Healer Book 6 -- Chapter 15

(Just a heads-up, this is the final chapter for my $2 Patrons until the book is complete; after that, the rest of the chapters will be gradually released leading up to its publication on Amazon)

Chapter 15

“There you are!  Hurry, Corinna needs to see you!”

Thaden had just exited his room and made it down to the lobby of the Coalition building when he had been accosted by an unfamiliar individual.  They were in Guilded Glory, but he had to admit that he’d been around so many people in so many different Guilds over the last few months that all of their names and faces had turned into a blur; he might have met the man before, but if he had, then for the life of him, he couldn’t remember.  Given that the Scout Class was Level 301, it was entirely possible that he had even been in one of the Raid Parties that he’d run through a Maximal Difficulty Intermediate Dungeon, but he couldn’t recall.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, even as he rushed out behind the man.

Thaden barely heard him as he passed the Guilded Glory member, feeling a sense of urgency that he couldn’t pinpoint exactly.  “I don’t know!  I’m just the messenger!”

The pre-dawn light was no hindrance to him as he was used to navigating his way through the city to the Guilded Glory headquarters by this point, and he was at the bustling entrance in seconds.  The fact that it was so busy that early in the morning was a bit worrying, as it was usually fairly quiet before the sun came up, and the sense of urgency he’d felt since he’d seen the messenger redoubled.  He did his best to avoid crashing into anyone as he pushed his way inside, before he eventually decided that it would be easier to simply jump over the crowd all the way across the bottom floor, and he landed on the stairs leading up to Corinna’s office.  A second later, he knocked briefly before opening the door, and he saw a half-dozen people clustered around Corinna’s desk, frantically scribbling things on paper as the rapid-fire speech of the Guild Leader overrode everything else.

He once again admired how easily she took charge of others, the natural confidence she displayed at odds with how he knew she could be when things weren’t quite hectic.  Over the last few months, with the both of them spending so much time together once he was done with his dungeons runs for the day, he had become to know her a little better in a bit more… intimate setting – making the last month or so some of the best days he’d every experienced.  Killing monsters, helping power-Level other Contenders, and getting to share some private time with someone else at the end of the night made each day quite pleasant.

Corinna {Guilded Glory}

Human

Level 351

She, similar to most of the Guild leadership among the other Guilds in Region #1, had participated in slightly more than their share of power-Leveling over the last 15 weeks – but no one complained.  The reason they were the in their positions in their Guild leadership was typically because they were some of the best of the best, so it only made sense that these individuals were a little bit higher Level than the others.  It wasn’t as if there were many Contenders that hadn’t participated in one of his Raid Parties left in the Region, after all, so no one had anything to worry about. 

Originally, he was only able to handle power-Leveling 12,000 Contenders a week as he brought them through Maximal Difficulty Intermediate Dungeons, but that expanded to about 40,000 a week once they learned that they could expand the Raid Party numbers to 300 to 400, depending on what was allowed in each specific dungeon.  It also helped that they managed to discover that 4 additional dungeons had monsters that just barely qualified for PICK and they were added to his normal rotation.  In fact, he had delved through all 13 dungeons so many times that the only reason that some of them took more than 30 seconds to complete was because some of the Contenders in the Raid Parties weren’t able to keep up with his speed.  He’d run the same route around the Region every day that he’d worn a path in between dungeons, allowing him to travel even faster with fewer obstacles in his way. 

He'd even maxed-out his PICK-enhancing Growth set at Level 450 and had to swap to another new set, which was nearing Level 400 already.  Even with the amount of PICK he was acquiring, he found that after Level 300 or so, it took forever for each one to gain a Level; it required even more PICK than he expected, but it was certainly worth it.

Experienced Leaching Robe of the Grand Shepherd (+5 AMP)

Rarity: Artifact

Imprinted User Restriction: #32599999-E

Level Restriction: 450

Physical Damage Resistance: 301 (+1,505)

Magical Damage Resistance: 645 (+3,225)

Durability: Indestructible

Special Properties: Growth

+225 Physicality (+1,125 Physicality)

+142 Celerity (+710 Celerity)

+156 Mentality (+780 Mentality)

+125 Personality (+625 Personality)

+137 Fortuity (+685 Fortuity)

+50% (+250%) increase in all spell effectiveness while in a party

+0.5% (+2.5%) decrease in all spell Mana cost, cooldowns, and casting times for each current party member

+0.25% (+1.25%) increase in all PICK earned by all party members

Set Bonus (2): +35% (+150%) to all damage you inflict while in a party, Fortuity/500 % chance for all damage to be doubled (+5 times) (AMP set 5)

Set Bonus (5): All previous Set Bonuses; +90 (+450) to Physicality, +60 (+300) to Celerity, +60 (+300) to Mentality, +60 (+300) to Personality, +60 (+300) to Fortuity (AMP set 5)

Set Bonus (8): All previous Set Bonuses; with each consecutive party member, each member of your party automatically heals for and gains damage mitigation equaling 0.01% (+0.05%) of the damage you do inflict (AMP set 5)

Set Bonus (11): All previous Set Bonuses; each instance of PICK accumulation for you and each member of your party has a Fortuity/6,000% chance to be tripled (Chance triggered +4 times) (AMP set 4)

While the stat bonuses of the Level 450 items hadn’t improved all that much, and were objectively worse than his solo-focused Growth set even at about half the Level, the bonuses to PICK accumulation made it worth it.  The base 0.25% increase in PICK accumulation, when multiplied by his AMPs and all of the items he possessed, meant that everyone was getting a 16.5% increase in all PICK that they received.  Then there was the final Set Bonus, which had about a 4% chance at every instance of PICK accumulation to have it tripled, and that chance triggered an extra 4 times.  Thankfully, even though it affected everyone, it was based on his Fortuity; if it was based upon the other Contenders’ Fortuity, it would rarely trigger; unfortunately, even if someone got lucky at each chance for it to trigger, the PICK only tripled once instead of multiple times.  It would’ve been even better if that hadn’t been the case, but it was still amazing enough that he didn’t complain.

Thaden listened in to what Corinna was saying before she looked up and saw him after he entered.  “—have to send at least two 100-Contender Raid Parties to the Wall and—Thaden!  Good, you’re here!”  She turned to the others and shooed them off after giving a few brief orders, and they took off with a rush.

“What’s going on?” he asked as soon as they closed the door behind them.

Corinna gestured to something on the desk, and he quickly moved to it and picked it up.  As he began reading, he nodded, understanding immediately what was going on.

“As you can see, that’s the official Scouting Report from the dozen Scouts we had keeping an eye on activity in the Wildlands.”  Thaden knew that the Guilds had dispatched some individuals who were adept at moving around without being seen, and were also fast enough to escape if they were.  He thought it was prudent to keep an eye on the Wildlands while the Omenic Drifter was down in the Region helping to power-Level people.  “Long story short, it’s time.”

“Already?  I was hoping that we would have another month, at least.”  That was even earlier based on what Sadia had mentioned, as his companion had expected that they might have 6 months or so before things got complicated in the Wildlands.  Still, that was just an estimate, so he couldn’t be too disappointed that she hadn’t accurate.

“I have a feeling the timeline has sped-up because there is no one in the Wildlands culling the monsters.  Not anyone’s fault, of course; it was either you stay up there and be largely ineffective, or you come back to the Region to power-Level everyone.  I have a feeling that this would’ve occurred even sooner if you hadn’t spent a few days killing thousands of monsters up there a few months ago.”

I wonder if I could’ve delayed it longer if I went up every few days to cull them?  Or would that only have made a little bit of difference?  It was going to happen no matter what, this is just happening faster than I expected.

“I did, too, but we probably have another few days before it’ll start to be a problem.  The scouts are telling us that the density of monsters up there is only just now reaching a critical point; it’ll take a little time for the first monsters to be pushed out toward the Wall, and we’ll be mostly ready when they do.”

That’s good, at least.  “How is the Wall, by the way?  I haven’t seen it in months.”

“I was only able to visit once about 2 weeks ago, but they’ve made enormous progress,” she answered, her hands on her hips as she stared at her desk.  Thaden slipped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, looking at the Scouting Report next to the map of the Wildlands that the Scouts and Thaden had helped to fill in, as well as the half-dozen other stacks of paperwork scattered all around.  Corinna sighed as she placed her hands and arms over his as she leaned back into him.  “It’s really happening, isn’t it?”

“Seems like it,” he said, not seeing any point in denying it.  “But we’ll be find; you and those you’ve worked with have done an amazing job preparing for it.”

“Me?  Don’t you mean you?  I’m not the one who helped to raise the overall Level of over a half-million Contenders by more than 100 Levels in less than 4 months, after all.”

He chuckled.  “Well, when you put it like that,” he said, kissing her briefly on the neck.  “But seriously, that was the easy part; the logistical mind that you possess blows me away with how you can seem to keep track of everything behind the scenes.”

She spun in his arms, wrapping her own around his neck as she looked up at him.  With a smile, she moved in for a kiss by pulling him close, but they were interrupted when someone barged in after a quick knock.

“Guild Lead—Oh!  Sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

Corinna pulled away from him, beckoning the woman who had entered forward.  “It’s alright, Trista.  We were, unfortunately, just finishing up.” 

Thaden wasn’t going to leave it like that, especially since he didn’t know when the next time he’d be alone with the Guild Leader again in the near future.  They had spoken many times about what would occur when things started moving in the Wildlands, but each of them had thought they had more time.  He held up his hand in front of Trista and moved in front of Corinna, as he bent down slightly to give the Guild Leader a long kiss, cupping her face in his hands, before pulling away with what was probably a cheesy smile on his face.

“Now we’re done,” he said, enjoying and feeling the same longing he saw on Corinna’s face.  “I’ll just be on my way, then.”

“Wait—oh, never mind,” Corinna said, reaching out to him, before smacking him on the butt with a surprising amount of force.  “Get out of here.  I’ll hopefully see you soon up north,” she said, and he moved through the open office doorway with a spring in his step.  He wished they had more time for a proper goodbye, but he would take what he could get.

Less than 5 minutes later, he was racing away toward the gap in the mountain range where The Citadel Dungeon used to be; while it was still gone, the Wall had replaced it, or supposedly it had.  He hadn’t been up there since he left the Wildlands months ago, so he could only rely on Corinna’s account that it had been constructed and was prepared to repel any monsters that might seek to invade the Region.  Fortunately, he didn’t really have anything to prepare, as he had all the equipment he needed, and he’d been steadily adding food to his Inventory every day, until he had enough stored away to last him for years.  Even if he wouldn’t have the best accommodations in the Wildlands, he would have some good food for some time to come.

When he arrived at the gap in the mountain range a few hours later, he nearly thought he was in the wrong place.  First, the “gap” that had been there before was no longer there, which he obviously knew about, but he wasn’t expecting what he saw in its place.  A massive barrier spanning two miles in length crossed between the remaining mountains to either side, stretching up to over 500 feet tall.  Instead of just being wall of stone like he was expecting, it instead appeared to be a mixture of stone, wood, and dark metal bands.  The wood comprised the overall structure of it, which were large logs that reminded him of the construction of Darkwood Vale, while Stone seemed to flow over the structure and filled in all the cracks, as if it had been fluid at one point and then solidified once it was in place.  Over all of that were thick bands of a dark metal 5 feet wide stretching both horizontal and vertical, giving the entire thing the appearance of a large cage.

In other words, it looked quite strong and formidable.  Unfortunately, it was still under construction, which was how he could tell how it was put together; the top 10 feet or so was only about half-done, which was where a wide walkway was being installed. 

However, that wasn’t what surprised him the most, as there were also walkways at different levels lining the backside of the Wall, which seemed to lead to hundreds of small tunnels that led the entire way through the barrier, each of which appeared to be just large enough for a Human to walk comfortably down, but that was about it.  Once he was close enough, he could see that on the opposite side of the wall where the tunnels let out, there appeared to be a grate that he could only assume was made of strong steel or some other metal, and it was in front of a slightly larger space which could likely fit a half-dozen people or so. 

It took him a second to figure out why these were in place, as it seemed stupid to compromise the structural integrity of the Wall with these holes, but then he realized that the wall was likely strong enough even with the holes to hold against just about anything that attempted to get through it.  His experience with the Defensive Fortifications in the Wildlands told him that this barrier was strong, and nothing he’d seen thus far on the other side of the Wall would be able to pass through it – not even a Wraith, as he also saw a subtle glow that enveloped the metal strips.  His sense of the spiritual, thanks to his Spiritual Spellcasting Competency, hinted that even Undead phantasms would be stopped by the enormous barrier.

As for why these holes in the wall were there, they were simply a way for the defenders to attack the monsters as they approached, which would be somewhat difficult from the top of the Wall – given that it was about 500 feet tall.  He also assumed that there would likely be some sort of defensive weapons inside some of these, which would be easier to aim and actually hit something when it was closer to the ground.  The tunnels were a vulnerability, of course, but their benefit most likely outweighed those vulnerabilities; he sensed that there were also methods in place to close them off if it was needed – or, at least, that was what he would do if he was in charge of the defenses.  He doubted those who actually were in charge would allow them to exist without a way to shut them off, so he expected there to be so.

The second thing about the Wall that made him question if he had the right place was the sheer number of people around the area.  Instead of just a few hundred Contender defenders, which was what he was expecting, he counted tens of thousands of people scattered around the area, with a good 85% of them being the native Charee.  A small portion of them appeared to be crafters, who were frantically working on different defensive weapons such as familiar ballistas and catapults similar in function – if not appearance – to the ones that the Defensive Fortifications supplied, but also others that he wasn’t expecting to see.  What appeared to be cannons of some sort were the initial weapons he saw, but instead of gunpowder, they were likely powered by some sort of magic.  There were also strange telescoping towers that reminded him of the Obelisk on the top of the Central Keep in the Fortifications, but instead of being upright, they were laid on their side.  He could only assume that these were some sort of beam-firing weapons, but none of them were active at the moment, so he couldn’t be sure.

Finally, the reason why he felt like he was in the wrong place were the flags and banners hanging around all over the enormous camp that had been created on the Region side of the Wall.  They weren’t flags or banners depicting any sort of Guild or political affiliation; no, that would have been much more preferable than what they actually were.

Somehow, a depiction of Thaden – an admittedly quite flattering rendition – was plastered all around the camp, so that wherever he looked, he was looking at himself standing proudly with his shoulders back, his chest puffed out, and his hands on his hips while he looked up toward some distant view.

“Holy—  I love it.  I absolutely love it.  Do you think they have any extra that we can take with us?  Can you imagine planting a flag with your picture on it when you subjugate a NEST—?”

“Shut it.  This… this is a nightmare,” he murmured, unable to tear his gaze away from the hundreds of flags and banners he saw everywhere.  “How?  Why?  What is going on?”

Unfortunately, his arrival hadn’t gone unnoticed, and like a rippling wave, the Charee laboring away at various tasks seemed to home in on his location and turned toward him and his faltering steps like some sort of fanatical zealots.  The cheering that started up only seconds after he came to a stop was entirely too much, and he just wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. 

He was about to run away as quickly as he could, perhaps even climb the nearby mountains to make his way past the Wall, when a semi-familiar voice called out to him over the cheering of the crowd.  It was difficult to place where the voice was coming from, but as a small group of Contenders pushed through the ecstatic Charee to his right, he reeled back in shock as he immediately recognized the owner of the voice, along with the others with her.

“Long time, no see, Thaden,” Sarah said with a wide smile.  “Seems as though you’ve really come up in the world, haven’t you?”