by Seth Ring
“Exactly. Don’t forget that our guild mates are still fighting off the cultists around the dungeon. The faster we finish this up the better.” Nodding, Thorn began to walk down the hall toward the doorway.
“Hey, be careful. There may be traps!”
Just as Leaves finished speaking a low sound rang out, and Thorn felt a rush of air.
*twang*
[Armor of the Earth]
A thick yellow light sprang up from Thorn’s feet, shrouding his body and lighting up the hallway. As his invulnerability took effect, a shadow flickered from the wall, plunging toward Thorn’s waist only to shatter against his glowing armor. The bolt broke apart, pieces of black metal pinging off of him and peppering the area as he swayed slightly.
The trap had shot the bolt with enough force to pin a normal person to the opposite wall, but the combination of Thorn’s weight and the 2 seconds of invulnerability granted by his [Armor of the Earth] ability allowed him to stay in place. Letting out the breath he had been holding, Thorn relaxed his tensed shoulders.
“Hey, how about you let the scouts clear the hall first?” Seven Twisted Leaves asked, waving Alabaster and the other scouts forward.
“Ahem. That sounds like a great idea.” Coughing into his hand to hide his embarrassment, Thorn took a step back to let the scouts filter past him.
“Thorn, I know you’re tough, but you’ve got to take it a bit slower. No use wasting your bubbles just because you’re rushing.”
“Yeah, sorry. I just get excited.”
It took Alabaster, EphemeralWhisper, and the other scouts almost fifteen minutes to clear the hallway of traps. Looking at the growing number of traps being discovered and disabled, Thorn gulped. While he probably could have rushed past many of the traps, the sheer number was enough to threaten him, especially because he could not see a single trap in the hallway when he walked into it.
“Alright, that should be it.”
“Thanks. Thorn,” Seven Twisted Leaves gestured for Thorn to proceed, “please go ahead.”
Walking gingerly down the hallway, Thorn reached the large double doors that led into the garden without further incident. Reaching down, he tested the door handle gently to make sure it was actually locked. The last thing he wanted to do was embarrass himself further by trying to break open an already unlocked door. Carefully examining the doors, he did not see any runes or evidence of magic so he gripped the handle tightly and spoke over his shoulder.
“This might be loud, so get ready. I don’t know what is on the other side of the door. If I can even open it.”
“Hmm, that is a good point. Hold on.”
Lifting his hand for Thorn to wait, Leaves called the rest of the team together and split them up, leaving half of the team watching the right hallway while the rest were positioned in front of the left hallway.
“Okay, go ahead.”
Kneeling down on one leg, Thorn placed one hand flat against one of the doors and grasped the other door’s handle firmly. Breathing out, he began to pull the handle while pushing the other door, slowly increasing his strength. Almost immediately the door began to creak as the powerful force he exerted started twisting the lock. The doors were solid wood that held tight against Thorn’s persistent pressure until he gave a sharp tug, causing the twisted metal handle to deform in his fist as it popped off of the door.
Looking down in bemusement at the door handle that was bent around his hand, Thorn pulled it off and reexamined the door. Where the handle had been was now two large holes, but the door still did not open. Frowning, Thorn stood up and looked at the door carefully. Shrugging, he took two steps back and then a quick step forward, snapping out a quick front kick at the spot where the handle had been connected.
*CRACK*
The bottom of his foot slammed into the door and with a splintering crash it exploded open, showering the garden with shards of wood. The sound of the door opening echoed around the mansion, but the gloomy halls soon returned to their eerie silence. Grabbing the remains of the doors, Thorn ripped them from their hinges and tossed the scraps of wood to the side. After making sure the doorway was clear, Thorn was about to stride through the opening into the garden when he paused and glanced at Alabaster, who was standing close by. After getting the all clear, Thorn stepped into the garden.
Thick with overgrown plants, weeds, and dead trees, the garden was no less creepy than the mansion. As the team walked forward they soon arrived at the remains of a fountain covered in dark stains. From the stench that emanated from it, it was clear that whatever flowed in it had been corrupted. The further into the garden they got, the stronger the smell of corruption became.
Feeling something crunch under his feet, Thorn looked down, only to see the cracked remains of a skull staring back up at him. Kicking the bones away, Thorn’s eyes swept the dying bushes on either side of the wide path. As his gaze swung past a thorny bush, he noticed it shaking slightly.
“Watch out!”
Thorn’s shout jerked everyone to attention as figures leapt from the sides of the road, their dark robes making them look like nothing but white masks floating through the air.
“Assassins!”
Ten Devil Blood assassins dashed at the team from each side, their long knives flashing wildly as they closed in. Given enough time to prepare, the tanks met them squarely, blocking the assassins from being able to get among the DPS and support players. Thick shields and sturdy armor formed a solid wall that stopped the assassins in their tracks as attacks began to drop down on them from the ranged DPS players.
Without the element of surprise, the assassins were soon cleaned up and the team resumed their journey. With a better idea of what to watch for, the next few ambushes passed without incident, and the team soon arrived at a wide open courtyard. A raised platform had been erected at the other end of the courtyard, and sitting on a large, rough-hewn chair was a massive werewolf.
“Ha, if it isn’t the pretender.” The werewolf’s booming voice shook the air, causing the bones scattered around the courtyard to tremble.
“Gelish.”
The sight of the former Wolfkin caused fury to bubble up in Thorn’s chest, but he ruthlessly suppressed it, tightening his grip on his weapon.
“Have you come to pledge your allegiance to the true leader of the Wolfkin? You can, you know. The master is generous and accepting, even of those who have deceived the Wolfkin and led them down the wrong path.”
“Oh? And who is this master of yours? Mayari? A cursed High Priestess who betrayed the Greymane for her own gains?” Sneering, Thorn stepped forward. “You better watch out, former head disciple, or she may sell you too.”
“Hah, is that supposed to make me mad?” Gelish grinned evilly, showing off his massive teeth. “You know nothing of the power that the blood grants us.”
“Oh? I think I do. I’ve beaten it out of a number of people so far, you included. Why on earth would anyone want such a pathetic power?”
“You did not beat me!” Furious, Gelish slammed his hand down on the armrest of his chair, causing it to shatter into pieces. “Tch. You cheated, inviting that mangy excuse for a god who abandoned us all those years ago. But that will not work this time. Now I have backing of my own. My race will no longer be slaves to your pathetic god. No! We will gain the power to rule ourselves!”
Frowning, Thorn searched Gelish’s face, finding nothing but madness. The words that spilled from the werewolf’s mouth were nonsense, yet the conviction with which he spoke was undoubtedly real.
“Do you really believe that Karrandaras the Betrayer has your best interests in mind?” Thorn chuckled mirthlessly. “It's even in his name. He is the betrayer. If you put your trust in him he will leave you high and dry. You should know that better than anyone.”
“Ahahahaha! You fool, we do not trust in Karrandaras! No, Karrandaras is bound to my master! We use him and draw his power, making it our own! You grovel pathetically at the feet of the mangy wolf, begging for
power while I seize strength for my race with my own hands!”
“By becoming a monster? You are not even a Wolfkin anymore, you’re a twisted caricature of a Wolfkin. You’re not seizing power for your race. You’re not seizing power for anyone but yourself. And you are doing it at the cost of that race that you are pretending to care so much about.” Taking another step forward, Thorn lifted his tetsubo and rested it on his shoulder as his finger pointed at Gelish. “Don’t bother pretending that your motives are anything but selfish, Gelish. If you cared even a little for your people you would have served them instead of chasing power.”
“Enough!” Slamming his hand down on the remaining armrest, Gelish bound to his feet as the chair under him was smashed to pieces. “You don’t know anything about my people and our struggles! You think that what you are doing is good for the Wolfkin? Haha, you’re simply the newest slavemaster, chaining them to a weak god! Well no longer! If the Wolfkin must have a slavemaster it might as well be me, right?
“I will bleed away the weakness and forge my people anew through the blood seized from the Greater Devil Karrandras! The Wolfkin will be molded into the powerful warriors they were meant to be! Once I have dealt with you and the valley is mine, the puny empire that you have bowed to will taste the fury of the reborn Bloodkin!”
“This is so good!” Mina whispered to Seven Twisted Leaves, her eyes burning with excitement as she watched the exchange between Gelish and Thorn. “It’s like a cut scene.”
“Hush.”
“So that is your plan? Turn your race into werewolves?”
“Ahahaha!”
Booming laughter spilled from Gelish’s mouth when he heard Thorn’s question. Abruptly cutting off his laugh, he snarled and stepped down from the platform he had been standing on. Insanity shimmered in his eyes as he stared Thorn down.
“Werewolves? You think I’m a werewolf? Foolish mortal, I am so much more. I have given up much, you are right. But I have gained so much more than you can ever imagine! What is the use talking? Why don’t I show you the superiority of the Bloodkin? Never fear, you will have plenty of time to appreciate their power as my kin feed on your flesh!”
Throwing back his head, Gelish was about to howl when a figure flashed toward him at incredible speed. Before the former head disciple had finished his sentence, Thorn had already activated [Shadow Dash] and burst forward. As he moved, he stabbed his tetsubo straight forward like a spear. Gelish’s lungs had just expanded to their fullest when Thorn appeared in front of him, the end of the thick metal mace slamming into the center of his chest.
Unable to howl as the air was driven from his lungs, Gelish was knocked flying. The giant werewolf tumbled head over heels from the force of the blow, slamming into the remains of the throne and only stopping when he had plowed through the dead garden behind him. Thorn’s massive figure stood where Gelish had just disappeared, his tetsubo still extended as silence reigned in the courtyard.
Chapter Fourteen
“Hahaha, that will never get old.”
Mina’s chuckle from the middle of the group broke the thick tension in the air and started a wave of laughter that swept over the team. At a certain point, the group had simply accepted that Thorn was able to do things that other players could not, resulting in the sheer absurdity of Thorn’s action’s being seen as comedy. Suppressing his grin, Seven Twisted Leaves called for the tanks to move up to where Thorn stood.
“Keep focused people. Let’s set our line where Thorn is. I’m pretty sure he has locked aggro. Heidi, SoulSeeker, see if you can pull some of that off of him. I don’t know if there will be any adds, but I want as much damage on the boss as we can possibly get.”
*crunch*
*CRUNCH*
A series of sounds echoing from the spot where Gelish’s body had disappeared drew the whole team’s attention and the players rushed to get set up. While Thorn had sent Gelish flying, no one had any doubt that the boss was about to come back, angrier and more dangerous than ever.
“Hahaha, you think you are powerful, don’t you?”
An eerie laugh drifted from the darkness, accompanied by a giant, blood-red hand.
*CRUNCH*
The bloody hand landed on the ground, crushing the rocks under it to shreds as a massive arm followed it. Slowly Gelish’s body came into view, sending a shiver down the spines of most of the players. As the werewolf stepped into the flickering light and straightened up, the team realized that he had grown almost twice as tall as he had been, standing at a full sixteen feet. His dark fur had been replaced with thick, knotted, bloody muscle, as if his flesh had been stripped from his body, and blood dripped from him continually.
“Ahahaha! Feast your eyes upon my glorious form! Hahaha, this, THIS is true power!” Gelish lifted his head into the air as he roared triumphantly. “This is the power the Wolfkin deserve! See the true form of the Bloodkin and despair!”
“Abomination.”
Though he did not speak loudly, Thorn’s single word put an end to the crazed boss’ rant. His eyes glaring at the Titan, Gelish gave a screeching howl of displeasure and rushed toward Thorn and the tank line.
“I’ve got the first interception!” Heidi muttered to SoulSeeker who gave her a tight nod, his eyes firmly fixed on the bloody monster rushing toward them.
Seeing how Gelish was entirely focused on Thorn who stepped forward to meet the boss with a swing of his tetsubo, Heidi slammed her sword against her shield and activated her [Burning Charge] ability. Thorn saw a burning line accelerating toward the boss from the corner of his eye and frowned slightly. Gelish was speeding up as he charged forward, and the angle of Heidi’s charge was going to cause her to miss the boss completely.
Tightening his grip on his weapon, Thorn was about to adjust his swing when Heidi suddenly shifted, adding a quick side step into her charge. Lowering her shoulder, she slammed into Gelish’s hip and leg, throwing the boss off balance and causing his attack on Thorn to miss. As soon as he was knocked off balance, a rain of attacks slammed into him as the ranged DPS started their assault. Stumbling to the side, Gelish gave Heidi an evil glance, but his attention was still firmly fixed on Thorn so he ignored her and, shrugging off the attacks that were peppering him, he stepped forward to slash at Thorn.
Before his attack could connect another form rushed toward him, slamming into him. SoulSeeker’s kite shield glowed with a crimson light as he hammered it into the boss’s side, causing him to stagger again. Seizing their opportunity, the melee dps closed into range and attacked the boss, opening wounds on his legs before jumping back behind the tanks.
With a roar of rage, Gelish’s attention swung around the circle until he saw SoulSeeker. About to step toward the Crimson Dragon Knight, a sharp pain lanced through Gelish’s side as the tip of Thorn’s tetsubo ripped out a piece of flesh and drove him to one knee.
“AARGH!”
Ignoring the scream of rage, the melee players stepped forward again, taking advantage of Gelish’s distracted state to land their attacks. Despite not being able to generate the same amount of aggro as Thorn’s attacks, Heidi and SoulSeeker both performed their roles admirably, keeping a steady rotation of distractions as the DPS players continued to attack Gelish.
As the blood dripping from Gelish turned into a steady stream from all of his wounds, Thorn found himself suffering a few powerful blows from Gelish’s razor sharp claws. Despite the power behind the attack, Thorn’s armor held strong and the chunks of health he lost from the blunt force was soon healed up by the support players behind him.
No matter how Gelish raged, the monstrous Bloodkin was unable to withstand the attacks of the whole team and soon fell to the earth with one last pained roar. Panting furiously, he raised his head and looked around with madness in his eyes.
“You think you have won, don’t you?! Hah, hah, you have no idea what is coming! You have no…”
*SQUELCH*
With a wet splatter, Gelish’s words cut off as Thorn b
rought his tetsubo down on the boss’ head, driving the last vestiges of life from his grotesque body.
“Enough of that nonsense.”
*ding*
“Whooo, Thorn, check this loot out!”
Stooping down to see what Mina had found, Thorn saw a variety of items had dropped. Nova Terra was loot light as a whole and Thorn was generally indifferent to the few things that did drop, but after seeing the legendary staff [Death Rain] his interest had grown. There were three pieces of gear, in addition to a large sack of gold that had spilled across the ground. Thankful that the blood was automatically cleaned from the coins when he put them in his inventory, Thorn picked them up gingerly.
Gelish had dropped three pieces of equipment that belonged to a set, and Thorn looked at the details that Mina shared as she gathered them up.
Unlike the robe, the [Bracers of the Head Disciple] granted their wearer an ability in addition to the other bonuses. Curious, Thorn clicked on it.
Blinking, Thorn read over the ability again. Weapon proficiency was often tied to a class’s advancement, making this a massively useful ability. While it was a shame that the ability would only ever work for a single weapon, Thorn still felt a twinge of desire to equip the bracers immediately. Shortening the time it would take him to master his tetsubo was quite an attractive idea. Shaking his head, he closed the window and looked at the last item.
Just like the [Bracers of the Head Disciple], the [Sandals of the Head Disciple] granted the user an ability instead of multiple attribute increases.
Mina handed the items to Thorn who put them away in his inventory. As he walked back to Seven Twisted Leaves, he could see the looks of excitement on a few of the players’ faces. While the armor was not suitable for everyone, those that could wear it were very happy that this dungeon had a full armor set.