Life Reset- EvP

by Shemer Kuznits

  Fishing Kit

  Description: Hooks, lines, and lures; everything an aspiring fisherman could hope for!

  Type: Tool

  Rank: Average

  Cool! I thought happily. That should help increase my fishermen’s yield. The second one I had summoned was still using an improvised piece of equipment crafted by the clan’s smith.

  “Hey, what’s this?” Malkyr nudged a heavy piece of metal. “Looks broken.”

  I looked at the item. It used to be a heavy plow. Malkyr was right, it was broken. What a strange thing to find at the lower level of an Ogre’s base.

  “It’s just part of the scenery, gives this place a bit more authenticity,” Hoshisu said. “You can’t really do anything with –”

  She paused mid-sentence, staring at me.

  “What?” I looked back at her. The plow turned easily on its axis as I lifted the handle to check if it was still in one piece.

  “You’re not supposed to be able to do that.” Her eyes narrowed.

  I shrugged. “I try not to let others dictate to me what I can or can’t do.” I let go of the plow with regret. There was no way I could bring it with me. The piece of equipment weighed a hundred kilograms at least. Pity, it could have been just what my farmers needed to be able to work the land.

  We continued scouting the rooms along the corridor, but all were deserted with no signs of demons or zombies.

  At the hallway’s end, a large two-door gate barred our entrance. Two Ogres could have easily walked side by side through it.

  “I’ll take a look,” Hoshisu whispered, already moving toward the doors.

  We stood back, watching her as she tiptoed forward and silently opened a crack in one of the massive gates. We held our breath as she peeked in, taking in the view for a long moment before edging back over to us.

  “There’s a large chamber over there,” she informed us, still whispering. “There are five Ogre zombies standing about ten meters beyond the door and they have two Pyroliths with them – the big kind, like the one that guarded the pit. There might be more; it’s pretty dark so I couldn’t see very well.”

  Malkyr brightened up. “Five lumbering kindling and two walking fuel sources? Awesome!”

  Vic sighed inside my head.

  Malkyr took a step toward the door but I stopped him, putting a hand on his shoulder, which I barely reached. “Hold on a sec. That’s a few too many enemies for us to simply charge in.”

  Hoshisu nodded. “I agree with the little guy. Besides …” Her eyes became distant. “There was something weird about one of the zombies. It had … lumps … all over its body. I’m guessing he’ll throw something nasty at us if we just barge in.”

  “Let me take a look,” I said, facing the door.

  “You?” Hoshisu sneered. “You’re a specialized mage, you can’t sneak worth a damn. You’ll give away our presence.”

  “Oh, am I?” I winked at her, then turned around and tiptoed toward the door, making even less noise than she did, gently bending the shadows around me to obscure my body.

  Looking through the crack, I saw two level 32 Greater Pyrolith standing behind a line of Ogre zombies. They were all facing the doors, but none had noticed me. I could easily sense that four of the zombies were ‘normal’ ones, albeit at level 17 they were stronger than those we fought earlier. The zombie in the middle was definitely different. I analyzed it.

  Mature Possessed Ogre Zombie

  Level: 4

  HP: 60

  Attributes: P: 6, M: -, S: -

  Skills: Powerful 16

  Traits: Ogre, Undead, Possessed [mature]Resistances: Mental 100%, Magic 30%, Armor 12

  Description: A Zombie feels no pain and knows no fear. This specimen has been possessed for so long its body has started breaking down.

  Just as Hoshisu had said, it had lumps all over its body. With my Darkvision, I could easily see the bulges pulsating. It was disturbingly familiar to the Alien movies, when the unborn aliens thrashed inside their host’s body, trying to burst out. Unlike those movies though, the zombie seemed oblivious to its state, standing passively between its buddies.

  The chamber stretched on for a dozen more meters beyond the line of enemies. A stack of half-rotten boxes blocked most of the rest of the room, but I caught a glimpse of something metallic behind them.

  I sneaked back to my party, making no noise.

  Hoshisu glared at me. “How did you do that?”

  I winked at her. “Goblins get the Sneak skill as a free built-in feature, just a point off Expert rank.”

  “What?” she fumed, struggling to keep her voice down. “I’ve been grinding my stealth skills for days and I’m only on level 31!”

  My smile grew. “I told you before, once you go goblin …”

  Malkyr looked between us. “So like, what do we do now? Charge in after all?”

  I shook my head. “The strange zombie at the center looks like it's about to fall apart any moment. It only has 60 hit points. I’m betting something nastier will come out when that happens.”

  Hoshisu narrowed her eyes at me while her brother simply said, “Okay … so what do we do?”

  I rubbed my chin. “Barging in is not a good idea. There are too many enemies for you to tank on your own. We need to find a spot with a defensible choke point, then we can decide how to handle the rest of the fight.”

  “Why not just hold them at one of the doors?” Hoshisu said, still sounding a bit irritated.

  “Because they’re too strong. The Ogres could just burst both doors open and we wouldn’t be able to hold such a wide gap.”

  Hoshisu smirked. “So apparently being a goblin isn’t the absolute magic solution for every problem. I’ll take care of it. Only one door will open, don’t worry your little green head over it.”

  “Don’t you mean ‘Your pretty little green head?’”

  “No.”

 

  “Alright,” I conceded the point. “With only one door open, Malkyr should be able to hold them off. I’ll send my hounds in to harass them from behind. Use your chainsaw on one of the Pyroliths. Even if it won’t kill it, the constant damage should prevent it from using magic against us. Malkyr is going to be distracted by the melee, so it’ll be easier for him to intercept whatever fire spells they’ll launch if there is only one Pyrolith gunning for him.”

  “So I’ll hold five Ogre zombies by myself?” His grin widened. “You got it, Chief!”

  I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

 

  Right.

  “The zombies are susceptible to fire and I have a Fire Rod. I’m going to use it against the nasty looking zombie. Hopefully, it’ll immolate it and whatever is trying to get out.”

  “Okay.” Hoshisu nodded. “Sounds like a plan. What about him?” She pointed at Bek.

  I looked at the small goblin. “You don’t happen to have any more surprises like the opal you used before?”

  “No Dread Totem,” he squeaked. “Only pretty stones that heal.”

  Well, I had to ask. “Okay, concentrate on healing Malkyr, and throw in some drilling arrows if you get the chance.”

  “Yes, Dread Totem.”

  “I’ll take care of the door.” Hoshisu retrieved something from her inventory and crept forward.

  As she worked, putting something along the left door’s seams, I loaded my Fire Rod with a level 20 void crystal. As the rod absorbed the crystal’s energy, it began to hum softly and its carved runes glowed dimly.

  Hoshisu finished and gave us the ‘all clear’ sign.

  Hoisting his Greataxe, Malkyr moved forward, his steps sounding like anvil strikes in the silent hallway.

  I could hear movement coming from the other side of the doors. The guards were alerted to our presence. I hurried forward holding the Fire Rod, staying close to the
big man.

  Reaching the gate, Malkyr kicked open the right door, revealing the welcoming party that awaited.

  The enemy reacted immediately. The Pyroliths each let loose with fireballs and the Ogres shambled forward in their version of a charge.

  Malkyr easily intercepted both fireballs, absorbing them into his gauntleted hand. The axe flushed with the sudden influx of power.

  My four mastiffs leapt forward at the hulking zombies. Hoshisu darted in through the opening and threw her chain at one of the Pyroliths, then darted back out. It was a beautiful throw. The chain covered the distance, its spinning wheels shrieking through the air, then wrapped around a Pyrolith. The demon screamed as the chain mercilessly sawed through its scaly body.

  Stepping forward, I aimed the Fire Rod at the deformed zombie. A jet of flame erupted out of one end, bathing the zombie’s torso with intense cleansing fire.

  Fire Rod hit Matured Possessed Ogre Zombie for 200 damage.

  The zombie went down, a burning pile of meat. Crisis averted, I absentmindedly sent my dagger to slash at another zombie.

  I stepped back, allowing Malkyr to take my place and block the path. The Fire Rod looked slightly charred from the intense heat and its durability was reduced by 20 points. That was the cost of channeling so much raw power through inferior material.

  The first zombie reached us and Malkyr wisely took a half step back, letting the creature fill up the doorway and blocking the path of its friends. The man easily deflected a clumsy fist and delivered a devastating counterattack, his twice-charged axe cleaving through the Ogre’s shoulder all the way to its stomach.

  Using her brother as cover, Hoshisu darted in with her daggers whirling, slicing chunks out of the undead creature’s flesh. Bek fired a duo of drilling arrows, downing the zombie.

  Two down, five to go.

  Another zombie stepped over the fallen one’s body. From behind him, I could see the saw chain finally cutting completely through the Pyrolith, ending him. My hounds kept jumping and snapping at the Ogres, taking no damage from their retaliation strikes. The zombie I downed kept on burning.

  This is going easier than I thought.

 

  The remaining Pyrolith fired another fireball, but this one wasn’t aiming at us. It hit the lead zombie, its blast radius reaching all of us.

  Fireball hit you for 69 damage.

  The twins and I could shrug off the damage, but poor Bek took a serious hit. His health bar was down to a sliver, and he fell to the ground thrashing in pain. If I hadn’t had the foresight of handing him Guba’s potions, he’d have probably died. I refrained from attacking and cast Heal Followers instead. A burst of golden-green light spread around me, healing everyone by ten hit points. The health bar on the twins’ icons barely budged, but the boost was enough to raise Bek’s health to a quarter, enabling him to regain control and cast his own, more potent, healing spell, getting himself back to 70 percent.

  Meanwhile, Malkyr kept on fighting. His uncharged axe was doing significantly less damage than before, but with Hoshisu helping him, the two were quickly depleting the burnt zombie of its remaining health.

  “Bek, get back, out of the fireball’s range,” I ordered. “Don’t worry if you can’t target the enemy, just keep on healing.”

  The mastiffs inside the room were inflicting damage on the two remaining zombies, and we were holding our ground despite the unlucky fireball hit.

  I couldn’t help my thoughts. We are going to win this.

  Then the flaming zombie moved.

  Vic groaned in my mind.

  A two-meter spike erupted out of the downed monster. Burning flesh ripped open, falling apart. A giant-sized Stalker emerged from the burning shell. It was easily as tall as an Ogre. Its wide, fleshy body was riddled with dozens of lance-sized appendages, making me wonder how it fit inside the Ogre to begin with.

  The gigantic Stalker wobbled on its legs for a split second, then oriented itself, turning toward us.

 

  Well, at least that explained why the fire didn’t do any damage. As demons, Stalkers were fire resistant. Analyze.

  Stalker, Greater [Demon]

  Level: 33

  HP: 335, MP: 190

  Attributes: P: 28; M: 5; S: 0

  Skills: Stab 43, Death Plunge 15, Whirlwind 37

  Traits: Demon(summoned), Amorphous Regeneration

  Resistances: Fire 100%, Cold -50%, Holy -50%, Armor 50, Mental 100%, Magic 40%

  Description: The reincarnation of tortured souls who have been stabbed repeatedly until losing all sense of self. Operating on pure instinct, the Stalker knows no fear. Its only goal is to spread onto others the pain they endure every waking moment. The greater variety is even more ferocious, paying no heed to its allies in its urge to hurt its enemies.

  “Oh … shit,” the twins said in unison.

  The giant-sized Stalker rushed forward on its numerous two-meter-long spear-like appendages. Its body started spinning, revolving around itself faster and faster until it looked like a hazy mass of twirling spikes. It charged through the zombies blocking its way. The zombies, already severely damaged, were shredded to pieces, as if they’d been put inside a blender, showering us all with pieces of zombie flesh.

  The Stalker didn’t stop with the zombies and continued whirling forward. I threw a Shadow Web in its path, and it tore through like it wasn’t even there.

  Malkyr just managed to put his axe up to protect his front. We heard the clang of spikes on metal. The axe stopped most of them, but several spikes pushed through and hit flesh, doing over a hundred points of damage, nearly half of Malkyr’s health. The Stalker, apparently unable to stop itself, kept whirling forward, its momentum carrying it past us, luckily missing Bek, who flattened himself against the wall.

  The other two zombies, still harassed by my mastiffs, seized the opportunity to charge toward the gap in our defense.

  “Shadow-crap,” I mumbled. “Malkyr, hold off the incoming zombies; Bek, heal him; Hoshisu, you guys have to take down the small fries as quickly as possible. I’ll hold off the Stalker.”

  The Stalker’s momentum carried it several meters into the hallway before he finally stopped spinning and assumed his ‘normal’ pincushion stance. I moved away from my party toward the monster of spikes and pain. Standing in the middle of the hallway, I activated Mana Shield.

  A bubble of shimmering dark-blue erupted around me, blocking off enough of the corridor and forcing the creature to concentrate on me.

  I kept tabs on the information streams coming from behind me. Malkyr managed to block the passage before the zombies barged through and even intercepted another fireball. Bek was continuously healing him and Hoshisu and the mastiffs were gradually ripping the zombies apart. My dagger hovered from foe to foe, adding its small amount of damage to the mix. I had to hold out on my own for just a little while.

  The Stalker charged at me, thrumming its legs at the ground, leaving in its wake deep gouges on the hard stone floor. I tried building up a mass of tangible shadow in its path, but it simply rolled over it. I braced myself for impact.

  A barrage of piercing, stabbing spikes assaulted my shield. The protective field held off the sharpened points barely an arm’s length from my body. Then half a dozen more spikes hit all at once, piercing through.

  Greater Stalker hit Mana Shield for 178 damage. 63 mana drain. You take 85 damage.

  Ouch. I was stabbed all over my body, my crude leather armor doing little to blunt the damage. The Stalker immediately drew back, preparing for another attack.

  I took advantage of the small reprieve to retaliate. I launched a volley of drilling arrows and recalled my dagger, slashing at the monster.

  Sacrificial Dagger hit Greater Stalker for 39 damage.

  Drilling Arrow hit Greater Stalker for 45 damage (SR ignored 15 damage).

&nb
sp; Damn that thing’s spell resistance!

  As I looked at the never-ending moving wall of spears just beyond my shield, its wounded flesh began to mend. The gashes I had opened in its body closed before my eyes. Crap. It had the ability to regenerate.

  But as the wounds closed, the creature looked like it had deflated a little.

  Behind me, I could sense Malkyr intercepting another fireball launched by the lone Pyrolith. Hoshisu and my mastiffs brought down one of the zombies and were doing a good job of sending the last one to its grave.

  The Stalker before me wound back its front spears, then snapped them forward, as fast as an arrow. The first five spears were stopped by my shield, the rest punched through.

  Greater Stalker hit Mana Shield for 158 damage. 63 mana drain. You take 70 damage.

  Crap, I really should invest more time in raising my shield spell level.

  Mana Shield skill level increased to 27.

  I should have wished for a million gold instead.

  Lucky Bastard skill level increased to 26.

  Vic chuckled in my mind.

  That’s not funny! I shot back at him, then sighed. I hated this method of raising my shield level. At least in this case, the system was working for me.

  That thing’s level was too high for me to attempt a Freeze. Instead, I hurled more drilling arrows at it and slashed with my dagger. And since it was kind enough to injure me sufficiently, I also activated Blood Wrath, channeling the rage energy into a single, piercing ray which inflicted another 50 points of damage.