The battle quickly spread inside the city, creating chaotic fights all over the place. There were no prepared fortifications and any attempts to make one failed as the undead could simply encircle the challengers around their barricade, cutting the way out of the self-made trap. At least Robert watched several such scenes and helped to deal with the last of them. A few dozen “players” tried to block the narrow street with two carts and lots of furniture, creating a wooden obstacle that had to stop the enemies. The reality showed their mistake in no time.
Following the running skeletons, Robert didn’t even pause before charging forward with a raised shield. The steel plate was resilient enough to ignore the projectiles that tried to penetrate it. Together with Rob’s own clad-in-armor body, his weight was enormous even without the usage of “Heavy”. Inhuman strength and endless endurance helped him to carry it with ease, turning him into a walking tank… at least when he didn’t need to meet the real one head-on. The multiple hits simply couldn’t stop his steady approach. Lunging himself into a short sprint, he literally rammed into the fortification, while activating his own set of skills. The “shockwave” shook the unstable construction, dropping several shooters from the top. The repeat of the rune’s usage broke a hole in the barricade, opening the way to his axe.
The challengers instantly broke into two groups, where the first one focused their attacks on Robert, while the second started to run. Unfortunately for them, both had the same end as another group of undead came from the back. The fight was short but intensive. The bony creatures were much weaker than the challengers, compensating it with numbers. Rob also added its part, personally killing the third part of the enemies.
Still, by the end of this tiny skirmish, the undead's quantity dropped only to a dozen half-beaten skeletons and three zombies, while the single survivor from the opposite party was a bearded man in full plate armor. However, the defensive gear wasn’t the reason for such an outcome. A transparent bubble enveloped the figure of the man, creating something akin to a force shield.
Paladin? Temporary invulnerability? Okay.
Seeing how the rusty weapons were bouncing off the magic sphere, Rob noted the passiveness of the holy knight. The man was slowly trying to walk away, pushing the undead with his energy shield. He wasn’t attacking as if such protection worked in both directions, preventing him from attacking. Even Robert’s “shockwave” couldn’t bulge the defensive skill, only making skeletons to stumble away from the aftermath of the strike. However, the expression and constant glancing to the side if checking an invisible screen confirmed Rob’s assumption that the effect had a time limit.
Let’s see how you will deal with this.
Putting his hand on the sphere, Robert felt the repulsion. It was a strange sensation as if he was holding the magnet with the same charge, but, in this case, he was the magnet himself. Touching the shield and noticing the sign of relief on the man’s face, Robert’s face showed a sad smile. In the next moment, the whole sphere was covered with steel. He even had to disperse his weapon to have enough matter to envelop the challenger. Giving a mental command, Rob tried to squeeze the enemy, but the very same repulsion stopped him. At least skeletons instantly switched their attention to the search for other targets, leaving Robert behind.
It’s the same as with the Jaeger.
The wait wasn’t long, slightly less than a minute. Rob felt a hit from the inside when the man tried to free himself from the prison. That sounded like a signal to act, producing a contraction of the steel cage until it turned the man into a motionless statue. Not losing the touching contact, Robert created a small gap around the neck of the enemy before shoving a blade into the flesh. The steel hid any convulsion, expression of fear, or unwillingness, turning everything into a cheerful notification about getting experience points.
Yep, it is a fucking game… Damn, I need a drink. This city must have a bar or a tavern.
Looking at how the man’s body dispersed into tiny particles before completely disappearing, leaving only a helmet behind, Rob sighed and turned around. Slowly walking along the city’s streets, he was glad to see how the System saved the resources to make it. It was a similar situation to the military camp – to make a decoration. The short preparation time together with a life-threatening situation created a situation, where the challengers had no luxury of sightseeing. Their lives were in danger. On the other hand, Rob doubted the undead, who had an opportunity, were going to do it. Mindless machines, created solely to be an obstacle for the challengers, pursued their goal with a robotic indifference.
It left only Rob as a single observer to go for a walk across the assaulted city. It was unfortunate that there was nothing to see, but simultaneously it was a good thing, knowing that this wasn’t a real city. Just the place where the challengers had to pass another dangerous test. Most of the buildings looked quite similar, ranging from several major changes to absolutely identical copies. Robert wasn’t a specialist in medieval settlements, but his experience of two cities and one village shouted about the artificial creation of this place. However, such an approach had an enormous advantage – there were no residents.
Apart from the challengers, Rob hadn’t noticed even a single living being. No guards or civilians. No heroes or soldiers to fight against the Archi-Lich’s army. Of course, they might be inside the inner keep with a huge donjon that was rising above the city buildings. It was the obvious endpoint of both challengers and horde of the undead. The place of the final battle… which Rob was going to join only after the drink. For now, his search brought him to the huge square with tens of signboards, hanging above the wide doors.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Okay, the main question is there any beer? I can understand why the System cuts off the energy expenses on the details of the surroundings – to save energy. Nothing is free. You need a huge amount of mana or matter to create multiple floors with thousands of enemies. Moreover, the direct improvements of the challenger’s bodies. The skills. Like for everything. The question is - in such conditions will it go so far as to make a really tasty beer? I hope it will. The food is still a necessity, right? Maybe there are even cooking skills? Oh, found you.
Walking inside the tavern, Rob was met with an empty space, filled with large wooden tables and benches. The dirty small narrow windows barely let any light through, leaving only a burning fireplace as a main source of illumination. It, and dozens of small candles located on the supporting beam across the enormous room. The long bar counter on the opposite side of the room had secured a shelf with a row of bottles, hiding it with its own wooden body. There was an opened door frame near it, which clearly led to the kitchen. Otherwise, it was the most basic layout of public catering with an emphasis on drinking.
The only thing that differed from the others was the decoration on the walls. Straight from the hunting grounds, it showcased the heads of different creatures. There were some animals, but the biggest part of the collections consisted of monsters. The disgusting part of it was that not all of them were mindless living beings. There was a head of one-eared goblin, whose face was showing a forever angry expression. A werewolf, whose wide-open maw was filled with yellow sharp fangs. A unicorn with a silver horn and white mane. However, the greatest spot above the fireplace was occupied by something akin to a stone troll. The huge head was covered with multiple deep marks and had an empty hole instead of an eye. And from the look of the scratches, it seemed to be taken long after the death.
That is just gross… and explains why the place is called “Adventure’s Paradise”.
Glancing once again on the surroundings, Robert went into the back of the tavern in search of food and drinks. Surprisingly, his spoils went beyond his expectations as the small chest behind the bar counter, which was hidden under the piece of cloth, had granted him a real treasure – ten skill books. Therefore, gathering a keg of beer together with a plate of dried meat and bread, he dived into it like a wild beast. No matter how low his real need for nutrition was under the influence of the constant mana supply, the desire for something tasty after mushroom’s diet was stronger than his curiosity about possible power-up.
He still had two free slots for the skills to fill but wasn’t desperate to pick the first one that he had found. Still, Rob was wondering how would his strength change if he didn’t find that artifact with the “Heavy” rune. That Chain of Burden literally carved the way for him, setting on the road of improving his conjuring ability. The way Robert wanted to follow further, seeing how good the synergy was.
That was the reason for his disappointment when he inspected the items made in the form of books. He couldn’t name them as the real carriers of text as they just couldn’t be opened at all. Looking similar to the “Fire Bolt” that he had found during his stay in the chamber, it differed only by a symbol on the cover. Of course, if Rob wasn’t using the System. The popping-up text on a transparent screen gave a more detailed picture of the skills.
“Knife Mastery”, “Master Chief”, and “Poison detection” were all self-explanatory. “Big Stomach” was also easy to understand, giving the ability to eat more to prolong the saturated state for longer. “Conservation”, on the other hand, looked promising for someone, who could spend a good chunk of mana. Despite the simplicity, it basically could freeze any inanimate object in time. “Food storage” gave a dimensional pocket for the obvious usage. “Omnivorous” widely increased the range of food sources. “Drunkard warrior” made you stronger under the influence of alcohol. “Brawler” was similar to a weapon mastery but with any improvised means, like stools, tables, bottles, or even pans.
Last, but not least was the “Duplicative throw” which repeated the projectile’s trajectory with a magically conjured construct. Each of the skills was useful on its own, and, taking into account an ability to upgrade them, Robert was sure that their effects might not only increase in power but also widen the range of a skill or even add something new to it. They might even evolve. The image of the double katana’s wielder was still fresh in his memory. The man was using at least two variations of the same skill, sending those devastating energy arcs from what had to be a melee striking posture. However, with his steel in mind, Rob wasn’t going to bet on it. Especially when all the skills he possessed were clearly related to the purpose of the location as if supplementing it.
I need to find a shop with artifacts or even the place where they are made. Something like an enchanting workshop. It might have a stock of more useful skills, just waiting for me. Yep, let’s do it.
Hastily making another long sip, Robert paused for a moment, when his chain of thoughts made a sudden conclusion that was completely unrelated to the previous topic. His cogitation about skills returned him to the question – where the hell System was getting energy for that? And then something clicked, reminding him about the sureties. The idea was horrible, even terrifying, but the logic behind it sounded correct.
Does it use life energy from the basic hostages to sustain the existence of this trial? It can explain the raised need of them as the challengers started to proceed further while getting stronger. Then even the food might have been made from… Oh, Rob, don’t you dare to think about it. There must be another explanation. Yep, definitely… Fuck!
Gripping his cup, Robert threw it right into the wall with all available force because of the ruined mood. Pushing the plate with the food from the table after losing the appetite, he wanted to stand up, when he heard voices. A moment later a group of challengers emerged from the door. With raised weapons and prepared spells, they paused for an instant before the man at the front loudly shouted.
“This is… a hidden event! Nice!”