Alfred spun his dagger and quickly cut off the remaining ropes around her body. Tears fell from his eyes before he whispered “she’d be okay”. He tossed her over his shoulders before he headed back into town. When he made it up to the guards, he found Grant waiting, holding at his neck with one hand and staring forward with a blank expression.
“You… you really should be dead…” Alfred said, passing by him. “If you ever touch another girl again, I’ll cut off your tongue and make eunuchs proud they were once in fashion.”
He turned his head and left Grant standing in the corner. The guards looked at him with revulsion, however, for some reason were unable to act. Alfred didn’t understand what the laws were in Larimar Kingdom, but they definitely weren’t strict enough. He took her back to 2568… her home, and dropped her on the bed.
Green even had a look of confusion on his eyes as he came out of Alfred’s little bungalow. He followed him into Vera’s apartment before Lacy helped him place her on the bed.
“What… why are their red marks around her neck? Who did this?” Green said, touching her face with a tinge of worry… “I normally wouldn’t care, but she’s from our hometown… There are only seven of us from what I’ve seen!”
“Grant… he most likely drugged her and tied her up… We got there before he finished, but she’s already passed out… You know anyway to make him suffer?”
Green nodded his head before he patted Alfred on the shoulders. “We may hate each other, but we both like to protect women, right? Have you ever heard of killing someone in a video game until they rage quit? I used to play a few games back in my day… Where is he right now?”
“He’s in the city… last time I saw him he was standing by the guards… However, isn’t there rules?”
“Rules? Not when you’re having a guild war,” Green said, spinning his spear off his back and winking towards Alfred… “I’m going to go kill him about two hundred times… If he doesn’t commit suicide, I’ll be surprised…”
Alfred nodded his head respectfully towards Green as he walked out of the little 30 x 30 room and whistled. Three people followed behind him and headed towards Larimar City. Alfred’s respect level towards Green went up from 1 to 5… If there was one thing Green never needed it was drugs when it came to getting girls. In fact, he almost started feeling neutral towards Green instead of the Rampant hate he’d felt moments ago.
Lacy cast another [Restoration] on Vera as she began to force herself to open her eyes. She felt a blanket against her torso and couldn’t help but smile as she saw Alfred grasping her hand. Lacy seemed to not mind and smiled sitting on the other side of her, holding her hand as well.
“You… you are horrible with choosing men,” Alfred said, squeezing her arm causing her to wince in pain. “Grant… Grant drugged you and put you in the basement… Don’t worry… we got to him before he did anything major…”
“That’s… that sounds like my luck,” Vera said, feeling another gentle wave of energy flowing through her. “did you make it in time… He didn’t get what he wanted did he?”
“Nope, he got killed by his own guildmates,” Lacy said, petting back her red fire hair and kissing her on the forehead. “You… you might as well just date Alfred with me… that way we don’t have to worry about you dating a murderer…”
Vera laughed and slapped her hand on the bed as Alfred Blushed. A few hours passed with them chatting as night fall finally came.
The day in Heaven’s Gate was roughly 10 hours longer than the one on Earth. By the time night fell, Alfred began to wonder if the two girls were actually serious about dating him together. He’d known Vera and Lacy had always liked each other as friends, but seeing them holding hands got him hot and bothered.
An hour later, Green came back and wiped off blood as he walked inside of Vera’s. He had a look of calm on his face and held up his thumb as Vera turned towards him with a confused expression.
“What is he doing here?” Vera said, coughing as he walked into the room. “Why are you covered with blood?”
“Grant’s been sent to the graveyard.” Green said with a smile. “He committed suicide and won’t respawn for two weeks… Nice to know you shouldn’t kill yourself.”
“Wait, but that still doesn’t explain why you and Alfred are on speaking terms…” Vera got up, holding her chest as a sharp pain traveled inside of it. “What the hell did you do?”
Chapter 14: Vera and LAcy
Vera and Alfred talked for one hour before she finally got him to tell her about the hell mission he’d gone on. Green took full responsibility for the mission…
After hearing about it, Vera took almost thirty minutes to stop reprimanding Alfred. She eventually decided that she couldn’t let Alfred do it alone and demanded to go on the next guild mission. Green added her to the Green Everest guild, causing Alfred to show a burning anger in his gaze. However, she convinced him she’d be much harder to kill in a hard dungeon as a Defender than a measly assassin class.
The limit of hard dungeons was three a day for each guild member, so Green spent an hour doing research in the forums before he found a somewhat trustworthy source on a hard dungeon. A guy that wrote under the pseudonym steel light had a complete description of the hard dungeon, [Temple of Ruin]. They all figured the pseudonym was so his guild wouldn’t find out about it, and Green dished out 300 experience to purchase the information.
Alfred prepared and opened the store to purchase a brand-new set of level 16 equipment. He found a rare set of armor with an extra 200 defense. He purchased it for 1500 experience and spent 9000 experience on a set of daggers that he figured he could use till level 20. He next upgraded the little bungalow with some help from Rexam. It went from being a little hole in the wall to roughly ten feet by ten feet, and he added a couch and a shower with an actual standalone refrigerator.
The upgrade to the bungalow took five minutes to somehow construct itself. A series of lights flashed and the materials somehow printed from the matter that was present in the air. to turn air into a solid was absolutely nuts, but he heard from Lacy that that’s probably how their bodies had been created
He took a seat on his new chair as Wanda gave some of her old equipment to Lacy. She’d reached level 16 on their last party mission, and had a slight headache from earlier, but overall felt ready to take on the hard quest.
Green stared at the group of seven across from him, and especially looked worried at Vera being in the bunch.
“Vera… you look pretty in Wanda’s armor, but you sure you want to go?”
“I’ve seen this idiot get to level 17 in a day… I can’t let him leave me behind… How else will I be able to get my dreams granted?”
“She’ll be fine… I promise to protect her,” Wanda said, chiming in with a smile as she winked at Vera. “She’s a good tank, and I like her skill build… I’m more worried about Alfred… His health is only 850…”
“I’m fine… We all read the information on the forum. The enemies come at us in a circle from all sides… as long as me and Vera are in the center we shouldn’t have any problem… It’s also a dungeon without a boss.”
“Well then… what are we waiting for?” Berk said glancing at Vera and the shinning armor she equipped. He turned towards Green who activated the mission prompt.
[You’ve been invited to go on a Guild Mission, Temple of Ruin] (Hard)
There is a large temple in the outback of Hermia Kingdom… It’s brimming with life but also large amounts of Death. Stop the waves of enemies in order to restore the natural balance… If you aren’t a complete idiot, perhaps you might even survive…
Mission Difficulty: B
Reward: Hidden
Bonus: Complete mission in under twenty-five minutes (25% experience Boost)]
Do you want to accept the mission?
Alfred clicked yes before a bright light poured over his body and took him and Green Everest into the center of a large temple.
Hundr
eds of massive obelisks were covered in vines in a large circle, when the group arrived, and behind those pillars were thousands of birds flying off large oaken gnarled trees
the massive trees then split down four paths in four directions. Four passageways that had been described as the path for the main enemies in the forum were exactly as described. According to the Forum, something known as Saber Sentries would rush out of each of those paths. If they completed it in 25 minutes, they would even get an extra reward.
Green, Wanda, and Berk each took a path to defend while two other melee guild members that had chosen the Sword Tempest class split the final pathway. Lacy stood back in the center of the circle to heal and provide support to the two sword tempests in the group. Swords tempests were one of the most common classes in all of Heaven’s Gate. They had a few long-ranged attacks that made them especially formidable, but had a rather low amount of health.
Vera and Alfred stayed back in the center of the circle… Alfred already promised Vera to use stealth if any of the creatures got by the six defenders… According to the information on the forums, though, the pace of the creatures was based on their kill rate, and it wouldn’t change until the last twenty ruin Saber Sentries remained…
The first set of Ruin Saber sentries, the warriors they were facing, started charging down the five paths as Alfred and Vera stayed back to watch. Green easily one hit the first saber sentry with his spear and automatically caused five more Tunic warriors to rush down his pathway. Wanda had the toughest time out of all the paths because she had heavily invested in vitality and lacked attack. however, Lacy used a [Light Arrow] to burst the Ruin Saber Sentry on her lane into two parts.
The Saber sentries were completely draped in black cloth, and had large masks on their faces. Alfred could feel the killing intent emitting from their eyes as more and more of them charged down the paths of trees and obelisks.
Berk used his hidden weapons to eviscerate anything that came in his path. He looked completely content cutting them in half even as the blood gushed onto his tin cuirass. The sword Tempests seemed to be having an even easier time. They sent out twenty slashes every few seconds and dodged all the attacks from the saber sentires with ease. Green seemed to even disappear and switch between lines as Wanda struggled to fight off two Saber sentries at a time. Defenders were not known for their attack, and one almost slipped by before a cloud of purple smoke manifested with a large spear floating out of it.
The blade traveled forward and pierced into the Saber Sentries skull. Green instantly took out all its health before a large horn blared and four sentries traveled down each line. Behind them a larger form seemed to appear… it jumped over the incoming soldiers with a menacing look brimming in its eyes.
The boss monster landed right in front of Green as it immediately slashed down with a spear it had equipped to his back. Two additional swords came of the large soldiers back as he lashed forward causing Green to get sent flying from contact with his spear. Alfred immediately gulped as Wanda rushed to the front of the incoming monstrosity and used her shield to push it back.
It was some sort of boss, and it hadn’t been described on the Forum. It’s name, the sentry of death, didn’t make it seem any less intimidating for anyone in the group.
Lacy immediately sent out a salvo of [Light Arrows] at the stream of sentries heading down the two empty aisles. She tried to keep her calm as Green rashly burst out of the foliage he’d fallen into and jumped high into the air.
His signature skill, [Phase], only worked when he was on the ground, allowing him to turn into a cloud of smoke and reappear in five meters of where he stood. Green slammed down impetuously with his spear and caused the large Sentry of Death’s knees to buckle. Unfortunately, at this point, six saber sentries had already made it near the center of the circle. Alfred had no choice but to rush forward as Vera stumbled back on her knees in fear… Her eyes began to form tears as she felt powerless. With Alfred charging forward, she could barely remain conscious… She didn’t want to die, and…. She thought the information on the Forum would be ironclad!
Alfred instantly activated Stealth Walk before he jumped into the air. His main concern was making sure Vera remained safe. He didn’t just save her from getting abused just to watch her get murdered! It was the dumbest thing in the world to invite her here! She didn’t have a stealth skill, and her chances of dying were literally seconds away if he didn’t do something!
He immediately kicked off a saber sentries back and perched onto one set of shoulders. With a swipe of his dagger, blood burst out of a sentries neck before he jumped into the air and sent his other dagger into one of the rushing saber men’s eyes. An arrow flittered past him and into the skull of the target behind him. Berk rushed towards his position before a blade cut towards his neck.
“You idiot!” Vera said, a frantic look in her eyes. She couldn’t let the fear contaminate her. She got herself to stand up as one of the sentries rushed towards her. Another three sets of arrows fired off of Lacy glowing bow in quick succession. She took out the sentry behind Alfred as another soldier’s blade dug into Alfred’s shoulder, sending him onto his knees.
A large pained expression appeared on Alfred’s face as his health bar dropped in half. He watched as the saber rose from his shoulder blade and little bits of bone dropped off his arm. He gritted away the pain and quickly slammed his foot into the Achilles of his foe, sweeping away its balance before he jumped and dodged another series of blades.
A single foe remained on his flank as another set of arrows burst out of Lacy’s bow. She had tears in her eyes as she watched Alfred try and take on foes that were two times faster than him. His training for countless martial competitions kicked in as Green kept trying to defeat the giant Saber Warrior. He felt so much rage as he phased and appeared behind its back, stabbing into its vertebrae before he jumped back and landed by Alfred’s side.
Alfred covered his arm as his health slowly got closer to zero. He’d gotten a nasty bleed effect after he’d been stabbed in the shoulder. Lacy had to spend all her time shooting arrows as another two Saber Sentries slipped by Berk. He got one with a large set of hidden knives that he fired from his sleeves. unfortunately, the other nearing saber sentries lurched towards Lacy, dodging Light Arrows, in an effort to rush past her and make it to Alfred.
Vera rushed in front of Alfred’s backside as a large blade traveled towards him. He’d taken out five Saber Sentries due to his knowledge of vitals, however, his cooldown for Stealth Walk had yet to reach zero. Vera got hit by the blade and jolted back, skidding against the ground as her knees buckled. Alfred used the opportunity to stab it in the eye socket, causing it to instantly lose all of its hp.
[Saber sentry27 has received 2000 damage (vitalx9)] (Sentry died)
Your skill Dagger novice has x3 leveled up!
Skill level: 5
Effect: When wielding a dagger, you deal 8% more damage…. It’s almost decent...
Alfred grimaced as he dropped down onto his knees. A [Restoration] finally was cast by Lacy as Vera shivered and tried to regain her composure. She looked at Alfred with her eyes forlorn and riddled with doubts.
“I… I’m sorry I took so long… this is absolutely terrifying!” Vera said, “How… how are you so calm! You could’ve died!”
“It’s not much different than fighting in a ring, Vera… I’ve seen at least three people die in martial competitions… In those fights, remember, we didn’t have healers…”
Vera nodded her head and wiped away her sweat and the blood that had drizzled on her face. Green finally dealt a critical blow to the giant taking out its final 1000 Health. The rest of the saber Sentries were taken out with their combined effort. Green tossed down his spear and screamed before the timer stopped at twenty-four minutes…
“Well, we were definitely lied to,” Green said, trying to remain composed. “I think next time I use the Forum, I’m going to make sure I verify the information….”
&nbs
p; “I’m guessing we should just avoid the forums altogether,” Wanda added, “However, at least we got to see what Alfred can do…”
“He’s good right?” Green said laughing, his eyes looking at Alfred in disbelief. “I thought you were dead there for a while… I wouldn’t have had my competition anymore if you died!”
Alfred didn’t even know what to say. He was more worried about Vera than himself. A bright light then flashed and took them away from the blood-ridden battlefield.
You’ve completed Temple of Ruin
Time for completion: 24:59
Mission Grade: A-
The Temple of Ruin had been contaminated by a dark force of evil spirts. Your efforts to clear out the Saber sentries have restored peace to the temple for a very small, but important window of time.
You’re Stealth Walk skill has leveled up!
Skill level: 5
Effect: You can now hide in plain site for four minutes and twenty seconds. You’re making good progress!
Perception has leveled up!
Skill level: 3
Effect: Your overall senses are improved by 10 percent. It’s much easier to see In the dark now…
Vital Target 2x level up!
Skill level: 3
Effect: When you hit a vital you will deal 6% more damage.
You’ve gained 15,000 (+ 11,400) experience for completing the dungeon! You’ve completed the mission in just under twenty-five minutes and earned a 25% experience boost! You’ve leveled up 3 times and are now level 20! If you were anyone else, I swear you’d be dead!
Heaven's Gate: Volume 1 (A LitRPG Adventure) Page 10
