With the promise of getting armor for his avatar, James led him towards the domed city of Atlantis with its flaring giants as guards. The legends had been true - it indeed was a hidden city. He never would have found it had it not been for his friend's suggestion to go to the Arena.
According to James, Atlantis was the best place to get armor because it was one of the strongest places and boasted of blacksmiths that made some of the most powerful weapons. Eager to find one of these blacksmiths, he quickened his pace to keep up with James, who for some reason held his sword tight. Allan had not seen him remove the sword from the scabbard hung at his buckle-belt.
Allan sensed a strange kind of nervousness tackling his friend. James usually was a jovial chap, but now he looked more sober than @solbath92, another of his gaming buddies who was always serious. Allan had no idea why he clutched his sword so tight. Was he expecting a fight? As far as Allan was concerned, there were no monsters in sight and even as Atlantis loomed near, the flaring lights of the giant guards gave him hope. Then, why was James so anxious? What troubled his mind?
He couldn’t guess. All he could do now was plod on towards the legendary city, whose mythologies and stories had always enamored him. Especially the ones with mermaids in it. Though, from what he could see, he felt trouble believing that mermaids ever existed in Atlantis. The city was far from buried under sea. Clearly, every construction in sight was over a huge piece of land and there was no sign of water nearby except if one counted the river joining the sea a few leagues away.
The gate into the city was an archaic arch, carved with runes belonging to an ancient incorrigible language. Neither of them could understand what it meant, though it was said that those who bore the gift of imperial knowledge could decipher it. For that, one had to gain several more levels.
He hadn't reached there yet. And James was going to lead him to the best armor that he, at his level, could afford. He expected a lecture from his friend, but every question of his met a brick wall. There was only silence on the other side.
They passed underneath the gate, the gray bricks looming over them. The interior too teemed with alphabets of a strange language, similar to the ones inscribed on its front. How he wished he could read and understand them!
Not more than a few minutes later, they came out the other side of the gate. He had expected a glowing city with its roads teeming with people, but instead, he found it as quiet as a graveyard. The light that glowed outside didn't shine within. It was as though the flares he had seen were just a part of an illusion. Everything inside was bleak and dark, the walls on the houses torn apart.
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All light had gone out save for the moon in the sky. The roads had broken tiles, wet with blood, indicating a battle had taken place. Carts lay strewn aside, the barrels on them rent asunder as if by great force. Swords and spears lay on the ground, some of them broken. Arrows were stuck everywhere, indicating they had missed their targets.
Did James know about this? Why did he suddenly turn stoic?
“Leviathan!” his friend cursed before he could ask that question.
“What?” Allan remarked, brows raised.
“Leviathan!” his friend said again. “This is the work of that great beast and its minions. Inexperienced players always think they can defeat them, but these are cunning monsters who always stay one step ahead. Rumor has it that they can anticipate their opponent’s moves. Quite handy, and that’s what makes them so difficult to kill. Usually The Leviathan itself doesn’t attack, but it sends its army of minions. Voidspawn are among it’s favorite of these vile creatures.”
“Voidspawn? Like the one we encountered back there in the forest?” Allan cringed.
“Yes. Which makes more sense why we ran into one so close to the city.” James whispered as he looked around nervously, “Watch out for that black goo stuff you see all over. They can spawn instantly if they sense a challenger in the vicinity. And they can’t be killed really. So if they are here that means the city has been overrun, and will continue to respawn no matter how many times one fends them off. I doubt we would meet The Leviathan here, but his minions are terrifying enough as it is. There's really no way to avoid it. So, keep your spear handy!”
He didn’t have to tell him twice. Allan already had his spear in his hands, his eyes suddenly cautious of the surroundings.
James stepped forward and knelt, his ears near to the ground. He wondered what his friend was up to. He opened his mouth to ask, but stopped short. Allan looked around anxiously as James held a finger against his lips. His eyes were closed, as if he were meditating. He turned his head ever slowly, focusing on the sounds around them.
Several minutes passed before James finally broke the silence. “The battle is still underway deep in the heart of the city.”
“And you know that, how?” he asked.
“You could too, if you applied the Elixir of Audibility to your ears.”
“I don’t have any. It didn't get any potions or elixirs from the places we raided or found monsters in.”
“Gah!” came a grunt out of his friend’s mouth. “You get potions and elixirs everywhere. Houses, citadels, palaces, forts, everywhere has them, but you can find them aplenty in healing and alchemy quarters. I suppose you didn’t go look for them there?”
“I did go to healing quarters once but only found health elixirs,” Allan stated, wondering to himself if he had missed anything in his previous raids. “I didn’t find any others.”
“You probably didn’t look in the right places,” his friend stressed. “Stay close. I'll help you find some, and get you some decent armor while we're at it too.”
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