The Land: Founding (Chaos Seeds Book 1) (15 page)

 “Quit laying around. Time to
get back to work.”

 Taking several slow, deep
breaths, Richter finally controlled his own personal spinning universe and sat
up. Sion stood beside him. In front of him, was the ruined frame of the
skeleton
warrior.
Still dazed, Richter looked around
hoping that the danger had passed, but not yet able to fully muster the ability
to care.

 Sion looked at him with a
confused expression, “What is FML?”

When Richter was finally able to
stand, he searched the warrior. The skeletal warrior had been clad in rags. The
only thing of value was its axe.

You have found: Steel battle axe.
Damage 17-22. Durability 17/40. Item class: Common. Quality: Average. Weight
13.7 kg. Requirement: Strength 19.

 Richter really missed mobs
dropping random loot. Having to search the dead was a pain in the butt compared
simply opening an inventory window. To be fair though it wasn’t really
realistic to find a bottle of fire resistance inside of a bear, or a healing
herb from killing an air elemental.

 The walked back to the cave
entrance both gnawing on healing herbs. The herbs did not have the instant
healing of Richter’s Minor Ring of Healing. They also didn’t heal as much or as
fast as the potions they had found. Instead they slowly added health at one
point per second.

Basic healing herb: Eating this will
restore 10 points of health over 30 seconds.

A benefit of all that hide and seek
in the mist was a bump in his stealth skill.

Congratulations: You have reached
skill level 4 in Stealth.  2% increase to Concealment.

They gathered the other weapons and
shields from the destroyed skeletons, and left them in a pile at the entrance.
Like the warrior, these skeletons had nothing of value besides their weapons. A
quick scan by
Futen
found no other enemies in the
immediate vicinity. Moving into the cave, they swept up the remaining weapons
placing them with the others.

 They entered the tunnel
connecting the two chambers, Richter took the lead, sword in hand. If
Futen
had missed some creature, then there would only be a
split second to defend himself, not nearly enough time to aim and shoot his
bow. Sion followed two paces behind, arrow nocked and ready. He moved carefully
into the second cavern. As soon as he placed his foot down inside the chamber,
the floor at his feet began to glow blue white.

 “Move,” Sion shouted! The sprite
grabbed the back of Richter’s belt and pulled. Unfortunately Sion lacked the
strength to actually move him back, but it did stop him from moving any farther
forward. The light flared and with a
zzzsst
,
bolts of electricity shot into the air bouncing off the sides of the hallway.

 Both he and Sion fell to the
ground

You are stunned for the next 3.0
seconds!

 Richter’s body was locked in
spasm, pain coursing through him. He saw that whatever had just happened, had also
removed 35 health. The next three seconds felt like an hour. Even after the
paralysis wore off, they lay on the ground for a bit.

 “
Thaatttt
suckkked
!”

 “I think I will move in front
from here on out, Richter!” Sion’s voice was tight with pain and annoyance.

 “Fine!
Futen
,
what WAS that?”

 “You seem to have stepped upon
a lightning ward my Lord.”

 “Why didn’t you warn us?”

 “I was only scanning for
enemies. Though in retrospect, it would have been prudent to also look for
traps.”

 “You think?!” Richter was
almost shouting.

 “Yes, my Lord,” the remnant
paused for a second, “I do.”

 “Pink would be too good for
you, you damn night light! I’m going to find a way to make you burnt ochre! Now
scan for traps!”

 “Yes, my Lord.”

 The orb flowed around the room occasionally
hovering in one place. A circle would slowly appear on the floor to the side of
its position. Richter noticed that not even the remnant passed directly over
the wards. Each ward was two feet in diameter and had small runes lining the
inner edge of its circumference. In the meantime, both he and Sion ate more
healing herbs. Herb Lore certainly did come in handy as a skill. If not for
finding these herbs in the forest, the only options for accelerated healing
would have been his ring or the two healing potions they had found.
Thankfully
the herbs were sprinkled throughout the forest, and they had been able to pick
some each night.

 Richter had the bright idea of
eating two at once, hoping for an increase in
the heal
to time ratio. He had found that the herbs would simply restore 20 points over
60 seconds. Well, beggars can’t be choosers, he thought. Eating the herbs had
the added benefit of slowly improving his Herb Lore skill. Sion assured him he
would get better results from each healing herb as his Herb Lore improved, and
he would also have an easier time finding more potent herbs.

 In the time that it took for
the herbs to do their work,
Futen
had completed his
search of the room and was hovering in front of him again. Richter certainly
felt better, even if he was a bit a hungry. Sion told him that was a common
side effect of the green
medicinals
.

 Three circles, each the uniform
two feet in diameter, were glowing softly scattered throughout the room. These were
easily avoided but the last was three feet in diameter and had a second line of
runes inside of the first. It also completely covered the entrance to a set of
stairs leading down.

 “Okay, so how do we get past
it,” Richter asked, “Should we jump over? Can you make it?” the last was
directed at Sion.

 Sion looked back at him, “It’s
a magical seal of power. It’s meant as a barrier and a trap.”

 “Yeah, I have picked that up,”
Richter replied.

 “Yes, well,” Sion said slowly.
“It wouldn’t be very good at either if it could be defeated by, skipping.”

 Feeling like a moron, Richter
just gave a short nod. He really didn’t know what he had done to deserve a best
friend who was basically a
dickish
Kebler
elf.

 “
Futen
,
what can you do about those wards?”

 “These are lightning wards my
Lord. Lightning is the province of Air magic. I should be able to unravel the
ward and allow the energy to dissipate. Also you might be able to set off the
ward from a distance with a sufficiently strong magical strike.”

 “Are you saying that I can
learn lightning magic?”

 “Yes my Lord. As you know, you
can learn and master Life, Dark, Air and Water magic thanks to the Place of
Power. Each Power has certain requirements that must be met, but it is
possible.”

 Richter had noticed a Magic tab
on his interface, but as they were all greyed out he had not paid it much
attention. He could see now that there were a list of lightning spells below
the air spells. The weakest lightning spell required skill level 10 in Air
Magic.

 “Why didn’t the skeletons set
off the ward when they crossed it,” Sion asked.

 “The wards are cast to attack
only the enemies of those determined by the caster,”
Futen
replied.

 “Can you change the way we are
‘determined’ by the ward? Can you make us be seen as friendlies, and everything
else be seen as an enemy?”

 “No, my Lord.”

 “Well that’s a shame,” Richter
said. “Judging by how strong these enemies were on the first floor. I can only
imagine what the next level is going to be like. Okay
Futen
,
disarm it.”

 Both he and Sion took a step
back, being a bit wary of the remnant’s judgement after their, well,
electrocution. The ward began to glow. The outer circle of runes began to turn,
followed by the second. Both changed directions multiple times reminding Richter
of the tumblers on a safe. A few more turns and both circles stopped rotating.
There was a final flare of light and the ward floated up into the air until it
dissipated like smoke and disappeared.

 Richter began to move down the
stairs, until Sion cleared his throat. The sprite cocked his head as if to say
‘Really?’ What the sprite actually said was, “We have been over this.
Futen
, scout ahead.”

 It phased out of visible sight,
and Sion and Richter were left waiting. The orb reappeared before long and said,
“There is one large chamber. At the end are a set of black doors. In front of
it are two of the larger skeletons. ”

 “What type of weapons do they
have,” Richter asked.

 “One is carrying a large axe
and the other a larger sword. They seem alert, my Lord.”

 “Well that’s not surprising. A
deaf bat could have heard all the racket we were making,” Richter commented.
“If there are only two though we can take them. How far from the steps are
they?”

 “About eighty yards, my Lord.”

 “Is there light?”

 “Very little.”

 “Then the plan is the same as
before. Go in front of us, and draw their attention with sound and light. Sion,
we both hit the one on the left with powered strikes, and once it is down or
they cross more than half the distance to the steps, we retreat back up the
stairs. If they follow, we will stagger our shots. You strike and knock it
back, retreat, and I will do the same. If they get to close we retreat to the
mist.”

 Sion took the lead moving
noiselessly down the steps. The waited a few steps up from the bottom, so as
not to be seen. When they saw the flash, Richter and Sion both moved. Richter
used Focus to draw his target close into view and powered his arrow for three
seconds and released. Sion’s arrow struck a moment before him. The damn thing
was still standing! At least the strikes had kept it from making any forward
progress, however. Analyze showed:

Skeleton Warrior: Lvl 11. Health
230/350. Mana 0. Stamina 240/240.

 Well that would be why!
Meanwhile, Sion kept launching powered strike after powered strike into the
already injured skeleton. The other skeleton warrior was halfway down the
cavern. Richter switched his aim to it and powered his arrow for one second
before releasing. The arrow struck the skeleton in the arm, flinging it off balance
its
greatsword
scraping the ground.

 Richter had underestimated the
speed and strength of the warriors. The tactic of withering fire would not
work. The skeletons would run them down and strike from behind. Richter fired
one more imbued arrow at the closest skeleton further knocking it off balance
and then drew his short sword. Stepping forward, he swung down as hard as he
could and struck the
greatsword
, knocking the weapon
out of the skeleton’s bony grasp. The warrior raked its outstretched hand across
Richter’s chest creating an ear splitting screech as it scored his chest plate.
Spinning low, Richter swung his sword in an arc striking the warrior in its
knee. A chip fell off, but the leg remained attached. The warrior fell upon
him, and it’s not inconsiderable weight drove him onto his back. The bones
clearly had greater density than they should. He grabbed one bony wrist, but
its other dug into Richter’s shoulder. The tips of its fingers pierced his
flesh. It dug deeper into the meat of his muscle as it curled its fingers into
a partial fist, on the inside of his body!

 A scream ripped from Richter’s
throat as he struggled against the skeleton. His left hand scrambled for
purchase against it, but was weakened to the point of uselessness with the skeleton’s
fingers inside his deltoid. His other hand tried to keep the skeleton’s free
hand from ripping into his throat and taking his life. Richter looked up into
the insane grin of the skeleton with its mouth partially open. His stamina was
running out fast and he felt himself weakening. Panic was taking over which
might have been the only thing keeping the pain from rendering him unconscious.

 He strained with creature for
long moments panting, caught in a stalemate that he knew could not last much
longer. Just when he felt he might succumb, he saw Sion’s sword dig point first
into the side of the warrior’s neck vertebrae. The sprite had jumped onto the
skeleton’s back. With his sword wedged into its spine, Sion wrenched up with
all of his strength using his blade like a lever. With a heave and an audible
snap, the bones of the neck separated. The head went flying, and the rest of
the body collapsed into its separate parts on top of him. The hand remained
intact and inside of him though. Sion placed his knee on Richter’s chest,
pulling swiftly, and wrench the skeletal fingers out of his friend’s shoulder.
A large amount of blood and a few pieces of flesh came out as well. Richter
could barely see straight as he reached into his pouch drank one of the red potions
he had taken from the goblin chief in the fight that already seemed so long
ago. He triggered the healing ring as well. The pain began to lessen but his
health did not seem to recover as quickly as it should. He saw a symbol in the
shape of a red tear drop at the corner of his vision. Focusing on he it saw: