Legend of the Spellthief

Logan, Marcus, Cassius, Koma, and Patavava all had their bodies glow grey as Marcus finished enhancing them with his magic. Cassius was the last, and glowed twice, as he held his sword’s flat side out to Logan.

“Cast a Flame into this if you will”, Cassius asked.

Logan nodded as he aimed his hand at the blade, “Flame Shot.”

“That coat certainly speeds up everything with the free Quickcasting”, Cassius said off handily.

Logan could do it for free anyway, but the coat allowed him to hide that ability from others, It would be strange to not use a longer form casting to save slots and MP when you weren’t in danger.

“You can’t scan past this door, can you, Logan?” Koma asked.

Logan shook his head, “Barriers like this, without any cracks, block my abilities. It may have additional defences as well.”

“All right, everyone ready yourselves. We won’t be fighting the leader, but I anticipate we’ll have at least two retainers on hand”, Cassius commanded.

The team did just that. Patavava checked his gauntlets, Koma nocked an arrow, Logan checked he was still attuned to his staff, and Marcus loaded his crossbow. The elementals took up a defensive position around Marcus, though it was possible they wouldn’t last long against things outside their element as a final fight.

Cassius placed a hand on the door and had his body vibrate, creating an afterimage of himself that went outwards before dissipating. Controlling the spellforce around him, the door shuddered at his command. “Madamra, I challenge what lies within. Your monsters have no hold!”

A wave of wind passed over the door as the golden markings started to glow, and the eyes of the monstrous face lit up alongside a valiant roar from within. The sound of cracking stones and grinding was heard as the door started to open out towards the party.

With the door fully open, the party entered the final chamber. It was monstrously large, tall 50’ ceilings were adorned by cut stalactites in the form of monsters, looking like statues that decided the floor was too simple for them. A long-reaching red carpet with golden trimmings gave a path up to a large throne made of ice, sharp edges and claws painted it in quite a devilish design.

Sconces attached to marble pillars that held the ceiling up lit themselves, azure flames roaring throughout the room. There were no signs of other exits, the only way in or out was the door, which slowly closed behind the party, slamming shut with mechanical noises within noting its locking.

A window appeared in front of Logan’s face, hugged with a silvery outline. “You have entered into a boss room, you may not leave until the opponents are defeated. Communications and teleportations to the outside of this room have been blocked.”

Logan gulped down a ball in his throat, even with Cassius in the lead he couldn’t help but worry about such a daunting message. With the changes, he was worried that even his first team wouldn’t make it out of here.

The team continued their walk across the red carpet, towards the icy throne that was devoid of a lord. Similarly, the room was empty of other threats, but this didn’t cause anyone in the party to become calm.

Even with the cold atmosphere, the team had sweat beading down their foreheads, their heat gravel allowing the water to persist before it froze in midair as the droplets fell to the floor.

Logan clicked his fingers to try and scan for enemies with Echo Radar, pitter-patters on his exterior detailing the columns and walls to him, but no enemy dots appeared.

As the Spellthief breathed out a mist of white, he saw the vapour get whisked away in the wind of a bolting creature.

Appearing out of thin air was a tall 6’ icebold, his shoulders carrying large swathes of icicles behind them like pauldrons, its body encased in silver armour. Its eyes glowed yellow, though a blood-crazed gaze could be seen within as its jagged cutlass hit against the defending sword of Cassius.

Sparks flew off the blades, the clang reverberating in the air. This was followed up by another strike into Cassius’s flank, a cutlass being held back by his raised forearm, blocking some of the damage with his armour. Two icebolds were held in mid-air from the contact, Logan seeing the impact in slow motion as he tried to adjust.

“Identify.”

“Icebold Executioner ☠️ - Bold. Level 12: 172/172 HP, 4/12 MP.

These 6' tall variants of icebolds are trained from birth to be the right hands to the strongest of their groups. Fed the blood and flesh of civilized kind, these bolds often hold a wide array of skills and magic that makes them a great jack of all trades, with a focus on melee combat.

Skills: Cold Invisibility, Combo Slash, Dash, Reversify, Rush, ---.

Spells:

1st: Frost, Heal, Infuse.

2nd: Enhance Ability, Skin of Ice.

Reduction: ?.

Resistance: ?.”

Cassius pushed off both attackers, throwing a hand out at the left he sent a barrage of lightning sparks, using one of his own spell rings. He then leapt to the right with his blade, exploding into a fiery display.

“They have buffed themselves with spells!” Logan called out as he darted to the side, summoning up his own spells.

“Koma, get left!” Cassius ordered.

Koma dropped her bow after firing a singing arrow at the flanking icebold, Rushing forwards she drew her daggers and began to engage the foe.

Bringing his blade up high, Cassius had it glow gold before slashing downwards with a harrowing wave of flames. However, as the blade cut through the icebold its body vibrated, leaving only a scratch. Cassius then had his body shake, a large slash cutting across his chest, blood spurting outwards onto the icebold.

Cassius yelled out in pain as his attack was reflected, if it was anyone else it wouldn’t have done much, but Cassius dealt a massive 400 damage to himself, the flames cindering him in retaliation.

Marcus acted quickly, “Heal Shot”, he yelled, over and over, yellow orbs hitting Cassius to bring him back up with healing ranging from 38 to 42.

“Logan”, Cassius yelled out as he deflected a blow from the icebold, “tell me when that effect ends!”, he continued as he deflected a strike to the floor, jumping backwards.

“Got it!” Logan replied, training his gaze on the reflecting icebold.

Fahrenheit charged at the left icebold, throwing his limbs at the foe to put him off his stance to allow Koma to land her strikes. Celsius pelted out Ember Shards, Spark with Bolts.

Leaping backwards, the left icebold disappeared into mist, Patavava’s fiery blasts pelting into a nearby wall as he missed. Logan’s eyes fell off the right onto the left as he saw shards of ice appearing way above Koma.

Warping to his centre, Logan appeared at Koma’s back, and warped out again, landing near the icy throne as countless icicles impaled the floor.

“Thanks”, Koma spoke as she started throwing daggers to the ceiling and around the room, hoping a wayward strike would hit true.

Another array of icicles formed above Marcus, Logan teleporting twice again to grab Marcus and take him out of the line of fire.

“They are recovering spellforce”, Logan informed, trying to eye up the room.

As his eyes scanned, he saw a vial roll across the floor. Throwing his arm up he chanted, “Flame Shot”, the dancing fires coursing through the air before exploding into an unsuspecting icebold, revealing black singe marks in the air.

Moving his sight to the right icebold, he called out, “Cassius, now!”

Swinging his blade behind him into a reverse grip, Cassius had it shimmer with afterimages, “Severing Slash”, he chanted as he struck forwards.

The blade cleaved straight through the icebold’s arm, sending it soaring away with a spray of blood. Cassius’s blade then let off a red mist, cluing Logan that it was a Power Strike. Slamming the blade through the centre of the icebold had it deal a monstrous 268 damage, way more than was needed.

As the icebold split in two, blood and organs falling out of the centre, Cassius turned his gaze to the other foe.

Warping from his previous location, Cassius appeared in mid-air as he used another ring. Slashing downwards he narrowly missed the partially invisible foe.

Smashing his palm into the floor, Cassius swept his hand to the side, a wave of Lightning sparking upwards in a wall.

Standing back up, he waved a hand over his blade, Flames dropping onto it, before swiping sideways, sending a fiery slash across the air, cutting into the invisible foe that couldn’t dodge everything.

The shifting of the air continued as the icebold darted towards Fahrenheit. A large crunching of ice was heard as the invisible blade cut through the elemental, and had all of its essences sucked into the icebolds invisible maw.

“Fahrenheit has died”, text appeared over the summon.

“He’s eating to heal!” Logan informed, thinking this to be similar to Feast Regen.

Celsius was the next, a cleave through his head had the fires sucked into an invisible mouth.

“Celsius has died.”

Cassius and Logan both warped into their centres as they chased the invisible foe, dagger and sword swinging wildly into the air. Both blades clashed with their foe, Logan’s dagger into a forearm, Cassius’s sword into the cutlass.

Twisting his arm, Logan moved into a grapple behind the icebold, “Cassius, go!” he ordered as he held the icebold in place so it couldn’t retreat.

Cassius brought back his blade and slammed it down again, cutting deep into the icebold’s exposed shoulder, missing Logan on the other side.

Logan could feel the jolting in his body, before the icebold fell still. Dropping the corpse to the floor, Logan saw experience numbers starting to appear.

Logan let out a breath, a small tinge in his forehead from casting his spells was present, though that was probably just from the fear of his friends getting targeted. Cassius let out a similar breath, the long day had worn on him a bit, but he wasn’t too bad.

The pair smiled at each other in victory. Cassius swiped his blade to remove the blood and held it up to Logan. “Clean”, Logan chanted, cleaning the blade more pristinely before Cassius sheathed it.

Holding out his hand, Logan shook it, the pair holding their gaze on one another for a few seconds before letting go.

“How’s everyone?” Cassius called out.

Koma jogged over, picking up a thrown dagger, “Fine here, thanks to Logan.”

“Same”, Marcus added.

“So many wasted spells”, Patavava spoke as he sighed, shaking his hands out.

“I am sorry my brothers caused issue”, Spark spoke.

“No need for that, you lot still helped in the fight. I can bring them back later”, Logan informed.

Cassius looked over the room, the door to the outside creating a loud grinding noise as it began to reopen. “Looks like we’re done. Those enemies had a lot of varied skills.”

“Classed-blood drinkers”, Logan informed.

Cassius raised an eyebrow. “I thought as much. Those are the most annoying to deal with. Fighting people is bad enough, but at least they stay in their lanes most of the time.”

“Except when yours and my skills overlap”, Koma replied with a chuckle.

“Too true. Well, anyway, we’re done with the leader’s chamber. I would say I was disappointed in not fighting the Ice King, but we can do that later”, Cassius spoke as he looked around the room, “no treasure room. We’ll split up to clear the rest of this dungeon.”

“Do you mind if I spend some time resummoning here?” Logan asked falsely.

“That’s fine, it’ll take you a few minutes for that. You stick with Marcus. Koma, take that corridor, Patavava go with her”, Cassius ordered as he pointed down the hall, “I can take this one. If there are any issues, return to the shift room. It might have returned to normal with the final room cleared.”

“Understood”, Koma replied as she picked up her last dagger and bow.

“Maybe my spells will hit more often with just the two of us”, Patavava said to Koma with a wide grin.

The pair walked off, Cassius giving a final nod to Logan before he also left. Their footsteps echoed through the underground as Logan looked after them for a few minutes.

“What corridor you want to take after summoning?” Marcus asked.

“None. It’s time”, Logan spoke, still looking down the corridor.

“What- oh. This is the place?”

Logan looked at the throne, his quest window popping up next to it. “Yeah, that throne.”

“That came up quick”, Marcus spoke, defeated.

The pair walked towards the throne of ice, Spark staying further back.

“A lot of that goes towards our new team. To think, all it took was asking a large guild for help.”

“Well, we had met them before.”

“Still”, Logan replied, staring at the throne. “I just used them. They won’t get much out of this”, he thought to himself.

Speaking in his head, Fol informed Logan, “Once you destroy that throne, the portal countdown will occur. I suggest you give farewells now.”

Logan stared at the throne for a few seconds before turning to Marcus, pulling a bag out of his inventory and holding it out. “This is for you, it won’t pay back how much you helped me, but I won’t have use for them anymore.”

Marcus moved to take the bag, hesitated for a second, and then grabbed it from Logan’s grasp.

“I don’t think we’ll be seeing each other again unless I find some way to come back from the other side”, Logan announced as he looked to the side.

“It’d be nice if that was the case. But if it was the deities who brought you here, maybe only they can let you back.”

“Who knows? Maybe I will learn portal magic after this”, Logan replied with a half smile.

“Logan—”, Marcus started before Logan cut him off.

“Thank you, Marcus. My time here has been hectic and hazardous. My first steps were met with blood and fear. With you at my back, I was able to lose a lot of that fear. I just wished I could have done more for you, or kept my word of sorting this world’s issues out”, Logan recited, looking at his friend.

Marcus shook slightly, reaching deep for the courage he needed to reply. “I felt like no one was ever in my corner, I was used, abused, and discarded when I was no longer needed. Even my parents gave me up before I could remember them.”

Logan’s eyes opened further, hearing the deepest thoughts of his ally who had become so strong.

“Sometimes… I just wanted to give up the ghost. Throw in the towel”, Marcus continued, his eyes teary. “And then, one day, suddenly, a man who saw me at my weakest lent their hand”, he continued as he looked Logan in the eyes, “you, Logan. You stood in front of me. You filled my corner, I was fully in the centre of your ring.” Marcus then held out his fist to Logan, “I don’t expect anything else from you, because you gave me everything I needed to keep going.”

Logan bumped Marcus’s fist, the Devout retreating his arm as it was reciprocated. Logan then stepped forth and wrapped his arms diagonally across his friend’s back. Marcus weakly brought up his own arms to return the hug.

Logan could feel the shivering cries of his friend on his shoulder. How could he respond? He wasn’t used to this kind of gushing, or inner emotions coming out. Logan’s tears had almost dried up in the wake of his mother

If he would have had a brother, he would have liked it to be Marcus.

Pulling away, the pair rubbed their faces clean. Taking a deep breath they composed themselves.

“I couldn’t have asked for anyone better”, Logan announced.

“And the same for me.”

Turning to the throne, Logan held up a hand, took a final look at Marcus, and then chanted, “Flame Shot.”

A final tuft of fire formed within Logan’s palm before being shot across the air, leaving a steam trail behind it. Blasting into the throne, the flames cascaded all around it, the ice cracking on impact. A second went by before the throne cracked a second time, the tips crumbling away as the seat collapsed.

A wave of cold winds shot out from the throne, pushing back the duo’s hair and robes. Before long the winds died, and the temperature in the room started to slowly rise. In the place of the throne was a pile of ice, and in its centre, a floating dagger.

An aquamarine pommel, platinum handle, and a large blade of shifting and reflecting crystal, whirling wind of spellforce hugging the weapon.

By its side, Logan saw his quest complete itself.

“Quest - Halt the Ice King's Rise, has been completed. You achieved 2 additional objectives during the mission and as such your rewards will be increased. Distributing rewards…”

“The reward for your quest completion is as follows:

Portal to Earth (5 minutes)

Ice King Traits: Ice Reduction 10, Ice Resistance 25%, temperature resilience -20c, +1 mastery in all ice-based spells.

+1,200 reputation with Gauntlet.

Marcus - Gained 9,000 experience.”

Walking up, Logan grasped the dagger in his hand, a dark-blue sheath forming around it as the winds faded.

Looking at the length of the dagger, Logan was a bit surprised, “If we had waited a bit longer this would have been a shortsword.”

“The antithesis of Cassius”, Marcus mentioned, his eyes a bit red.

Walking away from the throne, placing the dagger on his hip, Logan turned to Marcus, “You gained a level from that, by the way, want that skill?”

“Sure.”

Logan quickly spent Marcus’s two skill points and gave him the Partnered Growth skill. “A farewell gift.” Marcus had also gained another skill point, which was put into a skill called Self Empowerment, at Fol’s suggestion. It would let Marcus use enhancing and healing spells on himself as a silentcast without any extra cost.

As the words escaped his mouth, a timer appeared in front of him. This was followed by the grinding of ice as a large hidden wall revealed itself as it retreated upwards, showing a hidden corridor to a new chamber, an arrow noting it was where Logan’s portal lay.

“That’s my cue to leave”, Logan announced as he walked to the new doorway.

“I guess there was another way out of here”, Marcus spoke as he followed.

The pair reached a large dome-like room, at the opposite end was a staircase leading upwards, away from view as the ceiling and walls covered them as they ascended.

Spark whirred out of existence as they entered, a window popping up, “Summoning magic is disallowed in this area.”

“Guess it’ll just be me”, Logan said as he walked to the bottom of the staircase.

“I wish your journeys hold no more twists and turns. Give my regards to your father”, Marcus spoke as he stopped a few steps behind.

Logan turned around and gave Marcus a final hug. “Thanks again, for everything.”

“I’ll carry your torch in this world.”

Letting go, Logan started to climb the stairs, but with his first step, he heard the screams of monsters behind them.

Marcus looked back and then at Logan, “Go, I can handle the leftovers”, he said as he drew up his dagger.

“Thanks”, Logan replied as he began to climb the stairs.

At the very top, Logan could hear the whirring of wind again, but this time it was accompanied by dog barks, the revolving tyres of cars, and a honk here or there from their horns.

Looking over the steps he finally saw it, a glimpse of home, a nighttime cityscape that was his last location. Earth wasn’t any different in his absence, but he was without it.

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