Path of Light

by A P Gore

  Fight begins in 2 minutes.

  Maggie’s eyes fluttered as she read the notification. What kind of event had Lord Jon initiated this time? And how could he find an abomination? Wasn’t he supposed to be in Chinari? God, this man. One after another, he triggered something or other.

  But how was he going to survive against a world event boss? She hadn’t faced one, but she knew it would be at least a level 60+ monster, and it would be damn hard to defeat.

  Suddenly, her heart grew scared. Should she help him?

  As quickly the thought came, she dismissed it.

  No, she couldn’t leave the town unprotected. There would be many players assisting him, and the notification talked about heroes. He would have help, but his town wouldn’t.

  Suddenly, the pressure of spells on her shield decreased, and when she peered ahead, all enemy players were leaving the battlefield.

  What were they doing?

  The beast attack continued, but without the spells and attacks from players, it became quite easy to defend.

  Ah-ha, the players pulled out of the battle to go to the world event!

  Good for her. So, indirectly, Lord Jon saved his own village.

  After so many hours, a calm smile spread on her lips. Lord Jon had always pulled it off at the end. It wasn’t the wrong choice to follow him.

  Chapter 64

  Belphegor rose in the air, shooting hundreds of darkness bolts around him.

  A few bolts came for Jon, but Miraha had already pulled him closer, protecting them both with a white, glowing energy shield.

  While Miraha focused on prevention, Old Gavin had conjured a shield of needles in front of him, rotating swiftly around the center, absorbing the damage and shooting it back at Belphegor. At the same time, Gargarth stood in front of the darkness bolts like they were paper figures thrown at him. The damage didn’t penetrate his stone body, and it didn’t deal more than 0.5% of his total health. Surprisingly, Gargarth didn’t seem to suffer from the darkness debuff.

  Then, suddenly, everything stopped.

  System: Teleporting all players who have joined the world event in 10 seconds.

  Zap! Zap! Zap!

  Hundreds of players appeared around them. A few wielded huge weapons surging with power. A few had pets. A few had golems. Around four thousand players were teleported to the flattened (thanks for Belphegor for that) battleground.

  “Target the world boss. Tanks and warriors move to the front line.” Rob, Death March guild team leader, appeared in front of the players, pointing his trident at Belphegor. Behind him, a thousand players directed their attacks at Belphegor.

  For a moment, twelve hundred players displayed a perfect maneuver only a guild could pull. Four hundred warriors and tanks with shields charged forward in a square, while mages and healers stood behind the warriors and tanks, their staffs and wands ready to shoot spells at Belphegor.

  Belphegor sneered and waited for the formation to charge him.

  Why wasn’t he shooting darkness bolts?

  The players moved in unison, tightening their formation around Belphegor. Everyone else watched them, stupefied. A few players tried to break the formation and attack Belphegor, but they were sent flying by the Death March players.

  A quick glance at Miraha found her chatting with Old Gavin. It was like she knew the faith of the twelve hundred players running at Belphegor. Did she?

  Rob’s face flowed with determination as he glanced at the surrounding players before stopping at Jon.

  “Jonathan, I’ll see to you once I kill this filthy boss.”

  Those were his last words.

  Belphegor had already triggered his burst damage spell. With his hands placed tightly on his chest, a dark wave rushed from his body and swept across nearly three thousand players standing in a mile’s radius.

  Everyone died. Nothing remained. Not even a drop of blood fell on the ground.

  As Jon dropped to the ground from the air, he activated his Vine of Light to heal his four-man team. As he stomped his vine in the ground, he found a shiny core lying below a thin layer of stone. He put it in his bag, to study it later.

  “God, I just heard from my friend. That wave attack locked all players who died for three game months. This is bad! Retreat,” a girl shouted and ran away.

  However, others were not that fortunate. Belphegor had charged their group, shooting hundreds of darkness bolts around and killing hundreds of players in one go.

  Miraha sighed. “I thought the immortal wave would contain some high-level players, but this zone has no one. This battle is already lost.”

  “I agree,” Old Gavin said.

  “What happens if we can’t defeat this boss?” Jon asked. There had to be some repercussions for failing this world event.

  “Belphegor will destroy the whole town and set up his territory here,” Miraha answered. “This whole area will be cut off from our continent and this will be the new Abomination Continent line.”

  Jon gasped. Did that mean his village would be destroyed too?

  “No, we have to stop this thing,” Jon said.

  Miraha shrugged. “Do we have any attack that would land on him? We need a pure light mage. Only they would have a hundred percent light attack that could weaken this monster, and that attack should do damage in the hundreds of thousands. That’s the only way to stop his regeneration.”

  “Did you say hundreds of thousands?” Jon suddenly remembered reading the line somewhere in his skill arsenal.

  Miraha’s eyes shone with bright light. “Do you have something my friend? Tell me now.”

  “Yes, but I need a moment. Can you hold on?” Jon vanished inside the God’s Garden.

  Burn Imprint: Burn all the imprints to imbue the Seal of Healing with the Greater Healing power. Greater Healing power enables the tree to heal 100000 soul damage per second in a radius of 1 mile for 1 minute. After 1 minute, the tree will remain in place until caster satisfies the unlocking requirements. If used, the caster suffers from 50% stat reduction for the next 30 days.

  This could work. If the thing remained in the healing radius for twenty seconds, he could damage it for all his 2000000 life.

  Pulling out his Soul Orb of Light, he placed his palm on it and activated it.

  Boom!

  The light energy flew inside his body, two new imprints appeared on the back of his right hand, and the Burn Imprint skill appeared in his skill menu. All his skill levels increased by 2, and a smile appeared on his face. Finally, he could do something to save his village and friends.

  He stepped back out of the God’s Garden, and a bolt of darkness passed through him.

  Zap-Zap.

  He made a quick trip to the respawn room and came back. Even Old Gavin seemed to have lost 2 levels. Earlier, his level was 89, and now it was 87.

  “Guys, I’ve got something that can kill this thing, but I need it close to me, and it needs to remain in the area for at least twenty seconds.”

  Miraha arched her brows; she did not seem to believe him. Therefore, he shared the skill description with her.

  “What? You got the ring of...” She bit her lip and shook her head. “Heroes, let’s do this. This is our last chance.”

  The tailor came forward. “I’ll bring him here. Even if I die, I can come back.”

  Jon nodded and prepared himself to activate the imprint. His breath was ragged, adrenaline rushed through his whole body, and his stomach churned. He was ready as a rock.

  Boom!

  Old Gavin died as Belphegor closed on him.

  With a thrust of willpower, Jon planted the Vine of Light in the ground next to Old Gavin’s corpse and activated the Burn Imprint.

  White light vanished from his body and entered the Vine of Light. Suddenly, it turned into a small tree. A white beam as thick as an elephant’s body struck from the skies, and a white aura washed over everyone in a one-mile radius.

  Belphegor cried as the white light hit him, and for the first t
ime his life dropped by a margin.

  Jon was about to smile when Belphegor suddenly vanished from the battleground.

  “God!” Miraha cried, dropping on the ground. “He used his Soul Hide spell that takes him to the shadow realm for 1 full minute.”

  Weakened, Jon too dropped on the ground. If Belphegor was gone for one full minute, that meant their attack failed completely. There was no second chance.

  Chapter 65

  Frustration swept over everyone's faces as they looked at each other. Healing magic surrounded them, but the main villain of the story had hidden himself.

  “I'm sorry, Jon. I should have locked him with some control spell,” Miraha said dejectedly.

  “This is it.” Jon glanced at the small white tree growing slowly. As he had nothing to do, he cast perception on the tree.

  Tree of Light

  Class: Epic

  Growth: 28%

  A tree raised from thousands of healing soul's powers, provides light and hope to the world. Heals for 100000 soul damage in a one-mile radius for one minute.

  Remaining time: 40 seconds.

  “I think I should help you in the time of desperation, my heroes.” The mayor walked towards them. “I'm sorry, due to my size it took a while to walk here,” the mayor said in an apologetic way.

  “Mayor Mason.” Old Gavin, freshly respawned, smiled. “You finally showed up.”

  “My Viscount friend. How are you doing? I heard your shop is doing pretty well. Too bad that you chose to settle outside of town.”

  “Mr. Mayor. Really?” Jon threw his shoulders in the air. If this fatso could help, he should help, and not waste their time.

  “My friend Jon, you have shown your resolve again. Do not worry, I have already initiated the Soul Recall spell on that filthy creature. He should be coming back in twenty-five seconds because of his high level.”

  Glancing at the Tree of Light countdown, Belphegor would return with fifteen seconds remaining. In that time, they could only deal seventy-five percent damage.

  “This won't work, but it’s our best hope,” Jon said. “Let's use our control skills, everyone. This is our only chance.”

  Old Gavin came forward and placed his hand on Jon's shoulder. “That lock formation of yours, it really has some power. “I saw you've drawn it with your hands. See if this works.”

  A strange energy spread in Jon’s body, and a calm feeling emerged in his heart. All the worry in his heart was swept away by this energy, and his vision became clear.

  System: You have been blessed by a Sentient skill, Clarity's Touch. You can think clearer and have a better chance of doing things that seemed too difficult. Time: 1 hour.

  Suddenly, an inspiration hit Jon, and he pulled his Lock formation flags out. The first one, he had drawn with sixty-seven percent effectiveness. Looking back at the process, he could see his own mistakes and had many ideas that could improve the whole thing.

  Pulling his blank flags out, he cleared them of the existing formation diagram. Now, with new vigor, he drew the formation diagram in a clear and crisp manner.

  System: The symbol matches 95% of the original symbol. Do you wish to imbue it in the flag? Warning, a % match determines the effect of the formation. Yes/No.

  Wow!

  System: You have improved your Copying skill. +1 to Copying.

  “Damn you, it’s painting and not copying!” He shouted at the sky. The foolish developers had struck again.

  It worked. Jon also saw the mistakes in the other flags he had drawn. With this clarity, he could really achieve perfection in his drawing.

  As the timer ticked away, Jon's eyes fell on the Tree of Light, and another inspiration struck him. What if?

  43... 44... 45...

  “Guys, now!” Jon shouted, and a black hole appeared next to the place where Belphegor had vanished. Two blue chains pulled him out of the black hole.

  Belphegor roared as the healing light hit him. His life dropped faster with every second.

  46... 47...

  Using all his might, Belphegor broke the blue chains, but Miraha's green vines bound him, and Old Gavin's shadow chains too wrapped around him, locking him in place.

  48... 49...

  Path of Growth

  System: Warning, you are activating a Sentient skill on a Unique character-bound skill. Activating this spell will bind your Vine of Light to this location forever. Are you sure? Yes/No.

  This would be a loss, but he couldn't let go of his village just because of a vine. What use would it be if he had to become a slave for Baltazar again?

  He selected, “Yes.”

  The Tree of Light burst with power. Its branches grew faster and thicker. The light energy it emitted grew by a large number.

  Belphegor screamed, his black armor shredding in pieces, and for the first time fear was visible on his face.

  54... 55...

  His life dropped faster, and it dropped below fifteen percent for the first time.

  Jon's trick had worked. As he increased the completion rate of Tree of Light, the power it exuded increased too.

  57... 58...

  Belphegor’s life dropped below two percent, and he charged with resurging power, destroying all the chains and vines around him.

  However, Jon was ready for this.

  “Lock formation.”

  One second. For one second Belphegor couldn't move, and it was enough for him to drop dead. His body burst with loot. Golden, emerald and multiple levels of light burst out of his body, and tens of different things dropped on the ground. For a few moment, the light literally blinded everyone in the vicinity.

  Few players dashed forward, trying to get their hands on the loot, but all crashed on a light barrier created by old Gavin.

  Chapter 66

  Global System Announcement: The first Abomination, Belphegor, is defeated by players Jonathan, Blazer, Miraha, and Gargarth the Golem. Players receive +500 reputation points with all human towns. 1000 gold and 50000 experience.

  System: You have killed Belphegor. Experience gained 50000.

  System: Mayor Mason have awarded you +1000 reputation points with Chinari and +50000 experience for saving Chinari. Mayor Mason owes you 3 more favors.

  A white light fell on Jon, raising his level to 20 from level 11. Damn! The pain of the Death Aura struck Jon once again. It had reduced his experience by half, and it sucked.

  However, levels aside, a bunch of loot had dropped from Belphegor’s body, and his two team members had reached it already. Gargarth had vanished from the scene.

  Damn! Did they take any good items?

  “My friends, as Jon has killed the abomination with his own skill, lets hand over the common loot to him and he will decide what everyone gets,” Miraha said.

  Jon didn't suspect any ill intent. In his heart, he trusted Miraha. But Old Gavin/Blazer? He didn't trust him at all. Taking the loot meant he would attract unwanted attention, and he could feel it in Old Gavin's eyes. It seemed even a level 85+ player could get greedy over items.

  “Friends.” Jon glanced at the items. There were two things that dropped for him, and ten common items that dropped for everyone. Each item was extraordinary, but they were all level 70+ requirement items. What would he do with them? Even if he took them, what guarantee did he have that someone wouldn't come after him for it tomorrow?

  Everyone stared at him.

  “I don't want any items, as I can't use them. However, I have a request. If you’ll owe me one favor, I won't ask for any items in this bunch.”

  “Sounds good. As long as it's reasonable, I can do it.” Old Gavin smirked.

  Miraha eyed Jon. “Let's give him two thousand gold each for showing gratitude. Shall we?”

  Old Gavin nodded, and that meant each item was worth more than two thousand gold. Damn! He missed so many things.

  His personal gold increased by four thousand. Thinking about it, if Gargarth had stayed back Jon would have got six thousand gold. But why di
d he vanish? Yes, NPC’s shouldn’t collect loot.

  Then why did Miraha collected it?

  Cursing inwardly, Jon picked up the two things that had dropped for him. No one could see them, so no one would notice.

  Seed of Deity

  (Locked. Requires a special key to unlock the properties.)

  Shoulder Guards of Abomination

  (Unidentified.)

  His perception wouldn't work, so he would have to wait until tomorrow to check the properties. He had a feeling he would end up selling the shoulder guards to Miraha, as they wouldn’t be useful for him until he reached high level.

  A sudden weakness washed over him, and his stats reduced by 50%

  Damn! The curse of using the Burn Imprint spell.

  Jon gasped for breath, but Miraha stepped forward and supported him. “Let's go. I'll fly you to your town. We need to discuss this tree, too.”

  Jon nodded and wrapped his arm around Miraha's sexy shoulders. Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the feeling of flying and the softness and fragrance of High Priestess Miraha's body.

  Chapter 67

  The wind brushed past his face. The sky looked darker than ever, and the mountain peaks in the west were covered in snow.

  Winter was coming.

  “Lord Jon.” Maggie stepped forward. Dressed in her usual white T-shirt mimic and blue jeans that curved tightly around her curves, she looked nothing less than enticing.

  “Handsome – did you think about the trade I asked for? We can discuss about anything.” – Vivian

  Momentarily, the message from the mysterious VIP 11 disturbed him, but ignoring it he focused back on Maggie.

  “Call me Jon. As a vice-lord you can do that. I can't express my thanks enough for your help in defending the town.” He had heard from Roth that Maggie alone had held the fort against two hundred players and their beast scrolls. She even used her precious Insta-Build scroll to complete the Demolition Tower. That tower was work of art, and it turned his village into a fortress against common level 20-25 level players. However, the war wasn't over. With the event in Chinari, he’d only postponed it to a later date. Thanks to Belphegor, all the Death March players around the town had been wiped out and locked for one hundred twenty days, and with his new viscount authority he had banished the guild from Chinari for the next 3 months.