by Rick Scar
The transparent aura flew towards the bear, and the appeared mouth caused a small loss, distracting it for a second. So far the bear, growling, was going to punish a small insect; Will hauled off and threw the completely charged shard into its mouth. Falling directly before the stiffened bear for a moment, he rolled under its stomach, activated "Twilight Walker", and faded into its background.
The bear stood with an open mouth and did not move. The captain watched the slightest changes of the beast and saw what had been done by the boy. After five seconds the bear roaring, rose on its hinder legs and began to break its breast off as if it tried to get something from it. The flash burst out and waves of damned energy rushed extensively from it.
“Lie down!” The captain cried, warning Gikhor, and jumped far away from the animal.
Something started hooting in the air, the body of the cave owner began to bulk up, couldn't handle the load from the damned aura. It began to creep away as if it had been chopped by these waves. Pieces of meat fell off, baring the bear’s huge skeleton, the beast giving a long sigh fell forward slowly on its muzzle.
Congratulations!
Chapter 33. "Resident Gloom"
Some days before murder of the cursed cave bear by Will …
…
Light Terror was standing in the company of his clan mates near a small cave. The local tribe called it "Resident Gloom". The tribe was wild and poor.
Their people passed Superstitions from father to son, and nobody would have paid attention to them if the player from “Murderers” clan was not one of ardent fan - collectors of the history of the fictional worlds. His name was Archeologist and he liked to dig out old myths and legends, he had found incredibly hidden chains of tasks in the other games several times. So it became his hobby. And thanks to this hobby the top of "Murderers" investigated the leads to the task connected with the guardian of the floor.
Archeologist who had come to this tribe was examining old crypts and temples, in search of legends when he heard the conversation of two dealers in the market. They were talking about a headless knight who appeared ten years later. The Locals, either had come up with that, or someone else had seen the rider come into this cave, so it was named "Resident Gloom".
Having found out what cave had been told about, Archeologist transferred it to the friend who was responsible for scouting in his clan. Archeologist was a devoted player. He had many good friends, either in the clan or off side. Sometimes they met in reality to sit in the bar and to have a rest.
Therefore he did not even think to hide this catch, but also he was not going to stir up. Some of the newcomers joining the clan might be spies from their friendly and enemy communities.
Gathering authorized representatives, the leader of "Murderers", the player for the vampire's class, inspected the group. He was a tall man, with an accurate small beard, wearing a raincoat with high collar. His face was ordinary, and two small canines stuck out under his upper lip. His level was not the highest in the clan. Their main melee had the highest: 25.
“I should not repeat what we have already discussed. We’ll go as we’ve decided. To touch nothing without the permission of Delliya, she is the thief and she’ll collect all that’s necessary. Keep in mind the trace, which Archeologist has found, can raise us in ratings within several positions up. Ronni, God forbid, you will go forward and spoil shooting. Your task is to capture the entire picture; in extreme case we will call you to film some fine details.
All in all, you are to stand in the center and twist your head slowly. As for the others, you are to remember about clicking on the Rec button, all will be useful during film editing. It is up to us all to determine what good sponsors our clan will have. All right, well, grab a weapon, let's get going.”
All from the group nodded silently and entered the cave.
You’re entering Oblivion Cave.
You are the first from the players to visit this place.
+3% Experience in this territory;
+1% Speed of the character.
The location is intended for players with level 27+
Everyone in the group received a system message. Such a message flashed every time before discovering the place having been visited by nobody.
The players had a look at the leader. It was depended on him, whether they would go further or not. That one frowned, considering their situation. The risk to wipe was increasing, but to miss a chance was nevertheless impossible.
“Listen, I am, of course, your leader, but in this situation, the one who does not want to die and lose experience points can leave group now, we will wait for other people.”
The players looked at each other and smiled. “Everything is all right, leader,” Delliya responded for all, “lead us forward.” The group consisting of eight people moved forward slowly.
“Light.”
The mage reacted to the order and started a firefly over the heads, lighting their way. Several minutes later they heard clanging of chains and sounds of something scrapping about walls.
“Meat-t-t?” The group swallowed nervously, that voice was terrible and tired. As if they really were going to be eaten by some yearned unknown.
“Lights out! Quickly! Sogrand, light a torch, its flame is not such bright as the magic’s and we’ll hope that it will not draw any excess attention. We don’t need a crowd of aggressive mobs.”
Light went out, and the flame of the torch lit their road. Delliya moved ahead of the group, estimating the situation on presence of any enemies and traps. In a few minutes she returned. Ahead of us there are four banshees of 26 level, the cave is small so any noise can bring the others. And knowing these monsters, they shout as hysteric women.” The thief grinned.
“Could you pursue one by one at first opportunity?”
“Nope,” the girl shook her head, at least two of them, they are standing quite densely.
“Well, we will be able to seal two by "silence". Steady, ready!”
In half a minute the group heard sounds of running. Before them Delliya jumped out of "stealth". On her tail the ugly women ran, moving as if animals on hands and legs. As soon as they appeared, two mages, a wizard and a magician cast "silence" and its analog – “hush” on them.
The tanks intercepted a monster for each and provoked them, distracting their attention from the thief. It took about three minutes to fight. The banshees could not shout therefore they died in proud silence. While all were beating them, the thief conducted the other monsters.
The group got back to normal, forgetting about the terrible voice at the beginning …
Chapter 34. The Grave Mound
It was five hours as they had been killing monsters. Banshees, ghosts, reductions, barrow - wights, usual skeletons and skeletons of various monsters. The series of never-ending fights proceeded and proceeded. Level of monsters with each their step deep into caves steadily increased. If at first it was 26, then they killed monsters of 29 level. A few from them also raised levels. Still some of them were lack of level.
Everyone felt that the final fight would be very soon. Those emotions they had felt at the beginning of a voice sound gradually amplified. The aura of despair and hunger, scolding to bones, soared in the air. What was it? Everyone asked that question.
“There’s nobody ahead. No traps, no doors, no portals, nothing. An absolutely empty room. But the aura we have felt for the last two hours is dense to disgrace there. I have hardly taken back my self-control. Though I play on low sensitivity and I do not practically feel pain, but the thought that I can be gobbled up there, makes me to feel ill at ease….” The Face of the thief was pale. Probably that was being told by her was the truth.
“We haven’t missed any secret doors and courses on the way here, have we?”
“We have not missed as many of them as my abilities allow. If there were any ways, they could be found only by a more leveled thief.”
“I see. Let's have a rest then, and in ten minutes we start.”
>
“OK.”
Having rested and restored forces, the group entered the spacious room. It was empty, but the aura, as the thief had told, was awfully heavy and morally pressed them.
“It’s high time to get this over with; we've been out here for a long time," thought the leader called Night.
“All to keep together. Delliya and Kraks, with me.” He went to the opposite wall, where there were old frescos. What they represented became clear after Delliya had brought a torch closer.
“Well, I'll be damned!” she whispered.
The images caused instinctive shiver. Several huge figures were getting people on big sticks, some were frying over the fire and devouring. These Giants were near a town where people looked at their actions with horror. Many people were trying to escape or hide, but they were found and pierced with sticks as if needles.
The wall was wide and similar images were seen everywhere. Only sizes of those towns differed. Several groups of knights tried to fight with the giant, but he squashed them and ate. Everything had been drawn so realistic that they were nearly to vomit.
“What pretty hardcore?!” Exclaimed Kraks, that melee who had already risen up to the twenty sixth level.
“If I am not mistaken, it is the history of this world. That evil … that was told about in the background.”
“But where are their Gods?” the thief asked, frowning.
Indeed, they looked over all the walls, but did not see any Gods. Suddenly they heard a gnash over their heads. The players, throwing up their heads, peered into darkness. The ceiling of cave was high, and they could not consider what was pronouncing such sounds.
“St-t-t-tu-pi-i-id mea –ea-eattt,” a rustling voice reached them directly from the ceiling. They recognized it. The fear has held down them, and even the leader could not tell anything. “You-u-u sssuppose you-u-u kno-o-ow hhhi-issstory, butttt ittt’sss a l-l-lie!!!”
The beast jumped off from the ceiling, drenching the standing apart people with a cloud of dust and stench. “This-s-s h-h-his-s-st-t-tory is fals-s-s-se the truth will caus-s-se your hooorrooor. DDD’you wan-n-na learn the t-t-tru-u-uth?”
They could see the monster’s name hanging in front of their eyes.
“Grave Mound (Baron): Level 33.
Health: 4700.”
The monster looked like a lump united of several hundred bodies. He had no form and was constantly flowing from one state in another. He had a lot of hands, heads and eyes. He was standing still, at the same time looking at each of them.
DDD’youuu?
“Nobody move!” sharply shouted Night.
All of them were puzzled staring at him, misunderstanding what he was doing. He was surely a very competent leader, but now he was doing some crazy things.. They could leave their things here, without holding on to the quest with Dullakhan.
But the vampire stared in space, and all of them saw him reading something.
“You are offered to hear one more course of events of a bygone era.
Accept? Yes/No.”
No awards were offered. It was not told that they could not kill being. But the man understood that all this was connected with the guardian of the second floor some way.
“Accept."
Chapter 35. The truth to choose.
The "Murderers" players were standing near Oblivion Caves. There was horror on all their faces. Two of them abandoned the game and were inaccessible beyond the game. One decided to stop playing forever, and the others started thinking that everything they had seen was only the game scenario but nothing else.
…
When Night accepted that mission, the monster smirked at all his faces and, turning around, drenched all the players with a ring of the smoke proceeding from his body.
“Attention! You have a unique opportunity to hear one more version of the events which took place a few thousand years ago. You are just observers. You will not be able to change anything in the history, to take things away from here or to leave yours. History is only the print of several days, years or centuries left by a man and like grains of sand through an hourglass. Who writes it? Winners? Or those who want to hide something from all the people? Have a look but carefully …”
The group appeared on a tower of one of fortresses. Scream could be heard around, soldiers ran somewhere, carried something, and they had an expression of confusion, disbelief, horror and despair on their faces. After looking at the castle’s walls, they understood why.
The players were able to speak with each other, but nobody wanted. Or could not. That picture they had seen on walls opened before them. But everything on those damned frescos was far and did not concern them, but now in close they were scolded by real horror.
The giants, gathering hundreds of thousands of people nearby, looked incredibly huge, hundred feet in height. They were sitting at the burned village located near the castle and used it as a bonfire. Their hands caught people, elves, semi-demons and the others and got them on long sticks as if on a spit.
Shouts were heard even on the walls. People screamed and were burned, without understanding why they had such terrible destiny. Delliya's face turned pale, and she closed her ears with hands, sat on the floor in order not to see it.
Near them the knight with a helmet in his hands appeared accompanied by two soldiers.
“It is the end … Gods … fie you, not gods but beasts!” His face was white because of anger. His eyes were full of hatred looking at this hell. He squeezed his helmet in the hand till it hurt.
“Sir, inhabitants have already been taken away in catacombs, only several hundreds, the others could not be rescued …”
“I know!” The knight answered sharply. “Ours have been slaughtered, not reaching these freaks. We are powerless against them.”
The man standing nearby was silent, then looked under the visor, began to speak as if asking himself. “Are they really Gods? These monsters cannot be them, hungry, lifeless beasts of chaos …Oh, no, As for Gods, they are kind, honest, they are wise beings. I cannot believe that I worshipped them to have my family gobbled up one day … No; no, all this is intrigues of devils. Surely, surely!” he muttered, but, except the group of strangers nobody saw him and nobody heard him. While listening to him "Murderers" shuddered.
“Are they the Gods?” asked a girl shaking with fear, she played for the archer. They were watching this nightmare having a swell historical background of the game where every episode had been colourful, heroically. And here... Here they were petrified with horror.
The wall of the castle sharply was replaced by the platform of the huge portal from the legend. Around it there were four men and three women. Their attires were improbable. Everything was the superior quality. They were standing around, with closed eyes, and telling something quietly. Nothing had been happening for a few minutes, and then all of the seven opened their eyes and stepped away. Pak and the others were transferred after them. Now they saw the people look weakened and hang on by the skin of teeth.
“Hey! Drang! A low woman called the man with a sword and a board. “Perhaps, now you can explain why the hell we were got involved in it? Nobody learns about us, a handful of adventurers sacrificed their lives. To what?”
The man did not look at her; he was continuing to wait for something.
“To future...” he answered quietly.
“Future?” The girl laughed out. “Will I need care of future if I am a corpse? Well?”
“If all of us have done everything correctly, we have a chance to return. I’ve already told about it. Why do you ask again, Laysi?” - the man with a hood and a staff in his hand told.
“I do not know, maybe, I want you to calm down me, Zaradius,” smiling Laysi answered.
“Stop it!” The man with a spear closed his eyes and rubbed a forehead. – Concentrate! It hasn’t been over yet…”“P-f...” The girl put her hands on a breast and began to look at the portal too: - I don’t believe someone will be able to unite the world aga
in,” she whispered, sighed, kept silent.
Ten minutes later the portal began to shake and turned out the funnel of a terrifying size. His belly like a mad began to suck something in. The giants whose furious eyes nearly dropped out of orbits begun to fly in it. Parts of Not swallowed bodies poured from their mouths together with saliva.
They clung to the earth; their terrible muzzles looked at the seven people and vomited damnations. Night and the others did not consider that those could even speak.
“You?! Pathetic bastards!” one of monsters squealed. “We’ll gobble up your souls when you die. We’ll find them on the Forgotten Coast, and you’ll never regenerate damned spawns of heroes.”
Their hands opened the earth trying to reach the heroes, but the portal continued without ceasing to suck them one after another in. Soon everything was over!
The team was frozen by horror from being so close to huge mouths of the monsters. When all of them disappeared, those turned to the seven people, but saw them disappearing in the air breaking up to the smallest pieces. There was no expression on their faces.
They did it. It is foreordained or not, the world will live without them further. When the last from them was dissolved, the earth was shivering, and the world began to change ….
Chapter 36. Come back and award
“Congratulations! You’ve found the hidden property of the cursed shard.
+ 1 Luck;
+5% Chance to find the hidden traps and hiding places.
Level up...
The skill "The double attack" has moved to the following level.
+11%Chance to cause an attack double loss.”
Will came out the shadow, looking at the dead tsar of the forest. It was a long fight.