"What in the actual fuck is that!"
My eyes widened in disbelief as a barbed tentacle lunged towards me. The disgusting appendage sprung from a foul-smelling pool of water in the middle of the rock-walled cavern. I rolled and ducked, narrowly avoiding being skewered. A notification message scrolled past.
[You have dodged Grasping Tentacles and avoided 20 damage.]
My crew and I had come to the abandoned City of Caer'Dun to hopefully complete our quest. According to legend, a colossal tidal wave crashed into the town over one-hundred years ago. The inhabitants fled for their lives and never returned. Adventurers and NPCs now avoided the city, believing it was cursed. We'd wandered into the town's long-abandoned sewers, only to discover a very irritable lone inhabitant. Not expecting to find any hostiles our group had been taken completely by surprise.
To my immediate right, Leonidas the Paladin hacked at another tentacle with his gleaming sword. Not too far behind him, our Cleric Shauna stood in a healing glow. The golden aura bathed the room in a curative light which healed our superficial wounds instantly. On the far side of the cavern stood Yvir the barbarian – smashing another tentacle with her massive battle-ax.
Our necromancer Cairngorm kept at a comfortably safe distance. He tapped his enchanted ring, and his two Skeleton Warriors sprung from the ground. At his mental command, the mindless undead lurched into battle. Each one hacked at a tentacle before it could reach their master.
We'd come to this cave in search of the last two Phoenix gems, said to be embedded in the eyes of an ancient statue. What we didn't count on was the ruined city being a half submerged by floodwaters. Or the nasty tentacled beast that dwelled within its subterranean caverns.
"It's a Quheevloge!" Shauna called out over her shoulder.
"What kind of creature is that?" I asked.
"Nasty aquatic beastie, usually conjured by magic!" Yvir responded.
As if on cue the ugly monster's head surfaced from the pool of water. I let out an emphatic gasp of horror as the enormous head slowly arose. The creature's skin was molted, bumpy, and gray. It's single bloodshot eye scanned the room, taking stock of its potential victims. A putrid scent very much like rotting fish filled the cavern. As if on cue another barbed tentacle shot out from the water and wrapped around my leg. Not moving fast enough, the oily slick limb had caught me. Now, the ugly monster dragged me towards its double rows of shark-like teeth.
"A little help here," I screamed.
"I'm on it!" Leonidas strode towards me his sword at the ready. Before long he hacked at the thick tentacle severing the flesh by with one blow. The Quheevloge screamed in response. Now the monster completely emerged from the subterranean pool. This had to be the weirdest creature we'd ever fought. The ginormous monster being all head, teeth, and tentacles.
"Aim for the eye," Shauna called out to us. "The Quheevloge has an armored body, but its eye is vulnerable."
"Switch to ranged attacks!" I called out to the team.
"Sure thing Cassie!" Yvir cried in response. The team had recently upgraded our equipment to include ranged weapons. Yvir produced a silver-tipped spear from her back harness. With one forceful thrust, she launched the deadly device towards the creatures single unblinking eye. The weapon hit its mark with a sickening crunch.
The Quheevloge screeched, and a swarm of tentacles lashed out— seeking to put an end to us. Everyone scrambled to avoid the cutting thorn-like barbs. Shauna, our cleric, readied her bow. Within seconds she'd released a blessed arrow which struck the beast in its bulbous head. Not to be outdone, Leonidas grabbed the small ax which hung from his belt and threw it. The double-edged weapon spun as it hurtled towards the giant monster. Finally striking it's already injured and bleeding eye.
Green blood drizzled from the monster's damaged eye socket. I knew it was now or never. Pulling my cloak over my head, I vanished from sight. While Rogue's were generally low defense, we could dish out incredible amounts of burst damage from stealth. Now was the time to finish this monster with a well-placed Shadow Strike. The deadly special ability of the Rogue class which could deal double critical damage to even the toughest foes. I pulled up my HUD and looked at my ability screen:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Character Name: Kira Nightwind
Type: Human Thief
Stamina: 54 (+6 Equipment Buff)
Dexterity: 45 (+4 Equipment Buff)
Intellect: 50 (+5 Equipment Buff)
Charisma: 42 (+10 Casanova Buff)
Hit Points: 600 (750)
Signature Attack: Shadow Strike (+Special Bonus Damage)
Special Ability: Shadow Cloak (Inherent) Grants Invisibility.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My stats looked pretty good. I should be able to pull off the Shadow Strike. To be safe, I targeted the monster and called up my reticle. We'd see how much HP he had left.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Critter Name: Quheevloge
Critter Type: Giant Monster
Attack: 80
Hit Points: 450 (1000)
Speed: 10 MPH
Special Attack: Grasping Tentacles deals 20 damage per tentacle. Tentacles will rapidly respawn if severed.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The good news was that we'd whittled the Quheevloge down to over half its total hit points. The bad news was those respawning tentacles would eventually wear us down. Something had to be done quickly. A successful Shadow Strike should do just enough burst damage to finish the Quheevloge off. Moving swiftly, I bounded along one of the monster's thick tentacles until I reached its freakish rounded head. With a thought, my Tiger Claw blades extended from gloved knuckles. Gritting my teeth, I made two fists. Then with one fatal thrust, I struck. My claws stabbed directly into the monster's enormous bleeding eye. I grinned in satisfaction as the red Shadow Strike notification hovered above the creature's head. I jumped down into the water. Swimming backward as the Quheevloge wailed and then dissolved in a burst of pixels and ooze.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
"Booyah!" Leonidas pumped his fist in the air.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Congratulations!
You Have Defeated: The Quheevloge!
You Have Earned The Title: Calamari Queen.
You Have Earned: 2000 XP.
Your Fighting Rank Has Increased.
You Have Earned 1000 Gold.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Well, that was a little tougher than I expected!" Shauna dropped her bow and rested against a stone wall.
Yvir leaned on her barbarian's ax, "Tough critter!"
"These ruins are half submerged in the sea," I said. "My guess is that it swam in and got trapped when the flood waters receded."
"That thing was likely placed here to protect something!" Yvir was still wary.
"We are pretty far underground, and there may be more flooding!" Leonidas said.
"Let's not waste time," I sheathed my Tiger Claw weapons. The blades retracted back into their leather housings. "That's probably not the toughest monster in these caverns."
"Aye," Leonidas nodded. "And we still haven't ventured further in." He nodded towards the tunnel behind me.
"It's very dark in there," Cairngorm gestured and summoned a glowing ball of light.
"No doubt," I smiled. "And filled with all kinds of nasties waiting to eat us."
"You have the weirdest sense of humor," Shauna shook her head.
"I don't know, I think she's funny," Yvir slung her barbarians ax over her shoulder.
"Everyone on alert," I stepped into the tunnel. "Here we go."
It was unbelievably dark. If not for Cairngorm's magical light spell I'm not sure even our torches would've provided enough illumination. We wandered down the cavernous tunnel for what seemed like an eternity. I kept my eyes peeled for traps— there are always traps. But so far we'd come across nothing. If anything I was a little bored.
"So what are we looking for exactly?" Yvir asked.
"According to what I heard at the guild hall," I responded. "There's a statue hidden in here that has two gems for eyes. They may very well be what we were looking for."
"The Phoenix gems," Shauna nodded.
The Phoenix gems were a set of three in-game items that unlocked special abilities and epic equipment. We discovered one already and used it to open an elite weapons store. The weapons provided had given all the characters trapped in the game a serious upgrade. So it stood to reason on the other two gems would help make all of us even more powerful. And it was the power we needed. If players held hostage in this game had any chance to escape, leveling up was vital. The dragon Grymm must be defeated. That would open the gate and allow us to be free finally.
I wasn't sure how long we've been in the game. Due to time dilation days passed by much more quickly than in the real world. By the in-game calendar, over six months had passed. None of us had any idea what that amounted to in the real world. But during that time all of the trapped player characters have grown in strength and power. There were a few player deaths. Unfortunately, we weren't sure if they were really gone or in limbo somewhere.
"Is that the door?" Leonidas halted.
We've reached the end of the tunnel and now before us stood a worn oaken door. Cairngorm gestured, and his glowing ball of light grew brighter granting better vision for all of us. There was no clue where this door led. I activated my detect traps ability and scanned the door. But it came up negative.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No Trap Detected
Your keen instincts have not detected any traps in this area. As always, proceed with caution.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"I didn't find any traps," I told the group.
"That doesn't mean anything," Shauna balled her fists. "If there's a door in a dungeon its rigged with nasty traps."
"I agree." Yvir gripped her battle ax. "Let's get ready."
"So who's going to be the lucky chump to try and open it?" I asked.
"I'm the tankiest," Leonidas spoke up. "Let me do it." With great confidence, he approached the door and pushed. Nothing happened. "It won't budge!" He said. "I bet it's enchanted."
"You're probably right," I stroked my chin.
"Let me see if I can detect any magic," Cairngorm closed his eyes and muttered a whispered spell. After what seemed like an eternity he opened his eyes and spoke. "It's a well-crafted lock spell. I'm assuming it requires a specific key."
"Like a puzzle?" I asked.
"Look above the door. There's something written." Shauna pointed.
We all glanced upwards at the elegant script. I knitted my brow. Old Elvish wasn't one of the languages I'd purchased for my skill tree.
"Can anyone read that?" I turned towards my companions.
"Nope!" Leonidas shook his head.
"There's a spell that may work," Cairngorm stepped forward. "It's called Understand All Speech. Typically its used for talking to foreign NPCs, but let's see what happens."
The Dark Wizard gestured, and glowing sigils surrounded his hands. He made several flourishing movements and then a tiny ball of purple energy flew from his fingers. The glowing orb struck the wall, and the inscription above the door begin to shimmer. The words slowly faded and then came back into view, now entirely legible for our group:
[A Kind Word Opens All Doors]
"What does that mean?" Leonidas leaned forward, his dark skin glistening in the torchlight.
"I can't believe it's this easy!" Yvir snorted and then approached the door. "May we enter," she paused "Please."
The door creaked and groaned in response, before swinging slowly open. The Barbarian turned to the rest of us and bowed. "Sometimes the magic word is— Please."