Grand Game 307: Meeting an Elite (Patreon)

Ghost drew to a stop before me. “The tunnel is empty,” she reported.

I frowned. “Empty?”

“Yes, Prime. I traveled its entire length. After about fifty yards, it straightens out and continues that way before coming to an end two hundred yards later.”

“I see,” I murmured, still puzzling over the fact that Ghost hadn’t found anything in the tunnel. “And did you see what lies beyond?”

“No,” she replied. “After I spotted the exit, I swung back like you told me.” She paused. “Should I have explored further?”

I shook my head. “You did the right thing,” I assured her. “Two hundred and fifty yards,” I said, musing over the length of the tunnel. “Is that why you took so long?”

She did not reply immediately.

“Ghost?” I prompted.

“On my way out, I thought I sensed something, but when I checked again, it was gone.”

My interest sharpened. “What was it?”

Ghost hesitated. “I’m not sure. It wasn’t another mind. Those are easy to spot. It was…” She fell silent, struggling to articulate her thoughts. Patiently, I waited.

“…less,” she finished finally.

“Less?” I repeated.

“Not a whole mind,” Ghost clarified. “Like… a part of one maybe?”

“Huh.” I rubbed my chin, wondering what she’d detected.

It was possible that Ghost had sensed a stray thought from an imperfectly shielded mind. Or worse yet, that she’d caught the tail-end of a communication between two hidden entities. I probed further. “On the way back, did you feel it again?”

“No. I waited to see if anything would reveal itself, but nothing did.” She regarded me somberly. “You think it was something?”

I nodded. “I do.” Dropping into a crouch I checked my blades. “Come on, let’s go find what.” And how many of them there are.

✵ ✵ ✵

You are hidden.

I followed on Ghost’s heels as she led me into the tunnel, making sure to keep at least twenty yards between us and to stop every few yards to run my gaze over the surroundings. As Ghost had reported, the bends and twists in the tunnel ended after fifty yards.

I sighed in relief as I entered the new tunnel section. Finally, my line of sight was unimpaired by rock. Squatting on my haunches, I examined the passage ahead.

The second tunnel section remained as constricted as the first but was arrow-straight. At the end of it was a gaping maw. The exit. Beyond the opening, the darkness was less complete, leading me to hope it led to the surface.

“It was here,” Ghost said, drawing my attention to her. She had come to a stop thirty yards ahead of me.

I swept my eyes over the area she indicated, but nothing seemed out of place. The spot in question was indistinguishable from the rest of the tunnel, and if it did hide one or more tier five creatures, they had to be pretty small given the cramped quarters. “You’re sure?”

“Yes,” Ghost replied confidently.

“Alright. Advance another twenty yards, then hold your position.”

I sensed her puzzlement. “Why?” she asked.

“You’ll see.”

Doing as I instructed, Ghost moved down the corridor until she reached the very edge of my awareness. “That’s perfect,” I said and picked up a loose pebble. “Now, don’t move.”  Winding back my arm, I flung the stone.

The pebble struck a side wall about three yards from the spot Ghost had marked and clattered softly as it bounced off the rocky surface.

The reaction was instantaneous.

A handful of nearby—but otherwise unremarkable—rocks transformed from dull stone to glistening scales, revealing a coiled serpentine form. Its movements a half-seen blur, the reptile reared up and spat a viscous blob of green.

A hostile entity is no longer hidden!

The venom streaked through the air and struck the errant stone. The pebble sizzled, and a moment later, dissipated into nothingness.

Alrighty then, I thought, shrinking back in horrid fascination. I suspected that whatever the serpent’s spittle contained, it would as easily dissolve me as it had the stone.

“Prime,” Ghost began eagerly, “did you see—?”

“Shh,” I interrupted. “I did. Don’t move.” Drawing in psi, I readied a casting but didn’t release it. Instead, I waited.

The serpent had not coiled back down again. Standing tall, it scanned the tunnel—looking for whatever had disturbed the stone, I thought. While it did, I observed it in turn.

The creature was small, less than a yard in length from its diamond-shaped head to its spiked tail. I wasn’t deceived though. It had to be a tier five foe. I was sure of it. What I was not certain of, was how many of its kind were hiding in the tunnel.

Even though the serpent had revealed itself, its scales rippled continuously, attempting to mimic the surroundings, but now that it was in motion the illusion was imperfect, and I was able to pick out its shape. Still, the creature’s camouflage was excellent and, if not for Ghost, would’ve defeated my own senses.

Tricking the serpent into revealing itself had been a risk—as was sitting still and waiting to see if my stealth would suffice against it. If the serpent did find me, I would flee—I’d positioned Ghost where I had for just that eventuality—and not look back.

The serpent’s head rotated in my direction, and I tensed in anticipation.

A hostile entity has failed to detect you! You are hidden.

I exhaled in sharp relief. The creature’s vacant white eyes had passed over me without pause. Tier five critter or not, not even its gaze could pierce the thirty yards of inky darkness separating us.

Now to find out exactly what I’m facing. Marshaling my will, I reached out and analyzed my foe.

The target is a swarm viper of indeterminant level.

I grimaced at the Game’s response. ‘Indeterminant level’ meant the viper was above level two hundred—my improved analyze only worked on creatures below that—and confirmed my suspicions that it was not to be taken lightly.

What was a swarm viper though? And where was the rest of the ‘swarm?’ One viper did not a swarm make. But I couldn’t risk throwing more stones in search of them, not with one serpent already on the lookout for danger. And, I reminded myself, Ghost had only sensed the one anomaly.

Maybe there was only the one.

The thought made me smile. Somehow, I doubted I would be so fortunate.

The viper, meanwhile, had coiled back on itself and stilled, and even though I knew where it was, I could no longer pick out its form anymore. I pursed my lips, considering my next move. The serpent appeared to lack any real physical defenses. Its scales were pliable and unlikely to resist the bite of my blades.

A single backstab should kill it.

But appearances could be deceiving, and I was leery of entering close quarters with the thing until I understood its capabilities better.

Better to kill it from afar and take every precaution possible.

Formulating a plan, I spent a few minutes going over it with Ghost. Then, I got to work.

It was time to put my stolen spell to use.

✵ ✵ ✵

Drawing mana, I cast my first magic spell.

Although ‘cast’ was perhaps a misnomer. I did not so much as create the spell weaves—lacking the skill to do so myself—as let them take shape under the direction of my mana. But regardless of how the spell was enacted, it functioned perfectly, and in short order, a shard of stygian black hovered before me.

You have cast necrotic spike. Duration: 5 minutes.

Intently, I studied the thin sliver of darkness. Lacking any physical components, the spike was invisible and would remain that way until activated—which suited my purposes admirably. Directing the shard with my mind, I placed it less than a foot from the concealed viper.

A necrotic spike ward has been successfully configured.

When a hostile entity enters the ward’s activation range, it will be triggered, dealing 5% nether damage to the target.

Mana remaining: 80%.

I winced on seeing the last Game message.

The necrotic spike spell was a tier six ability, and its mana requirements were as high as I’d feared. At best, I would only be able to place five spikes, and then only by draining my mana pool and void armor completely.

It was far from ideal.

But there wasn’t anything I could do to rectify the situation either. So, gritting my teeth, I accepted the mana cost and placed three more spikes in close proximity to the first. It was only with the last shard that I held off.

Each spike would last five minutes. That was not enough time to fully restore my mana pool through channeling, but if I bespelled the viper into sleep, I could retreat, regain my mana, sneak back, and lay another five spikes.

Four iterations of that and my foe would be dead.

It was a tedious, but solid plan—assuming that I could in fact sleep the serpent. A big assumption, and one that I was not at all confident about.

Which was why I needed a backup plan.

Rubbing my thumb across the blue rune on my trapper’s wristband, I activated the item.

You have passed a thieving skill check!

You have removed 2 trap-making crystals from your trapper’s wristband. Remaining trap-making crystals: 196 of 200.

I was conscious that my store of trap-making elements was finite, and with no hope of buying more while in the dungeon, I had to use them sparingly. With that thought in mind, I set just the one trap instead of doing what I really wanted—which was to seed the tunnel with enough traps to kill the viper many times over. I would use the trap to buy me enough time to escape, and nothing more.

Placing the trap at my feet, I aimed it in the direction of the viper.

You have connected a lightning trap element to a remote-control trigger.

A tier 3 trap has been successfully configured!

My work done, I sat back. I was ready at last. Closing my eyes, I began my final casting.

It was time to kick things off.