Odyssey (The Stork Tower Book 2) Read online

  After searching the area, she harvested the Necromancer and collected the loot from the hidden area:

  You have harvested:

  6 Platinum Coins minted with an image of the Dead Lord of the Trolls at Altin

  1 Necromancer Troll’s Heart transformed into Tanzanite

  2 Necromantic Spells: ‘Awaken’ and ‘Resurrect’

  1 Tangenite Cuirass*

  6 Vials of Troll Blood **

  * Note: This breastplate has been crafted using the highest quality steel and the infused with Tangenite essence that not only makes it transparent but reduces its weight and increases its durability and protection

  ** Note: This is used in various potions

  You have opened a secret compartment:

  6 Platinum Coins minted with an image of the Dead Lord of the Trolls at Altin

  2 Tangenite Pauldrons*

  2 Tangenite Bracer*

  * Note: The Pauldrons and bracers have been crafted using the highest quality steel and the infused with Tangenite essence that not only makes it transparent but reduces its weight and increases its durability and protection

  This time Wisp received the light armour, James and Wisp shared the spells. They spent a few minutes discussing the way to defeat all five of the bosses. The conglomeration would take all of them although Thad was opposed to Leah attempting the same attack. He finally agreed and said it would be easier as he was ready for it. The mages would attack any plants that formed, and Amy was keen to use her new Desiccate spell. Zack wanted another go at the Wight and instructed everyone to deal with the attendants.The necromancer was Leah’s although she was planning on keeping her Grow until the final Troll King.

  With only one hour remaining they left Area 4 and saw a stone stairway leading to the top of the Mausoleum. Aware that the fights would begin as soon as they stepped on the roof, they made sure everyone was at full health, stamina and mana before ascending the steps. The rooftop was empty, but as they stepped on it, there was a swirling mist that appeared in the corner near them, and the conglomeration began to form. Leah took off in a sprint, and as the conglomeration formed she did a baseball slide while casting Petrify and touching the ankle as she went beneath it. The conglomeration was stuck. As she stood, she brought her best mining pick around in an arc and shattered the foot. As the conglomeration began to topple, Zack helped it on its way by hammering the remaining foot with the mace and knocking it out from under the monster. Before it could reform each member of the group had attacked one of the heads. Within a minute the monster was finished, and another mist began to form, this time all six began sprinting toward the forming creatures. As they formed all five were attacked and killed before they could even mount an attack.

  The third mist began forming, and Zack headed for the Troll Wight while the others attacked the Goblins. The surprise nature of the attack immediately put the boss at a disadvantage, and although it was a much longer fight, Zach managed to finally wear it down. The others helped by constantly healing him. As the necromancer began to form, the six were ready. This was a shorter battle and Leah was able to destroy the Necromancer while at normal size. This time it didn’t reach the five-minute mark, so no troll. As the Necromancer died, Leah took a Mana Potion which fully restored her MP, and she waited for the Dead Lord of the Trolls to materialise. He arrived with four rock golems shaped as trolls; one had Emeralds for eyes, one had Sapphires, one Diamonds and one Tanzanite Crystals. The Dead Lord himself towered over them and shouted, “Now face me!”

  Glaring at the Dead Lord, Leah cast Grow. She had her knife and her Haladie. She was soon five meters tall, and the Haladie had grown into a two-meter-long blade. She stepped toward the massive Troll who carried a huge Mace in one hand and a shield in the other. He was fast and nimble, and as Leah stepped forward, he swung the mace at an angle from left to right which she just evaded and was about to step in when she realised that the Troll had amazing weapon control for he was already bringing the shield forward to push her backwards. On the front of the shield was a huge spike. Leah turned side on and allowed the edge to just pass her by. She was now inside the shield and standing beside the troll. She buried her silver knife up to the handle in the Trolls armpit and left it there as she rolled away from his swinging mace. She stood quickly and saw that, Wisp and Amy, who were fighting the emerald Golem were being totally outclassed. She stepped behind the Golem, and equipping her pick, she buried it to the handle in its skull. Equipping her bow, she shot two quick arrows at the Dead Lord from a distance of fewer than five metres. She used her sword to decapitate the Diamond Golem, then as the Dead Lord stepped forward his mace caught her a glancing blow on her left shoulder causing her to drop the bow. She re-equipped the Haladie and again stepped past the shield. This time she reached behind and drove the blade through his spine. As he began to falling, she reached across his body, and cast Petrify on the area around his heart. She was about to help Zack and Thad but realised that they had the other two golems under control. Four minutes later it was all over. They checked the rooftop for anything hidden and couldn’t find anything. Leah drank a potion and harvested all the creatures and as expected only the Dead Lord of the Trolls gave much loot. From each golem they were able to harvest the eyes. Altogether they received:

  You have harvested:

  6 Diamond Coins minted with an image of the Dead Lord of the Trolls at Altin

  6 Platinum Coins minted with an image of the Dead Lord of the Trolls at Altin

  12 Gold Coins minted with an image of the Dead Lord of the Trolls at Altin

  1 Earth Spell - ‘Form a Golem’

  8 Golem Gems (2 Emerald, 2 Sapphire, 2 Diamond and 2 Tanzanite)

  As the bodies disappeared a chest appeared

  You have completed the Battle Arena stage of Dungeon of the dead Goblins at Altin:

  Your reward is

  6 Emerald Gems

  6 Sapphire Gems

  6 Diamond Gems

  6 Tanzanite Gems

  6 Diamond Coins minted with an image of the Dead Lord of the Trolls at Altin

  1 Commemorative Chess Set

  The Chess Set was large with metre long edges. The squares were Diamond and a deep violet Tanzanite. On one side was a set of figures carved from Emeralds with Atherleah as Queen, Thad as King, James appeared in two different poses as the bishop, Wisp was the Knight and Zack the rook. Amy appeared in eight poses which featured her both fighting and scouting. The other side was made of light blue Sapphire and had the Dead Lord as King, The Necromancer as Queen, the bishops were troll wights, then the nature mage as the knights and the conglomeration as Rooks. Goblins made up the set as the pawns. It was edged in Gold.

  A door appeared, and the six stunned players returned to the Octagonal room and then logged out after agreeing to meet again in just under four hours at 7.30 Dunyanin-time.

  Leah headed for the sofa, lay down, and logged out. She had an hour before she needed to pick up the food from Jimmy. After a bathroom break and a shower, she jumped back into the Pod and headed for a lesson with Master Ning. Master Ning started off with some meditation, and for the first time Leah struggled to find the space within that was calm. Her mind kept returning to the chess set, to her and Thad as Queen and King. Finally, Master Ning said, “Something is troubling you today. Do you wish to talk about it?”

  “I probably need someone to discuss it with, but I’m not sure if it's something to share with my course instructor. What should I do when confused and uncertain? I haven’t truly been either of those things before, and now I find myself being distracted. Ordinarily, I can find my centre and peace quickly, but this is the second time today I have struggled.”

  “This is good Atherleah. Finding peace when you are not troubled is easy. Finding peace in uncertainty brings growth and maturity. Don’t fight to banish the thoughts, rather, set them before you. Learn to breathe with them before you, practice to find calm in their presence, not in their banishment; this is the path to walk.”<
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  Leah stopped trying to ignore her reaction and feelings. Instead, she slowly accepted their presence and then worked to calm her thinking around those feelings and uncertainties. It was almost twenty minutes later when Master Ning said, “You are calm. Are the uncertainty and confusion still with you?”

  “Yes, Master!”

  “It is there, in that state, that you can safely allow your mind, both conscious and unconscious to ponder the questions. It is in this place of calm that you make the best decisions. You need not solve everything, but you can move forward with confidence and without distraction. The rest of the lesson we will just think, you and I. You on your problems and me on how best to train such a talented student. Now, breathe.”

  After the lesson, Leah felt refreshed and much more in control. She quickly showered and dressed. This time when she headed out into the corridors, she was armed with all her knives and both fighting sticks. She met nobody in the building and quickly hurried outside into the sunshine. Although her muscles were still sore, the pain had moved from her shoulders down her back and along her arms.

  As she approached the gate to leave the property, she saw some vehicles parked along the road. As she stepped through the gate, the car doors opened, and four heavily built men in suits stepped out of the cars and began walking in her direction. Then, six more men and two women stepped out from behind some houses and also closed in on her position; these eight she knew. She had worked with each of them in the past, and they were some of Jimmy’s most senior crew. The four from the cars slowed and then stopped. One of Jimmy’s crew was dragging some boxes loaded and strapped on a moving trolley. As they joined Leah, they surrounded her and escorted her back to the gate, and two waited with her as she re-entered the compound. The other six walked toward the cars. Before Jimmy’s crew got there, they drove off.

  John, one of the men who stayed with Leah, said, “This is with Jimmy’s compliments. Don’t leave here without us. Next time just stand inside, and we’ll come to you. Jimmy has a guard here now, day and night. Don’t argue, some of us know what happened, and we all owe you.”

  “Thanks, John! The next time I come out, I’ll be heading home for a few hours. I’ll let Jimmy know when.”

  “Good, now off you go. If we’re caught hanging around here too long, it’ll get messy.”

  Leah took the trolley and was soon back in her apartment. She unpacked the food and found that Jimmy had sent far more than she needed, and it was all good quality; she really must be in his good graces. When she thought of how many people had been caught in the mine, she understood.

  She made herself a lunch with fresh vegetables and then rang Jimmy to thank him. After talking with Jimmy she rang her mother and had a long chat, she described her emotions, feelings and fears. Though her mother offered copious advice, and warnings, she knew more than anything that her mother had listened to her, and with that knowledge, she knew she wasn’t alone.

  She spent an hour in deep-sleep and the after a brief exit she headed once more into the Octagonal Room.

  Everyone was on time, and everyone looked refreshed and ready for the second half of the Odyssey. Leah stepped forward and placed her hand on the first platinum door. They materialised high on a mountain ledge, with snow falling and a trail visible both up and down the mountain. Amy looked at Leah and communicating via the rings asked, “Which way?”

  Leah wasn’t sure, so she said. “No idea, let me try something.”

  Her MP was full, so she reached up and touched the Emerald in the middle of her forehead. She then turned slowly in a circle looking in all directions. There were three arrows; one pointed along the ledge moving up the mountain, one along the ledge down the mountain and the third pointed up the rock face near where they stood.

  Leah explained what she had done and then asked Thad and Zach to use their mining sight on the trail and the side wall. She sent Zach down the ridge with Wisp and asked him to check for 100 metres or so. Thad and James, she sent up the ledge. Amy stayed with Leah, who equipped a mining pick and began examining the rock face with her mining sight. She hooked the pick in her belt and using the spider climbing gloves scaled the wall slowly, occasionally stopping to check for any clues. She was almost 40 metres up the cliff when she saw a small six-inch ledge with some green indicators of a place to mine. She stepped onto the ledge and was just going to call everyone when Zack said through the rings, “I’ve found something.”

  Thad responded, “So have I.”

  Leah said, “Me too. Each of us mine for a while but stop if something new happens. We'll then decide what to do.”

  Leah found it difficult to mine while standing on the ledge but eventually she got the hang of it. Thad was the first to find something, and he said, “I’ve broken through to a cavern with a portal.” Next was Zack, who said something similar, and finally, Leah also broke through to a small crawl-way heading deeper into the rock face. She didn’t go in but scampered down the rock face and gathered the group around her.

  “We’ve two portals and a crawlway that could go anywhere but most likely to another portal. Are there any suggestions?”

  Zack said, “I don’t think we should split up. We need to stay together. So whatever we choose, and I have no opinions, I suggest we stay as a group.”

  Everyone agreed with Zack, but no one had any indication of which was the way to go. Finally, Leah said, “I think that as we arrived at this place, the most likely way to the Goblin mine is through the crawlspace. However, I don’t think we can all get up there so I suspect the other two places have equipment we might use or they may be the entrance to the main mine. If no one has a better idea, I suggest we go down then up and then high.”

  Everyone agreed, and they moved down the ridge to the portal Zack opened. Leah and the others stepped through, and the following message appeared.

  Level 4 Named Personal Achievement

  Find a Platinum Mine - First 100 (1, Sapphire)

  Reward 1: 500 Experience Points x Player Level - 52480 (+28%) EP (114000/114000) (48155/116000)

  Reward 2: 10 Gold x #L4 NPA (Sapphire) = 10 Gold

  Reward 3: +1 % to Experience Points

  Reward 4: 50 Fame Points (18000 FP)

  A Commemorative Plaque has been placed in your bag.

  Note: This achievement will be published on the Dunyanin achievement forum. Do you wish to retain your privacy?

  [Y] [N]

  Atherleah, this mine has not been claimed.

  As the leader of this group do you wish to claim this mine? (Note, you are not yet a member of a clan and will need to form a clan or join a clan to claim this mine.)

  [Y] [N]

  Leah shared the new message, and the other five quickly checked the forums on claiming a mine, as did Leah. She then checked [Y]:

  Atherleah, you have claimed the Platinum Mine.

  You are not a member of a clan. Do you wish to start a Clan?

  [Y] [N]

  She again checked [Y]

  Atherleah,

  To form a clan you need to pay the required fee of 4 Diamond. You must have at least three other members wishing to join you and a Clan Name. If you still want to form a clan, please record the founding members and a unique name.

  Clan Name:

  Leader: Atherleah

  Member:

  Member:

  Member:

  Leah shared everything with the group and then said, “Is anyone here interested in joining a new clan? We don’t have much except a Platinum Mine.”

  Wisp said, “I’m in, I told you. Where you go, I go.”

  Thad looked at his three friends who all nodded at him, “Atherleah, we’ve been a group of four for years now, and we would love to be part of a bigger group, your group. As Wisp said, 'where you go, we go'. Just one thing, what are you going to call it?”

  Leah thought and then said, “This is going to sound strange to you guys, but there has been a poem that drives much of what I do for most of my life.
Anyway, from that, I would like to call it Clan Guàn or the English would be, Clan Stork.”

  Thad, James and Zack all snorted and then looked sheepish. Thad said, “Well, I’ve gotta be honest I was thinking something a little more evocative of power and violence but sure, why not.”

  Leah looked embarrassed and said, “I can choose something else if you have other suggestions.

  Wisp piped up, “My AI says the Stork is the symbol of purity, prosperity and protection, among other things. I like it. Can I create the symbol? I like drawing and designing.”

  Amy said, “Forget the boys, their brains aren’t fully developed yet. Its good, it has meaning, and is neutral enough that it won’t stand out too much.”

  The three men were still looking sheepish, and so Thad said, “I’m sorry, that was a bit weird. Honestly, I’m happy to be in a clan with you guys and whatever name will work for me.”

  Slightly mollified Leah filled in the form and asked Gèng to agree to the payment from her accounts after transferring the money across.

  Atherleah,

  The fee of 4 Diamond has been deducted from your account as per your instructions. Clan Guàn has been entered on the register of official clans. The following members are registered as members of the clan. It is suggested that you produce and publish a document outlining the purpose, benefits and responsibilities of being in the clan as well as any associated costs.

  Clan Name: Guàn

  Leader: Atherleah

  Member: Annairë the Wize

  Member: Thad_Kickyourbuttson

  Member: Amelia_Quickfoot