As the shouts continued Dante facepalmed realizing his mistake when choosing to spawn here knowing that the Adventurers as the players had been called by the people of this world were now only a myth in these lands. Moments later Shay and Leo both broke through the circle of guards and stood by Dante as if threatening anyone to take a step towards their friend.
“Quiet down!” A booming voice came from Dante’s right as the people began to move aside. Everyone quickly moved away as a stout almost dwarven man clad in shiny iron armor and two large battle axes strapped to his back stepped up to the three men standing in the center of the ring of people.
Shay began to defend Dante but the other man raised a hand to silence him as well “I would like to ask” he said in a softer but still firm tone “exactly what in bloody Hell is going on here and who” now pointing at Dante “this stranger is that appeared out of thin air like the legends of days long past?”
Leo nodded to Dante to speak saying under his breath so only Dante can hear “Gareth is a fair man and sergeant of the local militia. Tell him what he needs to know and speak honestly, and he will make sure no trouble will come to you.”
Weak smile and feeling like he was under no small amount of scrutiny Dante stepped forward scratching the back of his head in thought before saying “Hi, I’m Dante. Kinda new to this area… Well world to be completely honest. Let's see… I stumbled upon Shay there and his family in trouble while traveling down the road and helped him deal with some bandits. He brought me to this friendly little town and let me take a room with them but I set out on a small quest for Terrance to deal with some sprites in the forest. It would seem that I stumbled upon some ruins and woke up the Sprite Queen, and she proceeded to end my existence. I was given the choice to respawn at the nearby town and not realizing it would cause such a problem I simply selected to do so out of habit.” Turning to Shay and hanging his head Dante finished with “I am sorry to say the gift you gave me was broken when I died. I hope you can forgive me Shay.”
Shaking his head and letting out a hearty laugh “It was just collect’n dust in mah house as it were kiddo. I gave ya it to use and honestly I think you comin’ back from the dead like this is worth gobs more than that stone was ever worth.”
Turning to the crowd seeming to make eye contact with each person Sergeant Gareth spoke up “You’ve heard his story and know the legends. Now leave the boy be and get about your business.” Looking back to Dante he smiled and gave him a wink before gesturing to Leo “Get the meeting room ready, I would like something stout ready for the boy and myself. Shay too while you're at it. I feel there may be more to this then even the boy knows and I would like to know more about him.” Turning on his heels and heading towards the pub he ordered a guard to get Terrance and take his post while sending him to meet up with the group that was to assemble at the pub.
Calmed but still curious most of the townsfolk wandered off nearby eyeing Dante and whispering quietly pretending to be busy as he passed by with Shay and Leo on either side of him. Both men had broad grins and kept looking over at him from time to time with a twinkle of curiosity and awe in their eyes.
Entering the pub it quieted down as Leo left Shay to lead Dante to a back room and gather some drinks for those who would join them there. Simple wood walls and furniture was all that the room consisted of with six high backed chairs and an elongated oval table planted in the center with Sergeant Gareth sitting at the head signaling for Dante to take a seat across from him. Not in a mood to argue and most definitely not wanting to be rude to the man who came to his aid outside Dante did as he was told and took a seat across from Sergeant Gareth nodding a polite hello with Shay taking a seat to Dante’s right.
Leo came in with a large tray in each hand with tankards and a pitcher on each followed by Terrance who was carrying the bottle rum and a glass. Both men handed out the drinks and then took seats around the table waiting for Sergeant Gareth to speak up.
After downing his first tankard in a swift gulp and pouring another Sergeant Gareth finally spoke “Not sure if I believe ya boy but that was a mighty bright light show you put on with a lot of witnesses. Legends depicted the resurrection of an Adventurer as being along those lines but in a world full of magic that is ever growing and changing one never knows.”
Having learned his lesson about taking a whole glass of the strong rum in one go Dante sipped on it while listening to the man at the other end of the table. When Sergeant Gareth was done speaking Dante cleared his throat “I think I may be what you would call an Adventurer but there may be some differences. For one my class is not one normally available to males, and for another I am actually here and responsive where I think the Adventures of old were more robotic in their actions and interactions.”
At hearing this all Terrance quickly turned to Dante with eyes bulging and mouth agape before Leo reach over and smacked the man on the back of the head saying “Close yer trap boyo or ya might catch you a fly.” Upon Terrance’s reddening and nodding while still not taking his eyes off of Dante Leo spoke further “That is what I had heard from some ol’ timers when I was a lad. Adventurers were not all that good at communication an tended to all sound very much the same. Strong warriors all but seemingly less bright than most I would say. Run up to ya askn’ for a quest with the simplest of words before wandering off to complete it. Only returning for rewards and further quests.” Pointing to Dante “He doesn’t seem as daft or senseless but I can say he levels as quickly as they did. Was only level fifteen when I saw him this morning. With what Shay hear said about his skills the boy can do things none have seen or heard of since the age of Adventurers.” Looking at Shay now to add to his argument.
Shay nodded softly taking a gulp of his ale thinking a moment before speaking up “What I saw him do was a mixture of magic and blade skills like the ol’ knight mages of the dark elves. Though they were all women that were seen before they ran back to their forest to hide away and Dante here is clearly a man or a rather masculine looking women.” garnering chuckles from the rest of the room seeming to cut down the tension a bit..
Finishing his third tankard and polishing off the jug of ale in front of him Sergeant Gareth nodded in agreement with the statements “It would seem like you fall into what we know of the Adventurers with some slight differences.” Sipping on this tankard of ale he thought quietly before a smile wrinkled his eyes “That being the case I think we need to test you out. One of the prevailing legends was that the Adventurers could take down the legendary beasts of the world without the aid of us common folk. We all heard the Sprite Queen awaken, and she will need to be dealt with so if you are indeed one of the Adventures of old then you can defeat her and if you die in the process you’ll just pop back into town proving the truth either way.”
Shay looked at him with a shocked face “You wan’ the boy tah die to prove his innocence? We both know tha’ screechin beasty is level seventy-two. Even in the legends the Adventurers would often swarm the legendary beasts and very few who were much stronger than this kiddo currently is would face her.” Shouting as he finished red faced in anger.
Standing and holding up a hand to stop any further arguments Dante answered Sergeant Gareth with a steely glare “Though I do come back from death dying still hurts like hell. To take this on I require an upgrade in all my gear to what is available at my level. As reward, regardless of results I require a hefty sum of exp and gold to further my own growth. Only if you agree to this will I take on this task.”
Sergeant Gareth laughed heartily “Sounds good to me, I will even pay outta my own pocket for those upgrades. I’ll tag along to witness the show and we’ll have Terrance there standing near where you appeared this last time for when you respawn boy.”
As he came around and offered a hand for Dante to shake a window appeared:
Impossible tasks
To prove you are one of the legendary Adventurers you must face the Sprite Queen. Either upon slaying the legendary beast or
upon respawn proving you are who you said you were you will gain the following rewards.
Rewards: 30,000 exp, 5,000,000 gold and the title Daft but Durable
Shaking the man's hand Dante accepted the quest before turning to Terrance and holding out the collected Sprite wings to finish his quest. Once the man was able to pull himself out of his shock he took the items and handed Dante the gold and another window appeared.
Quest complete: Sprite Hunter
You have collected twenty sets of sprite wings from the Forest Sprites and brought them back to Terrance as proof. In his admiring state he has offered a larger reward than usual for the completion of the quest.
Rewards: 735 exp, 2000 gold, and new title Champion Sprite Hunter
Dante accepted the rewards noticing his level change to eighteen and sixty-three hundredths and the option to attach the title to his name when viewed by others. Not wanting to draw yet more attention he decided against it and dismissed the windows before turning back to Sergeant Gareth “Lead the way, if I am gonna die again today I want to get it done with before dinner.”
Dante Alexander: Knight Mage
Level: 18.63
Attack Power:30
Defense Power:27
Health:977/977
Mana:486/486
Stamina:342/342
Attack Speed +0
Casting Speed +0
Critical Hit +0
Movement Speed +0
Gear:
Main Hand
+14 Blade of Chaos
Off Hand
+14 Short Sword of Chaos
Helm
+14 Hidden Circlet of Chaos
Armor
+14 Leather Breastplate of Chaos
Gloves
+14 Leather Gloves of Chaos
Shoes
+14 Leather Shoes of Chaos
L Earring slot Empty
R Earring slot Empty
L Ring slot Empty
R Ring slot Empty
Necklace slot Empty
Belt slot Empty
Skills:
Basic Attack
Cascading Blades
Scatter Blades
Chaotic Shield
Hidden Power
Cycle of Fate
Chaos Hold
Shadows of Chaos
Intertwined Fates
Plight of Chaos
Chapter Seven
Sergeant Gareth marched Dante to the auctioneer after stopping by the local storage keeper and grabbing a large sack of gold. Without a word the auctioneer handed the Sergeant the ledger to choose items from. It didn’t take long before the bag seemed to disappear leaving but a few gold coins left in his hand when Sergeant Gareth turned to Dante with an armload of equipment.
“This should let ya stand a few moments at least. Wasn’t sure what your blades fell under, so I got a set of old elven Windblades as well as an Airett Long sword and Airett Blade so whatever you can’t use you can either keep or toss back on the market.” Passing it all off to Dante as he spoke.
Everyone was forced to shield their eyes as a bright purple flash was triggered as all the gear seemed to be absorbed into Dante’s gear. The armor had a brighter sheen and even the leather which was now a darker gray looked almost metallic having gained strength from the absorbed items. There was now a stone embedded in each piece of armor including two in the left breast of the chest piece. All the blades that the Sergeant had gotten him had been absorbed as well making Dante’s swords shine with a soft purple glow and crystals filling the slots of both weapons.
Chuckling almost nervously Sergeant Gareth spoke up “Full of surprises it seems”
Wanting to see exactly where he sat now stats wise Dante pulled up his character profile:
Dante Alexander: Knight Mage
Level: 18.63
Attack Power:114
Defense Power:236
Health:977/977
Mana:486/486
Stamina:342/342
Attack Speed +5
Casting Speed +5
Critical Hit +4
Movement Speed +4
Browsing the equipped items Dante was surprised with what he read.
Main Hand
+14 Blade of Chaos now infused with Airett Long sword/Right Elven Windblade and with Rare Crystal of the Warriorx2
Off Hand
+14 Short Sword of Chaos now infused with Airett Blade/Left Elven Windblade and with Rare Crystal of the Casterx2
Helm
+14 Hidden Circlet of Chaos now infused with Rare Shamid Helm and with Rare Crystal of Critical Strikex2
Armor
+14 Leather Breastplate of Chaos now infused with Rare Shamid Armor and with Rare Crystal of Healthx2
Gloves
+14 Leather Gloves of Chaos now infused with Rare Shamid Gloves and with Rare Crystal of Mana and Rare Crystal of Stamina
Shoes
+14 Leather Shoes of Chaos now infused with Rare Shamid Shoes and Rare Crystal of Movementx2
Full set bonus +1 to Attack speed and +1 to Casting speed.
L Earring slot Empty
R Earring slot Empty
L Ring slot Empty
R Ring slot Empty
Necklace slot Empty
Belt slot Empty
Going over what he knew of the game before coming here he knew that the Airett weapons were second only to the boss weapons and that he was almost halfway to max level of gear with all the items being +14. Stat boosts aside the added attack, casting, and movement speed might just be what he needed to survive the upcoming encounter. Not the best armor set but of decent quality and equally decent Defense Power he should at least be able to take a couple hits before dying to the Sprite Queen.
Leaving the others behind Dante and Sergeant Gareth headed into the forest in the direction of the Sprite Ruins. As they traveled Sergeant would stand back and let Dante attack. One basic attack was enough to deal with the sprites and even the few level twenty-five beasts of the forest like wolves and bears. This only gave insurance to his huge increase in damage that came with the added gear.
Before long, they could hear the movement and chatter of the Sprite Queen as they both slunk ever closer. Unlike the tinkling sound that the other sprites made the sound coming from the Sprite Queen almost sounded like a cascade of shattering glass. They were only about fifty feet from her when Dante finally got a glimpse of the legendary creature that had killed him in one hit. She was about twice his height with a lithe build. Her skin was a light green and the clothing seemed to be a mixture of flowers, leaves, bark and moss in varying shades of green.
With a jab of his finger and a wry grin Sergeant Gareth signaled Dante to go ahead and make the first move. Which Dante responded with a curt nod before becoming invisible and quickly traveling behind the Sprite Queen. Looking back to where Sergeant Gareth was standing, and he noticed the man's eyes were glued to the Sprite Queen in anticipation. Taking a deep breath Dante quickly struck out first withCascading Blade followed quickly by Scatter Blades to draw himself closer before activating his new skill Swift Strike which caused him to strafe around the Sprite Queen as his blades lashed out causing her to spin and face the direction he came from.
Managing to activate this skill three times and then switching to basic attacks mixed with swift dodging. Once the initial stun war off about the same time Dante swapped to basic attacks the Sprite Queen screeched and started lashing out wildly with whip like vines. One of the vines happened to strike Dante who was knocked back slightly as he began counting down the moments before he could stealth again and start his onslaught anew. So far he had managed to take out 13% of her health which at his level seemed rather impossible, but he was not about to argue since her small attack with the vines had already cost him thirty-one percent of his own health.
Just before she could strike out with a bolt of what looked like sunlight Dante faded away in front of her becoming invisible due to Shadows of Chaos which made her spin around
searching for her attacker. He maneuvered around behind her and did his initial rotation of skills adding Intertwined Fates to complete the attack set and maximizing on damage as every strike seemed to land a critical.
Green and white light surrounded the Sprite Queen as she rose into the air on her gossamer wings. Stunned by the effect Dante was left helpless as she shot out with a strong blast of energy wiping out the last of his health. As the world grew black for the second time that day Dante noticed that the Sprite Queen’s health bar was still sitting at forty-five percent and didn’t seem to be regenerating.
The message screen popped up:
Warning! You have died!
Since it was due to the requirement of a quest exp for this level has not been reset to 0% and no crystals were destroyed. Would you like to respawn at a nearby town or node?
Town/Node?
Upon selecting ‘Town’ Dante found himself standing in the same spot as before in the middle of town with a new set of messages.
Quest Complete: Impossible tasks
You have proven you are one of the legendary Adventurers by facing the Sprite Queen. Upon respawning you have proven you are who you said you were you will gain the following rewards. See Sergeant Gareth for monetary reward.
Rewards: 30,000 exp, 5,000,000 gold and the title Daft but Durable
Congratulations you have completed the achievement: Going beyond the threshold!
From the Beginning Page 4
