We got plenty of crystals from the vampires that were just added to my stockpile, waiting until I found something to spend it on. I had more crystals than I thought I would ever need. The greed floor left me rather wealthy. Add to that the proficiency scrolls that occasionally dropped and the various armor and weapons and I just kept getting wealthier. Part of me wondered if it wasn’t another greed thing. Asher assured me it wasn’t and that it was more a feature of Purgatory. The higher you climbed, the more you were rewarded. A statement that was true for Purgatory and the vampire’s castle alike.
As I climbed higher, the vampires did get stronger, but only incrementally. But that small increase in difficulty related to a small increase in the rewards and a very small increase in experience points.
I yawned then asked, “How long have we been in here?”
“Probably too long,” Asher said.
“I still don’t know why you don’t just try to finish this floor and be done with it. It doesn’t seem worth it to continue with such paltry rewards,” Era complained as she liked to do . . . a lot.
Ignoring Era, I looked to Asher and asked, “Have we got enough experience to get to twenty unused points in Soul?”
Asher bobbed. “Based on yesterday’s gains and how much further we came today, I would say yes, we should be good.”
“Good,” I said, letting my weapon fade into motes of light. I was mentally tired. This floor had worn on me. It wasn’t that I was constantly having my emotions toyed with, quite the opposite really. It was the paranoia due to the lack of lust. The lack of any kind of temptation that was getting to me. It put me on edge and left me feeling like this entire floor was one giant trap. “Let’s go. Oh, and we’re taking tomorrow off.”
“Off? What do you mean off?” Era demanded.
I groaned. “Off, as in not doing anything, as in relaxing for a day. Call it a mental health day if you like, either way, I’m resting tomorrow. Didn’t God rest on the seventh day?” I may not be a master of the bible or religion but even a layman like me knew that much.
Era pouted, “But we’re so close to finishing this floor. That will be especially true once you apply those unused points.”
“That’s enough, Era,” Asher said rather sternly, surprising me. He was usually just as against me taking time off.
Era harumphed but didn’t protest further.
I left behind the vampire’s castle and returned to my room. The castle was so large that it was easy to spend the majority of the day inside. I had a feeling it was large enough it would require spending more than a single day inside if I wanted to complete it.
My room was still shabby with the exception of my bed. I had yet to find another furniture drop. I kept hoping to find a table or desk and a chair to sit in. I wouldn’t even have said no to a better toilet, or better still, a bath, not that I ever needed one. Purgatory stripped away any grime and mess every time you left it.
I slept hard and when I did wake up, I chose to roll over and sleep more. When I did finally roll out of bed, I groggily left my room to find breakfast, which I promptly brought back to my room to eat. Thankfully, Era and Asher didn’t bother me about it.
After breakfast and another nap, I decided it was time to finally do the little bit of work I needed to. The upgrade to essence engineering caused the bits and pieces I purified to come out just a bit stronger.
Pride Demon Essence
Purity: 21%
Weapon Imbuement Effect: 0.21% chance to afflict target with Irrational Pride
Armor Imbuement Effect: Reduce Pride Aura effectiveness by 0.21%
The most important part of that improved purity was that it took a lot less purifying to get enough essence to imbue my mace. It took about an hour to get the last little bit of essence I needed and imbue it into my spirit weapon. I just hoped that irrational pride worked like a taunt or Era was going to forever be stifled in her ability to cause damage.
Call Divine Spirit Weapon: Mace
Level: 20(+19 Free)
Experience to Next Level: 18,488
SE Cost: 200
Call a Divine Spirit Weapon in the form of a mace to aid you in combat.
Mace: 40-75 Damage
Sloth Touch: Chance on hit to afflict target with Sloth, slowing attacks, proficiencies, and movement speed.
Irrational Pride: Impacted enemies will feel an irrational need to attack you to prove their superiority.
After reading the description, I grinned. It was exactly what I wanted and needed. Now, I should be able to force the vampires to attack me so Era can focus on killing them.
I had a small impulse to head into Purgatory to give it a try but quickly ignored it. I wasn’t stepping foot in that place for at least a day, maybe two days. With my weapon upgrade complete, the only thing I had left to do with my scroll was to spend my experience points and unused points. Once again, my paranoia made me put the points needed to increase my resistance, that was ten into righteousness. With ten points left and my righteousness and faith perfectly balanced to give me the most resistance, I put the remaining ten points into fortune.
And just like that, I had more points in soul than I did in body. I was definitely going to need to do something about that. The only problem with spending points like that, was that it made the already paltry experience gains from the vampires that much smaller. But that was a problem for another day.
“Now what?” Era asked.
I shrugged and asked, “Shopping?”
“We can look at what’s available but don’t count on there being anything interesting,” Asher said. The ball of flame was correct about the available selection. At this point, I needed to be very careful in what soul proficiencies I selected. There wasn’t much I could use, not with Raphael’s blessing. Honestly, the best thing I could get would have been more divine calls or spirit weapons and armor. I didn’t even know if armor was a thing, but if it was, I wanted it.
After being disappointed by the available options, I went to the bar and got a late lunch and a drink.
Theo and Rebecca showed up a few hours later with someone new in tow. Before I could say anything in greeting or wave them over, Theo boomed loudly, “Victor, there you are.”
I waved and motioned to the table, but my focus was on the newcomer to their group. It was a mousy looking young man. For a moment, I saw the ghost of my son overlay the young man. They had the same nervous smile. But that was where the similarity ended. This young man had a mop of dirty blonde hair that hung down to his shoulders where my son always kept his hair neat, something his mother insisted on. This boy was also thin as a rail, which if that was his peak physical condition, suggested he was never much of an athlete.
Grinning stupidly, Theo introduced the boy. “Victor, meet Theo two.”
“My name is Theodore, thank you,” the boy corrected, touching his face near his eyes.
“Theodore was a hacker, just like me,” Rebecca gushed excitedly. “Isn’t that amazing?”
“Sure,” I said with a nod.
“And now I’m a mage,” the boy . . . Theodore said, beaming with pride.
Asher growled. “It’s not magic, boy. It’s a proficiency that taps into the divine. Don’t sully the divine by calling it . . . magic.”
“Wow,” Theodore said excitedly, moving up close to examine Asher then seemingly noticing Era. “Are you a summoner? That is so cool. I didn’t even know that was an option.”
“We are divine calls, a very rare and powerful proficiency,” Era explained.
Theodore quickly focused on me and asked, “Where can I get one?”
“There is a vendor in town. But you should know, most people who get a divine guide proficiency get something more akin to a search engine or data repository,” I explained, hoping the kid understood what I was saying.
“Then how did you get two?” Theodore asked, looking at me skeptically.
“I got lucky with Asher. He was my very first proficiency. Era was a rewar
d for completing a floor,” I answered, trying to be honest but also not to give too much away.
“Very lucky,” Asher grumbled.
Theodore grunted and frowned. “Can you trade them, or something?”
I shook my head. “You’ll learn that a proficiency is part of your soul. Once you add it to your scroll, that’s it. However, if you want, I can show you to the vendor. Just bear in mind, you’ll need an open proficiency slot.”
“And that means twenty points into my soul, right?” Theodore asked, his frown deepening. Slowly he shook his head, “Maybe I’ll try in the future, but right now I have other needs. Specifically, I need a mage shield. That’s got to be my first purchase if I’m going to play a mage.”
I laughed as did Rebecca while both Asher and Era tried once again to correct the boy, insisting he call them proficiencies and not spells, but he just wasn’t having it. Watching them argue was funny, petty though it was.
“Enough, enough, too much talking, not enough drinking,” Theo stated, putting an end to that conversation.
After Theo had a few mugs and the rest of us enjoyed a drink, I tried to get to know the new guy. “Becs said you were a hacker. Were you like her?”
Theodore grinned a bit sheepishly, one of his hands went up to his eyes again as if he was searching for something that wasn’t there. I guessed it was some kind of nervous habit like adjusting his glasses, glasses that he no longer needed. “Not exactly. She stole from bad people. I was more of a . . . blackmailer. I would get into people’s computers, get some of their deep dark secrets, then blackmail them for money . . . sometimes, it was a lot of money. I mean, these were some really bad people, so I didn’t feel too bad about it. But . . . well, apparently the big guy upstairs doesn’t like that. And . . . well . . . I’m just guessing here, but one of the guys I blackmailed, probably did me in. I don’t remember all the details, but I do remember I found something so bad I both blackmailed him and still turned him into the feds. The guy from the line said traumatic deaths don’t get remembered.”
“That seems to be going around,” I said. I know I was murdered, and it was pretty safe to assume Theodore was as well. I was sure Theo was killed in battle, the maniac that he was. I don’t think I got Becs story, and I wasn’t going to ask, it just seemed rude at this point to even ask.
“You too?” Theodore asked.
“I think so,” I answered.
Theo chose that moment to belch loudly. “Bah, stop worrying about how you died and focus on how you’re going to live.”
Theodore laughed and held out a hand, a small fireball formed over the top of it almost instantly. “Everything dies in a fire.”
“Not me,” Theo said, thumping his chest with his fist. “I’m fireproof, ice proof, poison proof . . . hic . . . I’m everything-proof.”
Theodore wasn’t laughing anymore. “Can demons be fireproof?”
“Some are,” Asher answered.
Era scoffed at Asher then expanded on his answer, “There will be some demons, like imps, that are mostly immune to fire. To counter this, I would suggest you learn a few additional elemental proficiencies to give yourself some variety. That way, if you do ever run into such a demon, you have the power to destroy them. Though the first floor of Purgatory shouldn’t throw anything at you that you aren’t capable of managing with your first proficiency.” Then she looked at Asher and smirked. “That is, assuming you haven’t selected a non-combat proficiency to start.”
Asher grumbled under his breath but didn’t say anything.
Theodore nodded, “Thanks for the advice. You’re really helpful, Era.”
“My pleasure,” the wind ball replied, absolutely beaming with pride, the swirls and eddies that made up her form moving about faster.
Rebecca added, “Just make sure you get a weapon proficiency and some training. You don’t want to run out of spirit energy and not have a way to defend yourself.”
“I already learned to use a staff at the blunt weapon school. That way, if I find a magic staff, I’ll be able to use it,” Theodore boasted.
“Hey, alright,” I said cheerfully. “I’m a blunt weapon user myself.”
Theodore nodded. “I don’t need to take it very far, just enough that I can whack something once or twice if I need to after I’ve lit it on fire.”
I chuckled. “Whatever you say, pyro.”
Chapter 33 – Another One Bites the Dust
It turned out, taking a day off from Purgatory was just what my spirit needed.
I swung, hitting the arm of the vampire that was trying to get to Era. It didn’t do much damage, but the demon refocused its efforts on trying to kill me instead of her. It was his mistake. As soon as the vampire hit me, it caught fire. Then Era hit it with a wind blade, aiming for the burning hand. As soon as the wind blade hit, the flames were fanned and quickly engulfed the demon. I kicked out at it, knocking it away and allowing me to focus on the mini boss.
I had classified the mini bosses based on their proficiencies along the line of traditional classes in games, things like warriors, mages, archers, and things like that. The mini boss I was facing off with now was one I classified as warrior. He was big and brutish, swinging around a large, bearded ax.
I grunted as my shield absorbed the damage from the ax. Thankfully, he took some damage in return from Asher’s passive defense, burning armor. Still, I took the chance while he was drawing back for another big swing to take a shot at the demon’s knee. I hit and there was a crunching sound that I’d been waiting for. The demon dropped to a knee. From there, it was routine.
I’ve found that with the warrior mini bosses that if you take out a knee, they are pretty much useless. The magic sort required getting up close before they could cast too many spells to make my life miserable. I had developed strategies for dealing with most types I’d faced off against.
Anyway, when the warrior vampire died, his subordinates fled. This fight was in an amphitheater of some kind near the top of the castle. It was an outdoor venue that had quite the view. Throughout the fight another vampire would occasionally rush into the amphitheater to help. They were annoying and slightly distracting but not really a problem. Not with the three of us working together.
“Ooh, ten whole tiny crystals this time. Really starting to strike it rich, aren’t we?” Era asked sarcastically. That was always the problem with using points to boost my stats and proficiencies. Making things easier in the short term seemed to make things harder in the long term.
And it wasn’t just ten tiny crystals. There was also a key. Ignoring Era’s sarcasm, I looked to the door at the back of the stage. It appeared to be connected to the final tower of the castle. I’d cleared everything else out. “Can we stop whining about it and finish this floor?”
Era sighed, “Fine, I suppose. But be quick about it. We’ve been in here for days already.”
Days was about right. This castle was huge. There was no way anyone could have cleared this floor in a single day. And unfortunately, if I left, it would reset instead of letting me continue where I left off.
I used this last key to open the door to the tower. It was about what I expected inside the door. A long spiral staircase going up awaited me. I was not prepared for what I found at the top of that stairway.
Most of the vampire castle had been rather opulent. Crystal chandeliers decorated the rooms and hallways. Every floor was lined with lush red carpets. Each piece of furniture was carefully selected, and more than likely hand made. The room at the top of the tower put all of that to shame. It had all of that and more. Gold filigree decorated the furniture. The carpet looked like it had been handwoven, the design was more intricate than any machine could ever produce. There was a long table covered in decanters of red liquid, that I told myself was wine, and even the decanters had gold filigree wrapping them. It was . . . spectacular.
Then there was the throne and the shirtless man sitting upon it. It was the same man from the entrance that exuded so much
sex appeal I questioned my own sexuality if I looked at him for too long. Sitting on the ground all around his throne were women. Beautiful half-naked women that exuded a similar though slightly weaker sex appeal. All four of the women had one more feature that was highly disturbing. They each bore black feathery wings.
“Fallen angels,” Asher gasped.
I couldn’t help but notice the angel from the entrance was also among the fallen, grinning wickedly at me. There was none of the innocence in this girl’s eyes that there was from the girl at the entrance. No, this girl’s eyes were filled with malice.
“Vampire angels, great,” I drawled tiredly. Without glancing to my companions, I asked, “Suggestions?”
Asher was on it, “Depends on the fight’s mechanics. If it’s phased, you’ll most likely fight his vampire angels one, two, or all four at once before the lord. If it’s just a free-for-all . . . kill the lord and kill him fast.”
I nodded, “Anything to add, Era?”
Era replied, “Don’t let them entrance you. With five enemies as powerful as these are, your resistance may not be strong enough to fight them all off.”
I nodded again and took a step fully into the room.
Purgatory: The Devil's Game Page 35
