What before had been four unassuming two-foot wide pillars of pure emerald, which heightened the already relaxing ambiance of Cicero’s study, turned out to be, in fact, quite dangerous crystalline golems. The bottom half of the golems sprouted out into four spider-like legs, providing the construct with enough mobility for it to amble toward us slowly. Near the top of the emerald construct, four appendages burgeon out similarly. Yet, instead of blunt ends that acted as feet like the four at the base of the golem, these four protrusions were more akin to long swords. The construct reminded me somewhat of a microscopic image of bacteriophage, a virus that infects itself within bacterial cells. Above the sword arms, the construct had a polyhedral head completing the analogy of a microorganism made a million times bigger.
With each step, the massive weight of each golem was made evident as impact tremors reverberated under our feet and were further amplified as all four constructs stepped in unison. We were in trouble. As undoubtedly powerful as magically animated golems typically were in nearly every fantasy story I ever heard, our lone advantage in this sudden encounter was our speed compared to our advisories. Where the golems moved with slow, laborious steps, we would be look as fast as a darting jackrabbits in contrast. Mental images of being unlucky enough to feel the crushing weight of these enormous automatons.
We needed to quickly disperse and separate ourselves. Otherwise, we risked being caught either underfoot or in the throng of semi-transparent blades bearing down on us. If we remained bunched up, we would soon find ourselves attacked from all directions simultaneously. “Scatter!” I cried out, which was quickly followed by everyone. I was not the only one who had come to this conclusion.
With urgency, Tallos rushed off to the northeastern side of the library in the gap between two golems. With their relatively slow pace, he could easily avoid the sword strikes attempting to hit him as he ran past. Still, his dash kept the attention of the north-most construct firmly locked on him as it turned to follow. Now that he was free of immediate danger, Tallos swiftly slung his bow across his back and, using the many shelves, propelled himself upwards and soon out of reach some fifteen feet above the ground. Unless the animated mobs had some form of ranged attack, he was effectively out of range. Whether by a lack of intelligence or single-minded determination, the golem he grew aggro from continued marching toward where the elf had scaled the outer-most ring of bookshelves. The wooden bookcases reached the top of the sixty-foot-high ceiling, so it would take him a short while to find a position where he could securely anchor himself before he could begin attempting to rain arrows down on any of our foes.
Trusting in his ability to keep himself safe and make a difference in the fight, I faced the western golem and inspected it as it continued advancing toward me menacingly. Its two closest blades arched upwards, holding ready to swing downward the moment I got within range. Movement from behind me signaled Ripley as she charged forward to meet the easternmost golem. It was clear she was counting on her newly upgraded sword and shield to allow her to match whatever punishment these creations could dish out.
As the construct's description flowed directly into my awareness, Lowki, who had been following my lead, changed his mind about what he was going to do in the battle. He turned back towards the center of the room and, with one bounding leap, launched himself atop the ring of bookshelves surrounding the room’s center column. While that column was made of the exact same material as the emerald guardians, it had failed to come to life. Otherwise, a fifty-foot-plus tall golem of its magnitude would have certainly made this fight all but impossible. Unlike the outer edge of the library, the bookshelves in the center of the room only went up fifteen feet, which meant Lowki had positioned himself perfectly to pounce when the right opportunity presented itself. It left no other immediate target, meaning the southern golem continued its steady advance on me. It would be two versus one, so I needed to learn what I could from these seemingly unassailable constructs.
Emerald Archive Guardian (Level 32)
While among the least mobile when it comes to similar crystalline constructs, Emerald Archive Guardians make up for this weakness through sheer strength of arms and raw defensive capabilities. By design, these guardians are capable of attacking multiple opponents at the same time in a complete three-hundred-and-sixty-degree circle around itself. Engaging foes with single-minded determination, these golems are not to be underestimated, as only the most potent of counterattacks or magical bombardments have any hope of blemishing their hardened exterior.
Once activated, Emerald Archive Guardians will relentlessly pursue any known hostile and will only return to their deactivated state once all foes have been defeated. While a single guardian alone may be able to be whittled down given enough time and effort, capable Hunters finding themselves facing more than one of these challenging creations may wish to turn tail for safer ground lest they become an unrecognizable hodgepodge of broken limbs and ruined armor.
Fight well, Hunter. Good luck!
Though its pillar body was as wide as an average human’s torso, nothing about the inorganic construct resembled anything close to a living thing. This was no amalgamation created by Cicero of man and beast. With no discernable eyes or any other sensory organs for that matter, the golem’s physique of smooth, semi-transparent emerald appeared entirely unnatural and slightly disturbing to look upon. Nothing about the constructs immediately presented itself as an obvious weakness the golems might possess meaning if the description was anything to go by, each would be incredibly difficult to take down. That’s not even mentioning we had four of the impregnable creations to somehow handle. This may be a battle too steep for us to win.
With a pair of the automaton’s attention focused squarely on my friends, one still futilely attempting to reach the ascending ranger and the other no doubt hacking furiously upon Ripley’s shield, I was left with two golems to deal with. Had the tall cylindrical constructs been able to move more rapidly, I may have found myself in an untenable position. As it was, I was more than capable of keeping enough distance from the pair as I deftly rotated counterclockwise around them.
Hoping to capitalize on our advantage in the speed department, I decided my first course of action was to elevate our upper hand as much as possible. As I continued arcing around my two opponents, several times narrowly missing a heavy downward cut, the words to Gnawing Blizzard burst my lips as my hands wove in a delicate dance as mana was drained from my core. As the spell neared completion, I skillfully positioned myself with just enough of an angle to cast the spell on the library’s center column. Forcefully pushing my palms away from my body, a ghostly gale blossomed outward from the midpoint of the room. While my party was incapable of feeling the biting winds, all four of our opponents instantly became covered in a thick layer of frost. Within seconds, their overly exaggerated and arduous movements slowed noticeably but by far less than I had hoped for.
Focusing on my innate connection with the spell, I understood only about half of the slows usual effect had been able to bypass the construct's considerable magical defenses. Still, even that precious amount would make this fight unimaginably easier as it bought us a bit more room for error as we either deflected or dodged their deadly assaults. Unfortunately, a loud commotion from the opposite side of the room stole my attention, and fearing the worst, I risked a glance at where Tallos had previously scaled several bookshelves. His frantic golem, in a futile attempt to bring down the unassailable warden, who even then scrambled higher in response, had taken out its aggressions by tearing large furrows into the woodwork before it. Torn pieces of parchment, leather bindings, and a shower of wooden splinters blasted away in all directions as the golem repeatedly struck against the crumbling bookshelf. The thunderous noise I heard was the shelf collapsing, spilling hundreds of books around the feet of the crystalline menace.
A distraught shout from Stella brought my attention whipping back around to my own predicament. My moment of inattention nearly cost me dearly as I was forced a duck under a particularly savage pair of sword strikes hurtling toward either side of my neck in an attempt to decapitate me. My Aegis would have saved me, of course, but I had no intention of finding out just how devastating their blows actually were. The sound of arrows ricocheting against stone signaled that Tallos had found a secure enough position to finally bring his bow into the fight. Before I was forced to turn around, I had enough time to spy Tallos wedging himself on a recently emptied bookshelf with a leg extended outward. The move allowed him enough stability to free up his hands.
With my attention firmly returned to my two attackers, I contemplated casting Lesser Scent of Decay to lessen the construct's magical resistance but decided against it, at least for now. First, I wanted to see how effective my spells were before dedicating myself to the spell’s long three-second cast time. To determine how strong their resistances were, I settled on one of my favorite spells.
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“Stella, as soon as I’m done casting this, tell me how much was resisted,” I called out before beginning to weave chained lightning into existence.
“Copy that!” Stella replied as another sharp crack of splinter wood and heavy thumping of falling books echoed back where Tallos and his golem fought. I was in no position to help my friend, so I could only hope he could take care of himself.
The growing spell weave completed and sent, nearly faster than the eye could follow, a blazing fork of crackling electricity zigzagging around the room to strike all four guardians in rapid succession. A pungent metallic scent pervaded the air for a few heartbeats as I continued my frantic dodges around my two opponents. My hopes of the pair tangling each other up were swiftly dispelled as the constructs demonstrated considerable control over Herculean attacks. The pair could easily halt their overpowering swings well before they could touch one another.
From the corner of my vision, I witnessed Stella grimacing dejectedly as she let out a curse of frustration. Fearing what she was about to say, our eyes locked briefly as she laid out the bad news, “Only about a quarter of the damage got through.”
“Shit!” I choked out. It was as bad as I feared. A seventy-five percent resistance was hardly anything to sneeze at. Worse yet, I was confident in wagering their physical resistance was even higher. We were in for an incredibly long, drawn-out fight. Thankfully, I was already thinking of the perfect spell to solve at least half of the problem: Lesser Scent of Decay.
If I couldn’t reduce their resistance to my spells, our odds of surviving this encounter would grow slimmer by the minute. Concentrating on the necessary phrases and hand gestures needed to cast the spell, Scent of Decay would be more difficult to cast given my present situation, as it took far longer than nearly all of my other spells. Three seconds could feel like an eternity in combat. I would certainly be employing Quick Cast here, though I would still be vulnerable as I skillfully created the spell weave between my palms. Dodging wouldn’t be made any easier, though even while casting I was more than capable of maintaining most of my mobility. It would be tight, but I was confident I could manage it. As I searched for the most opportune time to begin the spell, Lowki took that moment to reenter the fray in a big way.
Leaping across the ten feet between himself and the golem closest to me with ease, the courageous panther soared atop the focused golem as it, in turn, was effectively body-blocking its twin. While we didn’t know exactly how heavy any of the golems were, having a several hundred-pound beast slam atop the creature’s head like a living wrecking ball nearly had the construct toppling over completely. Halting its downward momentum before reaching a tipping point, the emerald automaton began to straighten itself.
The resourceful displacer beast had timed his leap perfectly and deftly avoided being stuck by either of the golem’s two rear-facing blades. As he landed, rippling energy waves flowed from his legs deep into the creature’s crystalline body. The golem was not about to let the move go unpunished and sent its blades hurtling toward the great cat. Seeing his work done as Solidifying Strike began working its magic, it was only Lowki’s nimbleness that allowed him to avoid being immediately bisected. A pair of blades sliced through the air like heavy scissors, both aimed at the panther’s midsection. Lowki already expected such a counter-attack, so he immediately teleported away by switching places with one of his illusionary clones striding atop the center bookshelf. Twin emerald blades hacked through nothing but air, to the golem’s great annoyance.
Seeing the dangerous gambit and brief distraction afforded by my bold ally, I rushed through the required arcane phrases of my desired spell. Thankfully, the combined effect from my ongoing blizzard and Lowki’s Solidifying Strike meant I was able to keep just out of range of my golem’s continuously slashing blades. A few did strike my Aegis as I focused on successfully completing the spell, but with my nearly full mana pool, I barely felt what should have been an incredibly heavy blow. Still, I knew that as the fight progressed, my mana pool would drain away meaning my cautiousness would need to increase by a proportional amount.
Maintaining my concentration, a magical wave of force lanced away from me before diving deep inside the refracting green stone.
Notice! Emerald Archive Guardian has been affected by Lesser Scent of Decay! All resistances to fire, poison, acid, and disease have been reduced by 20%.
Calling out to Lowki, we swiftly repeated the process on the back-line golem to similar effect. While Scent could reduce resistances by a maximum of forty percent, twenty percent was a respectable number on its own, considering how magically resistant our foes were. Time would tell if the decrease would sway the battle as I planned out the next series of spells needed to bring down these unyielding creations.
As Lesser Chained Lightning came off its ten-second cool down, I immediately put it into action once more and, delightedly, found that one of my golems momentarily froze up. It was stunned! Sadly, the shock lasted only a scant second but showed the constructs could at least be affected by the spell’s secondary effect. Finally, the stun caused the second golem to walk directly into its compatriot which bought me enough time to trigger both my new Lich spell and Devouring Umbral Plague. I wasn’t quite sure how crystal could be affected by a disease-based spell, but as it settled into the golem’s body, I figured it must have been the spell's shadowy nature, that allowed it to at least get through a good portion of the construct's resistances. By the feel of the damage imparted, I estimated it was half as effective as it normally could have been. Thankfully, even though I could only cast a single instance of the spell, awareness of the contagious effect instantly leaping to the second golem brought a smile to my face. With the two effects and the mana regeneration afforded by Lich, my mana bar began refilling even as I cast more spells upon my frustrated opponents.
Since Lich effectively transformed health points into mana, my eyes flicked to my health bar, where I witnessed it sinking under the spell’s potent effect. I would need a few more disease spells to level out the health loss. To that end, I quickly dual cast my recently upgraded Arrested Affliction on both golems. With four disease-based spells going, even though they were only half as effective as they otherwise would be, my health drain was effectively neutralized.
Risking a glance to see how everyone else was going, I witnessed Lowki make another leap, this time upon Ripley’s golem and imparting another solidifying strike. Movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention where another panther, surely an illusionary double of Lowki, had drawn the attention of the construct, attempting to cut Tallos down to his level. Lowki needed to be mindful to avoid even his clones being struck as it could cause the golems to inadvertently ignore their presence. It was a delicate dance but one the displacer beast was well versed in.
My brief inattention once more cost me a moderate chunk of my mana pool as twin crystalline sabers slammed against the top of my skull and the other against my right shoulder. Had I not had Aegis protecting me, the first blow may very well have split my skull. As it was, I was left mostly unharmed, though a thousand mana points had been drained to weather the two attacks. My friends were managing on their own, so I continued my deliberate spell casting, one after the other, as the health bars of my opponents slowly dwindled.
Stella saw my frustrated look at being unable to determine exactly how my friends were doing, so she chimed in, “Ripley’s doing alright, but she is slowly taking hits. See if you can get a regeneration on her.”
Keeping my eyes squarely locked on the two massive threats in front of me, I mentally selected Ripley via my party interface. Dual casting the spell for good measure, healing magic raced away from me to help stabilize my skeletal friend, decreasing my health bar.
“She needs a bit more,” Stella hurriedly called out.
Knowing exactly what she meant, I dove into a sidelong role in the opposite direction I had been previously heading. The unexpected move bought me enough time to cast another spell. Even with Quick Cast empowering Pyroclastic Funeral Pyre, my Empowered Aegis needed to weather four more crushing cuts before the rippling heat of my spell rushed toward the lone golem facing off against my skeletal minion.
Beyond the prodigious cost of the enhanced spell, an additional two thousand mana was torn away from the quartet of strikes. Still, it had been worth it. With the area of effect healing provided by Funeral Pyre, Ripley should have more than enough healing to keep her standing proudly while the rest of us peppered down the other combatants. Checking in with Stella since I couldn’t afford any more distractions, I learned Tallos found some limited success using his slowing water arrows and penetrating wind arrows. While the slow provided by the water-based arrows was likely minimal, each golem was now under three similar effects. For me, it gave me ample room to wind through every DoT at my disposal.
Tallos would likely run out of his enhanced arrows as the fight dragged on, so he would likely need to spend some time summoning more as our battle with the crystalline constructs continued. He was doing his best to turn the tide of the fight in our favor. While his lofty presence seemed to only provide a small difference to our side, I knew we needed all the help we could get.
Lowki continued to make dangerous leaps from one golem to another, ensuring the effects of his solidifying strike remained applied to all of our foes. Ripley fell into a grove and remained on the defensive against her lone golem. With her new arms and armor, the proud skeleton was up to the task and stood resolute as her opponent tried everything possible to weather her down. As the minutes passed, Tallos was forced to spend time summoning more of his enchanted arrows while the rest of us fell into a rhythm as our opponents were slowly whittled down.
In the end, it took nearly forty minutes before the final guardian toppled over. A hushed silence fell over the beaten and battered library. Dozens of tables and splintered chairs lay scattered around haphazardly, but, eventually, all four golems were now no more than shattered chunks of broken emerald. It had been a long and grueling battle, but we emerged victorious at long last. Still, I knew we had been lucky nothing else had shown up to join in the fray from the spire’s upper levels. With every booming step, the golem’s blunted feet sent shockwaves reverberating through the crystalline spire. Thankfully, nothing had shown up, and we finally had a moment to rest as our enemies were left in utter ruin.
“Ah, crap,” I lamented after kicking at one of the broken piles. “I won’t be able to use Undeath on any of these? Right, Stell? Damn it. I was hoping to get at least one of these to fight for our side.”
