Chapter 3: The First Boss
Travelers who retire to become scholars of the guild often talk about the price of power, the responsibility of power, and its corrupting influence. Traveling and its rewards can be an addictive, adrenaline-fueled rush. Understanding the pitfalls are important for your and others’ wellbeing. You should also remember that those scholars are also guilty of survival bias. Every traveler who talks about power is only around because they grasped as much as they could as they dragged themselves through unimaginable danger back to Earth. Each of us has been irrevocably corrupted by our experiences…so to answer your question, that is why you have refresher quizzes on the syllabus before and after each holiday.
-A Traveler’s Guild professor responding to student questions on the class syllabus for Intro to World Studies
The tunnel opens to a much larger domed room about one hundred meters in diameter. The entire way in the water had slowly risen to just above my ankles, but now the water in the room before me is four feet deep at its center. The depth tapers off as it moves from the center until the water is two feet deep at the edge. In the middle, a blue-scaled fish person fiddles with a stick. I’m a little taken aback as I look on.
I’m not keen on wading into deeper water in a dungeon full of nightmarish creatures. With slow, deliberate motions, I put the sword away and pull out the bow I looted. There are stalactites and stalagmites growing on every damp surface around the cave like a fanged mouth, and I move behind one to hide as I line up my shot. With careful aim, I lift the bow and pull the string taut to my cheek. After lining up my shot, I let go, and feeling as much as hearing the thrum as the arrow lands about halfway between me and my target. I freeze, but the merfolk creature doesn’t even respond, oblivious to my poorly aimed shot.
I’m lucky, but I will take advantage of my luck as long as it can hold out. I let a second arrow fly, and it lands in the water. Much closer to my target, but still a clear miss. I waste no time nocking another arrow on my bow. The monster turns to look at me just in time to receive an arrow through its shoulder. The creature lets out some guttural warbling sound before waving its arms in a rhythmic, swaying pattern. I feel a gentle suction from the water, like at the beach when a wave is being pulled out. I ignore the gentle pull of the water, shooting arrows as fast as my arms will allow. A little part in the back of my head is confused about what the creature is trying to accomplish. The suction of the water is nowhere near enough to affect me; I can see how I’d be struggling a bit if I were deeper, but there is no way this would be lethal. So why is it continuing to stand still as I shoot at it?
I land a second arrow in its chest and pump a fist in celebration. It screeches and glares at me before shoving its hands forward. I curse when the reality of the situation sinks in. The water had pooled in the center of the room and is now rushing forward. The water crests over two meters as it surges forward. The water itself is not a problem. What will be a problem is the sharp columns of rocks that the water will lift me into. With the water at the center of the room, my feet are on dry sand, and I book it. My heart is hammering in my chest as my feet pound sand. From the corner of my eye, I can see the water closing in far too fast, and I hear the rush of it coming.
Fortunately, I can dive out of the way, so I’m not at the center of the onslaught of water. As I dive to one side, I splash into water that barely covers my head. Unfortunately, diving onto the ground makes it difficult to brace myself when the wave rebounds off the wall. I spin and fight the pull as I get to my feet, dripping and covered in wet sand. I have kept hold of my bow, but the spin has caused my arrows to go everywhere. I snatch a handful of arrows that are close.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the merfolk’s hands glowing blue as the water starts to pool again. Three arrows in hand, I line up a shot and release the string. As soon as the arrow is loosed, I book it again. As I observe the merman, it looks like casting the magic to create the wave takes a lot of effort and concentration. I have no intention of making whatever magic it’s doing any easier. The thing jabbers and swirls its hands as the water crests beneath it, raising it meters into the air. This time, my eyes are focused on it, so I see it point its webbed hands a little bit in front of me. I dig my heels into the sand to turn the other way.
This time, I’m far out of range by the time the scaley creature does its strange magic wave. I fire another arrow, grazing its arm with a nasty gash. I smile in triumph until I realize I have no more arrows. I knew I had more in my quiver before it emptied in the dive I took from the first wave. I look around, trying to see if there are any nearby, but while the faintly glowing moss gives adequate visibility to see my opponent, it makes finding the slender arrows an impossible task.
I put the bow around my chest again and pull out the sword. I continue to move on the outside of the room as I watch the wave bounce back to the center. The merfolk watches me warily and points for the wave to strike out again. As soon as I see it moving toward me, I sprint. I easily dodge the wave and turn to close with the merfolk. It doesn’t take long for me to realize my mistake. When I’m about a third of the way to the creature, the wave is already back to the center.
The merman hastily does its water magic dance again, and I see a gleeful, malicious look in its slitted yellow eye. It points, and the wave rushes to me. Committed, I dive through the wave, coming out on the other side. My gambit pays off as I pick myself up from the sticky sand and resume my sprint. As I get close to the merman, it readies its webbed hands tipped with sharp talons and thrusts one claw forward. Unfortunately for it, it’s not very agile in shallow water, and its swipe is clumsy. I easily deflect it and stab into the creature. I feel the foreboding water rushing under my feet and realize it’s now or never. If I’m caught in the middle of the room, the creature will be able to trap me in a wave, swim circles around me, or maybe just get the water at the center to drown me. I see the blue aura around the creature and feel the water drawing me to the floor like a riptide.
I panic as my head goes under the water. I push off the sandy bottom and open my eyes to see the merfolk just overhead. I reach up and grab its leg, pulling it down as I blindly stab it with the sword. I continue to stab until I feel the burning in my lungs. I jump up with all my might and break the surface to get a lungful of air. To my elation, floating on my right is the dead body of the dungeon boss, and as I blink the salty water from my eyes, I can see the subtle red light of unread notifications, which will confirm my victory. The battle was a close call, but in the end, I triumphed. If the merfolk had taken longer to die, I would have been done for. I celebrate my victory by taking another deep, heaving breath of the sweet, humid air before allowing myself to lean back to float in the pool of water.
I feel the notifications flashing, so I start going through them one at a time.
As soon as the quest rewards are shown, I get a few more notifications about the affinities being unlocked. Each choice of affinity has a corresponding magic and spell I can unlock. The earth affinity will unlock a type of abjuration magic, a spell form that creates an earthen armor. The wind magic will unlock an enchantment magic, a spell form that would make me faster. The water magic will unlock a healing magic, a healing spell form.
It's interesting thinking back to the fights as I progressed through the dungeon and how each spell seemed to correlate with one of the creatures I fought. The crab’s exoskeleton made it almost impossible to hurt the monster. If I chose Earth, I could summon armor that would make me as difficult to kill as the crab. It might even have spikes that I could use to brutal effect. That would be a great boon if I were to continue fighting adversaries at close range.
The snake flying at my face didn’t appear like a creature with magical abilities, but it was absolutely terrifying. Having enchantment magic that lets me move rapidly could end any fight before it started. The healing magic would also be a powerful tool in the arsenal. Given enough time, the snake that was healing could continue to come back to get me. If it had venom or caused enough bleeding, I would be vulnerable while it recovered to peak condition. Each spell would increase my chances of surviving in different ways. Now I need to decide whether I want the extra defense, speed, or recovery.
After pondering my choices, I chose the water affinity and the healing spell form. I was originally leaning toward the other spells since they would prevent me from being hurt in the first place, but I remembered that not all damage would come from combat. As an EMT, I have seen too many accidents to disregard what a boon magical healing would be. What if I burn myself starting a fire, am poisoned, or fall sick? My father is no longer around to call when I’m in over my head, though he has not been around for a while. I need to plan for the worst as I trek it out alone. I’m not sure the healing will cure all the situations I thought of, but I will be more flexible having chosen the healing. I also plan to use my darkness affinity to put an army between me and any adversary. At least I will once I learn how to use my necromancy.
I see a flash of light at the entrance to the domed room and two rope sandals waiting for me. I walk over and strap my feet in.
It’s strange feeling the magic of the sandals take hold. My feet feel like they glide through the water as I walk. After trying out my new sandals, I continue through my notifications.
The level up is nice, but I continue reading before allocating my points.
During my battle with the merman, I did not get away unscathed. I have several minor cuts from running and rolling in the sand, in addition to the other wounds from being tossed about. So, with the notifications out of the way, I look back at the holographic screens to spend the rewards of my level-up. I have water magic affinity and healing magic; these rewards are very similar to my shadow affinity and necromancy magic. The spell form is new, and I wonder if this is the key to utilizing my new magic. If the spell form allows me to use my healing magic, I will be one step closer to using my necromancy magic. Floating in the water, I concentrate on the spell form and feel like I’m using a new muscle. The cuts and scrapes itch with growing intensity. I open my eyes to see the process, but by the time I do, my wounds are healed.
With the few wounds I had suffered healed, look around the floor. Several minutes of searching result in a few arrows, but for each arrow I find I know there are more hidden in the many nooks and crannies. I consider trying to harvest material from the floor boss, but it’s a gnarled mess. Before leaving, I allocate my points into charisma, constitution, intelligence, and two into wisdom.
The walk to the exit of the dungeon is short and uneventful. I had hoped to bring the crab meat out with me when I made my way back to the entrance. Unfortunately, everything I had killed vanished. The lack of bodies on the way out means I will need to find food elsewhere.
As I exit, the sun bright overhead forces me to squint and blink. I wonder where to start next when I see a hissing lizard as big as an iguana eyeing me. Not hesitating, I run forward and strike out with my sword. The lizard shimmies back, hissing and clearly not expecting me to charge it. With a quick series of thrusts, I chop up the lizard and get another notification of experience, but no level up.
Having killed the lizard, I decide to scout out the area. I have a quest to survive, and I need to know there isn’t anything nearby that will be a threat. The area around the cave has sparse trees, enough to prevent rampant growth of weeds at their roots, but thin enough to let me easily see for five hundred meters or more. This makes scouting and staying away from more of the overgrown territorial lizards easy. I plan to hunt them later for leveling and food, maybe even make some armor from their scales, but for now, I will only scout. Most of the forest blends into an endless landscape of trees and shrubs. I spend considerable effort making sure to stay low and not step on leaves or branches to remain hidden. My excursion does have some benefits; I get a new skill.
Despite not being able to tell the terrain apart, I do have a general sense of where the dungeon is and keep close by. I scout by walking in sweeping arcs, back and forth from the entrance of the dungeon, until in the distance I can see a figure moving through the foliage. It looks like a person, but I can’t tell for sure since they’re covered in a cloak. I move to follow them from a distance and would have lost sight if not for the three goblins trudging behind.
After following the figure for a mile, I realize they are beeline straight for the ritual site I woke up in. Their unerring path worries, letting me know they are familiar with the area.
If she knows about the ritual site, there are probably others who also know about the area. I hoped everyone associated with it had perished despite the quest telling me otherwise. I watch from behind a tree, from my closer vantage, I can make the outline of a woman under the cloak. She motions animatedly in front of the glassed pit, and the goblins head off in different directions. I watch as they go, dragging their feet and more focused on fighting with each other than on anything in the forest. It’s clear they’re not motivated by whatever the figure said. The figure does not stay long but moves to head back the way they came.
I slowly follow behind, keeping back as far as I can while remaining hidden. Without the goblins trudging and making noise, it’s harder to follow her from a distance. I feel safe keeping back three hundred meters, and with the way she travels in a straight line, I’m confident I won’t lose her trail. Slipping through the trees, I see her go into a camping site. I circle the camp a few times and wait to see if anyone else will arrive. Waiting in the bushes, I check my notification again. I see two stealth level-up notifications, but a new quest notification chills my blood.
With that notification, I know I need to make a move. Looking over at Morgana’s wispy form, I wonder who else could be in the camp. I don’t think she’ll be able to help me in combat, considering my hand phased through her, but maybe she can scout for me.
I lean over to whisper to her, “Can you take a look and tell me if there is anyone else in the camp?”
Morgana does not acknowledge me; she wordlessly floats off into the distance. I huddle behind the tree, trying to keep small and out of sight. A few minutes later, Morgana is back.
“There is no one else in the camp, only the elf woman. She is by the campfire.”
I nod, then slowly approach the camp as the last vestiges of sunlight disappear over the horizon. With slow, deliberate steps, I approach from the shadow she casts by the firelight. I hear the pop of the firewood. I grab a log from the stack of chopped firewood, hoping to knock her out. If I can get some answers, then maybe I can complete at least one quest here and now.
She never even moves as I swing the log with all my might. Her body sprawls beside the campfire, and I see some blood matting her hair. I run my fingers over the wound. I don’t feel any breaks in the bone, but being a head wound, it bleeds profusely. I’ll try to heal her, but first I need to tie her up.
I turn to Morgana. “Morgana, please keep guard and let me know if anyone approaches.”
I began flitting through the camp. It consists of two smaller tents and one extravagant tent. The two smaller tents contain supplies, small packs with a few rations and waterskins, but the larger tent has chairs, a chest, and a large table. I find some rope in the larger tent, and a few minutes later, the woman is tied to one of the chairs around the table.
Once she is secured, I start healing her. I close my eyes, trying to imagine the feeling I had back in the dungeon. I focus, but nothing happens. Thinking back to my time in the cave, I remember that I was submerged in the water when I was healed. I reach for one of the waterskins and pour some on her head. I try again to feel the pull of mana, and as I feel that phantom muscle working, I watch her skin knit back together. She doesn’t wake when the wound heals, so I move to the tables to investigate. Before I do, I get a notification, which I examine.
I dismiss the notification and resume searching the table. It’s covered in papers, books, and symbols I cannot understand. As I shuffle through the papers, I hear a groan of pain from the elf.
I remain calm as I say, “Ah, you’re finally awake.”
The elf jerks at my words. She sits up straight with a snarl before spitting and speaking in a foreign language, probably the same one as on the sheets of paper. I spend another twenty minutes trying to communicate, but realize it’s useless. She doesn’t seem to understand what I’m saying. I could continue to try to communicate, but I don’t think I can make a breakthrough before someone else comes looking for her. In my cold, logical lizard brain, I know the only way for me to be safe is to kill her. She is hunting me, and the slit throat of Morgana’s corpse, the first thing I saw since I woke up in this world, nothing good would come from being caught.
I look over at the woman. She’s glaring at me. I can see the heat in her eyes, but I’m a healer. I don’t have it in me to kill her while she’s defenseless. I still have time to figure out what to do with her, so I keep her tied up. Sighing dejectedly at the decision I know I will need to make, I decide to get some sleep to make the choice with a clear head. It’s well past dark, and no one has returned to the camp. It may not be the smartest move, but I am wrung out and exhausted from my first day after dying. I take one of the smaller backpacks, stuff it full of rations and five water skins, then exit the big tent to find a place to sleep that doesn’t have an angry elf. I ask Morgana to keep an eye on the woman and the camp before moving to one of the smaller tents.
Some might have taken a different approach were they in my shoes. Maybe with a clear head, I would have left the camp instead of lying down in one of the tents, but nonstop adrenaline-fueled combat has my thoughts hazy and my eyelids heavy. Entering through the flaps, I lay on a mat that provides some small barrier between me and the cold ground. I look up at the top of the tent, staring as I think over the day and wonder how I will fall asleep knowing I have people hunting me. The creatures I fought, the quests warning me of dangers, and the things looking for me weigh heavy on my mind. Before I register it, my vision fades as I drift to sleep.
