by Grey Arney
The Vampire bites for 35 damage.
The Vampire drains your blood! You are losing 1 hit point per second.
With 10 hit points left, Arcturus would be dead in just as many seconds, and he didn’t have the 10 mana needed to cast Burning Touch. His mana had regenerated to 8, and then he saw it tick to 9. It was now a race between hit point loss and mana point gain. When his hit points reached 6, his mana ticked to 10, and he tried to cast Burning Touch, but nothing happened. While locked in the vampire’s deadly embrace, he couldn’t use magic and he struggled even to move his fingers.
With only one option remaining, he feebly reached for the flaming torch on the ground next to him. His hit points ticked to 4, and then to 3. He was not able to grasp it to pull it towards himself. Instead, he pushed it with his hand, sending it rolling to the side of the vampire. The flame licked the vampire’s leg, causing it to pull back in surprise. It did almost no damage, but it was enough to free Arcturus from the creature’s grasp.
Your torch burns the Vampire, dealing 5 damage.
As he rolled away, Arcturus placed his hand over the vampire’s face while casting his last Burning Touch. This was the first time he had directly struck a creature in the head with the magical flames. Due to the direct hit to the face, the spell was supercharged, and for the first time the fire burned bright blue instead of orange. The vampire’s face sloughed off like melting butter as it burned through the eyelids to reveal a hideous wide-eyed expression. The face itself collapsed as the flames ate their way into the skull. The smoking husk of decaying meat sank to the floor.
Critical hit! You cast Burning Touch on the Vampire, dealing 743 damage.
The Vampire has died. You earn 950 experience points.
You have improved Fire Magic (Level 8)
Your Fire Magic is now stronger.
Arcturus immediately reached into his pack and ate some Soothing Chokeberries. He then desperately crushed some of them and rubbed them into the massive wound on his chest. His hit points began to recover, but he would not be able to reach full strength immediately. The master vampire was approaching.
Even if he had a full pool of health and mana, Arcturus would have had no chance of facing this challenge by himself. The vampire was upon him.
With a motion as casual as one might use to pick a loose hair off of another, the master vampire grabbed Arcturus, and threw him to the altar at the rear of the room.
The Vampire throws you. You receive 14 damage.
The vampire was advancing back towards him now. Arcturus was just now starting to pay attention to whatever conversation Lily had been having with the master vampire.
“Stop this, Tiran.” Lily shouted. “If you stop now, I will kill you, yes. But if you go through with this, I will melt your soul.”
“You won’t have the chance, Lilith,” returned Tiran. “Your time on Lydia is through.”
Lilith? Arcturus later learned that banishing Lily from Lydia for a hundred years until her respawn was not good enough for Tiran. He had planned to imprison her soul, which would kill her and also block her respawn indefinitely. That’s why he hadn’t simply killed her the day before. But to do so, he also needed to sacrifice another unlucky player, whose otherwise ordinary death would provide the spell its charge. If not for his usefulness as a magic battery, Arcturus would already be dead.
Tiran advanced on Arcturus, in no rush. The human was defenseless. Unlike the lesser vampires, Tiran was not afraid of fire. As he reached the altar, he grabbed Arcturus in an iron vise grip, lifting his head. A small, wicked knife appeared in his hands. It was crooked, like the shape of a snake, but razor sharp on all sides. It must have been a bitch to sharpen. The circle around Lily brightened as Tiran brought the knife down, preparing to cut into the aorta, spilling Arcturus’ blood and completing the imprisonment of Lily’s soul. Tiran held the knife still there, poised to strike, mumbling something under his breath. And it wasn’t a grocery list.
With no means left to defend himself, Arcturus scrutinized the vampire. He visualized something that he hadn’t seen before: a progress bar filling. This must have represented the completion of the spell being cast. He watched as it neared the end.
Desperate, and out of options, Arcturus screamed. “Lyle! Come!”
He did not expect for the wolf to hear him, nor for it to expend its own life diving into the cathedral, crashing through the glass window. That would be too much to expect from a mere dog.
That’s why he was truly surprised when every window in the cathedral shattered at once, and fourteen wolves poured in, heads down, landing on an icy sheet of glass shards, some bleeding, others with crumbled glass digging into matted and bloody fur, and at least one with a shard jutting out its shoulder, blood streaming from the wound.
With neither concern for pain nor any trace of fear, the wolves leapt upon the master vampire. His balance was tipped, and he flailed his arms as they pounced together, bringing him down to the ground easily.
When wolves hunt for food, the sight is not pleasant. But when they hunt to avenge their pack leader, their thirst for blood is cruel and sadistic. They ripped the vampire limb to limb, tearing entire chunks of flesh off of him as his last screams gurgled in his throat. They continued long after he stopped moving, tearing into him until he was unrecognizable. Arcturus wondered if they’d become vampire wolves.
And so much for looting that sweet robe off of him.
With the caster dead, the circle was broken and Lily was freed. “Oh, I didn’t know you were the king of all doggies! Good for you!” she said.
The first thing Arcturus did, before acknowledging her, before pitying himself, before searching for the awesome loot he could no doubt find here, was to tend to the injuries of his pack.
He analyzed the wolves and found that most of them were in good health and would heal themselves shortly. Two of them had more serious injuries, and he addressed these with Soothing Chokeberry.
Searching the room revealed little treasure, except for the wicked knife that had been held to his throat moments before.
You have found: Sacrificial Dagger (Attack +3-9)
This dagger is steeped in dark magic. Beings sacrificed with this will return to life as your servants. Use: one time per day.
The thought of raising dead bodies to fight for him was appealing, but after seeing such vile deeds practiced in the vampire den, Arcturus decided he’d rather stay away from it.
“Do you want this?” he asked Lily. Like an unopened bottle of rum, its temptation was sure to reach him someday if he held onto it long enough.
“That thing? No, you can keep it.” That was that.
Behind the altar was Tiran’s private chamber. It was a simple room, with a cot, a table, and a few books on a rickety wooden shelf. Among them Arcturus found some spell books, which Lily showed no interest in. She went straight for a set of three phials of blood that rested on a stand on top of the desk. It looked like something that would belong in a chemistry kit.
“I have all that I need. You can keep whatever else you find.” said Lily, turning to leave. Arcturus had been looking at the books he had looted.
You have found: Tome of Firefly
(Fire Magic). Summons a wisp of light that trails the user, following simple commands.
You have found: Tome of Hex
(Death Magic). Curses the target. Reduction in movement speed and all stats according to spell power.
After leaving the private chamber, Arcturus scouted around looking for items and gold, but found little else of value. There was, however, a huge trove of gold coins in the dark cathedral.
You have found: 53 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 Copper
Once outside of the building, Lily bade Arcturus farewell.
“I thank you for all of your help, my shining knight. But I must go now.”
Arcturus didn’t want to get all sappy, but this was his only female friend in Lydia. And perhaps his only vampire friend ever. “Will I see you again?�
�� he asked.
“I’m sure our paths will cross again. I will visit you at your campsite, if you will have me. But you have now come to my aid three times, and I am in your debt.”
Lily took an empty glass phial out of her bag, and a tiny knife. With a practiced motion, she drew some of her own blood into the phial. Arcturus didn’t realize it at the time, but she was entrusting him with her life.
As she gave him the phial, Lily instructed him how to use it. “This will increase all of your stats tremendously, but leave you weakened for 24 hours. Use it carefully.”
CONTRACT
In exchange for Lily’s blood, you must swear never to reveal it to another. Do you agree (Yes/No)
Only you will be able to see the blood for what it is. If you break this vow, the blood will disappear immediately. All terms of the contract, including fulfillment and annulment, are enforced by the universe itself.
Arcturus chose yes, and was rewarded.
You have found: Blood of the Vampire Queen
This unique item can be used to increase your stats for five minutes. You will be weakened for 24 hours after that.
After bestowing her gift, she turned back into a bat, and disappeared into the night—without so much as a peck on the cheek to say goodbye.
Arcturus reviewed the notifications he had been ignoring since the struggle with Tiran.
Tiran has died. You earn 9,500 experience points.
You have completed the quest: Vengeance of the Vampire Queen
You have helped Lily, the Queen of Vampires, to annihilate an entire coven of the creatures.
- + 15,000 experience points
You have leveled up! Level 11. You have new skill points to spend.
That left Arcturus with dozens of canine eyes staring at him expectantly. Since the wolves hadn’t returned home immediately, he took that to mean that dinner was on him tonight.
CHAPTER 6
Feeding a pack of wolves is no easy task. An ordinary pack would have six or seven of the critters, but the Blackfang pack had thirteen. A single doe wouldn’t be enough for them to eat. And since they had saved his life with an incredible act of bravado, Arcturus was going to treat them to a feast. Thankfully, they were happy to help with that, too. Arcturus found that, just like Lyle, the wolves would respond to simple commands. So he used them to herd game.
Having decided on his hunting strategy, Arcturus headed into the woods just north of the campsite, with the whole pack at his heels. He sent Lyle ahead to scout. When Lyle discovered something, he sent the pack around the side to flank the animals and herd them towards his position. Together, the team was able to bring in several prizes. It was more of a harvest than a hunt. Before morning, they had felled two deer and a boar. As the alpha, Arcturus claimed some of the prized meat for himself and Lyle. Then he let the other wolves eat their fill.
Now that he had returned the favor, he had to decide what to do with the wolf pack. He could dismiss them and send them back to Blackfang Ridge, but Arcturus had other plans. When all were happy, he led them to his campsite. He created a tunnel through the vines and beckoned them to crawl inside.
Now there were wolves all around. Arcturus intended to change the sleeping arrangement the next day. For now, he was exhausted. He instructed them to stay away from the big tree where he and Lyle slept, and he designated an area for them to defecate. Hoping that was enough, he laid down and slept better than he ever had since awakening in Lydia.
The next day, Arcturus woke after noon. There was much to do.
The first thing he did was read the spellbooks. The new Firefly spell was going to be useful; no more carrying torches around. It had no offensive capabilities, but it offered much-needed light in dark places. Nightvision only worked in places with at least some low-level illumination. No animal can truly “see” in absolute darkness.
Upon reading the Tome of Hex, and practicing on a nearby bird, Arcturus discovered a new school of magic.
You have learned a new skill: Death Magic (Level 1)
Your vampirism-tainted blood qualifies you to learn this rare magic. Death Magic focuses the power of corruption, disease, and death itself. At the highest levels, Death Magic will allow you to bring the dead back to the world, where they will serve you for eternity, or until they are destroyed.
You have learned a new spell: Hex
(Death Magic). Curses the target. Reduction in movement speed and all stats according to spell power.
The next thing he did was to give the wolves clearer instructions. They were to protect his campsite and serve as guard dogs, but they’d need to hunt for their own food. He instructed them to stay within one mile if possible, so that they could return in less than five minutes if he needed them to.
Next, he intended to further fortify the campsite. An idea had occurred to him, so he went outside of his camp perimeter and found two small saplings. Grasping one in each hand, he began to braid them together, slowly pouring his Earth mana into them. They started to grow taller. At his current level, the rate was slow. He patiently continued this, eating Purple Toadstools and braiding the trees together until they were noticeably bigger. Then he introduced a third. By carefully directing his mana, he was able to braid four trees together in a chain. And he was convinced that if he had enough mana and spellpower, he would be able to create a wall of living trees around his campsite. Satisfied that his test was successful, he moved several paces along the perimeter and repeated the process.
You have improved Earth Magic (Level 7)
Your Earth Magic is now stronger.
Continuing this way would not yield a wall of trees any time soon, but it would get the project started. And he would be able to increase his Earth Magic level substantially. So, with no better place to call home, Arcturus worked towards fortifying his shelter for a long time. After several hours, he took a break and looked at his latest notification.
You have improved Earth Magic (Level 13)
Your Earth Magic is now stronger.
As his Earth Magic got stronger, the trees would grow faster with even less mana. It was still an incredible undertaking, but it was starting to seem more probable. Now he had established braids of the trees at intervals of about four feet apart. Unfortunately, his skill progression had slowed quite a lot. Initially, he had reached level 10 in about an hour, but now it was more than an hour since he had last increased his level.
Since there were no more saplings left to work with, he was going to have to introduce new ones. Gathering fallen acorns, he set about plotting the path where he would plant them. Rather than planting directly in between the braids of trees, he decided to establish a second row of braided trees instead, as the roots of the new trees would also need somewhere to grow. His design looked like a circle made out of a zig-zagging line of braided trees. He got to work planting the acorns and growing them with his magic, all the while eating Purple Toadstools.
You have improved Earth Magic (Level 16)
Your Earth Magic is now stronger.
After another two hours or so, the zig-zag was starting to form. His Earth Magic had also progressed, although much more slowly. He dealt with many small problems along the way. This use of Earth Magic was nothing more than accelerated growth. If the trees couldn’t get sunlight, or their roots couldn’t reach deeper into the soil, it wouldn’t work. So he often found himself improvising. When he had run out of daylight, he sat near the campfire, experimenting with Crafting. This skill had been disappointing. Maybe it was because he lacked tools and supplies, but he was unable to make anything of use. Instead, he decided to practice his Shapeshifting. His first goal was to be able to shift into something that could fly. It would be a good way to make a hasty escape, and it could also be useful for scouting. Because his Shapeshifting level was too low to learn bird shapes, he experimented on a flying insect instead.
Do you wish to learn the shape of the Arbor Moth (Level 1)?
At Level 2, you may only remember one sha
pe at a time. Learning a new shape will cause you to forget this one. (Yes/No)
Once again he shrank down into moth form. After a quick test flight, he got sick of being such a disgusting creature and shifted back.
You have improved Shapeshifting (Level 3)
You can now learn new shapes: most insects, some reptiles and amphibians.
The skill leveled quickly, which was good because he could still only use it once per day.
Another day passed like this, and then several more. He worked on the walls in the daytime and experimented with Shapeshifting in the evening. He had just finished another transformation into a moth when he got the notification that he had leveled up again.
You have improved Shapeshifting (Level 5)
You can now learn new shapes, including most insects, some reptiles and amphibians, and some smaller birds.
For the first time, the notification alluded to birds. One of his next tasks would be to capture one and try to transform into it.
He made a great deal of progress on the wall during this time, too. With the wolves standing guard, and no shortage of food, Arcturus was able to build up an impressive fortification. Now he had a dense ring of trees surrounding his campsite. They were about as thick as a man’s upper leg in diameter, so it was still possible to crawl through them in many spots. But with time, it would become an impenetrable wall of living wood. He had enlarged the area of the camp to include an expansive section of woodland. If all of the trees were felled, a small town could be built here.
On the previous day, he had helped the wolves burrow a small den for themselves on the edge of his campsite. He found that he could use his Earth Magic to retract roots and build tunnels. The wolves were excellent diggers, and weren’t afraid to get dirty. He still had them defecating in a designated area but at least now they would mostly stay out of his way between hunts.
The trees were much larger now, and if he tried to grow one, it would absorb hundreds of mana and barely move. That meant it was time to create a new curtain of vines outside of the encampment. And this one would need to be more than ten feet tall. Once that was completed, Arcturus made a new ring of thorns outside of the barrier of trees. Instead of blackberries, which could attract unwanted attention, he used a flowering bush he had found with long, sickly barbs.