It had been 3 days since Arthe and Cadfael had entered the monster mausoleum and during that time they had managed to make it to the 3rd floor. Arthe had also managed to up his level to level 21, this increase was due mainly to the fact that he had been spamming his stat buff skills in order to completely wipe out every single monster on the 2nd floor. For completely clearing the floor Arthe had received 2 bonuses; one was an increase in fame and an extra 100 honor points, the other was a unique set of chain-mail which he was able to wear under his current breastplate.
His character was now equipped with the sword and shield granted from Cassis, the breastplate from Mathis as well as the cape and boots from floor 1. On top of this he had also equipped himself with:
Bracers of the Aspirant
Durability: 60/60
Defense: 30
Attack: 10
These bracers have been crafted by a somewhat sneaky blacksmith who has hidden blades in the sides. Harms opponents who touch them with their bare skin.
Equip:
+20 STR
+20 AGI
+10 END
Requirements:
Lvl 15
STR +50
Necklace of the Loyal Retainer
Durability: 100/100
This highly durable necklace was gifted to a knight by a member of the royal family. Granted for extreme bravery and loyalty to the kingdom.
Equip:
+50 VIT
+20 STR
+100 Fame
Requirements:
Knight only
Honor +200
Hedge Knight's Chainmail Cuirass
Durability: 50/90
Defense: 30
A once fine piece of meshed steel worn almost to destruction by a wandering knight. Imbued with the Knight's physical resilience
Equip:
+10 STR
+20 AGI
+20 STAM
Requirements:
Knight Only
Level 20
STR +50
VIT +40
Arthe had given the Ring of the Spell-blade to Cadfael as it had a large Mana regeneration bonus and was available to any class, he didn't want his priest to get angry because Arthe was hogging all the good loot so he made sure to slip him some choice pieces every now and again.
Now that they were on the 3rd floor Arthe and Cadfael had started to fight some lvl 35-40 monsters, amongst them were a number of wandering demi-bosses that they tried to avoid if possible so that they could hunt them after the majority of the normal mobs were dealt with. This had been Arthe's idea because, although Cadfael's Mana pool was definitely up to the task of a prolonged fight with many heals, he didn't want to exhaust himself so much that it slowed down his progress through the tomb.
Bang, Clash, Thunk, Clatter, Thud.
The tomb echoed with the continuous sounds of battle, accompanying these noises could be heard shouts of fury as well as cries of pain and despair.
Arthe was quite enjoying himself by this point as he had become completely accustomed to the moves and atmosphere of battle. In fact he was enjoying himself a little too much, as evidenced by the wide grin on his face and the look of apprehension on Cadfael's.
"Umm Sir Arthe, do you think it might be possible for you to laugh and smile just a little less whilst eviscerating these heinous monsters. I mean it's a little distracting for me to pray when you're throwing blood around and shouting battle cries that's all."
"Oh, sorry Cadfael, I guess i have been getting a little carried away. It's just I feel so strongly about punishing those who defile the name and tenets of Freya." Arthe responded, careful to make sure that he made it sound like he was doing it all in the name of Freya so that his intimacy with Cadfael didn't diminish.
"Well if that's the reason behind your actions i can only be appreciative of the depth of your faith, carry on Sir Arthe."
Faith Stat increased +5
"How nice, a stat bonus for earning intimacy with a priest of Freya", Arthe thought to himself, "I wonder what happens if I max out my intimacy, maybe I'll get a recommendation to join the Church. Now that would be awesome, I've heard that good things happen to those who are friendly with Freya's Church."
Continuing with the massacre of the mobs, Arthe and Cadfael kept getting notices from the system. In Cadfael's case it was skill mastery, especially in Healing Hand and Devotees Protection, the two skills he had been repeatedly using for the last three days.
For Arthe it was the progression of his Sword and Shield mastery skills as well as his own Buff skills, Spirit of the Stalwart Defender and Benevolence of the Goddess.
He had told Cadfael to focus on Healing over the last 2 days as he wanted to gain levels in these two skills so that when he was out soloing later in the game he was more than capable of boosting his own stats to a large degree. Because of this Spirit of the Stalwart Defender was now Beginner rank 7 and Benevolence of the Goddess was now Beginner rank 3. The latter was difficult to level due to the thrice daily restriction but it also provided a large percentage boost every time it was used as if to compensate.
After another couple of hours hunting down mobs, Arthe realized that the corridors and rooms surrounding his current position were empty of all monster presence. He continued to look around stealthily as he didn't want to come across an ambush, but soon stopped when he realized that he'd butchered all the normal mobs on this floor and that he could now head to the Floor Boss and visit the same treatment upon him.
First he cleared all the remaining loot from the surrounding area, carefully choosing the most valuable pieces and discarding the rest (he had no desire to find out that his inventory was too full later on).
Then he and Cadfael headed towards the darkest part of the floor, an area where torches were few and far between and they had to rely on the radiance given off by Heavenly Aura for their vision. Heading down a small flight of stairs they were confronted with a small iron-bound door set into an alcove, above it was a hideously carved gargoyle head which grinned at them grotesquely.
"Oh lovely, this doesn't scream boss room at all!" Arthe dripped sarcasm as he examined the door for traps, which had begun to get a bit more prevalent as he had progressed through the floors.
"Regardless, we must press on if we are to reach the exit at the end of floor five. There is no turning back now Sir Arthe, we must steel ourselves to face whatever horror lies within." Cadfael preached, sounding ridiculously self-righteous and melodramatic.
"Indeed we must Cadfael, whatever monstrosity inhabits that room, it can in no way be righteous or good and therefore must face the punishment due it." Arthe responded in kind, Grimacing to himself as he did.
"creeeeaaaaakkk"
"seriously could that door creak any louder, alert the entire dungeon why don't you? Geez what is this, a Boris Karloff production?" Arthe grumbled as he crept into the room, shield held in front of his face and sword raised.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
"Whoosh"
Suddenly torches around the room burst into flame, illuminating a huge furry back facing Arthe. The thing turned around and as it did so Arthe recoiled slightly in disgust.
The monster was, at some point a larger than average Kobold, but years of living underground in extremely cramped conditions had stunted it's growth and the lack of light had also had its effect on the colour of the monsters skin and hair.
It was now a gray, hairy hunchback with gnarled teeth protruding from its pig-like snout. Mucus mixed with saliva and dripped down its chin to pool on the floor next to its filthy feet. Even the nails on its fingers were foul, ingrown and yellowed with bits of half eaten food, of unknown origins, caked on to them. Above its head was the name Quasimodo the Decapitator.
"Urgh that is by far the most disgusting thing I've ever had the displeasure of laying eyes on!" Arthe exclaimed in utter revulsion.
"Such a foul creature is most definitely an extreme affront to the Goddess of Beauty and must be destroyed." Cadfael said covering his nose with a handkerchief in an attempt to block the overpowering odor of decay emanating from the beast.
"Right then lets get on with it, you keep an eye on my health and only heal when it gets to 50% or so, for the rest of the time keep casting slows on the wretched thing. I'll keep its attention on me and try and kill it quick before it has a chance to permanently damage our nostrils or our eyes." Arthe instructed.
He then charged at the beast with his shield held in front of him ready to block, he ducked under the swing of the beasts enormous club and slashed at the back of the creatures kneecap.
Critical Hit.
Monster movement speed decreased by 15%
Turning quickly, Arthe then used Shield Bash to hit the beast in the most sensitive area he could think of. (I'll let you readers guess exactly where he hit him. Lets just say as a bloke i feel sorry for the monster)
Critical Hit
Monster Stunned for 20 seconds. (yeah I'd be stunned too, and for way longer than 20 seconds)
The beast groaned in agony and hunched over even more, using this opportunity Arthe leaped on the things back and proceeded to stab at the crisscrossing muscle strands. Each stab causing more agony than the last.
"5, 4, 3." Counting down the last remaining seconds of stun duration, Arthe jumped clear of the beast and rolled out of his landing into a ready stance.
"Roooooaaaarrr, I'm gonna squelch you good tin man" cried the beast with tears of pain and rage pouring from its eyes.
"By Freya's will suffer the wrath of time! Slow!" Cadfael cried reducing the monster's speed by at least a third, allowing Arthe plenty of time to get clear from it's charge.
However the beast wasn't done yet. Picking up some debris from the floor he flung it at Arthe, who barely managed to raise his shield in time.
You take 120 damage. Plus lose 20% vision due to dust.
The dust from the floor blocked some of Arthe's vision causing his eyesight to go blurry.
"crap, Stupid hyper realism, could have done without this. Spirit of the Stalwart Defender! Benevolence of the Goddess!"
Activating his skills, Arthe ducked behind his shield to prepare for the follow up strike that he knew was coming.
"Whump!!"
He wasn't disappointed, even with his shield blocking some of the damage his health dropped to 57% and he was knocked across the floor.
"By Freya's will suffer the wrath of time! Slow! Healing hand!"
Cadfael's slow spell and his healing hand came at just the right moment, allowing Arthe to get to his feet and circle around the creature.
Quickly getting out his water flask, Arthe rinsed the dust out of his eyes and refocused on the beast.
Now that his vision was clear, Arthe could see the beast rampaging across the other side of the room, struggling against the multiple slow spells affecting it.
"Right then you filthy creature that's it. you're going down, I'll teach you to put a dent in my shield." Arthe fumed after noticing that the durability on his shield had dropped 5 points.
Charging at the back of the creature with his sword held down by his waist in both hands, Arthe prepared to strike the monster as hard as he could across the general area he guessed the femoral artery to be.
"Slash!"
"Arrrggh!!!"
Critical Hit!
Monster Movement speed reduced by 25%
Wounding blow, continuous damage 50 HP per second.
Twisting on one foot, Arthe then settled himself behind his shield, sword jutting over the top. He walked purposefully toward the now gravely injured beast and when he came in range of the other leg he thrust as hard as he could into the thigh muscle.
Critical Hit!
Monster Movement speed reduced by 25%
Wounding blow, continuous damage 100 HP per second.
By now the monster was on its last legs, squeezing the wounds on its thighs, making pitiful grunting noises. However Arthe was beyond pity and he once again leaped atop the creatures back. Climbing up to its neck he discarded his shield and took his sword in both hands to deliver a blow harder and faster than any he had delivered before.
He swung with all his strength and all his fury, severing the head of the monster in one go! For a second the body of the beast seemed to think it was still alive, so quick was the decapitating blow, then with an echoing thud it fell to the ground.
Fatal Strike! +200% damage.
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
Bonus +50 Fame for decapitating the Decapitator.
You have received Wrought Iron Helm of the Destroyer
"Identify"
Iron Helm of the Destroyer
Durability: 120/120
Defense: 50
This highly durable helm was once worn by a conquering Warlord. Before the Warlord he was a Knight. He kept this helm as a memento of his more honorable days.
Equip:
+20 STR
+20 VIT
+30% chance to deflect Headshots from archers.
+20% Magic resistance
Requirements:
Knight only
Level 50
Honor points less than 500
Access to Fourth Floor Granted.
"Phew, at this rate we'll be finished with a couple of days to spare. That's good news isn't it Cadfael? Cadfael?"
Arthe spun round to look for Cadfael but he was nowhere to be seen.
On the floor below a couple of monsters with sharp hearing looked up for a bit. Almost certain they could hear a creature somewhere shouting,
"CRAP!!!!!"