by John Nest
Although he was leading the Krampus around, it was not an assurance that he had this battle in the bag. It took him more than twenty minutes to reduce Beil's life bar to (171,900/450,000 HP), but it only took three strikes from the Krampus' double-edged axe and his life bar was reduced to almost half at (118,298/181,997HP).
'Rasant's battle is over, but I can't count on him to back the others up, considering his injuries,' he thought to himself while backing away strategically from Beil as he assessed the situation of his other Maneators. 'Stark's about to finish up his battle, so he should be able to help Weise soon.'
He was extremely thankful that Stark overpowered his opponent, otherwise one of his precious Maneators would have been lost in such a meaningless battle.
After confirming that his Maneators were safe, he focused solely on battling Beil.
He darted into Beil's zone and dodge multiple swings of its giant axe. He then used his black rods' Lightning Shock ability which paralyzes the Krampus for three seconds. During this time, Smoke and Igniz dished out as much damage as they could. Owing to its efficiency, Smoke relied on the same attack pattern.
He struck both metal rods hard against Beil's joints in hopes of putting its limbs out of commission. He would stop attacking before three seconds were up so that he could jump away to safety.
He was repeating the same pattern again. However, this time, he jumped a split second too late, and Beil's axe came straight towards his face. Due to the lightning rods' short length, Smoke could not completely parry the attack and got damaged by Beil's surprise attack.
Still determined to finish off the Krampus by himself, Smoke went in and attacked with another Lightning Shock. It connected, and he bashed his metal rods against Beil's arms for eight swift strikes.
Smoke backed away as he realized that he should no longer use the same attack pattern. He spent the next two minutes away from his opponent, deciding on his course of action.
'Looks like I'll have to use that,' he sighed, as he didn't want to use this next attack pattern.
"Igniz, time to attack from within," he ordered, shaking his head.
Without hesitation, his dark ember sprite made a beeline for Beil's head and lodged two fireballs inside its nose. Simultaneously, Smoke sprinted towards the distracted Krampus and struck the monster behind its ear. Due to the blow, Beil was forced to kneel down. He then quickly got behind the monster and pummeled its back with his twin weapons.
The whole time Smoke was attacking the monster, Igniz remained in front of Beil and kept distracting it with fireballs to the face. Then, Beil's axe turned golden again, but this time it didn't go after Smoke. Instead, it went after Igniz.
This was the reason why Smoke didn't want to use this strategy, as it would place Igniz in danger.
He instantly stopped attacking the Krampus and leapt in between Beil's Axe and Igniz. He made a cross guard with his twin lightning rods but was not able to properly defend against the powerful attack. He was blown away and hurtled on the floor until his back made contact with the wall.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" Smoke let out a battle cry in order to drive away the excruciating pain he felt in his spine. He searched for Igniz and found his symbiote alive, beside Beil.
While Smoke was thinking of a plan to finish off Beil, Igniz kept directly attacking Beil's face, even if it meant that he was putting his life in danger. This was his way of giving Smoke the time he needed to strike.
Smoke made a mad dash for Beil and cleared the distance of five meters between him and the Krampus in record time.
He bravely stepped in front of the Krampus and began to pummel it with his twin lightning rods at full tilt.
As Smoke expected, Beil's axe glowed with a golden light. He instinctively jumped back, but the Krampus had swung its battle axe and sliced a part of his stomach.
Instead of dodging the Krampus' next attack, he braved the powerful axe's damage by parrying it to the side. Then, he jumped on the axe and leapt towards Beil's face. He plunged his twin lightning rods into its eyes and simultaneously activated two Lightning Shocks at point blank range.
BZZZT BZZZT BOOSH
He successfully delivered two direct Lightning Shocks and dealt the finishing blow to Beil's life bar, which finally displayed zero.
+ Your party has dealt a fatal blow to the Krampus: Beil.
+ Your party killed the Krampus: Beil.
+ Your party gained 600,000 experience.
+ Level Up!
Smoke ignored the notification message and rushed to his dark ember sprite.
"Igniz, are you okay?" he asked his symbiote.
His dark ember sprite bobbed to indicate that he was fine. Smoke then proceeded to pick up the loot Beil dropped.
+ Acquired Krampus hide
+ Acquired Krampus horns
+ Acquired Krampus hooves
+ Acquired Krampus embryo
+ Acquired rare axe: Oxen Edge
He would have wanted to inspect Beil's weapon, but first checked to see the conclusion of Weise's battle. He glanced over to where the gray Maneator was fighting and found Weise and Stark standing over Lanze’s corpse before its body could fade away.
Stark had finished off Gavel and immediately helped out Weise afterwards. Then; Smoke, Igniz, Weise and Rasant went over to where Rasant was.
Rasant had propped himself into a sitting position against the chamber's wall and was applying the Lioumereans' healing herbs by himself.
"Smoke, I know I was being reckless, but I had to. Otherwise, that monster would have joined in on you guys..." Rasant started to explain himself.
"Don't worry about it. You did great, focus on recovering," said Smoke proudly as he knelt beside the orange Maneator. He activated his Heart of ReenTe necklace and regenerated as much health as his mana allowed. Then, he started replenishing Rasant's life bar by using Life Share.
While he was healing Rasant, the other two Maneators walked closer to him and knelt down in front of him.
"Weise, you okay to move?" he asked the gray Maneator.
"Of course my, King," responded Weise at once. "I don't have any status ailments, and after a short rest, I should be good to go."
Smoke smiled at his two Maneators. "What about you, Stark? Any injuries? You were very impressive in this battle."
"Stark did what was expected. Protecting you and brothers is what Stark lives for," answered the red Maneator while huffing proudly after being praised by Smoke.
"Alright. I want you two to gather the rest of the loot while I patch up our fearless friend here," he said jokingly as he teased Rasant's do-or-die behavior.
At once, the two Maneators left and gathered the other items. They returned in no time and gave them to Smoke.
+ Acquired Krampus hide [3 pieces]
+ Acquired Krampus horns [3 pieces]
+ Acquired Krampus hooves [3 pieces]
+ Acquired Krampus embryo [3 pieces]
+ Acquired rare whip sword: Serpent Fang
+ Acquired rare war hammer: Gorilla Fist
+ Acquired rare spear: Narwhal Horn
His lips formed a grin as he observed the looted Maneator ingredients and rare weapons. With Rasant and Weise still recovering, Smoke decided to rest inside the cavernous chamber. He prepared medicinal ancient bison stew and served it to the Maneators.
Weise made a fuss about being served by Smoke, but he quickly dismissed it. Thirty minutes later, their life bars were fully recovered.
After resting, Smoke spoke to his Maneators. "Rasant, Weise and Stark, it is time to receive your rewards."
"Rasant, due to your impetuous nature, I give you Geirel's Serpent Fang. It has an ability called ‘Death’s Embrace’, which coils the segmented parts of the sword around an enemy and inflicts Bleeding status. May this whip sword help you kill your enemies faster, and in turn save your life," he said with a smile and gave the weapon to the orange Maneator. Rasant smiled and was about to reply with a winded speech, but Smoke stopped him a
nd approached the gray Maneator.
"Weise, for your clever guidance to your brothers, I give you Lanze's Narwhal Horn. It has the ‘Poison Jab’ ability, which strikes the enemy eight times and inflicts Poisoned status. May it help you guide you and your brothers to a long and honorable life."
Weise bowed down even lower and thanked his king.
Smoke then turned to the red Maneator.
"Stark, for your outstanding performance, I give you Gavel's Gorilla Fist. This weapon is more worthy of your talent, as you have clearly outgrown the Rzeka glaive. Its ability is ‘Ground Shatter’, which damages and stuns enemies around you."
Stark reached out and grasped the war hammer with one hand and lifted it over his head.
"Now that you've received your rewards, let's head out and increase our strength even further," he declared boldly and led the way out of the cavernous chamber.
Smoke, Igniz and his Maneators all stepped inside into the tight labyrinth tunnel. At two and half meters, Rasant had to slightly bend his neck. Yet Stark and Weise had to stoop down in order to fit through it.
As soon as they entered, Smoke received a notification.
+ Entered Labyrinth of Zuchthaus
> Monsters inside the labyrinth are beyond logic
> Suggested level for entering the labyrinth is 400
He grinned as he saw it. He signaled his party to follow him as they headed for the place where Smoke created them, the hidden Tenebris Laboratory beneath the Chamber of Fire.
* * * * * *
On the way to one of the elemental chambers in the Labyrinth, they encountered numerous wolf spiders, crested newts and fire salamanders. Yet no matter how many of these monsters came, they stood no chance against Smoke and his party. They even met a few Krampus along the way, but these monsters ran away as soon as they saw the rare weapons that his Maneators were carrying.
It took them two days to reach the hidden chamber of Fire. He observed the lone pedestal in the center of the room and walked over to it. He then placed a Krampus embryo on top of it. The whole chamber shook as an opening appeared in the floor behind the pedestal. It revealed a staircase towards the Tenebris laboratory.
Together with Igniz and the Maneators, Smoke went downstairs. The hidden laboratory was double the size of the chamber of Fire. Several tables were placed against its walls.
However, its most prominent feature were five blood crystals attached to its ceiling. Directly below them was a gigantic casting circle with five pentagrams on its edges, designed to form a star.
After seeing the laboratory tables filled with papers, flasks, burners, tubes and other tools for the Tenebris' experiments, he remembered that he had acquired ability tomes here but wasn't able to use them at the time.
He quickly searched for them inside his backpack. He took a look at the tomes entitled “Wind Manipulation”,”Lightning Manipulation”, “Thunder Storm”, “Ice Wall”, “Mana Shield”, “Volcano”, “Soul Drain”, “Lightning Golem” and “Water Golem”.
Sadly, he still didn’t fulfill the requirements for learning any of them. The ones there was yet hope for were Wind Manipulation, Lightning Manipulation and Volcano.
Wind Manipulation and Lightning Manipulation required 50% Affinity to their respective elements, while Volcano was a melded ability of Fire and Earth, requiring 85% Affinity to both.
Smoke quickly opened his Affinity window.
> Elemental Affinity:
Fire: 90%
Earth: 78%
Poison: 52%
Lightning: 38%
Wind: 25%
'Just 12% more and I’ll be able to learn Lightning Manipulation,' thought an excited Smoke. He planned to use Aral's lightning rods to increase his Lightning Affinity.
Yet it was not the time to do that. It was time to make a new friend.
As it had been a while since he had last done it, he opened his Acquired Knowledged window and searched for 'Maneator Creation'.
* Maneator Creation
Consumable Ingredients:
1 Embryo
2 Horns
2 Hooves
1 Maneator DNA
1 Maneator Essence
1 flask of Cervisiarius potion.
Non-Consumable Ingredients:
1 Elemental Catalyst
1 Attribute Disc
Procedure:
1. Place DNA, Essence, Elemental catalyst and Attribute disc onto different pentagram patterns.
2. Place Horns and Hooves onto the remaining pentagram pattern.
3. Place Embryo in the center of the casting circle.
4. Draw a giant pentagram by using a Cervisiarius potion to connect the smaller pentagram patterns.
5. Kneel in front of the casting circle and place both hands on it.
6. Chant the words 'comminuet autem, et ponet eam coniungere vivere' to activate the casting circle.
Note: Consumes 90,000 Mana.
After remembering the process, he quickly whipped up a big batch of the golden colored potion called Cervisiarius.
The last time they were here, Smoke and Espion gathered two Attribute discs, ten Maneator Essences and twenty Maneator DNA samples. He had already used three of the Essences to create Rasant, Stark and Weise. After taking out the remaining ingredients, he placed all of them on one of the tables.
He then took out the eighth Maneator Essence and a special Maneator DNA sample labeled “hybrid class”. He followed the instructions and placed those, along with other required ingredients, onto the pentagrams. Then, he was in a conundrum as to which Attribute disc to use. He inspected both discs to help him decide.
* Arma Dominus
Offense-focused Disc
Gives your creation:
+ Increased Attack
+ Increased Movement Speed
+ Treated as an Assassin regarding weapon restrictions
+ Decreased Life
+ Decreased Defense
* Dominus Custos
Defense-focused Disc
Gives your creation:
+ Increased Defense
+ Increased Life
+ Treated as a Knight regarding weapon restrictions
+ Decreased Movement Speed
+ Decreased Attack Speed
Smoke preferred Dominus Custos, which he had used on both Weise and Stark, giving them higher survivability. This preference originated from constantly seeing Rasant in near-death situations during his battles.
'If it's going to be anything like Mitleid, I should use Arma Dominus, but if I want the new Mitleid to live longer. I should use Dominus Custos,' he debated with himself on which disc to use.
In the end, he chose Dominus Custos, as he couldn't bear the thought of losing Mitleid for the second time. He knelt down in front of the pentagram and placed both his hands on the massive casting circle.
"Comminuet autem, et ponet eam coniungere vivere," he chanted loudly.
A bright red light enveloped Smoke, and 90,000 of his mana was consumed.
The same red light shone from the blood crystals on the ceiling. It quickly turned the golden liquid inside the casting circle dark red.
The consumable ingredients faded out of existence, and a slender body started to take shape in the center of the casting circle.
After two minutes, a Maneator whose skin had the color of gold stepped out of the casting circle. The Maneator was three meters tall, exactly the same height as König Mitleid. However, there was a major difference between the two: the golden Maneator was a female.
"Hello. My name is Smoke," he spoke in a calm manner. Secretly, he was excited about the unexpected development, but didn’t let it show. "Do you remember anything?" He wondered if she inherited any of König Mitleid's memories.
"No..." she spoke softly while shaking her head. Looking around the Tenebris laboratory, her eyes wandered to the three Maneators behind Smoke, and then to Igniz, who hovered above him. Finally, her gaze went back to Smoke. "Are you my father?" she asked with
uncertainty.
"Yes, you could say that," he replied with a sincere smile. "Can I call you Königin Mitleid?"
The golden Maneator paused for a bit, then shook her head strongly. “No….” She tilted her head down, closed her eyes and put her hand on her heart. "I'd like to be called...Adelige Mitleid."
Smoke nodded in agreement. "Adelige Mitleid it is."
Then, a notification window popped up.
+ Adelige Mitleid has joined your Personal Army
Adelige Mitleid is the scion of König Mitleid and the fourth Maneator the DarkElf named Smoke created.