Coming to his feet, Raine spun to the entrance. His eyes were trained on the obscuring darkness that hid an enemy more than capable of killing him. When it failed to come rocketing out of the cave and sweep him into the air where he would be helplessly murdered, he shook his head, mumbling curses under his breath.
I should have known it wouldn’t be so easy. Level twenty-seven though?! That’s total sharkshit.
Raine had come prepared to face the monsters he knew inhabited this particular cave. However, he assumed they would be level fifteen at the maximum. Which meant his quest was responsible for massively ramping the difficulty.
No wonder DyingNight kept failing.
Gazmo snorted from right beside him, one large eyebrow rising skeptically, “What you-you doing? At least be brave and die-die like real meatyhead man! I not walk all this way to miss-miss the show.” There was nothing to gain and much to lose for arguing with a Vaaterran, so Raine ignored him.
Alright, this isn’t entirely impossible. I brought all the right items, I just don’t have enough spares to make any mistakes.
Raine closed his eyes, pulling the layout of the cave from the recesses of his memories. Several sections were fuzzy, and others downright blank. He cursed again, shifting to recollections of the enemies inside. He did his best to remember how they fought, the skills they might have due to being higher level, and the weaknesses that could have changed. Unable to think of any reason why his original plan wouldn’t work, he took out the items he bought on the way out of Vile Peak Town.
[Common Scroll of Mask Scent: Conceal the odor of yourself or another willing subject (Duration: 30 minutes)]
[Common Scroll of Mask Footsteps: Obscure generated soundwaves for yourself or another willing subject (Duration: 30 minutes)]
[Common Potion of Darkvision: Pierce the veil of any non-magical darkness (Duration: 30 minutes)]
Each item cost a whopping fifty silver so he could only afford one of each. If he failed to find the krotanium ore in time, he wouldn’t have enough funds to buy another of each and afford the rental fees for the crafting studio he needed. Since the crafting was a far more integral part of his long-term plans, he literally couldn’t afford to fail.
This is such a bad idea.
His palms were already coated in a light sheen of sweat as he activated one item after another.
Froust 3rd sub-commander of Righteous
“Master Froust! Master Froust! You’ve got to see this!” The voice bubbling with exuberance made Froust want to hit something, hard. He already regretted answering the call, and nearly hung up on the spot. Deep in the back of his brain, he understood there was a small chance underling six might actually have a good reason for being this annoying, so he grit his teeth and waited.
Meanwhile, his greatsword lashed out with more force than necessary, beheading the clacking bug that reared up to spear him with its sharp horn. He stepped into his momentum and spun, Slashing at another of the foul-smelling creatures while simultaneously weaving away from the one flanking him.
Since he had yet to be told to shut up, underling six delivered his news with bated breath, “A bunch of equipment just hit the auction house. There’s even level five common items! Weapons, heavy armor, everything.”
What?! Almost no one has complete sets of gear right now, and what we do have is dull trash. I’ve only got two pieces of common gray and they aren’t restricted to level five so I doubt the stats are as good. Who could possibly be foolish enough to outfit potential enemies in such good gear at this pivotal moment in the game's development?
“Is there a greatsword?” Froust spoke for the first time since answering the call, continuing to hack into the scuttling bugs that were far too slowly bringing him back to level seven.
“Yes. Of course, Master Froust. My apologies,” underling six did what he should have done from the very start and linked the weapon in question.
[Hard Iron 2-H Sword: Common Gray (Attack Power +18) (PTC +6) (PHY +4) (Durability 40/40)]
The weapon was so much better than expected that Froust’s gut clenched of its own volition. All of Righteous—some hundred thousand members spread across five branches—had been hard at work compiling information and equipment since launch. They had fully committed to this new and unknown game, taking a huge upfront financial risk. That choice was already paying for itself in dividends, and now they were scrambling to get more members as their income soared.
Of everything they had found so far, nothing came close to the weapon displayed in his interface. He wanted that sword, now. No, he needed it. He could barely imagine how satisfying it would be to use it to cut the head off that sickening nuisance.
His hatred for the unknown man reached a boiling point after the video of their loss was dropped on the forums. Of course, it had exploded to the number one most viewed video in minutes. His shame was deep as an ocean, and every time Froust remembered it was there, his vision swam with pure rage. To make matters worse, the fifty pieces of gear they lost had easily set his branch back several million credits.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
This was his chance to redeem himself. Righteous wasn’t the kind of guild that accepted failure. If he didn’t quickly find and kill the man who smeared their reputation, there would be no future for him. The fact his boss had yet to contact him was telling enough. Froust knew full well his time was running out, “Tell everyone to send their money right now. We're going to buy every one of those items, get our levels back, and take our revenge from his cold dead corpse!”
Raine KongRu
Raine crept forward, his footfalls making not even a whisper of sound against the damp stone. The cave was bright to his enhanced vision, the deepest shadows unable to hide the lurking beasts that patiently waited for unwitting prey to wander too close.
The cave opening was wide and deep, a single gap on the back wall leading deeper. This time, the sanguine supper sleeping on the ceiling paid no mind to his trespass. Its large ears didn’t so much as twitch when he calmly walked beneath it. He stayed away from the walls, walking through the center of the space. Every few meters, a small recess at the base of the walls revealed why.
[Darting Quaglick - Level 23 - ?????/?????]
image [https://i.imgur.com/FJFgLK7.jpg]
Short and nearly invisible without Darkvision, the Darting Quiglick was the cause of innumerable deaths to spelunking players over the years. The first one he passed was wide awake. Its spear-like tongue—capable of injecting paralyzing poison—stabbed out to quest across the floor in whisper-quick movements. It had no eyes. Large nostrils on the sides of its hideous face pumped air in and out of its body, eerily mimicking the sounds of wind passing through a tunnel.
The worst part about the creatures were the corrosive toxins constantly produced on their skin. A slight touch was enough to cause severe pain, while being directly injected through a bite was truly excruciating. Other than that, they weren’t particularly dangerous, and if not for the supper on the ceiling, Raine would have tried his luck.
Instead, he silently padded to the back of the cave and progressed down at a steep angle through the much narrower fissure. It soon widened, then split into two tunnels. Raine knew there were several branching paths in both directions, and from what he remembered, either would eventually lead to his destination.
He chose to go right at random, dropping a copper coin behind him to mark the exit. With many of the tunnels leading back into each other, the hardest part of navigating this particular cave was finding the way out.
His tunnel widened further into another cavern, this one with three branching tunnels. Four suppers clung to the ceiling, none the wiser to his presence. He once more gave the walls a wide berth, finding several alcoves near the floors that were impossible to see until passing them. Of course, by that point it would be too late.
He once more went right, figuring he would try to keep it simple. The new tunnel wound in a sharp curve. Before he could see completely into the smaller cavern at its end, he heard a particular nasally huffing that very much should not have been there.
He slowed to a crawl and peeked around the corner, his jaw clenching when he confirmed his suspicions. This cavern was the smallest so far, and standing in a circle were four hulking creatures that nearly took up the entire space.
[Savage Tremought - Level 28 - ?????/?????]
image [https://i.imgur.com/ScqwlGg.jpg]
Stubby rear legs and long arms left them hunched forward on all fours like a gorilla. Their thick bodies were crammed with corded muscles, and worst of all, they held crude clubs and daggers. Dumb and brutish to the extreme, tremoughts were usually accompanied by the more intelligent and vicious kraklings. Crafting their equipment, and riding them into battle, the duos made a terrifying combination.
Raine inched further down the tunnel until he could see the entire room and was relieved to not see any of their smaller counterparts. One of the four turned toward him, its beady eyes hunting in the dark for whatever it had sensed.
Raine’s heart skipped several beats. It wasn't the lumbering monstrosity scenting the air and pawing the ground that stole his breath, it was the shining blue treasure chest revealed when the creature moved. Raine's mouth went dry, his vision constricting until all he could see was the dazzling prize sitting between them.
There was no question in his mind that he had to have it. Lustrous Blue chests were incredibly rare at any level, often only spawning once in a zone and future iterations would be common or trash. He took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves and pulled out one of the twelve items he bought from Torell with his last few tokens.
[Smoke bomb: Throw to release a cloud of obscuring smoke in a 10 meter radius (Duration: 15 seconds)]
Raine boldly walked into the small cavern, and despite their senses primarily focusing on vibration, smell, and sound, the tremoughts instantly spotted him. As one, they released warbling roars made all the more deafening in the cramped tunnel. Their heads dipped, and heavy, clawed paws impacted the ground, pushing them forward.
Raine waited for the exact moment they were committed to the charge and lobbed the small bomb. It bounced across the floor and a whooshing hiss filled the air with dense smoke. A Discipline-powered leap sent him to the ceiling. He flattened his body as the four monsters barreled by just beneath him, tearing furrows in the stones. They crashed into the tunnel’s wall, sending rubble falling all around.
Raine landed in a forward roll, coming back to his feet with one hand on the illuminated chest. He madly smashed the mental command to open it and a loading bar appeared in his HUD. Keeping his fingers on it, he circled to the other side, crouching behind the indestructible box now between him and the beasts.
The thuds of tough flesh on stone were too loud and varied for any kind of accurate read on their distance. His other hand’s fingers spread wide on the floor, connecting with their rattling steps. They continued to thrash about at the mouth of the tunnel, right up until a deafening click brought instant silence. A brilliant blue glow banished the smoke and filled the tiny chamber with radiant light.
All four beasts seemed to turn in slow motion, their gazes rife with unfathomable hatred. They didn’t make a sound, their bodies vibrating at a low intensity that quickly escalated into outright convulsions. Steam rose from skin that turned beet red, tainting the air with a foul odor. As if on queue, they roared together, the shockwave so strong it pushed raine back a step, popping his eardrums and clouding his vision. [-25]
He hadn’t been idle while their Berserk skills activated—massively boosting their attributes. Both hands were a blur, snatching items from the chest without taking the time to see the color of their grades.
The tremoughts blasted forward; massive meaty missiles careening off each other in their haste to destroy him. There was no way he could dodge in time. They simply accelerated too quickly and he was still bent over the chest when they started. Instead, he leaped back, further into the tiny cavern and planted his feet against the base of the wall in a sprinter’s pose.
Only one of them was on a direct intercept course, having pushed away the competition to claim its prize. Its foot connected with the empty chest that no longer registered in its narrowed vision. It tripped, windmilling toward Raine. The others were rebounding from the walls, coming at him from both sides.
Raine saw his opening and blasted forward into a Discipline-powered sprint. One of the wildly swinging fists missed him by the slimmest of margins. The wind from its passing crashed into him like a sledgehammer, disrupting his balance and taking a quarter of his health. [-112] Blood shot from his mouth, mixing a copper tang into the chamber’s stench.
Such a bad idea!
Raine ran for his life, the ravenous tremoughts ripping apart the ground and walls in their haste to follow.