Changing Faces (New Game Minus Book 1)

by Sarah Lin

  Worse than that, in a single melee fight he'd wasted much of his mana. Unless he got a significant amount of time to regenerate, he only had one spell left in him. He couldn't afford to keep fighting battles like that, not if he hoped to make it all the way back to the surface.

  Had the rings been worth it? It was impossible to know, since he didn't know if he would survive or not. Bloodwraith resolved to prioritize the short term from that point on and cursed himself for not having gained a Level the previous day when it had been safe.

  He finally got a lucky break when he found another stone door that was easily opened with a nearby lever. The area on the other side looked familiar, so he thought he had returned to the main crypt. No doubt this side had been blocked off for greencloaks to prepare to ambush them.

  Unfortunately, that was as far as his luck went. As he explored the area on the other side, he narrowly evaded greencloaks several times and never found the slightest sign of the other adventurers. They couldn't have been killed, he didn't think, especially because most of the greencloaks had been on his side of the crypt. Not that he really cared, except for Danniah.

  No time to think about that, he needed to focus. Once he was mostly alone, Bloodwraith headed down the corridor. He noticed several herbs that could be used for potions and decided to take the time to collect them. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, but...

  When he started to rise, he saw the massive spider a split second before it lunged toward him. He threw himself backward in time to dodge and kicked wildly. The spider flew back and he jumped to his feet, kicking at it until it stopped moving.

  Damn, he'd neglected to consider the remaining monsters in his calculations. He had enough greencloaks to deal with, he couldn't afford to fight monsters on top of that. One more obstacle in his way, but he'd just need to think a way through.

  He heard a whistling sound from a side corridor, saw a drakekin greencloak blowing on her whistle. But she was alone, and a moment later she seemed to realize how bad of an idea that was. She tried to run, but Bloodwraith hadn't been neglecting his speed and caught up with her, sword cutting into her back.

  Though the greencloaks would probably be skeptical of the whistle, he still decided to reverse direction and cut back across the crypt. According to the map in his head, he was nearing the stairs they had used before. Risk using the obvious exit, or take the even greater risk of searching for another one? He decided that he couldn't afford to potentially wander into a dead end filled with greencloaks and monsters, and so headed for the nearest stairs.

  Climbing the stairs was easy enough... but he ran into two greencloaks almost the instant he reached the top. Fortunately, they seemed just as surprised as he was, so he managed to take down one before they even reacted. The second landed a few cuts, but Bloodwraith took him down without much more difficulty. Neither of them was the real threat.

  There were more lights flickering around the nearest corners. Bloodwraith hesitated for only a moment before he turned around and retreated back down the stairs. The two bodies would make it seem like he had advanced into that level and throw everyone off, which would leave him free to find another path upward.

  Assuming one existed.

  As he moved, he found several more herbs and avoided the monsters he saw. There seemed to be fewer greencloaks in this area, but eventually he saw one in the center of a crossroads. He seemed to be stationed there - of course, that would make sense. They had a huge advantage in numbers, so they could afford to do such things.

  Worse, the man seemed to be holding his whistle ready. He must have known that Bloodwraith was blowing them as well, which suggested they had a backup plan. Perhaps a specific combination of notes? Or were they just willing to risk ambushes in order to pinpoint his location and close in on him?

  Either way, he couldn't afford it. Bloodwraith stayed in the shadows, preparing his greatsword with one hand while gathering a spell of force in his torch hand.

  He rushed out, his spell smashing the whistle out of the greencloak's hands and his greatsword slashing at the man's side the next instant.

  Yet the greencloak ducked underneath his swing. Faster than Bloodwraith could react, the short man stepped in, cutting through the weak point of his leg armor and dealing a nasty gash. He tried to use another spell to keep him back, yet he had no mana left.

  Instead he slammed the hilt of his sword into the greencloak's head, yet it only staggered the man. The knife thrust out again, this time stabbing into his chest, breaking through the old armor. He countered and forced his opponent back before the knife could go deep, but it still hurt like hell.

  They exchanged another set of blows and both staggered backward. Bloodwraith stared at his opponent, wondering why he was so much more difficult, and a box appeared to answer him.

  Level 7. Damn, this opponent was as strong as him.

  Given the difference in speed, Bloodwraith couldn't afford an extended fight. He'd taken serious injuries, too, so he reached for a potion from his sack. Yet as his fingers closed around the glass, he realized that he had another option.

  With a sudden smirk, he hurled the health potion directly at the greencloak. The man raised an arm to defend and the glass shattered over his glove. In a flashing movement the greencloak threw off the glove, as if the vial had contained poison or acid.

  Too late, he realized that it had only been a distraction. Bloodwraith thrust out, clipping the man's side and opening a large wound. Yet the greencloak didn't go down, attacking him viciously. Only after several more painful stabs did Bloodwraith manage to kill him.

  Against his will, his body sagged back against the wall. He was losing a lot of blood and couldn't continue like this. As he tried to get his breathing under control, he focused on himself again.

  [Health: 14/161

  Mana: 1/13

  Stamina: 4/126]

  Damn, that had been close. Bloodwraith saw that he was losing more health to blood loss and immediately uncorked a potion and drained it. That sent a surge of healing magic through him, but it wasn't enough. Even after a second potion, his body was still shaking. Even though the box declared that his health had increased substantially, his body didn't agree.

  When he couldn't overcome it by willpower - useless ring - Bloodwraith drank a full potion. That should restore his body entirely, and the new surge certainly made him feel better. He took a shuddering breath and forced himself back to his feet to take inventory.

  All he had left was one health potion and his only mana potion. For a moment he regretted using the one as a distraction, but he changed his mind almost immediately. Trying to fight that greencloak fairly would have cost him much more, possibly even left him to bleed to death. It had been a necessary sacrifice.

  As he examined his inventory, he realized that he still had the "Failed Potion" Meara had given him. If it really came to that, he'd drink it, but he hoped that it wouldn't be necessary. Considering her mental state, he had no idea what side effects it might have, if it worked at all.

  His armor now had a [Broken] box over it, and it certainly seemed like it wouldn't do him much more good. Bloodwraith tugged it off and shoved it into the sack, then pulled on his leather armor again. It might not turn a knife like the steel had, but it would be better than broken armor. As he checked his other armor, he noticed something else on the corpse.

  [Green Cloak

  Armor: 1

  Durability: 14/25

  Rarity: Common]

  The box declared that it had little value as armor, but the boxes were far from subtle. Bloodwraith pulled it around his shoulders carefully before continuing down one of the hallways. In the shadows, the cloak might deceive his opponents for a moment into thinking he was one of them. That moment could mean the difference between life and death.

  As he continued forward, he encountered no more greencloaks. That was good, but he had a bad feeling that he wouldn't find another way up, either. On top of that, they might have noticed that
he hadn't gone up the stairs and started backtracking. If he went back the way he had came, then he might end up running into a larger group of them.

  Dropping back against a wall to catch his breath, Bloodwraith considered his options. None of them looked good. Just as he was beginning to despair, he noticed slime dripping from the ceiling nearby.

  In the past, the slime had always been on the floor. When he looked more carefully, he saw that the stones in that area were in surprisingly poor repair. He smiled as an idea formed in his mind.

  He didn't have enough mana to pull it off, though, and couldn't afford to wait for his slow mana regeneration to proceed. Instead he drank his only mana potion, finding that it refreshed 10 points as far as the boxes were concerned. Focusing, he let two of them bleed over into his sword.

  Then he slashed at the ceiling. Rocks tumbled around him and for a moment he was afraid the ceiling would collapse, but only a section fell.

  Climbing up the rubble and through the slimy hole in the floor, Bloodwraith couldn't help but smirk. He'd made his own path up to the next level. Now he was much closer to the surface, in a location where no one would be expecting him. His body was feeling better now that the potions had done their work and he had mana flowing through him again.

  But his resources were nearly gone and he still had two floors to go.

  Chapter 13

  As he made his way back, Bloodwraith managed to kill three greencloaks by surprise without taking a single injury. They were indeed less alert, not expecting him to be there. It also seemed like some of them had come in more recently, perhaps having entered only after word came to them that the ambush had failed. Still no sign whatsoever of the others, and when he tried to eavesdrop on a couple of greencloaks he discovered that they communicated only by hand signals.

  Given enough time he might be able to interpret their system... but no, that was foolish. Bloodwraith crept away from that group and headed back toward the next staircase. He needed to hurry, before any of the new bodies were found and they'd realize that he'd found another way up.

  He was back in familiar corridors now, though the greencloaks had disturbed them. There were three passages back, all roughly the same. One dusty and filled with cobwebs, one with several of the monstrous frogs, and the one the adventurers had cleared before.

  Yet when he crept closer, he found that the frog-filled corridor had been cleared and was now patrolled by several greencloaks. He retreated... and found the clear corridor on the other side also had a few greencloaks waiting on the other side. Only the middle corridor was untouched, presumably because the dust and spiders would make it obvious if anyone trespassed.

  Once, he would have had spells to easily... no, such thoughts were useless. He considered trying to kill the spiders from a distance and pass through the middle corridor, since they'd never expect that, but discarded the idea. Given how little mana he had left, it needed to be conserved.

  Then his only option was to take the corridor with fewer greencloaks. He set his torch into an empty sconce and shifted into the darkness, creeping along the corridor toward the three at the end. A thuggish-looking human man, a thin elven woman, and a short man of ambiguous race. When he tried to summon boxes for them, he couldn't determine enough to get any real information. No choice but to just make his best effort, then.

  Fortunately, they were exchanging hand signals in some sort of argument. Bloodwraith took his sword in both hands and swung with all his might.

  The blow cleaved through the torso of the short greencloak and headed straight for the elf's legs. To his surprise, she twisted over the sweep - his blade didn't get close. Instead its momentum carried it into the side of the largest greencloak.

  He grunted and twitched, but didn't fall. Instead, he grabbed the blade in his side, pinning it in place. Worse than that, the elf was turning on him, already drawing two swords and ready to stab him repeatedly.

  Bloodwraith let go of his sword with one hand and released a burst of force, aiming directly for the elf. Unfortunately, she spun away, the force merely flapping her cloak. Fortunately, he'd aimed it such that when she dodged, the burst struck the thuggish human behind her. The spell hit him hard enough to smash him into the wall, and more importantly make him let go of the greatsword.

  Immediately Bloodwraith swung it back, aiming for the last greencloak. This time she ducked underneath effortlessly, still closing the distance. In desperation, Bloodwraith unleashed a second burst of force.

  This time she crossed her blades in front of her and met the spell head on. When it struck, she made a slashing movement that dispelled the force harmlessly. Dammit. Now that he got a good look at her, the boxes told him that she was Level 8. His spell had slowed her down for a moment, but she was going to come rushing for him again in an instant and he had only a moment to decide what he was going to do next.

  He turned and ran. An idiot adventurer like Raigar might care about honor or bravery, but Bloodwraith cared about survival. Though he would probably be able to fight the last greencloak, she would force him to use up valuable resources. This was a battle of attrition, and this source of attrition wasn't worth it.

  Of course, she was coming after him, faster than he could run. The worst part of it was that he just had so little left... one normal potion, a little mana... he simply lacked the resources to continue the fight. Not to mention that the monsters added an additional problem...

  No. Bloodwraith realized that he was overlooking a resource.

  This would be a gamble, but it was a fairly safe bet that she hadn't had as much time to familiarize herself with this area as he had. After sprinting back down the corridor, Bloodwraith kicked off the wall and reversed, diving directly into the hall of spiderwebs.

  For several disgusting seconds he skidded across the floor, sending up a cloud of dust and covering himself with cobwebs. But he got through, without getting stuck or the spiders attacking him. The webbed corridor now stood between him and the last greencloak.

  "You think that's going to stop me?" She laughed as she charged in, her blades flying. It was downright shocking how easily she severed the webs in her way, slowing her down only a little. The spiders attacked, but they didn't stand a chance, severed by those flashing swords.

  Of course, Bloodwraith hadn't been counting on those stopping her. He picked up one of the fallen torches and hurled it into the dusty cobwebs.

  The dust caught fire in a small explosion and the webs burst into flame. He caught sight of the greencloak clawing at the flames before he had to roll away as the flames shot out from the corridor. That might or might not kill her, but it would keep her from pursuing any further.

  Picking himself up, Bloodwraith discovered the thuggish human was still alive, though barely. He ended the man's life quickly and picked up the torch from his side. Brushing off some of the cobwebs on his armor, he ascended to the next level.

  If he viewed monsters as a resource, he had a little left. Though most of the first floor had been cleared, he remembered a chamber of sarcophagi they had left alone. Since he had seen their operation on the floor below, he knew they must be filled with wights. The question was how best to use them, and how much opposition he would face.

  In theory he had almost reached the exit. There was a chance that they had sealed it, but he doubted that. Not many greencloaks seemed to be around this area, still looking for him below. Unfortunately, the first floor of the crypt wasn't complex enough for him to dodge them very easily, so he would have to fight his way through. For just a little longer.

  As he moved forward, he was startled when three greencloaks stumbled out of one of the corridors, struggling with poor quality torches that let off too much smoke. He fell on them instantly, killing two. The third managed to stab him in the side before he dropped, but none of them were smart enough to blow their whistles. If only novices were on this level, then he had a chance.

  How far was it, now? The chamber with the sarcophagi was behind him
off that corridor, he was approaching a maze-like area, and beyond that lay the corridor that led to the entrance. He could make it. Bloodwraith peered around the corner to investigate the next group.

  The arrow took him in the shoulder.

  He spun around and hit the ground hard. Though his vision blurred, he could just see an archer at the other end of the corridor, calmly nocking another arrow. It was all he could do to push himself back and out of the way, a second arrow glancing off the stone where his head had been.

  Damn, the archer was no joke. Level 6 according to the boxes, but the ranged attack was a serious threat. He heard the shuffle of more greencloaks moving toward him, but couldn't engage them - not with the archer ready to hit him as soon as he showed any opening.

  No choice but to retreat for now, back to the room with the sarcophagi. The greencloaks chased him, clearly believing they were going to finish him off.

  Instead, they entered a chamber filled with wight clambering from their sarcophagi.

  Bloodwraith managed to get out the other end with only a few wights following him. He cut them down while receiving only minor scratches, then held back as the greencloaks fought all the others. Since he had a moment, he braced himself and tugged out the arrow. It hurt and bled more, but at least his regeneration could begin working on the injury.

  As soon as the battle was mostly over, Bloodwraith waded into the chamber, swinging in broad arcs that sliced through damaged wights and injured greencloaks alike. He found himself chuckling, hoping that he got EXP for both sides. If he could do this more often-

  Something glinted darkly in the corridor beyond and he threw himself behind one of the sarcophagi, just before an arrow sliced through where he had been standing.

  Another greencloak slid into the room, also taking cover behind a sarcophagus. Not the archer, who still lurked in the hallway waiting for an opening. The weaker greencloaks were down, but these two weren't amateurs.