*Helen PoV*
Zeilan took a deep breath as he prepared himself for his next ordeal. Armor, check. Weapons, double check. Guts, triple check. All right, preparations complete. Now, let’s get this show on the road! He pushed the large doors with all the strength he could, and with a loud grating sound they slowly opened. What he found inside caused him to stop and stare, as the view was absolutely gorgeous.
He found himself inside a large aquatic grotto, which had large walls that were wet and smooth. The floor was covered in a thin layer of water, and all sorts of rock had moss growing on them. A large crack in the eastern wall let in a few rays of light that reflected off the water and illuminated the room, giving it a tranquil feeling. The thing that Zeilan focused on though, was the large creature sleeping in the middle.
At first it looked like a random pile of sharp rocks, but every so often it could be seen shaking as the creature slept soundly. “How rude,” Zeilan said with a snort. “I make it all the way to the boss room and it’s sleeping? Well, I guess I should be courteous and wake it up.”
Looking around the large aquatic grotto, Zeilan tried to find anything that could be of use to him. There wasn’t much else inside the area besides the monster and a few stalactites hanging threateningly from the ceiling. Just as he was about to give up searching, he noticed that there was a large pillar of stone placed conveniently within falling distance of the monster. Perfect. He thought as he headed towards the stone. Hefting his iron knuckles, he positioned himself behind the stone and concentrated on the weakest point.
“[Strong Punch]!”
*BOOM*
He punched the pillar with immense force, causing cracks to appear at the place he hit. The cracks slowly traveled up the pillar, and once the cracks reached the top, Zeilan heard a rumble as he moved out of the way. The large stone pillar slowly began falling towards the monster, and crushed it under its heavy weight. For a moment, there was silence as Zeilan thought, Was that seriously enough to kill the boss? You’ve got to be kidding me right? Dust covered the area where the pillar fell, keeping Zeilan from being able to see anything.
Suddenly, a loud roar came out from the impact area, shaking the entire grotto. “Agh!” Zeilan covered his ears as he endured the powerful roar. Once the roar ended, the dust suddenly cleared and Zeilan was able to get a good look at the monster. It was a turtle, but it was far larger than a normal one as this monster was the size of a house! Its skin was colored red and covered with scales, while its shell was covered in sharp spikes (which were slightly cracked). A low rumble came from the turtle’s throat, as it looked at Zeilan with hate-filled, glowing red eyes.
[Kuvesh, The Rock-Crusher] - Level 22
*GROAAAAH*
It let out another scream as a slightly depleted health bar appeared over its head. Zeilan began to tremble, but rather than fear, he was feeling excitement. “Haha… hahaha! Double my level? No problem! I’ve taken down monsters larger than you! Come at me you stupid turtle!” He said with a savage grin. “[Earth Armor], [Harden Scales]!” Zeilan used his defensive skills to prepare himself for the upcoming fight. His body became covered in a thin layer of hardened stone, while his scales contracted and gathered up together to make a more solid defense.
Zeilan’s eyes narrowed as he charged forward to attack! At the same time he moved, Kuvesh lifted up its front leg, and brought it down with extreme force! The entire grotto shook as water sprayed everywhere and cracks appeared in the ground. The single stomp Kuvesh made caused Zeilan to lose his balance, but he managed to stay standing as he continued to run towards Kuvesh.
“[Strong Punch]!” He yelled, putting all his weight and momentum into his fist which successfully connected with Kuvesh’s leg. Unfortunately the leg didn’t budge an inch, as Zeilan felt like he was punching hard concrete. Looking at Kuvesh’s health, he saw that his punch barely did any damage! Damn turtles! Why do they always have to have so much defense!? He complained in his mind as he retreated from Kuvesh who was making another attack.
Kuvesh opened its jaws wide, and guessing its intentions Zeilan quickly ran for cover. He took a quick look behind him and saw a glowing light gathering in the centre of its mouth. Suddenly the light stopped gathering and compressed, which made Zeilan dive for cover as Kuvesh released a beam of energy from its mouth! The energy beam gouged out the ground as it traveled, evaporating the water and gouging out the ground as it moved.
Lasers… my first boss has lasers. Go figure. Zeilan picked himself off the ground as he tried to approach Kuvesh again. Luckily it was as slow as an actual turtle was, allowing Zeilan to get near as it tried to turn and face him. Zeilan noticed that there was a pile of rocks near him, so he made a quick decision and climbed up on them. Once Kuvesh faced him, he leaped off, using another [Strong Punch] as he aimed for its face.
This time he was able to do a decent amount of damage, though Kuvesh’s health was still only down by a tenth. Kuvesh seemed to be displeased after getting hit though, as it’s neck suddenly darted forward aiming right for Zeilan! Zeilan side-stepped as quickly as he could, but was still grazed by the head, which broke his [Earth Armor] and dealt a bit of damage to him.
“Ugh, I levelled [Earth Armor] so it could absorb at least 50 points of damage, and this guy broke it just by grazing it? This boss is no joke.” Zeilan gritted his teeth as he began to circle around Kuvesh. Every time he passed by one of the legs he would give it a few punches or kicks before moving away to hit another leg. Slowly but surely, Kuvesh’s health began to drop, but by the time that it reached 80% Kuvesh seemed to get tired of turning around as it let out another roar and lifted up its front leg.
Seeing this, Zeilan carefully timed his jump with the exact moment the foot was brought on the ground, preventing him from being affected by the tremors. Although Zeilan was unharmed, the same couldn’t be said for the grotto as the walls began to shake and stalactites began falling from the ceiling! Now Zeilan had to deal with both Kuvesh and sharp rocks raining down! He briefly considered taking shelter underneath Kuvesh, but chances are that it would just lay down and crush him.
Fortunately for Zeilan though, he wasn’t the only one who had to deal with the stalactites. Quite a few of them were falling on top of Kuvesh and dealing damage. The damage was almost unnoticeable as the stalactites barely left a scratch on the shell, but Zeilan was still grateful for any source of damage. Kuvesh didn’t seem too bothered by the heavy rocks though, as it continued to head straight for Zeilan.
Avoiding another falling stalactite, Zeilan’s tried to think a way to get out of this situation. Okay, there are a few high piles of rocks that I can use to jump and attack the boss, but it’ll be incredibly risky. If I slip and fall that’ll be the end of this battle… What can I do? Zeilan took cover behind a pillar as he tried to avoid the falling stalactites. Wait a minute. I’m so stupid! Giving himself a mental face-palm, he turned around and punched the pillar with all his might! “[Strong Punch]!”
*Crack*
The pillar fell towards Kuvesh, dealing a decent chunk of damage as its health went down to around 70%. In addition to the pillar hitting Kuvesh, Zeilan heard another cracking sound coming from above him. He looked up just in time to see the ceiling collapsing on him! “[Strong Kick]!” He kicked off the ground with immense force, slightly cracking the ground propelling himself away from the falling debris. Once he got away from the collapsed ceiling, Zeilan saw that Kuvesh had recovered from the stone pillar falling on it. Something else he took notice of was that the spikes on its back were cracked considerably.
Maybe one more pillar will break them. But what’s the point of that? He thought as he watched Kuvesh open its mouth wide. Once more it began charging its laser but this time Zeilan noticed that some of the light was escaping from the cracks from the spikes in its back. When Zeilan dodged the laser he saw that it was considerably less powerful than before. Okay, I guess I will send another pillar down on it then. Disabling at least one of its attacks would make this battle much easier. Zeilan thought as he moved towards another pillar.
“[Earth Armor]!” Now that his skill was off cooldown, he re-activated it and waited for Kuvesh to get closer. This time Kuvesh wasn’t going to walk into another pillar though, as it stood still and began to charge another laser. “Well of course it wouldn’t be that easy.” Zeilan ran away as the laser was fired, destroying the pillar and bringing down a part of the ceiling again. With the loss of another pillar the room shook violently as even more stalactites fell down.
That’s not good. If another pillar falls the whole place could collapse on my head. I also don’t doubt that this thing could survive that… Zeilan was forced to give up on trying to hit it with another pillar and instead resorted to attacking the legs again. As he was attacking the legs, Zeilan noticed that a particularly large pile of rocks had built up, and was about as tall as the boss itself. Should I risk it? He debated.
While Zeilan was wondering whether to risk it or not, Kuvesh’s health was slowly being depleted from the stalactites. One of the stalactites actually got stuck in a crack, eliciting a roar and causing extreme pain to the boss while dropping its health to 65%. Seeing this, Zeilan made up his mind. Nothing’s going to happen if I don’t take any risks. Alright, let’s do this!
As the boss was trying to shake the stalactite off its back, Zeilan made his way up the pile of rocks and stood at the very top. Kuvesh was still a little far away, so he stayed where he was until it got a bit closer. As he was waiting though, a stalactite was falling down straight at him! He focused his eyes and tensed his body as he used [Strong Punch] to redirect it towards Kuvesh. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to deflect it perfectly as he still got hurt, breaking his [Earth Armor] and taking away a quarter of his health.
Oww, that hurts. I bet Simon could have timed that perfectly though… He thought as he watched the stalactite fly towards Kuvesh. Feeling an impact, Kuvesh temporarily stopped rampaging as it looked over to where Zeilan was standing. Letting out an angry roar it moved (slowly) towards him, and once it got close enough it shot its head forward, trying to chomp down on Zeilan. However, Zeilan was waiting for this and jumped using [Strong Kick] at the same time Kuvesh tried to bite him, avoiding damage and landing on its head.
While he was on its head, Zeilan kept a strong grip on it by grabbing one of the many scales with one hand, and began to pound on its head with his other. “I finally get to beat you up!” Zeilan yelled, letting out his built up resentment from not being able to do much for the entire battle. Kuvesh didn’t take kindly to receiving a one sided beating though; once it’s health dropped to half it immediately retracted all of its limbs and retreated to the safety of its shell. Zeilan was forced to let go of the head and ended up climbing on top of its shell.
Wondering what to do now, a bright glow began to emerge from the holes in the shell. Suddenly from every hole a laser shot out, decimating the walls of the grotto. The area began to shake as the ceiling collapsed entirely! “Damn this stupid boss!” Zeilan shouted as he jumped off the shell to take cover underneath Kuvesh. The destruction of the grotto didn’t end with just the ceiling collapsing, the floor started to collapse as well! Seeing this, Zeilan climbed into the hole where Kuvesh was hiding its head, and began to punch it in the face.
“YOU! STUPID! TURTLE! JUST DIE ALREADY!!!” Using [Strong Punch] and [Strong Kick], Zeilan began to pummel the boss into submission. Kuvesh let out a roar of indignation and was about to charge up another laser when all of a sudden the floor underneath it gave way. The two were suddenly in free-fall, but Zeilan didn’t mind it at all as he continued to hit Kuvesh. “If I’m going to die here, I’m bringing you with me!” He screamed as he used every skill he had at his disposal.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“[Precision Strikes]! [Strong Punch]! [Rock Breaker]! [Strong Kick]! [Dragon Breath]!”
Every attack was aimed right for the center of Kuvesh’s head, giving it a nasty concussion each time Zeilan attacked. It’s health rapidly dropped now that Zeilan was able to hit its critical spot, and in no time it’s health actually reached down to 10%. At this point Kuvesh had enough of the one-sided beatdown, and every single part of its body began to glow.
“Oh no you don’t! [Dragon Roar]!” Suddenly an illusory figure of a dragon appeared behind Zeilan, and let out a powerful roar, shocking Kuvesh and interrupting its ability.
*ROAAAAAAR*
As the illusory dragon roared, Zeilan gathered all his strength into his right leg, bringing it up high and then sending it straight down at Kuvesh’s head. As his leg came down, the illusory dragon seemed to fuse together with his leg, making it give off a tyrannical aura when it hit. With that one blow, it broke through Kuvesh’s skull, and instantly killed it.
Multiple messages began appearing in front of Zeilan, but before he could address any of them the entire world went black and only a single message was left flashing in front of him:
[You have died]
For a while, Zeilan just stared at the message with a blank face before rage took over his emotions. “What the hell do you mean I died!? I killed the turtle didn’t I? I finished the tutorial right? RIGHT?! NGAAAHHHHH!” He began ranting to no one in particular as he screamed in outrage. He might have stayed like this for a while if not for another message that appeared.
[System Notice] - You have successfully completed the tutorial, but because you died immediately afterwards your destination has not been chosen. Please be patient as we find a solution to your problem.
Reading the second message, Zeilan calmed down a bit but was still fuming on the inside. All he could do was wait for the next message to appear, so he lay down and waited. He noticed that he still had access to his toolbar so he decided to see what kind of rewards he had obtained.
[Stats Gained]
[Level Up!] x2
[New Skill] - Deflect (Passive) Increases chance to deflect enemy attacks. Deflecting an attack reduces damage dealt.
[New Skill] - Crushing Blow (Active, Consumes 50 mana, 1 minute cool-down) A powerful attack with an increased chance of breaking hard surfaces.
[New Skill] - Dragon’s Aura (Active, Consumes 50% of your maximum mana, 30 minute cool-down) Activating this will cause your next attack to deal double the damage it would normally do.
[New Title] (Fierce Fighter) Not letting up your attack no matter the situation, you have proven yourself to be a very fierce warrior. Effects when equipped: 5% Increase in damage when fighting the same target for more than 1 minute.
[Skill Proficiency Gained]
[Items Received]
Instantly loving his new abilities and title, Zeilan went about distributing his points on his status before he addressed the items in his inventory. Inside he found random items from Kuvesh like carapaces or spikes, but what really got his attention were two pieces of equipment and a special consumable item.
[Spiked Hammer (Weapon, Rare)] Durability (40/40) A large weapon requiring strength to wield. Damage: 19-30. Defense +2, Strength +1
[Kevesh’s Shell (Chest, Rare)] Durability (50/50) A heavy piece of armor made from Kevesh’s shells. Defense + 10, Vitality + 5, Agility - 10, Dexterity - 5
[Kevesh’s Heart (Consumable, Legendary)] Using this item will grant a permanent +5 bonus to Vitality and Defense and provide the Skill - Earthshaking Stomp
Absolutely ecstatic now, Zeilan equipped the hammer but left the chest piece alone since he didn’t use heavy armor. He also immediately used Kevesh’s heart, after which he got a new message.
[+5 to Defense and Vitality]
[New Skill] - Earthshaking Stomp (Active, Consumes 300 mana, 1 day cooldown) You stomp on the earth, causing all things on the ground in a 15 meter radius to temporarily lose their balance. You cannot move while this skill is in use.
All of Zeilan’s earlier rage was gone, as he admired his character page and took a few practice swings with his new hammer which was almost as tall as him and weighed heavily. After a few minutes he heard a sound, and immediately raised his head to look at the new message.
[System Notice] - Your situation has been evaluated. You are able to revive immediately without any penalties for dying. Please choose your starting town and you will be revived in that location.
“Nice. Now let’s see my options…” He muttered as he began to look at his choices. In the end three towns stuck out to him and he decided to choose between them.
[Town of Melvan. Located in the far west, this town is surrounded by wild forests and is far from any towns or cities.]
[Town of Foria. Located in the east, this town is known for its local inhabitants and pleasant winds.]
[Town of Clorg. Located in the north, the town is surrounded by mountainous ranges and snowy weather.]
“Hmm… Melvan seems kind of interesting, though I’d like to easily visit a capital city so that’s a no-go. Foria is… well, it sounds nice. But, I’m going to go with Clorg. Winter is my favourite season after all.”
A message appeared, asking if that was his final decision. Zeilan picked yes, and was surrounded by a white light. When the light faded, he found himself in the Town of Clorg.
Player Name: ZeilanRace: DraconianDisplay Title: Fierce FighterNon-Display Title: N/ALevel: 11Profession: N/AHealth: 360/360Mana: 55/55Strength: 30 (+2)Vitality: 25 (+2)Defense: 18 (+9)Agility: 12 (+2)Intelligence: 5Dexterity: 10Wisdom: 5Luck: 1Fame: 0
EquipmentHead:N/AChest:Worn Leather Jerkin (Common) Defense +4, Vitality +2Arms:N/AWaist:Chain Belt (Common) Defense +2, Strength +1Legs:Fine Leather Boots (Common) Defense +3, Agility +1Main-Hand Weapon:Spiked Hammer (Hammer, Rare) Durability (40/40)Damage: 15-20 Defense +2, Strength +1Off-Hand Weapon:N/AAccessoriesFirst Ring:N/ASecond Ring:N/AThird Ring:N/AFourth Ring:N/ANecklace:N/ABracelet:N/A
SkillsPassive Skills:Description:Unarmed Mastery Lv.5Increases damage and proficiency dealt when not using a weapon.Knuckles Mastery Lv.4Increases damage and proficiency dealt with knuckle-type weapons.Dodge Lv.3Increases your chances of dodging an attackTough Scales Lv.2Slightly decreases damage dealt by magic and physical attacks.Deflect Lv.3Increases chance to deflect enemy attacks. Deflecting an attack reduces damage dealt.Active Skills:Earth Dragon Breath Lv.3(Consumes 10 mana per second, 45 second cooldown) Breathe out a jet of earth magic to enemies in range. Damage dealt depends on strength and intelligenceStrong Punch Lv.5(No Cost, 10 second cooldown) Causes your next punch to deal 10% more damage.Strong Kick Lv.6(No Cost, 10 second cooldown) Causes your next kick to deal 11% more damage.Harden Scales Lv.3(No Cost, 5 second cooldown) Compacts your scales, causing you to take less damage, but also lowers speed.Precision Strikes Lv.2(No cost, 5 minute cooldown) Aim at a target area for 10 seconds. If your attacks hit that area they deal 10% extra damage. If they don’t hit that area they deal 10% less damage.Rock Breaker Lv.2(Consumes 25 mana, 5 minute cooldown) Adds a defense-piercing effect to your next attack. Ignores half of target’s defense.Dragon Roar Lv.2(Consumes 25% of your mana and health, 1 day cooldown) A roar of a tyrant that interrupts enemies using skills or abilities within a 3 meter radius.Crushing Blow Lv.1(Consumes 50 mana, 1 minute cooldown) A powerful attack with an increased chance of breaking hard surfaces.Dragon's Aura Lv.1(Consumes 50% of your maximum mana, 30 minute cooldown) Activating this will cause your next attack to deal double the damage it would normally do.Earthshaking Stomp Lv.1(Consumes 300 mana, 1 day cooldown) You stomp on the earth, causing all things on the ground in a 15 meter radius to temporarily lose their balance. You cannot move while this skill is in use.SpellsEarth Armor (Basic) Lv.5(Consumes and reserves half of your maximum mana when active, 1 minute cooldown) Covers your body in a thin layer of protective rock to absorb damage. When the armor is broken the reserved mana is returned.
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*A certain event while writing this chapter*
Author's Creative Side(C.S): "MUHAHAHAHAHA!!! MORE ACTION! MORE LAZORS!"
Author's Rational Side (R.S): "Hey, I don't think that you should-"
(C.S): "FOOL! Do you really think you can stop me from putting in lasers this time?"
(R.S): "No, but you should make the situation a bit more reasonable."
(C.S): "What do you mean?"
(R.S): "Look at Zeilan. The dude is stronger than Q, our main character. What will the readers think of this?"
(C.S): "Oh, that's because Q hasn't hit her power-spike yet. Besides, their play-style is different. Q likes screwing around and having fun in the game, while Zeilan is more of a serious gamer and tries to get as strong as possible."
(R.S): "Okay, that makes sense, but how will the readers know about this?"
(C.S): "Simple, we make a mock skit between ourselves describing such an event, and plan for further clarification later on in the story to show the difference between the two."
(R.S): "...Okay."
Author's hands: "Guys, can I stop typing now? The skit is over right?"
(C.S & R.S): "NO! Besides, you still have the author's notes to do."
Author's hands: "Aw man..."
A/N: Haha, hope you enjoyed that little skit (which by the way, was my actual thought process at the time). Anywho, now you get to see Zeilan in action. I didn't write him in the beginning of the tutorial because we've already been there with Q, and before you say that they experienced different events, Yes, they did experience different events but it's not that important to Zeilan's overall character.
"What? Not important you say? Then how are we supposed to understand her character and personality if we don't get to see her in an event of some sort?" Well I assure you that you'll get a lot more on her character and personality later. This chapter and chapter 6 were more for setting her character up. In the next Helen chapter you'll get to see more of her character, I promise.
Also, what did you think of me using the [*insert cool name here*] brackets for when characters use skills? I think it's good since it indicates when someone uses a skill/spell, but it also takes a bit away from the 'immersion' as my friend would put it.
Hm.... what else is there to say? Oh right, Zeilan's skills... OH MY GOD SO MANY SKILLS.
Fun-fact: An average goldfish has a 9-second attention span.
P.S: The item drop rates in MH4U are absolute BULLSHIT.