Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Feeling the control over his minions snap once he cautiously made his way through the only door in the room, up the stairs, and through a busy-looking warehouse half-filled with enormous crates and linen bags that seemed to be filled with some sort of grain.  They didn’t disconnect entirely until he was out on the docks itself, and while he could only hope that his Spirit Lock had continued working its magic, keeping the Local Legion frozen in place while he made his mistake.  Sadia had already disappeared into the CAMP, as she would attract more attention than just himself walking around, but she kept him apprised of what she could detect by monitoring his senses.  So far, as he approached the gate leading into the city, there hadn’t been any sign of them emerging to come after him.

Thankfully, it was easy enough to get through the gate by flashing his badge, and he didn’t have to pay a fee like the last time he’d been through that particular gate.  He hurried as fast as he could through the streets until he made it to Glory’s Passage, and he moved at a jog toward the Coalition building in the distance.  While there wasn’t really anywhere in the city that he thought would be safe against the powerful Local Legion Party, it was probably the only place that where he would have someone almost as high-Level on his side to stop them from simply taking him. 

Eleria wasn’t exactly his best friend, especially after their conversation that morning when he told her that the city was potentially in danger, but she was his only potential ally that was strong enough and had a chance against the Legionnaires.  Not that he expected there to be a large, protracted fight, but he’d rather have some backup rather than have to face them again so soon; they would likely be much better prepared the next time they met.  He didn’t know if there were accessories that would grant immunity or simply much greater resistance to psychic or spiritual spells, but if they existed, then it was almost a guarantee that the Local Legion would be wearing them.

I wouldn’t blame them.

While he didn’t necessarily feel bad about using his Enthrall spell to control them, especially after what they’d put him through and threatened to keep him there indefinitely, he really didn’t want to make it a habit.  In less than 24 hours, he had used his controlling spells on two different Parties, and while the first incident had been to save his fellow Coalition members from death at the thorny branches of an enormous psychic bush, the second incident hadn’t been quite as altruistic.  He could potentially see himself utilizing Enthrall in the future in cases where he simply wasn’t getting his way, which was a dangerous step into a villain arc that he wasn’t comfortable with.

He made it back to the Coalition without being stopped, and while he had more than a few people staring at his still partially wet, blood-stained and damaged black robe with curiosity, it wasn’t that strange to a bunch of Adventurers that risked their lives against deadly monsters on a daily basis.  Thankfully, the robe would gradually repair itself as it absorbed Mana from the environment, so all he needed to do was wash it a bit and it would be as good as new.

Thaden thought his recent brush with death would’ve bothered him more than it did, but then he realized that he’d been within seconds of death so many times on Tarth that it barely fazed him any longer.  A day where he was either stabbed through the heart or been blown up in a giant explosion was just another day in the life of a Fortunate Catastrophe.

Once inside the lobby, he put his back to the wall and caught his breath, calming down for the first time since he’d been captured.  “That was a close one, wasn’t it?” he said to himself, under his breath.

“It certainly was.  Closer than I expected.  I apologize; I didn’t calculate that they would actually try to kill you once they saw you casting spells.”

“You’ve nothing to apologize for, Sadia,” Thaden immediately replied.  “If it wasn’t for you taking charge there at the end, I might not have made it.”

“Well, I couldn’t have you dying when I could do something about it.  Which reminds me, have you had a chance to think about allocating some PICK toward the Growth function of the CAMP?”

He chuckled at her question.  “What is this?  You save my life and then ask for something in return?”

“It’s not for me, idiot.  If the CAMP I’m attached to grows in strength, then you might have been strong enough not to be captured in the first place – and you wouldn’t have had to suffer from being stabbed in the chest and nearly die.”

She made a good point.  It was on his list to consider, but up until that point it hadn’t been as much of a priority as simply gaining Levels to become stronger.  But it was still in the back of his mind.

“I definitely want to, but I think we need to get through this crisis first.”

The word crisis was a bit of an understatement, considering everything that was coming to a head.  On the one hand he had a potential attack on the city that could come at any time by a force of powerful monsters; on the other, he didn’t believe for a second that the Local Legion that had captured him would give him up that easily, especially after he’d taken control of them through his Major Enthrall spell.  They would come for him, maybe not specifically for revenge, but because he was a source of information that they hadn’t wanted to give up.

Now that he was inside the Coalition building, he had to figure out what to do.  Telling Eleria what had happened with the Local Legion, or at least the most pertinent details, came to mind, but that wouldn’t necessarily solve his problems; it would simply alert the Teglir Coalition Branch Leader of yet another problem that Thaden brought with him.  Still, it was something that he should probably do, even if he didn’t want to bother her a second time that day.

That sort of took care of the problem with the Legion, at least ostensibly, but then there was the problem with the pending attack.  The smartest solution was to find his Party and see if they would be willing to go back out with him to another dungeon, where he could stay until the threat had passed.  While it had been unintentional at the time, his foray into the Blasted Caves had led him to miss most of the attack on Felith, though, unfortunately, the rest of his Party had been close enough to arrive at just the wrong time once they exited the dungeon.

Regardless of his former Party of all Netherines who sadly lost their lives along with everyone in Felith, running into a dungeon and out of the vicinity of the city was certainly an option if he didn’t want to have to join the fight.  It was a bit cowardly, meaning that he’d have to abandon the city to whatever was going to attack it, but there were plenty of people who were likely strong enough – if only as part of a large quantity of bodies – to defend the walls.  At least, that was what he told himself to justify running from the fight.

Unfortunately for him, though, he doubted that his Party would be willing to go to another dungeon right then and there – especially Florenia and Lovinia, who had heard his warning about a potential threat to the city.  They’d also heard that he was planning on helping out, and would question why he would want to be elsewhere while there was an immanent attack. 

In other words, he didn’t believe that his Party was going to go along with his attempt at hiding from the attack.  And, if he was being honest with himself, as much as he didn’t want to risk himself, leaving the city to its fate didn’t feel good to him.  Even without the threat of losing his status in the Coalition if he were to flee, the thought of abandoning the people of Teglir to an attack that was, at the heart of it, instigated by Thaden’s Class Evolution, was abhorrent to him.  Even though he knew that it wasn’t exactly his fault, just as what happened at Felith hadn’t been his fault but was instead the System’s fault, he still felt some responsibility. 

He would stay, if only to appease his conscience if he were to learn that the city was destroyed and everyone killed if he ended up leaving them in their time of need.  Not that he expected to be able to do much against the powerful monsters that he expected were coming, but he would be there along with the rest of the defenders.  It was the least he could do, considering his role in it occurring in the first place.

With that decision at least somewhat resolved in his head, he pushed off from the wall and headed toward the Coalition Market, ready to finish the business he’d been engaged in before he’d been snatched off the street by the Local Legion.  After he unloaded the extra items he’d picked up in the Wild Flower Dungeon and found some accessories that would complete his outfit, he would find Eleria and let her know about what had occurred with the Legion, just so that she was aware of the situation.

In the Market, he spoke with the Coalition representatives there and handed over handfuls of Uncommon and Rare weapons and armor that had been duplicates or simply unneeded by his Party, as well as any remaining crafting materials that he hadn’t given to Master Threaver in return for his current ensemble.  Feeling quite a bit “lighter” in terms of space in his internal Inventory, and receiving less coinage in return than he expected, he then consulted the terminals that had the current selections of accessories he was looking for.

It didn’t take long to find that his options were still limited even with his higher Level and available funds, though they weren’t exactly nonexistent like they were the first time he’d looked through the Market’s listings.  Unfortunately, most of what was available were items that were usable by multiple Classes, making them more expensive because they were in high demand, though there were some that were for Support Classes only.  In the end, he ended up receiving 70 Gold for the items he sold, while forking a little over 120 gold to completely gear up with all of his available slots full.

Ruby Amulet of Abundant Health

Rarity: Uncommon

Class Restrictions: All

Level Restriction: 20

+9 Physicality

+18% increase to all healing both given and received

Bronze Armlet of All Defense

Rarity: Uncommon

Class Restrictions: All

Level Restriction: 30

+3 Physicality

+3 Celerity

+3 Mentality

All damage received is reduced by 3%

Silver Ring of the Placid Mind

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Control, Support

Level Restriction: 22

+9 Mentality

+5 Personality

+9% increase in all spell casting speed

+3% reduction in all spell cooldowns

Focus Stone of the Supportive Healer

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 28

+9 Mentality

+6 Celerity

+6% increase in Support spell effectiveness

+3% reduction in all healing spell Mana cost

The most expensive item wasn’t either of the Rare accessories he’d picked up, but was instead the Bronze Armlet of All Defense.  The ability to reduce all damage received by 3% didn’t sound like a lot, but it was still a flat reduction that was able to be used by anyone, and that drove the price up significantly.  Unfortunately, there weren’t any other Armlets that were available for him to wear, as it seemed as though the majority that were in the listings at his current Level were primarily for Fighter or Scout Classes.  He had far overpaid for it, as 50 Gold was basically a fortune to most Adventurers around his own Level, but he had the money, so he figured he might as well use it.

Once he’d picked up his items from an adjacent desk in the Market, he quickly equipped them – and felt relatively complete for the first time since he’d arrived on Plangea.  As Thaden held the dimly glowing, white Focus Stone of the Supportive Healer in his right hand, its smooth-yet-grippy surface ensuring that he would keep ahold of it even in the heat of combat, he finally felt ready to take on the world. 

Feeling more confident, he started walking toward where he hoped to find Wyrdla and have her bring him to Eleria’s office.  While he was fairly certain he could find it himself, he would rather go through official channels rather than barge in unannounced.  He’d rather stay on her good side if he could help it.

Before he was halfway to his destination, Sadia stopped him.

“Wait.  Do you feel that?”

Thaden froze in his tracks, which annoyed some of the Adventurers walking behind him, forcing them to go around his stationary form, but he ignored them.  At first, he thought she was trying to tell him that the Local Legion had located him and was about to strike even in the middle of the Coalition lobby, but he dismissed that immediately based on her tone.  He closed his eyes and while it wasn’t immediate, he felt what his companion had obviously detected while he was distracted by his mission to meet again with the Coalition Branch Leader.

Opening his eyes, he looked toward the north, where he caught sight of a brown-and-green blur racing into the Coalition building, angling toward where he knew the hallways leading to Eleria’s office were located.  He was unable to see exactly the blur was, but he suspected that they were relatively high-Level Scout with an impressive Celerity stat; he didn’t have to wonder too much about why they were running around like that, though, because even as he moved off to the side to get out of the flow of traffic, there was a message on his feed that he was unable to ignore.

Attention residents of Teglir!  A large army of monsters has been spotted to the north, seemingly on a course toward the city.  Anyone with a Combat Class over Level 50 is encouraged to help defend the walls of our beloved city; everyone else is instructed to return to your homes or your place of business, thereby clearing the way for our defenders.

All Adventurers inside Teglir will receive a SPECIAL Quest momentarily….

[Quest Type: SPECIAL

Rank Requirement: Any

Quest Time Limit: Immediately

Quest Difficulty: Mid-Maximal

Minimum Recommended Level: 50

Minimum Recommended Party Size: Any

Quest Description: An army of powerful monsters are arriving within the hour at the northern walls of Teglir; band together with your fellow Adventurers in Raid Parties up to 400 individuals to help defend the city

Minimum Completion Requirements: Save a minimum of 10% of the city’s residents from the approaching monster army  

Minimum Quest Rewards: 5 gold, 1,000.0 PICK, 30 Rank Progress up to Gold

Full Completion Requirements: Successfully repel and destroy the monster army at the walls, preventing any loss of resident life and the destruction of any internal buildings

Full Completion Quest Rewards: 50 gold, 10,000.0 PICK, 150 Rank Progress up to Gold

Quest Failure Penalties: Destruction of the city of Teglir

Current available nearby Adventurer Coalition Members Assigned: 92,277/92,277]

“Well, it looks like we’re out of time,” he murmured to himself after he read the message, noticing that the entire lobby had gone completely silent while everyone apparently looked at the same thing he had.  The silence stretched for about 10 seconds before the lobby erupted into a cacophony of sound that crashed into him, and he winced at the sheer volume of the exclamations of surprise, anger, and fear that came from thousands of mouths. 

“Do you think it would be in poor taste to tell Eleria, ‘I told you so?’” he asked, and he could just imagine Sadia shaking her head at him.  He chuckled a bit darkly, his adrenaline spiking as he realized that he was about to partake in his first siege outside in the real world, as the only time he’d participated in one was inside of a dungeon – where the stakes weren’t quite as high.  He’d been involved in situations where monsters attacked cities from the inside, and he’d protected Defensive Fortifications against swarms of monsters in the Wildlands on Tarth, but this was significantly different. 

Standing still in the middle of the maelstrom of rushing Adventurers, he was about to join them when he saw all 4 members of his Party jogging toward him, serious expressions on their faces, including the ever-effusive Blinky.

Looks like the whole gang’s here.  I guess it’s time to find out just how right I was about the threat facing the city.