Wild Era, Ch 28: First Camp

It took Kelin about an hour to find the first camp in the dungeon. 

Along the way, he ran into several more patrols of stronger skeletal forces, which let him experiment a bit more with soul spells against the mages and spearmen.

The dungeon was continuing to send them at him steadily, and after the third group, he gained enough experience to reach Level 53. 

It brought his Intelligence to 459, which was over double his Aura, so he added the five free points to that for his soul energy and took it to 205.

The camp was a small walled fort. It was about three hundred feet wide on each side, creating a stone-walled square. Its walls were ten feet high with rough crenellations at the top, and there was an arched gate on each side.

When he caught sight of it, he camouflaged himself and climbed into the branches of a tree to get a look at the interior. Combined with what Gaius was able to tell him, he got a good idea of its inhabitants.

There were a few small buildings inside the camp and a stone hall at the center, all of which hosted about forty undead. Two dozen or so undead spearmen and scouts were on the walls, while another dozen and more mages and warriors wandered around between the buildings.

Inside the hall, he could sense a few stronger presences, but Gaius wasn’t able to identify them at this distance. Whatever was in there, it was probably guarding the runestone that the dungeon information had mentioned.

His mana sight showed him a tracery of runes across the walls that reinforced their structure and the equipment that the skeletons had here was slightly better than before, with a higher quality of bone and enchantments. 

In his soul sight, the entire area was filled with grey mist and he could see darker flames of necrotic energy in all of the undead, which suggested they were a higher level than the wandering ones he’d run into before. 

He pulled out a few talismans and held them in his left hand. Then he began to analyze some of the skeletons.

Skeletal Scout, Level 52.

Skeletal Spearman, Level 57.

Skeletal Mage, Level 60.

Everything was a level or two higher than he’d seen before.

The analysis got a sharp reaction from the undead and they began to move. The scouts and spearmen ran to the edge of the wall, their weapons pointed outward as the flames in their eye sockets searched the forest.

Inside, the mages and warriors began to organize as well. Mana barriers sprang up and they formed into small teams as they headed toward the gates.

Kelin took in the changes and then he jumped down from the tree and landed lightly on the ground.

He activated one of the Runic Shield talismans in his hand, forming a barrier across his skin, and then his staff tapped on the ground as he walked toward the camp. 

He stopped about fifty feet away from the gates, which were just starting to open. On the walls, scouts began targeting him and arrows began to rain down on him, but they were deflected by his bracers.

He replied with a mix of soulfire bolts and soul arrows, blasting away one scout after another.

A moment later, a team of skeletal mages and warriors ran out of the gate, heading straight for him. The mages were surrounded by black-tinted mana barriers and the warriors had large two-handed swords.

As soon as they appeared, Kelin shifted his target and soul arrows flew toward the mages. The rainbow-hued spells split through the mana barriers like they were barely there and sank into the mages’ skulls.

A moment later, the mages’ dark energy was consumed by ethereal flames and they collapsed to the ground. 

He sent soulfire bolts searing through the air and the skulls of the skeletal warriors that accompanied them exploded as well, clearing the field.

Behind that group, another team of mages and warriors ran out of the gates and more scouts appeared on the walls. Since the skeletal spearmen couldn’t reach him from that distance, they began to leap off of the wall and run toward him as well.

Within moments, a dozen more skeletons were racing toward him.

Kelin stretched out his arms and raised his staff as he targeted the area directly in front of their advance. A sphere of soulfire appeared around the top of his staff and swiftly grew in size. Then it shot forward.

The sphere whistled as it shot across the distance, and it expanded as it flew until it was several feet across. It struck the ground right in front of the leading skeletons and exploded.

An inferno erupted across the stone ground, instantly evaporating the tiny streams of water that covered the area. It rose a dozen feet high and twenty feet wide, blazing outward into a massive sphere.

Half of the skeletons were inside the blast radius and they staggered back as they tried to shield themselves from the flames, but the intensity of the Soulfire Inferno was extreme. Their bones began to heat up and turn white. 

The necrotic energy in their chests flared outward protectively, trying to shield them, but they howled as it burned away.

Arrows from the walls ripped through the flames as the scouts continued to fire on Kelin, but he ignored them as he sent more soulfire bolts and soul arrows searing across the distance, taking out the mages and then the spearmen and warriors that were behind the others.

They were trying to run around the inferno, but that gave him more time to target them.

A couple of mages ran up onto the walls and necrotic bolts began to fly toward him, but those were also deflected by his bracers.

As he continued throwing soul arrows at the mages, he activated the two talismans he was holding in his left hand, targeting the spearmen and warriors that were running around the inferno.

Two Soulfire Bolts roared into existence as the talismans dissolved into mana, and he released them at the skeletons while he continued casting with his other hand.

They were larger than his standard ones and their mana wasn’t as concentrated, but they shot across the distance and slammed into two of the skeletons that were approaching. 

One struck a warrior and the skeleton’s chest exploded as the bolt ripped straight through it. The other hit a spearman and blasted its head apart in a rain of bone shards.

Kelin felt a sense of satisfaction at that. The talismans were a bit worse than his own spells, but they worked well enough.

There was a large group of skeletons up on the wall now, with a mix of scouts and another four mages that were clustered together, so he created another Soulfire Inferno and hurled it at them.

The top of the wall exploded into a blaze of soulfire that stretched for twenty feet.

As soon as that spell was complete, he shifted his attention back to the area in front of him and began to pick off the remaining enemies that were running in his direction.

Within a minute, the area was clear and he let the flames of both infernos die away.

Half of the area and the wall in front of him were charred black and skeleton bones littered the area. He gave the destruction a slight smile.

That was the nice thing about being a mage. If you had mana and a few good spells, it was a lot of fun to blow things up. 

You just had to make sure you didn’t run out of mana or you’d be a sitting duck.

He’d just eliminated over half of the forces inside the fort, and there was a pause for a moment while the others began to run toward the gate.

He checked his bracers, but they were still at about 80% charged, while his mana was sitting at 60% and his soul energy was at 80%.

He’d used sixteen soulfire bolts, ten soul arrows, and two soulfire infernos, plus the three talismans, for a total cost of 180 mana and 40 soul energy. 

The infernos took thirty mana each, but his efficiency reduced that to just under 25. 

But in that brief exchange, he’d destroyed 28 skeletons: ten mages, eight scouts, six spearmen, and four warriors.

It was a fair trade.

In the remaining wave of enemies, he could sense that some bigger things were coming, so as he waited for them to appear, a rainbow sphere began to gather on his palm. 

Red and yellow sparks ignited above his hand, swirling through the ethereal flames.

Heavy footsteps shook the stone ground as whatever was inside the main building approached.

A wave of skeletons marched through the gate in the wall. There were a dozen of them and a mage on each corner supported black-tinted mana barriers that spread along the formation.

The runes on the skeletons’ equipment burned with a dark light that supported the mana shield and the necrotic energy in their chests flared up in response, showing clear links to the overall structure as they sustained it.

It was the first time they’d used any sort of complicated tactic, especially linked spells, and Kelin studied the connection for a moment before he looked at what was coming behind them.

A moment later, three other undead appeared.

The first was a gnarled, hunched over being with dark, mottled skin and long arms. It was slightly shorter than the skeletons and it had sharp, bony features with tightly-stretched skin. Its eyes blazed with red light and trailed wisps of dark energy. 

Barrow Wight, Level 60.

It was only a slightly higher level than the mages, but the intensity of its necrotic energy was nearly three times as much, showing its higher tier of power. 

It would be faster, stronger, and have more magic than they did. 

Undead had natural powers, from necrotic bolts and paralytic spells to other things, and his analysis of the wight told him that it had all of that and more, from mana shields, to a muscle-freezing howl, speed enhancements, and deadly poisonous claws.

Behind it, there were two other creatures that were much taller. They were twice the height of the wight and their heads almost reached the top of the ten-foot walls. 

They were broad shouldered, muscular creatures with long arms that touched the ground, but their features were skeletal and long, triangular tongues hung out between prominent fangs.

Ghoul Troll. Level 58.

Ghoul Troll. Level 58.

Their eyes blazed with the same red light as the wight, and Kelin could see the soul connection connecting them to the creature as its thralls. 

The trolls had appeared with the other dungeon monsters, but if the undead were allowed to leave this dungeon, the wight would be capable of enthralling other monsters or people, just like it had these two.

With the trolls’ twisted features and the tongues hanging out between their fangs, they looked like they had crazed grins, and the red light in their eyes made them seem like berserkers about to be unleashed.

Kelin gave them a sharp smile in return. 

Then he hurled the Wildfire sphere at the leading skeleton. 

The rainbow sphere shot forward and passed straight through the mana barrier covering the skeleton’s formation. It struck the leading skeletal warrior and exploded against its chest. 

Rainbow flames soared outward, ripping through the warrior’s body and washing over the handful of other skeletons closest to it, including one of the mages on the nearest corner.

The flames sank into them and began to burn, giving rise to ribbons of wildfire that soared upward like tendrils of incense. The wildfire leapt in response to the necrotic energy, using it as fuel as it doubled in size and shot higher.

Within an instant, there was a towering wall of wildfire covering that section of the formation, so bright that it hid the skeletons inside, but Kelin could sense them slowly turning to ash.

It was a different reaction than when he used Wildfire on living things. Here, the energy in the skeletons was fueling the wildfire like dry tinder igniting under a blaze. 

It was even easier for the spell to burn undead than the living.

The wildfire rose to a peak as it consumed all of the energy in the first skeleton and the warrior’s body exploded, sending bone shrapnel and arcs of rainbow flame in every direction. The flames leapt outward, spreading over the skeletons around it.

It wasn’t as powerful of an explosion as when Wildfire destroyed a living soul, and only about half as energetic, but it was enough for the spell to cover the rest of the formation.

For a moment, the remaining skeletons shuddered as they tried to fight the flames. The necrotic energy supporting them flared in response, trying to suppress the wildfire, but the spell only sank into their energy and continued to grow.

A second skeleton exploded, fueling the spread even more, and then a third. Then half of the remaining skeletons exploded at once, giving rise to a wave of flame that flooded over the wight and the ghoul trolls behind it.

The wight had frozen in place with its head turned away and its arm raised as it tried to block the light from its eyes, but now the flames found it. It let out an ear-piercing shriek as wildfire poured over it, and it leapt forward, soaring through the air toward Kelin.

Behind it, the trolls were washed in flame as well, but they slammed their knuckles into the ground as they charged forward, following their master.

Kelin glanced up at the wight as it jumped toward him, but as soon as it did, a bolt of soulfire seared through the air to meet it.

The bolt struck a dark shield across the wight’s body and didn’t manage to break through, but it was enough to send the undead hurtling back through the air toward the wall.

Two more soulfire bolts slammed into the trolls, interrupting their run and rocking them backward on their feet as they stumbled.

That was enough of a delay that the wildfire burning across the remaining skeletons exploded, sending the flames higher, and then rainbow smoke began to rise from the wight and trolls. Their eyes turned the color of the flames as they stumbled.

Flames burned inside of their bodies, making it look like their bones were on fire, and smoking tendrils rose up from their skin and ears.

Then the trolls exploded, one after the other, sending a rain of flame and chunks of charred flesh across the area. Some of it flew toward Kelin, striking his mana barrier with a heavy impact, but he knocked it aside.

The wight was last.

It let out a hiss as it staggered, showing off a long red tongue, but a flare of rainbow light was visible in the back of its throat and its eyes were turning to brilliant shades. 

The undead raised its hand and clawed at the air, sending a final slash of dark mana toward Kelin, but then the flames rose up from within it, and the wight exploded.

Wildfire raged across the field, scorching the bones of the undead as it burned away the last of their energy, but it left the ground and walls untouched.

Kelin reached out and suppressed the spell, forcing it down, and as he did, the backlash washed over his soul, flowing across the wards and enchantments he’d woven into it.

He took control of the rainbow energy, forcing it to follow his will as he wove it into the runes on his soul and used it to strengthen them.

A few minutes passed as sweat broke out on his forehead, but then he was done. His soul burned fiercely, like a warm inferno of its own, and the runes on it hummed with power.

Killing fifteen monsters close to his level wasn’t too much of a strain, and it had sped up clearing the camp nicely. 

His mana was down to 35%, at 163 of 459, and his soul energy was at 56%, at 115 of 205, but the field was clear. 

He couldn’t sense anything else alive in the camp, so he ignited a Soulfire Sigil on the quartz disk and carried it with him as he walked forward to inspect the remains. 

Gaius lent him a hand as he began to sort through the undead, collecting their cores and searching for anything else they’d left behind.

Meanwhile, the sigil helped to boost his mana and soul recovery.

It only took him a few minutes to gather everything from the undead, especially from the wight, and then he walked into the town, chose a random stone building, and sat down inside to meditate.

There was still a runestone to find inside the camp, which was probably in the main building that the wight had come from, but he would find it after he recovered a bit.

The Soulfire Sigil blazed over his head as he turned his attention to the notifications that were ringing in his mind.

Congratulations, Lord of Wildfire.

You have gained 2 Levels.

You are now Level 55.

Your Soulbonded Elemental has also gained 2 Levels.

You gain 2 Wisdom, 6 Intelligence, and have 10 free attribute points to assign.

Kelin took a look at his mana, which was lower after the fight than his soul energy, and he added the 10 free points to Intelligence, taking it to 475. 

Then he took stock of what he’d found on the undead. Unlike with the wandering skeletons, there was a decent amount of loot from the ones in the camp.

Several bits of the gear had small curses on it or were infused with necrotic energy that would harm the living, but he could purge that and some of the enchantments would still function.

There was a bone staff and two bone wands from the mages, a protective bone amulet, and a belt made out of some type of fine leather inscribed with runes that had come from the wight.

The staff and wands were all attuned to necrotic energy, which he couldn’t use, so he stuck them in his storage to study or sell later. 

The amulet was something similar, a defensive focus artifact that used negative energy, so he added it to the stack, but the belt was more interesting.

Wind-Blessed Belt of Speed (Wind Affinity, Uncommon, Professional).

This belt is designed to reduce inertia and hasten the movements of the wearer. It added a 7% haste effect to the wearer. Once per day, it can call upon a Greater Blessing of the Wind and triple the effect for thirty seconds.

Now that was a proper dungeon drop, something that anyone could use. 

He already had a belt that was boosting his Fire magic efficiency, but there was no reason he couldn’t wear another one over the top of it as long as the enchantments didn’t clash.

He slung the belt around his waist, settling it just above the other, and it resized itself to fit.

He couldn’t stack too many pieces of enchanted gear, since eventually the mana flows from the runic patterns would interfere with one another, but this one would be fine.

He didn’t need physical speed as much as a warrior or a rogue would, but it would still help him as a mage, speeding up all of his movements, whether he was running or moving his hands through runic patterns.

Other than that, there were three small mana stones that identified as Medium-Grade Water-Affinity Mana Crystals that had dropped from the skeletons, and two small and dark crystals from the ghoul trolls, which identified as Necrotic Spirit Crystals. 

The spirit crystals were interesting and full of necrotic energy, almost like a condensed form of it. They were mostly pure black, but they had midnight blue hues rippling through the center. 

They might have had something to do with the wight’s control over the trolls, but it was hard to tell.

There was also a bone sword, a spear, and a couple of knives that looked like they weren’t going to disintegrate, but they all had minor curses on them and he had little use for melee weapons, so he tossed them into his storage space to sell with the rest.

Beyond that, there was a decent collection of materials: a dozen vials of necrotic troll blood, the barrow wight’s tongue, fangs, claws, and skin, some strips of undead troll hide, and a dozen or so enruned skeleton bones that had survived the wildfire.

The runes on the bones were the same dark type that had supported the mages’ mana shield, and he figured they were defensive links, but he only kept them because he had the space and he knew the guild would buy them for research.

Most of it could be used for alchemy, poisons, or various other pursuits. The hide and fangs could be turned into more talismans.

Beyond that, he was up to around 94 undead cores now, which would sell decently.

He stored everything away and then focused on meditating to recover his energy. 

A little over an hour later, he dusted himself off and headed to the main building where the wight had been. 

The building resembled a throne room, or perhaps a chieftain’s hall, with a raised chair at the end. The wight had probably been sitting there with the two trolls as its attendants.

A crystalline pillar was just behind the chair. It was carved with runes and its black surface shimmered with midnight blue light. The pressure of a powerful enchantment emanated from it, filling the air like a mental hum that whispered in Kelin’s mind.

It was about the same height and size as a tombstone and it was made of a translucent dark crystal that looked very similar to the necrotic spirit gems. 

He studied it for a moment, sensing the flow of mana around it, and then he pulled out one of the large two-handed swords from the skeletal warriors.

He covered his hands with soulfire to prevent any backlash and then he swung at the crystal with all his strength.

The sword hissed in the air, with dark tendrils forming around it from the curse inside, but it recoiled from the soulfire around his hands. When it struck the pillar, the bone let out a piercing note like it was in pain, but the dark runes on it intensified and it sheared straight through.

The crystal pillar exploded into fragments. Some of them ricocheted away from Kelin’s mana shield, while the others tore across the room and the chieftain’s throne.

As soon as the crystal broke, there was a sense of a thread snapping in the air, and the feeling of a powerful enchantment dwindled away, dissipating into the air. 

He studied the remains for a moment and then nodded as he tossed the sword back into his storage.

If he hadn’t shielded himself and used a weapon that matched the pillar’s affinity, he would have been poisoned by a significant amount of necrotic energy.

There were a number of ways he could have dealt with it, but he’d always preferred the direct approach.

There was a certain satisfaction to smashing things.

He checked the area for anything else of interest, but there was only the remains of the pillar. The crystal fragments were still full of energy as they lay on the ground, each of them now resembling one of the necrotic spirit gems even more.

Analyze described them as Necrotic Runestone Fragments.

There were a couple dozen of them altogether, so he collected them all and then he headed out of the building.

It was time to find the next camp.