His eyes snapped open as he suddenly turned around.
“Lilith! It’s coming from behind you!”
Lilith spun around just in time to see what looked like a woman dressed in ragged clothes leap out of the fog and attack her. She jumped back. This allowed her to dodge the initial attack, but the ground was wet and affected her Movement. She wasn’t just slower. Her movements were awkward. The ground sucked her foot in deep and made her stumble.
With a curse, Adam rushed forward and thrust his spear into the chest of the woman.
-1, -3,944!
He didn’t activate [thrust] during his initial attack, but he quickly did so for his second attack. The woman to stumble backward, away from Lilith, whom Adam quickly hauled to her feet.
Now that he was closer, Adam was able to see what kind of enemy had attacked them. To call this thing a woman was most definitely an insult to women everywhere. It certainly looked like a woman, but only in that it had the body proportions expected of one. It wore a ragged black dress, had sagging breasts, and its skin looked ancient and decayed. Frizzy white hair trailed down its decrepit head in drab strings. Sunken red eyes. Disgusting yellow teeth. Adam did not know what kind of monster this was, but Susan seemed to recognize it.
“That’s a [banshee]!”
Titania briefly stopped singing [Song of Refreshing Rain] in order to cast [Scan] on the [banshee].
Name: Banshee
Description: Banshees are women who died with great resentment for wrongs committed against them in life. They will violently attack anyone living, but they harbor an especially intense hatred for other women. The more attractive the woman, the greater their hatred.
Class: 1-star
Lvl: 30
Health: 81,055/85,000
MP: 15,850/16,000
Physical Attack: +600
Constitution: +1,120
Dexterity: +200
Intelligence: +130
Speed: +300
Skills:
Banshee’s Shriek: When the Banshee unleashes her fierce shriek, anyone within a ten yard radius has a 50% chance of getting hit with the fear status effect
MP cost: 300
Cooldown time: 10 seconds.
Nail Cutter: The banshee’s nails are very sharp, capable of cutting through even steel
310% damage
MP cost: 150
Cooldown time: 0 seconds
Iron Maiden: The Banshee unleashes a unique cry that summons an iron maiden to capture an enemy
Anyone captured by the Iron Maiden dies instantly
MP cost: 6,000
Cooldown time: None
Limited to one use per battle
Can only be summoned once the Banshee reaches 10% health
“A 1-star [banshee],” Adam said. “This thing might be trouble.”
“What should we do?” asked Fayte.
Adam thought quickly for a moment before issuing orders. “Fayte, Kureha, and Susan, move to the rear and provide cover fire! Titania, keep singing! Lilith, you’re with me! Let’s go!”
“Yes, Mas—yes!”
While the others moved to the front, Lilith quickly leapt to Adam’s side. She was so enthusiastic that she almost called him master. That would have been bad. Very bad. Fortunately, she seemed to catch herself at the last second, though he hoped neither Fayte or Susan heard her slip up.
With Lilith forming up slightly behind him, Adam did not activate [Blood Sacrifice] since he didn’t want to finish this monster off too quickly. This was a great chance for their party to work as a team.
As he charged forward, he could hear the loud squelching of Lilith’s footsteps mixing with his own as they raced across the ground. Behind them both, Fayte called out the name of her attack and Kureha yipped as she launched a powerful bolt of lightning from her second tail.
“[Energy Bolt]!”
-190!
“Yip!”
-2,970!
Fayte’s [Energy Bolt] was launched first and struck the [banshee] in the chest. It looked like an invisible ripple traveling across the space between her and the [banshee], slamming into it and forcing the wailing creature back. Not even a second after the [Energy Bolt] struck it, Kureha’s even more powerful [Thunder Bolt] slammed into it.
The amount of damage Kureha did was a lot more significant than what Fayte had done, but it was still a drop in the bucket for this creature. The [banshee] had +85,000 health. They still had a long way to go.
It was at this time that Adam arrived in front of the [banshee] and used [Dance of the Sakura Blossoms] without hesitation. He swung the spear in his hands with an incredible amount of grace, dancing around his enemy, forming what, if looked at from a bird’s eye view, would have been the shape of a sakura blossom. The five points where petal met stem were his attack points.
-2,465; -7,395; -22,185; MISS!
-170; -170; -170; -170; -170; -170!
Lilith quickly replaced Adam and activated [slash] multiple times. While her attacks didn’t do much damage, she made up for it by attacking numerous times and not missing even once. The [banshee] wailed and shrieked as it tried to knock her back, but Adam interposed himself between them, intercepted the attack with his spear, and redirected it.
-3,944!
“[Energy Bolt]!”
-190!
“Yip!”
-2,367!
-170; -170; -170; -170; -170; -170!
-2,465; -7,395; MISS!
They kept up their assault. Adam tried to use [Dance of the Sakura Blossoma] once the cooldown time wore off but missed, which caused his skill to deactivate and enter the cooldown time again. He growled and leapt back as the [banshee] swelled around the chest. It opened its mouth like it was going to shriek at them. This was different from its first shriek. Adam could tell without having seen it before that it was about to activate its [Iron Maiden] skill.
“[Deadeye]!”
-140!
After calling out the name of her technique, Susan released an arrow from her bow. It flew forward and pierced the [banshee] through the throat. This stopped the enemy from using its [Iron Maiden] skill. With the arrow still stuck in its mouth, the [banshee] reached up, grasped the shaft, and tried to pull it out.
-3; -3; -3; -3; -3!
+30; +30; +30; +30!
It was at this moment that Lilith attacked again, appearing behind the [banshee] like a shadow, reaching around its neck with her dagger, and slitting the creature’s throat. This was [Throat Slit]. It was a skill unique to Assassin class players and one that dealt 400% damage with a chance of instant death and another chance at dealing x4 critical damage if the enemy was unaware of the assassin’s presence.
-2,400!
The amount of damage Lilith’s attack did was negligible despite doing 400% times more and getting the x4 critical damage. Her stats were just too low. Adam really needed to find her and the others some good equipment and a hidden class—if he could—that would bring their stats up.
“[Energy Bolt]!”
-190!
“Yip!”
-3,944!
Kureha and Fayte attacked once more to distract the [banshee]. During that time, the cooldown period for [Dance of the Sakura Blossoms] ended and Adam dashed forward again.
MISS!
-3; -3; -3; -3; -3!
+30; +30; +30; +30; +30!
Unfortunately, he missed and the skill deactivated, meaning he did absolutely no damage this time. With a grimace, he leapt back as Lilith took his place and attacked with [slash] several times. She held her dagger in a reverse grip and maneuvered around the [banshee] to attack from different angles.
-170; -170; -170; -170; -170; -170!
Once the [banshee] had turned on Lilith, Adam rushed up and attacked the enemy from behind. Since the cooldown time for [Dance of the Sakura Blossoms] was still going, he opened with [thrust] and followed through with [slash] several times. Each attack sliced into the flesh of his foe, though the only sign o
f damage being done was the strange slash marks that appeared on the body of the [banshee] every time one of his attacks hit.
-3,944; -3,697; -3,697; -3,697!
Since Adam did the most damage out of everyone, he was also the one who pulled the most agro. When he attacked, the [banshee] focused entirely on him, forcing him to back off by using [rend] several times, its arms swinging at him in wide, violent arcs. Moving in this marsh was difficult, however. If it wasn’t for Adam’s innate grace, born from years of grueling training, dangerous missions, and genetic modifications, he would have no doubt been killed already.
-3; -3; -3; -3; -3!
+30; +30; +30; +30; +30!
It was a good thing Lilith was there to take the heat off him. She moved in and attacked from behind, dealing critical damage to the [banshee] and forcing its agro on her. Once she pulled the agro off him, she would move back, allowing him to recover, and then Kureha, Fayte, and Susan would pepper the [banshee] with long-range fire.
Adam’s cooldown time ended, and so he finally activated [Dance of the Sakura Blossoms].
-2,465; -7,395; -22,185; MISS!
“Haaah… haah… haah…”
Adam took several deep breaths as the [banshee] released a loud wail. Smoke rose from its body. Adam and Lilith backed away from the creature as it thrashed, its body growing thinner and thinner before it disappeared entirely, leaving nothing behind but the ragged cloak it had been wearing.
Ding!
[Congratulations! You have killed the 1-star enemy [banshee]! Items dropped: [Evil Staff], [Evil Ring], [Cloak of Evil], and 20,300 gold coins! +60,000 experience points! +20,000 ability points!]
Ding!
[Congratulations! Kureha has leveled up! She is now at level 13! +200 HP! +1,800 MP! +10 SP]
Ding!
[Congratulations! Changing_Fayte has leveled up! She is now at level 12! +50 HP! +75 MP! +5 SP!]
Ding!
[Congratulations! Lilith has leveled up! She is now at level 12! +10 HP! +5 MP! +5 SP!]
Adam received an announcement that Kureha, Fayte, and Lilith had leveled up. He looked over to find them opening the windows for their levels. It looked like they were allocating status points to their stats. He decided to place all of Kureha’s SP into her Intelligence once more.
He checked his own stats and discovered that while he hadn’t leveled up, his spear had. It was now at level 9. Nothing about it had changed yet, but his Strength and Physical Attack were both at +90, increasing his Strength to +485 and his Physical Attack to +2,505.
“Is everyone okay?” asked Adam.
“I am okay,” Fayte called.
“M-me too!” Susan added.
“I’m fine,” Lilith said.
“Yip!”
“We are also all right,” said Titania for herself and Kureha.
“Then let’s keep going,” Adam said.
After ensuring everyone was uninjured, the group moved off and eventually reached what the walls had been protecting. It was not a castle—not really. It was just a single building with an archway containing a rusted metal door embedded into it. Adam walked over and touched the doorknob. It was rusted over and wouldn’t turn, but the door was actually opened, as it moved inward when he pushed.
Susan and Titania covered their ears at the loud squealing that echoed from the door while Kureha whimpered, placed her head on the ground, and covered her head with her paws. Adam and Lilith narrowed their eyes as they stared into the darkness beyond the door. Fayte stepped forward with a frown.
“It looks like we’re going to need a light,” she said before producing a torch from her item pouch. “It’s a good thing I came prepared.”
The torch ignited and Fayte took the lead, descending into the darkness beyond. This archway led into a staircase. Their footsteps produced an ominous echo as they walked down the steps, through an ancient and decrepit hallway, and reached another door. Adam went first and opened the door, leading the way through.
What appeared on the other side was a massive space with numerous columns that disappeared into a ribbed ceiling. Cracks ran along the walls and floors. Several sections of the walls were carved into alcoves and had large coffins sitting inside of them. The moment she saw those coffins, Susan shook as she realized what this place was.
“I-it’s a crypt!” she squeaked.
“Seems like it,” Adam agreed.
“I have a bad feeling about this.” Fayte frowned and looked at Adam. “Do you think we should keep going?”
Adam debated with himself. To be honest, he had a bad feeling about this too. His instincts were telling him not to keep going, to turn back, but they had already accepted this quest and could ill afford to turn back now. He closed his eyes for a moment, then made his decision.
“Let’s keep going,” he said. “If the situation becomes untenable, we can always retreat, but I would at least like to complete this quest sometime today, if at all possible.”
Fayte looked like she wanted to disagree with him, convince him to travel back, but Lilith backed up Adam, and Susan said she would follow them no matter what they decided. Titania also said it would be better to press on since they were already here. Outnumbered, Fayte had no choice but to accept the majority vote. Thus they began traveling into the crypt.
While the space was confined to simple hallways, it was clear from how long they had been exploring that this place was gigantic. Each hallway led to numerous other hallways. The hallways all looked the same too, with alcoves carved into the walls and coffins inside of each alcove. Adam almost expected the coffin lids to slide off and undead to rise out of them and attack, but none did.
That made him even more nervous.
-5; -5; -5; -5; -5!
+30; +30; +30; +30!
One thing Adam noticed was that his health was dropping more rapidly than before, decreasing by -5 every second. It still wasn’t enough to concern them, but he hoped the amount of damage they took didn’t increase too much. Titania’s [Song of Refreshing Rain] could heal +30 HP every second, so as long as it didn’t go above that, they should be good.
This crypt had several staircases leading further down. They decided to take one. When they did, the amount of damage they took increased.
-10; -10; -10; -10; -10!
+30; +30; +30; +30; +30!
“We’re still doing good, but I hope this [Death Curse] doesn’t become any more powerful than it is now,” Fayte said as she watched the health on her status screen drop, rise, and then drop again.
“I’m running low on magic points,” Titania said.
“I know what you mean,” Adam said as he removed a [low-grade mana potion] so Titania could replenish her magic points. “It looks like we might really have to go back. Everyone, I’ve stocked up on potions. If we begin accumulating more damage, be sure to take one once your health drops past a certain point. Let’s press on for now, but if the amount of damage we receive increases past what Titania’s song can replenish, we’ll leave.”
They pressed on, moving deeper into the crypt. It didn’t look like there was another staircase, but there were many rooms. In this second basement level were also several undead enemies that had risen from their coffins and attacked when their group appeared. They were just level 20 [zombies] and easy enough to deal with. Their health was +6,000, which meant Adam could one-shot them after activating [Blood Sacrifice]. Even when there were multiple enemies, so long as they were close by, he could use [Energy Sweep] to half their health and let Fayte, Kureha, and Susan bombard them with long-range attacks. Lilith would normally finish them off with [Throat Slit].
Thanks to all the killing they did, their group gained a collective total of +60,000 experience points. Susan’s level also increased, and she put her SP into Constitution instead of Strength like Adam expected. Her reasoning was that she could always increase her Physical Attack and Strength stats with weapons, but there might not be equipment that would increase her Constitution and therefore h
er health. It was sound logic that Adam couldn’t disagree with. It also told him she, like Fayte, was an experienced gamer.
It was during this time that the medicine they had taken before entering the Deadlands wore off, increasing the damage they received from -10 to -20. They quickly downed another vial of [Death Antidote] to keep the effects of the [Death Curse] at bay. Fortunately, they still didn’t need a [health potion].
Finally, after what felt like another hour of tension, they arrived inside of a gigantic room shaped like a cylinder. Several eerily glowing candles rested in candelabras on the wall to offer sparse amounts of light. They revealed several other halls that led deeper into the crypt—not that any of them had the desire to travel deeper. There was no telling what horrors awaited them should they proceed further.
By this point, the amount of damage being done to them had increased from -10 to -30, which meant Titania could not afford to stop singing. The [Song of Refreshing Rain] was now the only thing keeping them alive. That was also a point against proceeding further. They would not be able to survive if the damage they received was any greater.
-30; -30; -30; -30; -30!
+30; +30; +30; +30; +30!
“There’s nothing here,” Fayte said, turning about to look at everything this room had to offer.
“Yeah, and I don’t think we can proceed any further than this,” Adam said. “Let’s go back. We might have to scrub this mission, or at least wait until we’re able to completely counteract the effects of the [Death Curse].”
No one disagreed with him. Their health was not dropping yet, but that was because they had taken a [Death Antidote] and Titania’s [Song of Refreshing Rain] canceled out what they lost. That would change once the effects of the [Death Antidote] ran out. And once they ran out of the antidote, the [Death Curse] would begin reducing their health by -60 every second, meaning not even Titania’s song would be able to heal them. They would die in seconds.
It was time to leave.
However, just as they were about to leave, a loud rumbling like distant thunder echoed all around them, shaking the room they were in and causing Susan to scream out loud. Because he was the closest to her, Adam placed a hand against her back to steady her. Perhaps she assumed he was Fayte because she buried herself against him.
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