Pendrackon

by Aaron Oster

  “Leaving a quest uncompleted after acceptance could lead to an inquiry,” Gordon explained to the unasked question. “If you remember, Samuel here summoned one when Millicent did not complete the terms of a quest. Well, that goes both ways.”

  “Yeah, definitely wouldn’t want one of those dudes showing up,” Sam said with a shudder.

  He remembered clearly how much power they possessed. The one who’d shown up to his summons had destroyed Millicent in an instant, and she’d been of a far higher level than they were.

  “Well, shit,” Emma said with a grimace. “Looks like I’ll be going into those creepy woods with a divine curse slowing be by half. If I make it out of this alive, I’m going to tear that Overlord a new one!”

  “Well, sitting around here and dilly-dallying will not get us through this any sooner. Let us be away,” Gordon said, marching purposefully into the tree line.

  “What he said. Also, I don’t wanna be eaten, so…yeah,” Barry said, flapping after the dog.

  Emma tried to catch Sam’s eye, likely for assurance, but he was still angry at her. Instead, he marched right after them, walking into the very creepy forest. A shiver ran down his spine as soon as he entered the cover of the trees, and a notification window popped up.

  DUNGEON

  You have found a dungeon.

  Name: Vaald of the Shtainerzeid

  Age: Unknown

  Type: Special

  Difficulty: Hard

  Recommended Level: 19 - 24

  Warning: You are below the recommended level for this Dungeon.

  SPECIAL DUNGEONS

  In Somerset, you may occasionally come across a Dungeon with the ‘Special’ type. These Dungeons are typically those that draw power from the Boss/Host. If the Boss/Host is killed, the Dungeon will disappear.

  Special Dungeons are often sought but seldom found. Rewards and XP gain are doubled upon completion. Leaving the Dungeon before defeating the Boss, however, will negate any gains.

  Sam let out a low whistle when he read that. Though they were technically under-leveled, they were almost a full party, and with his Recovery, he could regain lost health. He and Emma were also decked out in Legendary gear, and his was specifically crafted to deal with monsters. Gordon and Barry were both level 17, just one behind his own, and Emma was at 15.

  He was at level 18, but he was sure that if they worked together, they would all be able to make it out alive. The biggest problem would be running into the Shtainerzeid too soon, so they would have to be careful. If both Gordon and Barry could reach level 18 and gain their sub-class, then they would have a much better chance of success.

  “The rewards for this place sound pretty sweet,” Emma whispered, catching up to him. “But this place still gives me the creeps.”

  Sam only grunted in reply.

  Emma, sensing that something was bothering him, opened her mouth to ask what it was. Before she could, however, there was a rustling, crashing sound.

  Then, from the fog before them, rose a small group of twisted and skeletal creatures. And they were all looking directly at them.

  9

  DUNGEON MONSTER

  Name: Haunted Young

  Gender: ???

  Level: 19 - HP: 300/300 - MP: 0/0 - STA: 410/410

  Status: Enraged

  Greatest Threat: Fear Mist

  The Haunted Young wander the Vaald of the Shtainerzeid. They hate the living and will attack on sight.

  “Group up and stay in pairs!” Sam yelled as the twisted creatures ran at them. “They’re enraged, so they’ll hit hard. Also, try not to get hit by those claws!”

  Sam could feel his heart rate increase as the terrifying, three-foot-tall remains of children ran at them in silence. Rotting flesh dripped off their bones, and their empty eye-sockets were filled with a malevolent green light. A greenish mist also spread from their bodies, billowing out around them in a cloud.

  If the first monsters we find are already level 19, this won’t be an easy Dungeon to clear, Sam thought grimly as he targeted an area beneath the four grouped creatures and used his Over-Burn.

  The creatures shrieked as the explosion of fire rocked them, burning away at their flesh and scorching at the green mist.

  “Holy crap!” Sam exclaimed as their HP’s all dipped by over 30%. “Did not expect to see that!”

  “The undead have a great weakness to fire,” Gordon said, somehow remaining calm despite their dire situation.

  “Good to know,” he replied, stretching out his staff and using Mana Burn.

  You deal: -119 Damage to Haunted Young (Mana Burn +12 Burn Damage)(Massive Critical).

  “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Sam yelled as the creature fell back with a shriek.

  Now that he was fighting using such awesome gear, against monsters no less, he finally saw the difference it made. The Massive Critical multiplier increased the maximum potential damage by a factor of 4. Add to that the 10% increase to damage from his gear and the reduced casting time and cost, and he was a monster-slaying monster!

  Sam chuckled to himself at the horrible pun, targeting the barely standing monster and finishing it off with a Mana Shot.

  You deal: -128 Damage to Haunted Young (Mana Shot).

  Haunted Young dies! +1,960 XP

  “I’m the fucking king!”

  If I keep going like this and all my XP gains are doubled at the end, then⁠—

  “Yo! ‘Fucking king!’ Stop patting yourself on the back and give us a hand!” Emma yelled.

  Sam came back to himself then and realized that while he’d killed one of the monsters, Gordon, Emma, and Barry were all being pressed hard by the others. Unlike him, none of them had any fire-based abilities. They were all melee fighters, and none had gotten their sub-classes yet. Emma was the worst off, being only level 15, so she would be the most vulnerable. Though by the way she moved, no one would ever know.

  She danced between the three monsters, neatly dodging their slashing claws and delivering perfect strikes to weakened areas. Gordon and Barry were in the thick of it as well, both exploding from two of the monsters’ shadows and shaving off a large chunk of their HP each.

  I guess I should join the fun.

  Sam raised his staff and cast Mana Shot, followed by Mana Burn. The three monsters went down fairly quickly after all of them attacked at once, and Emma and the companions took minimal damage. Sam didn’t take any at all, escaping his first battle completely unscathed. Sure, he got less XP from the other three, due to the others’ involvement, but if they cleared this Dungeon, his rewards would be doubled.

  “Damn,” Emma said, sheathing her sword and breathing hard. “That was not an easy fight. I almost ran out of Stamina near the end.”

  Okay, so maybe it wasn’t as easy as I thought.

  “At least we got some good XP,” he replied, going over to see what the monsters had dropped upon death.

  There were two glowing green leaves, a single blue leaf, and a silver coin. By the looks of the leaves, they were Potent Health and Mana Herbs, so he felt no need to inspect them.

  “Here,” he said, handing the two green herbs to Emma. “I can heal myself, so you’ll need these more than me.”

  He was still annoyed with her over what she’d done, but that didn’t mean he wanted to see her die.

  Emma took them with a thankful smile and turned to their companions.

  “How are the two of you holding up?” she asked.

  “I am doing splendidly,” Gordon said, licking his paw. “Just a bit more experience and I shall advance to level 18. Then, I will have the opportunity to choose a sub-class and thus increase our chances of victory.”

  She turned to Barry, who flapped into the air with a cackle.

  “What he said, but without all the ‘better than everyone else’ shit thrown in.”

  “How dare you? Why I…”

  Sam tuned them out as they began arguing again and simply turned to head deeper into the Dungeon.
If they wanted to argue, let them. He would just get all the kills and XP. His eyes flicked up to his regenerating MP, watching as it refilled at a rapid rate. Most of his abilities weren’t that costly to use, and the expensive ones, like Over-Burn, couldn’t be used more than once in a battle due to the cooldown timer.

  Despite his abilities costing only 75% of their original value, he still needed to be careful. In a prolonged battle, he could find himself running out at an inopportune time.

  Maybe now would be a good time to start learning how to use my staff for something other than casting?

  He then remembered his pitiful Strength score and dismissed the idea. To effectively wield the staff as a melee weapon, he’d need to find some Strength-boosting gear. Perhaps he’d get lucky and find some while they were in this Dungeon, though he wasn’t counting on it. The best he could hope for was to find more Potent or better Mana Herbs, and with his increased chances of Rare or better items dropping, he was pretty confident in that.

  “Looks like we’ve got another group up ahead,” he called, noting the fog shifting around.

  However, instead of the Haunted Young popping up, a very different beast altogether rose from the drifting fog. There were two of them, and they were a bit taller than the previous monsters, though in appearance, were similar. These monsters’ bones were glowing in addition to their eyes, so this clearly had to be a more powerful monster.

  DUNGEON MONSTER

  Name: Possessed Young

  Gender: ???

  Level: 21 - HP: 330/330 - MP: 270/270 - STA: 290/290

  Status: Enraged

  Greatest Threat: Fear Quake

  The Possessed Young wander the Vaald of the Shtainerzeid. Unlike the Haunted Young, they were possessed by vengeful spirits, giving them access to magic.

  “Hold onto your pants!” he yelled, bracing himself. “This is gonna be rough!”

  He was vaguely aware of the others doing just that as the monsters opened their mouths and spewed forth clouds of green mist. His staff came up as he cast his Over-Burn, catching the pair in the AOE center and doing massive damage. Unfortunately, due to the level gap, the damage was reduced somewhat.

  The creatures both shrieked, and the ground began to tremble. Sam could feel the debuffs trying to take hold and freeze him in place, but he fought against them with everything he had. Emma dropped to her knees, eyes wide in terror, but both Gordon and Barry shook it off pretty quickly.

  One of the monsters dropped the attack, moving in swiftly and trying to close into melee range. The other stayed back, continuing its scream and keeping Emma pinned down. Sam could feel sweat beading on his brow as he targeted the screaming monster and unleashed his Mage Bolt. It didn’t have a fire aspect, but it should still hurt.

  Gordon and Barry were keeping the other busy, darting around and attacking as it slashed at them with flaming claws. The fire burned green and unnatural, and when Gordon wasn’t fast enough getting out of the way, Sam got to see what it could really do. The dog howled as the flames ate away at his flesh, boring down to the bone like acid and leaving a nasty scorch-mark.

  “Hey! Only I can hit the dog!” Sam yelled, blasting the monster with his Mana Burn.

  You deal: -89 Damage to Possessed Young (Mana Burn +8 Burn Damage)(Massive Critical).

  “I would be touched if you were not such a pain in my hindquarters, simian!” Gordon replied, rolling to one side and slashing out with his paw.

  His claws elongated for an instant, glowing a bright yellow as they shaved a chunk off the creature’s health. It staggered, and Barry swooped in, knocking it off its feet and hammering it with a similar attack.

  Seeing that they had this well in hand, Sam turned his attention back to the screaming monster. His attack hadn’t stopped it, and he didn’t have anything bigger, so he would have to improvise. Taking careful aim, Sam used Mana Shot and nailed it right in the throat, forcing the creature to stagger and cut off its assault on their senses.

  You deal: -85 Damage to Possessed Young (Mana Shot)(Critical).

  Emma was on her feet in a flash and covered the distance between them in mere moments, her body glowing yellow with the telltale signs of an ability or skill.

  “Die, you undead bastard!” she screamed, her sword flashing out in a brilliant arc.

  The monster, which had just been recovering, was hammered by five separate attacks. One from the sword, and the other four from phantom blades made of light. It was Emma’s most powerful attack as far as he knew, though judging by the minuscule drop in health, the level gap between the two was just too great.

  Luckily for them, the monster was almost done for, and Emma’s assault was all Sam needed to hit it with another Mana Burn.

  You deal: -99 Damage to Possessed Young (Mana Burn +10 Burn Damage)(Massive Critical).

  Possessed Young dies! +1,260 XP

  Emma’s body flared with the signs of a level up, but there was no time to celebrate. Both Barry and Gordon were having a tough time with the remaining monster, but they all attacked at once and finished it off half a minute later. Everyone collapsed this time, breathing hard and trying to recover. Though Sam himself hadn’t taken any damage, it was only due to his very high Mind Over All skill.

  Without it, he probably would have succumbed to the same Fear debuff as Emma and been unable to move. Before he could think about it too much, the notifications that had been held off due to the fight popped into view.

  ABILITY RANK UP!

  Congratulations! Your Mana Shot ability has advanced from Beginner to Intermediate!

  Mana Shot: Fire a beam of condensed mana; you may now fire an additional three smaller shots

  Level: Intermediate 21 (7%)

  Damage: 13-16 (+6-8 Damage 2nd - 4th shots)

  Cost: 25 MP

  Range: 25 Ft

  Cast Time: Instant

  Cooldown: 2 Seconds

  SKILL RANK UP!

  Congratulations! Your Mind Over All skill has advanced from Advanced to Master!

  Mind Over All: You are stronger than your base urges and can spot deception a mile away. Nothing scares you!

  Level: Master 41 (1%)

  Effect: +150% Resistance against psychic based attacks, +100% chance to spot deceit, or deceptive actions, +65% chance to become aware of psychic based skills, +30% chance to completely ignore mental based skills

  Master Skill Perk: Immunity to Fear, Terror and Dread Debuffs

  CONGRATULATIONS!

  You have attained your first Master skill!

  As a Master, you can now impart the knowledge of your skill onto others with a 75% success rate!

  Reaching a Master rank in a Skill or Ability comes with some great ‘Perks,’ doesn’t it?

  +7,500 XP!

  10

  “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Sam whooped as he dismissed the notifications.

  Not only had a couple of his skills increased in rank, but apparently, attaining a Master rank came with some hidden fringe benefits, like a nice chunk of XP as well as a pretty sweet perk.

  “What are you talking about?” Gordon asked curiously.

  Grinning, Sam held out a hand.

  “Give me your paw, and you’ll find out.”

  “Excuse me?” Gordon huffed. “I am not some mindless hound who performs tricks like some sort of circus, simian. I refuse!”

  “Fine, suit yourself,” he said with a shrug. “Emma?”

  Emma, who was still recovering, walked over tiredly and took his hand without question. Sam wasn’t exactly sure how to teach someone else his skill, but as soon as the thought popped into his mind, a message appeared asking if he’d like to try and teach his skill. Mentally selecting Yes, he watched as Emma’s eyes widened slightly, followed by a wide grin.

  “I had no idea you’d reached a Master rank in one of your skills!” she said excitedly. “And such a sweet one, too! Having something like this from now on will definitely help, especially here!”

  “Do
me next!” Barry said, flapping over to him, while Gordon just watched on in surprise.

  Passing the skill on to the bird was just as easy as it had been for Emma. However, when Gordon walked over, seemingly willing, Sam just turned his nose up at him.

  “Thought you weren’t going to shake like some circus monkey,” he teased.

  “I obviously had no idea what you were referring to when I made that comment,” the dog replied with a huff. “How was I to know that you had attained a Master skill?”

  “By trusting me, duh,” Sam replied. “We may not like each other, but I thought we at least had that!”

  Gordon had the good grace to look embarrassed but didn’t go so far as to utter an actual apology.

  “Fine, have it your way,” Sam muttered, taking the dog’s paw and attempting to teach him the skill.

  Failure to impart Mind Over All Skill.

  “Sorry, pal. Looks like you’re out of luck.”

  “You did that on purpose!” Gordon retorted.

  “That’s not at all how it works, and seeing as you’re a guide, you already know it,” he snorted, turning away from the irate dog and going to look over their loot.

  Emma joined him, crouching on the ground to examine what the two monsters had dropped. There were two leaves once again, one yellow and one blue. However, these seemed to have a small sparkle in addition to the shine that accompanied Potent Herbs. Excited, Sam used Inspect.

  ITEMS FOUND!