Path of Dragons

Elijah ducked under the long arm of the sasquatch, following that up with a vicious uppercut from his staff. The blow connected with the monster’s chin, and the impact sent the huge creature flipping backward. Elijah spun, and before the first sasquatch hit the ground, he’d already aimed Storm’s Fury at the last monster in the pack. It was busy trying to extricate itself from the thorny vines that had encased its legs, so it never got the chance to react to the thick bolt of blue lightning that descended from above. It hit the monster square in the chest, sending it into convulsions.

Meanwhile, Elijah could sense the first creature picking itself up from the ground, so he wheeled around, leaped high into the air, and brought the Dragon-Touched Staff down on the thing’s overlarge head. The sound of cracking bone filled the air as Elijah brough his enhanced Strength to bear, shattering the monster’s skull. It spasmed, but it didn’t immediately die. Instead, a seizure gripped the creature, and it windmilled its arms. That took Elijah by surprise, and one of its thick limbs knocked his feet out from under him.

As he fell, he tried to right himself, but it was useless. He ended up collapsing atop the monster’s bulging chest, and the smell of wet fur filled his nostrils. But more distressingly, the other sasquatch had recovered from the lightning-induced spasm and was well on its way to freeing itself from Elijah’s Snaring Roots.

He rolled free of the dying sasquatch just in time to see the other dashing in his direction. Elijah had very little leverage, but still, he managed to throw himself across the ground and avoid the worst of the monster’s charge. Even so, he took a vicious kick in the leg that sent him spinning around like a top. His motion only ceased when he rammed into the maze’s wall with a thud.

His head spun, but he kept his wits about him enough to remember to cast Soothe.

Then, as his thoughts sharpened, he kicked off the wall and charged the remaining sasquatch. Once again, his staff arced out, this time, colliding with the monster’s shin. The creature saw it coming, so the blow didn’t sweep its leg out from under it, but it still elicited a slight stumble. Elijah pounced on that small opening, jabbing the other end of his staff into the monster’s stomach, then following that up with a blisteringly fast combo that cracked bones in its ribs.

The monster howled in pain, lashing out. However, with Soothe coursing through him, Elijah didn’t bother playing it safe. Instead, he bulled his way into the sasquatch, knocking it further off-balance with a shoulder tackle. Then, he stomped on the thing’s instep before dipping low, grabbing its plant leg, then lifting. The move sent the monster toppling over his back, where it landed in a heaping sprawl of too-long arms and legs.

Elijah leaped upon the opportunity that represented, pelting the creature with one attack after another until he landed a series of attacks on its skull, cracking it just like he had the previous creature’s.

Then, at last, the area went quiet, save for Elijah’s panting breaths.

Despite his success, it had not gone nearly as well as he’d hoped. For one, he’d been forced to heal, which was one of the restrictions he’d imposed upon himself. For another, his staff-work was sloppy, and he still failed to truly incorporate his spells into his fighting style. His casting speed was just too slow to be instant, which meant that each time he wanted to use a spell, he was forced to pause for at least a second or two.

“Still a long way to go,” he muttered to himself, looking around at the fallen sasquatches. He’d been in the tower for a little more than a week, and in that time, he’d quickly discovered that it was too easy to challenge him. The first level was easy enough the first time through, and it was even easier now that he knew precisely how to get the most out of it. Even killing the goblins hadn’t taxed him, though he’d noticed that they were a far higher level than the last time he’d come through the tower.

The Sea of Sorrows had been the most challenging, but it wasn’t even as difficult as his first time through. However, traversing the seafloor had given him an idea of how to make things even more difficult. A handicap meant to even the odds and push him to his limits.

So, since then, he’d remained in his human form, only using his healing spells when absolutely necessary. And his growth had been incredible. Not in terms of levels, though he’d made some progress there as well. Rather, his true gains had to do with his fighting style. For some time, he’d made a concerted effort in learning to use his staves properly, but that had just been training. Real fighting had forced those lessons to coalesce into a practical fighting style. Yet, as he’d just said, he still had a long way to go.

That was one of the reasons he’d entered the tower in the first place, and in that endeavor, it had been a success. The other reason was less productive. He had hoped that challenging the tower would give him an opportunity to determine his path going forward, but he still had no idea what to do next.

After spending another week in Argos, he and his family had returned to the island. There, Elijah had spent a few days doing next to nothing before finally deciding to enter the tower. He told himself it was so that he could continue to progress, but in reality, it was a stalling tactic.

He had plenty on his plate. He knew that. But after Valoria and Argos, he was having difficulty mustering the motivation to do any of the things he knew he needed to do. It was easy enough to say that he wanted to prepare for the Trial of Primacy, but it was something else altogether to actually do so. He’d hoped the run through the Keledge Tower would put him on the right track.

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But now that he was close to completing it – he’d already killed the root raptors, and after taking care of the sasquatch camp, there was nothing really left – he was back at square one.

At least he’d gotten a few rewards along the way. The first was a wicked looking axe called a Polished Obsidian Hatchet that felt like it was at least Simple-Grade. The second was a pair of Sealskin Slippers that were decently graded as well. He hoped that his performance would net him something good when he finally left the tower behind.

However, the most overtly beneficial aspect of the tower run was the fact that he’d gained two more levels, pushing him to level eighty-three. He knew it should have been more, but apparently, running the same towers over and over again netted less experience each time. Eventually, the amount of experience would level out – at least according to Kurik – but that wasn’t until at least the twentieth run.

That told Elijah just how difficult leveling was going to be. The whole system seemed to reward exploration, and it was easy to imagine going from one tower to another just to keep the experience rewards high. Perhaps that would be an advantage for him. After all, he was more mobile than most, what with Shape of the Sky as well as his ability to teleport across great distances.

With that in mind, Elijah progressed through the maze. The various tower challengers from Ironshore had gone to great lengths in order to map it out, and Elijah had acquired one of those maps before heading inside. It was invaluable, and it had made the level much easier than either of the other two times he’d challenged it. Still, there were a few stray root raptors out and about, so Elijah dealt with them along the way. Eventually, though, he reached the exit.

Congratulations! You have completed Level Three of Keledge Tower. Grade: A To exit the tower, step through the portal.

Satisfied with his grade, he reached down and retrieved his reward from the silver box that had manifested at his feet. And for a long moment, he just stared at the item, which turned out to be a slab of rough wood. He glanced at the notification:

Reward for completing Level Three of Keledge Tower: Bark of the Mother Tree

Unsure of what to do with it, Elijah shoved it into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and stepped through the exit. A moment later, he found himself swimming toward the surface. When he crested the waves, he leaped free, transforming via Shape of the Sky, and flew toward the grove. He still hadn’t quite gotten the hang of landing, but at least he didn’t break anything this time.

Predictably, no one else was around.

Miguel was off traipsing through the wilderness with Kurik, while Carmen and Colt were in Ironshore. That left him all alone in the grove.

Except for Nerthus, of course.

So, Elijah crossed the grove and found the spryggent tending to a stand of bushes. Once he reached Nerthus, Elijah asked, “What’s up?”

That elicited an excited explanation from the spryggent about how those particular bushes would increase the ethera density in the grove by as much as three-tenths of a percent while also emitting a pleasant smell. It was nice to see Nerthus so happy that it almost made Elijah forget his own issues.

Finally, he retrieved the slab of wood from his satchel and showed it to his friend. “Any idea what this is for? It’s called Bark of the Mother Tree.”

“Where did you get this?” demanded Nerthus.

“Uh…reward from the tower. Why?”

“A mother tree is nearly as sacred as an ancestral tree,” Nerthus answered. “They grow much larger, though they are not nearly as spiritual. Their bark is prized for its durability, though. In most places, that piece of bark is as good as a natural treasure. Perhaps better, for some applications.”

“Hmm.”

Elijah looked at the piece. It was perhaps three feet wide, and maybe a foot longer than that. So, he couldn’t use it for a staff. And even if he could, it just felt wrong in a way he couldn’t quite articulate. Perhaps it was because it hadn’t come from his grove. Whatever the case, he expected that Carmen could give him some advice on what to do with it.

Next, he showed Nerthus the other rewards he’d gotten, but the spryggent wasn’t terribly interested in them. If it didn’t have to do with the grove or trees, Nerthus just couldn’t be bothered to care.

So, once he’d finished catching up with the keeper of his grove, Elijah once again adopted Shape of the Sky, then launched himself toward the clouds above. In seconds, he was hundreds of feet into the air and staring toward the open ocean. Without Eyes of the Eagle active, he could only barely see the dark smudge on the horizon, but he knew it was there all the same.

For a moment, he circled his island, hesitant to give in to his adventurous spirit. He had so many other things he should have been doing that simple exploration felt like a bit of a waste. However, most of his best memories had come on the heels of wanderlust, and he was desperately curious what sort of storm would be visible from so far away.

So, without further hesitation, he flapped his wings and sped toward the tempest.

He raced across the sky, keeping an eye on his destination as well as the waves below. Down there, he could see shadows of enormous sea creatures, though their true nature was obscured by the ocean water. Were they whales? Sea monsters from myth? Perhaps there was even a kraken down there.

But for now, Elijah was more concerned with what was in front of him. As he sped toward the storm, he became increasingly worried. The clouds roiled, dark and ominous, and lightning flashed. The height of the waves beneath him steadily increased until it was like Elijah was looking down at an oceanic mountain range with towering peaks and deep valleys.

And by his estimation, the storm was still more than a hundred miles away.

He pushed on, both eager and more than a little frightened. And in his mental state, where he’d felt more than a little apathetic ever since he’d left Argos, that jolt of adrenaline only served to spur him forward.

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