Valmier stood over the alchemist’s shoulder, watching as the fleshy creature worked his disgustingly fat fingers around the mortar. Why his master had not stripped the man’s flesh away and bound him to her will directly, he did not know. But the elderly alchemist was chained to the floor, his wrists and ankles bound, the door locked and his surviving allies imprisoned. That hadn’t stopped him from trying to escape, but now that Valmier watched him, the man finally set to work.
“I will need more Nether Crystal soon,” the man said.
The way his lips moved disgusted Valmier, and he fought the urge to rip them free. “Adenion will return with more before long. Focus on preparing the elixir and worry not about the crystal.”
They had more than enough Nether Crystal for the alchemist, but Adenion had managed to crack or drop the last four batches. He also never stopped with his endless questions and so Valmier had sent him below the fort to gather more crystal himself. A little undignified manual labor would hopefully teach the fresh recruit a lesson.
But I pray he returns soon. It is rather difficult to keep my urges in check while I am alone. Valmier strode to the door and leaned against the wall. He was to spend one night here, then make his way to the swamp in the southwest. His master had lost many of her soldiers there already and Valmier was to find out what killed them. Since that fleshy fool Oliver cannot be bothered to do his duties.
Though for now Valmier watched their prisoner, his thoughts often drifting back to the pale man. Oh, how he wished to carve away his flesh. Ah I must restrain myself. Thoughts of flaying would have to stay away for now, at least until Adenion returned. But where is that fool, he should have been back already. If he didn’t return soon, Valmier would have to go below the fort and fetch him. And he will not escape with just another lecture. Valmier closed his spectral eyes and wished he was back at the crypt, serving the Grave Lord directly. But he would return before long, and then all the living world would be his to carve.
***
The stairs spiraled up and up, stopping at another thick iron door. Darian opened it with the second rusty key, wincing as the door screeched open. He and Fria moved past it with silent steps, the smell of the forest flowing in form barred windows high along the wall.
“Now to find the Nether Gate,” Darian whispered. He could feel that it was close, some kind of energy tugging at his skin. But he had no idea which direction to go.
He pressed his ear up to a door on his left, listening for the sound of rattling bones. When he didn’t hear anything, he shouldered it open, finding nothing but an empty chamber on the other side.
They checked a few more rooms as they went, most filled with nothing but broken equipment and cobwebs. But then they turned the corner and saw a wide double door at the end of the hall, the great hunks of iron guarded by a group of skeletons.
“That might be the armory,” Darian said.
“Or the Nether Gate could be behind it.” Fria glanced behind them. “There are a few side passages jutting from this hall. If we make too much noise, we might rouse the whole fort.”
The hall was long enough that the skeletons would see them coming. And even if they didn’t, the monster’s bodies burst apart after death. Meaning no matter what they did, stealth kills weren’t an option.
“We rush them and take them out as fast as we can,” Darian said, gripping his sword tight.
“If you’re sure.” Fria readied an arrow. “I’ve got two more uses of flame arrow, six for lightning arrow, and one more use of my unique skill.”
Darian quickly checked over his skills. “I’m good on most things except arcane blade. I’ll have to save that for something big.” He looked around the corner. “Looks like there are three of the weaker ones, two warriors, two mages, and three archers.”
“I’ll take out the mages first,” Fria’s arrow lit up, blue energy zapping from the tip. “Then work on the archers.”
“I’ll rush in after you fire and tie up the warriors.” Darian lowered himself, ready to charge into battle.
Then Fria stepped out and let her arrow fly. Darian was already halfway down the hall when it smashed into one of the black robed mages, his body bursting with electricity. The monsters tried to move into some kind of formation, but Darian was on them too quickly. He hacked down at a buckler, the bone beneath the shield cracking after only a single strike. He kicked the skeleton’s knee and it stumbled, a slash across the chest killing it.
The warriors came at him next, their iron shields deflecting his first few strikes. But then Darian gripped the rim of one shield and pulled it away, the tip of his sword bursting through the skeleton’s chest the next second. Kicking it away, Darian jumped back just as a sword chopped down at his arm. He raised his palm and shot the skeleton in the face with [Flare] and as it stepped back, his sword smashed through its ribs. They were pressed in too close for another swing, and so Darian grabbed the skeleton by the shoulder and smashed its face in with a headbutt.
It burst apart, freeing his sword. He turned, teeth clenched as he deflected a blow. Then he parried a strike and used his forward momentum to carry his sword down and through a skeleton’s chest. That only left one, and he chopped its wrist off before finishing it with a cracking slash to the neck.
----------------------------------------
Enemies Defeated
[Skeleton Lv. 1] x3
[Skeleton Lv. 3] x2
Companion Contribution: 7
Class XP Gained: 35
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
[Class Level 6 Reached]
Progress to Class Lv. 7 (31/215)
----------------------------------------
Darian spun, teeth barred, ready for more. But then he noticed the notification and with some disappointment lowered his sword.
“Down to four uses of lightning arrow,” Fria huffed, her brow thick with sweat.
“Thanks for the support.” Looking at how tired firing off so many arrows made her, Darian was extra thankful for his fatigue immunity.
He turned to the thick doors. “Please don’t be locked.”
“We have to be quick, we just made a lot of noise,” Fria said, collecting the skeleton archers’ arrows.
“I know.” He gripped the iron handles and pulled.
The door opened, the dark metal hinges groaning. He could already see the glint of steel beyond, and he smiled. They moved inside and shut the door behind them.
“Let’s grab what we need and get out,” Darian said, his feet carrying him to a steel sword at the other end of the room.
As Fria was stuffing various things into her inventory, Darian approached the racked weapon. It was longer and thinner than the iron sword he currently wielded, and the blade had a slight shimmer to it, the edges glinting red. He put his current sword into his inventory and gripped his new weapon.
----------------------------------------
Item Obtained: Sparkblade
Weight: 4 pounds
* Damage: 20 + (1/4) Dexterity Modification (Physical)
* Damage: 10 + (1/4) Arcane Modification (Magical/Flame)
----------------------------------------
He gave the sword a practice swing, the air behind it trailing with flame.
“Here,” Fria said from behind.
Darian turned and she handed him a red tunic and a big pile of shining metal. He put his sword down and slipped the shirt on, realizing soon after the metal was chainmail.
----------------------------------------
Item Obtained: Basic mail
Weight: 18 pounds
* Damage resistance: 15 – Offers bonus resistance against slashing weapons.
----------------------------------------
After he put the mail on, he started to feel a bit heavy. Probably more to do with all the swords in my inventory. But he’d have to deal with that later, he could hear the shuffling of skeletal feet coming down the hall.
He’d wanted time to level up, but they had to get a move on. They pushed the doors open and then took a sharp right turn, the hall they’d come down packed with skeletons. Darian couldn’t be sure how many there were, but it was enough that fighting them all at once could prove troublesome. Better to funnel them into a tight corridor where their numbers won’t matter. Since he couldn’t tire, it didn’t matter how many of the fodder tried to kill him, he could cut through them all with enough time.
They came to another spiral staircase, though this one was far narrower than the last. Rushing up it, they arrived at a thick metal door. Thankfully, this one wasn’t locked, and they pushed their way into a wide oval shaped room.
“There’s a bar on this one,” Darian said, grabbing the thick bit of metal. He pulled it down across the door, backing away as the skeletons beat against it. “I don’t think they’ll ever get through that.”
“I’d rather not test it,” Fria said, glancing about.
The room was mostly empty, a few tables, chairs and crates stacked against one wall. But it smelt strange, a mixture of blood, herbs, and even those crystals from the caves below the fort. The scent seemed to be coming from beyond the door at the far end of the room. But before they investigated, Darian quickly opened his class selection screen.
Need to make this fast. He could now put levels into three classes: Warrior, Mage, and Spellblade. A level in Mage would give him a new and fairly powerful ranged fire spell, while Warrior would give him a buff to boost physical resistance. Spellblade gave him an ice touch spell, one that was powerful but not immediately useful since the undead resisted frost attacks. He could only see what the next level would give him, so he had no way of knowing what the classes would offer for the level after the current one. He wanted to go with Spellblade because it was an advanced class, but he decided to level up Warrior instead since the new skill could be more useful in the immediate future.
----------------------------------------
Warrior Lv. 3
* Strength: +2
* Dexterity: +1
* Constitution: +3
* Skills: [Bulwark]
----------------------------------------
Bulwark
* This skill enhances the users physical defense, giving them damage resistance against slashing/thrusting/piercing attacks. This skill can be used five times per day.
* Evolve Skill: Skill will evolve into [Impenetrable Bulwark] at total martial class level (10).
----------------------------------------
Darian dismissed the screen, a wave of tingling energy passing through him. “Let’s try that door,” he said, motioning for Fria to follow.
He pulled and pushed, but the door was locked. But there is one more key to try. He pulled the only key he found that wasn’t rusted. It fit into the door perfectly, and with a turn the door opened a crack. With the skeletons beating against the door behind them, Darian tugged.
“Adenion, what is that racket?” A familiar voice rasped. “And how does it take you that long to grab a few shards? Did you get lost?” Darian backed away, his heart falling like a stone.
The skeleton stepped through the darkness of the doorway, an older man chained to the floor in the room beyond. The fires burning in its empty eye sockets blazed as it saw Darian.
“Back away Fria,” Darian put himself between the skeleton and her, his teeth barred.
“You.” A dry cackling swallowed the room, echoing off the walls. “Fate is kind to old Valmier this day.” Valmier drew his dual curved swords, the air humming to life as the blades electrified.
“It’s been a while,” Darian said, doing his best to smile. But the sight of Valmier unnerved him, his previous lust for battle fading. But he couldn’t run this time even if he wanted to. Fria was with him and the door and stairs behind them was packed wall to wall with skeletons. No, he had to fight. There was no other way.
“I will enjoy rending the flesh from your bones, for you will not escape me a second time.”
“Didn’t plan on running,” Darian activated [Arcane Blade] adding a corrosive edge to his flame enchanted sword.
The creature laughed. “You cannot beat me,” it said taking a step forward. “But please try and make this interesting. I would hate to kill you too easily.”
Darian lowered his stance, ready to dash in. “Only one of us is dying tonight, and it won’t be me.” He could hear Fria hiss through clenched teeth behind him, her bowstring drawing back.
“Then let us finish this, pale one.” And Valmier sprang forward, his swords bursting with arcane power.