《One with Betrayal》 00 - Prolouge I awoke in a swamp leaning my back against a shriveled up tree. That¡¯s strange, I went to sleep in my room¡­ I stood up and looked at my surroundings. I couldn''t see far into the swamp as a deep black mist covered the area. The further ahead, the darker it was. A dark figure walked through the mist towards me, I was frozen in place. Getting closer, I could notice the crimson glowing eyes. ¡°Awaken¡­¡± a scratchy voice arose from the figure as it flashed a smile which reached from ear to ear. huff huff huff¡­ Damn, what was that about? I came about to my room and looked at my clock, 12:35 PM. It was a Saturday and I didn''t have school. Quickly getting dressed I ran down to the fridge to grab something to eat. Yawn¡­ There¡¯s nothing in here¡­. I closed the fridge. I guess I have to go out to eat something. I¡¯m eighteen years old and in the last quarter of high school, it feels great knowing that I don¡¯t have to go to school anymore after this. I get average grades so I doubt I would do good in any college. The best thing I could get would be a business degree¡­ My parents split after middle school after my mom found out my dad was cheating on her. Sigh as for that I ended up going with my mom and when she met her new boyfriend they paid for me to live in my own apartment, so they could just enjoy their time together without having me around. I guess I remind her of my dad. As I walked down to the store to pick up some food, I realised there wasn¡¯t really many people around. I was walking down an alleyway so I guess that could be the reason, but usually I see kids running around back here. I kept walking without any mind in the world, as I turned the corner there was the dark figure that I saw in my dreams standing there. I could see it more clearly. As I go to turn around, I see the dark mist in my peripherals. It swoops around and closes off my escape, this can¡¯t be real. I turn around and ask, ¡°What do you want with me?¡± It grinned, ¡°I ask that you remain silent. This will only hurt a little bit.¡± I stared back into the red eyes, it felt as if my soul was leaving me. The dark mist that surrounded me began to swirl at my feet. The floor around me began to shine, a pain arose in my chest. My heart felt as if it was bursting out of my chest. guh collapsing on the floor panting, I look up. This was the last image I saw before I went unconscious. --- ¡°This just in, we got five amber alerts simultaneously. This is the first time we''ve had a problem arise this big.¡± A man was looking at a camera, sitting in a room with a desk in front of him. ¡°These five people have been reported missing for the past 24 hours. If you happen to see one of them please call 911.¡± Images flashed across the screen of the five people. Zooming in one the first one, ¡°This is Dante, he¡¯s 18 years old. Caucasian, Black hair, standing about 5¡¯11¡±¡­¡± The image switched. --- hugh¡­ my vision gradually came to, I was laying on the ground next to four people in what seemed to be a citadel. As I sat up, the others did too. There were people dressed in armor surrounding us and a man with a crown on his head embedded with glistening crystals. He wore a long robe that was even more luxurious than his crown. He had a joyous look on his face, ¡°We have succeeded!¡± After studying each of us, he had a weird look on his face. ¡°But that is weird, This should only have summoned four heroes¡±. We were all standing now, still surrounded by the soldiers. I looked at the others who were laying on the ground with me. There were three guys and a girl. The blonde headed guy stepped forward, ¡°What do you mean? I was sitting on my computer when suddenly I passed out and I woke up here.¡± The others started to complain, but no one mentioned a dark figure in the talk. ¡°Calm down, calm down,¡± The man, who I assumed is a king, motioned for the armored guards to disperse.¡±You have been summoned by a ritual, that has been passed down in the royal family for generations.¡± He had a proud look on his face, ¡°This has been the first time it has been used since centuries ago.¡± Everyone was stunned, that doesn''t explain at all why we are here though? ¡°Well, what does that have to do with us being here?¡± Good job blondy, you must be the smartest one here. ¡°Ah, but it does.¡± The king laughed, ¡°The reason you have all been summoned here is to fight against the enemies of the human race.¡± He walked around and looked up at a mural which most likely an image of the Goddess that they serve, ¡°They are the vilest of creatures, and have been banished to the dark by the gods, They are the demons that roam the earth.¡± He spitefully yelled the last part. He turned to look our way and with a clap he exclaimed, ¡°Alright, well since we have time, let us start the hero process!¡± As he finished his sentence near the entrance of the citadel, two big, wooden doors slid open revealing a figure walking through. It was an absolute babe! She had luscious blonde hair and was rather curvy. I looked over at the other three guys and drool was dripping out of their mouths onto the floor. As she arrived in front of us the king looked at us again, ¡°Alright everyone shall step forward one at a time and be scanned for their holy power! You will also be given an Identification card via magic.¡± What does that do? I wondered. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°I will volunteer to go first!¡±, The first to step forward was one of us guys, he was red headed and had a smug, noble look. He was just about as tall as I am, and I¡¯m guessing that his age was around mine as well. A light surged from the ground as the lady chanted and surrounded his body with a light film. It slowly disappeared as if it was sucked into his skin. ¡°I feel¡­ great!¡± He laughed and let out of a smile. The lady smiled, ¡°You have been blessed by our Goddess Ariel. You have the highest level of compatibility with holy power that I have ever seen, even higher than mine! You also have amazing compatibility with lightning magic!¡± She was rather surprised. She handed him a card as well and as he touched it, it disappeared, ¡°With these cards you will be able to read your power levels.¡± She bowed towards him and her cheeks became flushed with redness, ¡°I hope you will be able to destroy the creatures that curse our great goddess.¡± The redhead stepped back smiling after he got a good look at her chest. The others began to go forward happily as they all wanted to see what they were good with. I stayed back as I wanted to see what everyone was first. The blond one in our group had very little compatibility with holy power but he had outstanding compatibility with water magic. Next, the girl stepped up. I never really noticed because I was too distracted by the priestess, but this girl was cute as well. She was a brunette, I would give her an eight out of ten. She was pretty cute but with the priestess in the room all the guys were looking at her instead. A light shined around her feet and rose up around her and sunk into her skin. ¡°You have decent compatibility with holy power, but your compatibility with fire magic is rather formidable.¡± She nodded and grinned, the brunette bowed and backed away after receiving an ID card. ¡°Finally it¡¯s my turn.¡± Everyone turned to look at the other guy in our group. He was the last guy to go besides me. He was tall and handsome, and the most muscular one here. As he stood up the Priestess started the scan. The film surrounding him was the brightest. After it disappeared the Priestess couldn''t contain her excitement. ¡°Th..This can¡¯t be true.¡± She looked towards the King, ¡°Your Majesty, come here and look at this.¡± The king walked forward and took the ID card from her hand, His grin grew even bigger than with the red head. ¡°My god, his compatibility with holy power is outstanding, it is the same with fire magic and earth magic!¡± As the king handed back his ID card, the boy stepped back with a smug look on his face. What an asshole¡­ I hated those kinds of people the most. Now it is my turn, hopefully I have good luck! As I stepped forward I looked at the priestess, being this close I must be lucky! ¡°I am ready, please start¡± as I said this, she nodded and began the scan. I began to feel a warmth surge of power entering through my feet and a film of light began to show over my skin. It was the most dim out of everyone though, as it reached my waist area it faded out all the way. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, did the scan fail?¡± I asked. The priestess looked at me and shook her head and handed me my card.
ID CARD
Name:DanteRace:Human
Health:100/100MP:20/20
Alignment:NeutralEXP:0%
Class:HeroLevel:1
Stats
Strength30Intelligence20
Endurance10Magic2
Agility15Luck1
Active Skills
Ball of Light - (5 MP) : a ball of light is casted upon the area where the user resides lighting up the area around him.
Passive Skills
A Hero¡¯s blessing: Since you are a hero, you have a 25% experience boost.
Equipment
None.
This is just like an RPG? I thought as I looked at my card. As I looked up the king looked at me with a frown and the other people laughed. The redhead was holding his stomach as he was laughing and yelled, ¡°He is the weakest one here!¡±. My face was flushed, Why must I have such bad luck¡­ 01 - The Past Few Weeks ¡°That hero.. he must be really worthless,¡± a guard glanced over at me. ¡°I hear that he had stats that even a level 5 guard could achieve,¡± a guard next to him laughed. I looked over at him and he stopped laughing. Ever since that day, my life in this new world came to an abrupt stop. I had nothing to do but roam the castle, as the other¡¯s that came with me were training with the recruit of the holy forces. Dammit, why do I always get kicked while I''m down. I looked up at the sky, the blue, endless sky, birds flew around freely without any care in the world. I wish I could be like them as well. ------------ When we were in the Citadel, the king ordered his guards to take me to the outer castle. He wanted me to be kicked out but with the help of the ¡°strongest hero¡± he easily succumbed to letting me be their pack mule¡­ I was pretty much cut off from everyone else there, everywhere I went I was ridiculed for having low status. Some of the servants that served in the outer castle were even better treated than me. The rest of the group of heroes were treated with care and even stayed in the inner castle where the royal family stayed. Since I had nothing else to do I usually stayed in the outer castle library. If this world was like the games that I grew up with, maybe I could figure out how to gain power or something through a rare book that just happens to be placed on a common bookshelf. Over the next few weeks, my level and stats changed. I gained experience through reading, who knew someone could do such a thing? I learned some common knowledge about the world as well. This world is called Lofath. The area that I¡¯m currently in is one of the five kingdoms called the Tyal Kingdom. This kingdom is the largest, but to the east is a Huge wall that spans thousands of miles that blocks demons from coming in easily. The land to the east is called Demonic Lands, and doesn''t have any kingdoms. The only power there is is the Demon King who currently has been dormant for the past 150 years. ¡°Hey, Dante!¡± a voice resounded from the entrance behind me. I looked up from my book and turned my head. It was Elizabeth, the girl who was summoned as a hero as well. She has been the only one that has left the inner castle since arriving to come see me. ¡°Hey, Elizabeth,¡± I smile,¡±So how are things going in the inner castle?¡± ¡°We have decided the date when we are going to the dungeon. We will all be leaving in three days.¡± She frowned, ¡°I¡¯m sorry though, Nick said that you had to come to carry our stuff.¡± Nick was the leader of the hero group, the one who all the servants adored the most and the noble ladies aimed for. I hated him. ¡°I don¡¯t even have combat experience, who will protect me if I get in danger?¡± I was worried, I didn''t want to end up being reduced to a lifeless sack of meat with flies surrounding me. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that Nick and James will being doing most of the work, so Sean and I will probably be in the back with you.¡± She grinned. Damn, why is she so cute? By the way, Sean is the blond one and James is the redhead.
ID CARD
Name:DanteRace:Human
Health:120/120MP:40/40
Alignment:NeutralEXP:22%
Class:HeroLevel:4
Stats
Strength34Intelligence20
Endurance17Magic5
Agility19Luck1
Active Skills
Ball of Light - (5 MP) : a ball of light is casted upon the area where the user resides lighting up the area around him.
Passive Skills
A Hero¡¯s blessing: Since you are a hero, you have a 25% experience boost.
Equipment
None.
¡°Come on, get up you worthless hero,¡± a foot nudged my side, and as I awoke I saw the guard who usually woke me up. He was one of the superior guards and he was rather unhappy about being assigned to me. ¡°Can¡¯t you wake me up normally?¡±, I sleepily rubbed my eyes. I got up and shifted the curtains in my room aside. The sun breached the window and filled the area with light, ¡°Ah, such a beautiful day! Time to get ready.¡± I walked towards a crate filled with the clothes that I got from the king. They were commoners¡¯ clothes but they were better than wearing the same thing everyday. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°Such an annoyance. Come to the inner castle courtyard when you are finished to meet with the others,¡± the guard turned and slammed the door. Well, it¡¯s not like I asked him to be the one to attend to me anyway. I hate being watched. After I put on clothes, I left the room. ---------------- When I arrived, I saw a team of five guards, their armor reflected the sunlight. They were a part of the inner castle garrison, the elite guards. They looked incredibly strong, they carried black, steel broadswords on their backs. I read about them in the library, this force has lasted for years and the lowest level elite guard is level 50. Standing next to them was the other heroes and the priestess. She¡¯s still quite an eye catcher. She was explaining the levels of the dungeon to them. Thanks for starting without me. ¡°... And on the fifth level, there are battle wolves. They are vicious creatures by themselves, but in a pack, they can¡¯t be rivaled up to the seventh level. They are around level 26.¡± She was probably worried about sending the heroes to go to the dungeon, if they died then their summoning would be in vain. I went and stood next to Elizabeth and began listening from then on. There was a lot of information, but I already knew a lot of it. I didn¡¯t spend weeks in the library for nothing. As the information finally stopped flowing, the priestess looked around. ¡°Ah, Dante, you finally arrived!¡± She grinned, I¡¯ve been here for the past fifteen minutes¡­ ¡°Alright, well if no one has any concerns, then let¡¯s go,¡± A man with a broad face and short hair stepped up. He had a scar through his left eye, which was clouded. He looks as if he has been through many battles. He was probably the highest level here. He looked like the acting leader of the elite guard group. I guess they are here to protect us if we get into any trouble. It shouldn''t matter though, the other heroes have cheat abilities that took the guards forever to master. ¡°You are right, let¡¯s go,¡± Nick waved his hand so we would follow. We aren¡¯t your pets you know. The dungeon was called ¡°The Forest Den¡±, it was to the north of the castle. The travel would take a few days. For the trip, we grabbed horses from the stables and left. We planned to stop at the town an hour out from the dungeon so we could gather some extra supplies. ---------------- James yelled out, ¡°So, how much further do we need to go?¡± ¡°We are about one hour from the town, at least.,¡± I proudly exclaimed. ¡°Shut up, I wasn¡¯t asking you pipsqueak,¡± James stared at me, as if he wanted to get rid of me. It¡¯s not like I wanted to be here anyway. ¡°James, why don¡¯t you be nice to him,¡± Elizabeth stared at him with a pouty face. ¡°Fine, but it¡¯s because of you, not him. He won¡¯t be of any help at all,¡± James looked ahead. An hour later we arrived at the town. The town¡¯s walls were towering more than 10 meters high. It was a large town. We stopped by the inn and grabbed our rooms first before checking the market place for our supplies. ¡°You heroes can call me Fang. I am currently the leader of this group of guards,¡± the guard who had a scar on his eye spoke up, ¡°I have coins here, so divide it up among yourselves.¡± He handed Nick a bag. ¡°We will be going to the inn to rest. Please get some sleep before we head out, we don¡¯t want any problems, do we?¡± he laughed and turned around. The other guards began to follow him. ¡°What an asshole,¡± Sean laughed, ¡°So how many coins did he give us?¡± Nick Smiled, ¡°40 gold coins and 20 silver coins.¡± He stared at the bag of coins, ¡°Alright, here¡¯s how we will divide this. I will get 10 gold coins, as well Sean, James, and Elizabeth.¡± ¡°Hey, but what about me?¡± I was confused, how much would I get? ¡°You can have these 20 silver coins,¡± Nick handed me the small pile of silver coins. What? ¡°Haha, he thought he would get more just because he¡¯s a hero,¡± James laughed. ¡°James! I thought you said you were going to be nice!¡± Elizabeth yelled at him, her face was red. ¡°I can¡¯t stand him, he is a hero as well but he is just so damn useless!¡± James slapped the pile of coins out of my hand and walked away. My anger began to boil, I grinded my teeth. I kneeled down to pick up the coins, Nick and James walked away while laughing about me actually picking them up. ¡°Come on, Elizabeth leave him be. You¡¯ll just get picked on too,¡± Sean motioned Elizabeth to follow. ¡°But¡­¡± Elizabeth stuttered a bit, while she looked at me. I looked at her, ¡°Elizabeth, it¡¯s fine. Sean is right.¡± I finished picking up my coins and walked off towards the market place. *********** Thanks to ''Son of Kasei'' for being a sweet editor! This will be a weekly release for now. 02 - Forest Den Why the hell does he always pick on me. What did I do to him? He seems to feel superior ever since he found out how strong he was. In the marketplace the roads were bustling with activity. The people manning the stalls were yelling out to gather the attention of anyone in their radius. Since I was only given a big backpack to carry all of the heroes stuff, they never gave me any weapons to defend myself with. First, I had to stop at the smithery to look at the armors and weapons they had. As I entered the smithery, the smell of burning coal filled my nose. Bam! I turned to the right to see a boy hammering away at a piece of metal. It looked like he was forging a sword. A guy, at least four times his size, was standing next to him yelling, ¡°Hit it harder!¡± He must be the master of the smithery. On my left there was a collection of armor and swords. There was a large assortment of colors and materials, they looked extremely pricey. There was a small section of armors and weapons on the side that were of lesser quality. I went over to check it out. I stared at the items, not knowing what to get. ¡°Hahaha, hey boy. Do you see anything you like? The stats on those may be low, but that¡¯s only because this part of the collection is made by my apprentice,¡± I turned around, the master of the smithery was grinning. ¡°Huh¡­ stats? What do you mean?¡± I looked back at the equipment. It just looks like equipment. There doesn''t seem to be anything different about it. The grin disappeared from the master¡¯s face, ¡°What? You don¡¯t know how to identify things?¡± ¡°I came over here because I thought it was cheaper,¡± I responded. ¡°Come here boy, I will teach you how to identify things,¡± he came closer, ¡°Let me see your hand¡­ Just place it on whatever it is you want to identify and try surging magic to your fingertips.¡± ¡°My magic is quite low though,¡± I probably won¡¯t be able to do it¡­ ¡°Even a newborn should be able to do it,¡± he laughed,¡°Now close your eyes.¡± Well ok? I felt the leather chest piece and closed my eyes, magic requires great concentration and training unless you were gifted. Even with a magic power of four it takes me time to materialize the ball of light. ¡°Alright, now imagine that piece of leather armor in your head.¡± His voice drifted through my ears, the area around my hand began to tingle. A perfect vision of the armor materialized in my head. As I looked more closely at it, information appeared in my mind.
Equipment information
NameCrude Leather Vest
RankApprentice
Requirements
Level 3+ Strength 15
Price5 Silver, 50 Copper
Passive Buff
Provides 3 endurance while equipped.
¡°Oh! I see it now,¡± I wonder why no one ever taught me this at the castle. Ding!
Skill Learned!
NameIdentify
Skill TypePerception
Level: 1EXP: 5%
Description: Ever had an item, and you don¡¯t know what it is? Well, worry no more! The more things you identify, the stronger your skill is!
So you can learn skills? I looked at the master of the smithery, ¡°Wow, I didn''t know you could even do this.¡± ¡°Ah, boy where are you from?¡± He was scratching his head. ¡°I¡¯m not from here, I come from some place very far away¡±, Well it is far away¡­ It looked as if something clicked in his head, ¡°Ah that¡¯s why. There is a land without magic but it is very far away, you must be from there!¡± I have no idea what he is talking about, I''ll just agree. ¡°Yes¡­ haha you got it.¡± Hopefully he doesn''t ever realize that i¡¯m the ¡°worthless hero¡± I guess i¡¯ll buy some stuff. ------------------ After spending quite a deal of time in the Smithery, I looked in my bag at the contents. I spent most of the silver on armor, I only have 3 Silver coins now. I bought the vest, and some leg guards as well as a leather helmet. If I don''t have offensive power, I¡¯ll make it up with defensive power! The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I headed back to my room to get some sleep, I have to get ready in the morning and go meet up with the others. ------------------ uh¡­ This armor is incredibly itchy. Why do we even have to get up so early? Standing near the gate when I arrived was Fang and his squad, as well as the rest of the heroes. Fang stared at me with cold eyes, ¡°Why were you so late?¡± ¡°What do you mean? I was told to come here just as the sun was rising?¡±, I looked at Fang. He just turned around, and didn¡¯t bother answering my question. ¡°Useless hero, ¡° he muttered, ¡°Alright since everyone is here, let¡¯s go to the dungeon. We walked for an hour, as time passed the forest seemed to come alive. The deeper we went into the forest, more trees covered overhead. Plant life began to take over the surroundings, vines dripped from the branches and the floor was covered in roots. ¡°We are close to the entrance, be ready to enter. Remember, when we enter the guards and I will only stop what we deem endangering. You should all be able to handle the rest.¡± Fang said. We walked into a small opening, standing in the middle was a small hill. All kinds of different colored flowers blanketed the lush grass around the hill. The sun above fought its way through the branches and bathed the ground with sunlight. It was a breathtaking sight. ¡°Wow, It¡¯s so pretty!¡± Elizabeth said as she kneeled down to feel the grass, ¡°The grass is so soft as well!¡± ¡°This doesn''t look like it would be that dangerous at all.¡± Nick said as he looked towards Fang. ¡°Don¡¯t let your guard down,¡± Fang said, ¡°Let¡¯s enter.¡± We approached the hill and I noticed an arch, it looked ancient. Vines and leaves covered it, and cracks were noticeable. There was a flight of stone stairs leading down, torches lined the side. The air pressure rose as we descended. The feeling of the world was left behind. A room at the end of the stairs opened up, it was large with bones littering the floor, they were of human origin. There was a sign hanging on the wall, ¡°Danger ahead!¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s start the adventure!¡± James said, he was grinning. Probably happy that he could try out his power, which he had been training at the castle. A chill shook my spine as the wind coming from the entrance staircase washed over my back. There was no running away, I shook my head. Nothing will happen to me, I was told I was going to be protected. So I shouldn''t worry.
ID CARD
Name:DanteRace:Human
Health:120/120MP:40/40
Alignment:NeutralEXP:22%
Class:HeroLevel:4
Stats
Strength34Intelligence20
Endurance17(+8 [25])Magic5
Agility19Luck1
Active Skills
Ball of Light - (5 MP) : a ball of light is casted upon the area where the user resides lighting up the area around him. Identify - (5 MP): Ever had an item, and you don¡¯t know what it is? Well, worry no more! The more things you identify, the stronger your skill is!
Passive Skills
A Hero¡¯s blessing: Since you are a hero, you have a 25% experience boost. Matching Armor Bonus: 1+ Endurance for wearing 4 pieces of apprentice armor.
Equipment
Apprentice Leather Helmet: 1 Endurance Apprentice Leather Vest: 3 Endurance Apprentice Leather Leggings: 2 Endurance Apprentice Leather Boots: 1 Endurance
*********** Thanks to ''Son of Kasei'' for being editor again! 03 - The Seventh Floor Quick note: This was a late by quite a bit. I may or may not have time in the next 2-3 weeks to do a monday or tuesday release. I may go off schedule a bit due to studying for final exams for school. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the read! (P.S. - Sorry about the shortness of last chapter, and this one! There is a lot I will be putting in the next one!) ------------- ¡°Attack it from the side!¡± Nick yelled towards James, who moved in an arc to the left. He gained momentum and slammed his sword into the side of a battle wolf, tearing it in half. James flicked his sword to the side, the blood slid off in the process. Nick nodded, ¡°Good job, Let¡¯s continue.¡± The first four levels of the dungeon were fairly easy. There were giant rats and other assortments of monsters, but they noticed the strength of Nick and James and scurried away at the sight of them. Only a few tried to fight and met their easy death. Brutal slaughter, but good experience. They were low levels and already had monstrous stats. ¡°Elizabeth, how much exp are you getting?¡± I looked towards Elizabeth after taking a quick glance at my ID card. The experience was rising slowly, I guess it was because I was not in battle. ¡°So far, it has only risen by 2%¡± Elizabeth said. ¡°What level are you?¡± I asked, I was only level 4, I wonder how much they trained. She blushed, ¡°I¡¯m level 12. We were told that the last heroes progressed even slower, Nick and James are higher. Nick is level 24 and James is 21.¡± What?! Damn, I need to level up soon! ¡°Haha¡­ is that so¡­¡± I mumbled. ¡°Ah, Dante what level did you reach training alone?¡± She turned to me smiling. ¡°I¡¯d rather not say¡­¡± with that the conversation ended. We began to descend onto the 6th level by this time, the battle wolves that the priest had warned us all about had not been that big of a problem at all for Nick and James, who were already far ahead of me in power. We flooded out of the bottom of the staircase into an open area. It was bigger than any of the other levels so far. Fang looked down the stairs and said, ¡°This is the start of the real Forest Den. Everyone, from here on out, it will be more dangerous. Traps and other mechanisms are present on this floor onward.¡± We all shook our heads in response. With each step my foot sunk deeper into the earth. It was a swamp, nearby I spotted an animal sitting in a tree. It was like a monkey, but it had six eyes¡­ ¡°This place really went through some drastic changes,¡± Sean was surprised. He used to speak a lot more, I wonder if Nick and James put him in his place. We encountered a couple of monsters, they were sitting by a pond grooming. James looked at them smiling, ¡°Haha.. Level 15, finally something challenging. Nick, do you want to get them?¡± How does he know what level they are? Is that some kind of skill too? The monsters looked like the monkey I saw earlier but they had armor and weapons. Those were probably taken from adventurers with poor luck. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s try it. Sean come over here.¡± With one command, Sean stepped up quickly to stand by Nick¡¯s side. ¡°Yes, what do you need?¡± Sean asked while looking at Nick. Nick stared back and then pointed at the monsters. ¡°I need you because you can use water, this swamp should be perfect for you. I feel that water magic should thrive here,¡± Nick explained, while looking around. ¡°Alright, What do you want me to do Nick?¡± Sean smiled, he was glad that he was useful to them. ¡°I need you to freeze the monsters in place so they won¡¯t move,¡± Nick pointed at the ground underneath the group of monsters, while looking at sean, ¡°You know what to do right?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m ready whenever you guys want to start,¡± Sean gripped his staff tighter. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll start when James gets into position,¡± Nick motioned for James to get moving. James fought like an assassin, he always came from the side or from behind. His weapons of choice was a set of daggers. They looked expensive, in each of their hilts there laid a yellow gem. When it glowed, his attacks increased and seemed to deal more damage while stunning. A couple minutes later, James was in position. Nick signaled for Sean to start. Elizabeth and I were waiting in the back next to Fang and his squad. Sean pointed his staff towards the pond, it began to overflow. In a couple of seconds he flooded the ground. He mumbled a few words that I couldn¡¯t understand and the water began to crackle, the sound alerted the monsters. They looked around and tried to move, but it was too late. They began to howl in terror as they saw two unknown figures sprinting towards them. James was coming from the side, while Nick was coming from straight in front of them. James disappeared and appeared right next to one in a flash. He ripped through its throat and blood began pouring out. He was smiling the whole time. He¡¯s more of a demon than a hero in my opinion¡­ Nick preferred not to be as flashy. When he got closer he used his sword to slash both of them in one movement. He was using a katana, it¡¯s blade was silver and reflected the light. No matter how many times he used it on monsters, it never dulled or stained with blood. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Aww, I was hoping that they would at least put up a struggle,¡± James said. ¡°Oh well, let¡¯s find some other groups,¡± Nick looked at Sean, ¡°I¡¯m sorry Sean, but it looks like these fights will be a little to easy and we won¡¯t get good battle experience when we fight with you. You can go back to sitting back.¡± Sean came back without any fuss. ¡°Man, that was the best experience I¡¯ve gotten since I¡¯ve entered.¡± Sean frowned. ¡°How much was it?¡± Elizabeth asked him. ¡°It was about 5%. I¡¯m guessing that after this level, Nick and James will go up a couple of levels,¡± He replied. Damn, that¡¯s fast. It must be because of the hero buff. The deeper we went into the swamp, the darker it was. Fang and his squad still have not said a word since we have entered this place. I guess he really does want everyone to experience the dangers of monsters. As the light disappeared, the groups of monsters began to increase. They had called Sean up to use his water magic as support, they didn¡¯t want to make any mistakes. Their playful attitude from before was no where to be seen. We reached a clearing in the swamp. A old, grand tree stood out right in the middle, it had an arched doorway on it. The arched doorway emitted a white light. ¡°This is the door to the next level. The doors from here on out will look like this, let¡¯s move,¡± Fang said. We got closer, and one by one we disappeared through the doorway to the next level. ------------------ The surroundings changed drastically from what the 6th floor held. The floor was more solid, it was dry. The area wasn¡¯t dark. A sun shined overhead, Did we go back to the surface? Looking around, I saw the other heroes and the guards. ¡°Why did we go back to the surface?¡± James turned to look at Fang. ¡°We are not on the surface, we are still in the dungeon. The dungeons were created long ago and are mysterious to this day. We don¡¯t know how such a thing was made, but this room is like its own dimension,¡± Fang explained, ¡°This is the seventh floor, the monsters here are more civilized so don¡¯t be rash.¡± We took off once again, and started exploring the dungeon floor. The ground was covered with grass like a lush, green carpet. It was a forest, but it didn¡¯t have the same feeling as the forest we travelled through coming here. There were no vines, and wild plants were clinging to the trees. It was more open, like a forest that you would usually see in RPGs. After traveling for twenty minutes, we haven¡¯t seen any life. ¡°Fang, where are these monsters that you spoke of?¡± Nick said. Fang sighed, ¡°I said they were more civilized did I not?¡± He looked around, ¡°They are watching us, but they do not know whether we are friendly or if we will slaughter them.¡± ¡°Well, of course we will slaughter them right?¡± James was smiling. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that, they are known to fight in large groups,¡± Fang replied, ¡°I¡¯d rather not have to deal with your mess if you make one.¡± Hearing this, James frowned. After readjusting the bag on my back I spoke up, ¡°Hey, when are we going to take a break?¡± I, the one who was designated to carry everything, was feeling pretty tired. Fang sighed, ¡°We¡¯ll take a break once we hit the 9th floor.¡± The 9th floor? We are only on the 7th and it¡¯s taken us this long! Fang pointed, ¡°There¡¯s the gate for the 8th floor, after this we can be on the 9th floor in no time.¡± At the end of the forest laid a stone temple. There was a path lined with stone pillars leading up to the stairs. At the top of the stairs laid the gateway to the 8th floor. ¡°Well, we didn¡¯t even have to fight this time, ¡° Sean was happy, even though he was a gifted mage he still didn¡¯t like fighting. We walked down the path and up the stairs, one by one we went through to the next floor. ¡°Strange, I¡¯m surprised that the inhabitants of this floor didn¡¯t show themselves once, ¡° one of the guards chuckled, ¡°I remember first coming here. I got chased back through to the 6th floor.¡± 04 - The Desert Going through the next portal, the area changed once again. My foot stepped off the platform and sunk into sand. The sand was soft as it pushed back on the soles of my leather boots. It felt good after walking on solid ground for hours. The floor that we were on was a sandy desert, it had grass but the spots were surrounded like islands in an ocean that varied in sizes. There was a ripple moving in the sand in the distance, that disappeared after traveling across the floor a few feet. ¡°Fang, what monsters are on this floor. The priest didn¡¯t really give us much information about the 8th floor and beyond,¡± Nick looked back towards the gate at Fang, who had just stepped out. ¡°Lizardmen and desert wurms, there are others but they aren¡¯t notable,¡± Fang replied. We began to explore the desert going towards the direction Fang pointed us in. A lizardman in the distance was fighting a desert wurm. After a while two more ripples came from other directions and desert wurms shot out from the sand and surrounded the lizardman, it let out it¡¯s last breath a couple seconds later. ¡°Finally, a challenge!¡± James was grinning, he was a battle freak. ¡°I¡¯m surprised, the lizardmen are around my level,¡± Nick said looking towards James, ¡°James, what level are you now?¡± ¡°I¡¯m level 23, and you?¡± James replied. ¡°I¡¯m level 27 now,¡± Nick smiled. ¡°What the hell man! You level at such a faster rate!¡± James felt defeated after learning the difference in their power once again. He probably didn¡¯t like the feeling of being beneath someone. I wonder if he would like it if he was in my place. I looked towards Sean and Elizabeth and asked, ¡°What levels are you guys now?¡± I, myself, have leveled up only once since we entered this dungeon. I must have a leveling rate of an average person. ¡°Level 14 now,¡± Elizabeth replied. ¡°I¡¯m level 14,¡± Sean replied, ¡°by the way, the desert wurms are around level 32 and the Lizardmen vary from 20 to 35, so we will have to fight more often in a group now. We may not be able to protect you.¡± I frowned at his response. Protect myself? How? --- After some time, Sean and Elizabeth moved up. Elizabeth was made to heal James, and Sean gave support magic to Nick, who couldn¡¯t handle multiple targets well. ¡°Sean, use !¡± Nick yelled, as he ran straight towards three lizardmen. Sean mumbling words, pointed his staff towards the ground where they stood. Cold air rushed about the feet of the lizardmen and ice began to form on the ground, it was weaker than before because water magic didn¡¯t work well in dry areas. Nick slanted his katana to his side, and slashed upward at the closest lizardmen. The blade slid up the stomach and went up to the chest, blood spurted out of the wound and dyed the sand red. The lizardman fell over onto it¡¯s side. James appeared behind one of the last two and shoved a dagger into the back and punctured it¡¯s internal organs. They died fast, but without proper planning it could take a while. ¡°Dante, come here. Now.¡± James ordered. Sigh, I walked towards the mess of lizardmen bodies spread out in front of me. Everytime they ended a fight, I was called over to look over the bodies and collect the useful items. Hovering my hand over items, I used over and over picking out the useful items. Lizardmen dropped all kinds of herbs and sometimes crude weapons and leather armor. Ding!
Skill Upgraded!
NameIdentify
Skill TypePerception
Level: 6EXP: 48%
Description: Ever had an item, and you don¡¯t know what it is? Well, worry no more! The more things you identify, the stronger your skill is! ***You can now identify Monsters!
I wonder if that¡¯s how they could tell the difference between monsters¡¯ levels by looking at them! I looked at the dead body of one of the lizardmen and activated .
Monster information
Name???? ????
RaceLizardman
RankNormal
Level21
Skills
None
Ah, this is cool! ¡°Dante, hurry up,¡± Nick looked over at me, who was wasting time identifying dead bodies. ¡°Ok, I¡¯m finished,¡± I pulled the string to grasp the bag shut and stood up. So far, the dropped items were all crude and useless to heroes. They would probably help out a farmer somewhere, it would be best to sell them at a market. ¡°Good, let¡¯s continue,¡± Nick continued walking in the direction of the next gate. Everyone was tired and wanted to hurry to the next floor so they could get some rest. --- After a couple more fights, we finally arrived at the gate. Night was arriving in the desert, the temperature had dropped. The cold wind brushed against everyone. ¡°Man, I can¡¯t wait to get to the next floor and set up camp!¡± Sean said as his teeth chattered. Everyone felt the same. A couple of ripples appeared meters away from the gate in the sand. ¡°So, they want one last fight do they?¡± James said as he unsheathed one of his daggers. Sean gripped his staff tightly. The ripples were heading right towards our group, but they disappeared. Instead, dark figures rose from the sand and unsheathed weapons. There were at least thirty of them. They were Lizardmen and the average level of them was thirty. ¡°What the hell?¡± James said as he looked around. ¡°James, stay back.¡± Nick stepped forward and Fang stepped up to his side as well. ¡°What do you guys want?¡± Fangs voice rung out, but it didn¡¯t reach them. Lizardmen were known to be intelligent and were able to speak english, but they rarely tried to, they were an aggressive species. ¡°You killed many of the young ones,¡± The lizardmen behind us parted, we turned around to look. There was a staff jingling, an older lizardman stepped through. ¡°How about you part way,¡± Fang sneered at him. ¡°Just because they are a hero, doesn¡¯t mean one can come down to my floor and wipe out the young ones.¡± The elder lizardman furrowed his eyebrows. Fang reached back and pulled his broadsword off his back. It was the biggest out of all of the guards. Seeing this, the lizardmen were enraged. ¡°You dare try to go against our elder!¡± a raspy voice escaped from one of the lizardmen. I activated identify on the elder.
Monster information
Name???? ????
RaceLizardman (Elite)
RankElder
Level??
Skills
Empowerment - ????
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Strange, my identify skill couldn¡¯t find the level. This is the first time a monster has had a rank, or a skill. ¡°Such a high level¡­¡± Nick looked towards Fang, ¡°Fang, how come we weren¡¯t made aware of these dangers?¡± He didn¡¯t know whether or not this was supposed to happen. ¡°Intelligent group of monsters have a ranking system, but I didn¡¯t think that an Elder such as him would come out. They usually don¡¯t care, there has to be something influencing them. There has been weird activity since we entered the seventh floor,¡± Fang looked worried. The other guards took notice long before we did and already had their broadswords out. The air was thick, killing intent seeped out of the Lizardmen. Fang looked towards Nick, ¡°Blow a way through the lizardmen and go through the next gate. They won¡¯t follow you, we¡¯ll clean up this mess here.¡± Fang¡¯s broadsword began to radiate a white aura. It must be holy power. Nick nodded and turned to us, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± We all nodded and turned towards the gate. The lizardmen towards the gate were less in numbers, with Nick out front we began to push our way through. I struggled to keep up, the bag weighed me down. ¡°Dante!¡± Elizabeth yelled out, as she began to mumble words. White light began to cover my body, it felt lighter.
You have received the Buff: Holy Strength! Strength (+24) Endurance (+28) Agility (+14)
As I picked up my speed, we approached the gate. Rumble¡­ Rumble¡­ The ground shook and a wall shot out from beneath the earth. ¡°What! Who put this wall here!¡± James yelled out, he was beginning to move forward to try to destroy it but Nick pushed him back. ¡°Be careful! This is not a wall!¡± As Nick yelled, a giant roar erupted and the sound of slaughter behind us stopped. The elder and Fang stopped fighting and looked towards us. ¡°See! You fools have even caused Rasheek to come!¡± The Elder was furious, ¡°Lizardmen! We will eradicate them!¡± He hissed and continued to attack Fang. Fang was on par with the Elder Lizard. Ding! Information began to flood into my mind.
Warning! Rasheek, King of Desert Wurms has appeared!
Monster information
NameRasheek, King of Desert Wurms
RaceDesert Wurm King (Boss)
RankKing
Level40
Skills
????
Level 40?!? Everyone stepped back. The gigantic wurm towered above us, a slimish sounding voice filled with anger rose from the back of our mind. ¡°You dare come to the floor I reign and cause trouble! You and the ones that came before keep slaughtering my family!¡± What? Monsters can send messages through the mind? Nick holding his blade ran forward along side James, James didn¡¯t dare to try to pull a sneak attack. ¡°Elizabeth, Sean, Dante!¡± Nick yelled, ¡°Run to the gate, we¡¯ll hold it off and follow behind!¡± I stood still, afraid of what might happen. Is everyone going to die? ¡°Dante! Hurry!¡± Elizabeth was close to the gate, and was yelling out towards me. Huh? The scene flashed through my mind, Nick and James were knocked away by the wurm, who afterward turned around towards the gate. It shot forward at Elizabeth in its path. Shit. She was the only one who has actually cared about me since I got here! I began to run, picking up my pace I dropped the bag on the ground. After losing the bag, my body felt even better than when I first received the buff. The speed was even faster than the wurm, rushing towards Elizabeth I reached my hand out. Swoosh! Argh! Rasheek slammed against my back, my health was disappearing and was almost empty. I¡¯m going to die... I laid on the ground, it felt like a chunk of flesh had been ripped out of my back. ¡°Dante!¡± Elizabeth yelled, a surge of warmth surrounded my body. My back began to slowly heal, Elizabeth ran over and kneeled at my side. ¡°Dante, are you ok?¡± she said with a worried look. ¡°Elizabeth, the giant wurm is still here. What are you doing?!¡± I yelled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry anymore,¡± Nick¡¯s voice resounded the surroundings. The air began to heat up, as I looked towards Nick I noticed his body had a red and white aura. Combination of holy and fire power? ¡°You¡¯ve made me get serious,¡± Nick was calm still, even in a situation such as this. Nick wielding the katana, flicked his wrist. White flames lined the surface of the katana, the light got brighter and brighter. He disappeared and appeared next to the giant wurm in a flash. Rasheek¡¯s body was flung to the side like a rag doll. Nick began laughing, ¡°So, this is the power of awakening!¡± He disappeared once again and appeared on the opposite side, with a slash he cut through the body. The ground began to shake.
Warning! Rasheek has been enraged! (Rasheek has gained more power!)
Rasheek, twisted dodging the next slash and bolted forward towards Nick. Nick blocked with the flat side of his blade and was launched backwards. A green circle appeared underneath Rasheek, with a smash it fell to the ground. It tried to raise it¡¯s head but was smashed yet again into the desert floor. Nick was seen again walking slowly, with his arm pointed at Rasheek, mumbling words. He stopped and dashed forward. A streak of white light was left behind him, he appeared above Rasheek¡¯s head, falling and stabbing his blade into it. The white flames on the blade surged and bursted. He pulled out the blade, ¡°Well.. fair enough.¡± He fell off the body and crashed into the desert with a thump. Elizabeth picked up her staff and ran towards Nick. She kneeled down next to him and began healing his body like she did to me. James was laying unconscious meters away from where the fight took place. He used both of his daggers to block at the last second. Damn¡­ I raised my palm, and rested my head against it. My vision slowly faded to black. ***************** Thanks to Son of Kasei for editing! Otherwise, finally some action this chapter! I hope you enjoyed the read! 05 - Small powerup The scene with Nick fighting Rasheek played through my mind over and over. ¡°Do you desire power?¡± A black mist swallowed the scene, I was standing in darkness. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± I called out, there was no reply. I looked around, but there was no one around. Sigh ¡°You are in Danger, Dante,¡± a raspy voice called out to me again. This voice¡­ is familiar. I call back my memories and think. The black figure who sent me here¡­ ¡°What do you want with me?¡± I was confused. A pain shot through my back and chest, What¡¯s going on? I can¡¯t see! I collapsed from the pain, heaving in agony. Sweat dripped from my brow, the air was getting heavier. ¡°Dante,¡± a voice rang in my ears, my vision cleared. I was laying on sand, looking up I saw Fang and everyone else in the group. I patted my chest, there was no wound. Huh? Weird. I sat up and looked around. Nick was being held up by james, he looked like he was in pain. Elizabeth was smiling, and James looked disgusted with me still¡­ Fang and his group were staring. ¡°When are you going to get up?¡± Fang said with a straight face. ¡°Oh.. My bad,¡± I stood up, but stumbled a bit. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Elizabeth¡¯s smile disappeared and she looked a little worried. ¡°Of course he¡¯s okay, he¡¯s just trying to get you guys to feel bad for him!¡± James yelled. ¡°Shut up, James,¡± Nick began to cough. ¡°Nick, you shouldn¡¯t have used that skill. You know they told us not to in training,¡± James sighed. ¡°It was a last resort, wasn¡¯t it? It was do or die,¡± Nick laughed. ¡°Enough. We need to check our group¡¯s status and get out of this dungeon. This trip has been odd, there are things happening that shouldn¡¯t,¡± Fang looked towards the next gate, ¡°Strange.¡± One word was enough. Putting my hand on my chest, I pulled out my ID Card.
ID CARD
Name:DanteRace:Human
Health:500/500MP:300/300
Alignment:NeutralEXP:85%
Class:HeroLevel:9
Stats
Strength41Intelligence36
Endurance28 (+8[36])Magic32
Agility34Luck1
Active Skills
Ball of Light - (5 MP) : a ball of light is casted upon the area where the user resides lighting up the area around him.
Passive Skills
A Hero¡¯s blessing: Since you are a hero, you have a 25% experience boost. Matching Armor Bonus: 1+ Endurance for wearing four pieces of the same armor.
Equipment
Apprentice Leather Helmet: 1 Endurance Apprentice Leather Vest: 3 Endurance Apprentice Leather Leggings: 2 Endurance Apprentice Leather Boots: 1 Endurance
Wow, My level has gone up a lot! It must have been because of the fight. ¡°Dante, catch.¡± Nick tossed an object towards me. Catching it, I noticed it was a dagger. The hilt was a skull, and the scabbard was dark and felt as if it was absorbing the surrounding light. It had an eerie feel to it. ¡°Haha, he got the worst drop!¡± James was laughing. ¡°Well, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use the other stuff,¡± Nick sighed. I swiped my hand over the dagger.
Identification
Weapon Name: HarvesterType: Artifact
Attack Damage5 - 6
This weapon, lasting for centuries, has gained some history. No one knows where it came from, and no one understands what it was used for.
Elizabeth was smiling, ¡°Maybe some museum will give a lot of money for it!¡± I sighed, ¡°I guess I could try that.¡± I strapped the scabbard to my waist. ¡°Are you all ready to go yet?¡± Fang sounded upset, we didn¡¯t even take that long? Once again, we set off, but this time going back towards the surface through the darkness. ¡°God dammit! Why couldn¡¯t we have just waited till morning to set out!¡± James whined. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. A orb of light flew out from my hand and rose to about head level. The light spread out and covered the surroundings. James looked toward me, ¡°¡­¡± ----------------- We walked through the darkness of the desert, the only light came from the orb of light that I had used earlier. Only what was near our group was visible. Fang and the other guards walked forward without a problem, they looked as if the chilling wind that swept over us was not even present. ¡°How far away are we from the gate back?¡± Nick asked. ¡°Not that far, it¡¯s right up ahead,¡± Fang replied. We walked a little while longer and found the gate, we all went through easily, eager to get back to the seventh floor. We continued through the gate, plopping out at the other side onto the seventh floor. It was still dark out, but the seventh floor still looked a lot better than the desert after all that had happened. The moon on this floor covered the area, shadows casted down from the trees. The surroundings were illuminated from the orb of light that I casted earlier, it followed through the gate. ¡°If we keep it at this pace, we should arrive at the fourth floor in two hours or so.¡± Fang continued marching forward and we followed behind. I glanced back at the gate, it felt as if someone had been watching us. I couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling. Oh well, it¡¯s probably nothing. ----- The sixth floor went easily, Fang and his group rushed at any incoming monsters that dared to attack us and put them down quickly. As soon as we all arrived on the fifth floor, a spear shrouded by a red mist slammed into Fang¡¯s blade. He parried it to the side, and it slammed into the ground. A cloaked figure stepped from the darkness towards our group. The guards pulled their blades, but this time they didn¡¯t seem so confident. The spear that was sticking in the ground disappeared, and reappeared above the cloaked figure. ¡°Well, it seems that the fun and games are over,¡± the voice travelled through our minds. ¡°Why are you here?¡± Fang was angry. ¡°Well, we heard that you little humans were producing some heroes,¡± a laugh erupted from under the cloak, ¡°I didn¡¯t know that they were going to be so weak!¡± ¡°What do you mean we are weak?!¡± James yelled, he was furious. Everyone at the palace had looked up to him and Nick like they were angels that were given to them by their goddess. The cloak was shifted down, revealing fiery skin , white eyes and grey, ashen hair. A Demon? ¡°I came to check for our Demon King, but you seem to be quite lacking in combat ability. You had to to even kill such a little wurm,¡± he chuckled. Our group stayed silent, the only noise was the shifting of weapons coming out. ¡°Well, you wish to still fight even though our difference in power?¡± the demon growled, ¡°So be it!¡± ¡°Escape,¡± The last words from Fang floated through our ears. A quick battle came about our vision, Fang shot out first with his broadsword in hand. The other guards followed suit and came in from the other directions. ¡°Foolishness!¡± the demon shouted, and a red mist covered him and the surrounding area. The guards that could step back did, but one guard fell into the mist and a scream erupted from his last moments. All that was left was a pool of blood. ¡°Tsk¡­¡± Fang looked at the pool of blood. If Fang was above level 50, what level was this Demon?! I looked at the other heroes, their faces were pale. Shit, we have to escape like Fang said. ¡°Elizabeth, give us all buffs,¡± Nick said. ¡°Yes!¡± Elizabeth was shaken, shortly afterward we were all buffed by . Power coursed through my body, and my muscles tightened with strength. Fang looked towards our group and nodded. Without a moment more, we shot towards the right side of the battle. The demon noticed this, ¡°Trying to escape? Hmph.¡± He motioned with his left arm and the spear shot out towards us. Fang noticed this and jumped towards us, the other three guards went in for close combat. Fang smashed the spear into the ground using the brute force of his broadsword. ¡°This is for Peter!¡± one of the guards yelled out raising his broadsword, but he was thrown away like a doll with a kick. ¡°You ants are really getting annoying,¡± we turned around to see the demon one last time before we ran through the tunnels of the fifth floor. **************** Hello, once again and thanks for reading! This chapter was pretty interesting to write, hope you find it the same :d Also a thanks for Son of Kasei for editing! 06 - Escape Huff Huff Huff. I looked ahead at Nick and the other heroes. We have been running for 20 minutes straight, without Fang it really has been hard to find our way to the gate. ¡°Where is it, does anyone remember?¡± Sean was worried. ¡°I don''t know, but shut up!¡± Nick panicked, 20 minutes ago we split with the group of guards and left them with that Demon. ¡°Are they still alive?¡± Elizabeth had tears coming down her face. ¡°They should be, you know how strong Fang is,¡± the words that came out of my mouth were probably lies, the demon was probably a lot higher in level. ¡°Come on guys, hurry up. We are lucky enough to not run into any battle wolves so far,¡± James motioned for us to get a move on. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go,¡± Nick took off running down the tunnel and everyone followed. James slowly wandered back and began running at my side, ¡°Dante. As much as I hate you, thank you for protecting Elizabeth back then.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± I was confused, our lives were on the line but he still slowed down to tell me this. ------------------- I feel exhausted. ¡°Dante, hurry up!¡± Sean yelled out. The room was wide, the gate was on the other side. A sinister feeling had been chasing us for the past five minutes. Earlier, Elizabeth had passed out from exhaustion. Nick had picked her up to carry her for the rest of the way since he was the strongest here, we wouldn¡¯t slow down much. They were almost to the gate, as Sean and I were left behind, even with the small power up I received Sean was still a bit faster than me. The sounds of our feet echoed around the room. Bang! The ceiling began falling around us, Sean readied his staff and began mumbling words. An ice bolt smashed into a piece of ceiling that almost fell onto him breaking it into multiple pieces. I rolled out of the way of a piece that had almost crushed me into a pile of meat and looked behind me, the demon was slowly walking towards us. ¡°Pitiful, the last one put up quite a good fight but still was too weak,¡± the demon tossed something over and with a Smack it landed between Sean and I. My vision was slightly blurred from the dust so I couldn¡¯t make out the object that was thrown. When the dust settled, a face of horror was staring at me, a scar that was across the eye revealed that this face belonged to Fang. Shit¡­. Fang¡¯s head was laying a couple feet away, it was completely detached from it¡¯s body. ¡°See, humans are weak!¡± the demon chuckled as he looked around, ¡°How about this, if you make it through the gate I won¡¯t chase you for the sake of a game!¡± He smiled and licked blood off his fingers. ¡°Tsk.. If only I could ,¡± Nick grunted. Sean was the first one on his feet, he began running towards the flight of stairs. The demon noticed this and smiled, ¡°Trying to escape all ready?¡± The demon launched a spear, it whizzed through the air towards Sean stabbing him in the leg. ¡°Arghhh!¡± Sean collapsed under the pain, ¡°Help me!¡± He looked at the spear which slowly turned to red mist and reappeared in the demon¡¯s hand. I got on my feet and looked towards the stairs, there was no way that I could make it¡­ ¡°James, I can grab Sean since he is close.. but Dante,¡± Nick looked towards James. ¡°Alright, you grab Sean and I¡¯ll grab Dante,¡± James smiled as Nick nodded his head. Nick turned his head, ¡°Elizabeth, I¡¯m going to have to let you down.¡± Elizabeth nodded, and got off of Nick¡¯s back. ¡°Go through the gate, we¡¯ll see you on the other side.¡± The demon was playing with us, when he saw Elizabeth get off of Nick¡¯s back. He was intrigued by the belief that we were going to fight back. Nick bolted towards Sean, picking him up in one go and turning away to run back up the stairs. James took the same motion, but going further to come towards me. ¡°Insolence!¡± the demon¡¯s voice was filled with anger, a murderous aura filled the cavern. The demon began to mumble, growling was heard from down the tunnels followed by loud barks. Battle wolves. I took off and began to run towards James, battle wolves shot out from the entrance to the cavern. We fled towards the gate being chased by the swipes of claws. Nick disappeared through the gate looking back with a face of worry, Sean was still cringing in pain. A feeling of pain shot through my leg, a large gash appeared to be leaking out blood. Urgh. James kept his face locked onto the Gate, we were almost there. James slowly looked down at me, who was being carried in his arms. ¡°Dante, it¡¯s because of you¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± my face cringed as I spoke, pain was spreading throughout my whole body from my leg. James smiled, ¡°Without you, maybe Elizabeth will look at me.¡± James lifted me and threw me down the flight of stairs. ¡°James, what the fuck!¡± I yelled as I was falling, the last vision I saw was him slipping through the gate. The Demon stared at the gate, ¡°hmmm, I like that one. The prophecies may be true after all.¡± Smiling, one last time before looking towards the battle wolves, ¡°Good, kill him as your treat!¡± The demon turned into red mist which dissipated into the air. ¡°Argh!¡± I yelled as flesh was being ripped from my body. Pain coursed through my body, my limbs went limp. Blood dyed my leather armor a dark red. The Battle wolves in the back growled and clawed trying to get a chance to eat. I¡¯m going to die! My vision became blurry from the loss of blood, the sound of barking and growling felt far away. ¡°Now you can carry the curse,¡± a voice rose from the back of my mind. A surge of power came from my chest, it spread throughout and covered the feeling of pain. Black mist poured out of my chest and began to surround me. My feeling came back to my limbs and they seemed to be stronger than before. My vision began to blacken, only hearing a ding and seeing the last messages delivered to my mind. Ding!
A blast of black miasma destroyed the Battle wolves in your surroundings! 26 Souls Collected.
------------------------ I awoke staring at the ceiling of the cavern, the smell of copper drifted through the air into my nostrils as I began to breath. Hmmmt? My body felt more sturdier before, looking down I see my body is still intact. My armor was ripped in multiple places, and some parts were even missing. Ding!
The Grand Necromancer, Malgor has gifted you the powers of the Necromancer! (Class Changed!)
Your stats have been modified and you will now have new skills! You have been revived and are no longer a hero, and people will fear and try to kill you if they find out you are a Necromancer!
Ding!
You have unlocked the requirements of the Artifact, ¡°Harvester¡±! Once a powerful dagger wielded by Malgor, himself. He used it to relinquish the lives of his foes! You must use souls to power up the weapon to unlock it¡¯s full potential!
Necromancer? I do feel more magic power than before¡­ I looked at my hand, an ID card appeared.
ID CARD
Name:DanteRace:Human
Health:1200/1200MP:2000/2000
Alignment:NeutralEXP:25%
Class:NecromancerLevel:22
Stats
Strength143Intelligence162
Endurance126 (+2[128])Magic256
Agility122Soul Pool26
Active Skills
Rend (450 MP) - Harnessing the power of death, you can use the black miasma to rip a target to pieces. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Soul Freeze (200 MP) - You are able to freeze one¡¯s soul for a limited time, depending on their level/power. Resurrect (1000 MP) - You are able to keep sacrificed souls to bring someone or something back to life, the person or thing will be under your control. You will maintain a soul link with the victim. Black Bolt (250 MP) - A ball of black miasma launches from your hand at your target.
Passive Skills
One With Betrayal: You have been destined to take up this role, and will have to live with it for the rest of your life. (Ability to see through lies) Death''s Embrace: Black Miasma Resistance 100% Matching Armor Bonus: 1+ Endurance for wearing four pieces of the same armor. Personal Soul Pool: You will grow in power by the amount of souls you have collected in your Soul Pool. These will improve your stats.
Equipment
Destroyed Apprentice Leather Helmet: 0 Endurance Damaged Apprentice Leather Vest: 1 Endurance Destroyed Apprentice Leather Leggings: 0 Endurance Destroyed Apprentice Leather Boots: 0 Endurance
I finally have power! I will not be called weak again! A series of events ran through my mind as I recalled the past hour. I bit my lip, blood began to drip down my chin, ¡°That fucking bastard!¡± I clenched my fists. The last moment before my death, I was thrown down the stairs straight into the fangs and claws of the battle wolves. My nails began to dig into my palm, I looked towards the gate. I felt angry, but the relief of being alive calmed me down. James will regret everything¡­ Standing again, I looked around the room. Two words that would describe the place was absolute slaughter. I looked around, bodies of battle wolves laid over the pools of blood, death lingered in the air. Blood clung to the inner walls of the cavern, black miasma leaked from the open wounds of the battle wolves, slowly eating them from the inside out. ¡°Disgusting¡­¡± I looked towards the closest dead battle wolf, ¡°Maybe I can try out the new skill I got?¡± The first thing that came to my mind after viewing my ID card was . This skill seemed to be the most powerful in my arsenal, but had the most MP cost. I touched the body of the battle wolf, and activated it. Ding!
Not enough Souls! You need a total of 75 souls to resurrect this monster. (Lvl 24 Battle Wolf)
Hmmm... I stared at the gate, the king probably has sent people to check to see if their word is true. I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll believe one of his best elite guards, Fang, would die. If they discover me around, they may drag me back and question me since I "survived". "I should test out the rest of my new abilities before I go." I muttered and began walking in the opposite direction of the gate, heading deeper into the tunnels. ---------------------------- A small black ball of miasma began to form in my hands, growing in size filling my palm. The ball of miasma launched towards the battle wolf and smashed into it¡¯s side. The miasma began to eat the side of the battle wolf enlarging the initial wound. As the battle wolf fell down on it¡¯s side, the two other battle wolves in the group charged at me. Black Miasma launched out in thin lines and began to rip through the skin of the two battle wolves causing them to stop their charge and fall lifelessly to the floor. Ding!
You have gained three souls!
Rend may use a lot of MP, but it is incredibly powerful¡­ I took a gaze at my ID card, ¡°Almost level 24..¡± Spending hours fighting battle wolves didn¡¯t seem to give a lot of EXP. The soul pool held fifty-five souls. Without a party hunting battle wolves, which tended to stay in large packs, was rough. Only when they would leave their packs could I attempt to kill them, I sighed while putting my ID Card away, " I guess it¡¯s time I start heading towards the exit of the dungeon. " Spending hours hunting in the tunnels allowed me to memorize most of it, I began walking my way back to the gate. ---------------------------- Hours passed the events of the dungeon, the heroes returned to the castle exhausted. Nick went for a conference with the king, while the others returned to their private rooms. ¡°What do you mean?¡± the king was staring at Nick in disbelief, ¡°Fang is dead?!¡± Nick nodded his head, ¡°Yes, we came across a demon¡­¡± Nick was exhausted, but he still made sure to report everything to the king. ¡°We also lost Dante...¡± Nick was feeling regret, someone that actually came from their world had died in the dungeon as well. Hmmph, ¡°A Demon you say?¡± the king slammed his fist on the table, ¡°They dare mess with us now!¡± The king pondered for a bit and stared at Nick once again, ¡°Get some rest, I will handle this and recover the bodies¡­ at least if they have a body left they will be able to have a funeral.¡± An event such as this truly shocked the king, the only ones that knew of the hero¡¯s leaving to the dungeon was the higher ups in the kingdom. The demons are known to have planted spies around the kingdom, but he did not think they would figure out and transfer information around that fast. Nick nodded his head and left, closing the door behind him. The king began tapping his finger on the table, ¡°It is a shame that our elite guards had to die, the worthless hero had no potential in the first place...¡± Turning his view to the guard in the room he said, ¡°You, I need you to gather up a force of elite guards and go towards the dungeon to look for this demon and exterminate it if you can!¡± The king paused placing his hand on his chin, "If you see Dante, make sure he dies as well. If what we recovered in the ruins that one time are true, then the demon could have spared him so he could become a Demon King." The king had hoped that their would be no problems in the future. ******************** Thanks to everyone reading, I enjoy any sort of comments that get posted on the chapters! I may not reply because of time restrictions at times, but I read them! Thanks to the editor, Son of Kasei as well! 07 - Adventure In the middle of the forest, it was quiet as a gentle wind pushed through the air. A figure emerged from the small hill that held the entrance to the Forest Den. I stretched, ¡°I¡¯m finally out of there.¡± I looked around, the sunlight basked my skin. The underground felt depressing, and the monsters didn¡¯t really help. I had gained some souls and had reached level 24, finding the last four gates to get out of the forest den was the hardest part. I never really paid attention going through the first time. My stomach rumbled, ¡°I need to find some food.¡± The only place I could think of was the village that we passed through before, I looked down at my armor and realized I was almost naked. The leather armor I had bought and the clothes underneath were torn to pieces. I possibly will be able to sell some of the battle wolf pelts that I got. Battlewolf pelts are tough and durable, but it was also hard to get without destroying it completely with black miasma. --------------- I arrived at the gate of the town, the guards near the entrance stared at me while I walked towards them. ¡°Do you think you are allowed here beggar?¡± The guard began laughing. I glanced down at what I was wearing and looked back at them, ¡°I don¡¯t see a problem here, I¡¯m not a beggar. I¡¯m here to trade things.¡± One of the guards pondered for awhile, ¡°Fine, walk in. If we catch you begging, we¡¯ll throw you out.¡± The guards looked at me with mocking expressions and shook their head as I walked past them.I ignored them as the first thing I need to do is find somewhere I can sell the pelts, therefore I decided to head towards the market place. The marketplace had less people than last time since night was drawing near, I walked around carrying the leather. After searching for awhile I found a stall that wanted to buy my pelts, I walked away holding 1 Gold, and 50 Silver in my hand. Good, now time to buy clothes. People have been staring at me the whole time since I got here. I looked around and found a stall selling cloth clothes, I bought a new pair of pants, a small bag, a pair of cloth shoes and a shirt as well as a black cloak. I have spent 13 Silver in total, clothes are a lot cheaper than armor for sure. I shook the remaining coins in my hand, and looked towards the sky. I should find a place to sleep. I headed towards the inn I stayed at the first day, and checked into a room. A room at the inn was 20 silver a night, I could stay here for six nights without a problem, but I would need income sooner or later. I looked down at the scabbard on my waist, an eerie feeling started to emit while looking at it, I remember that this dagger had something to do with souls I think, I never really had a chance to identify it again. I grabbed the hilt and pulled the dagger out and laid it out on the table next to the bed. Swiping my hand across the dagger, I used .
Equipment information
NameHarvester
RankArtifact
Attack Damage30-34
Souls0
Requirements
Necromancer Class
Passive Buff
Provides 3 endurance while equipped.
Not bad, I guess I¡¯ll have to kill more monsters and feed it souls to unlock it¡¯s true power. I placed the dagger back into the scabbard, and unhooked it, laying it on the table. I guess it¡¯s time to get some rest. I laid my head on the hard bed and began drifting to sleep. ------- A glare began to pierce the curtains, I yawned and rubbed my eyes while I pushed them aside and looked out the window. The street was filled with people, ¡°Well, good morning.¡± I sighed, the events from yesterday were still sharp in my mind. I envisioned James, as he threw me into the pack of battle wolves. I looked towards the Harvester, it seemed to thirst for blood. The aura it was emitting seemed more sinister than last night. I got up and stretched, grabbing a hold of the scabbard and hooking it back onto my side. I opened the door to my room and closed it behind me. I walked down the stairs to go to the counter. When I arrived at the counter, there was an old man wearing tidy black clothes, his eyes were squinting and he was smiling. ¡°May I help you?¡± he asked. I half-smiled, ¡°... Yes, I wanted to ask if you had any ideas on where I can make some money in this town?¡± ¡°Well, you look like an adventurer,¡± he chuckled, ¡°Have you looked at the Adventurers guild on main street?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to give it a look,¡± I nodded my head and went out the door. After walking for awhile, I found the Adventurers Guild. It was the biggest building on the street and had a sign with two crossing swords over a shield hanging on the front of the building. There were people walking in and out, they all looked different wearing different kinds of armours and weapons on them. I walked through the front doorway into a big room. The room had a bar-like area and was filled with tables, there were many people chatting and laughing while drinking mugs of beer. The room smelled like sweat but it had a good atmosphere. ¡°Excuse me, are you an adventurer?¡± I turned to see a woman sitting behind a desk. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m looking for work,¡± I said. ¡°Alright, you will need to register first,¡± She opened a drawer and pulled out something that looked similar to the ID Card. ¡°This will be your personal Adventurer Card, but you will need to bind it with your magic power, please do so real quick.¡± I placed my hand on top of the card and surged magic power through my palm, light shone through my fingers as the card absorbed my magic power, when it was finished it began to dim. ¡°Ok, now what do I do?¡± I asked. ¡°Alright, This card has many uses, ¡± She began pointing at places on the card, ¡°This will allow you to track all of your jobs that you are currently tasked with, and this here will allow you to view and take new jobs but there is a limit on how many jobs you can take.¡± She paused and looked up at me to see if I was getting everything, I nodded. She looked back down at the card and pointed at the last section. ¡°This section here will allow you to track your Adventurer stats, this will have your ranking and more, ¡± She looked up again, and smiled, ¡°That¡¯s all the basic information you need to get started, bring your card back with you if you finished a job, so you can collect the reward!¡± ¡°Thank you, ¡° I nodded my head and left. -------------- Sitting in my room at the inn, I was looking at the Adventurers card flipping through the jobs that I could take. In the Adventurer''s Guild, you start off at Bronze Rank. In order to increase your rank you must do jobs, after Bronze is Iron, and after Iron is Steel and so on. The highest rank one can achieve is Diamond. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The jobs in the Adventurer''s Guild are broken up into categories for each rank, the jobs that each rank can choose are different. The jobs that I can do are easier and less rewarding than what an Iron rank can do and so on. I scrolled through the listing and decided that I would need to find one particularly without other people, since I don¡¯t know how they would react to the black miasma. I hummed as I sat and looked, soon with a flick of my finger, I opened up a job.
JobGoblin Extermination!
LocationHowe Village
Description
Our village has been terrorized by a small group of goblins for the past few weeks. No matter how many times we have sent help to the king, they send nobody! We don¡¯t have much to give as our village is poor and everything of value has been stolen.
Pay4 Gold Coins
Extra Information
Recommend a group of 2-3 of Bronze Rank Adventurers
With a swipe I added it onto my list of current quest removing it from the jobs available section, ¡°I should be able to get through this alone.¡± After a second confirmation, I absorbed the adventurer¡¯s card back into my body. I should get some rest before leaving tomorrow morning after hitting the shop. ------------------------------ The sun peered over the horizon, light rays shined through the window. I shifted in my sleep, and opened my eyes. I sat up and yawned, looking at my hand black mist appeared on the surface but it subsided within second. There is a lot I have to study about this power. I quickly dressed and hooked the Harvester on my waist, along with my small bag and went to the front desk. The same old man was sitting behind the counter. When he noticed me he smiled, ¡°Hello again, are you looking to stay a night or?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m here to return the key and pay for the first night.¡± I put the key on the desk along with 20 silver. The old man, picked up the key and placed it behind him. Next he grabbed the silver counting it slowly and smiled, ¡°Thanks for staying, have good luck on your adventures outside.¡± He smiled as I left the inn. The first place I went to when I left was the General Store. There was a couple of items that I would need to grab before I make a trip. The most important of them all was the map, without a map I would have no idea where I was going! The general store was a small building on the side of the road a couple buildings down from the Adventurer''s Guild. The front of the store was old, but it still looked welcoming. The inside was cozy, and many people would come and go occasionally after grabbing what they needed. I walked into the General Store, behind the counter was a young man wearing a brown apron. ¡°Is there anything I can help you with today?¡± He asked. ¡°Yes, I would like to get a map, a firestarter stone and three wrapped loaves of bread.¡± I replied, these items were usually the most popular for adventurers to buy. The Adventurers card had a lot of tips for travelling and most of them seemed useful for first time travellers. When time arrived, I would be able to travel with a lot better food supplies and go without things. Most of this trip I decided would be taken by walking on the main roads to avoid bandit activity, bandits would travel in groups and depending on how powerful their group was it could mean death. After I finished, he nodded and started gathering what I asked for, the map was laid out on the table and a black stone with a red tint was laid on top of it, along with the three wrapped loaves of bread. ¡°That will be 7 Silver please.¡± He held out his hand, and I placed 7 silver coins in his palm. He counted them real quick and slid the items towards me. I picked up the folded map, and placed the firestarter stone and the 3 loafs of bread in my small bag. Afterwards, I headed outside and found a bench to sit on. After sitting I opened up the map. The map was titled ¡°West Region¡±, The kingdom was broken up in two Regions, the East Region contained the wall that blocked off the demon and the West Region held the majority of large towns and the population as they felt more safe than being in the East Region.The south in both regions was the border of the Dustscar empire, and to the north was the border of Aglana, the country of the demi-humans. There wasn¡¯t much known about Aglana and it was marked a dangerous place for humans because of the humans turning demi-humans into slaves. There were multiple towns and cities, and places of interest marked on the map. There was an X that marked my location where I bought the map, ¡°ehh So this place is called Green Forest Village¡±. After a while, I found the place I was looking for, Howe Village. ¡°It¡¯s about 2 days out if I follow the main roads northwest,¡± I mumbled as I put the map away in my small bag. I got up and walked towards the west gate leading out of the town. ------------------------------------ A couple hours later, a group of 5 black armoured kingdom guards showed up in the town. They all had a symbol on their right shoulder, this showed that they were the most prominent squad in the kingdom, The Black Wind Knights. There were only 15 Black Wind Knights in the entire Kingdom! There was only one person that could give them orders and that was the leader of the Black Wind Knights, Master Raven. ¡°Alright, we are here to find this demon and exterminate it. We are also looking for that worthless hero and if we don¡¯t find his body, he may be the one that will betray the human race and become the new Demon King.¡± The voice was loud, but the people nearby in the town couldn¡¯t hear it. ¡°Disperse,¡± with one word the 5 figures flickered and shot off in different directions of the town. The first place to look was the town, than they would go to the Forest Den. Demons are known to hide in towns and cities, there was nothing stopping them from doing it as they could disguise themselves. If someone was powerful enough, they could easily distinguish the difference. This is the reason a group of the Black Wind Knights were sent. Only a couple hours later, a wave of elite guards appeared in the town as well. This was stunning to the inhabitants, but they passed through quickly and headed towards the Forest Den. ******************** Thanks for Son of Kasei for editing! Possibility of chapter 08 to come out today as well, or tomorrow as an extra chapter this week! Chapter 09 will still come out on next tuesday regular time. If you have any suggestions on the story, or any tips for writing (or any fixes) I always read the comments. 08 - Returning Heroes Slightly Edited The moon hung high overhead radiating a brilliant light that lit up the walls of the inner castle. There were two people currently in the inner courtyard. ¡°Elizabeth, I tried my best. I¡­ I just couldn¡¯t save him. I¡¯m sorry...¡± James stuttered, his face was distressed. He didn¡¯t think that Elizabeth had grown this much on Dante. ¡°I¡­ I understand.. but please, just leave me alone James.¡± She replied with emphasis on his name. She knew that James never really liked Dante, and he would always cause problems. Just recently, she recalled the events before she left through the portal. Nick had placed her down, and she was told to go through before the rest. She knew that this was to protect her, she was the 2nd weakest in the group of heroes. She also knew that James speed could excel Nick¡¯s if he tried his best, and his strength may be less but he was still capable. If Nick could do it, he could do it as well, and hours ago Nick made it through the portal with Sean easily, James only following afterwards with his head down. James had thought that his plan would work, but it had failed. Dante was out of the picture and Elizabeth was in denial. James hung his head down after taking one last look at Elizabeth thinking that one day she would truly be his. He left through the gate leading out of the inner court yard and went to the training room to let out his anger. ¡°Dante¡­¡±, Elizabeth stared at the moon wishing that the event never happened. She shook her head, she had to stay resolute. She grabbed her staff that laid next to her leaning on the table and got up to leave. She was going to check on Sean in the infirmary. On the way back to the castle, James carried Elizabeth and Sean was carried by Nick. They cut the amount of speed that it took the first time while travelling, they could easily do that with their strength. The reason that they went slow the first time was because Dante had been with their group. Nick was stressed, and had a defeated look on his face on the way back and when he arrived he dropped Sean off in the infirmary and went straight to report what happened directly to the King. He knew that he couldn¡¯t do anything besides hope for revenge on the Demon. -------------------------- In the Infirmary, Sean was laid the bed surrounded by the Kingdom¡¯s finest holy priests. They were working their best to cure the wound. The wound was surging with demonic power and it was surprising that he was still alive. Sean was only a level 14 and his physical body was pretty meagre , and the reason he survived even a blow to the leg was even mind boggling to everyone present! The head holy priestess was at the scene, scanning his body with holy power. When Elizabeth was about to enter, she heard the sudden shrieks coming from inside the room. The priest were laying on the ground, and the holy priestess was covering her mouth with her hand. Elizabeth turned to see a bright light surrounding him, it was emitting a powerful aura that slowly subsided into his chest, his body convulsed but he calmed down afterwards. The wound that was emitting demonic aura subsided and visibly disappeared. Demonic power was known to stay attached like a leech and it would take even the best priest days to get rid of! This was an astonishing rate of recover! The holy priestess slowly lowered her trembling hand over the body to emit another scan, but she was even more bewildered once she found out what happened. Elizabeth was shocked at the scene at first, but was glad that Sean was okay afterwards. If she lost another person that came from the same world she did, she wouldn¡¯t know what to do. She worried for everyone in their group and hoped that everyone would be safe in this foreign world. ¡°Is he okay?¡±, Elizabeth asked with concern. The head holy priestess shook her head in return, ¡°Yes he is okay, but this is amazing...¡°. She was extremely glad and she looked towards Elizabeth, ¡°You stay here incase he wakes up, I have to directly report this to the king!¡± Elizabeth watched as the head holy priestess hurried out of the room. Afterwards, she knelt by Sean¡¯s side and looked at him. His breathing had returned to normal, his eyes slowly opened. He slowly opened his mouth, ¡°...huh Elizabeth?¡±, He sat up his body, and looked around and then his eyes fell onto the place where he was wounded hours ago. ¡°Wh¡­ What happened?¡±, He was confused but also glad that his leg was fine. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, check your ID Card though to see if you can find anything out.¡± Elizabeth was just as confused as he was. Sean pulled his ID Card out and had it in his hand.
ID CARD
Name:SeanRace:Human
Health:1000/1000MP:2800/2800
Alignment:GoodEXP:75%
Class:HeroLevel:20
Stats
Strength95Intelligence122(+61 [183])
Endurance110 (+9 [119])Magic200 (+100 [300])
Agility55
Active Skills
Water Bolt - 150 MP (110 MP) - Harnessing the power of the water in the air, you can form a bolt of water to damage your enemies.
Icefield - 250 MP (220 MP) - Summons an Icefield that encompanses enemies within.
Ice Shard - 220 MP (200 MP) - An upgraded Water Bolt that can easily pierce enemies.
Waterbind - 170 MP (150 MP) - Sends a torrent of water to an enemy chaining their movement.
Passive Skills
A Hero¡¯s blessing: Since you are a hero, you have a 25% experience boost.
(new!) Ice Skin - Strengthens the body forming a layer of ice when attacked.
(new!) Ariel¡¯s Protection: Resistance to Demonic Power and 50% increase to intelligence / magic.
Equipment
Wizard Hat (Magic Item) MP Regen Increase Robe of Water (Magic Item) Slightly Damaged Water Magic MP Cost decrease 1 Endurance Normal Leather Legs 5 Endurance Normal Leather Boots 3 Endurance
Seans face brightened up as soon as his ID card was revealed under his eyes. ¡°6 whole levels!¡±, he yelled out and jumped out of his bed. His body felt brand new, he didn¡¯t feel his previous injury. Elizabeth stood by confused. ¡°Sean show me your ID card too.¡± Elizabeth wanted to see what the commotion was about. Sean reached out his arm displaying the ID Card to her. She was surprised as well, this was quicker than when Nick leveled while training with the Elite Guards! James also trained with the Elite Guards but his leveling speed was slower than Nicks. The Hero¡¯s blessing buff was just a little extra boost, the key for a lot of EXP was motivation and hard work. Nick only got to his level by nonstop training, blood and sweat. Elizabeth and Sean had to go to classes on the background of Magic and learn before they got to field test and get experience. Mages found it a lot harder to level than warriors did, but their hard work pays off in the end. A lot of powerful mages could overcome warriors that were past their level. This all depended on equipment and skills though, mages were an asset for the human kingdoms as they had powerful multi target spells that could be used in big battles with the demons. ¡°Elizabeth, where are the others?¡± He was happy, he was now closer to Nick and James. ¡°Sean before that¡­¡± Elizabeth''s face paled, her eyes began to tear up. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Elizabeth, what happened?¡± Sean was confused on what he did that made her cry. ¡°Dante¡­ he didn¡¯t make it out alive¡­¡± she stood teary eyed looking at Sean. ¡°What! Didn¡¯t James say he was going to grab him?¡± Sean looked at Elizabeth. ¡°James told Nick that he almost died trying to do so, and could only escape with his life¡­¡± Elizabeth muttered. Sean tried to recall the event, but when he did it was murky, he didn¡¯t remember much. The only thing he could remember was the pain of having a spear go straight through his leg. ¡°Elizabeth, it will be alright. We don¡¯t know if James was telling the truth or not.¡± Sean shook his head, he knew that Dante was probably dead but the this was the only way he could comfort Elizabeth, hew knew she had feelings for Dante before, and he also knew that James secretly liked her. ¡°I¡¯ll figure everything out, you go get some rest.¡± Sean patted Elizabeth¡¯s back. She turned and began to walk slowly to her room. Sean walked with her back for awhile but was taken away by the head holy priestess, she said that he had to start training immediately to become accustomed to the large amount of magic power that he gained in a short amount of time. --------------------------- After the meeting between Nick and the King¡­ Nick was looking out his room¡¯s window staring at the moon, ¡°I¡¯m sorry Dante¡­¡± He regretted that he couldn¡¯t defeat the demon and protect his party. ¡°Fang and the others as well¡­¡± The memories ran through his head like they happened only seconds ago. Fang was decapitated, Nick had used identify on Fang before to find out that he was level 57, he was highly skilled among the Elite Guards. He tried to use identify on the demon as well, but for some reason the information displayed was jumbled up. He tightened his fists staring out the window, demons were cruel villainous creatures. When he was training with the guards he had heard countless stories about them. He knew that he was brought into the world to destroy them, it was his duty. Knock, Knock Nick turned to the door only to hear, ¡°Hero, I come with a proposal.¡± He stopped looking out the window and wandered over to the door to open it. The aura filled the room after it was opened, behind the door was a old man wearing dark black armor that seemed to devour the moonlight that touched it. His aura was thick and powerful enough to make Nick¡¯s knees weak. ¡°Who are you?¡± Nick was confused and had never seen this old man around the castle before. ¡°I am the leader of the Black Wind Knight''s, hero.¡± He entered the room, ¡°I am here to ask you to become my disciple, I heard what happened and training with the elite guards of the castle will do you no good for revenge.¡± ¡°Black Wind Knight¡¯s?¡± Nick was confused. ¡°Yes, the Black Wind Knights. It is a group that I made years ago, it has 15 genius warriors who have been gathered from our Kingdom. I am their master, Raven¡±, Raven paused to make sure Nick got everything, ¡°also, the reason you never have heard of us before is because we are the silent protectors of the kingdom.¡± He nodded in praise, he was generally proud of his accomplishments in the Kingdom. He held himself high above others. Nick let the information sink in before he opened his mouth, ¡°What will I have to do to get my revenge?¡± Nick was set on getting his revenge for Dante and the others. He vowed this night that he would win the war for the humans against the demons. ¡°I will train you personally at Black Castle,¡± Raven turned to look at Nick who was staring back at him. ¡°We will leave when time comes, I have business in the castle. In this time, you can relax, train or do whatever you want.¡± He nodded in satisfaction, if he was to train a hero, he could raise a powerhouse for the Black Wind Knights! Raven left the room afterwards, leaving Nick alone. Nick saw his path that was set, and decided to follow it. All he could do now was protect the surviving members of the group and the human race. ----------------------------- Sometime after James training session¡­. ¡°God dammit, how come my plan didn¡¯t work!¡± dirt flew up from the kick James delivered to the ground. He was standing outside the castle in the nearby woods. He was still stressed from the situation between him and Elizabeth. ¡°If only she just became mine!¡± James sneered at the thought of not being able to have her, before he came to this world he was a rich kid who was given everything from his parents. He was suddenly whisked away, he knew that he had been chosen because he was special in the first place. When he saw Elizabeth, she was cuter than any of the girls that he had in the past! He was furious when he saw that she hung out quite a bit with Dante. He then vowed that he would do anything to make her his. This is the reason he felt that Dante had to die. In the middle of the woods, a cold breeze passed through the leaves of the trees. This breeze caused James to shiver. ¡°You, child...¡± Suddenly a red mist emerged from the darkness which caused James to freeze up in terror. After the red mist settled, it changed its form revealing a humanoid. It was the Demon that had killed Fang and the others. The Demon smiled, it was looking at James with murderous intent. ¡°Wha¡­ What are you doing here!¡± James shouted, but he knew no matter how much he shouted the castle was far away and no one would hear him. ¡°Quiet.¡± with one word James mouth was trembling but it was forced shut. ¡°You. I sense that you are a good candidate for the new Demon King.¡± The Demon was smiling, he was glad that he finally found the person that capable of fulfilling in the prophecies. James was standing still stunned, his knees were shaking. The Demon smiled at the sight, ¡°If you are the one to become the new Demon King. You can do whatever you please, and have anything you want.¡± James looked at him, his eyes were filled with fear. He was scared but when he heard that he could get whatever he wanted, something rose from the back of his mind. ¡°I can have anything?¡± He asked weakly. ¡°Yes, you can have anything.¡± The Demon said once again, his voice was firm and unwavering. ¡°What does it take to become Demon King?¡± James asked. ¡°You seem to have fulfilled most of the requirements, you need to go through the ritual to become a Demon. Afterwards, you will slowly gain the power through hard work and dedication.¡± The Demon nodded his head as he explained. ¡°And what if I don¡¯t want to do this ritual?¡± James asked. ¡°Then you will die here.¡± The Demon held out his arm, and in it appeared the red spear that pierced Sean in the leg. ¡°I will become the Demon King then.¡± James smiled weakly, he didn¡¯t want to think of what would become of him if he didn¡¯t agree with this Demon. ¡°Then wait a few weeks, train more and become more powerful or else you will not be able to undergo the ritual. When time comes, there will be a envoy coming here to fetch you. There may be a few problems on the way with that old man if he stays here, If I am forced to fight him I may not even survive without going all out. Tsk ¡° The Demon sneered, then he looked towards James, ¡°You start training immediately, I¡¯m going to watch over you for the next couple of weeks.¡± The Demon slowly turned to red mist and disappeared. James stood for awhile before tightening his fist, he had always desired more power. He was always discontent with being under Nick all the time. He finally found that the way he would be able to gain Elizabeth as well. He slowly then made his way back towards the castle to go to start training. There was without a say how the next couple of weeks would go for the group of heroes. *************************************** This was finished later than I anticipated, but nevertheless I got it out :3 Hope you enjoy the read, this time not following the main character If you have any suggestions, fixes, concerns or anything else. Feel free to comment! I read everything. 09 - Travelling Roads (P1) Unedited The main roads were mushy, and the rain kept pouring making it worse. It had only been an hour since I left Green Forest Village when dark clouds formed overhead. Why did it have to rain all of a sudden? I felt my clothes as they grew heavier, the cloth began to absorb whatever water it could leaving it completely soaked. As time went on, the rain only seemed to get worse. The storm began to grow more fierce and thunder roared in the surroundings. ¡°I should probably find a place to stay until this is over¡­¡± I muttered, as I looked around. The main road was a dirt road with a wideness of about 6.5 meters, and the side was lined with posts that were topped a strange crystal-like ball that seemed to emit light whenever it senses darkness.The lights began to dimly shine earlier as the dark clouds rolled overhead. The lights were most likely the result of an imbued magic in the ball. Minutes passed by as I kept walking forward, my feet began to sink deeper in deeper into the road. The area around the king¡¯s castle and all the big cities seemed to be made out of stone. Roads did not seem to be handled by the government like they were on earth. Each city was given an area that they were in charge of, this included the main roads and everything else. The bigger the city, the more area they were given to look over. The bigger cities had plenty of money in their personal treasuries. Some main roads on the map didn¡¯t fall within anyone¡¯s jurisdiction as well. I pulled out the map using the cloak for a cover. The map has points of interest, and in those it included caves! I judged the distance I had covered and made a guess about my location. I was near a cave, and it was noted to contain no hostilities. I quickly put my map away and kept walking forward till I reached an intersection, there was a muddied side road that lead into the forest. I looked at the road a bit, there were wheel tracks as well as feet tracks. It seems as if someone had been travelling by cart past the intersection and also wanted to shield themselves from the storm. I started walking down the path that led to the cave, as I went deeper the trees became more dense. I walked for about six minutes before a small opening appeared before me. There was a small mountain, which on the side was the mouth of the cave. There were three people sitting on the ground under the ceiling of the entrance talking, they wore leather and even were armed with iron swords. I stared at them, and activated There highest was a level 22, the other two were level 18, and 17. They were below my level, and if they would cause any troubles, I could defend myself easily. I approached the cave carefully, one of the men took notice and quieted the other two. The level 22 stood up and waved his hand, ¡°Hello traveller, are you looking to get out of the rain as well?¡± It looks like it''s safe ¡°Yes, I am.¡± I replied, with that the guards smiled. ¡°Do you need a place to rest? Inside the cave, there is food and water if you need any. We are guards of a travelling caravan. We hope that we can get along in this time, I believe us humans need to band together in times of need,¡± The level 22 guard gestured me inside as he took lead. I followed behind, ¡°By the way, My name is Jimmy, The other two are Jacob and Riley.¡± We walked for awhile, until we came into a small cavern, there were 2 carts and a five horses. There was about twenty people sitting around, some sat around fires as others were tending to the horses. When they saw me, they took notice but just shook it off. A middle-aged man wearing a robe jumped up from sitting and shook off his robe before running over to me. ¡°Hello traveller, nice to meet you. My name''s Gerald, i¡¯m the leader of this caravan.¡± he held out his hand, I awkwardly reached out and shook it. This group seems very friendly. ¡°So, judging by your aura you must be some sort of mage!¡± he smiled, ¡°I¡¯m an earth mage myself.¡± He paused for a second, ¡°Ah! Do you need anything to eat or drink?¡± He pointed towards the campfire, ¡°We just roasted a few chickens over the fire half an hour ago, there is plenty to eat. We also have a lot of water in barrels stored in the back of the cart over there.¡± Gerald gestured towards one of the carts. I walked over towards the campfire and nodded at the people sitting around it, they looked more rugged than the others and all had weapons themselves. Some were equipped with a bow and others with a simple sword or axe. There were a couple between level 25 - 30, but most of them were between 15 - 25. After I sat down, I was passed a roasted chicken leg. I stared at awhile and began to eat it, there were many people talking to each other but some people were quiet and didn¡¯t seem interested in conversation. I sat to myself eating, as well as studying the group. Everyone in this caravan seems to be the same level as many town guards that you would see. I guess they have to repel bandits every now and then. I looked towards Gerald, who was sitting close to me. ¡°So what kind of things do you sell?¡± Gerald smiled, ¡°An assortment of slaves, including some magical beasts sometimes.¡± ¡°Slaves?¡±, I was startled. Slavery was legal in the human kingdoms, slaves were usually lesser demons or demihumans, but it could sometimes include even humans and magical beasts. Magical beasts had intelligence. An example of a magical beast would be the lizardmen from the Forest Den, they can communicate in tongue or telepathically. In books that I read in the library in the outer castle, it said that some regular monsters can become magical beast through mutations. ¡°It¡¯s a hard life, but we get through it. Are you interested in buying?¡± Gerald looked at me, in his mind he probably thought that all mages had money since they were highly valued in parties. I shook my head, ¡°No, I¡¯m fine.¡±. I took another bite of the roasted chicken, the cave was filled with idle chatter. After I finished my meal, I stood up and walked towards the mouth of the cave. The rain was still pouring as day slipped away. The sky was growing darker. It looks like I¡¯ll have to stay here for the night.. I walked back into the cave, and sat my back down against a corner. I closed my eyes, and drifted off to sleep. ------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Be careful, don¡¯t wake him yet.¡± a voice woke me, I kept my eyes shut and pretended to sleep. ¡°Mages can go for a lot of money in the capital, this guy seems to have some power at least. He¡¯s a level 23.¡± another voice sounded off as well. ¡°If he wasn¡¯t alone, we could¡¯ve gone through some problems, but what kind of mage travels alone?¡±, I identified the voice to be Geralds. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Alright, on four we will jump him. Get ready.¡± Gerald was whispering. I opened my eyes to see that the group of slavers surrounded me in the corner. Instantly black miasma began to form around me. ¡°What are you doing?¡±, I said in a cold manner. ¡°We just wanted to surprise you, thats all! Nothing else!¡± Gerald hid his hands behind his back, his hands were trembling. He had never seen black miasma that reeked of death before. I stared at him for a couple seconds before opening my mouth, ¡°You¡¯re lying. You wish to enslave me.¡± Gerald made a grunt, and rose his hands,¡°!¡± The earth began to splinter around me, spikes of stone shot forward towards me. I pushed myself out of the corner and moved as quickly as I could to dodge the spikes. ¡°For a mage, you are pretty fast. Most mages don¡¯t train their body!¡± Gerald laughed, ¡°Guys! Get him!¡± When Gerald finished, the group of slavers began to run towards me. They must not feel the need to use skills, because their is a lot of them. ¡°hmmph¡±, I raised my hand towards the closest one, he was a level 28, ¡°!¡± Black Miasma began to swirl in my palm before forming a ball, it shot forward from my hand and slammed into the level 28. He yelled as he was hit, He did not expect to take that much damage. The black miasma seemed to crawl around and eat surrounding flesh before slowly dissipating from inside the wound. He stopped and held his side, others went around him to try to get the best of me. I grabbed the hilt on my side and pulled out my dagger, black mist leaked from the dagger as it slid through the air blocking the axe of one of the men, who was level 30. I grunted as I was pushed back, I could tell that the power of his axe was not something I could take head on without defending. The man continued his attack, swinging his axe like a whirlwind trying to get a hit. Blood began to drip down my hand as the dagger vibrated with each defend, my health points were slowly slipping away. 950/1200, I can¡¯t stay like this¡­ I quickly, rose my speed and dodged to the left as the axe slammed downwards, it split the stone underneath. ¡°Get him, Jo!¡± A man yelled behind him This guy must have put most of his points into strength, I¡¯m still faster than him, but I can¡¯t get cornered again! I slammed my left foot against the ground and propelled myself towards Jo, holding the harvester I slashed towards his face. He didn¡¯t have enough time to defend completely, the dagger slashed at his face before my arm was knocked away. Jo touched his face and looked at his hand, he was enraged! ¡°You little shit!¡±, Jo began to run at me again. ¡°¡±, I rose my hand up towards Jo and multiple ripples of black miasma began to shoot out. It looked as if Jo was surrounded by blades. The ripples began to tear at Jo, attempting to rip him apart. ¡°AHHHH!¡±, Jo let out a yell, before a aura completely dispersed the black miasma. ¡°Hey, Jo¡¯s using berserker stance on a lower level!¡± Another person from the group yelled out. When I heard that, I muttered under my breath, ¡°shit¡­¡± Jo¡¯s speed seemed to increase and he came at me once again. This time I wasn¡¯t prepared. Swssshhhh, the axe slammed downwards again, but the speed was a lot faster than before! I could only try to counteract and soften the blow. Clanggg, My dagger rebounded which numbed my arm. Jo was breathing heavily, ¡°What kind of level 23 are you!¡± I backed off quickly, but ran into one of the carts on the side of the cave. The group of men began to surround me. A whisper was heard behind me, ¡°Hey kid, let me out of here. I can help you¡± what? ¡°Who are you?¡±, I asked. ¡°Stop asking questions, just come in here and open my cage!¡±, this time it was a yell. I quickly ran towards the back of the cart and jumped in. The group of slavers began to curse and rush towards the cart. Whatever was in it, the slavers didn¡¯t want it to be unlocked. ¡°Where are you?¡±, I asked. There were multiple cages in the back that held people. ¡°Over here.¡± a voice came from my left, it belonged to a man, he was wearing torn up clothes and had dark long hair that covered most of his face. I ran towards the cage, and slashed at the lock. The reason slaves couldn¡¯t leave once they were locked in a cage was because of these locks. The locks were imbued with a special magic that strengthened the bars of the cage in the inside. The only way that it could be opened was if it was destroyed, and from the inside it was nearly impossible! The lock fell towards the ground, and before it hit the ground the man slammed the cage door open revealing a sinister smile. ¡°Thank you, young one.¡± he said and he swiftly left from the back of the cart. What level is he? Yells were heard from the outside, ¡°That fucker actually released him!¡± the yell belonged to Gerald but there were more. ¡°Fuck! The boss is going to be so mad if he hears about this!¡± ¡°Just surround him, even if he¡¯s strong. He can¡¯t fight all of us!¡± I jumped out of the back of the cart to see all the slavers surround the man. I used on him in that moment.
NPC information
Name???? ????
RaceHuman
RankSilver Adventurer
Level32
Skills
Iron Hands - ???? Nullify Air - ????
Silver Adventurer? The lowest I saw were level 40¡¯s at that rank? The man breathed in, and looked at me. ¡°Are you going to help, kid?¡± and with that the battle started. ************************** Cliff hanger op My apologies, as the chapter was late this time. I was a bit busy this Weekend / Monday (Graduation tomorrow!) I used tuesday as a day to finish up writing the chapter, as well as a bit of today. My sleeping schedule is completely jacked now though. (I went to bed at 10 AM and woke up recently, eek!) I hope you enjoy this chapter though! I enjoyed writing it! If you find any writings errors, or have any concerns / tips. Please post! ;3 10 - Travelling Roads (P2) The beginning was brutal, the man that I helped seemed to easily take care of anyone who decided to fight him, I thought about the reason he was captured, he probably was captured by stronger people and given to this caravan to transport. Swsshhh A blade swung towards me from overhead, I dodged swiftly to the right as the blade passed by my left arm. I then slashed forward with harvester causing the attacker to drop to the ground. It seems all the higher levels went after him, leaving me the lower bunch. This is going to be easy! With each slash, my soul pool grew in size. If I could almost deal with the level 30 earlier, than what lower level would be able to stop me? I lunged forward, and with another attack I brought a level 25 down. Ding!
Congratulations! You are now level 24!
I felt my body grow stronger as a warm energy flowed through my entire body. It seemed to enhance anything that it touched. Every time I leveled up, I would feel this feeling! There were at least fifteen bodies lying on the floor in front of me, as I looked over at the man I released, he seemed to be easily dealing with the last of the level 30s including Gerald. Jo and another level 30 were laying on the ground already. I watched the fight closely, to be able to deal with multiple people that are close to your level means that this guy is powerful, especially under the fire of a mage aswell! Gerald shouted, ¡°God dammit! Attack him at the same time!¡± Gerald began to mumble and the ground shook once more, a piece of earth the size of a cannonball floated in front of him. With a wave of a hand, it shot forward. The man seemed to notice this and flicked his arm to the side, the ball of earth smashed into pieces as it made contact with the fist. ¡°You know that you won¡¯t be able to stop me, without the core group. You guys are incredibly weak!¡± The man heartily laughed. Gerald kept chanting, as the others pounced at any moment they could grab. I looked towards Gerald, and summoned the power in my body thrusting myself forward towards him. I held the harvester to the side, and with one swipe I cut his robe. He noticed me before, and quickly used evasive magic to move the earth beneath him, moving him quickly! ¡°Tsk¡­ You messed everything up!¡± Gerald yelled, suddenly the ground shook. Shattered Earth, again? I continued my assault and ran towards him again, spikes of earth began to shoot out of the ground around me. This was a powerful AOE spell, but on a single target that has seen it before. It was useless! I dodged spikes that attacked from the side, and destroyed the ones that emerged from the front easily making my way towards Gerald. Gerald began to notice that his efforts were useless, and began to run away! ¡°Damn mage, who knew that you trained your body as well!¡± I raised my speed to the limit, and caught up pinning Gerald to the ground. ¡°Stop, don¡¯t do this!¡± Gerald shouted, but quickly quieted down as the harvester ended his life. I looked behind me and saw that the man, easily dealt with the others after I took Gerald away. He walked towards me smiling. ¡°Thank you, kid. I may have never gotten out of there.¡± He sighed, ¡°I¡¯m a monk from the Temple of Iron, and that¡¯s the only reason I ended up in this situation.¡± ¡°What is the Temple of Iron?¡± I asked. ¡°The Temple of Iron, has probably been forgotten long ago. My fellow disciples and the elders joined together to fight against the demons, but in the end we failed. This happened five years ago, and I am twenty four now. The only survivor was me! There were over fifty of us! The Temple of Iron as an ancient temple, had skilled fighters that could trample the kingdom¡¯s so called best fighters!¡± The man seemed proud, but his words contained a hint of sadness. ¡°By the way, what was that murderous aura I felt earlier? Did that come from you?¡± He asked as he looked towards me. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about.¡± I smiled. ¡°Well I guess I won¡¯t push too far, you are strange indeed. A warrior with a mages aura,¡± He scratched his head, ¡°By the way, you can call me Tako.¡± ¡°You can call me, Dante.¡± I said. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Dante? That¡¯s a pretty strange name as well!¡± he laughed and turned to the entrance of the cave, ¡°So what were you doing here in the first place?¡± ¡°It was raining outside, and I needed a place that would keep me dry for awhile.¡± I said. ¡°Good reason, usually people don¡¯t travel with slavers unless they are slaves themselves.¡± He looked towards the entrance, ¡°I see that you are an adventurer as well though, are you off to do a quest?¡± ¡°Yes, I am heading to Howe Village to get rid of a group of goblins.¡± I looked towards him. ¡°Alone? Well I guess with your power it would be easy.¡± He nodded, ¡°How about this, I can help you finish your quest quicker and we can split ways after you turn the quest in at a city.¡± I thought for awhile, deciding that with him I would be able to finish the quest at least two times faster! ¡°Alright, that seems like a good deal. We can leave in twenty minutes, I want to see what these guys had with them.¡± --------------------- ¡°Alright, it doesn¡¯t seem like they were transporting any other people besides you. There was also quite a bit in one of their carts.¡± I said. ¡°That is quite a bit, there was also a lot of good equipment on them as well!¡±, Tako smiled as he held up arm guards that emitted a reddish aura. ¡°Fire armguards of this quality are pretty rare for silver adventurers.¡± he quickly replaced his regular armguards with them. I held in front of me a dark blue magic cloak. The stats were better than a normal cloak by a bit, but the best part was that it had MP regeneration!
Equipment information
NameDark Blue Mana Cloak
RankMagic
Requirements
Level 20 and above
Passive Buff
MP Regeneration - 100/minute
In battle, my magic power seems to drain a lot if I use class skills. The fastest I could generate MP was 50, every minute. That would be a black bolt, every five minutes. This cloak would allow me to use blackbolt nearly every 2 minutes now without the worry of running out of Magic Power! ¡°hmm¡±, I sighed. I¡¯m not sure if I should use spells in front of him. He hasn¡¯t seen the black miasma directly yet. ¡°Are you ready to go yet?¡± I asked, Tako was sitting down looking at some of the items he picked up. ¡°Let me put these away first, don¡¯t be to anxious to get there.¡± He hurriedly shoved everything into a bag that he took off one of the slavers and stood up. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡±, He smiled as he stretched, ¡°It¡¯s great finally being able to move.¡± ¡°How long were you in there?¡± I asked ¡°A couple of months.¡±, he replied and began walking towards the exit. I followed behind him soon making it to the main road. We began walking in the direction of Howe Village. ------------------------------------------------------ Crrkkkk With a smash of one fist, cracks began to appear on the stone throne. ¡°What do you mean we lost contact?¡±, an angry voice resounded in the hall. A man trembled while looking up at the throne, ¡°Slave group four, the group that was carrying the monk. The leader of the group¡¯s blood paper contract also burned to a crisp!¡± ¡°The blood paper contract burned? So he is dead?¡±, the man in the throne replied. ¡°I¡¯m afraid so, but do not worry my lord. We will figure out what happened!¡±, the man said. ¡°Hmmph.¡±, Swissshhhh A giant axe spun through the air chopping the man in half. The man in the throne sat quiet for a moment and then pointed at one of the guards. ¡°You there, go get me the twins.¡± The guard trembled for a moment before hurrying, he did not wish to upset him any further. *********** Chapters may end up coming out on Wednesday instead, possibly Tuesday. Any comments are appreciated, as well as criticism, etc! This chapter is also unedited, I briefly read over it though. 11 - Howe Village The past day, Tako and I travelled among the main road. There were no disturbances, and most of the travel was quiet. Tako stared at the clouds while walking most of the time, I guess he was glad that he didn¡¯t have to be cooped up in a cage until he was sold off to someone else. I wonder, was it really a good thing to save him? I was in a predicament, but I could have escaped. I can¡¯t stop thinking that the slaver group has a bigger power behind it. ¡­¡­. Tako stopped walking and turned to me, ¡°Hey Dante, Howe Village should be just over this hill.¡± ¡°Well, we should hurry then.¡±, I replied. Tako started walking again, as I followed. Soon we reached the top of the hill, the hill looked down upon a village. It was a small village without a wall surrounding it for protection. There were about fifteen huts, that I would guess that people lived in. There was a bigger hut among them that the village elder probably lived in. There were also a couple of huts that were secluded off to the side, they were probably storage and other things. The village was in bad condition, there were holes in some of the huts and some even had marks were a fire had started but had been put out. ¡°What a interesting place,¡± Tako began walking further ahead without me as I looked at the surroundings. The village was surrounded by a thick forest, I have read about goblins before and this village was probably easy prey for them. They could easily come in and get out quickly without being discovered before they did their work. ¡°Hmm.¡±, I sighed, I quickened my walking pace to catch up with Tako, who was walking towards the big hut. ¡­¡­. ¡°Hey kid, you finally caught up.¡± Tako smiled, there was another person with him. It was a old man, slightly bent over with a cane in his hand. It seems like Tako already started talking to him. ¡°This is Dante, he is the one who originally accepted the quest.¡± Tako pointed at me, the old man¡¯s eyes seemed to brighten, and he smiled towards me. He walked over and grasped my hand. ¡°I thank you, young adventurer! If no one accepted the quest, we were afraid that we would have to migrate to another area. We have been in this area for so long, and our loved ones have been buried here. We would hate to have to leave!¡± A tear rolled down the old man¡¯s cheek as he said this. ¡°Can you tell me more about the goblins?¡± I asked. ¡°The goblins¡­ this all started a little over two months ago. One of the villager¡¯s children disappeared while playing with the other children in the forest. The children say the child disappeared after he went to use the restroom behind one of the trees. After that the children looked for him awhile, and then ran back to tell their parents. The parent of the child was notified by the other parents and came to me for help. Originally, the quest was to find a missing child, but it was changed just last month, that was the start of the goblin night raids. They caught things on fire and destroyed parts of our huts. They stole from the storage, we feared that if they continued we would not have a lot of food for the winter. The villagers and I, got together and put our savings towards having an adventurer to come help us. We waited long, and it kept getting worse. Some of the villagers began to lose hope.¡± Tears rolled down his face as his weak voice explained the recent events. Tako placed his hand on the village elders shoulder, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, old man. Dante and I, are here and we¡¯ll go out and stop those goblins from causing anymore trouble.¡± The old man looked at Tako and began muttering and crying uncontrollably, ¡°Tha-thank you so much!¡± Tako lead him into the hut and came back outside. Tako walked towards me, ¡°This is your quest, so where do you want to start?¡± I stayed quiet for awhile, ¡°We have no idea where the goblins are, do you have a tracking skill? or should we question the villagers?¡± ¡°Hmmm.. I don¡¯t have a tracking skill, but I have knowledge of goblins. I think we should figure out where the children were playing at first. They could have disturbed their territory on accident and caused them to become aggressive. Goblins usually stay away from humans because they know that some of us have power to wipe out their small tribes. If a goblin saw that humans were defenseless, they¡¯d probably bully them. Sometimes this is not the case though, there are some cases that a stronger monster could be behind them.¡± Tako explained, and I nodded my head. ¡°I think we should question the parents and the kids first and figure out more about the situation before we get started. We can head out later on after we have enough information.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll ask the elder real quick, about the people involved and ask where they live.¡± Tako walked back over into the hut, disappearing inside. After awhile, he came back outside. ¡°Alright, he gave me a small list of names and it has the location of the hut described as well.¡± He held a piece of paper in his hand. He handed the paper over to me. I skimmed over it quickly. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s start with the Ralph family¡­¡± I said, I started walking towards one of the huts. Tako followed me. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.¡­. After awhile, we found a hut that fit the description, I stepped up and began to knock. Knock, knock, knock ¡°Is anyone there?¡±, I asked. After a while, there was a quiet reply. ¡°Wh-- what do you want?¡±, a woman answered the door. ¡°We are adventurers, we came to question you about the goblins.¡± I explained to her, and she nodded her head slowly opening the door, we followed inside. ¡°Can you two wait here for a second, I am going to get my husband and child.¡± She said, and then she disappeared into on the the rooms. She came back a minute later with a man, a child hid behind him grasping onto the bottom of his shirt. I estimated the child to be about twelve years old. ¡°What would you two like to know?¡±, he asked. ¡°We want to know where the kids were playing two months ago. We need more information before we start our search.¡±, I asked. ¡°Ah..¡±, the man looked down at his son behind him and motioned for him to come out, ¡°It¡¯s okay Alex, come out and talk to the adventurers.¡± The kid seemed to shiver, but soon toughened up, letting go of his father¡¯s shirt. He came out from behind his father and stared at me. ¡°Wi-Will you save Matthew?¡±, he asked. ¡°Matthew¡­ the one who went missing?¡±, Tako asked. ¡°Y-yes, he is my best friend!¡±, Alex shouted, ¡°They took matthew!¡± ¡°We will save him, as long as we can find him,¡± I paused before continuing, ¡°Now, can you tell us where you guys were playing at?¡± ¡°We were in the east side forest, I don¡¯t know how far we were in. We never really went far when we went into the forest to play.¡± Alex said. ¡°Do you remember anything else?¡±, I asked. Alex was about to say something but shut his mouth, there was a long pause, ¡°There was a tree, it was a big tree but it looked different than the others. It was bigger, a lot bigger.¡± ¡°You went that far into the forest?¡±, His father turned to him, ¡°I told you to stay around the rim! You know what happened years ago, when the adults went hunting!¡± His father yelled at him. ¡°May I ask what happened on the hunting trip?¡±, I looked towards the boy¡¯s father. ¡°It was three years ago, we used to go out into the woods to hunt hogs. We used to go miles into the forest, we began to feel odd¡­¡±, he paused, ¡°This would be a little further out passed the tree he was talking about,¡± he looked at his son before continuing, ¡°Our hunter group was around when the town was flourishing, so you could say we could easily bring twelve adults without any worry, the rest would farm and take care of the town. After a while longer while hunting, we saw something.¡± ¡°What did you see?¡±, Tako asked. ¡°I think it had brownish black fur, it was about the size of me¡­ It happened so fast, instantly two people died,¡± he held his head in his hand, ¡°I don¡¯t know why anything would suddenly move into the forest.¡±, he was led over to a chair and sat down. ¡°This happened three years ago?¡±, I asked. This sounds interesting... I looked at the father and used . Level 4, I would estimate the hogs they were hunting to be around the same level or even lower than the adults that went out hunting, but the thing that they saw I would guess to be around my level, to be allowed to slaughter without giving a clear vision of itself. The Elite guard group that was sent with us to the Forest Den could move quick enough, but being heavily armoured they could at most become a blur, that was still somewhat recognizable ¡°We will start looking around that tree, thank you for answering our questions.¡± I nodded, and turned to open the door. I walked out of the hut and waited for Tako to come out. ¡°Dante, this seems like they encountered a Greater Monster earlier. Greater Monsters are dangerous, and are known to kill many people,¡± he paused, ¡°It may have been establishing its territory.¡± Tako explained. ¡°What is a Greater Monster?¡± I asked. ¡°Greater Monsters are mutated monsters, so we have no idea what kind of beast it would have taken after. It could look completely different than the monster, or it could resemble it.¡± Tako continued to explain about Greater Monsters, ¡°They can be harder to face than Elite Monsters depending on their level, Elite Monsters have not gone through a mutation!¡± After a moment of silence, Tako took a small breath before continuing,¡°So where do you want to start, this is your quest after all.¡± ¡°I don''t think we need to question anyone else yet, we got a lot of information just from them,¡± I looked towards Tako, ¡°Let¡¯s just go look around the giant tree for now, when it starts getting dark, we can head back.¡± Tako nodded, and I began to walk towards the edge of the forest. This quest seems to be interesting. *************** Authors Note(s): And there¡¯s chapter 11, hope you enjoyed it! If anything sounds good, or you believe that it can be worded better, I''m all open ears for criticism and more! 12 - Encounter Upon entering the forest, it was midday. The tree branches were packed together tightly blocking out most of the sun, every so often there would be a breach of sunlight through the leaves. The forest was calm, occasionally there would animals stopping and looking at us before running off. The forest was filled with wildlife, from rabbits to hogs. It was very peaceful, it didn¡¯t seem as if something would ever harm anyone walking through at first look. We had walked ten minutes into the forest before I started feeling as if something was watching me. ¡°Tako, do you feel that?¡± I turned to Tako, he seemed to be looking around and just shrugged. ¡°They don¡¯t want to come out, then let it be. Let¡¯s just keep walking towards the tree.¡± said Tako. I nodded my head, and took one last look around before following after Tako. Time passed quickly while walking through the forest, I could tell that it was still midday due to the sun occasionally being able to be seen from the roof of the forest. The feeling of being watched never went away, but after awhile I started to ignore it completely. After a while stopped seeing animals, it seemed as if we were alone in the forest. After a couple minutes more of walking, there was a sudden drop in temperature, it wasn¡¯t enough to be worried, but it was still noticeable. ¡°Alright, we are here.¡± said Tako, we came out into an opening, it was a small field but in the middle was a big tree. It emitted a cold feeling, withered leaves covered the ground and if someone looked up, they could notice that the tree barely had any more leaves on it. The cold feeling came from a slight hint of ice magic. ¡°This tree was probably not like this before.¡± Tako looked around as he stepped closer, ¡°It looks like it was done recently in the past week or so.¡± Rustle¡­ the temperature began to drop behind me, an aura of ice magic began to rise as well. I turned around quickly pulling my dagger out of its sheath. There was a hunched over green monster wearing robes, he wielded a small staff that had a light blue gem on top of it. He was waving it around, as he waved the icy aura began to get stronger. I squinted my eyes at him trying to get a good look, before jumping back in shock.
Monster information
Name???? the Shaman
RaceGoblin
RankElite
Level34
Skills
Cone of Ice - ?????? Ice Field - ?????? ?????? - ??????
Two skills? The ground that was in front of me, was covered quickly with ice, the range was smaller than what Sean had, but it was just as strong. Anything in the range of it was instantly frozen. I quickly looked around to notice that there were other multiple goblins surrounding us, they were almost all level 26. I know that with my strength that I can fight a few enemies that are a couple levels higher than mine, but if all of these goblins attack at the same time with the support of that Shaman, I don¡¯t think I would be able to make it out alive. I looked towards Tako, he was staring at the group of goblins in front of me. It was possible to make it out of this situation if we fought together. He nodded towards me, before bursting forward towards the Shaman. I quickly jumped towards one of the level 26 goblins and slashed. It was equipped with crude leather armor, so the harvester made a clean cut, a giant wound appeared on it¡¯s chest and it fell to the ground. The other goblins took notice of my speed, and they all readied their weapons. Two goblins began to run towards me, I held up my dagger to defend the first attack but was hit by the second one from behind. Unlike fighting against the slavers from earlier, they swung their weapons viscously without care of wounding those on the same time. Every couple of blocks, I would swing at the sight of an opening, soon one of the goblins fell down, without a surprise attack I couldn¡¯t slash deep enough. My health slowly deteriorated as I was attacked and as soon as one goblin fell, another one would jump in. I looked over towards Tako, and saw that he was still fighting the Shaman. It seems that the Shaman has a bountiful amount of magic power, every time Tako seemed to get an advantage, a field of ice erupted in front of him causing him to jump back. Tako was forced back once more, he began to mutter words. He suddenly began to move faster, That must be Nullify Air¡­ So the reason he didn¡¯t have an advantage at first is because he had to channel the spell. Swissh!, a blade flew down in front of me, I quickly rose my dagger to block. Afterwards, I quickly retreated backwards using all of my strength. My health at the moment is 760/1200, the cuts on my body hurt. Ding!
Skill Unlocked!
NameDagger Mastery
Skill TypePassive
Level: 1EXP: 20%
Description: Usage of daggers become stronger with each level!!
Skill Unlocked!
NameDouble Slash
Skill TypePhysical
Level: 1EXP: 0%
Description: Two slashes in a flash!
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Huhh? A goblin jumped forward towards me. I quickly activated Double Slash, the dagger in my hand felt as if it was as light as a feather as it flashed through the air. Two slashes happened in a blink of the eye, the goblin showed shock in it¡¯s eyes as it fell to the ground. The goblins began to get restless and began to come at me all at once, there were seven goblins coming! Swshhh, the goblin shaman flew into my field of view, four goblins shrieked and stopped chasing me and tried to catch him but they tumbled to the ground. The other three goblins still sprinted forward towards me, I rose my dagger to block but a shadow flashed past me and smashed one of the goblins into the ground. ¡°Damn goblins, this is the strongest I¡¯ve seen them get.¡± Tako had his hands raised, they seemed to shimmer in the light, a silverish gray aura covered them. I didn¡¯t see it well in the cave, but I guess that¡¯s the skill from his temple. The goblins upon seeing this seemed to have fear stricken into them, the shaman stared at Tako before calling the surviving goblins back. They disappeared into the forest with quick speed. ¡°Tako, you said these were the strongest goblins you have ever seen?¡± I turned to Tako, the silverish gray aura that covered his fist seemed to scatter after he let his guard down. ¡°These goblins seem to be empowered by something.¡± replied Tako. ¡°Do you think this has to do with a Greater Monster?¡± I asked Tako, he nodded his head and waited a moment. ¡°I would believe so, I¡¯m guessing it is a dark-type as well. Goblins are usually peaceful until provoked but these ones are pretty vicious, so it must be a dark-type empowerment!¡± said Tako, he was proud in his knowledge about monsters. ¡°This Greater Monster must be strong, but not strong enough to rely on himself. I¡¯m guessing he took over a goblin tribe deeper in these forest.¡± he looked towards the way the goblins fled. I looked up through one of the openings in the forest, the sky was orange and the sun was probably beginning to go down, ¡°It is getting late, we should start heading back towards the village to rest and come back early in the morning.¡± I turned to Tako, he nodded and we set off to go back to the village. -------------------------- Hours after sunset ¡°Good, I don¡¯t think anyone is awake¡­¡± I muttered as I looked out the window, there were no lights outside of the house I was currently in. Tako was in another house, there were a couple of abandoned houses when we came because some villagers lost hope and fled to another village. I sat down in the chair and laid the harvester on the table in front of me. My soul pool held 72 Souls, I would most likely be able to resurrect a weak creature but then I wouldn¡¯t be able to protect it in fights. It is better if I spend souls strengthening my self first. I picked up the harvester and held it in my hands, I slowly began to channel the black mist into the handle, it softly vibrated in my hands emitting a sinister aura. ¡°Now time to use the souls¡­.¡±, I began to open my soul pool bit by bit, slowly souls began to escape only to be caught in the black mist and sucked into the handle of the harvester, the sinister aura grew stronger as the souls were devoured. I suppressed the aura as much as I could, the black ancient weapon began to emit a red aura. The dagger took awhile to harvest the souls, after ten minutes has passed ten souls were devoured, after twenty minutes I stopped, it seemed as if the more souls that were in the harvester, the harder it was to channel. The strength in my body seemed to flow away with every passing minute. The dagger¡¯s red aura faded away and the sinister feeling that filled the room came to a stop.
Weapon Upgrade!
NameHarvester
RankArtifact
Attack Damage30-34 -> (40-54)
Souls0 -> (20)
Upgrades
Upgraded Passive Buff
Provides 3 - >(6) endurance while equipped.
New Active Weapon Skill!
Blood Cloud - Sinister Aura fills the area, staggering enemies and filling them with fear! (once a day)
With only 20 souls, the attack damage rose and there is even a new Passive Buff! When I first started fighting in this world, I realised that Attack Damage on the weapon, didn¡¯t only mean how much damage it would inflict on a person¡¯s health but it meant how power the weapon was in the first place! If a wound was deep, then more health would slip away, if there was a small cut, there was no way that health would plummet. I became satisfied with spending souls, but the active skill would come in handy if I was surrounded with death being the only thing possible for me. Yawnnn I got up and put the harvester in its sheath and laid it on the table next to the bed, soon after I laid down and drifted off to sleep. ***************************** Note: This chapter is unedited, I briefly went over it. I hope you enjoy the chapter as much as I did writing it ^.^ If anyone has any concerns or questions, don''t be afraid to post! 13 - The source of the problem ~Unedited~ Light shone through the air and onto the bed and a cold air drifted from under the door, I yawned and rubbed my eyes as I looked towards the window. It must be about 8 A.M. I hurried to get dressed and grabbed the harvester sheath, attaching it to my side. Afterwards I put on my cloak and went out the door to find Tako. Tako¡¯s hut was on another side of the village, one that was closer to the forest. The village elder tried to tell him that it was a bad idea, but he wouldn''t listen, so in the end it was where he ended up staying. The villagers seemed to have woken up before me and were already doing their daily work, their fields had been destroyed countless times but each morning they made an effort to care for them, without their fields how would they survive during the winter? ------ ¡°Hey Tako, you awake yet?¡± I knocked on the door. ¡°Yeah, just hold on a minute, i¡¯ll be out in a few.¡± he replied, a couple of minutes afterward he opened his door. He looked towards the trees going deeper in the forest, ¡°This time we have to find their camp, I don¡¯t think it was too far from where we were.¡± ¡°What if we run into more goblins than what we did, before we find it?¡± I asked. ¡°Then, we will fight our way through!¡± He held up his fist. ¡°That seems like the perfect plan to die.¡± I sighed, ¡°Let¡¯s go, we can figure out things along the way.¡± We set off into the forest on the same path as before heading towards the big tree. ----- As we progressed through the forest, the temperature got colder. ¡°It looks like we are nearing the tree, let¡¯s be more careful now.¡± Tako looked towards me, I nodded as we walked towards the direction of the cold. We made it to the tree, the aftermath of the battle yesterday was still there. There were a few dead goblin bodies, it seems as if the goblins did not care about their dead enough to bury them. ¡°Dante, I think we should head off in the direction where the goblins ran off to.¡± Tako pointed into the forest. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I unsheathed the harvester and held it in my hand as we walked. Time went on and a cold blue mist began to roll about the forest floor, the trees were beginning to wither. Soon afterwards, the forest stopped and in front of us was an open field. There were wooden walls surrounding multiple huts. The opening of the wall had two goblins guarding, and their levels showed that they were just as strong as the goblins from the other day. Tako looked towards me and whispered, ¡°Damn, this goblin village is pretty big.¡± I looked towards him, ¡°They must have a couple shamans like the day before, and a lot of warriors. There is also the possibility of the Greater Monster living in the village.¡± I pointed towards the village, ¡°There is a large hut that seems a lot bigger than the others.¡± ¡°That was probably just a patrol we encountered yesterday.¡± Tako whispered, ¡°They probably didn¡¯t think we could find our way here. Let¡¯s go while we can catch them by surprise.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± In the midst of my sentence, Tako was already on his feet moving across the field. The goblins at the gate took notice and started yelling, by this time Tako had already reached the gate and smashed one into the ground with his fist. ¡°Shit¡­¡± I muttered, I started sprinting across the field as well. The goblin village was in an uproar, they had been suddenly been attacked! The goblins inside were mostly not armed, they had been resting or eating, when they heard the goblins at the gate yelling they rushed towards their armoury to get their weapons and armor. Tako, with every swing of his fist would cause a goblin¡¯s bones to shatter, he relied on his brute force to break his way through the front defenses. I followed behind relying on speed and precision to quickly dispatch any approaching goblins, the upgraded harvester could slash deeper and cause more damage, even if a goblin didn¡¯t die they would be crippled and couldn¡¯t follow us. Soon we made our way into the depth of the village. Tako stopped in his tracks and I stopped as well, we stood back to back. Dozens of goblins surrounded us, there were only three shamans that were in their group. Most of the goblins were under the level of the patrol we saw the other day. SKREEEEEECCCHHHHH, The goblins hurried and moved away from us. In a flash, a black furred figure appeared. It emitted the feeling of death, the goblins around us seemed to cower in fear. Tako grunted before jumping towards it, when he got closer he seemed to pause for a second.
You have resisted fear!
¡°Ugh!¡±, In a flash Tako was knocked back, he raised his arms to block the hit once he saw the attack coming but he still flew back at least twenty meters and became unconscious! I looked at the monster, who was capable of such a feat.
Monster information
Name???? the Deathbringer
RaceDark Werewolf
RankGreater Monster
Level37
Skills
Rampage - ?????? Dark Shadow - ?????? Fear - instill fear into an opponent.
The Werewolf looked towards me with a hint of surprise in it¡¯s eyes. A low growl emitted from it¡¯s mouth, ¡°A lowly human can resist my fear?¡± It sneered and turned into a blur, I raised the harvester to block. CLANG!, a shock vibrated through to the handle, it felt as if a mountain had slammed onto it¡¯s blade, my arm began to go numb, blood trickled down from my shoulder. I looked at my hp, and some of it was missing. I blocked and it still did that much damage... I snorted as I looked at the werewolf, killing intent began to fill the air. With Tako knocked out, I will be able to go all out. Black mist began to emerge from beneath my clothes, it enfolded the area around me. ¡°You study in dark magic?¡± The werewolf sneered, ¡°Do you think agaisnt me, a dark werewolf you will be able to contest me?¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°This isn¡¯t dark magic,¡± I revealed a smile, before lunging towards him with the harvester. The harvester seemed to come alive at the sight of the black mist, it seemed as if it was happy, the dagger began to emit a sinister feeling. When I got closer, the werewolf turned into a blur. I gripped the dagger, Blood Cloud!. The harvester and black mist became enveloped in a red aura. The black mist seemed to boil with excitement! It shot out into the surroundings and suddenly the werewolf appeared to the left of me, it was grabbing it¡¯s head, it¡¯s eyes revealing fear. I quickly moved to it¡¯s location and used Double slash, the knife gouged out a deep wound in it¡¯s chest, deep red blood began to pour out into the fur, by the time the second slash was coming, the werewolf seemed to come back, it¡¯s eyes were shocked as it looked at it¡¯s wound and the knife coming back down. It roared out, and slashed towards my dagger. Clang!, my arm flew back, but our power seemed to be equal! Wounds caused health points to lower, and with low health points, you couldn¡¯t use your full strength unless you were enraged! ¡°You dare wound me!¡± The werewolf¡¯s eyes became red and the killing intent that it projected seemed to increase! This must be rampage¡­ I hastened to retreat a few meters back, but the werewolf took notice and started its assault, each claw ripping down through the air ended with a clang noise as I blocked it with my dagger, It¡¯s strength increased! I began to panic, if this continued the only thing waiting for me would be death! I began to channel spells in my open hand while blocking with the other. Rend! The black mist around me swiveled into my hand and shot out two ripples. The werewolf felt the danger and dodged to the left, I used the time to back off quickly putting distance between us. I rose my hand towards it, Soul Freeze! A chilling aura shot from out of my palm as if it grasped it¡¯s soul. The werewolf seemed to be stuck in a daze, I began to summon black mist into my hand and shot out a black bolt! The bolt rushed through the air, terror was stricken in the werewolves eyes at the sight of it, it was still unable to move, the best it could do was hope for survival! The bolt smashed into it¡¯s chest, and seemed to rush into it¡¯s wound by this time Soul Freeze had worn off, but the pain it felt was increasing as time went on. The black mist was beginning to eat the flesh surrounding the wound, the aura exceeded his dark aura! ¡°Have you had enough?¡± I wiped the blood that drizzled down my chin with hand as I walked closer. My body was feeling weak, by the end of the battle my health was nearly at the half point and my magic power was dwindling! I stared at the werewolf, who was roaring as it turned on the ground, it¡¯s body was shaking. ¡°Please stop!¡± it¡¯s voice was weak. I held out my hand as all of the black mist that surrounded the area came rushing toward me seeping back into my clothes. ¡°And why should I let you live?¡± I stared at the werewolf, the goblins in the surrounding area all retreated at the sight of the one who held them all their and forced them into experiments was beaten, they were afraid that they would die as well. They could have easily taken me down without me using magic, but with magic I could kill a lot of them before falling! The werewolf stared into my eyes with fear, ¡°I¡¯ll give you anything you want!¡±, it¡¯s voice was weak as if it could fall upon death at any moment. ¡°Not accepted.¡± I waved my hand summoning a black bolt which furiously slammed into it¡¯s weak body instantly killing it. Ding!
You have leveled up! x2 (You are now level 26!)
Skill Unlocked!
NameTormenting Souls
Skill TypeDeath
Level: 1EXP: 0%
Description: Using power from your soul pool, you can control the power of souls to cause your enemies to tremble!
Seeing these, I fell to the ground and laid against one of the huts. ¡°Those goblins probably ran as soon as the fight started¡­¡± I looked around, the area was empty besides Tako lying unconscious. I laid my head back, and sighed. I took out my adventurer¡¯s card and looked at the quest list, moving the Howe Village quest over to completed, it failed to move and instead appeared a message.
You need to have the quest givers approval before completing a quest!
¡°Damn, so they even have something like this in place?¡± I sighed, the lady at the adventurer¡¯s guild never really told me how to go about completing a quest. I stared at the sky and it seemed to be getting darker, I stood up moving my body while ignoring the pain dragging Tako into one of the huts and laid him on the bed, using identify it seems that he hastily put up a guard that wasn¡¯t sturdy. Looking at the ground, it seemed dried out and rough. It seems as if the Greater Monster was experimenting with dark magic and it slowly sapped away the life of the forest, and it also forced the goblins to serve it. This must be why studying dark magic is considered taboo, then what about necromancer magic and how it is treated? I have never heard anything about it since being in this world. I thought for a moment but shook the thoughts out of my head before sitting on the ground and leaning my body against the wall and drifting off to sleep. ******************** Author¡¯s Note: Hello everyone, I just wanted to let people know that I may not be able to get a chapter out for awhile after this one because I will be moving. Otherwise, hope you enjoyed the chapter!