Ruthless ~ 30!

~ 30 ~

“Gas, gas, gas!” Bobby the guard shouted as a wave of charcoal smoke washed toward them. They knew what was coming, they had been close enough to hear the entire conversation.

The street filled with panic as everyone in it tried to avoid the poison that was billowing around. After only two seconds, the guards were swallowed up and trapped in darkness. Only a few seconds after that… the smoke cleared. Bobby looked around frantically, “Everyone okay? What happened to the poison?”

He glanced behind himself, and almost called out as he saw Joe’s team hurrying away. Snorting through his nose, he realized they had been hoodwinked, misled, and possibly bamboozled. “So that was only a smokescreen? Sneaky little…”

Joe was laughing so hard that he had to work to maintain his balance as they moved. “How did you guys come up with something like that in the few seconds I was talking to him?”

“It was easy when I realized that I wanted them to not be able to see us!” Jaxon explained earnestly.

“That was a huge batch of smokescreen that was ripening.” Alexis grumbled. “If it had matured fully, we could have gotten triple the effect for a quarter of the amount.”

“Why have something if you aren't going to use it?” Jaxon queried as they raced toward the looming temple grounds. “Seems like a waste. ‘Oh, I invested in a rare wine. No! Don't even think of opening that bottle!’ See what I mean? Waste of money to have something and not use it.”

“Right, but this was ripening do that we could-”

“Stop right there!” Three men in red robes appeared in front of them with a flash of fire. “The temple is closed, and you may not enter!”

“Who are you to stop us?” Joe demanded.

The man in the middle responded proudly, “We are the inquisition!”

Joe nodded, “Ah. I didn’t expect you…” 

“No one ever does!”

“…to flaunt the law and bar entry, as it is a crime against the kingdom.” Joe finished his sentence.

“Pah! So what? By the time some random people find a way to complain, there will be-”

Joe pointed at his forehead, where the glowing eye signifying ‘Extended Royal Family’ or some such was imprinted. “If I am able to enter the Temple, there will be no reason to bring the full might of internal affairs against the inquisition, will there?”

There was a pregnant pause, where the three men clearly debated rebuffing or outright killing them. “Fine. But know that you have gained unfavorable attention from Elemental Fire.”

Reputation decrease: -200 reputation with Deity ‘Elemental Fire’. New reputation rank: Cautious.

“Well, that seems arbitrary.” Joe glared at the three of them. “You were the ones breaking the law. Shouldn’t followers of Elemental Fire be neutral, not tending towards evil? I think that you are straying from neutrality, if you ask me.”

As Occultatum’s Chosen Champion, you have decreased the reputation of the three followers of Elemental fire by -800. Their new rank with Occultatum: Cautious.

Their eyes bugged out, but Joe was too invested in the fact that he could decrease reputation to listen to any more of their drivel. His party entered the Temple, and a message appeared.

Quest update: The Golden Tome of Divine Favor. You have passed the first bars to entry, getting to the temple by hook or crook! Now that you have stepped in, your party will automatically have the option to teleport to the Hallowed Lands when it opens!

“How dare you enter this place!” A voice bellowed, shaking Joe and his team to their core. There was a massive amount of power in that voice, and… something else. Something that really resonated with Joe. The most graceful man Joe had ever seen stalked toward them, his every motion flowing into the next. There was only one word for this person:

Deadly. 

“I, Aaron Slender, Champion of Elemental Water and High Cleric to the Kingdom, have given orders that this day would be the one day a year the temple was barred to all!” Aaron’s voice, though hissed at them, was loud enough to make them tremble and nearly fall to the ground. Joe glanced up, and saw several parties using this distraction to dash into and out of the temple with grins on their faces. Sneaky…! “I hereby cast judgement upon you for breaking this holy order! Cavitation Prison!”

It seemed that the area was suddenly filled by a tidal wave that converged on their location. Joe’s party was wrapped in a bubble of air, which explosively decompressed.

Damage taken: 0 (3,000 backlashed)

The water vanished, and Aaron dropped to his knees and vomited blood. His eardrums had burst, and his nose and eyes were bleeding. There was even fluid dripping out from beneath his fingernails. Before anyone could speak, a message appeared to all of them.

The Temple of Ardania has long been neutral ground for all Champions. When access to the Hallowed Lands opens, this unwritten law is enforced by the entire pantheon. There will be no attacking each other within these walls.

Aaron collapsed to the ground fully, foam coming out of his mouth along with blood. Joe rushed over and slapped a hand onto the fallen Cleric. “Mend!”

“Joe, what are you doing?” Poppy was shocked at Joe’s instant move to save someone that had tried to kill them.

“This guy isn't a player! If he dies, he’s gone! The kingdom will lose a powerful ally, and he will have died for no good reason!” Joe’s eyes were hard as he used his healing spells as quickly as possible. Aaron’s condition stabilized, and soon he was merely sleeping on the hard stone floor. Joe flopped onto the ground, even as the blood in the area dried and flaked away thanks to his aura. “I think he’s okay, but that was a nasty spell backlash. I wonder how much damage he took.”

“Almost seven thousand, spread over five seconds.” Aaron answered for himself as his eyes snapped open. “I thank you for your assistance, I would have certainly dies here without you. Though I would not have been in the situation if you were not here. Still… I may have been too hasty in my judgement.”

“Clearly.” Poppy called dryly.

“A dozen parties, at least, entered the temple while you were waving at us.” Jaxon told the stricken Cleric. “If Joe weren't the one to be attacked, you would likely have died to one of them from backlash. I doubt they would have cared if you died.”

“I knew that this was a bad idea. We’ve never limited the Hallowed Lands before, why did I let them talk me into this?” Aaron closed his eyes, thinking deeply. Then they snapped open, and locked onto Joe. “What you did for me, after what I tried to do to you, demands compensation. What can I offer you?”

Joe wanted to say that there was no need, but that part of him had slowly been dying in this dangerous world. He gestured at Alexis, “My party member is wearing a cursed ting, and we were hoping that we could find-”

“Done. Cursebreaker.” Aaron waved at Alexis. Nothing happened, so he frowned and tried again. “Greater Cursebreaker.”

The ring on Alexis’ hand screamed as the metal tore and shattered. She screeched as the shrapnel tore her hand up, but Joe was there in a moment to fix the damage. Aaron shook his head, “How odd, that must have been in place for a long time for such a small curse to grow into a greater curse. Still, that does not nearly reconcile our debt.”

“Can we perhaps put that off until after we return from the Hallowed Lands?” Joe asked hopefully. “I have no idea what to ask for, but perhaps I will find something fitting?”

“Hmm. That should be fine.” Aaron sighed and stood. “What a waste of resources… I’m going to go call off those guards. Doesn't matter at this point.”

“That was an odd encounter.” Bard released a huge breath, relaxing as the strange man vanished from the temple. “Joe, while we’re here, why don’ ya scan this buildin’?”

“Oh!” Joe’s eyes lit up, and he pulled out a copy of Architect's Fury. Just before he could use it, a huge red light washed over him. He looked at the message that had appeared, the only time that he had ever seen a message where the text was colored red, and put the ritual away as quickly as he could.

If you use that here, your reputation with all deities not associated with your own will decrease by 5000.

“Whoa.” Poppy clapped a hand on Joe’s shoulder. “We could all see that. Scary. Not great to have a few hundred gods ready to light you up, huh? Straight to ‘Loathed’. Yikes. Good call not using that thing.”

“Look at you!” The voice that called out made Joe’s ears perk up and set a fire inside of him. Sam continued speaking, “You’re like a bad penny, always showing up when I want you gone!”

“Oh, great, the musketeer is back.” Joe scathingly retorted. “Didn’t you learn your lesson last time?”

“Oh, I sure did learn my lesson.” Sam replied coldly, inspecting a rapier that had suddenly appeared in his hands. “Don’t trust someone not to attack you when you are at your weakest, and have spent everything you have on just keeping your team alive. Also, expect that they will rob you at the first opportunity just to take the little you could scavenge from a miserable outing.”

“You were the one that broke their word!” Joe’s voice was cold, no matter how much he wanted to shout.

“A promise given under threat of my friend being murdered was no promise at all. It took an hour for me to get that title removed.” Sam hissed at Joe. “You got shipped to and from the dungeon, we fought for our right to be there! We created a unique situation to tackle the dungeon instead of just acting like all of this is a game! That was our prize, and you stole it out from under us!”

The Hallowed Land calls for Champions! Would you like your party to be teleported? Yes / No.

“Yes.” Both Joe and Sam said at the same time, glaring at each other until they were whisked away. Joe blinked rapidly to clear the spots from his eyes, then looked around at his surroundings. He and his party were seated on couches, and for a moment Joe thought they were in a respawn room. Then torches began to light themselves, starting close to them and rushing into the distance.

Welcome to the Event Dungeon: Hallowed Lands. This dungeon is filled with artifacts that will be of use to anyone with a class relating to the divine. The only exit is death. Though no experience will be lost, this dungeon will be closed to them until reopening in one year. All experience and skill gains will be calculated upon leaving the dungeon. You are only allowed to tackle this area with what you have now. Monster Level will increase by one every hour on the hour. Better start praying!