Then she released.
The arrow raced through the air, darting through a narrow hole in the mass of flailing weapons and bodies. Then it broke through the line of creatures. As it approached the Minotaur King, the arrowhead began to glow a dark red and streamers of black energy curled around the wooden shaft. The bolt slammed into the Minotaur King’s side. The beast let out a howl of pain, but he couldn’t afford to turn to remove the shaft as he continued to parry Frank’s relentless blows.
Blood poured from the wound in the king’s side. Yet instead of running down his body in rivulets, the droplets of blood detached from the minotaur’s body, first in a small stream and then in a torrent. A bloody mist quickly filled the area, pulsing and throbbing like a living thing as it drained the creature. The Minotaur King howled in pain, as he tried to reach behind him to grab the arrow. However, Frank used the distraction to rush forward, swinging his sword recklessly and forcing the beast to hastily parry his attack with both its axes.
Jason’s eyes darted to Frank and then widened in shock. Where the blood mist touched Frank’s wounds, the droplets collected into a ball of blood and the flesh began to mend slowly. Glancing at Frank’s health bar, Jason saw that he was being healed slowly.
“What the hell was that?” Jason yelled at Riley.
She only grinned and continued shooting at the remaining minotaurs attacking their defensive line. Her arrows punctured eyes and throats as the battle raged around them. Bolts of ice and flame flew over the heads of Jason’s remaining minions. Between the enemies’ losses and the reinforcements Jason had summoned, they were slowly whittling down the horde.
One advantage of being a Necromancer: the longer the battle rages, the stronger I get, Jason thought, his mouth set in a grim line.
He paused for a moment to chug a potion, desperately trying to refill his depleted mana pool. Then Jason glanced back at the fight between Frank and the Minotaur King. Despite the rage behind his blows, Frank was landing few hits against the beast.
I can fix that.
Jason motioned to three recently summoned minotaurs. The beasts hurtled toward the King and Frank. Jason directed one of the beasts to shoulder Frank out of the way, sending his body hurtling across the room. Then the three decaying bulls exploded in a shower of dark magic and viscera. The series of explosions rocked the Minotaur King. His skin began to melt from his body in patches, and he dropped to one knee gasping for breath. The explosions weren’t enough to kill the beast, but that wasn’t Jason’s goal.
Frank pulled himself from the ground, his clothing shredded and bloody. He looked back at the weakened beast with rage in his eyes. He charged forward at a sprint, a hoarse roar escaping his lips. As he neared the boss creature, Frank leaped into the air, his two-handed sword held high. The beast tried to raise his axes, but moved too slowly. Frank’s blade struck the minotaur’s neck with a sickening thud. The blade lodged in the King’s throat, stuck halfway through his thick flesh. The Minotaur King stared at Frank with shocked eyes, gasping vainly for air as blood bubbled at the corner of his mouth and rocketed from the wound in his neck. Then the creature’s body crumpled to the ground.
Frank didn’t stop. He wrenched his blade free with a gruesome sucking sound and chopped down again and again, blood spraying his chest and legs and pooling on the floor. Only when the beast’s head parted its body did Frank finally stop. His chest heaved, and his eyes were wild. His clothing was in tatters, revealing his blood-covered skin. Frank grabbed the head, raising it into the air and screaming in triumph. His roar was echoed by Jason’s minions.
I’m definitely a bad influence, Jason thought as he gazed at his friend’s blood-drenched body and the manic gleam in his eyes.
Chapter 16 - Fruitful
Frank stood amidst a chaotic sea of noise and action. He glanced to his side, where Jason’s imposing figure stood in the middle of the pocket formed by the defensive line of skeletons. As Frank watched, Jason’s hands raced through an intricate series of gestures. Dark shadows arced from his body, striking enemies and raising the dead minotaurs that had fallen in battle. To Frank’s right, he could see Riley, her bow humming a melody of death as the dark shafts of her arrows disappeared into the waves of beasts that broke against the hulking skeletons standing before them.
Yet with all the action taking place around him, Frank stood still. His shield was raised and his sword ready, but he did nothing. His hands trembled as he looked at the enormous beasts in front of him. They towered over him, their eyes filled with rage.
“We need to distract the King!” Jason shouted over the roar of the battle, pointing to the enormous bull that still stood in the center of the room. His axes were raised in the air, and a pulsing red aura emanated from his body.
Frank could see the effects of the spell as it enveloped the herd attacking them. Their eyes glowed an angry red, and they shrugged off mortal wounds. A calf’s arm was severed by the bladed axe of one of Jason’s minions. Yet the creature barely noticed the loss, swinging the axe in its free hand with wild abandon.
As Frank watched the battle, he realized Jason and Riley couldn’t leave the safety of the defensive line. They were barely holding back the enemy as it was. The only person that wasn’t helping was Frank. Yet as his eyes lit on the King, he could feel his fear escalate. How the hell could he fight that?
He turned away and then stopped himself. This is what he always did, wasn’t it? Talked himself out of action; resigned himself to being second-rate. He could feel familiar anger and shame well up inside him. Except this time, the target was himself. Why was he content to settle for the participation trophy? Why couldn’t he be the hero?
As his anger increased, his fear faded. Instead of trying to tamp down on his anger, Frank fed it. He was a useless, fat slob. He deserved to fail. He hurled at himself all the insults, the condescension, and the shame he had suffered over the years. He looked at the Minotaur King with rage-filled eyes, clinging to that anger as it burned away his fear and reservation. This was just one more taunt; one more piece of evidence that he wouldn’t be anything more than average.
He wouldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t take it anymore.
With a hasty gesture, he pulled up his character menu. In a flash of movement, he assigned all the points he had been secretly hoarding for his future class change. Then he pulled up his equipment menu and unequipped everything except for his two-handed sword. With an angry wave of his hand, he swiped away the screens that impaired his vision.
Only the Minotaur King remained, and fury bubbled and frothed in his mind. He couldn’t focus on anything else. This was his moment. His chance to become something more. Frank rushed headlong into the maelstrom of combat while activating Sprint, his sword held tightly in his hands. He darted around the enemies in front of him, using his bulk to shove aside anything that got in his way. As he charged forward, Frank howled. He poured every ounce of his anger, his frustration, and his pain into a single continuous roar.
Then his blade slammed into the Minotaur King’s axes. He pounded the beast repeatedly, forgoing any combat form or tactics in favor of a chaotic frenzy of movement. The clash of steel rang out as the king parried his blows, yet Frank didn’t give him time to go on the offensive. He darted around the hulking creature, his blade whirling and dancing through the air. And through it all, Frank screamed.
Out of nowhere, he was struck in the side. Frank was sent hurtling through the air, landing on the stone floor with a heavy thud as explosions sounded like cannon fire behind him. This just served to escalate his anger further. He raised his eyes and saw the Minotaur King kneeling a dozen yards away, trying vainly to regain his footing. Frank pushed himself upright, his muscles screaming in protest. He charged, pumping his legs hard, as he raised his blade over his head.
Then he leaped.
His sword struck the Minotaur King’s neck with a sickening crunch. Blood gushed from the wound, splattering Frank’s face and clothes. It wasn’t eno
ugh. The creature deserved worse. They all deserved worse. For the hurtful words they’d spouted. For the terrible things they’d done. For the way he’d allowed them to make him hate himself.
He hacked at the beast, again and again, feeling the vibrations ripple up his arms as he cleaved into the minotaur’s flesh. Blood gushed through the air, obscuring his vision and painting the world in red. A final blow severed the creature’s head, and Frank stumbled forward. He looked down at the head in puzzlement, not quite understanding what he was seeing. Then he reached out and grabbed a spiraling horn.
Frank raised the Minotaur King’s head into the air and shouted his victory. “I am not average,” he roared. “I will never be average again!”
***
After the death of the Minotaur King, the battle quickly wound to a close. With the death of their leader, the effect of the malevolent aura faded and Jason’s newly summoned zombies soon overwhelmed them. As the final minotaur drew his last breath, Jason was greeted with a prompt:
System Message
Congratulations, you have cleared the first level of the dungeon!
Your respawn point has been updated.
Hmm, does that mean we’ll respawn in this room now?
Jason’s eyes darted from the prompt to Frank. His friend was still standing over the Minotaur King and staring at his corpse. He was drenched in blood, and his clothing was in tatters. Jason’s brow furrowed as he inspected Frank. It was hard to tell with the blood, but he could have sworn that there was much more muscle definition in Frank’s arms and chest than he remembered.
Jason approached slowly, not certain how stable his friend was. Watching from a safe distance, Riley was ready to intervene if Frank went crazy again. “Hey, man. You okay?” Jason asked tentatively.
Frank didn’t respond immediately. Then he looked up with an excited grin on his face. Blood covered the left side of his face, giving his smile a sinister cast. “I finally found some real loot! Look at these things!” Frank lifted the Minotaur King’s axes, handing one to Jason.
Jason heaved a mental sigh of relief. His friend had reverted to his normal self. A bloody version of himself with a slightly manic gleam in his eyes, but normalish.
“What’s this?” Jason asked, accepting the axe from Frank. His hand dipped precariously under the weight of the weapon. He could feel the muscles in his arm straining to hold the object upright. Jason glanced up to see Frank making a few experimental swings with the other axe and wondered how his friend managed to carry the weapon, let alone swing it.
Looking down at the axe in his hands, Jason noticed that it was exquisitely crafted. It was nearly three feet long and double bladed, the steel curving to wicked points. The hilt and blade were inscribed with detailed scrollwork and runes that glowed a faint red. Jason thought the word “inspect,” and the resulting information made his jaw drop.
Rage of the Taurus (Set Item - Two Pieces)
This weapon was crafted by a master blacksmith. The runes along the hilt are written in Veridian and refer to the bull-god Kathos. When used in a set, these two axes amplify the user’s power, allowing him to call on the might of the herd.
Quality: B
Damage: 60-120 (Slash)
Durability: 96/100
+20 Strength (Set Increase)
+10 Vitality (Set Increase)
+10 Endurance (Set Increase)
(Soulbound)
Set Bonus (1/2)
Unlocks the skill, Rage of the Herd, which increases the damage of teammates within range by 10%. Teammates will also fight past the point of death, allowing them to sustain up to -200 health before they die. If this effect ends while a teammate is below zero health, they will die instantly. This buff can only be cast while standing still and is channeled.
Cost: 100 Stamina/Sec
Cooldown: 15 minutes
“Damn,” Jason murmured. He glanced up at Frank, who was still grinning excitedly. Jason didn’t blame him. The axes were ridiculous. He was already considering how useful the buff could be. They would have to experiment to determine the range. Judging from that last battle, it was at least a couple dozen yards.
“So we never decided how we were going to divide the loot,” Frank said with a sly smile. “I’d like to propose we hand over the gear to whoever can best use it.”
Riley walked up to the pair, peering over Jason’s shoulder at the axe in his hands. “Ooooh, that’s pretty,” she said. “I second Frank’s motion! Since I’m the only one who’s dual wielding and I’ve seen the most melee combat lately, I guess I get the axes!”
Jason coughed to cover his laugh and assumed a serious expression. “That does make sense….” he began.
Frank stared at them with a deadpan expression for a few long moments before bursting out, “Are you kidding me? You couldn’t even lift these things!” He looked like he was about to have a heart attack and was already looking mournfully at the other axe in his hand.
Riley laughed, having succeeded in getting a rise out of Frank. She raised her hands defensively. “I’m just kidding. Take them. You sure earned them, killer.”
“I agree,” Jason added, handing the axe back to Frank. “Take them, man. You will definitely be getting the most use out of them.”
Frank just glanced between the pair, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. His shoulders finally slumped, and he muttered, “You guys suck.” Then he shook himself, straightening his back and looking Jason and Riley in the eye. “Thank you.”
While their burly friend was occupied with petting his shiny new loot, Jason turned to Riley. “So you have some explaining to do. What was with that arrow and the blood? It would have been helpful to know you had that skill before this fight,” he added, a note of irritation in his voice.
Riley grimaced and looked everywhere but at Jason. “Well, Jerry showed me the skill. It’s called Blood Mist. It applies a damage over time effect on the target and a healing over time effect on nearby teammates if the weapon remains in the target.”
Jason glared at her. “Are you kidding me? You’ve had a healing ability this whole time?”
“Hey, don’t get mad at me! I thought it was useless. Jerry only showed me how to activate the skill while I was using my daggers. I never thought I could use it with my bow. I just gambled to save Frank.” She motioned to their large friend who was still crooning over his axes, oblivious to their conversation.
“You still could have told me you had the skill,” Jason replied. The argument felt hollow even as he said it. Even if he had known about the skill, could he have come up with this unique use on his own?
Riley frowned. “Maybe I should have, but how was I supposed to know it was important? At least it worked out.”
Jason nodded grudgingly. The skill would have limited usefulness if she could only use it in melee. However, this also demonstrated how versatile the skills in AO were. The developers apparently wanted the players to get creative. His eyes darted to Alfred who sat nearby, having found one of the few spaces on the floor that wasn’t covered in blood or body parts.
Or perhaps Alfred is responsible for this level of complexity. This seems beyond the abilities of even a talented game developer.
Jason gave a mental shrug. It didn’t matter. The key takeaway was that he needed to understand exactly what skills his teammates had. There might be many more tactical options available to the group if he could utilize their skills creatively.
A part of him felt guilty as he considered this. He needed to ask Frank and Riley about their classes and skills, yet he didn’t plan to disclose his own. At least, he didn’t plan to tell them about a few of the skills he hadn’t used in front of them. They had yet to see him use Custom Skeleton, for example. He just couldn’t afford to reveal information about his class.
Which is just another way of saying you don’t trust either of them yet. If I turn that around, why should they trust me? We’ve only been traveling together for a few days.
Jas
on turned back to Riley. “Sorry I snapped at you. That was quick thinking with the arrows, and your gamble definitely paid off.”
“Better be careful, or I’ll put you out of a job,” Riley replied, her eyes dancing with laughter. “I could end up being our strategic mastermind.”
Jason snorted, placing a hand on his chest. “I’ll have you know that it takes skill to do what I do. You have to have a knack for finding hiding spots…” This earned him another laugh from Riley.
Their conversation was interrupted by a ringing sound. Jason’s UI flashed, and an envelope appeared in the bottom right-hand side of his vision. He reached out and tapped the icon, and a message appeared in the air before him. Claire had sent him an email asking if he could visit the Cerillion Entertainment office that afternoon. She and Robert needed to meet with him in person to discuss the gameplay footage he had sent in regarding the events in Peccavi.
Ugh, this can’t be good. The way Claire worded this message makes it sound like I’ve messed up somehow. They probably want to find out whether they hired a real-life psychopath. I guess I need to take care of this. They’re the ones paying my bills after all.
Jason looked at Frank and Riley who were both inspecting their level-up notifications. Then his gaze moved to the bodies that still littered the ground. He just needed to raise the corpses and pile the extra bodies against one wall. Then he could set up a defensive perimeter around the room before he logged off.
While he summoned his new minions, Jason checked his in-game clock. It was roughly mid-afternoon in the real world, and he assumed that he’d use up the rest of the day traveling to Cerillion Entertainment headquarters and then back home. That meant that they had spent nearly two real-world days conquering the first floor and they only had about two and a half days remaining before the dungeon reset. At least there was a weekend coming up. That should give them a ton of time in-game since Riley and Frank wouldn’t have class.
Awaken Online: Precipice Page 24