Wraith woke up early in the morning. Just like the day before, he made his way to Calder's training area. “Now, I know that you did pretty well yesterday, but the rounds will only get harder from her on out. Are you still sure you want to go through with this?”
“Of course.” He had already started, so he figured he might as well keep at it. Besides, there was no way he could get stronger if he ran away from fights.
This time when he stepped into the dungeon, he immediately came face-to-face with a golem. Unlike the metallic golems from the last time he was there, these golems were wooden and unarmed.
Since he was so close to the golem, he lashed out with a kick. Having kicked it back three metres, he activated his skill. “Form of the Wolf-King.” In less than a second he had transformed. He had the impression that his body had grown a bit bigger, and that he had longer, thicker hair. Even the chains on his body seemed longer and thicker.
From the earlier kick he had discovered that even though it was made of wood, it was still quite durable. It was more like a rock in terms of hardness. Because of this, he didn't understand why there were wooden golems this time around instead of the steel ones.
In all aspects the steel golems were better. While these golems were faster due to the reduced weight, it wasn't by much. However, he didn't have to wonder for long, as the golem he kicked away put up its hands and shot out wooden stakes.
Apparently the wood still kept its original properties, and thus could grow at will. Although Wraith jumped to the side, he still got scratched by the stakes as they flew past them. Dammit, I can't do anything against their spray. I really wish I had a flamethrower. Though individually the stakes were relatively small and slow, when taken as a whole the attack was quite effective.
The attacks didn't let up, and instead kept on firing continuously. Wraith had no other choice but to keep moving, running just one step ahead of the stakes. If I close the distance, the attack won't be as effective. With this in mind, he dashed around behind the golem.
He didn't slow down or stop, and instead kept charging right at it. He tackled the golem to the ground, thinking that he finally had an advantage over it. Suddenly a wooden stake grew out of its back, impaling his left shoulder.
He let go of the golem and moved away, snapping off the wooden stake in his shoulder. Since he didn't want to let it get up again, he wrapped his right hand around its ankle and threw it against the wall. He did this over and over again, not holding on long enough for a stake to form and stab him again.
Eventually the golem broke apart. While he did manage to kill the enemy, he wasn't happy with the outcome. His left shoulder was basically immobilized, and he was down to eighty percent health. He quickly wrapped a few bandages around his shoulder, and soaked them in a potion to aid regeneration.
You have learned the First Aid skill.
After applying bandages several times, he finally learned the first-aid skill. It was useful since it was an easy way to recover health after a battle. There was barely enough time for him to recover, as just a few seconds after he finished bandaging himself, another golem showed up from behind the corner.
This time he was better prepared, and dashed towards it immediately. Before it had a chance to lift its arms up and fire off several dozen stakes, he knocked it over with a flying kick to its chest. Once he landed he kept running and swept his leg up and around right into its side, as if he were kicking a soccer ball.
Since he was kicking it away from him, the wooden stake that extended from its body towards his was always lagging behind by a hair. It made it very easy to dodge. It may have been a crude way of fighting, but it was effective. However this kind of fighting would take a long time, so he grabbed its arm and pulled the golem up with his good hand. On its way forward, he twisted around and kneed it savagely.
Since this type of golem appeared to fight individually, he was able to finish off the other ones that followed relatively easily. They did still manage to injure him, but he managed to mitigate that damage with his bandaging skill. It made sense, given its ranged attacks that had such a wide area of effect.
After a while he had destroyed all the golems that were coming after him. Since this was just like the training the day before, he already anticipated a boss fight. Sure enough, he came to a similar arena like he did the day before. The only difference was the the ground had soft loamy soil, instead of hard rock.
Oh crap, this is bad. If the boss is the same wood-type golem, it would be stronger in this terrain, and there's no telling about how it'll affect its unknown skills. Now he was trapped in the arena, the only way he could leave would be to defeat the next monster.
Just like before, the golem rose up from a hole in the center of the room. It was a bigger version of the other golems, but Wraith knew from his fight with the last boss that it likely had a few aces up its sleeves.
The golem lifted its hands like the other ones did, and shot off several dozen stakes aimed at his feet. Since he was prepared, he managed to jump backwards. What he wasn't prepared for was each stake sprouting spikes of its own. Given that the stakes were already a metre long, he was unable to escape its effects.
Before he knew it, he had several holes in his body, chopping his health which had recovered to one hundred percent before the fight, to seventy. He didn't stand around and gawk, but instead started running, avoiding all the stakes, and the spikes that sprouted from it.
At the moment the only this he could do was run away. He managed to keep ahead of the spikes, but if he kept it up, he would eventually run out of stamina. If I don't attack I die, if I do attack I get impaled and die anyway. Think, think, think. There must be another way to defeat it.
Against a monster that can combine defence and offence, the only strategy that can be used against it is speed. He would have to attack before it knew what hit it. Instead of running around in circles around it, Wraith started angling himself towards it. It wasn't the type of monster that could be attacked with kicks or other strikes. If he did stop to use those attacks, he would immediately be impaled.
That only left hit-and-run tactics. With his arm stretched out, he clawed the golem as he ran past it. Since it was made of wood, it worked better than if it had been metal.
Even though he did some damage to it, it was still only scratches. It barely tickled the golem. What he did was turn around and do the same thing on the other side. Over and over again he ran in circles, clawing at the same spots over and over again. Over time the scratches got deeper and more severe.
Finally after thirty minutes of running and clawing at it, the golem fell down, its sides riddled with deep slashes. Exhausted, Wraith collapsed, his stamina almost at zero. When he had finally recovered enough stamina he made his way to the door that opened up.
Like before, there was a teleportation circle laid out on the floor which sent him back to the entrance. He walked out, seeing Calder waiting for him. “You took a longer than last time. Still, at least you made it out.”
“Just barely,” he grumbled. “Why haven't I made any stat or level gains?” The golems he had been fighting against were incredibly strong, and the severity of his injuries should have given him some gains in endurance at the very least.
“It's because you're in training. The point of this type of training isn't to gain levels. At the end of the day stats and levels can only get you so far. If your basic skills are lacking, then you're nothing more than an empty shell. While you're undergoing training, you will remain at the same level with the same stats you had when you first started. This extends to training done out of the dungeon as well.”
“So, no matter what I do I'll only make gains in skills?” He was horrified. For the next three days he wouldn't be able to raise his stats.
Calder laughed and said, “don't worry, I said you'll be the same during the training. Once you finish, all the stats and levels that you should have received over time will come to you all at once.”
That was an immense relief for Wraith. Though he could agree that skills were paramount for victory, stats and levels cannot be disregarded. “So in the meantime, what do you suggest I do?” He couldn't raise his tailoring skill since he lacked the materials, and he didn't want to keep taking plants from the oasis so he couldn't raise his alchemy skill either.
“Why don't you go back to Versailles for a bit? You've got about half the day left. There aren't many creatures to fight in this place. Well, none that you can handle as of yet.”
It was an interesting idea, but he couldn't move between realms as of yet. As such, he went to see Fenella. She was eating lunch when he walked in. “Fenella, I was wondering if it was possible for me to go to Versailles for a bit.”
She thought about it. She was obviously worried about his well-being, but understood his intentions. “You don't have the skill to travel here by yourself. It wouldn't be all that useful for you in this case anyway.” She walked to a cupboard and pulled out a small wooden box. She picked up a small golden disk, and gave it to him.
“This is an advanced version of the amulet you used to come here. Unlike the other one, this can be used ten times. I'll open up a portal to the same place we came from. When you need to come back just put the disk on the surface where the portal should be and walk through.”
“Thanks...mom.” It was the first time that he directly addressed her as his mom. Before he could get away without using nouns, but now he had the courage to address her as such. Needless to say she was overjoyed. “I'll be sure to come back at nightfall.”
Fenella nodded and walked over to a wall. She placed her hand on it, creating a magic circle. In an instant, a portal was opened up. Holding the disk in his hand, he walked through, finding himself in the same cavern he met Fenella at.
In a few minutes he had made his way outside of the cave. Not wanting to get lost, he took a small knife from his pack, and began marking his trail. He walked into the woods, picking any new or unidentified plants he found on the way.
He wandered around for about an hour, when he sensed a presence. He stilled immediately, and started scanning the area. When his eyes fell upon a bushy area his muscles tensed up. The other party knew that they had been spotted so they came out of hiding. From behind the green bush padded out two wolves.
They were smaller than most, as they were just on the cusp of adulthood. Their grey coats were streaked with white and black, letting them blend in with the forest.
Then one of them, the bigger one, opened its jaws.
There was one way to convince them that he could be trusted. “Form of the Wolf-King.” He transformed into his werewolf form. “You don't have to be afraid of me.”
The two wolves jumped in shock. The male then spoke,
“Yes, I bear the blood of the first wolf.”
“I'd be honoured to.” Given how closely his class was related to the wolves, he thought it best to introduce himself to them.
They led him through the woods and into a small valley. There he saw half a dozen other wolves. They stood up at his approach, watching him warily. Though his relationship with them was at maximum value, he was still technically a stranger to them.
He couldn't help but notice that many of them were also injured to some degree or another. Even the least injured among them had several slashes across their flank and belly.
The two young wolves than walked over to the largest wolf in the pack. From snout to tail it was about three metres in length, with a thick grey coat. It would have looked powerful, were it not for the patches of fur torn off, and the blood coating its body.
Sensing that he was the leader of this pack, Wraith bowed his head in respect. “Greetings, my name is Wraith.”
Wraith then cancelled his skill. The other wolves were started at this, but the leader didn't flinch.
“I'm not like the others you've met.”
Having introduced himself Wraith then asked a question that had been troubling him. “If I may ask, why are you all so injured?”
“I have the first-aid skill, so I can bandage you up if you'll let me.”
This wasn't a exaggeration. If they were taken by surprise, they could easily be defeated. He judged that Skoll, the strongest of them, was only at level fifty. This was much higher than the wolves at Serabourg, who were only at level ten, but with the nature of their injuries they weren't all that mush stronger.
Even so he kept his opinions to himself. If Skoll's pride wouldn't let Wraith wrap him up in bandages, he sure as hell wouldn't take advice from him. Instead, Wraith let the two wolves guide him back. With the acceptance of their leader, the other wolves were no longer wary of him, and instead bowed their heads at his departure.
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Having gained a respectable class, Circe walked through the forest, eager to test her new skills. With the level of skill and power she had, she was full of confidence. Unfortunately, in the dense woods, there weren't many powerful enemies. Though she practised against rabbits and birds, she felt them to be too weak to match her.
That all changed when she came upon a valley. It had several wolves in it. Normally she would be no match for them, but she saw that they were all wounded. She smiled at the gift that had seemingly fallen into her lap.
Since she was downwind of the pack, they didn't smell her approach. She softly padded forward and brought up her hands. Against simple animals, the best attack would be fire.
She brought out her Mana and surrounded the wolves with it. Since it was still pure Mana, they weren't able to sense it. Once she had encircled all the wolves, she converted it to fire. With such a small number of wolves, she was easily able to cage them in a ring of fire.
Startled by the sudden attack, they whipped their heads around, searching for the enemy. They spotted her, but there was nothing they could do. She kept pouring more Mana in, raising the heat and the size of the flames. She grew excited at hearing the wolves cry out in pain. The smell of burnt flesh soon permeated the air.
Where there were once seven wolves, now only four remained. She kept buffeting them with flames, and sent streams of fire attacking them from all sides. The largest wolf stood before the rest of his pack to protect them, but it did little to help. They were not only injured, they were unused to fighting against magic. Though they were ferocious beasts, fear clouded their judgement. Instead of fighting against her as a pack, they were all scattered and disorganized.
Two of the wolves ran straight through the circle of fire, disregarding the scorching flames. Though they were severely burned, they made it out in one piece. Freed from the fire, they ran straight towards her. She was aware of the potential danger they posed, so she split her focus. She kept two wolves still in the flames caged, while she sent out waves of fire at the freed ones. It knocked them back and set what remained of their fur on fire. After a few waves they went grey and died, letting out their last howls of pain and fear.
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Wraith was being led by Sarin and Vangar. They were halfway to their destination when they heard the first cries of pain. Vangar was the first to react.
Wraith ran after them, knowing that they wouldn't be able to do much on their own. I should have known this would happen. I should have been more insistent on helping them.
Within a few minutes they returned to the valley. Sarin and Vangar had arrived just before Wraith, yet they stood still, stunned by what they saw.
The place they once called home was burnt down to nothingness, the corpses of their friends and family scattered across the valley. The only one still alive was Skoll, but even he would soon pass on. His body was charred, and his limbs were burnt off. It wasn't done to kill him quickly, but rather to slowly let his life drain away from him.
They soon spotted the cause of this tragedy. A woman was standing a few metres away from Skoll, casting small streams of fire. Having killed all the other members of the pack, she took her time with Skoll.
Vangar howled in rage and charged at her with Sarin. Wraith knew that they were no match for her, especially given that she was a mage. He could understand and appreciate their courage, but at their level of strength all they could do was join the rest of their pack in death.
Having noticed the two wolves, she brought her hand up towards them and sent forth a stream of fire. They won't be able to survive an attack like that. Swearing under his breath he sprinted over and shielded them from the fire. Though his back was badly burnt, he only lost about ten percent of his health.
“She's not someone you can take head-on, stay back until I call on you.” Saying this, he turned back around to the woman. “What reason could you possibly have to do this?”
She looked at him quizzically, “why would I need a reason to torch a group of flea-ridden mutts? But if you really want to know, I just wanted something to test my new powers on.” The callousness of her tone and the cruelty in her words made Wraith clench his fists in barely leashed fury. She had no reason for her violence. It wasn't for food or survival, that Wraith would have understood. Instead she took their lives for sport. For Wraith, the worst kind of death would be a meaningless death.
He didn't respond to her with words, choosing instead to close the distance between them. He dodged most of the fire coming from her hands, but was unable to completely escape the flames. The woman started to grow afraid, having seen the distance shrink between them.
When he was only ten metres away, Wraith whipped a pebble he had picked up earlier at her. It flew and struck on the forehead. Though it only did about five points worth of damage, it succeeded in breaking her concentration. Since her flames had died out, he took the opportunity to charge into her and drive his knee into her gut.
With the breath knocked out of her, she couldn't use her magic. She couldn't stand either, as she was knocked backwards into a tree. After she fell forwards onto the ground he grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her, bending them until they popped out of their sockets.
In Wraith's eyes it was a relatively small injury, but she screamed as if he were tearing them off instead. Obviously she was unused to the pain in Royal Road. Some players would have stopped harming her out of pity. Wraith did stop his attack, but it wasn't to spare her any pain. It was because no matter how much he wanted to, he didn't have the right to end her life.
That was something reserved for Sarin and Vangar, so that they may take revenge for their fallen brethren. Wraith reached down and grabbed her by her clothes. He picked her up and tossed her towards them. After crashing to the ground, she rolled over a few times before landing face-up in front of the young wolves.
They didn't waste a second, and immediately set upon her. Sarin buried her jaws in the mages throat and then pulled them free, tearing open her flesh and sending arterial blood spurting out. Vangar went for her stomach instead, splitting it open and dragging her innards out. His teeth bit through her liver and intestines, and ruptured her stomach.
Had her throat not been torn out, she might have screamed in pain. During all this, Wraith looked on calmly. He didn't feel the slightest bit of revulsion or horror at her fate, this was simply the natural way of things. Everything that happened to her, she only brought upon herself. His only regret was that he couldn't do it himself.
Before she died, she looked at him with eyes filled with hate and the promise of vengeance. Once her body had disappeared, they went over to Skoll. As much as Wraith wanted to help him, his first-aid skill wasn't at a level that was able to help save him.
“I don't know how well I'll do, but I promise to take care of them.”
At the death of their leader, the two wolves let out long mournful howls, echoing throughout the forest.
Skill unlocked
Leader of the Pack has been learned
Letting Sarin and Vangar mourn their loss, he quietly whispered, “information: Leader of the Pack.”
Leader of the Pack
Passive Skill
Like how wolves do, you can form your own pack. As the leader you command absolute loyalty after having proven your strength and wisdom. Due to the mystical nature of the bond between you and your pack, additional skills and abilities have been bestowed upon you. Number of maximum pack members rises with higher skill levels. Skill rises through your actions in managing and guiding your pack.
Pack:2/4
* Pack members can gain experience through their actions, as well as a portion of your own exp. which can be adjusted.
* Pack members can learn new skills as they level up which are not given to other members of their species
* Unlike regular monsters, pack members are bonded to you, allowing their consciousness to be stored so that they can be re-summoned upon death after 96 hours in-game, their level decreased by five and all skills losing 10-15% experience
* The pack follows a hierarchy, allowing another member to take over during periods of absence
Once Sarin and Vangar had stopped howling, he activated his Form of the Wolf-King skill. “It's time to hunt.” They walked away from the valley, heading into the forest. Though they were still in mourning, hunting would take their minds off of their loss.
Soon they had come upon a small herd of deer. They were grazing at the edge of the forest, unprepared for them. Sarin and Vangar already knew how to hunt, so all Wraith needed to do was take the lead and count on them to follow.
He ran at the herd, spooking them and sending them running. While most of the herd managed to pull away, the slower ones were left at their mercy. Wraith went after the slowest of the herd, which seemed to be an old doe. He leaped on its back, his claws buried in its haunch as he brought it down. Sarin attacked its legs, while Vangar bit at its throat. Soon they brought the deer low.
With the doe dead, Wraith cut into the hide with his claws. Although Royal Road had an automatic looting system, it only gave players a fraction of the meat and leather. He had about five minutes for the doe to disappear, so he made quick work of it.
He cut off whatever skin he could, and then let Sarin and Vangar eat their fill. He watched as they gorged themselves on the innards and saw that his own satiety level was quite low.
What he did next was something he would have never thought about before he started Royal Road. Well, I am in the body of a wolf. He joined them in feasting on the still warm flesh. As he tore into the flesh, he felt the hot blood slide down his throat. The metallic tang should have been revolting, but it wasn't. He chewed on the tough muscle, tasting rich and salty, not much different from a rare steak.
He knew that the taste was altered to be more palatable, but even so, most players would be revolted simply by the action of eating raw flesh from the just killed body.
Once he and his pack had eaten their fill, Wraith extracted the rest of the meat and took the bones as well. Since he had killed the doe, he figured that the least he could do was to use every possible part of it.
For the rest of the evening they spent it chasing down prey. They didn't do it to harm or kill them, but rather to experience the thrill of the chase. By sundown, Sarin and Vangar had grown slightly in strength, and level. “It's getting late. I have to go back to Jorenheim.”
Sarin's ears and tail drooped, and Vangar asked,
Wraith hesitated. While he wanted to bring them with him, he didn't know if the portal would allow them through. Then again, they are bound to me, so it could happen I guess. “We'll see if it's possible, if not I'll go through and find a way to bring you back.”
It did take some more convincing, but eventually he got them to agree. They helped guide him back to the portal, whereupon he took out the disc Fenella gave him, and held it up against the wall. In an instant, a magic circle formed and materialized a portal.
He anxiously stepped through, finding himself back in the boundless white landscape he first came through. He was pleased to see that Sarin and Vangar were able to follow him through. They walked over to a wooden door and stepped through.
Back at the temple, he surprised Fenella when he stepped through with two wolves in tow. “How...where did you...?” She trailed off, unsure of what to ask him.
"It would be too complicated to explain. Lets just say that they're part of my family now." She nodded slowly at this, having decided to let the matter go. Since it was so late at night, he went straight to bed. Sarin curled up next to him, her head on his stomach, while Vangar lay over his legs.
Even with all the tragic events that took place, being surrounded by his new family let him fall asleep with a smile on his face.
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Having been forced to log out because of death, Amber got out of the capsule, her face carrying the vestiges of terror at being torn apart by wolves. She breathed deeply trying to clear her mind of fear.
When she had a handle over her emotions, the terror had drained from her face. Instead her once pretty face was contorted by rage. The image of the young man who was responsible for her death was burned into her mind. With his features it would be easy to recognize him.
She silently swore vengeance against him, and swore to kill every single wolf that crossed her path.
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