End Online: Volume 6

by D Wolfin

  Despite everything, they drop a considerable amount of experience relative to their level; enough to push me over the edge and reach level 228. I have been dedicating a lot of time to killing enemies lately, but their levels have all been too low and aren’t giving me enough experience.

  “Gladox, how do you level so fast?” I ask curiously while picking up my portion of the items the enemies dropped.

  The four-eared wolf man momentarily grimaces before evasively saying, “Leveling speed isn’t everything. Focus on raising your stats more. Of course, if you were to give me Fen, then-”

  “Rejected! I was just a bit curious.”

  “…It was worth a try.”

  I don’t bother to banter with the man who has a fondness for NPCs. Instead, I quickly consume one of my self-created health potions before strolling around the walls of the temple to attract some more of the patrolling beasts. The potion didn’t taste that bad, so I can’t understand why everyone complains about them so much. Potions created from wild ingredients are completely free of charge, and only consume a small amount of time for item gathering and potion creation.

  It takes me five minutes to find two more groups of ‘Devil Goats’ and lure them back to the group. While running I sent a private message in warning so that Sir Laurence and Gladox are already up front waiting to defend when I get back.

  The formation is extremely similar to the previous two groups of enemies, the only difference being a minor adjustment due to most of the enemies directly pursuing me thanks to my aggravation. It’s a considerable hassle for me, but it takes a lot of pressure off the other members and allows my teammates to easily cut them down.

  I take the scouting position again and repeat this process until the remaining five groups of enemies that are scattered around are killed. A massive stack of ‘Devil Goat Horns’, ‘Negative Eyes’, some lesser weapons and armor, and an odd assortment of other miscellaneous drops fill my inventory. I can’t sell them for real money, and I don’t have the crafting skills to make anything worthwhile out of them, but the money will be extremely helpful to the guild.

  We group up outside the front of the temple and wait to recover our mana and health before entering. I have an ominous feeling about the place, though I don’t believe there will be any trouble we can’t resolve.

  “I’m ready to go,” I finally say as I choose a broken section of the walls to enter through.

  Gladox is the first to reply. “I’ve been ready for a while. It took you long enough.”

  “We can’t all be as good at deflecting attacks as you are. And even you couldn’t avoid all those dark magic spells.”

  “Two of us aren’t quite ready yet,” Verde chimes, patiently sitting as her mana recovers.

  Fen sits beside me and doesn’t move even though her health and mana have finished recovering. To pass the time she unexpectedly asks me questions about what I want in the future, which I myself don’t even know. As all of our stats except for Gladox’s can be seen in the party window, I watch Verde’s and Sir Laurence’s bars slowly refill.

  Lost

  lvl: 228

  Health: 3185/3185

  Stamina: 951/951

  Mana: 2380/2380

  Sir Laurence

  lvl: 237

  Health: 2908/3429

  Stamina: 699/699

  Mana: 612/842

  Verde

  lvl: 205

  Health: 2315/2437

  Stamina: 557/557

  -Companions-

  Fen

  lvl: 221

  Health: 4280/4280

  Stamina: 1345/1345

  Mana: 1490/1490

  Once they are done, I order, “Let’s go,” and move toward the opening in the wall.

  Slowly entering into the temple grounds, I notice a few solitary ‘Devil Goats’ wandering around in other areas, but there is nothing close enough to notice us.

  “Move as quietly as possible,” I whisper to the others. “We’ll scout the area first to find out the situation before deciding what to do. For some reason, I have a bad feeling about this place.”

  “Agreed,” the rest of the group reply in unison.

  Sticking close together, we head toward the inside of the front gate. As we get close, a ‘Devil Goat’ comes around the corner and alarms us all. I quickly wave my hand for all of us to quickly retreat and move around a small praying shrine before it can see us. I’m not concerned about the single goat, but the alarm it’ll raise will be more than troublesome.

  Unfortunately, not all plans work out the way they should. As soon as we go around the shrine, another goat comes out from the other side. Avoiding this one is impossible as it instantly notices us. The ‘Devil Goats’ shrill call echoes within the temple and alerts everything in a fifty meter radius.

  The clopping of hooves on stone and grass sound from everywhere but behind us, where we entered. I can tell from the cacophony that there are at least twenty of them, and decide that we should retreat to avoid being surrounded. At least then we can hold a position where the only direction they can approach is through the broken down section of wall. There isn’t another section like that for some distance, and the goats are unlikely to be smart enough to go around.

  My plan is instantly foiled. Behind us, the ground cracks open and ten skeletons, of similar structure to the goats but broader and with tails of fire, emerge. I glance behind me and my thoughts of twenty ‘Devil Goats’ was completely wrong too. There are thirty of them coming from different directions accompanied by three enormous bull like creatures that seem like they might crush the goats in their charge.

  Trying to keep myself from panicking, I quickly use ‘Creature Analysis’ on the two types of enemies I have never seen before.

  Name: Bone Beast

  Level: 210

  Health: 3350

  Mana: 650

  Stamina: 0

  ??

  Name: Hell Bull

  Level: 235

  Health: 3185

  Mana: 0

  Stamina: 700

  ??

  “$#!%,” I swear at the stats of the beasts. “This is a complete trap! The ‘Devil Goats’ are all level 160. What’s with this? Level 210? Level 235? This is no small hunting ground!”

  Gladox and Fen are the only ones who aren’t worried. Verde and Sir Laurence are in disbelief at how strong the enemies are. Unfortunately we are almost already surrounded so I give out orders rapidly.

  “We will charge out through the ‘Bone Beasts’, they’re magic types with a high health! Sir Laurence, bash them away with your shield. Don’t bother trying to kill them. Gladox, knock as many aside as you can. Verde, support Sir Laurence so none can attack him from the side. Fen, cover the ground under the enemies with ice so it will be easier to knock them back.”

  Our rush is uncoordinated at first, but we rapidly find our bearing with our positions. Fen does her job first, making a field of ice, only…

  “Damn it! Fen, it won’t help if we have to run on the ice as well.”

  Fen quickly melts a path through the middle, but it is still quite slick with water. The next part is up to Sir Laurence and Gladox. The ‘Bone Beasts’ however cast their spells before we can reach them, spitting out a thick miasma with similar properties to Fen’s earlier mini-blizzard: we suffer a small amount of damage over time, and it slows our speed down, albeit only by a quarter.

  They manage to get in another wave of attacks before we can reach them. Ten purple-black orbs of energy materialize around each ‘Bone Beast’ before lancing towards us. The collective attack is strikingly similar to my ‘Dire Starburst’, but it only deals about half the damage. My health drops to eighty percent after that second attack, and the others suffer about the same due to most armors (except those with special resistances) having little defense against magic attacks.

  Seeing such a familiar attack, I reflexively cast ‘Dire Starburst’ to send back an fiery flurry of similar quantity at the enemy. The miasma
between our group and the mobs is filled with shooting streaks of black and red as we get closer to one another.

  I don’t have the time to look behind me, but I can sense the rest of the enemies quickly closing in.

  We collide with the ‘Bone Beasts’ moments later, Sir Laurence being the most effective with his holy magic and shield bashing Sacred Art. Gladox is incomparable when deflecting attacks, but he seems to have some trouble knocking the enemies aside with his own initiative. It doesn’t matter much as the icy ground still causes them to slide back just far enough.

  I have no attacks that can knock back an enemy, so I just use up all my mana dealing as much damage to the group as possible. This way they will be easier to kill when we are in a more advantageous position.

  The enemy doesn’t seem to care about being knocked aside as they constantly send dark magic at us. The barrage of attacks grows unavoidable, dealing even more damage to us. I also notice that as time goes on, more and more attacks seem to be directed specifically at me.

  Just as we are about to break free of the enemies, a streak of red comes from the side and hits Sir Laurence and Gladox, blasting them nearly ten meters away and leaving the rest of us exposed. I see in the party window that Sir Laurence’s health drops by about thirty percent, a terrifying amount. I don’t know about Gladox, but his high level should give him at least twice as much health so it won’t be as bad for him.

  The red streak comes to a quick stop and is revealed to be one of the ‘Hell Bulls’. The red was the glow of a Sacred Art that allows it to do an instantaneous charge. It was at a speed that even I can’t compare to.

  “They can get out on their own, we are the ones still surrounded. Verde, fall behind Fen, we will keep going forward.”

  Right now there are only two more ‘Bone Beasts’ standing in the way. I use ‘Backstab’ to appear behind one of them and slash a few times with my short swords. Whether it is due to my attacks or the auto aggravation I constantly emit, the two ‘Bone Beasts’ blocking the way, as well as most of the others, turn to attack me.

  Fen and Verde easily slip out of the slowly closing circle of foes now that they are not under constant attack, but I am getting closer and closer to death as my health keeps plummeting.

  As soon as the two girls are out of the way I take a quick glance at Sir Laurence and Gladox to check on their condition. The prince and the four-eared wolf man are fighting against the raging ‘Hell Bull’, but no other enemies are targeting them so they aren’t under any pressure.

  My health drops to fifteen percent and I don’t wait any longer, hastily retreating to protect my life. Each death gives a heavy penalty to my agility stat, which is the main pillar for my character’s build. Dying a single time can take a full week to restore my stats back to their prior number.

  In my desperation, I consider using ‘Partial Draconic Transformation’, but quickly realize I wouldn’t be able to outfly the enemy’s magic attacks. With no other option, I run as fast as possible, leaving behind an afterimage that misdirects everything apart from the wide-area attacks and charge out through the broken wall.

  With the wall to protect me from enemy attacks, I use the brief respite to quickly drink a few health potions and then chew on the most effective herb I have, ‘Red Medicinal Herb’, to stimulate my health to keep recovering. I also give some to Fen, but she adamantly refuses to drink the potions and only eats the herbs. Verde has her own potions prepared so she uses them and also rejects my offer of goodwill.

  Before we can get too relaxed, the enemies come charging out the broken section of wall and turn toward me. I can no longer afford to hold back, and I don’t have the strength to seal the gap with the half-buried blocks of masonry around us. I use ‘Partial Draconic Transformation’, my weapons disappearing from my hands as they are unequipped by the system.

  The snow white scales start covering a large portion of my body and my hands turn into deadly draconic claws. Two pure white wings spread from my back and the transformation is complete.

  “Fen, all-out attack! Verde, strike when you have a chance!” I command as I take to the air and fly above the nearest enemy.

  I leave an afterimage even in the air, so the enemy’s stronger single-target attacks have difficulty hitting me. I drop down from the air and land on top of the enemy, knocking it to the ground. My mana has recovered somewhat so I throw two ‘Minor Dire Fireballs’ at the other nearby ‘Bone Beasts’ before slashing at the one beneath me.

  Dark Magic attacks are constantly launched at me and some of the ‘Devil Goats’ are also now stampeding out of the temple. I reflexively spread my wings out in front of me and block the magic. I am still damaged by the attacks, but the defense increase surprises me greatly. I never knew the wings could be used for such a purpose.

  ‘Could this skill have hidden effects that aren’t written in the description?’ I wonder to myself.

  The ‘Bone Beast’ beneath me quickly dies despite the fact that its level is equal to mine and it would normally require careful planning to take down solo. Fen’s attacks fill the air and attack the other beasts to take down two more. I can see the health bars of the enemies nearby, and all the ‘Bone Beasts’ are now near death.

  Once all the magic type enemies are dead, the enemy monsters have lost their long distance attacks. The ‘Devil Goats’ can still use magic, but it is incomparable to the damage done by the ‘Bone Beasts’.

  I flutter around the enemies that are charging out and start picking off ‘Devil Goats’, cutting large chunks of their health off with heavy attacks. I deliberately avoid the two remaining ‘Hell Bulls’ and keep flying into the air in order to avoid their charging Sacred Art. They are currently under my aggravation so I have no concerns about them attacking the other party members for the moment.

  Despite my being in the air, Fen’s magic is under her impeccable control and not a single one of her attacks hit me.

  When only a few ‘Devil Goats’ are still alive, Sir Laurence and Gladox emerge from within the temple. Gladox, who has never seen my other form before, stands rooted to the spot with his jaw dropping so low it nearly falls off his face.

  “That’s awesome!! So you were a dragon race! How come I didn’t get a cool race like that!?” Gladox yells and points at me.

  I frown slightly at the distracting shout but keep my attention on the enemies. The two new arrivals soon join in on the battle, Gladox being slightly delayed by slowing to admire my snowy white ‘Partial Draconic Transformation’ and shouting compliments.

  “You use fire right!? Can you also use ice!? Fen can. If you can combine fire and ice into one attack in that form, it would be perfect!!” Gladox is enthusiastically going on about something I don’t understand as the last ‘Hell Bull’ falls to the ground dead.

  My dragon form has triple my standard defense, and even the ability to use some parts of my body as a shield, but despite all that my health has fallen back down to dangerous levels. There isn’t as much of a rush now as we have spent a lot of time fighting the patrol groups and then these enemies, so I decide to bring out my cooking equipment and cook us all a quick meal.

  The food I make helps us steadily restore health and mana, and within twenty minutes we are ready to venture back into the temple. I am aware of what sorts of enemies are inside now, so I won’t let us get in a situation similar to the one before. I also won’t be able to use ‘Partial Draconic Transformation’ again for some time.

  Entering the temple through the broken wall, I notice some ‘Devil Goats’ still wandering around. Rather than getting close to them, I use a throwing knife to attack and get their attention. They let out shrill calls that alert anywhere between twenty to thirty new enemies, but this time we aren’t surrounded and can retreat back to the broken section of wall and create a proper defense there.

  We end up repeating this process eight times, fighting into the early night before all the enemies in the temple are dead. There was a final large mass of a
bout sixty enemies crammed up in the main temple too, which was incredibly difficult even with Gladox’s help. I know that it was the last group because a quest update notification shines before me.

  Quest: Investigate the ancient Buddhist Temple

  Update: All demons have been eradicated from the Buddhist Temple, and the religious site has once again regained its sanctity. Return to the librarian’s assistant in Kano City to report the quest and claim the reward.

  Grade: Rare(Orange)

  The rest of my party also receive it, so they find out it is over at the same time as me. Gladox is disappointed there is no boss when I tell him the quest is completed, but I personally am tired of these dark attribute enemies. I do need a strong boss to find rare equipment to sell, but I should be able to find one within the next week.

  We decide to camp in the temple for the night. I take a chance before sleeping to have a look at my stats. Thanks to the high leveled enemies, I had even gained another four levels. Unfortunately it takes forever to raise my class skill, and it only grew by a small amount.

  Name: Lost(Desert Pilgrim)

  Health: 3260/3260

  Stamina: 997/997

  Mana: 2451/2451

  Lvl: 232

  Lvl Up: 49%

  Str: 70 +61

  Agi: 213 +90

  Dex: 77 +50

  Int: 34 + 23

  Mnd: 50

  Lck: 33

  Infamy: 44

  Alignment: -68

  God: Grael

  Belief: 136

  Equipped Skills:

  Class Skill: White Warrior (SLvl 27, 18%)

  [Unavailable]

  Potion Production (SLvl 19, 0%)

  Mining (SLvl 15, 93%)

  Smithing (SLvl 14, 29%)

  Grael's Essence (SLvl 12, 60%)

  Origin of Dire Flame (SLvl 12, 60%)

  Haunting (SLvl 6, 10%)