Ar'Kendrithyst

After some hiccups with security concerns, thank you Poi, the whole group eventually [Teleport]ed to the Thousand Kilometer Ring, a mostly nondescript region of the Crystal Forest where adventurers sometimes congregated, since 1000 kilometers was the maximum range on [Teleport].

The afternoon sun shone down from the western skies, glittering off of 10 foot tall crystal agaves in every single direction. Somewhere in those agaves, probably everywhere in those agaves, were mimics, who glittered just as well as the agaves, but who only fooled the unaware. There was one difference in this part of the Crystal Forest, though: A spire of stone, an obelisk, maybe 500 feet away from where their [Teleport]s dropped them.

A few strangers were standing by the obelisk, fiddling with something at the base. Apparently there was a natural fountain there, but Erick couldn’t see over that distance.

Kiri stood nearby, but not too close, taking pains not to eye the closest person to Erick: Guildmaster Mog.

Mog shouted, “Let’s kill some mimics!”

Draz said, “You didn’t have to come, Guildmaster.”

“Oh yes I did! I’ve got a special interest in this one right here—” She laid a broad hand on Erick’s back. “But do your thing, Draz. I won’t interfere.”

Draz turned to the other members of the remedial class. A crimsonscale male kid, maybe 18, named Lowhit. A long-haired blond female orcol, likely also 18, named Waelog. Zimmy Saker, the [Force Shrapnel] girl. And Greenscale Kiri, from the Greensoil Republic, who was probably either a spy, or just really motivated and lucky. Erick still didn’t know which, and at this point, even if she was a spy, she seemed nice enough.

There was also Poi, Mog, and Draz, but those three didn’t count for this hunting party.

Draz said, “Each of you is going to kill a mimic on your own, using tier one spe— normal basic magic, or martial technique. I am going to evaluate each of you, one at a time, and then I am going to fail you, and then tomorrow we’re doing it again, and again, and again, until you get it right.” Draz looked around. “Waelog! Find your mimic! Everyone else, follow Waelog! Don’t help her!”

Erick trudged in the sands several people behind Waelog. Poi stood behind Erick; Mog at his side.

Mog whispered, “This takes me back.”

Draz whipped around to stare at Mog, but said nothing.

“Sorry, drillmaster.” Mog smiled, throwing up her hands in mock defense. “I’ll be quiet.”

Draz frowned, speaking to the group, “Treat this as a hunting exercise. Silent, deadly, like we’re in Ar’Kendrithyst and monsters can pop up out of the ground at any moment.”

Erick felt a chill. He whispered, “That can happen?”

“Yes, Erick!” Draz shouted, “Constantly! Now shut up!”

- - - -

Waelog found her mimic and, being 8 foot tall herself and basically a walking tank, as soon as she donned her boxy, solid [Conjure Armor], she grabbed two of the largest spines, ripping the monster wide, then stomped. The mimic never stood a chance. She exposed the rest of her body to countless stabs, but the mimic couldn’t get one attack through her armor, though it did stab some spines between Waelog’s not-metal plates. She didn’t seem to mind; most of the mimic’s counterattack slipped off of Waelog’s boxy armor. After twenty seconds, Waelog stood over the monster’s pulped corpse, holding a shiny rad like a grain of salt between two huge fingers.

Draz said, “Good armor design. You took too much damage. Fail.”

Waelog didn’t look like she had a single scratch on her, even after she dispelled her [Conjure Armor].

She didn’t argue with the drillmaster.

- - - -

Lowhit flew backwards, next to the ground, staying just out of range of the mimic, while shooting [Force Beam]s at the monster. Eight of the ten seconds of [Force Beam] went wild, reflecting off of crystalline flesh, scattering through the air.

Erick complained, “But… It’s Force, not light?”

Draz took Erick’s complaint as a reason to yell at him. “Crystal Mimics have a natural [Reflection] active at all times, rookie! Even if a force spell manages to hit through its [Reflection], it only hits for a fraction of its original damage!”

Mog whispered to Erick, “Altered force doesn’t get reflected.”

“Correct again!” Draz said, “But we’re not using mana altering today!”

Lowhit eventually killed the mimic, but not before scattered beams clipped through the onlookers once, and himself three times, slicing off hundreds of points each time.

Every time that happened, Draz automatically, and enthusiastically, yelled, “Fail!”

- - - -

Kiri threw a [Decay Force Crash] over her mimic. Like localized acid rain, the spell burst in the air and soaked into the monster, reducing it to mush in seconds.

Draz said, “No rad; Fail. Mana Altered spells; Fail.”

Kiri nodded. “I will do better next—”

“I didn’t ask for excuses!”

- - - -

Zimmy shot her mimic full of [Decay Force Shrapnel], earning an easy victory, but another failure.

- - - -

Erick frowned. His mimic was a hundred feet away, and it looked perfectly at peace.

Then he remembered the ‘peaceful’ looking walls of Ar’Kendrithyst, and flew into the sky—

“No flying!” Draz shouted.

Erick frowned. He looked to Lowhit.

Draz said, “I must be getting old! You’re right! Lowhit failed for that, too. Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of all of the failures in a single rookie.”

Erick turned back toward his mimic.

Can’t hit it with [Force Beam]. Can’t Mana Alter.

Oh. No. So?

Fuck him?

Right.

Mana Shaping X. [Withering].

Erick’s slime [Withering] rolled forward across the land like a tidal wave released, slipping across agaves and sand, but sticking to every mimic it found. A shrill keening filled the air in front of Erick, as a small portion of the near-invisible [Withering] held on top of the mimic, and the rest traveled onward. Liquid burst out of the monster as every crystalline leaf cracked open like a broken water main, spraying clear goop into the air. In seconds the monster was dead. Thick air flowed into the sky, transforming the monster’s liquid remains into gasses, or whatever [Cleanse] actually did, as similar scenes played out across the land, each tableau of death too far away to see.

Notifications started pinging. Mog laughed loud.

Draz said, “Mog. This is intolerable.”

Mog was still laughing. She said, “You could have at least tried, Erick!”

“You’re entirely right. My bad.” He pointed away from his still-expanding [Withering]. “We can probably find more in that direction.”

Kiri asked, “How many is that killing right now?”

Erick walked away from the expanding [Withering], counting up, “20… 25… 30… a lot.”

Zimmy looked a bit scared. The others looked impressed.

Erick led the way to the next mimic, inspecting his [Withering] as he walked.