Chapter 217: Bone Temple

The authority structure within a Troll tribe or kingdom is based on an absolute hierarchy of power, with the Tol standing at the top of the chain. Challenges to the status quo are rare, and often fatal, with the loser usually being killed by the winner to eliminate future threats. The complexity stems from the fact that trolls recognize multiple kinds of power: age, wisdom, magical prowess, affinity with the Spirit Realm, crafting, and physical combat skills. In Troll culture, might makes right, but the concept of strength is impenetrably nuanced and complex. 

The Kir, or champions, stand just below the Tol in the hierarchy and are just as often Witchdoctors, Shamans, or Mages as they are Warriors. Val – Seekers or Teachers – are a presumed orthogonal authority based on wisdom, historical knowledge, and a supposed connection to the ancestral spirits. The Zor are master crafters, artisans, or herbalists and completely independent from the combat power hierarchy, subordinate only to the Tol – and it had been like this since before even the Elves began recording history. In fact, the only recorded change in the Troll culture is the relatively ‘new’ title and position, ‘Mok’ – introduced when trolls encountered elves in the first age and finally acknowledged the importance of political power in dealing with the vastly more numerous races. Individual Trolls can accurately intuit the relative power balance between the various individuals in any tribe – even hostile ones – but this is a frustratingly elusive task for other races.

- Excerpt from Cultures of the Modern-Day Kingdoms by Evanna Quillmore the Scribe.

Aliandra

Ali floated down to the heavily churned-up ground of the clearing, taking great care to avoid landing in one of the many puddles of blood slowly seeping into the hard-packed sand. She walked over to where Mato was standing over the corpse of the powerful troll warrior and his giant bone axe.

Kir’mogan. A unique, named Troll. A ‘Kir,’ one of Aman Rak’s champions, no doubt – though how he had become a dungeon boss defied explanation. Ali had never heard of anything like it – nor could she fathom what it might mean, even considering her inside knowledge of how dungeons functioned. I wish I had someone I could talk to about this.

“How are you feeling?” Ali asked, glancing over at her somber friend. They had almost lost him in this fight, and the thought still left her trembling inside.

He looked up at her and smiled softly, but before he could answer, the bone altar pulsed, emitting a dense surge of stored power. Jagged lightning-like arcs of midnight-black death-affinity mana burst through the chest of the twitching troll still nailed to the blood-stained altar top. The surrounding domain responded, drawing heavily from the forest of Grim Totems for… something. The tortured Troll screamed.

“Malika! Help me!” Ali yelled and shot off across the clearing to free the suffering shaman. It was only a couple of steel spikes pinning her to the altar, and Ali had Deconstruction.

Sparks of death magic arced toward her the instant she entered the aura around the altar, and in that moment, she understood the screaming. The magic ripped at her life energy, her mana, and her stamina, sucking it out with such brutality that her entire body and mind spasmed in agony.

In a flash, Malika was beside her, her mana coursing through her body as Ali endured the sparks and arcing drain magic. A powerful wave of death magic burst from the altar, causing a quiver to ripple through the flowers at their feet, and as it swept over them, more mutilated troll corpses rose, some of them ripping their skeletons out of their flesh, spraying blood across her barrier. But the altar did not stop, tearing hungrily at herself, the dying troll, and Malika as they sprinted across the way, growing stronger and stronger the closer they got.

“It’s feeding on us,” Malika gasped.

“And using the energy to summon undead,” Ali managed through gritted teeth. The aura had grown darker and more ominous the moment she and Malika had entered.

Suddenly, all the corpses turned, answering a challenging roar, and she had the presence of mind to mobilize her minions to help Mato right as she reached the altar.

Ali bit down hard against the unrelenting pain, tasting blood in her mouth, but the torrent of healing magic from Malika’s touch repaired her injuries as she fended off the power of the altar.

Ali’s fingers touched the steel spike that had been driven through the poor troll, but in that instant, she changed her plans. Dropping her intelligence, she swapped Empowered Summoner to her Armored Drake and exchanged it for the might of a melee dragon. In moments she plucked all three stakes from the troll and tossed them to the side. “Get her,” Ali said.

“Right,” Malika said, scooping up the troll in both arms. They fled.

The pain ceased.

The black pulsing from the altar subsided to a subdued rippling.

Ali blinked several times, suppressing a rush of ecstasy at the mere absence of the pain. She glanced down at the troll lying unconscious on the ground. Her health was extremely low, but it seemed stable. Ali pressed her lips together and glanced over at Malika, both of them knowing what they had to do.

“One more time?” Ali asked, wishing with all her heart that she didn’t have to go back in there. But the unholy altar could not be allowed to stand.

“Yes.” Malika grimaced but got to her feet, powerful determination in her eyes. “I’ll finish healing her… after.”

Her. The simple word clenched her throat. This is beyond evil.

With Malika holding her hand, the two of them walked back to the dark altar. It activated the instant they approached, arcing fresh sparks of death mana as it tore hungrily at their life. Searing healing power flowed through their clasped hands and Ali gritted her teeth to stop from screaming. The moment she reached it, she punched it – a blow drawn from all her hours of training her minions with Malika. Her fist hit the center of the altar with a loud crack, and it split down the middle. The mana wavered and flickered, and then surged chaotically as it arced across the exposed and fractured runes embedded within the construct. Ali groaned as the uncontrolled outburst crashed against her in waves.

“Deconstruct it!” Malika shouted, her healing magic surging in response.

It was the longest ten seconds she could remember.

The first half of the altar of bone evaporated, taking with it the horrendous pain and death mana, and it left Ali staggering as if she had been unconsciously pitting herself against an enormous weight that was suddenly removed. Cracks and sizzles filled the air as death mana drained from the remaining half, grounding itself in thick ropy bolts of black lightning. Ali grimaced and deconstructed the rest of the abomination as fast as she could.

“Good work!” she heard Calen yell, amidst the dim clamor of battle nearby.

“Is everyone ok?” Ali panted, exhausted from her ordeal.

“Yes,” Malika said, but Ali still snapped her head around to verify for herself.

Calen and Mato seemed to be well on their way to wiping out the sudden horde of zombies and skeletons raised by the altar. Just to be sure, she checked with an Acolyte, but Mato didn’t seem to be very hurt, and they had all her minions tearing through the monsters.

Ali breathed a sigh of relief and followed Malika over to the groaning, barely conscious victim. The poor troll seemed to be wholly disoriented, stripped down to ragged undergarments of soiled and bloody leather. She was bleeding from three puncture wounds, and someone had cut off her arms at the elbows, cauterizing the wounds with fire.

Probably to prevent her regeneration, she thought, suddenly realizing the extent of the torture this troll had been subjected to. Even her health was critically low, presumably kept there on purpose to prevent her from using her magic. Oh, what do we…

Malika’s expression was hard as she reached her hand out for healing, but the troll suddenly began to struggle, eyes widening in terror as she tried to scramble away on her mutilated arms, with legs that flopped refusing to work.

“She’s trying to help,” Ali said, keeping her voice as kind and gentle as she could. The Troll fixed her with a wide-eyed stare, and Malika’s hand brushed her arm. In a rush, healing magic burst through the Troll’s body. She screamed again, but her terror died quickly as she suddenly stared at her rapidly regrowing arms. Her legs twitched and the stake wounds closed, and Malika only released her magic when the Troll was fully healed.

The Troll slumped to the ground, breathing heavily, eyes closed.

“How do you feel?” Ali asked, after a few moments.

The troll responded slowly, her voice hoarse, and Ali’s Sage of Learning took a chunk of her mana. Of course, she speaks Troll. Ali tried Ancient Dal’mohran, and then Elvish, and then all the other languages she knew, but none of them worked.

“How about I make some food?” Mato said, walking over with Calen after finishing off all the undead.

“That might work,” Malika said. “She looks like she hasn’t eaten for a week.”

Ali considered the communication problem. This was definitely one of the original residents of Aman Rak, somehow having survived whatever disaster had destroyed the ancient troll settlement and turned it into a dungeon. Learning what had happened, and what they potentially faced was a high priority for their continued survival in this treacherous place. It also happened to be their mission.

She sent out a thought, calling one of her trolls over. As it approached, their guest stared at it in confusion, eventually making a comment in the strangely harsh tongue of the trolls.

“Tell her you’re my summoned creature, and that you talk for me,” she sent to her Troll, not quite sure how well her images would be translated, and activated her Sage of Learning, maintaining her awareness of her Bone Warrior’s senses just to increase the information she could use to feed her voracious learning skill.

What followed was a bizarre first-person translated conversation between her and the troll via the intermediary of her summoned minion. Sage of Learning burned through her mana at a ferocious rate throughout dinner, but eventually, some of the words began to make sense. It was a surprisingly difficult language, full of gestures and facial expressions that conveyed additional nuances of intention and meaning, but Ali didn’t stop at her rudimentary knowledge, she needed proficiency in order to make sense of what they had witnessed, and the ritual they had disrupted. At last, she received the notification she had been working for.

You have learned the Troll Language.

“Bah, you’re not real. You don’t understand a thing,” the young Troll said, folding her arms across her chest in frustration. “Why am I even talking to you?” She turned her head away from the Bone Warrior.

Just as it had been the first time when Ali had used Sage of Learning to understand Malika, she suddenly understood the basics as Sage of Learning actively sorted and reordered the knowledge in her mind. Just like then, she could tell that speaking was where her proficiency would be most tested. It was time to try out her new language and see what she could learn. Although this time her skills were vastly more powerful, and she had more tools to bring to bear.

Keeping her awareness in her Troll minions’ senses, she spoke. “Hi… I’m Aliandra.”

The freed Troll whipped her head around and stared at her in surprise. Her command of the gestures and expressions that seemed a core part of the language was still weak, and she was probably butchering the tone, but it seemed like she understood. “What is… your name?”

“I am Gara, of Aman Rak,” she said proudly. But then her eyes lowered, and her haughty demeanor crumbled. “I was… Aman Rak is…” she seemed choked up as she gestured around at the devastation of the Bone Temple and the stained circle where the bone altar had stood.

“How are you feeling?” Ali asked, intending to inquire about her health after the draining at the altar, but the look of grief and desolation in the Troll’s eyes told her everything she needed to know. “I’m sorry.”

“What would you know?” Gara said, looking away, but it was not anger; her voice was filled with pain. A pain that Ali knew all too well.

Your proficiency with the Troll language has improved.

“Perhaps you can explain what happened?” Ali asked.

“Why should I explain to you? You are not of Aman Rak, you are not a Troll.”

And we saved your life. But Ali kept the thought to herself. Gara was probably dealing with so much emotion that she was unable to be civil or polite. Then again, trolls had a legendary reputation for arrogance and superiority, so perhaps she was always like this.

“We encountered a Lich when we arrived here. Do you know anything about that?” Ali asked. “Or the undead?”

“Lich?” Gara gasped. “I know nothing of a Lich.” She sagged back down again but after a few moments, she began speaking. “A few weeks ago, the undead came, pouring forth from the dead forest. With them came the miasma. Our warriors are strong, but every one that fell was raised and sent back to fight against us.” Her face was filled with desolate sadness, but then her eyes flashed with repressed fury. “I had to kill the skeleton of my friend, Jotan.”

It was a story Ali had feared, given what she had heard from Calen’s scouting mission and Lyeneru’s account of the divination. But it didn’t explain why the Trolls in this dungeon were still alive. Nor did it explain the ritual and the altar.

But Gara continued, “I sought the wisdom of the Seeker, Val’korr, but while I was at the shrine, Kir’mogan and Kir’vella came for him with many undead servants. Kir’mogan shattered the shrine, captured Val’korr, and knocked me unconscious. When I awoke, I was nailed to that altar, and they were draining my life to make undead. Why would they betray Aman Rak?” Her voice cracked at the end.

It was a bleak picture, but it answered at least a few of Ali’s questions. Somehow, Aman Rak had been sold out before the undead dungeon had consumed it. She could almost smell the heavy hand of Nevyn Eld in the undead ritual – his presence merely served to confirm it. She got up slowly and walked over to the corpses – they would need to continue if they were to get to the bottom of this.

When she reached the corpse of the boss – Kir’mogan – she looked over in surprise to find Gara standing beside her. But the young troll spat on his corpse, a Trollish gesture of profound contempt and betrayal, and turned around and rejoined the camp.

Ali watched her go, wishing she could do something to ease her suffering. She returned to her task and knelt to deconstruct Kir’mogan, but her hand froze as she noticed something unusual. A complex sequence of intricate runes had been tattooed from the backs of his thick hands, past his elbows and across his heavy biceps, and curling around his arms to culminate as an intricate spell-tracery worked into his muscular shoulders. Tattoos that reminded her of the dense and remarkable magic she had seen carved into the tusks of her bone warrior trolls. He had the same tusk carvings, but this seemed to be something new.

Is it an inscribed item? A bracer? Sleeves?

It was far too complex for her to understand, even with Runic Script – and most of it was inscribed with the unfamiliar runes of the trolls. Curious about the obscure rune magic, Ali carefully traced the runes and the magical connections, even spending a bunch of mana on Sage of Learning, before resorting to painstakingly copying everything down into her notebook. She was on the cusp of understanding but somehow lacked some crucial key to decipher the magic. After double-checking that she had recorded it correctly in her notebook, she finally deconstructed him.

[Sage of Learning]
Domain Magic analyzed: Minions.
Domain Magic analyzed: Attribute Enhancement (Strength).
Domain Magic analyzed: Overpowering Strike.

Overpowering Strike
Requirements: Choose a Physical attack skill that uses stamina.
Source: Kir’mogan
Empower your chosen Physical attack to do +300% [boss] or +500% [raid] damage. The attack gains +20% to accuracy and critical strike ratings. Recharge: 30 seconds.
Skill – Domain Magic

Well, this explains why he nearly killed Mato, Ali thought, studying the new domain magic skill carefully. It was the first purely physical martial-style skill she had learned, and it was terrifying. The dungeon – or perhaps Kir’mogan himself – had linked it to an already powerful base attack and, with the additional five hundred percent damage dealt, it had resulted in an insane ground-shattering attack that nobody besides Mato had been able to survive. Not to mention the increases in accuracy and critical strike chance – without a defensive blocking skill, Ali wasn’t even certain her massive Armored Drakes could have endured. Especially considering the already ridiculous damage increase gained from being a raid boss. It unfortunately did not explain the Mortal Wounds. Must be an innate skill – an advancement maybe? Maybe that title he had? Her Bone Warriors did not have anything like it.

“Ali, you’re scary,” Mato said.

Ali glanced up to find the burly Beastkin tugging something out of a rough stone wall. Then he strolled over to join her and offered the three retrieved steel spikes. Spikes that were bent and bore the imprints of small fingers.

“Uh, did I do that?”

“My hands are not this tiny,” he said, pointing at the imprints.

“Uh, sorry,” she said, deconstructing them and adding a slightly different variant of steel to her metal imprint.

“Come, there are some flowers I think you should see,” Mato said, leading the way back to the stain on the ground where the altar had stood. All around it, small blue flowers wavered and swayed.

Soulshade Blossom – Wildflower – level 56 (Soul)

“They’re pretty,” Ali said. Soul affinity was rare and the Soulshade was substantially higher level than her peacebloom. “Eliyen and Basil are going to love these.”

“Look closer, Ali,” Mato said, crouching down beside the patch.

The flowers were a light blue, glowing faintly, and to her surprise, slightly translucent – but other than that, they seemed fairly normal. “What do you mean?”

“There’s no wind,” he answered. “So, why do they move?”

“Oh… you’re right!”

“Also, watch this,” Mato said. Reaching out with a hand, he plucked one flower and laid it down on the ground.

Ali glanced at him, but he remained staring at it, so she glanced back. Suddenly, a tiny flare of black mana swirled through the broken Soulshade Blossom, and a new flower sprouted from the remains. A dark flower rimmed with gray petals, with a central marking that looked remarkably like a black skull pattern. “Death-affinity mana.”

“Identify it,” he said, still staring at it, as if he were studying an apparition. It was so out of character for the nature-loving druid that Ali felt a cold shiver of apprehension and did as he asked.

Spectral Wraithrose – Undead Wildflower – level 61 (Death)

“An… undead flower?” Ali asked.

“I know.”

“How is that even possible?”

“I don’t know,” Mato said, falling silent as he stared at it more. “I want to ask Eliyen about it, but I don’t want to touch it,” he finally admitted.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Ali said. “I can get it.” She reached out and began to deconstruct the flowers, unable to keep herself from speculating. “There is no way these are natural,” she said.

“I wonder if they’re linked to that altar?” Mato asked.

“Or maybe the Grim Totems?” Ali responded. Either way, something unnatural had occurred here, and unravelling the mystery of these self-raising undead flowers might be a key to understanding what had befallen Aman Rak.

Variant: Spectral Wraithrose added to Imprint: Wildflower.

Variant: Soulshade Blossom added to Imprint: Wildflower.

“Hey, Ali?” Calen said, appearing beside her. “Can you come and take a look at something? There seems to be a barrier blocking the way forward just beyond the temple.”

“A barrier?” she asked, but she immediately followed, calling her Abyssal Stalkers to her as he led the way past the edge of the bone temple to a similar pathway that she could see winding through the jungle out the other side, heading further up the mountain to whatever lay beyond.

“Here,” he said, reaching out his hand. But his fingers bumped into something in midair – a surface that rippled like water. “I can’t find a way around. Not even going above it.”

Ali reached out and touched it, feeling a slightly yielding surface under her fingertips, smooth and almost soapy, and only now seeing the flow of mana that supported the barrier. Even this close, the mana flowing through it seemed to be concealed somehow, and against the backdrop of the dense domain mana, it was almost invisible. A strange combination of death magic and what looked surprisingly like soul magic densely entwined into a complex formation of runes that defied her ability to immediately grasp its functioning.

“I’m going to need some time to study this,” Ali said. She sat down, facing the dizzying array of magic, and began to read the runes, this time mostly a combination of the runic languages she was able to read, but every now and then she encountered the strangely incomprehensible runes of the trolls providing key connections or formations. She turned on her Sage of Learning to study the magic, trying to tease apart the threads of function.

“I’ll get the others and set up camp here,” Calen said, vanishing.

Ali called the rest of her minions over and set them to guard duties. Then, she returned her attention to the magic, letting the world fade from her awareness as she became fully absorbed in her task.

Teagan

Teagan entered the room with the book clutched tightly to her chest, closing the door behind her. The rest of her team members sat or sprawled on the couches and chairs in one of the new informal meeting rooms, recovering after the Guildmaster’s strenuous training session. Again. She still had a lingering headache but knew she’d far rather have that than a few alternatives the Guildmaster had been keen to impress upon them.  

Strewn across the low table in the middle were crumpled notes, inked-up maps, and, in a small clearing among the debris, Seth was arranging several small model figurines into the configuration of the Grove. He was using a pepper grinder for the shrine.

“The boss paths a little more to the left,” Willow said, and Seth readjusted the clay figure. Ever since the story of the three disciples of Ahn Khen defeating the Forest Guardian boss had begun circulating among the recruits, she knew she had to defeat it. The rest of her team shared her ambition, but it was not just them – at every strategy meeting Aiden wanted to talk about ideas for beating it too.

“Ugh, we’re so close,” Braden said. “Especially with Basil’s new, stronger antidote potions.”

“It’s a level forty raid boss,” Willow reminded him. “Even if we team up with Aiden’s group to get enough people to raid it, we’re simply not high enough level. We’re not even silver rank yet.”

“I want to know how Aiden’s group managed to crack thirty before us,” Braden said, sullenly. It was a point of pride to be the strongest adventurer group in the guild; well, ignoring Aliandra’s group. They had been neck and neck with Aiden’s team, but just a couple of days ago Aiden’s group had suddenly surged past level thirty.

“I know how they did it,” Teagan said, getting the sudden full attention of her entire group, including the normally quiet Basil and Seth. She dropped the Dungeon Manual on the coffee table in front of all of them. “Aiden updated it.”

“What? Really?” Braden exclaimed, grabbing the book.

“They found a level thirty-three demonic spider in a cave. It has stealth, Ambush, very high accuracy and critical strike chance, and a web attack,” Teagan listed off the major abilities Aiden had noted in the manual. “It also summons demonic, bloodsucking hornets.” She had been upset that Aiden had found it first and catapulted his group to become the first silver-ranked adventurers among their peers, but they had only killed it once so far, preferring to share the discovery rather than monopolize it to extend their lead.

“They’re letting us catch up?” Seth asked, his quiet deep voice laden with curiosity and more than a little surprise.

“Yes, Aiden is focused on being strategic. When he gave this to me, he said he didn’t want to beat us, he wanted to catch up to Aliandra’s group, and for that, we need a raid group capable of killing the Forest Guardian next. Then he wants to take advantage of Naia’s slime dungeon to grow more, and finally take on the undead dungeon Calen scouted in the blighted forest. He said the only reason Aliandra’s group is so far ahead is because they cleared two raid dungeons.” 

“That’s smart,” Seth answered, his expression thoughtful, with a little excitement leaking into his voice. “I just unlocked a Life Tap curse, that should help against blood hornets, and my skeletons and zombies don’t have blood.”

“Our area damage is weak,” Willow countered. “How will we handle the summoned hornets?”

“Morwynne taught me a new recipe,” Basil piped up. “She has come into a large supply of hellfire-affinity Abyssal Brimstone Tar which I can use to make incendiary potions if someone has accurate throwing skills.”

“Ooh,” Willow exclaimed. “Gimme!”

Basil produced a vial of something dark and bubbling and passed it to her with extreme care. Teagan felt the heat coming off it from several feet away.

“Oh, Basil, I think I love you!” Willow said, snapping it up with glee.

The shy herbalist coughed, trying to hide his blush and failing badly.

“Can we try this demon spider today?” Seth asked.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Teagan answered as the mood in the room shifted. Everyone sat up a little straighter and focused more closely as the group began to discuss the details of a potential strategy. Aiden’s group had defeated it with Havok’s holy damage and consecration healing, and their group would need to solve it quite differently – but Teagan could see the pieces coming together already. Time to catch up. Yesterday already.

Calen

Calen jogged back down the path toward the Temple of Bone and the aftermath of their brutal fight. All the way, his Explorer skill prickled in the back of his mind like an unreachable itch. Something was unnatural about this place, beyond the obvious, and the skill insisted on reminding him continuously, keeping him on edge.

What am I missing? He scanned the jungle for threats, focusing his vision with Eyes of the Archon, but all he found was the dense undergrowth and huge trees, their boughs weighed down with aerial plants, moss, and vines. The only things that moved were a whole host of regular creatures: birds, insects, small rodents, frogs, and many unseen crawling things going about their lives, oblivious to the fact that they now lived in a dungeon filled with warped magic, filling the air with the noise of their calls.

The Temple of Bone, he thought as he shifted his awareness back to the clearing, the crude collection of stone and bone huts, and the perimeter fence made from giant ribs. Kir’mogan’s domain. It felt somewhat misnamed to him – the ‘bone’ part of the name was most certainly descriptive of Kir’mogan’s magic style and the construction – but he was certain Trolls did not worship the gods. Ali had explained that they were too arrogant or superior to worship other gods, instead revering the spirits of their own champions and heroes. Why it would be translated as ‘temple’ escaped him.

“Yo, welcome back,” Mato said. “Ali ok?”

Calen entered the clearing, finding Malika meditating and Mato cleaning up the cookfire. Gara sat morosely, staring at the stained ground, all that remained of the bone altar Ali had destroyed.

I can’t imagine what she must be feeling, he thought. Her entire home – all of Aman Rak – had been destroyed and turned into a dungeon; returned to haunt them with a mockery of its former life.

“Ali says she’s going to need a lot of time to decipher the magical barrier,” Calen said. “I think we should go over there and make camp. That way we can get some rest until she figures out a way past and also avoids the dungeon respawning this place on top of us.”

“Sure,” Mato nodded, collecting his things quickly.

“Ok,” Malika said, uncoiling from her meditation pose.

Gara turned to look at him with uncomprehending eyes.

I need to ask Ali to teach me the troll language, he thought, gesturing for her to join them as they relocated. In all that free time we have. She looks so lost. His eyes surveyed the bloody mess of corpses, broken ground, and left-over vines and roots, and then he helped Malika store the remaining troll corpses Ali hadn’t yet deconstructed to give to her later.

He led them out of the temple to where Ali still sat, completely absorbed in her study of the strange necromantic barrier blocking their path. As they began setting up a simple camp, his thoughts returned to the challenging fight against the troll champion, Kir’mogan.

It had been a difficult battle for their team, but not particularly difficult for him personally – the most he had had to worry about was dodging the occasional deadly flying axes Kir’mogan threw at random people. For that, his Mirage Armor had once again proved its exceptional worth. All his stress had come from worrying about Mato and the precarious position he had found himself in fighting against the champion of bone.

Fighting two raid-enhanced shamans and the empowered warrior champion simultaneously had been almost more than they could handle. It had taken more than the full duration of his Righteous Fury to burn through the first shaman’s greatly increased health and the powerful blood magic healing.

Mato had almost died when the shaman had used Bloodlust to haste their foes. It was something he worried about incessantly; without the skills to see health and magic, he had to rely on his teammates to tell him when to change strategy. Worse, Mato’s ability to communicate was severely limited in Bear Form. It was truly fortunate for them that the shamans had only used their blood enhancement magic once during the fight – if the second one had used the same ability, they would most certainly have died – well, they would have recalled. It can’t be that they forgot – there must be some limitation to it.

He glanced over to where Ali worked with that incredible scholarly focus that came so naturally to her, flanked by the two tall troll Bone Warriors she had made. She was a strange person, but one he had come to care for deeply – the two trolls had been an incredible increase in power for their team, and yet Ali had struggled with the ethical implications of making them. Even though she was incredibly smart, he respected that she was also a complex person, driven more powerfully by her emotion and empathy than by reason. He would have simply taken the rational argument to increase their strength without any of the anxiety and conflict she had experienced.

And once she was done with the barrier, she would need to make another decision. The two shaman corpses in his storage should give her sufficient material to add the variant to her Grimoire. Then she would be faced with a choice between the power the shamans would undoubtedly bring to their team, and the corresponding increase in their safety, or the complex guilt and confusion in her heart around making sapient creatures that seemed just like people. He hoped she would choose to make the shamans because their healing and the blood magic would be an incredibly powerful strategic tool, but he wasn’t about to force the issue when Ali had struggled so much with it.

His thoughts turned inward as he began to document and study the growth he had earned from the fight.

Archer of Light has reached level 68 (+5).
+50 attribute points.

It was a substantial reward for a dangerous fight, and his thoughts returned to the conversation Lyeneru and Nendir had had about his unreasonably fast progress. It would have been safer if we had been at a higher level, he thought, acknowledging their worries and concerns about the risks he was taking. But he could not see how he could have done it differently – they had been thrust into the dungeon without Lyeneru’s aid because of the appearance of the Blind Lich. They had planned to do the investigation with her, which would have made this fight an easy and safe task.

I hope she’s alright. He had personally witnessed her power, but she was up against Nevyn Eld. The Blind Lich who had created the Death Knight they had struggled against. It was not something he could do anything about right now – but he could focus on his own power and growing strong enough to be effective.

Calen consulted his notes, ran his calculations, and then distributed his new attribute points. Dexterity was still his highest priority, so he spent seventeen points on that. Next, he added ten to perception – seeing his foes was a critical skill for a scout. Seven each went to endurance and intelligence, boosting his magical damage and increasing his stamina pool and resilience. He did have stamina leech now, but the overall benefit of more endurance still penciled out in his computations. Five points went to wisdom to help his never-ending mana problems, and then he spent two each on strength and vitality, rounding out his build. Yes, that will do nicely. Now, I’ll review the rest.

Radiant Archery has reached level 36 (+2).
Arrows of Brilliance has reached level 42 (+3).
Motes of Light has reached level 24.
Explorer has reached level 37 (+3).
Blessing of the Dawn has reached level 27.
Eyes of the Archon has reached level 27.
Righteous Fury has reached level 23.
Mirage Armor has reached level 20 (+3).

Cartography has reached level 15.

Howling Hellfire Bow has reached level 63 (+2).

Even though his notification chimed again, he spent several minutes examining his giant, noisy recurve bow. The growth enchantment was proving to be extraordinary. The base damage range on the bow grew modestly with each level – small numbers to be certain, but with the way his skills scaled, it multiplied out to enormous wins. It hadn’t happened yet, but he was sure at certain level breakpoints, the strength of the enchantments would bump up too. Finally, he put it away, curious to see what else awaited him.

Requirements met for skill advancement.

Patron deity: The Wanderer.
Mirage Armor has reached level 20.
Perception has surpassed 300.
Intelligence has surpassed 415.
Synergy: Eclipse has surpassed level 20.

Mirage Armor gains Blurred Magic.
Mirage Armor gains the Stealth trait.
(You are significantly harder to see, and your mana is cloaked from perception skills granting an additional +20% [skill] to Resistance.)

Mirage Armor – level 20
Mana: Bending light around you, your body creates afterimages as it moves, making it significantly harder to hit you. Evasion is increased by +1101 [skill x 7 + intelligence + dexterity].
You are significantly harder to see, and your mana is cloaked from the perception skills of your enemies, granting an additional +20% [skill] to Resistance. Reserve: 10%
Light, Defense, Illusion, Stealth, Intelligence, Dexterity

Accept this advancement?

Oh! Now this is nice! He studied the offered advancement with growing excitement. A stealth upgrade? A synergy had been found between his Mirage Armor and his Eclipse skill, driven by his acceptance of his patron deity’s mana. He had been regularly gaining reputation simply by exploring this dangerous new dungeon, so it seemed plausible that it was related to that.

This advancement would help him in many ways – some experimentation would be needed to figure out how it interacted with Eclipse when he was out scouting, but a skill that masked his mana was a powerful addition to his repertoire of stealth tools. Ali kept reminding him that she could see his mana when he used his skills. Nevermind that she was ridiculous, he had already faced foes that saw him as less bothersome than a gnat. If something powerful detected him while he was out alone… yes. His mind churned on. He didn’t get hit a lot, typically, but in dungeons like the Emberforge Mines, it was impossible to avoid environmental damage. The additional resistance to magical damage was like a free Elixir of Fire Resistance, but one that worked across all magical affinities. He could stack it with elixirs, and it would grow as he leveled his skill. Any way he looked at it, this was an extraordinary advancement.

He quickly accepted it, instantly noticing how his body suddenly gained a shimmering insubstantiality to it, as if it wasn’t exactly there. I look like one of Ali’s Stalkers.

That might be awkward in town, he thought, his eyes wanting to slide off himself to look elsewhere. But he could disable it when he was shopping or visiting with his mother.

***

Name: Calen Avery
Race: Half-Elf
Titles: Rift Warden

Active Buffs: Blessing of the Dawn, Mirage Armor, Motes of Light, Blessing of the Wanderer, Well-fed

Class: Archer of Light – level 68
- Radiant Archery – level 36
- Arrows of Brilliance – level 42
- Motes of Light – level 24
- Explorer – level 39 (+2)
- Blessing of the Dawn – level 27
- Eclipse – level 24
- Eyes of the Archon – level 28 (+1)
- Righteous Fury – level 23
- Azrael's Wings – level 19
- Mirage Armor – level 20

General Skills
- Bowcraft – level 7
- Cartography – level 15
- Skinning – level 10
- Basic Daggers – level 2

Aptitudes
- Languages: Common, Elvish
- Mana (Affinity): Light
- Perceptive (Racial): +11 to Perception
- Quick (Racial): +5 to Dexterity
- Timing (Class): You have an innate sense of timing

Patrons & Tithes
- Deity: The Wanderer
- Mentor: Lyeneru Silverleaf

Attributes
- Vitality: 120 (+58)
- Strength: 111 (+68)
- Endurance: 43
- Dexterity: 595 (+384)
- Perception: 312 (+142)
- Intelligence: 428 (+261)
- Wisdom: 70

Equipment
- Weapon: Howling Hellfire Bow – level 63
- Body: Studded Jacket – level 40
- Hands: Flamecaller Bracers – level 44
- Feet: Swift Bone-Studded Jambeau – level 60
- Ring: Gold Guild Ring – level 60
- Ring: Pathfinder Initiate Guild Ring – level 40

Evasion: 1499
Dodge: 44.04%
Resistance: 403
Magical Damage Reduction: 17.46%
+15% to Attack speed.
+2% of your damage is returned as Stamina over 30 seconds.
+2% of your damage is returned as Health over 30 seconds.
+27% to Movement speed.

Health: 1200/1200
Stamina: 430/430
Mana: 245/700 (455 Reserved)

 ----------

https://www.patreon.com/DungeonOfKnowledge

https://www.scribblehub.com/series/1135403/dungeon-of-knowledge

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/80744/dungeon-of-knowledge-raid-combat-litrpg