Sanctum

by Matthew Powell

  When Khymer and the raid started entering the hallway to see what was going on, Joshua had pushed the zombies all the way back to the janitor’s closet entrance. Looking inside, Joshua was finally able to see the cause of the horde.

  Nest Lord

  Tier: 4

  Level: 1

  HP: 2000/2000

  A special monster, Nest Lords are incapable of defending themselves. Instead, they create cloned armies based on the surrounding enemies. Nest Lords are extremely difficult to exterminate due to their tendency to hide and let their clone army do the fighting for them. They are often the only real monster in the area, as their army will drive out or exterminate all other monsters.

  The Nest Lord was a giant, pulsating sack of flesh hanging from the roof of the janitor’s closet. Every second the flesh spat out another weakened zombie, just for it to be cut down by Joshua’s longsword. Seeing no end to the spawning, Joshua raised his gun and fired a single shot right into the fleshy mass that made up the Nest Lord.

  Nest Lord has taken 2000 damage

  Nest Lord has died!

  Raid group gains 1000 EXP

  Zandrius gains 3000 EXP

  Joshua was surprised at first, but then he realized what the rewarded EXP really meant. The Nest Lord had been worth over 30,000 EXP, it had just been split evenly between every raid member. The amount was truly worthy of a special Tier 4 monster, but it was unfortunate that he had to share. Thankfully, the Nest Lord dropped an item that more than made up for it.

  A skill book sat on the floor, which Joshua quickly snapped up before Khymer was able to make it to the closet. His plan to survive the horde mode was flawed but would have likely worked in the end as the Nest Lord ran out of energy to make new zombies. Whether that would have been before or after several raid members died was another story. Regardless, Joshua had no intention of sharing the spoils if he didn’t have to.

  “Alright everybody,” Khymer said after seeing the Nest Lord’s corpse. “Looks like it’s over now. Take any potions you need now and let’s get ready to move on up, this was just the first part of the first level.”

  Chapter 18

  Moving to higher level worlds was something that we weren’t sure how to handle at first. Some starting worlds might have magical portals or spaceships, but others don’t have any natural way to reach the rest of Macrocosm’s universe. We can’t exactly have the players on those worlds stuck on their starting planets forever, so we created a special type of event just for those situations. These events can change the starting worlds drastically, unlocking new classes and opportunities for the players there. We call these events Paradigm Shifts. – on Paradigm Shifts, from the Chronicles of The Founder

  ◆◆◆

  The raid was going to end in tragedy. Joshua knew it, and so did a few of the more savvy players that remained. Two more raid members had died to the Nest Lord’s horde, lowering their total number to 32. Most of the remaining player’s had already exhausted their supply of healing potions, and regeneration abilities were few and far between. There were still, by Joshua’s count, at least nine more floors just to complete the dungeons first level.

  On the upside, a few players managed to reach tier 3 from the accumulated EXP, including Khymer. The total number of Tier 3 players in the group now stood at five, half of the number recommended to clear the first level. If they could keep people alive for just a little longer, more and more of them would start reaching tier 3, and that might be enough to propel them to victory.

  “Hey, we need to have a talk.” Khymer had approached Joshua while the group was resting. He lowered his voice once he got close, not wanting the rest of the group to hear. Mane had followed him, along with the two other tier 3 players. “I think we can all tell by now that this raid has gone to shit. We only survived this floor because the zombies weren’t as strong as real tier 3 monsters. If the next few floors are anything like this, we’re going to get massacred.”

  “Well, yeah,” Mane said, barely keeping his voice down at all. “But it should turn out all right. Even if we wipe, the EXP and levels would be worth it, and none of our equipment is hard to replace anyway.” A few nearby players listening in blanched when Mane said the word wipe. Wipes only occurred when an entire raid group died.

  “Keep it down damn it,” Khymer said, annoyed. “Look, our only chance is for the rest of these noobs to reach tier 3 and help us. Right now they are liabilities. My plan is for us five to head on up and kill what we can on the next floor. As long as we stick together we should be able to survive, and the EXP will still be shared with the rest of the group. The rest of them can follow us up as they reach tier 3. Any complaints? No? Good, we are moving up in ten minutes.”

  Khymer didn’t leave room for complaints, not that the rest of them could think of any. It wasn’t exactly a good plan, but it was the best shot that they had at conquering the dungeon. Joshua found a corner where he wouldn’t be seen to use his new skill book in.

  Low-Level Skill Book

  -A common reward from treasure chests in low-level areas. Automatically teaches the user one weak skill of their choosing, or a skill closest matching what is desired. Skills learned this way can be improved by practice and evolutions/class-ups. Better skill books allow users to skip the training process but are not necessary to grow or advance skills.

  Would you like to activate the skill book? Please have a desired skill in mind before activating.

  The book, while a great reward, was honestly disappointing. It was the exact same skill book that had dropped all the way back from a treasure chest in the first building Joshua had entered. He had hoped it would be a higher level skill book, given that it had dropped from a tier 4 monster, but it would have to be enough.

  Right now, Joshua had a pretty decent arsenal of skills and weapons to draw on. His sword covered him in close combat, the Endemic Magnum worked for ranged attacks, the flying eyes worked for scouting and clearing out weak enemies, and Pestilence Sacrifice worked for regeneration. The only thing he was really missing was an effective way to defend himself, and he had a slightly unorthodox way to fix that. He needed to craft a shield.

  Crafting Skill Already Known

  Would you like to use the skill book to enhance your current crafting skill?

  Yes, yes he would.

  Beginner Item Synthesis: Pestilence has evolved!

  Journeyman Item Synthesis: Pestilence learned!

  Through extensive practice, you have honed your craft to excellence. Synthesized items cost significantly less Pestilence and provide extra effects. Old items can be upgraded with these extra effects for 10,000 Pestilence each, sets can be upgraded for 50,000 or by upgrading every piece individually.

  The upgrade was perfect, though the cost was unfortunate. The Pestilence from the Nest Lord had bumped up Joshua’s total to 3000, with regeneration of 300 per minute, but it still wasn’t enough. It would take over half an hour to upgrade a single piece of armor, let alone the entire Plague Plate set. The cheaper cost would, nonetheless, help create the shield that he needed.

  A lump of cold, dark green metal began to form in Joshua’s hands. A few players had wandered over to see what he was doing, but it was too late to stop. They would just get a free front row seat to how he had created his Soul-Bound items.

  The metal expanded rapidly, far faster than any of the previous pieces had. Joshua focused his efforts, slowing the growth and forcing the shield to upgrade as it formed. If the shield came out weaker than the rest of his armor, there wouldn’t be enough time to properly upgrade it before Khymer wanted to leave. 5000 Pestilence went into the shield, 3000 from Joshua regenerating it over the ten minutes and 2000 drained directly from his reserves. It meant that he would be low on Pestilence for the first few minutes of the next floor while he generated more, but the result was worth it.

  Plague-Ridden Obsidian Greatshield

  Soul-Bound Shield

  Damage Potential: 1000 Blunt

 
Mitigation Potential: 2000

  Pestilence Towards Next Upgrade: 10,000

  Special Ability: Weightless

  The obsidian making up this shield has absorbed the Pestilence that once surrounded it. The shield is weightless in the hands of its master.

  Synergy detected between Plague Plate set, Plague-Ridden Obsidian Longsword and Plague-Ridden Obsidian Shield. Sword and Shield upgrades temporarily disabled. Upgrading the Plague Plate set will result in the creation of a class set.

  The shield was made of black obsidian, just like the longsword was. It stood nearly four-feet tall and over two feet wide, covering most of Joshua’s frame when he held it properly. He looked like a proper fantasy knight now, in stark contrast to the rest of the players on Sanctum. With his new shield in tow, Joshua headed towards the staircase to the next floor, where the other tier 3 players were already waiting. A few of the players that were watching stared with greed at his new shield, but looked away disappointed when they saw it was Soul-Bound. The ones that had watched him form it were already trying to create their own, though they were all failing.

  “Did…did you just make a new piece of equipment? In ten minutes? What the fuck, how did you do that?!” Khymer was understandably confused upon seeing the new shield. Not only was it of superior quality compared to the equipment he had paid real money for, but it had also only taken Joshua minutes to create it.

  “Class feature, and I can’t share them. You don’t need to know any more than that.” Joshua kept the interaction short and brief, not wanting the questions to go on for too long. He had managed to keep his zombie race a secret so far and saw no need to risk it here.

  “…Alright, be that way. It’s time to go up. If we wait any longer, the radiation damage is going to pile up too high.”

  The five tier 3s made their way up the stairs to the next floor. Joshua took the time to examine the other members of their group. The two he didn’t know fairly simple, being a Glowing Hunter and a Glowing Assassin. The hunter had a compound bow, likely a monster-dropped weapon given its pristine state, while the assassin had two makeshift daggers. Both had crude armor, the same as the rest of the raid group.

  Khymer still had his high-priced gear, though it was noticeably worn down compared to earlier. He had been position directly behind the two raid members who died to the Nest Lord’s horde and had taken the brunt of the damage trying to close the gap. Despite that, he had downed HP potions like water until he was back to full health.

  Khymer, the Lambent Trooper

  Level: 1

  Tier: 3

  HP: 9000/9000

  Mane was the same as ever, though he had gained a level. Perhaps most surprising was that the berserker was at full HP even though he had taken massive damage from both the zombies outside the dungeon and the horde inside. Joshua thought back to his experience with previous games to realize why: Mane had some sort of lifesteal skill. The more damage that he dealt, the more that he healed as a result. He could probably have cleared out the entire first-floor horde himself, given enough time.

  The next floor up was thankfully tamer than the first had been. There wasn’t any Nest Lord or special spawns, just a whole bunch of high-level tier 3 monsters. Mane and Joshua took up the frontline, Mane using his lifesteal and Joshua using his shield to hold back the zombies. Joshua didn’t have the HP necessary to actually absorb any damage for the team, but the Obsidian Shield deflected their attacks effortlessly.

  Khymer and the hunter fired from the backline, cutting down any zombies in just a few shots. Rather than arrows or bullets, they seemed to be firing constructs made of radiation. Glowing projectiles filled the hallway leading out of the staircase as they pierced through, hitting multiple zombies at a time. The assassin vanished, his presence only noticeable by the zombie heads flying where he had been.

  It wasn’t an ideal team composition, but it was close. Hopefully someone downstairs would pick a healer or support class when they reached tier 3, otherwise the raid was going to end slowly and painfully.

  The zombies on this floor didn’t take long to clear out. Without a Nest Lord constantly creating more, the five tier 3 players were more than enough to handle the small horde. Barely five minutes after entering the floor, Mane’s sword bisected the final Ravenous Freak that charged the group.

  “That was…too easy. Is it supposed to be that easy? I don’t think it is.” Khymer’s words echoed Joshua’s thoughts. Was the very first floor just exceptionally difficult compared to the rest of the level? Maybe it was just their lack of knowledge regarding the Nest Lord’s presence. Had they been aware of it from the start, they likely could have ended the fight in mere minutes.

  Joshua collected his spoils from the monster’s remains as they waited for any new tier 3 players to climb the stairs. This floor didn’t have any clones or special monsters, so he was able to collect the full amount of Pestilence from each corpse. He was practically giddy with excitement as the notifications rolled in. He had reached level 8, but that was just the start. This floor alone had given nearly 1000 Pestilence, bringing Joshua’s maximum up to 4000 total. At this rate, he would have the next blessing before they even reached the dungeon’s second level.

  Two more tier 3 players arrived from the staircase moments later, both carrying staffs. Their weapon choice made Joshua hopeful that one of them was a healer, given that only casters normally used staffs, but luck wasn’t on his side. One was a Brightened Visionary, apparently specializing in radiation-based abilities that resembled magic. The other was a Luminous Monk, specializing in staff combat of all things.

  The group, now with its extra members, kept climbing the tower. The third floor was even easier than the second, and the fourth easier than that. With each floor they climbed, a few new tier 3s came up to join the ranks. By the fifth floor, their ranks had grown to fifteen. There were enough frontline fighters now that Joshua could step back, joining the firing line with his Endemic Magnum.

  Joshua’s Pestilence and level climbed steadily as they made their way to the top. Finishing off the zombies on the fifth floor brought his level up to 11, and his Pestilence total up to 7000. It was while they were preparing to head towards the sixth floor that things went wrong.

  A single tier 3 player stumbled out of the staircase from the lower floors. His armor was torn and tattered, and his HP was low. He was clearly relieved when he saw the rest of the group, though he was still afraid.

  “The, the monsters on the first floor…they respawned. Everyone else is dead. I’m the only one who got away.”

  “Damn it,” Khymer immediately responded. “I was afraid that would happen, but I was hoping we’d have more time. 16 players…that might not be enough to clear the whole dungeon.”

  “With our current strength, we can always fight our way back down and leave.” Mane spoke up this time. “It’s unfortunate that we won’t be getting any more reinforcements, but things have been easy enough so far. I say we keep going and see how far we can take it.”

  Several other players voiced their support, giving Khymer no choice but to push forward. The group overwhelmed the sixth and seventh floors without any trouble, pushing Joshua to level 12 in the process.

  They were getting dangerously close to the second level of the dungeon at this point, and the entire group was starting to show signs of worry. The recommended player count for the second level was 20 tier 3 players, and they had no way of reaching that number anymore. Even though they were afraid, none of the group attempted to turn back or run away. The rewards so far had been too good to stop now, and if they failed then they would just come back more prepared next time.

  As they climbed, several of the group members started to notice Joshua’s unusually fast leveling. Most of them had, even with all the powerful monsters, only gained a few levels since entering the raid. He had gained just as many levels as they had, if not more, despite being a higher level and theoretically requiring more EXP. The longer this went on, the less a
nd less likely it seemed that Joshua would be able to keep the zombie race a secret.

  Even if the secret got out, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. The main reason to keep it a secret from other players was so that the information about their exponential growth, along with the EXP multiplier from Filth’s blessings, stayed hidden. Any player who figured out the secret now would be a few days behind. There wasn’t a reason to come out and tell everybody, but there wasn’t a reason to keep being so secretive either.

  It was when they cleared out the ninth floor that it finally happened. Joshua crossed the 10,000 Pestilence mark, earning his next blessing from Filth. The choices were the same as ever, and once again he chose growth, just as he had every time before. This time, however, the notifications were different.

  Lesser Blessing of Growth received!

  3x Lesser Blessings of Growth have fused into Blessing of Growth!

  All effects have been greatly enhanced

  This is the highest blessing that a player can achieve without pledging themselves to a god. No more blessings will be available, though the player can still gain as much Pestilence as they wish.