Empire in Chains: Act 1, Chapter 1

The Baharuth Empire is a dream for the predators of humanity: a vast land filled with prey that has collectively deluded itself into maintaining a perpetual state of standardised weakness.

– Dame Ilyshn’ish=Verilyn

Chapter 1

“Themis, Cleric.”

“Alessia, Paladin.”

“Merry…why are we doing this? We all know–well, maybe not. Merry, Ranger.”

Three sets of eyes turned to Ilyshn’ish, who shifted where she stood trying her best not to cringe away. She eyed their enchanted equipment and swallowed. By and large, the mortals of this realm were harmless, but these three could all hurt her. Being hurt wasn’t a good thing – especially for a Frost Dragon. She would remember it forever.

Not only were these people capable of injuring her, but the monsters inside the Adventurer Training Area also grew stronger as she gained in rank. Barring those opponents who used brute force, most had special attacks or natural weaponry capable of overcoming or outright bypassing her damage reduction. It wasn’t like the sessions Platinum Rank and below, where the attacks of anything that managed to get by her party mostly bounced off of her. She received scratches at most, which quickly regenerated.

This realisation came with her Mithril-rank trial, but she had managed to get through unscathed. Her party consisted of a Fighter, Paladin, Monk and Druid, which made for a solid wall that prevented anything from slipping through to Ilyshn’ish in the rear. The Paladin was especially effective at protecting her.

That Paladin was also in the Orichalcum-rank trial. She seemed more than happy to take all the beatings last time, so Ilyshn’ish figured that she could just keep any enemies on the other side of the Paladin. Like some of the more popular tales amongst the locals, she was a knight in shining armour that protected the beautiful damsel from an evil Drag–no, wait…

“Shiver, Bard. Pleased to meet you! I’ll be trying my hardest to support everyone from the rear–”

“Nuh-uh.”

Ilyshn’ish froze at the sound of Merry’s voice.

“N-nuh wha?”

“I heard from Moknach and the others about how you just cowered in the back last trial.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Ilyshn’ish frowned, “Everyone got through safe and sound and safe. Safety is important, yes?”

“Sure,” Merry replied, “but it also took four hours when the trial should have been an hour at most.”

Across from Merry, Alessia scratched her head.

“This one is a Bard, no? You speak as if she should not be performing her role in the party.”

“That’s technically true,” Merry said, “but she’s also a Dancer. Her spellsongs will remain active even when she’s shaking her ass in the front.”

“How strange,” Alessia said. “Dancers who attempt to become combatants usually give up not long after they start. As you say, she did not fight directly for our Mithril-rank trial, but Bards at our level of strength are at best light fighters that take advantage of opportunities to strike. Bard or Dancer or whatever, they should not last very long in a front-line role. Hmm, I think her outfit is very nice, but I do not see any special equipment…”

“She’s tougher than she looks,” Merry told them. “You’ll see. Besides, we need to make sure Themis is capable of responding to big damage if it happens. We won’t be able to get by on Spellsongs and patch healing alone.”

Alessia continued to scrutinise her for a few moments, then she shrugged.

“I am not against seeing how our first few fights go,” she said. “What is ahead of us, by the way? By the looks of it, it’s a crypt? I hope we get plenty of Undead.”

Yes, this Paladin was clearly mad. Not only did she suffer injuries for others, but she also wanted Undead to pop up. Ilyshn’ish found religious types strange in general – why believe in anyone but yourself?

“Yup,” Merry nodded, “it’s packed with Undead. The first stretch looks like a warm-up: a few dozen Skeleton Warriors with a handful of Red Skeleton Warriors.”

“Just those?” Themis asked.

“Well I can’t see around corners or anything,” Merry said, “so we should bring them to us just in case. There might be spectral Undead lurking about, so keep an eye on the walls and ceiling and floor.”

The red-haired Elf Ranger led them into the trial area, stopping in the middle of the first corridor.

“If it’s just Skeleton Warriors,” Themis said, “do we even need any buffs?”

“Probably not,” Alessia replied. “Even if we take ability damage from spectral Undead, it is cheaper to use Lesser Restoration than it is to cast Death Ward on everyone. Ah – I will take care of that, so save your mana for later.”

With that, they moved to block off the corridor while Merry went ahead to bring the Skeleton Warriors to them. Since Themis wasn’t expected to cast anything, she took her place on the front line as well. Ilyshn’ish frowned.

Now we’re just a front line. Why do I have to stand here?

Several minutes passed, and Ilyshn’ish strained her senses. Distant clattering sounds could be heard, as well as slight changes in the air currents ahead. Something was certainly happening, but she couldn’t gain any sense of Merry.

“Is she going to be alright?” Themis asked.

“Though they are faster than regular Skeleton Warriors,” Alessia said, “even Red Skeleton Warriors should not be able to catch her. She is supposed to be a veteran Adventurer, so I do not think she would get in trouble so easily.”

The two Humans did not have Ilyshn’ish’s keen Frost Dragon senses, so they could only speculate on what was going on ahead. Ilyshn’ish, however, followed what was going on as it came closer, then stopped, then started again further on. The cycle of activity repeated itself several times. Ilyshn’ish yawned.

Ten minutes later, Merry reappeared.

“Where are my Skeleton Warriors?” Alessia frowned.

“Ah…I sort of got carried away and destroyed them all. Their fault for being so slow, yeah?”

“I’m glad we didn’t cast anything,” Themis muttered. “Are you injured at all?”

“Newp. They didn’t even get close. There weren’t any spectral Undead, either. Let’s move in.”

Ilyshn’ish followed after the party, focusing her attention on their surroundings. They were on the fourth layer of the Adventurer Training Area, which had grown into a vast complex with hundreds of kilometres of caverns, corridors and maze-like structures fashioned into a myriad of different environments.

Each layer of the Training Area corresponded with certain Adventurer Ranks: the top level was for Copper and Iron, the next Silver and Gold, and so on. These layers each occupied a layer 200 metres deep to facilitate multiple levels, which meant that they were currently over 600 metres underground.

“Ooh, it really feels like home in here.”

Ilyshn’ish turned her attention ahead at Alessia’s voice. As their current session was in a ‘crypt’ section of the training area, everything that might be expected of an Undead-infested ruin could be found. The first chamber was lined with columns, and eerie green torches filled the air with their light. Rows of stone sarcophagi rose above a mist that clung to the ground. Steel arrows were buried all over the place, and Merry went around retrieving them.

“Your home is a mausoleum?”

“My meaning was the atmosphere, not the décor. I hail from Altamura: a fortress overlooking the Katze Plains.”

“Why would anyone want to live there?”

Alessia peered at her strangely, but Ilyshn’ish was too busy lifting the covers of each sarcophagus to pay her any mind. She sniffed at the interior of one: despite how it looked, it lacked the smell of anything like a graveyard or crypt. More importantly, there was nothing inside. She sighed in disappointment as she returned to the party, and Themis cast a reproachful look at her.

“What if those were rigged with traps?”

“I wouldn’t have opened them if they were.”

Why did she even ask? Was it because the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Adventurer Guild lacked any high-rank Bards? Maybe they weren’t used to having one around.

“Hey Shiver,” Merry called out from where she was yanking arrows out of a column, “since you’re bored, go scout the way ahead.”

“Eh…”

The Elf just loved to exploit her. It happened back when the guild expedition was fighting Frost Giants, too. Merry was one of the few people in the Adventurer Guild who knew that ‘Shiver’ was in reality a Frost Dragon. Ilyshn’ish preferred to keep her true nature concealed from as many people as possible, which led to her acceding to all sorts of requests.

Everyone else in the guild thought of her as a rising star in the organisation. Her treatment generally ranged from admiring to deferential, with a healthy dose of the sexual interest that seemed so prevalent in Humans.

“Will you be alright?” Themis asked.

“I suppose…”

Ilyshn’ish wandered off, tracing her way through to the next chamber. She encountered two traps, which she sprung out of curiosity. When nothing interesting happened, she went on to find herself at the top of a long stairway that spiralled down into the mist over fifty metres below. Weather effects did not obscure a Frost Dragon’s vision, so a glance was all that was required to memorise everything below.

There appeared to be nothing of value, so she returned to the party. The three Adventurers looked at her, and she looked back at them.

“What?”

“Whadya mean ‘what’?” Merry scowled at her, “You were scouting ahead, so you should be reporting what you found.”

“There wasn’t anything really interesting.”

Several moments passed in silence between them.

“…and?”

“That’s it.”

“I’m going to plant a fire arrow in your butt.”

Why was this Elf so violent? Lord Mare was always kind to her. Maybe it was Elf females in general who were the aggressive ones in their species. If that was the case, how did Hejinmal manage to survive Lady Aura?

“I think what she’s asking,” Themis quickly spoke up, “is what sort of Undead or other creatures are in the next area. Traps, obstacles – things like that.”

“I see. In that case, I took care of the traps along the way. In the next chamber, there are ninety-six Skeleton Warriors, forty-eight Skeleton Mages, sixteen Wraiths and four Elder Liches.”

“Four…” Themis stared at her.

“Elder Liches,” Ilyshn’ish nodded. “It’s the rest we have to deal with, yes? The Elder Liches work for the government.”

“Technically everyone in here is ‘working for the government’,” Merry said, “but that’s beside the point. These ones aren’t office workers: they’re opponents that we’re supposed to kill.”

“The fines are very steep for destroying a skeletal farmhand,” Ilyshn’ish noted. “I’d rather not find out what an Elder Lich will cost me.”

“They’re summons, dammit!” Merry snapped, “Temporary ones. Pestonya probably whipped them up.”

“Miss Pestonya.”

Merry’s hand went to the hilt of her rapier. Themis jumped between them, hands raised disarmingly.

“C-calm down, Merry,” she said. “Our problem right now is how we’re going to deal with the next room.”

“I don’t think we’ll have a problem with the next room,” Ilyshn’ish said.

“We won't?”

“They’re about the same strength as the freshly-manifested Elder Liches that you run into once in a while. None of them was wearing anything of note, either. We start out at the top of a long spiral stairway, so they’re going to be separated from their minions anyway. Merry can suppress their ascent while the weaklings rush up to get crushed. It’s not the last chamber on this course, so there’s nothing really extreme.”

“This one is stupid and smart at the same time,” Alessia frowned. “How can this be?”

Merry’s hand came off the hilt of her weapon. She turned and stormed off, muttering darkly to herself. They caught up to her in the next room, where she was peering down the edge of the stairs.

“I can’t see anything through this mist,” Themis said, “but there are a lot of Undead reactions down there.”

“The stairs are wide enough that they won’t see us fighting at the top,” Alessia studied their surroundings. “This also means Merry can conceal herself after every round of attacks against the Elder Liches below. Our battle should not be a problem, as the Dancer has claimed.”

Ilyshn’ish lifted her chin in an I-told-you-so way, but no one was paying any attention. Themis and Alessia started casting their enchantments while Merry continued to peer into the mists below. After a minute, they nodded in readiness.

“I will intercept the Undead coming up the stairs,” Alessia said, “while Merry occupies the Elder Liches. If she can keep their heads down, we will be able to work our way through everything at our leisure, yes?”

“What do I do?” Ilyshn’ish asked.

“Hmm…if two attempt to stand shoulder to shoulder, the one on the inside will be exposed to spells from below. With Themis supporting me from behind, I think you will have to wait for opportunities to strike. Since it will be a long fight with many weak enemies, your Song of Healing should be sufficient to sustain us.”

Adventurers all seemed to love the spellsong’s regenerative effects. From her observations, having a Bard in their party almost always caused them to employ a more measured advance. Not that it was any great mystery why: fighting and moving while in top form was preferable to limping around and bleeding one’s way from place to the place.

Unfortunately, this meant that all they asked for was the same song. Ilyshn’ish had worked hard to learn a new form recently, but she never had the opportunity to use it.

“I can’t see the bottom through this mist,” Merry said, “so I’m just going to send some arrows down there to start things off. What’s our plan B?”

“We can retreat while fighting, yes?” Alessia said, “This corridor leads straight back to the first chamber, so you should have no problem sending arrows from beyond their spellcasting range. After whittling down their numbers, we can just force our way through the rest.”

“Alrighty, then. Here we go…”

The Elf Ranger’s bowstring hummed as she rained steel over the floor of the chamber. Ilyshn’ish peeked over the edge: they weren’t hitting much, but it was enough to rile up the Undead below. As mana was not as plentiful as arrows, the Elder Liches looked up but opted not to blindly retaliate against their unseen assailant.

The Wraiths were the first to respond, flying up towards them. None of them made it very far, as Merry’s arrows unerringly found their marks.

“Are those magic arrows?” Themis asked.

“Nah,” Merry replied. “I’m just using a Skill. It’s a lot cheaper, I tell ya.”

The first of the Skeleton Warriors appeared out of the mist, and the Ranger started to thin them out. The steel shafts holed skulls, shattered joints and sent many tumbling back down out of sight.

“Shouldn’t Skeletal Undead be resistant to piercing damage?”

“I heard that her old team worked in Katze,” Alessia said, “so it would stand to reason that she is a Ranger specialised in slaying Undead.”

“Got it in one–oops, here comes the first victim…”

With several dozen Skeleton Warriors making their way up the stairs, the first Elder Lich appeared behind them. Merry extinguished her presence, leaning forward to draw her bow with a focused expression. Her arrow found the Undead caster’s neck and buried itself in the stone wall. The Elder Lich’s now-detached head went back down the stairs, and its body chased off after it.

“Hah! Looks like I still got it after all these months.”

The other three Elder Liches stopped at the sight of the skull bouncing past them. They seemed to pause and reconsider their approach. On Alessia’s end, the first of the Skeleton Warriors was sent flying over the edge by a swipe of the Paladin’s shield. She drove her heel into the pelvis of the next. It tumbled backwards, catching a dozen of its fellows before they all came to rest in a tangled heap.

With the Elder Liches deliberating on their next move, Merry started to destroy the Skeleton Mages making their way up behind the Skeleton Warriors. The Skeleton Warriors were faring no better as Alessia methodically ground them to dust.

“We will be finished here before long,” Alessia said. “How should we advance? Those fellows do not seem eager to show their faces now.”

“How about a set of summons?” Themis offered, “We can send them down first and have them take the first set of spells. That should…er, Shiver?”

The Cleric’s alarmed voice faded away as Ilyshn’ish hopped down into the mists. An opportunity to strike had presented itself.

She landed soundlessly beside an Elder Lich directly below the party, who seemed to have been puzzling out whether it could make any effective attacks from its position. She grabbed the right sleeve of its robe with her left hand, and her right came across in a backhand that shattered its skull.

The sound of battle continued to echo down from the top of the chamber. Around the floor, the other three Elder Liches did not react to her arrival.

『Shiver, are you al–』

『Hiiieee!!!』

Ilyshn’ish’s heart leapt into her throat as Themis’ message spell connected.

『A-are you some sort of assassin?!』

『How does one assassinate someone with a Message spell? What happened? Why did you jump down like that?』

『Alessia said I should wait for opportunities to strike, and one appeared just now.』

『I don’t know if that was a good idea. We’re still less than halfway done up here.』

『I’ve already destroyed one of the Elder Liches. Can Alessia start making her way down?』

The Cleric did not respond for several moments.

『She’s going for it. I hope this works…』

Themis’ Message ended, and Ilyshn’ish quietly watched as the Elder Liches moved about. One cast Invisibility on itself and attempted to get in range of the advancing Alessia, but it was still driven back down by a hail of arrows. Ilyshn’ish eyed the curve of the stairs and how the Elder Liches slowly circled in an attempt to spot the descending Adventurers.

Ilyshn’ish placed herself in the path of the closest Elder Lich. The Undead mage walked right into her, its gaze focused on the commotion above. Destruction came just as swiftly as it had with the first.

The remaining two Elder Liches were standing together, but remained entirely unaware that they were being stalked. Ilyshn’ish padded up behind them as Alessia dispatched the last of the skeletal minions. Her first blow smashed one Elder Lich to the ground and she reached out to grab the other. Before the Elder Lich on the floor could recover, she hurled the one in her grip onto the stairs. Alessia’s incredulous voice drifted down from above.

“Ai! What is this stupid Elder Lich doing?”

Crunching noises filled the air as the sounds of battle resumed, and Ilyshn’ish stepped forward to finish off the remaining Elder Lich.