When I got home, I logged on to the game, it seemed that Peko and Zenith were preparing a mass destruction trap that would not even make the kobold get into a never-ending fire, they would be getting a curse that would increase pain levels… These two sure are demons…
So, I just went and slashed every monster, used my elemental enhancing and sometimes basic magic spells. I ended up hitting Intermediate in Sword Mastery! For some reason, while I used my skills with Elemental Enhancing, their exp increased fast. Maybe it is because the strain increases along with the power.
Suddenly I came with a plan too, and I went to slash the legs of the giant kobolds, taunting and moving to put them all on the same place, signaling Zenith to use his skill Meteor Shower towards them… But as it was in beginner level with really basic using, a single boulder of fire came down from an air scripture and splashed the fiends… well, at least this was better than killing them with Zenith and Peko's plan.
A month went by till we finally cleaned the outside of the lair, so we went inside and found armies of these giant kobolds… it wasn't a level D quest for nothing…
- You have been the first one to discover the Kobold's den!
- Your fame has increased by 200
- Double experience for a whole week
- Item's drops rate has been doubled for a week
- The first drop of items of any monster will be of high quality
As I got the message a smile formed on my face, but to our dismay at killing more of these never-ending monsters, appeared others that were stronger or better said, more agile ones appeared.
Luckily these didn't use weapons, so their attacks were weaker but even so… Crap, two are coming towards me!
I shouted to Zenith and Peko "Peko, slow them down! Zenith throw an ice spear towards their backs!" sometimes I got leadership stats, that seemed to come in handy when I made commands, we got sudden small buffs and other things.
Evading the attacks from these two fast opponents I perceived something behind me and saw one of them with a mace swinging it down towards me. My concentration kicked in and instead of evading the attack, I made a small fast 180 spin and with my black sword slashed at his right leg, cutting it off, then with the white one stabbed its rib case, killing it directly.
Seeing the other two slowing down, and one trying to attack Zenith because he incrusted an ice spear on his back, I suddenly used the Earth enhancement and made a slump on the ground to make it lose ground. Zenith, watching the wide opening on the monster, slashed vertically and split it in two.
As he took care another pack of monsters, I went to kill the last one.
Basically, Peko made the support and when one came close to her, she used her speed, wielding her daggers while using her skills, she killed the agile ones quite easily, though the bigger ones were more difficult for her as she was more of a support and speed oriented than a true DPS, like me and Zenith.
We could fare off without healing spells, as we had high life regeneration with Peko's buffs. She wasn't taught healing, as she solely focused on regenerating as soon as possible when training…
As we continue slashing, burning, freezing and torturing monsters we finally came to a big room.
'About time!' I was thinking bitterly. During these 2 months, all we did was killing, watching and eating these kobolds.
We rested until we were already in top conditions. We went inside the huge room, there, there was a monster about 4 times Drakon's size that seemed it was morphing into a Kobold
"A demon…" Whispered Zenith
"So that's what has been making this place infested with kobolds?" I asked
"Probably, he must have been giving energy to the place, rising the creation of the monster, and furthermore, absorbing their power to transform and become stronger" Said Peko methodically with a serious look
"Yeah, most probable an incomplete shape shifter" Continued Zenith, adding "We will have to be extra careful, his transformation has advanced by quite a lot, so it must be really strong"
I nodded and we formed a plan. First, Zenith would go with a big spell to alert it then step up to tank, during this time Peko would debuff and curse it, and while Zenith distract it, I will go to his back and stab him. Going for a battle of attrition to tire the monster our while maintaining our own condition.
It was a named demon called Frave, so it seems it is a boss kind monster…
Zenith began chanting a powerful ice spell called Glacial, to possibly affect its movement.
"Glacial!" shouted Zenith and I moved fast to a blind spot of the monster that now focused on Zenith and said.
"You rat! I will crush you!!" Frave roared furiously, heading toward him at lightning speed. I followed up, Zenith got pushed back a bit and Peko's debuffs and curses came into play as she selected her strongest ones. This would affect it for quite a while, the downside is that Peko ends too afflicted by it and needs to rest a little while, so surprise attacks from her won't be coming for a few minutes
"Ugh! so you got a companion, huh!" Roared the now weakened but still hella strong demon pushing Zenith away.
I sprinted towards it to gain the attack bonus with a critical hit, I even activated elemental enhancing and used fire to make the attack the strongest it can be, after all, it seemed the demon's skin and body was really hard, as Zenith's attacks made minute damage.
As I got to the back of the monster, I stepped hard and stabbed my black sword to its lower right side of the back, and pushed it hard, the with the motion in act I moved my white sword and made a punctual stab to make it the most finesse it can possibly be to a soft spot. As both my sword hit bullseye, the demon howled and I got a message saying I made a critical hit, but I concentrated even more as now the monster knew I was here too.
"GRROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAA" Roared the demon, suddenly some Big Kobolds appeared, and Zenith dealt with them as I maintained the monster busy, then buffs came to us from nowhere and both of us thought that Peko was back.
At this our morale rose up, and we continued attacking. I changed the tactics depending on the Kobolds it would summon, if they were agile ones, they were mine, the big ones for Zenith and Peko, throwing smaller curses to the Demon, and sometimes throwing big spells to make it stumble.
Then when it was in critical condition, he suddenly went calm and we felt something was wrong…
Suddenly the Demon's body bulked up and his eyes were bloodshot red as if it was doped!
At the new power up of the monster me and Zenith got pushed back, losing health constantly, but Frave also got more defenseless, seems it was a desperate move.
Then, it slipped off because of the blood loss… or whatever that was as it was a weird substance… and Zenith with his senses sharpened stabbed it with full force in a split second on the stomach. I stabbed diagonally on the same spot I injured first, then Frave came to his knees and saw Zenith who was in front of him. It suddenly got surprised and started laughing maniacally as he went down.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Never thought his descendant would be my lord!" he said while staring at Zenith.
At this, Zenith got surprised and just said.
"So, you have met my father…" And then got quiet watching the monster die
"Heh, that bastard… but… at least I died by the hands of the lord…" The monsters gave a wicked smile, full of bloodlust as he turned into ashes.
- Congratulation! You have defeated Demon Frave!
+200 Fame
Leveled up x3
The cave spawn rate will come back to normal and a Kobold boss monster will appear after a week
At this, I watched Zenith and the nearing Peko with a doubt in my head.
"I will tell you when we get out of the lair" He said as if he knew what I was going to ask.
I nodded and we went out after picking the loot.
- Frave's heart
The heart of a near complete demon, it has dark energy as it absorbed the power from its surroundings.
If given to an enhancer, he could enhance a weapon or armor with Dark attacks or resistance
Can also be absorbed by another Demon making it stronger
- Ring of leech
When fighting, it absorbs a small amount of your enemies' powers, making it yours for the rest of the battle, can also absorb the power a member if they are willing.
+3% Power Absorption
They were quite rare, and told them if they wanted the heart as they could get stronger, both shrugged and refused it and told me to keep it along with the ring, after all I am the one in charge of the economy of the group and said that they wouldn't want such corrupted power as it could also affect them.
As we got out of the lair, Zenith said "Okay, I think it's time to tell you about my family"
Peko was quiet; she seemed to have no objection to Zenith saying everything as she also trusted me
"My 'parents' are monsters beyond comprehension as they were one of the lords of the Underworld in terms of power. They are Demi-Humans like me, as they have served the Death Lord before her fall during the War of Realms. My parents got their powers sealed along with the ones of this realm too, at first their anger almost destroyed part of the Underworld, but with their powers sealed, they were just High-Level Demons… and that is plenty strong already…" Said Zenith remembering what they told him
"Soon enough, they just went away on their own, abandoning every demon because they were bored, power sealed, they couldn't even make a small breach between realms to pass by and go to the Earth realm. Time passed by, hundreds of years till once they slipped by finally, they didn't tell me what happened when they went to this realm, but I think they met Master Drakon and the others. After a while, they came back to the Underworld… and they finally conceived a new-born, me. Demi-Humans are really rare, though…" Said Zenith as if it was the hour of the truth
"…Death Lords are Demi-Human beings, they aren't really formed, they are born, with inexplicable power when they grow and train, and that very Death Lord successor is me" He said to me with firm eyes.
At this, I looked him with wide eyes. I thought that a Death Lord would be a being that brings chaos and destruction, but Zenith didn't seem like that… at this I just asked, "And Peko is?"
"I am a Demi-Human that was found by Zenith's parents to become his bodyguard during his journey~" Said Peko with a smile
At this I smiled at them and said "And I am a human who will get strong enough to match this Death Lord" I said confidently
At this they got surprised and looked me in awe. Enlightenment hit them and they started laughing out loud and said,
"Hahaha! Yeah, I remember your question when we first met" Said Zenith with a wide smile, but his expression turned serious, somewhat sad, as he continued, "But there is a chance I may go into a frenzy state when the power of the Death Lord fully unlocks"
"That's why they sent you here to train, right?" I asked
At this, they got surprised and I continued "And you guys are with me, you think you will be able to half ass when going against me?" I said challengingly
At this Zenith smiled, and Peko stared at him…
"You think you will get stronger than me?"
"Of course!" I answered
It was at this moment when the three us became comrades, friends and after a while, family
After all, I don't care if he is a Death Lord or not, of course, he is getting stronger than me, but I got my master's gift before we parted, and I will make sure to bring its full potential
As I will become the Elemental lord…
------------------------------
The army was nearing the village and was ready to attack, they were thousands against a small village, the soldiers were thinking the people will surrender themselves as soon they get near, but traps appeared out of nowhere during the way, making them irritated and furious, even more when some of their comrades died because of it, but the traps were too good for normal people, after all, the village had many veterans, strong enough to go against hundreds, but even so, this time it would be their loss, after all, this wasn't even a third of the Kingdom strength and they were 20 thousand people, between magicians, priest, rangers and snipers along with thousands warriors in the front army.
And once they got near, they went faster, magicians started casting their spells, everyone started doing their jobs… but just three people were coming out of the village, an old man raised his hand and suddenly everyone in the back felt weakened, the mages casting were nullified, and the priests buffing disappeared!
Then a huge man brought down his broadsword and the ground trembled as it split it towards our direction, and the other man who was smaller than the other suddenly stomped and tower came out of the ground sweeping many soldiers, then, the people of the village joined in, intercepting the thousands of warriors, holding them still.
It was an amazing sight! After all they were going shoulder to shoulder against these villagers!
Many died at the hands of these people, but after a while, some of them were dying, even the three people that started with their huge mass effect attack were being pushed against these numbers, after all, they too were warriors! Even if the magician had to recast time and time again, the old man couldn't really stop them every time, and damages started occurring to villager's side.
If the fight continued like this, then it would become the Kingdom's victory! But even so, these people with such a small quantity were killing hundreds of their men, going all out, they were exhausting themselves, after all, even if they were this strong, they aren't invincible, they don't have endless stamina, and their magic powers weren't godlike, but they had put on a good fight, after all, it was 20 thousand people against a few hundreds.
But then, the elf, as they recognized when they were closer, took the trio and teleported away. They thought they had run away, but then a huge blast appeared where the supporters were, they started killing every magician, priest, and long ranged attackers they saw.
But something was wrong; they were a lot stronger than before! The area effect of the old man's attacks was covering the whole area, affecting us too, then he started throwing massively strong spells and using his cane he got out a saber, and slashing everyone away, and he seemed to have become younger by many years.
The huge man's slashes from his broadsword made huge waves and the elf started going at lightning speed, slashing away, kicking, making spells, none could damage him, it was as if he read the future and sometimes he nullified our attacks, then, mages on their last try of a massive spell attacked the elf, who seemed more dangerous than the other two and attacks of everything went to his side and a huge explosion resounded the place, he should be done for…
…That's what we thought, when the smoke got dissipated suddenly by a movement of his sword that cut the ground where it went. The elf's presence disappeared but he still was there, he unleashed it, the last power of the mages towards the army, it was as if he absorbed everything and transformed into power, when he made a hand gesture going down then many were splashed to the ground and the other two weren't left behind, the now young man's surrounding were full of dead people, as everyone who he saw weakened so much that hit the ground instantly, the huge one seemed he could split the sky and from there a huge wave came to the soldiers, with a swing of his sword, it would split everyone that got in its way.
Then, the elf closed his eyes and made a hand gesture as if saying 'Come'
Suddenly, a portal appeared and thousands of soldiers came out of it that seemed to be of our kingdom, at the sight they were surprised and got their weapons out… Don't tell me he transferred them all just to kill more people?
Now the massacre that no longer was a fight ended, thousands of dead bodies of the army people lied down on the ground, and the elf came to me as I couldn't even move anymore, and he said to me
"If your King doesn't want to lose half of his Kingdom's power and his life, then never attack here again" and then he waved off and I was teleported away.
I barely lifted my head, seeing my King surprised at the sight of a soldier after thousands disappeared from nowhere, they tended me, and I told the facts to him.
The King looked at the direction of that village, a grave look showing on his face as he smirked, waving his hand to dismiss me.
His eyes only showed ferociousness.
--------------------------------------------
The battle finished, we all couldn't celebrate our victory as it brought more sadness than joy for our fellow friends that died. We couldn't act fast, as we needed to replenish our power to unleash them, and that, for our bodies, takes a big toll.
We went to the hall where Eroda was waiting for us with a grim look holding three books
"Are you guys sure about it? You still have more time" Said Eroda before handing us the books and starting the ceremony
"We made our oath, we could have won today without going all out, but the King would have sent more people and we would be weakened by then, the notice of our death would bring forth major calamities than two victories over armies" I said to our fellow friend
"And if we are going to die soon anyways, we might as well give them a good scare to stop them from doing something like this again" I said with a smile
"You know that's not what I mean"
"I know, but that should have explained that we are sure of it"
"Haha! I haven't felt more alive in quite some time!" Exclaimed Drakon
"I had already forgotten how my younger form looked" Said smirking the now young Vermillion
Hearing their answers, Eroda showed a sad smile to them and handed us the books, suddenly they began taking our life away, as if they were ripping us apart. How ironic.
"Your skills will be preserved during time, until a successor is acknowledged by these books" Said Eroda and suddenly everything went blank.
I was on my knees, watching my two long friends and my brothers at the ends of their lives, both of them with a smile on their faces, entrusting our future to the people of tomorrow.
An Elemental Warrior
A Death Lord
A Priestess of Darkness
What a bunch…
…And the Legends passed away, leaving new ones for the future.