Chapter Two – To Dance with a Worm King
Hp: 215/215Mp: 105/105Stam: 75/150
The worm lunged forward off the wall and Knox slashed it right down the middle without hesitation.
You have Leveled Up!
Strength rises by 1 point. (Str +1)
Agility rises by 1 point. (Agi +1)
Mobs Killed: 39/50
At first he had difficulty with each and every worm, but now he could cut them down easily. Their attack pattern was rather simple... Inch forward and then lunge. Not to mention they glowed in the dark making them stand out.
After the first couple of hours in the pit, his eyesight had adjusted and he gained a new skill.
New Skill: Night Vision
Night Vision (Passive): Allows players to see in the dark.
As far as Knox could tell, he was in an abandoned sewer; the subtle hints were the smell and the slimy substance he was walking through. It ran in a straight line with the few side passages being caved in or bricked shut.
He guessed the worms levels to range anywhere from level 2 to level 5 and as he moved deeper into the pit, they seemed to be getting stronger. He’d rested a few times since entering and eaten a good portion of the rye bread he’d been given in his newbie kit. It had been about a day and a half since he’d entered the game and he was pretty sure he never wanted to taste rye bread again...
Because of his night vision, he was at first unaware of the brightening surroundings as he walked forward quietly. He’d been trying to make as little noise as possible because as far as he could tell the worms hunted by sound...
‘Or maybe they hear the vibrations I make as I walk?’
Then, he noticed that the end of the tunnel seemed to be glowing. Now, normally when one sees a light at the end of the tunnel, they would rush forward in joy... but after over thirty hours of fighting glowing worms, Knox was immediately suspicious and began trying to move forward in utter silence.
New Skill: Stealth
Stealth (Lv. 1 0%) – Enables you to move silently, erasing your presence and killing intent. Cost: 5 Mana/per minute while walking. Stealth can be lost with sudden movements.
He was so focused on moving quietly that the popup message almost made him jump out of his skin. When he got to the end of the tunnel, he pressed himself against the wall and peaked into the room.
The room was brightly lit with small mounds of brown slime and wriggling worms throughout. But that wasn’t the worst of it. A giant worm the size of an anaconda was curled up atop the largest mound in the back of the room!
King Neon Glow!
Its body gave off light in multiple hues, kind of like it had swallowed a disco ball. Unlike the normal worms, it had a gaping large mouth with row upon row of sharp teeth and it was occasionally munching on its mountain of slime.
‘Oh, that is sooo gross.’
Knox backed up slowly, returning the way he had come and let out a sigh once he was far enough away.
He had killed 39 out of 50 worms and he was fairly sure that the last 11 were in that room... And he was also certain that one of them was the boss. He looked at the rusty knife in his hand and tried to imagine the enormous worm.
- Shudder. -
‘This is going to suck. I’ve got to come up with a plan if I don’t want to be worm food.’
It took him only a few minutes to think up his plan and put it into action... First step. Lure away the small fries. Knox banged the hilt of his dagger against the wall a few times before activating his new skill, “Stealth.”
He then moved quietly into one of the alcoves along the tunnel that led to a dead end and waited. It took the worms a few minutes to reach his hiding place and inch on by.
There were three worms moving down the tunnel one after another and he waited for the last one to move in front of him.
Then in a quick movement, he brought his dagger down on the top of the worms head. Once, twice, three times, in rapid succession.
Critical Hit!Critical Hit!Critical Hit!
Stealth Skill deactivate from rapid movements.Mobs Killed: 40/50.
The other two worms noticed him but he knew they would. Knox had no real combat experience before he'd been thrown into the pit so each new fight was a test of his mind as well as his body. Making rapid judgments had been hard at the onset but slowly he was able to judge the movements and execute the proper reaction. He didn't cut the first worm as it lunged, instead choosing to dodge and focus on the second. He met the second worms lunge and two pieces of worm flopped to the floor. It was still alive and wiggling but now that he'd crippled it Knox could easily take care of it later.
He turned around in time to see a three foot white blur streaking toward him and Knox brought his arm up in an instinctive reaction. Defend the face. Pure luck saved him as the worm's own momentum carried it onto his dagger and with a shift of his body he redirected the worm. A few rapid cuts later and all three worms were dead. And much to his relief, no new worms or much worse the boss had come to check it out. Which meant he’d managed to kill the three worms with minimal sound.
Mobs Killed: 41/50Mobs Killed: 42/50
He repeated the process until all the smaller worms had crawled out of the room and been cut down. And like he’d thought the last mob that he needed to kill was the boss.
Mobs Killed 49/50
* “Stealth.”
Activating his Stealth skill, he snuck into the main room and moved along the edge of the wall. The worm was face down and wriggling in its mountain of slime and Knox was trying very hard not to puke. Luckily the sides of the room were clear of slime and he made it to within about ten feet of the boss without incident.
The boss didn’t seem to notice or care that its little worm buddies had all gone missing, which was definitely a good thing. Knox stood behind the worm for several minutes, moving closer step by step up the slime mountain. His progress was almost unbearably slow as he had to move cautiously to not lose his footing.
Then, the worm lifted its head to swallow some of the slime presenting the back of its neck to Knox. He slammed the knife forward into the neck before it moved out of his range or knocked him down.
Critical Hit!
Stealth Skill deactivated from rapid movement.
Then, the fight really got underway. The worm’s whole body convulsed and soon the back half swung towards Knox trying to knock him down. He used the slick surface of the slime mountain to his advantage and slid out of range. Then, he began cutting every piece that came within range of his knife.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The worm eventually managed to turn around and came charging toward him and he realized that its attack pattern was basically the same as the smaller worms and held still until the last moment. Then, he would slash it as it lunged past.
It was tricky keeping his footing as Knox dodged to the side and cut a large wound in the worm's side. Cut by cut he whittled away at the worm king's health and soon the worm's entire body was a crisscross of bleeding wounds. Knox's arms and legs felt like lead and out of the corner of his eye he could see his stamina bar shrinking rapidly. Over and over, he dodged at the last second and cut the worm and finally after what seemed an eternity the worm began to slow.
But so did Knox. When he thrust his dagger into the worm for the last time, the power behind the thrust came from falling over in exhaustion.
Fatal Blow!
You have leveled up!You have leveled up!
New Stat: Fighting SpiritFighting Spirit: You can call on superhuman strength temporarily, or bring weaker monsters to their knees with a force in your eyes alone. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat, and it rises spontaneously, depending on the avatar’s action, especially if you fight monsters for a long time, or often confront monsters stronger than your current level.Endurance rises by 1 (+1 END)
Level Up: Dagger Mastery [3]
Increases Attack Power with daggers (+25% ATK)
Increases Attack Speed with daggers (+15% ATK SPD)
As the worm king’s body turned gray and disappeared, he collapsed onto the pile of slime, too worn out to care about how disgusting it was.
__________________
Vennec was stirring a pot of stew when a grime covered hand suddenly appeared from inside the pit. Then another hand, clenched around a broken dagger stabbed into the crack in the stone and Knox heaved his body up out of the hole. When his body was completely out he flopped to the ground like a dead fish.
“Hmm... You managed to complete it faster than I expected good work.”
* - Ttring! -
Quest Complete!
First Training.You have completed Vennec’s outrageous request within the time limit.
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
* - Ttring! -
Class Change!
Assassins are adventurers who can go through the most difficult dungeons, pass through unexplored territories and exterminate anything. With many skills similar to a thief, no traps or locks will stand against them!You can convert to the class Assassin! If you accept it, you can learn exclusive skills for the class.Do you wish to convert to an Assassin?
“Whatever.”
A white light enveloped Knox, but he could barely move. After slaughtering his way through countless worms, he’d leveled a few times and thought he’d got stronger, but the climb back up the pit was by far the toughest part.
Status WindowNameKnoxAlignmentChaoticLevel9 (57% Until Next Level Up)ClassAssassinTitleNoneReputation5Health510Mana100Strength23Agility53 (+5)Vitality30Endurance15Wisdom8Intellect10Luck20Fighting Spirit5Leadership0Attack9Defense0Magic ResistanceFire5%Water0%Earth0%Black Magic15%+ 15% To Strength, Agility and Luck.
+ All stats increase by an additional 25% In the Dark.
+ Enables you to equip class specific items.
+ Enables you to learn Alchemy to the stage of master.
+ Enables you to learn secret skills based on your level in Stealth and Dagger Mastery.
+ Increase Attack Power of Daggers, Katars and Throwing Weapons by 25%.
+ Increases fame for successful Assassination Quests.
+ Increase Critical Hit Chance by 5% & Increase Critical Hit Damage by 20%.
New Skill: BackstabNew Skill: Path of Silence
* “Skills Window!”
Skills:
Nimble Body (Racial Passive): Increase Agility by 5. An Additional 5 Agility will be added every 10 Base Levels.
Fire and Darkness (Racial Passive): An Affinity with Fire and Darkness. Boosts Fire and Black Magic Spells by 5%. Increases Resistance to Fire and Black Magic Spells by 5%.
Stealth (Lv. 1 0%) – Enables you to move silently, erasing your presence and killing intent.
Backstab (Lv. 1 0%) – Strike the vulnerable part of your opponent from behind. Damage increased by 200% if opponent is unaware of your presence. When combined with Stealth a second hit will be generated.
Dagger Mastery (Lv. 3 2%) – Increase attack power and attack speed with daggers.
Scaling (Lv. 1 52%) – Increase climbing speed of vertical obstacles. Walls, Mountains, Fences, etc.
Path of Silence (Lv. 1 0%) – You no longer need to speak when casting skills. When attacking in silence, you have a 3% Chance of Silencing your enemy: Silencing Effect Increases 3% Every 50 Levels.
“So then, shall we begin the real training?”
“Can you just kill me now?”
“How about I throw you back into the pit.”
“There’s nothing alive down there.”
“They’ll respawn by tomorrow.”
“Training it is.”
...To be continued.
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Authors Note: As always, critiques, comments and opinions are welcome. Please point out any mistakes you see.
Now, I'm aware that "Stamina" is not a stat in Royal Road, however it does exist/effect players. I choose to think of it as a "Gauge" similar to Mana or Health and will portray it as such. The way I understand "Stamina" is that it is the length of time one can partake in physical exertion without rest.
Examples of Stamina in RR:
Weed collapsing after running across the Plains of Despair from lack of rest/exhausted his stamina.
Whenever Weed transforms into Skeleweed it is mentioned that one of the benefits of being undead is Limitless Stamina.
Proofreading Credits: Anonymreading & Kaine