Pausing in their ascent, Dren looked back down at the darkened city. This was the tallest building in the city. A staggering ten stories tall and had been a hotel before the integration. Right now he was climbing the exterior wall with the help of his cloaks ability towards the penthouse. It seemed like an odd place to be the seat of power for the Haven. Dren had expected some grand mansion but when he thought back. It wasn’t like there had been any such buildings in the city. He was just one floor down from where he needed to be, hidden off to the side. Not that anyone was likely to spot him with his cloak active. Annoyingly enough Ren was even harder to spot just below him.
Checking his menu he saw there was still plenty of time until he was to act. Maria had made another system contract with him. One with no penalties and set to end at the time he was to attack. According to the Seer she had arranged for a window to be open into the penthouse. There were no guards on the penthouse floor. It was deemed unneeded. Who could possibly get up there unnoticed? It was the mindset of the old world. Not one full of system provided skills. But that said the Haven Lord wasn’t helpless. They were a necromancer and had a small army of skeletons with them. Dren wasn’t sure about fighting so many undead in such a small space. From what he knew of them, the undead weren’t really vulnerable to wounds making them a bad matchup for him.
But Maria assured him that unless the Haven Lord was actively controlling them, they were little more than statues of bone. Unable to act on their own. It was the main weakness of the necromancer. Since they seemed to have no limit to how many undead they could control, some weakness was needed. At least Dren thought so once Maria had shared a bit about the Haven Lords class. There was one more weakness and that was that the Haven Lord himself had no real combat potential. Nor did he have any particular defensive abilities. It was why the Haven Lord stayed well away from the front lines. During both monster surges, he had ordered his undead army from the safety of his penthouse even. Using telescopes to see the field and command his army remotely.
Once the contract timer ended he started moving again. Covering the last bit of distance in no time without even a whisper of sound. There he found the window partially open and carefully eased it the rest of the way. Silently he slipped through the window and paused behind the thick curtains. Peeking out he nearly let out a gasp of shock. Just in front of him stood many skeletons. They were facing away from him and stood unmoving. But he hadn’t been expecting that. Out of curiosity, he studied them for a moment. Unlike what he expected they weren’t made of clean white bones. Bits of decaying meat hung off bones that were still crimson. As if they had recently been ripped from a corpse. Dren expected them to have been magically cleaned of all flesh. But it seemed that wasn’t the case. Some held scratches or bite marks where the bone was somewhat cleaned away. But mostly they were a bloody mess.
Using Profane Gaze he wasn’t surprised at all to not find any crimson or bronze glows. But was shocked to find several places that gave an azure glow. Dren wasn’t sure how common attacks that could directly affect mana were. But it seemed he might not be as badly matched against these as he feared. Still, hopefully, he wouldn’t need to fight any. The plan was simply for him to sneak in and kill the Haven Lord in a single strike.
Carefully he slipped out from behind the curtain, all his senses focused on the skeletons standing in front of him. They showed no response even as he moved around to get a look at them from the front. Dren made a face at what he found. Their eye sockets were mostly empty. But that mostly was the problem. Decaying eyes occupied some of them while in others he could see what looked like brain matter sloughing out of them. It was a wonder they didn’t reek, he could only guess the system did something about that. Dren just wished they did something about all the extra meaty bits left behind.
Turning away from the skeletons as much because he was sure they really weren’t going to act so as to not have to see them anymore, he focused on the curtain in front of him. It was hung to divide the room, it seemed the Haven Lord didn’t like looking at his own monsters any more than Dren did.
Carefully and slowly he peeked out into the room beyond. A man stood hunched over a large stone table that didn’t fit with the rest of the decorations of the penthouse beyond. His robes were a mottled black and white pattern that seemed to shift subtly. Examining the room as closely as he could, Dren found no signs of anyone else in the penthouse. But there were more curtains hiding the rest of the room. More skeletons if Maria’s information was correct. Using his identify he was a bit shocked by the man’s levels.
Human (N)
Necromancer Level Twenty Four
Noble Aspirant Level Twenty Four
Haven Lord of Necropolis
Maria had told him a lot about the Haven Lord but he hadn’t expected them to be so low level. In his mind he expected them to be at least the Purifier’s level. Not wanting to drag things out he approached silently while Ren stayed to watch the skeletons. Focusing on the crimson line at the base of the man’s skull he activated Profane Blade and felt the rush of power flow into the blade. A shimmering projection of all three colors coated the dagger’s blade while extending it slightly.
Without any further delay, he slammed his blade home into the back of the muttering man’s neck. There was a burst of power as his skills triggered effect amplified his damage by ten percent of his own pools. It was further multiplied by the critical attack dealing a staggering amount of damage. Dren’s off hand was already moving to deal a follow up strike, but it proved unnecessary. As a kill notification chimed right away. It was a bit anticlimactic. Dren had mentally prepared himself for a savage all out battle. The quick and easy assassination was unexpected. But not unappreciated.
His brief pondering was interrupted by the clattering of bones from behind several sets of curtains. Dren whipped around towards the one where Ren was. But before he could make a move she peeked out with a confused expression. Dren felt the tension ease and he realized what the noise must have been. All the standing skeletons had collapsed when their master was slain. Licking his lips he turned around and touched the stone table.
“You have slain the Haven Lord and reached his nexus of power. Would you like to initiate a claim for this Haven? You will be required to maintain control of the nexus point for twelve hours.” The system message ended with an option to accept or decline. But the next part was even better.
“Should you take claim of this Haven you will be rewarded with one hundred thousand credits.”
Then there was even more.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“If successful, as first invaded to conquer a Haven you will be rewarded. Ten levels, Twenty-Five to all attributes, and the Haven Recall ability.”
Dren hadn’t been too thrilled with the prospect of becoming a Haven Lord before. He wasn’t totally opposed to it, but he didn’t have any plans of ruling over a city. But those sweet sweet rewards were things he definitely would want.
Without any further delay, he accepted and made his claim over the Haven. A flat almost mechanical voice rang out, not in his head but filling the night air. “An invader has laid claim to the Haven’s Nexus of Power. You have twelve hours to reclaim the Haven or it shall come under the rule of the Invader. All natives within the Haven at that time will face subjugation to the Invader’s rule if their level is more than ten below the subjugator.”
‘What the hell? It didn’t say anything about broadcasting that he was here.’ Dren’s mind raced trying to come up with what to do. Before he could make a move the voice continued.
“Subjegator Identity: Dren. Human invader from the world Mika.” The system’s flat mechanical voice faded again.
“Really? Grrrr Fucking system.” Dren growled in annoyance out loud. The system really knew how to screw him over. He glanced at Ren. “Can we do this?” He really wanted those rewards. His Aranea companion just stood there waiting for his orders. Nodding he turned towards the entrance. “We just have to hold for twelve hours. We can do that. Easy.” Just as he started for the door it burst open. A dozen natives exploded into the room led by Maria.
“There he is.” Maria pointed a staff at Dren and his entire body was outlined in ephemeral flames. Frantically he patted himself trying to put the flames out before realizing they didn’t cause him any harm. But that brief hesitation created an opening for the natives. Arrows and spells were already on top of him. A moment later fire, lightning, and other elemental powers exploded where he had been.
“There.” Maria’s voice called out pointing to where Dren had teleported to. To the natives, they saw only the flaming outline of a figure.
“Fuck you!” Dren shouted, enraged that the Seer woman had betrayed him. Then the fact that whatever spell she used was preventing his stealth from hiding him. Even as they all turned to attack. Dren let his stealth drop as he flung out a single dagger. One of the defenders moved forward and raised his shield even as the projectile whistled toward them. Dren saw Maria dive behind them just as the throwing knife multiplied into ten copies. With a low thud, all ten projectiles detonated at the same time. Around them, the entire penthouse shook from the blast of raw kinetic energy. Furniture was turned to dust and a good section of the room was blasted to bit.
That was the first time Dren had tested one of his new throwing knives. The combination with his skill made it terrifying. Yet, despite the power behind it. Not a single kill chimed. A shout came from the other side of the room. So powerful it blew all the dust filling the room away revealing the natives all looking mostly fine. The defender in the front’s shield glowed brightly and there was a clear line on the floor showing where the destruction had been held back.
It was only then that Dren actually started using Identify on the group. His brow twitched. All of them were at or over level thirty. With one exception. The defender in the front was just level three but had a rare class. This wasn’t a normal group, but Dren assumed they were the elite of the Haven. Before he could decide what to do the defender, no the Aegis jumped over the crumbling floor before him and charged. More spells and arrows followed right behind him.
Without hesitation, Dren activated his boots and teleported forward. Intent on appearing in the middle of the ranged units. Only instead of appearing amongst helpless and confused targets. It felt as if he slammed into a wall and popped back into reality right in front of the Aegis.
Stun resist failed. You are stunned for one second.
Dren’s mind was a blank white for an instant before a heavy shield smashed into him. The blow sent him sailing backward into one of the curtains. Bones crunched under his body as he landed on the pile of former skeletons. Blindly he rolled to the side as various attacks hammered into the spot where he had just been. Destroying the curtain and revealing the gory bones beneath.
Ren made her move then, having spent the time sneaking across the ceiling. Nooses of invisible silk thread dropped down on two of the robed attackers. Blood gushed from their necks as the Aranea viciously jerked them off their feet. All eyes went up to see the spider girl standing on the ceiling, her four inhuman limbs furiously reeling up the two trapped combatants. In each of her normal hands was a throwing dagger. The moment they all looked up she hurled both daggers down right into the middle of them. Those not bound scrambled to get away from the explosive weapons. Yet the daggers hit the ground without detonating. Instead, an eruption of chains exploded from the hilt to latch onto each of the enemies.
The sudden binding as they tried to dive away caused most to fall to the ground before being reeled in closer. Only then did the two daggers detonate. Waves of kinetic force blasted from the weapons rupturing organs and breaking bones. Ren slammed her spider limbs into the ceiling before scuttling away. Both the natives she had snared were left dangling in the air, the silken threads still cutting into their necks as they struggled.
For a moment it looked as if the tables had turned. Yet, Maria appeared in the doorway. Somehow having avoided all the attacks. More ephemeral flames coated Ren even as a pulse of healing washed over the pile of battered bodies. The source was one of the dangling natives, one wearing a healer's robes. Dren cursed the healer but couldn’t do much more. The Aegis fighter had once again closed on him. Afraid to use his teleportation ability he was locked in a vicious melee with the man. His daggers sparked against armor and shield in a rapid flurry yet made no progress. Even if the man didn’t bother attacking back he was holding Dren up.
With a savage snarl, his eyes flashed crimson as a wave of death rippled out from him. Yet, it crashed against an invisible wall as the Aegis’s shield glowed brightly again. The warrior took some damage from the pulse of his aura but prevented it from reaching their squishier allies. Growling Dren’s eyes flashed azure and the stout defender stumbled slightly but did only marginally more than from his last attempt. But it did give Dren enough time to switch his new dagger for his armor piercing one. The blade took on a faint shimmer of colors before elongating as a rainbow blade of energy coated it. Right as he lunged at the warrior. They moved to block but Dren’s eyes flashed with bronze light. The fighter’s movements slowed slightly. Enough that Dren’s attack bypassed the shield. Yet the fighter was still able to prevent Dren from striking a critical point. The shimmering blade slammed into their chainmail hauberk.
Surprise filled the man's face as it effortlessly pierced the armor. A burst of damage beyond what a non critical thrust should have done hit the man and he staggered back. While the health damage was high, it was the impact on his other pools that had the greatest effect. Dren moved to follow up the attack with another but was driven back by four glowing orbs slamming into him. They detonated with enough force to send him skidding back. Glancing around he found that the others were mostly reorganized. Though one was still dangling from the ceiling unmoving, a bloody crater in their chest. Ren dropped down next to him, her armor showing damage but she seemed mostly fine.
Dren eyed the others even as he breathed heavily. Using so many costly abilities in a row had drained him. The stamina cost of piercing the defender's armor had been particularly bad while using a second Profane Blade had consumed another ten percent of each pools. All to wound the defender and kill one other. Maybe this really was too much.
*****
Kitty looked up into the sky over the Haven her mouth slightly agape. A giant system notice was hovering over the tall building. Showing the same message that had been broadcast just a little bit ago. Above it was the image of a very familiar mask wearing Beast Tamer.
“What the fuck?”