Now that I had the Assassinate skill, my role in a party was becoming more and more unclear. Granted, the only time I had ever actually been in a party was when I was with Diane, or the brief battle against the wolf with Ennolf. Compared to other players, I did not fight nearly as many monsters, and I was okay with that.
Waiting for Diane, I moved off to the side in order to not be in anyone’s way. I could see the guards glancing at me now and then, showing that they were aware of my presence, but I wasn’t surprised. Their job was to protect the city from monsters, so it only made sense for them to be able to detect hidden threats.
After waiting for nearly an hour, the sky had already started to go dark. “We’re closing the gates now.” The nearest guard called out to warn me. “If you don’t come in now, you’ll have to wait until morning.”
I hesitated for a moment, before shaking my head. “I gave a player a fetch quest, so I can’t go inside right now.” Although my range of movement was a bit larger than when I gave her the quest to bring me a sword, it wasn’t enough for me to get to the other side of the gate.
The guard gave me an understanding look, and simply nodded his head. “With your level of presence concealment, it shouldn’t be hard for you to last the night.”
As he turned around to head inside, I called out to stop him. “Are there any night-time monsters that I should be aware of around Arcanhide?”
The man paused, thinking. “The players have already dealt with most of the shadow spawn. They are six-legged serpents that live in darkness. However, as long as you don’t release any light, they won’t target you if any of them do appear.”
I thanked the man, letting him close the large gate. Now, the only way anyone could get in was the guard’s door next to it. However, only players and active chosen would be allowed in. The guard had already seen my brand, so he knew that I was not qualified.
I still need to get a piece of equipment for my head… Unfortunately, my last bandana had been incinerated when I put the Fireball enchantment on my sword, so the brand was easily visible now. However… with my level of skills, nobody would believe that I was a failure unless they saw me at the moment my character was deleted.
Soon after the gates closed, I saw Diane walking back, seeming a bit short on breath. She wasn’t walking as easily as normal, my perception capable of piercing through her stealth. She looked around warily once she got to the gate, unable to see me.
Once I realized what had happened, I disabled my Stealth skill, walking over to her. “She logged out?” I asked, causing Diane to flinch slightly before nodding.
“After she killed the last one… she said that she had to go for the night. She was planning on logging out when you sent the message before, but really wanted to get the skill.” As Diane said that, she retrieved a small stack of magic stones, each about the size of a curled thumb. They emitted a weak, gentle glow, and I immediately put them into my inventory to avoid attracting any shadow spawn. I could appraise them in the morning.
“I’ve confirmed the completion of the request.” I said with a smile, and Diane let out a relieved sigh. “They already closed the gates for tonight, but just knock on that door and show them your forehead, and they should let you in.” I pointed over towards the guard door, and Diane nodded her head.
After watching Diane be let into the city, I looked around the outside. The visibility was atrocious at the moment, but there did not seem to be many people camping out here. In order to find somewhere a bit more comfortable, I walked just to the edge of the forest, leaning back against a tree and closing my eyes. Of course, I didn’t forget to activate Stealth.
As I was starting to fall asleep, a small ping attracted my attention. Opening my eyes, I saw that someone had sent me a message. I lifted my hand, rubbing at my face as I read it. Apparently, this message was from Ennolf.
Hey, just a heads up. I’ve asked around, and there are also boss monsters near Arcanhide. One is the Crystal Deer, a stag monster that uses earth-element attacks, and the other is the Shade Queen. The deer hasn’t been provoked yet, because the monsters it is connected with are peaceful. However, I’ve heard that the Shade Queen only shows up at night, and the shadow spawns it is tied to have been hunted relentlessly for their skill drops. If you’ve made it to Arcanhide yet, be careful.
I read through the message once, and then again, before finally typing back. Level, skills, traits, and weaknesses, please. I’m stuck outside the city right now. Can’t get back in until morning.
There was always the chance that I’d be safe. That the boss was similar to its kin in that it would only attack those near light. However… if the city guard heard the news and began to expect its arrival, they might create a light source outside the wall just to make sure that they could fight it.
Huh? Give me just a minute! He responded, while I closed my eyes to listen. I couldn’t hear any sounds of movement nearby, whether it was from other players or wild creatures.
When Ennolf got back to me, it had been about ten minutes after his last message. Its level is thirty. Its primary trait is Shadow Spirit, confirmed to be five stars. This trait makes it so that its physical body doesn’t exist as long as it’s in darkness. While it can’t attack, it also can’t be attacked.
For skills, it has Shadow Spike, Shadow Bind, and Shadow Venom. As for weaknesses, they didn’t know anything.
I nodded my head, thinking to myself. A level thirty boss? If it was a few days ago, I would have never considered fighting it. However, I already had experience fighting level thirty-five serpents, though I used a few tricks in the process.
No, the way I dealt with them can’t be considered normal. It’s still best not to provoke this thing. Given what Ennolf had told me, the Shade Queen could be right in front of me at the moment, and I would not have any way of knowing.
As for how the guards would handle it? Looking up at the top of the wall, I could see torches spread out, ensuring that there was illumination covering the entire upper level of the wall. If the Shade Queen attacked, it would go up there, and they would be able to fight it in the light.
Thankfully, the light didn’t even come close to reaching me, so I would be safe either way. If it does attack… maybe I could join the fight, and potentially get a share of the reward? I thought about that, before shaking my head. At most, I would get an even split of the reward with the guards that participated. It wasn’t worth risking dropping one of my skills for only one or two silver.
Just as I thought about that, I heard a shout from the distant walls. A massive, black serpent with six legs could be seen poking its head over the city’s wall, its black head hissing at the soldiers.
Instinctively, I grabbed my sword, hesitating. Like me, those guards were all fallen. It was the only reason that they would be assigned to defend the city against monsters that normal NPCs couldn’t fight. Even if they died, they would just respawn back in town.
Still, seeing the guards struggling to fight back the boss, even calling for any players nearby, I grit my teeth. I pulled out my bow, setting it on the ground together with three of the mana stones that Diane had brought me. I knew that they couldn’t be higher than level twenty-five, so it would take a minimum of two or three to increase the chance of success for a level thirty-five weapon.
The boss monster was busy fighting, so I only had to worry about normal shadow spawns, which Ennolf had said were hunted to near extinction in this area. “Enchant ability.” I spoke, focusing on my Arcane Arrow and Assassinate skills. Given the heat of the battle ahead, I couldn’t afford to waste time with a drawn out ritual.
My free hand went to my inventory, grabbing my magic health potion and uncorking the bottle. Magic power rushed through my body, causing shockwaves that felt like they ruptured blood vessels and fractured bones. I let out a hiss of pain, forcing the bottle to my mouth and drinking the sweet liquid.
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Enchantments successful! |
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Arcane Arrow (10☆): Creates a condensed arrow made of magical energy. Can be fired automatically, or released from the bow like a typical arrow for added speed and damage. Mana Burden: 0. |
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Rogue (7☆): Deals increased damage when attacking from stealth. Mana Burden: 0. |
The healing effects of the potion washed over me, clearing away the injuries from the enchantment. I really need to get a healing skill. I thought to myself, looking at the enchantments. Arcane Arrow had gained an additional three stars, perhaps due to compatibility. However… Assassinate had been downgraded by three stars, turning into a basic Rogue enchantment.
While this couldn’t be considered a perfect success, it would have to do. I pulled myself unsteadily to my feet, grabbing the bow that was now surrounded in fading blue dust, and ran for the city’s wall. I knew that at least two guards had already died, one being thrown from the wall while a second was pierced through by a spear of darkness.
I positioned my body at the base of the wall, aiming straight up from beneath it. At this angle, there shouldn’t be any way for me to miss. Taking a deep breath, I made sure that Stealth and Assassinate were both on, drawing the bowstring back as far as I could manage..
A dense light flashed along the bow, an arrow of blue energy forming. Unlike the unstable, shaking arrow produced by Mana Bolt, this arrow seemed to be entirely solid, letting out a fine light around it.
There were no cool one-liners that came to mind, so I simply released the arrow that I had created, and it shot forward. A thin blue line spread behind it as a trail, and a cry of agony pierced the air.
Because the arrow itself released light, it revealed the lower body of the Shade Queen, piercing a thick hole through its abdomen. Enraged, the boss monster turned to face me, ignoring the guards. It was unfortunate that I couldn’t kill it in one strike, but I had dealt severe damage to it, and could see its blood sizzling within the wound.
With my Stealth deactivated, I held the bow up and rapidly fired two more arrows without drawing the string. Their damage was significantly less than the first shot, but they were still able to pierce into its flesh. The boss monster began to rush at me, soon escaping the light of the wall.
I grit my teeth, stowing away the bow in favor of my sword and shield. There was no longer any light, and thus the boss went invisible. However, that was easy to fix. I couldn’t use my sword’s enchantment earlier, because I might hit the guards by mistake. Now that it’s lunging at me, there was only one potential person in the splash zone. I just had to ignore that that person was me.
I let out a low shout, swinging my sword with my right hand before immediately raising my shield in my left. The head of the Shade Queen revealed itself, jaws already in front of me and wide open as it prepared to bite me as soon as the light was created.
I had moved my shield up to prevent myself from being blasted by my own power, by my large shield caught the jaws of the Shade Queen. Its fang bit into the arm holding the shield, but I simply let out a hiss of pain. Compared to what I went through enchanting items, being stabbed like this was nothing.
Of course… its position also meant that my flaming slash went straight down its throat, causing explosions to erupt within its body. Its body went limp, falling atop my like a sack of bricks. A seven hundred pound sack of bricks crashing right on top of my head.
|
You have died. |
I opened my eyes, finding myself in the town square of Arcanhide, a flowing fountain behind me. Nearby, the guards seemed to be rushing towards the western gate, and I was quick to join them. I had died, that means that I must have dropped something.
The first thing that I checked was my skills list, thankful that none of those had dropped. When I checked my inventory, I found that I had lost a little over a third of a silver, as well as three pieces of bread. That was too risky. I thought to myself. If I had dropped an important skill like Assassinate or Arcane Arrow, or my new bow, or gods forbid my positive trait, that would have been the end of me.
When I arrived at the gate, I was immediately stopped by one of the guards. “Halt. Fallen aren’t allowed to enter or leave the city after dark.” He said, before another guard put a hand on his shoulder. I recognized this new guard, the one that I had spoken with when the city closed its gate.
“You were outside the gate.” He said simply, a look of interest on his face. “That was you that helped deal with the Shade Queen, right?”
There was no use denying it. My body would still be beneath the carcass of the boss, so they could identify me easily. “That’s right. My last hit should have killed it, right? Or was it able to get up after that?”
The first guard seemed incredulous, but the second shook its head. “It’s dead. We’re just collecting the loot now. Have you found out what you dropped? We’ll let you loot your body once we pull it out from under that thing.”
I shook my head, letting out a sigh of relief. “It was just some copper and bread. I got lucky this time. What about the boss? Aren’t you going to loot it for its skills?”
The second guard swiftly denied that. “If it was a normal boss, we might. However, the Shade Queen’s hide has excellent defensive and stealth properties, and its poison is a powerful alchemic ingredient. Even its bones can be used to forge strong weapons. That’s why we’re taking the body to a skilled disassembler.”
I nodded my head, preparing to simply wait to be let out to retrieve my corpse. Once the gate was opened to let the soldiers carrying the boss monster in, I ran out, finding my crushed body in a small crater. It was… not a glorious death, being crushed under a mountain of flesh, but I still placed my hand on the body to retrieve what I had lost. Nearby, I could see the guard that had been thrown off the wall doing the same with his own body.
The guard that I had spoken to before came out, handing me a bag of coins. “Your reward for helping.” He said seriously. “Sorry that we can’t offer to reward you with one of the boss’s drops, but like I said, they’re important for the city.”
My jaw almost dropped when I felt the weight of the bag. At first, I thought I was being paid in copper, before catching a glint of silver reflecting from the torchlight. I put the money in my inventory, discovering that I had been paid fifty silver. “Is it alright to give me this much?” I asked, to which the guard chuckled.
“After properly disassembling the monster, its total value should be around ten gold. Considering that you stepped forward to help, even though you weren’t part of the guard, I’d prefer if I could pay you a full gold coin. However, the captain said to leave it at this.”
I gave a nod, thanking him. Since the gate was still open, he invited me back into the city, knowing that the quest I issued before was already finished. Naturally, I wasn’t going to say no. I could afford to stay in the city for a night, and there was no reason not to.
