1.6
Gods Playroom. Alpha level secured line.
HermodExpress: You sure this line is safe, trickster?
LokiDoki: You have less than a minute. Speak.
HermodExpress: Right. The plebs down at the basement reported that two of the first Easter Eggs has been found.
HermodExpress: We believe that one of the two Easter Eggs that got unearthed was the same item as the 'bag of tricks' that you've hidden somewhere in Sector 13. Problem was, it wasn't Odin who found it. He spawned somewhere in Sector 11, so the probability was nil.
LokiDoki: Tsk.
HermodExpress: You understand that this changes everything, right? Not having the weapon will potentially derail our plan. We can't fail.
LokiDoki: It doesn't matter. The weapon is an Evolver. Its potential would only be unleashed once the user understands how to operate its epic grade features. Otherwise, the weapon is no more than a kitchen knife pitted against an Excalibur.
LokiDoki: So, relax. We could still fix this.
HermodExpress: Fix it? How?
LokiDoki: I left another 'bag'.
HermodExpress: You did?
LokiDoki: Yes.
HermodExpress: And where was this other 'bag'?
LokiDoki: Sector 18.
HermodExpress: Odin is currently in Sector 11. Sector 18 is just way too far away.
LokiDoki: It's okay. I have a plan.
LokiDoki: I just need to get through Avalancia. It should be fairly easy once I get past her.
LokiDoki: The most important task right now is for us to send the information through the backdoor channels. Give me two weeks. I promise to wrap this up by then.
HermodExpress: You sure you'll be able to do it? I mean, this is Avalancia that we are talking about. An Omega level Security A.I.
LokiDoki: ...
HermodExpress: Sorry. I should have not asked that.
HermodExpress: Very well. I'll leave it up to you.
HermodExpress: Good luck.
Conversation ended. 01/03/XX 00:00:58
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One absolute advantage of being an undead was to be able to see the entire labyrinth clearly even when in absolute darkness. Unlike the first time he wandered around these parts, it was intensely liberating for Aesa to be able to finally traverse the cursed forest and run around its thicket without the slightest care.
All thanks to his new found passive ability, he was not worried about suddenly ramming into another murderous Kobold out of nowhere. These pair of 'eyes' that he has now were akin to having a twenty by twenty vision but only that it was a thousand times better. Bestowed with an unexpected upgrade, Aesa could practically see everything around him. He sees all without any difficulty. His eyes could see every bird, the tiniest dew on every blade of grass and even the smallest crawling creature there was under the cover of infinite shade. Using his night eyes, every single object glowed in glorious bioluminescent green. 'I have matrix eyes.' He joked. Aesa suddenly relating his experience to a cut scene from 'The Matrix' when the protagonist Neo saw the true matrix world for the very first time.
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The labyrinth was one giant maze. And fortunately for Aesa, he had a map to guide him where he needed to be. With his night eyes, losing his way was next to impossible. 'The entrance should be somewhere around here.'
And just as he has suspected, the map that he found at the cave led him straight to the dungeon. It was fairly easy to track the place since the artist who authored the map made sure to leave plenty of crumbs for Aesa to pick up and follow. Every landmark and every marking were described accurately in the map. Like a beautifully hand painted picture, the artisan was able to transform a simple tool of navigation into a gorgeous work of flawless piece of art. The artisan even placed a spell on the map, showing Aesa where he was exactly located in the map at that time. There was even a counter on the top right corner of the map which provided Aesa the information as to how many more steps he needed to take in order for him to get there. A simplified GPS so to speak.
And now that the entrance has been found, all that Aesa needed to do was enter the dungeon and take what he came there for. However, not everything was that simple. Aesa had to remind himself for the 'nth' time that what he was about to dive in to was a legitimate dungeon and not some theme park like Disney. The number of monster inside the dungeon were ten times larger than the ones on the outside field. Aesa would be a dimwit to just carelessly run in without formulating a solid plan. With that in mind, he knew that he couldn’t just waltz in and say hello without being greeted back by a poisonous spear or a deadly serrated sword in response. Expecting the worst to happen around these parts should be commonplace.
Speaking of plans, what does he have in mind exactly? He had lost his spear back at the rabbit's den when Godrick and his thugs showed up. And with only a single arm left, fighting even the lowest of mobs right now would be very difficult to execute. And unless of course Aesa's wish was to die, then there would be no need for a plan anymore.
'Time to pull an all-nighter.'
Like any good student, the key to Aesa's success here was to do a thorough research. First, he needed to study the structure of the dungeon. He must gather the most vital of information regarding the traits of the monster's endemic to the place; what makes them tick, and what were their weaknesses, etc. Second, he needed to know the theme. Dungeons for the most part were designed by most developers to be built around a certain setting. A good example of this would be a common Forest Type dungeon. If he has to follow the common mmorpg trope, a dungeon type like that may only spawn forest type creatures such as Green Slimes, Grass Wolves, Ents and even forest Nymphs.
In essence, by being familiar with the dungeons theme and by knowing the types of monsters he'd be encountering down the line, he could basically work within that information and formulate a strategy to win. That's what Aesa had in mind.
"Well this should be easy." Barely thirty-three feet from the entrance, he was able to confirm right away what he needed to confirm. He now knew what this dungeon was meant as. "Ah. I'm with my people." Aesa jokingly commented. A one-armed skeleton like himself should perfectly blend in with the dungeons theme. After all, the place that the map had shown him was the den of the undead.
'Here goes nothing'
The plan was simple. He was to slowly walk towards 'Subject X' and do some stress test. A standard mmo would place an area of aggression or aggro (in mmo slang) around each of the creature scattered within the different parts of the map. Aesa's plan was to trigger that aggro to find out how big the coverage was for each monster type. He would know if he stepped on one if he'd suddenly pull the attention of the mob.
Subject X was a Skeleton foot soldier patrolling one corner of the dungeon. It was equipped with boots and nothing else. No weapons whatsoever. 'This one should be a good test subject.' Good because if for some reason that Subject X would launch an attack against him, he could simply dodge and bail away. Running away should do the trick since he was weaponless too. The most that Subject X could do would be to place him on a choke hold. But what would a choke do to him?
Inch by inch, Aesa approached Subject X, exercising extreme caution. When he was only about two meters away, he stood there frozen. If he'd take one more step forward, then he'd definitely pull the aggro based on his estimate. A few short minute later, he decided to steel his resolve and charged forward towards Subject X.
It was strange. Aesa didn’t pull the aggro at all even when he was about inches away from Subject X. Could it be that Subject X recognized him as a creature of the dungeon and not as a user? For one, it acted as if it didn’t saw Aesa at all. Subject X treated Aesa like he was a part of the scenery. Like he was some sort of a boulder, or a pebble or something similar. It was all going well until Aesa decided to take the stress test a little bit further. He suddenly thought of touching the shoulder of Subject X with his right index finger to see how it would react to certain stimulus. For a quick second there, Aesa thought that it wouldn't do anything to him. Well... He thought wrong. Aesa just realized that he should have not done that move in the first place. When he saw Subject X's eye sockets steadily glowing fiery red, Aesa realized that the shit was about to hit the fan.