by Edward Brody
Remembering that I had a couple new spells, I raised my hand and cast Divine Zeal to increase my critical chance by 10%. I should have done it earlier, but the 15-minute limit had me sweating to get going.
As the man stormed forward, I shot a Fireblast at him, this time hitting him on the upper thigh of his chainmail leggings. He jerked his leg and hissed, so apparently he was more susceptible to fire, or at least more susceptible to magic in his legs.
He pushed forward through the pain, and when he swung at me again, I ducked, moved to the side, and struck another hard sword blow to his chest armor but causing little damage. I quickly swung again, using my speed to my advantage, and again I ducked, and again I swung, metal clanging against metal each time. I was slowly whittling the guard down and started feeling confident that I could defeat him.
Suddenly, the guard sidestepped one of my attacks and threw a hard elbow at me that landed in my chest and knocked me several feet back. That single blow knocked 10% of my health off and dazed me for a moment.
I swung around, trying to shake away my dizziness, and reflexively raised my falchion as the guard rushed toward me with his sword over his head. As he was closing in for a death strike, he suddenly stumbled forward and fell belly-first onto my blade.
Battle Alert: Critical Hit!
You have reached level 9 in Swords!
As the guard dropped his sword and reached for my blade that was protruding from his stomach, I could see that Rina was standing behind him. She had apparently shoved him forward with all her weight, causing him to lose his balance and pretty much impale himself.
Even without weapons, she had proven to be resourceful already.
I shoved forward, pushing the guard off my blade, and he rolled to the side and fell to the ground moaning and clenching at his wound.
“What the hell are you doing?” he rasped.
“Getting the hell out of here,” I answered.
Between desperate breaths, the man looked over to his side, eyed his sword, and managed to grab it with one hand. He swung it at me while he was still on the floor, but I was able to sidestep the attack easily.
“Dryden will slaughter you,” the man cried.
“Maybe,” I replied.
The man swung his weapon at me again, this time even slower than before, and again I simply stepped back and out of the way.
I leaned forward and almost went into a kneeling position as I drove my sword into the guy’s chest, causing him to spit up blood and die. “I’m sorry, but we just don’t have time to chat.”
You have gained 1400 XP!
I crouched down and quickly checked the man’s pockets.
You’ve received: 180 Gold Pieces
You’ve received: Door Key. Durability: 85/100. Quality: Average. Rarity: Common. Weight: 0.1 kg. A basic, silver key used to lock and unlock a door.
As I rose to my feet, I picked up his sword.
You’ve received: Heavy Steel Sword. 16-28 Attack Damage. Requires 22 Strength. Durability: 6/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Common. Weight: 3.6
I held the sword out to the ladies. “Can one of you use this?”
They both practically crossed their eyes at me, looked down at the sword and shaking their heads.
“I have no sword skills,” Maleena said.
“Me either,” Rina concurred, “and I doubt my strength is high enough to carry the weight of that thing.”
My shoulders slumped. “No weapon skills at all?”
Maleena shook her head. “My fighting skills are quite poor. I was a barmaid before I met Satorin.”
Rina shrugged. “I can use staves, but that’s all I’m really proficient with.”
“You could have mentioned that yesterday,” I said, tossing the sword to the ground.
Rina smirked. “You didn’t ask.”
I pointed down to the dead guard. “What about the armor he’s wearing?”
Rina shook her head no. “Heavy armor like that will just slow us down.”
I considered looting the armor for myself, but she had a point. Chain gloves and metal bracers were no big deal, but the leggings and breastplate would’ve definitely cut into my speed.
Malenna rubbed her hands on her shoulders. “I don’t think we have much time left, guys. Ten minutes, maybe?”
I snapped my lips together, internally cursing myself for dawdling. I stepped over the dead guard’s body and shoved the key in the door. I pushed the door open to reveal the next room and all the random, strewn-about items that were on the floor. “What about this stuff?” I asked.
The two girls hurried into the room and started rummaging through objects. Most of the gear was low level items, battered with cuts and dings, and when I touched a few to get stats, none of them were particularly useful to me. I imagined it was just leftover loot that Bloodletters had collected from low levels they killed.
Maleena slid on a pair of leather boots that were on the floor to protect her previously bare feet and then slid a torn red robe over her harem outfit. Rina quickly slid on a pair of leather leggings, squeezed into a leather vest, and rounded it out with a pair of worn, leather boots. She picked up a plain, wooden staff that was leaning against the wall, spun it around a couple of times, then grabbed a slingshot that was lying nearby.
“Here,” Rina said, handing the slingshot and a bag of pebbles to Maleena. “You won’t do much damage with this, but you’ll at least be distracting.”
Maleena took the slingshot and stretched out its band. She looked timid as she tested out the weapon, but I figured anything she could to do to assist would help.
“Anything else useful in here?” I asked. “We’ve got to move.”
“Wait,” Rina said. She placed her hand in front of her face, and then turned and lifted her palm at Maleena and me. A soft sparkle of white began glowing around our bodies, and I felt warm and safe inside. A small, pulsing star appeared below my status bars.
Nourishing Aura: Your body feels nourished by a comforting, otherworldly light. Health regeneration increased by 1 point per second. Spell duration: 10 minutes. Source: Rina
She rolled her hand clockwise, raised her palm at us, and a sparkle of light manifested out of nowhere and fell on each of our heads. The icon of a small hand holding a ball of light appeared.
Divine Blessing: Your health is increased by 10%. Strength increased by 10%. Spell duration: 5 minutes. Source: Rina
She lowered her hand and raised it again, all of her moves coming together as if she were dancing, and a clear, virtually invisible force seemed to materialize around my body. An off-white diamond joined the status indicators.
Divine Shield: 10% of damage from all attacks are absorbed. Spell Duration: 3 Minutes. Source Rina
“That should help,” Rina said.
I held my hands out and squeezed them, feeling incredibly more durable with Rina’s buffs. Along with the Divine Zeal that had yet to wear off, the area below my status bars was totally lit up with icons. “Why didn’t you do all that before?”
“I couldn’t risk casting any spells before we entered the passage, and you didn’t warn me that there was a guard immediately past the hidden door. I didn’t have time to think. I haven’t been in battle for a long time.”
“Well, last time I was here, there were three guards behind this next door, so if there’s any other tricks up your sleeve, we’ll need them now.”
Rina shook her head.
I looked to Maleena. “What about you? Magic buffs or anything?”
She shook her head no. “The only magic I ever learned is rudimentary telekinesis.”
“Telekinesis?” I perked up at that. “You can pick people up and do force throws and stuff?”
“No,” Maleena chuckled. “My mentalism skill is only level 3. I just used it when I worked at the Inn to pour drinks and entertain guests.” Maleena held out her hand and focused on a pair of leather gloves that were sitting at the top of a pile. She bit her inner lip and glared hard at the gl
oves, and slowly they began to levitate. She quickly moved the gloves around in the air then swiped her hand, causing the gloves to fly a short distance and land on top of a shield. “Small items are okay, but not too much bigger than that.”
I rolled my eyes. “Kind of useless for us here…”
Maleena pouted. “Sorry.”
I glanced at my mana, and I was down to about 85%. Knowing that we’d be facing three guards, I wanted to sit down and try to meditate, but our limited time wouldn’t allow it. “Here we go,” I said. “Get ready, and this time let’s group up.”
I willed myself to invite Rina and Maleena to my party.
Rina Teal has joined your party!
Maleena Sojori has joined your party!
I did a quick inspect of both Rina and Maleena and was surprised at the huge level discrepancy. It was nice to see that Rina was a healer, but I didn’t have time to really drill into their stats or ask any questions. We had to move faster.
The door on the far side was unlocked, so it immediately slid open when I pushed.
Just like the first time I entered the hall with Dryden, the three guards were in their exact same positions—two standing on either side of the wall, and a larger guard sitting in a chair in front of the door behind him. They immediately perked up as we entered.
“Good evening, gentlemen,” I said as I tried to buy time to inspect each of them. The two sword-carrying guards on the sides were both level 22 and had all the same stats as the guard we’d killed previously, and the larger man with a flail draped at his side was level 25, and had considerably elevated stats.
Name: Bloodletter Corporal
Race: human
Level: 25
Health/Mana/Stamina: 380/100/200
Status: unknown
You have reached level 6 in Inspect!
“Are you with Dryden?” one of the guards at the sides asked.
“He’s on his way,” I replied. “If you’ll step aside and let us through, we won’t be long.”
“You have the key?” the corporal grunted.
Key? I had totally forgot that Dryden had used a key to open that door rather than the soldiers opening it for him. The stress of being in the Bloodletter’s Keep and all the stuff that Dryden had told me was really taking its toll on me on my awareness levels. I was letting small details slip that I totally should’ve paid more attention to. I cleared my voice. “Dryden has the key, but if you open the door for us, he’ll be here soon.”
The corporal drew his flail and looked to one of the guards on the side. “Go get Dryden.”
So much for my poor attempt at verbal maneuvering… If the guard managed to get to Dryden, our whole escape plan would be finished.
I raised my hand and cast a Fire Curtain across the three men, and they all started yelling, swatting, and trying to jump out of the way of the flames. I took a quick glance back at my two companions as I drew my sword and dashed forward, shooting a fire blast at the guard closest to the left. The attack caused the guard to stagger and jerk back, and as he continued trying to dodge the flames, he stumbled and fell on his ass.
The other two guards had cleared themselves of flames as I closed in, dashed right, and slashed my sword against the breastplate of the lesser guardsman, causing a loud clang. The corporal had his flail raised to me right as my attack finished, and I could do nothing but stumble backwards in an attempt to dodge.
The attack came so fast that I slid back, falling on my butt as the flail slammed into the ground between my legs. I had managed to dodge the attack, but I was vulnerable. The lesser guard raised his sword to attack, but right before he swung down at me, a small pebble slammed into his face, right below his eye. He jerked back and instinctively grabbed at his face. Another pebble hit him in the forehead, and he turned to see Maleena at the far side of the room.
“Bitch!” the guard yelled.
I used the opportunity to slam my sword against the guard’s chainmail leggings.
Battle Alert: Critical Hit!
The attack was strong enough to pierce through his armor and cut deep into his leg. He dropped his sword and fell to one knee, grabbing at his shin.
The next thing I remember was pure pain. I tried my best to juggle between the three men and avoid their shots, but three was just too many, and the corporal got a clear shot at the side of my face with his heavy spiked flail.
I heard my bones crack, I lost hearing in one of my ears, and a loud ring was consuming the other side of my head.
You are bleeding and require medical attention. Bleeding is a damage-over-time effect.
Gunnar! I heard vaguely in the distance—at least I think it was in the distance. I wasn’t sure if it were real or if I were imagining things. I tasted blood in my mouth, and I had a vague idea of where I was, but I didn’t have the willpower to pull myself away from the pain.
Was it all going to be over based on just that one shot? I saw the boots of the Bloodletter corporal as I laid on the ground struggling to snap myself back into reality, and I was certain that a death blow was coming at any second.
Heal! I heard, again sounding like just a voice in my head.
Of course, I want to heal, I thought to myself.
Instantly the pain in my body subsided to something manageable, and my vision and hearing snapped back to normal. I glance to my status bar and realized that I was at 40% health.
“Heal!” Rina yelled out, and a flash of light surrounded my body. Suddenly, I was back up to 80% health and felt virtually fine.
You are bleeding and require medical attention. Bleeding is a damage-over-time effect.
Well… almost.
I looked up and Rina was brandishing her staff in the direction of the men, and each time swung it, a beam of light fell from the sky onto them, causing them to briefly finch in pain with each hit. It didn’t seem to be causing any dramatic damage to the men, but along with the rocks that Maleena was pelting at their faces, it was seriously slowing them down.
The corporal flinched at Rina’s attack and looked down to see that I had suddenly recovered. He twirled his weapon, ignoring the pain of Rina’s second attack and swung the flail at me hard.
I pressed my hands firmly against the floor to scoot myself back, avoiding the blow as his flail smashed into the wall, throwing shards of stone all over the hall. The guardsman who had fallen when the fight started was back up and had flanked me. He swung his sword swung down, and tried to roll, but was caught on the side of my arm anyway, the cold of the metal causing me to shriek out in pain.
You are bleeding and require medical attention. Bleeding is a damage-over-time effect.
You have gained 1 point of Vitality!
I scurried to my feet, blocking another attack from the guardsman with my sword, paired in the direction of the women, and when Rina’s beam of light caused the man to flinch, I used the opportunity to dip my sword deep and hard into the man’s abdomen.
The guard groaned, but when I tried to press the sword deeper, he grabbed at the blade and pushed himself off, backing off towards the other three men as he grabbed at the wound. I simultaneously stepped back towards Rina and Maleena.
That guard was one tough son of a bitch.
The corporal was already stomping towards us with his flail ready to swing, and with a guard still on one knee addressing his shin, I saw an opportunity to try my new attack.
I took a hard step forward and swung my sword towards the men while focusing hard on Arcane Slash, and just like when I had tested it in the room, a thick wave of energy coursed up my arms and into the blade, then flew in an arching wave towards the men.
The wave of energy slammed into the breastplates of the corporal and the man clutching at his stomach, throwing them back hard and onto their backs. The slash struck part of the wall, ripping bits of stone off, and it also hit the man who was on his knee right below his neck. He fell back hard and smashed his head against the solid stone floor.
You have reached
level 11 in Arcane Magic!
“Yes!” Maleena shouted, lowering her sling.
I dashed forward as the three men were all lying on the ground clutching at their wounds. I stopped at the guard with the injured shin and shot a Fireblast at his face, then whipped my sword against his throat.
You have gained 1400 XP!
I started to turn so that I could deal finishing blows to the other two men, but I was far too overconfident about the situation. Before I could even spin around, the corporal swept his leg out at me, dropping me to my back. In an athletic move, he sprung to his feet and swung his flail overhead at the same time, smashing it right into my abdomen.
I felt stomach acid shoot into my throat, and I was close to vomiting into the air.
He swung the flail again, this time, crushing the side of my face, causing me to lose any and all sense of the damage that had been done to my gut. My hands grew weak, and I felt the hilt of my sword slip from my hand and fall to the floor.
Rina? I wondered. Could she save me with another heal or was it too late?
“Let me kill him!” I heard the other guard say, and though I didn’t see what happened, I felt cold, hard, metal sink right into the center of my chest and deep into my heart.
Blood dripped from my skull and into what little vision I had left, and in the last few seconds before everything went dark, I heard Maleena scream.
YOU HAVE DIED
All of your current level’s progression has been reset to 0% and any unused attribute and level points have been lost.
You will respawn at your last bound location in approximately 2:00:00