Alcaeus left a while ago to get more people…
I logged off and immediately logged back in.
For the first time since I started royal road I had found an undiscovered place, knowing that no one had been here before made me eager to explore.
I needed to do something to pass the time... and what better way to do it than kill my childhood’s arch nemesis.
I could hear screams coming from the dome, they stopped.
.
.
A worm got close to the cave entrance where I was waiting.
It got within range, I attacked.
Unlike the boss monster I’d fought before, this one only had two hearts.
It took me a lot of time to find them though; they were located on the 6th and 12th body segments.
After I stabbed both hearts the worm died.
The next target approached.
It raised high above the ground with its mouth pointed at me.
On a hunch I cut through the segments where the other worm’s hearts were. The creature died.
Once more I fought 1on1 and the location was the same.
With this information, the threat the worms posed was reduced to a minimum.
In my next battle I fought two, afterwards three, and then four at the same time.
Five enemies at once was my limit.
I spent two hours battling and killed more or less fifty mobs. It was boring, quiet… I missed Alcaeus.
.
.
After fighting so many high leveled mobs I never leveled up, the experience I gained was minimal.
My bag, on the other hand, grew heavier and heavier with each kill.
My health regenerated and I was ready to fight again.
.
.
My back was against the wall, in front of me five Deadly worms, their round teeth-filled mouths drooling.
In a circular motion I slashed the worms in front of me… but the cut did not reach their hearts, they were still alive.
I heard a growl… the ground shook.
I fended off against the five mobs attacking me nonstop.
The wall behind me crumbled, rubble passed by my feet; a long shadow covered me whole.
My back was exposed to a sixth enemy.
I could not turn, not with five worms waiting for me to get distracted; I could only wait to be struck from behind.
My bag became lighter.
A hiss… then a growl, the sounds distracted my foes long enough for my blades to cut through them and end their lives.
-level up
i leveled up.
It was not yet time to relax.
I turned around ready to fight… what I saw were a dead worm and a wolf feasting on its meat.
The demon wolf whelp I got from Ethel had grown to the size of a young wolf.
I hit myself hard in the head.
~He was in my bag all this time. ~
Tired I started to walk back to the cave, it followed me.
A scream echoed in the dome, I looked back; the scream came from the roof.
Following the scream, a blinding light, I could see the worms dig underground and disappear.
*********************
As soon as Alcaeus landed I rushed towards him.
I hugged him, I do not know why. The hooded boy he brought with him raised his head, his eyes glared at me with killing intent. I let go.
“You’re back. Where are the others?”
“Merl is enough I think. Besides if it gets crowded it won’t be fun.”
“But these things are practically immortal.” Not true but I wanted to win the argument.
“No… all you have to do is pierce through their hearts in the 6th and 12th segment.”
“Ho… how did you know?”
“I fought with them after you logged off yesterday. But they are still dangerous, any more than 10 of them and I had difficulty fighting.” He smirked, did he say 10?
Can’t believe I missed him even for a second, annoying pain in the…
All the time Merl, the weirdo Alcaeus brought, had looked at me with arrogance, and anger. He didn’t like me… well the feeling was mutual.
“Hello.” I reached out for a handshake. He ignored me.
-twitch.
That F#$% B@#$.
A tremor interrupted us, from the ground hundreds of worms came out. We were still in the middle of the dome and we were surrounded by them. Merl got in front of us.
He turned towards Alcaeus with sparkly eyes. When facing Him Merl’s attitude changed completely. He looked almost innocent.
“How do you kill them?”
“Attack their hearts located in the 6th and 12 segment.”
“Or you can use a light spell and they’ll leave.” I added.
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not a mage.”
I looked at Alcaeus, he was surprised as well.
“What about your wings?” I asked him.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t have enough mana.”
~useless~
I got ready to attack. Merl stopped me.
He took two long swords from his bag and threw them in the air…
The swords reached their peak and started to fall down, I was disappointed.
As the two blades were about to hit the floor they turned horizontally.
Both were spinning as they went through three worms in their direction.
The worms turned grey and disappeared. My head turned towards Merl.
His hands flicked, they shifted to the left. I looked at the swords still in midair.
They changed direction and cut through six worms killing them on the spot.
Every time his thumb moved the blades’ head moved, every time he raised his little finger their speed increased… it was as if he had a controller in his hand. In that one moment I could not help but admire him. Alcaeus and I just stood there.
-level up
-level up
-level up
(With the wolf out of the bag, my Xp gain returned to normal)
In a matter of minutes Merl killed more than one hundred of them, in five minutes the dome lost a third of its population.
After those five minutes, the long swords returned to him, he sat down in a meditating pose.
“What are you doing? Why did you stop?”
“I ran out of mana.”
*********************
While Merl restored his mana, Alcaeus and I attacked the worms, the demon wolf helped too.
(I should give him a name… I’ll ask the readers ^^)
Side by side we fought together again, just like in the Wolves’ Den.
Unlike the time when I was alone, I had fun.
Without noticing it, I had gotten addicted to fighting along him,I liked to listen to those poems he recited during battle; I enjoyed listening to him as he found the time to talk even when we were in a pinch.
Soon the worms’ population plummeted to the ground and went down to zero. We leveled up and our skill levels increased.
Worm Nest cleared
You have brought the Death worms into extinction.
The land I free of worms… other animals may find shelter in these lands.
fame +100
After we cleared the dome which apparently was a nest we headed towards the tunnel.
The road was quiet with few underground creatures coming out from time to time, and they soon died after that.
From time to time we would find places where the walls shone and monsters couldn't attack, we used them to eat and rest, I also learned the cooking skill.
.
.
.
We had been walking for a few hours when we noticed a lit area.
“Another safe zone, we can log out there.”
We put our stuff down and were about to log off.
Trot… trot… Trot…. Trot….
Something was approaching.
From the shadows horse footsteps could be heard.
As the creature approached its appearance became clearer.
The horse was dark as night, its skeleton somewhat visible as if it was painted over.
Fear overwhelmed me… the horse was scary.
The rider however was terrifying. A ragged black cloak covered him completely.
He raised his head slightly, the hood was empty, and black smoke flowed from it.
In the cloak two eyes appeared, two blood red eyes looked straight at us.
Fear : All stats are reduced by 60% (fighting spirit)
Trot… trot… Trot….
The horseman continued to approach us.
He got near the safe area. He got off the hose, and walked towards us.
Passing into the safe zone as if it was nothing it got close to me.
He stood in front of me, he leaned closer, his head or at least where the head was supposed to be was no more than ten centimeters away from me. From the darkness teeth appeared, a grin showed on the horseman’s face.
Fear: All stats are reduced by 90% (fighting spirit)
After he did so he walked away, he got on his horse and left.
Trot… trot… Trot….
The horse’s footsteps could be heard until it was quiet again.
“Log off”
*******************
notes
1. Ideas for Pandora's wolf are welcome.
2. only one note looked bad.
3. penguin dance:
`:^:^)~