NOVEL NEXT Book Two - Chapter Eleven - Stakes
Dungeon Entered - Land of Death
“That’s ominous,” Naea quipped as we both got our bearings once the Dungeon claimed us, “but I’m sure it’s just a funny name. Like Tiny for a big dog?”
“Sure,” I answered, my voice laden with sarcasm, “it definitely seems to be a misnomer.” As far as the eye could see, a dead planet stretched. By instinct, I began cycling the Dao of Tempests to stave off any ambient energies. Mana began to move around me in currents, protecting me from the strange elements of the planet. Naea did the same, the Dao of Rivers acting similarly.
Desiccated, black trees dotted the landscape of grey plains, a pallid green colouration to the sky. Even the mana in the air was tainted. I could see flecks of voidblack energy dancing in the flow of magic. “Try not to absorb any ambient mana here. It looks… oily.” I felt a touch of pride as my fairy companion nodded. She was maturing quickly, now able to take a grave situation seriously.
There was nothing special about our starting location as far as I could tell, so we began moving in a random direction chosen by Naea. My eyes were powerful little orbs, and even with my impressive vision, there was nothing but empty and depressing vistas in every direction. It wasn’t too long after we began our wander that the System popped up.
Dungeon Quest - Rekindle The Land
A great tragedy befell these lands long ago and the stain of death remains. The devastation wrought here left scars that could never heal on their own, wounds that refuse to close. Become the salve to this land’s trauma and prove yourself more than a destroyer.
Reward: Ownership of nearby Everbloom Evergreen
I flipped the quest screen, showing it to Naea. She smiled, though couldn’t hide the disappointment she was feeling. “Not quite what you hoped for?” I asked.
“I thought I would feel connected like I did in our Dungeon, but this one feels wrong. Surprising no one, I suppose, considering the state of it.” To emphasise her distress, Naea landed on the floor and kicked a rock. I sized up my miniature, morose lady for the first time in a while.
We were still on the lookout for some actual magical equipment for her, but Naea had upgraded from the general nakedness of when I met her. After spending some alone time with Ellie during our time in the Dungeon, the pair had torn through all the fabrics in one of the rooms of Home Base and created some outfits. She had her hands stuck in the pockets of a simple white dress - all her clothes had to have pockets - and continued booting pebbles away.
“Any ideas for the quest?” It was a little more oblique than the previous quests of just ‘kill x amount of monsters.’ If I were a gamer, I’d probably argue that this was better, but as the person on the ground, I would much rather have been given an easy-to-understand task. As it stood, I was still half-looking for a big monster to kill and get it over with.
It wasn’t likely to be so simple.
As we traversed the land, more and more of the black mana gathered around us. It clung to our Dao and mana we used like a thick smog. “It’s a little like the rotten Dao of that horrible thing in the caves underneath our dungeon. Except…” I pushed out a hand, forming a Mana Bolt with only the mana in the air. The mana struggled against my control but I forced the issue and the orb appeared. I quickly flung it away randomly, where instead of exploding on impact, it fizzled like acid. “This stuff is way stronger than that corrupted energy.”
“So… should we try to use it?” Naea asked. Without her connection to the Dungeon and the powerful System beyond, she was as in the dark as I was about how to solve the planet’s problem. The issue just seemed far too grand for two people to fix.
Tharump.
I smirked as my primary Dao jostled within. That’s right, I’m not just a person. “I am Grant Kaeron,” I spoke aloud, reaffirming myself, “I have claimed both the power of the dragon and the tempest.” As I spoke, power surged around me. Both variations of my Dao were roaring from me in defiance of this world. Separate from the conscious movement of mana or Dao, which were more like muscles, something more potent by far began to churn. The black mana began gathering in noticeable clumps, moving in my direction.
Naea hovered in the air, mouth agape for a few moments before shaking her head and rolling her eyes. “I only asked if we should use the energy, Grant. Massive drama queen.” I didn’t let her distract me, focusing on the unfamiliar magic all around. Understanding the taint on the world would only help when it came to clearing it. As the dark energy continued to mass together, a sense of danger started to creep up my neck.
“Might have made a mistake there, Nae,” I muttered. Something about my words or my Dao had incited something in the ambient mana. An overwhelming aura of anger congealed into a physical form before me, then they were many nearly-human forms, all ambling towards Naea and I. “Let’s backtrack,” I said calmly.
“Not likely,” Naea replied. Already facing the other way, she had seen the veritable army appearing out of the tainted mana.
Dungeon Quest Updated - Rekindle The Land
The life which was stolen from this planet left behind only a hope for vengeance, a possibility they unexpectedly find within you. This world demands your death as a penance for its own and will expend its rage against you.
Wave One - Start
“Oh goddamn, I hate survival missions,” I moaned, “conserve energy for now. Let me figure out what works.” It wasn’t like ghosts were an enemy we had much experience against, so I hoped they worked like the Dark Young and mostly died when in contact with Dao. Moving forward with my potent base attributes alone, I jabbed out at the nearest ambling shape.
As they approached from all sides, and we had found nothing even close to shelter, retreat wasn’t an option. I tried to use Manasight to scan the monsters but even though I could see mana channels forming within the inky black shapes, I couldn’t lock onto their spirit. My sense of unease only grew as the more fully-formed ones started to make noises.
The edge of my stave was brimming with power as I activated my newest skill, Tempest Strike. Into the centre mass, the head of my weapon punched out, a rapturous boom sounding from the force of the attack. Black mana exploded and scattered, falling to the ground around like ash. “Damn,” I cursed.
“Pretty sure all that did was spread it around!” Naea shouted so she could be heard over the rising wail coming from the increasing number of enemies. A chorus of the damned became the soundtrack to a chaotic and desperate flurry of activity. Every instinct I had screamed that letting these things touch me was a terrible idea, but the numbers continued to rise.
Naea took to the air more, removing my need to protect her. Or so we thought. She screamed, not in fear but in more of an affronted rage. Bat-sized clumps of sooty energy harassed her in the air which she began spearing through with a combination of the Dao of Rivers and Sparkstep. She became a flash of yellow and blue, chaining her way through the never-ending flurry of aerial attackers.
Naea above, me below.
After a time, not long enough for Naea and I to start truly sweating, I began to see the nameplates I had been looking for. I didn’t expect to be insulted when I did. Enough strange, ashen mana had gathered together to create more than just a black absence upon the world. As I expected, the form was that of a humanoid, though it was taller than me by at least a head.
Monster - Revenant of Badaila - Level 01
“Fucking level one?! What? How does that make any sense?” Perhaps it was the eerie appearance of the planet and enemies here, along with the awful noise they were making which was like nails on a chalkboard, but seeing the creature’s low level did nothing to assuage any fears. Between Naea and I, we weren’t losing more energy than our base recovery, but how long would that last? Glad I had put some extra points into Will, I pressed forward.
I needed to keep gathering information if I wanted to complete the quest and get us out of here. With a swipe of a Dao-laden staff, I bisected the revenant. Those extra points were meaningless against the onslaught that came next. Expecting the tiniest of kill experience, I had luckily not been opening myself to the flow that came next. A torrent of negative energy blasted into my spirit. A visible stream of black mana snaked up the Alternating Armament, which I shook clear as I launched myself into the air.
I heaved even as I threw myself away. When I landed, I smashed the ground, shifting my armament into a warhammer last second. A shockwave of pure force erupted from the strike, dispersing the nearest cloying mana and I grabbed my head. Memories tried to press their way into my brain but I didn’t let them. I gathered everything which was Grant Kaeron and wrapped it in a tight embrace of Dao and mana before the same thing could happen again. “They’ve got a mental attack, get to me.”
Naea appeared in a flash of light and a zapping noise. Ha, she’s a bug zapper. Glad I was still hilarious, I shook my head clear. “No clue what that was, but let’s get some space for now. Full sprint, cover yourself in Dao and just punch through if you have to.” The fairy looked more excited than the situation warranted but I wasn’t going to rain on her parade. While we moved from the growing lake of black mana, I gave Naea a rundown of exactly what had happened and what I had seen.
“I smashed the form of the revenant and it was like it tried to possess me or something. It physically tried to get onto me, and at the same time, I saw a flash of memory which wasn’t mine.”
“Creepy,” Naea replied, sagely.
“Wonderful, thanks for your input. The point is, I don’t think you can fight it off like I can, so you’re going to have to leave this to me.” I saw the rising horror on Naea’s face and before she could start arguing, I held up a hand. “This is a Dungeon, it’s meant to be defeated, right? I got this.”
“I can literally feel that you’re lying, Grant.” Naea’s voice was a whisper as she crossed her arms on my head. At the same time, she activated Battle Bond and all of the power she could share with me came under my control. I hadn’t played around with the Dao of Rivers yet. I smiled while letting mana flow around my skin and ruffle her wispy hair.
“It suits you, Nae. I’ll be fine. I’ve got you after all.” I turned back towards the mass of black mana we had outrun for a while. We were acting like magnets to the stuff, and it was gathering in the vicinity, but in the near distance was a small army. Most of the revenants had formed now, and I saw multiple level ones and twos at this point. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
Those words felt appropriate as I dove headfirst into the darkness and prepared to weather the rage of a dead planet.