by Aaron Oster
“Or maybe, ‘there’s no one who can save you now,’” Emma continued. “That one might sound cheesy, but it’s a classic.”
“What about—?”
“Enough!” More Dread roared, cutting the two of them off.
His face was red with rage and his teeth were clenched in anger.
“You have no hope of survival!” he said, raising his sword as the red light intensified.
Energy crackled around his weapon, lashing out and ripping chunks of stone from the floor. Sam could feel the immense amount of power built up in that sword and knew if it hit any of them, they would die on the spot. A nasty smile twisted More Dread’s lips as he brought the sword down.
“No one can save you now!”
A massive explosion shook the dungeon just as the sword began its descent. The ground before them exploded a moment later, a dust cloud billowing up, making everyone, including Sam, stumble from the force of the impact. There was another explosion, and red energy flashed, sparking overhead and branching toward the walls far above them.
“What the hell was that?” Barry screeched, flapping up into the air.
“That,” Emma said, “was our way out.”
“Huzzah!” A cheerful and very annoying voice sounded out from the dust cloud. “Fear not, noble knights! For I, the noblest of all, Sir Spearlittle, have come to thine aid! The foul More Dread shall not leave this place alive!”
The dust cleared then to reveal the knight, shield raised above his head. More Dread’s sword lay against it, the dark knight looking very annoyed at the man’s interference. Gawk Wayne and Percy Valor cried out in relief, a stark contrast to how they’d greeted the news of his involvement earlier, and Sam just grinned.
“Oh, trope, you predictable bastard. I knew you’d come through!”
31
Sam leveled his staff, using Mana Shot on More Dread as he stood there, frozen in place. It barely did any damage at all, as witnessed by the notification.
You Deal: -2 Damage to More Dread (Mana Shot).
“It’s useless, boy!” roared the knight, pulling his sword back and going for another attack.
“Not so fast, villain! Have at thee!” Spearlittle yelled, bringing his lance to bear.
Can he get any cheesier?
“Why did you attack?” Emma asked in confusion.
“So I can get some XP when they take him down,” Sam replied with a shrug.
“Oh. Makes sense,” Emma said with a nod.
“What are you all just standing around for?” More Dread roared as Spearlittle fought him off. “Attack!”
“Looks like we’re about to have some company,” Sam said, brandishing his staff. “Can the two of you fight? Maybe help Spearlittle?”
“I’ll take the bastard down!” Gawk Wayne roared, charging straight into battle and taking a swing at More Dread.
“You know, I’m not really suited for fighting, so maybe I’ll just…” Percy began, only to be stopped by Emma.
“Oh, no, you don’t, you little coward! We came here to save you, so the least you can do is fight for yourself!”
The knight gave her a sour look, then nodded and moved in to assist in taking down the enemy knight.
“It seems like all these Knights of the Oval Cushion are all extremely weird and quirky,” Emma noted, preparing herself for the incoming horde.
“Really?” Sam asked, firing off his Over-Burn. “Could have fooled me.”
“How about we fight now and speak later?” Gordon asked, his body shifting and expanding as he used his most powerful ability.
“Good thinking, you damn mutt!” Barry screeched from up above, already pelting the enemy with exploding poop.
“Just make sure you get an attack off on More Dread,” Sam called as Emma was about to take off. “It’s a rare opportunity to take down such a powerful enemy.”
Emma gave him a nod. Then she was off, flashing in between the forces and beginning her assault.
Sam turned his attention fully to the surrounding battle. The knights were in the center of the room, sending off massive shockwaves and dishing out huge attacks. Everyone was moving around to attack their small group. Gordon and Barry had taken the right flank, tearing their way through the relatively weak guards, while Emma took the left.
That left Sam with ranged support, so he began casting his abilities, launching Mana Burns and Shots into the crowd, aiming for those who were trying to encircle his friends, making sure that they would all come out of this alive.
His attacks were effective, especially in such tight quarters, and the enemy guards began dropping like flies. However, it was inevitable that some would break through and target him, and who else but the strongest could manage to do so?
Sam grimaced as two guards broke free of the crowd. They were both dressed in chain mail and carrying swords, though the one on the right’s seemed to be of a finer make. It was obvious from their dress that they were important, and Sam used Inspect to get a better idea of what he was facing.
HUMAN
Name: East Kingdom Warrant Officer
Gender: Male
Class: Warrior
Level: 17 - HP: 430/430 MP: 0/0 - STA: 380/380
Status: Aggressive
Greatest Threat: Pierce
HUMAN
Name: East Kingdom Lieutenant
Gender: Male
Class: Blade-Warrior
Level: 20 - HP: 480/480 MP: 50/50 - STA: 500/500
Status: Aggressive
Greatest Threat: Flurry Strike
It seemed like one’s rank in the East Kingdom’s military correlated to their level. He was at a higher level than the both of them, but they were melee fighters while he was a ranged caster. If it came to an up-close and personal battle, he would undoubtedly lose. Sam knew he needed to devise a strategy so that he could defeat them both.
They charged at him, and Sam used his Mana Flare to knock them both back. Then he used Mana Shot, targeting the Warrant Officer first. The weaker of the two would go down faster and take more damage, due to the level difference. The Lieutenant would be much harder to deal with, but fighting one enemy was much easier than facing two.
The Lieutenant charged in, staggered for less time than the Warrant Officer, and swung for his head. Sam’s Mage Shield blocked the attack and he continued focusing on the weaker of the two. A single Mana Burn was all it took to finish him off and Sam turned his attention back to the Lieutenant just in time to catch a sword to the face.
“Motherfucker!” Sam yelled as the sword bounced harmlessly off.
His Mage Shield would be active for eight seconds, but he was still human, and the sight of a glittering bar of death coming right for his face had made him flinch.
“Let’s see if your magic can block this!” said the Lieutenant, pulling his blade back for another strike.
The sword began glowing a dull green, and Sam knew what would be coming next. His Mage Shield could block physical attacks, but it would do nothing against abilities using Stamina.
“Yeah, no thanks,” Sam said, raising his staff and using Mage Bolt.
There had been a few more guards who’d broken off from the main group and were rushing to help their Lieutenant. They all stopped then, frozen in place when the jagged bolt of electrified mana shot from the staff, piercing through their commander and hitting them.
“Finally! Something goes my way!” Sam cheered as everyone who’d been hit, including the Lieutenant, fell to the ground, their bodies spasming and convulsing.
He ignored all the notifications saying that he’d paralyzed guard number whatever and focused his firepower on the downed Lieutenant.
“This is gonna hurt you a lot more than it’ll hurt me,” Sam said, leveling the staff and firing a Mana Shot right into the face of the opposing Lieutenant. “But hey, look at the bright side,” Sam said as a flash of burning mana impacted with the man’s chest. “At least the system is sparing your life by only knocking you…O
h, you’re out already.”
East Kingdom Lieutenant has collapsed! +1,825 XP
Sam turned his attention back to the battle, noting that More Dread was looking increasingly haggard as he warded off the attacks of all three knights. Had it only been Spearlittle, he might have stood a chance, but with the assistance of Percy and Gawk Wayne, he was quickly losing ground.
“Damn you all!” he screamed as Spearlittle’s lance glowed a bright gold before piercing him straight through the heart.
An explosion of black mist fired from the damaged breastplate, and the three knights stepped back as More Dread fell to one knee.
“Huzzah! The black knight has fallen!” Spearlittle cried, waving his lance in the air. “The machinations of thine evil mistress shall soon be put to a swift end, fiend. Now, I send thee to the underworld!”
The entire battle seemed to freeze at that moment, everyone staring as Spearlittle raised his lance, which was now shining a brilliant gold. He then brought it down with a flourish. The ceiling above them was blasted apart as a beam of golden light descended, engulfing More Dread and burning him to ashes.
More Dread dies! +12,200 XP
“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Sam yelled, now wishing he could have done more damage to the dark knight.
He was sure he’d have gotten more XP if he’d gotten off a few more attacks. However, even a tiny fraction of the XP from a level 50 was massive, so he couldn’t complain.
Spearlittle turned to the bewitched soldiers, all of whom were staring at him with blank expressions on their faces.
“Thine evil master has been defeated. You are now free, my lesser kingdom guard! Come, join me, and together, we shall vanquish the evil that is Borgana the Frayed. By my great name, I do swear this…wait, what art thou doing?”
The soldiers, instead of laying down their arms, all turned and targeted Spearlittle. This was just fine with Sam. He wanted nothing more than to get out of this damn prison and get this quest over and done with. He very much regretted ever telling the princess he would do this for her and hoped that it wouldn’t be too much longer before they were facing down this enchantress.
“How are you holding up?” Emma asked as she jogged over to him.
“I’m fine,” he replied, slinging his staff over his shoulder. “I just want to leave before any more guards decide to come and join the party. Spearlittle’s last attack wasn’t exactly subtle.”
“I’ll say!” Emma replied, looking up to the massive hole in the ceiling. “If he wasn’t such a dick, I might actually be impressed.”
Barry came gliding down to land on Emma’s shoulder then, and Gordon trotted out of the swarming soldiers a moment after.
“Do you think we can go now, or do we need to wait for him to confirm the next part of the quest?” Sam asked, watching the knight singlehandedly destroying the attacking army.
“We did technically free the two knights,” Emma said, pointing to Percy Valor and Gawk Wayne, both of whom were standing off to one side and eyeing Spearlittle with obvious distaste.
“Perhaps we ask them to join us in our escape?” Gordon suggested. “This way, we fulfill the tenant of the quest by removing them from the dungeon entirely.”
“Good thinking there, buddy,” Sam said, waving his arms to get the Knights’ attention. “Hey, we’re leaving!” Sam called out. “Wanna come along?”
The two knights shared a look, then, shrugging, jogged over to join them.
“Great,” Sam said when they caught up to them. “It’ll be a bit of a climb, and we’ll have some fun busting out of the city, but I’m sure we can manage.”
“Why don’t you just take the secret passage Spearlittle used to get in?” Percy asked, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.
“There’s a secret passage?” Sam asked, deadpan.
“Yes,” Gawk Wayne replied. “Just on the second level. It leads right out of the city. Isn’t that the way you came in?”
“I am going to fucking kill that guy!” Sam yelled, feeling his rage mounting.
“Ah, I see,” Percy said, catching on to what was going on. “That asshat Spearlittle didn’t want to tell you about it because of his stupid idea of a ‘knight’s code.’ I swear, if he wasn’t such a good fighter, the king would have exiled that moron ages ago!”
“Ha-ha! Come to thine ends, creatures of darkness!”
“What the hell is up with the way he talks?” Emma demanded.
Both knights shrugged.
“We have no idea,” Gawk Wayne said. “The idiot just started talking that way one day for no apparent reason. He was pretty normal once upon a time, but the more his fame grew after defeating that dragon, the bigger his head became.”
“There are actual dragons in this world?” Sam asked, wide-eyed.
“Unfortunately, yes, though the monster he slayed was most likely a drake rather than a real dragon.”
“What’s the difference?” Emma asked.
Gawk Wayne shrugged.
“Drakes are much smaller, less armored, and weak to magic. The average dragon is well over thirty yards long from nose to tail, has an innate resistance to any and all magics, and they have been known to wipe out entire nations. The more powerful ones can measure up to a mile in length and wipe entire races from the face of Somerset, though their like hasn’t been seen in millennia.”
“Fascinating as this history lesson is,” Emma cut in. “Maybe we can continue it outside the city. I can hear more guards coming, and I honestly don’t feel much like fighting off an army.”
Gawk Wayne shrugged, then motioned for her to lead the way. Emma rolled her eyes, then motioned the knight forward instead.
“In case you’ve forgotten, none of us know the secret way out.”
“Ah, of course. If you’ll follow me, then,” he said, taking the lead.
Sam followed along behind her, still fuming at the idiot knight who could have saved them all this trouble. A secret passage into this dungeon would have really come in handy when they were breaking in. In fact, they could have saved themselves days of planning and 30 gold, had the moron just told them where to enter.
Spearlittle was going to pay when this was all over. Big time!
32
The secret passage was hidden by a seamless block of stone that, when pushed in just the right way, swung easily to one side. The passageway was well-lit, smooth, and sloped upward in a gentle incline.
They walked along in silence, keeping a single-file line as they headed out of the city. It was a long, boring walk, and Sam used the time to examine the new notifications he’d silenced during his battle.
SKILL RANK UP!
Congratulations! Your Inspect skill has advanced from Intermediate to Advanced!
Inspect: If you stare at someone long enough, eventually, you’ll crack open their minds
Level: Advanced 31 (7%)
Effect: Even more in-depth information on people, monsters, and items. You may now glean more information on higher tier items, including estimated prices
ABILITY RANK UP!
Congratulations! Your Mana Shot ability has advanced from Intermediate to Advanced!
Mana Shot: Fire a beam of condensed mana. You may now fire an additional three smaller shots. You can now select multiple targets at once and use Spread Shot sub-ability.
Level: Advanced 31 (17%)
Damage: 17-22 (+8-11 Damage 2nd - 4th shots)
Spread Shot Damage: 13-18
Cost: 25 MP
Range: 30 Ft
Cast Time: Instant
Cooldown: 2 Seconds
Sam grinned as he dismissed the notifications. He’d been waiting quite some time for the Inspect skill to finally reach the Advanced stage, but to have Mana Shot reach it at the same time and give him the ability to target multiple opponents at once was amazing! Deciding to test out his improved Inspect, he stared at Emma’s back for a moment before her information appeared.
HUMAN
Gender: Female
Class: Nimble-Warrior
Level: 23 - HP: 560/560 - MP: 50/50 - STA: 1,030/1,030
Status: Distracted
Greatest Threat: Charge Strike (Ability)
Highest Attribute: Agility (122)
Not much of a difference where people are concerned, Sam thought as he dismissed her status. But that was to be expected.
He thought that the first time he’d be getting some really useful information, like a weakness or their full attribute layout, would be at the Master rank or higher. Next, he tested the item function by Inspecting the pendant hanging around his neck.
ITEM FOUND!
Name: Pendant of the Novice Mage
Durability: 132/140
Rarity: Rare
Quality: Sturdy
Effect: +3 Intelligence & Wisdom
Estimated Value: 33 Gold
Sam let out a low whistle when he saw the pendant’s true value. Who knew that an item offering such a small stat increase would cost so much? The fact that it was worth so much just added to the fear of how much an Elixir, which offered a permanent increase, would cost. He next tried to examine his Flintlock, but the price didn’t show.
He had an Epic item and tried that after, but that was likewise unsuccessful. That being done, he concluded that until the Master rank, he would be unable to see the pricing of anything above Rare. He wasn’t at all bothered by this, because he was headed on the right track.
Examining his Mana Shot again, Sam wondered if there would be some sort of Master Perk when he reached that rank.
Well, nothing I can do about that but wait and see.
By the time he finished and dismissed the window, he could already see the end of the tunnel. They’d been walking for nearly twenty minutes by this point, so when they finally emerged into the open night, more than half a mile outside of the city, Sam was infinitely grateful.