[Beastborne: Tower of Blight] (Book 6) Chapter 12

Dwarves, elves, karaks and everyone else talked amongst themselves, trying to sort into their respective parties until the leaders got things under control.

Hal was in charge of his own party, and then it was Mira heading the second group, and finally Durvin in charge of the third. Each adventurer was accustomed to leadership in some capacity or another, so it made sense to appoint them as leaders of their respective party.

It was integral that each party had a front line Class that could soak up damage. Durvin and Dale were effectively the best candidates for that position, both because of their Classes but also due to their higher than average Levels.

After them was Ashera. Though Hal didn’t know too much about Royal Guard, his friend had assured him that it was more than capable of being able to take the brunt of any assault.

Since Durvin was the leader of his own party, Dale went to Mira’s group. The big guy smiled bashfully as Mira welcomed him in with a few colorful, Aldim-censored swears.

“Just don’t change into that Terrormantula again, and we’re good dude,” Mira told the Druid with a hand on her hip and another on her spear thrust butt-first into the ground.

He nodded, rubbing the back of his shaggy head sheepishly. Dale had gone a long time without being able to communicate effectively, so he evidently struggled with that.

In Hal’s opinion, the Druid had grown a lot since being welcomed into Brightsong. Though he still preferred to have Val in his company.

People let out exclamations of surprise and astonishment as Hal formed the alliance between the three parties. It was one thing to say he could do it, another to see it in action.

Your Leadership has risen to Level 64(69).

+1% Party damage.

+2% Leadership efficacy.

Even the Shard agreed that Hal’s efforts had gone over well.

And since his Leadership was now under the Founder Advancement, every even Level also granted him a Level in his Manatree Skill.

Your Manatree Skill has risen to Level 29.

+3% Manatree Spell Potency.

One of the many benefits to being in a party was Ultimates. With his Hastened Destruction Perk from his Leadership Skill, Ultimate generation accumulated even faster.

Hal was looking forward to trying out his Ultimate again and seeing what everyone else had ready.

It had been a very long time since he was able to not only see an Ultimate, but use one himself. They didn’t work well in a small group, and on his own, they didn’t work at all.

Maybe even Komachi will bust out an Ultimate, Hal thought to himself with a chuckle. And Vorax too.

He wasn’t entirely sure familiars could use Ultimates. They were witnessed so seldomly, he didn’t have enough information to go by.

His question went even deeper when he saw Quibbles, Vorax’s pink pet slime, emerge from one of the mimic’s folds, squeaking like a rubbed balloon.

Can a familiar’s… familiar also use an Ultimate?

Hal shook his head. There would be no end to that rabbit hole.

Supplies were passed around between everyone. Healing and mana potions mostly, with some emergency casks of [Komachi’s Rejuvenating Brew].

Curious as to its effects, Hal took a closer look at the mug sized cask.

[Komachi’s Rejuvenating Brew]

+30% HP Regen | +10% SP Regen

Duration: 3hrs.

Hal nodded, pleased. It seemed that brew was mostly suitable for recovery after injury, and not to be used unless you expected to be immediately hurt. It wasn’t quite as potent or direct as a [Health Potion], but potions built up toxicity over time.

They weren’t something you could spam over and over again. Only healing magic worked like that, and that was in incredibly short supply.

Though I suppose eventually I will need to accompany Buffrix on a Leveling run at some point, Hal thought to himself. While the danger of going into the Tower of Blight was too great, Buffrix would not Level Up if he was always kept away from the conflict.

His Class needed to Level Up if he was going to continue healing. It was a chicken and egg problem. If Buffrix was kept back and healed those who returned from battles, his skills would improve but his Levels would not.

However, risking their only healer seemed unnecessary. Hal hefted the cask of brew in his hand. However… with some of Komachi’s brew, perhaps Buffrix wouldn’t be in as much danger.

He wasn’t sure brews had a penalty like toxicity. Granted, it didn’t appear to be possible to stack the effects of a single type of brew. He was interested in testing that out later when they weren’t about to go into the Tower.

In the long run, [Komachi’s Rejuvenating Brew] would recover more HP than a single [Health Potion] was capable of. How long that would take per individual, Hal wasn’t sure. There was too much variance between HP regeneration rates from various traits and a person’s VIT.

All of which was highly augmented by various Classes. Hal’s Fabled Classes often increased both his HP and HP regeneration, or some form thereof. It made figuring out how much a person might recover from any source nearly impossible.

Likely most in attendance had their Well Rested buffs too, since the cottages were spruced up enough to impart that. Experience gain would be slightly increased too, which was always a good thing. Even a single measly percentile made a difference.

With Hal’s ability to create an alliance–a rarity on Aldim, he gathered based on everybody’s reaction–they had enough room for a total of 18 people.

It was a large group to manage, even with two other leaders to delegate responsibilities to.

Hal did his best to spread the heavy hitters across the various parties. Which left Hal as not only the single “mage” of sorts, but also the one with the highest damage output in his party.

Ashera took the role of a tank–though when he tried using that word she looked a little flummoxed–with Noth as a flex damage dealer and healer with her unique Dark Knight and Monster Tamer Classes. Lurklox, who refused to be put into any other party, would be their sneak.

Hal had high hopes that Lurklox’s stealth would be even more effective against monsters than the residents of Brightsong. Sneak Attack damage could truly be devastating.

Elora and Angram were to be their ranged support considering that the only other person in the group with ranged attacks was Hal, and he often got up into melee range.

Despite being a Wildsmaster, an evolved form of Ranger, Hal had not seen Elora display many abilities beyond her original Class. Perhaps that had to do with the fact she lost access to it for a period of time.

Lastly, was Hal. Aside from Naitese and Orrittam, he was probably the strongest person there. Which was why he spread each of the three dragons into different parties. Once again, he realized he was considering himself as a dragon. He didn’t bother to mentally correct himself this time.

It was not only the most balanced approach, but it also meant they had somebody to anchor the line should things go poorly. With no idea what awaited them, they needed to be ready for every eventuality without getting bogged down in specifics or going overboard on preparations.

The longer they took to enter the Tower, the more time the Shadesblight would have to seep into the surrounding region.

A host of dwarves and Rangers rounded out the missing party slots. The only notable exceptions were Val, Fenrir, and Giel. All of which were unable to join for reasons of health.

Val, though she desperately wanted to go, had to admit that she wasn’t healed yet from her near-death battle with Hirash. Fenrir was still thankfully in bed, and Giel… well, Giel was a different story.

Hal didn’t know what to make of Giel anymore. Elora and Mira assured him that he was making a miraculous recovery, but more than once, Hal saw him staring off into space with a hot meal right in front of him.

There were not many people who could do that with Kow’s cooking.

Val told him she would keep an eye on him. He didn’t like to be far away from her. Whatever Hirash did to bring Giel back from the dead, he had bound the hulking lamora to Val as a guardian of sorts.

In a way, Hal wished they both were able to come. Giel looked far stronger than he had been in Murkmire, and Val was a Beastborne. There was no way she wouldn’t be immensely useful.

Things didn’t work out that way, unfortunately.

For once it’s not me laid up in bed recovering from a near-fatal wound, Hal thought. He felt a pang of sympathy for Val.

Stepping up to the barrier of the Tower, Hal turned to the assembled parties. “We’re going to go in and clear the first floor carefully, understood? There is to be no breaking formation or going off on your own without discussing it with your designated party leader. I want to make that infinitely clear: if you flork up and get yourself or one of your teammates hurt because you decided to break from your group, you will not be going back into the Tower.”

There was a chorus of agreements. Hal felt a little stupid, like he was a teacher berating a class of kindergarteners before they lined up for a fire drill.

And yet… he knew from personal experience that these things–dumb as they may seem–needed to be said. This wasn’t a game. People’s lives were on the line here, and he needed to impress that upon them.

There would be no protection from the finality of death within the Tower of Blight like there were in Dungeons. At least, not that Hal knew.

Things weren’t going to be that easy.

Whatever nasty surprises the Shadesblight had in store for them, they would have to find out firsthand. Hal wasn’t looking forward to that.

“Potions are to be used as a last resort only. We don’t have enough to go around and to keep replenishing our stock, so do not risk yourself needlessly.” Again, Hal felt a faint rush of embarrassment heat his face. “But most importantly, I want you to kill every monster that even looks at you crosswise. This Tower is not our friend. It is not a Dungeon that will eject you when you fall to low health. It wants to kill us and corrupt our home. We are going to stop that.”

A ragged cheer went up as his words died away. One or two karaks made loud “kwehs” of approval.

The snow slime chewed on his ankle again, as utterly ineffective as ever.

“Gods help me,” Hal muttered to himself.

Noth stooped down and picked up the snow slime. “Stop that!” she hissed. “You want me to leave you behind, Snowley?”

The slime blinked out of sync, then shook its little snowball head.

“Then be nice.”

When Noth wasn’t looking, the slime stuck out a blue tongue and blew a frosty raspberry at Hal.

You defeat [Snowley | Lv.2].

You gain 1 Experience Point.

You earn 1 Spark.

Oh, great, Hal thought, looking at the prompt. One measly Experience point. He had to double check that he didn’t accidentally knock the pathetic thing out by accident, just by existing in its general proximity.

The slime seemed fine. He supposed the defeat prompt must have come from the quasi-challenge Snowley attempted.

Placing his hand on the barrier between the settlement and the Tower’s Shadesblight aura, Hal focused and created an opening. An area that people with the Manatree’s blessing could pass through, not an actual opening for the Shadesblight to flow out.

Because that would be dumb, and Hal had done enough dumb things to know the difference.

He stepped through first. The snow had melted into a black mush that seethed beneath his boots. Hal could immediately feel an ethereal cold hatred all around him. It was worse than Naitese’s icy Dungeon.

Hal glowed with the argent light of the Manatree’s blessing, pushing back the Shadesblight but unfortunately not the biting cold.

One after the other, his party went in after him, followed by the next party and the next. Each person gasped as they felt the frigid temperature that even the warmest garments couldn’t fend off.

Nothing came out to fight them, which Hal regarded as a good sign. He crossed the corrupted landscape until he reached the gnarled and twisted door. As soon as he touched the handle, he disappeared in a swirl of blue light and reappeared inside the Tower.