Chapter 5 - The Man of the Manor

Luckily for me it simply smashes into a wall of ice, the Dome of Ice effect of my buckler activating, unlocked by me reaching Level 5 from the Mahaha’s death. A loud gong echoes through the room as ice meets ice creating a deafening sound, my head reeling for some short seconds until I can get myself back under control. The dome is still standing, though some cracks run down its side where the zombie smashed into it, cracks that seem to be widening as blows repeatedly rain down on it. I look around frantically, searching for a way outside of the dome or for some timer that would tell me when it would dissipate, but I find nothing.

“Fuck”, I curse loudly, locked inside the small shield of ice, which would soon be joined by a rampaging and almost impenetrable zombie in an armor of snow and ice. With adrenaline rushing through my body and my brain overcooking from the continued and frantic search for a solution, I try to find a way to turn this situation to my advantage. A block of ice smashes down beside me as a hole the size of the zombie’s head is made in the dome, his ice-wrought arms doing a number on the structure, cracks rapidly spreading from it. Not letting the chance pass by I quickly load up three projectiles into the pouch of my slingshot and after a loud whip, echoes in the small chamber of ice, tree bullets hit the zombie’s head.

Ice breaks off from the area of impact, though the creature doesn’t show any reaction to the attack, simply continuing its assault, fists smashing down onto the dome again and again. With desperation fueling my body and mind, I simply repeat my attack, sending barrage after barrage of ice leaves at the rampaging monster, shards of ice breaking off from the armor protecting its head. In the end, the battle becomes one of attrition, what would give out sooner, the dome of ice protecting and locking me inside or the armor of ice enveloping the zombie’s head. Unfortunately, it is my protection that gives out first, a large piece of ice breaking off from a particularly powerful attack ends in the rest of the dome’s north side coming down completely.

The zombie attempts to rush inside but is quickly met by a large-ish shield floating before it, reflecting its disgusting visage back at it, emotional damage. Ever the simple brute the zombie continues its smashing attack, raining down blow after blow on the glaring shield, the energy necessary to fuel the protection emptying out of me. A headache is the first sign that my reserves are running low, my attacks finally landing on flesh but still needing to punch through its skull, while the shield is starting to show signs of wear and tear. Luckily, with every attack landing on the glaring shield, a second much weaker one sends the brute stumbling back, giving me more time to break through its ridiculous protections.

The shield breaks at the same time as its skull does and together with a notification finally appearing in my vision a head-splitting headache ravages my brain. I sack down to the floor, holding the cold pieces of ice lying around everywhere to my temple, the cold, an angel’s touch for my overheated brain. After some time, the headache steadily softening I sit up, finally taking a look at the battle’s spoils, my improved status opening up before me.

Personal Status

Name: Paul Fordstein

Age: 23

Level (Exp.): 5 (45%)

Attributes: 8 Unused Attribute Points

- Stability: 7

- Activity: 20

- Mentality: 20 (+10)

- Spirituality: 10

Skills:

- Forerunner’s Foreknowledge - lvl. 4

- Glaring Shield - lvl. 3->4

- Mirror, Mirror in the Snow - lvl. 3

- Last Breeze - Lvl. 2

Seeing the large number of Unused Attribute Points sends a flood of happiness through my system which, for a second, washes out the torturous headache, before it comes crashing back in all its glory. Getting a little serious I start thinking about the cause of the migraine and I quickly, as fast as possible without any spikes of pain, think back to the moment the Glaring Shield broke. Seeing as that even before the shield shattered a headache was brewing in my mind, the skill breaking can’t be the reason for it, rather it most likely has to have something to do with how I am powering that particular skill.

The word mana quickly comes to my mind, though the origin of the memory is fuzzy, only Ellaina mentioning the energy still fresh in my mind. Trying to find the source of said energy I decide to search it by investing a point in one of the Attributes and seeing if they would ease the headache. Remembering my guide’s explanation that Stability governs the spirit and health of the body I invest a single point in the Attribute, hoping the spirit would be the source of my headache. While my body does feel better, it is simply the small injuries and bruises rapidly vanishing as the investment super loads my body and boosts the Attribute’s effect massively in the short seconds after.

I completely forgo investing any points into Activity, the Attribute not at all related to my thoughts or mind, only controlling my speed and power. Luckily Mentality is my next pick and a single point invested quickly softens the headache, allowing me a brief moment of respite. Before I can invest more points into the Attribute, I decide to also test out the effects of Spirituality, wanting to see if any effect is immediately noticeable. A soft golden glow comes from my body, but other than that I can feel no sudden change, my body and mind feeling just as before, Spirituality is most likely related to my soul, a part of me I am not yet able to sense nor control.

With my experimentations finished I invest the remaining five points into Mentality, easing the headache massively and once again allowing me to form coherent thoughts. While I would have preferred to maybe invest some points into Activity, giving me a fighting chance against another heavily protected zombie, fighting with a headache splitting apart my mind would only end with a sword doing the same. As I invest the points into Mentality the option to put more into the Attribute suddenly stops as it reaches 25, sending my eyebrows shooting up my temple in confusion.

Not having anyone to ask right now and with time being of the essence, the fight only getting harder the longer I would give the mansion’s residents time to figure out that there is an intruder amongst their ranks, I simply put the point into Stability, easing some of my wounds and continuing my mission. With time of the essence, I crawl out of the dome of ice, the cracks created in the dome by the repeated abuse slowly leaving the structure falling apart. Luckily nothing hits me on the head as I make my way out of it and then take a last look around the chaos, ice and wood cluttering the room, our scuffle not leaving anything standing. With the buckler attached to my left arm and knife in my right, I make my way out of the room, joining up with the small army of ice golems, who happily scuttle around, worried about me for being gone so long they have come here on their own.

With the left end of the hallway clear I advance towards the right, this time the small entourage of ice warriors following behind me, staying hidden in the room left and right of the passage. Most of the rooms are empty, only some rare furniture drawing the eye and only a single zombie, a weak level 1 variant of the Mahaha that is taken out by a stealth attack from behind, occupying the rooms. As we get closer to the end of the hallway the light increases in intensity, the carpet turning to the right as the hallway goes into the right wing of the estate. The rest of the rooms in the path behind me are cleared and I slowly approach the turn, peaking my head forth from behind the corner.

I quickly pull my head back behind the solid stone wall, improved Mentality taking just a split second to process what I saw. At the end of the short hallway, the right-wing extending only for a third of the mansion’s total length stands a Mahaha in full plate armor. Behind it a large door blocked almost completely by the large zombie standing protectively before it, its empty eyes attentively looking for any intruders. I risk a second peak, wanting the creature’s description before I would start crafting any plans, lucky for me that creature seems to be more focused on stability than mentality, not noticing me.

Mahaha - Glacial Guard (Lvl. 2) - Lvl. 4

The immutable protector of the ruined Mansion’s Lord, standing protectively for all eternity to guard the master of the house, like a mountain of ice. As in life so too in death does this monstrosity follow its calling, its soul and body united, standing until the end of time to guard all that is behind it, an unmoving Glacier.

Attribute Focus: Stability - 40

Skill Focus: Unmoving Protector - Lvl. 4

While the creature itself is not all too powerful, only a little stronger then my two attackers, it has the advantage of fully preparing for me if I were to decide to engage it. Though more importantly, its large Stability would allow it to contact its companions that most surely hide within the room behind it before I could fell the creature myself.

An evil plan almost immediately comes to mind as I read through the creature’s description and I quickly act upon it before this Lord of the Mansion can notice the intruder, me. I tell one of the ice minions to remain here to alert us if anyone leaves the room behind the Glacial Guard. The zombie’s class has to be particularly strong if his Stability is at an impressive 40, but it seems that that comes with the disadvantage of having its other Attributes really low, hence it not noticing me. With soft steps I make my way back down the hallway, the rest of the minions following after me with small clinks on the stone floor. I come to a room in particularly bad condition, the roof partially collapsed into it, lowering the ceiling, and opening up a small path to the second floor. A path that wouldn’t go through the domain of the Glacial Guard, his body protecting the door behind him, but his gaze the staircase some ways into the hallway.

I push myself through the gap, crawling out under a large bed and into a much fancier room than those downstairs, though also in a much worse condition. One by one I help the little elementals onto the second floor, lifting up the surprisingly heavy creatures. They cower underneath the large bed, no door protecting us from any curious glances and the room giving little space to evade, the collapsed roof cutting it in half. Once all of my helpers, except the one scouting downstairs, are on the first floor, I crawl out from underneath the bed and stealthily make my way toward the exit. A hallway, similar to the one downstairs, greets my eyes, this one though is bordered by windows on one side, giving a great view out of the mansion.

Some remaining shards of glass and metal grating make an escape impossible, giving me only two real exits from the first floor. I slowly make my way along the hallway’s wall, staying in the shadows cast by the low angle of the sun, blinding anyone walking upright and providing the perfect cover. The sound of frozen feet on cold stone echoes through the first floor as a Mahaha turns around the corner, coming from the hallway above that is guarded by the Glacial Guard. I quickly analyze the creature, the level higher than that from the creatures from the floor below, Level 4 with its race unlocked and at Level 2.

The zombie shambles down the hallway, none the wiser of the assassin waiting in the sun’s shadow. Just as it walks past me, I jump up, aiming to hit it in the neck and get another instant kill. Before I can do so, the door opposite of me opens and a Mahaha tries to step outside and quickly spots me attempting to decapitate its friend. I push off the ground even harder, using all my strength to slam into the zombie before me and throw it inside the open room. Surprised, the creature doesn’t even attempt to balance itself and the three of us fall into the room, the first zombie taking the second with it. I quickly close the door with my foot, the thick timber hopefully silencing our antics enough to remain unnoticed.

A lot of things happen at the same time, only my 35 effective points in Mentality allowing me to stay on top of the situation. While my foot closes the door, I flash out my dagger, the first zombie still none the wiser as to who exactly is attacking it, activating the Last Breeze skill, if only partially. The second zombie tries to scramble out from underneath the first, seemingly more present than its companion, a quick analysis reveals its focus to be Mentality, a mage. Fuck! The door shuts behind us and my dagger finally finds its target, cutting through the side of the first zombie’s throat, its head sadly remains attached.

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I quickly throw myself on the first zombie before it can stand up, the injury finally registering to the creature and motivating it to move. As I bodily slam into the zombie I create a shield of glaring ice between me and the mage, the creature already raising its arms and reading an attack. The zombie is slammed to the floor as I impact it and repeatedly stabbing it in the back does the trick as the creature is unable to get me off its back. A spell slams into the mage as my shield reflects the strike sent back at it and the zombie crashes into the wall, a large icicle impaling its stomach. A kill notification rings out in the frantic action as the zombie locked below me finally gives out and I quickly get off the dead weight.

Before a second spell can hit the shield I cancel the skill, a headache already growing in the back of my mind. A ball of snow flies towards me, tailed by hail and snowflakes. I quickly push myself under the dead zombie, using its body as a shield, though the attack still partially lands on me. My impromptu shield takes most of the hit, but the slowing attack is more of an area-of-effect attack and the projectile’s edge clips me. Lucky for me the buckler attached to my arm negates most of that effect, Cold Resistance saving the day. I jump up from behind the dead zombie, taking a pair of frozen leaves out of my pocket and sending them toward the zombie mage with a loud flick from my slingshot.

A shield flickers into existence before the creature and stops the first projectile, the second breaks through, the zombie’s mana running out, and the bullet landing in its eye. A notification fills my vision a split second later, accompanied by a dozen more, or that's what it feels like. I fully slide my body out from underneath the corpse and pull myself to the door, resting my back against the timber and halting anyone from quickly entering the room.

You have killed a Mahaha (Lvl. 2) - Lvl. 4

You have killed a Mahaha - Ice Trickster (Lvl. 2) - Lvl. 4

Congratulations you have leveled-up to Level 6.

You have been rewarded 4 Unused Attribute Points

Congratulations you have leveled-up your skill ‘Last Breeze’ to level 3

Congratulations you have leveled-up your skill ‘Forerunner’s Foreknowledge’ to Level 5.

Congratulations you have leveled-up your skill ‘Glaring Shield’ to Level 5.

Congratulations, fast action in a hectic environment has awarded you 1 Activity.

I bathe in the ecstasy flowing through me for a second, even my improved Activity needing me to rest for some time as the exhausting battles catch up to me. Instead of getting up I invest the unused Points and look in wonder at the +1 to my Activity, basking in the glory of battle and achievement. The remaining Points are quickly invested into Activity, the Attribute too hitting its Threshold as an exclamation mark appears next to it. Energy rushes through my body, muscles, I didn’t even know I had, impatiently throbbing, wanting, needing to be used and pushed beyond their limits.

Groggily I get up from the comfortable place on the floor and push the zombie’s body out of the way, slowly opening the door and looking out into the hallway. all clear. I continue the same tactic as before, only this time calling the golems after me, having them follow a room after me so they could rush out and support me when needed. Room by room I make my way along the hallway, finding a thicker pair of pants to act as insulation under my jeans. In the last room of the first floor, I find a necklace in a drawer, frozen shut, a quick analysis informing me that it has the effect ‘Cold Beauty’ at level 1.

Iced-Out Necklace - Lvl. 3 - Contrivance

A necklace sporting a beautiful diamond that bathed in the cold for ages, imbuing the shimmering jewel with the properties of the ice. If worn the wielder would feel the attention of those of cold blood, their necklace raising their rank amongst the creatures of ice and snow.

Effects:

Cold Beauty - Lvl. 1

I equip the necklace, a shiver running down my back and letting goosebumps stand up across my body as the cold metal touches my collarbone. Shivering slightly, I take another look through the room, finding nothing interesting, and declare the first floor clear, no other zombies, besides the two dead, calling the floor their home. Double-checking the first and even ground floor by squeezing through the gap in the ceiling I find no other inhabitants besides the Glacial Guard warding over the mysterious door. If any intelligent figure lords over this mansion it must have noticed that something is wrong by now, but the man of the manor seemingly adopts the see-and-wait attitude, instead of sending any more of its minions at me. Or he has none left, though I hardly expect that.

With the rest of the manor secure and the object I was searching for found I return to the room at the end of the first-floor hallway, the room in which I found the Necklace. Three of the golems are by my side, the other three having a different task to accomplish. With a loud clink of iron meeting stone, I make sure that the rest of the manor knows an intruder is amongst them. A pebble flies past me yet I continue my task, repeatedly slamming down with the pickax and slowly breaking open the floor of the room. The three golems beside me add their own efforts, brutally slashing and slamming their tools into the floor, yet despite all their effort, two forks and a spoon can do little to damage the stone.

I can hear a loud kerfuffle from downstairs as the Glacial Guard starts moving and the three ice minions left to look out for him charge at the pile of frozen metal. With a timer steadily ticking down, the minions not able to deal with the guard forever, I hasten my efforts, clinks of iron on stone echoing through the mansion. I try not to break through the floor too fast, opting to spread out my digging to be able to jump down immediately after breaking through and not get any spells sent my way through a tiny hole. The pickax splinters apart a layer of wood and I shift my efforts to another area, slowly forming the shape of a circle on the ground.

With the shape carved into the floor and the circle resting only on a thin layer of wood, I move over to the second part of my plan. The clashing continues downstairs, the sound of ice meeting ice creating a horrific screeching like nails on chalkboard. That sound is quickly joined by wood on stone as I drag over the large closet standing against the wall and move it over to the circle in the middle of the room. Sadly, the weight is not enough and I continue piling a bunch of furniture and miscellaneous items onto and into the closet. Then with a tortured groaning from the wood below the layer of stone, the floor comes crashing down, the weight of all the furniture too much for the structure.

Like a lever being pulled the wood gives out and the floor together with the pile of furniture falls through the floor and down into the room below. Wanting to get the drop on the enemy without dropping directly into a prepared trap I start by throwing down the three ice minions, mercilessly sacrificing the little men. Chaos quickly erupts from below as a small blizzard suddenly appears in the middle of the room, destroying the closet and the other furniture and sending the three minions flying around and most likely costing the caster most of his mana. The storm only lasts for a couple seconds, and I quickly jump down afterward, using the rubble to soften my descent and rolling away from the center of the room. Spotting a table, blown over by the storm, I dash over to it and cower behind the solid wood, a pair of icicles flying past my cover.

With a pair of projectiles already locked and loaded in my slingshot, I peek forth from behind the table, enhanced senses quickly picking out the room’s remaining residents. I can somewhat make out the form of a Mahaha below the pile of destroyed furniture, my break-in crashing down on the creature and crushing it underneath. Behind the pile of rubble is another Zombie, reading as a Level 4, Patient Butler, in his hand a short sword pointed directly at me. The creature rushes towards me, stumbling over a piece of wood and trying its best to get itself under control, its neglect of physical attributes obvious.

The most noteworthy zombie in the room is a particularly small specimen standing towards the back of the room, his form covered by a large mahogany desk. Not wanting to give them the time to take the initiative I quickly release the load into the zombie stumbling towards me, the projectiles thudding into its frozen flesh. The creature stumbles back, no class empowering it and its profession not made for battle, yet it still serves its lord, loyally rushing towards certain death. The small zombie cowering behind the desk jumps out, a short cane pointed towards me, and a large icicle forming before the stick. The projectile shoots towards me, followed by a small group of smaller spikes of ice, the bullets intent to turn me into a pincushion.

I pull my head back behind the table, letting the projectiles fly past just over it or smash directly into the thick wood. Not wanting to test the strength of my cover I dash out from behind the table, moving to my left and putting the large pile of broken furniture between me and the man of the manor. Another pair of projectiles is loaded into the slingshot and sent at the butler, the low Stability doing a poor job at holding his body together, the leaves of ice breaking out pieces of frozen meat. With its target almost in front of it, the loyal servant rushes towards me, a poor attempt in swinging its sword almost sending it back to the ground. Yet with a lot of luck and some stumbling around the butler makes it towards me, allowing me to only send a single shot towards it before it arrives, blowing out another piece of meat from its thigh.

Summoning a glaring shield at its feet, I send the butler flying forward, crashing to the ground before me, a quick dodge to the side lets the sword crash down just beside me, the butler’s weak grip letting go of the weapon mid-fall. I grab the sword, the handle closer than turning to my own, and pull the surprisingly light blade down in an overhand attack. The Butler’s head rolls away from its body and I dismiss the glaring shield, the kill notification filling my vision. The screen is replaced by a pair of icicles flying towards me and I throw myself to the side with all my power, yet my attempt at evading the attack is too late. One of the icicles smashes into the inside of my elbow, my arm thrown out to get more distance and ending up in the trajectory of the attack.

I quickly summon a glaring shield before me, stopping any further attacks while I try to get up, my arm hanging loosely by my side, the joint completely destroyed. Luckily the ice is cold enough to almost immediately freeze the injury shut, no blood ebbing forth from the wound and not adding another timer to my assault. I quickly try to get my feet under me, the slingshot out of the game with only a single arm to pull the elastic band. With my knife held in my left hand, the blade extended all the way and the band wrapped around my wrist I dash towards the creature, calling up its description.

Ötzi - Man of the Manor (Lvl. 4) - Protected Nobleman (Lvl. 2) - Lvl. 6

The Lord of the Baskerville mansion, haunting his abode even after the wheel of incarnation calls his true name. His soul not wanting to leave his precious home, frozen to his body, the two bound together forever, the sweet relief of death made impossible for the prideful lord. Thus, he remains in his domain, cursed to never leave his property such as he will never leave his body slowly falling apart around him, his servants and guards the only relief to eternity.

Attribute Focus: Mentality - 43

Skill Focus: Cold Loyalty - Lvl. 5, Protect Me! - Lvl. 4

The new race of the creature sends my mind reeling for a second, though I quickly get myself back under control, zipping left and right to throw off the Ötzi’s aim. My limp arm slows me down quite a bit and I need to summon a glaring shield once again to dodge a large icicle aimed at me, a hazy mirror-image of the projectile flying back at the zombie. Its Mentality but most likely low Stability is a perfect combination for my shield, the zombie desperately dodging to the side to evade its own attack, the projectile, even significantly weakened, presenting a danger for the frail creature. Seeing how effective my shield is against the zombie I reflect the next two shots sent towards me, the monster needing to repeatedly dodge its own attacks.

Almost upon the zombie, it sends one last shot towards me, much smaller than the others, similarly, it is reflected by the shield, flying back to its origin. Contrary to my expectations the Ötzi doesn’t dodge this attack, he tanks it with his body, the attack creating a large hole in his abdomen, frozen entrails spilling out. Though this also gives him the time to prepare a second attack, and, close as I am, I don’t have the time to summon another shield to protect me from the icicle. Desperately holding my blade out in front of me I am able to deflect the projectile somewhat, the attack turning slightly to the right and hitting the shoulder of my right arm instead of piercing my chest. The leather padding extending to my collarbone takes most of the damage, though the attack still pierces through the armor, cutting a deep hole into my shoulder.

While the attack hurts me, it doesn’t change my plan and I continue rushing towards the Man of the Mansion, a single step sending me towards the creature. With my blade extended before me I crash into the zombie, weak limbs giving out under me almost immediately and my knife quickly finding a vulnerable spot. The sharp end of the weapon cuts through the frozen skin and then into the dead flesh, dodges through the layer of ribs, and then pierces the zombie’s heart. Unlike zombies of fantasy and fiction the monster immediately dies as the heart stops pumping whatever substance substitutes the Ötzi’s blood, the glow of life fading from its eyes and a notification appearing in my vision.