Open beta a litrpg fanta.., p.22
Open Beta: a LitRPG fantasy adventure (Pixelate Book 3), page 22
By the time they reached the base of the wall, Konroh was down to
HP: 155/225
Most of the nearby archers had already been picked off by the rangers.
Dyz hopped aboard Gwen and scaled the near-vertical surface.
Konroh summoned Wally and followed her.
With clawed hands and better upper body strength than he’d imagined, both rangers scrambled up the masonry wall easily.
CURTAIN OF TYRANNY
“Sounds like a metal album,” Connor noted.
“Mind if we pop a couple more of these guys?” Dizzy suggested, using her bow to point down the length of the wall, where more little morsels of XP awaited.
Konroh checked his own total.
XP: 13,050/256,000
He wasn’t getting anywhere close. Barring an unexpected windfall, he hoped to be facing the Mountain Lord at Level 9. “Really rather press on. We’re on the doorstep.”
“Yeah, but this won’t take long. You two don’t have to come,” Connor told them.
They must have been close. “Fine,” Dyz snapped before Konroh could voice his assent. After all, piss these two off enough, and they’d be losing half their firepower. He liked his odds of facing down the Mountain Lord with just Dyz at his side (or the shadows near his back), but with four, it seemed like a cinch.
The two rangers raced off along the wall, cloaks billowing anime style behind them.
He muttered to Dyz. “Please kill me if we ever turn into them.”
Dyz snickered. “Deal. I bet the devs tinkered with their sappiness settings or whatever to get them to latch onto one another so helplessly.”
Off in the distance, apparently beyond the range of XP sharing. A pair of golden swirls surrounded Connor and Dizzy. Half a second later, the ring of dual gongs reached Konroh and Dyz.
Konroh cupped his hands around his mouth. “Grats! Now get back here!”
“One sec! Picking skills!” Connor bellowed right back at him.
Once the rangers had rejoined them, the four of them dropped down to the interior of the Mountain Lord’s defenses.
TERROR KEEP
“Hey, what does Terror keep in its pockets?” Connor asked.
Dizzy sighed wearily. “I don’t know. What?”
“Terror-ible puns!” Connor laughed at his own joke.
Konroh whispered into Dyz’s ear. “Can we kill them? Or just him. Your AI is dumb but not nearly as annoying.”
Dyz whispered back. “Really? I think if mine stopped humoring yours, he’d be fine to keep around.”
Having reached no resolution, the pair ceased their conspiring and joined in the search of the keep.
A squad of soldiers trotted up to block their way, plate armor encasing a fragile-looking circulatory system. Frantic heartbeats betrayed the terror they were supposed to be enforcing, not demonstrating.
Already familiar with the Armored Mercenary archetype, he didn’t feel the need to Examine these guys again.
Nor did he seem to be needed for combat.
Two died before they seemed to realize they were the ones being assaulted, not the ones clearing the keep of intruders.
1,500 XP
1,500 XP
Not bad. Konroh launched a Leap Attack to at least get a little contribution to the cause.
Plus, he needed the HP back.
92
+46
HP: 201/225
1,500 XP
The others shredded the last one before he could make another attack.
1,500 XP
“This is the end game?” Connor asked.
“Yes, yes,” Konroh patronized him. “You’re very special and powerful. Let’s check upstairs. There’s an armory. Be ready for a guy to come at us for looting it.”
A squared spiral of stairs led them up a floor. Up was the way to go, though he’d never actually been down. Maybe there was something down there, but nothing could have been that essential.
At the top of the stairs, another phalanx of Armored Mercenaries accosted them, and it didn’t go any better for them.
Konroh managed to finish the fight with his HP maxed again. Other than that, it was a quick 6,000 XP and nothing more.
RECEVIED: 40 COINS
“Are we bothering to loot?” Dizzy asked. “Don’t see a lot of reason for money in this place.”
“Never hurts,” Dyz replied.
ARMORY
Rack upon rack of armor displayed an array of utilitarian gear for all classes. Same went for weapons. If there was a fighting style supported by the game, you could snatch a quick upgrade to any early or middle-game gear. Quick Examinations revealed that nothing Konroh could use would be an upgrade over what he already had.
A pity.
COMMANDER HELLGAIN’S PARADE ARMOR - 18 DEF
Looked nice, but strictly a downgrade from the PVP armor he had his eye on. Still, he’d have grabbed it if not for the rack right beside it.
COMMANDER HELLGAIN’S BATTLE ARMOR - 18 DEF. Can defend against attacks from behind. Half damage from stabbing attacks.
Much better, he decided, and promptly stole and equipped it.
Below the armor, a plaque identified it.
Battle Armor of Commander Hellgain
Loyal soldier. Replaced by an able successor.
0.1 - 0.9
The bottom of the inscription made little sense. It was listed like a date range on a memorial, but those weren’t dates.
“Where’s the ambush guy?” Dizzy asked from the doorway, sticking a head out to look down the hall.
“I… I don’t think he’s coming.”
TERROR KEEP
No one took anything else of immediate use from the armory. They were too well armed and equipped already. Not to say that was a bad thing, just a mild disappointment. If nothing else, Commander Hellgain had always been a nice solid lump of XP.
The portcullis leading out of the keep had been left unlocked and open as well.
This was all feeling highly suspicious. The Mountain Lord was barely defending the most sensitive portions of his little fiefdom.
GARDEN OF SOULS
Beds of black roses and manicured grass, faintly wet with blood like morning, dew gave the place a macabre beauty. But they could only spare the menacing ground-level attractions a fleeting glance.
He turned his eyes skyward.
Konroh spotted the backlit silhouette as it approached with the sun behind it. The Spire Dragon had made it though to this new version of the game unscathed, at least.
“You are fools to climb the Spire of Fate! Flee before the Mountain Lord’s invincible might!”
With that, rather than engage, the Spire Dragon flew off.
Dyz stood beside him to watch the creature depart. “What’s going on here?”
“I… don’t know. But this is new.”
“Shit,” Dizzy exclaimed. “Guys, I’m really, really sorry. I know we’re getting close to something big here. But we’ve got RL stuff to deal with.”
“It’s a kid thing,” Connor reassured them. “If you guys friend us, maybe we can catch up and finish this off.”
Dizzy smiled self-consciously. “Don’t wait for us, though, if you think you can handle it.”
“Bye,” they said in unison.
In rapid succession, first Dizzy, then Connor vanished.
“They…”
“They logged out,” Dyz finished for him.
Konroh shook his head, unable—no, unwilling—to believe it. “It’s a trick. Anachronism Interactive programmed them with excuses not to help against the Mountain Lord. No cheesing him out with the NPC helpers. They probably collected a ton of data based on how we roped them into grouping with us. Now they’re revamping so they don’t beat half the game for everyone.”
“Last time, it was you as a knight. Think it’s you as a wizard?”
“Blood Mage,” Konroh corrected. “And yeah. Probably.”
“How do we kill old you?”
Konroh considered. “Well. Standard plan. I Parry like our lives both depend on it. You add new holes for him to breathe out his back. And I hop in to hopefully deliver the coup de grace.”
“We ready?” Dyz asked. Her eyes burned like purple suns.
Konroh gave a curt, professional nod. “Let’s end this.”
CASTLE IMPERIOUS
The place looked much like last time, with an overall Transylvanian vibe. Windows of stained glass depicted heroic battles. Gargoyles and demons leered from wall carvings and statuary. Candles only shed faint heat as far as Konroh’s Blood Vision was concerned.
No one greeted them. No one opposed their entry.
The pair waltzed down the main hallway like they were in the queue of a Disney World ride.
Double-doors opened on oiled hinges at the slightest push.
THRONE ROOM
Unlike the other times Konroh had entered this place, the lonely throne perched atop a low dais was not empty.
“Don’t tell me I prepared a grand speech, and this is all I get?” Mountain Lord Connor waved a dismissive hand toward Konroh. In his other hand, he clutched the Dragon’s Grasp Staff.
The Mountain Lord launched a Fireball.
Konroh tensed. He gripped the Culling Greatsword for all it was worth, hoping Spell Parry would be enough to weather the onslaught.
But the Fireball didn’t end up anywhere near him. Instead, he launched it off to the left side of the wide chamber. There came the briefest of surprised screams.
The Mountain Lord shrugged. “Fifty-fifty shot. Guess it’s just you and me now.”
Konroh remembered those spells hitting like dinosaur-slaying comets. Maybe he’d built that Blood Mage a little too well. Still, Spell Parry felt like his only option.
The next Fireball whistled straight at him.
268
CHAPTER 41
A CERTAIN KIND OF PIE
WARRENS MEMORIAL
“Well, that sucked,” Dyz declared once they were both among the living.
“I Parried.”
Dyz looked Konroh up and down. “And I see that you are now the new Mountain Lord.”
“After Parry, it still one-shot me.”
“Well, don’t get hit by it at all. Duh.”
They sat against the stone wall of the respawn area. Neither had any real reason to leave just yet. They’d reached their goal only to have their faces stomped in.
They sat in silence.
They sat in reflection.
They waved to a startled bard who respawned there before running off.
“We need a new plan,” Konroh declared.
“Been thinking of one already.”
“Care to share?”
Dyz sighed. “It starts with leveling.”
WARRENS OF WAR
While it was slower going than when they’d had two rangers along, at least this time they didn’t have to split the XP spoils four ways. And with his Shield of Invulnerability spell active, Konroh was in little danger from the Dragonoids.
They hunted the creatures down in every corner of the Warrens of War. A few hundred XP here. A few hundred XP there, barely breaking stride along their killing spree. Their true enemies were respawn timers and boredom, so they cleared out every closet and cubby.
10,000 XP
ACHIEVEMENT - SURVIVAL IS THE EXCEPTION - Slay all enemies in the Warrens of War.
“Wow. Nice chunk!” Konroh observed.
“I’d almost forgotten they had achievements in this game,” Dyz retorted snidely.
Konroh shrugged in reply. “You have to admit, we play a style that’s more results-oriented and game-breaking rather than exploratory and quirky. Achievements usually branch into hardcore accepting the rules of the game and going off the beaten path in ways the devs anticipated.”
“Fair enough. Wanna see how many more we can knock out? Zone extinctions shouldn’t be hard if we head down at this point.”
And so the pair switched gears. Rather than linger and lurk and prey on erstwhile allies, they delved back down the spire.
Along the way, the painted in a useless corner of the minimap that had eluded them for lack of any other reason to check there.
2,000 XP
ACHIEVEMENT - JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF COMMERCE - Explore the entire Warrens of War.
5,000 XP
ACHIEVEMENT - THINK OF THE UNCLES - Slay all enemies in the Antaur Colony.
2,000 XP
ACHIEVEMENT - PHEROMONE TRAILS - Explore the entire Antaur Colony.
Delving farther downward, it took longer than they’d have liked, but…
2,500 XP
ACHIEVEMENT - DID YOU CHECK UNDER THE BED? - Slay all enemies in the Black Catacombs.
Shortly thereafter, they earned…
2,000 XP
ACHIEVEMENT - FOLLOW THE LEFT WALL - Explore the entire Black Catacombs.
2,500 XP
ACHIEVEMENT - “TRY BEHIND THE BOOKCASE” - Open 20 Secret Doors.
There was no achievement for clearing all the monsters in the Bone Moat. And they probably missed some in the Walking Hills, though they did get credit for mapping the latter.
2,000 XP
ACHIEVEMENT - LEWIS AND CLARK: ZOMBIE HUNTERS - Explore the entire Walking Hills.
They whiled away the hours, picking up easy-to-grab achievements until…
XP: 250/512,000
>>>LEVEL UP!!!<<<
YOU GAIN
2 ATTACK
3 DEFENSE
50 HP
0 MP
1 SKILL CHOICE
BLOOD SIPHON - 0 MP - Drain HP from an enemy equal to 2x your level. Continues to drain until you take another action.
Back again, and for the life of him, Konroh couldn’t think of how that would stop Mountain Lord Connor. Too slow. Too passive. Dead on arrival.
MIGHTY HACK - An attack that reduces your DEF to 0 to deal double damage.
For how long? Double damage sounded pretty good, but he was just passing the point where Spell Parry could let him survive one of the Mountain Lord’s Fireballs. All other considerations took a back seat.
STUNNING BLOW - Attack with a chance to stun your opponent. Chance is equal to the percentage of the target’s HP the attack deals.
Mountain Lord Connor was a mountain of HP. Something over 300, even if he didn’t recall the exact sum right this second. Assuming he’d be hitting somewhere in the 30s, give or take, that was at best about a 10 percent chance of success. Sadly, that was better than the zero he was currently working with.
And his Blood Knight skill option was…
BLOOD RAGE - After killing a creature, gain its ATK temporarily.
OK, that one used the A-T-K attack, not just the word, so they meant the stat. It would have been weird if after say, killing a dragon, you ended up with fire breath for a while. This one had some potential for a one-shot or at least a massive damage boost if he fiddled with it.
Not finding anything too compelling about the others, he went with Blood Rage and allowed the game to present him with fresh options next level.
He explained the pick to Dyz.
“Don’t look at ME with that thing,” she warned. “I got one with an extra boost to damage from attacking in total darkness. Figured maybe we can work something there.”
“How exactly does it work?”
“It’s called Now You See Me,” she explained. “And it’s just a flat-out double damage bonus for hitting something that I can see that can’t see me.”
“Doesn’t sound like you’d need total darkness, just total concealment.”
“Invisibility?”
“No, wizards,” Konroh countered. “Otherwise… maybe.”
“How about your thing… what if we can get that dragon to fight us. With its ATK bonus, maybe we’ve got a shot?”
Konroh considered. He saw the fight play out in his mind.
Dyz manages to sneak in. Avoids the random Fireball greeting.
Konroh Spell Parries the first Fireball aimed his way. Leap Attack in for something maybe close to 200 damage if he’s lucky.
Dyz simuls with an opener of her own.
Luck of the draw to see who gets the next attack off, winner take all.
“It might work.”
Dyz nodded enthusiastically. “Screw it. Worst thing that happens is we end up right back at the respawn.”
LORD’S OVERLOOK
CURTAIN OF TYRANNY
Archers had respawned. It took another 10 kills of them to get past the outer wall. They continued onward and around, racking up a total of 398,500 before finally giving the Mercenary Archers a rest and pressing onward.
XP: 398,750/512,000
TERROR KEEP
GARDEN OF SOULS
The dragon lazed overhead, impossible to distinguish from a bird, except by shape, since distance robbed all sense of scale.
Konroh took out his Lady’s Favor and waved it overhead.
Keen, reptilian eyes spotted it. The Spire Dragon descended in a rage. “You dare taunt ME!?”
Konroh Parried pre-emptively. The Dragon bellowed a gout of flame over him, but his sword miraculously parted the fires, leaving him unharmed.
Spell Parry for the win!
Dyz opened on the dragon from wherever the hell she’d disappeared to.
Two different claws from opposite sides swiped at Konroh, only to be deflected wide.
His Improved Riposte struck true.
38
+19
He was already full, but it was good to gauge how much he could count on getting back from each attack. The dragon must have had 20 DEF of its own.
Not that its DEF was helping against Dyz as she attempted to pierce its spine.
The Spire Dragon roared in pain and spun, swinging a tail that Konroh angled his blade to Parry high and redirect over his head.
38
+19
The dragon attempted to take flight. With Dyz aboard as an unwelcome passenger, he wasn’t going to escape so easily.
Not even from Konroh.
With an assist from his Winged Helm of Jumping, his Leap Attack caught the dragon as it took to the air.
Konroh saw the beast as a complex network of red-hot veins and arteries. One of the weaknesses of the system was the wing joint. His Culling Greatsword arced down.
