Class-A Threat (Disgardium Book #1) LitRPG Series

by Dan Sugralinov

  And ran away from my classmates.

  Chapter Seventeen. Crusher

  I RAN THROUGH the darkness into the forest, covered in cold sweat. It was supposed to take me seventeen minutes to completely regenerate, and I could not let the Dementors see me before then. Otherwise it would all be for nothing. They'd smash me, identify me as the threat and take me down. And with such glee!

  A potential L-class threat is no little Z-class necromancer with Y potential. For eliminating someone like me, Ed and company would be showered with bonuses they couldn't even dream of. And it would be easy for them to catch me with a buff to movement speed from the priestess. I hoped something was holding them back.

  The trunks of dead trees flew past, and their dry branches poked holes in my skin. Finally, I reached the familiar ravine of red cockroaches and laid down. Much to my delight, I didn't get a single mob aggro'd the whole way, and my health was gradually regenerating: 72%... 81%... 97%...

  My heart, which seemed about to burst out of my chest, calmed down. I even risked sticking my head out and immediately dove back in – the Dementors! But they saw me. My blood was boiling, quarts of adrenaline flooded into my real body. 100%!

  Curse of the Undead removed.

  In just a few beats of my mettlesome heart, my body started looking normal again. The ulcers and seething wounds disappeared, my muscles filled with blood and my flesh was covered with clean healthy skin.

  "Scyth?" Ed appeared at the edge of the gully. "Are you hiding?"

  The others appeared behind him. Tissa shook her head. Infect snorted. Bomber lowered his heavy shield to the ground, leaned on it and asked:

  "Sheppard, are you an idiot? What made you wanna come to Gloomwood?"

  "Hey yeah, good question," said Tissa. "When you asked where to level, I thought you'd come up with something better than out here!"

  I got to my feet and climbed up. Ed extended a hand, firmly grasped mine and helped me up.

  "Thanks."

  Crawler nodded, not turning an eye. He was expecting an answer.

  I shook off the sticky clay and looked at myself from a third-person perspective: wearing only underwear, unarmed, level three... They were right, I looked like a mental midget.

  "I was leveling on that side of the Tremitelle," I started explaining calmly. "Then some gankers came at me and I ran. I fell into the river and it carried me to this side. I figured I had nothing to lose from taking a look around and went into the woods."

  "How did you get past the Grabbers?" Bomber asked in surprise.

  "Uh, what are Grabbers?" I asked.

  "They didn't get you? You got real lucky, Sheppard. They're these little fish like piranhas, they can eat up a character in seconds!"

  "I guess I did get lucky. And then I got lucky again. I saw a boss in the distance. A huge wolf..."

  " Crusher," Ed nodded. "Where'd you see him?"

  "Right from this gully. He walked away, and I hid down here. Then I walked through the forest, got the stealth skill and figured this was a great place to level it. I crawled around a bit, too. Well, until the rat came after me."

  "I see. And what are you gonna do next?"

  "I want to get back to the city. Is that where you're going?"

  "No, Scyth. We're looking for Crusher."

  I looked at Tissa, she gave a slight nod. Aha, that meant they had made up and were going to try again, this time without hangers-on.

  "You obsessed or something?"

  "He's a new boss," Ed explained grudgingly. "We want to get First Kill."

  "An achievement? I see. Alright, thanks for the help. I'm gonna head. See you in school."

  I headed for the river, but didn't even reach the bank before Crawler shouted:

  "Hey, Scyth! You’re taking the hard way! Just die and you'll be back in the cemetery where you belong. You've got nothing to lose, right?"

  "Oh yeah..." I agreed. "I just want to get there on my own."

  Oh, nether! But the Stone Grabbers! Damn! I mean, they'd eat me right up in full view of the Dementors, then they'd see me respawn right where I fell! And I had so much in my bag! Nether!

  "You sure?" Ed snorted.

  His hand lit up. A flame flickered in his fist, growing and filling with plasma.

  "I mean, I could help! It won't hurt... probably."

  He laughed and raised his hand, closing it.

  I saw a vision of the future before my eyes: my blue loot would drop, I would respawn, Tissa's eyes would go wide in amazement and delight, then Ed would put two and two together and realize something was up...

  "Wait! Don't kill me! I don't want you to."

  "Alex, what's the point?" Tissa asked. "You won't survive. The river is teeming with Grabbers, just look."

  I took a glance despite myself and saw the surface of the water frothing. Those big-toothed little fish were really whipping a fit. They could see us and were jumping excitedly out of the water, rolling out the red carpet.

  I shuddered, remembering what it felt like to have hundreds of toothy maws ripping my flesh at the same time. It was like being run up and down a cheese grater. A shiver went up my spine. But I couldn't let them kill me – I'd be giving myself away.

  "I said 'no!'"

  "No?"

  "No. What's so hard to understand about that, Rodriguez?"

  Unlike normal, Ed didn't tell me this was Dis and here he was Crawler. Instead he fell silent, thinking it over, then walked up closer. There was no fireball in his hand, he had canceled the cast.

  "Something isn't adding up here, Scyth. I know you're a smarty pants and always look out for yourself. Me killing you is for your own good. You'll save a bunch of time and lose nothing. Your experience will stay the same. You don't have any gear on. Plus, you don’t want to see what the Grabbers bite like. I'm the one who would lose one rep with the city, so I'd be taking the hit. I mean, this is just a friendly favor, and you’re refusing? It's weird."

  "Are you a sadist? A pyromaniac? Have you ever tried burning yourself?"

  "A pyro... what?" Ed frowned. "Burning? What about burning? You'll die right away, you're all squishy and my fireball will take you down in one second. But the Grabbers will take a long time... And yet you don't want me to help! That just isn't right..."

  "Come on, just leave him alone, Crawler." Tissa said, walking up. "What if he's just afraid of fire? Right Alex? You got pyrophobia? Want me to kill you? It’ll be light magic. I could slap you with a Nergal's Palm... One and done!"

  Seeing the frantic chatter, Malik and Hung walked up. Now they were also suggesting ways of killing me one worse than the next:

  "What if I just cut your head off? Scyth, you won't even feel it!"

  "Listen to him, yeah! What about me? I could just slit your throat," came Infect. "Or first break your back. That'll take the pain away!"

  "A Light Arrow to the eye!"

  "Better a Wall of Fire! So he can’t change his mind and run!"

  The Dementors were having fun discussing and snickering at every suggestion. Bomber was laughing so much he fell into the gully, taking Infect with him. That caused a new outburst. What simpletons! Sure, boys will be boys, but Tissa found it so funny her eyes were tearing up!

  To hell with these idiots! I couldn’t have thought up a better opportunity to leave the game if I tried. I opened the command menu and looked at the exit button.

  You cannot exit Disgardium while in combat mode.

  To exit, leave combat mode or activate emergency exit by using the command on your immersion pod or in your interface. The battle will be considered lost, and your character will be considered dead!

  While I read the message in confusion, the laughter went silent all at once. Ed shouted:

  "Crusher is here! Bomb, get up! Tissa, buff! Then all heal on tank! Inf, dust!"

  But the well-organized group already knew what to do without his commands. Bomber was too slow getting out of the gully though. And that threw a wrench into Crawler's plan.
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  The monstrous black wolf lunged at the closest one to him. That was Tissa. She froze in his jaws like an inanimate doll. Crusher turned his head, shaking out ten percent of the priestess’ health.

  Infect saved her. The swarthy thief used a class ability, throwing a handful of enchanted dust into the boss's eyes. Blood gushed out. Crusher unclenched his jaws and, whimpering like a dog, started to scratch his snout with his paws.

  Tissa ran behind her friends', healed herself and buffed the group. The Dementors' bodies were enshrouded in flashes of light and icons appeared by their names for regeneration, light shield and a movement-speed bonus.

  Bomber was already standing at the boss’s snout by then and, hiding behind his shield, started generating aggro with his sword. Infect was nestled up tight against Crusher playing hole-punch at the speed of a sewing machine. His daggers flickered in the air, dripping poison. Crawler was launching various types of fireball, starting with fast and frequent bolts and ending with incendiary nuclei with decaying DoT.

  It all happened so fast I kept looking without moving and totally forgot what I wanted. What I wanted was to run and now was the best possible time. But for some reason I didn't.

  The skill and exactingness of my classmates' work captivated me, so I kept watching. I was especially impressed by Melissa Schafer. She was casting concentrated spells, healing Bomber or healing up Infect if he landed under a Swipe – the boss's ability to hit all melee fighters. And all the while she was dealing damage with Nergal's Palm...

  The Dementors had taken no less than half its health. The wolf howled, summoning his pack. Next to him, five elite level-thirteen wolves materialized out of thin air.

  "Got 'em!" Hung shouted.

  Generating aggro, the warrior stuck his sword into the ground, and a vibration emanated out, reducing even my health points. All the mobs threw themselves on him. Tissa bit her lip and concentrated only on the tank. A healing flash of green extended from her outstretched hand toward Hung.

  "Focus on fire!" Ed commanded.

  It was the first time I had seen him like this. Calm, confident, and sure of what to do next. He stuck a flaming bolt into the fur of one of the summoned wolves. It burned up. Infect and Bomber turned to him and got him away in a few seconds.

  "Next!" Ed announced, throwing a fireball.

  Like that, they cleared all the adds and turned back to the alpha. Crusher’s health points were crawling steadily downward.

  Just then, Tissa noticed me, swallowing a mana potion. She threw away the empty flagon and shouted:

  "Alex! You idiot! Run the heck away! Run..."

  And so I ran. We all ran, because Crusher gave a fearsome howl. And that gave us all the Fear effect, another of the boss's abilities. Though our minds could recognize what was happening, our bodies ran in panic. I totally lost control: I couldn't say anything and my body was acting all on its own. My mouth gaped in a heart-rending cry, my hair was standing on end... Nearby, Infect and Tissa started wailing in fear, and Ed was way out in left field, fallen into the gully.

  Over the ten long seconds the boss's ability lasted, I managed to run up to my knee in the water. The Grabbers were all around and had already taken down a third of my health. And that was fifty hitpoints no matter how I looked at it. Quickly pumping my legs, I ran out of the river. But there I was awaited by a shameful scene.

  Without Tissa's healing, Crusher had chewed Bomber to death. The body of the tank was lying in the same place and not disappearing. Clearly Hung was hoping the priestess would respawn him.

  The wolf jumped into the gully. From there I quickly heard Crawler yelping as well. A mage's rags are not exactly a warrior’s plate armor. No protection.

  And next came Tissa. The wolf ripped her chest open with its massive claws and landed a Swipe. Tissa was cut in half.

  Infect tried to escape by disappearing, encircling himself with a smoke screen but didn't consider the wolf's sense of smell. Crusher tore him from invisibility and, holding him down with his paws, ripped off his head with his mouth. Then he turned toward me.

  With no hope whatever, I activated Stoneskin and got ready to use a Hammer. There was no reason to run, but this way I might be able to get one hit in on his ghastly fanged snout.

  A moment later the boss jumped and he was next to me, slamming me into the ground. His nightmarish fangs grabbed me by the head and his jaws clamped shut. My health bar was instantly empty. I respawned right away, but died again at once.

  This time, four deaths was all it took...

  You carry the mark of the Destroying Plague and have evaded fatal damage!

  You have been given Curse of the Undead: all damage taken reduced by 100%!

  This curse will remain active until you completely restore your health.

  Mark of the Destroying Plague improved: +1.

  Chance to receive Curse of the Undead: 3%

  Current level: 3.

  I snorted as I knocked out one of Crusher's fangs with a Hammer. It occurred to me that, in the Tristad cemetery right now, Crawler was probably turning his head in surprise trying to figure out where his loser classmate, cursed geek Alex Sheppard, was.

  Chapter Eighteen. Emissary’s License

  A NEW MESSAGE notification beeped. In the corner of my field of vision, Tissa's icon flashed.

  Player Tissa (Melissa Schafer) would like to add you as a friend. Accept?

  You may set privacy settings to determine friends' information access level about your character.

  First I set them to maximum, so it wouldn't even show my online status and location on the map. Only after that did I accept her friendship. All that time I was trying to kick the big wolf away, but it was in vain. He weighed around one ton, and my strength was just two. His stinking saliva covered my face when he, roaring savagely, gnawed me like a bone. Everything around smelled like a dog and, enraged, I bit him right back.

  The wolf pressed me to the ground with his paw, clenched my head in his teeth and turned his head, trying to tear it off. My neck would not give. The damage wasn’t registering, but I also couldn't move. So I was flailing my fists at random, not forgetting to throw a Hammer when I had the mana. The special ability took much less health than it did from normal mobs, even when it was a crit. And normal blows, meanwhile, barely got through the boss's thick hide.

  You have damaged Crusher: 19.

  Tissa wrote a PM asking where I'd gone. I answered that I was running from Crusher in the woods. Then she warned me that they would be changing into their backup outfits and coming back in forty minutes. Some gear had dropped, and Crawler was huffing and puffing at losing his epic cloak. There was just a ten percent chance, but it dropped!

  I told them it was no rush. I said I had climbed up a tree, and the wolf was trying to get me, but their valuable stuff was right where they left it, including Crawler's epic. Tissa answered with a big greeting from Ed containing more threats than anything sensible. But I understood. Or to be more accurate I understood now. Epic is epic. If Crag was willing to act shitty for some blue, and of quite a low level, what could I say about purple gear? The chance of getting it in the sandbox must have been just a hair below zero.

  You have damaged Crusher: 1.

  Miss!

  Miss!

  You have damaged Crusher: 14.

  Miss!

  Miss!

  Miss!

  You have damaged Crusher: 2.

  Miss!

  That was how my fight with the boss was going. He wasn't using Fear or calling his pack, just methodically gnawing, growling and trying to bite off chunks. I thought it was good that he wasn't controlled by a person like Dargo. Otherwise, he would know something was off and... give up? Write to tech support? Haha.

  With a laugh, I kept going with my fists, and the wolf's life bar crawled inexorably downward. Ten minutes later, he was all out of health.

  With a tenth of his last percent of life remaining, he gave a whimper and ran off, losing interest.
My eyes were covered with wolf spit, the moonlight cast shadows off the trees and I didn't realize right away that I was alone in the glade. But as soon as I did, I shot to my feet. No, no my dear. You won't be getting away!

  Crusher was crawling through a bush, dragging his feet. There was a tree in front of him, and he was poking his big snout into the trunk as if struck blind. For a moment I was reminded of AT in German Shepherd mode with low batteries, and I felt bad. The omnipotent and previously undefeated king of the forest was now being made to run from a level-three noob.