Ring of Promise: A LitRPG novel (Elements of Wrath Online Book 1) Read online

  Kayla takes 496 (-704 absorbed) Light Damage and 1,155 Physical Damage! HP 422/2110

  Burndall takes 0 (-602 Behind the Wall) Light Damage and 630 (-525 absorbed) Physical Damage! HP 490/1120

  Crysta takes 638 (-1,535 absorbed) Light Damage and 3,627 Physical Damage! HP 2465/6730

  Loi takes 0 (-1,620 resisted, -80 absorbed) and 2,892 (-735 absorbed) Physical Damage! Loi dies!

  To add insult to tremendous injury, I was driven down into the ground, collapsed on my back with my burning shield over my chest. Overheated Equipment banes flashed up on everyone’s statuses but Burndall’s as the Sprite exploded into fairy dust above me. Maybe Kayla had thrown an Ice Shield on him as well, cooling him off? It didn’t matter much as I pulled myself to my feet, taking another few hundred Health Points of damage from the shield in my hands.

  I wasn’t alone in being knocked flat. Again, maybe it was the Ice Wall that had saved Burndall from meeting the cold iron floor but everyone else was trying to regain their bearings, armor searing into their flesh. Kayla was coughing up blue, watery blood, her Health gone critical, and Crysta had lost much of the pep in her step, using her bow as leverage to try to get back up. The Guardian retracted its tendrils as the main slit began to pulse again. Another Solar Sweep was coming and between that and the continuing Overheated damage, we were likely all toast.

  Except Burndall’s double-Builder-linked Pyroclasm Spell finally finished casting. The thing was practically as big as the kid was, a mini-sun of its own, bursting out of the Ember’s palm like an orbital rocket. A split-second before the Guardian unleashed its death beam, the fireball impacted the side of its still-weakened shell and detonated with enough force that the entire dome shuddered and the black iron run with a deafening clang.

  Burndall’s Pyroclasm hits Solar Guardian! It takes 69% (+36% Builder, +17% vulnerability) Fire Damage! Solar Guardian dies!

  As the Guardian’s shell cracked open, spilling warm, radiant light over the entire dome, I didn’t even watch. I was focused on Kayla, and stupid as it sounds, I felt a flood of concern over her. It wasn't like she hadn’t died dozens of times in game, she had Arena gear which meant plenty of deaths in the PvP fields, and it wasn't like I hadn’t myself. For some reason, though, I didn’t want to actually see her go through it.

  I didn’t see the thing explode in brilliance save for the light that side-lit my vision and my view of her. I didn’t see the rain of loot balls and barely acknowledged the quest update flooding into my brain. Instead, I skidded to a halt next to her, my steel boots coughing up sparks, and reached out to steady her, mentally exchanging my burning shield for a Health Potion.

  “Kay,” I cried, “here, drink this.”

  It was the most unnecessary bit of chivalry ever as she finished casting a Soothing Cascade over herself, putting out the immense heat in her armor and robes while ticking her Health up from the danger zone. The Nix let out a sigh of relief before she even registered I was right there with a trade request open.

  Boss down be damned, I almost logged out right there from sheer embarrassment. Of course, the hotshot raid-guild Arena champion didn’t need some schlub of a tank to try to save her bacon when she had everything she needed at her fingertips.

  I didn’t, though, because a second later, Kayla’s lips turned into the loveliest smile I had ever seen as her eyes widened with realization. “Shale … that’s so sweet.” Instead of canceling the trade request, she took the potion from my hand. “Thank you. I really mean that.”

  From across the dome, still lit with warm, soft sunlight, Crysta’s giggle resounded off the iron walls. “That’s cute and all, but we have a quest to finish!”

  Before now, we’ve concentrated on growing the world of Elementalis, fleshing out the Kingdoms and filling in the gaps. We finished that process a year ago, so now it’s time to change everything up, to alter the world that we’ve built. To keep our champions and their players invested, we need to do this, to give everyone a constantly evolving experience in our virtual world.

  Kyle Patruski, EO lead developer, post-Patch 2.0

  We call them the Elements of Conflict, the corrupted forces that sundered our lands, and their influence not only threatens the waning integrity of our planet as a whole but continues to drive wedges between our kingdoms. These Elements breed instability, chaos, and antagonism where there is no cause, turning brother against brother and friend against friend. So is it irony or justice that we must use violence and conflict to fight back the Primal Darkness?

  Alizhard Forshan, philosopher to the Fire Sultan’s court

  13

  I was happy for the distraction, trying not to look like the idiot I was as I turned back to the hovering loot orbs and the now-open cage atop the pedestal. Burndall was still having a bit of a private dance celebration over the Guardian’s defeat while Crysta, still smiling, limped over to the orbs. Thank God out-of-combat regeneration was starting to kick in but even that didn’t soothe away all the aches and pains, but either way, that wouldn’t help with the damage to my self-image.

  Sure, Kayla smiled and took the potion and sure, she thanked me, and it seemed sincere, but I still thought I was acting like an idiot. It was obvious to everyone she could take care of herself; she even healed with the element that would negate the bane that was causing all the damage. Anyway, I thought we were all becoming friends, but it was all still a game, right? We all got killed from time to time. That was the nature of EO. As long as the boss was down, respawning or being resurrected afterward was no big deal. With her, though, it did feel like a big deal, like I would be letting her down, but that was stupid and irrational. Unprofessional and this was a business as much as a game for me, if not more. At least that was what I wanted to tell myself but I was really starting to question that.

  It took some work but I managed to drive those questions out of my mind for the moment as I walked up to the glowing orbs myself. While the Elohjin script in the walls hadn’t gone completely dormant, the glow had softened to a soft, warm radiance, lighting the room with the afternoon sun. The thing in the cage was still indistinct, casting off pure white light several notches stronger than anything else in the room, but whatever it was maybe the size of a bowling ball at most.

  As I made it to the symmetrical ring of loot, the Ranger nodded to me. “Go ahead, Shale. You’re the leader, after all.” She put her bow over her shoulder and hung her arms over it, eagerly waiting for me to do the looting.

  Well, no reason to keep everyone waiting. Kayla walked up beside me, and the mention of loot got the kid’s attention as I touched the nearest golden orb. At my touch, the six orbs danced up into the air, gathering together into a spinning loop. The Loot UI popped into existence before us, hovering in the center of the loop.

  Solar Guardian’s Remains contain:

  782 Gold (lootable by all)

  Grade S Guardian Shell Fragment (shield)

  Grade S Guardian Tentacle Wraps (light gloves)

  Grade S Eye of the Solar Guardian (medium circlet)

  Grade S Prayer to the Light (Support Gem)

  Grade S Radiant Dust (7 units)

  Kayla let out a low whistle. “Now that’s a boss loot list fit for a raid fight … assuming it is any good.” She shook her head. “I don’t recognize any of it, though.”

  “Radiant Dust is a catalyst ingredient,” Crysta explained. “For raid-level tradeskill recipes of all kind, really. Stupid, silly valuable!” She cleared her throat. “We could really use that for the guild bank.”

  I tapped at the gold, instantly splitting it and distributing that among the group. “I can’t speak for everyone, but I have no objection to giving that over to you, Crys.” I glanced sidelong at Burndall. “Kid?”

  “Look, man, I am still just happy as butterfly strawberries that you guys let me come along.” He grinned. “I’m happy to let you ladies have the magic dust and anything else y’all want!”

  Kayla grinned back at him and poked him i
n the shoulder with her staff. “Don’t be too giving, or we’ll ask for everything.” Crysta started to laugh as the Nix shook her head. “Not that we’d ever do that … or could do that.” She put a hand on my shoulder and this time I was sure the little shiver I felt wasn’t from her ice-cold fingers. “Shale’s the leader and master looter here.”

  I bit down on that shiver and hid it with a roll of my eyes. “Yes, leave me all the hard decisions. Thanks!” Despite my kidding, this didn’t look to be hard to divvy out. “Okay, let me sort through this. If you see anything you want, speak up!”

  Numbers and stats, that was my balm, something tangible and easily manipulated I could worry over. Gear and Gems, they were the easy choices to make unlike everything up out of the dive and, well, everything dealing with other people. I was smiling as I expanded each piece of loot into side-by-side windows for the group’s consideration.

  All eyes were on the magnified descriptions. Burndall was practically salivating looking at the gloves, Crysta gave everything a quick study before focusing on the Gem, while Kayla was doing what I was doing, examining each and every piece with close scrutiny. If she had a big interest in any one piece, she wasn't betraying it yet.

  The shield was first, the icon looking like a broken-off piece of the Guardian’s central body. The Shell had a generous array of Gem sockets, five in total, two linked pairs and one solo socket.

  Guardian Shell Fragment

  Grade S Shield (scaling, stats shown at viewer’s level)

  Base Block Rate 34%

  Physical Resistance +12%

  Fire Resistance +12%

  Light Resistance +6%

  Dark Resistance +24%

  +18 Strength

  +32 Vitality

  +24 Infusion

  Passive: Light Elemental Boost +8%

  Passive: Defensive Skill Boost +14%

  Passive: Synergy Bonus (Light Defensive Skills) +10%

  Passive: Light Elemental Thorns on Block 100-160 Damage

  Scaling gear, too? Not an unknown concept in gaming but new to EO. I doubted anyone would mind me snapping that up. The next item was the gloves, looking like someone had skinned the tendrils of the boss and weaved them into hand wraps. They had four sockets, two linked pairs over the back of each hand.

  Guardian Tentacle Wraps

  Grade S Light Hand Armor (scaling, stats shown at viewer’s level)

  Physical Resistance +4%

  Fire Resistance +8%

  Light Resistance +4%

  Dark Resistance +16%

  +36 Power

  +20 Vitality

  +18 Infusion

  Passive: Light Elemental Boost +12%

  Passive: Fire Elemental Boost +18%

  Passive: Elemental Power Recovery +42 per tick

  Active: Speed of Light: Imbues the wearer with the speed of light, granting +50% Cast Speed and Attack Speed for 6 seconds, 1 minute cooldown

  Well, I wasn’t familiar with the stats on Kayla’s Arena gear but that seemed like a great pick for both her and Burndall. I would quiz them about it at the end but we had more gear to sort through. The third item’s icon looked simple enough, the silver band from around the middle of the Guardian shrunk down or retooled to be a simple headband, with only three sockets across the brow. They were all linked, though, into one triple array.

  Eye of the Solar Guardian

  Grade S Medium Head Armor (scaling, stats shown at viewer’s level)

  Physical Resistance +8%

  Fire Resistance +8%

  Light Resistance +6%

  Dark Resistance +18%

  +18 Agility

  +24 Power

  +24 Vitality

  +18 Infusion

  Passive: Light Elemental Boost +18%

  Passive: Fire Elemental Boost +12%

  Passive: Dodge Rate +8%

  Passive: Offensive Critical +6%

  Active: Solar Sweep: Unleashes the Light of the Guardian’s Eye, firing a sweeping beam that inflicts 600-900 Light Damage to all targets in a 45-degree cone in front of the wearer, 1 minute cooldown

  That was an odd piece, to be sure. Bladesaints and Dancers could both get some use out of it, I would guess, as more dodge and Spell oriented tanks and yet I couldn’t be sure. A real oddball, I wasn’t sure who I’d give that too. The next item, the Support Gem, was likely to be a sure thing, a triangle-cut diamond of some size.

  Grade S Prayer to the Light (Support)

  750 Elemental Power to activate

  1 minute cooldown, Light Element

  Calling upon the spirits of Primal Light, your group is surrounded by an aura of radiance that restores 5% of their maximum Health Points per second, increases their Light and Dark Resistance by 25%, and grants them Light Elemental Thorns causing 200-300 Damage for 12 seconds.

  That was pretty impressive. I would have been tempted to ask for that myself if I didn’t have my sights set on that shield. Some people wouldn’t have thought twice about asking for as many bits of loot as they thought they could use, but I wanted this to be fair-and-square. I might not be able to provide for my family up there, but I could at least provide the goods down in the dive. Besides, there was enough great stuff here for everyone.

  The fact that everyone was going over every bit of information with me meant I wasn’t wrong in that. “Don’t be shy,” I chuckled. “I know that hungry look anywhere. What do you all want?”

  Kayla spoke up first, not the least bit shy. “As you are asking for opinions, Shale, you should take the shield, as if that wasn’t obvious. Those gloves would be fantastic for Burndall or myself, but I think the kid should have them. It would be a bigger upgrade for him over my Arena gear and maybe he could use the circlet, too? I don’t know if he has the Agility for medium armor, though.” She rubbed her chin. “And Crysta would love the Gem. That’d be great for Support in these quests from what I’ve seen.”

  Crysta rolled her eyes, balancing on one foot like a ballerina. “Typical Kay! Only thinking about the group!” She cocked her head. “She isn’t wrong about the Gem, though! That thing is very cool … unless you want it, Shale?”

  “Well, I would love those gloves, I won’t lie,” Burndall interjected. “I can’t use that headband thingie though. I’m all Strength and Power!” He swung his blade. “Slash and burn, right?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with the blunt approach,” I agreed before shaking my head at the Ranger. “Nah, while it’s tempting … I really do need more Light stuff … I think you can make the most use of it for the group. Besides, that shield is incredible!” I did a final scan of the loot. “Well, this is simple.”

  With a few points and mental swipes, I divvied everything up. The Gem and the Dust went to Crysta, the gloves to the kid, the circlet to Kayla, and the shield to myself. “I hope you can use that, Kayla, but if I remember my Arena gear, it’s more general purpose than straight caster gear and some of your armor is medium, right?”

  She had already materialized the circlet out of her inventory, holding it up gently so she could look closely at the faintly glowing silver band. “You have an excellent eye, Shale.” She nodded, smiling brightly. “I actually did really want this piece, but Burndall could really have used it more if he could use it.”

  Crysta arched a delicate eyebrow. “Why do you want it? I mean, it is awfully neat but it really lacks in specialization. You’ll get a DPS drop from your Arena headpiece, right?”

  “A little but you need more than raw DPS in the Arena, Crys.” Kayla dissipated the circlet back to her inventory. “More importantly, that thing will let me shoot laser beams from my head.” She pointed with both her hands before placing them on her forehead, imitating a unicorn’s horn. “Rainbow unicorn laser beam, right?”

  Kind, beautiful, and a sense of whimsy on top of that? I cut off that line of thinking immediately and focused on the glowing object in the cage as the others laughed. “I don’t know about everyone else but I’m ready to finish this one up and get back
to Granholm.” I glanced back as the laughter died down and I had to say I felt like a bit of a stick in the mud. “Sorry, I’m just eager to see the next part of this. I mean, we could still be in the lead, right?”

  That got Burndall’s undivided attention as he let out a whoop and Crysta gave me a smile and nod. Kayla’s expression was thoughtful, though. Not angry or upset (I don’t think, I’m really not good with people), but her big blue eyes seemed to stare through me for a long moment before she said something.

  “Sure thing, Shale. Let’s do it.”

  I nodded and stepped up to the wrought iron pedestal, gingerly reaching into the glow with both hands. Admittedly, I expected one final trap, that either it’d get super hot and burn my hands or the cage would slam shut once more.

  It did neither of those things and a moment later, I could feel the uneven edges of some metallic object, maybe a piece of something larger but broken off it. The light did not diminish, only constrained by my hands closing around it, stray rays piercing through the gaps in my fingers.

  Quest ‘A Light in the Needle’ completed!

  Your group has passed the trail of the Elohjin and recovered the ancient artifact of Light!

  Report to Princess Kallisandre for your reward.

  Now I could smile as I turned back to my group. “Now let’s go home!” Call me a fool, but I hoped Kayla would smile if I was and she was, in fact, smiling by the time I turned my gaze to her. “Kayla …?”

  “Everybody, gather up!” She started to weave her hands through a spell, a rainbow quartz on her belt started to glow. “Teleport incoming!”

  One watery portal ride later, we stepped out into Granholm’s Crystal Hall, the pale, ethereal Light of the Life Crystal backlighting us. The usual flow of vendors, travelers, and the freshly respawned moved around us but to my surprise, there was something new and unusual greeting us as we finished zoning in.

  There was a collection of champions lingering around the entrance to the Hall, a slice-of-server-life ranging from some level fifteen noobs through a fair number of folks around my level up to a good three or four raid-guild types. They had obviously been waiting for something, idly chatting among themselves and always keep an eye on the flow out from the Crystal. It was a young-looking Ember guy, probably a Shadow based on his leathers and the daggers stuffed everywhere, who saw us first and his burning eyes lit up.