Chapter 26: To Mourn a Joker

Chapter 26: To Mourn a Joker

After the brief moment of remembrance, Inarl jerked her head toward the fountain. Lets find the water, be sure the threat is done.

Nathan led the search of the fountain, picking his way through the scattered rubble of the central plinth. The fountain was deep, and a putrid smell wafted out of it. After checking it out with light from Stella, Nathan clambered down into the pit, feet splashing into an inch or so of slimy water.

There was carved stone all around him, some shattered and some merely cracked and dirty with age. Nathans attention was drawn to the back wall of the fountain, where a broad divot had been carved into the rock of the cave, a circular hole almost twenty feet across that extended back just a few feet.

That looks like a place youd put your water-management machinery. Or magic. But it only goes back into the stone.

Nathan carefully walked across the rough terrain at the bottom of the fountain to take a look at the hole as Aarl splashed down behind him. Set back a little ways from the opening was a faint rim. Nathan moved closer, paying careful attention to his surroundings in case of a trap.

He poked his head into the opening, detecting some faint magic caressing his skin, but it didnt do anything. Just on the other side of a rim was a hoop of metal, almost twenty feet across, that was clearly magic. Nathan reached out his hand and could feel the magic coming off of it from a few inches away.

That kind of feels like the dimensional bags Ive occasionally touched by accident? But stronger. A lot stronger.

He withdrew his hand, then stepped back and beckoned Aarl over. As his friend approached the feature, there was a faint hissing sound and the back of the hole led somewhere else all of a sudden. It was now a portal into a vast and dark space, echoing with the sound of lapping waves. A small wave of putrid water stinking with venom and slime rolled over Nathans feet, and he thought he might have caught movement in the darkness.

Aarl jumped away, and the hole into the watery abyss vanished. Stella rode a ridge of conjured rock down into the fountain base, ending up standing next to Nathan and Aarl on a small pillar that held her above the muck. Now that is the find of a Delve.

Nathan looked at her. What is it? A portal to an underground lake?

Stella shook her head, waving her hand to flatten the ridge of stone that hid the enchanted hoop. She approached just close enough to activate the device before backing off, studying the portal and the enchantments around it.

Nathan almost asked more questions, but his teammate was deep in thought and so he looked at Aarl over her head and shrugged, receiving a shrug in return.

With a snap of her fingers, Stella spoke. Its just a dimensional space, anchored to the ring. Its tied to a basic alarm enchantment to detect when a living thing comes near. Looks like some kind of failsafe? That part is always active but looks like it shouldn't be. I think this is just the primary water reservoir for the town. And the Ashblood cobra got into it. The waters foul, and it's probably full of eggs and snakelets.

Nathan frowned. Is there a way to clean it out? Or can we prevent them from coming out?

Stella tilted her head from side to side. I could wall it off with stone. But this level of dimensional enchantment - the space is huge. It doesnt enlarge an existing space, its more like a tether for an entirely separate demispace.

I could break it. Nathan stepped forward. It wouldn't be hard for him to break the enchantment.

Stella took an involuntary step backwards. Not a good idea. I dont want to get drowned when the demispace ruptures. And its valuable to the right enchanters. Gemore already makes some of the best bags of holding, imagine if we could make these. She resumed studying the ring, a look of intense concentration on her face.

Aarl had put away his weapons. Need to clear out the snakes first. And the water, most likely. Can we carry it without it staying open?

Murmuring to herself, Stella seemed to ignore the question. There isnt an obvious deactivation enchantment, but oh, could it really be that simple? Thats just a safety feature, but obviously.

She spent a few seconds carefully casting a weak stone spell, which bent part of the stone tunnel inwards, denting the hoop out of its perfectly circular shape ever so slightly. Then she stepped forward, raising more conjured stone to avoid stepping in the filthy water. The portal didnt reappear.

Stella turned to them, looking immensely proud of herself. As long as its not in a perfect circle, its deactivated. The enchantments only work well when the hoop is in a perfect circle, and there are safety enchantments that keep it deactivated otherwise. And the metal looks flexible. I bet its supposed to be portable.

Aarl stepped forward, inspecting the hoop. Then he shrugged. Can you help me get it free?"

Nathan stepped away, letting his friends retrieve the immensely magical device as he climbed out of the fountain.

The remaining Dusteaters were watching Stellas excavation with complicated expressions. Inarl looked over to her brother. Nornan gave up the loot of the hunt to the Heirs. We dont have the know-how for that artifact.

Oh. He did. That probably stings when Nornan died to help it succeed.

Nathan felt sad all over again. He was racking his brains for a way to make it up to the Dusteaters when Khachi spoke up. It is good that we have found the source of the threat, and can ensure that no more Ashblood cobras will spawn from here. However, there are other sources of reward here. Come, for we may harvest the fangs of the serpents. They would make fine spears and arrows.

Ah, Khachis fine-tuned sense of diplomacy once again comes to the rescue.

Nathan blinked, searching back for a memory of a Terrorghast. After a moment, he found it. A Terrorghast seemed like a relative of the Stalker - six legged, three eyes. However, it was closer to the size of an elephant, tended to be solitary and was a lot slower than a Stalker. The primary danger was some kind of [Fear] or [Paralysis] spell that it could cast from the third eye, freezing its prey in place as it slowly ambled up to devour them.

High-Tier Enhanced Memory 7 achieved!

I am glad I skimmed through every single entry in the Adventurer Guild bestiary. And that sounds like a pretty good opponent to train the Heirs mental magic defenses on.

Nathan looked around to the other Heirs, his eyebrows raised. Sounds like something we can take care of. Do you have a precise location?

The Dusteaters didnt, but they had a general area, and it probably wouldnt be too hard to track something like that down. So, while the Dusteaters headed off to the west, the Heirs turned south.

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Magic Absorption 8

Permanent Talent 2: Perfected Body 3

Talent 3: High-tier Slow Fall 6

Class: Spellbreaker Juggernaut level 77

Stamina: 833/870

Juggernaut's Wrath

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Juggernaut's Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Utility skills:

Battle Meditation 2

High-tier Earnestness 7

Mid-tier Sprinting 9

High-tier Spellsense 5

High-tier Notice 1

Mid-tier Identify 8

Mid-tier Dodging Footwork 8

High-tier Enhanced Memory 7

Mid-tier Lecturing 7

Mid-tier Tumbling 6