Ruthless ~ 39!

~ 39 ~

Joe looked at the six Cores he had managed to obtain, then down at his tattered clothing. “I… I think that was worth it?”

Each of the Cores held thirty-five hundred experience in them, putting them right in the center of the Common ranks. Meanwhile, Joe’s equipment had dropped in durability from the beating he had taken at the paws of the herd, as well as his own attempts to regulate mana flow to his jumping skill. “Ugh… if only that elite would have dropped a Core when it died!”

Durability of Wise Man's Wardrobe: 8/100.

Charging attacks avoided: 30/100. Leave the dungeon to collect your reward!

“Mm. I don’t think the ‘minor self-repair’ function on my wardrobe is going to cut it with this. I should really keep a closer eye on my gear.” Joe sighed as he moved toward the exit. He had killed three dozen Neigh-Bears; increasing Corify to Beginner III, Acid Spray to Apprentice III, Dark Lightning Strike to Beginner IX, and Cone of Cold to Beginner 0. 

He was a little grumpy that he didn't get a bonus for that spell, but when he thought about it; Joe hadn’t ever used the spell in a unique or interesting way, simply casting it as soon as it came off cooldown. Even so, the gains had been really good, and he realized that in order to grow rapidly, he might need to start taking more risks. He couldn't even remember the last time that he had gone to do solo adventuring. 

“There’s always more to learn in this world.” Joe chuckled ruefully. He hadn't seen much of a bonus for increasing his skills in a while, and he was starting to think that he was missing something. Even so, he couldn’t think of what it could be. Stubbornly refusing to look at the gains he had made in experience, since his goal had been grinding skills and collecting Cores, Joe reached out a hand to select to leave the dungeon.

*eeee*.

Joe paused as his ears started ringing softly. “I thought coming into Eternium fixed my tinnitus? Wait, that’s not… oh! That’s my Hidden Sense!”

He had forgotten that he had faintly sensed something when he was here the first time, but hadn't bothered to find what it was. Now, since he had some free time and his Hidden Sense had reached the Apprentice ranks, he was far more aware that something was calling out to him. Joe started walking around, slowly circling the area to find where the noise was the strongest. Bizarrely, he kept returning to the plinth that led to the outside world.

“What is it about you that’s special?” Joe wondered quietly. He started running his hands over the stone, but no matter what he did; Joe could find nothing. In fact, it was really annoying, because every time he touched the plinth, the same question would appear. Finally, he growled, “No, I don’t want to leave right now!”

After searching the plinth, Joe decided that it might not be the object itself: perhaps it was on top of something? He started shoving the stone, but couldn't manage to make it budge. Trying different angles did nothing, so he tried getting up and jumping on it. As soon as he did, a sound of grinding stone filled the area. The entire stone platform that Joe was standing on started to swivel, and Joe would have fallen if he hadn't hopped off the plinth. 

You have followed the instincts that have been granted to you! 

Skill increased: Hidden Sense (Apprentice II).

“The skill went up?” Joe looked at the hole in the ground, it seemed that there was a ramp under the plinth that went down deep, certainly too far to see the end. “But that skill just went up recently? How would it have increased again so…?”

System response: As this is a deity-granted skill, more information is available. Skill ‘Hidden Sense’ increases in skill proficiency via usage that allows you to find hidden things. There is a skill proficiency multiplier that increases skill gain when something hidden has been investigated by others, and still not found. The more people that do not find the hidden person/place/thing, the higher the skill multiplier increases.

“Oh. Handy.” Joe resolved to use this information for when he was searching ruins or something that thousands of people got access to before him. In the short term, he decided to cautiously walk down the ramp and follow along the path. As he was on the lookout for traps and monsters, Joe moved slowly and inspected everything. Still, even as the ramp widened out into a large room, there hadn’t been anything that suggested danger.

Joe stepped into the room, a massive sphere of a room that held a small waterfall, and looked around. It was dark in here, but that was no issue at all thanks to his Darkvision. “This room is empty?”

A small hill near the waterfall suddenly moved, and Joe was suddenly looking into a pair of enormous orbs. No, they had just blinked at him. Those were eyes. The ‘hill’ stood up, and resolved into the single largest Neigh-Bear that Joe had had the misfortune to meet. The creature spoke slowly, carefully. “Room. Not. Empty.”

Staff pointed at the creature, Joe swallowed and barely held off from casting Cone of Cold. “What… who are you?”

“I am Arthur. Warchief of Neigh-Bears.” The huge beast took a few steps closer to Joe, his voice starting to smooth into a more natural cadence. Had he simply not spoken in a long time? “Have you come to help?”

“Help?” Joe was surprised; was he about to get a quest from this behemoth? “What do you need help with?”

“You… it is not known?” Arthur hesitated, then seemed to shrink into himself a small amount. “Rage has clouded the minds of my people; they have become lesser. It was the war between the Centaurs and the Neigh-Bears. Once, we were two sides of a coin. We were the melee fighters, berserkers, and true warriors. They were the fleet of foot mages, the archers, and scouts. At some point, they named themselves our betters, and attempted to make us into nothing more than beasts of war.”

Arthur paused here for a long moment, coughing deeply. Joe took a step forward, wanting to hear more of the story. “Are you ill? I can heal you.”

“No, it is fine; I’m just somewhat horse.” Arthur didn't give Joe a chance to respond to that, launching back into his tale. “We devolved into war. They have range and superior firepower, but we had thousands; neigh, tens of thousands more warriors than they. The battle was decided in an instant, though the Centaur race refused to back down. As we surrounded them and demanded that they stop this madness, their most powerful Warlock sacrificed himself and the remainder of his race to curse us.”

“Are you hoping that I can break this curse?” Joe offered, somewhat unsure how he could go about doing that.

“Are you a fourth-tier Oathmaster, that you would offer to break a curse of this scale so lightly?” Arthur snorted loudly. “I can only ask that you go and relieve my brethren of their lives, that they may have at least some form of peace. Also, please, do not tell others of this great shame. If you do this for me, I will give you a token that can be used to summon me to your side. I promise you; I am a powerful combatant.”

Quest alert: Centaur of a Grizzly War. Kill 100 Neigh-bears without any teammates present. Reward: summoning token. Failure: none. Accept? Yes / No.

“I will happily accept this quest, though I do have a few questions for you.” Joe took a deep breath and got closer to the massive beast. “First, if your race was cursed, how are you still sane? Second, do you mind if I inspect you? I can’t be responsible for accidentally unleashing something on the world that is going to harm others.”

“I will certainly harm others, but only the people you send me after.” Arthur waved at the water flowing behind him. “This water is the only thing that allows me to retain my mind, and I can only be without it for a small time before I fall under the same effects my brothers and sisters have succumbed to. This means that when the allotted time of the summoning ends, I will not just return here happily; I will flee here to regain my thoughts and wisdom. Feel free to inspect me, for it will only reveal the truth of my words.”

Joe nodded, then looked at Arthur with Intrusive Scan. In the next few seconds, information began to appear.

Name: Arthur G. Bearnard

Highest Characteristic: Strength

Active Effects: Force for Good. Cursed (Tier III Insanity, Shifting Alignment). Massive. Thundering Physique. Summonable. Holy Water (03:23:22).

Skill increase: Intrusive Scan (Beginner 0). Sometimes all you need is a willing target! Skill usage time requirements -.5 seconds!

Joe cut off the skill; not only had he seen everything he needed, he was shocked by the massive jump of six skill levels and the bonus for the skill. “I… yes, I will do what I can to help you, Arthur. Is it the holy water that keeps you safe?”

“It is.”

“With alignment shift, does that mean that all other Neigh-Bears are evil at this point?” Joe was nearly done with his questioning, but this was important to him.

“Yes. Currently, all others are evil.”

“Almost finished.” Joe took a deep breath, “That token is to be used in a time of great need, which means you are essentially telling me that by completing this quest, you are offering me an insurance plan. So, my last question…”

“You know, because like a good Neigh-Bear…you’ll be there.” Joe grinned at the huge, confused creature. “Are you wearing Khakis?”