Chapter 332: Blake and the two towers

Chapter 332: Blake and the two towers

Blake and his unlikely band of heroes left the orc’s White Tower and entered the Grey without much difficulty. Having the tower lord's son probably helped.

Even so, the guards stared long and hard at the humans and goblins, then at the Stoneblood prince. They forced him to separate from the others, where they asked him in several different ways if he was some kind of captive, or if he needed assistance.

Blake listened in with Mental Influence, fighting the grin as his potential rival for Ilya's affections got increasingly angry and embarrassed.

Soon enough, though, they were admitted, and a growing crowd of orcs followed them down into the bowels of the tower. Blake supposed his cluster of constructs didn't much help with the spectacle. He'd done his best to keep them all small and roughly orc-sized, a bit worried they may not fit into whatever challenges lay ahead.

But a handful of thumping, faceless, stone-like warriors was pretty hard to keep incognito. The noise would bring attention, then of course the orcs would notice the humans, and probably start remembering the human who had recently killed the giant orc tyrant that locked them down. Blake nodded to a few, and did his best to smile.

"I can't tell if they want to hug us or kill us," Seul-ki muttered.

"With orcs it's probably both," Blake said back, still smiling and nodding.

"Are you reading their minds?"

"I am not." Blake sighed and let Navi out, always enjoying the little clicks and buzzes as his 'familiar' floated into the air and made its initializing sounds. "I try not to use my mind powers unless strictly necessary these days," he added, then looked into Seul-ki's exotic eyes. "I suggest you do the same. People tend to be a bit...extreme about them."

She nodded. But not very convincingly. As usual, Blake was reminded how difficult to read and also dangerous the Korean was, but he was damned if being around her didn't send a little thrill up his spine. Another personality flaw, no doubt, but there it was.

The young orc lord led them beneath the Stoneblood forges, near a now familiar waste pit that had the players holding their noses.

"I was actually going to hide here once," Blake called pleasantly over the sounds of the workers above. "But I was rather desperate at the time. You should really consider plumbing."

Their guide ignored him, leading them through several more corridors, past a blocked off gate with two guards, and finally to barely perceptible swirling darkness hidden against black clay.

"A demonic portal, Master," Navi said.R/ê/Ad lateSt ch/a/pters at nô(v)e(l)bin/.c/o//m Only

"Thank you, Navi, but I'd figured this one out on my own."

He assumed it was a dungeon, technically speaking, but the in-game characters and narrative rarely used the language of the 'game', it seemed. Though he supposed the orcs did at least seem to understand classes, so they might have more knowledge of the rules than he expected.

"Everyone ready?" he asked, walking forward to hold a hand towards the portal. "I don't expect we can change our minds inside."

"I am ready, wizard," said the young Stoneblood, his courage kind of annoying. Everyone else nodded or confirmed they were ready, and Blake put his hand to the darkness.

[Dungeon discovered: Ancient Grey Tower Prison. This is a mortal dungeon for up to six players. Would you like to continue?]

Prison, Blake thought. How interesting.

"It's a puzzle," he said, mostly to himself, still smiling. "A giant puzzle filled with runes. How delightful."

As he looked closer at the walls he was reminded of the Maker Hall—the construction similar in style, a combination of stone and metallic materials seamlessly engineered. He supposed he should have been frightened of the huge demon trying to kill them all, but mostly he was excited to see what new knowledge he might find.

"What are we doing, wizard!" the orc growled, still insanely ready to charge and...well, get butchered, no doubt.

"Get nowhere near that demon," Blake said, turning to Pliny. "Do you see the symbols?"

"Yes," whispered the half dead goblin, looking almost as excited as Blake. "So much power. So many...secrets."

"Indeed." Blake glanced at Seul-ki with a raised brow. “And you, my dear?”

"I see arcane energy. It's dim everywhere but the floor. I see...lines? But I don't see any symbols."

"Interesting," Blake said, not sure how best to use the others yet. "I'm going to start there." He pointed at the trapped energy. "Look around the room for any other sources of energy, Seul-ki. Pliny, go with her. If you can see any way to get that energy moving, start with that."

"Yes, Master," hissed the goblin, practically leaping around Seul-ki in circles until she started moving.

The demon growled again, its eyes turning straight towards Blake as it pulled at its chains.

"I should have known this stupid orc wouldn't be in charge. What has it promised you? Whatever it is, the price will be too high. You will not leave this place alive, human. You made a terrible mistake coming here."

Blake did enjoy the mockery of Lord Stoneblood, but he wasn't paying much attention. He walked in a slightly curving path towards the energy, staying as far away from the demon as possible.

More and more runes entered his vision, the 'line' of energy Seul-ki mentioned getting more obvious. He had to get that energy flowing around the room, probably ending at the many chains. He had to 're-bind' the demon, and keep it trapped. Probably before it killed them all.

No pressure, Blake.

"What do we do?" the orc called in obvious frustration, looking at Annie and Blake's many constructs, his axe still raised.

Blake arrived at the energy and reached out a hand, realizing he could manipulate the symbols like...moving tiles. As he turned one, the line of energy linked up to the source, and the 'river' flowed into it just a little further. He grinned, reaching for the next tile before he heard a hum on the air.

The familiar, pleasant scent of arcane energy filled his nostrils, and Blake turned to see the demon glowing with power. All around the cavern he saw small, spinning circles beginning to form.

"Oh, I expect you'll be busy," Blake muttered, realizing they were portals long before Navi shouted as much from above.

He mentally readied his constructs to take position around the cavern, supposing a nice, relaxing puzzle would have just been too damn easy. Even if a demon was waiting to kill him if he'd been too slow.

"You’re so dramatic," he sighed, thinking of roboGod, then called to the others. "There's demons coming through the portals.” He turned his eyes back to the puzzle. "Do try and kill them before they interrupt me."