by Aleron Kong
The knight stopped forty feet away, both hands holding its large axe. Futen still hovered in the prison of Death magic, but Richter was relieved that the remnant’s inner light hadn’t gotten any fainter. The undead spoke.
“WHEN FIRST YOU INVADED THIS PLACE I MISJUDGED YOU. LONG HAVE I DWELT IN THIS HALL, CHARGED TO GUARD THE PORTAL. I CONFESS I WAS DRUNK ON THE CONSUMED ENERGY OF THIS FLYING STONE. AS ONE WARRIOR TO ANOTHER, I WOULD OFFER YOU TERMS. IF YOU HELP ME TO DEPART THIS PLACE NOW, I WILL RETURN YOUR CAPTURED COMRADE. I ASK ONLY THAT YOU HELP ME TO DESTROY A RUNE THAT HAS BOUND ME TO THIS DUNGEON. FURTHERMORE, ONCE I AM FREED I WILL TRAVEL FAR FROM THIS FOREST, NEVER TO CROSS PATHS WITH YOU AGAIN. FOR YOUR HELP, I WILL ALSO TELL YOU A SECRET OF THIS PLACE. IF YOU CHOOSE TO NOT DEPART, THEN I OFFER YOU THE HONOR OF SINGLE COMBAT. IF YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT, I WILL SUMMON A MINION TO TELL YOU THE SECRET IN THE EVENT OF MY DESTRUCTION. WHAT SAY YOU?” The knight’s voice boomed in the hall. Despite the room being large, the sound still echoed slightly painfully in Richter’s ears.
You have been offered Discordant Quests:
Quest #1: Freedom for the Fallen. The decaemur knight has been forcibly bound to guard this room and an unknown portal for centuries. It seeks freedom and promises to leave the Forest of Nadria. In exchange, the undead promises to return Futen unharmed if you agree to help and will tell you a secret of this place. Reward: Futen’s safe return. Reward: A secret of this place.
Quest #2: Honorable Combat for the Honorable Dead. The decaemur knight offers to fight you one-on-one, without any minions. The offer is made that if you win, you will still learn the secret from one of its minions. The knight has been trapped here for so long that even the possibility of an honorable death seems tempting to it. Reward: Futen’s safe return. Reward: A secret of this place.
Know This! Both quests cannot be accepted. Choosing one will lead to the refusal of the other. What is your choice?
Richter stared at the knight in surprise. When the undead had drained the life force from the other Death creatures, he had expected the hall to turn into rock’em sock’em robots and had just secretly been praying to be the blue one. Evidently, he had proven himself, though, and the knight was willing to bow out.
He told Alma what the quest said and asked what she thought he should do.
*You are an honorable man, master. I have full confidence that you could destroy this foe. On the other hand, I say that we should just stall for time until our mana regenerates, and our spell cooldowns elapse.*
Richter smiled broadly at her, feeling a peculiar mix of pride and excitement, like seeing the gangly neighborhood girl you grew up with stretching in yoga pants for the first time. She smiled back and continued, *Besides, I don’t think your saproling is looking too good.*
He looked at the forest cat and saw that she was right. The leaves that served as its skin were beginning to fall off exposing the wicker lattice underneath. A green disc appeared and the saproling entered it without even a farewell snarl. The time on the spell had elapsed, and the elemental had returned to wherever it called home.
“WHAT SAY YOU?” The knight boomed again.
“Just a second,” Richter said in admonishment. He sheathed one of his swords and looked at the adder. The snake had small, black marks all over its body. It wasn’t at death’s door, but it was really looking the worse for wear. Richter extended his hand and cast Weak Slow Heal.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GIVE ME YOUR ANSWER?”
“My pet is injured! You say you’re an honorable knight, but you are willing to let an innocent animal suffer because you’re impatient? If you want to go mano a mano, head-to-head, your pikachu to my squirtle, then you have to wait a goddamn minute! I know you want an answer, but I’m absolutely distraught over my pet suffering. Really! This snake is like part of my family! You’ve been down here for centuries; you can wait another minute or two.”
The knight glared at him, purple light flaring in its eyes. Richter wondered if he had overplayed his hand. He tightened his grip on his short sword preparing to defend himself, but the knight gave a curt nod. The undead began to pace, muttering to itself. Could the undead mutter?
Richter healed the snake three more times and the knight’s agitation grew each time that golden light flared. Finally, the undead had had enough and shouted while hefting its axe, “CHOOSE NOW!”
Richter looked up with a smile. He could never be sure if he was under the influence of Spirit magic or not, but he said, “Well if you’re going to be a dick about it, I’ll give you my answer.” He pointed at Futen, “The fact is, you fucked with my boy. Soooo, I think all of us will just need to fuck you up.”
“YOU HAVE NO HONOR!” the knight accused.
“Says the guy that eats people,” Richter retorted. “Let’s do this!”
You have refused both Quests.
Richter cast Weak Life Aura on the snake and sent it forward. Alma cast Weak Life Bolt at the knight, who ducked under the attack and began a casting of its own. A circle of purple light appeared on the floor as the knight began its spell. Alma started casting buffs on everyone while Richter re-summoned the saproling. He looked at the knight behind its spell barrier and thought; you might think you’re safe jabroni, but just wait. I’ve got some Forge of Heavens weapons coming for your ass!
The green disc appeared again, and the mountain lion reemerged. All damage it had sustained before was gone. The cat bared its teeth and leapt forward to attack the knight. Richter started casting buffs on himself: Haste, Weak Life Armor, Barkskin, then he downed another two mana potions. As ready as he would ever be, he drew both swords and ran forward to attack the barrier and reach the knight beneath.
The undead warrior had not been idle, though, and as Richter ran towards it, the knight finished its own spell. A purple-black disc popped into existence, and a rank scent filled the air. Three skeletons in chainmail tromped through the disc before it winked out of existence. They were a full foot taller than the previous skeletons and all held weapons. The knight sent them forward with a wave of its hand. “YOU SHALL NOW MEET DEATH AT THE HANDS OF MY SKELETAL WARRIORS! I WILL FEAST ON YOUR, WHAT!?”
One of the skeletal warriors the knight had been crowing about glowed golden for a moment, then disappeared. Alma trumpeted her triumph. Richter grinned and threw one of his short swords at another warrior. The blade sunk into its chest, popping rusty chainmail links with ease. With his other hand, he cast Weak Banish Undead. A golden glow surrounded the warrior. The skeleton resisted the spell for a moment, but Richter’s mastery of Life gave the casting a 50% bump in power. The gold light sunk into the Death creature and it faded away.
The last skeleton swung its sword at Richter’s head. The chaos seed committed himself to the sword form Reaping Wheat. Dropping to one knee, he swung his blade horizontally through the skeleton’s knee. The green metal of his elementum blade cut through the hardened bone with ease. Richter stood quickly, and as he did, he grabbed the blade that was sticking out of the skeleton’s chest. It came free easily. The undead warrior hit the ground, and Richter swiped down with his sword, separating the head from the body. The rest of the skeleton lost cohesion.
The decaemur knight looked at Richter, eyes widened in shock. It clearly had not expected its minions to be dispatched so quickly. Richter held up one blade and walked up to the spell barrier, “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll be together soon.” Then he swung his sword.
The barrier didn’t last long. Richter’s Forge of Heavens Mark gave his attacks +10% damage versus spell barriers. Coupled with the +10% damage against spell barriers that weapons made in the Forge gained, each strike took nearly eighty points away from the shield. Within a minute it collapsed, and the final battle was joined.
The purple-black shield dropped and the saproling dove forward. The knight swung a heavy blow from left to right at the elemental. The lion had been able to avoid the previous attacks, but this time, the knight was back to full strength. The black axe head struck the
saproling in one of its middle paws, and the force of the blow knocked it to one side. The axe had cut deep, rendering that paw useless. With five to spare, however, the summoned creature wasn’t out of the fight.
Alma fired a lightning bolt at the knight. Its decreased resistances made it susceptible to various magics. Originally the undead creature had 0% resistance to Air magic, but now that had dropped below zero, it was vulnerable to her attack. The stun effect took over, and it toppled forward. Richter wasted no time capitalizing on its weakness. He rushed forward and stabbed his sonic sword into the crook of the knight’s neck. The sword slid down into its chest, doing massive damage.
The stun effect did not last long. The low-level Air magic did not have the power to completely overcome the knight, weakened resistance or no. The decaemur fighter stood, showing no concern for the weapon sticking out of its neck and blocked Richter’s next attack with its black-armored forearm. The elementum blade bit into the armor, but not enough to cause the knight meaningful harm. It pushed the blade away and grabbed Richter by the throat.
The chaos seed’s strength was not inconsiderable, but it could not match the undead knight’s fully restored power. The saproling yowled from the side, preparing to dive at the decaemur. Rather than wait for the attack, the knight dropped its axe and wove its hand in an arcane pattern. The saproling sprung, but a beam of necrotic energy shot from the undead’s gauntlet. It struck the saproling in the chest when it was only a foot away. The cat crumpled to the ground, black energy eating its body. The shale adder wove around the knight’s midsection, squeezing as hard as it could, but the undead just ignored it. Richter stabbed his remaining sword through the undead’s torso, but it did not have living organs, so the hit did not register as critical. The knight squeezed harder, and Richter began to see stars.
Alma had not wasted the distraction. She descended from behind the knight and latched onto the back of the knight’s head. Though it had ignored a blade that was still sticking out of its body, the psychic attack could not be so easily shrugged off. It reached up with its free hand while continuing to strangle Richter with the other. The chaos seed wasn’t going to let Alma be mauled, though. He reached out with both hands up and grabbed the knight’s free hand. It struggled against him and squeezed his neck harder, but Richter didn’t let go.
He started to hear his heart throb in his ears and his vision darkened, but he knew he just had to hold on until his dragonling could kill this fucking thing! He let go with one hand to slam a fist down on the sword sticking out of its neck before frantically grabbing the knight’s arm again. Even letting go for a moment had allowed the knight to move its arm a few inches closer to Alma. He could only hope that he had hastened its end. The throbbing in his head spoke of impending unconsciousness, though, so he doubted it. Everything went black.
The next thing he knew, he had been thrown into the air. The saproling had recovered from the Death magic attack and had just enough strength left to rush at the knight. This time, it just aimed at running through the undead’s legs. The knight might be much stronger than the cat, but it couldn’t ignore physics. The elemental had been able to pick up enough speed that it knocked the knight off its feet. Richter was thrown free in the confusion. Looking up, he saw the knight on all fours, Alma still attached to its back. He knew he couldn’t wait.
A strangled cry coming from Richter’s throat as he scrambled to his feet. He dove at the knight, arms outstretched. His hands grabbed the blade sticking out of its chest and pulled it free. Richter took a risk and cast Soul Trap. A quick use of Analyze showed that the creature only had a few dozen life left. The knight looked up at him a snarl on its wizened face. In a variation of the sword form The Drunken Barber, Richter swung his sword and decapitated his enemy.
A ribbon of rainbow light swirled around Richter and then disappeared into his bag. The undead knight had been laid to its final rest.
CHAPTER 17 -- Day 112 -- Kuborn 2, 15368 EBG
With the knight’s death, the purple light holding Futen in place winked out. The remnant dropped like a stone. He made a solid clack as he impacted the ground. Richter rushed over to the remnant. Alma flew into the air with a cry of triumph, while the adder and saproling simply waited for further instructions.
Richter picked up the remnant and held Futen close to his face. The white light at the stone’s heart continued to pulse regularly, though it was dimmer than normal. “Futen. Futen! Can you hear me?”
The light started to pulse a bit stronger, “I can hear you, my lord. You are breathing on me.” The remnant’s tone was as deadpan as ever. Richter couldn’t ignore that the voice was somewhat querulous, though and that there might have been just a touch of relief in it as well.
Richter laughed. He definitely was relieved. As frustrating as the remnant was, the little floating night light had become dear to him. “Can you fly?” he asked.
“I will need to absorb mana from the village pool, my lord. I was unable to access any mana while I was being held in the decaemur’s spell. With enough magic, I will heal enough to be able to travel. I will need to return to the Great Seal to heal completely.”
“Do what you need to do,” Richter said.
The white light at Futen’s core started pulsing faster, and Richter monitored the village mana. Two hundred and seventeen points were consumed in short order, and the remnant floated into the air.
“I am feeling much improved, my lord.” Futen’s voice was indeed stronger.
“Good,” Richter said nodding. “Then I need your help. The knight kept going on and on about a secret he had and a portal he was guarding. Search the room and see what you can find.”
“As you wish, my lord.” Futen floated off.
Richter checked the adder and saw that it was still bleeding in places. Richter cast Weak Slow Heal, and the wounds closed. The snake hissed in relief and coiled upon itself, exhausted. He could admit that the fight had tired him out as well. His stamina was full now, but he still felt a bit mentally drained. The effects of casting the Spirit spell were nowhere near as overwhelming as the previous time, but he could still feel that his emotions were in flux. Controlling them was also taking a toll. Richter was actually surprised that he had so much more control after only a bit of training, but he supposed it was the same as fighting naked or in leather armor. Leather armor didn’t offer much defense to a sword strike, but it was still worlds better than getting struck wearing only one’s skin.
Putting such thoughts aside, he focused on the notifications he had earned.
You have trapped the soul of a Decaemur Ghost! Soul level: Common. x 9
You have trapped the soul of a Decaemur Skeleton! Soul level: Common.
You have trapped the soul of a Decaemur Knight! Soul level: Luminous.
You have been awarded 4,064 (base 92,887 x 0.07 x 1.25 x 0.5) experience from Brain Drain against Level 13 Decaemur Skeleton.
You have been awarded 65,805 (base 1,504,103 x 0.07 x 1.25 x 0.5) experience from Brain Drain against Level 37 Decaemur Knight.
Richter broke off reading to give a “Woot!” He was well on his way to restoring the XP he had spent. The knight had been a serious opponent, and if this guy was only the gatekeeper then wherever that portal it had been talking about led might be an XP gold mine! He got back to his prompts.
Your familiar has reached level 28!
Your familiar has reached level 29!
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 11 in Small Blades. +2% attack speed. +2% bonus to damage.
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 2 in Dual Wield. Base accuracy penalty in primary hand reduced to 24% and in offhand by 49%. Attack speed increased by 1%.
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 3 in Dual Wield. Base accuracy penalty in primary hand reduced to 23% and in offhand by 48%. Attack speed increased by 1%.
Congratulations! You have reached subskill level 10 in Grace in Combat. Dodge increased by 20% while wearing all Light Armo
r.
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 8 in Life Magic. New spells are now available.
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 3 in Beast Bonding. +1% effectiveness to Tame. +1% attack and defense of bonded creatures.
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 8 in Self-Awareness. +2% mental and emotional control.
You have received 625 (base 1,000 x 1.25 x 0.5) bonus experience for reaching level 10 in the subskill: Grace in Combat.
Congratulations! You have advanced from Novice to Initiate in: Grace in Combat. Your understanding of how to move in Light armor has increased. +5% movement speed if wearing all Light Armor. This effect is cumulative with successive ranks.
All of those prompts were good news, but what really caught Richter’s attention was the last one. Its border was clear, but it pulsed with white light.
Congratulations! You have captured a memory from a Decaemur Knight. This memory can only be accessed for the next twenty-four hours before dissolution into the ether. Experiencing this memory will be instantaneous in regards to your timeline. Do you wish to access this memory? Yes or No?
Richter smiled. He could only imagine what the memory held. If it was something important, could it perhaps be the secret the knight had been referencing? Either way, Richter felt better after reading the prompt. One of the things he had been worried about was getting caught in a memory for a long period of time. It wouldn’t be so good if he was immobilized for a long period of time. He would never live it down The Land’s equivalent of a Dragon Warrior blue slime slowly beat him to death while he just stood there drooling.
Richter selected ‘Yes’ and his vision went black.
