— CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO —

  Drawing Blood from an Ocean

  (Percival)

  February 19th marked our ninth day at the water shrine. We'd been at it since the 10th, turning every room inside out, analyzing every puzzle, and drawing so many maps that I was starting to see floor plans in my dreams. It wasn't just exploration, though - we were making steady progress, opening doors one at a time. And boy, did we find some clever workarounds along the way.

  And for the record, Liz used her ice picks to cut a grapple-able slot into the ice outside that confined hallway. She was able to attach her grappling claw to it and rappel down. The ice grew back, though, so we couldn't use it to permanently bypass doors - more of a reconnaissance technique than a skeleton key. Still, it gave us insights into rooms we hadn't accessed yet.

  It was a good thing she got out, too, because we didn't get that door open until the 15th. Turned out we were overthinking it; the solution was in a different room entirely. We had to position a set of crystal prisms in a chamber three floors below to redirect light through a series of mirrors, ultimately sending a beam through that window, which then interacted with the stuff on the floor. Still no clue how any of it related to the 'facet of water' that Brian kept going on about. Maybe water distorts light? I don't know. It worked, and that's what mattered.

  At the very top of the tower sat a final chamber, sealed by a mechanism requiring three keys. According to the reliefs carved into the walls throughout the shrine, these keys represented the three facets of water: Cold, Seal, and Water itself.

  We found the Cold key first, hidden in the upper floors of the ice caves. A Steel Rage team led by Rex had to fight a massive ice golem to claim it - a battle that ended with Rex suplexing the thing off an ice bridge into the central well.

  The Seal key proved trickier. It was locked in a chamber deep in the underwater section, surrounded by several layers of puzzles. Took us three days and one near-drowning (Fritz), but we managed to peel off the last layer on the 18th.

  That left only the Water key. We'd scoured every accessible chamber, solved every puzzle we could find, and still no sign of it. Logic dictated there was only one place it could be: with the creature that dwelled in the main well of the tower.

  So on the morning of the 19th, the guilds assembled.

  The standard Vanguard raid composition was 50 players - that was the maximum group size. That format let the healers easily monitor everyone's health on a single raid frame, reduced friendly fire from auto-targeted abilities, and generally made organization simpler. However, it wasn't a hard limit.

  The game's bosses scaled to the size of the group they were facing, starting at a minimum of 10 players and going up to... well, we weren't actually sure what the upper limit was. One piece of loot dropped by default, plus an additional drop for every 5 players beyond the minimum. A 15-player group got 2 drops, a 20-player group got 3, and so on, the standard 50-player raid would have 9 drops.

  I'd always been curious about the limitations of the system, whether we could push it further. Until that point, though, I'd never had a way to test it. I'd focused more on practical concerns like maximizing small group efficiency. This was the perfect opportunity to test something different.

  The thing about Rex and Brian, the legends that they are, was that they were a lot more flexible than the leaders of guilds like Tempest or Doughnuts Per Second. No rigid adherence to the meta, no obsession with 'the way things have always been done.' They were willing to go on an adventure with me.

  So when we entered the shrine that morning, it wasn't with one raid group, but with every present and combat-ready member on Steel Rage's reserve list. Four and a half raid groups in total - 225-ish players, a small army ready to take on a liquid monster.

  At the front was Rex with Steel Rage's 'prime-time' raiders - the ones who regularly participated in the rotation of boss fight teams. They formed the main assault force, the tip of the spear. Behind them, a 'B-team' led by Brian's right-hand man Drakkan - dungeon farmers and standby members who knew their rotations but didn't often see the spotlight of progression content.

  While those two groups would handle the main fight, Brian himself was leading another full raid outside the main well to control adds and watch for environmental changes. The fourth complete raid was a healer-heavy support group ready to move between locations as needed.

  That left the half group - a team of 'analysts' looking for shortcuts, weaknesses, or creative ways to execute a quick kill. I was leading that team with the Rangers forming its core, supplemented by a collection of Steel Rage's most oiled-up, enthusiastic musclemen. We positioned ourselves high in the ice caves, on paths surrounding the central shaft, where we could observe the battlefield from multiple angles.

  From our vantage point, we watched as the groups arranged themselves for battle. The healers set up on mid-level bridges with good sightlines. The B-team secured the perimeter, forming a containment ring. And Rex's main force assembled at the edge of the central pool, weapons drawn, buff spells already shimmering around their bodies.

  "Alright, people, we're going up against a water creature." I said. "Any first impressions on potential weaknesses?"

  The Rangers exchanged glances, wheels already turning behind their eyes.

  Liz was the first to speak up. "Freezing it worked well that first day, remember? When we caught it off guard and I hit it with the freeze ray. Turned solid for a few seconds before it broke free."

  Lucy suggested, "What about boiling? If we can heat the water enough, it might evaporate and diminish its mass."

  Fritz snapped his fingers, "What if we dump a bunch of salt in there? Like a freshwater-saltwater thing? Osmosis and all that."

  I nodded. "That's not a bad idea - think they'd be willing to wait if we put in an order for a salt shipment from Florin?"

  Lance, who had been silently polishing his armor, looked up. "There's salted jerky back at camp. Lots of it. The Steel Rage guys practically live on the stuff."

  "That wouldn't be nearly enough." Lucy said. "We'd need hundreds of pounds of salt to have any effect on that much water."

  "Oh!" Liz exclaimed, bouncing on her heels. "Those Steel Rage guys have a load of beer barrels, too! We could dump those in and get the boss loaded!" She mimicked a drunken stagger, nearly slipping off the narrow ice path before Fritz steadied her.

  "What about cooking oil?" Lucy suggested. "It floats on top of water, so maybe we could suppress it with a layer of oil?"

  "Or set the oil on fire once it's trapped!" Fritz added.

  I nodded. "I'll ask if we can grab something from camp." I pulled up my group chat interface, then remembered that it didn't work inside the instance. And DMs were delayed, too.

  Before I could dispatch someone to run down to Brian with our theories, a thunderous voice echoed through the chamber. Rex, standing at the edge of the central pool, had raised his massive battle axe above his head.

  "Brothers and sisters!" His voice boomed, magnified by the acoustics of the chamber. "Today we face a foe with no body, but our resolve is solid as the ice that surrounds us! Let this puddle taste steel and fury! Today we draw blood from the ocean itself!"

  The Steel Rage members roared in response, banging weapons against shields and stomping their feet in unison, some spitting over the edge into the central well. The sound was deafening, reverberating through the entire tower.

  Then the chamber itself seemed to respond. The tower shook violently, sending tremors through the ice walkways. Several people on the upper paths lost their footing, tilting dangerously over the edge. I backed away from the edge as our platform lurched beneath us. The Steel Rage men beside me caught each other, forming a chain of muscled arms that prevented anyone from falling.

  "It's coming!" someone shouted from below.

  I crouched low to hold myself steady as I leaned over the edge. The water's surface begin to churn and bubble like a pot about to boil over.

  With a sudden eruption, a massive column of water shot upward from the pool. It wasn't just water - it was crystalline, almost like liquid glass, flowing and reshaping itself constantly. At its center, visible through the translucent body, was a pulsing blue core.

  The creature continued to rise, expanding outward as more water joined its mass from the pool below. It formed tentacle-like appendages that whipped through the air, testing its reach. Above its main body, a ripple passed through the water, forming what might generously be called a head - a featureless bulge that protected the core.

  A nameplate appeared above it: Phosis, Archwater.

  A hail of arrows immediately rained down on the beast from the archers positioned on the middle walkways. The projectiles sliced through the water, leaving momentary tunnels in their wake, but the liquid simply flowed back to fill the gaps. None reached the glowing core.

  Meanwhile, the melee fighters stationed closest to the water's edge began their assault. Some threw javelins or spears, while others wielded longer polearms, attempting to reach the creature from a safe distance. Their weapons passed through the watery exterior with minimal resistance, barely disrupting its form.

  Rex activated his greataxe's leap ability, launching himself through the air directly at the creature's center. His axe briefly connected with the core, sending a visible shudder through Phosis' body, before he was ejected by a powerful surge of water that sent him flying back toward the edge of the pool.

  A quick-thinking mage caught him with telekinesis, preventing him from skidding into the water where the creature could have pulled him under. Rex landed on his feet and shook off the water. Several other brave fighters followed his example, jumping at the creature to attempt direct hits on the core. Some connected, others missed, but all were thrown back by the creature's defenses. The mages worked overtime, fishing out fighters before they could be dragged beneath the surface.

  I trusted that side of the fight to Steel Rage - our job was to find another way, and it definitely looked like the core was the target.

  "I'm liking that salt idea more." I said. "It looks like it can only control some of the water - maybe it can only use the purest parts."

  Lucy said, "It's going to be difficult getting salt in now, though."

  "Perce, heads up." Fritz pointed upward.

  High above us, hanging from the ceiling of the chamber, were massive icicles - each one easily the size of a small car with wickedly sharp points.

  "Now that might work." I said, a plan already forming in my mind. "I'm heading up. Lu, you're in charge." I turned to the Steel Rage contingent. "Oil men! I need some volunteer projectiles! We're doing a human cannonball!"

  The musclemen cheered, pumping their fists in the air. I loved those guys - unkillable enthusiasm and no fear. Rex knew how to pick 'em.

  "Follow me!" I ordered, already moving toward the pathway that would take us to the highest level of the ice caves.

  {L}?With Percy headed upstairs, I scanned the battlefield, assessing our options. "Is there anything further we can do down here while we wait?"

  "What about those?" Fritz pointed to a cluster of smaller icicles hanging below an ice bridge a floor above us.

  I shook my head. "Too small and brittle. They'd shatter before penetrating deep enough to reach the core."

  Liz rummaged through the various pouches and pockets of her utility vest. "I've got some grenades - will those work?"

  "It's worth a shot." I said, extending my hand. "Pass me one."

  Liz handed me the grenade. It wasn't a crystal-based magical item like most thrown explosives in the game, but an actual metal canister grenade with a ring pull.

  My father had wanted a boy. There is no evidence of that greater than my brief stint as a Little League pitcher when I was nine. He'd been so determined to create a baseball star that he'd enrolled me despite my protests. The irony was that I turned out to have a natural arm - could throw a fastball that made the boys cry. Father had been ecstatic until he decided I was having too much fun. There were more productive things to do with my time.

  I felt all that muscle memory returning as I assumed the stance - feet shoulder-width apart, weight shifting back, elbow up. I pulled the pin and wound up, tracking the pulsing core visible through Phosis' transparent body.

  "Fire in the hole!" I shouted, then released with perfect form, putting my whole body into the throw.

  The grenade plunged into the water creature's body with a splash. It traveled straight through the liquid mass and pinged directly against the glowing blue core - a perfect strike. For a moment, nothing happened. Then came a muffled *poof* as the grenade detonated, but only a limp puff of smoke emerged, the fires immediately quenched by the surrounding water.

  Disappointing, but not unexpected.

  A commotion from behind drew our attention. Brian burst onto our walkway, breathing heavily as if he'd sprinted up from the lower levels.

  "Percival!" he shouted, scanning our group. "I need your water mage!"

  I gestured toward Trevor. "Take him. What's happening?"

  Trevor looked startled, eyes wide with apprehension. "Me? Wh-what are we doing?"

  "Whatever was letting us breathe underwater has been revoked - we need manual buffs down there!"

  Trevor straightened his shoulders, nodding more confidently than I'd expected. "Alright! You can count on me!" He stumbled as he ran off after Brian, nearly colliding with the ice wall before finding his footing.

  "Should someone go with him?" Liz asked, watching Trevor with concern.

  "Brian will keep him safe." I replied, turning my attention back to the battle below. "Let's focus on what we can do from here."

  (P)?My team of volunteers and I reached the top floor of the tower - a bridge made of ice that stretched straight across the center of the shaft to the sealed room that we were collecting the keys to open. From that height, the fighting below was an indistinct echo and some tiny ants scurrying around the edges of the lashing pool. Above us, the icicles were easily 20 feet long and as thick as tree trunks at the base. They were still several people-heights over our heads, but that was a solvable problem.

  Stopping on the bridge, I asked, "Would you all kindly make a line?"

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  The Steel Rage crew arranged themselves in a line with the first up being a particularly enthusiastic man with spiked gauntlets and muscles on his muscles.

  "I want you to try to break the ice by the ceiling to knock it down." I told him. "When it falls, jump back to us; I'll grab you."

  The muscleman shook his head. "I don't try. Let's DO!" He punched his gauntlets together, sending a spray of sparks into the frigid air.

  I cast Telekinesis, lifting the man off his feet and launching him upward toward one of the massive icicles. The muscleman reached out as he approached, latching onto the ice near its root with his spiked gauntlets. With a roar, he began pummeling the base of the icicle, each hit sending cracks spider-webbing through the ice. After a few powerful punches, there was a deep, resonant crack - and the icicle broke free.

  As the massive spike began to plummet, I cast Slowfall on the man, then used Telekinesis to guide him back onto the walkway. The Steel Rage volunteer landed with a triumphant whoop, immediately high-fiving his companions.

  The giant icicle, meanwhile, plummeted down the shaft, gathering speed as it fell. It missed the central mass of Phosis, but clipped the outer edge of its liquid body, carving a gaping hole that slowly filled back in as the water flowed to repair the damage.

  Not a direct hit, but the effect was promising - the creature had recoiled from the impact, momentarily withdrawing its tentacles from the fighters below.

  "We're onto something." I said, turning back to his volunteers. "Now I'm going to put Slowfall on you before launch. I want you to hold onto the icicles as they fall - use your weight and lean to direct them; guide them into the core. Jump off a few floors above it, around where the healers are stationed."

  The next Steel Rager in line bounced on the balls of his feet, cracking his knuckles in anticipation. I cast Slowfall on him, then launched him upward with Telekinesis. The man soared toward the ceiling, grabbing onto another massive icicle and immediately hammering at its base.

  As the icicle broke free, the Steel Rage member wrapped his arms and legs around it like a rodeo rider, using his body weight to angle the falling spike toward the center of the chamber. The makeshift missile drifted through the air, picking up speed as it descended.

  Near the bottom, the rider released his hold, gently sailing toward the edge on Slowfall while the icicle continued. The massive spike crashed directly into the beacon at Phosis' core, sending a visible shudder through the creature's entire form.

  Phosis convulsed, its body temporarily losing cohesion as a significant chunk of its health bar disappeared. The remaining Steel Rage volunteers roared in triumph, pounding each other on the back and flexing excitedly.

  Jackpot.

  "Let's do a few rapid-fire; get this done quick!" I ordered, already preparing the next volunteer.

  {L}?When the first icicle struck Phosis, I breathed a sigh of relief. The opening minutes of a boss fight, when we were still figuring out effective strategies, were always the most nerve-wracking.

  Liz clapped and cheered beside me. "That's our boy!" she shouted, pumping her fist in the air.

  Four more giant icicles followed in quick succession, plummeting from the ceiling like crystalline spears. Three of them struck true, slamming into Phosis' core to devastating effect. The fourth missed, shattering against one of the lower bridges, but the damage was already done. In a span of mere seconds, the water creature had lost nearly half its health bar.

  It was almost too easy - which, naturally, meant something was about to go terribly wrong.

  Phosis was catching on now. Its surface roiled violently, tentacles retracting inward to form a protective sphere around its core. Then, with a surge that lowered the water level in the central pool, the creature shot upward, abandoning the lower section of the chamber entirely.

  It climbed higher and higher, passing our level and continuing into the ice caves section of the tower. Its tentacles extended outward again, not to attack but to anchor itself, shooting into the surrounding ice walls like roots seeking purchase. Three more icicles fell from the ceiling, dislodged by Percy's team, but none connected before Phosis completed its ascent.

  Once positioned in the upper reaches of the chamber, the creature underwent another transformation. Ice began creeping outward from the walls, flowing along its tentacles and coating its entire surface in a thick layer of crystalline armor. Its fluid form solidified, becoming a massive, suspended ice sculpture.

  The creature's surface cracked in small places as it began to rain down lances of ice on the raid groups below. The fighters scattered, scrambling to find cover or climb to higher positions.

  But the tower itself had become hostile. The ice that coated the upper levels began to rumble and undulate as if alive. Blocks cut themselves out of the walls and started pumping in and out like pistons, knocking people off the surrounding pathways and turning the entire structure into an assault course.

  Behind us, the passageway we had used to reach our current position started moving as the ice walls compressed inward, then began rhythmically slamming together - a crushing trap that would instantly kill anyone attempting to pass through. We were effectively trapped on our walkway, cut off from both retreat and advance.

  And that's when I noticed there were no more icicles falling, either. The ceiling above had been picked clean - Percy's team was out of ammo.

  "We've got to step up here!" I said, turning to Liz. "Grenade!"

  Liz didn't hesitate, pulling another explosive from her vest and handing it to me. I studied the ice-armored boss, identifying the thinnest points where its tentacles connected to the wall. Those junctions were our best targets - break the supports, and the creature would fall.

  I wound up and pitched the grenade, aiming for one of the primary tendrils suspending the boss. The canister sailed through the air and detonated just before contact, the explosion shattering the ice cleanly where tentacle met wall.

  At that moment, movement above caught my attention. A squad of musclemen were paradropping from the highest level, floating gently through the air under what had to be Percy's Slowfall spell. They landed on the highest tendrils and immediately began pummeling the ice with gauntleted fists and weapon hilts.

  A ball of flame followed in their wake - Percy himself, I realized - suddenly jumping upward a few yards before impact to kill his momentum with Blink. He landed softly on one of the larger tendrils, his sword wreathed in flames. With one heavy, overhead swing, he smashed through the ice beneath his feet, then leapt to the next support before the first could fully collapse.

  "Liz, give me your grappling hook!" Carla demanded suddenly.

  "It doesn't work on the ice." Liz said. "I tried it during exploration - the claw just slides off."

  "I've got an idea." Carla insisted. "Nap, help me out here!" Carla whistled sharply and pointed toward the boss.

  Mr. Boots, who had been prowling nervously at the edge of our walkway, roared in response and lunged forward into open air. Napoleon reacted instantly, using Telekinesis to give the beast an upward boost of momentum. The tiger soared through the space between walkways, powerful legs paddling as if swimming through the air.

  Carla snatched the grappling claw from Liz's hand and fired it at the tiger as it reached the apex of its arc. The metal claw latched onto Mr. Boots' harness, turning the airborne tiger into a mid-air grapple point. Carla gave the line a sharp tug to test it, then leaped off our walkway, swinging through the open chamber like a pendulum.

  She released at the perfect moment, landing on one of the ice tendrils supporting Phosis. With another whistle, she dismissed Mr. Boots, who disappeared from mid-air only to rematerialize safely beside her on the ice, looking thoroughly pleased with himself.

  From our position, I expected Carla to begin attacking the ice - but she was an archer, not a melee fighter. What exactly was her plan?

  I got my answer when she turned back toward us and fired the grappling claw in our direction. The metal hook shot across the gap and latched firmly onto Lance's breastplate with a metallic clang. The heavy-armored fighter barely had time to register what was happening before the retraction mechanism activated, yanking him forward.

  "Whoa - whoa!" Lance exclaimed, his arms windmilling as he was pulled off the walkway.

  "Trust her - go with it!" I shouted, recognizing Carla's plan instantly.

  Lance's panicked expression shifted to determination. "OK!" He tucked his limbs in, becoming as aerodynamic as a man in full plate armor could possibly be.

  Mr. Boots clamped his jaws around the back of Carla's jacket, helping to anchor her as she used the grappling mechanism to swing Lance like a wrecking ball. He arced through the air, smashing through several tendrils in a single, destructive pass.

  The rest of the Rangers stared in shock at the sheer audacity - and effectiveness - of the maneuver.

  "Keep the pressure up!" I snapped, bringing everyone back to focus. "Liz, more grenades!"

  Liz sprang into action, pulling more explosives from her seemingly bottomless pockets and distributing them to Napoleon, Fritz, and me. Napoleon used his telekinesis to hover his grenades in position before detonating them, while Fritz and I pitched ours manually at the weakest connecting points.

  Between the people jumping from tendril to tendril, the melee fighters climbing up from the ground floors, and our support fire from the walkways, we systematically destroyed Phosis' ice anchors. The massive creature began to buckle and sag as its supports failed one by one.

  Seeing the futility of this approach, Phosis abandoned its ice armor. Its surface began to liquefy once again, the frozen shell cracking and falling away in chunks as it reverted to its watery form. It began to seep back toward the central pool far below.

  Percy, who had worked his way to the lowest remaining tendril, made a desperate leap for the nearest walkway as the ice beneath him dissolved. He might have made it, too, but Phosis wasn't retreating without exacting a toll. As it fell, it lashed out with tendrils of water, clawing at the walls and dragging as many players down with it as possible.

  One of those it intercepted mid-jump was Percy. Flames erupted around him as he tried to evaporate the watery grip, but the creature's hold was too strong. For a moment, he hung suspended in the air, wreathed in steam and fire - then Phosis pulled him down, and they both plunged into the central well of water.

  Below us, Rex's voice boomed across the chamber. "We've got it on the ropes now! Bring it home, boys!" The Steel Rage leader hurled himself off one of the lower pathways, axe held high as he followed Phosis into the water. Dozens of his guild members followed suit, diving into the pool with weapons drawn and battle cries on their lips.

  (P)?I plunged into the water, sinking a dozen yards and trailing a stream of bubbles before stabilizing in the cold and viscous murk. I still didn't know how to swim, though, so I started to flail, arms and legs thrashing uselessly.

  The breath meter appeared on my HUD, a blue bar that began ticking down rapidly. With each second, the pressure in my lungs increased - not real drowning, of course, just the game's simulation of it. But the panic felt genuine enough. My vision began to dim at the edges as the meter approached the halfway mark.

  More people fell into the water around me. The shining blue core of Phosis settled in the center of the pool, pulsing with light. The layer of clear, clean water around its core was thin and only loosely under its control. It was vulnerable - this was our chance to end it! But most of the guys falling into the pool were heading toward the surface.

  I continued to flail, sinking deeper, the breath meter dwindling to its final quarter. Spots appeared in my vision as the crushing sensation in my lungs intensified. Then, suddenly, the meter disappeared. The pressure in my lungs vanished as a buff icon appeared in the corner of my status display: Water Breathing.

  A familiar face swam into view - Trevor. He grabbed my arm and tried to pull me upward, but he wasn't strong enough. He looked around frantically, then waved urgently to someone nearby. Brian appeared from the depths. He grabbed my other arm, and together with Trevor, they began to drag me toward the surface.

  But we were missing our opportunity! Phosis was slowly pulling its body back together, regathering the water around its core.

  I started kicking, trying to shout and tell them to finish the boss while it was down, but all that came out was a cloud of bubbles. Brian's grip tightened, his expression clearly communicating that I was being difficult and should stop struggling.

  Above us, Phosis had regained enough control to start lashing out at the raiders who were still swimming in the pool. Its tendrils whipped through the water, catching several fighters and throwing them deeper. No one could get close to the core anymore - it was defending itself too effectively.

  If we let it recover fully, we'd be back to square one, possibly with fewer resources than before. We needed to strike now! I wrenched my arm free from Brian's grip and made the hand sign for Lightning Bolt - a mid-level Electromancer spell. Nothing too major.

  The moment the lightning touched the water, it spread outward in all directions, crackling electricity filling the entire well. Phosis's watery form convulsed violently, going completely limp as the sparks coursed through it. The downside was it stunned just about every single person in the water, too - they were all jerking and spasming.

  Phosis recovered slower than the human players, though. As the electricity dissipated, fresh fighters were already diving in from above. These newcomers, unaffected by my spell, went straight for the core, weapons drawn. They landed solid hits, each one carving away another chunk of the boss's health.

  Phosis started to recover, tendrils reforming as it attempted to defend itself once more. I cast Lightning Bolt again, sending another surge of electricity through the water. Again, both Phosis and the nearby players were shocked, but the monster took the worst of it.

  I kept casting, again and again, timing my spells to coincide with waves of fresh attackers diving in from above. Each cycle carved away more of Phosis's health, pushing it closer to zero. My mana was draining rapidly, but I didn't stop - couldn't stop - until we ground down that last chunk of health.

  With one final, collective assault, Phosis stopped moving entirely. The clear water of its body drifted away, mixing with the rest of the pool, and the core dimmed to a faint glow. Only then did I allow Brian and Trevor to carry me upward toward the surface.

  As we rose, Rex swam over to the boss's body. He spewed out a mouthful of bubbles in what was probably a victory cry, then beat his chest triumphantly and slapped the dimming core. It flared briefly, then burst into a cloud of glittering dust.

  As the core disintegrated, a similar blue light filled the water around us. The glow seemed to emanate from nowhere and everywhere at once, washing over every player in the pool. I felt a strange tingling sensation on the back of my right hand. Looking down, I watched as a shape etched itself into my skin, tattooing a complex, curling design that glowed blue for several seconds before fading to invisibility.

  A notification appeared on my UI, much like a unique loot drop:

  'You have received a Brand of Water'

  To find out what that meant, I poked around my menu while Brian and Trevor were still hauling me up by the back of my robe.

  It wasn't an inventory item, and it wasn't a class or skill unlock. I finally tracked it down to the equipment page, where it had locked itself into a little space by my glove slot. The description read:

  'Grants the wielder dominion over water, allowing the use of the following skills: Cold, Water, Seal'

  Brian and Trevor pulled me to the surface, where chaos and celebration had erupted. Rex burst up beside us, holding aloft a ball of clear, pristine water that somehow maintained its perfect spherical shape despite the splashing all around - the Water key.

  "Another victory for humanity!" Rex bellowed, his voice echoing off the ice walls of the chamber.

  A wave of celebration swept through the tower. Players were climbing out of the water, shaking themselves dry, comparing new gear, and checking out the mysterious brands on their hands. From somewhere above, a Steel Rage member shouted, "Pooool party!" People started dropping down from the upper paths, doing cannonballs into the water, their previous battle fatigue forgotten in the euphoria of victory.

  I opened my spell book to examine the three new spells, but their descriptions were frustratingly vague. Cold: 'Harness the slowing aspect of water.' Water: 'Control the fluid nature of water.' Seal: 'Utilize the bonding properties of water.' And none of them had specified hand signs to cast them, unlike my usual spells.

  "Command Sharp: Spell: Seal." I tried, but nothing happened.

  Brian took my hand and held it over the water's surface. "Here." he said. "Focus, and will it to freeze."

  "What?" I asked.

  "Come on, like you didn't spend your childhood trying to use the Force. 'Will it' to happen."

  I didn't fully understand what he meant, but I gave it a try. I focused intently on the water beneath my palm, willing it to freeze. I concentrated so hard that my hand began to shake with the effort. And then... it happened. The blue mark reappeared on my hand, glowing faintly, and the water directly beneath my palm froze solid, forming a small disc of ice.

  "There you go." Brian said with a satisfied nod. "Keep practicing that."

  I expanded my focus, willing the ice to spread outward. The frozen patch grew, creating a ring around me that I could cling to like a life preserver.

  "Thanks, army boy."

  Brian smirked and released my hand. "Anytime." He swam off to join the celebration.

  I looked down at my hand, where the Water Brand had once again faded away.

  I kicked my feet to propel myself toward the edge of the pool, where Lucy was already waiting. She extended a hand down to help me up. The icy disc dissolved as soon as I grabbed her hand, melting back into the water as if it had never existed.

  Once on solid ground, I summoned fire around my hands to run across my clothes, evaporating the water and leaving me mostly dry within seconds. Steam rose from my shoulders as I turned to survey the celebration unfolding in the water.

  "That was a relatively clean one." I said, rolling my shoulders to work out the stiffness.

  Lucy nodded. "For having four and a half times the usual group size? I'll say. We were-" She paused, looking around with a sudden frown. "Where did Fritz go? He was right behind me."

  A moment later, Fritz came walking up from one of the side passages, a jello shot in each hand. "What's good, Perce? Nice moves out there." he said, offering us each one of the wobbly shots.

  Lucy shook her head in disbelief. "They brought jello shots to the raid?"

  Fritz shrugged. "You gotta be ready for the afterparty." He wiggled the shot in his hand invitingly. "The Steel Rage guys don't mess around."

  "I'm good, thanks." I replied, flexing my fingers where the Brand of Water had appeared. "I've got some new spells to experiment with."

  "Alright. You kids enjoy yourselves." He downed one of the jello shots, then lifted the other in a mock toast. "I am going for a swim!" With that, he turned and leaped into the pool with a splash that sprayed water across several nearby celebrants, who laughed and splashed him back.

  I turned away from the increasingly rowdy celebration and began walking toward the exit. Lucy fell into step beside me.

  "Is everyone okay?" I asked as we navigated around groups of celebrating raiders.

  "Last I saw them, yes. Carla swung Lance like a wrecking ball."

  "Nice. What about loot? How much dropped?"

  "We'll have to take stock tomorrow."

  For the record, it came out to 20 drops, or a soft raid cap of 105 people. It was harder to manage a group of that size, so the Vanguard standard remained at a single raid of 50, but it was handy to know.

  We continued through the entrance hall to the portal of water that would take us outside. The vertical wall of water hung suspended in the archway, perfectly still. I stopped in front of it, holding out my hand and willing myself to control it. I started to feel a tingling sensation in my palm, the Brand of Water beginning to reappear, but nothing happened to the portal itself.

  Before I could try again, Lucy pushed me into the portal. "Come on, let's tell Willard!" she said, her voice shifting to a garbled muffle as I passed through the threshold.

  In the passage of water, Lucy swam ahead while I walked along the bottom, then climbed up the vertical shaft. We emerged into the little ruined shrine on the surface on the lake. It was like walking out of a house party - we were surrounded by sudden cold and silence. It was maybe 2 in the afternoon, but the dense fog blocked the sun, putting us in a dim, gloomy world.

  Lucy immediately opened her messages to report our success to Willard, while I walked down the steps toward the bridge. But there was someone waiting for us there - one of the Protectorate staffers who helped run the base camp. His expression was tense, face pale.

  "Oh thank god!" he said when he spotted us. "I wasn't sure if I should go in or..."

  "What's up?" I asked

  "It's, uh..." He swallowed hard, clearly struggling to find the right words. His hands trembled as he fumbled with his UI. "It's the Capital!" He finally managed to pull up his menu, trying to show us something on the screen. "They're saying that a revolution has been declared!"

  ---

  Next Time:

  One man seeks to bring the fraying threads of the World Guard back into line. Standing before him are a core of corrupt elites, bandits bent on the destabilization of the government, a game out to get them all, and tens of thousands of civilians about to be caught up in the crossfire. It's not an easy choice, but to yield the future to the hands of crooks is to accept far worse damage later.

  By any means necessary.

  Episode 19 - Quoth the Raven