by A P Gore
Noah—his former self—was standing in a restaurant, a fancy one. His gal, Tia, was now a little older than when he’d previously seen her. She had grown out her hair. Small black curls at the ends suited her. He suddenly remembered asking her to cut them short because they got in the way of her study sessions, but she refused, saying it was in fashion.
He wondered what he was doing in a fancy restaurant, sitting at a table waiting for someone with his girl by his side, and well-dressed too. He never dressed like a businessman waiting for a client. He looked like a couch potato, trying to fit his stomach in that stretched white shirt and black trousers. But for whom he was waiting?
The answer greeted him after few minutes. Sara, his research assistant, joined them at the table. She greeted Tia with a smile but got a frown in return from the little girl.
What the heck am I doing with Sara? Is that a date?
It was a date, and today he could look at it from all the angles. He could see his little girl’s dislike for the woman, and her constantly dropping spoons and spilling water on her white dress. His whining about Tia’s behavior. Their discussion on the next batch of Crystals of Quantum, and how they would be able to get one step closer to their goal. But he was missing a big part in the moment: his daughter’s dislike for that woman.
“Shit! Don’t do that, Noah. Don’t do that!” Noah shouted from his dark place, but no one could hear it. Getting close with Thia in the game world had taught him one thing: little girls needed time, and he wasn’t even paying attention to his real daughter sobbing inside her mind over her father’s attitude.
The biggest blunder happened when he kissed Sara at the end. Tia dropped a knife on her foot, and there was blood everywhere.
Noah got pulled back into the game without finding out what happened after that. But he had an idea of the rage building up in his old self. The glass-man he met in the real world talked about his anger issues, and he wondered how he behaved with his daughter after that. He knew, deep inside his heart, it wasn’t a good evening for Tia. He wasn’t being the daddy Tia deserved.
“Noah are you, all right?” Rihala was leaning on him, slapping him lightly, her eyebrows slightly raised and the corner of her lips pointed downward. He could feel her raised heartbeat even across a few inches gap.
“Yes, sweetie. I’m okay.” He wasn’t. But having Rihala beside made him feel better. At least he was with a real woman, a woman who cared for him. He hugged her tightly. “I’m all right, don’t worry.”
“Let’s not drink that water. Even smelling it put you in trouble. I was worried for you, Noah.” She cupped his cheeks and stared into his eyes.
He pulled away from her. “Thanks, Rihala. Thanks for caring for me. But it wasn’t the water. It was my past sins.” He stared at the water as it reflected his past. Now he wondered how his relationship with his daughter had turned out over the next eighteen years. Going by today’s memory, he was a bit afraid of the outcome.
“I shall drink it, then.” Rihala stood and stepped forward, tripping over Noah’s leg and smacking her head against the side of the well.
Noah laughed aloud before rushing to assist. It was welcome comic relief after a saddening memory. “Sweetie, your mom is right. You’re clumsy.” He helped her up.
Once she was situated, Noah collected the water in his palm and took a sip. Ecstasy shot through his core, spreading through his whole body. A sensation of divine healing, reminding him of Sumara’s healing spell, washed over him. The patch of skin that refused to heal, even by the healing potion, now healed up in an instant, and he was greeted with a nice notification of a buff.
Congratulations! You are well hydrated by the divine well of healing. +2 to wisdom for the next five hours. +10% damage for the next thirty minutes. A single application buff can’t be granted by the same source again in the next twenty-four hours.
“Wow, this is not an illusion. You should drink this real quick,” Noah said cheerfully.
Rihala followed him, and her life filled itself quicker than any health potion would have done. “A buff too. That’s great!” She cheered like a ten-year-old girl.
Noah collected some water in empty health potion viles. “Let’s use this buff for the boss room.” Noah jumped to his feet, feeling rejuvenated, and glanced at his character sheet. With the buff he was at 430 spirit and 580 health. His Poison Orb damage was increased to 69 points.
Noah walked out of the room. He was curious about the three boxes, but they could wait for his return. The boss awaited him.
25. The Boss
Fiery Rat Man would have been a better name for the boss creature they encountered in the next room. Fire Breather Xamphala of the Rats was his display name. Noah laughed loudly until he faced the boss’s fire beam. It was called scorching ray. He lost one hundred life and suffered an intense burn before he realized where the heck it was coming from.
“Shit!” Noah ran back to the safe area with his tail between his legs. So much for laughing at a stupid name. A moment later, he realized Rihala wasn’t with him. He turned back. She wasn’t in the boss room either. His heart ached.
Where are you sweetie?
The room was mostly empty other than some protruding stone spikes.
He stepped out of the safe zone again, worried.
The boss shot a scorching ray at him.
Noah ran in a circle around the boss, looking for Rihala. He easily avoided the scorching ray’s arc with his spirit run’s speed. Though firing a poison orb while running proved useless. His eyes continued searching for the she demon, but she wasn’t anywhere.
His heart ached as like someone had cut it in half with a butcher knife. She can’t be dead.
Something moved overhead. He jumped into the safe zone and looked up. Rihala was glued to the ceiling with the help of her tail.
“Thank God.” He sighed, and his shoulders relaxed. Finally, he studied the boss.
The boss stood at the center of the room. He was a giant rat, covered in scales from neck to tail. Two bloodshot eyes stared at Noah.
Noah glanced up again. Rihala was drawing her bow, and her magic was forming on its tip. But 2-3 seconds later, the faint blue glow at the tip died out. He could understand that it might be hard to concentrate for ten seconds while trying to balance on the ceiling.
He stepped back out of the safe zone. The boss shot another scorching ray toward him, and he ran back inside the safe zone.
He needed to get closer to get a crit. Otherwise, the level 10, 900 life boss wasn’t going down—especially when Rihala was somewhat useless. He used his previous tactic and ran in circle around the boss.
The ground below his feet changed as soon as he tried to get within a five foot radius of the boss. It turned into lava patches like they had encountered in the first room. His right fur shoe burned in the fire in an instant, and then the lava burned through his flesh like it was a forest of dry wood.
Noah tried to jump away on one foot. He still had the rat skin tied to his left foot, and that saved his life. “Shit! I hate fire.” Too bad he had lost his other fiery rat skin cover while running through fireball room.
Noah infused his left leg with spirit and jumped farther away. He didn’t stop until he was back in the safe zone again.
“What a piece of work!” Noah dropped on his butt, holding his right leg. The fire had burned to the bone. Suffering immense pain, Noah pulled out a vial of the well of healing water and gulped it in one go. He needed his leg working if he was going to defeat this shit.
“Are you all right?” Rihala shouted from the ceiling. She had managed to imbue an arrow with her ice magic. The loosed arrow whistled through the air like a blue blur. It was always a pleasure to watch her arrows sailing through the air to strike a monster in its eye or heart.
“Yup, almost good.” The effect of the vial kicked in, and he quickly gained back his life, but he didn’t get the same buff he got the last time, maybe it was because he still had the old buff and it
didn’t stack.
Rihala’s arrow hit boss in the face, dealing a crit, and a layer of frost spread over his head. A damage notification popped up. Rihala’s arrow had done a whopping 400 damage to the monster.
The boss only had 400 life left.
One more of Rihala’s supersonic arrows should do the trick.
But it wasn’t to be. The boss shook its head, shaking off every small frost particle lingering on his skin, and screamed loud enough that the entire room shook.
Noah’s heart sunk, as his life dropped by 20. He felt the tickle of something wet flowing down his neck. It was blood; his ears were bleeding. The boss was hurting him even though he was in the safe zone. He covered his ears with his hands and looked up at Rihala.
She was holding her ears too. Only when she removed her hands from her ears did Noah dare to follow suit.
“It’s some kind of spell,” she shouted, “like the battle cry of a barbarian. Look at his life!”
The boss’s life was increasing slowly, but it was already up to 500.
Noah fumed. Every damn creature in this game could gain back life easily. He hated it—especially because he couldn’t do it himself.
No, he couldn’t let the monster continue this. Not when they were close to crushing it. The boss was busy with his spell, so he zipped across the lava-strewn ground, ignoring the pain. He aimed two simultaneous poison orbs at the boss’s face.
A fraction of a second before Noah could strike, the boss opened his eyes. His life generation stopped. He balanced himself on one leg and thrust his claws forward.
The fiery claws pierced Noah’s armor, stabbing him just below his heart.
Pain as sharp as a knife shot through his abdomen and lower back. His vision blurred. His heart raced faster to pump more blood to his wounds, but he was losing blood rapidly. Faster than his heart could pump.
The claws, still inside his body, burned his flesh. The burning sensation moved toward his heart. Inch by inch.
His life dropped below 100. Just before everything went dark, a tail wrapped around his neck and pulled him away. Rihala dragged him back to the safe zone.
Noah was still bordering on unconsciousness. He pulled out a health potion before Rihala could do anything stupid and gulped half of it in one go. He handed the remaining half to Rihala. His life rose slowly and stopped around 250. He poured another health potion in his mouth to gain back the remaining life.
Noah stared at the boss, who stared back at him. He thought there might be a crooked smile on that rat face. The boss’s life was back up to 700.
“Rihala, try hitting him with your ice shot again.”
Rihala moved forward, but as soon as she stepped out of the safe circle, the ground below her foot erupted in fire. With a cry, Rihala jumped back to safety. That one misstep cost her 50 life and a burned shoe. Thankfully, the lava didn’t burn her foot badly. She could still walk.
No, I need something else. I can’t put her in danger.
Coinciding with his thoughts, a pop up appeared. He had gained enough charges to use his new spell: poison multiorb.
“We’ve got a trump card, Rihala. Is there anything you can do to pin him down for a few seconds?” Noah didn’t know how his spell worked, but a stationary enemy was an easier target.
“I could try my soul shot, but I don’t have enough life left.” She looked down. Even with the health potion, she’d only gained 200 life, leaving her hovering just above 350 life. According to his calculations, she needed at least 300 life to cast that spell. He couldn’t let her do that. What if she used to much and died?
Noah stared at the glowing icon of his new spell, but there was no way he could try it on the boss right away. Putting Rihala’s life in danger was not an option.
He pulled Rihala closer, rubbing her forearm. “Forget it. Do not use that spell ever again. I repeat: don’t use it again, ever. Please.”
How are we going to defeat this boss? It’s impossible. Maybe we should retreat.
Noah turned back to the entry door. It was shut. He pushed on it, but it budge.
They were stuck. There was only one way out: death.
But even that wasn’t an option. Not when Rihala couldn’t respawn.
He kept reminding her of that, but she had to keep risking her life in one way or another. But today was different. Today he would risk his life and kill the boss. “Can you shoot at the rat’s hind legs from the ceiling if I turn him around? It should slow him down for a second or two.”
“I won’t get a clear shot from the ceiling.”
“I don’t need a clear shot, just something to freeze him for a moment.”
She nodded and jumped up. The next second, she was charging her ice shot.
“Shoot as soon as he turns away!” Noah called.
Noah activated his spirit run and shot forward. The skin around his left shoe was tattered and burned. The moment he stepped out of the safe zone, the boss targeted him with his scorching ray. Noah dodged it with alacrity.
Noah’s expectation was that the boss would turn in an arc along with him, and Rihala would target the boss’s leg while he was looking away.
But the boss defied his expectations and charged him instead with his claws drawn out. Fire burst out of his claws and jumped at Noah as two different streams of fire.
Noah pushed more spirit into his working leg, stretching his channels to the limit. For a moment, he thought spirit would burst his channels. Roderich had warned him of this, but somehow his channels managed to survive brute force spirit infusion.
The boss closed on him, slicing with his claws in a horizontal motion. The swing barely missed Noah.
Noah tried to push more spirit into his left leg. Running on one leg wasn’t easy. It was more like jumping. He wanted to be a one leg jumping speedster. But the spirit channel broke, and spirit leaked out of his leg, freezing his leg on the spot. Somehow, he managed not to fall down, but he was stranded on the spot.
“Noah stop,” Rihala shouted.
Noah was already at a stop, and the boss was upon him, extending his claws toward Noah’s throat.
Then the boss froze. A wave of frost spread across his skin, freezing him in place. His life dropped to 450.
Pushing back the burning pain of spirit leaking through his leg, Noah called upon his unique spell, poison multiorb.
Spirit rushed to his hand. A large poison orb, five times larger than the normal one, formed on his right hand. Then ten small orbs separated out of the main orb and swirled around it. It was like watching bacterium multiplication—the body of bacteria splitting into two to form two new bacteria.
Noah thrust the spell at the boss’s face. A crit meter built in his vision for the first time, and one after another, the orbs hit boss’s face, torching it with poison. His skin burned away in chunks, along with brown flesh, until only a fiery red skull remained.
As the rotten smell of rat flesh encapsulated him, Noah threw up his last meal. He wanted to move away but couldn’t.
The crit meter in Noah’s vision reached one quarter full when the final small orb hit the boss. The large middle orb zipped toward the boss, bursting on his face and killing him on the spot.
You have killed the Xamphala with a Multi Poison Orb. Damage dealt: 400 (4x Crit)
Congratulations! You have beaten the Phase 1 boss. Now you can choose to go to phase 2 or open the bronze chest.
Congratulations! +1 wisdom and intelligence for not opening the chest before. You do act as an intelligent person sometimes. Kudos for the burst.
+1 spirit run.
+1 spirit strengthening.
You have gained 600 experience for killing 6 fire rats in the party.
You have gained 4200 experience for killing the level 10 fire rat boss Xamphala.
You have gained 5000 experience for completing Phase 1 of the dungeon.
Congratulations! You have reached level 8. You get 3 stat points and 3 skill points to spend.
White ligh
t washed over Noah and Rihala, recharging them to full health and leaving them satisfied. His spirit-leaking leg healed too. Thanks to the dungeon designer, the ground below them was back to normal, and they could walk over it. It was too bad that his light of level up hadn’t refresh his shoes. Maybe it only refreshed good things. Even his armor never got refreshed on level up.
Either way, it was a well-earned level up.
Noah glanced at his full character sheet. He was pretty close to the next level, too.
Name : Noah
Class : Cursemancer
Second Class : Zombiemancer
Level : 8
Stats
Strength 16
Dexterity 8
Constitution 22
Wisdom 46
Intelligence 9
Charisma 7
Chance 6
Health: 620/620
Stamina: 345 (9.84/sec)
Spirit: 460 (26.16/sec)
Mana 90 (5.81/sec)
Skills
Poison Shield (Level 4): Absorb 40 damage. Maintenance cost: 6 spirit/sec. Skill Progression: 10%
Poison Orb (Level 9): Damage 66.15. Require 45 spirit per cast. Skill Progression: 60%
Curse of Fire Ball: Damage 88.2. Requires 120 spirit per cast. Charges left: 5/50 Skill Progression: 60%
Spirit Cycling (Level 8)
Micro Spirit Cycling (Level 1)
Spirit Strengthening (Level 2)
Spirit Run (Level 2)
Raise Zombie (Level 5): Raise 5 zombies simultaneously. Zombies has 200 life, deals 30 life and last for 70 minutes.
Herbalism (Level 4)
Cooking (Level 2)
Breath of the Fire Dragon (Passive): -10% enemy fire resistance. +10% poison resistance. When fighting on the expansion site, +10% experience gained. -10% to enemy fire resistance.
Tracking (Passive level 1): Track enemy trails with efficiency. 10% chance to identify the enemy that walked on the ground next to you.
Current Experience: 40830/43000