Issa pulled the straps tight on Morgan’s breastplate, and he pulled up his status sheet:

Status

Name:

Morgan Hall

Race:

Human - Base 4

Class:

Hollow Guard - Advanced

Level:

17

Core:

Vortex Class - Base 3

Energy Affinity:

9.2

Energy:

1050/1320

Strength:

50

Vitality:

48

Dexterity:

8 (25)

Agility:

36

Intelligence:

56

Will:

50

Points Available:

0

Titles & Feats:

Human Champion, First Hollow Guard, Ardeni Friend, Mark of Loyalty, Yovashi Bane, Legacy of the Azure Paladin

Skills:

System Language Integration - Not Upgradeable Animal Taming - Basic Stealthy Maneuvers - Basic Melee Weapon Mastery - Basic Fighting Crane Style - Basic Sword Mastery - Improved Vortex Core Cultivation Drill - Basic Backstab - Basic Energy Drain - Improved Guard Ally - Basic Hollow Charge - Basic Azure Burst - Basic

“Yes! Boris was as good as his word. Between the five armor pieces, I have an additional 17 dexterity.”

“That’s quite good, considering he’s only recently gotten his Enchanter class. He must have real talent.” Issa backed up a step and examined Morgan. “Why don’t you have a helmet yet? If you get smashed in the head, you’ll be just as dead as an unleveled novice would be.” She came forward and gently scratched the side of his head with her nails. “I’d rather you didn’t get your skull caved in.”

“Well, you make a convincing argument. Let’s stop by the Contribution Store on the way back to the tower.” They were standing in a grassy area next to the artisan workshop. Having spent the morning sparring, they’d come into the colony to have a meal at the tavern and pick up Morgan’s armor. Issa clasped his hand, and they walked together up the steps to the Colony Stone.

Morgan didn’t take a lot of time to shop around. He wanted to save his contribution points up for something good, so he just bought the helmet that was obviously made to be part of a set with the breastplate that he’d purchased weeks ago. The helmet had the same bronze-colored metal with a soft fur lining. It covered the top of his head, extending down past his ears with a metal spar that hung down the bridge of his nose. When he tried to slip it on, it was too small, so he held it onto his head with a hand and sent a trickle of Energy into it to bond. He felt it slowly expand and slip onto his head, resting snugly in place.

“Alright, let’s go back to the tower, and I’ll try my hand at that fifth guardian. I feel kinda funny messing around with these challenges when the colony is getting ready for war, but I don’t know what else I can do, and, besides, it’s helping me improve my fighting.” They started walking down the hill toward Morgan’s tower.

“As long as you aren’t rushing, I think it’s a smart thing to do. You gain access to more of the tower’s secrets, and, as you said, fighting practice is always good. You’re sure you can trust Tiladia and her assessment of your chances?”

“Yeah, you should have seen when I first met her; she tried to give me some extra information about one of the guardians and the binding that Vormendion put her under tortured her for it. I think she has good intentions when it comes to me.”

“Hmm, alright.” They walked hand in hand to the tower. A few people shouted out greetings, and Morgan recognized one of them as the guy who first spoke to him when he arrived in First Landing. He thought hard about his name and thought it was Nels, but he wasn’t sure, so he just waved.

Morgan thought he could feel a difference from his boosted dexterity already. It was hard to put the difference into exact terms, but he just felt more in control of his body. Boris had been pretty excited about his results; of the five enchantments, he’d managed one perfect five, a four, two threes, and a two. Morgan was just happy that there hadn’t been any ones. He considered having Boris enchant the helmet also, but he didn’t want to wait for it right now. As he was musing about his equipment and enchantments, they arrived at the tower and entered. “Well, no sense delaying. I’ll be done soon, I hope, and Tiladia will let you know when you can come up the stairs.” A tinkling affirmation accompanied his words.

“Alright, luck to you. I wish I could give you a spell to boost you, but Tiladia told me that it will be canceled by the enchantment on the stairs.”

“Yeah, I guess Vormendion didn’t want some runt to kill his guardians because a powerful mage boosted them. Speaking of boosts,” Morgan pulled a dexterity potion out of his ring, “nothing says I can’t boost myself when I get in there!” He grinned and kissed Issa. Potion in one hand, sword in the other, he stepped onto the stairway. He concentrated on going to the fifth floor, and the stairs seemed to know his intentions; he took six steps, and then he came out on a landing he wasn’t familiar with. Not knowing what to expect, he quickly quaffed the potion and slipped the empty bottle into his ring.

He felt a little surge of warmth from the center of his being, and he stepped into the bright yellow light of the room surrounding the stairwell. Corridors led away in each of the cardinal directions. The flooring was hardwood, the walls paneled in wooden wainscotting with plaster above. Sconces lined the walls in the landing as well as down each hallway. They gave off a warm yellow-white light and were not flame-based - rather, a small mote of glowing Energy sat in the globes atop each sconce.

The ceiling was impressively high - twelve feet or more. The hallways led away through tall smooth archways, and Morgan could see at least four doorways down the hallway in front of him. “Am I going to have to hunt this guardian out? Or will it come to me?” He said aloud, partially because he hoped the guardian was listening. He only had five minutes of his extra dexterity boost, so he wanted to get down to business. He turned, figuring he’d look down each hallway to start his search, but as he began to walk, he heard a susurration come from behind him, like someone dragging a heavy beaded coat over the floor.

Morgan leaped to the side, not knowing what to expect, and he felt the passage of something large and heavy pulling the air into a breeze as it narrowly missed where he’d been standing. Morgan turned toward where the thing had gone and saw the tail of some massive serpent-like creature slipping around the side of the stairwell. He immediately dropped into The Crane Forages, pushing Energy into his body and moving nimbly after the creature. He glided over the floor, his sword out and ready.

He’d just made the stairwell corner when the creature tore out of the shadows, striking at him again. Morgan’s sword was ready, rising like lightning; he twisted the edge and sidestepped as he slashed upward. A spray of warm mist told him he’d struck true. Morgan fell into The Crane Defends the Nest and backpedaled, wanting to see more clearly what he’d only caught glimpses of so far.

As he moved backward, Morgan saw that he was, indeed, fighting a giant snake. It was a snake like nothing he’d ever seen, though. It had scales, but at least thirty percent of its scales were colorful gemstones. The creature was a good thirty feet from nose to tail. It was in the process of turning around, leaving a long smear of blood where it moved. Morgan had given it a deep gash about a third way down its left side. When it turned to face him, Morgan, for the first time, saw its eyes and the malevolence that lay within them. They were black, angular pools of darkness with just a tiny circle of red at their center. Intelligence oozed from them, and Morgan knew the serpent was contemplating its next move.

Morgan didn’t want to let it get off its heels, so to speak, so he used Hollow Charge, and while he was ripping over the ten feet between them, he primed The Crane Flutters its Wings. He arrived in a blur, ripping and slicing with his sword, more like flashes of light than dark steel cutting the air, and the serpent hissed and tried to back away from the onslaught. However, Morgan’s forward momentum was prodigious, and it couldn’t get away. Each of his four slices cut the creature like a plasma torch, sending scales, gems, and blood splashing out over the landing. Morgan’s sword didn’t hesitate on the scales of the creature. When he hit a gem, it blocked his blade, but only enough to send it sliding off the side and into scales, where it sliced smoothly through.

The creature hissed loudly at the end of his flurry and whipped its body in a convulsion, its tail lashing at Morgan. Morgan had time to bring his blade up, but the tail hit him like a small truck - he felt his sword slice deeply into it, snagging on a bone, and the muscular ribbon of flesh smashed into his chest, knocking him back against the wall. The impact knocked the wind from his lungs, but he managed to keep from falling to the floor, catching himself on one knee. His sword was gone - ripped from his hands by the thrashing serpent.

Morgan watched the snake trying to gather itself for another attack, but it was clearly gravely wounded. He’d sheared large chunks of flesh from its neck, and he’d even cleaved a triangular piece of its upper jaw and snout away. Blood poured prodigiously from the colossal creature. Morgan could see his sword sticking out of a massive cut two-thirds of the way down the creature’s tail. The tail hung limply below his sword; he’d severed some vital nerve. Morgan pulled his black spear from his ring, feeling glad that Bronwyn had recovered it for him from the Yovashi. He leveled it at the snake and slowly circled to his left, waiting to see what it would do.

For once, time was on Morgan’s side - the gem-studded serpent was bleeding out before his eyes, and he felt like he could afford to be patient. The snake tracked him with its eyes, its bloody tongue flicking in and out of the gap where Morgan had sheared away part of its mouth. He began to worry that his opponent might have some regeneration ability, so he used Hollow Charge again, aiming to drive his spear into the creature’s eye. He flashed over the bloody, wooden floor, and his aim was true, but as he got within just a foot of the snake, he felt a hot spray cover him from face to waistline. Still, he couldn’t slow down, and his spear hit the snake dead in the eye, driving the entire length of the blade into the beast’s skull. It flopped once and then lay still.

Morgan had time to smile in victory before he was struck with horrifying pain. His vision went dark as his eyes erupted in fire, and then the rest of his body registered the pain. He felt like his face was melting. He screamed in a hoarse voice, and as he inhaled to scream again, the air he pulled into his lungs tasted like chlorine gas. Darkness threatened to engulf him, but he knew that he’d be dead in seconds if he lost consciousness. Morgan didn’t waste any time, calling forth one of his Botner’s Elixirs of Superior Mending from his ring and pouring it into the space where he knew his mouth was but felt like a burning hole of agony.

The pain wracking his body stopped instantly, and he felt like he’d been dipped in a numbing fluid. He collapsed to the gory floor and writhed his way away from the snake, sliding on his back. He still couldn’t see, but he didn’t know if he was lying in a pool of whatever had sprayed him, so he wanted to get away from it. He felt a surge of Energy pour into him, more than he’d ever felt at one time.

***Congratulations! You’ve achieved level 18 Hollow Guard. You have gained 5 Strength, 5 Will, 4 Vitality, 4 Intelligence, and 3 Agility.***

Morgan felt tingling sensations spreading through his skin, starting from the deep sockets of his eyes, and then he was engulfed by an empty, sinking feeling; his awareness of his body and surroundings slipped away, and his vision cleared. The scene that resolved around him was a coolly lit stone vault lined with large stone sarcophagi. “Well, it looks like you’ve been working hard to improve yourself, but not without some great risks.” Morgan recognized the voice of the Azure Paladin. “Still, you survived and have gained the levels required for us to meet. Time I imparted some more of my heritage to you.”