Book 3: Chapter 11: Unavoidable Conflict

Book 3: Chapter 11: Unavoidable Conflict

Elijah knocked a thrown spear aside with his Crook of the Serpent Healer, then dove beneath the surface. The water wouldn’t completely mitigate the momentum of the missiles, but it would slow them down enough that his high Constitution could protect him properly. Once he was ten feet underwater, he shifted into his lamellar ape form, then used his long arms to propel himself forward.

As he did, he cursed himself for his obvious oversight. He’d known the ulthraks were at war with the goblins. That was the whole point of the first level. So, he should have expected that they wouldn’t react positively to his party-mates. Yet, he’d overlooked that key factor, and now, he found himself mired in a completely avoidable battle. People were going to die because of his mistake.

Hopefully, it would be the ulthraks. He hated thinking of them like that, but the bottom line was that they weren’t entirely real. Even if he killed them in this instance of the tower, they wouldn’t really be dead. The same couldn’t be said for his companions. So, the moment the attack commenced, Elijah had chosen to fight without restriction.

Not that he had much choice. Judging by the number of spears hitting the water, the ulthraks certainly weren’t holding back, and he had no option but to match their ferocity with his own. With that at the forefront of his mind, Elijah cut through the cold water until he reached shore. Then, he sprang onto the rocky beach, a roar erupting from his throat.

The first ulthrak fell in seconds, its blubbery body practically ripped in two. Spears descended upon Elijah, but he’d used Iron Scales the moment he’d left the water. So, they bounced off of him with a metallic clink.

Even as Elijah garnered the most attention – after all, he was a big, vicious monster and an obviously deadly threat – his comrades swam to shore behind him. Using One with Nature, he kept track of each one, and as he did, Ssethik winked out of existence. Or that was how it seemed, but Elijah knew the truth. The goblin Rogue had engaged some form of stealth, which elicited a fair amount of envy in Elijah’s heart. He couldn’t use Guise of the Unseen unless he was out of combat, but clearly, Ssethik had no such restrictions.

Meanwhile, Kurik unlimbered his bow and started firing with deadly precision. Ethera swirled around Robolo and Nia as they prepared to cast their spells, but Elijah couldn’t spare them more than a little attention as he crashed into his next target, who he recognized as the ulthrak leader, Raji.

The huge walrus-man who’d been so helpful during Elijah’s first foray into the tower took the charge and responded with rabid fury, jabbing his spear at Elijah’s torso. And even with Iron Scales blunting the damage, the impact tore through Elijah’s chest, and when Raji yanked it free, it did so with a fountain of blood.

Elijah didn’t let it slow him down, though, and he crashed into the massive ulthrak, tackling him to the ground. A second later, he was raking his claws, which glinted with the metallic enhancement provided by his Claws of Gluttony, across Raji’s blubbery stomach. Fat and blood flew free, but as was the case with most aquatic mammals, it looked a lot more traumatic than it really was. The thick skin and blubber served to insulate those sorts of creatures, but they also functioned as a natural armor. After all, if a predator was forced to dig through half a foot of fat before getting to anything important, it would obviously protect those vitals from casual damage.

Even as Elijah tore through all that fat, Raji bellowed in rage, pummeling his opponent with massive fists. Elijah felt every blow, each of which was powerful enough to bruise bones. Still, he couldn’t spare that any attention because if he did, he’d inevitably succumb to the powerful warrior’s momentous blows.

Even as Elijah rolled on the ground, grappling, biting, and clawing at Raji, his companions fought on. In one corner of his mind, he kept track of everyone, and every now and then, he’d see Ssethik erupt out of stealth and bury a dagger in someone’s back. A second later, he’d disappear from Elijah’s senses. His foes rarely fell after a single attack, but a second was usually enough to take them down.

However, one time he was a little too slow at reactivating his stealth, and he took a massive backhand that sent him skipping across the ground where he crumpled in a heap. Hopefully, he wasn’t dead, but Elijah couldn’t afford to disengage and cast Healing Rain. If he did, Raji would inevitably finish him off.

Even as that thought skittered across Elijah’s mind, Robolo completed his spell. Three walrus-men froze in place. Then, their shoulders slumped as they stared at the ground, their eyes unseeing. It was almost as if they were asleep on their feet.

For his part, the moment Robolo completed the spell, he went pale. Elijah recognized the exhaustion that came with completely draining an ethereal core, and he was relieved to see the gnome backing away in an attempt to avoid any further combat.

Suddenly, a pair of enormous slabs of rock tore free from the shore, then slammed together, sending an explosive echo to bounce around the massive cavern. However, there was also a wet squelch riding along with the clacking sound of rock colliding with rock as one of the ulthrak warriors found himself between the slabs of stone. When they parted, wet strings of gore were all that was left.

Then, the two hunks of rock flew toward their next victim, clacking together with deadly force. However, now that the advantage of surprise had dissipated, the ulthrak warriors were able to avoid the worst of it. Still, a few were caught in the fury of Nia’s spell, which resulted in a plethora of broken bones as well as a few more deaths.

Finally, Kurik continued to pepper the ulthraks with arrows. Most did very little damage, but one out of every three or four arrows glistened with ethera, and it wasn’t long before Elijah recognized their effect when he saw the ulthraks stumbling around, obviously weakened by whatever skill Kurik had empowered.

Even so, there were far too many, and Elijah recognized the writing on the wall. If he didn’t do something soon, the battle would be lost, and their short-lived tower run would end. So, with a mighty heave, he shoved Raji away. Then, Elijah launched himself in the opposite direction, shifting into his human form at the same time. As the transformation completed, he hit the ground, rolling once before finding his feet.

With another facet of his mind, he’d already begun casting Healing Rain. Hopefully, that would save the fallen goblin Rogue, but if it wasn’t enough, Elijah couldn’t afford the time necessary to cross the battlefield so he could use Touch of Nature.

“Last time I was here, I just ambushed them,” Elijah said. The tower’s first task remained the same as it had the first time, so he’d barely even acknowledged it. Still, the first objective had been failed when they had killed the ulthraks instead of saving the village. The moment the last one had died, the task had updated to the current objective:

Task: Destroy the goblin village.

It was a simple enough task.

“Do you want to do the same thing? Or do you want a more direct assault?” Elijah asked.

The others were perfectly fine with letting Elijah and Ssethik repeat the previous tactics, so after he shifted into his draconid form, Elijah and the Rogue swept through the village, slaughtering the primitive goblins with ruthless efficiency. It went off without a hitch, and soon enough, they had completed the first task.

The group congregated at the bay, though Elijah was disappointed with the reward he received upon opening his small, silver chest:

Congratluations! You have completed Level One of Keledge Tower. Grade: E

To progress further, find the portal to Level Two.

It was a terrible grade, but Elijah expected that it was the result of their failure to complete the first task. It wasn’t their fault – after all, the ulthraks had attacked first – but the tower didn’t seem to care about excuses.

Reward for completing Level One of Keledge Tower:

Goblin Dagger

“Oh, come on. This thing is practically worthless,” Elijah said, looking down at the useless blade. It was clearly low quality, though he suspected it was at least Crude-Grade. Even so, he had plenty of daggers. One was in his pack, while the other was sheathed at his waist. It also sported a jagged and poorly-forged blade, making it seem even worse than it probably was.

But even more annoying was the fact that it confirmed Elijah’s suspicion that his companions – who’d each received an identical dagger – would be forced to use alternate means of underwater breathing if they wanted to survive the next level. After all, his own Ring of Aquatic Travel had been a reward from his first time through the level.

“Hope you all can breathe underwater,” Elijah remarked, glancing at the others.

They responded by pulling potions from their pockets.

Kurik said, “Fish-lung Potions. Nasty, and they only last twelve hours. We each brought ten.”

“So, we’re on the clock,” Elijah reasoned. “Alright. Drink up, then we’re going to the next level. Follow me. Don’t do anything I don’t do.”

Then, he waded into the bay before diving down to the entrance of the tower’s second level. Hopefully, it would go better than the first.