Maelstrom
Page 22
She just laughed crazily as her voice disappeared, leaving a spawn of spiders in her wake.
"What the hell is it with this world? Spiders appearing out of nowhere?"
With some difficulty, Kaden got up and saw that his position was very bad. Narrow corridors and cramped space are usually a very bad place to be in, unless you are a giant that can handle some punishment. However, there was also the fact that if you possessed area of effect spells, you could overcome that obstacle to a degree.
A lucky break showed itself as [Flood] hit almost all of the spiders in one go, killing them instantly. Three of them were too far to be hit, but he had some time to take pot shots at the things as they tried to crawl over their dead kin.
[Ice Orb]
You have inflicted 499 damage to Spider.
The first spell hit the leading spider dead on and killed him instantly, while avoiding the other two. "Shit!" Kaden shouted as he backed up and readied his staff. He imbued it with ice magic and slammed the second spider on top of its head, killing it as the staff released a wave of cold into the spider’s body, freezing it outright. The third spider jumped over the staff and tackled Kaden to the ground.
It’s small pincers proceeded to stab him and rip holes in his chest, taking away anywhere from five to ten health per strike. Before he even knew what was going on, his health bar had dropped to yellow, somewhere around to 160, and kept steadily dropping.
You have sustained 7 damage from Spider.
You have sustained 8 damage from Spider.
With each strike, the pain increased and became more unbearable. With all of he was worth, Kaden took out a meatball and ate it to restore some health, and add a few seconds to his miserable existence. It jumped from 110 to 210, and negated the spider's strikes for ten seconds. The regeneration seemed strong enough.
"Just give up and die already," the spider said. Was it his imagination, or was it real? Shaking his head, he looked around for his staff. It was just out of reach by a few centimeters. Pushing himself off the wall, he managed to get hold of it and pressed the butt end against the spider’s body, unleashing the spikes. It reared backwards and jumped away at the touch of cold and the piercing metal.
[Ice Orb]
You have inflicted 512 damage to Spider.
The spider exploded in tiny chunks of ice as Kaden dropped to the ground, paralysed and poisoned.
"What the hell you lying around for, idiot! Get up and kill some more spiders!" Kain roared as he slashed through the air at nothing. With a smile, he loomed over Kaden and grinned like a madman.
"Oh no, no, no!" Kaden yelled, trying to put his hands up, but he couldn’t.
"Oh yes!" Kain roared as he cocked his leg, letting loose a stream of yellow liquid on Kaden's face.
"What the fuck are you doing!" he screamed at the Wolfman. "You monster, don’t just go pissing onto someone’s face!"
"Huh?" he asked, finishing up quickly. Kaden’s health bar rose and the debuffs disappeared, as if taken away by an invisible hand, or piss in this case. The wonder cure that came out between the Wolfman’s legs was just that, a wonder.
"Nothing. Thanks for saving me, again.’ Kaden sighed as he got up, feeling refreshed. However horrible the urine tasted, Kaden thanked the heavens it was odorless. ‘Have you been at it with her for all this time? Killing the spiders and defending yourself?"
"Yes, I have. This was nothing. Usually there are hundreds at a time." Kain seemed thoughtful, which gave way to Kaden’s own idea.
"Would you mind if I checked you out? I mean, I won’t be touching you or anything, I just want to see your statistics." He seemed to mull it over for a while, then shrugged.
Kaden was dumbstruck by what little information he could see, which terrified him. This creature could rip him in pieces with a fart if he wished to. Just the attack power of the creature told him not to even think about doing anything stupid. Two or three attacks, and he was toast.
"Are you possibly the only living creature of your kind?" Kain's face remained passive, not betraying any emotions. He gave a slight nod. "So you are basically the original?" Again, a slight nod. "Would it be possible to use you to make an army of Wolfmen?"
"No, it would not. Actually, to be honest, I have no idea. But without prior consent, I wouldn’t even try it out. Being like this for every moment of one's life can strain their nerves."
"I can imagine," Kaden replied thoughtfully. "What will you do after we finish off Morgana?" One of his eyebrows rose up in thought.
"A home, that's what I want. I want a place that gives me purpose. Every day that passes by, is a day that's lost without accomplishment. I need a goal in my life, other than destroying and killing. I need a purpose that will allow me to forget about everything that happened here in this dungeon and my previous life." A long silence followed between the two as Kain looked away.
"I see. If you feel that it isn’t inappropriate, I would like to offer you a place in our village. It's close by, has people who need protection and will love you for who you are, that much I can promise."
Quest name: Millennial freedom.
Quest description: Help Kain defeat the black widow Morgana and flee the dungeon alive.
Quest reward: Kain’s allegiance
Accept: Yes/No
Kaden accepted without a second thought. Things like this weren’t offered every day, and truth be told, he wasn’t even sure that Bardos knew about it. Kaden sighed and thought about the situation, which felt more like a video game than the real world. Of course, it was a game for a particular someone, but not much so for the rest.
"Thank you, mage!" Kain roared as he hugged him half to death. He tried to regain some semblance of a breath. Somehow, he failed badly. A chime rang out in his head, drawing his attention away from Kain.
You have gained one level and one skill point.
Those little bastards really knew how to give back after almost taking his life. Kaden went rummaging through them, but only some crafting and alchemic ingredients had dropped with their death. Surprisingly, he could stack up many different items, even without the bag.
While sighing at the bad drop, he walked over to the last corpse, which he had sent to oblivion, and frowned. Something horrible lay there. He observed it, and the name told him it was a black widow egg cluster. It was a different color, meaning that whatever it was, he better take the cluster with him. The logic might be a little bit flawed, but he didn’t want to waste time thinking about it.
"What are you so happy about?" Kain asked. His smile wavered and changed into a scowl upon seeing the egg cluster, but then stepped closer once more after it didn’t do him any harm. "That’s a dangerous thing that you have there, mage."
"Yes, I can imagine. But you have to understand something, when I see an item like this one, something takes over and I need to have it. What will it do anyway?" Kaden asked.
"I… will help wherever I can if our mission stays unchanged. Just keep those things away from me if in any way possible. As for what it does, it’s obviously an item used for combining," the Wolfman replied.
Kaden sighed and stuck the egg cluster in his bag. Strangely rejuvenated by Kain’s excrements, he felt better off than if he had rested. He felt light as a feather, and strong as a bear. ‘In any case, let’s go on. We have a ways to go, right?’
The next few hours were spent running through the dungeon, linearly. The things couldn’t have come past them, even if they had tried. Everything along the way was killed in short succession, which added up to a total of thirty seven spiders. No noticeable loot or changes were seen, until they reached the stairs to the upper floor. A boss arose from a large pile of rubble.
"That's one ugly mother…" Kaden said, his voice trailing off. The thing raised on its six massive legs and launched itself forward. In mid-air, Kain jumped at it and slammed straight into the widow’s underbelly, raking it with his massive claws. Green liquid sprayed his fur as he battled with the creature.
"Watch out!" Kaden yelled to warn him, but a backslash sent Kain flying, which brought his health down by 300. He was still far in the green zone so Kaden didn’t worry much about him, though the wound looked nasty.
An [Ice Orb] flew straight into the spider's back and exploded against its skin, leaving a small hole in its wake.
You have inflicted 482 damage to Lesser Black Widow.
Kaden, instead of attacking again or running away, just stood there baffled by the amount of damage he had just dealt. Coming to his senses, he cast a [Frozen Land] which luckily froze it in place. Kain roared as he got up, giving both of them a buff.
Buff received. Dark moon rising: raises the target’s defense, attack and reaction speed.
"Don’t go near it until the ice explodes!" Kaden yelled just in time as Kain was about to lunge again. Instead, he prepared for a skill as his body started glowing faintly. A moment later, the ice shredded two legs and its underbelly.
You have inflicted 1.139 damage to Lesser Black Widow.
There was no shrapnell, so only the explosion damage applied.
Just as the ice receded, Kain unleashed his attack skill, [Onslaught]. His claws were a blur of movements as they ripped at the widow’s skin. Meat and goo-like blood flew everywhere, bathing Kain from head to toe. He roared and screamed, letting his claws do all the work.
The spider jumped into the air and slammed into the cavern ceiling, forcing Kain to jump off at about four thousand health. The widow’s health bar was yellow, with a tinge of orange mixed into it.
As it hung there, a web appeared all around the cavern, slowing everything down and poisoning the targets. Instinctively, Kaden cast [Frozen armour] upon himself, not even knowing why, but it saved him as the web around him froze and became brittle. He launched another [Ice Orb] which slammed into the creature, bringing it to 3.521 health. Kaden saw the tiniest hint of movement and yelled for Kain to be ready.
"Kain, wait! I have an idea! As it gets down, try to lunge at it and turn it on its back in mid-air!" Immediately after he yelled out his plan, Kain lunged into the air and slammed his body just to the right of its center. The widow toppled in mid-air, and dropped down on its back with 972 health left.
"Any more wishes?" Kain growled as he stood next to the thing, holding it down.
"Yes, I do. Help me up there, will you?" Kain lifted the man like he was a child and launched him atop of the spider. Something at the back of his mind told him not to kill the thing immediately, but rather go toward its center and investigate. His staff opened up the spider’s belly right at the middle, bringing the spider’s health bar down to eleven. As another wave left the staff, the core froze over and shattered, leaving a gaping hole in its wake.
Kaden knelt and put his hand into the goo and slime, rummaging around. Something finally caught around his hand, making him withdraw in panic. He held an item looking every much as nasty as the egg cluster. He observed the item and was rewarded with the second part of a set, a Black Widow cluster cocoon.
"Yes! We got the second part!" Kaden yelled happily. Kain walked up to him and snorted.
"Are you sure that's a good thing?" he asked, nodding at the item. Then he made a look as if he was observing a moron. Kaden couldn’t help but chuckle and shrug. One couldn’t just explain instinct and hunches. It was something that came from deep within.
A massive leg slammed into Kaden with brute force, propelling him through the air into a wall, almost killing him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the spider getting up on its feet again, and the health bar above its head flashed yellow and read at almost forty percent. It had regenerated quickly and attacked him out of the blue.
A meatball made its way into his mouth this time, instead of getting pissed on, as luck would have it. As his eyes found the spider again, Kain mauled the spider with a renewed viciousness. Every second, three to five percent health dropped as chunks of its body were launched all over the room. Before Kaden could even try and get up, the lesser widow lay dead beneath Kain’s feet. The Wolfman bent over and picked up something and walked over to Kaden.
"Here," Kain said as he threw him a vial. "The boss dropped four items, and this is one of them. It will regenerate your health by three percent each second until your health is at a hundred percent. It's something like a god item, so don’t use it unless you have to. It doesn’t stop regenerating your health, even if you are permanently poisoned. It will eternally cure you and cause pain in the process."
"And you are giving it to me, just like that?" Kaden asked in astonishment. The Wolfman just shrugged in reply and went on.
"These two items dropped beside the vial and the cocoon you took from its insides. They do me no good." Kaden looked at them and his eyebrows rose in shock.
Black Widow’s staff. Apply random debuff on target upon normal attack. Attack: 217
Black Widow spaulders. Maximum health + 475. Defense: 118
Kaden stuttered at receiving the two items as he sat there, dumbfounded. Now he would actually be able to survive something this world threw at him, all thanks to his new friend. He decided to put the spaulders on, and equip the staff as well. While looking himself over in the character screen, he found his look had changed for the better with the spaulders on. They looked like a robot’s armour from on his own world: gunmetal grey, sleek and sharp. Spikes rose into the sky as if provoking the heavens. Intricate carving traced the lower part of the spaulders and ended in a sharp edge. They covered part of his neck, his shoulders and a part of his chest. Without anything to hold them there, they just sat as if glued to his skin.
The staff, to his surprise, disappeared as a green flame lit up in both of his palms. Both hands partially changed into something he didn’t like at all. They looked like claws pulsating with green light. Immediately he tried to take the staff off, but it wasn’t there anymore. All that was left of his staff’s existence were his transformed hands, and a change in the status window. Kaden was speechless as he looked over his status points, not even beginning to fathom what was going on with him and his persona.
He put it aside for the moment, and went over his skill tree. One skill point was available, which he put into [Flood].
A chime rang out, accompanied with a big message that popped up in front of him.
Congratulations! You have upgraded all of the beginner spells under the water/ice element. New skills unlocked. [Ice Burst] [Ice Age] [Maelstrom]. Each skill has its own requirements to unlock. Check designated skill to learn about the requirements.
Congratulations. All skills under the element water/ice now have unlimited uses. Skill cooldown applicable. Check designated skill to learn about the cooldown.
The skills had changed their description, as well as the damage output, which was insanely higher compared to their earlier attack power. He felt godlike at that moment.
Magic Bolts, Level 2: Launch dual bolts of magic and inflict 490 damage with each bolt. Damage increases with Absorption of Legendary Items. Cast time: 3 seconds.
Ice Orb, Level 5: Launch an Ice Orb at the enemy, inflicting 2740 damage and add one of two debuffs, Frostbite or Slow. Skill cooldown: 15 seconds.
Frozen Land, Level 3: Freeze an area and inflict 1900 direct damage to the enemy within range upon explosion, and 700 damage for each ice shard. Add random number of Frostbite or Slow stacks. Skill cooldown: 3 minutes.
Flood, Level 3]: Summon a tidal wave inflicting 3700 direct damage to the enemy within range, and additional 900 Suffocation damage over 3 seconds. Skill cooldown: 3 minutes.
"K-K-Kain! What the hell is going on with me?" Kaden asked after checking his status and skill tabs multiple times over. He really had no idea what was going on with him, and
was starting to get afraid after the initial wave of joy that passed rather quickly. Even the staff he brought with him was gone. Kain looked at him as if he was speaking a different language.
"I told you not to mess with the black widow stuff, but you didn’t want to listen. Oh, and I have to tell you one thing you probably forgot to check on. Your bird is gone as well."
Kaden’s eyes darted all around him, but Razor was nowhere to be found. "No!" he cried out. A sudden sensation calmed him, as Razor spoke into his mind.
"Calm down, idiot. We are soul-bound, aren’t we? Whenever you need me, I will appear and help you. But here in this dungeon, I cannot maintain my form for some reason. Once we are outside, get back to me, will you? Alright, I’m off to sleep again," the bird replied in one quick, long rant and went silent. Even though they were together for a very short time, the bird had grown on him. Now that he thought about it, the bird had already been within him. What was Kain pointing at?
"Thank you, Razor. Have a good rest, my friend. God knows I need one too." Kain growled in order to get his attention. ‘I’m sorry. We ready to go?’ He just nodded towards the staircase and started walking.
Another flight of stairs that seemed to take an eternity awaited them. Nothing changed for hours, except that with each step the muscles in his legs burned worse. The walls stayed the same colour as did the stairs, the pain only became worse and his annoyance by the situation much greater. When they arrived at the next floor, he wasn’t disappointed at all. Looking around him, there was nothing but endless ice and snow. Monsters were nowhere to be seen, instead, a soul-shattering cold greeted them.
Chapter 20
Eternal ice was all around them, with snow as far as the eye could see. It wasn’t much better than the last floor, where death covered everything and was accompanied by spiders. The main difference was that the weather would probably take care of them before any monster could.