Sara read the shared logs. “If he establishes [Authority] he could forbid use of skills, control lesser Adventurer’s actions, and more. There’s a reason every King and Queen treasures [Authority] as their most powerful skill. Evandor was the only one I haven’t seen enforce it. Three days, it said.”
“We can’t let him do that, but I’m not sure what time it is outside, or if there are even domain gates open,” Kaden said. He looked to Trella. “Are there?”
“It’ll be a few hours our time. The Domain runs slower, which means if he’s attempting to establish it, it’ll probably be close to done by the time we get out.” Trella turned south. “You came from across the valley, but the closest gate I’ve mapped is that way, straight across and up. I’m fairly sure the [Lurpion] has respawned, but it’s the fastest way in or out.”
Basu Fen had been speaking with the others, but now she raised her voice. “We don’t count many friends. I’m still not certain about the [Necromancer] but the others have proven themselves. We will not stand by and watch someone not even of this world claim our home.”
The resolve set on those faces would have carved iron.
“I can stop him from declaring [Authority], but it comes at a cost. You’ll be trading one intruder for another.” Kaden explained about the Outpost. About how Authority couldn’t be established while contested.
“The moment Samuel gets the notice, he’ll attack with the intention of wiping Kaden and his outpost off the map,” Sara said. “He’ll probably attack with all of his forces, but we have an advantage.”
Kaden looked to Trella and Eve, neither of whom seem to know the advantage. “We’re tougher?”
“Unlikely,” Sara said. “And he’ll have greater numbers, and once he knows we’re defending, he’ll produce equipment targeted at us. But we don’t care if they destroy the Outpost. All we care about is contesting his ability.”
“Once, we had armies,” Kai Fen said, gazing into the open sky. “Once we were feared. Now, our greatest strength is dead, sacrificed on foreign lands. And we will sacrifice more. It’s good that some of your blood will be shed.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Sara’s voice took on confidence. “I have no intention of running a head-on assault. I have to leave the domain as soon as Kaden goes to establish the Outpost. It will look like abandonment. I give you my word it isn’t.”
Something unspoke passed between the clan members. Basu looked to Eve. “Then we’re ready. I will support Kai Fen as leader of the Accord. We will forgo vengeance against the Resyr or any of their allies. I will lend the Xorn bracers as I see fit until my child is old enough to use them. Anyone I lend them to will swear to return them if I ask, when I ask.”
“Stand back. I’m not skilled enough to exclude people yet,” Eve said. She headed toward the center. “Gather around me. I will be your Oathbinder, but it is each other you are swearing to.”
Mana surged.
The Dogun Accord is begun.
All Accord members [Frost] increased by one hundred.
All Accord members are now greatly resistant to [Frost].
All Accord members have greatly increased resistance to Cold.
All Accord members have increased Constitution and Stamina on Accord Territory.
All Accord members have increased speed in Accord Territory.
Wow. Kaden now understood where the clans had a reputation as fierce warriors. In their homeland, they were unparalleled. And now Kai Fen doned the Xorn bracers. “It is time for a council of war. Not that all….” He glanced to Basu and visibly shuddered. “Any who can fight are welcome. The foreigners will hold their own.”
“How long until the Domain Gates open?” Kaden asked Trella.
“Probably a few hours.” She pointed south. “Follow me. I wanted to hunt here, but I’ll settle for destroying anything in our way.”
It wasn’t even a fair fight. The Domain was utterly unprepared for a party with undead summons, beasts, deceptions and a pair of mages with deadly attacks. Garm began ranging forward and locating spawns that were only tangentally on the way to the gate Trella had selected.
Which was the home spawn of the giant crabs that had been the first domain beasts Kaden hunted.
“Stand back,” Sevin said. “Let me show you Skully’s true power.” At his urging, the giant skeleton lurched forward toward a giant crab. Fifty feet away, he ripped finger bones from his ‘beard’ and hurled it at the nearest crab—then tore at his own ribs, shearing off two flat bones Kaden recognized as [Skeledeer] bones that had been shaped.
Shaped into swords sized for Skully.
“Dodge and slice!” Sevin ordered from inside Skully’s rib cage.
Skully waited until the monster crab was right on top—then lunged forward, smashing his skull into the crab’s left mandible, then dropping to one knee as the claws closed behind him and the crab shrieked in pain.
“I said dodge! At least cut! You’re making me look bad!” Sevin dropped out of Skully and landed on his feet, a spellbook in hand. “[Necrotic Rot!]”
A black spot grew from the damaged mandible, spreading across the crab’s shell as Skully dropped his bone swords, grabbed the nearest leg and ripped, snapping it off, then swinging it like a club to smash one leg after another.
“Fine. Just smash them.” Sevin stood back as Skully charged the other crabs.
Just as the bruiser arrived, Trella burst into existence, a pair of deceptions spreading out to confuse and distract the other three. Ashi worked with plain storm mana, using [Lightning Bolt] to stun crabs in a rotation that left them locked in place while Skully moved from crab to crab, breaking legs.
“Your [Ulf Ravager] isn’t contributing at all,” Sara said.
[Beast Soul] translated Garm’s growl, but no one was tearing out anyone’s throat, unless it was a crab. Kaden tried to convince the [Ulf] to let it go. “Wait until we find soft targets. Something that isn’t literally encased in armor.”
In minutes, the crabs lay wrecked. Two stone pillars jutted from the ground marking where the domain gate would be, and while he waited, Kaden explained the plan. “We won’t be able to establish the Outpost next to Samuel, but I don’t want it on the only FarPortal, either. I say we head to the [Ice Gorger]’s lair and establish it there. Let it be our first line of defense.”
“I have more mana now. I can shape the caves,” Ashi said.
Sevin spent half an hour attempting to resurrect a crab before blasting it with [Necrotic Rot]. “We will kill this [Ice Gorger]?”
“Absolutely not.” Kaden saw no reason to attack it when it could be the reason Samuel’s forces didn’t even consider looking. “We lure it out, portal into its lair, have Ashi create us a lower level, and establish the Outpost underground. First, they’ll have to figure out where we are. Then, deal with an Ambush Boss.”
“I will lure,” Sevin said.
Trella gave him a gaze that said he’d made a mistake—before she relented. “Fine, we’ll lure. Eve debuffs, Kaden and Ashi will handle the tunneling. Sara?”
“I have to get to a Guild, preferrably in the largest city I can find. It’s time I taught Samuel the Lesson of the Strong.”
That gave Kaden pause. “You’re assuming Samuel didn’t take over the Resyr village and the FarPortal. It’s what I would do.”
“Then it seems Trella will have to lure on her own. I will ensure you are not ambushed.” Sevin wasn’t asking permission.
The ground beneath Kaden’s feet shook slighly, and between the columns, blue doors snapped into existence, swinging open. He took the lead, engaging [Stealth Aura] and with Garm beside him, sprinting through the gate.
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Darkness engulfed the wastes of the North as Kaden lumbered out of the gate, ready to turn the tables on anyone who might be hunting for Domain Essence. Instead, thin rods of gleaming platinum hemmed in the gate in a hexagon.
[No-Touchum Rod]
The No-Touchum Rod is used to establish a boundary which cannot be crossed from either side. Each additional No-Touchum Rod will increase the strength of the boundary to a maximum of one hundred and sixty-four billion, at which point every inch of space is covered by No-Touchum Rods and there’s no room for ‘outside’ or inside, there is only rod. In rod we trust.
Kaden pushed against the boundary. A wall of yellow mana flared into existence, releasing as he let off. “Ashi, can you undo this?”
“It is an artifact, not a spell,” she answered. “Perhaps Wren could modify it. I have never heard of such an artifact, but if Samuel can create objects, it is likely his work.”
Seven kneeled down, pressing his hand to the ground. “I have heard of such skills. They require great focus and attention to produce artifacts that handle all conditions. Skully?”
The behemoth flung a finger bone upward. Far above, yellow light flashed and the bone bounced back to disappear in the snow.
Ashi drifted forward, emitting a deep brown glow. “This barrier reacts to spells. Anything I use against it may be thrown back at us.”
“Dig,” Sevin said, stepping back so Skully could approach the barrier. “All my creations, dig! Dig down deep in the earth, where darkness reigns and all living—”
“What have I said?” Sara asked. “What have I said about long-winded speechs glorifying darkness and death and ending in maniacal laughter?”
“Not to.” Sevin stepped back. “I wasn’t going to do the laugh.”
“I’m sure you weren’t.” Sara watched as the undead horde scraped relentlessly at frozen earth until a shallow furrow lead under the yellow mana-wall. A wall which stopped at the base of the rod, two feet under the earth.
“Here goes nothing.” Trella activated [Shadow Arc], the most advanced form of [Shadow Step] she possessed. She plunged into her own shadow, which raced forward through the narrow path and emerged upward like the shadows hurled her.
Trella’s Dark Deceptions stepped out from behind her and grabbed the first [No-Touchum Rod]—and exploded into nothingness as a trap triggered. “Damnit, I should have sensed that. Why did I not sense that trap?”
Skully continued to dig, and Kaden worked with him, until the shallow furrow was a lot larger. Kaden squeezed under, joing Trella. “Have you figured out what the defense is?”
“Not through [Identify]. Whatever this is, it’s specifically meant to keep people from removing the rods. And it’s specifically hiden from people who would look for it. See that?” Trella pointed to a silver band at the top of the [No-Touchum Rod]. “I think it’s separate. A specifica artifact build to protect the rod.”
From the other side, Ashi hovered up. “The mana required to do this has thinned the air. These rods are ab sorbing ambient mana to perform their function.”
“That was [Lethal] damage,” Trella added. “A lot of [Lethal]. Even Skully would be affected by that.”
[Mana Drain] didn’t work on inanimate objects. But Kaden had a second idea. “[Mana Spike]. I’ll charge up a [Mana Spike], hit the rod, then grab it.”
“The Tun sent several scouting parties. All the domain gates have barriers,” Sara said, sending messages back. “We’re going to have to remove more of these.
“Eve?” Kaden asked. “I’m going to need over-healing. Ashi, is there any way you can siphon off mana?”
Ashi unwound her wraps, leaving only her [letydir]. Her skin shifted to blue, then took on strands of golden as she tore mana from the air. “Hurry.”
Kaden braced himself as Eve activated [Life Transfusion].
His health rocketed upward, and he chose his target, ready with the [Levicon Blade].
“That’s it!” Eve called.
Kaden leaped forward, joined by a pair of Deceptions. He slashed at the ring as Ashi began to shine like a beacon.
The ring arced out to strike the deceptions, buying a split second for his [Mana Spike] to crush into it. Ashi fell from the sky as the ring siphoned ambient mana. Sparks blew out. The [Levicon Blade] could not fail to cut, and it did, slicing deep into the ring—
A thunderclap struck Kaden.
You have suffered 5,800 points of [Lethal Damage] (I Said Don’t Touchum Ring).
You have suffered a crippling strike.
Pre-existing injury selected for crippling strike (Right Hand).
Your skill with [Resist Lethal] has increased x2.
Kaden fell to the ground, his ears ringing, his breath coming in gasps. Spots filled his vision and ringing drowned out every voice. It didn’t drown out Garm licking his face. Kaden hadn’t died, though the difference had been Eve doubling his health—and his [Resist Lethal] skill.
Trella grasp his hand and spoke in [Rogue] code. *Sevin says Lethal has side effects. Just lay still. The barrier is down, and he’s experimenting to see how to control it.*
Kaden’s health stuttered upward as Eve switched between removing debuffs and raising his health. His right hand, burned by sheer mana, had been weak before. Now it barely flexed. “The hand?”
“That’s a Centurion class debuff,” Eve sounded like she stood a thousand paces away, but her grimace said what her true thoughts were.
“Health first, then.” [Dizzy] passed, letting Kaden sit up.
Somehow he’d wound up twenty feet from the barrier—but everyone else was out. Sevin directed Skully as he placed the rod—then picked it up and moved it, changing the shape of the barrier.
“My undead army and I have a plan,” he said. “When the barrier is down, the rods don’t attack. It takes three to form a barrier, but there’s a fascinating weak spot in the design of this artifact.” Sevin glanced to Skully, who reset a square of rods.
The yellow barrier flashed into existence, and those evil rings glowed.
Sevin approached, standing six feet away. He planted his rod, the one with the damaged ring. The barrier snapped outward, forming a triangle on top of the square. Skully slowly lumbered closer.
“Watch.” Sevin grasp his rod and picked it up. The barrier snapped back to a square, leaving Skully outside. “We have a way to get people out. And if the ground beneath a rod is removed, it will tip and be removed from the set. The protection rings don’t activate if it’s not part of a barrier.”
He moved rod to rod, letting Skully chip at frozen ground until it fell over. The first fell inward, and the barrier re-established itself, but with the second, the entire system collapsed. Sevin removed rings. “These are dangerous. Near deadly.”
“Priceless,” Sara said. “Collect them all. You’ll need to spread out and break all the others, but don’t leave behind a single rod or ring. This has to be costing Samuel to create this much equipment of this calibre.”
“It will be done,” Sevin said. “I will go with you to the FarPortal, then break the barriers on all the domain gates. If anything attacks me, perhaps I can fashion it into a better digger.”
Kaden evaluated their position. “Garm can accompany Sara to the FarPortal. She’ll look alone but if anyone attempts to attack, he’ll turn the tables. You head to the nearest domain gates, free the Tun scouts and teach them how to repeat our trick. And take it all. Samuel’s little guard system will just disappear.”
“Eve, Ashi and I are with you,” Trella said. “I hate that notification.”
Kaden reviewed his—and found one he detested.
You have entered a zone of provisional authority (Sammyland, Capital, Samville, Head Sambo: Samuel).
Provisional Authority may be challenged for 23:52:01..
You must have standing to challenge Provisional Authority.
“How did he do this?” Kaden asked Eve. “You know more than the rest of us about…stuff like this.”
“I’ll explain as we go. We should move quickly, the sooner we challenge, the better.” Eve headed off into the night.
“This way.” Kaden waited paitently for her to head off into the night in the right direction.
Within minutes, he understood the basic concepts, he’d seen them at play in the Buried City, where people contested with gnomes for control. Establishing a Kingdom was a matter of receiving a blessing, skill, talent or item that let one establish [Authority]. The usual title was ‘King’ or ‘Queen,’ though the title didn’t truly matter. If no one counteracted it, the System would establish an area of [Authority] that could grow.
Less than an hour later, Kaden held up his hand for the party to slow. “It should be here, but [Beast Soul] isn’t sensing anything.”
“It is an Ambush Boss, is it not?” Ashi stood next to him.
Kaden focused on the memory, and demanded a portal into existence. The reek of death swept through even as Kaden’s portal twisted and bent. But not before he spotted the frozen corpse of the [Ice Gorger]. And the feebly moving [Shield] still pinned in its jaws.
With skill he’d never had, Ashi dissolved his Portal and created one of her own. A ball of red mana blasted into existence, showing the carnage in its lair. “You said the [Ice Gorger] killed the [Shield].”
“Different [Shield].” Kaden stepped through. “Who are you. Why did you kill this boss? It didn’t have any treasure.”
“Please.” The man spoke through broken lips.
Eve kneeled, putting a hand on him. “[Grievous Wounds]. I can’t heal all of this. Get its fangs out of his body and I can let him speak.”
Kaden activated [Field Harvest], dissolving the corpse. “Who are you? Why did you come here?”
“Party. Sam. Best gear ever. Not. Even Twenty five.” The man wheezed as Eve healed his lungs.
“And this terrible beast was for experience?” Ashi asked.
The man shook his head. Every word took a different breath. “Recover the rings. Sam needs old gear to make new gear quickly.”
“The spell-vampire rings.” Kaden had only recovered two. “Why did they leave you here?”
“Took my equipment,” he said through tears. “[Resist Cold]. Can’t die.”
Trella acted before anyone could, driving an [Inkblade] through his heart and twisting it. “I’ll store his corpse. If he can be resurrected and healed when this is over, so be it. Ashi, you feel like doing some stone work?”
Ashi was already hovering, clutching her spellbook. She shifted to geo-mana, tapping stones in a pattern. “Each time, the spell shifts. Eventually, it must settle on [River of Stone]. When it does, I will work.”
The earth ahead of her collapsed, falling inward. For a moment the stone incandesced, then cooled as a set of stairs molded themselves. Ashi floated downward with Kaden right behind her. Stone swelled and twisted, creating cut-backs and chambers, a second set of stairs and a deep pits.
Sweat covered Ashi’s face as she forced the spell to warp stone further and further. Kaden had once hired a Geomancer to seal a snake pit and the man took hours for what Ashi was doing in minutes—and paying the price for. The drops of sweat turned red and froze in mid-air. Stone didn’t groan, but air whistled by as pockets opened deep beneath them. The mana Kaden offered via [Mana Well] was absorbed—and spent—in seconds, and yet the spell continued.
The air itself grew heavy and thick, and yet Ashi hovered, her eyes unfocused, but her body surrounded by geo mana. Ashi screamed words in Vichorean, clenching her fists. The dungeon core embedded in her abdomen glowed brighter, so bright it formed spots in his eyes. Kaden would have sworn a second voice joined hers, echoing the words in an older language, a language that rivaled that of creation.
Deep in Kaden’s soul, something resonated.
For one brilliant moment, the world twisted around Ashi. The earth itself roared in agony. The ground rumbled and shifted and shook—and then an eerie silence fell over the underground complex.
