Rindzin’s Ghostly Talon
Not a skill, nor an item, but a divine imprint that melds with your essence. When unarmed and surrounded by enemies, you will be given a ghostly talon of Rindzin, Ruler of Dragons. The talon’s base damage is always equal to your enemy’s level.
Magnetism
Loot from enemies you defeat is automatically sent to your inventory.
Junior Gladiator
+5% damage in battle against players; +5% to Resilience skill in battle against players; +10% to all main stats.
I scrolled the list a few times until I noticed something strange. Rindzin’s Ghostly Talon? What was that? Where did I get that perk? It must have come from the Ordeal. I remembered waving away some message after I came round in Behemoth’s temple. Unfortunately, I couldn’t access the real Scyth’s achievements in the Cursed Chasm. But I could still find out, I just had to wait for the game day to end and then go to my character profile through the communicator…
Nether! I was thinking about the wrong thing. I might not even have a second day at the Games. I’d get plenty of chance to practice with the Talon soon; I had no other weapon anyway!
The world flickered, dimmed. The edges of my view filled with black:
Your soul’s connection to your body is fading!
Return to it, otherwise you will be forcibly resurrected with the Despair debuff (-25% health)!
Forced resurrection in: 00:59… 00:58…
Damn… I could feel myself starting to panic. I got a grip on myself, quickly scrolled further down the list, down to where my achievement rewards were:
Passive Aura — Most Magnificent Avenger
-25% damage and defense to all nearby opponents.
Bonus — Treasury of the First Mage: Path of Courage
+5% chance to stun an enemy for 1 second when dealing any damage.
Bonus — I’m on Fire! I am the Fire!
+100% health.
At the end of the list were my crafts. Cooking and Inscription had dropped down to level one, but the hell with them… Although… Wait! A thought came into my head and demanded confirmation. Quickly glancing at my profile, I saw that my stats were up ten points from Junior Gladiator! My health was doubled from I’m on Fire! I am the Fire! This cursed cripple wouldn’t be so weak today after all!
I spent my remaining seconds furiously arranging my abilities in the interface. Mental commands worked just fine, but seeing cooldown timers and visible skill icons with my own eyes was always useful. Having a variety of abilities was good, but it was easy to forget about them in a critical moment.
If I’d had a body, I would have been able to hear my heart thumping. The fate of the clan and the Sleepers depended on whether I could escape into the sky. Maybe even the fate of millions of non-citizens, if the news of tissue necrosis in the undead faction was true.
Two seconds left until my forced resurrection. I took a step, felt my body materializing and sighed in disappointment: Cursed Cripple was still active. Now everything depended on whether this peaceful zone would let me use…
Ghastly Howl! The perimeter line broke as people started running this way and that in fear. But some of Quetzal’s fighters ignored the effect and attacked while I began to take off. Something bit into my waist and the Liberation icon turned gray. Lethargy on Quetzal! The titan Destroyer fell into a deep sleep and I rose into the sky. So we couldn’t deal any damage, but everything else worked?
Fortunately for me, the debuff didn’t affect my ability to fly. Two mages with Levitation took off in pursuit. I sharply changed direction toward Youlang and flew straight at her. She tried to cast Sheep on me, but I interrupted the cast with a punch. Or at least, I tried to punch her, but something strange happened. A ghostly talon nearly two feet long shot out of my arm. My body flashed with fire that quickly dissipated.
You are unarmed! Rindzin’s Ghostly Talon activated!
The talon sank into Youlang’s chest. Zero damage, but the spellcaster lost her concentration and fell with a scream from ninety feet in the air. The second mage hesitated after seeing the spellcaster’s sorry end. Levitation was a good spell, but hard to keep active at lower levels if you get hit. While Youlang fell, I took advantage of Imitation to copy her class and level up the skill.
Chaos reigned below, with only two bodies standing motionless: Youlang and Quetzal. Fear was still active, and most of the players were running around like headless chickens. Paying them no more mind, I shot toward the Pitfall.
In flight, as I examined my surroundings, I finally glanced at the logs — Liberation, Lethargy and Unarmed Combat +1! Irita had said that the Games were fast-paced because skills and levels progressed very quickly. Something similar happened during the Ordeal, so I was used to the fast tempo.
I’d come up with my strategy the night before, while tossing and turning in my bed. It all depended on which skills I had left, so I thought of multiple options for different skillsets. I had hoped to have not only Depths Teleportation, but also the mantras I’d learned from Oyama. They weren’t showing in my profile, and nothing happened when I said them aloud.
The Nether with it. I could make do without my missing abilities. I had what I needed, and even more — that Talon was incredible! Anyway, I hadn’t even hoped that my +10 to all main stats from Junior Gladiator would still be there. I’d just forgotten all about it; in Dis, the increase was negligible. Here, on the other hand, it was a powerful boost, and I ended up with seventy points in total, equal to twenty levels.
Now to test out a theory related to the mechanics of the bosses guarding the gates. I flew into the Pitfall, saw the first and second seals broken, the gates wide open. The corpses of the bosses lay sprawled at the entrance. It seemed the mobs here didn’t disappear after death; there was no point, since they didn’t respawn.
The group that threw me into the Pitfall was descending below. Destiny!
The staircase built into the wall was around fifteen feet wide. The players walked down it, happily chatting away and discussing the loot that dropped on floor one. They didn’t see me.
Flying closer, I smiled and launched myself right at them. The shapeshifter magician was my first target. I caught him unprepared, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and throwing him over the edge.
“Sorry, Messiah, nothing personal!” I shouted after him as he fell with a scream.
The others froze in confusion. I picked out my next target and flew straight at her at full speed. Destiny took out her bow, but it was no help. The arrow took away six points of my health, and the elf girl had no time to shoot again. Grabbing her by the arm, I soared away. Weak spells showered me and a dart hit me. None of it saved the elf. Holding the screaming Destiny before me as she tried to claw out my eyes, I spoke:
“If you come back, I’ll throw you down a second time. And then we’ll be even.”
With those words, I dropped her into the abyss. Now that the group leader was dealt with, I looked around. More and more people were arriving from the graveyard and descending into the Pitfall. The others from Destiny’s group were pressed against the wall, their arms locked together. The ones at the ends of the row bristled with weaponry.
“After me, slowly,” Urkish the lopher said to the others, keeping his eyes locked on me. “He can’t touch us inside.”
I wouldn’t be able to pull their human chain apart. I cast another regretful glance their way, trying to identify a weak link, but found no good targets.
“That’s how you’re going to have to move around the Cursed Chasm from now on,” I laughed, cancelling Flight.
I fell down a few floors, stopping to hover before the gates at floor ten. The players wouldn’t get here any time soon, and the boss should be around my strength — counting my debuff, of course. But with my perks and rewards… I only had three hundred and ninety health now! And there were no penalties for level differences!
I placed my hand on the seal and realized I couldn’t pull it away. Thousands of
needles stuck into it, sucking out my blood. The seal filled with red, flashed and receded into the gates, which began to open with a screech.
Resilience level increased: +1. Current level: 2.
A bloodcurdling roar boomed out from inside. My health dropped by 10%! That was news — did that mean that the deeper you went, the more painful it was to break the seals? Below level 100, it could mean guaranteed death!
I jumped back, hovering above the abyss around thirty feet from the gate.
A hellish beast stuck its head out of the tunnel leading into the dungeon. It looked like Anubis from Ancient Egypt, a nine-foot humanoid with a dog’s head, long sharp ears, eyes flickering with flame.
Alpha Ryukitsu, Demon, level 10 Gate Guardian
Dungeon Boss.
“Mortal!” the boss growled deeply, but didn’t go beyond the bounds of the gates.
Right. So I could forget about just letting all the bosses out. I’d hoped that they’d emerge and block the path down the stairs to the lower levels… But it wasn’t to be. I couldn’t fight Alpha Ryukitsu either, not as a Cursed Cripple… Although… Dungeon boss? Did that mean the levels of the Pitfall were instances of their own? That meant my Dungeon Hero perk would partially compensate for the penalties from the debuff!
“Cowardly mortal!” Ryukitsu roared, dripping smoking saliva. He licked the claws of one paw, then the other. “Take the fight or die!”
Alpha Ryukitsu’s next roar cut off in a guttural yelp as I barreled into him. Surprise activated, knocking the beast off his feet. I focused in on the enemy’s health bar. Seeing no numbers whatsoever, I couldn’t figure out how much health he had. My first strike with Hammerfist, strengthened with Rindzin’s Ghostly Talon, critted and took away 2% of his health. The second, normal attack took away less than 1%.
Unarmed Combat level increased: +1. Current level: 3.
Massive paws bristling with monstrous claws raked open my belly. The boss’s spit, which he’d spread all over his claws, turned out to be Fetid Poison. A Poison debuff began to tick, removing three points of my health every second.
Resilience level increased: +1. Current level: 3.
Once Unarmed Combat reached level seven, my health — along with the boss’s — was down in the yellow. I redoubled my assault, realizing that mathematics was on my side — my Unarmed Combat and Resilience were growing.
At 20%, Alpha Ryukitsu howled. A copy of him materialized nearby, which also started howling. The two bosses turned into four, then eight.
The copies attacked all at the same time apart from one. The closest suddenly exploded in a flash and melded into the ground, after which a nine-foot spear of light suddenly shot up from beneath my feet, stabbing straight through me. The real Ryukitsu stretched his claws toward me and began to absorb my health and mana. I couldn’t do anything.
The spear disappeared when my health was down to just 6%. The boss was now in his enraged phase and healed, and I was right on the brink. Another copy exploded, but this time I managed to fly away at the last second. The spear of light lanced through the earth, found no target and dissipated.
“There he is!” I heard from above.
A squad was running down the stairs, Quetzal and Marcus at its head. Arrows and spells shot toward me, but I easily dodged them.
“Woah! He’s nearly dead!” Marcus shouted gleefully.
“Scyth removed the seal!” Quetzal shouted. “Careful, it’s the boss! Prepare for battle! Everyone inside!”
I had nothing left to do here. My health would take a while to recover, and my debuff was slowing down my leveling too much. I had to find somewhere to wait out the day. But I couldn’t just waste my time either; I needed to spend it leveling up something that could help me. Shame I couldn’t finish off Ryukitsu — that would have been a lot of experience…
Leaving the boss to fight the players, I dropped down like a stone toward the bottom of the Pitfall. Without a healing potion, I would have to wait nearly half an hour to recover my health.
Even at full speed, it took a long time to fly to the bottom. My Night Vision leveled up to almost nine! When the number of the second-to-last floor flashed in fiery letters before my eyes, I slowed my speed. When I saw ‘666’ I stopped, felt out the hard ground with my feet, landed and sat down.
Sitting in lotus pose, I directed my gaze inwards, concentrating on the bright blue point in my chest and the pale azure lines branching off from it — the channels of my spirit. What was it the description said? Long hours of meditation lead to strengthening your spirit.
I was going to need an awful lot of spirit. It was time to add Clarity to my strategy.
Chapter 8. Nothingburger
FROM BEHIND THE GATES numbered 666 and leading to the final level came a mighty thump once per minute, like someone striking a gigantic anvil with a hammer, accompanied by a hum bordering on the ultrasonic, and a squelching noise. The combination interrupted my concentration and I stopped seeing my spirit channels.
The third time my trance-state was interrupted, I fired off Ghastly Howl just to vent my frustration and improve the skill. Night Vision was leveling up with incredible speed. I could already see in the dark as if beneath a starry sky.
Everything else had ground to a halt. The first day of the Games was already past its zenith, and I hadn’t achieved anything. The temptation to go up and sow terror by throwing players into the abyss distracted me from meditation. The thought of my unsuccessful attempt to kill Alpha Ryukitsu filled me with the desire to try to finish off one of the bosses and clear a floor, protecting myself from being knocked out of the Games.
Constant urges to look around and listen to make sure no contestants had come after me also broke my concentration. It would take a long time to get down here by foot, and I probably didn’t have to worry about any uninvited guests that day, but even knowing that, I found it hard to relax. Then I jumped up, remembering that I’d thrown Messiah and Destiny down here. What about the loot from them? I combed the whole floor of the Pitfall, trying to make out their bodies, but found nothing.
Only when I stopped distracting myself and focused on the little grain of spirit within me, on the fine channels of spirit, forgetting the place and time and my fears, did I see any progress:
Meditation level increased: +1. Current level: 2.
Spirit: +20. Total: 120.
Inspired by the level-up, I concentrated my attention again. A few deep breaths took me so deep into the trance that even the interface paled to almost complete transparency.
The ‘long hours’ to the next skill level turned into long minutes. It took almost an hour to get it, but it was worth it.
Meditation level increased: +1. Current level: 3.
Spirit: +30. Total: 150.
The bonus to spirit increased with each level of Meditation! That happy discovery nearly broke my trance.
Then time started to fly by unnoticed — I saw nothing, not even the logs, just the web of channels and the core of my spirit, which had grown ever so slightly. It was like I dissolved into space, became a part of it, observing the birth of tiny particles of spirit within my core and their calming movement through the channels. I began to see the meaning in the fine threads. I saw that the particles of spirit were crowded. They wanted to break free, but the laws of creation allowed them to move only within this closed chain, and the narrowness of the channels prevented them from picking up speed. Like people clustering in a narrow street where they could only just pass through one at a time. Understanding came — my total spirit was defined by both the size of the core and the width of the channels, and the broader they were, the greater my capabilities…
A warning popped up and knocked me out of my trance:
Contestant! The first day of the Demonic Games nears its end!
To avoid character death, it is recommended that you leave enemy territory.
Leaving Cursed Chasm in: 09:59… 09:58…
Such bad timing! When my meditation ended,
the interface reappeared. The system messages on my progress came up:
Meditation level increased: +1. Current level: 4.
Spirit: +40. Total: 190.
Meditation level increased: +1. Current level: 5.
By meditating, you now speed up your spirit restoration by 20%.
Spirit: +50. Total: 240.
It was pointless meditating further. The interrupted trance had reset the progress bar. That must be why Oyama was so angry when I set off Armageddon in the Lakharian Desert and knocked him out of the astral plane — the higher the skill level, the more time required to level up.
Ghastly Howl, my most useful ability for the time being, was leveling up successfully. I’d been using it whenever it came off cooldown:
The Demonic Games (Disgardium Book #7): LitRPG Series Page 12