From the Beginning
Page 12
Wild Frogue Spearman
Level: 32
Health: 5872/5872
“Sad,” Erchik said aloud. “They were cousins of the imps but when the humans expanded they were driven further into the forests and swamps and away from civilization. After a time they became more like beast and less like the proud people they once were.”
Dante Alexander: Knight Mage
Level: 31.80
Attack Power:114
Defense Power:326
Health:1674/1674
Mana:812/812
Stamina:611/611
Attack Speed +5
Casting Speed +5
Critical Hit +4
Movement Speed +4
Gear:
Main Hand
+14 Blade of Chaos
Off Hand
+14 Short Sword of Chaos
Helm
+19 Hidden Circlet of Chaos +150 HP
Armor
+25 Leather Breastplate of Chaos +250 HP and +30% Damage Reduction
Gloves
+14 Leather Gloves of Chaos
Shoes
+14 Leather Shoes of Chaos
Set effects:
2 pieces: + 1 to casting/ attacking speed
3 Pieces: ???
Full set: ???
L Earring slot Empty
R Earring slot Empty
L Ring slot Ring of Attack +1 to attack speed
R Ring slot Empty
Necklace slot Empty
Belt slot Empty
Skills:
Basic Attack
Swift Strike
Cascading Blades
Scatter Blades
Chaotic Shield
Hidden Power
Cycle of Fate
Chaos Hold
Shadows of Chaos
Intertwined Fates
Chaos Dash
Plight of Chaos
Chaotic Blast
Chaotic Subterfuge
Light of Chaos
Dominion of Chaos
Core Attack: Annihilation
Chaotic Flow
Evasive Blade Stance
Companions:
Terrance Walsh: Warrior
Level:26.94
Attack Power:102
Defense Power:242
Health:1661/1661
Stamina:832/832
Attack Speed +2
Casting Speed +1
Critical Hit +4
Movement Speed +4
Erchik: Crossbowman
Level:28.83
Attack Power:97
Defense Power:191
Health:1290/1290
Stamina:674/674
Attack Speed +1
Casting Speed +0
Critical Hit +3
Movement Speed +1
Chapter Twenty
They made quick work of the Frogue’s before setting off down the road as it slowly curved further to their left and into the hills. As they made their way down the road while it began to wind further and further into the hills they were assaulted every few miles all forcing them to dispatch the creatures while making progress towards Dante’s goal. Trees growing more dense around them and darkness seemingly looming closer as they made their way down an offshoot that was more southern in direction and off the main road. It was not a well-worn path and if Dante hadn’t been paying attention he would have missed it entirely.
A short jaunt down the dark road they came across ivy and weed covered ruins where a large circle of mostly collapsed and broken arches stood. At the center of which was a small mausoleum that was smashed to bits and a mountainside on the far end of the broken circle of arches where you could make out the top of a caved in doorway.
“Looks like that was a loss. Guess we’ll have to move on to the next goal,” Terrance piped up before turning around to saunter back down the road.
“Not so fast,” Dante responded “Even back in the old days we could use our abilities to break some stone barricades hiding caves and whatnot. We have to at least try to get into the underground area.”
“You do realize you are still talking about fighting the king of all demons and darkness here right?” Terrance asked turning back around and looking at Dante incredulously.
Nodding and smiling Dante said, “Yeah I know who and what he is. Fought him daily way back when and wasn’t nearly as well-prepared as I am now for the bastard.”
Erchik shrugged when Terrance looked at him for support. “I follow Dante, having seen what he can do I wouldn’t put it past him to try his might against the legendary King of Demons. If he can obtain the weapon that the beast drops he will be even closer to getting a full set of the best gear in the world. Which is what it sounds like he needs to do anyways.”
“Mad!” Terrance shouted exasperated. “You’re all mad! Well if we are gonna give it a go or argue about it at least we could see if we can get into the hole before we argue further.”
Patting Terrance’s cheek Dante shook his head and chuckled. “That’s a good boy. Now stand back a moment and I will see what I can do about the little rock problem we have here.”
Taking a breath Dante stepped forward and with attack after attack unleashed nearly all of his abilities until he was out of breath and the rocks didn’t seem to be scratched. Breathing heavily and began looking over the rocks trying to find any signs of give or shift that would allow him access and before long the other two joined him in searching until the sun set, and they decided to set up camp near the center of the ruined circle of arches.
Erchik had gotten the fire started and Terrance had found some small game for them to roast as they sat around and talked about what their plans were to be now that they seemed to have a roadblock in their way.
“It’s not like we can move the rocks by will alone,” Terrance spoke slightly annoyed.
“Well no but,” Dante paused thinking a moment “We may find another way in or something around the area.”
“Was there another entrance you knew of?” Erchik asked.
Dante huffed. “No, but I know there were ways to glitch into places like this.”
“Glitch?” Both Terrance and Erchik spoke simultaneously in curiosity.
“It is another way to say break or broken, though in this case means to break into an otherwise inaccessible area by other means.” Dante answered not wanting to explain the whole game thing in detail.
“Well,” Terrance began as he pointed to the mound of stones blocking the entrance as they heard a strange noise emanating from them interrupting his conversation.
Listening intently as all sound except for the sound of the wood cracking as the fire burned between them seemed to die down and the moon peeked through the canopy and light shone on the entrance. As they waited a moment longer they heard the sound again. It was something along the lines of a bone scraping along the ground as a groan escaped shortly after. All of which came from the direction of the stones. Approaching cautiously and inspecting the stone again Dante listened closer until he found a crack slightly bigger than one of his blades. He could not see inside clearly but could occasionally see sets of red orbs moving around.
He stood back and thought out a plan before finally setting on the actions he would take. Waving the others over he sat down and took his food from the fire since it was now done. Taking a bite he said slowly “I know how to glitch my way in…” Pausing a moment before looking first to Terrance then to Erchik. “But I doubt either of you are going to like it to be honest.”
They both slowly ate their food waiting for him to elaborate to which he waited until he was done eating and taking a long drought from his canteen of water before he cleared his throat and spoke up. “One of my abilities lets me throw my blades at an enemy and teleport to them right?”
The other two nodded as he continued, “I am pretty sure there is undead creature of some sort in there. Which was not the case before I would like add as a little caveat. There used to just be crazy cultists but as I ha
ve quickly found out fairly recently a lot has changed since I was last part of this world. Well with the gap I could trigger my skill and teleport in. Coming back may be tricky, but we can work that part out then. Though I have a bad idea for that as well, and we will have to test that when the time arises.”
Staring at him like he was mad both his companions began arguing against his plan with many points towards the unknown in the buried sanctuary of the King of Demons. All of which he waved off as he stood up.
“This is not up for debate. I have to get in there, and I have to complete my quest, and it is safer if you two are not with me in an unknown place like that. I respawn and as far as we know neither of you do.” Holding up a hand to shush them as they began to bombard him with more arguments. “As I said I am not debating this.”
Before either of them could stop him he tossed his wooden skewer into the fire and launched himself at the rocks aiming for the crack he’d found earlier. Activating his skill he found himself quickly surrounded in darkness and the clatter of bones along with old metal as the beings around him awoke to his presence while his friends shouted at him through the crack he’d just teleported through. With a quick inspection of his enemy he was still standing on Dante quickly found out that he was in more trouble than expected.
Undead Cultist Berserker
Level: 64
Health: 32,564/ 33,126
“Shit!” Dante shouted as he leapt off and looked around. Though he couldn’t see much he could make out the enemies locations due to their glowing red eyes, and they all were around the same level and health. He’d barely scratched this one with one of his strongest attacks. Knowing that his class was not one that was meant for long grinding sessions in hordes of overpowered enemies he would tire long before he could whittle them down.
Not wanting to give up too quickly though he launched attack after attack and just before he ran out of energy he’d managed to take out two or three and while kiting around the others he swooped in and looted the remains before running down the hallway on the other side of the chamber.
“Don’t worry!” He shouted back to the stones as he ran on, “I’ll manage or I’ll respawn you guys just wait!”
Not sure if he could actually manage or not he hurried down the hallway hoping that things hadn’t changed too much because there was one spot that he could remember that was free of mobs and the mobs of this world seemed to still be held by the rules of distance from their spawn points for the most part. So if the area was clear he might just have somewhere to gather his wits.
Dante Alexander: Knight Mage
Level: 32.46
Attack Power:114
Defense Power:326
Health:1697/1697
Mana:843/843
Stamina:624/624
Attack Speed +5
Casting Speed +5
Critical Hit +4
Movement Speed +4
Gear:
Main Hand
+14 Blade of Chaos
Off Hand
+14 Short Sword of Chaos
Helm
+19 Hidden Circlet of Chaos +150 HP
Armor
+25 Leather Breastplate of Chaos +250 HP and +30% Damage Reduction
Gloves
+14 Leather Gloves of Chaos
Shoes
+14 Leather Shoes of Chaos
Set effects:
2 pieces: + 1 to casting/ attacking speed
3 Pieces: ???
Full set: ???
L Earring slot Empty
R Earring slot Empty
L Ring slot Ring of Attack +1 to attack speed
R Ring slot Empty
Necklace slot Empty
Belt slot Empty
Skills:
Basic Attack
Swift Strike
Cascading Blades
Scatter Blades
Chaotic Shield
Hidden Power
Cycle of Fate
Chaos Hold
Shadows of Chaos
Intertwined Fates
Chaos Dash
Plight of Chaos
Chaotic Blast
Chaotic Subterfuge
Light of Chaos
Dominion of Chaos
Core Attack: Annihilation
Chaotic Flow
Evasive Blade Stance
Companions:
Terrance Walsh: Warrior
Level:27.62
Attack Power:102
Defense Power:242
Health:1689/1689
Stamina:864/864
Attack Speed +2
Casting Speed +1
Critical Hit +4
Movement Speed +4
Erchik: Crossbowman
Level:29.44
Attack Power:97
Defense Power:191
Health:1310/1310
Stamina:691/691
Attack Speed +1
Casting Speed +0
Critical Hit +3
Movement Speed +1
Chapter Twenty-One
Not only was he struggling to breath and out of stamina but the dust in the air was not helping as Dante leaned against the wall hoping that he would start to breathe normally sooner rather than later. Though it was close he made it to the room and up on the ledge where not even the Undead Caster mobs could reach him as he waited for them to shamble back to their spots after the activity timer counted down. There were only two left in the room now still scratching at the ledge but Dante didn’t want to risk attracting more with the noise of him battling them.
“Holy fuck,” he whispered breathlessly. “That was way too fucking close.”
Sitting allowed his stamina and mana to recover quicker and in no time he was alone in the room with full bars. He thought aloud though quietly so as to not draw the attention of the monsters not far away. “Not a lot I can do here without overextending myself. The room the King of Demons was in when I was last here still had a lot of these things in there. I can’t exactly kill my way there with these numbers, and I can’t fight him and them all at the same time.” Dante scratched his chin as he thought.
“I have Shadows of Chaos so as long as I plan it out and act intelligently I could at last make it to the chamber.” He sat there thinking about the enemies he’d faced while in these underground chambers. “They seem familiar, and not just the whole cultist thing but even their undead form seems a bit familiar to me” mumbling the last bit as he quietly activated his sneaking ability Shadows of Chaos and slipped into the hall and towards the center chamber.
On his way there were a few close calls as he almost didn’t make it to the next alcove before the ability wore off but it went seamless otherwise all the way to the center chamber. As he rounded the corner he had expected to find the large red scaled and tentacle covered head of the King of Demons but instead saw a large and very familiar creature in its place.
Elite: Skull Basher
Level: 65
Health: 61,215/61,215
Dante knew this thing did not belong here but explained why the other undead seemed so familiar now. It was from the Enchanted Forest and the domain of the Enchantress Seline. What he did not understand was why this thing was here or why the cultists had become what they are now. Making his way still stealthed, Dante entered the room and stowed away in a crevice counting down the moments until the ability would wear off, and he would have to activate it again.
Around the room there were less of the normal mobs then he’d expected but still way more than he could handle safely. He knew he could take out the special mob in the center and hoped that in doing so he might get some sort of clue as to what was going on here, but was not clear on how he would achieve it. Since entering the place he had reached eighty-four percent and did not want to lose it but knew he would have little choice if he were to get out of there.
Taking a deep breath and reactivating his skill as the timer hit zero Dante moved quickly towards the center and readied himself to strike out. Aro
und him he eyed the other eight mobs and lashed out with Light of Chaos followed by Chaotic Subterfuge, Chaotic Blast, and Intertwined Fates with burst of Chaos Dash mixed in to allow him to dodge the incoming attacks. Chaotic energy flew out in splashes of gray and purple energy that exploded on the enemy as each one seemed to hit.
Moving quickly all the while dodging and attacking between bolts of dark energy from the casters, and charged blows from the melee fighters, Dante worked hard to whittle down the special enemy. He’d been hit a few times and taken a decent amount of damage reducing him down to roughly ten percent before the one in the center collapsed. Seeing this Dante ran away from the center and behind one of the still standing pillars forcing all the other mobs to follow him.
Just before they reached him he rushed out and rolled underneath their feet and over to the large pile of bones heaped on the ground in the center of the chamber. It was a quick and rather reckless move but Dante knew it was his only chance to retrieve the items the special mob would drop. All of which he gathered before the others could fall on him. Calling upon all his powers of chaos he knew he was not making it out of this chamber unscathed and wanted to take as many with him as possible as he fell. An eruption of power surged forth as he triggered the ability Core Attack: Annihilation destroying several enemies just as pain surged through him and darkness flooded all his senses.
Opening his eyes he saw that it was early in the morning and both of his companions were standing over him looking both worried and angry as he spoke with a cracking voice. “At least I made it out of there.”