Veil Online - Book 3: An Epic LitRPG Adventure

by John Cressman

  Quickly, Jace examined them in his HUD.

  Trench Dweller Warrior

  Race: Ninjen

  Class: Warrior Caste

  Level: 25

  Jace frowned at their level. It could have been much worse, but it was bad enough. Level 25 was higher than the average level of the crew. And there had to be dozens more of the ninjen still in the water. This wasn’t a fight he thought they could win. But he wouldn’t go down without a fight.

  The shark-men bellowed a war cry and, with his Monsterspeak skill, Jace understood it. “Kill the land dwellers!”

  Even as the ninjen moved forward to attack, Jace heard the crew calling out their Taunts, peeling one or two of them from the main group. There were seven groups of pirates, including the group Colette had joined. Each of the groups, except the first mate’s group, had two ninjen on them.

  Colette’s group moved behind the ninjen at the nearest group and began to lay in on them with their cutlasses. Jace took the hint and did the same. He moved behind the closest one and struck it from the rear with both his weapons.

  You Backstab Trench Dweller Warrior for 37 damage plus 18 acid damage.

  You Backstab Trench Dweller Warrior for 7 damage.

  As usual, the Kraken’s Blade did more damage than the saber. Guessing by how little damage it did, he guessed their shark skin must be tough enough that it provided natural armor and Defense. This was confirmed when Luna’s attacks barely scratched them.

  The ninjen was caught in the pirate tough’s Taunt and didn’t turn on Jace, which he found familiar. From years of playing Mordred, he was used to being the backstabbing damage dealer. It was nice to revisit that role.

  While the two other pirates in the group focused on one of the creatures, Jace kept his focus on the one he’d attacked. Despite the fact that there were two pirates and both were higher level than him, Jace’s ninjen fell first.

  You have killed an ocean dwelling creature. You have unlocked Kraken’s Claw’s special ability: Slay Ocean Dwellers.

  Kraken’s Claw now does double damage against normal ocean dwelling creatures.

  Kraken’s Claw now does triple damage against stronger ocean dwelling creatures.

  Jace read the new message and almost laughed aloud. Kraken’s Claw had a special ability, on top of all its other abilities.

  It was a slayer blade. A magical weapon that was created to fight a specific type of creature. There were dragon slayer blades, demon slayer blades and a host of other types of slaying weapons.

  If he read it correctly, it would double his damage against regular ocean enemies and triple the damage against boss enemies. He’d never owned a slayer before and finding that he had one gave him a fresh boost of energy.

  The sword began to thrum in his hand and he could now feel its need for the blood of these ocean creatures. He felt the saber almost pull him towards them, hungry for their lives. It wanted to be fed - like Luna, he thought. In this case, he was all too happy to oblige it.

  Grinning evilly, Jace turned to the next ninjen. It was time to see what this slayer blade could do. With the thrumming sword in his hand, he showed the shark-men no mercy.

  Chapter 18

  Jace decided slayer blades were awesome! With the double damage, he was able to kill a level 25 ninjen with only two or three backstabs. Moving from group to group, he helped to quickly eliminate the remaining shark-men, earning himself level 11 in rogue.

  When the last ninjen collapsed on the deck, the pirates let out a cheer. Jace could see several pirates were down. He guessed the girls’ healing hadn’t been able to keep up with the damage the shark-men had done with their tridents. While they were cheering, Jace checked out his new level.

  Level 11 gave him 8 more health and 4 more mana, which were both welcome. It also gave him the opportunity to switch to the Swashbuckler prestige class he’d unlocked. Jace wished he would have been able to do some research on what it did before switching but in the end, it was a prestige class. It was more, theoretically at least, more powerful than any of the base classes and even more powerful than the premium classes. He crossed his fingers and brought up his HUD.

  Class changed. New class Swashbuckler.

  Adaptable: No experience penalty for fourth class.

  You have gained a new skill: Fencing

  You have gained a new skill: Parry

  Ability gained: Disarm

  Ability gained: Panache

  Jace frowned. Somehow, he’d expected more abilities or more skills. Of course, he already had dozens of skills from his other classes and he couldn’t receive the same skill twice. But at the same time, classes rarely award two abilities at once.

  He was surprised by the Disarm ability. He knew certain monsters, like kroakers, could disarm players, but he didn’t know any player classes that gave the ability. It was both a great and a limited ability. Some monsters didn’t use weapons and therefore couldn’t be disarmed. But he could see if being very helpful against any players. Plus, they wouldn’t be expecting it.

  The Fencing skill was a complete mystery. He knew what fencing was in the real world but wasn’t sure what the skill did in-game. Would he learn Bonetti’s Defense, so he could use it on rocky ground. Or may he’d learn how to attack with Capo Ferro or cancel it with Thibault. He grinned. Who knew, maybe he’d need to study some Agrippa.

  The Parry skill was another skill like Block or Dodge and would prevent damage, but like Block, which required a shield, Parry required a weapon in your hand to work. Once he ranked it up, the Parry skill would be a third way for him to avoid getting hit.

  Then he remembered the Panache ability. Given the name, it sounded like something unique to the Swashbuckler class. But that didn’t tell him what it did. He brought it up in his HUD.

  Panache

  Swashbuckler Ability

  Description: Your flamboyant style and confidence in your own skill allows you to strike a second time with a single, one-handed weapon.

  Note: This ability cannot function when holding a weapon in your secondary hand and therefore cannot stack with Two-weapon Fighting.

  Jace whistled and slipped his second saber into its scabbard. It appeared he no longer needed it to get two attacks. He could now attack twice with his main weapon. He grinned broadly. That meant Kraken’s Claw would get two strikes instead of one.

  A dozen more ninjen leaped onto the deck. Sailors swore as they quickly got back into their positions and began shouting out their Taunts at the new wave of enemies. The groups who had lost one of their members combined themselves with one of the other groups. This left them only four groups.

  Jace moved back to the girls, who were still around the mast. “How’s your mana?”

  Mika gave him a pained expression. “I am almost out of mana. I can’t keep up with the damage they’re doing.”

  Diana nodded after completing a healing spell aimed at one of the pirate toughs. “Same here.”

  “Do the best you can,” he told them. “I think I just got a major power boost by switching to Swashbuckler.”

  “Cool!” Mika said and Diana gave him a smile.

  “Come on, Luna,” he told the giant cat. “Let’s kill some fish people!”

  “Yes,” she agreed.

  The two of them jumped into the fray and Jace’s new Panache ability helped to bring down the new wave of more quickly that he would have thought possible. When the last of the new wave was down, the crew once again cheered. But this time, they were cheering for him.

  “Captain! Captain!” they chanted and Jace wanted to feel good, but he saw that they’d lost another tank. He hadn’t been fast enough.

  He checked his log and saw that he was already level 3 in Swashbuckler and rank 9 in Fencing. Was it fighting with one weapon that raised the skill? Or perhaps fighting with a piercing weapon? He didn’t know but, in one more rank, hopefully he’d get an ability from hitting rank 10.

  Then a third wave came leaping on board. The ninje
n attacking in waves didn’t make any sense from a tactical standpoint when they could have all just rushed onboard and overwhelmed the pirates easily. It was the game AI doing its job and giving them a fighting chance.

  Having played the game for years, he knew how the game AI influenced things in specific ways to make certain aspects - especially combat - more game-like than realistic. If his past experiences were a guide, then they’d fight this last wave and then a boss would appear.

  At least, that’s what would happen in a normal group encounter. There would be waves of lower level “trash” monsters, followed by a boss of some sort. Even raids worked the same way, just at a much more difficult level.

  Pushing his thoughts away, he joined in the combat and began hewing down the attacking shark-men as quickly as possible. He was trying to alternate between the last three groups, but he saw another of the pirate toughs go down. He swore. He hoped this was the last wave or there wouldn’t be any of their tanks left.

  Finally, the last of the third wave fell dead. Jace looked around at what remained of his crew. They’d lost eight pirates. Almost half. Did they have enough to make it to port? Or for that matter, make it out of the storm?

  Checking his log quickly, he saw that he had earned a new ability called Lunge at Fencing rank 10. He hurriedly glanced at the description.

  Lunge

  Fencing: 10

  Cost: 4 mana

  Description: You lunge forward up to 10 feet, inflicting a stabbing wound with your weapon which does double damage.

  Note: Can only be used when wielding a single weapon.

  He wondered if it stacked with other damaging abilities, like Critical Eye. But he had no time to ponder those questions as he heard a huge splash and a thud behind him.

  Turning, he came face to face with a giant ninjen. It looked like the others, but about a foot taller and had been taking steroids. Not only that, but it wore some sort of shell armor. With all the shells, the creature looked silly but Jace didn’t feel like laughing. He examined the new monster.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader (Legendary)

  Race: Ninjen

  Class: Warrior Caste

  Level: 30

  He swore loudly. The thing was a boss alright. And not even a mini-boss, but a full-fledged legendary boss. And it was level 30. Jace swore and cast his Air Armor. This was going to be painful, even with his new abilities and Kraken’s Blade. Level 30 armor would be impossible for his normal weapon to pierce. Even Kraken’s Claw was going to have a tough time since it was only level 10.

  Then there was it’s weapon. The huge trident it held had to be level 30 as well. A level 30 spear was going to do a ton of damage since it was a two-handed weapon. Of course, Jace suddenly had a way to take the trident out of the picture.

  “Any mana left?” he called out to the girls.

  “A little,” they both said.

  “Try to keep me up!” he said and then shouted his Taunt. “Get over here!”

  The Frenzy Leader rushed him, trident leading the way. Jace waited until it got close and then burned 4 mana to do a Disarm attempt.

  His arm suddenly went through a series of circular movements and the leader’s trident went flying. The surprised leader stared after its trident as the thing went flying up in the air.

  Jace didn’t hesitate but used the opportunity to Feint and then thrust at the enormous shark-man.

  You critically hit Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader for 44 damage plus 54 acid damage.

  Your Fencing skill has increased by 1.

  You critically hit Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader for 45 damage plus 54 acid damage.

  Your Fencing skill has increased by 1.

  The blows hurt the creature, especially the acid. But even with the slayer ability, the shell armor took most of the force out of his strikes. Luckily, fighting a boss almost guaranteed skill ups and he gained a few more ranks in Fencing.

  Diana saved her mana for healing and Mika’s katana couldn’t puncture the creature’s armor. Unfortunately, neither of them were going to do much against this thing. Neither could Luna. Her teeth and claws were no match for such a high level monster.

  “Stay back,” he told them. “And use your mana to heal me!”

  Diana nodded but Mika pouted and looked down at her katana. Meanwhile, the boss recovered quickly and slashed at Jace with two claws and then lurched forward and bit him.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader claws at YOU for 0 damage.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader claws at YOU for 0 damage.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader bites at YOU for 0 damage.

  The claws didn’t appear to have the power to penetrate his Defense, but the bite was another matter. Jace’s armor had deflected the blow but those rows of teeth would do some serious damage if they locked down on him.

  Feinting, Jace performed his own attack.

  You critically hit Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader for 47 damage plus 54 acid damage.

  Your Fencing skill has increased by 1.

  You critically hit Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader for 32 damage plus 54 acid damage.

  Your Fencing skill has increased by 1.

  Kraken’s Claw was doing decent damage but despite it’s odd appearance, the shell armor was incredibly resilient and blocked much of his damage. The Frenzy Leader reared back and struck again.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader claws at YOU for 0 damage.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader claws at YOU for 0 damage.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader bites at YOU for 0 damage.

  As before, it’s blows bounced off his Defense, but he knew it was only a matter of time before those teeth sank into him. He attacked again, Feinting and following up with two lightning fast thrusts to the thing’s torso.

  You critically hit Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader for 41 damage plus 54 acid damage.

  Your Fencing skill has increased by 1.

  You critically hit Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader for 47 damage plus 54 acid damage.

  Your Fencing skill has increased by 1.

  Ability gained: Precision Strike

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader goes into a Blood Frenzy.

  Jace’s Fencing skill had hit the maximum of rank 20 for his level and he’d received the Precision Strike ability. While the ability seemed intriguing, Jace had no time to look at the actual verbiage at the moment. The boss had just activated its special ability.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader bites at YOU for 4 damage.

  You are Bleeding.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader bites at YOU for 0 damage.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader bites at YOU for 5 damage.

  You are Bleeding.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader bites at YOU but you Dodge.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader bites at YOU for 8 damage.

  You are Bleeding.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader bites at YOU for 6 damage.

  You are Bleeding.

  The creature went berserk and began biting at Jace over and over again. A couple of the bites didn’t penetrate but the others did, ripping into his arm and shoulder. He felt the teeth penetrating his skin and wanted to cry out.

  This was the boss’ special ability. And it was a nasty one. He looked to the girls for some healing even as he bit down on his lip to stop himself from crying out in pain.

  Determined to end this fight as quickly as he could, Jace Feinted and prepared to attack. That’s when he saw a message he’d never seen before.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader is immune to Feint while in Blood Frenzy.

  It was immune to Feint?! Jace swore. He’d used Feint as his vampyre assassin, and he couldn’t remember a creature being immune to it. This fight just got a lot more interesting - and deadly.

  Chapter 19

  Surprised by the turn in events, Jace attacked the ninjen using his normal attack. At least Panache still worked!

  YOU Bleed for 9 damage.

  You pierce Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader for
17 damage plus 18 acid damage.

  You pierce Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader for 15 damage plus 18 acid damage.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader goes into a Blood Frenzy.

  The creature’s earlier attacks had taken a good chunk of his health. Too many more of those and he’d be done for.

  Then, just before the ninjen hit him with another series of attacks, two healing spells washed over him.

  Diana Knightly heals YOU for 7 health.

  Mika Knightly heals YOU for 5 health.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader bites at YOU but you Parry.

  Your Parry skill has increased by 1.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader bites at YOU but you Dodge.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader bites at YOU but you Block.

  You are Bleeding.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader bites at YOU for 6 damage.

  You are Bleeding.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader bites at YOU for 0 damage.

  Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader bites at YOU for 0 damage.

  Once again, the flurry of bites penetrated his Defense, and he felt them shredding his body as the thing attacked over and over again. He noticed that he Dodged and Blocked several blows but also deflected one of the blows with his sword using Parry. He’d take whatever help he could get.

  This time, he didn’t bother with Feint. Instead, he used Vanish and rolled behind the creature. Apparently, Backstab worked just fine on the frenzied creature.

  YOU Bleed for 9 damage.

  You Backstab Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader for 34 damage plus 54 acid damage.

  You Backstab Trench Dweller Frenzy Leader for 36 damage plus 54 acid damage.

  The ninjen boss hissed and spun around, jaws snapping at him. This time its teeth found purchase and it rend his flesh multiple times, dropping him well under half his health.

  Diana Knightly heals YOU for 9 health.

  Mika Knightly heals YOU for 7 health.