The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes

Chapter 154: Power Surge

The next room of the dungeon was small and narrow, more of a hallway than a room. Its dull grey and white walls were shadowy, with no light source except an oculus-like hole in the roof which let faint light through.

As soon as Cael took two steps inside, a few [Wall Crawlers] entered through this hole, noticing the intruder. These undead creatures had claw-like hands and feet which they used to fasten themselves to the walls, and their mouth contained fangs that gaped threateningly as they looked towards him. They scurried quickly across the walls like spiders, heading towards him.

Since this was a small room, their presence along the walls was almost claustrophobic.

Cael, though surprised by the rapid assault, hurriedly used [Magic Missile]. The pale wisps of magic flew through the hall, rendered stiff and cold by the [Arm of Hades] mana. The creatures fell from the walls on collision, and seemed to wither on the ground. They attempted to hook back onto the walls, but their movements were stiff and slow.

After using [Spark] on one, to keep it off the wall, he cast [Flare] towards another. It screeched out in a guttural tone, as a charred chunk of its chest fell off, and then it fell limply to the ground.

It seemed that these creatures also had a fire weakness.

Cael figured that it would be possible to take the [Pyromancer] sub-class, and focus on fighting with undead in order to level up. After all, a Pyromancer could probably fire above their weight when fighting undead, and possibly access content higher than their own level. This would mean that progress would occur faster.

Pyromancers also had several other advantages, such as that their fire could be cast more quickly than solid ice or earth, and also more rapidly.

As an obvious caveat, the drops from undead could be skewed towards certain materials, and they tended to give less EXP. This would lead to unbalanced development. Many more rewarding later-game bosses, especially dragons and salamanders, were highly resistant to fire. Further, due to official protocol regarding the use of 'fire' in games, Pyromancer skills in the current situation weren't typically that painful and could at most luck into some painful burns. They didn't resemble an actual fire in effect, rather a meek simulacra of it.

He wasn't entirely sure that it would be the best choice right now, but it was one of the more obviously appealing routes. It would have been worth a try, if he wasn't trapped in the game right now. However, he would have to choose a sub-class soon, and fire and earth currently seemed like better choices than earth.

Taking the remaining Wall Crawlers down was easy, since they couldn't attack effectively when not on a wall, he finished the last one off with another [Flare].

Surveying the task ahead, he saw a large coffin-like shape towering above everything in a cavern up ahead, with about two rooms in between. This meant that the final boss, Rişi, would be nearby, since it was after all his tomb. He figured it would be worth memorising the layout of the area before clearing it, so he backtracked to the first mini-boss' chamber.

As he entered, he paid attention to the delay as he passed through the door. He remembered that this was standard for doors in most dungeons, due to the instanced nature of the room ahead.

He wondered if he could cast a spell during this time, but found that the option was blocked. He was seemingly frozen during this switch-over.

However, out of curiosity, he decided to test out the possibilities. Since he was alone in the dungeon this time, he had the time to experiment. The next time he passed through the door, he applied a few buffs first. As he expected in the mini-boss room, the buffs disappeared. Would they still disappear if he had cast them during the door-entering delay?

He used [Lesser Aura] and the quill pen to store his mana on a page, then retraced his steps towards the mini-boss room. However, before reaching the door, he prepared a 'macro' of three buffs to cast automatically on himself using the [Lesser Aura] mana. Since players often used multiple buffs on their teams, grouping buffs together and casting them at once was implemented as a feature. This could go up to a maximum of five, or seven for a Cleric.

As he hung in place at the door again, he let the [Lesser Aura] spell convert his mana into these buff spells. Since it wasn't counted as a new action, but only an extension of the already-active [Lesser Aura], this was permitted.

However, when he appeared in the mini-boss room, he found that he had no buffs enabled.

Wondering what to try next, he paced around the room. To his surprise, his movement speed had increased significantly, and he ranged the room at a pace which he would typically require the [Young Deer's Speed] buff for. After trying again a few times, to make sure it was a genuine increase in speed, he guessed that the [Young Deer's Speed] buff which he had cast while entering the room was still in effect, just not registered by the game due to the timing of its casting.

To find out more, he cast [Young Deer's Speed] again. It worked, and the buff displayed. In fact, his speed had increased further, and now was much faster than was typical after [Young Deer's Speed].

This meant that the buff had been doubled. Since the game didn't fully recognise the first instance of the buff, it allowed him to cast another buff on top of that.

This meant that he by now had effectively doubled buffs.

In this case, he was only using low-level, simple buffs, not high-level ones. With a high-level buff, his movement speed could be high enough that he could pass for a slightly less speedy Assassin. In fact, he could even increase his own Agility more to accentuate this, since he already knew several skill trees which would be conducive to that. He also didn't know whether this could be enhanced further by using different kinds of mana.

Further, he could also buff INT, which would make him not only fast but also capable of casting highly powerful spells. By that point, he would be like the planned [Holy Spirit] sub-class, with enhanced class abilities and heightened Agility, Strength or Constitution, but possibly more powerful. It would definitely be more powerful than the [Witch] sub-class, at least in terms of raw power.

However, there was something he was curious about. Could the final [Holy Spirit] ability, which transformed the user into a being of light, involve a specific form of mana? If so, then how would that affect these buffs? If it enhanced them further, since it was said to increase overall power to supernatural heights, then that could be even more OP. But he'd have to find out more by trying to figure out how much of the original [Holy Spirit] skills were still residual in the game, in the form of the [Witch] sub-class, and what he could figure out about them. The difficulty was that it wasn't often possible to kill a witch, and then have a chat with them to figure out their powers. But he'd see what opportunities appeared.

For now, he decided that he'd test what would happen if he doubled the [Magisterial Domain] buff. He had avoided testing it initially, since he didn't want any bugs affecting his INT while he was soloing the dungeon. However, given the effect on the other buff spells, he decided that he should check on this before going further in the dungeon.

This time, he tried with a different room, that didn't have a mini-boss. However, the result was the same. He had initially thought that the spell not appearing in the new room was due to the mini-boss room removing buffs, but seemingly the game just didn't register buffs done during the transition between rooms.

His INT was now clearly higher than usual. He cast [Conjure Light] to check, and the dark walls of the large, round room he had backtracked to, the first room in this dungeon, suddenly lit up in a radiant white which seemed almost gold-tinged. Shielding his eyes, he squinted and saw that the light was reflected mirror-like off the walls, which were suffused with it and seemed on the edge of melting.

While the light wasn't as radiant as the sunlight beneath Muninn's wings, which had almost completely subsumed the air and earth beneath it, it was still fierce. As he ended the spell, he felt slightly dizzy, and blinked a few times before his eyes readjusted to the normal, dark interior of this dungeon.

Since his INT was buffed, he decided to try casting the [Magisterial Domain] spell again. Once again, it worked. The buff was doubled.

In fact, it seemed to do more than just double the [Magisterial Domain] buff. The initial, hidden buff had increased INT by a certain percentage, creating a new, higher INT, and then the second buff had increased this new INT by a percentage.

Right now, he could cast [Conjure Light], but it hurt his eyes which were adapted again to the dark dungeon. He tried a few flashes of light, and noticed the room erupt into light, but ended it quickly.

For now, he walked towards the boss room.

He noticed that he had got a few messages from Danemy, while testing the doorway glitch.

Danemy: kk ganked all 3

Danemy: they were confused and frustrated

Danemy: everyone screaming

Danemy: girl asking u for help lol

Danemy: u werent even there

Danemy: i killed her and her friend. kcd (remmber him?) killed the other

Danemy: now just hanging around, not many ppl rn

Danemy: they saw a few big players coming back to the wild and just fled back to town

Danemy: still a few to kill tho

Danemy: tell me when ur done, will come back

Sighing, he replied, lest he be thought negligent.

Cael: Yep, nearly done. Come and wait.

Cael: Of course I remember Kurt Cobain's dog. I hear Kurt had him do vocals on some tracks, and you can tell.

Cael: By the way, wasn't there a minor dungeon nearby? You reckon we should try that?

Leaving the chat aside, he walked forwards to the boss' room.

The two rooms on the way featured waves of Reanimated Corpses and Wall Crawlers, but he cleared each wave with one [Magic Missile]. By this point, his INT was incredibly strong for his level, and in this already easy dungeon the fights had become practically a write-off.

Finally, he came to the boss' room.

Ceremoniously, the boss opened his massive, navy-blue coffin. It extended to almost the width of a football field, if not the length. As his head popped up above the coffin, Cael saw the word [Rişi] above it.

Next to the coffin, a man in a formal, green suit walked forwards, seemingly a servant of the boss. Cael noticed that this man had hollow eyesockets.

The suited man spoke in a strange, incredibly formal accent which sounded somewhere between an English accent and the Transylvanian one of Count Dracula. "Greetings, esteemed guest, welcome to the beautiful, vast Palace of Rişi. If you seek an audience with master Rişi, then he shall grant you one. I am sure he will be very magnanimous. Ahahaha!"

Cael noticed that this man pronounced 'Rişi' with a short 'sh' sound, like a cross of 'Ree-zee' with 'Rishi,' not as the simple 'ri-si' which he had heard players using. Presumably, the 'sh' sound was part of the 'proper' pronunciation.

The man in the green suit suddenly threw off his stiff, aristocratic face, which turned out to be a mask, and revealed fangs resembling those of a Wall Crawler. He ran forwards, but Cael dispatched him with one [Mana Beam].

Above, Rişi himself towered to the top of this massive cavern. His skin was made from dark piles of dry, decaying earth, and his face was carved in this soil and dirt like a tired, aged Halloween pumpkin.

"Who goes there?" he called, his voice echoing through the dungeon.

As Rişi stepped towards the intruder, Cael greeted him with a [Mana Beam]. This temporarily caused him to sway backwards, from the powerful impact.

Cael followed this up with [Spark]. This caused Rişi to shudder weakly, and halt. Since he was already leaning backwards, he almost fell, only the large cave wall behind him keeping him on his feet.

By the time that Rişi could move forwards again, Cael released a [Mana Sphere] which he had been charging while Rişi struggled to move and direct his heavy frame when slouched against the wall .

A glowing white sphere of mana flew through the sky, embedding itself in Rişi's shoulder. It seemed to be only a speck on his large frame. However, in a second, his massive body collapsed to the ground and shattered.

The doubled buff had made this battle trivial.

For completing the dungeon, Cael had received a decent amount of EXP, taking him near level 52. He also received a [Temple Token], allowing him to attempt the dungeon's full version at any time without using up a daily Major Dungeon chance.

He was lucky to receive [Mercury-Tinted Gloves], a pair of silver gloves which increased INT by 10% for 4 seconds at the beginning of a battle. Given that the doubled buffs would build on this further, it would allow him to complete battles quickly. Along with these gloves, he also gained a [Wand of the Reincarnator], a wand which increased the power of spells the lower your HP was, and which had some additional bonuses for the Necromancer sub-class. It would probably not be nearly as powerful as the draugr staves, but it was the most powerful wand he had at the moment, so he figured he might as well keep it.

It could be useful, since some out-of-battle spells were stronger if cast with a wand.

Some other odds and ends dropped, which weren't relevant to his class, and he'd sell most of them. However, one of these was a [Berserker Soul Wristband], which increased Strength by 15% when HP was under 30%. This could be useful for tradeskills, along with using the recent glitch to increase his base Strength above what was usual for a Mage. If he let NPC mobs or recoil damage lower his HP, then began the tradeskill, he'd have higher Strength.

But he wasn't sure if it would be useful in battle yet, so it might be best to keep it in Storage and take it out when necessary. Since he wouldn't typically be winning a fight with Strength-based weapons, he'd gain more advantages from increasing his Dexterity and Agility, so that his movement speed and dodging was more effective. Constitution would also be worthwhile, although Mages used INT for defensive shields or healing and this would typically make up for a lower CON. As such, a slightly more all-round build, within limits, would be a good way to take advantage of his ability to increase stats across the board.

Putting on the [Mercury-Tinted Gloves], he waited for a minute before the dungeon teleported him out to the entrance.

Around him, the corpses of his former party-mates were strewn across the ground, most bearing a fairly rugged, haphazard series of wide wounds across the upper body. It looked like something of a hatchet-job.

He raised his staff alertly as he heard the sound of swords clashing nearby.

Below the staircase, Danemy and KurtCobainsDog were fighting with a group of two female level 44 [Communion] players who had got lost on their way back to Kruxol. The Communion players were putting up a stern resistance, but gradually losing ground in the fight, one Ranger nearly falling backwards after Danemy's fierce strikes but leaning bravely on the edge of the staircase to stay up.

Cael walked over and cast [Spark] on this Ranger, causing her to collapse to the ground. She screamed as Danemy grappled her down, but soon she was dead to a series of rapid, impatient stabs to the face.

The other Communion player died after Cael targeted her with a single [Mana Beam], jolting at the sudden impact and crumpling to the ground.

Calming down, he turned to the DeathGang players, who seemed surprised by how quickly the fight had ended.

"Hey, well done with these guys," he said, gesturing at the former team-mates lying around him. "By the way, isn't there a Minor Dungeon nearby? We could try that out, plenty of time."

"With three people?" KurtCobainsDog said. "It's quite tough, but we could give it a try. I've heard it has good rewards, worth a look."

"Yeah, that's only a short walk away," Danemy said. "Oud told me where to find it. We could try it out without using a dungeon chance, then see if it's worth using our chance on."

"Sure, lead the way," Cael said.

The underground Minor Dungeon a few minutes away was barely used, since it was a level 50 dungeon which was generally viewed as requiring players who were over level 60. It was also notoriously difficult to find.

However, the rewards were higher than other level 50 Minor Dungeons, and it would save him having to journey out to another one today. Cael noticed that the DeathGang players both looked quite tired after the morning's world event, and so he doubted they would be able to manage the full-fledged Tomb of Rişi dungeon. He had considered asking about that, but decided against it. While his magic would still be effective, the draugr could only be killed by nabbing their own weapons. As a result, he would need runners to pick up the draugr weapons and kill them, and at the moment running back and forth like that would be too much. However, since he could use the spare Tomb of Rişi chance whenever he wanted, he didn't have to do it now, and figured that he might as well get the Major and Minor dungeon chances for today out of the way.

That would give him more time to look carefully through the various sub-classes, and make a choice. Although he had earlier favoured [Pyromancer] or [Geomancer], by now he had another option: [Cleric].

This unassuming class specialised in buffs and healing, and was generally relegated to a supporting role. Typically, he wouldn't choose it, because it tended to rely heavily on having strong dungeon partners to carry the weight. At the moment, he didn't even have a Guild. However, since he could double buffs on INT through this glitch, buffs had become his most powerful spells. While the focus of the class was typically on healing, setting it up for a support role, he could avoid the healing abilities and try to get as many enhancements to buffs as possible. This could enhance his offensive capabilities, enough that he'd play a central offensive role rather than just a support one. Of course, he'd need to check the skill tree more thoroughly before making a decision.

Players were often misled by flashy spells and abilities, and overlooked things like stats and buffs which powered these. At this point in time, focusing on buffs and increasing his base strength would probably give him more power than entering a class designed for elaborate spells. After all, he had cleared the Temple easily with fairly basic spells, while several groups with more Pyromancers and Geomancers had found it difficult.

He'd be able to look into the details soon, since the [Cleric] trainer was in Sanra from midnight to noon before shifting to Kruxol. With both dungeons done with, he'd also be able to get a few sub-class quests under his belt, and advance some new skills.

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