Nova Terra- Greymane

by Seth Ring

  Mina was casting icy spell after icy spell, slowing the charging werewolves to a crawl. Next to her, the elven War Priestess cast healing spells in succession, making sure that Thorn’s health was staying topped up. This freed Thorn to attack with abandon, trading hits with the werewolves. The muted pain settings made even the most vicious cut feel like a sting, so Thorn’s intimate experience with suffering allowed him to ignore the attacks entirely.

  Within minutes he had cleared two thirds of the room and turned to support Mina who was beginning to struggle to keep the werewolves back. Thorn helped by picking up one of the long tables and lobbing it through the air at them, forcing them to dodge backward. Charging forward, he smashed the last few werewolves and then walked back to where Mina and Velin were standing in the doorway. Akira, hanging on Mina’s back, jumped up to Thorn’s broad shoulder.

  “Master! I helped the pointy hat lady!”

  “Thanks, Akira.” Thorn scratched his battle pet behind the ears as he talked to Mina and Velin. “How did it go on your end?”

  “Great! Akira was a big help. Her heal is a full restore which allows me to cast without worrying about mana drain.” Mina looked at Thorn’s furry pet enviously. “Are you sure you don’t want to sell her?”

  “No way.” Thorn shook his head as he fed Akira a treat. “Velin, you were totally right. I’m much better at offense than I am at defense. It was helpful to not have to worry about defending while fighting.

  “Yes, that went much better. We’ll keep this pattern for now. The only thing we will need to worry about is if we get surrounded, but as long as we don’t let enemies get behind us we should be fine.”

  After resting for a moment, Thorn and Mina sifted through the drops while Velin meditated. With Akira using her healing ability on Mina, and Velin keeping Thorn topped up, they did not have to do much resting between fights. Velin, on the other hand, was using mana like water and needed almost ten minutes before she was ready to go again.

  After picking up the loot that had dropped, Thorn checked the hallways one by one, starting from the three hallways that werewolves had come from. All three hallways led to empty rooms, abandoned in haste as the werewolves had picked up the smell of the potion. The last entrance had a thick, wooden door so Thorn carefully eased the door open, revealing a hallway filled with cobwebs. From the undisturbed dust coating the floor it was obvious that the hall hadn't been used in a long time, but soon the group came to a room with another werewolf in it.

  The monster raised its head as Thorn opened the door. Seeing each other at the same time, it started to turn toward him. Without hesitation Thorn stepped up and, feet squared, jabbed out with his left hand as fast as he could, completely flattening the werewolf's snout and crushing its jaw. He followed up with wrapping his right hand around its neck, choking the rising howl of pain and then smashed his left fist into its head again, silencing the monster for good.

  It evaporated into light, dropping a few coins and Thorn examined his left gauntlet that had been dented very slightly from the werewolf's teeth. Jabs worked quite well due to his absurd strength, but he didn't like the idea of harming his gear whenever he attacked an opponent.

  Shrugging, since there was nothing he could currently do, Thorn and the girls continued their way. Apart from a close call when they walked around the corner into a three-werewolf patrol Thorn didn't have too much trouble swiftly killing the werewolves they encountered. Mina would obstruct them and Thorn would wade forward and stomp them into the ground, all the while healed by Velin.

  There were no more large fights on the first floor and soon they had finished exploring it. Standing in front of the stairs to the second floor, Velin stopped the group.

  “Before we go up to the second floor we need to prepare. It has been three hours since we took our potions, which means Thorn’s has run out and ours have less than a quarter left. This means we need to prepare for waves of enemies since they will be able to sniff us out. We can set up a trap, but we will have to be very careful that we don’t attract the boss. Based on the size of the keep, it is unlikely that the dungeon is more than two floors, so we will probably be facing the boss on the next level, as well as all of the other werewolves.”

  “Do we need to change up our approach?” Thorn asked, when Velin paused.

  “No, I think we can maintain our current system, we need to be ready to retreat if things start to go bad. These werewolves are not too dangerous because their defenses are weak. But if they do get hits in on me or Mina, we’ll be in trouble.”

  “And this is why most people still run in the trinity formation.” Mina chimed in.

  “Trinity formation?”

  “Tank, heals, damage.” Mina rolled her eyes at Thorn’s question. “There can be more than three in the group, but the roles are pretty locked when it comes to combat. On the other hand, we’ve got damage out the window but not having someone to control aggro is a major weakness. A tank’s role is less about taking damage, and more about controlling where enemies attack.”

  “That is true. Ouroboros was really good at that.” Thorn nodded. More and more he was feeling the effect of not having a class. Even though he had abilities granted through his Avatar title, he was missing a lot of the basic abilities that came with even the standard classes.

  Resolving to make getting a class his priority, Thorn sat down with the girls and took a quick break. Getting out a few sandwiches that he had purchased in town and a large jug of iced tea, they ate and chatted. Thorn had gotten better at asking questions about the game and Mina was always happy to chatter on about anything so Thorn was able to put their breaks to good use.

  After chatting for ten minutes, they were fully rested. Getting up, Thorn brushed some crumbs off his pants and called Akira who had been fighting with Mina over a couple cookies. Seeing that everyone was ready, he led the way up the stairs to the second floor of the dungeon. As they walked up the curling staircase, Thorn checked the status of his quest.

  Lord of Greymane

  Elder Thomas, the Greymane Village leader, has asked you to break the curse hanging over these lands in order to claim your position as the Lord of Greymane. In order to break the curse sit in the Wolf Throne while wearing the Ring of the Wolf Lord. As an added requirement defeat all the werewolves in the castle.

  67/100 Werewolves

  0/1 Greater Werewolf

  Rewards:

  Title: Lord Greymane

  Area: Greymane Castle

  Area: Fang Forest

  Area: Greymane Village

  Area: The Twins

  Thirty-three werewolves and a greater werewolf left, thought Thorn. Enough to provide a fatal challenge for the three of them should they not proceed carefully. Climbing up the dark stone staircase, Thorn could not help but marvel at the texture of the stone as he ran his armored fingers across the wall. Watching his fingers bounce along the slight inconsistencies, Thorn still found it hard to believe that all of this was a game. More and more, he was beginning to treat this world as real.

  The more he learned about Nova Terra, the less it seemed like a game, or a way to pass his time. Intellectually he knew that his body was stuck in a giant tube, being treated by an advanced form of nanobots while his mind wandered around in this fantasy world. Yet every day he woke up and ate, talked and fought, growing more at home in this virtual space. He could feel his mind adapting to the new rules of his body and a small part of him was wondering if he would be able to adapt to life in his real body ever again.

  Hearing the tink, tink, tink of his gauntlets on the stone blocks, Thorn felt a poke and suddenly realized that Velin was glaring at him. Sheepishly he took his hand back and walked as quietly as he could up the stairs. The top of the stairs led directly into a massive room and it didn't take the party long to realize that something was off.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  The large room was divided into three rough sections, each marked out by iron pillars as thick as Thorn�
�s wrist sunk into the stone floor. Attached to each pillar were three sets of heavy-duty chains suspending skeletons in various states of decay. Along the walls of the room dangled the corpses of prisoners and various instruments of torture. Directly in the center of the room a thick, rusty iron spike stood a full six feet tall with a skeleton impaled upon it.

  Stepping into the room, Thorn focused his gaze across the room at a hulking brute of a monster, squatting on two back legs while it gnawed its way through chainmail armor to get at the flesh of the corpse it was feasting on. When Thorn and the girls came into the room the monstrosity looked up at them and then slowly stood, rising to a full eight feet of pure muscle and horror. Metallic-looking fur covered its body and its razor-sharp claws were easily as long as Mina’s forearm. Saliva dripping from its maw, the greater werewolf grinned, its bloody muzzle creating a terrifying picture.

  "Looks like we have a guest," slurred the creature, tossing the remains of the adventurer it had been chewing on to the side. Without warning it threw back its head and howled, a long echoing sound ringing around the keep. In response howls erupted from every corner of the second floor and the hurried sound of werewolves rushing over became quite clear.

  Within seconds the room began to fill with werewolves, surrounding the group on three sides. As they pushed in, jostling for position, a large metal gate fell from the ceiling, cutting off the path back down the stairs and pushing them toward the center of the room. Their backs to a wall and with no escape, Thorn took a big breath.

  Mina and Velin had started chanting as soon as the greater werewolf howled, and as the door behind them came down, Thorn sprang into action, decisively rushing forward, determined to keep the werewolves from gaining any momentum.

  Surprised by Thorn's move, the greater werewolf roared out in anger, "Kill him!"

  Jumping into the group Thorn began to lash out with his tetsubo as fast as he could, each blow containing as much force as could possibly muster. If he couldn't disable a large portion of the werewolves in this first rush, he knew that they would be in a lot of trouble. As the werewolves reacted and started to jump toward Thorn it became increasingly difficult for him to swing his weapon.

  Monsters were tossed aside, skulls smashed and limbs bent, but as soon as Thorn managed to move one away, two would press into its place, their sharp claws reaching toward him. Thorn grimaced in pain as a claw caught his back, ripping through his leather armor and gouging his skin. Thankfully, Velin’s warm healing light landed on him at the same time. Squirming slightly at the strange feeling of being injured and healed at the same time, Thorn spun. He threw out a sharp hook, blasting the werewolf that struck him into another, its mangled snout spraying blood and saliva through the air.

  A snap kick drove another werewolf back, directly into an iron post but at the cost of another gash on Thorn's shoulder. The monsters were simply too numerous for him to avoid, especially if he wanted to attack, and as the brawl continued more and more cuts appeared on his flesh.

  Back near the door, Mina was sending out a storm of snow and ice, trying her best to bog down the werewolves at the edges of the fight while using barrages of ice spikes to drive back the werewolves that approached her and Velin. Seeing a werewolf jumping for Thorn’s neck, she pointed.

  “[Sub Zero]!”

  The pouncing werewolf froze solid and Thorn, feeling the cold air behind him, turned and backhanded it across the room where it shattered against the wall. As the struggle continued, Thorn swung his tetsubo with abandon, smashing down everything that came into its range. Finally, unable to bare the strain of the chaotic fight, his weapon snapped off at the handle. Tossing away the broken handle Thorn began to lash out with punches and kicks as fast as he could.

  It was a deadly whirlwind of bone-crushing kicks and punches, razor sharp claws and snapping jaws. Countless werewolves fell, but no matter how many Thorn crushed into the ground, more jumped forward to strike at him. Additionally, the longer he fought the faster he seemed to lose his energy, despite Velin’s healing. Sparing a glance down he could see blood soaking his armor, new wounds opening up even as others closed under the warm light. With the sight of the blood came the sure knowledge that unless the fight ended soon he would be experiencing his second death in Nova Terra.

  “Thorn, I can’t keep up!” Velin shouted, desperately trying to heal Thorn through all the damage. The bloody streaks appeared on his Thorn’s massive form faster than her light could heal him causing his health to fall steadily. Every strike from the werewolves stacked a bleeding condition on to Thorn, and Velin’s condition clearing spell was on cooldown.

  While Thorn was struggling in the middle of the brawl, Akira was hiding behind Mina, trying to stay out of sight of the werewolves. As a support battle pet, she was no match for the monsters in a direct fight and thought it much safer to keep a distance. As she watched Thorn smash through the werewolves, worry began to grow. Thorn was slowing down and began to take more hits as his fatigue built up.

  Akira rushed out and darted up an unsuspecting werewolf's back, launching herself through the air while calling up her most powerful support spell, [Majesty]. A spell unique to Royal Ailuridae, [Majesty] imbued a target with a majestic glow, drawing those around them in and providing various buffs to their stats. However most important was the fact that when cast it removed all negative status effects on the target while restoring them to perfect health, which, in this case, cleared Thorn's bleeding condition and put his health back to full.

  Akira was so focused on casting her spell that she failed to notice the large black claw coming toward her side until it cut through her fur. With a shriek she fell to the ground, barely rolling out of the way as another strike came down at her head.

  Thorn felt his fatigue suddenly vanish when Akira jumped, but it wasn't until he heard her shriek that he understood what had happened. Seeing her disappear under the roiling sea of monsters, his stomach jumped straight into his throat and a frenzy filled him.

  [Wolf’s Rage] triggered on its own, filling Thorn with a savage power. Throwing his head back, Thorn instinctively activated [Wolf Lord’s Howl], the shockwave of sound stunning all the werewolves. Still howling he sprang into the dense pile of monsters, blasting them away with a swift flurry of punches and kicks. Failing to move them fast enough he saw Akira surface again, bleeding from where she had been struck, desperate to get away from the werewolves, only to be struck again by a heavy claw, her battered body flying back toward the wall.

  As she was about to hit the wall a bright light fell on her, its warm glow healing her wounds and waking her from her stunned state. Scrambling back to her feet, Akira quickly hid behind Mina who furiously blasted the werewolf that had been chasing the Ailuridae into a popsicle. Squeaking furiously, Akira shivered, scared by her close brush with death.

  Never more thankful for teammates, seeing Akira nearly get mauled pierced Thorn’s heart. Poking a hole in the thick wall that he used to shield his emotions from others. Like a dam bursting those feelings spewed forth, unleashing a wrath he had not known he possessed. A feral growl escaped his clenched teeth and a bloody glow rose in his eyes.

  Grabbing a werewolf by the throat he began to swing it like a club, smashing into the other werewolves without any regard for defense. Large gashes began to reappear as the monsters slashed and snapped at him but Thorn paid them no mind, simply grinding any werewolves who got close into paste.

  His eyes saw only the outlines of his enemies within a red mist and his hands sought them out without rest, gouging, crushing, striking and maiming. No matter how many werewolves came forward, Thorn pressed on mindlessly, slaughtering them however he could.

  Within minutes a somber silence descended on the room broken only by the hoarse breathing of Thorn and the rasping breath of the greater werewolf who was staring at him in bemused astonishment. When Thorn had entered the room the greater werewolf had summoned the remainder of its kin from around the castle to deal with him, only to
be surprised by the ferocity with which Thorn slaughtered them.

  Behind Thorn, Mina stared in shock, her mouth open. Catching sight of Thorn’s bloodshot eyes as he looked around for more enemies to shred, the Ice Witch could not suppress a shudder. Thorn had gone through almost thirty werewolves like a meat grinder and the raw savagery of it caused her to shake.

  Velin stood behind Mina, her brow furrowed. Despite the worry that was evident on her face, she did not forget to heal Thorn, doing her best to bring him back up to full health. Sensing that Mina was about to call out, Velin grabbed her, placing a hand over the shorter girl’s mouth.

  “Shh. Don’t draw his attention. Something is wrong.” Velin whispered, her eyes fixed on Thorn’s broad back.

  The greater werewolf wasn't concerned with the deaths of its kin, they would reappear if the curse continued. Rather, the greater werewolf was surprised that Thorn had managed to make it through all 33 of the werewolves it had called and remain standing. Bleeding from a dozen serious gashes, it was a miracle that Thorn hadn't collapsed long ago.

  Thorn, for his part, still wasn't thinking properly. Having given into his anger all the sorrow, loneliness, fear, and worry that he had stored up in his heart throughout his life began to burn, serving as fuel for his rage. The 16 years of suppressed emotion was pouring out, feeding the flames of his anger until it was an all-consuming blaze.