Exodus: The Assassin's Path 50 The Infinity Well

Q slid out of bed slowly, after stretching, he walked towards the bathroom. He smiled at the sleeping form of Tal, it was nice waking up next to her. "I'm going to have Anna look into the Infinity Well for me."

Fifteen minutes later a refreshed Q peeked into Anna's room. She was still sleeping, her arms were wrapped around Quinn's missing pillow. Her dark hair had a tendency to stick straight up. Although her hair was black, it wasn't fine like a lot of Asian girls. 'She must get that from her Hawaiian pops.'

He walked in and took a seat on the end of her bed. He shook her ankle that was showing from under the blankets. "Hey Naner, wake up."

Anna sat upright in bed suddenly, looking sleepily around the room. "Hi Quinn"

She flopped back down on the bed and closed her eyes. A few moments later she sat up again. "Hi Quinn."

"Hi Naner, that's my pillow you know." Q wore a grin as he talked to her, sleepy Anna was very cute.

"Hmm?" She fell back into the pillow, rubbing her face against it like a cat. "It smells so good.. everything you have smells so good Q-bear."

"That right? No one has ever mentioned that I smell any different then anyone else."

She sat up, this time she fell forward. resting her head against Quinn. "Its not you, it's just all your stuff."

Quinn laughed, "how's that even possible Anna Banana?"

"Attack!" As attacks go, it wasn't her best effort. She only managed to fall against Quinn, and then sleepily close her eyes.

"Come on sleepyhead, I'll carry you downstairs."

She looked at him. "For real?" She flopped over him like a rag-doll and Quinn stood up. "I changed my mind," she said.

"Don't want to board the Q-train?" Quinn was about to dump her back on her bed.

"No I do, I do." She clamped down on him like a baby koala, "I mean you smell nice... Onward to breakfast!!"

"Aye aye, Naner!" Q headed out of the room and down the stairs.

She mumbled into his shoulder. "Who told you all my nicknames?"

"Just good at guessing" He eased her onto one of the island chairs. She sat down, and then laid her head on her arms. "Stay up late or something?

Anna nodded with her face stuck against the counter.

Q reached into the bagel bin, "looks like cinnamon raisin or blueberry?"

"Pfft.. cinnamon raisin.. of course!"

Em walked in and was helping Ren sit down. She only needed to lend her an arm. She gave her younger brother a big smile.

"Did you take the Q-train Anna?" Ren was smiling at her, while shaking her fist at Quinn.

"Yep.." Anna replied smugly.

"I guess the Q-train doesn't stop at my room in the morning." Ren gave Quinn a blank stare.

"Anyways... Anna, I need everything you can get me on the infinity well. " 'Quinn opted for ignoring the look.'

"I'll get on it after breakfast, rush job?" Anna finally lifted her head up as Em sat a cup of coffee in front of her. "Thank you, my friend!!"

"Quick as possible, going in later today. Where's Pops?" Quinn didn't see him come out, usually he was one of the first to log off TAP.

"He's sticking around for a bit longer he said, something about selling off a block of inventory." Ren reached out her hand and grabbed Quinn's, they all joined.

"Thank you for the meal."

"And G.o.d bless Quinn." Anna grinned as she added it for the absent Tal.

Em poured Orange Juice for everyone. Normally they didn't all have breakfast at the same time, but she enjoyed the company. She had slowly gotten to know everyone in the house, to be honest with herself, this was a place she didn't want to leave.

Quinn stared at Em as she poured, 'something seems a bit different about her today.' "Everything okay Em?"

"Hmm? Why shouldn't it be?" Em sat the pitcher down and scooted next to Quinn.

Quinn shrugged, "dunno, you seem like you are in a great mood. Your cousin with the odd name, said you are chronically crabby."

Em wasn't bothered at all by the words. She had found out right away, that Quinn shared her tendency for saying what was on his mind. "First of all, that would be your cousin too and his name is Carmichael. Secondly, he's always been angry with me for beating him up when we were twelve years old."

Quinn laughed at her words, "am sure he had it coming Em."

Em nodded her head in agreement, her dad had two brothers and a sister. Their kids had always seemed at odds with her. There came a point when she decided not to put up with it.

Em watched Anna put peanut b.u.t.ter on her cinnamon raisin bagel. "Hey is that good?"

Anna held it out for a bite, Em took a small sample, chewing slowly while she thought it over. Finally she nodded and reached for the peanut b.u.t.ter.

"I can't eat peanut b.u.t.ter at breakfast." Quinn shook his head refusing to try it when Anna offered him a bite.

Ren nodded in agreement. "Smells good, but I'll pa.s.s."

Em leaned back in her chair enjoying the taste, "you don't know what you two are missing."

"I'm monitoring everyone's outside accounts, if you want to know anything just let me know." Anna had seen the numbers, Quinn could buy all the houses in their neighborhood, if the Obreen's hadn't already done so.

**********

Quinn was sitting at his desk when the desk hud lit up. Anna sent all of her information on the Infinity Well. He heard her steps in the hallway. "You get it all Q-bear?"

"Yep thanks Naner. This is a lot more then I found." He felt two small arms hug him from behind. "A sneak attack?"

"Hey be careful Q-bear, that place is a bit scary." She had read a lot about it while gathering the information. "I don't think you are going to make it back for lunch." She handed him a bottle of water.

"Thanks, I'll read for a bit while I drink this."

Infinity Well:

A resonance magnetic well in the middle of the Vena Ocean. Water constantly flowing into it, seemingly without end. The Well itself is an instance. Team's consisting of more than eight members may not enter. If there is a bottom to the infinity well, no one has been near it. There are doors along the inside of the well, starting at level eight. These doors can be unlocked if the proper key is held. Generally Keys are found in high level dungeons, or off Boss drops. Behind some of these doors are monsters, others contain loot, and some nothing at all. Once you open a door, it remains open for every instance, so if you find loot, take everything you can carry. There are always those who hang around the infinity well waiting for an announcement that a new door has been opened. As soon as you leave, everyone else may enter. Dying or logging off during the instance incurs a three day account freeze. No one has entered any cave past the 82nd level.

"I wonder what level Jangles wants to try."

A short while later Quinn was slipping on his VR suit, he decided to use the chamber in combination with the discs his grandpa had given him. Tal hadn't logged out yet, "gotta make sure I contact her."

"Log-On TAP."

TAP Interface Acquired.

Synchronizing character data.....

Welcome Back Q, find your path!

Q was standing outside of HQ, there didn't seem to be many people around. "Open Com-Chat Yaiya." The pale mage appeared on Q's hud a moment later.

"Q, this is a surprise," her fine elfin features seemed pleased as she caressed the time piece around her neck.

"Is it? Sorry I don't want to bother you when you are so busy." Q hadn't really spoken to her much. All he knew was that it was a bad idea to mess with someone who could rewind things.

"It's fine Q, how may I help you?" The barest hint of a smile touched her red lips.

"I need a storage device, something that can hold a lot of loot." Q watched her face for any other signs of emotion, to his surprise her smile widened.

"That's a curious request, I'm just wondering why you would ask me." There was no sign of her previous cold exterior.

"You are manipulating time, isn't that just a matter of folding s.p.a.ce?" Q understood part of the theory, but he wasn't sure how much of it applied here. 'If I had to bet, I'd say that Time mages were left over from the pre-launch phase where time manipulation was would been prevalent.'

Yayai's face froze in shock, "you know about the folding?" She looked scared for a moment before continueing. "I will give you an item, like the one you require. In return I want you do to something for me."

Q sighed, 'everyone has an angle I guess.' "Sure. What can I do for you?"

System Message: You have been offered a Quest by Yaiya. Do you Accept?

Quest: Time and s.p.a.ce.

Legendary Quest.

Description: Someone has folded

time, on a scale that shouldn't

be possible. Get to the

bottom of the riddle if you can.

Reward:Yayia's Time Piece.

"Yes."

Q closed comm and immediately contacted Tal, he couldn't help but smile when she answered. "Hey Tal!" They seemed higher then before, her and Remmy seemed to be seated comfortably.

"Hey Quinn, we are over the ocean now. You really should have come with us, this view is so nice." She had her blonde hair down, the steady breeze was pus.h.i.+ng it off of her face.

"Take your time, I'm heading to the Infinity Well." He just realized that she would know nothing about Jangles mission request.

"I'll log out in a bit Quinn, I need to bring Ren in for therapy. It's just really nice to relax after building this all night."

"No worries, I'll see you when I get back."

Tal nodded her head at him, "be careful, cya soon."

By the time he arrived at Talon's portal he had received a package from Yayia. He opened it before he stepped in. There was a small box about the size of a dictionary.

Box of Everything

Unique:Spatial Magic

Description: Activate the

box in a closed s.p.a.ce. Everything

nonbiological in the room transfers

to the box. This effect only lasts for

one hour, then the box will

be emptied.

"This is going to come in handy." Q activated the portal to Fenway.

He spied Jangles and the Songbirds right away. Robin had been watching the portal and gave him a wave when he walked off the platform.

Q had to do a double take when he saw Jangles, he was dressed in black, with a dark gray bandanna on his head. Q had worn his black leather armor, with the Raven insignia, identical to the ones the Songbirds wore.

"Welcome back Q!." Nightingale gave him a warm smile and extended her hand.

"Thanks Lara." Q smiled at the rest of the Songbirds as they huddled around and gave him greetings.

System Message: You've been invited to a group by Bo Jangles. Do you accept?

Quinn hit the accept icon. "I guess we are ready to go?"

Jangles raised an eyebrow. "Once I activate the instance, we won't be able to pause." He handed Q a basic stealth ring.

Q nodded. "Understood, let's do this. "

"I'm going to activate the mission brief, once you understand, hit the accept and I"ll launch the instance."

System Message: Mission Brief.

We will descend into the Infinity Well to the 85th level. There will be three stages, we will be able to stealth through the first level, the second level we will have to do some fighting. The third is a boss level event.

Q read the brief, "will a small group like this be able to handle a boss ?"

Jangles smiled, "normally no. I was hoping to stall the boss, while the rest of us raided the loot room. Since you are coming, it really isn't necessary."

"Hmm? What's that mean? " Q couldn't imagine why Jangles would be so confident.

"The Boss is a big a.s.s spider, I don't expect we'll kill it, but you should be able to keep him occupied."

"N..E..M.E..S.I..S!! " Q grinned like a schoolboy with candy. "Nemesis!! When a spider wakes up in the middle of the night screeching, its because he dreamed about me!!"

Jangles slid on a pair of boots and then pulled out his Mandoguitar.

Monarch

12 stringed MandoGuitar: Legendary

Ma.s.s Effect: Mesmerize up to 30

targets.

Additional Effect:Spirit Healing

Arch Angel

Winged Boots:Legendary

When the music plays, the boots

take flight.

"Come in when it opens." Jangles pulled out a disc from his bag and activated it.

*Portal Infinity Well*

Q fired up his jetpack and flew through the portal. The portal had opened above a vast ocean.

Jangles came through next, lightly strumming his Mandoguitar. He was closely followed by the Songbirds.

"Everyone in?" Nightingale looked around.

Q circled above them, "We are all in and ready to go."

Jangles nodded. "Stay close. When we go down the well, we have to make sure not to overshoot. There is a strong down-current, so it's easy to pa.s.s up your target."

The bard took off running on the air, he was ridiculously fast. The Songbirds were right on his heels, with Q flying comfortably a few feet above them. After traveling for about ten minutes, the well came in site.

"That is bigger than I thought." It was a huge circular hole in the oceans surface, the water flowed straight down the sides.

Jangles didn't hesitate at all, he immediately went over the edge. The suction pulling the team down, was like having a gale wind at your back, every small movement was exaggerated. Q eased up on the power to his jetpack to slow his progress.

After about twenty minutes of steady descent, they saw the first door. It was glowing.

"If a door has been opened, it glows with a light. The dark doors are ones that no one has opened yet." Jangles yelled up at the group above him.

Nightingale hovered just above her old boss. They had talked quietly for a few minutes before Q arrived, it had been a bit awkward. "Why haven't you opened the door before now?"

"Finding the key for a door gives you a small brief on what to expect inside. Since flight capabilities are exceedingly rare, unless I wanted to recruit a bunch of wizards, it didn't seem like a viable raid."

Q overheard Jangles speaking . "What you mean to say is that you didn't trust anyone enough to bring them in."

Jangles nodded. He knew he could trust Q and the Songbirds. "I am after the demon strings, that is all. You can have whatever you can carry."

"If this is an instance, won't the objects we remove still be available in other instances?" Nightingale had a bit of experience with instances.

"Not in the Infinity Well, when you take something, it disappears from all the instances. " Jangles was watching the numbers on the doors. "Incoming door 85, just follow me in and keep stealthed. We should be able to move directly to the second stage."

Q slid on the stealth ring that Jangles had provided.

The entry to door 85 was a twenty foot deep cave that ended in an creepy looking black door. Jangles entered easily and stopped playing his instrument. Q waited until the Songbirds powered down then he followed them in. Jangles took out a large key and inserted it into the keyhole beneath the number 85. It immediately screeched open, the fluttering of wings and squeaking noises emanating from the door way could only mean one thing, bats.

"G.o.d.. I hate bats, " Robin shuddered and then stealthed quickly. The rest of the songbirds followed suit, Jangles nodded to him and then faded into a cloud of musical notes. "Follow me."

Q trotted slowly along, following Jangles as he weaved his way into a complicated network of caves. There were bats, spiders and the occasional rat. Nothing overly dangerous lurked in the first stage and they were able to bypa.s.s it in a short amount of time.

Jangles paused in front of an archway. He brought up a 3-d map of the area they were about to enter, it was completely blank. He then removed a harp from his bag and strummed it several times. The sound echoing in the darkness, carrying back and forth between the walls. With each strum of his hands, the map slowly started to fill up. There was a basic map as well as several red dots that signified mobs.

"In this part, everything can see stealthed players, so we have to fight. There are about two dozen normal mobs in there, between 60 and 80 level." Jangles had been looking at the team stats, this was a much lower team then he was use to. Nightingale was the highest at 62, the rest of the Songbirds were between 56 and 59. Q was the lowest at 45. "Be careful in here Q, everything hits hard."

Q nodded, even though he had made an effort to grind levels since Zohai, he was still lagging behind.

Q reached the ceiling quickly, he was closely followed by Wren and Robin. The strumming of a stringed instrument, could be heard in the background.

*Slumbering Ma.s.ses* Area Effect Sleep.

Every beast in the area was affected. "d.a.m.n.. that's impressive as h.e.l.l." Q noticed a giant bat that was fluttering near the ground.

*Blink*

Q grabbed the bat by the wings.

*Return*

Q returned with the bat and tossed it into the air. Both Wren and Robin responded by taking aim with their bracers.

*Grappling hook* A Giant's bat wing has been grappled.

*Grappling hook* A Giant's bat wing has been grappled.

*Backstab* Critical hit 1250 damage, Bonus 1250 damage.

The Bat screeched helplessly as it struggled to get free.

*Thundering Pistoleros* 535 damage, 370 damage, 336 damage,551 damage, 336 damage, 480 damage.

Q powered away and moved quickly to the center of the cavern before he used his grapple on the cavern ceiling to bank hard and then came in at a steep dive.

*Halberd Strike* 8800 damage

System Message: A Giant Bat has been mortally wounded.

Q banked and came around again. "Wishbone!" Wren and Robin moved in different directions as Q came in.

*Halberd Critical Strike* 13322 Damage Bonus Damage 13322

The Giant Bat was torn in half, blood splas.h.i.+ng into the air as Wren and Robin disengaged.

A Giant Rat has been slain, you have been awarded 23000 experience points.

Wren and Robin shot toward the ground, engaging a cat-like creature with huge ears. Q Climbed and banked before climbing again to pick up speed.

*Grappling hook* A Jobi Pantera's back leg has been grappled.

*Grappling hook* A Jobi Pantera's neck has been grappled.

The moved in different directions just as Q entered into a dive. "We'll see what happens when I follow through. "

*Halberd Slash* A Jobi Pantera has received a mortal wound and died.

A Jobi Pantera has been slain, you have been awarded 31000 experience points.

The cat's head flew off in direction separate from it's body. Wren stared as it bounced on the rocks below. "Wow commander.. instkill."

Q banked hard and high fived her. "Nice job Bia."

Robin frowned at her team mate. "He know's your name!"

Wren nodded smugly. "Yep.. we are pretty close!"

Q laughed, "oh come on. I know Robin's name also."

*Blink*

Q grabbed an enormous Rat that was sleeping peacefully on the cavern floor.

*Return*

He tossed the rodent in Robin's direction. "Special present just for you Mai!"

*Grappling hook* A Cave Rat's neck has been grappled.

"Thanks Commander!" She accelerated toward the far wall and then turned sharply slamming it into the rocks.

*Crippling Effect* A Cave Rat has been crippled.

Wren followed closely behind her.

*Grappling hook* A Cave Rat's leg has been grappled.

The performed their signature Wishbone move, sending blood and Rat entrails into the air.

A Cave Rat has been slain, you have been awarded 18400 experience points.

Robin stuck her tongue out at her friend. "Nice!"

Jangles watched as the Fora members split up into two groups, very efficiently they started killing.

"d.a.m.n, they are brutal as h.e.l.l. Gnome tech is so underrated." Jangles kept the entire room sleeping as they ruthlessly dealt with the mobs. Finally the last one fell and they gathered back at Jangles.

Nightingale, Thrush and Lark landed as one, they seemed openly hostile to the other group.

Robin smirked at them..."So, that was fourteen for us. How many did you get again?"

Lark scowled, "that's only because you had Q!!"

Wren nodded sagely, "sure, the 45 level hybrid did all the killing."

Q laughed as he heard the bickering. "Hey.. you saying I held you back? That's it, we aren't friends!"

Wren looked down at her feet, her expression unreadable. "I was only teasing Commander, of course you are the best."

"Wow.. unexpectedly, you are quite good at sucking up Bia." Q leaned on his halberd.

He had managed to scavenge several Bat Teethe.

Bat Tooth

Unique: Decorative

Description: Maybe be used

to create jewelry.

"I'll just hang onto these for now."

They stopped at a huge archway, the inner cave was pitch black.

"Seems a bit ominous." Q wiggled his eyebrows at Nightingale. Spider bas.h.i.+ng time had arrived.

Jangles gave him a sour look. 'Nightingale and the Songbirds, right under my nose this entire time. d.a.m.n that kid!'

The group entered the arch way, several torches started lighting up at once. Even with all the light, there was a huge shadow in the center of the cavern. Then the shadow moved.

"d.a.m.n... l thought you said it was a spider? That thing looks like a furry mountain with mandibles." Q hadn't seen a spider that big. It was easily five times the size of the King Spider from the Spider caverns.

Nightingale patted him on the shoulder, "it's all yours commander."

"....." Q.

'd.a.m.n me and my big mouth.'

"It's your unlucky day, big ugly mountain spider!!" Q felt his blood boil as he stared at the spider, this whole mess was obviously it's fault.

A stealthed Q took to the air, circling the large s.p.a.ce a few times as he built up his speed, he climbed suddenly and then banked into a dive.

*Halberd Slash* Critical hit (x 3 x 5) 101,300 damage, Bonus 101,300 damage.

System Message: An Infinity Spider King has been stunned.

"Holy s.h.i.+t.... are you serious?" Jangles mouth dropped open when he saw the numbers. "That's crazy.. " He only froze for a moment before gesturing toward the door. "Let's leave this to Q and move inside."

As they were leaving, Q had banked hard, climbed again and then made another pa.s.s.

*Halberd Slash* Critical hit (x 3 x 5) 97,200 damage, Bonus 97,200 damage.

System Message: An Infinity Spider King has been stunned.

"Heh.. a stunning move when used by the Nemesis." This time Q flew straight up, hesitating at the top of the cavern before starting another dive.

System Message: An Infinity Spider King has summoned his minions.

Q watched as a group of about a dozen smaller spiders crawled from under the King. Q continued his dive, slamming the b.u.t.t of his halberd into the cavern floor, the noise deafening as the smaller spiders were thrown into the air.

Jangles and the rest of the group had just reached the doorway. Everyone covered their ears and dived for cover as spider bodies slammed into the walls of the cave, one narrowly missing Jangles.

Nightingale looked back in awe. "Commander!"

Jangles closed the door behind them, they were in a rather large single roomed vault. There were rows of shelves, a few counters and some chests against one wall. The Songbirds, known for procuring valuable items, stood their frozen in shock.

Lark patted Robin on the head. "It's okay Robin, just load up on whatever you like."

The words seemed to wake up the Songbirds as they each went in different directions, looking for items that suited their tastes. Lara glanced at Jangles who was searching the shelves."Mr. Jangles, what are you looking for again?"

"It's two demon strings for my MandoGuitar." Jangles continued to look at the different shelves.

"They will appear like normal instrument strings, possible black or red, am not sure."

Lara raised her voice and spoke to the Songbirds. "Lets help Jangles find the strings first, that's our mission. There will be ample time to load up after."

The Songbirds looked a bit disappointed, but nodded and began looking for the demon strings.

After about 10 minutes they had searched the shelves and counters. Jangles scratched his chin, "I suppose it is too much to ask for that it would be sitting on a shelf. Time to start searching containers."

Again the group divided up and began a second search. They were interrupted by a ear piercing screech and a thunderous boom.

*************

Q was surprised at the noise it made hitting the ground. 'That d.a.m.n thing tried to screech out my eardrums.'

You have slain an Infinity King Spider in single combat.

*Ding* Level 46

*Ding* Level 47

Q was covered in bright green spider ichor. It dripped off ever part of his body as he straightened up and landed on the cavern floor. "G.o.d.... it got in my mouth." Q started spitting out the disgusting fluid as he walked toward the corpse.

He bent down and checked out the drops.

System Message: 20 million credits has been deposited into your inventory.

"Hmph... all mine, not sharing a single coin!!"

Grand Soul Gem

Container: Legendary

Description: Can permanently

store the soul of Ordained

creatures.

"Hmm? What the h.e.l.l is Ordained suppose to mean?"

Shadow Slayer

Medium Armor: Legendary

Description: Gives the wearer

full stealth ability.

Additional Effect: Night Vision

"Oh.... now that's what I call nice. Legendary even." Q donned the armor, it was black like his raven armor, a spider was engraved on the chest.

Spider Bolas

Range Weapon:Legendary

Description: Permanently immobilizes target

until the target is damaged or released.

"Bleh... I bet Jinn would like that." Q stood up and stretched a bit and looked toward the door his team had entered.

Q walked to the door and carefully opened it. No one seemed overly surprised to see him. "Um.. hey, not going to check up on the guy soloing an Infinity Boss?"

"That's a wrap everyone, make sure you get everything you can carry." Jangle's stood up and caressed the demon strings he had found.

Heart Render

Instrument Strings:Demonic

Description: Enables musician to

cast a DoT spell. Heart Render

DoT does effect Mezz, Sleep or

Blind.

"Holy s.h.i.+t b.a.l.l.s Jangles." Q stared at him. "That's a bit OP, don't you think?"

"....." Nightingale.

"...." Jangles.

Q pretended not to notice the obvious stares. "So you can cast a sleep on someone, and they slowly lose their health without ever waking up."

Jangles smiled, "well, the effect can be resisted. But yeah, that's the general idea."

Lara looked at Q, "hey have you picked up anything yet? See anything you like?"

Q smirked. "Yep, I see a few items."

"We should get going." Jangles headed for the door. "Last chance to take stuff before the scavengers are set loose."

The Songbirds were all loaded down with loot. It was a big score for them.

Q motioned for them to go ahead, "I'm going to pick up a few things and catch up."

Jangles nodded. "Sure thing."

Q waited until they left then he sat the box in the middle of the room, he stepped back after opening it. Instantly he was pelted with items as they flew toward the box, he dived onto the floor and covered his head. "s.h.i.+t! That is fast."

After a minute Q popped his head up and looked around, his whistle echoed in the empty room. "Now that is some serious s.h.i.+t." The room was entirely empty except for the box. "Woah.. that Yayia has some awesome toys." He picked up the box and exited the vault.

Jangles and the Songbirds were waiting at the exit leading to the first section. They all looked at him when he showed up with a huge smile on his face.

"No worries, lets go back." Q nodded. They were about to exit when Q's comm lit up. He opened his hud to see Jaded Ice on the other end. "Hey... this is a surprise." Anna barely ever played her necromancer.

"Quinn! I've figured it out!" Her voice was excited as she spoke, "I know where the key your mom left you goes to!"

"What?" Q took out the key, it was an old skeleton key with I0IMI engraved on it. His face was serious when he looked back at her, "what is it for?"

"Turn the key upside down.." her voice trailed off, she had figured it out by accident while at her desk. Since she knew where he was, she had logged in right away to tell him.

"Upside down?" Q flipped the key and read it. IW101. He felt a chill run down his spine as he stared at it. "Infinity Well, Floor 101."