Year 12 SPA (Since Player Arrival)
It was the cold day in the city of Stonedrift. the city was one I had been exploring for several in-game months. The city was an important one for three reasons. It was a free city independent of any of the major kingdoms and was the only port that the Dwarfs trades with and most importantly had what us player referred to as a dungeon underneath it. It was an ancient crypt that had been constructed by some ancient necromancer called Timotheus Cain. My party had been exploring the crypts for months, and had way too many close scrapes, me and my party had come close to death a number of times, well that's a lie I had died, I died a lot almost twelve times in total, I know that not many compared to the war or most other parties but when your parity is consistent for four NPC’s who will not respawn you are careful, and if you’re not sure if a room is clear or not you sent the immortal in. The party consisted of five of us, me a level 65 adventurer, Waruan a retired captain of the guard, and his elf ranger wife Irdu together they were an excellent knight and ranger able to work in perfect harmony there levels were 153 and 283 respectively, along with them was their son Licu, he followed after his patients and at only fifteen years of age was level 83, a remarkably quick growth, he was a skilled knight have been taught by his father and mother. Finally, there was Tor-ron the old man of the party a skilled Heaven wizard levelled 143.
The sword swung at me, well I shouldn't call it a sword, a better description would be a sharp surfboard, I mean seriously the sword was the size of me almost two meters tall and thirty centimetres wide. I threw myself to the ground. A single hit from that thing would send me to the respawn screen, I would not go back there again, an hour of elevator music, no not again.
“L̵̥͖͕̫̎ȉ̷̗̱͇͕g̷̭͍̘̩̈́h̸̠̲́t̴̗̣̬͂i̴͚͗͊̀n̴͇͍͖͗͝g̴̛̣͂̈́́ ̴͇̹̋͠B̶̛̤͘͝ó̸͕̊̔l̸͇̓̓͝t̵͍͕̀̈”
BOOM,
The spell language always sounded weird to me, some mixed up mess of sounds and syllables that sounded like a hundred voices speaking. As I looked up the Giant Zombie Knight, stumbled forward, as I glanced behind me Tor-ron hands were smoking, a classic sign of his casting. As I pushed myself up onto my feet I called out.
“Thanks”
“You better be thankful, boy I’m damn near out of mana now I have at most one more spell left”
As I glanced around the room, I saw Irdu standing near Tor-ron her quiver very low on arrows, casting Healing touch on her son Licu who was looked way too pale. One of the skeleton knights had torn a wide gash in his armour before Tor-ron could complete his Cleanse spell, his father in the corner unconscious after a direct hit from the giant catapulted him into the wall. The lightning bolt had granted me a precious few seconds as the giant was stunned.
Ǫ̷͕̌̋̐h̷̡̞̠̞͌ ̷̨̬̽ḫ̸͔̘̌̚ǫ̵̬̬̞̑̀͝l̵̝̊ý̸̡̬̤̏̚ ̷̠̣͇̄̓́̍l̸̞͈̺̦̐̃͑i̴̤̼̊g̸̼͇̾h̵̦̹̠͆́́t̴͖̞͎̪͐,̶̳̪͔̇͝ ̶̏̎̈̚͜
̴̺͂l̷̥̈ē̵̲̅͛t̵̖̍̑͛́ ̷̛̖̮͓t̸̨̫̥̳́̿h̴͉̒y̶̧̳̝̎̀͛̍ ̵̤̳̓̄͌̋j̶̼̥͕̪̄̽û̷̜d̴̬̉̎̋̿g̸̐̆ͅm̵̨̖̿́̀͜ê̶͍̆ņ̸̬̪͓͒̅̎̏ṭ̷́͝ ̷̩̩̯̝̀b̷̼̠̬͌͗̄̚é̴̯̥͇̯̿͊ ̵̜̠̃̈̓͊k̸̖̺̭̞̎̀̍̾n̶̗͆o̵̩̦̗͓̅w̶̨̯͕͆̀͒̇n̴̛̻̂͐̑
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
̴̙͎̽́̏̀g̷̟̣͙̜͑͊r̶̥̻͕̝̉a̵̱̞͚͛ń̵̛̖͎̪ṱ̶͚̖̾̀͝ ̵̰̪̘̈̀̇t̸̠̳͎̺͑͂̃̕ẖ̸̲̥̔i̴̘̾̈́́s̷̻̪̻̊̉ ̶̦̱̆b̸̈́͐ͅḽ̷̨͔̈́ȁ̶͓̬͈̩̿̔̍ḓ̴̡̉ė̸̤̆̇̒ ̷̰̺̘̱͒̑̆͒t̶͍͓̏͗̀ḩ̶͙̯̔e̷̻͍̺̚ ̵̨͎̑̃͝p̶͙͎͙̅̾̇̃o̷̝̎ͅw̸͇̭͕̆͊e̷̥͂̅̍͂r̸͖̒́͊
̴̪̖̒́̕t̷͍͇̗͌͂o̸̪̖̊̌ ̶̳͔̣̥̌d̴͈̥̳͂̃͜͠ǒ̸̧͔ ̷̭̯̤̙̇t̴̠́͋̇͝h̷̳̓e̶̞̻̱̖̽ý̵̢̰ ̵͔̱͇͕̓̑͊̏w̶̥̞̱̯̑̿̾ḯ̸̖̗͕̳l̶̘͚͍̓͗͘l̶̥̱̺̇.̶̭̮̻̤͝
̴͎͕̓͆͝B̷̧̻̮̝̀l̷͙̟͚̣̀̈́̄̕ȩ̵͔̉̍͋̿ș̵̓̈͝s̴̗̩̝̪͐̔̇ ̶̛͖͙̫̓̿b̶̗̬̔ͅl̷̙̍ả̴̲̈́̅͋͜d̷͓̘͚̺͋̅̈́̋e̸̢̖͗
̸̒
As I mutter the spell, I felt the mana drain from me, feeling fifty kilos heavier, I lifted my glowing blade. Looking up at the rising giant, I had one shot at this. If I missed my target my friends were doomed. The giant was thirty meters in front of me, alone, standing at its full height over ten meters tall. I ran, building up speed as I moved towards the monster. I saw as it drew back its blade waiting for me to come into range. As I built up speed running towards the monster, as I came into its weapons range it swung its blade towards me across my body aiming to cut me clean in two. As saw the blade swinging towards me, I activated two of my skills, it was a skill that Irdu had drilled into me over a very long and painful training session. As the sword swung at me time seemed to slow, in reality, my vision sped up one of the upsides of having a high perception skill. As the blade swung towards me, I leapt, jumping as high as I could, you see Irdu had taught me a lesson having a high dodge skill as well as acrobatics was an excellent way to dodge attacks that were normally impossible to dodge. Of course, at the time I hated the lesson as I never got the point of why she used real arrows to train me to dodge, but as she said at the time
“You’re such a wuss, your immortal and pain are the best motivator”
Let me tell you I learned quickly after that and she's right to pain is an excellent motivator. As the sword swung towards me, I leapt, both feet in the air as the sword passed below me, my foot lowered, making contact with the flat of the swinging sword, I immediately pushed off with all my strength, launching me into the air. As I sailed upward and forward toward the giant's face, I drew back my sword and lunged.
The blade travelled true straight into the giant's eye. As I smashed into the giant’s face, I crumpled falling towards the ground. As I collided with the ground I rolled, as I came to my feet five meters away, I looked up, standing stupidly was the giant, a sword sticking into his eye, just staring at it.
“L̵̥͖͕̫̎ȉ̷̗̱͇͕g̷̭͍̘̩̈́h̸̠̲́t̴̗̣̬͂i̴͚͗͊̀n̴͇͍͖͗͝g̴̛̣͂̈́́ ̴͇̹̋͠B̶̛̤͘͝ó̸͕̊̔l̸͇̓̓͝t̵͍͕̀̈"
BOOM,
As I looked other to my friends Tor-ron I saw Tor-ron collapsing into a heap his hand smoking, it seemed he was out of mana.
“RAHHHHHHHHHHHHH”
As I looked up at the bellowing scream emanating from the zombie's mouth, I quickly began my chant
Ö̸͉́h̵̯͛ ̵̜̤̅h̷͕̀e̸͚͛ȁ̵͖̚v̷̩̀ȅ̶͚̻n̶̠͎̈́̊s̷̳͙̕ ̷̙͍̋̾a̸͎͝b̵͚̙̔͗o̴̖̳͊͋v̶̡̱̅e̸̪̩͛,̸̹͘ ̷̥͋
̵̹͉̌Ļ̷͙̎̊ë̷͉̭́͠t̸̢̺́ ̸̺̻̇͋t̶̮͚̅ḧ̷͓͎y̵̤͗̋͜ ̶̼͇͌r̵͙͜͠a̵̫͒̉g̸̦̪̎̿e̵͔͌ ̸̤̫̾ḃ̴̭ͅe̵̡͕̓̈ ̶̮̀͐͜k̵̰͕͛ṅ̵̩̯o̸̦͗w̸̺͐̈́ͅn̶͎̂̕,̸̗̰͆̚ ̶̡̑
̸͖͊͋L̵̥̃e̴̠̤̐̈́t̷͚̔̇ ̴̻̓̓t̴̢͌h̶͎̍y̵̦̗̽͌ ̷̘̀͜s̶̤̓͛ẗ̴̠́o̵̫͕̐͛r̵̯̈́̾m̷̜̝͋̓ ̷̨̇r̶̻̲͗a̷͇̹̒ĝ̵̣̝ẽ̸̫̭͒ ̸͚̈
̴̧̙͒̀L̶͖̏e̵͇͛͋ţ̶̭̅̔ ̴̝̘͛͝t̷̢͖̾h̴̳̍̕e̵̡͂͌ ̸̟͇͐t̵̹̿̕h̸͙͖͂̆u̸̧͠n̵͕̊ͅd̴͆͜e̶̼͑͠r̸̜̦͛ ̴̟̮̈c̷̼̗̓ö̴͕̥́m̸̤̈́̽é̸̡̳ ̸̥͒
̷̳̠͌̌L̷̻͝i̸͙̍̑g̸͓͎̍ḧ̵͎̟́t̵̰͋n̶̲͗̒i̸̱̹̒̒n̵̢̐g̶̼͘ ̴͚̳̈́b̷̮̩͒̊ó̴̰l̴̡̩̈t̷̘̦̏̓
̵͓̋̕
As I felt the last dregs of mana leave my hand and shoot out I saw the lightning bolt shoot out of my hands towards the sword, as my eyes closed I could only hope it made its target.