As we neared the fallen walls that surrounded the stairwell a short time later a hollow boom drew my attention behind us.
Beyond the walls in the far distance something gargantuan moved against the field of starlight surrounded by swirling ash. Details were hard to make out but the thing was impossibly huge. An attempt to analyze the beast surprisingly succeeded. Lydia relayed its statistics, horrifying in their barren nature, like she was reading my grocery list.
Heart of L'Chasse Level ??
HP: Unknown
MP: Unknown
Weakness: None
Resistance: Unknown
Not Available. Advance your level to learn more about this creature.
Magda, her face swathed in tattered cloth to avoid the ash, spoke up beside me, “It appeared months ago. It just roams lands to the south of the city. Sometimes the earth shakes violently. It’s been so intense lately that I feared that this world was coming to an end. I haven't been brave enough to venture there and discern its nature.”
She eyed me for a long moment and added in a dry tone, “You can't defeat that beast.”
Turning to her I gave my best smile and said, “I had no intention of trying.”
“Uhmm hmmm, as I said, I know Remnants. You'll not fool me. All of your kind seek insane challenges. The more insane the better, it seems.”
She left me there to enter the ruin and I chuckled at how right she was. Devs did not put a monster like that in the game without a way to take it down. My mind had immediately considered options to down a world boss of this size.
What would the reward be?
In MMOs you would need a raid of fifteen to twenty to even have a chance of facing something like this. Turning I watched Magda enter the stairwell and thought, “Maybe I need an army of strong NPCs?”
Wincing at the idea of switching out the living people I had manipulated for digital facsimiles, I squared my shoulders and made my way into the former structure. Magda stood next to the portal glaring up at me.
“I started to wonder if you had charged off to fight that titan on your own.”
“Come on now I'm not…,” I checked my comment and cleared my throat, “I'm not an idiot.”
She grumbled under her breath loud enough to be heard, “Remains to be seen.”
Giving her a tight smile I descended the steps, bowing to her mockingly, and stepped through the portal. There was no dramatic feeling of travel. I simply stepped into the disc of darkness and emerged from the arch into chaos. A circle of white pitted stone monoliths surrounded me and a din of howling wind mixed with chatter, shouts, and laughter filled my senses.
Entering the Village of Steps
A village built around the Spiral ascent portal. This village provides a brief reprieve from the winds of the silt sea and some relaxation for the weary sailor.
Tier E, Trade Hub
I was surrounded by a multi-tiered city of wooden shanties. There appeared to be homes, shops and a couple of taverns amidst the jumble of chaotic buildings. Black flags hung from several points on the city’s many tiers. The flags were uniformly black with a simple white shield on them. The sound of an intense howling wind filled the air, drowning out most conversation. Some of the errant currents swirled down and around the portal, throwing up sand and sending my Blood Cloak roaming out and amidst the stones.
Magda entered after me and gave me a cold sidelong glare as she muttered, “Village of Steps. Shut your gob, it's not that exciting. I come here to buy supplies from time to time.”
Figures roamed about the tiers under the endless starry night going about their tasks. Most were dressed in dark leathers festooned with abnormally bright scarves and belts of orange, red or green. In addition to humans some looked a lot like my avatar with skins of violaceous hue and long sharp ears, Speers off-handedly mentioned they were called Haithans. Their women were muscular giants like Magda and their men closer to my avatar’s height with svelte frames.
Others were a scale-kin race. They were tall, most over two meters, with slender bodies and non defining sexual characteristics, although to my eyes they all had a feminine quality. Their faces were human-like but with sharp defining angles and diamond-shaped eyes that ranged from luminous gold to dull black. Ape-like humanoids with human faces lined with fur and swiping prehensile tails ran along roped rails protecting the clumsy or drunken from tumbling down to the center of the bowl-like wooden city. A path led from the stone circle through the side of the village and out toward what appeared to be the open ocean. A quest prompt appeared in my HUD.
Quest Completed
Descend the Spiral
XP Gained: 5000
Item Reward Choice: Upgrade a Weapon, Gloves or Ring to Tier E!
You have descended from L’Chasse to the Pools. Congrats, Remnant!
Quest Evolving
Descend the Spiral
XP Reward: 12000
Item Reward: Weapon C Tier, Gloves C Tier, Ring C Tier
Somewhere on the Silt Sea is an avenue to descend the Spiral and continue your mission. Find it and continue your mission on to the City of Lotz.
Raising an eyebrow at the immediate reward I mentally clicked the ‘Choose Reward’ button. My list of equipped items appeared, several greyed out, and Lydia announced, “Choose an item to advance to E Tier, sugar!”
As my Gloves of the Penitent Servant and the Ring of the Burning Dervish were already E Tier, my options were as follows:
Sanguine Sisters
A pair of curved daggers made from the bones of a virtuous servant of flame.
Type: Dagger (Pair)
Slot: Both Hands
Level 26, Agility 50
Epic
Tier: F
Damage: 45 to 60
Agility +30, Charm +15, Spirit +10
Bleed effects caused by these weapons cause 20% more damage and last 10% longer.
With each successive strike the Sanguine Sisters cause 10% more damage.
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When used to inflict a backstab the target is silenced for three seconds.
Ring of Eternal Bonding
A nearly opaque onyx crystal band with the symbol of a sunburst repeated around its circumference. A common type of ring for marriage bonds, although this one is of more elaborate construction.
Type: Ring
Slot: Ring
Level 14
Uncommon
Tier: F
Charm +10, Spirit +5
Speak a vow into the ring and choose a target within 30 meters. That target gains a +10 to Vitality and Strength for one minute. If you somehow break your vow before the end of the current day you will be cursed with a -10 to Spirit and Reason for one hour. Can only be used once per day.
While always excited to upgrade a weapon I decided that I would save my Item Spike for that upgrade and decided to lock in the Ring of Eternal Bonding, which was woefully underleveled, and upgrade it to E Tier. Lydia read out their new stats in her cheerful drawl:
Ring of Eternal Bonding
A nearly opaque onyx crystal band with the symbol of a sunburst repeated around its circumference. A common type of ring for marriage bonds, although this one is of more elaborate construction.
Type: Ring
Slot: Ring
Level 38
Rare
Tier: E
Charm +40, Spirit +25
Speak a vow into the ring and choose a target within 30 meters. That target gains a +50 to Vitality and Strength for one minute. If you somehow break your vow before the end of the current day you will be cursed with a -100 to Spirit and Reason for one hour. Can only be used once per day.
Play Last Recorded Vow?
Yes/No?
Glancing at Magda, who was fussing with her bag and cursing under her breath I shrugged and activated the recording:
“I vow to never betray Valerie de Lafontaine.”
The voice was playful and almost sarcastic and an exact match for my character’s modulated tenor.
I was considering the oddity of the strange message when an energetic feminine voice called out to me from the platform above, “You know, pretty much no one comes out of the portal anymore.”
She was a Haithan woman in her twenties. She had lavender colored skin and long thick swept back ears. One side of her head had rows of glossy onyx braids that plaited across the side of her head before falling down her back while the other side of her head was a fountain of long curly hair pouring out from under her black tricorne hat. She was easily over two meters in height and wore heavy brown leather boots, thick leather pants worn baggy, and a red vest over a dirty white shirt. She sat on the side of the platform with her feet dangling, swinging back and forth out over the edge studying me with interest and familiarity
Magda stepped up beside me and growled, “An acquaintance of yours?”
The young woman’s head snapped to the older hunter and her smile was wide and unnerving, “Who is this?”
Surveying the other citizens, I noted that no one else had taken interest in me. Studying the young woman, I activated Analyze.
Mist Hunter Level 45
Tier E
Weakness: Fire
Resistance: Water
HP: 11,200/11,200
MP: Unknown
Mist Army: The Mist Hunter can consume targets and reproduce them into able and competent defenders who have many of the skills of their previous lives.
Doppleganger: The Mist Hunter can now vary its main form to take the shape of any target it observes. The Hunter also gains some of the abilities of its target.
She smirked knowingly at me and several figures who had been sitting back on crates near the wall stood up and moved to join her. They were all Haithan men and women wearing the typical garb of the citizens of this strange pirate burg. Each of them looked as if they had lived a hard life with prominent disfiguring scars, and in some cases black iron prostheses.
Prepared to summon my weapons, The Sanguine Sisters, I glared at the newly arrived thugs, analyzing them as well.
Mist-pirate Level 35
HP: 4100/4100
MP: Unknown
Weakness: Fire
Resistance: Unknown
One of them, a haggard older man with fewer scars than the others, offered me a salute and growled, “It’s good to see you again Captain.”
Relaxing a small amount at the man’s show of genuine respect, I turned my attention to the young woman who was hopping up to her feet. These NPCs knew my avatar. Obviously whoever had leveled it before had interacted with them a lot. She tipped her hat to me and her playful expression broke into genuine elation and happiness as she said, “The others gave up but I told them you would come back!”
Offering a welcoming smile, I spread my arms, “I… I guess I got lost for a while.”
Despite my gesture, I did not expect the large grinning pirate to leap down to embrace my character in a crushing hug. I chuckled and, after hesitating, returned the hug. I noted that the girl was crying and looked around at all of her allies. Being this close to someone, even a virtual entity, was uncomfortable. Back in the dive room my shoulders arched and tightened and I bit my lip as I finally managed to dislodge the girl who was still beaming up at me with tears in her golden eyes.
Magda harumphed, earning a glower from the Mist Hunter and the bow wielding hermit turned a cold glare on me, “I have associates to meet. I appreciate your company to the portal. I’ll seek you out in the future. Do ask around about the Remnant we spoke of, if you can.”
Nodding, I smiled and as she strode away I said, “I will.”
The Mist Hunter turned an inquisitive look on the older woman but before any other confusion could be sewn I said, “So, you mentioned others?”
She nodded energetically and pointed through the gap in the village’s wall, “Valerie is a captain now! She will want to see you. I don’t think it’s possible but she might have missed you more than me!”
Valerie? My mind snapped back to the quest prompts I’d seen with that name. That eerie vow in my character’s voice.
She practically bounced as she took my hands and looked to the others still standing around us and said, “Most of these you don’t know but you remember Gregor?”
She gestured to the older Haithan man and I nodded to him in greeting. She looked to the rest of the scarred onlookers and beamed, “The rest of these are my crew.”
Surprised, I asked, “You have a ship?”
She gave me a conspiratorial wink, “I sure do. I’m kind of a big deal.”
Despite myself, I offered the quirky NPC a smile and said, “Alright, well I guess we should find,” I struggled to remember the name for half a beat and said, “Valerie. But, I need to do some shopping around the village.” Lyd announced a new quest:
New Quest
Meet with Fleet Captain Valerie de Lefontaine
XP: 1200
Reward: Unknown
Pirate Captain Mystal has invited you to meet with your old ‘friend’ Valerie de Lefontaine somewhere on the Silt Sea. Find her and discover what has been happening in your absence.
She nodded quickly and turned to her ‘crew’. They looked off into space for a moment and then started toward the gap in the wall followed shortly after by their captain. I noticed for the first time that the strange crew did not so much glance at or speak with their captain. The young Haithan woman turned and winked at me, “My ship is on the west side of the island. I can’t wait to hear what happened to you!”
She gave me another enthusiastic hug that ended in her lifting me off the ground due to our height differences and then ran off to catch up with her crew.
Strange.
The first thing I did before investigating the village was summon up the Item Spike I’d gotten from the tutorial and scanned my items. There were very few pieces of equipment that could be upgraded to E Tier. After my debate earlier I knew exactly which to use the precious item on.. I summoned the Sanguine Sisters and placed the tip of the crystalline spike against the crossguard and watched it vanish. Following its upgrade I checked its new stats with a grim smile.
Sanguine Sisters
A pair of curved daggers made from the bones of a virtuous servant of flame.
Type: Dagger (Pair)
Minimum Requirement: Level 39, Agility 150
Rarity: Epic
Tier: E
Damage: 90 to 140
Effect: Agility +62, Charm +26, Spirit +20
Bleed effects caused by these weapons cause 20% more damage and last 10% longer.
With each successive strike the Sanguine Sisters cause 10% more damage.
When used to inflict a backstab the target is silenced for three seconds.
