As he started looking around for a new tunnel the system chimed into activity.
DING!
YOU HAVE OVERCOME THE DEAD MOUNTAIN!
THREE BOSSES…
…
…
ERROR
FOUR WARD BOSSES HAVE BEEN SLAIN!
REWARDS HAVE BEEN OFFERED IN CONJUNCTION!
…
YOU WILL ALL BE MOVED TO THE MOUNTAIN BOSS!
Jazmel took that quick movement to look over his stats. It had been some time since he had last looked.
Name: Jazmel
Level: 85
Species: Tyrant*
Rank: Ranker Tier II
Class: Sword Scion
Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT)
Tempered body; Domineering tyrant
Health: 3470/5570
Stamina: 2543/3642
Mana: 3190/3700
STR:152(+5) PER:151
VIT:149 END:154(+3)
INT:155 WIL:158(+7)
AGL:155 DEX:156
Skills:
* Raven’s Cleaving Descent (tier II)
* Great Rumbling Dragon (tier II)
* Sunder (tier II)
* Eviscerate (tier II)
Title(s):
FIEND BANE (ACTIVE)
PETRIFYING GLARE OF THE DRAKE (ACTIVE)
SERPENT SLAYER (UNACTIVE)
DEMON SLAYER (UNACTIVE)
AWAKENER (PASSIVE)
BASTION OF THE TYRANT (PASSIVE)
Unused Stat points: 4
442X PLATINUM COINS
782X WHITE GOLD COINS
4X GOLD COINS
Item(s):
TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE
TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE
2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE
TIER III TUNIC OF TUMERIN
TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST
X8 TIER III GORGON SCALES
TIER III GORGON HEART
TIER III MOON LOTUS FLOWER
TIER III BOG HAG MUCUS SAC
TIER III SWAMP WITCH MIASMA POTION
X5 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER FANGS
X9 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER SKIN
TIER I MAGELLANIC MEMORY MOULD
X4 TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CARAPACE PIECE
TIER I 10 YEAR MANA GINSENG
PRIMORDIAL CORE SHARD 4/5
TIER III REAPING GRIM BEAST CORE
UNCORRUPT TIER III LEVIATHAN BEAST CORE
TIER III RED MASK
TIER III LAMP OF LELUTHIAN
X10 TIER II BRUTE BOAR TUSKS
TIER IV DREAD HERETIC CORE
TIER III ARMOUR SET OF THE NIGHT WING
TIER III SKILL EVOLVE TOKEN
X10 TIER II GREATER MANA POTIONS
X8 TIER II GREATER HEALTH POTIONS
X10 TIER II GREATER STAMINA POTIONS
TIER III ALCOLI THE GHOUL CORE
TIER III MANTICORE BEAST CORE
TIER III GARGAUNTUAN SABRE OF CULLING
TIER III LION HELM OF ADVERSITY
COMPANION: NIGHT DRAGON
LEVEL 8
PARTY:
5/5
BAEK LVL 115
Jazmel had been creeping towards strength. There was a greater balance between his stats, he was getting to the point. Where his stats were reaching within just a few stats of one another. He had stuck to the words of Mary from his seeker trial and had picked balance. He had chosen that over pushing his body to its limits. But in truth the system had gifted him with things to overcome and he had been able to push his limits, push his boundaries and excel.
His tempered body seemed to pull from his stats. It allowed him to push against the limits of his body, time and time again. A domineering tyrant to the end. He had just made it to tier II as a ranker, but he was sure his strength was beyond that. He rarely fought others, but he had fought a tier IV and won alone. The tier V behemoth from the Teneriel forest had caught him off guard, but with better preparation he wouldn’t be so unprepared. In truth he was itching to try a master tier. He wanted to see the gap in strength and see the disparity in his own skills.
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As he closed his system screen down, the lair seemed to fold in on itself and he found himself beside his friends. Sadé, Patton, Bannerman and Katie all stood waiting for him, and he smiled. Happy to see his friends and see them well.
“I guess you were the one to kill two ward bosses?” Katie asked and shyly Jazmel admitted to it.
“I am not surprised; you are just too strong!” she told Jazmel. He felt shy she was complimenting him, but he was embarrassed.
“I want to see your stats.” She said, he shrugged, raising the system screen again. He shared it with his party, and they gaped.
“I don’t know if this is even allowed. How did you get them so high, so quickly?” Katie asked and Jazmel got hot with anxiety.
“When I started my trial, I met Mary, and she told me focus on keeping a balance. So I did, and I have. I made sure to keep a balance, whenever I get stat points I raise the lowest stat. no matter what, I don’t favour any of them. I raise them all.” He explained and the others looked at him and at his stats and continued to gape.
“I think these stats are not too far from a master tier.” Patton said, looking over them.
“I wonder what Baek’s stats are like.” Katie wondered and they all fell quiet, trying to figure them out.
DING!
THE BASILISK HAS COMMANDEERED THE HEART OF THE MOUNTAIN
THOUGH IT NO LONGER BEATS WITH THE FIRE OF LIFE!
THE HEART OF THE MOUNTAIN IS CONDENSED OF PURE MANA
THE BASILISK IS USING IT TO TRANSCEND, STOP ITS ASCENSION TO DRAGONHOOD!
…
Jazmel sighed and cursed to himself, there was no way this creature was going to be any less than a tier IV beast.
The mountain changed, folding in on itself. Jazmel felt him and his friends all pulled to the centre of the mountain, the lowest level. Where it could be said that the very roots of a mountain could be found. It was dark, darker than anywhere Jazmel had ever been before. Darker than the night sky without the stars and moon. No, here under the mountain; this dead mountain. It was so dark Jazmel thought of only the abyss as a place.
His eyes sought out Mana but found none, it was drained completely dead ley lines of Mana ran around the mountain. Jazmel could see the ghost of the pure place it must have once been. But no, this place was completely devoid of life and Mana.
“It feels like nobody has been down here in many years.” Patton said, his voice barely a whisper but it carried. The cavern was huge, a chamber beneath the mountain.
Devoid of his sight, Jazmel could hear the sound of something gargantuan moving. It was as if stone was grating across stone. At first he thought nothing of it. but something about the sound unnerved him, something was moving around in the darkness and Jazmel couldn’t see it or judge anything. He had hoped to catch a glimpse of it, using his Mana to perceive in the darkness. But nothing came into his radius, and he found himself struggling. His senses were as much a part of his growth as his stats had been. He had relied on his eyes immensely and now he could see nothing, he was worried, worrying was not his forte.
“We need light.” He whispered, in this darkened space with nothing around them. his voice carried and soon his friends were doing their best to form light. But it was Patton who created the truest light source.
He pulled three orbs from his ring; he muttered something over them and cast them into the air. They whirled, whirring on the spot as they glimmered and flashed with light. After a moment they kept flashing as the light began to grow in brightness. They then ascended, climbing to hang high above their heads.
“Orbs of Oromos. They trap sun light and then use it to bring light in darkened places. They will last for a while, but they are connected to my Mana. So we have to be careful in the fight.” He explained, Jazmel could see him, even though it was still dark. He could make out his friends face now, Katie and Sadé were close together. While Bannerman was prowling around in the dark, his eyes glinting in the orbs light now.
“Something big is near.” He told them, Jazmel nodded. It was clearly the Basilisk, and it was moving around in the shadows, in the darkened spaces where the light didn’t seem to reach.
“How much space can your light cover?” Jazmel asked Patton.
“The orbs are made to suspend themselves in a way that it provides the owner with the most coverage. So as far as my eyes should normally see.” He explained.
“Good, we need to bring the Basilisk to us then. The system said it wants Mana; well we need to show that we have Mana for it. when it shows itself, we kill it.” Jazmel told them and everyone agreed.
“I will draw it in.” Sadé said, Jazmel was about to argue with her, but then he remembered her tails. Each tail was worth 1000 extra Mana points. He was sure she probably had the most Mana in their party and then some.
She stepped into the light, right into the centre of where the light covered the most. All three orbs cast light in different angles, but the point where all three met. Sadé stood in it.
Thunder crown
She called her crown of thunder atop her head. it fizzled in the dark, but then she willed her tails. They appeared one after the other, each tail adding a brilliant amount of Mana into the thunder crown. She pulled all five of her tails out and Jazmel was impressed by how dense her Mana was. But she shocked him when she called a sixth tail. it appeared and her usual blue tails, the colour of Mana. Turned white, a ghost white, pure and dense. It was a Mana type he wasn’t sure what it was, but they burned radiant. Brilliantly alive with both fire and thunder.
A hiss sounded in the dark, their plan had worked. The Basilisk hissed and Jazmel imagined a tongue flicking out and tasting the air. The area was so devoid of life and Mana that Sadé must have tasted like a Mana heart to the creature.
Jazmel caught a glimpse of its bulk as it moved. It was massive, easily a hundred feet in length. Its body the length of almost five school buses. Jazmel watched in awe as its leathery scales scraped against stone, which rasping sound he had heard before. Now he knew what it was, scales against stone.
The Basilisk reared up; its body as thick as Jazmel’s entire wingspan. It hissed again, tasting the air, and realising that there were more than one sources of Mana. The orbs realigned and basked the Basilisk in full light.
Its scales were blackened blue, dark enough to hide it in the shadows. But battered and scarred from the tunnels of the mountain. Its mouth dripped with toxic spittle, Jazmel could smell the miasma from where he stood.
It hissed at Sadé and swaying on its body, it edged forward. But Sadé was already reacting.
Thunderfire
She threw her skill out, the bolt of thundered fire hit the Basilisk in the face and it wretched. Hissing and wailing, a screech-like nails against a chalkboard.
Withered whip!
Katie whipped and lashed the Basilisk, with her death Mana chain and she broke scales. Even removing a few, they fell to the floor denting the massive cavern they were in.
Howl!
Bannerman howled in the dark, the Basilisk shivered for a moment, but it wasn’t stricken. After all it was clearly a tier IV creature. Before Jazmel or Patton could react the system awakened as the Basilisk reacted.
It inhaled sharply and then spewed a thick cloud around the ground. Blasting all of them with it. Jazmel was in pain immediately, poison battered him, and he felt his body fighting and grappling with it.
DING!
TIER IV BASILISK HAS USED POISON CLOUD!
…
ALL BEINGS HAVE BEEN POISONED!
HEALTH AND MANA AFFLICTED
HEALTH WILL CONTINOUSLY REDUCE UNTIL POISON IS HEALED!
…
Jazmel grumbled at the notification. He could already feel his body fighting back, his passive skilled tyrant bastion was doing its best. He had to leave it to work, he hadn't bought any antidotes yet, he had not dealt with much poison. But over the last couple of floors, he had realised. He would need to keep a source of them.
“I got you all.” Patton said, pulling from his ring, a large lamp. It reminded Jazmel of a lantern used to send down a river. It had a spike at the bottom and Patton used that to drive it into the ground. He then added some of his Mana and lit the lamp.
He drank a Mana potion and Jazmel could see the orbs and this new lamp. Was now taking a toll on his Mana.
“The lamp will heal us, but you have to stay near it!” he explained. Jazmel assumed it was connected to his Mana too, Katie and Bannerman made over to the lamp and sighed with relief as the poison began to reduce.
Sadé remained where she was. Casting fire and thunder at the Basilisk and doing her best to keep it off her friends. Her tails were burning now, Jazmel had not seen her use this before. The tails were burning the ambient Mana around them and keeping the toxic poison clouds at bay.
“I have to help her.” He explained and Patton nodded.
“We will protect ourselves; we will help when we’ve reduced the poison!” Katie yelped and Jazmel leapt from the lamps radius. Pushing through the clouds and urging his body to fight back. He could feel the bastion fighting, rapidly burning the poison in his body. But the continued exposure was slowing it down and pushing his body to suffer.
He leapt high up, his head almost scraping where one of the orbs hung in the air.
Sunder!
He swung his blade, swiping through the cloud and striking the Basilisk across the mouth. He hadn't noticed its mouth before. But it had three rows of fangs in its upper mouth and lower jaw. Each fang curved and hooked to latch onto prey and urge it down its gullet. He gulped himself and twirling in the air before he descended he struck again.
Sunder!
He had to end this fight quickly, striking the lidded eyes of the Basilisk it hissed at him again. it moved quickly, butting him out of the air. Its thick skull smashing into him and knocking him down. He hadn't expected it to do that, but Jazmel was in pain.
DING!
STATUS CONDITION!
FRACTURED BACK (minor)
BACK TENDONS RIPPED (major)
Jazmel could feel it, but for some reason the system’s notices made it real. He groaned, and remembered he was still under the influence of the poison.
DING!
WARNING
STATUS CONDITION!
POISONED!
HEALTH HAS DROPPED BELOW 50%
…
“Jaz!” he heard and looking up he saw Sadé bound forward and land beside him. her thunder crown and six tails bobbing with her movement.
“look out!” he yelled just as the Basilisk jabbed down, trying to gobble both he and Sadé in one huge bite. Jazmel reacted quicker, as he had seen it before. He drew his blade, Yoru No Tsubasa and holding Nozarashi in his left and the other in his right. He stood in the base of the Basilisk’s mouth. Saliva from its mouth dripped on him and he yelped in pain, as it seared his skin. It was poisonous of course. He had stabbed one of his swords into the top of its mouth, and the other into the bottom. So it wailed in a half-opened mouth. If it clamped down, his swords would go up into its brain and then down through its jaw. Now it was a battle of attrition, who could survive. Sadé was standing beside him, holding onto him as he stood firm. With all his might keeping them from being swallowed.
Thunderfire!
She cast her skill in the mouth and the saliva burned up, the Basilisk shrieked and Jazmel could do nothing but stop them from being swallowed.
“Are you both alright?” he heard and realised it was Katie yelling up to them.
“Get us out!” Sadé shouted back.
“Hang on!!” Katie yelled and Jazmel did as he was told.
He couldn’t see what she was doing, but the jerking of the Basilisk as it moved its body moved them around and Jazmel cried out when one of its fangs pierced his side.
DING!
POISON HAS ENTERED YOUR SYSTEM!
YOUR HEALTH IS DETERIORATING!
He shook his head and the system notice moved. He didn’t have time to worry about that.
The Basilisk slammed into the ground, its mouth almost shutting on them. but two clawed hands grappled with it and wrenched its jaws apart. Jazmel’s sword had stabbed up into its brain while his friends had attacked it from outside. The Basilisk had died.
“Come on get out quickly!” Bannerman growled as he held open its mouth.
Jazmel pulled his blades free and used them to drag himself free of the mouth of the Basilisk. He crawled free and sighed with effort.