Part 1 – To Rid a Bounty
“So....I can't collect the bounty?”
My mouth was tied up and I was completely immobilised right now. And yet this fool decides to ask that question in front of me.
“That bounty technically came from us and Eden is our leader so he placed a Bounty on himself, so no you can't collect it unless Eden decides to cough up the money” said Thinny eyeing that retrained me with interest.
Alexandra who was doing to 'negotiation' turned to me and said in a disgustingly sweet voice, “Can you please give me the gold?” and with a fake smile that makes third rate con artists look like pros.
All I did was glare at her since she did betray me for gold....well I would honest do the same. 200 thousand is a lot of gold. I could even go into real estate with that gold.
“I see how you got that twisted personality now Eden....anyway I rather not have you two” Thinny looked at Alexandra and Viv, “as enemies, so I'm going to make you three buddy up again.”
Ah, damn it. Just when I was done with them.
With a sigh, Alexandra untied me as I was forcing myself not to attack her immediately.
“So, what do you have in mind” I asked Thinny about his plan stretching since my body was stiff after hours of being tied up.
“Well the guild is having some trouble bending a certain group of people to our will. I need you three to get rid of them.”
It seemed to be that kind of task.
“What kind of enemy are we talking about” asked Alexandra gleaming with confidences despite what just happened.
“Mercenaries, in the thousands occupying a fort that was abandoned by one of the Kingdoms that recently fell.”
Yeah...I'm going to leave her if things goes bad. That sounds like a good place to abandon her. I don't think any of us individually could defeat thousands of Mercenaries. Even I would is scrapped for mana after a few hours.
“I thought the Three Kingdoms here were at a stalemate.” said Viv a bit confused.
“Well....” Thinny started revealing the truth of the matter, “those Kingdoms were essentially ruled by their respective churches and since one of those three churches fell apart due to a certain someone killing their leader and main financial support, the other two Kingdoms and their churches attacked and this happened.”
“I wonder what kind of person could do such a thing. Millions would die thanks to this.” said Viv wondering who it was indeed.....
“Anyway, I'll give you a quest for it and you will get gold for this though not as much as the 200 thousand bounty you tried to collect. Plus if you wish, you two can stay here if you finish it since it would do us a good favour.”
Ding
Destroy the Fort
The Guild of Shadows needs to get rid of those who have power to oppose them. As such the destruction of the Mercenaries' Fort will send a clear message to others that try. Make sure most of the mercenaries die as well
Rank: B
Requirement: Given by Guild of Shadows
Restrictions: Majority of Mercenaries must not escape
Reward: 20000 Gold
“Hey....I'm the leader of this Guild so why am I getting a quest as well.”
“Oh, you want to not get a reward?”
“No no no, I accept the quest.”
You have accepted the Quest
I don't want to lose that 20000 Gold. That's a lot of money and its just a regular trip with these two.
As the Leader of the Guild of Shadows, completing this quest will cause your influence in the Guild to increase as well the influence of the Guild to increase as well. Check the Guild Page for more information.
“Hmm....check Guild Status.”
Guild of Shadows
An assassination group that once controlled the underground world with absolute force. However those days are over and the influence and power of the guild are greatly diminished compared to before.
However the appearance of a new leader of the Guild has allowed this Guild to increase in strength though not as much as before.
This Guild has a partnership with the Guild of Light.
Status in Guild: Leader
Influence in Guild: 3684
Guild Influence: 15844
Total Members: 6
Gold stored: 186234
Hmm....I wonder if I can see their names in this.
“Show guild members.”
Guild Members
Leader: Eden
Sub-Leader: Unknown
Manager of Finance: Unknown
Alchemist: Unknown
Scout: Unknown
Negotiator: Unknown
“...”
Well, at least I now know that they are not lying when they said they didn't have names. Now to inquire for another matter.
“Hey Thinny, why is my influence in this Guild really low? I mean I was expecting something a bit higher.”
“There is a tradition in this Guild that the leader must prove his worth. Basically do jobs for us until we accept you. To be honest since a century ago, this guild learnt how to manage without a leader but having one is handy” said Thinny a bit bored before disappearing leaving the three of us alone.
I looked at the two. Both of which betrayed me and sold me out.
While I noticed that Alexandra had new stuff on, Viv on the other hand looked mostly the same. Well it could be that he had new robes and a new staff that was made a dark brown and looked like a proper staff instead of the stick he was using before.
But....I think I can properly kill him if I need to.
But....I need to cooperate with these two right now. I better make some small talk then.
“So what have you two been doing these last couple of months” I asked.
“Well...the usual, was chased by a Kingdom's knights for some reason and eventually led a monster subjugation after that as well for some reason before getting to the Temple of Light. That was not the greatest day to try and fight a certain legendary monster in its home turf” said Alexandra reminiscing about the past.
I looked at Viv to listen to his answer.
“I joined a treasure hunting team because I wanted to find some stuff that would be useful later on and ended up having to fight the spirit of a forgotten King alone as the others escaped before the entrance collapsed. Took me a while but I also found the Temple of Witches where they taught me a couple of new tricks” answered Viv.
“Okay then~ Let's go destroy a Fort.”
At the moment, two hands fell on my shoulders and stopped me from escaping.
“Where do you think your going?”
“Why don't you tell us of what you did Eden.”
Its not like I don't want to tell them about my adventures but its kinda boring compared to theirs.
“Well....” I started before they got out the rope again.
Okay okay, I'll speak. Geez....don't have to tie me up every time it doesn't go in your favour.
“Got attacked immediately when I got out of that teleportation circle thing. Meet the Guild of Shadows, then got a large bounty of 150000 gold and eventually made my way to kill the creature with the 5th mana fragment. That took me 9 lives and then killed a bunch of nobles that may or may not have caused an entire church and kingdom to fall. Then I went to the Temple of Dragons and got my body fixed up. Done.”
“I see....” muttered Alexandra as if she realised something important.
“Eh?”
“So you used all 9 lives as a cat....”
“...”
I really think there is something wrong with your head....
Part 2 – To Fort Guine
Right now, the three of us were riding on horses to the Fort that housed the mercenaries that we needed to wipe out at the place called Guine.
As a person who likes to know things though rarely has the chance to do so, I looked into the history of the place before setting off.
Fort Guine was constructed roughly 142 years ago by the orders of a King that was in bitter war with another Kingdom. The location of the Fort was the centreline between his Kingdom and another 2 Kingdoms. As such, the other Kingdom that at 4 accounts allied with this Kingdom, joined up at this Fort.
Furthermore, this Fort survived a total of 47 sieges against it and only lost a total of 3 times due to overwhelming odds were the enemy outnumbered them by 2 or 3 times. As such, it can be concluded that this is a well made Fort even though its age and is located near the former border of 3 Kingdoms that vanished a couple of decades ago along with most of the other Kingdoms.
Right now, it was located in the fallen Kingdom of Airene which housed the Church of Lion and one of the 3 great Guilds in this part of the continent. Of course there were countless other guilds in this part of the continent, it was that 3 guilds in particular held more than half of the power that guilds had in the Western Continent. Right now, the Guild that was in this Kingdom is in a pretty bad shape but barely hanging on hiring mercenaries to help them attack other villages until they were betrayed.
The leader of the Mercenaries that came by contract to this land quickly took control of thousands of mercenaries and back stabbed the Guild that wasn't able to pay the fees of the mercenaries they recruited. Naturally this was the behaviour of scum bags but that Guild really hired thousands of mercenaries without the money to pay them all. It was only a matter of time when the mercenaries would find out and attack.
But the Guild was still made of majority players and as such the mercenaries were having a hard time against them. To counter this, the mercenaries conquered several key locations that would allow players to easily travel around this part of the continent and similar to bandits attacked anyone who crossed their paths.
Because of this fact, the Guild of Shadows was having a hard time dealing with them since easy prey....I mean important people are too scared to travel about now.
“Wow, that place is going to be hard to take down” commented Alexandra on the Fort.
While the Fort was large itself being a castle, there were a large number of tents around the outskirts of the Fort making up most of the mercenaries we can see right now.
“Well we can always make a frontal assault. I want to know how much stronger we got over the months” said Viv already bringing out his staff that looked more like a cane about to fire some sort of spell at the poor unsuspecting mercenaries.
“In that case, I should attack first in my Dragon Form. The shock will cripple their morale.”
“I think after a few minutes of us, their morale will drop to the lowest point anyway.” commented Viv cruelly on my suggestion.
“You make a point.”
I still remember enemies running away from us after we take down a couple of them screaming in pain from my play time torture session.
“In that case I should attack first.”
With those words, Alexandra sped up on her horse and drew her sword.
“Let the stars fall into dust. The eternal world remains and the mortal world weeps. Starlight Beam!”
With a single swing, a bright beam of light fired into the camps of the mercenaries and mercilessly turned those hit by it into dust.
“SWORD WAVE!”
With another swing she once again cruelly attacked with get power shooting a large sword wave at the beginning of a chaotic battle.
“...”
That was kinda overdoing it.
“Hatred of the Besieged flows through the air, in the rivers and in the depths of the tainted grounds. Curse of Chains!”
With those words, hands appeared out of the ground grabbing the mercenaries with screams.
Isn't this the spell which both me and Alexandra forbid Viv from using? And isn't it more powerful than before?
“The boon of nature and all that is dark gathered at the midnight feast! For light and dark twilight between the blood stained moon. The stars cries tears of regret as the wind blow the weak fire of life amidst. Nature Calling, Blood feast of Night!”
Leaves gathered around Viv's staff and turned into small particles before heading towards the Mercenaries.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
Then the screams of pain appeared. Those who were touched by the small particles that Viv controlled were turned into dust painfully. I looked as tens of men were turned into nothing with everything on them at a time.
“...”
It looks like they don't need my help here. I'll head to the back then to stop them from retreating away from us.
Holding the reigns of the horse that was barely able to not go insane with fear of the sight in front of it, I galloped to the right where there seemed to be less chaos.
Within minutes of riding, I finally met some mercenaries to kill. They seem to be a flesh set of troops since I don't think Alexandra or Viv had their way with them yet.
“Attack!” shouted by what seemed to be the commanding officer of this group of a hundred mercenaries.
This shouldn't take too long.
Earth Formation ? Spike Form ? Earth Spike
“Earth Spike.”
Immediately as they were charging at me with swords and other weaponries. I blocked their path while killing a few of them at once.
“A mage!”
With those words from an unknown person, the mercenaries' morale grew. Everyone knew that mages were powerful in power but weak in all other area as well as having a long cool down for their spells.
Well today is not their lucky day.
Fire Formation ? AOE Factor ? Explode Factor ? Fire Explosion
“Fire Explosion.”
With the tactic I thought of a few days ago, I lighted the dust in the air and caused it to explode violently.
BANG
With that, around a third of them died in that blast alone.
Fire Formation ? Ball Form ? Multicast(20) ? Homing Shot ? Fireball Barrage
“Fireball Barrage.”
Creating Fireballs quickly, I shot down the ones that were immediately trying to escape causing their morale to further disappear.
Wind Formation ? AOE Factor ? Spinning Factor ? Whirlwind
Gathering Wind this time, without speaking a word at all, I spun the air around a bit violently at the enemy mercenaries causing the fire that didn't disappear yet to get drawn in causing it to become a Fire Whirlwind on its own.
With that, all 100 mercenaries died burning to death.
And to think this battle didn't even take 5000 mana yet. Well, the quality of the enemy was quite lacking to the point that the fodder one were around level 100 while there were only a few that were near level 200.
They were probably weak and cheap soldiers to hire.
Riding to the next location, I battled another squad of 100. While having some ranged support, they too fell quickly before me and died.
This continued a few more times until I got to the wall of the Fort.
“I wonder how many there are in here.”
Using Soul Scan, I found that there were a few hundred in here which was one of two large gathering of mercenaries. The other one of equal size was at Alexandra and Viv. I'm pretty sure they can handle low quality troops for a while.
But now the problem is with this wall. If I blow it up then, I'll attract the attention of everyone here. If I turn into a Dragon then more problems appear since there are player out there wanting to slay a Dragon and frankly its a pain to deal with them.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
I wonder if there is a way to get through this wall without breaking through it.
I looked at the top of the wall. It was easily 20 metres tall, a naturally frightening sight for the enemy. A fall from that height even for the lightly armoured will cause death or critical damage. But...it wasn't that bad for me.
Wind Formation ? Enchant Factor ? Wind Legs
Agility will be doubled for a short time
Using my extra agility, I easily jumped and scaled the wall with ease taking the time to use some Earth magic to create a footing here and there before reaching the top in mere seconds.
“Who are you!” shouted one person who was on guard here.
“Burst Strike...”
Immediately drawing my sword and stabbing him in the throat, I silenced him without much more commotion. But my bad luck is as bad as always.
“Intruder!”
The bells rang throughout the fort and hundreds of mercenaries gathered outside and on the walls to confront me.
“Isn't this a little too much for little old me?” I said sarcastically as the mercenaries surrounded me on all sides.
“Enough of that talk! Your two comrades have slain hundreds of my men in mere minutes! You too must be that strong.”
I smiled at those words like a mad man.
“Hmm....well I think I'll destroy this Fort then.”
In that moment, I decided to leave no trace of this place left.
“Dragonic Release! Dragonic Overload!”
Dragonic Release
A modified version of the outer seal which once allowed access to power above the norm. Upon changing to a lesser race, this ability was taken away. In exchange, this state will pushes the body's limit was created to replace that.
Improvements have been made so this state has more power and stability compared to the original.
- Spell Damage Increases by 100%
- Spell Range Increase by 60%
- Mana Absorption can be Activated
- Strength is Increased by 60%
- Agility in Increased by 60%
- Movement Speed Increases by 30%
- Defence Increases by 30%
- Resistance to Magic Increases by 20%
- Domination is twice as effective
- Fighting Spirit is increased by 150%
Time Limit: 12 Hours
Dragonic Overload
A modified version of the inner seal which once allowed access to power beyond the norm. Upon changing to a lesser race, this ability was taken away. In exchange, this state will pushes beyond the body's limit was created to replace that.
Improvements have been made so this state has more power and stability compared to the original. Partly inspired by Balance Breaker.
- Mana Doubles
- Gives Rapid Natural Mana Regeneration of 150 mana/second
- All Skills rank up by 1
- All Skills in Beginner Levels rank up to Intermediate
- Spell Damage Increases by 150%
- Spell Range Increase by 80%
- Strength is Increased by 80%
- Agility is Increased by 80%
- Movement Speed Increases by 50%
- Defence Increases by 50%
- Resistance to Magic Increases by 30%
- Fighting Spirit is increased by 200%
Time Limit: 4 Hours
With those words, my power greatly increase with my raw fighting spirit causing nervous tension in the mercenaries even the ones far away.
“Full Dragon Transformation!”
A large mana core with me in it was created in that instant and a mid size Dragon appeared around me.
Full Dragon Transformation is now active
“ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!”
With one roar, I think I broke most of their spirit in one go.
Flapping my wings, I gained height in the air before those mercenaries could think fast enough to attack me on the ground.
Gathering mana in my mouth, I aimed at the walls of the fort.
Dragon Breath!
BOOOOOOM!
Shooting it out, it exploded on the wall leaving a large crater where it was once was.
Looking around, there were already some mercenaries trying to flee.
I shot a couple of Dragon Breaths at them as well eliminating them in one go.
Then I noticed that I was getting a lot of damage message from the arrows that were being fired at me at mass. They were weak but if I took too many at once, then I would be killed even at this size. My mana did not increase at all besides that double temp double mana bonus from Dragonic Overload leaving it at a steady 100000 mana.
A few minutes later, I destroyed most of the fort and turned back into human form.
You have complete the quest: Destroy the Fort
Collect Reward at the Guild of Shadows
Influence in Guild of Shadow increased by 1500
Influence of Guild of Shadows increased by 300
You have gained the title “Fort Destroyer”
- Increase damage to buildings by 15%
- Earth affinity increased by 5
Title has been integrated with title “Destroyer of Sovereigns”
Infamy increased by 7310
You have levelled up
You have levelled up
You have levelled up
You have levelled up
You have levelled up
Looks like I finished the quest.
“Foo....” I breathed out a bit exhausted since I used up a large amount of mana at once.
Sluuuuuuuuush
Eh?
By instinct, I parried the blow using a Dragonfied arm a few time before retreating a bit.
“Even exhausted and against a surprise attack, you still manage to escape from my blades.” said an old man with a large number of scars on his well built body.
The aura present around his body indicated that he was quite strong. Perhaps around level 300 or so judging by the first couple of clashes we just had.
I held the Divine Sword at hand facing him alone in this ruin Fort.
“Battle Aura”
With those words, a golden veil covered my body.
Battle Aura is now active
“Oh! So you can do that as well! Battle Aura!”
Around the mercenary, a purple aura surrounded him. While weaker than my one, it was certainly unique in some ways.
The mercenary holding his dual swords slowly walked around with caution looking for a opening.
“Dual Swipe!”
Covering his sword in red aura, the Mercenary charged at me and swung rapidly at me as I blocked and dodged those attacks.
“Wind Slash!”
The Mercenary quickly swiped towards me at close quarters.
Slash
You took 17586 damage
Breaking through my battle aura, my shoulder was clipped by something I couldn't see and took way more damage than I thought I would for just a light wound.
I jumped back and retreated to see the wound. It was deeper than it looked but it seems to be recovering at a fair speed.
“Who exactly are you?” I asked regardless of the timing since I wanted to know.
Someone of this level should not be unknown to the world. There aren't many people who can wound me like this when my battle aura is active. Well I suppose him also having battle aura has something to do with that.
“Hahahahahahaha.”
The mercenary laughed out loud.
“You dare attack and destroy my Fort without knowing who I am?” the Mercenary said with humour in his mouth.
“Pretty much.” I answered bluntly.
“I am the King of these People! I am the Mercenary King!”
Well I just had enough of him now.
Fire Formation ? Ball Form ? Fireball
I created a relatively small fireball and threw it at him.
“I am-ah!”
Luck being not on my side, the Mercenary King dodged it by rolling away in fright.
“Magic?!” he shouted out in disbelief for some reason.
Fire Formation ? Tower Form ? Fire Tower
I aimed at his feet and unleashed a Fire Tower at him.
BOOM
He dodged again for some reason.
Fire Formation ? AOE Factor ? Explode Factor ? Fire Explosion
Using the fire I created as a base, I caused it to explode outwards hitting the Mercenary King at least with some damage.
“Is this some sort of joke?!” he shouted at me.
“Not at all” I replied casually.
Fire Formation ? Spear Form ? Fire Spear
I created a thick amount of fire in the shape of a spear and launched it at him.
“Tch!”
The Mercenary King blocked it with his swords and gathered wind around him.
Fire Formation ? Ball Form ? Enlarge factor ? Explode Factor ? Great Exploding Fireball
“Take this”
A giant fireball that was the size of a boulder you would find occasionally in trapped filled dungeons appear and roared towards the Mercenary King.
“Cleave Slash!”
The Mercenary King much to my surprise used wind to protect himself as he slashed the fireball in half and endured the explosion.
“Wind gather and pierce. The northern wind turns all into snow, the eastern wind brings new life, the southern wind turns all into dust, the western wind brings death!”
The Mercenary King stabbed his dual swords into the ground and wind started gathering around this place.
“I'll take you down with me!” he shouted.
Then all of the wind shot towards the two of us.
This is bad!
Neutral Formation ? Mana Shield ? Multicast (5)
Creating a firm defence, the wind hit the mana shields I placed up around me in a perfect sphere.
Mana Shield took 142 damage
Mana Shield took 142 damage
Mana Shield took 142 damage
Mana Shield took 142 damage
Mana Shield took 142 damage
...
It seems this attack is one that damage you over some time. Have to wait it out. Well at least the other guy couldn't have escape in this amount of time since he's getting hit as well.
Several Minutes later....
“...”
He escaped....great, just my luck.
Boooom!
It looks like they're still fighting over there as well.
I looked at Alexandra and Viv who were struggling to cope with the attacks of hundred of mercenaries that didn't care that their fort was destroyed.
“Eden, help us!”
For some reason, Alexandra's voice sounded like she was right next to me. It was a whisper from her who was still fighting.
“Hmm.....”
I honestly rather not.
This can be considered as payback from earlier.
I took a house and rode the fuck away from there leaving those two for dead.
“Wait! Where are you going?!” shouted Alexandra using the whisper.
Part 3 – Back at Home
“Where are the other two?” asked Thinny.
“Dead. I think.” I replied without much care.
“...”
Thinny stared at me in disbelief.
“That's a freeman for you....anyway, I'll give them their reward later. Here's the gold.”
Thinny dropped a bag of gold in front of me which disappeared as I placed it in my inventory.
“Anyway, do you have anything else for me to do?”
“Not for another couple of days. We need to see what the affects of the destruction of the Fort will have on the rest of lands.” he replied.
Hmm....
So I have to wait a while
4 days later....
“EDEN! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!”
“...”
Time to run!
Continue Misfortune?PreviousExitNext
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Author's Notes:
- Word Count: 4500~
- Actually finished this yesterday but decided not to post it. Also started and halfway finished chapter 3...I think. Though I doubt, I'll be able to post it up anytime soon since I have 2 presentations and a report to do in that week.
- Also, partly as a response to negatively towards Alexandra and Viv and mostly because this was the original plans; I let them be abandoned and left for dead.
- Been playing Dark Souls 2 today after writing a few pages. Man is it me or the Purser boss is a real dick to early players?