Grand Game 327: Gifts of the Flame (Patreon)

Day Four in Draven’s Reach

You have slept 8 hours. Stamina, mana, and psi reserves have been fully restored.

I awoke early the next day. The night had passed undisturbed, and I was rested and refreshed. Yawning, I made my way to the entrance of my hidey-hole.

“All quiet?” I asked Ghost who sat guard there.

“All quiet,” she agreed.

“Then let’s get out of here.” While Ghost floated upwards to the canyon floor I flexed my limbs, loosening them for the day’s expected exertions. Today, I didn’t plan on stopping until I reached the campfires in the north, and I estimated getting there was going to take the better part of the day.

Glancing upward, I saw Ghost was in position. Drawing psi, I blinked to her. The spirit wolf trotted off northwards, knowing our destination already.

“One second, Ghost.”

Stopping, she glanced questioningly over her shoulder at me.

“Before we get going, there’s something I need to check first.” Turning about, I headed south. There was only one spot in the crater that Ghost and I hadn’t searched for a loot chest yesterday—the crater left in the wake of Sunfury’s cataclysmic dive.

Last night, it had been brimming with lava. Today, I was hoping things would be different.

Sure enough, when I neared the bowl-shaped hole, I found it empty of magma and flames. They had likely cooled overnight or leaked back into the earth.

That was not to say the crater was empty, though.

Sitting squarely in its center was a gold loot chest. And atop that was what looked remarkably like a phoenix feather.

Grinning in excitement, I dropped into the crater and rushed over to examine the waiting contents. First, I inspected the feather. It was about two feet in length and had a long central shaft that was light and flexible. The reddish-gold vanes were at one time tough as steel and as soft as duck down.

“A magical feather indeed,” I murmured, analyzing the item with my will.

The target is the rank 6 soulbound artifact: phoenix’s feather. It is a mythical crafting ingredient that only the most skilled of enchanters can work with. Any item forged from the feather will be soulbound. Its other properties, however, will only be revealed thereafter.

Phoenix feathers can only be bequeathed, never looted. For this reason, they are nearly impossible to attain, and once taken up, will remain with the player even after death. With careful encouragement and magical manipulation, the artifact can be made to take the shape of a variety of items, from a bow to a sword, from a vambrace to a glove, or from a buckler to an amulet.

The choice is yours.

“Wow,” I exclaimed, awed by Sunfury’s generosity. His gift was beyond anything I’d expected.

“Is that the phoenix’s feather?” Ghost asked.

I nodded, not tearing my gaze away from the golden-hued object.

“Is it any good?”

“Better than good,” I murmured. The feather’s potential uses were limitless, but I already knew what I wanted to do with Sunfury’s gift.

It was the perfect fit for a scimitar shortsword. First though, I would have to find a suitable crafter. Reverently, I picked up the gold-hued object.

You have acquired a phoenix’s feather. This rank 6 artifact is only usable by the player Michael. Do you wish to soul-bind this item?

I replied in the affirmative and felt new bonds slip into place between the feather and myself.

You have soulbound a phoenix’s feather. From this point onwards, this artifact cannot be stolen, lost, or kept from your hands except by the strongest of enchantments.

Stowing away the feather, I turned to the loot chest, feeling my anticipation rise as I flipped open the lid and peered inside.

There were four items, and I wasted no time in inspecting each.

The target is a piece of enchanted mosaic.

The target is an upgrade gem and allows you to improve any ability by a single tier.

The target is a greater attribute gem. It grants you 3 attribute points.

The target is the rank 5 longbow: quaker. It increases the damage you deal by 50%. Additionally, all arrows fired from this bow will bear the enchantment: paralyzing touch. Any target hit that fails a physical resistance check is stunned for 3 seconds. This item requires a minimum Dexterity of 20 to wield.

I sighed.

It was not that the chest’s loot was not good—far from it—it was just that none of the items were on par with Sunfury’s gift. Too rich for rank five loot now, are we, eh? I taunted, poking fun at my reaction.

Shaking my head ruefully, I picked up the attribute gem, simultaneously activating the item and investing the new points.

You have gained 3 attribute points.

Your Mind has increased to rank 77. Other modifiers: +4 from items.

After a cursory study, I packed away the enchanted mosaic. Like the other one of its kind I’d found, it was an irregularly shaped stone tile with indecipherably scribblings and was identified by the Game as being another piece of the Emblem of the Reach. As yet, I had no sense yet of how many parts I would need to complete the Emblem.

The longbow, I barely inspected. I couldn’t use it, and it would either be sold or given away.

Finally, I turned to the last item: the upgrade gem. The item was best used to advance one of my rarer abilities, and while I had more than a few of those, none were ready yet to progress to tier four.

But fade soon would be.

My sneaking skill was just three points short of reaching rank fifteen and tier four. Sure, my fade ability was still new—and unproven—but the invisibility it promised at tier five made advancing it more important than even my scion abilities.

Fade it is, I decided, storing away the upgrade gem. Rising to my feet, I reoriented myself.

“Time to go,” I said and climbed out of the canyon.

✵ ✵ ✵

The journey north took as long as I feared.

Most of the day passed with me and Ghost working our way across the plateau, ever skirting the nether fog banks and never dipping into the chasms and canyons, no matter how enticing some of the elite foes below appeared.

We kept our eyes peeled for signs of the harbinger and other winged stygians but didn’t spot any of the nether creatures. Deciding to put the time to good use, I resumed Ghost’s training. The spirit wolf was coming along nicely, and soon I expected she would be casting the astral blade spell on her own.

I was a bit concerned about what that would mean, though.

Except for her mind shield, Ghost lacked any real defenses. Her greatest protection had always been her invisibility—the fact that others did not realize she was around.

But if Ghost started launching spelled attacks, even the most thick-headed of foes would eventually realize they had an invisible enemy nearby, and once they knew to look for her, how many would be able to find her?

The possibility worried me.

I knew from my own experience in the Wolf mind trials that a damaged spirit was hard—if not impossible—to repair without a body. I didn’t look forward to explaining any of this to Ghost either. I knew she would rebel against the notion of not acting, of doing nothing, in order to stay safe.

But despite my concerns, I wasn’t going to shelter Ghost—even from herself.

I would not withhold knowledge from her. If the spirit wolf wanted to learn, I would train her. But I also would strive to teach her caution too. Hopefully she learned enough of the latter to make a difference.

Beset by my worries—not just for Ghost but about the dungeon, the nether, the Pack, Safyre, and the twins too—the hours flew by and, in what seemed like no time at all, afternoon arrived. With it, the gorge that was our destination came into view, finally creeping over the horizon.

Almost immediately, I could tell I’d been wrong about the distant fires. They weren’t ordinary campfires, but a dense grouping of smaller lights.

So dense that the settlement housing them could be nothing short of a city.

“A city in a dungeon,” I muttered, marveling at the idea. The Endless Dungeon was said to house entire civilizations in its depths, but this was the first I’d run across any sign of such.

I wondered what sort of people would live in a dungeon like Draven’s Reach. Were they giants? Probably. How else could they fend off the dungeon’s colossal denizens?

“Is that where we are going?” Ghost asked, peering at the gorge.

I nodded absently.

“Will you be safe there?”

“Doubtful,” I replied.

Ghost wrinkled her nose. “Then I don’t understand why we’re heading there,” she complained.

“For information, primarily.” I glanced at her. “If we’re fortunate, the city’s inhabitants can provide us valuable information on the void, and perhaps about the elites too. And if we’re very lucky, they might even tell us where the exit portal is.”

“And if we’re not… lucky?”

“Then they might try to kill me,” I replied grimly.

My response did nothing to assuage the worry in the spirit wolf’s eyes. Her concern sparked my own wariness. Experience had taught me to approach other people—whether they were players or not—with caution. “That reminds me.” Setting my pack down I sat down cross legged.

“What are you doing?” Ghost asked curiously.

“Attending to my disguise,” I replied. Anyone living in this dungeon would know enough to be suspicious of a lone player wandering its depths. I couldn’t do anything about that. But they would be even more suspicious if the selfsame player was under leveled. Conversely, they were less likely to react aggressively toward a player who was so far above them, that toying with him would be dangerous.

And pretending to be that was something I could manage.

You have cast facial disguise, assuming the visage of Taim, a level 247 human explorer. Duration: 3 hours.

Ghost’s ears turned down. “What happened to your face?” she whined.

I grinned. I’d altered the lines of my face subtly, giving myself a more rugged weather-beaten appearance. I gestured to the distant city. “Don’t worry. It’s only a little deception in case our friends there prove troublesome.”

Rising to my feet, I unequipped ebonheart and stowed it into my pack. Now, my disguise was complete. Striding forward I marched towards the gorge.

It was time to discover what manner of people it sheltered.