Tobias strode down the corridor toward the archway that served as the entrance to the Demon Lord’s lair. A single Skeleton Death Knight stood in his way. Piles of bones lay strewn around and behind Tobias, the remnants of the lesser skeletons he had already slain. They were the only monsters to have respawned since his party had cleared the dungeon just a few hours before.
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> Name: Skeleton Death Knight
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> Level: 17
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> Size: Medium
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> Health: 310 / 320
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> Vitality: 325 / 340
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> Strength: 20
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> Stamina: 20
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> Agility: 14
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> Intelligence: 10
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> Wisdom: 15
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> Charisma: 16
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The Death Knight thrust both hands forward and launched a fireball.
Tobias turned to the side and covered his face with his arm and let the fireball explode on his shoulder and back, his armor absorbing much of the damage.
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> * Death Knight attacks Real2Be with Hell Fire. Attack does 40 Health points damage. Armor reduces damage by 40%. Total damage: 24 Health points.
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Tobias charged forward, intent on getting to the Death Knight before it had time to cast another spell. His charge was met with a two-handed swing of the undead warrior’s great sword.
Tobias raised his sword and deflected the blow then stepped to the side and swung his sword around with both hands. The sword bit into the skeletal knight.
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> * Death Knight attacks Real2Be with Great Sword. Attack blocked. No damage done.
> * Real2Be attacks Death Knight with Epic Blade. Attack does 44 Health points damage. +20 damage against undead creatures. Strength 20 increases damage by 50%. Total damage: 86 Health points.
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Tobias stepped away from the Death Knight, keeping his sword in front, ready to attack or defend. The monster was one of the higher level creatures he had faced recently in single combat, but he still outclassed it by three levels, and his sword delivered extra damage to undead creatures, among others.
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The Death Knight didn’t shy away from battle, though, and stepped forward swinging the blade high. Tobias didn’t bother blocking. He simply ducked under the wild swing while keeping the sword in front of him where it was in perfect position to block the second strike that came in low.
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> * Death Knight attacks Real2Be with Great Sword. Attack dodged. No damage done.
> * Death Knight attacks Real2Be with Great Sword. Attack blocked. No damage done.
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Tobias stepped forward and kicked the Death Knight in the chest, sending it stumbling backward. He continued forward, bringing his sword high overhead and down with both hands into the Death Knight’s upper torso with all of his Level 20 strength.
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> * Real2Be attacks Death Knight with kick. Attack does 2 Health points damage.
> * Real2Be attacks Death Knight with Epic Blade. Attack does 48 Health points damage. +20 damage against undead creatures. Strength 20 increases damage by 50%. Total damage: 92 Health points.
> * Epic Blade has delivered special attack critical strike to Death Knight.
> * Death Knight has been killed.
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The undead knight crumpled to the ground, its great sword clattering to the floor. The corridor was now silent.
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> You have been awarded 17,100 experience points for slaying Death Knight.
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Tobias looked around to make sure there weren’t any more monsters, then turned toward the chamber where they’d battled the Demon Lord Marduk earlier. He strode forward, crossing under the archway into an empty room. The portal that led back to the Hall of Champions flickered on the opposite side of the chamber. He looked toward the passageway where he’d seen the other portal. There was only an empty passageway leading to who knows where.
He slowly walked toward the opening, a frown on his face. Maybe he had just imagined it.
Tobias reached the mouth of the cave and peered into the darkness. “Hmmm. I guess I really did imagine it.”
He shrugged and started to remove his VR headset. His hands were halfway to his helmet when he saw the runes.
He froze, his hands still held in front of him. What is that?
Tobias took several tentative steps forward. As he approached the runes, he could make out a vertical beam. His eyes followed the beam upward where another beam went across the ceiling of the cave then met another vertical beam on the other side. The beams created a frame . . . or a doorway.
As he studied the beams, he realized they were familiar. They were a different shape, but they looked a lot like the frames around portals.
He rushed to the portal in the main cavern and studied it for a moment, then hurried back to the beams he’d just found. They definitely looked similar, and both were covered in runes.
Tobias studied the runes on this new doorway and realized the symbols were different than the runes he’d seen on other portals. They weren’t magical symbols at all.
He reached out and touched the frame, tracing the symbols that were now very familiar to him.
These are electronic symbols, he realized. This thing is technology, not magic.
Tobias smiled broadly. He hadn’t been hallucinating. The portal was real. He just needed to figure out how to turn it on.
He spent nearly an hour looking for a way to activate the portal but couldn’t find anything. He wasn’t discouraged, though. If anything, Tobias was energized. The portal was real—at least as real as anything else in the virtual reality game world. All he had to do was figure out how to turn it on, and there was a perfect tool for such a quest back in the real world. The internet.