Finding a Body (The Dark Herbalist Book #4) LitRPG series

by Michael Atamanov

  Achievement unlocked: Player killer (68)

  Animal Control skill increased to level 67!

  Warchief skill increased to level 29!

  ...

  Achievement unlocked: Player killer (82)

  Level ninety!

  Attention! You have reached level 90. You may now improve your character’s survival by choosing a modification

  ...

  Achievement unlocked: Player killer (99)

  Experience was gushing in like a river. Seemingly the Midnight Wraith was still on the rampage at the Upper Fort, and his take was now nearing genocidal proportions. Also all the members of the Gray Pack were still alive and growing in level right before my eyes. The orcs, rougarou and minotaur were dying, but their lives were coming at a very high cost. And despite all that, I didn’t even think about running. I had to be with my army! I had to keep fighting and just kill myself at the last possible second.

  I wished I could think up a way to do that, though. In times like these, I regretted getting such thick armor and six and a half thousand hitpoints. It wouldn’t be easy to take me that down quickly. And my hitpoints needed to come down very fast, because I suspected the enemy healers had begun to heal me so they could take me no matter what. Ugh, we shouldn’t have wasted that Tectonic Bomb. It might have been powerful enough... But there was no use crying over spilled milk. We needed to think of other options.

  Maybe I should summon one of the Dark Riders and use a Cursed Arrow. The Midnight Wraith, even if it couldn’t handle the whole thousands-strong enemy army, was more than capable of sending me to respawn. Where was my Darkness? I stood up on Fimbulthul again, trying to see the Dark Rider through the smoke and snow floating in the air. There she was! Or to be more accurate what remained of her: her huge black steed was fallen and her semitransparent body clutched a glowing green saber.

  Achievement unlocked: Player killer (112)

  Level ninety-one!

  Warchief skill increased to level 30!

  I tried summoning Gloom, but a message immediately jumped in that I couldn’t use summoning magic because of the Astral Explosion. Damn! And I couldn’t summon the goddess of strife Eris for the same reason, even though she would have had a grand old time here.

  Then my eye caught on the terrified Princess Chai-nee Shu, hiding behind the broad back of Regent Uvari-Dor-Shu, who had become a bear and was fighting off three players at once. I was being so selfish! I was only thinking about myself even though I was relatively safe behind the rows of warriors. But meanwhile my troops needed their commander! To me, being captured meant nothing more than having to admit defeat. Death was actually what I wanted. But as for my NPC companions...

  “Chai-nee Shu, my daughter, come to me!”

  The terrified rougarou Princess, despite the clamor of battle heard me and quickly ran over. I opened the Gray Pack control interface and added the level-101 Rougarou Huntress. After all, that not only made every member of the Gray Pack stronger, it also made her respawn after death.

  At the very last moment, I caught a glance from Uvari-Dor-Shu that was full of pleading. He was falling from innumerable bloody wounds, so I included the level-131 Rougarou Druid in the Gray Pack as well. And it was just in time! The bonuses from Fenrir’s Cursed Regalia like +150 Constitution, +150 Strength, +150 to Agility for every member of the Gray Pack instantly kicked in. The badly wounded Druid stood up and splayed his shoulders. The rougarou’s health bar, which had been practically at zero, was now back up to one third. What was more, the bonuses from my Animal Control skill kicked in, improving his attack and defense along with an additional twenty percent attack bonus from the first specialization. I also gave Uvari-Dor-Shu the Pack Hunter perk to improve all his combat characteristics, Bloodthirsty to heal wounds when he hit and Thick Skin for better armor. The huge bear gave a deafening bellow and threw himself on his three enemies, now confident he could take them down. A few swipes of his powerful clawed paws and all three players were dead, while my fighter was practically back to full health. Great!

  Animal Control skill increased to level 68!

  Achievement unlocked: Player killer (124)

  So, now I wanted to know about my daughter’s fiancé. Where was he, and was he even alive? I stood up on Fimbulthul’s back and looked around. Over there! See-Uhn-Rhu was alive and fighting, throwing darts at an overgrown bull that had charged through the first row of my shield orcs and was now hanging off the second row’s spears. Great! See-Uhn-Rhu was also added to the Gray Pack as were four other randomly-chosen rougarou, and I set perks for them all.

  Here I noticed a large group of enemy archers in the distance exchanging volleys with my Drow elves, and chucked three Ice Grenades into the very thick of the enemy bowmen. Some lines ran by telling me the damage I’d dealt and the experience gained, but I didn’t much care about that. I was fighting to regain control of my army, but my right and left flanks were faltering and retreating in total disarray. Orcs and rougarou, minotaurs and giants were all running in a panic. Some even threw down their weapons. Only the dark elves were still holding out, but many archers had already been forced to stash their bows and trade melee blows with the enemy’s armored warriors.

  “Hold formation! Shields in a line! Form a ring! Bowmen in the center!”

  Warchief skill increased to level 31!

  Warchief skill increased to level 32!

  I set an example for the soldiers and stood on the front line. I twisted the neck of a level-78 Dwarf Berserker attacking an orc pirate next to me and vampire-bit an albino tiger attacking my Fimbulthul, killing the enemy pet in one Vampire Bite.

  Achievement unlocked: Player killer (141)

  Level ninety-two!

  Racial ability improved: Taste for Blood (Gives +1% to all damage dealt for each unique creature killed with Vampire Bite. Current bonus: +45%)

  I managed to more or less beat back the panic. Many NPC’s obeyed my commands and stood in a circle. But still my army was dying. The number of green markers on the map was falling before my very eyes. Just ten steps from me, Shrekson Bastard had fallen, stuck full of arrows like a pincushion.

  After the commander died, his hundred went entirely out of control and began to panic, abandoning formation and just cravenly fleeing in a vain attempt to save themselves. There was no more reason to expect intelligent or organized actions out of these cowards. I just gave a separate command to the now level-145 Grave Curse to climb up high into the dark clouds so my valuable ghost would not be visible to enemy archers and mages. Then a half a minute later, I ordered him to fly back to my castle. I did not know whether the Grave Curse could break through the dome, but I at least tried to save its life.

  Achievement unlocked: Player killer (142)

  Seemingly the Midnight Wraith was stopped eventually, because the player killer messages had practically stopped. Or maybe the surviving players had simply fled from the indefatigable ghastly beast? But just then the situation at Frigid Lake became totally dire. There was barely a third of my army left and the enemy healers had already managed to heal their wounded, so my NPC’s were only rarely able to pick off wounded enemies.

  At that moment, Vaash jerked me by the shirtsleeve, drawing my attention. It hurt just to look at the commander of my second hundred. The troll now had no decent skin left, just cuts and burns. Even his renowned trollish regeneration was nothing against all those wounds, especially given that burns regenerated particularly poorly.

  “Captain Amra, save yourself and fly away on your winged snake! We’ll cover your retreat!”

  “Abandon my warriors?! Never!”

  “Captain, you must flee!” Now it was the voice of Ziabash Hardy, barely able to stay standing and wielding a magical flamberge instead of his favorite orcish yataghan, clearly having taken it from one of the undying. “Sovereign, you must survive and avenge us so our death will not have been in vain!”

  Well? If my very closest companions were demanding I save myself... I
guess I really needed to move my butt. But how to get out of here? Summon VIXEN? Wasn’t summoning magic forbidden? Although... this wasn’t really magic, just calling my mount. I mentally called out to the Royal Forest Wyvern and asked her to immediately appear before me. But there was no response. No miracles...

  Here I had to turn my attention away, because a Throwing Net had covered me and Fimbulthul.

  Acrobatics skill increased to level 30!

  Athletics skill increased to level 34!

  I didn’t even take damage, deftly tucking in my limbs, rolling along the earth and wrapping myself in the ropes. Then I managed to stretch and break the net, as I also did with the second one that flew in shortly thereafter. Then the severely wounded Akella fell before my eyes, still holding a large blue bird in her jaws, clearly someone else’s pet. Irek also fell, speared straight through, then his Lobo let out a death howl as well, all soaked in his and others’ blood. And then my Fimbulthul also died, his icy-white fur gone red with matted blood.

  A net landed on me again, this time enchanted to constrict my movements and sap Endurance Points. Then an enchanted lasso and right after that a normal net. I couldn’t break through them all, and I didn’t even try. My vain attempts to free myself were met with cries of elation from the enemy camp. Knife in hand, Yunna ran up, having lost Gjöll somewhere and crouched down to help me cut through the nets. A few seconds later, there were only magical nooses left that couldn’t be cut with metal.

  “I’ll take it from here, you take Baron!” I said, pointing at the huge Alpha Swamp Wolf next to her.

  Yunna nodded in silence, grabbed her spear and ran over to her new mount. Baron never let anyone but his master up on his back before, but now the huge creature submitted to the goblin girl and allowed her to ride.

  And there I heard a familiar cry from the heavens! Well, there was my VIXEN! My pet Royal Forest Wyvern had flown in to save me!!! I started shouting to attract the flying snake’s attention.

  And it was so impressive, woah! The massive airplane-sized creature dived down from the low and dark clouds, practically scraping the ground. My little baby had grown so much! The wyvern’s level at one hundred ninety also impressed me. VIXEN passed over the rows of bewildered enemies, spraying them with a stream of boiling toxic acid. The shouts of pain hurt my huge sensitive ears. I could see a bunch of enemies VIXEN had killed, even more were wounded and writhing in pain, tearing off their smoking armor and trying to shake the burning acid off their skin.

  Achievement unlocked: Player killer (143)

  ...

  Level ninety-three!

  Achievement unlocked: Player killer (159)

  Just for that maneuver, my little sweetie gained three whole levels! But she couldn’t land. There were just too many enemies around me.

  “VIXEN, over there!” I pointed at a convenient part of the map. “Grab me right there!”

  I was again covered with throwing nets... And so many... Chai-nee Shu and See-Uhn-Rhu ran off to help, but I stopped my ward and her beau:

  “That won’t be necessary! Actually, I want them to throw all their nets and lassos! Let them think they’ve caught me!”

  I noticed that Chai-nee’s mouth was all bloody. Seemingly my ward had bit through an enemy’s throat. And how... Right through the net I touched the furry girl’s little head and... with one strong jerk of my hand broke my adopted daughter’s neck. No, undying, you won’t be getting my daughter today! See-Uhn-Rhu was bewildered with his jaw hanging as he watched the cold-blooded murder, and I ordered:

  “Now you go into battle. And try to take at least one undying with you! That way, after you respawn you don’t have to be ashamed to look your bride and rougarou commander in the eyes. After all, they were quite successful in this battle.”

  The Chieftain of the Clan of the Laughing Otter gave a nod and, with a fearsome roar, tore off into the very thick of the enemies. I then tried to cut the ropes holding me down. No, it was no use. My enemies had been quite generous with the nets, fifteen covering me at once. And that was without all the lassos and enchanted nooses. A couple of ice spells also flew in in a naive attempt to freeze and thus paralyze the Dark Sovereign. Fools! I had 100% defense against cold! Was that all? Were they all out of ways to hold me? Seemingly yes, because no more nets or spells followed.

  Well then, it was time for me to get out! I activated my vampire ability Incorporeity, which allowed me to slip through any obstacle like a ghost for thirty seconds, and effortlessly escaped the pile of nets. So, I had only thirty seconds, and I had to really run for it to reach the place I told VIXEN to land.

  Successful check for Cold Resistance!

  Dodge skill increased to level 40!

  Dodge skill increased to level 41!

  Someone tried to freeze me again using some especially powerful ice spell with a large area of effect and not particularly caring if they hit their allies. Thousands of icicles flickered before my eyes, the nearby area became blindingly white for a moment. Lots of players went down, from what I saw. Even berserkers and archers over level 150 died around me, instantly turning into frozen sculptures and honeycombed by the icy shrapnel. But the fearsome spell didn’t stop me.

  It was of course a shame that my enemies now knew I was totally immune to cold, but I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. I ran out of the icy frozen circle just as VIXEN dove down from the clouds and came in for a second run, spraying down acid and poison on everything below. The enemies scattered, hoping to avoid the path of the winged monster while VIXEN made a sharp turn and plopped down on the ground two steps away.

  Acrobatics skill increased to level 30!

  Riding skill increased to level 35!

  I only needed one second to jump into a somersault, then be on the back of the huge winged snake.

  “Let’s take off!!! And right into the clouds! Wait, we’ve got one more passenger to pick up!”

  At the last second, when VIXEN had already spread out her huge wings, I bowed low and grabbed the shoulder of an NPC warrior I landed near: a dark elf scout, level-117. Perhaps this was the last Drow elf I had left. I sat the rescued warrior in front of me, ordering him to hold on tight to the bony outgrowths on the wyvern’s back.

  The battlefield below flickered past, packed with enemies. There were just a dozen blue allied markers left on the mini-map, drowning in a sea of hostile red. Unfortunately, the enemies quickly realized what was happening and opened fire. I took a dart to the shoulder, which took my life down by three percent. Oh well, I didn’t even wince. My winged beauty cried out two times in pain, having taken three or four arrows to the chest. That was no good, but just a few flaps of her wings and we were back up in the black clouds. And then...

  I was blinded by a bright flash, and my ears started ringing from fearsome thunder. The Royal Forest Wyvern was thrown and spun by the shockwave. I could barely keep hold of her back. It most reminiscent of a nuclear explosion. When my eyes had somewhat readjusted, I managed to read the now fading words, which were hard to make out on the black clouds surrounding me:

  Damage taken: 0 (2040 light damage from level-204 spell Holy Armageddon, x200 multiplier for vampires = 408000 units HP. Light immunity 3 seconds)

  Successful Agility check!

  Acrobatics skill increased to level 31!

  Seemingly the enemies were just making sure they couldn’t take the Dark Sovereign alive and, in a desperate attempt to stop me at any cost, they had played their trump card. Two thousand units of base damage... Impressive! I suspected that lots of players had just been lain low down on the battlefield. And I hoped greatly that the clans that suffered would air their grievances. I desperately wanted a split to form in my enemies’ ranks...

  VIXEN, although she was already far from the epicenter, also took a good bit of damage. My flying snake’s life bar had fallen down into the orange. And the Drow elf got lucky. He was blocked from the spell and shockwave by the wyvern’s body and took no damage. Lucky bastard
. Well? I’d make him commander of the remaining Drow elves. They would do very well to have such a reliable and fortunate commander.

  Now the main issue was whether we could get through the magic dome above us. On the one hand, VIXEN had successfully passed through it before. On the other, they were usually one-way, so reinforcements could be brought inside, but nothing could get out. I didn’t want to risk it.

  “We’ll make it through!” I shouted with strain, and just then a hole appeared in the pulsating forcefield. It was just the right size for my winged wyvern.

  You have used 3 Direct Intervention Points

  You have 349 points remaining

  I made it out of the trap! Yes, my warband was smashed to dust and ash, I had lost three hundred loyal soldiers and, to be honest, it was a miracle I survived. The enemies simply didn’t know all my abilities. From here on out, I wouldn’t have the same advantage. Nevertheless, I was still in the mood for war. This was not my last battle. I could consider my mistakes and live to fight another day!

  VIXEN gave a squawk of lament. The arrows were buried deep in her flesh, causing my beauty serious pain. But I had no way of landing and pulling them out because we were flying over the cold black waters of Frigid Lake.

  “Hold on, my pretty! I know it hurts. I know you’re cold. But I promise to heal you, give you a tasty dinner of live animals, and a warm spacious room with a soft bed of fresh hay. You just get me to the castle!”

  The wyvern squealed out again, but this time totally differently, without any notes of pain. And she started flapping her emerald webbed wings faster, taking me west.