by EA Hooper
Crap, I didn’t even restore my mana, Vincent realized, trying to gulp down a mega-ether before the monsters noticed him.
Xan materialized behind him in the coffin, accidentally pushing him forward. A draugr saw Vincent and lunged toward him with a longsword, but the Ranger managed to dodge. He and Xan equipped Guardian’s Blades and joined the fray. With their levels and combat experience, it almost seemed too easy for the three players to fend off the B-Class monsters. In less than a minute, they’d defeated the entire group without breaking a sweat.
“Next one!” Quinn said, ripping off another coffin’s lid. She jumped inside and waited for Xan to send her along.
Xan activated the runes, teleporting Quinn to some unknown destination while Vincent grabbed the chains.
The three players spent the next several hours warping from one underground chamber to the next. Almost half the chambers held no monsters, but the ones that did typically had draugrs. Every ten to fifteen rooms, they’d come across another crystal draugr that would drop a Tomb Tome.
Vincent used the draugrs as target practice for the new fire spell he was working on. After the first hour, he’d reached three percent development on Impact Blaze. It took a few more hours for it to hit four percent. He even tried to cast Density Field on himself again, but unsurprisingly it didn’t move a single percent. Vincent expected as much from negative energy spells, which sometimes took decades to finish.
Finally, they exited a portal into a jail-cell-like room with no other coffins. Vincent noticed his map location change to Prison Crypt (Subregion). The chamber appeared empty aside from cobwebs and magic torches, but he saw a barred window on the opposing wall. Vincent noticed a slowly pulsating radiance outside the room, but it didn’t look like the subtle glow of the crystal draugrs.
The three friends approached the window, staring at the rows of prison cells outside. It looked as though their cell sat on the first floor of a large complex, although Vincent suspected they were still underground.
Several of the cells had various kinds of monsters, including revenants, draugrs, mimics, and incomprehensible shapes of creatures he didn’t recognize. He ignored the unknown monsters, instead searching for the source of the pulsating light, which appeared to be coming from down the hall.
Heavy footsteps made their way across the outside chamber, and Vincent heard metal sliding against stone. Eventually, a muscular figure about three meters tall stepped into sight. His body looked like it was made of a crystalline material that almost appeared metallic. The jagged crystals burned with white light before dimming.
Some kind of cloth wrappings covered the monster’s legs, waist, and torso, although crystals jutted out in numerous spots. Behind him, he dragged a massive basteel greatsword that looked impossible to wield.
This must be one of those Exotic Bosses that roam Grayvere, Vincent realized, using True Scan to pick out the important information.
Repentant Bright-Walker (Exotic Boss) – Monster Class: A | Ageless | Sex: Male | Respawn Time: Ten In-Game Years | Personality: Regretful | Death Triggers: Full Body Total (if 40% damaged), Heart Crystal (if 35% damaged), Mind Crystal (if 30% damaged), Lifeforce (if 100% lost) | Crystal Rating: 450 Total (200 Material | 250 Density) | Weakness: Breaker (100% more effective) | Resistance: Mana (50% less effective), All elements (50% less effective).
>Vincent: Talk over chat so it doesn’t notice us. This guy is insanely tanky. He’s almost as tough as basteel, but that’s partially because of his density rating. That means even my void attacks can’t one-shot him. He has a strong defense against mana attacks, but he’s weak to Breaker.
>Quinn: So, this fight’s on me, then?
>Vincent: Let him past first, then I’ll create an opening. You lay into him with everything you have, and we’ll provide support.
Vincent grabbed his tome, but he waited for the monster to continue beyond their cell. When the bright-walker was a few cells over, the Ranger opened the wall. The sliding stone didn’t seem to catch the boss’s attention, and the trio stepped into the larger chamber.
>Vincent: Your best bet is the heart or brain.
>Quinn: I’ll just take his head clean off!
Quinn jabbed the air lightning-fast, sending multiple Gatling Breakers flying at the back of the bright-walker’s head. The first two struck, but the monster seemed to react as soon as the first one hit, and he dodged the last few. He moved surprisingly fast despite his size and density rating and had already spun around to face them by the time Quinn stopped her jabs.
Vincent took aim and fired two Void Guns. The boss tilted its head away from one shot, but the second grazed him, taking a chunk from the side of its crystalline head. More Gatling Breakers flew at him, but the bright-walker ducked under them and crouched low to the ground. The monster’s stance almost reminded Vincent of Quinn’s old finishing move from back in the day, and he readied himself, already realizing the boss was faster than he’d expected.
Xan must’ve thought the same thing as Vincent because she sent light beams into the ground. The bright-walker tightened his one-handed grip on his unwieldy greatsword before leaping across the prison hall like a frog. Xan’s World Wall exploded from the ground just in time, and the boss’s greatsword smashed against it.
“Woah!” Vincent shouted, stepping away from the wall as the boss slashed his blade a second time at the world magic. “I didn’t think he’d be so fast.”
“Yeah, especially considering his weight,” Quinn said, glancing at the cracks on the floor where the bright-walker had landed.
Their team quickly refilled their mana reserves while the boss couldn’t reach them.
“Get ready,” Xan said. “My wall’s coming down.”
Black static appeared around Quinn’s knuckles as she readied Gravity Fist. Before Vincent could warn her that it would be too dangerous to get that close, the wall fell, and Quinn leapt through the air.
The bright-walker swung right away, but Quinn Phaseshifted through him and his blade. She landed behind the boss, jumped at him again, and struck him in the back of the head.
Vincent and Xan guessed Quinn’s plan and moved out of the way as the gravitational shockwave exploded from the Fighter’s fist. Even with the bright-walker’s heavy body, the attack sent him tumbling forward. Pieces from the back of his skull flew in every direction, but Vincent knew it wasn’t a killing blow.
I need to pin him down, Vincent realized, casting Zero Field on the fallen boss. He poured a lot of mana into shoving the powerful boss back into the ground before the bright-walker could get to his feet again. Xan had the same idea, already summoning two Light-Drain Longswords that she sent hurtling at his legs.
Quinn finished some ether, then threw more Gatling Breakers at the boss, using heavy punches that hit hard, though they didn’t seem as accurate. Cracks appeared across the bright-walker’s head, but he used his sword to shield himself from the next few attacks while he stood.
Vincent gulped down more ether, then launched several of the fire blasts he’d been practicing, hoping to keep the boss on the defense. It seemed to work, but then the monster grabbed the handle of his sword with both hands, hefted the mighty weapon, and readied himself to sling it through the air.
With little time to react, Vincent jumped ahead of his teammates, raised his arms, and tried to combine Density Field with his Gravity Shield. The massive blade spun through the air and lopped off Vincent’s arms before digging into his chest and knocking him back, although the spell combo seemed to have stopped a killing blow.
Quinn slowed the last of the sword’s momentum by catching the end of the blade. She cut her hands and chest trying to do so, but her injuries paled compared to Vincent’s.
The bright-walker leapt forward, grabbing the handle of his sword. Before he could swing again, which would’ve split Vincent in half, Quinn Vanished onto the boss’s shoulders and slammed her hands downward with a Gravity Clap that shattered his already cracked skull. The bright-w
alker crumpled to the ground, nearly crushing Vincent before turning into dust.
Xan equipped her Divine Healer’s Pendant and used the once-a-day Full Restore to heal Vincent’s extreme injuries. He collapsed to the ground, gasping in relief, then picked up the glowing item crystal beside him.
Bright Shard – The large chunk of a strange crystal. It feels hot with untapped magical power.
Vincent checked out the massive greatsword while Xan healed Quinn’s wounds, but he found the weapon so large that the game wouldn’t let him store it in his inventory. If I break this into pieces, Juniper could probably melt it down and remake it into a bunch of short swords.
He drank ethers, then broke off a third of the greatsword with several Void Guns. The piece fit into his inventory, if only barely, so he gulped down more ether and broke the remaining section in two. With all three parts in his inventory, he returned to his friends to find them ready to go.
“So, you three want to explore more of this prison?” Vincent asked, staring at the monsters in various cells. “Or should we head back to drop of this loot?”
“I don’t know,” Quinn said. “I really don’t like to leave a world without beating a dungeon or World Boss for Jump Crystals. You need to think, it costs nine between us to get here, and it’ll be nine again to return.”
“Vince and I are stocked up on Jump Crystals,” Xan assured her. “Besides, we can always farm them on Styxis. Jim says the dungeons there aren’t too hard. The World Boss only spawns weekly, though, and different guilds camp out its primary locations, so we probably won’t fight that one.”
“Screw those guilds,” Quinn said. “You can’t just call dibs on everything in sight.”
“Yeah, actually we can,” a man’s voice called from above.
The three friends looked up, noticing a group of twelve players looking down from two floors higher.
The orosteel-armored man at the center of the group glared down at them. “You’re encroaching on Boss Hunter territory,” he told them. “How’d you three even get past our alert runes at the entrance of this place?”
“We didn’t take the normal entrance,” Vincent replied. “Sorry, we’ll just head back the way we came. No worries.”
“You bet your ass there’s going to be worries!” the man shouted. “We’ve been clearing this area and setting up to fight that big guy for weeks now. You can’t just swoop in and kill him in our territory.”
“Maybe if you were stronger, you could’ve just fought him head on like we did,” Quinn replied casually.
“What was that?” the man shouted. He glanced at his comrades, and Vincent figured they were using team chat to figure out what to do.
>Vincent: Let’s just get out of here before they try something.
>Quinn: I want to see them try something. These guilds are pissing me off the more I hear about them.
>Jim: Woah, what guild? Who’re you starting trouble with, Quinn?
>Alexandria: The Boss Hunters.
>Jim: Okay, so long as it’s not Iijin Industries, I don’t care. Have fun!
“Listen up!” the man above shouted. “I talked to my boss. She says we’ll let you guys leave if you give us the Bright Shard.”
“You’ll have to take it from our dust!” Quinn shouted, shaking her fist.
All twelve players raised their hands at once, firing a barrage of Mana Cannons at the World Knights. Vincent dove away, trying to find cover underneath the overhanging parts of the ceiling. Explosions ripped the floor to shreds, breaking open several nearby cells and freeing the monsters. For a moment, Vincent thought he saw a worm lord like the kind he’d fought on Eramar, but then he realized the creature was made of maggots instead. It charged at him, but he moved away, jumped into the air, and launched himself onto the second floor with Zero Field.
Spell Upgrade: 63%
The moment Vincent landed, he aimed his hand at the floor above and cast Black Cinder. All twelve enemies scattered, separating in two directions before the embers could reach them. Vincent activated his spell’s Tempest upgrade, splitting the embers to chase both groups. Three men at the back of one group and a woman at the rear of the other fell victim to his spell. Void embers shredded their armor and body, eating through them in seconds.
The armored man that had been shouting earlier turned when he saw Black Cinder fizzling out. He raised his hand and fired another Mana Cannon that hit Vincent in the chest and threw him through a stone wall. His Gravity Shield slowed the attack, but his already damaged armor was torn apart. Blood dripped from his chest, though Vincent didn’t think the wound was fatal.
He gulped down a mega-ether while hiding in the empty chamber he’d been tossed into. They’ll be too afraid to jump down here now that they’ve seen my void attack. The moment I step out, they’ll probably hit me with more Mana Cannons.
Vincent paused, remembering his Builder’s Tome. A smile spread across his face as he equipped it. It only cost him a couple hundred Builder Points to create openings through the next two ceilings. Vincent jumped to the next two floors, then readied a Void Gun at his fingertip. He created an entryway with his tome, then stepped out to shoot the first person he saw.
The black bolt ripped through the head of a man who was looking at the lower chambers. His nearest ally, the armored man, glanced up at Vincent just before another Void Gun went through his face and out the back of his skull.
Vincent peered across the prison floors, aiming his fingers as he searched for more enemies. However, he found Quinn and Xan fighting the other group some distance away. Vincent focused, trying to line up a good shot from across the prison, but then someone landed nearby and struck him in the chest with a basteel war hammer. The blow knocked him into the wall, and Vincent knew it had broken several of his ribs.
The hammer-wielding foe raised his weapon again, but Vincent brought up a greystone wall between them with his tome. It only took a single heavy blow for the enemy to smash through the wall, but by that time Vincent had his fingers lined up with the man’s unarmored head.
“Shi—” the man muttered just before the bolt deleted most of his brain matter.
Vincent downed a mega-elixir to heal the worst of his wounds, then he stumbled past the cells. It looked like Xan had cornered the last man with two floating blades.
“Hey, let’s just call things square,” the man said, nervously putting away his sword. “If you let me gather their stuff together, then escort me back to the Jump Gate, my boss won’t hold this against you. She’ll be a lot more pissed if we lose good equipment.”
“Which way’s the Jump Gate?” Xan asked.
“It’s about a two-hour jog south from here,” he replied. “Exit’s on the top floor. I’m still not sure how you got in here, but my boss would appreciate the info.”
“Do you have more guildsmen on this world?” Quinn asked.
“We had another team, but they wiped yesterday,” he said. “A different bright-walker chased us out of our quarry, then stalked that area for months, so the boss told us to go ahead and clear all of them from this world. Just as the other team moved to take him down, a second bright-walker appeared. We got a call for help, but then a few minutes later they told us not to bother. They were cornered and done for.”
“Oh boy, that sounds bad,” Xan said. “If we escort you out of here, we should definitely avoid the quarry. It’s not on the way to the Jump Gate, is it?”
“No, the quarry’s northeast a couple of hours,” the guy said. He sighed with relief. “I’m glad we’re on the same page. My boss would be pissed if none of us made it back.”
“Yeah, that would really suck for you,” Xan said, grabbing her floating blades and slashing his throat. The Light-Drain Longswords didn’t cut his skin, but they ripped the rest of his body’s lifeforce out in an instant, turning him to dust.
Quinn cleared her throat to get Xan’s attention, then pointed at Vincent as he watched the scene from above.
“Oh, uh, they
started it,” Xan said innocently.
Vincent smiled. “I wasn’t going to say anything,” he assured her. “Except that maybe we should go for those bright-walkers before their boss sends more people.”
“Good thinking,” Quinn said. “Although, how’re we going to take on two of those things?”
Vincent scratched his chin in contemplation. “We’ll think of something.”
Chapter 19 | Year 93
Player: Vincent the Wanderer
Location: Grayvere (World) | Misty Outskirts (Region)
Class: Ranger
Subclass: Mage
Vitality: Lv 186
Spirit*: Lv 195
Resolve: Lv 178
Perception*: Lv 201
Agility: Lv 186
Strength: Lv 185
The World Knights cleared out several cells of monsters before leaving the prison. Vincent guessed the maggot monster that had attacked him had been caught in the crossfire, because he found pieces of its body lying around the floor. A few of the maggots seemed to have hardened, though they still looked alive. Normally, players couldn’t put living creatures into their inventory, but that hardened state counted them as items called Dry Maggots. He doublechecked his quests, remembering one bounty had been looking for those. Altogether, he collected only a couple dozen, but at least he knew what monster dropped them.
They grabbed items left by the team they’d defeated, then made their way to the top of the prison. With no knowledge of the entrance’s location, Vincent decided to save a little time by using his Builder’s Tome to open a small route. Once outside, he led them northeast with his compass, and they managed to keep a steady pace. The trio hurried past most of the revenants, but they had to stop several times to fight draugrs that could outpace them.
Xan continued to send Light Butterflies in various directions through the fog, letting them map out the terrain that was otherwise difficult to see. After more than two hours of searching and talking strategies, one butterfly flew off their map, letting them know a new region sat in that direction. They climbed out of the valley they’d been following and crossed an area covered in jagged rocks before their HUD updated the region to Boss Hunters’ Quarry (Subregion).