Mardis Dane: A LitRPG/GameLit Series

(World of Magic Book 3) Levi Werner

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 MARDIS DANE
©2022 LEVI WERNER

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 C O NT E NT S

ALSO IN SERIES

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Thank you for reading Mardis Dane
Groups
LitRPG
 ALSO IN SERIES

AWAKENING
THE KINGDOM OF SAILS
MARDIS DANE
THRONE OF SAILS

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 1

Lox struggled with the unruly aspect as he tried to use it to form a

protective barrier around the group. The fourth-tier protection aspect
glowed with a bright silvery light; much brighter than the other
aspects he was using in the spell. The unruly aspect kept fighting
against his control. Regis had told him the fourth tier and higher
aspects had wills of their own and would resist being used in a way
contrary to the ideals they represented. Lox had thought that a
protective barrier would be the perfect thing for a protection aspect.
“Any time now would be great!” Cleopatra shouted back at Lox.
“I am working on it,” Lox ground out as he glanced past Cleopatra
at the two large balls of black magical energy closing on them. While
not fast, the balls were a homing attack; they seemed unstoppable.
So far, they had broken through walls and other magical barriers
they had raised with little to no effort.
Lox threw his will against that of the aspect and was finally
rewarded with the spell cohesion coming together enough for him to
be able to finally cast the spell. He fired it into the ground in the
middle of the group. A shimmering silver dome appeared around
them moments before the leading edge of the one-meter orb arrived.
The barrier wavered as the orb collided with it, and Lox briefly
worried it wouldn’t be enough. Suddenly, the barrier solidified, and
the magic near the orb seemed to thicken as the rest of the barrier
thinned.
The orb began to bulge as it pressed against the barrier before it
detonated in a wash of black necrotic energy that washed over the
protective dome. The group was briefly plunged into pure darkness.
As the magic of the first orb spent itself, the next orb arrived. This
time, it was like the barrier already knew what to do and didn’t even
waver as it instantly reinforced with the point of impact. The second
orb repeated the process of the first orb and exploded against the
barrier.
 As the dark magic dissipated, the group looked around the empty
street. The orbs’ magical explosions had created a small crater in
front of the barrier. Still, other than that, it had left the street mostly
unharmed. “That was a little close.” Zirkseas looked around at the
rest of the group. “Any ideas where those came from?”
The group had just been wrapping up a fight when the powerful
attack had come rolling down the street next to them. “No idea.” Zara
shook her head. “They didn’t come from the direction of the region
boss, and we didn’t see anyone cast them.”
“Maybe they were some kind of roaming mob?” Cleopatra asked.
“I don’t think so.” A frown crossed Lox’s face as he concentrated.
“My Eyes would have identified them if that was the case.”
“You going to bring down the barrier anytime soon?” Felix
pressed his hand against the silvery barrier, it reacted slightly to the
pressure he exerted.
“I am trying.” Lox also placed his hand against the barrier and
tried to dispel it once again. This time when he tried to dissipate the
barrier, he could have sworn he felt a feeling of indignation radiate
off it. “It won’t dissipate.”
Everyone in the group looked at Lox. “What do you mean it won’t
dissipate?” Cleopatra glared at him.
“I don’t know.” Lox shrugged helplessly. “Best I can tell is that the
will of the aspect I used is holding the spell together and resisting my
efforts to dispel it.”
“The ‘will’ of the aspect?” Cleopatra snorted. “What are you
talking about?”
“It is hard to explain.” Lox poked the barrier. “Will may not be the
right word, but higher-tiered aspects embody different things and
almost have personalities. This is my first spell with one, so I am a
little unsure how it works.”
“You used an untested spell in combat?” Cleopatra stepped
toward him threateningly. “What have we said about that?
Remember when one of your little battlefield experiments sent Jed
for a respawn. You blasted him so far away, Zara couldn’t even raise
him!”
 “Easy, Cleo.” Zara stepped between them. “Nothing else was
stopping it, and we needed something novel. Besides, he has
apologized about that a hundred times already.”
“Zirk, can you shadow-step out of this?” Lox looked away from
Cleopatra and to the shadow mage.
“Let me try.” Zirkseas stepped into the shadow cast by their
bodies in the middle of the circle and reappeared in the shadow of a
building outside the barrier. “Evidently, I can.” He walked back over
to the barrier.
“Too bad you can’t step us out with you.” Jed tapped on the
barrier, watching the barrier concentrate briefly at the point of impact.
“How long before the spell runs out of juice on its own?”
“It could be hours or seconds.” Lox shrugged. “That fourth-tier
aspect holds a lot of magical power in it.”
Felix nodded along with Lox. “The cohesion of the spell might
come apart eventually, but if the fourth-tier aspect behaves like we
think, it could keep the spell stable on its own.”
“So, what does that mean?” Cleopatra sat down.
“We could be here a while.” Felix took a seat and leaned against
the barrier. It flared a small amount behind him.
“You guys are so boned!” Saul appeared in the middle of the
group. “Though I did lose a bet with Regis, I didn’t think you would
actually manage to use the protection aspect in a spell for a while
yet.”
“Saul,” Lox sighed, ignoring that Saul and Regis were now
gambling on what he did. “Can you tell us what is going on?”
“Well, the protection aspect has decided it can only protect you if
you remain inside its nice barrier.” Saul pulsed as he spoke.
“So, what can we do?” Zara sat cross-legged at the edge of the
circle.
“Well, you can try and break it, though you have no room to do it
in here,” Saul informed them. “And, Zirk, no offense, you lack the
ability needed to do it from out there. Or you can wait it out. Or go for
a respawn.”
“Can your scan tell you how long the barrier will hold on its own?”
Lox leaned his head back and stared up at the apex of the dome.
 Saul flew over the barrier, and a small ray of light briefly
examined the barrier. “You will be here for a while. At least several
hours, if not a day.” He flew back to the middle of the group. “It
appears that the barrier absorbed some of the magic from the orbs
exploding.”
“I could go help,” Zirkseas offered.
“No, let's not do that.” Felix shook his head. “The only group
around is Taranis’, and the last thing I want to do is deal with Iterius.”
“We could just chill here for a bit,” Zara suggested. “Not often you
get a view like this.”
Lox looked in the direction Zara was looking and couldn’t help but
agree. In the rush of everything going on, he had failed to see the
street they were on actually dead-ended on an open plaza. From
where they sat, the group could see out over the city. The group was
at one of the highest points in the city, above the exit tunnel. It was
the last region that needed to be cleared. All the others were either
being farmed or had been conquered in the last four months since
the invasion. From their vantage, the huge city stretched out away
from them, nestled on the rim of a long-dead volcano.
Lox knew the city was big, but it still surprised him when he could
see so much of it. The tower in the middle loomed over the city with
its menacing eldritch fire constantly burning at the top. Far away, he
could just barely see the city rising up above the entrance tunnel.
The city's total area was about the size of New York City, if you count
the water in the middle of the city. It was truly an amazing city. “Who
would have ever thought to go through the effort of building such a
large city here?” Lox asked. The passive bonus to skill learning from
being in the city was nice, but Lox didn’t think it was worth building
such a place as this.
“Who knows?” Zirkseas sighed. “Whatever empire built this place
must have truly been mighty indeed.”
Zirkseas shadow-stepped back inside and took a seat. “Well, if
we are waiting it out, no point in me staying out there all alone.”
“So, I am starting to question the decision to wait this out.” Cleopatra
looked around at the platoon of undead assailing the barrier.
An hour ago, a patrol of undead scouts had come across them.
While two of them began to fire arrows at the barrier, the other three
had disappeared back into the region. They returned a little while
later, leading a platoon of undead that included a dozen skeleton
warriors, five skeleton knights, five skeleton archers, and three
skeleton wizards. The hammering the barrier was taking and not
breaking was impressive as the melee fighters rained attacks down
on it.
“You know I really hate how organized these undead have
become,” Felix grouched, peering around a hulking knight as it
rained overhanded blow after blow down on the silvery barrier. “Look
at those casters, conserving mana for the real fight as they lay down
magical defense and traps.” They had tried to use their barrier-
penetrating spell to fire at the undead attacking them. After a couple
attempts and having their spells fail to penetrate the silvery dome,
they gave up.
This region was the hardest for several reasons, the biggest one
being how organized the undead were here. Combined with their
strength, they made fighting their way through this region an uphill
battle at the best of times. The adjacent regions had been full of
terrifyingly powerful undead monsters, but these organized groups of
undead made those monstrosities look like a walk in the park.
“Alright, Zirk, get yourself out there and hidden,” Cleopatra
ordered. “I want you to try and jump those casters when the fight
starts.”
“Can do.” Zirkseas stepped into a shadow and vanished.
“Lox or Felix, we need something to buy us some time to break
free of this circle of melee fighters when the barrier falls.” Cleopatra
moved to the side of the circle away from the casters. “The plan is to
rush to the edge of the plaza and hold there, so whatever you got
that helps do that is fine.”
“Don’t look at me.” Lox shook his head at Felix. “My spells got
nothing on yours when it comes to power. I am good at custom
spells and being versatile, not power.”
 Felix thought for a second. “I think I got something that would
work. If you can give everyone elemental resistance to cold, I think it
will be fine.”
Lox nodded in understanding and began to cast the protective
buffing spells he had developed. He rarely found a use for the buffs
in the city since the monsters they were fighting weren’t strongly
aligned with a particular element. As he finished casting the final
buff, Felix started his spell. The dome was quickly filled with swirling
cold air with shards of ice.
Lox’s protective buff helped the group resist the cold but would
have done little to help with the shards of ice filling the air.
Fortunately, Felix kept most of the ice shards near the barrier and
away from the group. As time passed, Felix’s spell grew in strength,
and Lox had to strengthen the resistance buffs to hold off the cold.
The swirling shards of ice became so thick, Lox lost sight of the
dome around them, and they were encased in a maelstrom of wind
and ice.
Suddenly, the shattering sound and rush of air as the barrier
shattered and Felix’s built-up spell burst out in a twisting vortex that
filled the street. Vision clearing, Lox saw many of the undead
surrounding them frozen solid while a few others moved as if in slow
motion. He saw Felix stagger from the cost of the spell and
supported him as Cleopatra and Jedediah charged over a pair of
undead warriors to break a path clear of the circle of the undead.
As they ran past, Lox could see the undead already starting to
speed back up. Cleopatra and Jedediah peeled off as they cleared
the surrounding undead, allowing Zara, Lox, and Felix to run toward
the plaza's edge. Lox felt the swish of a blade as it just barely swung
behind him as he ran past their two melee fighters. Focusing on what
was coming next, Lox already had multiple aspects swirling around
him as he sprinted after Felix. Spinning, Lox pointed his barrier at
Cleopatra and Jedediah. “Step!” he called, and the two melee
fighters stepped back before the undead they were fighting could
follow. He summoned the bracelet’s barrier between them. It was a
move they had been practicing along with a few other similar ones,
and it showed.
 Using the time the barrier brought, Cleopatra and Jedediah fell
back, with Saul still supporting them. As Lox had been doing that,
magic had surrounded Felix. He slammed his staff into the ground,
and walls of fire exploded out of the plaza, forming a bottleneck
where Cleopatra and Jedediah rushed. The heat from the fire walls
was sweltering but needed in fights like this so they wouldn’t be
surrounded.
Lox saw Felix knocking back a mana potion. The fire walls were
one of Felix’s most powerful spells and cost a lot to cast. Looking
down the street at the ranged undead, Lox saw the archers release a
flight of arrows. At the same time, three wizards collectively cast and
launched a rolling ball of crackling electricity. Lox pointed his order
wand in the air and braced. He cast the spell he had prepared, and a
barrier of azure magic formed above the group at an angle.
Unfortunately, it was too late to catch the arrows, and he grunted in
pain as two of the arrows found their marks in his chest. Looking
over, Lox saw Felix equally perforated by two arrows while Zara had
a single one sticking out of her.
A crack sounded as Zara drove her staff into the ground. A pulse
of divine magic washed out from her, and Lox felt the magic push the
arrows out of his body as it closed the wounds. He coughed out a
mouthful of blood and spit.
Glancing up, Lox saw the ball of electricity collide with his barrier.
There was a brief struggle between the two before the ball detonated
in the air, wiping out both. Lox immediately began forming a new
barrier spell. “Felix, be careful about how you attack the wizards or
archers directly. Remember how nasty the traps we can set are.
They likely have done something similar.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” Felix raised his staff as a new
spell began to form around him. “I will help with the melee instead.
They should be out of range of any of the normal traps.”
Lox’s new barrier replaced the recently destroyed one and was
joined by a white one layering behind his from Zara. As Lox started
building another spell, he saw a torrent of melon-sized fireballs arc
from Felix’s staff. Passing just barely under the defensive barrier,
they rained down on the undead melee fighter. Or at least they would
have. A barrier snapped into existence just ahead of the attack, and
of the five balls launched, only one landed.
The fight started to go poorly after that. Zara’s healing magic
barely kept Cleopatra and Jedediah on their feet. Lox only was kind
of keeping ahead of the magical and ranged barrage, some of the
arrows hitting hard enough to pass through his barriers. Every
magical attack Felix launched was being neatly countered by the
wizards directly or by defensive counters they had laid earlier. Lox
was about to suggest a retreat, when two things happened in quick
succession.
The first was a bright flare from Zara. Lox looked over to see the
six rings on her staff glowing brightly. She leveled the staff. “Down!”
Cleopatra and Jedediah acted as one and dropped like rocks.
They knew what was coming. A torrent of magical incandescent light
fired from Zara’s lowered staff; a single barrier resisted it for a mere
moment. Robes snapping in the wind, Zara looked like she could be
blown away by the force of the magical beam as she worked it back
and forth across the front line of the undead. When the beam faded,
Lox saw the front line of the undead had been decimated. Three of
the knights had been cut in half, and many of the warriors were
missing massive chunks of their bodies. Zara slumped; while the
attack drew power from the staff, it was a taxing attack to control.
She would need some time to recover.
As Cleopatra and Jedediah sprang back to their feet and laid into
the stunned undead and Lox took over as healer for a little bit, he
saw Zirkseas step out of the shadows. He decapitated the nearest
wizard with a garrote made of dark mana. Now inside their defensive
perimeter, he blasted a hole in one wizard with magic while he
lunged at the third with his dagger. Savaging the wizard, Zirkseas
rolled back into a shadow and vanished just as a hail of arrows hit
where he had been.
With their magical corps now severely damaged and missing
three knights, the fight shifted again. Once Zara recovered, Lox was
able to help Felix in assisting Cleopatra and Jedediah. They were
still hesitant about attacking across an area potentially laden with
traps. As they did, Zirkseas began harrying the archers with his own
ranged attacks, appearing in one place and firing before vanishing
again. When the last melee fighter fell, Cleopatra let out a roar and
rushed the remaining archers. At the same time, Jedediah dashed
toward the remaining wizard. Before he made it all the way there,
Jedediah blurred forward, avoiding a bolt of fire from the wizard, and
impaled him on his spear.
Fight now over, everyone relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.
Lox took the chance to open and review his stat screen.

Character Soul Level: 96

Name: Lox Stellacus
Race: Half Human-Nalkor
Unspent Stat Points: 0
Spent Stat Points: 480
5 Stat Points per level
Health: 525
Health Regeneration: 15/sec
Equipment Modifiers: 2/sec
Total: 17/sec
Stamina: 540
Stamina Regeneration: 21/sec
Equipment Modifiers: 2/sec
Total: 23/sec
Mana: 1540
Mana Regeneration: 44/sec
Equipment Modifiers: 6/sec
Total: 50/sec
Carrying lbs: 500

Stats:
Intelligence: 155
Equipment Modifiers: 10
Total: 165
Spirit: 130
Equipment Modifiers: 15
Total: 145
Vitality: 50
Equipment Modifiers: 20
Total: 70
Resilience: 50
Strength: 50
Endurance: 50
Agility: 80
Dexterity: 100
Actual Level: 125
Experience: 55964.2 of 94060.4

Lox had spent several levels boosting his physical stats to more
respectable numbers. “I feel like maybe we shouldn’t be clearing this
region yet.” Felix had moved out to the edge of the plaza for a better
view over the city. Directly below them was a much larger plaza;
actually, as Lox looked, he realized it was more like a parade
ground.
“I know what you mean.” Lox joined him. “But most of the
immortals have passed level 90, while the monsters here are all in
the high 90s, so leveling has really slowed. Most of the grinding
being done over the last week was for gear.”
“I guess that is a fair point.” Felix sighed. “How organized this
region’s undead are is making me forget that we are all higher levels
than them. Just goes to show the power of working as a team.”
“That is why we have been spending so much time practicing the
maneuvers we have started using.” Cleopatra joined them at the
edge of the plaza. “If everyone is ready, we should head back out.
We were close to the boss zone when those orbs showed up.”

They made their way carefully back toward the top of the region.
Before the orbs had shown up, the group had managed to clear most
of the region of the undead. The platoon that attacked them had
likely been the last major concentration of undead in the region.
Reaching the boss zone, Lox carefully sneaked a peek at the boss;
they had been here before, but he just wanted a quick refresher on
what they were about to fight.
The boss was a large figure wearing a set of what looked to be
thick embroidered black cloth that mimicked plate armor in how it fit.
The embroidered runes glowed an eldritch green, making them
stand out on the black fabric. His head was covered in a cowl of the
same black fabric. Lox could see orbs of eldritch fire burning under
the cowl set in a skeletal visage when he turned. In one hand, he
held a morning star with its handle covered in runes. In his other
hand, he held a wand made of jet-black metal that sparked with
green electricity.

General Jensen the Twisted

Undead Human Battlemage
Level 95 Boss
General Jensen was the leader responsible for the defense of
Westia. He was betrayed by his closest advisor when the dark power
attacked and was unable to protect his beloved city. Trapped in a
cage of eldritch magic, he was forced to watch as his home and
everyone he knew and loved was consumed by the darkness. The
pain of his loss and helplessness filled him with grief, which the new
undead master of the city twisted into madness before cursing the
man with undeath.

“So, what plan do we have?” Lox joined the group well back of
the boss region. They did not want a repeat of what happened with
the undead high priest again.
“Battlemages are close-in melee-magic hybrids,” Cleopatra
explained. “Zirkseas and I spent some time with an immortal named
Dilian. He is a battlemage as well and explained some of their
strengths and weaknesses to me.”
“Battlemages are a very well-rounded class,” Zirkseas continued.
“They have a lot of auto defenses and powerful magical-enhanced
melee attacks. They pay for these with having overall lower physical
stats, with the exception of agility. If Dilian is any measure of that, he
is almost as fast as me. But that is likely less true for this guy since
he is a boss, and they get all sorts of buffs.”
“My plan is for me to rush forward and try to draw him into
melee,” Cleopatra explained. “But due to his speed, I was planning
on having Jedediah remaining near Zara just in case he goes after
you squishy casters. Is he still by himself?”
“Yes, but there is always the chance he will be able to call in
mobs.” Lox shrugged. “It is impossible to tell.”
“If he does, Zirk and Felix, it is your job to clean them up.”
Cleopatra met Lox’s eyes. “Your primary job in this fight is healing. If
he can deal out damage like we suspect, we will need the extra hit
points. You can help out with damage only if that proves to be
untrue.”
“I got it, Cleo.” Lox sighed. “Healer McHealface is my name for
this fight.”
“Good.” Cleopatra nodded. “I would also like to have Saul
supporting me since a well-timed stunning blast can make all the
difference.” She looked around the group. “Any questions?” No one
said anything. “Then let's go beat his ass!”
The group did not try to hide their approach, and as they moved
down the street, Lox layered as many defensive buffs around the
group that he thought would help. As the boss saw them, Lox had
kind of expected him to engage in conversation like the high priest
had. There had been a few other chatty boss people they had come
across as the city was cleared. Instead, Lox saw his mouth open
wide under the cowl, revealing an eldritch glow deep inside the boss.
A soul-rending echoing screech of pain and anger filled the air.
A spell flashed under the boss’s feet, and he rushed forward
faster than Lox had thought possible. Lowering her shield, Cleopatra
activated her own abilities and rushed to meet the charge. There
was a resounding crack followed by an explosion of eldritch fire as
the morning star was caught on Cleopatra’s shield. Her shield and
black plate armor turned away the worst of the fire as Cleopatra
stabbed forward with her sword like a spear. The boss jumped back
to avoid the attack. He pointed his wand, and a series of green bolts
of lightning shot into Cleopatra as he did.
Lox began to build a spell he had developed. As bolts of healing
came from Zara, a glob of teal fire shot from Lox’s wand. It hit
Cleopatra in the back, coating her in the teal fire. The fire was
healing fire he had developed. While it lacked the powerful healing
effect of his initial healing fire, it didn’t hurt. This made it a super
useful buff for fighting the undead since the flames could also serve
to harm them.
As Saul fired a stunning blast into the boss and Cleopatra lunged
forward again, meeting the boss’s charge, Lox started building
another healing spell. As he did, he saw Zirkseas taking careful aim
with his bow as dark magic built around his arrow.
A bolt of lightning shot from Felix toward the boss. Unfortunately,
the bolt was stopped cold by a barrier that appeared right before
impact. Making it worse, the barrier caused a small amount of the
energy to lash out and strike Cleopatra. “Dammit, sorry!” Felix yelled
as he started his next spell.
Stunned a little from the unexpected damage, Cleopatra failed to
brace for a powerful strike and was sent tumbling by the boss’s
morning star. Before she could get back to her feet, the boss was on
her to bring the morning star down toward her head. A black streak
exploded in the boss’s face as Zirkseas let loose his arrow. The
magic of the attack allowed it to bypass the boss's auto defensives
and caused him to recoil in pain. A beam of golden light came from
Zara, hitting Cleopatra as she scrambled back to her feet. A moment
later, Lox’s own lime-green healing beam joined Zara’s.
The combined healing of the two beams was immense, and Lox
saw Cleopatra’s shoulder pop back into place as she let out a grunt
and briefly worked the shoulder in a circle. Snarling in anger at the
two healers, the boss pointed his wand, and a glob of eldritch fire
spat forth. Lox stopped himself from dodging when he saw the attack
would fall short, splattering on the ground before them. Lox smiled.
That smile disappeared when the puddle of green fire grew and
started to rise up.
 A few moments later, a humanoid being three meters tall stepped
out of the puddle of fire toward Lox and Zara. “Well, that is bad.”
Lox’s Eye told him what it was.

Eldritch Fire Elemental

Level: 95
Eldritch fire elementals are like normal fire elementals, just made of
eldritch fire.

Stepping forward, Jedediah drove his spear into the elemental

while Zara and Lox backed off. “Zara, keep supporting Cleo.” Lox
dispelled the aspect he had summoned and changed the spell he
was building. “Jed and I got this; Cleo won’t last without support.”
“On it!” Zara scrambled away to get a line of sight on Cleopatra.
Lox then began to alternate blasts of frost, water, and holy
aspects along with others like a machine gun, trying to determine the
weaknesses of the elemental before him. It was draining his mana
quickly but was necessary. Jedediah was doing a decent job keeping
it busy as Lox worked. But there was little the physical attacks could
do to the elemental. Thankfully, Jedediah’s spear had a holy magic
property, so each attack left a small amount of damaging magic
behind.
Seeing Jedediah was looking rough, Lox cut off his barrage of
probing attacks to form a healing spell. As his beam of energy
restored Jedediah, Lox looked around, seeing two other elementals
harrying Felix and Zirkseas.
As his healing spell ended, Lox shouted, “I just need a few
moments, Jed, and we got this.” Jedediah nodded and drove his
spear into the elemental again.
Lox began to summon aspects quickly. He was using a
combination of water, third-tier aspect, cleanse. Testing the few third-
tier aspects had been costly but worth it when he saw how much the
cleanse aspect affected the elemental. The spell was costly, and Lox
had dozens of water aspects spinning in front of him around a
pattern of six cleanse aspects. Bracing himself for the mana drain,
Lox fired the spell. From the end of his wand, three balls of
shimmering water shot. One slammed into the elemental fighting
Jedediah while the others sought out the other two elementals.
The first ball sunk into the elemental and seemed to do nothing
for a few moments before the eldritch fire started sputtering and
dying from the middle of the elemental and spreading outwards.
Staggering as his mana neared bottoming out, Lox pulled out a
mana potion and downed it, wincing at the sour taste. He saw the
other elemental coming apart as well and turned his attention back to
Cleopatra.
A barrage of healing bolts kept Cleopatra going while Saul had a
draining beam attached to the boss. As Lox waited for his mana to
restore, he moved a little closer to the boss. Reaching his hand
forward, he pulled until he felt a trickle of soul energy start flowing
from the boss into him. The boss staggered slightly under the new
drain and glanced at Lox; the distraction allowed Cleopatra to land a
punishing blow into the boss's chest. As Lox continued to drain the
boss, he formed a new healing fire spell and fired it at Cleopatra. He
powered it using soul energy, this time making it much more
powerful. His soul energy reserves were well over his storage limit.
He had overfilled them in preparation for this fight, so the hunger
was easy to keep at bay.
The explosion of healing fire coated both Cleopatra and the boss,
having two completely different effects. Cleopatra surged with
strength while the boss recoiled in pain. Felix took the opportunity to
hit the boss with a beam of fire that only served to further amplify the
effects of the healing fire. As Cleopatra lunged forward toward the
boss, sensing victory, she screamed as Felix’s flames now scorched
her as well. Driving her sword through the boss’s chest, she left it
there and leapt back. Then stepping out of Cleopatra’s shadow as
she retreated, Zirkseas fired a slow-moving black orb the size of an
orange that closed the short distance and slammed into the boss
and detonated.
There was a shriek from the boss and an explosion of eldritch
fire. As the conflagration grew in power, the eldritch green flames
were slowly replaced by regular flames. Cleopatra and Zirkseas both
stepped back, shielding their faces from the growing heat. As the fire
peaked and then started to fade, it slowly changed colors, becoming
a blue Lox recognized as soul energy.
Lox had cut off his drain when the boss exploded; he watched the
condensing energy with not a small amount of worry. He knew just
how powerful an uncontrolled detonation of soul energy could be.
Out of the flames floated an indistinct figure, the flames behind it
immediately starting to fade. “Thank you for freeing me from this
tormented existence.” A voice emanated from the figure like a
whisper in the wind. “Long has my city suffered under a black curse.
Perhaps with this, you can defeat the one that has caused such
suffering, and free my city.”
The figure held out its hand, and a gem of soul energy formed
before solidifying into a gem the size of a football and falling to the
ground. Waving, the figure immediately began to fade.
Picking up the gem, Lox read the description.

Tower access key

This gem will serve as a key to open a permanent magical portal
from the end of one of the piers to the tower's bottom floor

“Well, that was cool.” Zirkseas walked over to Lox. “What is it?”
“It will open a portal to the bottom of the tower.” Lox held out the
gem for the others to examine. Where the boss had been was
nothing but a pile of ash. “Damn, I was hoping to take the armor.”
“It looked pretty awesome.” Cleopatra was still covered in blue
flames. “Any chance you can dispel these, Lox? While they don’t
hurt, they are annoying.”
Lox tossed the gem to Felix and walked over with a little flex of
his will; the flames vanished. A notification appeared in his hands.

Regions clear 51/60

Clearing this region has weakened all remaining regions. Mobs will
now no longer replenish after being defeated.
 Lox dropped the paper and it disintegrated. “Well, I guess that is
that.” He glanced at his character sheet. “Oh, I leveled up from that.
Just a sec.” Lox added the five stat points to intelligence and glanced
over his stat sheet briefly.

Character Soul Level: 97

Name: Lox Stellacus
Race: Half Human-Nalkor
Unspent Stat Points: 0
Spent Stat Points: 480
5 Stat Points per level
Health: 525
Health Regeneration: 17/sec
Equipment Modifiers: 2/sec
Total: 19/sec
Stamina: 540
Stamina Regeneration: 23/sec
Equipment Modifiers: 2/sec
Total: 25/sec
Mana: 1556
Mana Regeneration: 51/sec
Equipment Modifiers: 6 /sec
Total: 57/sec
Carrying lbs: 500

Stats:
Intelligence: 160
Equipment Modifiers: 10
Total: 170
Spirit: 130
Equipment Modifiers: 15
Total: 145
Vitality: 50
Equipment Modifiers: 20
Total: 70
Resilience: 50
Strength: 50
Endurance: 50
Agility: 80
Dexterity: 100
Actual Level: 125
Experience: 404.0 of 95533.9

Lox snorted. “Error 404, experience not found.”

“What was that?” Jedediah asked.
“Oh nothing,” Lox chuckled. “Just a funny number.”
 2

Kalen: You guys know the drill.

Golefin: Here!

Friday: Here!

Lox: Here!
.
.
.
Taranis: Here!

Kalen: Looks like everyone is good; the few people who didn’t show
up told me they would not be able to respond.

~Taken from the Immortal messaging book in the Era of Awakening

As they took the time to thoroughly clear the region of undead, they
came across another map room. These rooms were fairly common
throughout the city and allowed the users to see everything going on
in the region they were in up to two regions away. This map room
was like the others, but when Lox looked at the map, he noticed
something that drew his attention. Near the center of the region they
were in was the large parade ground they had seen in the middle of
the region.
What drew Lox’s attention about the parade ground was it
appeared that it entered a tunnel under the plaza they had looked
down on it from. “You think there is an undercity?” Zirkseas asked
when Lox pointed it out.
“I have no idea.” Lox shook his head. “But it is probably best that
we check it out.”
 The group carefully made their way out into the parade ground,
eyeing the tall barracks-like buildings warily. It had taken them quite
a bit of effort to clear their way to the parade ground. The roads
leading here were all filled with undead, even though they had
thought they had cleared most of the undead from the region.
Unseen from above the parade ground, multiple large piles of stone
and dirt made it impossible to move through the courtyard in a
straight line.
“Does this seem odd to anyone?” Zara clutched her staff in the
center of the group, three of the rings already glowing.
“A little.” Felix had his staff at the ready, magic swirling around
him. “It was like we hit the rear of all their defenses.” As they had
fought their way here, the fights, while time-consuming, were easy.
They always seemed to hit the rear of the group of undead and take
out all their magical and ranged fighters almost before the fight
started.
“It is like they were guarding something against escaping this
tunnel.” Lox looked up at the tunnel arching above them. Its sides
were carved with elaborate depictions showing what looked to be
powerful elemental monsters, though it was hard to tell. Many of the
carvings were crumbling or had been obscured by time.
“Well, let's see what is down there.” Cleopatra led the way. “Saul,
can you provide us some light?” Saul floated above them and
increased his brightness to the point he became too bright to look at.
It was a new ability.

“Run faster!” Cleopatra started pushing Lox and Zara from behind as
they sprinted back out of the yawning mouth of the tunnel.
Lox glanced behind them and saw the glow of the monster
chasing them up the tunnel. The tunnel shrank down from the
massive entrance to something more like the size of a high school
hallway. They had just been coming around a bend when a glow had
appeared deeper in the tunnel. It was clear whatever it was had just
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 And now we will finish by saying a few words concerning the
plump chubby-cheeked one.
His name was Santiago Morcillo. He was a native of Leon, had no
parents, and was one of those quiet beings whom it is difficult to
rouse, either through anger or pleasure. When anything unpleasant
happened, he said only, “God’s will be done,” and if he had reason to
feel pleased, showed it only by a smile or by going to church to thank
God for the favors which he bestowed on him. His father’s conduct
had been disorderly, and he left but few unencumbered possessions,
his affairs being in confusion, but the good-natured Santiago did not
mind this. He was quite the opposite of his father and, by force of
work, economy and shrewdness, he recovered what was lost, and
even improved his condition so far that finally he was free from debt
and in easy circumstances. Until then he had never thought of
women, and when he did, he said,
“I shall take a rest now. It would be folly to begin a dangerous
experiment immediately. My mother was a very virtuous woman, but
all women are not alike.”
The good Morcillo was not only economical, but somewhat
avaricious, and it occurred to him to use the influence of his relatives
to obtain some sort of office, and with this object in view he had
come to the court at Madrid. One morning he went to mass at St.
Joseph’s Church, and standing near the entrance, and turning aside
to let a caballero pass, he saw Doña Estrella, who was kneeling in
prayer, her virgin lips moving in religious fervor, and her eyes raised
to Heaven with a most sweet and tender expression. For the first
time Señor Santiago felt a vivid impression, and involuntarily he
made a somewhat impious comparison between the sublime young
girl and an angel. He was always timid in the presence of women,
but this being was not a woman, she was a cherub. Being a good
Catholic, the hidalgo instantly repented of his sinful attention to
worldly affairs, and turning his back upon the young lady, began to
repeat his prayers; but he was unable to forget the cherub with the
blue eyes, and ten minutes later, moved by an irresistible attraction,
he turned and looked again. He saw her a second time, and felt his
heart beating. When the mass was over, the good Morcillo could
contain himself no longer. He turned quickly round and looked for
her. The mother was very near her daughter, and in front, one behind
the other, were her two sisters. However, in the crowd it was not
easy to see that the four belonged together, and besides, the hidalgo
had no eyes for any except the fair one. He tried to get nearer to her,
but every one rose at the same moment, and he again lost sight of
her for a few moments. He tried his best to force a way for himself
through the crowd, but, being quite confused, he paid no attention as
to where he planted his feet, and many of the faithful accosted him
roughly, while others threw themselves against him and prevented
his getting out. The poor fellow was almost suffocated, crushed and
choking. He could hardly breathe, and perspired freely, while his face
became livid. His stoutness was his great misfortune, and he missed
the lady.
“Is it possible that I have fallen in love?” he asked himself when he
got into the street.
He could not forget the fair face, and began to think the matter
over with as much calmness as he could muster in his
embarrassment. Having met such an angel of a woman, why should
he not marry her? A bachelor’s life was very nice, but only up to a
certain age. He went to mass the next day, and again he saw
Estrella, and lost her in leaving the church. At last, on the day when
our story begins, Morcillo, like the others, discovered by accident the
residence of the charming maiden. He saw her on the balcony.
Nothing else happened, but, feeling sure that he was in love, and
that his will power was not strong enough to resist his passion, he
made up his mind to go on with his wooing, and not to stop, unless
this marvelous being with the face of an angel should prove to be a
demon, which was, of course, impossible.

Now we know the three hidalgos, who did not resemble each other
in the slightest degree.
(To be continued.)
 QUATRAIN.
To dash irradiant on the barren shore
The wave is born; the lark to sing and soar;
To traffic with the sun upsprings the tree—
Man only has no certain destiny.

—H. C. H.
 EXTRACTS FROM THE LOG OF THE
“RITA”
BEING A DISCONNECTED ACCOUNT OF THE DOINGS OF SOME
ARTISTS ON A SUMMER CRUISE....

“First day out. We can scarcely realize we have left behind the heat, the noise,
and the dust of the city for three weeks. Far to the north, overhung by clouds
of noisome smoke, our late prison is gradually sinking from sight. Only the
tallest spires and houses can be seen. As the distance grows greater our
hearts grow lighter, and dance in unison with the leaping waves. The day is a
miracle of light and color,—
and
we’re
a happy
 crew!”

“Came
very
near
being
wrecked
last night. Even the moon was full—but that fact saved the lives of all on
board. Spike made a sketch this morning that will explain better than words.”
 “The fashionable portrait painter’s man and girl flirting on the shore turned
out to be rather clever devices for frightening crows. He has been advised to
consult an oculist.”

“Fuzzie-Wuzzie and the Languid Aquarellist got together in the forecastle to

hatch a scheme to get possession of the champagne. Nick, the Nipper, woke
up and heard the conversation. He called to Mock-a-Hi. Hi took in the situation
at a glance, and skewered Fuzzie and the Aquarellist with his prize finger-nail
(with which he does his etchings), and thus the villains were balked. The
conspirators had been eating Anti-Puncture, so that when Hi withdrew his nail,
none of the wind came out of their tires. There was little blood and much wine
spilled over this affair. The Skipper instantly had the schemers put in irons,
and Nick, the Nipper, was allowed to torture them in their helpless condition
with a few of his songs and imitations, as a reward for his vigilance.”
 “To-day we took on board a small party of guests, several ladies being
among the number. The finished style in which our fashionable portrait painter
received the latter excited general admiration. There is very little doubt but
that he will be promoted to be Assistant Skipper, with a cook’s pay.”

“The Skipper complained this evening of “feeling queer in the head,” and
the Duke made unkindly reference to the moon (which is known to have a
peculiar influence in certain cases), but got “sat on” for his inopportune display
of wit. Fuzzie’s allusion to the banquet in the cabin last night was perhaps
more truly explanatory.”
 “Sailing
close to
shore,
—and enjoying the
beautiful glimpses of
field and wood seen
through the golden
haze of a summer
afternoon.
What a
glorious
land!”

“The Languid Aquarellist is singing the national anthem. Perhaps he is

being unconsciously stirred by all these
wondrous
beauties of
nature.”
“Here
Truthful
Freddie
—sits by the hour, in
the golden evening
glow, dreaming of—what ?”
 “Salad
day.
Before seven o’clock this morning Curly and the Duke had caught enough
crabs to supply the mess of a man-of-war. The salad—prepared by the Duke,
of course—was pronounced excellent in technique, although somewhat after
the manner of Bouguereau, being extremely smooth and delicate.
But this
can be
forgiven
in a
salad.”
 “Late this afternoon we passed a sailing party homeward-bound. As they
passed, quite close, Spike, with his ever-ready pencil, transferred several of
the most conspicuous members to paper.”

“For his marvelous success in mixing salads, the Duke, who studied the
culinary art in Paris and Rome, has been made Second Mate.”

“Three days out. The Languid Aquarellist insisted this morning on going
ashore and shooting ducks—wild ones. After he had almost decimated a
farmer’s prize flock of pekins (without noticing their barnyard confidence in
man)—he was promoted by the Captain for excellent gunnery, and the
addition to the yacht’s stores.”

“Tomson, (of the Barber’s-Own School), spent the entire afternoon trying to
convince Miss ⸺ that his own peculiar method of painting is the acme of art.
Miss ⸺ seemed delighted with his efforts, and thinks his pictures are “just
lovely.” She wants him to attempt an imaginary portrait of the sea serpent.

Owing to the ceaseless motion of the boat, Tomson’s pictures are decidedly
impressionistic.”
 —“And then Bill Weatherbones gave us his version of the great naval
combat at Santiago, in which he took a very prominent part. ‘I tole yer how it
wuz,’ Bill began; ‘it wuz dis way, sur. I wuz a-settin’ on de aft hatch a-smokin’ a
cigar Bill Sampson giv’ me, an’ Bill an’ Winnie Schley wuz a-workin’ out a little
game wid de cards. Bill t’rowed down his papes an’ sed,—
“I
aint
got
no
luck,
I got to shake yuse fellers. Mc. he’s sent me de wire to go over an’ chin dat
man Shafter, wot’s runnin’ de army push, an’ make him git a move on hisself.”
“Don’t go, Bill,” sez I, “send one o’ de gang, it’s too hot fer yer, wot’s de good
yer workin’?” “Dem aint me orders,” sez Bill, den turnin’ to Winnie Schley, he
giv’ him de stern look, an’ sed, “Winnie, yer do de stunts here till I gets back
wid meself, an’ if de Spaniels tries ter get out de bottle squirt de guns on ’em.”
“I’m on,” sez Winnie, an’ he giv’ me de wink, “if de farmers shows up I shoots.”
Den de Admiral he gits in his little ya’t an’ sails off. Winnie den piped up de
grog all eround, an’ de game went on ag’in. I aint much stuck on de game de
navy push puts up, it’s on de squar’, an’ so I set dere gappin’ an’ feedin’ me
face, while de boys plays. All of a sudding I seen over dere where de guy
Hobson sinked de Merrymac some smoke. I wunk t’ meself, but didden say
nothin’ to break de boys up, but soon Winnie Schley looked up an’ seen it.
“Hully gee!” he yelled, “de blokes is a-chasin’ out,” an’ he grabbed a bunch o’
flags an’ did de signal act o’ his life. He worked dose flags till he looked like a
skirt dancer. De udder ships looked like a back yard wid de clothes-line full of
red-flannel shirts from de wavin’ de guys put up. “Git dem guns loaded,” yelled
Schley, “yuse blokes look lively, dere.” Boom! busted out one o’ de big guns,
an’ de noise it knock de win’ outten me works. It hit de Spaniel an’ turned him
bottom upwards; when he come up ag’in he shot his gun at us, but it wuz half
a mile too high. Schley he rung out de joyous laugh. “Dere optics aint no
good,” sez he, den he lets anudder ball go at him dat went clean t’rough him
an’ hit anudder ship two miles off an’ sunk it in a minnit. Den up comes
anudder Spaniel, an’ I seen⸺’”

“The steering gear is a little rattled: a puff of wind blew a lock of Mate
Fuzzie-Wuzzie’s hair into the wheels, and instantly the vessel swung round.
The engine was stopped, and in the excitement that ensued, a case of
champagne was almost lost overboard. We had to run backward for a mile
and a-half to disengage Fuzzie’s hair from the machinery. Fuzzie has been
reduced.”
 “Spike’s interest in the war has grown to be a matter of serious
inconvenience to all on board. He has literally covered the yacht with
Military
and
Naval
cartoons.
The boat will certainly have to be re-painted. This morning he came on deck
with a drawing he did sometime during the night, which represents Uncle Sam
admonishing Spain to stop kicking the “yaller dorg”—Cuba. It’s not half bad,
but his claim of it’s being the best yet made on the war is a little strong. He
has been so busy admiring it all day he has not thought to make any others—
and we have had time to breathe.”
 “We
came
to
anchor
this evening near the wreck of the “Two Sisters,” in the vicinity of which—on
the shore—was situated a dog-pound, containing some two hundred canines
awaiting execution.... We enjoyed a night of delightful rest.”
“The Skipper went out on his bicycle gig to take a survey of the harbor, but the
roadway was running so high he found it difficult to make any headway,
and had to return to the yacht.”

“Curly has been pronounced unfit for the duties of an able-bodied seaman,
and has been handed over to the Duke for treatment. It is suspected he is
afflicted with some curious, and hitherto unknown, form of love. Yesterday the
Duke administered a very carefully prepared shrimp salad, but it failed utterly
to bring about the desired results. He’s still very pensive, and seems to wish to
be alone. Grave symptoms indeed. Ever since our last visit ashore, when he
was seen walking through the fields with a tall, willowy creature of undeniable
attractiveness, he has been very dejected and apathetic.

We shall
try
keel-hauling
as a
last resort,
—but trust it will not be necessary.”
 “The last glimpse of the glorious old Bay, and the last day afloat. The cruise
has been one of continuous delight, but we can not but regret the end has
come, and we must tread the bricks of uninteresting streets instead of the
swaying deck of the Rita. But, as Bill Weatherbones would say, “Wot’s de
use? Man aint born to be happy,
—an’
dats
straight.”

THE END