As with most systems below a cultivation level of 4, Hortus does not have an artifact interference inherent in its system. A user can wield multiple items, and it has been confirmed by multiple accounts of instances where magic users have been found with rings on all fingers. In this world, the limitation of artifact usage is dictated by aura.

  The first limitation is aura distance. To use an artifact, the item must touch the user’s aura. This is normally not an issue with skin contact. There are a few with auras that extend a significant enough distance from their body to consider keeping artifacts on their person in bags or other carrying devices.

  The second limitation is a user’s aura strength. As aura strength is determined by affinity, which is set at birth in the native population, the amount a user can “equip” at one time does not change. It is important to note that it is not the number of items that is the limit, but the number of modifications to the aura. The higher the quality of items being wielded, the fewer items that can be equipped.

  -Addendum note on the use of artifacts on Hortus

  The ground below us breaks, opening to an underground cavern. I curl up, trying to brace for the fall, except instead of hitting dirt, I fall into water. The water absorbs most of my fall, and I gently touch the floor only three feet beneath the water. I push up with my feet, breaking the surface to see the light mage gently floating down before scoffing in disgust as he goes into the water up to his mid-thigh. The area is much darker now, and he needs to conserve as much light mana as he can. Then I see the orb grow brighter, lighting up the cavern.

  That’s a nifty trick, a mobile flashlight to provide light mana in dark spaces. I look to the knights who are sloshing through the water as they get their feet under them. We are all a bit jostled by the drop. I decide to stay down, submerge in the water so I can focus on my healing spell form. I feel the itch as the wounds begin to close, and my health pool rockets up from its very low position.

  The noble walks forward as he sweeps his orb around the cavern, looking for the exit. From the middle of the cavern, water bulges as a flower bud spears up. Slowly, the petals open to find a feminine form made entirely of roots. There is no confusing this facsimile of a woman for a real person.

  Her face looks like a wooden mask out of a horror film with too-big hollow spaces for eyes and a toothy maw of wood shivs. The roots trailing down the back of its head thread into a messy tangle of hair, and like the root crab, the roots weave around her to form the approximation of a torso and hands. The vine-arms even have five fingers on each side.

  Not waiting for the creature to take the initiative, the noble snaps his fingers, and light flashes out around the cave. I blink the spots out of my eyes. Fortunately, it was far away, and I wasn’t directly looking at the flash.

  I see dozens of roots, twenty feet long, hanging from the ceiling. A few begin to move, swinging down at lord Brighteyes like whips. The noble sweeps out his hand, creating a crescent of light that speeds forward and slices numerous roots.

  He raises his hand again and lets blasts of light singe more roots. A few even catch on fire before they dip into the water to quench the flames. The creature at the center doesn’t move, but as the vines fall, it makes a strange, fast-paced clicking sound.

  The noble taunts in his trademark haughty tone, “Oh, I did not forget about you.”

  A crescent of light slices forth, cleaving about half an inch into the wood monster’s roots.

  “D-id no-t for-get ab-out y-ou.” The monstrous wooden mimicry of life echoes. A wooden spike emerges from the ground a foot to the boss’s right. The boss grabs the wooden spear and throws it at the light mage. It grazes the mage, and he curses as blood flows down his arm.

  I float in the water, keeping my form as small as I can while I focus on healing myself. I watch the spear sail with such force that it embeds a foot into the rock wall. Once embedded, the spear loses its rigid form, swinging about like the roots on the ceiling, except only two yards long. My eyes go wide as I realize that those root spears are living weapons. Even if they don’t hit me, the spears can turn the terrain into a dangerous battleground.

  As the boss picks up two more spears, the two knights charge. The knights slog through the water, moving with all the speed they can muster, but each step is into deeper water. The slowing pace gives the immobile boss plenty of time to prepare.

  The boss throws two spears, the first clangs harmlessly off the metal shield, but the next finds a gap in the hammer knight’s armor, grazing him. More spears emerge from the ground as the monster throws a continuous arsenal of projectiles at the knights. The hammer knight moves behind the shield knight for cover as they make their advance as a team.

  At a slow trudge, it takes five minutes to close with the new boss of the dungeon, who I now realize is at least six feet tall. Six feet tall from its abdomen to the top of its head, since its body stops at its torso, which is implanted into the flower.

  Once they are within a few feet, the boss stops throwing the spears and tries to stab them as though it’s a fisherman spearfishing. The shield knight tries to block the hits. I notice he is using both hands to block as the hammer knight sheathes his hammer and readies his sword. He begins lancing out with strikes before retreating behind the shield knight.

  The sword knight scores a deep hit on the boss’s chest, and it roars out before swiping out with monstrous force. The knights are sent flying backwards, and a few seconds later, they emerge from the water, ready to sally forth again, when thin wooden tendrils emerge from the water and wrap around them. The boss had tossed them back into an area where the wooden spears had landed earlier. The knights thrash as the vines wrap around their necks and limbs before dragging them under the water.

  I debate trying to help them for a split second. If I help them, I’ll spend the rest of my life in a cage, while if I don’t, I will have to live with my decision. In the end, I’m saved from the ethical dilemma by the reality of my own situation.

  I’m topped off on health, but my already meager mana pool has bottomed out. Even if I was over there, I don’t have the weapons or the magic to make a difference. In the fight, the noble had dropped Morgana, who I can feel is crawling around under the surface of the water, towards me. I could order her to help them, but she’s nowhere near the knights. They would drown long before she reached them. I begin casting the new spell form “blood for power” and alternating it with the healing spell form. I can theoretically generate infinite health and mana, but it’s a slow process. It will take me a couple more minutes to get back into fighting shape.

  With nothing else to do as I put myself back together, I watch the churning water where the knights desperately fight. I’m not sure whether to be relieved when I see the hammer knight emerge from the water, chopping the roots as he takes deep, gasping breaths. It's not that I want him to die, but he is the instrument that will lead to my imprisonment. He turns about to find the other knight. The knight chops his compatriot free, but once free from the roots, he lifelessly drops back to the floor of the water.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  The noble hadn’t been idle during the knight’s fight. As the knights take the attention of the boss, the noble viciously begins severing the roots that relentlessly quest forth from the ceiling. With the knights on the back foot and most of the roots under control, he turns back to the boss and begins to score it with blasts of light.

  The boss cries out as the light scorches its woody exterior while holding its arms up in defense. After the third time it’s struck a giant plank of wood emerges from the water. The boss reaches out its left arm and roots emerge from just below the water line, securing the wooden shield to its arm. It raises its arm, placing the shield between itself and the attacking mage.

  “Knight, strike it now, while it is distracted.” The distressed hammer knight gathers the shield from his dead companion and charges forth. My mana is back to 30% as I continue to alternate between the two spell forms. I have a few ideas on how I can fight the boss. I could use the ice blender technique, raise the undead bear boss that is floating nearby, or even use my shadows to strike out. Morgana slides along the floor, beneath the water, until she’s a few feet away.

  I stay as still as I can, hoping no one will notice me until it’s too late. I raise the undead bear while maxing out my ability to invest in the bear. With my new cheat to create infinite mana, I don’t mind committing all my mana regeneration to my undead construct for a short time. As I command the bear to ready itself, I alternate between casting my spell forms to generate mana and creating a massive Javelin of ice in case the woody base of the flower is too thick for my ice daggers to cut.

  The knight is able to dodge the patches of spear roots and close in on the boss. He gets near to the boss and thrusts his sword, scoring a shallow hit on its back. Holding the shield in place, the boss reaches towards the knight. A wooden spear erupts from the water, coated in red. The knight cries out in pain as he looks down at the wooden spear jutting through his body. The boss summons one of its spears directly under the knight. The knight cries out in pain, and I see a fresh plume of red in the water. Having had enough, he retreats as fast as he can in heavy armor and water up to his chest.

  “What are you doing? Do not retreat, finish the creature.” The noble yell as he tries to jump out of the water with his floating skill and glide around to get around the boss’s shield.

  “The monster is summoning spears underneath me. If I close again, it’ll kill me.” The knight yells while backing away, hiding behind his own shield and looking around frantically for an escape. Through my empathy, I can feel he is on the verge of breaking; only the knowledge that they are locked in with the boss kept him from fleeing.

  “If you do not close, it will kill you anyway.” The noble said, failing to inspire courage in the knight. As if prophesying his death, the boss summons forth a new set of root spears and skewers the knight under the naval of his breastplate. The knight looks down in horror at the wooden spike through his core, then it wraps around him before dragging him under.

  The noble lets out a series of curses as he continues his assault. The wooden shield the boss holds looks to be in bad shape, but it has served its purpose. The noble is flagging each time he jumps out of the water; he stays airborne for a shorter time. The boss begins throwing more root spears until one pierces the light mage right inside his shoulder joint.

  It spears him on the wall, hanging him like an ornament three feet above the water. The boss doesn’t relent as it continues to summon more weapons to finish the job. It must have been the edge of its range as it misses with almost all its throws, but all it needs to do is get close. As the spears stab into the wall, they begin to wrap around the mage. The vines aren’t strong enough to give him a gruesome end, the knights suffered. Still, the light mage is firmly out of the fight, between the blood loss and grasping vines, it’s now only a matter of time before he’s finished.

  Once it’s clear the mage is out of the fight and might die any moment, the boss turns to me, and its creepy voice says, “D-id no-t for-get ab-out y-ou.”

  I really wish the light mage hadn’t taught the boss that. More spears emerge from the water as it turns to me, gearing up to strike, so I initiate my plan. The hulking form of the bear boss bursts from the water, clawing at the boss before it clamps its maw around the thick vines that make up its neck.

  The root monster grabs at the undead bear, trying to tear it off. I’m not sure it would succeed, but I am not waiting to find out. I want no errors or close calls, so I launch the largest ice javelin I have ever created.

  A ripple forms in the water as the giant pillar of ice in the form of a crude drill bit speeds forth, rotating as it gains momentum. A few feet from the boss, it emerges from the water, going through the center mass of the boss’s torso. The only thing keeping it attached to the flower is a few fraying pieces of wood.

  The cave rumbles again, and the vines on the roof of the cave writhe. The flower at the center begins to shake as it pushes up in the air. I realize that the boss still has a few tricks of its own. As the stalk rises in the air, I see giant spikes on the sides, like it’s a giant thorn rose in full bloom.

  At its top, the flower petals release some kind of spores as the bear continues to savage the unresponsive humanoid form of the boss. I watch with my mouth agape until I see the rose begin to fall towards me.

  I slip through the water, much faster than the knights, due to my sandals, and just to be safe, I put on additional speed with my water affinity magic. I shoot out of the way as its towering form smacks into the ground, and a plume of spores erupts. The spores don’t spread far, but they linger.

  This would have been much more terrifying if I hadn’t been able to finish off the humanoid form. I can just imagine it shooting forth with a spear in one hand and a shield in the other, spewing spores that would do awful things even if its charge is somehow blocked.

  Unfortunately for the boss, I’m nowhere near done. Morgana is ready to deal the coup de grace if the boss somehow survives the onslaught, but now that I’m onto the next phase of the fight. I have her retreat as I start up the ice blender. As if remembering it’s in a fight, the rose pulls its towering form back up. Trying to fight off my attack, it curls upon itself like an injured snake. It destroys most of the ice, but it’s trivial to make more in this vast reservoir of water. The bear rips the top off the flower as I continue to cycle between my ice, blood, and healing spell forms.

  The bear begins to savage the petals of the boss, still spewing out spores, until the overgrown flower takes exception and attacks back. The bear doesn’t last long as the boss slams down before curling around the bear. With my mana regeneration back, I redouble the ice blender while I easily dodge the boss’s choreographed attacks. Even the spores do little for me with my blood affinity and easy access to healing.

  At one point, I raised the knight with the sword to chop at the stalk of the boss. He doesn’t last long, meeting a similar fate to that of the bear. I wonder if I should’ve waited to raise the knight. His family may have wanted to bury him, and I’m sure his armor was worth something. Not dwelling on the question, I finish the process of sawing down the boss.

  After the boss tries to slam down on me again, it begins to pull itself back up when I hear thick cracking noises. I cut too deeply into the base of its stalk, and it can no longer hold up its own weight. The boss shakes as wood explodes from the pressure. The body convulses for a few seconds, still trying to rise but unable to lift its own weight before lying still.

  With the boss dead, I walk over to the noble still struggling. He’s still pinned against the wall, shaking as he fights against the animated spear. He gasps for air as he tries to pry one root that is wrapping around his neck. The plant creature is weak; it should be easily fended off, except that his hand can’t get a good grip on the writhing root. I pull the plant from around his neck so he can breathe. He breaks into a coughing fit as he is finally able to take a full breath. Even with the boss dead, the spores are still thick in the air, causing him to cough more vehemently.

  In a hoarse tone, he commands, “What are you waiting for? Cut me out of here!”

  I don’t move as I stare him down. He scoffs before asking, “What? Do you want promises of gold or protection? Do not look at me as though I’m the villain here. It’s only a matter of time until your third affinity is discovered, and a noble house captures you.”

  I continue to silently look at him, feeling out with my empathy. He is unnerved by my stare, but I’m thinking of the question I want to answer and how to phrase it. I’m sure if I let him out, I would be the next cautionary tale. I want an out, but I dread that there is not one.

  In a too calm tone, I ask, “If I let you out, will you keep my third affinity a secret?”

  “Fine, yes. I will keep your secret. Just get me out of here.” I can feel with my empathy that it’s a lie. Even if he kept the secret, which he wouldn’t, he’s confident he won’t be able to keep it. I can see the lines of logic trying to weave a way out in his head. If he can’t keep the secret, then he should get the most benefit from the secret. At least someone will benefit.

  I turn around and walk past Morgana to go back toward the boss. The noble starts to shout after me. Morgana walks past me, silencing him.