The Retired S Ranked Adventurer (The Shatterfist Book 1)

by Wolfe Locke

  Notification: Class Unlocked - Necromancer

  Details: Necromancers subvert the natural order of the land to raise their minions. Once the pathways of Necromancy have been unlocked, it cannot be forgotten and leaves those touched permanently changed.

  Notification: New Minion Unlocked - The Frozen Dame

  Details: ?????

  Notification: Level Up! You are now level 16

  Details: You have passed the 100 experience threshold to level up. You have earned +1 to Magic, +1 to Mana, and +2 to Health

  Status – Zander - Level 16

  Class – Necromancer

  Race – Post-Human – Sub-Type Elven

  Health, 40>41 Mana regen per hour, 18 Attack, 12 Defense, 39>40 Magic 16>17

  Abilities:

  Summon Monster -

  *Golem – Mana Cost – 40 - Summons a Golem of Stone from the Netherworld to come to your aid. This summon is a permanent companion and has no time limit. It has 200 Health, 30 Defense, and 29 Attack. If destroyed, it can be resummoned once a day.

  * Hawk – Mana Cost – 30 - Summons a Spirit Hark for 3 minutes that allows the summoners to see through the Hawk. After 3 minutes, the Hawk returns to the Netherworld. Has 20 Health, 3 Defense, and 1 attack.

  * Summon Ice Dame - Mana Cost - 20 - ???

  **********************************************************************************************************************************

  Chapter Two: Welcome! To the Future

  The woman sat up with a start, frantically gasping for breath. She had blue skin and was covered in ice crystals, and Zander could feel the frost magic spilling off of her. He slowly moved away, trying not to startle her. She was still desperately struggling to inhale, almost choking as she fought for air.

  “I don’t think you need to breathe,” he said gently. “You’re undead.”

  “Undead?” she said. “That can’t be true. I just fell asleep a few minutes ago.”

  Notification: You have gained a party member, Celeste.

  Details: Found in a Cryopod, this ancient human has been reborn as a frost spirit bound to your service.

  She looked down at herself and yelped in surprise. She tried to brush the frost off of her body. It didn’t work.

  “What’s the last thing you remember?” Zander said.

  Celeste frowned. “I was…I was fighting. We were in the city and…something bad was happening. I don’t remember what it was. They were chasing us. Something. Inhuman. Dark things. I remember I turned—there was a little boy. My friends went on ahead, but I went back to save the little boy. He was crying. I was able to reach him, to touch his arm. And then, whatever was chasing us caught up. It got him first, then me. It was—”

  She winced, remembering.

  “—It was very bad.”

  “That sounds like the Harrowing,” Zander said. "But doesn't explain how you ended up in the pod."

  “The Harrowing?” She asked, the word and its meaning unfamiliar to her.

  “I’ll explain later.” He replied. Zander knew this wasn't the time.

  “Oh. I remember. When I woke up, the boy was gone. My friend Maxwell was carrying me on his back. He was running from something—from the same things that had been chasing us before. I was wounded, but still alive. He brought me into this building and sealed me into the pod. I think he hoped something like this would happen: that someone would find me in the future and heal me. As the pod sent me to sleep, I saw them break in. They killed Maxwell like they killed the little boy—”

  “And now you’ve been resurrected,” Zander said. “You’re a frost spirit now. You’re bound to my service—but in exchange, you can do powerful magic.”

  “Magic?” Celeste said, wrinkling her brow in confusion.

  The door thumped again, more loudly this time, and started to splinter. Zander could hear the Draugr shrieking outside.

  Enough talking, Rocktooth said, glaring at them. We’re going to have some action soon.

  “Let’s hope you know how to use your new powers,” Zander said, reaching for his own magic. “We’re going to need them.”

  “Powers!” Celeste said. “I don’t have any powers. I’m only human.”

  “I think you’re a little bit more than that!” Zander said, gesturing at her blue, ice-covered body. “I trust you can figure it out!”

  The Draugr smashed at the door again, and it splintered even further. Through the hole the monsters had created, Zander could see them milling about in the hallway outside. They were chittering to each other eagerly, and hungry for blood.

  Here we go, Rocktooth boomed. Are you ready?

  “Ready as we’ll ever be!” Zander shouted.

  He was worried. He’d already used a lot of his magic navigating the building, and resurrecting Celeste and binding her to him had drained him even more. He wasn’t sure if he had it in him to fight off the Draugr swarm.

  It seemed like every monster in the building had converged on the room, hoping to rip him and the undead woman apart with their teeth. This must have been why the Harrow had been so empty before. They had all been waiting down here in the depths, trying to draw him in.

  Another blow widened the hole the monsters had already created, and the first of the Draugr shoved its head through. It was hideous, vaguely human in form but bloated with death and black with rot. One eyeball dangled down its cheek, leaking fluid. Its teeth were jagged and yellow, and its mouth was coated with blood and gore.

  Glaring at him with its one remaining eye, the Draugr screamed and scrabbled at the door with its hands. Zander cast [Arcane Bolt] and it fell back. Almost immediately, another one took its place. He used [Arcane Bolt] again, blowing the new monster’s head off, only for it to be replaced with yet another. More Draugr clustered behind it, pushing their way forward in mindless rage.

  There are too many. He wasn’t going to be able to pick them off one at a time like this. He’d be fully drained of his magic long before he was able to destroy all the Draugr. Worse, they were still smashing at the door. They could swarm them. The door wouldn’t last much longer at this rate. There had to be another way.

  As if on cue, another piece of the door splintered off, and the monsters started to push their way into the chamber. Their eyes were wild, and their mouths opened and closed relentlessly with an unholy hunger that could never be satiated.

  “Rocktooth!” Zander shouted. “Your turn!”

  The golem stepped forward obediently. At your service.

  Rocktooth struck out violently with its smooth and powerful arms of stone, knocking three Draugr against the wall of the room. They shrieked and lay still, limbs contorted into unnatural positions from the force of the blow. Rocktooth held the line, smashing Draugr with its hands and crushing them beneath its feet. The monsters couldn’t get past it—at least, for now.

  Zander turned back to look at Celeste. She was cowering in a corner of the room, eyes wide with fear.

  “Wha—what are those things?” she said, almost sobbing. “They look like the monsters that were chasing us back in—back before.”

  “They probably are the same monsters,” Zander said. “Or similar ones. Draugr don’t age like we do. Eventually they wear out, but only if they get attacked or injured.”

  “Draugr?”

  “I will explain,” Zander said. “I promise. But not right now. How’s it going? Do you think you’ll be able to work any frost magic soon?”

  “Frost magic?” Celeste said, looking baffled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, I swear. I believe you when you say I do have that power, but I have no idea how to access it.”

  Zander hissed with frustration and looked back at Rocktooth. The golem was still doing well, but the gap in the door was widening and more Draugr were pushing their way through every second. It wasn’t long before his summon would be overwhelmed.

  “You need to figure it out!” Zander said. “I’m drained, and Rocktooth can only do so much! I resu
rrected you for this purpose!”

  “Resurrected—me?”

  A bloodcurdling shriek echoed through the chamber, and Zander’s stomach dropped. Monsters of the Dark. He’d only seen the creatures once or twice in his life, and he’d always run from them immediately. The stories he’d heard from those who’d tried to fight them chilled his blood.

  They were vicious and relentless creatures, reanimated corpses that had mutated into hideous forms. A Monster of the Dark, once aggravated, would stop at nothing until its opponents were dead on the ground and it was feasting on their flesh. And they were stuck with one in a doorless chamber, unable to escape.

  Zander! Help!

  Rocktooth was being swarmed by Draugr. The undead creatures couldn’t hurt a rock golem much, but they were driving it back. They piled on top of it and tried to knock it to the ground, and it staggered, almost dropping to one knee. His summon needed help, and it needed it now.

  “Rocktooth! Duck!” Zander said.The same awful shriek rang out again, closer this time, and it was answered by a matching one from further down the dungeon. The Monster of the Dark was calling to its allies, telling them there was a feast to be had here. That was very bad news.

  He couldn’t do anything about the Monster just yet, but he could at least help the golem. He whipped his staff around and pointed it at two Draugr that had leaped onto Rocktooth’s back and were trying fruitlessly to bite through its stone hide. [Arcane Bolt] dispatched them both.

  Rocktooth stumbled around the chamber, ripping Draugr off of itself, as Zander used his magic to help. The number of undead outside the door was reaching a critical mass, though. The situation was getting very dangerous.

  “Any luck?” Zander shouted back to Celeste, but she only shook her head. He groaned. What was the point of bringing back an undead frost spirit if she couldn’t control her own powers?

  “Well,” he said. “If any of them get close to you, don’t let them bite you. You’ll become one of them, and that’s the last thing we need!”

  The awful shriek of the Monster of the Dark sounded again, very close this time, and the Draugr all froze, jaws slack with confusion, vacant eyes darting in all directions. They dropped off of Rocktooth’s back in unison and backed away against the sides of the chamber, chittering.

  Get ready, Rocktooth said, voice booming in Zander’s head. It’s coming.

  “They’re coming,” Zander replied. “I’m almost sure there are two.”

  The horrifying, meaty slap of half-rotten flesh dragging against stone echoed through the chamber as the Monster approached. The Draugr cringed back against the wall.

  One by one, the Monster’s spindly arms gripped the doorframe. It was a modified corpse, six legged and naked, with a hideous man-like head. Its mouth was a gaping slash across his face, augmented with razor-sharp and rotting teeth. It screamed, and its breath smelled like carrion.

  Immediately behind it came the second Monster. This one had only two legs and a long meaty tail. It dragged its body along behind it with its forepaws. The upper half of its face was human, but the bottom half decayed into a mess of tentacles that looked like hanging intestines.

  They screamed to each other, clearly making a plan. Then, they turned to face Rocktooth and Zander. The Monsters advanced together, forming an impenetrable wall of flesh. Their hungry maws gaped, and their eyes burned with unquenchable rage.

  Zander fired [Arcane Bolt] after [Arcane Bolt] but the Monsters were completely unfazed. He tried [Cleanse Abomination], but he was running low on power. The lead Monster sneezed once, spraying them with viscous black phlegm, but otherwise the spell had no effect. Rocktooth tried to beat them back with his massive arms, but they ignored him and pressed forward relentlessly.

  Emboldened, the Draugr moved away from the wall and joined the Monsters in their attack. They lurched forward, gibbering eagerly at the prospect of the feast ahead.

  “Celeste!” Zander screamed. “Now’s the time! Now or never!”

  But there was no response.

  Zander tried to fire another [Arcane Bolt], but he was tapped out. The Monsters were less than two feet away now. He flinched as their sharp teeth drew close to his face. At least Rocktooth might get out of this all right, even if he didn’t.

  There was a loud noise, as if a massive window had shattered into a thousand shards of glass, and a flickering blue light filled the chamber. The Draugr and Monsters of the Dark fell back, shrieking. Zander turned, wonderstruck, to see Celeste standing tall behind him, glowing with ethereal power. Her eyes radiated their own internal light—a vivid electric blue.

  “You figured it out!” he said. “A bit late, but just in time!”

  She nodded and gestured at the nearest Draugr. [Ice Bolt] shot from her hands, freezing it in place on the spot. Rocktooth roared, re-invigorated, and smashed four Draugr to the ground—two with each arm.

  “Rocktooth!” Zander shouted. “Let’s clear the way for her! We get the Draugr, she gets the Monsters!”

  Understood. I’ll do my best. The golem responded.

  Celeste also nodded a confirmation, and the three warriors turned to face the undead together, as one. A united front.

  A globe of glowing ice formed in her hands, and she shot it at the six-legged Monster with a jubilant grin. It screeched and recoiled, crushing several Draugr as it did. Dark ichor oozed from a hole in its side. It was grievously wounded, but not dead.

  Celeste advanced on it and shot it again and again as it tried and failed to attack her. It was covered in ice, almost frozen solid, but it stubbornly kept trying to snap at her. Finally, she honed her frost magic into a thick, razor-sharp icicle and buried it in the beast’s throat. It choked, clawing at the weapon with its useless front paws, trying and failing to pull it out of its neck. Finally, it lay still. Celeste stood next to it, one hand still on the icicle, stunned and proud.

  Meanwhile, Zander and Rocktooth went in on the Draugr. Rocktooth churned their brittle limbs into pulp, while Zander drew on the last of his strength to blast their heads in with [Arcane Blast]. The Draugr tried to grab at them, but their resistance was useless and feeble. Slowly but surely, without the threat of the Monsters of the Dark, they were clearing out the chamber.

  Celeste was still standing next to the Monster she’d killed, staring at it in shock.

  “Take on the other Monster, Celeste!” Zander said.

  She jumped, suddenly coming back to herself. “Right! Right! The other Monster!”

  It was slithering behind her, groaning with fury, beady eyes focused on its dead companion. The tentacles dribbled from its mouth, looking raw and disgusting in the eerie blue light that emanated from Celeste’s magical form. She clapped her hands together and got to work just as it lunged at her. Its tentacles tried to wrap themselves around her arms.

  “Help!” she shouted.

  Zander turned and shot a quick [Arcane Blast] at the creature’s head. It squealed and rolled over on its side. Two tentacles dropped to the ground. Regrouping, Celeste raised another globe of ice into her hands. She directed [Ice Blades] at the monster, burying it beneath a massive barrage of ice shards. It tried to roll out of the way, but it was too slow and ungainly. Ichor dripped from a thousand wounds all over the creature’s body as it slumped to the ground. Its fat tentacles went slack, and it gave one final shudder and died.

  The Monsters were dead, but the room was still full of Draugr. Zander and Rocktooth were working to destroy them, but it was taking too long. They were running out of power, and Rocktooth’s movements were getting slower and slower. Celeste pressed her hands together and concentrated. Frost filled the room, covering the floor with ice. The Draugr froze solid and shattered into pieces, leaving the allies alone in the chamber, victorious.

  “You did it!” Zander said, feeling inordinately proud of her. “That was amazing.”

  “I—I—wow,” she said, looking woozy. “Was that magic?”

  The light slowly dimmed out of the chamber a
s her frost form left her. Her eyes went dark and rolled back in her head, and she collapsed to the ground in a dead faint.

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