World Sphere 79 - Big Balls...of Ice

Chapter 79: Big Balls...of Ice

This was Freya’s third trip on a skyship, but like Gareth and I, she still hadn’t lost her excitement. She stood at the railing, watching the land fall away beneath them as the ship headed toward Aegis City. Gareth was deep in conversation with Callem, so I stayed beside Freya.

“How are you doing, Freya? You have been doing an excellent job in keeping the restaurant supplied,” I said with heartfelt praise.

Freya’s face brightened, “It has been fun. I like visiting all the farms and setting up contracts. After the Gaskills signed on, everyone else was eager. I have been hitting the increased quotas for the Shiny Platinum.”

 “Do you think I can convince our mother and father to move to Aegis City?” I wanted to get my family close to where my skyship was moored in case we had to flee the sky islands.

Freya looked perplexed at my question. “I don’t think they could live in Aegis City. The prices are so extreme. Mother just earned her Master Carver’s license, and I think she is considering opening her own shop. Father is not home much. His duties have doubled as some of the skyship guards under his command have been reassigned to the larger cities.” I nodded and sighed internally.

Convincing my parents would not be an easy task. “What about you, Freya? Would you want to move to Aegis City next year? I will be attending the Dungeon Academy, and Pascal will be in the Guard Academy there.” I disagreed with my brother’s decision, but he wanted to follow in our father’s footsteps. I would have paid for any academy that he wanted to attend. He also turned down Mia’s offer of employment at the Shiny Platinum.

Freya was considering my question. She had a small business empire and employed almost every child in Hen’s Hollow. But I also knew the amount she was getting from the contract of supplying the Shiny Platinum far surpassed her other revenue. After turning the question over in her mind, she asked slyly, “What did you have in mind?”

Freya had a look on her face like she was ready to negotiate. I put on my own devious face. “I figured you could rent one of the apartments at the Shiny Platinum, and I would pay for your tutors while you continued to supply the Shiny Platinum.”

Freya’s lips puckered in distaste. “How about no tutors?” I had been paying for her special tutors, and studying was the worst part of her day.

“Mother wouldn’t allow you to join us in the city if you are not getting an education before the academy,” I said seriously.

Freya mumbled, “I already make more than her.”

I sighed. I had created another monster. I shouldn’t have been paying her a fair wage. Maybe I would have to find a way to cut her off without making her upset with me. “Well, think about it. You are to spend the day with Wynna and Ennet, and I don’t want to hear anything about you wandering off alone. If I do, then I will never take you to the city again,” I warned her. She rolled her eyes at me.

The skyship landed, and I made my way down the ramp. Tatem, my artist, had started painting the side of the building. The massive hydra was already sketched out, covering half of the building's side. Many departing passengers paused to look at it before heading into the restaurant to check it out. The restaurant wasn't open until midday, but they could still see the panels inside and wander over to the bakery. The hydra served as a great advertising platform.

I started rethinking my decision on the miniatures. The shelves I requested had been set up to display small versions of the beasts from the panels. I decided to look for a metal sculptor to craft them, avoiding the time and effort of designing and shaping the bronze myself. Perhaps I would make a few to practice though…

I took the stairs up to the apartments to find Gimble. Lana was in the hallway and directed me to the delve team training room. In the training room, Gimble and Sammie were busy while Talia and an older man watched. I walked over to stand next to the older man and asked, while watching Sammie get some instruction, “Ullmark?”

“Yes. And you are the young pupil of the mysterious Callem Dregella? The small one, Storme Hardlight,” he asked while appraising me and still watching Sammie.

I did the same to him. He had salt and pepper hair and a well-trimmed beard. Ullmark wore clean, heavy canvas adventuring clothes worn where the straps for leather armor would have rubbed. He carried just a long sword on his belt and his brown eyes held the wisdom of an older man.

“Callem is my mentor or at least one of them,” I answered. “His true protegee is Gareth, who I am sure is either apologizing to a young woman or wooing a new one,” I said, offering a smile.

Ullmark smiled back, and we shook wrists. “I am willing to join your delve team,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. “I never thought I would tie myself again to a team. But Callem assured me the families are not tied to you.”

I thought quickly, “You can leave at any time, Ullmark.”

“Ahem, yeah, I have already selected a room below,” he grinned and chuckled. “I admit the apartment put it over the top and free food below? You are going to end up with overweight delvers, Storme.” We both laughed as there was some truth to it.

We talked briefly about the details of his contract. It was the same terms as Gimble. Gimble announced to everyone present. “We were going to meet up in six hours to travel over to the dungeon. The team for the dungeon is Talia, Sammie, Ullmark, Gimble, Storme, and Gareth.” Everyone nodded and resumed what they were doing.

I went to check on Mera in the brewery. My new alchemist, Lachlan, had set up in the corner of the room but wasn't there. Mera and Fera were working together to start a batch of beer. I told Mera about the special yeast that Broderick had mentioned and promised to get her some to culture. I sampled her first few filtered attempts, and it was good—not great, but good.

Remy found me and was eager to review the numbers. The last delve had lost 12 gold and 3 silver when all expenses were factored in. The restaurant and bakery made a profit of 3 gold and 88 silver in the first week! This past week was already 6 gold in the positive and didn’t include today’s service.

I was a bit surprised, as it seemed like even with our high staffing expenses and high menu prices, we were going to bring in 7 to 8 gold a week. It might just be because of the restaurant's novelty, though. Remy said our cooks are already being heavily recruited to learn our secrets.

That was funny because we didn’t have any real secrets other than my artificing work on the griddles and oil-flying wells. I told Remy he could inform the manager that he might add staff as needed. I also asked Remy to bring me a large supply of bronze and gave him two large gold.

I spent the rest of the lull before the delve working on the plumbing and kitchens on the second floor. Gareth found me 30 minutes before we were scheduled to leave. “Come on, Stormy! Gimble said we would try the first-floor boss today!” At least Gareth didn’t seem moody anymore about the prospect of the delve. I went to my room, changed, and met the others.

As we walked the street, Sammie looked concerned. “You putting on some warmer clothes for the dungeon?”

“No, I have a new spell I plan to level today,” I said grinning. I had my thermostatic aura spell activated at the moment, and the air around me was perfect.

We arrived a few minutes early, and Ullmark went and talked to the guards while we waited. Just before we entered, Ullmark approached me and said, concerned. “Someone has been buying up the token for the shift before us. My friends,” he indicated to the guards, “said it was a new team from the capital. They looked experienced by their demeanor.”

He paused before offering advice, “If you do decide to take down the boss today, I don’t think it’s a good idea to go to the second floor. The second floor is a maze; all teams are assigned to random locations. If the new team is targeting us, then we should gather more information before engaging them.”

I hadn’t really considered that someone would want to kill us in a dungeon so soon. I slipped Ullmark two gold. “For your guard friends and let them know we appreciate any information they have in the future.” He nodded and went to deliver the coins.

The hourglass expired, and we were allowed to enter. As we moved through the trees, killing bees, Gareth made his best attempts to impress Talia today. Ullmark had positioned himself at the center of the front line and, as Aelyn had mentioned, was protecting Sammie from both the bees and Gareth. When we stopped for a rest, I mentioned it to Ullmark privately.

“You seem focused on keeping Sammie safe. Is there a reason?”  I asked quietly.

He looked at me for a bit before admitting, “She reminds me of my daughter. Not the looks…my daughter had black hair and brown eyes…but she has the same naivete to the world.”

 “Where is your daughter now?” I asked.

He sighed heavily, “She passed away five years ago. Oh, not like that, she was 97. When she went to the academy at 14, I was drinking, and my wife kicked me out. I didn’t support them and never contacted her again. I did go to her funeral. Later in life, I regretted my decision. Working for the Bricios makes a man mean…I didn’t realize it until it was too late.”

He looked at Sammie. “She is kind of my second chance. That is why I advise the younger delvers at the guild, imparting wisdom I never gave to my own daughter.”

“How old are you?” I inquired of the man who appeared younger than Callem.

“I don’t really remember. For decades, I didn’t really track things. I came to Skyholme about 150 years ago. Before that…I was maybe 50. So I will go with 200,” he smiled at my astonishment. “Yeah, I told Callem my only ability is tier 2, and it slows my aging. I have seen and done a lot in my life. There are a lot like me in the Sphere, not just elves but humans who have extended their life. Dungeons that drop life-extending essences are the most heavily delved in the Sphere by far.”

Gimble called an end to the rest, and we all got back to working on the bees. We were walking through the woods toward the goblin camp. We had been at it for about four hours when the woods suddenly ended in a large, snow-covered clearing. A short, eight-foot wooden palisade made of upright logs surrounded the frost goblin village.

Ullmark faced everyone. “Ok, we want to draw the goblins away from the walls and eliminate them first. Then we knock down the wall on the far side and draw the goblins out in groups of two and three. The hobgoblin chief is in the round structure in the center of the village. He will have four guards with him and one shaman. The shaman is the one with the bee wing cape. It is really pretty but fragile. It sells for about five gold if you can avoid damaging it, but for our first attempt, just focus on taking down the shaman first. He can heal the others.”

He took a breath, “If it goes to dragon shit, retreat to the breach in the wall, and we can hold there. The hobgoblin will not pursue us to the outer walls, so we just have to deal with the four guards and shaman.”

Gareth was bouncing anxiously. I assumed he had read about this floor boss a hundred times and had a mental picture of exactly what he would do. We made our way to the wall and drew the goblin patrols to us. They had no ranged weapons and never came in groups larger than three.

When the patrols were cleared, we created the breach. The three front liners—Sammie, Ullmark, and Gareth—did all the work as the goblin corpses piled up. Ullmark went into the fortified town a few times to draw the attention of small groups. Gimble was keeping track of the time, and Talia and I watched the open area around us. Finally, Ullmark said we could enter the town.

The smell inside the walls reminded me of rotting eggs and urine. We only encountered single roaming goblins as we made our way to the center of the town. Gimble said we only had an hour left before our eight-hour timer ran out. This meant we would need to defeat the hobgoblin and then leave on the second floor of the dungeon rather than going back.

The central feature was the round chieftain's hut, the only two-story, roughly built wooden structure. Ullmark said, “When we approach, they will all rush out at once. Talia, focus on the shaman with ranged spells. I will keep the hobgoblin occupied, and everyone else should quickly take down the guards. Then, join me to attack the chief. He's tougher than he appears, and don’t assume he's no longer dangerous just because he slows down when he is tired.”

A stray goblin burst out of a small hut, and Sammie knocked it down with a lazy axe swing. As we neared the central structure, a loud, challenging scream echoed from inside. A six-foot, well-muscled goblin charged out. His bodyguards followed, but I did not see the shaman. I summoned my two-handed falchion, dropping my staff. Removing limbs would end this encounter more quickly.

I moved far off to the right and engaged the further bodyguard. He was dressed in heavy furs that protected his entire body except for his hands and head. His misaligned yellow teeth grinned as he fought me with a black steel short sword. I easily parried his attack downward, spun, and brought my falchion to his ear. I was surprised when my blade easily took off the top half of his head.

Sammie was next to me, and she was evenly matched with the next bodyguard. I flanked him, allowing Sammie to embed her axe in his chest, and then I repeated my beheading attack, this time striking the next and getting the entire pumpkin this time.

I smiled at Sammie only to be thrown violently back. The shaman had appeared, and a head-sized ball of ice had slammed into me. I coughed blood, and a quick check told me my ribs were broken. My soft leather armor had been useless. I stumbled to my feet while casting instant healing to get my ribs back in place.

Looking around, I saw Talia firing streaks of fire at the shaman, who was protected by a magical shield. Sammie had checked on me before rushing to help Ullmark, who was bleeding and stuck in place with the hobgoblin fighting him. Gimble was kneeling over Gareth, who was dazed and struggling to stand. A large ball of ice revealed what had happened: Gareth had been hit in the back of the head with it, probably when he maneuvered behind the hobgoblin to kill it.

I needed to decide on the bigger threat, the shaman or the hobgoblin. Talia couldn’t break the shaman’s defenses, so I cranked up my lightning reflexes spell and charged. The hobgoblin tried to interpose himself, but I blocked him with an aether shield, not that he was fast enough to catch me anyway.

The shaman panicked and moved its shield toward me, allowing Talia’s magic to strike him and stagger him. I went into a slide on the snowy ground and took him out at the knees. Both legs fell as his upper body collapsed, and he screamed in pain and disbelief. With his focus on his pain, I quickly removed his head.

The hobgoblin had disengaged and was trying to get me before I reached his shaman. He charged at me, furious. Both Sammie and Ullmark were behind him. I was still enhanced from my lightning spell and wasn’t worried about the hobgoblin. As he reached me in his charge, he tripped on my invisible aether shield, falling face-first and exposing the back of his head.

I had already started the arc of my blade, and it sank into the back of his neck. I was surprised I hadn’t severed his head. The hobgoblin twitched, still not dead, but his spinal column was severed, making his body useless.

I scanned the area and, with no other threats, moved to Gareth and Gimble and deactivated my spells. I immediately assessed Gareth’s condition. He had a severe concussion and some vertebrae were damaged. Twenty seconds of healing magic, and he was standing and shaking his head.

“It’s over?” He asked, confused. Gimble started talking to him to explain things, and he swore. “I was trying to keep an eye on everyone else while dispatching my opponent. The shaman must have arrived late, and I had my back to him.”

Gimble nodded. “Gareth, you learn from mistakes. Focus on your sphere of combat and your job. You can’t control everything around you.” Gareth looked embarrassed as he was the only who had fallen in battle.

I should have been wearing a helm. I have one, but the bees and goblins had been so easy that I thought I didn’t need it. How did everyone else do?” He looked at the group circling him.

I moved to heal Ullmark, who had two minor cuts. Sammie had a sprained wrist and a laceration on her thigh, which I also treated. Ullmark said, “It went well. Storme took care of the hobgoblin, shaman, and two guards. The shaman should only have energy bolts, shields, and ranged healing for attack and defense. This ice ball is new. We should report it to the guild, as there might be a reward if we are the first to do so.” Gareth looked at me as if he didn’t recognize me.

Gareth started to ask how I managed to kill almost every enemy myself, but I waved him off.

“Shouldn’t there be a treasure chest around here somewhere?” I said, doing a circle. I didn’t want Gareth to know about my lightning reflexes spell until I could surprise him with it in a duel.

Ullmark pointed. “It is in the chief’s hut as well as the arch to enter the maze on the next level. We all went inside, and the smell wasn’t terrible. As Ullmark said, an arch similar to the one we used to get into the dungeon dominated the space. A small chest was on a rotting bearskin rug. I examined the runes on the arch. There were 12 delvers already in the maze, so two teams. Gareth was opening the chest, and for some reason, I had wanted to yell, ‘check for traps,’ but held my tongue.

Gareth grinned. “Two gold, three silver. It looks like the frostskin boots and a spell book.” Talia was moving to the chest when a spellbook was mentioned.

Talia gasped. “It is not the surgical harvest spell. It is called the ice ball.” She was paging through it. “It is a tier 1 water spell. I am not familiar with it.”

“I am guessing the dungeon evolved the shaman, and we were the first to defeat it. That is why the spell was within the reward chest,” Gimble said.

Gareth was nodding emphatically at the explanation while putting on the new white boots. Since he opened the chest, they had sized to his person. I walked to the chest, and the coins were also gone. I would have to tell Remy to take it off his weekly pay if he didn’t turn them in. The boots would be deducted as well…that was another 10 gold?  He wasn’t going to be happy.

“Talia, are you interested in the spell?” I asked. She shook her head no, but her eyes said she was curious. Well, technically, everything was mine. I dropped it onto the shelf in my dimensional storage. Ullmark and Gimble were picking up the weapons outside and looting the goblins.

The hobgoblin had a good aether crystal, just like the bodyguards and shaman did. It was a bloody mess digging them out of the skulls, and I was glad I didn’t have to do it. I walked through the goblin town with Sammie, and we killed two more lone goblins. Gimble called us to the town center when we had just a few minutes to vacate the floor. We entered the arch together, on guard and ready for trouble.

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