Yvvaros: The Clash of Worlds (18 page)

HOLY RESTORATION

Luke gritted his teeth. The fact that it was taking all of his abilities just to keep up with the monster, one of the standard enemies in the region, was infuriating. The Wraithling sprayed more ice mist at him. This time, he held up his weapon and blocked it with the blade.

The flames went out. Luke didn’t have enough magicka to recast them. He attacked, throwing caution to the wind and hoping that he’d still have a chance to gain the upper hand through aggression.

A couple of his strikes found their swirling targets, the baseball sized, floating ice crystals that made up the Wraithling’s body. It wasn’t enough, however. The creature countered with physical attacks from its crystals, buffeting Luke and knocking him back. The blow felt like a hail storm on steroids.

Suddenly, a blast of white light spilled out from the entrance of the tent, knocking the Wraithling back. Luke looked over and saw Tess holding the hilt of his physical sword, the blade still glowing with magical flame. She tossed it up into the air in a perfect arc, and Luke lept up after it, catching it and falling into an attack in one smooth movement.

He struck the Wraithling twice, and that was enough. It let out a high pitched death rattle and collapsed into shards of ice and snow.

LEVEL 19 ATTAINED

ELEMENTAL INFUSION 2 OBTAINED

HOLY REGENERATION 2 OBTAINED

Luke dropped his five attribute points into his combat stats and then walked over to the tent, grinning.

“Perfect timing,” he said. “I would have be in trouble if you hadn’t…”

He trailed off in midsentence as he looked through the flap and into the tent. Tess was still naked, and he immediately blushed and turned around.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “You’ve seen me naked before, Luke…”

“Yeah, but that was… in the real world.”

I feel like I’m back in middle school. This is ridiculous.

“Alright, all better,” said Tess. “You can look now.”

Luke poked back into the tent and saw that she’d pulled the wool blanket over herself.

“Can you turn your sword back on?” she asked. “It’s getting a little chilly in here…”

Luke infused the blade with fire, noticing that it felt even hotter than before. The sword’s hilt was also glowing, and he got the feeling that there was more to the second level of the skill now. He stuck it into the ground next to their sleeping area, and then pulled off his armor and joined Tess under the wool blanket.

“You’re… still naked.”

“I am,” smiled Tess. “Do you have to log out, and sleep in the real world?”

Luke shook his head vigorously.

“I can’t leave you alone just yet,” he said. “You almost froze to death before.”

“I’m glad…” Tess set a hand on his chest and made sure the blanket covered them both completely. “Then let’s… get some sleep.”

They woke up late the next morning, exhausted by the events of the day and night before. Luke had set their clothes and armor up next to his sword to dry them off. He dressed quickly, letting Tess continue to sleep in for a bit longer.

We don’t have much time to waste, but I can’t bear to force her up.

About ten minutes later, Tess yawned and slowly sat up.

“Hey,” said Luke.

“Hey.” Tess smiled at him. “Why did you let me sleep in?”

Luke shrugged. He’d already set breakfast out for them, and he passed Tess’s bread and dried beef over to her. She accepted it gratefully and started eating.

“We should head out as soon as we can,” said Luke. “Kaoru sent me a private message last night. It sounds like thing are progressing on the other fronts.”

“That’s good to know.” Tess was finished eating, and after pulling on her plain underclothes, she zipped up her dress armor. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

Luke nodded, and then paused on his way over to the tent’s exit.

“Tess…” He frowned. “You had me really worried.”

“I’m sorry. It’s not like I expected to get covered by an avalanche, though.”

Luke sighed.

“Yeah, I know,” he said. “We just have to be careful. Now more than ever.”

Tess gave him a curious look, but didn’t say anything else. The two left the tent and spent a couple of minutes breaking down camp. The sky was clear, and the sun was already midway up the horizon. It was still cold, but they were almost used to it.

They finished putting the tent away and set off. The snow was the same level of depth that they’d pushed through the day before, and traveling was slow. Luke walked first, and Tess followed directly in his wake, taking advantage of the small trail he cleared as he went.

As they passed further beyond the Teeth of the North, there was only one landmark visible in the distance. The Ancestor Glacier rose out of the ground, easily the same size as some of the mountains they’d just passed by.

“Can you see it?” asked Tess. “I’ve heard rumors in Stark Town that the Ancestor Glacier has a face.”

“A face?” Luke furrowed his brow and squinted a little at the giant, frozen landmark. He could almost make out what she was talking about.

Shahidi wasn’t what we expected. I doubt this glacier will be, either.

The height of the snow began to lessen as they moved further away from the mountains but Luke soon spotted a new challenge.

“Watch out,” he said, pointing at the ground in front of them. “Those crevices are deeper than they look. The edges could crumble if you step too close.”

“I’m not a child, Luke,” said Tess. “I’m not going to step into one.”

He shrugged.

That doesn’t mean I’m not going to worry.

A noise came from a couple hundred feet in front of them, standing out against the silent air. Luke looked at Tess before quickly making his way over. A crevice ran along the ice, opening up wide enough for a person to fall into. From the way the snow had been disturbed around the edges, that was exactly what had happened.

“Can you hear me?” called a man’s voice, from inside. “Please, help…”

Luke crouched near the opening, keeping a safe distance from the edge.

“Are you okay?” he called down. “How long have you been down there?”

“It’s too late for me.” The man coughed, and Luke noticed how weak and ragged his voice sounded. “I was part of an expedition north, along with my wife and the rest of my team. The crevice opened up underneath me and I… my legs are broken.”

“That’s terrible,” said Tess. “I can cast my magic down, and we can get a rope.”

“It won’t work,” said the man. “My team already tried it. I’m in too deep, and there is no clear line of sight.”

“So your team… just left you here?” Luke shook his head.

“They didn’t have any other choice,” said the man. “But please, you have to help them. They’re walking into danger, and they don’t realize it!”

“Alright,” said Luke. “We’ll… do what we can.”

QUEST ACCEPTED: Ancestor Glacier Expedition

“I still can’t believe they just left you down there,” said Tess.

“I told them to leave me!” cried the man. “I have a daughter to think about and my wife… She knows as well as I do that if they don’t hurry, the Blue Void will be their death.”

“What do we need to know to help your team?” asked Luke.

“The Ancestor Glacier is guarded by a group of vicious, blood thirsty monsters!” The man’s voice filled with anger and tinged with fear. “Vendroths, they’re called. I was the one who studied them before we left Stark Town.”

“So… you want us to fight these things off?” asked Luke.

“Don’t let my team be killed!” yelled the man. “Please, if they face them on their own, my wife... I don’t even want to think about it. Please…”

“Alright,” said Luke. “We’ll see what we can do.”

“Hurry! You don’t have much time! They have a day’s head start on you.”

Luke stood up and looked at Tess.

“Come on, let’s go.”

Tess nodded gravely.

CHAPTER 19

The wind began to pick up as they continued toward the glacier. It scattered the snow across the air, creating a thin screen of white powder that obscured their view. Luke kept Tess close, irrational worries about her getting separated from him or falling into a crevice pushing their way into his mind.

“I still can’t believe his team just left him there.” Tess had to half shout to be heard over the whipping wind. “I know, he’s an NPC, but still…”

Luke shrugged.

“It’s part of the quest,” he said. “And even if it wasn’t, the guy has a point. You have to think of your loved ones and their safety, first and foremost.”

Tess took a step closer to him, setting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it.

Ahead of them, a small group of tents came into view. They were still at least a mile or two away from the base of the Ancestor Glacier. Luke couldn’t see any movement in the camp, but given the conditions, he wasn’t surprised.

The tents looked a bit like the one they had with them, except better suited for winter. Luke led Tess forward to the largest one and then poked his head through the opening flap.

“Hello? Anyone home?”

A woman sat on an animal skin rug inside. She was dressed in heavy fur clothing and sitting next to a glowing orange sphere that gave off both light and heat.

“What? Who are you?” The woman pulled out a knife and walked over to the tent flap. Luke moved out of the way so she could exit. “Wake up! Who was on watch?”

More NPCs began to exit from the tents, making their way over to where Luke and Tess stood with the woman. There were about ten of them in total. Some of them held weapons, and they stood in a way that cut off any easy retreat from the camp.

“Uh, my name is Luke, and this is Tess.” Luke frowned and scratched his head. “We ran into someone from your expedition in one of the crevices.”

The woman let out a sigh, but kept her knife in hand.

“Francis…” She shook her head. “He was my husband. We… didn’t have a choice. Staying with him, trying to help, it would have gotten all of us killed.”

They’re so resolute about abandoning him. Is there really no other way?

“Why did you come here?” Another one of the NPCs from the expedition, a tall man wielding a curved sword, stepped forward and held his blade close to Luke’s back. “The gold is ours. We laid our claim months ago.”

“Easy, Tyrin,” said the woman. She sheathed her knife and then crossed her arms, examining Luke and Tess carefully. “They may yet be of use.”

“Look, we’re just here to find the Elemental Well,” said Luke. “Your husband asked us to help you, but we aren’t interested in the resources or treasure or whatever it is that you’re after.”

None of the NPCs said anything for a long moment. Finally, the woman raised her hand and nodded.

“I believe you,” she said. “My name is Marina. I’m the leader of this expedition.”

All of the NPCs relaxed a bit, and Marina continued.

“We’ve been held up in camp for the past couple of hours because of the monsters that live at the base of the glacier,” she said. “If you want to help us, we need you to exterminate them.”

Luke looked over at Tess. She frowned slightly, but said nothing.

“You’ll need to get the monsters out of the way to find what you need, anyway,” said Marina. “If my map is correct, the Elemental Well is carved into the glacier, just below the face. We believe the gold is buried in the ice a short distance from it.”

“Alright,” said Luke. “Since we’re headed that way already, I don’t see why we can’t help you.”

“Excellent,” said Marina. “Once you’ve engaged the beasts in battle, we’ll move in to provide assistance.”

Luked looked at Tess again. She still looked worried and uncertain.

“Well, okay.” He shrugged. “We’ll set off immediately.”

The group of NPCs parted to let them by. Luke watched them over his shoulder as they made their way out of the camp.

They must really want that gold…

“Something doesn’t feel right about this, Luke,” whispered Tess.

“What is it?”

She shook her head.

“I can’t explain it. I just get a bad vibe from that group. There is something that they aren’t telling us.”

Luke chewed his lip thoughtfully for a moment.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. But we’re headed up this way, anyway, and it was that man’s final request.”

Tess didn’t say anything.

The vastness of the Ancestor Glacier became apparent as they drew closer. The face on the front of it was clearly visible, a detailed and realistic likeness of a sleeping old man. It was hard for Luke to imagine any kind of natural process that would account for it, but it was even harder for him to imagine people climbing up and carving the pattern.

It was just something programed into the game.

After a couple of minutes they caught their first glimpse of the monsters that Marina had been talking about. Three of them were digging through the snow a couple hundred feet ahead, and a fourth was lying on the ground, rolling from side to side.

VELOTH: Little is known about them other than that they appear to worship the Ancestor Glacier. The travel in pacts and are only found within the most northern sections of the Blue Void.

“Huh…” Luke looked over at Tess. “Did you just get that notification, too?”

“Yeah.” She frowned. “That’s a little strange. Usually we’re given more info than that.”

The Veloth looked like a mixture between a polar bear and a lion, with the former’s thick white fur, and the latter’s bushy mane and lean snout. They could apparently stand on two or four legs, depending on what they were trying to accomplish.

One of the closer Veloth turned to look at Luke, revealing a face adorned with four pitch black eyes set in two intersecting diagonal lines across what would have been the forehead on a human. It opened its mouth and let out a noise, and then raised a seven fingered paw and gestured in their direction.

“Get ready Tess!” Luke pulled out his sword. “We can get a sense of their strength by taking on this small group, first.”