Finn roared as he tumbled down into the dark, clutched by monstrous hands he couldn’t see. He swung the burning blade all around as best he was able.
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> You have slain the Level 12 Ghoul. Experience awarded.
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Suddenly, one of the strongest grips around his neck lessened. And then he hit the bottom.
Thankfully, it wasn’t solid. That was just about all that Finn could be thankful for, because it was wet and stunk like a sewer.
Finn had plunged into black, brackish water, and the Pyrrhic Blade was instantly doused. He thrashed and struggled for a moment, barely remembering to hold his breath, and then his knees scraped the surface of something. He kicked back upward.
He broke the surface of the dark water, heaving and gasping for air to find that he was in some kind of underground cavern. Dim light filtered down from the cityscape above. He got a moment to tread water before he realized that the bottom wasn’t so far from his feet. The ground was uneven, filled with rubble, and stank to the stars with whatever foulness seeped through the ruined city.
“Finn?! FINN!” There was a shout from above, and the pink-haired head of Rosa appeared in the hole above.
“I’m okay . . . I think!” Finn sputtered, struggling to the shallows. He then saw that the tunnel had a ledge running along either side of it, whilst its center was given over to the dark, putrid waterway.
Oh.
There was a sudden twitch of movement reflected from the ledges, and Finn realized that he was looking at the rest of the ghouls that had dragged him down the sewers. There had to at least be six or seven of them, and their dark eyes shone weirdly in the light from above.
“Okay . . .” Finn breathed.
That was about all the time he got before the ghouls threw themselves into the foul river, heading straight for him.
“FINN!” Rosa shouted again.
Finn raised his blade as fast as he could, dripping wet.
The Pyrrhic Blade was one of the treasures that Finn had won from the Order of Celestial Grace, just like Rosa’s Staff of the Aethers. Each treasure was more than just a magical object. Finn had been told that they each been fashioned by their relevant Elemental Asai. The blade had been made by the Asai of Fire, and the staff by the Asai of Air.
As such, it was no mere mortal blade.
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> The Pyrrhic Blade (Grade C)
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> Fire-Bolt
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> Damage can be increased by infusing blade with Mana.
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Finn’s Mana had just gone up, so he threw a lot into the Fire-Bolt. He spent 400 points of Mana, knowing that he had at least equal that in the Hearthstone.
Finn felt the surge of power explode outward through his chest, down his arm and into the blade. The metal burned white as ghoulish claws reached for him.
A wave of burning fire shot out across the waters, exploding from the blade, and Finn could barely control it as he dragged it across every enemy reaching for him.
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> You have slain the Level 12 Ghoul. Experience awarded.
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> You have slain the Level 12 Ghoul. Experience awarded.
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> You have struck the Level 12 Ghoul for 50 damage.
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> You have struck the Level 12 Ghoul for 50 damage.
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The effect was immediate. Two ghouls were immediately slain and two more took significant damage. The monsters scattered in a heartbeat. A terrible keening sound filled the air as the surviving ghouls fled down the tunnel.
“Hey!” There was a shout from behind Finn, and he spun around just in time to see Rosa landing in the dank murk. She turned fast as she made a lancing strike with her Staff of Aethers at the back of one of the ghouls, sending a blue-laced blast of elemental power at it. There was a short, pained squeak and a splash as the foe was defeated.
“What have I told you about keeping all the experience for yourself!” Rosa spun around and snapped, making a face at more than just the smell.
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“It wasn’t exactly like I chose to fall into the sewer!” Finn pointed out.
“Hmph.” Rosa acted unconvinced, turning to look first one way up the tunnel and then the other.
“I reckon it’s that way towards the center of the city,” she grumbled. “Let’s just hope that the Malvans have at least worked out how to get hot running water and soap, yeah?”
With that, Rosa led the way into the dark.
* * *
“Honestly, it’s not my fault I didn’t bring any rope,” Finn said as the pair trudged through the dark under the city of Malvas.
“I would have thought that is, like, adventuring kit number one,” Rosa pointed out. “You know, along with tinderbox and rations and healing potions and what have you . . .”
“I’ve never climbed a rope,” Finn pointed out. “I was terrible at athletics at school. I never guessed I would be any better now that I’m in a different world.”
Rosa groaned. So far, the pair had spent an hour or two trudging through the sewers, and without the light of the purple star to guide them, both were starting to wonder if they were hideously lost.
“And you didn’t have to exactly jump down after me,” Finn bickered. “You might have run off and got help or something.”
“Run off and got help?! What do you take me for, Lassie the helpful wonder dog or something?” Rosa grumbled.
“No, I didn’t mean that. I—” Finn was trying his best to apologize, his face lit by the small ball of fire he had summoned to float above them.
A sound from up ahead silenced him.
A hiss.
Or another hiss, Finn thought.
Both immediately went quiet, turning in place to peer into the dark, but it was no use. It was pitch-black down there.
Without saying a word, Finn gestured with his tiny Fire-Spark. Rosa nodded and raised her staff as Finn flung the tiny spark forward. It flared down the wide corridor and illuminated the dark waters at their feet, the moss and lichen-covered blocks of the walls, and an immense, hunched figure they had just disturbed from its prey.
“Holy sh—” Finn gasped.
The creature was taller than either of them even hunkered down. Its skin was mottled, and what could only be described as two large, leathery bat wings extended from its back. It looked up in the sudden light, its grotesque face—two tiny eyes and a large, open maw filled with needle-point teeth—snarling in surprise. Blood dripped from its mouth, and in its monstrous claws was the ruined form of a human.
“What the . . .” Rosa whispered, but then everything went dark as Finn’s Fire-Spark hit the water. There was a sudden splash as they guessed the giant bat-creature dropped its prey.
“Finn! More light, please!” Rosa croaked, voice quivering. Finn flicked a few points of Mana into the Pyrrhic Blade, and the dewdrop steel suddenly blazed with orange fire.
The returning light revealed that the man-bat was now only a few meters away, hurtling toward them with claws outstretched.
Finn gasped and slashed out with the blade, but Rosa was faster. A sudden pulse of blue energy leapt from the sweep of her silver quarterstaff, striking the beast and flinging it back before it landed on them.
“What is it?!” Finn hissed, already jumping forward as the bat-thing hit the wall and spun, throwing itself over their heads with a quick flare of its dark wings.
Finn snarled in pain as massive claws raked his side, skittering over the Part-Plate of Azor but still finding purchase near his hip.
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> You have been struck by Level 15 Vampire. 65 Health Points deducted.
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He swung his blade at the creature again as it turned and lashed out at Rosa.
She cried out in pain, but Finn felt his blade find its target at the same time.
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> You have struck the Level 15 Vampire. 70 points of damage dealt.
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What?! That should have done more damage . . . The thought flashed through Finn’s mind until he saw, by the flaming glow of his blade, that he had only sliced through one of the vampire’s wings.
The creature was fast, spinning at an almost impossible speed as it lashed out toward Rosa again.
The Air Initiate jumped back, unleashing another sweep of blue power from her Staff of the Aethers. This forced the monster to stumble back and splash in the dark waters behind it.
“Don’t give it a chance to recover!” Rosa shouted, twirling the magical staff over her head as she prepared another blast.
The wave of blue energy swept across the dark waters toward the creature, but the vampire appeared to learn quickly. It leapt into the air over the rush of energy, awkwardly trying to fly with its damaged wing, but instead crashed into the wall and slid down right next to Finn.
Finn lunged, but his blade skittered over bare rock as the creature twisted and was somehow behind them in an instant.
What the . . .
Finn felt the creature’s legs rake his back and he was thrown forward, almost losing his blade as he fell to his knees in the dank water.
> You have been struck by the Level 15 Vampire. 50 Health Points deducted.
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“Back!” Rosa was shouting, leaping as she jackknifed in the air, spinning the staff down in a blazing blue arc that struck the vampire across the matted fur of its shoulders. There was another blaze of blue energy as her strike connected, but as Finn spun around, he was aware of altogether too much light in the tunnel.
“Ho, there!”
There were shouting voices and people splashing through the sewer water with flaming torches and pale steel in their hands. Finn saw fury in their faces as they charged.
The vampire hissed once again in fury as it stepped back from Rosa’s rapid attacks to find the gang of people rushing it from behind. With a sudden snarl and a rough beat of its wings, it flung itself at them.
Insanity! Finn thought as the creature let out an ear-splitting shriek, like a train whistle but even higher.
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> You have been struck by Fear of the Vampire.
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Finn felt a wave of terror try to rise through his bones as the charging pack of men and women let out panicked sounds.
No! Finn gritted his teeth and forced the fear down, making himself take a few steps forward—only to see that the bat-thing had already broken the ranks of those hunting it and was disappearing into the gloom beyond.
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> Your enemy has fled. 50% experience awarded to all parties.
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Finn came to a wheezing halt as he saw that the creature was gone, and that before him was a crowd of eight men and women—wide-eyed, gasping, and trying to gather their wits about them.
“It’s gone. We drove it away,” Finn said grimly, wondering for a moment whether he should go after it.
“We’re wounded.” Rosa was at his side, seeming to read his thoughts. “And we have no idea what else is down here,” she murmured.
The gang of eight staggered to their feet and one of them—a stocky woman with long, black hair—looked Finn and Rosa up and down.
“You came for the invitation? Welcome to Malvas,” she said grimly, wrinkling her nose at the disgusting smell that emanated from the water, from Finn and Rosa, and from everything down here.