Life Reset- EvP
Page 20
Stalker hit you for 65 damage.
The thing’s body was all around me, wriggling, writhing. What felt like a dozen knives stabbed at me. I cried out from the unexpected rush of pain and activated my Mana Shield by reflex. The force of energy erupted, pushing my companions and repelling the creature. Right into poor Bek. Luckily, Hoshisu noticed and recovered from my action fast enough to retaliate. With a flurry of blades, she diced and chopped the Stalker while evading its many sharp limbs, saving the goblin. She had excellent battle form.
I was relieved that my rash action didn’t cost anyone’s life and looked at the woman with gratitude.
“You can thank me later,” Hoshisu smirked, turning back to support her brother.
Then a Stalker landed on her shoulder. All around us, Stalkers jumped impossibly high into the air. Most missed us, but two of them landed on Malkyr who was defending the path. The twins shouted in surprise as Stalkers squirmed over their bodies, turning them into human pincushions and dropping their health bars rapidly.
Before I could figure out what to do, Bek took the initiative. He pulled out a large opal and raised it above his head. A wave of scintillating darkness erupted out of the orb. It ripped through the nearby Stalkers, shredding them to pieces, and showering us with chunks of Stalker flesh. The spell eliminated six of the closest Stalkers and injured five more who were lower down the pile. Undaunted by the blast, they continued climbing toward us.
I shot drilling arrows into the most heavily injured one and sacrificed another. The other three kept climbing and were blocked by the twins. A few hard chops coupled with whirling daggers, and those three were dead as well.
With the pressure taken off, I breathed a sigh of relief, taking in our surroundings. Six live Stalkers remained in the web though they were all heavily wounded. My mastiffs were harrying four creatures and by the looks of it had managed to take down two by themselves. Now, it was truly nearly over. I methodically peppered the enemy with drilling arrows and my dagger kept on sacrificing them while Bek healed us back to full health.
Finally, the last of the Stalkers fell, and we all dropped to the ground from exhaustion.
Level up! You have reached Character Level 23. You have 1 ability point to allocate.
I put the new attribute points in Mental then tiredly waved off a myriad of other messages. I’d increased the levels of almost all my spells. Dark Mana progress was the most profound; it gained two whole levels.
“What was that?” I asked Bek after I finished dealing with the messages. “Where did you get that opal?”
Bek looked down submissively. “Me make it, Dread Totem. Me pray at shrine, me feel power of the Dark One coming, so me put it in pretty rock.”
That was unexpected. Up until now, Bek used the opals we gathered from the cave as a source to store healing spells, which were usable by my troops. Being able to use the shrine’s power to inscribe something more powerful never occurred to me.
“Good job, Bek, you probably saved us all.” I clapped my small minion on the back.
He bowed his head at the compliment.
“Yeah, nice job, pipsqueak,” Malkyr added. “I even leveled up. Ooh yeah – level 26!”
“Me too.” Hoshisu gave a half smile. “The Stalkers give good XP. I even picked up a new Assassin skill, ‘Flurry.’ That should come in handy.”
“Congratulations, that one’s hard to get,” I said. It was a skill that enabled a player to perform a backstab with multiple hits, each one gaining the sneak damage bonus.
We looted the Stalkers’ remains. As summoned creatures, like the Pyroliths, they had greatly reduced loot drops. We collected a total of six Stalker Pins, which were listed as crafting components. Malkyr claimed those. I was content with the eight new void crystals and the additional 131 FP I gained from all the sacrifices I’d managed.
“By the way,” Malkyr said. “I’ve been meaning to ask – how long will that Pyrolith of yours stay under your control? I’m starting to get fond of him. All those fireballs came in real handy during the fight. Without the added damage bonus, we might not have made it.”
I shrugged. “It’ll remain as long as we need it unless something breaks the enchantment. Keeping it controlled continuously drains mana, but I’m good for now.”
“Great!” He positively beamed at me. “Let’s check out the next pool.”
The next pool was situated on top of a few rubble piles but turned out to be the easiest fight so far. Once activated, the pool spawned a host of imps, small and nasty flying creatures. They were all below level 10 and used their venomous stingers and fire-based magic to attack us, much to Malkyr’s delight. With my Dark Mana skill at level 32, I could sacrifice three of them at a time. Malkyr charged forward, wading in their midst, whirling and hacking, bringing them down by the score, while intercepting their fiery attacks. We didn’t go unscathed, but the damage was low enough that Bek had no trouble keeping us at peak health.
The imps left behind several Stingers, which Hoshisu took for herself. Some of the void crystals disappeared in the pool, but I collected eight of them and gained another 64 FP.
Only one more pool remained in the open hall of the ruined fort.
“Alright man, what’s the word?” Malkyr asked eagerly as I probed the pool for information.
“It’s … empty.”
“Whatcha-mean?”
“There’s no power in this pool … like it's exhausted or something.”
“Maybe it just has a longer cooldown period than the other pools?” Hoshisu suggested.
I shook my head. “The ones we cleared still have power in them. It’ll probably take them a day or so to reset and summon new demons. This pool is just … empty. Like something sucked all the power out of it.”
Hoshisu pursed her lips. “Something like a powerful demon boss, perhaps?”
Remembering my vision, I tried not to swallow hard. “Perhaps.”
“Figures.” She rolled her eyes “So next is the pit? The Greater Pyrolith Guardian is waiting.”
“About that,” Malkyr interjected, “I have a request.”
We both looked at him questioningly.
“I want you to stand aside and let me handle this thing on my own.”
I raised my brow. “Why? That thing was level 32. You’re level 26; you might win, but you won’t escape unharmed. Why chance it?”
He winked at me. “I have my reasons.”
We reached the open pit and the rest of us stood back, letting Malkyr approach it on his own.
Gripping his axe tightly with both hands, the man moved forward carefully. As soon as he reached the edge of the pit, the same large Pyrolith slithered out. The demon's serpentine body was twice as long as Malkyr was tall. The creature opened its mouth, launching a bead of fire at Malkyr. The man was ready for it and snatched the bead with his gauntleted hand before it could explode into a fireball. Reacting to the energy absorbed, his axe glowed bright orange, emphasizing the blackened runes that covered its length.
Malkyr stepped forward, putting his weight into his swing. The buzzing weapon bit deeply into the monster’s body. The demon screamed and launched a firebolt from each hand simultaneously. Moving nimbly, Malkyr intercepted both fiery bolts, channeling their power into his axe. Then, holding the weapon with both hands to increase its power, he gave an overhead chop, taking out another sizeable chunk of the demon’s health, bringing him down to 60 percent.
The demon, obviously more intelligent than the lesser versions we’d fought before, stopped casting spells. Instead, its long body snapped forward, coils wrapping around the big man, holding him tightly.
Malkyr was in trouble. With both arms pinned against his body, he was barely able to move, let alone swing his axe. As we watched, the demon squeezed. Malkyr’s health bar begun to plummet. I drew in my mana and started overcharging my drilling arrows. A hand on my shoulder gave me pause. Hoshisu. She didn’t say anything, just shook her head.
“But he
’ll die!” I protested.
She shrugged as if saying, ‘It’s his own choice.’
Gritting my teeth, I let the spell dissipate.
Malkyr’s muscles bulged as he strained against his much larger opponent, his neck veins literally popping up as he gave a savage roar. With an impressive display of physical prowess, he managed to release both arms from the pin. His axe, however, was still trapped within the embracing coils, out of his reach. The demon opened its jaws wide enough to swallow Malkyr’s head and snapped forward. Malkyr’s arms flew up, catching a jaw in each hand. They fought against each other, brute strength versus brute strength, and for a long moment, neither one managed to gain the upper hand. Then Malkyr gave a boyish grin. Both his arms began glowing, similar to his axe’s special attack. The glow seemed to repel the air around them. With an explosive force, he spread his arms wide, tearing the demon’s head in half.
The coils loosened and slumped to the floor, leaving Malkyr standing bruised, but alive. He’d won. The axe on the ground suddenly gleamed and hovered in the air in front of him. Malkyr grabbed the hilt and an overwhelmingly powerful orange light exploded out of it, illuminating the entirety of the dark hall.
“What was that?” I demanded.
“Oh, that?” He waved a hand dismissively. “I just completed a unique quest.”
I exchanged a glance with Hoshisu. “Eh?”
He shrugged. “It’s simple, man. When I grabbed the enchanted axe for the first time, I received a quest called ‘One with the Roaring Inferno.’ To complete it, I had to single-handedly defeat a strong, fire-based opponent within six hours. According to the quest, if I managed that, the axe would bond with me. It’s now a soulbound item. It can hold more charges than before, and it even grants me a kickass new ability.”
“Axe so nice!” Bek said, of all people.
Malkyr looked with surprise at the tiny goblin, then grinned and nodded. “Yep, it sure is.”
I looked around, not seeing any other demons coming. “Looks like our plan worked. Shall we go down the pit?”
“Oh, about that …” Malkyr answered slowly. “I happened to look down there during the fight and … well …”
“Spit it out already,” Hoshisu said.
“It’s just … you wouldn’t believe how deep it goes.”
“Damn!” I muttered. Just what I need, another complication.
We approached the pit and looked down. It led to a seemingly undamaged subfloor only about four meters down.
Malkyr chuckled. “Told you you wouldn’t believe how deep it goes.”
“Let’s go.” Hoshisu walked over to the pit edge and jumped inside. She landed lightly on her feet and looked around. “All clear.”
I held Bek back, handing him Guba’s special brew potions. “Here, drink these.”
If the first level was any indication, we were going to be facing tough battles. Little Bek was invaluable, thanks to his healing spell, but he was the most vulnerable of us. Guba’s potions would increase maximum HP by ten. For me, it was a drop in the bucket, but for him, it would be an increase of nearly 20 percent.
After the goblin chugged the two potions, I teleported down, coming out of the shadows next to Hoshisu. Since neither Bek nor Malkyr were especially light on their feet, I assembled shadows into a thick pillow-like substance to cushion their jump. “Come on, I’ve got you.”
Once we were all safely down, I took a better look around. We were standing in the middle of a long and wide corridor with the ceiling three meters above us and many doors along both sides. The lower levels of the fort had fared much better than the upper ones.
Everyone stood still, studying their surroundings. In the quiet darkness, faint, distant sounds reached us.
I recognized the sounds instantly. I had a lot of firsthand experience making such noises. They were the shrieks and howls of someone being tortured.
13 – Racial Tensions
I sacrificed the Pyrolith I had been dominating, adding its void crystal to my growing collection.
We had decided not to bring the demon along. Having it turn against us at the wrong moment was not worth the risk. Instead, I cast Shadow Hound. Our previous skirmishes had been great training. At level 20, the spell was now significantly more powerful, allowing me to summon four minions instead of three, all at level 12. On the other hand, it now cost 200 mana, almost 20 percent of my total. It was a whopping amount for a combat spell.
The mastiffs emerged from the shadows and obediently followed at my heels.
We started walking down the corridor cautiously, the siblings leading the way.
The howling and shrieking grew louder. Soon, we found ourselves standing in front of a studded metal door. The noises were coming from the other side.
Hoshisu examined the door for traps then gave us the thumbs up.
“Ready?” Malkyr said softly, his hand on the handle.
I raised one finger, then activated my Mana Shield. There was plenty of room in the hallway so I didn’t risk hindering anyone with the wide bubble. I proceeded by conjuring a trio of drilling arrows and empowering them. Once they were at the max, I nodded to the man.
Malkyr opened the door and took a few cautious steps inside. It looked like an old, large kitchen. A rotten dining table stood in the corner and several smashed tables littered the floor.
Everything looked pretty much like what could be expected of an abandoned kitchen. Everything, except a small, childlike creature sitting with its back to us. The shrieking and howling were coming from him. Sprawled around the creature were the slumped bodies of three seemingly dead Ogres.
“Okay,” Malkyr whispered. “So we all know it’s a trap; that’s not a child but some gruesome monster and the dead Ogres are zombies. I say we skip the part where we cautiously investigate and get jumped on, and instead pre-empt the shit out of them.”
I tried to use Analyze on the perching figure, but to my surprise, discovered that I could not. It was the first time my skill had failed to activate. Nor could I detect any information threads emanating from it. It was like the creature wasn’t even there, just some faint threads of localized noise. Yep, definitely a trap.
“Agreed,” I whispered back. “So we attack in three … two … one – now!”
I launched my arrows at the perching figure while Bek targeted it with Mana Drain. Hoshisu threw daggers and Malkyr struck his orange-glowing axe at the closest of the fallen Ogres, splitting its head neatly in half.
As our combined attacks hit the shrieking figure, it dissipated into puffs of mist, finally ending the howls. The mist drifted over to the three bodies and seeped into them.
The three zombies began to rise. I could sense the information streams from them now, indicating they were possessed.
The zombie Malkyr had hit, its health bar now down by a quarter, didn’t look bothered by its grotesquely split head. I directed my mastiffs to attack it, then launched drilling arrows at the one facing Malkyr. Hoshisu threw her gremlin-made saw chain at the third. The chain buzzed and rotated as it sliced into the creature’s torso.
This time, we were well-prepared for the fight. My four mastiffs tore their target apart, while Malkyr disarmed his opponent, literally. Hoshisu’s zombie was sawn in half. His upper and lower torso thrashed trying to get to her. With a few extra barrages of drilling arrows and a finishing blow from my dagger, the three soon stopped moving. An easy win.
The zombies dropped some gold, three potions, and a bar of violet metal. We all exchanged contented grins at the leftover piles of loot.
Potion of Ogre Might
Description: The drinker receives the hereditary toughness of an Ogre for a short duration.
Type: Potion
Effect: +4 Physical, +50% carry
capacity, +50% physical damage bonus.
Viridium Ingot
Description: A bar of metal infused with spiritual energies. Items forged from Viridium carry enchantments more easily and have increased effectiveness.
Type: Component
“Awesome! I want it all,” Malkyr blurted out exuberantly.
“Take the potions and the gold,” I said. “But I’d like to keep the metal.”
His face fell. “But I’m a smith; working with a brand-new metal would surely raise my skill.”
I wasn’t about to waive my claim. I just gifted him a magic set that was worth a small treasure. Still, he had a point. “How about this?” I suggested. “I’ll loan it to you. You can practice your craft by making something for me. That way, you still get to train your skill.”
“And you get an item crafted for free. Smart,” Hoshisu said with a faint smile.
“Yep.” I smiled back at her, then looked pointedly at her brother.
“And I get to keep the gold and potions?”
I nodded. It was of little use to me anyway.
“You got yourself a deal.”
He took the potions, handing one to his sister.
Before we left the room, I recharged the depleted saw chain, making it ready for another single use. I handed it back to Hoshisu, who gave me a slight nod as thanks.
We went back to the hallway and continued walking. It was now thankfully silent.
Hoshisu suddenly held up one hand, and we all stopped in our tracks.
She advanced a few steps, moving lightly, then bent down. She brushed something invisible off the floor and pressed down with her hand. An audible click sounded and a single dart flashed from the wall on our left, barely an inch above the floor.
“Dart trap. Very crude, not even poisonous.” She wrinkled her nose. “Let’s go.”
After a short walk, we reached another door. This one was made entirely of dark, reinforced steel. Hoshisu checked it for traps, and finding none, opened the door. This was a workshop of some kind. As in the previous room, most of the equipment was damaged beyond recognition. But a quick search of the room yielded a few nice surprises.