Path of Dragons

As Elijah slipped from one shadow to the next, every exhale brought with it a cloud of mist. The temperature had been falling for a while, and with every step, it had grown ever colder until frost decorated the rough columns on either side of the hall. He glanced up at the vaulted ceilings that had become common in this wing of the citadel, and he saw that small icicles had formed. In addition, when he saw one of the armor-clad ogre guards tromping down the hall, he noticed that the giant creature had donned a fur-lined cloak and heavy gloves.

Elijah felt none of the cold, though. The moment the temperature had begun to drop, he’d found an abandoned room where he’d shifted into his human form and replaced Essence of the Monkey with Ward of the Seasons.

Spell: Ward of the Seasons

Harness the power of the seasons, increasing resistance to elemental damage (Water, Earth, Fire, Air).

The effects were immediate, shielding him from the increasingly frigid temperatures and confirming what he’d already suspected. The frigid cold was magical in nature, so the enhancement had worked as an effective counter.

That boded well for what he knew he would have to do in order to conquer the tower. Still, Elijah needed to scout things out before he made any firm plans. So, he continued on his way, noting the patrol path of the guards along the way. They were pretty well spaced out, which was a great sign, but he didn’t want to act upon the strategy slowly forming in his mind. For now, he was only gathering information.

Gradually, he passed through the halls. Every now and then, he would find branches, and he dedicated one facet of his Quartz Mind to keeping track of the layout as he explored the wing. And over time, Elijah noted the pattern, which roughly resembled a series of concentric hexagons with a circular chamber at the center. Each layer was connected by five larger halls that spread out from the center like spokes of a wheel.

Elijah couldn’t enter the room itself, as it was blocked by a thin sheet of ice. He could break through, but doing so would assuredly draw the attention of the large shape – presumably, the ice ogre, Tuk – he could just barely make out on the other side. He also noted that the ambient Ethera had grown much thicker as he’d drawn closer to the creature’s icy domain.

In any case, he couldn’t see how to get to the lieutenant without garnering the attention of every ogre in the wing, so he quickly retreated.

Elijah remained in that wing long enough to completely map the layout and the pattern of the guards’ patrols before he left it behind and headed to the northern section of the citadel. There, he found that the corridors followed a similar pattern, though instead of increasing cold, the temperatures quickly rose to sweltering levels.

And when Elijah finally reached the lieutenant’s chamber, the heat became visible, and the floor beneath his feet grew uncomfortably hot. And given the protection afforded by Ward of the Seasons, that was saying something. Without it, he felt positive that it would’ve been hot enough to blister, even with his enhanced Constitution. However, just like had been the case with the Tuk’s domain, visibility into Tok’s chamber was blocked. This time, though, instead of a sheet of ice, a wall of fire obscured his vision.

Fortunately, the layout of the wing was identical the one dedicated to ice, so once Elijah confirmed that, he focused his attention on other things. The guards in the area had eschewed their armor completely, and they wore similar outfits – if a loincloth qualified for that label – as the more rotund jailers back in the dungeon. However, even without the protection the black iron armor provided, they were still formidable foes.

Each one was slick with sweat and obviously miserable, though the fact that they weren’t burned, even when they passed by the central chamber, was a testament to their inflated Constitution attribute.

In any case, Elijah noted their patrol paths, then retreated to the milder environment surrounding the old prisoner’s corpse. Once there, he commenced planning. The first obstacle was obviously the guards, and each one represented a potentially deadly battle. The troll had struggled with the ones down in the dungeon, but Elijah expected that that was largely due to the fact that it had been outnumbered. So, he reckoned that if he could get each of the guards alone, it would give him the best opportunity to defeat them.

And given that there were twelve such guards in each of the two wings – along with five patrolling his current location – that strategy was probably going to be a lot trickier than it might seem at first glance. Each wing was an expansive maze of corridors, but they weren’t so spread out that he could fight a battle without getting the attention of that area’s guards.

After giving the problem some thought, Elijah came up with a plan he thought would work. However, the viability depended on the relative intelligence of the ogres. If they were smart, there was no chance of it working. But if they were as dim as his experiences had led him to believe, then he had a chance. Without any other options – that he could think of, at least – Elijah retreated to the cellar, where he took a few minutes to renew the appropriate enhancements before preemptively casting Healing Rain, regenerating his Ethera, and then shifting back into his scaled panther form.

After applying Guise of the Unseen, he climbed the steps and positioned himself just outside the cellar. Once there, he crouched in one of the shadows and waited for his first victim.

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Fortunately, there wasn’t much of a delay before the steady clink of armor and the heavy clomp of ogre footsteps announced the imminent arrival of one of the patrolling guards. Soon enough, the hulking creature stepped into view, but Elijah remained completely stationary as he waited on his victim to arrive at the appropriate location.

One weighty stomp came after another until, at last, the monster drew even with Elijah’s position.

That’s when he activated Venom Strike and Predator Strike before he pounced, savaging the unsuspecting ogre’s right knee. His claws bit deep between armor plates, ripping through meat and ligaments. The guard let out a shout of surprise and tried to wheel around and bring its massive cudgel to bear. By that point, though, Elijah had already darted into the cellar. He didn’t descend the steps, though. Instead, he let out a low growl, just loud enough for the ogre to hear.

As he crouched there, he knew that he’d reached the moment of truth. If the ogre was smart, he would seek help. If he was as dumb as Elijah hoped, then the guard would follow the trail Elijah had left. He had plans for both scenarios, but he certainly preferred the latter. When it came to enemies, dumb was always better than smart.

For a moment, the ogre seemed confused, but then he realized where the growl had originated. Once he did, he wasted no more time before pursuing Elijah into the cellar. Unfortunately, the wound on its leg wasn’t nearly as debilitating as Elijah had hoped, so he was caught by surprise by the ogre’s rapid arrival.

Still, the time dilation effect of his Sash of the Whirlwind came in handy, allowing him to move just quickly enough to avoid the charging ogre. Even as Elijah bounded away, it became clear that the ogre hadn’t counted on the presence of steps. Overbalanced, the guard couldn’t halt his momentum before clattering down the stairs and into the cellar. That’s when Elijah pounced again, clawing and biting a handful of times in quick succession. He didn’t care about doing immediate damage. Instead, he wanted to build up instances of Contagion.

For that, fast, shallow cuts were the best. And given his advantages – high Strength and Dexterity, coupled with the effects of his Sash of the Whirlwind – he was capable of moving extremely quickly. Even so, he very nearly pushed his luck too far, and he was forced to narrowly dodge the recovering ogre’s backhanded blow.

Elijah raced away, shifting into his caster form before renewing Healing Rain. It drained only a tiny bit of Ethera, but with the extra potency provided by his Dragon Core, it could potentially save his life. So, he preferred to keep it active during every fight he could. Once that was done, he turned his attention to the ogre and saw that he’d nearly recovered his feet. Elijah pushed Ethera from his Core, through his Soul, and into Snaring Roots. Thick vines erupted from the ground, tangling the ogre’s massive feet. It tried to rip free, and it succeeded in tearing through the first wave of roots. However, they were quickly replaced by more.

But even as one facet of his Quartz Mind kept an eye on his enemy, Elijah was pushing more Ethera into another spell. Leveling his staff at the ogre, he let loose with Swarm, manifesting hundreds of biting flies that descended upon the ogre. The creature’s armor offered little protection against the tiny insects, and soon enough, they slipped beneath the plates and delivered their afflictions.

The ogre bellowed, slapping his meaty hands against his own body in an attempt to smash the little bugs. He got quite a few of them, too. Yet, there were plenty that survived to get the job done.

As the ogre unsuccessfully attempted to deal with the insects, Elijah cast another spell. His Ethera was getting low, so he didn’t use Calamity or Storm’s Fury. Instead, he used Shape of the Guardian to shift into the scaled ape form, then launched himself at the distracted ogre.

He crashed into the monster in a vicious shoulder tackle before pummeling the prone creature with his fists. Between blows, he snapped out with his powerful jaws, and the sound of rending metal filled the air. It did little good, but Elijah was playing the long game. More evidence of that manifested when the ogre tried to fight back, clawing and punching, but each attack only resulted in painful thorns being embedded in his hands.

Elijah kept up the pressure, knowing good and well that if he let the ogre recover – even for a second – it would spell his doom. So, he continued to punch, bite, and kick – each attack buoyed by his immense Strength. Still, it wasn’t until the combined effects of Contagion, Venom Strike, and Swarm had taken hold that Elijah truly started to win the battle.

The ogre’s resistance weakened, and its bellowing cries turned into pained moans. And still, Elijah kept on. He didn’t grow any stronger as the fight went on, but with the ogre’s power being sapped by various afflictions, it certainly seemed like it.

Finally, after a few minutes that felt like hours, Elijah finished the creature off with a mighty bite that crushed the ogre’s skull. That didn’t kill it. The ogre was too durable for that. But its body went mostly limp, save for a series of uncontrolled spasms. Elijah lashed out again, and he felt more bones crunch beneath the might of his jaws. Still, he didn’t feel an influx of kill energy, so he attacked again.

And again after that. In all, it took five more bites before the skull completely shattered like a melon.

Finally, a flood of experience washed over him, and he let himself relax as he backed away. The fight had gone almost perfectly, and he had managed to keep the pressure up the entire time. The ogre had never had a chance to regain his balance. Still, it had taken far more damage to put it down than he’d ever expected.

But he’d done it.

That was all that mattered. Now, though, he needed to repeat the process. So, after taking a few minutes to drag the body out of the way – looting a pouch containing a couple of copper ethereum along the way – he settled down to recover his Ethera and center his mind. A little less than an hour later, he headed out to repeat the process.

His next victim went down a little easier, though he took a bit of damage because he stayed in predator form a little too long. Still, the few broken ribs he’d sustained when the ogre caught him with a wild kick were nothing that a little Healing Rain couldn’t mend.

However, the third ogre very nearly killed him. Elijah didn’t know if it was just a higher level than the others or some other facet he’d overlooked, but it endured his initial barrage without flinching. Then, it ripped through the entanglement of Snaring Roots before Elijah had even finished casting Swarm. So, he’d been forced to dodge while in caster form – a losing strategy if ever there was one. Predictably, he’d taken a hit, but fortunately, because he’d had an entire facet of his Quartz Mind focused on casting Swarm, he managed to complete the spell as he flew across the cellar and hit a cluster of barrels with bone crushing force.

If Elijah hadn’t had Shape of the Guardian ready with another facet of his mind, he would have died then and there. However, as it happened, he managed to shift into a scaled ape just in time to meet the ogre’s charge. It still wasn’t ideal, but after that, the stacked afflictions combined with Shield of Brambles and the enhancements of his durable form was enough to tip the balance in his favor.

Even so, it was a long, hard-fought battle that pushed him to his limits. Afterwards, he was forced to spend nearly ten hours healing himself before he was ready for the fourth battle. That went much better – in nearly perfect mimicry of the first fight – and Elijah finished it off without issue.

A couple of hours later, he managed to kill the sixth and final ogre guard in the area. Doing so pushed him to level thirty-seven, which, on the surface, wasn’t nearly as beneficial as it might’ve once been. However, it put him one step closer to gaining a new ability, which was what he truly considered important at the moment.

Even more importantly, killing that sixth ogre meant that he could now focus on clearing the wings to the north and south. So, once he’d healed from the final battle, he took a few minutes to eat and drink before setting off toward the fire wing.

Hopefully, things would continue to go his way.

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