“Maybe someone survived from one of the groups you claimed died?” Ariyana questioned.
“That could be a possibility but I don’t know,” Phorge said as he thought it over.
“Never mind that,” Nalia interjected.
She then tried to get back up, but due to how tired she was, she fell back down against the rock slab. Grumbling about something, Nalia turned her gaze back to Mercer and the group and ordered, “Tell me what you have learned so far in this Forgotten Realm.”
“We don’t have the time to tell you right now. We need to get to our teammate before he dies,” Avery stated with a scowl.
Nalia was about to say something but was cut off before Adva asked, “Do you not fear the chances of dying?”
The group of six turned to look at her before adverting their gazes.
If they boldly claimed they weren’t, they’d be lying to not only her, but to themselves. However, they also felt like if they admitted it then they would be stopped from entering.
The silence was finally broken as Artem stated, “We’d be foolish to say we weren’t.”
“Then why don’t you…,” Adva started to say until Artem continued.
“But it would also be foolish to leave a teammate to his potential death just because we were scared of the possibility of dying. I don’t know what it’s like here or back on everyone else’s planet, but back on my planet the chances of dying were always high each and every day. You could die from a hunt, starving, being dehydrated, or whatever. Yet it didn’t stop us from still pushing forward.”
Blair nodded, approving his words while Ariyana grinned widely.
Roman patted him on the back while Avery and Mercer nodded their agreement.
Adva let out a sigh as she asked once more, “There’s no way to try and stop you is there?”
Mercer turned to look at her. A look of resolve on his face as he affirmed, “No, there isn’t. We’re going in, whether you want us to or not.”
“Hold up,” two new voices called out, making everyone turn to look at them.
It was Fia and Galin.
“We heard right that Liam is on the sixth floor right now?” Galin questioned as he approached them.
“You heard right,” Nabal answered. “But how did you find out?”
“I heard what was going on and ran to grab Professor Galin,” Alicia answered as she appeared behind them.
“Fia here was on her way over to see what was going on when I ran into her,” Galin stated. “Before coming here we both agreed on something though.”
“I swear, take one eye of tha lad and he goes off doin something stupid,” Fia grumbled as she nodded.
“If you’re going to try and stop us…,” Mercer started to say until Fia placed a hand up.
“It’s the exact opposite,” Fia started. “We have stuff for ya ta give him.”
Galin nodded as Fia pulled something out from their inventory. It was a medium sized satchel.
“In there are some items we were planning on giving him since we know how difficult a Forbidden Path is, regardless of whether it’s a Tutorial Dungeon or not,” Galin said before looking to Mercer. “Can we trust you’ll pass along these items?”
Mercer nodded as he took the satchel and placed the strap around his shoulder. Normally he would have place it in his inventory, but the materials the bag was made out of somehow prevented him from putting it in.
Instead of wasting time asking why, he just said with a smile, “I’ll make sure to deliver the package.”
“Thank you,” Galin stated. “He’ll know how to use the items I prepared for him.”
“For the items I made, just tell him he’ll need ta channel in what mana he wants,” Fia stated without explaining more.
Adva, Phorge, and Nalia looked confused as they tried to process what she had said. If what they thought she was implying was true, then Liam was already learning how to control and manipulate different types of mana.
That was impossible.
It was something no one who was participating in the Tutorial Area should be able to do yet. It wasn’t a high level technique, but it was something no one would have been able to reach while being here. That’s why they never mentioned something like that to any of the newly integrated people.
It was even more confusing since Nalia confirmed that his personal level was six.
Was he focusing on other aspects instead of personal level growth? Was that why his level was so low compared to his teammates? Nalia thought as she looked at his group. Has any of them reached that level of Magic? If so then the possibility of them succeeding might not be zero. Just what is that boy Liam? More importantly why did Isis…
Nalia shook her head. No. It is not my place to question my Deity’s intentions. However, now I want to know who or what he is to warranty a Goddess’ ire.
“What are ya waiting for?” Fia suddenly stated. “Are ya waiting for some grand fanfare? Maybe a special lass to kiss your cheek or something? Go on, get! Liam’s probably waiting for ya ta get there ta save his ass since he’s probably neck deep in something.”
Mercer let out a chuckle as he turned towards the Black Portal.
The others followed suit as they waited for him to open the sixth floor for them.
He placed a hand on the portal and waited for the screen to appear. As it did, a notification appeared in front of him.
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“Do you, and the current members with you, wish to join your teammate Liam on the sixth floor? Yes No?”
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Mercer grew a smile as he pressed the yes option.
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“Ariyana, Artem, Avery, Blair, Mercer, and Roman have been granted access to enter the same entrance as Liam.”
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Confused, Mercer thought, Same entrance as Liam? Granted access? What does that mean?
Mercer shook his head. No time for that. We need to hurry up.
After Mercer accepted the floor, he no longer hesitated and walked right in with the other five following behind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Mercer felt his stomach flip as he stepped out of the portal and entered the area.
He took two steps and fell to his knees as he fought the liquid that was threatening to escape his stomach.
He heard the others groan or make dry heaving noises as they entered the room. A chime noise echoed in his mind shortly after.
After a few seconds, Mercer pulled himself together and stood back up. He looked back at the others.
Contemplating on if he should he said, “Since Liam isn’t here to do the honors, maybe I will…”
“Don’t,” Avery sharply stated.
However, to everyone’s surprise, Artem said with a slight grin, “Upchuck…”
“Roulette,” Mercer added.
“Strikes again,” Roman quickly finished as they let out a short laugh while the three females in their group stared daggers at them.
As their laughter died down they turned to look at the room before them. As they did this, their eyes widened at the sight before them.
The room was big. It was wide and long enough that you would be able to run at full speed and not have to stop after taking fifteen steps. The materials for the walls and floors was the same as the last floor they were on, tiled stone. There was an open doorway with no sign of a door on the opposite side of them.
However, that wasn’t what had Mercer and the others shocked. It was the destruction that was spread throughout the room.
Shattered bones were spread out in areas, along with rotted body parts. Some pieces of Undead creatures were piled within two craters that were on separate sides of the room.
Rusty swords and axes were either laying across the floor or plunged into it.
“What the hell happened here?” Artem asked as he felt a shiver run down his spine.
Mercer looked at the wall on the left side and saw parts of the wall were chipped and crack. The one on the right had a few indents indicating something had crashed into it pretty hard.
“Does anyone see Liam anywhere in here?” Blair questioned as she scanned the room.
“I don’t,” Roman replied as he looked around.
“I see nothing but broken bones and chunks of zombie parts,” Avery added as she started to move in.
The others followed cautiously after her while they continued to look around.
“It looks like a massive battle happened here,” Blair commented.
“It’s kind of creepy how all these monster parts are just laying around,” Artem stated.
“Do you think Liam did this?” Ariyana questioned as they came closer to the middle of the room. “Do you think he survived this battle?”
Avery stopped moving and placed a hand out to stop the others.
They turned their attention on her, but then turned it on to the massive pile of bones that was directly in the middle of the room.
“What’s wro…,” Artem started to say until he noticed the pile of bones twitch.
“Get ready. There might be a monster still alive,” Blair ordered as she stepped forward with her Battle axe ready to strike.
Mercer stared at the bones. He tried to assess the pile to see what kind of monster was hiding under, but only got information on dead creatures. After a moment he noticed something strange hidden inside the pile which caused his eyes to widen.
After realizing what he saw he swiftly rushed over to the pile.
Blair tried to grab Mercer to stop his approach, but failed as he quickly ran by her.
As he reached the pile, he started to move the bones away.
After a brief moment, he revealed what was hiding underneath the pile.
With a hoarse voice and squinted eyes, a voice called out as loud as it could, but still sounded a bit quiet, “Oh, hey guys. What took you so long? You missed one hell of a welcome party these guys had ready for us. Don’t worry, I went ahead and thanked them for you as well.”
“Liam!” the others shouted as they ran over to him.
They pushed off all the bones and tried pulling Liam out from the mess.
Liam let out some complaints as his body ached all over.
“Careful,” he said with a few winces. “My health is in the tens.”
“Why didn’t you drink a health potion yet?” Avery questioned.
“Oh, you know, had such a great time that I was too tired to move afterwards. You know how banger parties go right?” Liam stated with a wry smile while sitting up as slowly as he could and pulled out some potions.
As he slowly drank the health, stamina, and mana potions, Avery looked him over.
His armor was battered a bit, but wasn’t destroyed. The only thing that worried her was the blood that covered him.
After he drank the potions, Liam caught where she was looking and glanced down. With a shit eating grin he said, “I might have gotten into a scuffle or two during the party, but don’t worry, if you think this is bad.” He waved a hand over his head as he finished, “You should see the other guys.”
Everyone let out a small chuckle as they were glad to see he was alright.
“What happened?” Mercer questioned as Liam slowly stood up.
“When?” Liam asked as he looked at him. “In here or out there?”
“Both,” Blair responded.
Liam went over the events of what happened. He started with when he left the Bubbling Potion and finished with what happened inside the dungeon before they arrived.
Everyone looked deep in thought as they took in what Liam had told them.
“So, someone tried to kidnap you?” Mercer asked with his brows furrowed. “Did you see who it was?”
Liam shook his head as he moved his arms around trying to get all the soreness out. “He wore a hood that kept his face hidden from my sight. Which I find strange since I should have been able to see at least something with my racial benefit.”
“That is weird,” Roman agreed, looking concerned.
“What are the chances you think it was staged and Nalia had it all planned?” Blair questioned.
“I can understand why you would think that and I agree that it was strange that out of everyone, she was the first to react,” Liam started as he shook his head once more. “No, that level of fighting was too real for it to be staged. It also felt like she really wanted that man dead for some reason.”
“Any chance it was Steve?” Ariyana inquired as she looked deep in thought.
“No chance,” Liam answered. “Even though they had the same scent of death, this man’s foul smell was way worse than Steve’s.”
Avery and Artem grimaced.
“You were able to smell the scent of death?” Avery asked with a look of disgust. “What does it smell like?”
Liam looked at her and gave her a very serious expression as he replied, “Like someone took a corpse that was rotting in garbage on a very hot day and decided to add shit into the mix. And that’s me putting it mildly.”
“That’s gross dude,” Artem stated as he tried hard not to gag.
“You have no idea,” Liam stated as Roman and Blair nodded.
“Before I forget, Fia and Galin wanted me to give this to you,” Mercer stated as he pulled the strap over his shoulder and handed Liam the bag.
Curious, Liam grabbed it and opened it as he said, “Oh? What kind of goodies did they give?”
Liam stared inside the bag for a moment before his eyes widened. “Holy shit!”
“What?” the others said as they stared at him, curious to know what was in there.
There were different types of potions and daggers in it. As Liam stared at them he could tell they were not the same things he was used to making.
Liam pulled out the first item.
It was a vial slightly bigger than the ones he normally used. In it was a dark minty green colored liquid.
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“Mint Health Potion. Item type – Potion. Item Rarity -Uncommon. Item Quality – Average. Restores 200 health points with each sip. Has a minty flavor.”
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The next item was a vial the same size with a purplish-blue colored liquid.
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“Blueberry Mana Potion. Item type – Potion. Item Rarity -Uncommon. Item Quality – Average. Restores 200 mana points with each sip. Has a blueberry flavor.”
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The next was a vial with orangish-yellow colored liquid.
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“Orange Stamina Potion. Item type – Potion. Item Rarity -Uncommon. Item Quality – Average. Restores 200 stamina points with each sip. Has an orange flavor.”
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The next item was a larger vial filled with purple liquid in it. Every few seconds a red flash would blink in and out.
Liam assessed it.
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“Implosive Heatwave. Item Type – Chemicalized Creation. Item Rarity – Uncommon. Item Quality – Average. Description – Sucks in enemies within a 25 foot radius. Once when gravity orb hits the ground sends out a powerful wave of fire, covering all enemies within the radius. Gravitational Force Debuff will be applied to any enemy still alive. Lasts for 1 minute. Burn debuff will be applied to any enemy still alive. Lasts for 30 seconds.”
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The last item was one he familiarized himself with not too long ago.
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“Magnetic Shockwave. Item type – Chemicalized Creation. Item rarity – Uncommon. Item Quality – Average. Description – Pulls any enemies within a 25 foot radius towards the gravity ball in the center. After a few seconds pass, a powerful shockwave will shoot out sending arcs of lightning towards the enemies. Arcs of lightning will also bounce off from one enemy to the next for ten seconds. Gravitational Force Debuff will be applied to any enemy still alive. Lasts for 1 minute. 25% chance to paralyze enemies still alive. Lasts for 30 seconds.”
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Galin, you are amazing! Liam thought as he checked the quantity he gave him. There were fourteen of each potion. As for the Chemicalized Creations, there were five each. Thank God he made more after I left. I was down to my last Magnetic Shockwave after this fight. Now what did Fia give me?
Liam placed the potions back into the bag and pulled out one of the daggers that were placed inside.
They were curved throwing bone daggers. The size was slightly bigger than the ones he currently used, but he felt there was something different with these ones.
He focused his sight on it and tried to see what was so different compared to the ones he currently had. His eyes widened once more as he recognized the difference.
“Fia, you didn’t,” Liam muttered under his breath as a smile crept up.
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“Enchanted Runic Curved Throwing Bone Dagger (Unattuned and incomplete). Item Type – Enchanted Runic Weapon (Throwing). Item Rarity (Weapon) – Unusual. Item Quality (Weapon) – Above Average. Rune Quality – Common. Enchant Quality – Common. Runes placed - 3 – Endure, Fatal, Swift. Enchants placed – 1 – Unattuned. (Please attune a Mana type to complete enchantment). + 20% Durability, + 20% Damage, + 20% Speed.”
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