The landscape west of the river was drastically different than the dry, hard ground of the Wastelands. Green grass and rolling hills stretched as far as the eye could see, and tall trees dotted the landscape. It was unlike anything Flynn had ever seen.
Throm rode closer to the young man. “Pretty impressive, huh?”
Flynn nodded. “Yeah. Is this what everything is like outside the Wastelands?”
“Not hardly,” the mercenary said. “Haldrion is full of different landscapes and climates. There are great flat plains of grass and dirt. There are huge forests where the trees block the sun and it’s as dim as twilight in the middle of the day. There are snow-capped mountains with towering trees. There are sandy deserts, lush tropical forests, and more.”
“Have you been to all of these places?” Flynn asked, eyes wide.
“Oh, no, definitely not,” Throm said. “I leave a coin at the Temple of the Traveler every time I go on an adventure, though, hoping I will be blessed to see someplace new.”
Nyx shook her head and rolled her eyes.
“She doesn’t have a very high opinion of the churches,” Flynn said. “And honestly, if they are anything like the Church of Knowledge, I can’t blame her.”
“They are nothing alike,” the mercenary insisted. “In fact, the Church of the Traveler is all about giving which is the exact opposite of the Church of Knowledge.”
“How’s that?” Flynn asked.
“Well, when you make a donation at a Temple of the Traveler before a journey, you will be welcomed at any Temple along the way. They will give you shelter and protection, if you need it, until you reach your final destination.”
“What if you don’t know where you’re going?”
Throm chuckled. “I’m always a little vague on where I’m going. That way I’m covered no matter where I wind up.”
“Have you ever actually sought out shelter or protection?” Nyx asked, her words dripping with sarcasm.
“Well, no,” he admitted. “But it’s nice to have protection available, just in case.”
Nyx shook her head. “I prefer to count on my glaive.” She held out a hand and one of her glaives appeared. “And my gun . . .”
She went silent as she patted the empty holster on her hip then spurred her horse forward and rode ahead of Flynn and Throm. The two men exchanged glances but didn’t say anything.
The group rode on in silence after that with the blue hair woman silently leading the way. Flynn didn’t mind. He knew what it was like to need time alone to process the loss of something. Besides, it gave him a chance to take in the landscape, all of it brand new to him.
He was so engrossed with the newness that he nearly fell out of the saddle when Stormfeather screeched at the group from above.
Nyx immediately stopped and turned her horse sideways. She looked back at Flynn and Throm and told them what her familiar had found while scouting ahead.
“There’s a dozen monsters up ahead. Trolls. They’re big and mean and at least one of them looks like it could be Epic level.”
“I’ve fought those buggers a time or two,” Throm said. “Only a dozen. Should be no problem for a group like ours.”
Flynn could tell there was a lot of bluster in the man’s statement. “So, you’ve fought Epic level Trolls before?”
“Well, not exactly.” The mercenary forced a smile. “There can’t be much difference between an Advanced level and an Elite or Epic level, though, right?”
“Hmph. Not much at all,” Flynn said, shaking his head. “They’re just bigger, faster, stronger, and have deadly special abilities. But, yeah, not much other than that.”
Throm sighed. “Alright, they might be a bit out of my league. I can handle one or two of the smaller ones, though.”
“Let’s see exactly what we’re up against before we decide on who fights what,” Flynn said. “As long as there’s only one or two Epics, we should be fine.”
The mercenary nodded, a look of resolve on his face.
The fact that the man wasn’t overly confident actually made Flynn feel better. The humility was a mark in the mercenary’s favor.
“If you boys are done chit chatting, let’s get going.” Nyx turned her horse and started riding away.
Flynn spurred his horse ahead to catch up with her. He looked over his shoulder as he reached her to make sure Throm was following then got as close to Nyx as he could and spoke softly enough that he hoped the mercenary couldn’t hear him. “It doesn’t sound like this is going to be too big of a problem for us, especially with Thunderbough, but if we’re going to keep traveling with Throm, we need to get him leveled up.”
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Nyx nodded. “Let’s see how this battle goes then we can start making plans. There’s no reason to worry about the future if he gets himself killed in our first battle.”
Flynn frowned at her. “We’re not going to let him get killed.”
“Hey, I’m not the one who said they didn’t want him coming with us.”
“But that doesn’t mean I want him dead.”
The blue haired woman shrugged and kept riding.
It only took a few minutes to reach the valley where Stormfeather had spotted the monsters. Flynn, Nyx, and Throm stood amongst a copse of trees, looking down at the large creatures that were clustered together around a fire. Steam rose from a large black pot that presumably contained their next meal.
Flynn used his Analyze card.
Card Name: Analyze
Rank: Elite
Advancement: 0 / 5000 to Epic
Proficiency: 33 / 200 to Epic
Knowledge is power, and being able to effectively analyze items and opponents is a critical skill. Analyze allows the card wielder to identify key characteristics about items, monsters, and people.
At Elite rank, detailed information is provided for all Elite level items, weapons, people, and monsters. It also blocks information that is not common knowledge from being shared with anyone possessing an Analyze skill lower than Epic rank.
Placing the Analyze card tattoo on your head has increased the power of the card. It has also increased leveling requirements.
Analyze was Flynn’s most commonly used cards, though now that it was Elite rank, it was getting hard to level up because he only earned proficiency credit when analyzing something that was Elite rank or higher. Worse yet, analyzing multiple identical monsters or items only counted as one proficiency point. That pretty much meant diverse monster analysis was the only real way to get advancement credit since Elite level items were rare in the Wastelands.
And then there was the actual cost of advancement. Five thousand Basic card fragments—or equivalent higher rank cards or fragments—was an immense fortune, by most standards. It was a fortune that would take a while to acquire.
The proficiency and advancement costs were an issue for most of his cards, though the other cards didn’t have increased requirements because of tattoo location like the Analyze card tattoo on his head.
The only thing he could do was keep battling monster like the creatures in the valley below.
Flynn turned his attention to the largest troll, a creature that stood at least ten feet tall. His Analyze card tattoo gave him a full reading on the monster, even though it was one level higher than his card, thanks to the boost for being located on his head.
Name: Mossback Troll
Level: Epic
Loot: Advanced Card
Mossback trolls are large, intelligent monsters with limbs as large as knotted tree trunks and skin as tough as rock. These creatures are frequently covered in moss, vines, tree branches, and dirt or mud, granting them incredible camouflage abilities in certain terrains. They frequently use large clubs—or small trees—as weapons and their prodigious Strength allows them to deliver tremendously powerful blunt force attacks. Like all trolls, Mossback Trolls have significant regenerative properties which allows for rapid healing and even regrowth of severed limbs. When battling these creatures, be sure they are truly dead before you turn your back on them.
He frowned. An Advanced card was low level loot for an Epic level monster. Especially for creatures that were apparently very hard to kill.
The rest of the Mossback trolls were Elite rank and had a mixture of Advanced rank cards and fragments.
“They’re pretty close together,” Nyx observed, presumably having analyzed the monsters herself. “Do you think a slow roll and bowl would work?”
Flynn shook his head. “They’re too big. I think the standard side roll, taunt, and slow is our best bet to start things out.”
They turned to Throm who had a confused look on his face. “How do you think we should proceed?” Nyx asked.
“I… uhm… have no idea.”
“You don’t know how to fight monsters?” Nyx asked.
“No… I mean, yes, I know how to fight monsters,” Throm said, clearly flustered. “I just have no idea what you’re talking about. Bowling? Rolling?”
The mercenary frowned. “Are you just talking gibberish just to confuse me?”
Flynn stepped forward and patted the man on the shoulder. “We’re not trying to confuse you,” he assured the man, though the smirk on Nyx’s face undermined the statement. “We’ve got code names for some of our attacks.”
“Okay. That makes sense I guess.”
“Slow roll, taunt, and slow is a good opening move when facing a group of monsters that are mostly at Thunderbough’s level or below,” Flynn explained. “Basically, he rolls into the middle of the monsters, uses his Tranquil Taunt ability to draw their attention, then freezes everyone around him, including himself, with his Super Slow Mo special ability.”
“So, he freezes himself too?” Throm asked. “That doesn’t seem like a very good ability.”
“Well, he’s not completely frozen, and can move a little bit. It gives him a chance to reposition slightly and get ready for when the ability ends,” Flynn explained. “The bigger effect is that it takes some of the monsters out of battle for ten seconds. That gives us a chance to deal with the unaffected monsters or get into position to attack when the ability ends.”
“I see. What do you want me to do, then?”
Nyx cut in. “I don’t know, you tell us what you can do.”
A huge crossbow appeared in the mercenary’s hand. “I keep this bad boy in my dimensional storage space for situations just like this.”
Flynn analyzed the large, ranged weapon.
Name: Heavy Crossbow
Rank: Elite
A well-crafted crossbow created from cultivated hardwood by a weaponsmith possessing Elite rank card skills. It has also been enchanted by a Runesmith wielding an Elite level Artificer card. The high-quality materials and skill of the creator make this weapon highly effective against any enemy Elite level or below. The enchantments allow the crossbow to be wielded by any Advanced level card wielder even if they do not possess any ranged weapon cards.
Flynn nodded. “Impressive.”
“I picked it up a while back,” Throm said, a satisfied smile on his face. “I don’t have a Crossbow or Ranged Weapons card, but from this range, I don’t need one to hit a monster as big as those.”
The crossbow disappeared and the mercenary reached behind his back and grabbed his two-handed war hammer, the enchanted sling that secured it releasing the weapon at his command. He brought the hammer around and held it in front of himself with both hands.
Name: War Hammer
Rank: Advanced
A well-crafted War Hammer with a sturdy handle of cultivated hardwood and a head made of enchanted steel. The weapon was crafted by a weaponsmith possessing Advanced rank card skills. The high-quality materials and skill of the creator make this weapon highly effective against any enemy Advanced level or below and moderately effective against Elite level opponents.
“And if I need to deal some damage up close, I can do some damage with this,” Throm said confidently.
“Alright, let’s see what you can do with those weapons,” Flynn said.