The Lord Of Ragnarok

Chapter 5: Adventure Time!

One Week Later - Flumen Subjicite *Capital of the Barbarus Empire*

Mannulus’ P.O.V.

The conversation that I had with Twilight, Solar Flare, Luna, and Rainbow had not gone over well. All four of them respected my decision to set up as an adventurer in order to gain knowledge about the possible threats to the temple, but at the same time they insisted that I send two of them in my stead. I explained that it would do no good to do so. After all, as the head of the guild it would be cowardly of me to hide away from possible danger.

In the end I agreed to allow one of them to accompany me as a warrior. With that decision made Rainbow had gathered her armor, and her sabre. The fine bronze sword was curved beautifully, in the handle was a single gem, glowing red, that allowed it to turn into a flaming sword of death, and in the hands of Rainbow it was a masterful tool in experienced hands. She touched the armor that she was wearing.

It was chain-mail, something I insisted on, but designed by Sombra for her specifically. It was light, stronger than steel, and a darker shade of blue than she was. Her helmet was more ornate than I would have preferred. A golden helmet that had the same runes in it that covered my body. I realized that she had asked for it to be made by Hephaestus, our weapons maker. Much like his name sake Hephaestus was a near deity that worked as a blacksmith for us. He created every weapon used by all of the Temple of Celestia, and in truth none of his work had ever been beaten. In a few ways he was just as thoroughly scarred as I was. I had helped create him, with Clopmaniac, and together we had given him the same backstory as the greek god he was based on. The biggest difference was that he did not have a wife.

After being with my four brides, I wondered if I did him disservice by suggesting that we not give him a bride. After all, Clopmaniac had wanted to pair him with Stephine. In some ways I could see the two getting along well. Perhaps later I could get them to spend some time together. I saw Rainbow waving, and I turned my attention to her again.

“Sorry, I was lost in thought,” I said.

She smiled, “It’s fine, so, do you want to join an adventurer’s guild?”

I nodded, “Yes, that’s very perceptive of you,” I replied, “I believe that joining one would allow us to discover more about the area, and at the same time it would give us the chance to build on our supply of currency for this world.”

I looked at my reflection in a store window. My own appearance was disguised as a black mage. The midnight blue overcoat did not feel warm, the woolen mask that covered my mouth and neck felt light as silk, and then there were the dark yellow goggles. The entire look had been something I had blatantly stolen from Final Fantasy, but it was worth it. In that game the black mage was the master of all dark magicks. And of course there was a subcategory for such a mage in Dungeons and Dragons along with Ragnarok. In a way it made me feel more comfortable staying within my class. I could have created magical armor that would allow me to jump classes to warrior class, but it would seem so redundant to do so. Not to mention that Rainbow was one of the best warriors to exist in all of Ragnarok. Sombra had really gone all out on her creation, and his dedication was very evident now.

After stopping a merchant we asked for the location of the local Adventurer’s Guild, and we were informed that it was down the street, on the left, and that we would not miss it. Following his directions we found ourselves in front of a large building, that had several dwarves fighting on the outside of it. Stepping inside I saw a few half elves conversing with *grasswalkers, two wolf-demons quietly speaking to one another, and then a small handful of Equis that seemed to be gathered around a table. Seeing them made me feel better about coming here with Rainbow.

A few of them looked in our direction, and one of them smiled toward us. Although in truth I believe he was smiling at Rainbow more than myself. We walked toward a large wall filled with various notes, pictures, and writing that I could barely make out. Some of it was written in common, thankfully, but there was also quite a bit obviously written in something I had never seen before. I watched as one of the Equis walked toward the wall, selected a paper, and carried it to a counter. He placed it there, and informed the half elf behind the counter that he, and his group, wanted to take this job.

Seeing what he did I selected a job at random, and I walked toward the counter. Not to take his place I walked in front of a Grasswalker that was dressed in a temple maiden’s uniform, which was little more than a white piece of cloth that was stretched behind her neck, over her breasts, and then into a unitard that covered her quite well.

“We would like this quest,” I stated.

She looked at me, and then at Rainbow, “I’m sure you would, but neither of you are registered with our guild. If you want to register, you will need to fill out the proper paperwork, give a blood seal, and then test your power with our mirror of revealing.”

Rainbow looked at her and snorted, “Yeah right kid,” she said.

The ‘kid’ looked at her, and smiled, “If you want to be like that, then you can take your washboard chest, flat ass, and snide face right out of here.”

Rainbow practically growled at her, but I took her hand, “Relax,” I said before turning toward the Grasswalker, “I assume that you must be fairly high in this guild, to feel so relaxed at speaking like that to two possible recruits.”

She leaned back, “You could say that. My name is Cynthia, I’m the guild master here, and if you want a spot then you need to apply like everyone else.”

I nodded and she handed me and Rainbow both applications. Fortunately both were written in common, and so thankfully there was no problem with filling them out. Rainbow’s mane, and tail, were covered by the chainmail and helmet, so with the exception of her color, which was slightly different, she could go under another name. I had mentioned this to her, and to my surprise she decided on a name herself.

“Okay, so Veneficus the dark mage, and Windy Whistles the Adventurer. Just add your blood seal please,” she said.

I cut my thumb, slightly and let a single drop of blood hit the page. For a moment nothing happened, and then the page turned black, rolled itself up tight, and seemed to become stuck to the counter. Rainbow did the same with hers and I watched as it turned a bright blue, rolled itself up, and almost hovered over the counter. Cynthia looked at both, then at us, and motioned us toward a large mirror.

“Okay, focus on your true self, touch the mirror, and it will tell us what level you should be at,” she said.

Rainbow touched it first. I had been afraid that the mirror would reveal what we actually looked like, but instead it simply revealed our images. Regardless Cynthia looked shocked as Rainbow touched the mirror and her full image appeared.

“Okay… Well you’re easily at level one hundred, maybe more, but the mirror only goes to one hundred… You next,” she said pointing to me.

I stepped up, touched it, and the entire mirror turned black. Arches of gold lightening erupted from it, moans sounding like the damned itself echoed from within it, and she pulled my hand away.

“Both of you, come with me now!”

We followed her up to her office, and after a moment another grasswalker brought in what looked like tea cups, a tea kettle, and a pile of cookies. She motioned toward them, and Rainbow took a cup, a cookie, but I remained seated.

“So, here’s the problem. Both of you are powerful, too powerful for the beginning class, and I can’t raise you above that without you going on a quest first. On top of that you’re both easily pass me,” she sighed, “I’m a level sixty, and I take pride in that, because I’ve worked my butt off to get there. But you two, both of you are powerful enough that I’m sure you could beat me with a minimal amount of trouble. So, I doubt that you want to take orders from me.”

I looked at her, smiled, and leaned back, “I don’t want your position,” I said.

She looked relieved, “That’s good to hear,” she replied.

“And personally, I don’t care what your level is. As long as you pay the bounties, allow us to keep the treasures we find, minus the Guild’s percentage, and supply us with adventures, we will follow your rules.”

She nodded, “That goes for you too?” she asked pointing at Rainbow.

“Sure, just don’t be eyeing Veneficus,” Rainbow replied.

“Good enough. Okay, I have to start you out at Bronze level, but I’ve got a Bronze level adventure that might be to your liking. We’ve got a ruin about a days run from here. The ruin is a fallen city, and from what I understand it’s full of Orcs. We need it cleared out. The emperor has hired the guild specifically for the job, and apparently he wants to reclaim the city for the empire. Clear it, and there’s a hundred gold and fifty silver for you. Of course any treasure, and weapons, you find are yours, minus the ten percent for the guild.”

I nodded, “That sounds fine. We shall leave shortly,” I said.

“A quick word of warning, kids,” Cynthia called out as Rainbow and I made to stand, “don’t underestimate the orcs. We’ve had this bounty pinned to the wall for nearly a year now. I’m surprised the emperor even knows it still exists. And the reason why I’m giving this job to you two is because less experienced adventurers have tried and never come back. We used to have a silver ranked human who did nothing but slay goblins and orcs. Some of the stories he used to tell are frightening, even for me! As dumb and disorganized as orcs may seem, they quickly make up for it in cruelty and numbers. I don’t know if you’ll find Orcbolg out there, but if you do, ask for his advice and heed it. The last thing I want to have happen to a pair of adventurers like yourselves, as advanced as you are, is to go missing in action, presumed killed.”

“Understood,” I said, “while orc hunting is not in our usual wheelhouse, Windy and I have faced threats in not inconsiderable numbers. We will, though, be taking precautions to mitigate the possibility of disaster. And I think a fact finding mission is order, as well.”

“Thank Varfen, some actual intelligent adventurers!” Cynthia cried, “The Guild has a veritable treasure trove of information about all the creatures that roam the world. Talk with my sister, Claudia, down there; she’ll get you what you need, that way you won’t go ill prepared.”

We walked out, and headed down the stairs. I wasn’t sure which of the grasswalkers was Claudia, but regardless I felt it best to find and speak to her. Getting downstairs I realized that finding Claudia was far simpler than I had believed it to be. She was similar to her sister in stature, like her sister her rabbit ears were tall, but her ears color were an off white where Cythina’s had been a rich brown.

She looked at us, looked behind us and nodded, and then motioned for us. We followed her into a large room filled with books. Once inside she led us to a table and took down about six scrolls.

“So, are you two taking the Orc Mission?” she asked.

I nodded, “Yes, Cythina believes we should be able to handle it.”

She looked over me for a moment before handing me the largest scroll.

“That’s the information we have over Orcs, specifically the kind that is rumored to be at the ruins. Know that all orcs are able to deflect most magic, or at least magic that is equal to their own strength. So, almost all orcs can deflect first and second tier magic. Third tier can get through your garden variety orc with little problem. They are weak against fire, and they have a taste for any kind of meat,” she said as she opened the scroll, “Also, the stronger the Orc the craftier they are. I’m not saying intelligent, because even the strongest orc can be fooled by a green behind the gills newbie, but they are crafty. They can wait in the shadows and pounce on unsuspecting adventurers. They will use basic traps, and they will attack in numbers if they can.”

Rainbow looked at her, “So, most of the orcs there should be garden variety then?”

Claudia shook her head, “No, if that was the case I’m sure at least some of the adventurers would have made it back. Even if just to tell us that they didn’t want to do it,” she said, “I’m certain there’s got to be at least one powerful Orc there. How powerful I’m not sure, but it's obviously crafty enough to catch adventurers off guard.”

“I see,” I replied, “Then it makes sense for us to keep our guard up at all times.”

She nodded, “It would. If you make it back I can promise you that you’ll be reviewed for the next level, at the least.”

With that we stood and took the scroll with us. I studied it for a moment, and I noticed that the information on it was a sort of hybrid between Ragnarok and Dungeons and Dragons. Like Ragnarok the Orcs seemed to be capable of using some basic weapons and skills, but like D&D they had the ability to have limited casters as well. There was a possibility that the Orc that killed the adventurers was a magic caster, however poor of one was to be seen, but it was possible.

I also noticed that according to the scroll they were similar to D&D in the sense that they liked to take females, of any race, hostage and force them to birth new hybrid orcs. I glanced at Rainbow. There was no way I was going to allow some dirty orc to touch her. We left the city of Flumen Subjicite, and headed toward the south toward the edge of the Empire. According to mission information the ruins were once a city, the name long forgotten, and few had seen it.

Those that had stated the city had a large stone wall, expertly crafted to be a barrier to intruders. In the wall, on the right side, was a huge hole where something had smashed through it. Unfortunately that was where the information died out. None had been past the wall of the ruin to know what the inside looked. There was no map, not a single description, and so that meant that Rainbow and I would be going in blind.

In a way it reminded me of the hidden dungeons on Ragnarok. Sombra the Magnificent, Trixieisagoddess, Clopmaniac, and myself would usually go as a small group to explore hidden dungeons and get the loot from them. I had wished that we could have gone to Odin’s Reach for the Leeroy Jenkins Mission, but Trixieisagoddess had gotten sick, and she wasn’t able to play. It didn’t seem right to go without her, so we decided to forgo it.

Still, I felt this was familiar enough, at least in concept, that it shouldn’t be that hard. A ruin filled with Orcs was something that normally went to level thirty or forty players. It was challenging for them, but if they pulled together a decent team of at least three could clear it. Regardless I knew that I couldn’t get too complacent. The last thing I wanted to do was get Rainbow hurt. Granted, I knew she was a warrior, and I knew that she was strong. In truth Rainbow was at level One Hundred eighty, just like I was. The differences was that I was spected into magic, necromancy, dark arts, and unholy artifacts. Rainbow was spec’d into warrior, bartering, and charisma. Sombra wanted her to be able to fight, get the best deals on weapons, and charm guards into looking the other way.

I shook my head as I realized I doubted that he wanted to spec her into enjoying having a four way. I cleared my head. The last thing I needed was to think about her, moaning, pleading, begging for me to make her my mare. Instead I focused on what was coming. It was obvious that once we got to the city we would need to scout the area first. Rainbow would be best suited for that. She could fly over, getting a good look at the layout.

Once she did that she could let me know what she saw, how many orcs she noticed, and where the largest numbers were. Once she did that we could plan an attack that would deal with a good number of them each time. Since they were weak against fire I could cast a third tier fire spell at them. Maybe dragon’s breath. It was large enough to get at least fifteen to twenty enemies at once. Rainbow could pick the others off with her sword, letting it burn through them.

It was a decent plan, so I figured it would be the best option we had. As the night approached I saw the outline of the wall of the ruin. We neared it and I could see an engraving in the stone. Something that was worn well past the point of being legible. Whatever it was, there must have been something about the city. I tried to study it for a moment, and finally I shook my head. Without casting a spell to reverse the effects of age on it there was no way to make out what it said. And in truth there was little reason to do so.

It was dark enough that going into the city now might help us sneak past some of the orcs, but since the mission was to clear them out I doubted that was what was wanted. Instead I looked at Rainbow and pointed above. She looked back at me confused for a moment before she stepped forward.

“Why do you want me to fly?”

I smiled, “Because, my love, I want you to see the layout of the ruin. We may need to bed down for the night, and if there is a place close enough to the wall, that isn’t occupied, or at least has a lesser number, we can claim it, rest, and then began clearing them out in earnest in the morning.”

She grinned, and with that she took off like a shot. I marveled at how fast, and high, she flew. Within seconds she was back beside me.

“Okay, the ruin is a city, and it’s about fifteen miles wide by ten miles long. There’s around two hundred stone homes and buildings. I spotted what looked like an old blacksmith shop, but I can’t really tell because the roof was collapsed in. Near the gate is a small stone building. It looks like there’s no light, and I didn’t see anything stirring inside of it. Now, there’s a bunch of those orcs toward the middle. It looks like they’ve got six buildings, decorated up with rib cages and skulls from all sorts of things,” she said.

I nodded, “Okay, then we take the first building we come to near the wall. Once inside I’ll ward and secure it. Once I’m sure it's safe enough we’ll bed down for the night. When we get up we’ll start orc hunting.”

She nodded, and together we ventured into the ruined city. Once past the wall I saw a small stone home. We walked into it, and the powerful smell hit me. The stench of rotted meat, unbathed skin, and festering boils hung heavy in the air. I looked around and thanks to the goggles I could see in the darkness. Even though I used them to disguise myself the goggles were a fun item that L0rd0f7hunder had won from a low level dungeon. They were magically enhanced to allow the wearer to see without glare in the day, and able to allow the wearer to see perfectly at night. There wasn’t any other special power to them, but in this case they were quite useful.

I spotted a fireplace and used a first tier fire spell to ignite the rotted wood in it. A moment later it sparked to life, and the room lit up some. That caused quite a commotion from the current occupants in the home.

“FIRE BAD!” one screamed.

“KILL IT! KILL FIRE! SMASH IT!” the other bellowed.

“Wow, real eggheads aren’t they?” Rainbow groused as she touched the red gem on her sword and slashed through one. It’s head went flying, causing it to fall, and the other turned just in time to see her.

“MEAT!” he, I assumed, screamed as he ran at her.

She slashed him, again I assumed, through his stomach, then she let him, once again I assumed, fall to the ground. We listened, and there were no others nearby. We climbed the old stone stairs to the second floor, and there was a small collection of broken swords, some pieces of armor, and a few shields. But there was something else that caught my eye. Near the wall was a bed. Untouched, unsoiled, and perfect for the evening.

I quickly warded the house, causing all sound to disappear, making the house seem uninteresting, and finally to cause anyone that wasn’t Rainbow or myself to burst into flames if they touched it. Once that was done I walked with my bride to the bed, and stretched out. She crawled into it with me, scooting against me, and I felt her relax.

“You don’t think that I have a flat ass do you?” she asked.

I smiled, “No, I think that its perfect in its own way. Now, let us rest. For tomorrow we kill orcs.”
.
“Okay,” she said. I felt her trying to relax, and I rubbed between her wings. She let out a soft moan.

She turned toward me, and I could see the look in her eyes, “You know, it’s just you and me now.”

I glanced at her, “Yeah…”

She grinned brightly, “I won’t say anything if you go with Solar, Luna, or Twilight by yourself. Because I know that you’ll take a little time to make them feel special. So, want to make me feel special?”

I smiled, “Of course, my pretty mare.”

Author's Note

*Grasswalkers appear almost childlike. They typically have animalistic ears, normally that of rabbits, and also tails from the same animal. They are nimble, quick, powerful in their own right, and usually their perceived age is far different than their actual age. This is something most Grasswalkers take advantage of. Typically Grasswalkers are classed as thieves and rogues. Their light steps, and nimble responses, make them perfect for sneak attacks, tomb raiding, and silent assassin missions.