Chapter Thirty-Two #2
Unfortunately, Krysta’s lower constitution score worked against her.
In her humanoid form, she found the rocking motion of their vessel caused her stomach to surge, so it became hard for her to focus on anything beyond avoiding the urge to vomit.
Li Ra suggested a few herbs from their inventories that could be chewed raw, because they couldn’t brew a sickness potion with the corrupted water beneath them.
The oni was spending the majority of her time focused on their stalker.
The T-rex Boss continued running along the lake and smashing its way through every obstacle in its path.
They all saw the shoreline shift from those towering trees to a wider expanse of grass, which let the Boss pick up speed significantly without trees blocking its run.
I think they’re right that it can’t shoot off that elemental attack without absorbing magic first, Vester decided after several long minutes watching the creature.
If it could just spew fireballs at us at will, it probably would.
If that’s how it fights, we’re in for an interesting battle when we’re done with the island.
Kora’s blades and Skylar’s wrench are the only weapons we have that aren’t mostly elemental damage.
That and Skylar’s golems. But with how strong that brute, is I’m not sure Dent can take too many hits and stay in one piece.
The iron golem still had the highest raw strength score of all of them, though its materials were lagging now that they were reaching areas where rarer metals had become more prevalent.
The mithril-adamantine alloy used by the blood elflings would have carved deep gouges into Dent, and even the local beasts were damaging its body.
Woody’s new form, however, was made of those exact same materials.
Vester was fairly confident Skylar’s oldest puppet could dish out a massive amount of damage now with its clawed hands and feet; Ripper wasn’t far behind, since the crystal-empowered dungeon bronze held stronger enchantments to enhance its durability.
Vester’s gaze went to the rocky island at the middle of the whirlpool. After they’d taken about a half-hour rest, Reve had begun pushing them back toward it, and they were finally close enough that he could make out some true details.
The island was comprised of three spiky pillars that might merge into a single peak beneath the waves.
The fortress on top was a blunt construction, and it looked like the building’s roots had been carved down to fill the gap between the tors.
Some force appeared to have sliced off the top of the individual peaks, and then people had built up and over it so the entire fortress reminded Vester of a mushroom cap.
It took almost four trips around the island before they spotted the broken, jagged remains of a stone pier.
What might once have been a true place to anchor was now just fragments dotting the water like a jutting jawbone, and Reve had to slow them down significantly to avoid the raft smashing into them.
Kora lent the assistance of a wind-aligned Elemental Wall that acted to cushion the impact. Fortunately, Skylar proved strong enough to hold everything in place while the Party worked together to tie their raft onto the stumps of fallen support beams.
The moment they stepped off their raft and onto the remnant of the piers, they received a Quest. It flashed before their eyes, the information sparse.
Secret Quest: Touch the Heart
Requirement:
Penetrate the defenses of the Heart Rot Fortress and defeat the mini-Boss within. Claim the core and the rewards.
Conditional: This Quest becomes invalid past level 55
Reward: ???
Punishment: Those who fail to gain entrance to Heart Rot Fortress in under 24 hours will be forcibly ejected from the island and prevented from attempting entrance a second time.
Details of this Quest are locked under a Geas and cannot be spoken of to anyone who was not present when the Quest was issued.
Vester grunted, shaking his head. “Looks like we’ve got a day to find our way inside,” he observed.
“I don’t see any mana nearby, but Elondolin said there was a barrier of some kind.
” He ran his mana sense over the stairs caved into the rockface, then what he could see of the fortress, yet nothing stood out to him. “Anyone see any traps?”
“No traps,” Li Ra said, “but the island is… stale. It reminds me of a tomb. I smell bone dust and dirt.”
“As do I,” Reve agreed. “We must also consider that the island may have completely changed when the goddess remade this floor. Whatever your compatriot warned you of could be outdated.”
“It almost certainly is,” Kora said. “Elondolin described the approach as a temple behind a shield, but this is completely different. We’re on uncharted ground now and should proceed with extreme caution.”
“Should I set up my Sanctuary so we can take some time to rest before we start?” Krysta asked. She had her fists tight around her staff and was glancing up the stairs. “Or should I wait until we get up to the top so we can recover from the climb faster?”
The Party considered it, then cautiously voted to wait until they reached the top. None of them knew what was waiting for them, and resting where they could consider their options seemed wiser.
That, and they all wanted away from the rot-infested water.