guild."

This time Sidius didn't seem impressed. "You'll be away from where your target is?"

"While we level, away from temptation that might knock us back more levels." Jirald shrugged the concern away and continued. "Didn't you say any type of boss monster should have one of those shard things?"

Sidius nodded.

"And why did you say you wanted them again?" Jirald pushed, fishing for an exact answer instead of the vague one he'd received the first time around.

But luck wasn't with him.

"I need to gather them and keep them from my siblings." Sidius' voice held a slight note of disdain and Jirald wasn't certain if it was directed at him, or at the other rogue's siblings.

"I know all about siblings. Give them an inch and they run off with your mortal enemy." Jirald grumbled. He'd had enough with his little sister, the groveling cow. There was no way he was going to help her in the game if she needed it anymore. Well, probably not. It all depended on whether she said sorry. Probably. He pulled his thoughts away from her. After all, she was the only person who'd ever treated him decently. He did love her, she'd just pissed him off.

Sidius was chuckling when Jirald's attention returned to him. The thief's shoulders seemed relaxed, and he smiled at Jirald. "Very well then. Just make sure I get those shards as soon as possible." And he waved a hand dismissing Jirald outright.

"Not so fast, I need my level twenty-five abilities."

Sidius rolled his eyes and gathered some scrolls together.

#

Each scorpion was level thirty. Just like Telvar had said, the dungeon wasn't ideal for any levels below twenty-eight. And even as close to twenty-nine as she was, Murmur needed her Cancel Magic spell to make sure Mez continued to stick. These were full raid mobs, scorpions with an extra level of oomph, and some damned fine willpower. Their eyes followed her everywhere she moved as she flitted around from corner to corner making sure each group had enough buffs, debuffs, and crowd control.

Meanwhile, Jinna was about to jump to the third square. If she'd calculated properly, then there'd only be five after that.

Devlish was onto their second scorpion by the time Jinna managed to jump onto the third space. They were much bigger than they appeared from outside of the board, and Murmur worried that they should have sent someone else. Still though, the rogue was more nimble than his stature implied.

Whittling the scorpions down wasn't an easy task. Their stingers not only acted as weapons of mass poison, but since they were well armored, they could also parry attacks. Not to mention the pincers they had in front led to a merry dance for classes like Rashlyn, Devlish, and Beastial. At least it was easier for the ranged to hit their target, but the slick shell seemed to have some sort of magic resistance built into it as well, since none of their spells appeared to hit for full damage.

Just as Jinna leapt over to the fourth space, completing the outer line of the D he needed to spell, another four scorpions spawned. Murmur spun around, immediately Mesmerizing them all in quick succession. Her head spun a little as she heard Jinna call out.

"That was about two and a half minutes. Get ready for more in about two more."

She nodded, clearing her head and debuffing the poisonous little devils as Rash and Dev picked off one each. Even using hatred, Dev's scorpion spared her a look and Murmur shuddered. These things were far too intelligent. She pulled strength from the stone using Nature's Gift, and cast Binding Spell on both Sinister and Veranol. The last thing they needed was for the healers to go down. Her ability to reinforce a damage absorption over them with her minor druidic talents helped keep her calm enough to take care of the rest of her duties.

She monitored both Jinna's progress, and the groups as well, making sure her Mez was in place at exactly the right times. Jinna's landing on the sixth square was a bit wobbly, and he almost slid off the side. That diagonal jump was a lot longer than the simple side to side or back to front. Murmur barely managed to swallow her gasp, not wanting to alarm the rest of the raid. Jinna pushed himself up shakily, shook his head, and glanced at her, giving her a thumbs up.

The tension whooshed out of her for a moment just as the two groups killed their scorpions and took on the last two. Jinna readied himself for the next jump to the seventh and just as he was in mid air, another four scorpions spawned. He landed with a resounding thud, solidly on the next plate, a look of grim determination on his face.

Two more jumps and they'd be done. Amidst Mez'ing the scurrying newcomers, Murmur watched her dwarven friend as he walked across the expanse of the square he was on, a frown on his face. Then he took a few steps back, this time getting ready for a running jump, and sailed over onto the eighth spot easily.

She let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, weakening, and slowing the scorpions on her rotation as Devlish and Rash pulled them yet again. Everything felt like a slow blur in her head as Jinna jumped to the original starting square to complete the huge D on the board.

Even as he touched down a resounding gong reverberated throughout the room, and the board immediately begun lowering so that the whole thing was even with the ground. The squares he'd jumped on all lit up, forming a blocky D in an array of golden shades of light, and the scorpions that were being fought, and the ones that were Mez'd all melted away in a fit of high pitched squeals that hurt Murmur's ears.

She stood there, watching the board warily as Jinna backed up to stand with her and the rest of the group gathered with them. The two squares in the middle of the D that were blank and unlit suddenly clicked down, and a whirring motor sounded beneath them.

"I don't think we're going to like this, are we?" Merlin cringed as the door they'd come through originally slammed shut, following by the click of a locking mechanism.

Havoc sighed, and pet his floating specter. "Nope. I don't think anyone is going to like this."

"Back away a bit." Veranol spoke, motioning for them to all back toward the southern wall of the castle. Even as they followed his directions, Murmur was glad he'd given them. Because up out of that hole, through the golden lights that spelled out the first initial of Dunforth Hightower, rose a shiny, armored monster of a scorpion that made the ones they'd just fought look like stuffed toys.

Its head towered twice as tall as Murmur leaving only its feet at their eye level, and the pincers were raised high enough to move out of the way of most of their weapons. Last but not least, the armored pincer hung high above them all, like a bomb waiting to strike them even if they expected it because they couldn't do anything about it.

Its beady little eyes watched them all intently, like it was planning on which one would be breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Murmur wasn't sure if it was just paranoia, but it sort of felt like it was specifically following her every move. And considering she'd put its babies in some sort of frozen moment hold, it probably wasn't just her imagination.

"Well." Sin said very softly, but in the silence it was loud enough for everyone to hear, including Mr. ginormous scorpion. "Shit."

Almost like it heard what she said and reacted as if it were a challenge, the scorpion moved toward them. It was so fast, Murmur almost didn't see it before it slammed into Jinna who stood just in front of her. Only the dwarves fast reflexes saved him as he managed to parry the swipe instinctively before being thrown back to land against the back wall with a resounding thud.

#

Whatever Murmur had been expecting, a giant golden scorpion wasn't it. The only bright side was that it didn't blend in with the shadows all around the room. She couldn't spare a thought for Jinna, all she could do was rely on Sin and Ver to do their jobs and get him back up and functioning.

If she didn't get this fucker slowed, none of them were going to survive.

"Just wanted to let you all know, Evac is greyed out." Merlin said helpfully, not adding to her stress levels at all.

"Fucking fantastic." She muttered under her breath as she watched the swaying creature getting ready to strike and flung her Weaken, Languidity, and Feeble Body spells at him. Her mind worked around them like she was stuck in a time warp, sending them out so quickly after one another that she felt like it had been instantaneous. She dismissed her Sinuous line of abilities for a creature like this, as her thought sensing didn't pick up anything she could play with. Sparks fluttered around the scorpion as her spells hit, and its eyes flickered over toward her, almost paralyzing her with fear.

She shuttered off her mind, protecting it as best she could. Some of these things were scarier than she'd anticipated.

Its movements were definitely slower, visible now instead of lightning fast. Devlish threw a grateful smile in her direction before adjusting his stance to take the brutal beating he was about to get.

The first hit of the left pincher nailed his shield, but didn't dent it, and Murmur could almost feel his tension release even from that distance. At least it looked like his equipment was going to be up to the job.

After the right pincer hooked in to snap at him, the scorpion ducked its head and the huge tail slammed over and into the ground, Devlish only just managing to roll out of the way in time.

"Rashlyn!" Murmur yelled as she refreshed her debuffs on the monstrosity. "Can you tank its tail? I think it operates on a different level of threat."

"Worth a shot." She yelled back. Murmur hoped she'd made the right call. After all, Rashlyn's specialty was not getting hit, therefore her tanking the tail was the better choice.

Merlin and Exbo stood on opposite sides of the room, firing their fire shots for all they were worth. But Merlin stopped with a frown on his face. "Fire isn't effective enough. I don't have an ice arrow. Mellow, you have any ice tricks in that cauldron of yours?"

Mellow grinned and tossed a vial into their cauldron. They muttered several words very quickly, hands motioning over the every smoking pot, and pulled out four vials now filled with a smokey white liquid. "Beast, Jinna, Exbo, Merlin." They called out each players name before tossing an iced vial in each of their hands.

"Apply it to your weapons as needed. Be careful, each one only has five applications. Ten minute duration each." Meanwhile Mellow fished into their cauldron and hefted what appeared to be a glass ball of white smoke. "Let's see how it likes ice then, shall we?"

While the melee classes applied the ice vials to their weapons, Mellow tossed a ball of ice at the Scorpion just as Rashlyn dodged another tail strike using Backfist, which returned not only the attack it had attempted, but any other attack. For just a second its eyes swiveled to her, but then Mellow's ice toss hit it square between the eyes. It wasn't where they'd aimed, no, it had turned its head too fast for that. But it still served the purpose.

The ice bomb exploded on the carapace, spreading quickly in an outward motion with momentum that ended up encasing about thirty percent of its body. The squeal that emitted from the monster was earsplitting, and caused Dansyn's music to stop momentarily, while he blinked up at them mob and over at Mellow.

Mellow shrugged as the ice bomb managed to diminish about five percent of its heath. "I suppose it was a good hit then? Pity I don't have any more."

"What?" Devlish cried out, forcing the monster's attention back onto himself with a huge cry of hatred. "Seriously? It's the only thing that's done significant damage so far."

"Sorry. Didn't expect to need something that potent, and it requires some ridiculous ingredients." Mellow was still stirring the cauldron, producing more of the little vials he'd thrown to the others. They handed them to Dansyn who was hovering nearby. "For you, Dev, and Rashlyn. Hell. Give one to Havoc too for his pet."

With the vials applied to their weapons, ice arrows finally began to rain down on the scorpion, and its health started to drop.

Murmur sighed with relief, watching her guild dodge and work together to form some beautiful cohesion. She was so grateful to Mellow for being allocated a witch. Her eyes never wavered from the beast they fought, watching its life go down, and knowing that something like this was going to have one hell of a special ability.

As it approached eighty percent, she had to force herself to breathe, not that she had to breathe, but... she'd deal with that series of thoughts later. But eighty percent passed and nothing happened. This monster skittered about and didn't stay in the one place. Every time its feet touched the squares it walked over, they lit up briefly with a shade of gold.

She frowned watching it, and then suddenly noticed that its health ticked higher every time one of them lit up. No wonder its health was going down so slowly.

"Watch where it steps. Don't follow it!" She called out. There had to be a way. Would it follow them? "Fall back."

She saw Dev's shoulders tighten because it went against every instinct for them to fall back when they weren't losing. But he did as she'd asked. Slowly, but surely the thing followed him as he spewed some Terror and Hatred at it. Every now and again its tail came down, dangerously close to Rashlyn. When it finally left the stupid damned board it had been on, its health plummeted from seventy eight percent down to seventy five.

And that's when it started glowing.

"Why is it glowing, Mur?" Sin asked, her voice calm and cool despite the fact that the large scorpion was standing there like it had eaten some sort of radioactive piece of meat.

"Don't look at me, I didn't do it." Murmur shrugged, holding up her hands defensively.

"You told us to move it." Devlish offered.

Murmur glared at him, watching the monster intently the whole time. "Well of course I did. The platform it was on was healing it. Or would you prefer to fight until all our mana and energy runs out? Yeah, I thought not."

"No." Jinna interrupted. "It wasn't Mur, it's just that its health jumped down all of a sudden because it wasnt being healed. So it hit the first threshold."

"But what's it doing?" Merlin stood back with his arms crossed, his bow dangling from his left hand, covered in ice.

"Not sure? Did we break the encounter?" Veranol asked.

Just then a huge gust of wind emitted from underneath the scorpion.

"Was that a scorpion fart?" Rashlyn asked, eliciting a round of nervous chuckles from the group. No one answered though as the wind continued to blow their hair if they had it, or their robes if they wore them. It was a hot wind, and Murmur noticed it left thin layers of clear power over the scorpion, as if it were layering protections and began to build the monster back up.

"Look for the source of that wind. We need to cut it off. If we don't, the bastard's going to heal." She turned, trying to find the wind's origin. She glanced around and heard Rashlyn yell out. "Over here."

Suddenly the wind halted, and the scorpion ran screaming over to the monk. Veranol's ward only just made it in time, saving Rash's life as she stood there wailing on a tiny totem that apparently couldn't heal while it was being stunned. Beast's tiger chomped down on the top of it, crushing the ceramic outer layer and leaving a strange gold substance on the inside. It melted out across the floor, and the scorpion started wailing on Devlish once again, its health finally going down.

"Every twenty-five percent then?" Mellow asked wearily.

"Yeah, seems so," Murmur smiled. She was tired, but having fun, worried, and yet totally ecstatic that this fight seemed to require so much figuring out. She could hardly wait for it to reach fifty percent.

With the amount of ice laden weapons attacking it, the scorpion's health went down steadily. Not super fast, but evenly. She analyzed the fight, perhaps a little disappointed that the monster only exhibited the same attacks, even if it was very mobile and kept attempting to get back to its healing pad. It even feinted in order to move back a few steps, but Devlish persisted in drawing it out to him.

Except Murmur knew with the feeling of a thousand roiling guts that the next percentage break wasn't going to be a healing totem. There had to be more up its sleeve. And it proved her more than right.

At fifty percent, the scorpion glowed gold and red. And from all angles of the room, flame burst out in a criss cross pattern all around the creature. As long as they were in the middle with the creature like Jinna, Rashlyn, Dev, and Beastly, they were fine. Or else if they were positioned on the outskirts of the fire and not directly standing in one of the lines.

Except Dansyn wasn't so lucky. The stream of fire most to the left struck him directly in the back as it spurted out. He screamed and went down, barely able to roll to the side in time to avoid the full stream as it flowed powerfully through the air.

Murmur could smell the charring of flesh, the singed hair, and feel the pain as it wracked his body. Mellow was by his side in an instant, concern furrowing their brow, while the rangers turned their iced weapons on each of the geysers methodically whittling their health down until there was nothing left. While Veranol and Sinister applied their heals over time to the poor bard whose face had gone so many shades of pale grey, Mellow pulled out a white jar with what appeared to be a tincture and applied it to the burns on Dansyn's back. Only then did the heals seem to take hold effectively and shoot his health back up.

"There's a debuff on him I can't seem to get off." Veranol mentioned through clenched teeth as he returned his full attention back to the two tanks.

Murmur slotted the information away and sighed with relief as Dansyn stood again, his legs shaking and eyes slightly haunted. If the leak over of the pain it caused him into her net was only a fraction of what he felt, she could imagine how cautious he might feel now. She switched the protective barrier she'd given to Veranol onto Dansyn. By the time they had Dansyn all fixed up again, the scorpion was down to forty-two percent and looking rather miffed at the whole situation.

Debuffing it once more as they were about to fall off, Murmur noticed Dansyn standing with her, only three of his usual six songs running.

"You doing okay?" she asked.

He nodded, and then hesitated. "Yeah. I'm okay, just wasn't expecting that much pain. Seriously felt like I was burning alive and going to die right there on the spot. I mean I've heard of immersion and realism, but that was a little much for me."

Murmur thought for a few moments while rebuffing the entire group since their buffs were about to run out. "You should be able to dial it back a little. I think it's defaulted on level two. I remember seeing something about being able to turn it down."

"I think I already did." He wouldn't look at her, and instead concentrated on the scorpion as he brought up a fourth song, one to help with healing this time. "It's all good. Let's kill this mother fucker."

And some of the usual steal was back in his voice. Murmur nodded, her eyes flickering to the monster's health as it tried yet again to pull Devlish and Rash back to where it could heal. The tactic was definitely getting old. Just another seven percent and they should be through the worst of it.

Only five minutes later, she wished she'd never had that thought.

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