by Lucas Dunn
The command center showed full mana so I went into the specialized menu and queued for 2 tank units.
Two tank units hired. Mana cost: 15,000 each. Base health: 500. Bonus: Ignore 10% damage.
That was definitely going to help. These units were a huge improvement from the last, but they each cost a pretty penny. I walked to the religious altar and hired one more. I positioned one in front and two behind me forming an arrow. Feeling slightly badass with these hulking shadows surrounding me, holding even pitch black shadow shields. Finally, I headed for the exit.
Gazing out through the gate I didn’t know where to start. I had been to the plains and the forest, but saw nothing indicating a dungeon. The forest has a lot more areas to hide the dungeon I started to think before it me. There was one place I had yet to go, The mountains. Not the Dwarven one, but the one my fort was built into. The town was built in a semi-circle around my base. With the, poorly kept, 9-foot wooden walls coming to an end at the base of the mountain. I had a 50/50 chance so I went to the right side if you were facing the gates. After 40 minutes of following the gate I reached foot of the mountains and could see wooden structures surrounding a rocky path into the mountains. Passing the structures, they were way to run down to tell their purpose. Starting up the path into the mountains, I traveled up for about 100 yards before coming upon an entrance.
Abandoned mines of Shadows Edge. Inactivity through the years has turned this into a static dungeon. Clear the floors to gain access to the mine.
Attention! Static dungeons can only be completed once!
It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but it was a dungeon I thought. Reasoning would suggest I clear this so I could have a player or NPC mine for materials I would eventually need, but I also wanted to find a more permanent solution. Figuring out the location of a “real” dungeon would be very important for continuing in the future. Deciding to check the other side later, I decided It’d be best to take what I could get, because I might not be able to find the other dungeon. Activating my dark sight ability, I continued down into the mine with the same guard formation.
From the looks of it I would be dealing with spiders. Webbing started to cover the floor and walls making me nervous. Eight legged creatures with pinchers was a perfectly rational fear, and one I had. The mine allowed for about three people to walk abreast, so I put the guard in front of me behind me and two guards to my sides making a backwards arrow so I couldn’t be flanked. I was 50 yards in when it got a lot worse. I turned around a corner and spotted two arachnids further down the tunnel, torches brightly illuminating the tunnel. They weren’t your normal eight legged creatures though. The bottom half of them was exactly like a spider, but the top half was that of two bare chested men with pinchers for mouths. Standing at 5 feet they weren’t too scary except, one was equipped with a bow and the other gripped a spear. Deciding fire would be most effective against these dwarfish arachnids, I quickly decided to make the first move. Going on a hunch I used my orb of air spell and was able to snuff both torches sending them into darkness. Hoping that I was the only one that could see. I shot the one with the bow right in the chest with a flame orb.
-16 of 200 damage done to level 7 arachnid hybrid.
Quickly noting the mana manipulation bonus rounding up the damage I sent two tanks to the left side of the passage to allow the spearman through and still block the archer’s stray arrows, I backed up some as I heard clicking, and the sharp shuffle of the spearman’s multiple legs. He rounded the tanks and I shot my paralysis orb while quickly jumping on his convulsing body. Stabbing the creature’s skull twice, I was able to puncture the brain.
500 of 500 Critical damage done to level 9 arachnid hybrid.
You killed a level 9 arachnid hybrid. +10% towards next level. Total experience towards next level 71%
Not wasting time with the prompt, I moved towards the archer with my tanks in front blocking the haphazard arrows signifying his blindness. When I was close enough to execute the same move as the last, I again stabbed his skull as he convulsed.
You killed a level 8 arachnid hybrid. +9% towards next level. Total experience towards next level 80%
Received Item. Plus one Common Bow. Base damage 15-20.
Received Item. Quiver of ten arrows.
Strapping The quiver onto my back I realized with my dexterity I should make a pretty decent sniper too. The archer arachnid had a trash quality dagger, so I tossed it and I was able to utilize his belt and sheath to hold my own superior dagger. Carrying the bow now, I decided to see if I could give the spear to the tanks but found no way to do so. Looks like they were just hulking masses of shadows only capable of wielding a shield. I discarded the spear on the floor, doubting my skill to use it with my bow and continued on.
I came upon two pathways, both leading downwards. Choosing the right one randomly, I followed its steep decline. The webbing started to increase as I got lower so I slowed down as I came upon an opening. Looking in I instantly became disgusted. There looked to be at least twenty large gooey white eggs in the center of the room. Surrounding them were ten arachnids. Two with bows, five with spears, another two with swords, and one with a large sword that was at least 6’2 and towering over the others. The whole room was covered in sticky glistening webs and there were four torches lighting up the room. Backing up I created two flame traps and one darkness trap before running out of mana. This time I modified it with another rune so it wouldn’t go off as I passed it, but I would have to keep my tanks behind the traps. I went back to the opening, took a couple deep breaths while recovering to full mana, and started my attack. Four orbs of air put them in complete darkness and confusion. The larger one started to click before heading directly towards me, not at all affected by the darkness. While I had time, I shot an orb of paralysis at the arachnid just to confirm my hunch.
10 of 700 damage done to level 15 arachnid hybrid. Paralysis failed due to target level and size.
With one theory confirmed I shot a quick arrow completely missing by at least a foot. Backing up into the tunnel, I ran to where my tanks were to wait for the traps. I was not disappointed.
50 of 690 damage done to level 15 arachnid hybrid.
50 of 640 damage done to level 15 arachnid hybrid.
100 of 590 damage done to level 15 arachnid hybrid.
Pleased with the results I waited for the arachnid to appear with my bow at the ready. Crawling around the corner I shot my bow hitting it in the shoulder for 15 damage bringing it to 475 hit points. While it was ten yards away it activated an ability and suddenly burst forward in a blurring amount of speed stabbing into my tank guard before he could block. With my guard still alive, the arachnid pulled out its sword and started bashing on the shield of my guards making it deeper and deeper each time. While this was happening I was not standing idly by. At three hundred mana each I placed three more dark traps until I was completely out of mana. When I looked up I saw the creature had already taken down one of my guards, I backed up even more with my guard behind me and fired two more arrows, one hit his arm for ten while the other impacted his stomach. I was able to knock of a cool 25 hit points when he destroyed my other guard. Tasting victory, the arachnid started to click and shuffle towards me only to have three dark traps bring in down to 150 in an instant. Shrieking the spider ran forward. I quickly ordered the last guard in front of me to block the spider. With only a few minutes I took careful aim and fired three shots from 10 yards away, all directly impacting his abdomen for 20 hit points. Dropping the bow and pulling out my dagger I sprinted forward. Right as the last blow landed on the guard, I ran to the side of the arachnid and stuck my dagger in the side of its neck for a disappointing critical of 25 bringing it to 65 hit points. Not expecting it to live and with my dagger still in its neck. It spun around quicker than I could move and swung the sword digging halfway into my right arm.
-100 damage taken from level 15 arachnid hybrid. 140
Shouting in pain and ignoring the prompt
, I used my other hand to shoot a dark orb before being impaled by his sword in the stomach.
-100 damage taken from level 155 arachnid hybrid. Total: 40
Close enough to the creature, I pulled my dagger out of its neck and stabbed it again doing 25 point of critical damage. It reeled back in pain, finally pulling its sword from my stomach. Groaning in pain, I watched as it raised its sword. Not planning on being skewered again, I used my last bit of mana to shoot a fire orb out hitting it directly in the chest.
You killed a Level 15 arachnid hybrid. +10% experience towards next level. +30% experience toward level 12. Total experience toward level 12: 30%.
Congratulations! You are now level 11.
Congratulations! You are now level 2 in Fire Magic. All fire spells are twice as effective but cost more mana in return.
New skill acquired. Pain Constitution: Through much hardship you have learned to ignore 1% of pain. [Level 1]
In too much pain to enjoy the prompts I painfully waited for my mana to refill before continuously healing myself.
Congratulations! You are now level 2 in Light Magic. All light spells are twice as effective but cost more mana in return.
Well it wasn’t all bad I thought. I leveled up quite a bit, got some new weapons, and got more combat experience. The arachnid had used the first combat ability I’d seen when he lunged toward my guard. Thinking back to the forum I pretty sure you got a skill once you reached 50 in a stat. After regening my health and mana I returned to the opening, this time without any guards.
The arachnids had already re-lit the torches and were standing in the same spots, except the one I had killed was gone. Going over my plan of attack once more, I began. Using four orbs of air I knocked out the torches. This time they immediately started to run my way, albeit blind. Two arrows whistled to either side of me and I entered the small cavern and started moving clockwise. All of this happened while the arachnids continued to shoot and run blindly toward my last position. Setting up a dark trap, I lit a stationary fire orb and watched 8 of them sprint toward me. One arrow whistled by my head, the other one catching my shoulder. Ignoring the pain moved back out of the light watching them run toward the orb. Already at the other side of the cavern I did the same thing right as my first trap went off.
-100 of 500 damage done to x3 level 9 arachnid hybrids. Area of effect limited to three due to dark magic level.
Completing this process 15 more times, I had plenty of time for mana to regen before the blasts. With only two archers left all I needed to do was send a fire orb out. As they were focused on that, I snuck behind them paralyzing one, slitting its throat and moving to the other. Looking around at the carnage I realized what I was doing was actually kind of brutal but then again, I guess it was just a game. A really realistic one. These definitely weren’t the smartest mobs. Their hit points were high, but the only who seemed to have any form of intelligence was the level 15 one. Opening the flashing prompt on my screen I read it with a grin.
Congratulations! You have reached level 12. Total experience towards level 13: 5%
Excited at my new level up I decided to gather all the weapons that had dropped and put them in the corridor because there was one last thing to do. Returning from dropping the weapons, I created my new fire orb that was slightly larger now. Comparable to the size of two fists. Looking out over the disgusting eggs I shot my orbs as rapidly as I could, watching as the webbing started to curl and burn and the eggs shriveled up and popped creating a sour acrid scent. Quickly leaving the disgusting sight behind I looked over my weapon inventory. All of the weapons were in decent condition, but it was the craftsmanship that made most of them trash quality. Sadly, my repair spell was not going to be able to give them a boost. I had three bows, all of the common making. I had 6 spears, all trash value. I had two short swords of trash value, and one longsword of common value. The larger arachnid or what people on the forum called a floor boss, not only dropped a common longsword but also a pouch containing 50 copper. Sure it was a measly amount but at least it was something. If I ever went to a city it would get me at least two decent meals at a tavern. Taking The floor bosses money pouch I was ready to explore the second tunnel, but not before I allocated my stat points. I noticed during the fight my base stats were getting very low from moving around so much and my strength sucked. I couldn’t even carry all five spears by myself before being encumbered, my health got dangerously low, and my stamina reached 10% just by moving around the cavern. Before I invested any more points into anything else I would fill every stat to 20, besides luck. As much as I could use luck in the future, I just didn’t know enough about what it did to utilize it. Thinking it over once more I allocated my points.
Name
Lucian(Lord of Shadow’s Edge. First Priest of The Dark One.)
Race
???
Class
None
Level
12(Percent towards next level: 5%)
Fame
1,850(Respect)
Health
400
Mana
900
Intelligence (1 point = 30 towards mana)
30
Constitution (1 point = 20 towards health)
20
Wisdom (1 point = +.5 mana per second)
20
Strength (1 point = x.1 physical damage.
5 [Damage modifier = (damage * .5)
Stamina
11
Dexterity
11
Luck
4
Abilities
Dark Sight: See with 100% proficiency in darkness. (Non-Passive)
Dark Shroud: Unable to be heard or detected by the followers of light through divine or mundane magic. (Passive)
Divine Fortitude: Resist attempts to influence your mind(Passive)
Skills
Water Magic: 0% towards next level. 0% resistance. [Level one]
Earth Magic: 0% towards next level. 0% resistance. [Level one]
Fire Magic: 5% towards next level. 5% resistance. [Level two]
Air Magic: 90% towards next level. 0% resistance. [Level one]
Dark Magic: 20% towards next level. 5% resistance. [Level two]
Light Magic: 2% towards next level. 0% resistance. [Level two]
Lightning Magic: 10% towards next level. 5% resistance. [Level two]
Mana Manipulation: Efficiently casting. 80% towards next level. Cast speed and success +5% effective. [Level two]
Spell Creation: You have the ability to create your own spell. Current limit of four runes. 5% towards next level. (Non-Passive) [Level Four]
Sneak: You are able to slightly conceal your presence and noise. 5% reduction to noise and noticeability. -50 reduction to speed. [Level One]
Tracking: You are able to follow game by their tracks. [Level One]
Pain Constitution: You are able to ignore 1% of pain. [Level one]
Quests
Summon a minor god
Array a force of at least 100 strong
Figure out your race
After Distributing most of my stat points into Constitution and wisdom I could feel my body strengthen with more vitality and in the center of my chest I could fill the slight buzz of my mana, almost pushing to be released. The resistances towards the magic types would be a big plus when fighting other casters. Most of my points this time went into health and mana regen, but now I had three stats at twenty and above. My health had almost doubled and it would only take me a minute and a half to regen all of my mana. Getting my base stats all to twenty was definitely going to be a major help in the beginning. I was still a little slow and physically weak, but that would come next. One thing I had noticed was where level one magic had only taken a few castings of a certain spell to level up, getting to level three was going to be extremely hard. Also a lot of my spells had condensed, probably because I had quite a few. Finally, it looked like spell creation was going to be even harder to upgrade as it only
moved up 5%. Closing the window, I saw the friends tab and realized I hadn’t sent Jake a request yet. Quickly finding his name I selected it and closed the window.
Taking the left pathway, I was blowing out torches along the way when I came upon another opening this one twice as big. Looking in I saw a massive cavern at least 200 yards by 200 yards. Holes pockmarked the entire cavern walls. But the most noticeable thing was the huge 10-foot muscled arachnid man in the middle of the floor. He held a massive trident in one hand almost casually. His face had four different eyes and a huge disgusting mouth with two pinchers on the side. The cavern was lit up by hundreds of torches but even if I could blow them out, I doubt he would be without sight in the dark.
There was no way I was going to fight him without a little back up. I had no idea how much health he had or even his level. I turned around to leave but got an idea. A very stupid idea I thought. I set three fire traps and waited for my mana to regen. Turning back to the opening I hit the giant arachnid with a flame orb and ran like hell to the entrance of the mine.
30 of 2,000 damage done to level 25 king arachnid hybrid.
100 of 1,970 damage done to level 25 King arachnid hybrid.
The King was definitely smarter than the other floor boss. He stopped after the first trap which meant subterfuge would not work nearly as well on him. Coming out of the entrance, I dropped the weapons off in one of the wooden shacks unable to carry them all the way.
I needed to think of another plan to deal with him because clearly he was the real floor boss. I needed stronger magic and a better defense. It was about three in the afternoon I decided by the positioning of the sun. I wanted to level up my air magic along with my earth magic for the upcoming battle which meant it was time to grind. Upgrading my other level two spells would take much too long and would be difficult in battle because of how much mana they used. As I walked to the forest to grind I tried creating another lightning spell that would target multiple targets but again got the message my lightning magic level was too low. Disappointed, I worked on the spells I was going to use against the boss. “Earth”, “Harden”, “Spike”, “Rise”. That was the first spell I would create. This would be used on the boss’s soft abdomen directly underneath him.