Liam was thoroughly confused by what Mercer said. As he walked towards him, he asked, “What do you mean?”
“These zombies can’t be looted either,” Blair called out as she kicked the creature.
“What?” Liam inquired as he looked at her too.
“It’s true,” Avery replied as she poked another zombie with a broken stick.
Not sure what was going on Liam pulled his goggles over his eyes and said while he assessed one of the zombies, “Hold on. Let me see something.”
----------------------------------------
“Rotten Zombie. 0/90 HP. 0/0 MP. No loot available. No crafting materials available.”
----------------------------------------
“Hm…that’s new,” Liam muttered before assessing one of the skeletons.
“What’s new?” Mercer asked as he eyed Liam.
----------------------------------------
“Graveyard Skeleton. 0/75 HP. 0/0 MP. No loot available. Crafting materials available.”
----------------------------------------
Liam looked at the Withered Treant and assessed it as well.
----------------------------------------
“Withered Treant. 0/150 HP. 0/80 MP. Loot available. Crafting material available.”
----------------------------------------
“The small mobs have no loot, but the Withered Treant does have loot,” Liam stated as he pointed to the zombie then to the skeleton then ended on the Withered Treant. “Also a few of the bones from the skeletons can be used for crafting. The Treant has some materials too.”
“How do you know that?” Mercer asked. He gave Liam a curious yet skeptical look.
“Now that we have a moment, how did you know the HP and MP of that monster?” Roman asked as he walked up to Liam.
“I don’t know what level your guys’ Perception Sub-stat is at, but mine is at level thirteen. At level ten it allows you to see the HP and MP of the creatures you are assessing. As for knowing if they have loot or not, I’m not sure.” Liam shrugged. “Best guess is one of my class abilities.”
“Interesting,” Mercer said as he brought his hand to his chin. “Mines almost at level ten. So, there are perks for getting each sub-stats to certain levels. That really is interesting and good to know.”
Liam pulled his goggles to his forehead. He gave another shrug and stated, “I guess so. Go ahead and loot the Withered Treant. I’m going to harvest the skeletons for the crafting materials.”
“Are you sure?” Mercer questioned as he stared at Liam.
Liam nodded as he said, “You have more knowledge about items thanks to that ability of yours, I trust you to distribute it fairly.” He then looked at the others and added, “Do you guys agree?”
“No problems here.” Aryana smiled.
“Fine by me,” Blair said.
“I agree with Liam,” Artem replied.
Avery gave a nod.
Roman nodded before saying, “But you better be fair.”
“Alright.” Mercer smiled as he gave a nod and walked over to the creature.
Liam turned to the pile of bones closest to him then said, “Harvest.”
----------------------------------------
“3 splintered bones have been sent to your inventory. Moss of the Shallow Grave has been sent to your inventory.”
----------------------------------------
He did this with the rest of the skeletons and got roughly the same amount from them.
Liam was liking the fact that he had an ability that could harvest. He wouldn’t know where or even to harvest things if it wasn’t for this ability. Harvest for the win!
After he was done, he walked over to the group to see them staring at something Artem was holding. It was a shield.
The shield looked like a kite shield from the shape. It had a point at the top that curved a bit to the sides and then curved out for a triangle tip on the bottom with dark grey branches outlining the edge of it. The material of the object looked sturdier than his crude buckler. A glowing violet orb sat in the middle of the shield.
Liam assessed it and was shocked from what he saw.
----------------------------------------
“Wither Tree Kite Shield. Item Type – Shield (Growth) Item Rarity - Uncommon. Item Quality – Poor. Armor + 8. Abilities – 1. Splinter Spike. Description – Splinter Spikes form on the shield. When bashed into an enemy, target will receive a 30 second 5% debuff to physical damage or magical damage depending on the target. 2. ??????? 3.???????”
----------------------------------------
“A growth item? Damn, that’s amazing,” Liam stated as he approached them.
Liam remembered reading about growth items in a few of his favorite Mangas. They had the capabilities of growing with the person who obtained them. Some required to fight certain monsters, others required materials. Either way, growth items were amazing.
Everyone turned to look at him.
“Thanks,” Artem said as he smiled at it.
“We figured since his buckler broke, he could have it. Not only that, but it’s too big for Blair,” Avery said as she gave the item an appraising look.
“I think he deserved it, so I’m not upset about it,” Blair commented as she nodded her head.
“Was that all it dropped?” Liam inquired.
“Equipment wise? Yes. It also dropped some coins which I’m currently dividing up right now, as well as a couple of mana potions which we gave to Roman and Aryana,” Mercer said as he handed Liam a small cloth bag. “Here’s your portion. It’s seventy-five copper coins, and ninety-five iron coins.”
“Thanks,” Liam said as he placed the small bag into his inventory. “If all the loot has been retrieved from it, do you mind if I harvest the creature for crafting materials?”
“Go ahead. You should be fine,” Mercer said as he passed another bag to Avery.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Liam walked over to the Hunched over tree. He placed a hand over it, closed his eyes, and said, “Harvest.”
A light green glow outlined the creature. After a few seconds passed the Treant dissolved and disappeared.
----------------------------------------
“You have received 4 small Poor Wither Bark logs. Item Rarity – Uncommon. Item Quality - Crude.”
“You have received Orb of the Withered – Unfilled. Item Rarity – Uncommon. Item Quality - Minor.”
“You have received Oak seed. Item Rarity – Common. Item Quality - Crude.”
“All items have been sent to your inventory.”
“Congratulations! You have obtained Gathering Craft Lumberjack.”
“Congratulations! Gathering Craft Lumberjack has reached level 1. Progression to next level: 0%.”
----------------------------------------
“That was cool,” Roman said as he stared wide eyed.
“I agree,” Mercer stated. “That was your class skill?”
“Yeah,” Liam answered as he looked at them. “It’s called Harvest. It makes harvesting easier and I can identify crafting materials easier too. Unfortunately, I can only harvest one target at a time.”
“That’s still a handy ability to have,” Mercer said as twinkle formed in the corner of his eye.
“If you’re think of ways to exploit my ability I’m going to have to pass right now,” Liam quickly stated as he saw it. “I receive less materials than I would if I gathered the items in a normal way thanks to the checks and balances.”
Mercer frowned. “You’re no fun.”
“Um, hey guys…,” Aryana started. “The portal hasn’t come back yet even though we defeated the boss.”
The others looked at her then the spot where the portal once was.
Liam turned to Mercer who started, “I haven’t heard of any cases like this happening. I even specifically asked if this could happen. Someone did say that if it did happen then it would reappear after beating the boss. So, if it hasn’t arrived yet…”
Comprehension dawn as Liam finished, “That wasn’t the boss.”
Mercer shook his head. “No. That was probably the E.F.M.”
“You’re kidding right?” Artem gaped.
“No,” Mercer shook his head.
“If that wasn’t the boss then we’re in over our heads. That thing was horribly strong for people at our levels,” Ariyana said.
Liam agreed with Ariyana’s statement. Things might have seemed like they were going smoothly at the beginning, but towards the end things got a little sloppy. Especially the strike that broke Artem’s buckler. That creature shouldn’t have had the power to destroy it.
“I agree,” Blair said. “Something doesn’t sit right with this. How many people did you talk to that entered this dungeon?”
“I talked to four groups. Originally it was seven, but three didn’t want to share any information with me,” Mercer replied.
“We’re going to have to go forward with the expectations that not everything was given to you correctly,” Liam commented.
“Why are you acting like everything is fine?” Ariyana asked sounding a bit exasperated. “How can you guys be so calm?”
Liam, Blair, and Mercer gave her a calm and collected look. They were about to say something until Avery popped in.
“It’s because of what’s going on that we have to remain calm cool and collected,” Avery started softly. “If we lose our cool then someone will get hurt.”
Ariyana searched Avery’s eyes. After staring into them she closed her eyes, took in a long breath, and slowly released it. She opened her eyes and regained her composure and said, “You’re right. I don’t know what came over me, but you’re right.”
Avery nodded.
“So,” Ariyana began. “What do we do now?”
“That part is simple,” Liam replied as the group looked at him. “We find the Floor boss and kill it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So, this is the spot where you found the Withered Treant?” Avery asked as she looked around.
“Yup,” Liam responded as he pointed to the torn-up dirt. “It was right there.”
Mercer, Blair and Roman looked over the spot Liam pointed.
The dirt was around the area the Withered Treant once stood looked like someone took a shovel and just dug around. The plants Liam couldn’t grab at the time were all destroyed as well. Liam was a bit upset about that.
“Doesn’t look like there’s any hints as to which way the boss is,” Roman commented as he looked around.
“So do we explore this area, or do we go back to the path and try our luck that way?” Avery asked.
“What do you think?” Mercer questioned as he looked at Liam.
Liam had his right hand on his chin while the elbow rested on his left hand and thought. He looked around, taking in any details he could. He then saw some dirt in front of a gravestone slowly move an inch up then down.
As he rotated his right hand away from his chin he asked, “Would anyone say the direction of the boss would be where there’s no monsters in the path? Or a path of monsters would lead to the boss?”
“No monsters,” Artem quickly said.
Ignoring Artem; Mercer, Roman, and Avery said in unison, “Definitely where the monsters are at.”
“I was thinking the same thing too,” Liam smiled. He then gave Artem an apologetic look. “Sorry Artem. The path of growth is where blood needs to be shed.”
Artem sighed as he replied, “I know. I just don’t want it to be my blood.”
“Why do you ask? Do you see monsters?” Blair asked.
“I can see a spot of dirt moving slightly. My guess is there are monsters in that direction.” Liam pointed to a patch of dirt.
“Well,” Roman started as he popped his knuckles. “Let’s kill us some monsters and a boss.” He then walked over to the area Liam had pointed.
“What are you doing?” Ariyana questioned.
Roman turned his head a bit to look at them as he continued to walk. “I’m going to try to lure these weaklings out,” he responded sounding confident.
Liam continued to stare at the steadily moving dirt. The more he stared at it, different thoughts formed. The way that dirt is moving isn’t the way something trying to get out would move.
“What’s wrong Liam?” Mercer asked as he noticed a frown slowly started to form on Liam’s face.
A feeling he couldn’t describe started to rise up his spine as Liam muttered, “No…it looks more like….”
A notification appeared in front of Liam causing his eyes to widen.
“Roman! Wait!” Liam shouted.
However, his warning came too late.
As Roman’s foot touched down, the ground begun to shake, making him fall face first into the grass. A long bony arm with chunks of ripped flesh mixed with wet dirt ejected up into the air and then slammed down. Its rotted fleshy fingers gripped the dirt as another disgusting arm did the same. The landscape Roman fell down on slowly ripped from the earth bringing a massive amount of dirt. grass, gravestones, and Roman with it.
A bald smooth skeletal head with glowing crimson orbs for eyes appeared from underneath the dirt, letting out a gargled deep growl. Its upper body pulled the rest of its body out of the ground. Even though it was hunched over, carefully not letting the land mass on its back to tip over, it was as tall as a single story building. Its chest was nothing but a rib cage with chunks of dirt and grass slowly falling between the bones. Rooted vines began to snake outs around inside its chest cavity area, looking like veins. The roots came from the neck, the arms, and the lower torso connecting to a single beating dark purplish red object.
----------------------------------------
“Atlas the Grave Keeper. 200/200 HP. 120/120 MP.”
----------------------------------------
"Roman!" Avery called out.
There was no answer.
"Did that thing just eat...," Ariyana quivered as tried asking.
"I don't know," Blair stated as she got into a defensive stance.
“Liam…What is that thing?” Aryana questioned as they looked up at the lumbering zombie-skeleton creature.
“Atlas the Grave Keeper…the Floor boss,” Liam gulped.
“Oh fuuuuuu,” Mercer started to curse, but couldn’t finish as he froze.
Atlas stared at them through its makeshift eyes. The orbs moved around the eye sockets taking each person in.
“What do we do, Liam?” Artem asked as fear started to creep up.
“Why are you asking me?” Liam inquired.
“Because your plan with that Withered Treant worked out well,” Artem started. He then waved his arms out and finished, “Can’t you…you know. Do it again?”
Liam gave him a confused look and argued, “That first plan worked due to luck.”
Without warning it took in a deep breath and released a deep roar as its back swayed a bit.
Everyone involuntarily took a step back as the stomach-churning smell from its breath reached their noses.
“Luck or not. We need a plan. Like now!” Mercer shouted as he saw the monster lift his right arm up while taking a step forward.
As its grey rotted foot touched down, the ground waved out like a ripple in the ocean. This caused Artem, Blair, Avery, Liam, Mercer, and Ariyana to almost lose their balance. The arm then swung down over Ariyana.
Ariyana let out a scream as she watched frozen in place as it came crashing down on her. As the hand was about to swat her, Artem appeared in front of her and swung his shield in an angle to counter it. The clash made the hand slide off of his shield and hit the dirt next to him and Ariyana.
Liam’s mind started to work overtime. What can we do? How can we fight this thing? What is our best approach? Liam thought as he stared at the creature.
He serious wasn’t sure what to do. No plans were forming. No hints as to how to take this creature down. As his mind continued to race jumbled thoughts began to overtake his mind. That thing is huge and looks to be stronger than us. Roman's condition is currently unknown, which leaves us down a person. The situation is bad, how can we deal with it?!
“Liam!” Avery shouted.
“Screw it,” Liam swore as he made a makeshift plan. Once when he convinced himself it was the best he could come up with, he shouted, “Ariyana and Mercer, back up far enough to be out of reach and start shooting your spells!”
He then ordered, “Blair, get its attention! Artem back her up and switch up every minute if you can. If you can’t switch every minute, then do it every thirty seconds!”
“On it!” Blair shouted back.
“About time!” Artem commented as he ran up to join Blair.
Liam looked at Avery. “Avery let’s take it down a peg. Pick a leg and we’ll attack it.”
“Got it!” Avery replied as she ran to the left leg.
Liam cracked his neck and thought before running up to join Avery, Here goes nothing.