The Dragon's Wrath: Ashes of the Fallen Read online

  The Dragon's Wrath

  Ashes of the Fallen

  Volume 2

  Brent Roth

  Copyrights

  The Dragon's Wrath: Ashes of the Fallen

  Copyright © 2015 by Brent Roth

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher.

  Contents

  The Dragon's Wrath

  Ashes of the Fallen

  Copyrights

  Contents

  Foreword

  Chapter 41: Disbanding

  (Sunday, May 23rd Game Day / Wednesday, February 17th Real Day)

  Chapter 42: Quest Chains 'n Stuff

  (Wednesday, May 26th Game Day / Thursday, February 18th Real Day)

  Chapter 43: The Second Floor

  (Wednesday, May 26th Game Day / Thursday, February 18th Real Day)

  Chapter 44: Perusing for Profit

  (Saturday, May 29th Game Day / Friday, February 19th Real Day)

  Chapter 45: Pugs

  (Saturday, May 29th Game Day / Friday, February 19th Real Day)

  Chapter 46: A Neutral Smith

  (Saturday, May 29th Game Day / Friday, February 19th Real Day)

  Chapter 47: Fourth Floor

  (Sunday, May 30th Game Day / Friday, February 19th Real Day)

  Chapter 48: Population in Flux

  (Tuesday, June 1st Game Day / Saturday, February 20th Real Day)

  Chapter 49: An Ox to Grind

  (Friday, June 18th Game Day / Friday, February 26th Real Day)

  Chapter 50: Return to the Fifth

  (Thursday, June 24th Game Day / Sunday, February 28th Real Day)

  Chapter 51: The Big Boss

  (Friday, June 25th Game Day / Sunday, February 28th Real Day)

  Chapter 52: Settling Affairs

  (Monday, June 28th Game Day / Monday, March 1st Real Day)

  Chapter 53: Welcome Home

  (Monday, July 19th Game Day / Monday, March 8th Real Day)

  Chapter 54: A Simple Village

  (Wednesday, July 28th Game Day / Thursday, March 11th Real Day)

  Chapter 55: A Quick Hunt

  (Friday, August 6th Game Day / Sunday, March 14th Real Day)

  Chapter 56: Rattanorv

  (Saturday, August 7th Game Day / Sunday, March 14th Real Day)

  Chapter 57: The Trade Voyage

  (Monday, August 9th Game Day / Monday, March 15th Real Day)

  Chapter 58: Establishing a Trade Route

  (Thursday, August 12th Game Day / Tuesday, March 16th Real Day)

  Chapter 59: Foreign Construction

  (Sunday, August 15th Game Day / Wednesday, March 17th Real Day)

  Chapter 60: Back Home, Again

  (Sunday, September 5th Game Day / Wednesday, March 24th Real Day)

  Chapter 61: Stranger, Danger?

  (Saturday, September 11th Game Day / Friday, March 26th Real Day)

  Chapter 62: Infrastructure

  (Saturday, September 18th Game Day / Sunday, March 28th Real Day)

  Chapter 63: A Glorious Day

  (Sunday, September 19th Game Day / Monday, March 29th Real Day)

  Chapter 64: The Day After

  (Monday, September 20th Game Day / Monday, March 29th Real Day)

  Chapter 65: For Far Too Many

  (Monday, September 23rd Game Day / Tuesday, March 30th Real Day)

  Chapter 66: Restart

  (Tuesday, September 24th Game Day / Tuesday, March 30th Real Day)

  Chapter 67: Overseer

  (Thursday, September 30th Game Day / Thursday, April 1st Real Day)

  Chapter 68: Rats, Just Rats

  (Friday, September 31st Game Day / Friday, April 2nd Real Day)

  Chapter 69: New Faces

  (Monday, October 11th Game Day / Monday, April 5th Real Day)

  Chapter 70: Infested Zones

  (Wednesday, November 1st Game Day / Monday, April 12th Real Day)

  Chapter 71: Intruders in the Night

  (Sunday, November 7th Game Day / Wednesday, April 14th Real Day)

  Chapter 72: A State of War

  (Wednesday, November 10th Game Day / Thursday, April 15th Real Day)

  Chapter 73: The Raid

  (Saturday, November 13th Game Day / Friday, April 16th Real Day)

  Afterword

  (7-27-2015)

  Foreword

  The following work contains mature themes, including but not limited to detailed representations of violent combat, death, and occasional profanity that are intended for a mature audience and may not be suitable for children under the age of unknown.

  This Volume is a direct continuation of The Dragon's Wrath: A Virtual Dream (Volume 1) and will most likely make little sense if you're reading this first. These are not standalone books and are not meant to be read out of order. If you have yet to read the first work, I strongly advise you to do so and then return to this one at a later date.

  Other than that, hope you enjoy the read!

  Chapter 41: Disbanding

  (Sunday, May 23rd Game Day / Wednesday, February 17th Real Day)

  Staring at the mutilated corpses of the goblins before me, I couldn't help but laugh a little. Here I am, sitting in the blood and flesh of my enemies while casually munching on the dried flesh of a rabbit. If there was ever a time to admit being desensitized, this was it.

  The smell of congealing blood gave a unique iron-esque tinge to the odor of puke and urine that had been floating around. It was still a nasty smell, but we had become used to it by now. Looking down at myself, the stains that marred my white fur beyond recognition were already starting to dry and there was some lingering doubt that it would even wash out.

  Well, at least I wouldn't be an entirely white and fluffy guy anymore.

  I guess that's somewhat of an upgrade.

  Taking a look at the [Old Dory] once more, I saw that it was a [Poor Quality - Common Grade] item. Basically, it was the second to worst condition an item could be in along with being the most generic. It was a step above complete junk, but just barely.

  Inferior Quality was the lowest of the low, complete trash in any sense. Poor Quality was considered barely usable, while Decent Quality was alright. After that were Average, Good, Great, Exceptional, and then finally Legendary Quality. Item Grade followed in a similar ladder, from Common to Uncommon, Rare to Ultra Rare, and then Legendary last.

  It went without saying that a shift up either category increased the value of an item exponentially. Well, for a beginner dungeon the loot wasn't that bad. A spear and shield were a great combination for tanking.

  Tossing the [Old Dory] on the ground, I shook my head. It just wasn't what I was looking for. If only one of those goblins used an axe… oh well.

  A quick glance at the in-game clock told me that the daylight period had ended and it was now dark outside. Somehow, we had spent nearly an hour and a half clearing eight groups of five mobs. That was fairly slow for clearing trash groups, but we weren't of the highest levels either. Still sitting on the ground, my questions of whether we would continue or not were answered in short as that archer-leader that had been silent since I took over, finally decided to talk once more.

  "We've sorted all of the items that dropped in a pile here and we'll split everything based on value," the archer begrudgingly muttered.

  I had no issue with that, fair loot principle is the best course of action with pickup groups, especially since you were unlikely to see each other again. Nodding my head in agreement, the female rogue had started
to divvy up the items.

  She looked in my direction twice before I decided to clear any confusion, "feel free to divide the items up as you see fit, I'm not particularly interested in any of it."

  Confused by my statement, the rogue inquired. "You don't want the shield? You're the tank, you should take it." Well, I didn't even bother looking at the shield since I couldn't really use it anyways, I didn't have a one-handed weapon to go with it.

  Shrugging my shoulders, I let her continue on with the sorting.

  The total collection of loot amounted to forty weapons, one per goblin that was killed. Thirty-seven of those were inferior quality swords worth about ten copper coins a piece. Two poor quality swords worth around sixty copper coins and the last poor quality item was the spear, worth around thirty copper.

  That spear was actually a better weapon despite the same grade and quality, but being simpler to produce with a smaller amount of iron it wasn't worth anywhere near as much. I figured a poor quality shield was probably worth fifty copper though, since it was banded together with iron rings and leather straps.

  There were also four rings that dropped, each with a small enchantment of +2 to one random attribute. Having never seen an enchanted item in the North, I had absolutely no clue as to their appraised value.

  I would have to trust the rogue here.

  As I was thinking things out, the female rogue had put the shield, spear, and one of the two low-quality swords in one pile and divided the rest amongst the four of them. Then she called out to me, "the shield should be worth around one-hundred by itself. The rings are worth about thirty in town. Will this split work?"

  Running the math in my head as best as I could, it seemed I had the largest split this way, but I was sure she was aware of that. A little confused since we already decided on equal distribution, I raised my concern.

  "I believe my share is slightly larger, is that alright?" I asked plainly.

  She let off a nice smile as she explained, "I figured you could use it, it's only a few copper anyways. Consider it payment for successfully tanking." She was definitely my favorite of the four… and quite possibly the smartest of the bunch as well.

  "Ah, well thank you then."

  As soon as I had said that, the four guild members grabbed their belongings and made their way to the exit without so much as a word to whether we were continuing on or not. As they reached the exit they said their thanks for the party and quietly left one after the other.

  The group disbanded just like that.

  Alone and relaxing by myself in the dungeon, I continued to munch on rabbit jerky while thinking things over. I kind of wanted to go to the next level, but my party had left without a word. In an effort to console myself, I walked over to check the loot.

  Inspecting the shield first, my mouth nearly dropped to the floor.

  The [Old Aspis] was a [Decent Quality - Uncommon Grade].

  It wasn't an inferior quality or even a poor quality piece. It was of decent quality and of an uncommon grade… that girl.

  This was worth at least two-hundred copper and she should have known.

  She did me a favor.

  I wasn't a big fan of favors.

  Well, I would repay it in some fashion later. Debts were not something to be carried around. Having concluded my business and with nothing else to do in the lonely dungeon, I soon left as well.

  Chapter 42: Quest Chains 'n Stuff

  (Wednesday, May 26th Game Day / Thursday, February 18th Real Day)

  That fresh, crisp morning air after a light rain.

  Something about it, I couldn't quite place.

  But in the end, it calmed my soul.

  Gazing out at the forest in front of me, there was nothing more than trees as far as the eye could see. Light had just graced the world and soon adventurers would fill the space between. Waiting in the darkness just off to the side of the dungeon, I had been calmly biding my time in the summer rain.

  That was about to come to an end.

  Yeah, it wouldn't be long now.

  A burly dwarf soon appeared in the distance, not quite as short in stature as I would have imagined, but still quite short nonetheless. A man maybe five feet tall, with shield and sword followed by two males in robes and a fourth man with a bow. Adventurers, here to conquer the dungeon, I suppose.

  Without a fifth member, I became a little anxious at the prospect.

  Having already turned in the first portions of the chain quests, I was now sitting on [Outing the Outcasts, Part 2] and [Bringing down the Guard, Pt. 2]. Now, all I needed was a party that was looking to clear the second level at the minimum.

  I could only hope that they were on the same page.

  As the dwarf walked within earshot, I decided to take a chance.

  "Hey, do you guys need a fifth?" I called out while making eye-contact.

  With a bit of a tsk and a face that couldn't care less, the dwarf looked me up and down before deciding on his reply.

  "Yeh, wha' do you do?" he coolly questioned in return.

  Caught a little off-guard by the bluntness of his response and an accent that reminded me of the land down under, I started wondering what role would be best. A look at the group in front of me told me they had two casters of some sort, an archer, and a tank.

  I guess it wasn't a hard decision after all.

  "I'm a mage," I said bluntly with some conviction.

  The dwarf stood still for a moment, looking once over at the group behind him as if to reassure himself. In truth, I wasn't much of a mage but it definitely sounded better than archer or off-tank. Plus, it certainly wouldn't hurt to raise my proficiency with Lightning Magic.

  Continuing where he left off, "got any experience?"

  "Yeah, I'm on the second quest," I confidently stated.

  "Right, let's go then," replied the dwarf with a quick nod.

  What… that was it?

  Well, that was easy… if only every group invite went as smoothly.

  An invite to the group and a quick step through the portal a second later brought me back to that dimly lit cave that stunk of urine and puke. That sudden change was unnerving yet again, and I wasn't sure if I would ever get used to it. Going from the refreshing cool air of the forest to the cold, empty yet muddy-feeling of the portal, with it all culminating in that overly humid and rancid environment that was called a dungeon; it simply was an odd transition.

  There was definitely a separation between worlds.

  With the rest of the party appearing directly behind, we were finally ready to get things started. I could only hope that these guys were decent. The confidence of the dwarf next to me was at least reassuring. It was actually strangely a bit too reassuring, and with a quick check of the options, I found out why.

  It appeared that the dwarf had an aura that bolstered morale.

  Well, he was still a confident fellow and that did help in addition to his aura.

  Quickly checking all my items and statuses, I was ready to go. But before we could begin, the dwarf had glanced at me and seemed startled. Confusion displayed clearly across his face as he asked, "how the hell do ye 'ave so much health!? I'm level thirty-seven and ye've got as much health as I do…."

  Oh, so he does have emotions.

  I laughed a bit to myself before deciding on how to reply. "Bonus attributes man. The UR-Exam gave me a wee bit of a boost." Following that up with a wink, I let a grin slip out as well. Yeah, I had two-hundred more health than him and was only level thirty-one. An axe-wielding mage with the health of a tank, nothing too out of the ordinary here!

  Shaking his head, the dwarf let a grin of his own shine through before replying in kind. "No shit. I didn't think it was worth, but if a mage has more health than a tank I should get my freakin' stubby ass down there." As he finished talking, he continued to walk forward until he reached the middle of the room. Suddenly stopping and without turning around, he raised his voice for all to hear.

  "Right, who's pullin'? I'
ll AoE taunt them off ye," he said loudly.

  With a quick glance at the archer who didn't seem to care, I figured now would be a good time to shine. Like a kid raising his hand to answer the teacher's call, I eagerly replied. "I can pull. I've got a good AoE to start it."

  "Ye do that then," the dwarf stated calmly.

  Without a moment to lose, I quickly walked around the corner and down the dark narrow passageway. I had yet to actually use [Chain Lightning] but they didn't need to know that. They were on a need to know basis, and they didn't need to know. I mean, what was the worst that could happen anyhow?

  Staring at the goblin camp, five of those disgustingly filthy creatures were settled by the fireside munching on what appeared to be roasted rat. With their height ranging from four feet tall to four foot six, oversized heads with odd spade-like ears and hourglass eyes… they were just as repulsive as the first time I encountered them.

  It was of no matter though, as they would die all the same.

  Gathering myself and getting into position, I began a chanted verse while focusing my attention on casting a [Chain Lightning]. The cast time itself was quite short, comparable to a [Lightning Bolt] at two seconds but it cost over twice the mana. There was also a cooldown period of eight seconds as well, so it couldn't be used repeatedly in quick succession. Fortunately none of that really mattered; I had enough mana to cast quite a few of them and it looked to be a very powerful spell.

  As four distinct miniature lightning bolts started to take shape between my hands, they had started to entwine into a single yet separate mass. The cool off-white light radiating from my hands was a sight to behold, and I couldn't wait for what was to come. Building up the charge to its maximum three verses, I focused my attention on the [Outcast Goblin] far out in front.

  Extending my arms outwards with palms open, I quickly yelled out, "Chain Lightning!" In a flash I saw the four intertwined bolts of lightning surge forth and nearly instantaneously explode in a shower of sparks. The four miniature bolts had hit the goblin in the center of his chest and as he was paralyzed from the sudden electricity coursing through his veins, each individual bolt arced off and bounced to a nearby goblin.