Part 1 – Back to Base
“So...who exactly is this Eden? I don't recall telling you to become a kidnapper.”
Thinny as everyone remembered was face palming himself to my act of evil of kidnapping a princess of all people.
“This is Risene, the daughter of Duke Lion whom I killed.” I answered casually without much remorse.
“Mmmmm MmmM Mmmmmp!” mumbled Risene through the rope with words that probably involve cursing me.
I looked at Risene with interest since she seemed to be the type that would learn quickly. But before discussing with Thinny here of her future, I need to proceed with my own future that will not include me staying in this monster form any more.
“Before you ask any more questions, let me turn in the quest.”
Thinny rolled his eyes and said, “Fine, report in.”
Although I was a bit annoyed by his attitude towards me I decided to ignore it this time. No one can really get worse in attitude than Alexandra I would hope.
“I recently killed approximately a hundred nobles that include various heads of several known noble families. If you wish, you can check personally, its a just a couple day run to the castle.”
Thinny raise his hand to indicate I should stop talking for a moment.
And then he threw a small knife at the wall quickly and with great power in his throw.
“Who's there!”
The wall cracked and a certain person I know appeared which was surprising since my soul scan skill allowed me to see the souls of even hidden assassins that are using their hiding skills actively. Perhaps this one was using a different method and I need to improve my skill in order to see 'more'.
“Its been a while Linda.” I said to this person who somehow managed to sneak in with me without anyone noticing.
“Yo, Eden~” replied Linda with an attitude that was dramatically different from the one I know.
Thinking about how she acted and the fact that she processed skills that even I don't know, the only thing I can conclude is that she is not of the Church of Freya or any church I know of.
With the natural disapproval of Thinny who was still angry of an intruder coming into the base, I asked Linda on simple question.
“Which God?”
The reason why I asked this is that skill she just demonstrated could not be one that you could acquire normally and by the fact that she could avoid even my gaze means only certain beings with greater powers than me could do that, namely Gods.
“Not allow to say the name but its the one that is associated with trickery and discretion~”
I could place several names to those characteristics but I rather not since she didn't want me to know for now.
“By the way, I was wondering for a while what's with that appearance?”
The appearance she was referring to was of the Body Transformation skill. Namely it made me look like a boss monster and everyone pretty much attacks me in this form with a few exceptions but it allows much greater physical powers on my side which goes nicely with my magical skills.
However it comes with a great risk as well since it cannot deactivate when it reaches the advance levels and since a few days ago during my trip with Risene back to the base, it increased to intermediate level 9 which was one short of me being screwed.
“Deactivate Body Transformation.”
Feeling quite weird and a bit weak due to the different sensation I can feel between the two states I have, I promptly redid the seal on it with the 5 rings method. While this method cannot completely halt the advancement of the Body Transformation skill, it could stall it and gave me more time.
With my body back to normal as it gets and my tattoos fading to near skin colour, both Linda and Thinny looked with interest.
What? Is this the first time you seen someone transform in front of you?!
“Eden...” Linda unlike the naturally silent Thinny who naturally blended into the background started first, “You look a lot more feminine than I remember.”
“...”
Fuck. Is this the curse of the Hideyoshi? Are people like me naturally fated to be tortured like this?!
Damn even those my gender should have changed from female to male....it went directly to Hideyoshi instead..... which should mean I'm male but....
“Mmmmmh Mmmmp!”
I looked at the Risene who was struggling to escape from the ropes. I need to do something with her else she might take her life....nah, she's more likely to try an take my life instead which isn't an actual problem but it could be annoying later on.
“Anyway...Thinny can you give Risene here a room to stay in while I finish my business?”
“Only the leader of the Guild of Shadows can command me.”
“Aren't I the leader?”
I'm pretty sure I am.
“Not yet. You still need to complete the key.”
Doesn't Thinny know where the last gem is? Wasn't the whole last quest for me to prove that I am capable enough to be leader?
“Then give me the location of the last gem.”
“Right away ma’am.”
Son of a.......
Part 2 – Talking With Linda
“So why the hell are you still here Linda?” I asked really suspicious of this person whom is just standing around with me.
What's worse is that the other people in both Guild of Light and Shadow don't notice her thanks to that weird skill so I will probably take the blame for any 'pranks' that she cause. Well I'm not that concern since she's not a Alexandra who intentionally does that to me.
“I'm simply observing. I was actually there during the ball you know.”
Hmm....judging by the fact that she can sneak into this place without knowing would say that she could do that.
“....I see.”
Linda took out a book and started skimming through the pages without much concern.
Unlike her who has nothing to worry about, I was preparing some stuff I would need for my trip which was mainly stable food that tasted better than the ones I could create using magic as well as some potions which I looted off the players that were hunting me a while back.
“Didn't think you would actually wear that maid outfit.”
“...”
That was uncalled for. I couldn't get in that place without agreeing to wear that costume and become a maid for the night and that was only due to me looking pretty.
“Anyway, don't you think its a but suspicious that the last gem thing you need to find and the place that you want to go to are at the same location underneath us?”
“Its more likely that there is a teleporter somewhere along the line since I doubt Dragons are under us right now.”
“Hmm....but I heard by eavesdropping that the path will be filled with traps.”
“...”
Damn. Why couldn't it be so much more simple? Why the traps? Why must I be tormented by traps all the time? Wasn't the bloody trap filled tomb in the forest enough traps for life?!
“So you were part of the church of Freya.”
“Yep~”
Linda smiled with a child at me.
“So are you actually a player as well? Or just a NPC good at tricking other people.”
“A player like you. Circumstances came to be for me to serve a God directly. Though not on the level of certain people that are only NPCs.”
“Hmm....”
There are certainly classes that only NPCs have.
“Besides that, I'm more interested in what the others will do with Risene.”
“The princess?”
“Yeah.”
“I heard that she wants to find ways to kill you in the most gruesome manner possible.”
“...”
That's....kinda expected but is she going to start with assassin training or something?
“I think she was saying that she would like to learn healing magic and some other shady skills so she can kill you properly.”
Is she trying to help me or kill me?
“Well I can leave that to the others. I haven't tried but I know that I suck at teaching stuff to others thanks to my skill set.”
“You mean your style of magic right? The overpowered type that allows you to use multiple elements at once with extreme power?”
“Style? Magic has a style now?”
This was now getting highly confusing for me. I never knew magic had any type of style. Wasn't it all bang bang bang?
“Well I think it has something to do with the method in using magic. I heard there are hundreds of ways to create a simple fireball though my one seems to be more powerful then others.”
“...”
I doubt that but considering how other mages seemed to be able to create multiple of them in a single spell unlike me, this may have a point.
“I once tried teaching Viv on how to use it to a lesser extent since it seemed fine at the time but he couldn't even create a simple light ball using the same method as I. I used the same method as I was taught as well....”
That was a day in which Alexandra did not try to tease me for some reason as well since we were both trying to comfort Viv who failed in a magic task. I remember him muttering that he had to succeed else his master would do something to him. I wonder what his master was like.....though I don't want to at the same time.
“Well, doesn't that just mean this Viv wasn't compatible with your style of magic?
“More or less. Plus I think it has something to do with the size of my mana pool as well. I have a ridiculous amount of mana for a person who is level 246.”
Why my level is totally higher than the last time I've shown you guys? Lots and lots of player killing of guys that are of a much higher level helped a lot.
Well it was more like a mana ocean at this point.
Linda smirked at this point for good reasons. Mana was one of the things that many people actively try to increase and it is extremely difficult to do so. Mages who have the highest mana pool are always trying to measure and save mana in battle.
“It can't be that large. A mage of that level would have a mana pool of around 10000 I think.”
This may be an accurate representative of a typical normal mage but not me who kinda am a mage but also sometimes a swordsman and on rare days, an archer as well.
“30000 mana isn't that large? I wonder what would be considered large then.”
With Linda's mouth still open with sort of shock and then understanding, I descended to the lowest levels of this base that was centred in the middle of the western continent.
“Don't you have....drawbacks with such a large mana pool?”
“Yeah, first when my mana hits 0, I die thanks to the fact that my mana is replacing my health which is at a steady nil for a long time now.”
“I presume this is something completely unique to you then. As expected from one of the three monster trio I guess....”
“Monster Trio?”
“You, the one with the churches of this land Alexandra and the new witch Viv.”
...Ah?Are we that well known?
“Since around a year back, some talk has been made with you three but it increased dramatically within the last 5 months with you three slaying boss monster after boss monster and wrecking everything you get near. You three are quite famous for all the wrong reasons.”
“...”
I can't exactly deny that....though it was just Alexandra dragging me and Viv around.
“I suppose you will the most infamous one since you did just slay a large number of nobles at once. I wonder if that bounty will be taken off or you'll get a new one....”
I wonder that as well, I need to ask Thinny later on what will happen with that.
“Anyway, I'm going to head back now since I don't want to die.”
With those words, Linda slipped out of my radar immediately and disappeared.
I still wonder how she does that. A single skill shouldn't be able to elude my soul scan skill. Perhaps its a combination of several skills that allows her to slip in and out of places she really shouldn't be in.
By the time I made it to the lowest level of the base, the other members of the Guild of Shadow was there already.
Part 3 – Breaking to the End
“We have good news and bad news Eden” said Thinny in place of the others that seemed to want to avoid me.
Then the marked one spoke.
“Good news is that we cleared out all of the traps in the path for you.”
That was great! YES!
Then the small child in black spoke of the bad new.
“But, the traps were there to stop monsters from getting in the path so you now have to clear them out as well. Make sure you clear every one of them. All of them okay!”
So......the traps are replaced by monsters that the traps were originally used to stop them? Well it can't be that bad then. I'm an expert in killing stuff after all.
“So what kind of monsters will I have to face?” I asked wanting to know things instead of leaping into it like Alexandra.
The 5 looked at each other worryingly for some reason.
“That is....”
“Well....”
“Umm....”
This is really getting worrying now....why is it that they don't want to tell me?
“To be very precise.....they are the ghosts of the Guild of Shadows.”
Ghosts....?
“Unlike normal Ghosts, they do have actual material bodies and thus can be destroyed physically but they keep on coming back every once in a while so we have to clear them out more or less. However if we don't then they pile up.”
I see....so they're not that bad.
“How many are there?”
“At this point, around 10000 I suppose.”
“...”
Isn't that a little too much? I mean sure these ghosts reappear every once in a while but for the number to be that high.....
“Why is the number so high?” I asked concern on what I'll have to face.
“I think it has something to do with the vengeful spirits that are our victims from our acts since the creation of this guild” replied Thinny smiling wiry at the fact that he just called themselves the villains of the story.
“Plus individually they are pretty weak that you can probably one shot them with that sword of yours.”
I looked at the others and they weren't looking away trying to look all innocent about that point.
“Well....let me in so I can begin.....by the way, how long should it take me to get to the end?”
Thinny pondered for a while and said, “For you....around a day of non-stop fighting I suppose if you kill everything. Also make sure you don't use flashy tactics since the ghosts will gather more quickly than you want them to.”
Okay......no flashy stuff....which actually makes it harder so I'm going to ignore that advice for now...
Thinny opened up a large hole that reminds me of the sewer levels in games that are all horrible and uncreative.
The smell also reminds me of that as well....
This hole isn't a gateway to a sewers....right?
With a somewhat hesitant attitude, I jumped into what seemed to be the pit of hell.
By the time I landed, I hit something and was spinning to the ground.
Thud!
You took 10 damage
“...”
You have entered the Tunnel of Darkness
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You will not gain any experience or items in this place
Part 4 – The truth of things
“You're not going to tell him right? The fact that you lied to him about the whole thing” asked one of the 5 members of the Guild of Shadows.
“Of course not, frankly I'm more surprised that there were that many ghosts down there....” replied Thinny.
The 5 members of the Guild of Shadows were hiding one fact from Eden who was now undertaking one of the final trials to become the leader of the Guild of Shadows.
This trial is simply beyond easy for someone who lived a righteous life but seemed to be sheer hell for those who have not.
This was even worse for someone like Eden who lived a life that consisted of mostly fighting to the end with tactics and consequences that destroyed lives.
The place that Eden jumped into was called the Tunnel of Darkness.
Its purpose was simple.
It mirrors that Karma of the person in it.
Namely every bad action that would eventually come back at them and every bad action that didn't will happen at the same time in there. These Ghosts were not just any vengeful spirits, but the reflection of what the world sees you as.
Each member of the Guild of Shadows have at some point went through this trial and the most number of ghosts they ever had was at a mere thousand during the time where they were extremely active in killing.
For someone to get ten thousand ghosts at the same time meant that they have caused more chaos and grief then the whole Guild during their worse hour. Such a number was seemingly impossible to get.
What's even worse is that the ghosts will adapt to take you down eventually by becoming stronger and stronger by merging so its a good idea to clear them out quickly to reduce the potential strong enemies. But Eden doesn't know that and will probably try to save strength.
“I wonder if making Eden kill those nobles a really bad idea....” muttered Thinny thinking about the cause of such a high number.
“That event would at most cause Eden to gain another couple of hundred of ghosts...our predecessor did a test on that...”
“So what the hell did he do to gain this much hate from the world?!”
Part 5 – Extreme Measures
“Damnit, there are too many of them!” I shouted in frustration to no one in particular.
This is really really frustrating! Not only are there too many of these ghosts but I don't even gain experience or items from it!
Also Thinny lied since this place was called the Tunnel of Darkness!
If I heard its name then I would have never entered this place!
The place looks exactly like a modern day tunnel for cars and trucks to go through except there weren't any lights around at all! If that wasn't bad enough, I can't use Soul Scan properly since there are too many 'things' here that I can't tell anything apart!
Ice Formation ? Spike Form ? Ice Spike
“Ice Spike!”
Gathering mana in my hands, I impaled a couple of ghosts in front of me to stop the charge that was happening against me.
Ice Formation ? Wall Form ? Ice Wall
Using the Ice Spike as a base, I formed a large thick wall in front of me as well to stall for a bit of time at least.
BANG BANG BANG
However it seems they won't let me even rest for a bit. The ghosts in their ever lasting charge quickly broke down my ice wall with some ease.
I quickly checked my mana to find that I had around 20000 left and these ghosts don't really do much damage to me as well. The only problem was their seemingly infinite number which I can't thin down without a lot of fire-power.
I can't use the firs tor second seal at all since they have a relatively low span time compared to how much I'll probably have to fight from now on. Using Magic King Drive was out of the question since it didn't add that much right now and I would only get overwhelmed after its effects wear off.
It looks like I have to go melee this time since using magic would just make my death sooner.
I drew the Divine Sword Kotoko slashing the ghosts that were jumping through my broken ice wall.
“Damn, if only I had a strong sword skill like Alexandra's sword wave....”
I regret not learning more about sword skills since it would have helped a lot right now!
“Burst Strike!”
I charged forward at the waves of ghost warriors that were being sent at me. Using my inflated stats, I was able to kill most of these ghosts in one hit. However once in a while there would be a pretty strong ghost that was able to take me on for a couple of hits before I would either kill it or it escaped from me.
Several hours later.....
“Why the hell is there no end to this!????”
BOOM
Eh?
BOOM
Footsteps?
BOOM
“What the....”
Some sort of giant ghost warrior thing just appeared in front of me. Covered in extremely thick armour and wielding a giant axe, it looks very frightening to me.
Is it me or does this thing looks very strong?
“ROOOOOAR!!!”
The giant ghost warrior that strangely seemed very strong charged straight at me without any regards to its comrade ghosts.
I honestly swear that I know this thing from somewhere. Where was it......
Ah, its attacking me now.
“Dance of Water!”
Dance of Water is now active
Slipping away from the powerful and yet slow attack, I stabbed my sword into the giant arm of the giant ghost warrior thing....which still remains very familiar to me.
BOOM BOOM BOOM
More footsteps?
I looked to find that another giant ghost warrior appeared as well with the exact appearance as this one as well.....
Further down the line, another giant ghost warrior was being formed as well and so on....
Are the ghosts combining themselves to have more power or something? Well, that just means I can go full force now right?
First Seal Release!
Releasing the First Seal gives the following benefits:
- Spell Damage Increases by 100%
- Spell Range Increase by 60%
- Mana Absorption is Activated
- Strength is Increased by 20%
- Agility in Increased by 40%
- Movement Speed Increases by 15%
- Defence Increases by 20%
- Resistance to Magic Increases by 15%
- Fighting Spirit is increased by 20%
Time Limit: 3 Hours
Filled with power and more importantly more mana now, I quickly ran and killed the nearest giant warrior with a single slash to its vital, the head.
Standing on its corpse, I prepared to use the most of this situation.
Fire Formation ? Wave Form ? Fire Wave
Earth Formation ? Spike Form ? Earth Spike
Consecutive Casting ? Fire Wave + Earth Spike ? Exploding Lava Wave
“Take this!”
Slamming my hand on the ground, I unleashed the spell at the ghost army.
In an instant, the place in front of me turned into a wasteland of fire and death.
I think I killed around a hundred of those ghosts with this....though I still have a very lone way to go.
Making my way through, several shadowy figures appeared charging towards me at high speed. Using my sword, I deflected by almost instinct of what seemed to be daggers in their hands though they still managed to hit me.
You are now poisoned
Ah, no wonder why they didn't try to get a fatal hit.
Poison Purging!
Poison has been purged from body
Poison purging levelled up
Expelling the poison out quickly, I fire a couple of fireballs in their direction which exploded on them at impact.
Well, that was easier than I expected. Those guys were a bit too weak for me to worry too much.
“Charge!”
From the flames of this place, came knights that pierced through to me. A total of 10 knights in a arrow formation was charging straight at me.
It seems I can be a bit more entertained now.
Lightning Formation ? Bolt Form ? Enchant Factor ? Enchanted Lightning Bolts
“Enchanted Lightning Bolts!”
In front of me, three Lightning Bolts gathered power and shot to the knights.
“Lightning Enchant!”
The lead knight shouted what seemed to be some sort of buff and covered himself and the others with lightning armour causing my lightning bolts to be deflected quite easily.
In that case.
Ice Formation ? Bolt Form ? Multicast (30) ? Ice Bolt Barrage
Forming ice bolts everywhere around me I aimed carefully at the horse that the knights rode on.
“Ice Bolt Barrage!”
Shooting the ice bolts quickly, the knights tried to evade but the sudden attack didn't leave much time for the horse to move out of the way causing them to trip over or being hit by my ice bolts.
Fling over their horses and on the ground a bit confused due to the impact, the Knights were no very vulnerable for attacks.
Fire Formation ? Tower Form ? Fire Tower
Layering my spell so it would covered all of the knights, I gathered more mana to create the spell.
“Fire Tower”
From the ground, fire cracked and poured out like a broken fountain that is overloaded with water.
“Garrrr!”
The knights screamed in pain as my spell cooked them to death.
Now what's next?
“Charrrrrrrrrrrrge!!!!”
Barbarians this time eh? While not as heavily equipped as those knights, they process greater speed and power on ground.
The Barbarians suddenly stopped to throw their axes at me at high speeds. Soon, over 30 axes were flying to kill me.
Neutral Formation ? Mana Shield
“Mana Shield”
I pointed my hand out in front of me and created a simple mana shield that would deflect attacks back in front of me.
I found that by doing this, the actual power of the mana shield would increase dramatically and I wouldn't have to waste time and effort to create multiple mana shields to block what I am currently facing right now.
Lightning Formation ? Bolt Form ? Stun Factor ? Electric Bolt
“Electric Bolt!”
Raising my other hand I fired a electric bolt which had the characteristic of being able to stun the target.
The Barbarian that was hit by the electric bolt, let out a large scream of pain and stood there unable to move with electric currents flowing through his body.
Good, it seems this type of spells work.
The reason why I am still experimenting on the different types of spells I can use is that I need to expand the range of spells I can use so I can solo better without the help of Alexandra and Viv who are both already learning ways to fight alone from what I heard.
Alexandra is expending her skills with ones that relate to Holy Magic so she is becoming more like a paladin then a warrior with some Holy skills. Viv on the other hand is going the other direction which is to increase his magic skills so he can be more involved with parties with the help of buffs and other smaller spells that he missed out on learning while adventuring with the two of us.
Anyway I should focus back on the battle in front of me.
Lightning Formation ? Wave Form ? Stun Factor ? Electric Wave
I changed the form of the spell to a wave form so it can hit multiple enemies at once. I held both hands together as I activated the spell.
“Electric Wave!”
A shockwave that was similar to Lightning Wave spread out with me in the centre. When the electric wave hit the Barbarians, they were mostly stunned but it seemed to be not as effective as directly sending electricity in their body.
Well I should get rid of them now.
Fire Formation ? Ball Form ? Multicast(20) ? Homing Shot ? Fireball Barrage
I raised my hand again and gathered fireballs in the air.
“Fireball Barrage.”
The 20 fireballs flew and exploded onto the Barbarians killing them after a series of explosions.
“Damn there's more of them.” I muttered to myself as more knights and barbarians charged at me from seemingly nowhere.
A few hours later.....
“Double Strike!”
Taking down all of the enemies near me I decided to relax for a bit.
Hmm? This pressure....
“ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!!!”
You are in a state of Fear
Agility decrease by 15%
Wisdom decrease by 20%
Fighting spirit decrease by 40%
Crap I have to face this thing again as well?
In front of me was the shadow dragon that I faced during the Holy Trial all those months ago. But for some reason it seems a bit weak....like the intimidation it had was gone.....and most of the fear was gone as well....
But it was still a Dragon.
“Shit......”
There was no way I can get out of this in one piece.
Continue Misfortune?PreviousExitNext
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Author's Notes:
- 5000~ Words
- Just two more......seriously you guys are really causing me some grief here.....