Sukuda continued his search for his missing allies when an arrow came soaring straight for him. The wooden projectile came to a halt a mere inch from his eyes, the arrow in between Marcel's fingers as he frowned facing the direction it had come from. "Hmph!" The vampire tossed the arrow right back, sending it moving even faster than it had come. Sukuda heard a sudden cry of pain signaling the arrow had hit someone.
Without warning, a barrage of arrows began shooting out from the bushes right for them. Sukuda prepared to use undead body to charge in when his vampiric servant motioned him to stay put. "No need Sir Bloodspire, allow me to handle these weaklings. They dare attack you yet hide within the forest like the cowards they are!" Sukuda watched as Marcel snapped each arrow that came his way, striking it with just the side of his wrist as broken arrows fell at his feet.
After nearly a minute of non-stop arrows, the onslaught finally let up. "Heh seems they ran out of their pitiful arrows. Vampiric skill: Bat capture" Holding his gloved palm out, bats manifested out in front of him, flying through the bushes before pulling out three men dressed in light gray and green gear holding bows. "So, you three were the cowards trying to attack my dear master. I'm afraid you've made...a dire mistake"
Once more his vampiric summon gave a cold evil look before punching each archer in the chest with quick precision. The force of his blow was so powerful, it caused the trio's hearts to stop. The warlock watched as the bats dropped the defeated enemies as they burst into wisps of green light meaning they've been killed.
Sukuda felt bad for the poor archers but knew he had to survive and help his friend before the high-level participants got to them 1st...
Nearby, a tall man dressed in a black hooded cloak walked through the forest. He had black hair with ruby red eyes as a calm frown appeared on his face. "This royal is lacking in skill, surely someone worth my time is still alive within these woods"
Just then a random fighter lunged towards him from the trees, throwing a fierce punch right for his face when something red manifested between them utterly blocking his fierce blow, a wave of force shook the trees around them. "W-what!?" The man dressed in a Gi was surprised to see a large dark-red axe levitating between him and the hooded target.
"You're of no interest to me" The axe vanished in a flash of light as the hooded man struck his target in the abdomen with an open palm, sending him soaring backwards in an immense wave of force. The poor man impacted a tree a few meters away as he sat motionless up against it, fierce pain surging through his body.
The dark man slowly approached him, lowering his black-gloved index finger towards the wounded combatant. "Berserker skill: Ignite. His finger glowed with a red flame swarming around it. Make peace with the warm embrace of death"
"N-NO, NO PLEASE I CAN'T DIE LIKE THIS! NOT LIKE THI-" Touching the target's forehead with his glowing index finger, the poor fighter's eyes and mouth lit up before his entire body erupted in an explosion of blood and guts. "Sigh, I question why I even entered a battle royal if it's just filled with low-level scum that can't even go a full round with me"
Making his way through the maze-like forest, he heard someone nearby. Manifesting his great axe in one hand, he sent a devastating slash across the trees before him, creating a clean path before him where he spotted Sukuda and Marcel.
"Hmm, those two look more competent than the trash I've seen. Let's see what they're capable of"
Sukuda turned to see the hooded man walking towards him with both hands in his pockets. (T-this guy...he seems...different than the others)
"You there, you seem like an actual adventurer compared to the shit stains I've delt with beforehand...come and show me what you're capable of. If you're still alive, then you're either a threat or a lucky bastard"
The warlock hesitated for a moment before shouting: "Attack Marcel!" The vampiric assistant nodded. "As you wish my lord. I shall deal with him in an instant!" Moving at super-human speed, the summon attempted to strike the mysterious assailant in the chest, only for his great axe to deflect the fierce attack.
"Hmph, so this one is a summon instead of a participant, which means you deal in summoning and necromancing magic. Interesting...you may actually be worth fighting. But let's see just how good you are necromancer!" Tossing his blade into the air, the hunter advanced toward the vampire, striking him across the face causing him to stagger back and fly into a tree. His feet touched the side of the tree, allowing him to launch himself right for his assailant.
"Heh, your vampire servant is quick on his feet, but the longer the fight goes on, the slimer is chances of winning are. You may want to give it everything you got before it's too late vampire"
"Heh, my, my someone's a little overconfident now aren't they?" Marcel answered back before landing a direct blow on the target's face, causing him to slide a few feet across the dirt before stopping himself,
"Hehe, this is rather fun, I can't remember the last time I had a decent fight like this. Allow me to tell you my name Necromancer, my name is Akuyomi Suki, I am hunter class and have beaten nearly every monster and opponent that were foolish enough to stand in my way. It's been some time since I had to use this skill, but I feel I should show it to you so you can see just how dangerous a hunter can be when it's used correctly. Berserker skill: Pain enhancement!"
Sukuda watched as a red flame-like aura engulfed Akuyomi, his cloak blowing in the force of his power as he pulled his hood back reveling his red eyes, his once calm expression becoming a smirk. "I'm sure you're wondering just what this skill does, allow me to enlighten you...pain enhancement allows my SPD, ATK and DEF to increase with every amount of damage my body takes. In short, defeat for you is inevitable!"
"Shit! Marcel, end this now!"
"Yes, lord Bloodspire!" Moving at full speed, the vampire used his focused punch in attempt to stop Akuyomi's heart, only to watch as it had no effect. The hunter stood unphased by the attack while his immense aura grew brighter. "Like I said...inevitable" His axe fell from above, allowing him to catch it with one hand before throwing it right at his vampiric target from close range.
Instead of piercing straight through him, the axe sent Marcel impact a large oak tree with the axe piercing into his chest. "Right, I forgot with vampires being undead, a mere laceration won't kill them. It seems I'll have to try something else. Relic skill: flair eruption" The warlock watched as the hunter snapped his fingers, causing his great axe to explode in a devastating explosion of raw power. Tears filled the adventurer's eyes as the only thing left was a large, scorched area before them.
"Y-you bastard! You killed Marcel!" Summoning his necromancing staff, an immense amount of purple mana bust out of him, matching the level of red flames emanating from Akuyomi. A look of rage as tears fell from his eyes as Sukuda aimed his staff towards his target. "Relic skill: Undead body!" The caster's eyes became black with purple irises in the center as a crack formed across his face. "I won't...let you get away with this...YOU BASTARD!" A pillar of purple light shot into the sky as he advanced right for the hunter. "Vampiric touch!"
Bloodspire's fingers glowed red as he reached for Akuyomi's throat, only for the hunter to slap his hand away and sent a devastating blow to his chest. The magic caster was sent soaring across the forest, smashing through several trees before impacting in front of Sokoyai and the armored knight. His MP drained, the warlock's body reverted back to normal leaving him in a weakened state. He looked up at Sokoyai who was surprised to see him. "S-soko-yai?" They watched as he blacked out in between the large knight and blood elf.
"Huh, that was strange, now then...it's time to finish this annoying elf once and for all" As the black knight pulled it's blade from the ground, both looked to see Akuyomi walking towards him, his great axe floating beside him with his hands in his pockets. The knight groaned. "Ugh, what now!?"
"Which one of you is allies with the necromancer?" The hunter questioned, pointing to the unconscious warlock. Sokoyai choked out: "I-I am" Akuyomi glared at the blood elf, examining him before letting out a sigh.
"Then take your ally and get back, I don't want that necromancer dying on me, I plan to fight him one on one once this royal is finished with" Still confused on what's happening, the elf picked up Sukuda, carrying him away from the fight while the knight and hunter stared down one another.
"Hmph, you would stand in my way hunter? I won't hesitate to kill you if needed!"
"You might seem big and threatening, but I don't sense any real potential within you, you're nothing but muscle and bluff. But if you're really that confident in yourself, then by all means...kill me" Both stood motionless, staring at one another...
After a long pause, the knight charged forward, wielding his steel blade. "DIE!" Bringing his blade down in one fierce strike, he felt something instantly stop it. Looking down before him, he witnessed Akuyomi holding the blade of his sword with his bare hand. Blood ran down his palm, but he didn't show any signs of pain.
"As I said...all bluff. Skill: Ignite" Once more Akuyomi made contact with the blade, causing it to explode in a burst of steel fragments. "Maybe in your next life you'll be a real threat" In a sudden move, Akuyomi punched straight through the knight's weakened armor, tearing out his still beating heart before crushing it in his grasp.
"Y-you're a m-monster" The knight uttered before collapsing face down in the dirt. Akuyomi looked down at the deceased warrior responding: "A monster? No, I'm one who stands above that...I am the bringer of death"
With the battle finally finished, the dark hunter made his way over to Sokoyai who had placed Sukuda's unconscious body beside Tempest who was also out cold for the moment. "So...you both are his allies hmmm? Though he's not the brightest, I can sense great potential radiating from him which means you both might have potential as well. As much as I hate people, I'm willing to join your party"
Sokoyai looked at his confused. "Why would you want to join our team? We're not that strong yet, there's far stronger warriors you could team up with in this world"
"True, but strength is a mere part of what makes a true adventurer. Your party leader has the potential to be far stronger than most warriors, but he has a want to not only become stronger, but also protect what's precious to him. I know he has the traits of a real adventurer, not the trash that comes to Wolfborne looking for money and other selfish reasons"
At that moment, all of them were transported back to Wolfborne where they found themselves before the elf who congratulated them on their victory. "Well done all of you, especially you Akuyomi, you had the most kills out of everyone. I dare say you would have won solo if not for helping this party here. Though, that's not to say they didn't do a great job in the royal as well! Let's give these four a round of applause!"
The crowd around them clapped in excitement for them...
A few hours Later...
[Sukuda]
[LEVEL 15 Achieved]
Skill Obtained : Life Transference - Give a portion of HP to an ally or store HP within an item, Hp returns from item when HP reaches zero
Skill Obtained : Clone - create an exact copy of oneself either as current, child or elderly. Clone stays until either HP reaches zero or is stopped by caster.
[Tempest]
[LEVEL 16 Achieved]
Skill Obtained : Dispel Magic - Cancel any spell or magical attack around caster's level.
Skill Obtained : Air walk - Caster can levitate/fly as well as control up to three others giving them the ability to fly within 20 feet of the caster.
[Sokoyai]
[LEVEL 17 Achieved]
Skill Obtained : Elemental Shot - Imbue bullets with magical energy. The element is random each time it is cast.
Skill Obtained : Sentient shot - A single bullet locks on to a target and follows it for up to 100m.
Sukuda awoke in his room, a fierce pain in his head as he realized where he was. "W-what happened? Tempest! Tempest are you here!?" That's when a familiar face stepped through the door. Sukuda was shocked to see Akuyomi standing in the door, his arms crossed with a slight smirk on his face. "About time you came to, that elf has been worried about you both four hours now, he was afraid you'd never wake up"
"Sokoyai? But what about Tempest? He's ok too, right?"
"Yea, he's passed out in his bed. I'm sure he'll wake up soon, you both used so much MP at one time, your bodies couldn't handle it. Tempest was knocked out when he impacted the forest inside his flame prison while you used so many spells at once, your body couldn't handle it. I'll give you some time to wake up before we head out"
That's when Sukuda got out of bed, jumping to his feet before a sudden light headedness rushed through him. Holding on to the wall for support, Sukuda commented: "D-don't order me around like you're the one in charge, I'm the leader of this party, not you so don't act like it"
Both glared at one another before Akuyomi smirked. "You're right, how rude of me, allow me to request to join your party and you can remain the party leader" That's when a pop up appeared in front of the warlock:
Party request: [Akuyomi Suki]
The young adventurer hesitated, staring at the notification before pushing accept as the warrior was added to the party. (Hmm, I don't think I ever looked at his level) Looking at Akuyomi's HP bar in the left of his vision, he could see his party member's levels with the berserker at level 25. (Ah, so that's how he beat me and Marcel so easily, even with my vampiric summons's enhanced stats, the level difference was still too great for him to win against this guy. If we ever have to fight this guy again...I hope our power will be enough)
Taking a deep breath, Sukuda waited for the light headedness to pass before making his way outside. Outside he found Sokoyai eating some of his cooked meat on the front steps of the house before he noticed the party leader.
"Sukuda! I mean...Sukuda you're alive, I'm glad you're ok. I wondered when you and Ryu would wake up. I guess Tempest hasn't woken up yet?"
"Not that I'm aware of. He must've taken a bad hit if he's still out cold" The warlock commented sitting beside the blood elf on the steps. That's when Sokoyai asked: Sukuda, do you ever think we'll reach our goal?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean the goal you had when we 1st formed our party, you and Tempest said you wanted to make a name for yourself and form a guild. When do you think we'll be able to start the guild? We have four members which is your standard party, but now we need to form a guild if we're to form a reputation for our party and expand beyond just four members"
"Fair enough, I'll make my way to Wolfborne and see if I can learn how to make a guild, I'll be back when I can" Summoning his staff in a flash of purple light, Bloodspire pulled himself up before stepping onto the bath between Wolfborne and their house. That's when a hand grabbed his shoulder.
Spinning around he saw Akuyomi standing behind him, his typical calm and emotionless expression on his face as he commented: "You shouldn't go by yourself, you just woke up and probably aren't at full strength. I'll go with you in case something happens"
The purple-haired adventurer was unsure about this but knew fighting would get him nowhere with the berserker, so he just sighed and continued walking towards Wolfborne with his new party member close behind.
Making their way inside the kingdom, they were quickly stopped once again by Maximus. "Heh, you're still here runt? Here I thought you would've been killed by now" That's when he noticed Akuyomi standing a few feet behind him, giving him a cold look. A sudden chill ran up the knight's spine. "A-akuyomi, w-what are you doing here with this runt!?"
The berserker slowly approached the red knight with his hands resting in his pockets as he looked at the frightened knight. "I decided to join the warlock's party...I can tell he has great potential, certainly more than you do. Though I'm not fond of people, I question what pleasure you and other high-ranking adventurers get from looking down on those you deem lower than you. Sukuda has only been here a few days and already reached level 15 with unique abilities at his disposal. What about you Max? You've been in Wolfborne for a month and only reached level 30. Just what have you been doing this whole time?"
Maximus and his party stood frozen in fear as Akuyomi stepped closer, mere inches from the knight's face as he looked deep into his eyes with a calm look. "Y-you can't talk to me like t-that Akuyomi, I'm five levels higher than you! I could kill you right here and no one would even care"
"Hehe, is that right Max? Shall we settle this little rivalry of ours here? You know level isn't the only factor when it comes to battle right? Or have you forgotten? Just like you forgot how to be an honorable knight. You're nothing more than a selfish knight, working for a corrupt king who only cares about showing off his wealth and control. All these buildings made of gold here, he just does that to show off his wealth to commoners and other kings and queens. But his followers like you mean very little to him"
"No, you're wrong...our king Julius is a kind and honorable man who cares for all the people of the Wolfborne kingdom, how dare you speak not of his greatness! I shall kill you so you can't sully his name any further!"
Sukuda watched as the female archer, hooded mage and red knight prepared to attack them when Akuyomi motioned for his party leader to stay out of it. "This is my fight Bloodspire, don't interfere, this has been coming for a long time now"
"You really think you can take all three of us all on your own? Even for you Akuyomi that's a foolish choice. Shira, Yuno, strike him down!" Sukuda watched as the archer and mage unleashed a barrage of arrows and fireballs, only to see Akuyomi's great axe floating in front of him as he used it to deflect any incoming attacks from the hostile pair.
"Hmph, two level 30's and yet you can't even break through my relic weapon. Allow me to show you just how dangerous a legendary relic weapon is, when a true wielder uses it" Throwing his hand into the air, the axe began spinning in front of them like a fan before the berserker snapped his fingers, activating it's relic skill flair eruption.
The parties watched as the legendary weapon erupted in a massive explosion that seemed to shake the city around them. With Sukuda and Akuyomi in the same party, the relic skill had no effect on him. The light cleared revealing the city streets scorched for nearly a mile by the fierce attack.
Shira and Yuno were covered in severe burns before they collapsed before their party leader. Maximus' armor was burned but luckily saved him from the full brunt of the explosion. "Have you realized it yet Maximus? Adventurers are worth more than their Level. I just defeated both of your party members who were also five levels higher than me with mere ease. So, what's your argument now Max?"
The knight was frozen in fear, his body trembling with wide eyes. "O-only one chance...come familiar!" Sukuda watched as a black mist manifested beside the red knight before it took the form of the werewolf familiar that had attacked Sukuda and the others on their escort quest a few days ago.
"T-that thing...it's the exact same creature that attacked me and my party days ago!" Sukuda commanded growing angry. The berserker held out his hand as the great axe reformed itself before vanishing in a ray of red light. "Ah, so you've been doing your lord's dirty work stealing food and resources from the innocent people of this kingdom and giving it to your precious lord Julius like the piece of shit that he is"
The familiar bared it's sharp claws growing towards the pair while Max slowly backed away. After a slight silence, the werewolf lunged towards them, attempting to slash Akuyomi across the face when the ruthless warrior caught the beast by it's arm. "Berserker skill: Ignite" Max watched in horror as the werewolf let out a howl of agony, it's eyes and mouth lighting up before exploding. Though, instead of blood in guts, all that was left was dark mist.
"There, with both his familiar and party defeated, it shouldn't be hard to finish him off" The pair turned to see Max had fled the battle. Bloodspire asked where he could've gone when Akuyomi answered: "It's obvious where he went.. he ran back to the king's castle in the north part of Wolfborne probably to beg for the king's help or protection. We should head there quickly in case something...inconvenient happens"
The warlock was unsure what his party member meant by that, but knew it couldn't be anything good...
CHAPTER 6 Corruption Across The Kingdom
Maximus ran towards king Julius' colossal castle, it seemed to be made from near solid gold. Racing past the two guards that stood watch before the large gate, the red knight ordered them to close it behind him and keep a close watch for a pair of adventurers that might attempt to enter the castle.
With the castle gate closing behind him the knight in red raced down the golden corridor into the large open lobby of the castle. In the large lobby were two stairs covered in red carpet, one leading to the west wing while the right lead to east wing. "Damn, I can't remember which staircase lead to him...whatever, I don't have much time before those bastards reach the castle!"
Heading up the west staircase, Maximus ran down the red-carped corridor as he saw paintings of king Julius on the white walls, leading to two large doors made of gold with gems on them. "Here it is, the king's throne room! I must reach him and explain the situation before those bastards catch me!"
Meanwhile...
The two knights dressed in black armor spotted a pair approaching the castle gate. The guards unsheathed their blades as Sukuda and Akuyomi stopped right in front of them. "You two! We've been ordered not to let you through! I'd suggest the both of you turn back now...unless you'd rather be struck down on the spot"
Before the party leader could respond, Akuyomi took a step forward, causing both guards to jump into the air, sending a fierce dual slash right for the berserker, only for their blades to come to an abrupt halt. "Hehe, I'm a berserker, it'll take more than mere swords to strike me down men" The two knights looked to see Akuyomi had stopped their blades just by blocking with his fists.
All could see blood running down his wrist yet didn't show any signs of pain or discomfort. "I'll give you both one chance to let us through, or I'll have no choice but to end your worthless lives. You can stand here and die for a corrupt ruler, or you can run away and save yourselves"
The two knights looked at one another before forcing their blades down harder, trying to break the berserker's guard.
"I see you've chosen your fate...don't blame me for what happens next" His eyes glowed red, Akuyomi knocked both swords into the air causing them to spiral in mid-air before hitting the ground across the castle yard. "You have no weapons, so just how will you both defend yourselves?"
"HAAGGHH!" One of the knights threw a punch right for Akuyomi, only for the skilled berserker to catch his fist. "Ignite" Sukuda watched as light filled the knight's armor before the poor warrior erupted in a gush of blood and guts, their armor falling to pieces in the middle of the blood-stained soil.
"W-what the hell!?" The remaining guard shouted in utter fear. He shook uncontrollably when Akuyomi looked him dead in the eye. This caused him to run off screaming in fear, leaving the castle gate unguarded.
"Shall we proceed Sukuda?" The warlock nodded as his ally opened the gate. Finally, inside the castle, they saw two sets of stairs and decided to split up. Sukuda heading down the left corridor and Akuyomi the right.
Meanwhile....
"Sir what should we do!? Akuyomi and his party leader are almost here, we need to do something!" Maximus got down on his knees before king Julius who sat upon his golden throne covered in jewels. The king wore a dark-purple royal robe with a king crown atop his head. He was an old man yet tall and well-built for his age.
The knight watched as the old man rose up from his chair looking down upon his follower with a cold look on his aged face. "Don't worry Maximus, you shall become stronger than you ever were with this magic relic. I've kept this with me for this very moment" Reaching into his pocket, Julius pulled out a small dagger, a sinister purple aura outlining the blade with magical letters written across the side. "Protect Wolfborne from those criminals Maximus, become the knight of Wolfborne!" Without hesitation, king Julius pierced the red knight across the torso with one quick slash.
"M-master!?" Max looked down at the deep laceration across his chest as blood began to run down his body. After a few seconds, his blood flowed back inside his body with the wound quickly healing itself. "W-what's happening to me!" The knight's once normal face began to grow cold and pale with his eyes becoming completely black with a purple light in the center of his eye sockets.
"Rejoice sir Maximus, I've used the dagger of damnation to turn you into an undead, you shall no longer feel any pain and should have unlimited stamina"
That's when Sukuda burst into the room. "There they are Maximus, deal with them!" The once proud knight now nothing more than a mindless undead, under the control of the king. "Hmph, you're merely a level 15 going against a level 30 undead knight. You're either hiding something, or very foolish. Maximus, deal with this low-rate commoner!"
Letting out a monstrous groan, the undead knight charged right for him, throwing a fierce blow head on only for the warlock to evade the strike just in time. Maximus struck the wall beside his target causing it to crumble apart.
(Hmmm, seems he's gotten a bit faster from his undead transformation. I'll have to end this quickly so he doesn't get a chance to hit me!)
"Undead summon: Vampire" jumping back, a purple sigil formed in the center of the room as Marcel manifested before them. The king gritted his teeth staring at the summon. "Hmph! So, your magic nature is necromancy!? Fine, it doesn't matter, I now know your magic nature and therefore your weakness! Since your magic consists of necromancing, that means your nature's weakness is holy magic! Allow me to show you the perfect counter to your nature! Holy magic: Divine barrier!"
All watched as a radiance of holy light formed around the red knight like transparent armor. "Behold peasant! An S-rank knight enhanced by an undead curse with a holy radiance that weakens undead magic, thereby greatly limiting your effectiveness"
"Hmm, this man speaks too much, shall I kill him for you sir Bloodspire?"
"Go ahead Marcel, I can handle a mere mindless undead on my own, no matter their level Light Magic: Sanctuary!" Sitting in a meditative state, He clapped his hands together closing his eyes. Focusing his magic, Sukuda whispered: "Clone..." The zombie knight watched as a white aura illuminated the warlock's body. That's when Sukuda suddenly split into two with an exact duplication beside him.
What!? He's capable of duplication magic so soon!? A mere level 15 would never be capable of such advanced magic!"
"You took your eyes off me!" Marcel shouted, appearing behind the king with a smirk on his face. In a sudden attack, Marcel punched straight through Julius' chest, ripping his heart out in one swift motion.
"Y-you wretched creature, I won't let you get away with this, I won't be killed so easily!" Gripping the cursed blade tightly, Julius stabbed himself with the demonic relic. Blood ran down his chin as he fell to his knees on the brink of death. All watched as the corrupt king began to corrode as the elderly flesh fell from his body with mere a skeleton remaining still wearing the purple robe and golden king crown.
The once normal human then spoke with a demonic voice: "Behold mere human, the cursed relic has transformed me into the undead king! Behold my true form!" Marcel sent a fierce kick to the back of the undead king's skull, only for it to do little to no damage. "Impossible" The vampire gasped before the assailant grabbed him by his throat. "My power has far surpassed that of a mere vampire" Julius sent Marcel impacting into the floor with a devastating choke slam, leaving the poor summon at 20% HP.
"H-he almost killed Marcel with a single attack!? Tssk, I need to finish this, Marcel return!" The injured vampire vanished in a burst of red mana as Sukuda prepared to go all out against the skeletal king. Opening his hand, he summoned his staff still within the safety of Sanctuary. "We can do this, we just have to attack faster than he can counter" Sukuda told his doppelganger who stood beside him. "Let's go!"
Dropping the protective field, Bloodspire spun his staff, focusing on his assailant with a determined look on his face. Both advanced towards the king, completely ignoring Maximus who stood mindlessly in the corner of the room.
The pair clashed with Julius, the throne room shaking from the immense wave of power. Julius blocked their coming attacks with his wrists. "Impressive, even in my level 30 form, seems a level 15 can keep up when they use the right combination of skills. Sadly, you can't hope to keep this up for long"
An abrupt shockwave of dark energy sent both warlock staggering back before landing on their feet before the corrupt ruler. "I may only be level 15, but I've grown in a short period of time. From merely appraising items, to being capable of creating a perfect duplication of myself. Allow me to take it one step further Julius. Relic Skill: Undead body! Holding his staff towards the air, both he and his clone transformed into Undead, unable to feel pain or go below 1 HP so long as his MP remained. "But wait, there's more! Size Mimicry!"
Sukuda's doppelganger then grew ten feet high, towering over the sadistic king. "Finish this clone!" The duplication unleashed a barrage of blows to Julius, it's immense size multiplying it's strong attacks as Julius was punched into the ground, the entire castle shaking by each blow that connected with the undead king. Though he couldn't feel pain, the force of the clone's attacks were so powerful, it kept the wretched king from moving from it's pinned spot.
Bloodspire could see Julius' HP going down, but knew it wouldn't be fast enough to defeat him before his MP was drained from his relic skill. Looking at his MP, he watched as it slowly decreased each moment. (Damn, I have just a few moments before my MP is completely drained!)
Suddenly tentacles made of bone shot up from the ground, sending the doppelganger flying as he was pinned against the wall, the sharp bones piercing through his undead body. Sukuda then felt a wave of dizziness rush through him. Realizing he was now completely out of MP, the dazed warlock fell to one knee, his vision growing blurry. "D-damn it" His duplication reverted back to normal as blood dripped from the bones piercing his body.
Meanwhile Sukuda collapsed from exhaustion, hitting the carpet while his clone cried out in utter pain. "Hehe, the real you may be unconscious, but....I'll enjoy touring you" The undead king rose from the crater in the center of the room, slowly approaching the unconscious magic caster. As Julius reached down to grab him, a glowing red great axe came spiraling into the room, decapitating the villain's skeletal arm as the bony limb hit the ground.
"Tssk, who dares attack me!?" King Julius looked towards the large open door to see Akuyomi standing in the large doorway, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a calm glare. "You really shouldn't leave doors open, someone could sneak in and attack you from behind" A smirk grew across Akuyomi's face. That's when Julius heard the legendary relic began to vibrate behind him. The impaled weapon abruptly shot up from it's location, spinning directly for it's target's skull like a boomerang.
"Such impudence!" The undead king retracted his skeletal tentacles, wrapping them around his body like a protective barrier as Akuyomi's weapon struck one of the thick bones. Sparks flew from the blade as it attempted to pierce through. While the pair clashed, the doppelganger laid up against the wall in a pool of his own blood.
"Hehe, glad you m-made it in time" The moment the clone's HP reached zero, it faded away leaving only a bloodstained wall. With Sukuda out cold, it seemed as though it was up to Akuyomi. That's when something struck one of the bone tentacles leaving a crack. "What!?" Akuyomi turned to see Sokoyai standing beside him aiming his sniper.
"I assumed something was wrong when Sukuda's MP reached zero. Tempest just woke up but said he was still too weak to come. So...this Is the bitch we're supposed to kill?" The berserker nodded. That's when Maximus lunged from the corner of the room right for them when Sokoyai sighed aiming right for his skull. Pulling the trigger, the blood elf headshot the mindless undead causing it's head to burst in a burst of blood. "Hmph, knocked"
"Rrrrr, I'MGROWING TIRED OF THIS! PREPARE TO DIE WORTHLESS ADVENTURERS!" Undead skill: Soul link!" Throwing both hands out in opposite directions, a flow of dark-red mana shot out from his chest, hitting Akuyomi's heart as the flow of energy connected their bodies. "Heh, what will you do now blood elf? So long as our souls are linked, you can't hurt me...unless you want to inflict the same amount of damage on your ally here"
At that moment, Akuyomi let out an unimpressed sigh. You really didn't think this through did you? Berserker skill : Pain enhancement" The king watched as the red flame-like aura illuminated the man's body.
"W-WHAT IS THIS!?"
"You really didn't research my class, did you Julius? I'm a berserker/Hunter, with this skill, the more damage I sustain, the higher my stats will stack until a minute is up. So...who will die 1st? Your already injured body, or my enhanced body? Sokoyai...give him all you got"
The blood elf nodded charging in, whipping out dual pistols. Skill : Elemental Shot! Skill : Sentient shot!" The two pistol barrels spun, landing on a random element like a slot machine as one landed on fire and the other on lightning. "Try to keep up with this bitch" Aiming right for the enemy, Sokoyai fired a single shot from both firearms as each bullet was Imbued with elemental magic. With his 2nd skill, the bullets locked on to the target, flying around him like wasps as they struck the bone tentacles repeatedly before coming back for more.
With each impact, Akuyomi flinched from the pain inflicted upon him from each attack. The red aura slowly grew brighter from his buff with his DEF increasing slightly while Julius continued to take the same amount of damage. "Your HP is low Julius, with each injury I sustain, my defense will just rise until either you break the spell, or die" Akuyomi took a step forward, his berserker aura illuminating the room. "Let's see if you'll survive this. Berserker skill : Hunter's fury" Focusing all of his attack, Akuyomi sent a powerful kick right for the bone tentacles protecting the Kin.
The immense attack paired with his buff, Akuyomi's kick shattered every tentacle, breaking through the tyrant's defenses. The shockwave was so fierce, it sent Julius impacting the wall behind his throne leaving a large crack. "Y-you peasants, t-this is blasphemous"
The pair watched as king Julius hit the ground, his HP finally depleted. The man reverted back to normal before lying motionless before them. "Sigh, didn't expect that old fool to be such a problem, normally kings just use others to fight their battles, but seems that old bastard actually had the power to back it up" The hunter commented before making his way over to Sukuda who had just began to wake up from his low MP.
Sukuda
[LEVEL 20 Achieved]
Skill Obtained: Soul Link - Any damage inflicted upon the caster is also transferred to the target connected to the link. More than one link can be connected but uses more MP
Skill Obtained: Astral projection- Caster leaves their mortal body and can freely roam within 100m of their body. Astral projection can phase through walls and people. Can possess another living thing through physical contact of astral form. Closer to your body you are, the stronger your projection.
Sokoyai
[Level 20 Achieved]
Skill Obtained: grenade - Throw a bomb that detonates on contact of a target or surface.
Akuyomi
[Level 27 Achieved]
Rising to his feet, Sukuda spotted the king's throne, still perfectly intact within the destroyed throne room. Walking over to it, Bloodspire sat down as a pop up appeared in front of him:
[Claim Wolfborne?]
YES? NO?
With a slight smirk, he selected "yes" curious on what would happen. The pop up disappeared as a ray of blue light covered the kingdom.
[Achievement Unlocked:
Ruler of Wolfborne]
A golden crown symbol appeared above Sukuda's head. The pair looked at before asking him what happened. The warlock sat on the throne for a moment before responding in a shocked tone: "We did it...we took over the kingdom!"
"Wait, what do you mean we took over the kingdom!? You mean...you're the king of Wolfborne now!?" Sokoyai commented. The party leader nodded. "Seems after defeating king Julius, we just had to sit in his throne to claim this kingdom as ours. I wonder if being king of an entire kingdom has some kind of perks that comes with it"
Opening the menu Sukuda spotted a new feature on the list that read:
[Conquer management]
Opening the new feature, Sukuda Could access a list of every kingdom they had control over, along with a detailed map of the entire city, import and export routes and menu that gave him the choice weather to destroy a building or build a new one with the city's current funds.
"Hmmm, interesting seems I have access to just about everything in the city, even it's income which I can use to build or destroy anything we need in the kingdom"
"Wow that's awesome, with control over an entire kingdom, we'll have far more power and influence in this world! We should try to take over each kingdom until we have complete control over the world!" Sokoyai suggested. This caused Sukuda to glare at him with a serious expression on his face.
"We took down the king because he was a corrupt bastard, I won't go around killing and murdering innocent people just because we want more power. We're quickly becoming stronger each day, we don't need a kingdom to rely on in terms of power and strength, we just need it so we can form our guild. Why build a mere house, when this entire kingdom can be our land and this castle our guild headquarters. Besides, the citizens of Wolfborne and Conovale won't have to worry about bastards like Julius our Maximus stealing from the poor anymore"
"Conovale?" Sokoyai questioned. The warlock reminded him of the escort quest they did days before and they had to escort the carriage to the city to the city east of Wolfborne which was known as Conovale.
"Well, I think it's time we finally explore our 1st dungeon" Bloodspire suggested as he rose to his feet. Sokoyai looked at him confused before asking: "What kind of dungeon are you referring to? You mean a literal one, or one of those large ones where you can find rare loot?"
"The 2nd one obviously, it'll be a great way to grind for loot as well as level up faster without worrying about killing innocent people unlike in the middle of the city or in the forest where there's only weak or average level monsters. Dungeons are said to be where powerful monsters are as well as gold and loot"
That's when Akuyomi spoke up: "Alright, then just how do you expect us to find a dungeon? The entire time I've been here, I've never seen any sign of a dungeon or anything close to it" Sukuda pondered for a moment before responding: "There's bound to be someone within Wolfborne that knows where to find them. If there are dungeons in this world...someone's bound to know their location. Let's go check the tavern in the city, I'm sure someone might know"
"Wait, if you're the king of this kingdom, shouldn't you stay here in case something happens?"
"Don't worry Akuyomi, I have a little Mp back and got that covered...clone" Closing his eyes, his body glowed once more as a perfect copy of him manifested beside him. "Stay here, we can't let anyone know the current king is away" His doppelganger nodded sitting in the throne with his right leg resting on his right. "There, now let's go"
Making their way outside, they quickly headed to the tavern. Akuyomi reached the bartender 1st. "Hey, my party and I were wondering if you knew about any dungeons that might be nearby?"
"Hmm, that's a tough one sir. I've worked at this bar for many years and have heard rumors of dungeons scattered all over the world but not enough info on their location and doubt you could find them by mere rumors. Sorry adventurer, but I truly have no helpful information to help you on your search"
"Damn, thanks anyway" Making his way over to his party members, he informed them of the situation as the elf and warlock groaned in frustration. That's when a nearby woman dressed in a black coat with long red hair, golden eyes and a black fedora hat. She looked at them with a calm glare before slowly pulling out her black pistol, firing it right at Sukuda's skull when it suddenly was repelled by an invisible force, causing the bullet to rapidly bounce around the room before running out of momentum.
"Heh, you have quick reflexes, new king Sukuda Bloodspire" A smirk grew across the stranger's face as she rose up from the table, slowly approaching them with her left hand on her waist. The party stared at her when she began laughing with one hand on her face. "Oh, come on don't take it so seriously! I was just testing your reaction Sukuda, I could tell you were the party leader and had to be sure you weren't just some weak shrimp with bodyguards. However, it seems you have the power to back it up"
His allies stood beside him glaring at her as Sukuda summoned his staff aiming it towards her. "Just how do you know my name and why were you eavesdropping on our conversation!" The gunslinger smirked reaching into her pocket. Sukuda gripped his staff firmly, preparing to attack when she pulled out a golden compass with a glowing blue arrow on the compass.
"This compass is a magic relic that tells me where the closest dungeon is, I snagged it from an old mage I killed a while ago. If you let me join your guild, I'd be happy to lead you to all the dungeons you'd like. It's gotten rather boring raiding them by myself, though there have been a few that seemed too hard for even me to enter. So, what do you say we join up and wipe out all the dungeons in this region together?"
"She seems fun, I want her in our group" With a smirk the berserker held his fist out to fist bump the red-haired girl who smiled doing the same. Sukuda sighed before making his staff vanish in a flash of purple light. "Alright fine...welcome to....the leveling party"
She shook his hand before bursting out in laughter. "Ha! The leveling party!? Come on, surely you can come up with something better than that! How about...max leveling party? Since our goal is to reach max level"
"Oh, that's really good! Come on Sukuda, we need to make that our guild name!" Sokoyai cried with excitement. Sukuda opened his menu where he finally created a guild for their fast-growing party of now five members.
[Guild Created]
[Sukuda +4 others have joined Max Leveling Paty guild]
There, the era of max leveling party has begun! Sukuda announced as he raised his fist into the air as civilians within the tavern just looked at him with confused looks. That reminds me, what's your name? He asked.
"My name is Hiara Sujico, glad to be a part of your team. Shall we head to the dungeon now?" She smiled holding out her magical relic with the glowing arrow pointing north.
CHAPTER 7 Max Leveling Party Is Born
Making their way outside the kingdom, they stopped by their formal house where Tempest sat on the front steps bored yet finally at full strength. "Tempest! Glad to see you're finally at full HP and MP, that battle must've taken a lot out of you!" Bloodspire cheered in excitement.
The young mage nodded rising to his feet. "Yea, I can see a lot happened since I was out. Sorry Sukuda, but I'm here and finally ready to get back into the fight!" The party leader smiled patting his friend on the shoulder with a smile.
"Glad to hear it. Before we go, allow me to meet Akuyomi and Hiara, they joined our party while you were unconscious, but now that you're back, we can finally all go on a dungeon raid together. Akuyomi joined our team during the royal while we met Haira just a few minutes ago while looking for info on dungeons"
"Hi I'm Akuyomi"
"And I'm Hiara, nice to meet another member of max leveling party" With the group together and ready, Hiara followed direction on the compass as it led them to the closest dungeon in the area...
10 Minutes Later...
Heading north from Wolfborne, they came to a small clearing where they spotted a trigram on the floor. It glowed white made of some kind of magic. "What is that? Could it be some kind of trap?" Sukuda guessed as the party stood before the trigram, hesitant to touch it.
"This is a dungeon trigram, it's a magical sigil that transports any who make direct contact with it to the dungeon it's linked to. I've only been to two dungeons so far, but I can guess the color of the trigram reveals the difficulty of the dungeon"
White - Low threat
Green - Average
Yellow - High threat
Red - Extreme
"Not sure if there's a 5th color, but those four are all the colors I've seen from the dungeon trigrams. See you all inside!" They watched as Hiara raced onto the magical seal, vanishing in a ray of light. Letting out a sigh, Akuyomi brushed passed the others walking through the rift as well. Tempest and Sokoyai looked at Sukuda who cracked his neck, letting out a deep breath before charging forward with the pair following close behind...
Sukuda opened his eyes, finding himself standing within a large stone corridor with large overgrown tree roots stretched across the walls and floor. "Hmmm, guessing we need to follow these roots back to the massive tree it came from and there we'll find our dungeon boss probably" Sukuda announced, summoning his black necromancing staff.
"This dungeon looks kinda large, we should split into two teams and cover more ground" Hiara suggested as the group huddled together. The warlock thought for a moment then answered: "Hiara and Akuyomi, you'll take the west area of the dungeon while Tempest and Sokoyai takes the east"
"What about you Sukuda? You gonna stay here?" Tempest asked confused. Sukuda then shook his head. "I'm going to use one of my special abilities to search for our dungeon boss. I recently gained the skill : Astral projection which allows me to leave my physical body and phase through walls undetected. With this skill, reaching the tree's center shouldn't take long. Though my body will be vulnerable, I doubt any monsters will come all the way back here. So go on and clear the dungeon out while I scope out the dungeon"
Sitting in a meditative state, Sukuda slowly closed his eyes as his soul floated up from his motionless vessel. The world around him now looked negative, the walls and floor glowing white as he stood within the Astral plane. He looked at his hand then his astral form. "Strange, it feels as though I'm in my body but...somehow lighter. I'll think about it later, I need to get to the tree's core and see just what we're dealing with!"
He soon realized he could fly in the air while in his astral form. Quickly flying through the air, Bloodspire phased through each stone wall obstructing his path. He could see many low-level monsters roaming the dungeon beneath him such as goblins, different color slimes and skeletons.
After about four or five walls, Sukuda stood before the largest tree he ever saw. It was far bigger than anything the warlock had ever seen. He felt like a mere ant compared to such a colossal tree.
Meanwhile a purple slime noticed Sukuda's body and began to hop over to him...
Just down the left corridor...
Akuyomi and Hiara were fighting a horde of different monsters as a goblin lunged towards the berserker who threw a punch so powerful, it caused a wave of force that sent the green gremlin flying back without even making contact with his fist. The female demon hunter pulled out a small dagger that glowed purple, charging past her teammate and piercing through several goblins at super-human speed.
Akuyomi watched as the red-haired adventure slashed six different enemies within a mere second before standing with her back to them. The slashes left behind by her cursed blade caused all six monsters to become paralyzed with purple electricity surging around their twitching bodies. "Demonic Transmutation!" The berserker watched as the demon Hunter's armor morphed into a demonic muscular arm as she spun around, gripping it tightly with her other hand aiming it towards the paralyzed targets. "Hell needles!"
A barrage of sharp spikes shot out from her transformed palm, piercing through each goblin as green blood gushed from their bodies before they collapsed dead. Taking a deep breath, Hiara's arm reverted back to normal. That's when Akuyomi slowly clapped responding: "I'm liking you more and more Hiara, you're just full of surprises hehe"
She looked at him with a frown. "I appreciate it, but I don't necessarily enjoy using my demon hunter transmutation abilities. I may be level 25, but don't really have any impressive skills that don't require me to tap into some kind of demonic power. Anyway, let's keep going, hopefully Sukuda has reached the dungeon boss by now"
Back at the entrance...
Red pyro slimes surrounded Sukuda's empty vessel when the purple slime guarded him. The red slimes all shot fire balls from their mouths when the purple lightning slime took in air, forming a protective barrier around the warlock with it's own rubbery body. The horde of flame slimes watched as the electric slime sent bolts of electricity right for them, utterly defeating them.
With the hostiles defeated, the purple slime reverted back to it's ball form, sitting beside the adventurer. That's when Sukuda awoke back within his body. He noticed the slime snuggled against him like a pet, this caused him to jump to his feet, worried the creature would attack. But as he watched, the slime just hoped over rubbing up against his leg as if it were a dog or cat.
Though he was hesitant, Sukuda patted the creature's head. That's when a notification appeared above the slime:
[Electric Slime has formed a bond with you]
[Name your pet: ....]
"Hmm? Didn't know this world had a pet/bond system, thought summons were about the closest thing you could get to a pet. Pondering for a moment, Sukuda typed in his pet's new name. "I'll call you Denjiro, it's a name that means electricity or to be fast"
[Denjiro has been added to summons]
Petting his new friend once more, Sukuda faced towards the large corridor. "Mow then Denjiro, let's hurry and reach that colossal tree before the boss fight begins!" The small purple slime bounced open down excitedly before the pair raced down the stone walkway...
In the east corridor...
Dozens of undead skeletons charged towards Tempest and Sokoyai, most of them were knights wielding swords while a small few were either archers or mages. "How the hell does this count as a low threat!? They may be only level 5-10, but in this quantity, they're certainly a threat!" Jumping into the air, the young used air walk to levitate in the air, above the small army of undead crowding the hall. "Magic missile!" Aiming his palm towards the monsters, Tempest unleashed an onslaught of small projectiles made of pure pink mana. Each one erupted a fierce explosion the moment it made contact.
Sokoyai watched as the entire hallway lit up in a blinding ray of pink light as Ryu unleashed a merciless barrage of projectiles. "Whoa, even though he's the lowest level of the party, he sure can dish out damage when he needs to"
Realizing his MP was now down to less than half, the drained mage dropped to the floor, landing beside the blood elf. "Well, that's all I can do until either my MP refills or we get to the dungeon boss. It'd be foolish to waste all my MP against mere pawns then black out again against the boss"
"I guess it's my turn then! Time to kick some ass!" Pulling out his dual pistols, the white-haired elf charged forward. One of the mages in the group sent a fireball right for the gunslinger, only for him to kick off the ground with both feet, evading the coming sphere of flames by a mere inch as it soared through the air before exploding against the wall.
Spinning in the air, Sokoyai unleashed a barrage of rounds at each target with perfect precision. He landed in the middle of the crowd, grabbing an undead by the leg before whipping them around like a weapon, knocking several other skeletons back before tossing him to the crowd. "Elemental sentient shot"
Aiming towards the horde, the barrel of his firearm spiraled before landing on ice. A smirk grew across his face as he fired a single shot towards the remaining targets. The ice magic bullet fired straight through a skeleton, utterly incasing it in a layer of thick ice. Keeping his eye focused on the bullet, the small projectile darted through each undead, trapping it within a prison of ice until the bullet finally dropped to the floor.
"The pins are set up Ryu, it's your job to knock them down"
"Sigh, fine...but only since you managed to trap them all in place. Flame magic: Blazing cyclone!" A fierce cyclone of intense flames manifested around the trapped targets as the ice began to rapidly melt. "Hmph!" Clapping his palms together, the cyclone began to condense until it erupted from the sheer amount of flames building up.
All that remained were scorched bones of the defeated targets. That's when Sukuda raced past them. "Hey guys!" The pair were confused for a moment before realizing what had just happened. "Hey wait up Sukuda!" The duo called out before racing after him...
Back at the west area...
Hiara and Akuyomi walked over a pile of defeated monsters, making their way past a stone corner as the endless overgrown roots along the walls began to become thicker meaning they were getting closer to the center of the massive tree. Seeing an open doorway at the end of the stone corridor, the pair were about to run towards it when a stone golem formed up from the ground. It was made of the same stone as the dungeon with glowing green eyes, standing seven feet tall.
"Is that the dungeon boss? But not even in the boss room yet" The woman commented in confusion. Akuyomi pointed up with his index finger, summoning his red great axe. "I doubt that golem is actually the boss, chances are he's just a guard to keep us from reaching the boss, basically a 2nd line of defense in case the mere low-rank monsters weren't enough. Hmph, you know...I've never fought a stone golem before. Let's see just how menacing you are"
Raising his hand to the air, Akuyomi snapped his fingers. His legendary relic took off down the corridor, spinning at an immense rate. The buff golem tilted it's head at the last second, evading the overpowered relic's blade just in time. As the Golem prepared to charge, Akuyomi crossed his arms with a smirk on his face. This caused the stone entity to pause, only for the great axe to come flying back like a boomerang, striking the back of the creature's rocky head. "Hmph, too bad you can't feel pain, but I'm sure you'll notice this" Snapping once more, his magical weapon blew up in a devastating explosion of blinding flames. Once the smoke cleared, it revealed the stone monster standing motionless, it's head utterly destroyed with scorch marks left on it's shoulders.
After a slight pause, the creature crumbled to pieces before them. "There, now let's hurry and reach the dungeon boss before Sukuda and the others get attacked" Racing into the boss room, all five adventurers stood before the colossal tree. Green wisps floated around them when the ground began to vibrate beneath them. They watched as a yellow golem burst out from the ground in front of the tree. It stood 15 feet tall as roots from the tree connected itself to the golem Imbuing it with nature magic.
"This must be the dungeon boss, it makes the other one look puny" Hiara commented. The golem's body glowed with green light as it looked down at them. It lifted it's colossal foot, preparing to crush them in one swift attack. That's when Sukuda aimed his staff towards the air. "Sanctuary!" His team watched as a golden barrier of holy light protected them from the incoming attack. The dungeon boss slammed it's foot down on the protective magical field, only to realize it couldn't break through.
"Good work Sukuda! Air walk!" Ascending into the air, Tempest soared out of the safe zone and threw both hands out in front of him. "Magic missiles!" Bloodspire kept the barrier up while he watched the golem stagger back by the onslaught of magic projectiles impacting it's torso.
Just before any of them could react, sharp roots shot out of the tree, piercing Tempest from all directions as blood dripped from his wounds. "Tempest!" The party watched as their injured ally was pulled towards the tree before being pulled inside it's thick oak. "Damn it, the bastard captured Ryu!" Bloodspire cried out.
That's when Hiara placed her hand on the frustrated party leader's shoulder responding: "Don't worry, if Sokoyai and Akuyomi break his guard, I can knock him down with my best offensive skill"
"Right, leave it to us, you ready Sokoyai?"
"No sweat Akuyomi!" Sokoyai dove outside sanctuary firing shots at the titan-sized golem's chest, only for it to have little effect against it. That's when the boss turned it's attention on the blood elf, throwing a gigantic punch right for the gunslinger. That's when Akuyomi blocked their attack with his legendary weapon. A fierce shockwave shook the dungeon from the mere force.
That's when Sukuda had an idea. Aiming his hand towards his ally's overpowered relic he shouted: "Size mimicry!" Without warning the great axe grew 10 times bigger before the party. "Go ahead and break his guard Akuyomi!" A grin grew across his lips as he slowly raised his hand. "Let's see just how deadly it can be when it's size has been multiplied!"
Focusing on his target, he sent the massive weapon spiraling right for the golem's skull, only for the boss to catch the axe's blade between it's hands mere inches from it's face. "Impressive golem...but this was a lose-lose situation" Clinching his fist the massive axe blew up in a massive explosion, causing their assailant to stagger back.
Now open to an attack, Hiara reformed her demonic arm, jumping into the air and sending a powerful strike to the titan's abdomen. "Demonic strike!" The demon hunter sent a devastating blow to the colossal golem with red demonic energy flowing through her arm into the attack.
Max Leveling Party watched as their enemy fell back with a thunderous boom, hitting the ground on it's back. "Wow great work Hiara!" The team leader called out. The red-haired hunter fell from high above, landing before the party. The golem burst into wisps of green light leaving a few pieces of loot, along with freeing Tempest from the massive tree.
The magic caster fell onto the stone floor breathing heavily. "D-damn it was hard to breathe in that small space. As big as that tree is, I think that golem was attempting to suffocate me inside it"
Looking down at the glowing loot before them, there was a wand, a ring and a pair of boots. Rising to his feet, Tempest picked up the wand, it was dark-brown appearing as your typical wand a wizard would use. "Hmm, says this wand has a fire nature affinity. All fire spells do 5% more damage as well as 10% more range when equipped"
"Seems like a great first weapon for you then Ryu, what about this ring?" Using his analysis, he could see the properties of the ring:
[Ring Of the eternal flame]
Effect: When HP drops below 40% form a barrier of immense flames around the wearer.
"Since Tempest got the wand and it doesn't seem to fit the rest of us, might as well give it to Akuyomi, he seems to have a flame nature as well" With his thumb Sukuda flicked the ring over to the berserker who caught it with ease. "Last is the boots which is up to any of you, boots don't really fit the apparel I'm going for as a necromancer, at least not these brown leather ones"
Once Sokoyai decided to equip them, they were transported back outside in front of the trigram. They noticed the trigram had stopped glowing meaning they couldn't use it to get back in.
Sukuda
[Level 20 Achieved]
Skill Obtained: Necrotic Puppet: This spell allows the caster to control a single creature, commanding it to perform tasks and fight for the caster. The creature will be imbued with magical energy and will be much stronger and faster than normal.
Tempest
[Level 17 Achieved]
Relic Skill : Trap of gravitation - Create a magical trigram around an area, making the gravity around them 10x heavier
Sokoyai
[Level 21 Achieved]
Akuyami
[Level 28 Achieved]
Hiara
[Level 26 Achieved]
Sukuda asked: "Where's the next one Hira? Surely there's another not far from here" She nodded once more pulling out her magic relic as the arrow pointed in the opposite direction leading west.
"Before we go, I just need to check something the party leader urged before opening his menu. Scrolling down to summons he tapped on his only summon which was Denjiro as the purple slime spawned in a flash of light.
"Huh!?" The others jumped back for a moment, confused on how Sukuda even got a summon. Tempest looked at the small, cute creature before asking: "How did you manage to get a pet from the dungeon!? Was it a reward or is this a new ability you have!?"
"I'm not sure, I was using astral projection to search the dungeon quickly, but when I returned to my mortal form this slime had protected me by forming a barrier around me with it's own body" That's when Hiara's attitude suddenly changed as her eyes lit up picking up the soft purple creature and wrapping her arms around it. "AWWW IT'S SO CUTE!"
All watched as she spun around holding the slime up looking into it's shiny black eyes. "DENJIRO IS SO CUTE, PLEASE LET ME HAVE HIM!" Sukuda blushed denying her request. "Sorry Hiara, I'm the one the slime formed a bond with, I can't just give him to you. Maybe you'll find your own pet soon"
"HMPH!" The demon hunter shoved the slime into his arms before stomping off. Everyone looked at each other before slightly laughing and following their party member...
CHAPTER 8 : All Fun And Games Until...
Reaching the next trigram, they noticed it was glowing yellow meaning it was a high-threat dungeon. "Are you sure we should do this? We already had a little trouble in what was considered low-threat which I for one call bullshit on, now you want to go straight to high-threat!?" The necromancer exclaimed in both fear and worry for the party.
"Alright, you can wait out her Sukuda, wouldn't want you getting killed in here" Akuyami taunted pushing past him before vanishing in a flash of yellow light. The party leader groaned in anger before the others followed off their party member.
(Shit, shit, shit!) Sukuda clinched his staff in his hand, his heart racing before he charged through the teleportation trigram. He found himself in a dark hallway covered in some kind of purple infestation on the wall, spores filled with red goo and black fungus all over the walls. "I have a bad feeling about this" Sukuda whispered under his breath in fear.
Meanwhile the others walked a few feet in front of him checking out the new creepy dungeon. Sokoyai pointed out how awesome the walls looked filled with excitement. "I wonder what kind of boss is in a badass dungeon like this!" As they walked past one of the spores, one of them burst open with the red substance landing on the gunslinger's right arm. "Shit this stings!"
The blood elf jumped back gripping his right arm as his HP began to slowly go down from the acid-like goo covering his arm. That's when the others noticed a large dark-red mosquito-like creature had been freed from the spore that had burst. It's wings moved rapidly as it went straight for Hiara, attempting to pierce her arm and drain her of blood.
"Demonic transmutation!" Transforming her left arm into it's black demonic form, she used it to block the coming attack as the insect struck the armored arm with it's massive needle, only for it to fail. "Heh, it's going to take more than that to pierce through demon skin!" Clinching her mutated fist, she punched the blood-sucking creature against the wall as it splattered against the infested wall. "Sigh, now...make sure not to touch any of the spores, the slightest touch might cause another one of those things to come out"
Sokoyai watched as the burning substance finally vanished from his arm and the pain was gone. "Sigh, finally the burning stopped, that was the worst pain I've ever felt since I got to this world. Looking at his HP, he realized he was already down to 60% just from being hit by one spore. His heart began to beat faster as the party carefully made their way through what felt like an endless hall of spores with an insect asleep within each one...
After about two minutes of dodging hundreds of spores, they finally made it into a large circular room where another colossal tree sat in the center of the room. That's when Tempest commented: "What is it with dungeons and trees?" They looked at the tree, it was dark-purple with a red aura glowing within it along with dark-red leaves.
After examining it for a moment, the tree began to move! The party jumped in shock as they threw one of it's large branches down with a fierce slam. The party managed to evade the attack when all the leaves on the tree abruptly flew off, filling the dungeon with leaves floating around them. That's when one of the leaves touched Sukuda's cheek causing it to burn him as the single leave was set ablaze before becoming ash. Realizing the point of all the leaves floating around them, Sukuda used sanctuary to protect them from the millions of small projectiles.
All watched as peddles landed on the transparent barrier before completely burning to ash. "Don't worry, we're safe so long as we stay within sanctuary!" The necromancer uttered as he continued to use more and more of his MP to keep the magical field up.
"Maybe I can speed things up! Trap of gravitation!" Pulling out his wand, Tempest aimed his wand towards the monstrous plant as a white trigram formed around it. The ground around it began to vibrate as the gravity became 10 times heavier around the infested tree. His allies watched as it struggled to move from the immense weight along with all the peddle hitting the grow disintegrating in a wall of flames.
"Well done Tempest, maybe now we can deal with this freak of nature" Akuyami announced before charging in with Hiara right beside him. "Hunter's fury!" Focusing all of his attack power into his fist, the pair sent a fierce punch straight for the infected tree's torso as a wave of force shook the entire dungeon. Their target staggered back, nearly ripping from it's roots before hitting the ground with a massive crash as the floor around them began to crack apart.
"Seems Ryu's increased gravity also boosted the damage inflicted on the tree when it hit the ground" Sukuda watched still within sanctuary as a purple mist began to flow out of the bosses' body. The hunter and berserker landed in front of the tree when the purple gas floated past them. Before either of them could say something, the pair collapsed on the ground, passed out from the mysterious gas.
"Shit! We need to help them before it's too late!" Bloodspire cried out. That's when he saw Sokoyai and Tempest being affected by the gas as well even within the magical field of sanctuary. "S-sukuda" One of them uttered before collapsing. The warlock could feel a dizziness wash over him when his pet slime jumped onto him, forming a protective layer over his body buying him a few moments before he ran out of oxygen.
"U-undead body!" Transforming himself into an undead, the gas floated past him with no effect. "Hmph! Your poisonous gas has no effect on me! I'll finish this before you can kill my friends! Size mimicry!" Increasing his size equal to the tree, the necromancer stepped over his unconscious friends, gripping the tree and pulling with all his strength. The tree let out sadistic cries as it's branches whipped him from all directions in an attempt to stop him, only for Sukuda to tear the monster from it's roots ultimately defeating it.
Out of breath the young warlock turned back to normal, shrinking back to his normal size as he fell from 10 feet in the air. Denjiro quickly detached itself from his master's body before taking in air to grow into a large cushion just before Sukuda landed on him...
About an hour later...
Bloodspire awoke still within the dungeon, noticing his party were still out-cold from the poisonous gas. Luckily his friends had about 20%-40% HP left so they were still alive just unconscious. "Let's hurry and get our party out of here Denjiro, it's not safe for them here if any of those large insects show up"
"mm, mm" The slime uttered nodding it's head. Denjiro took in as much air as it could, pulling the party inside it's expanded body before they found the trigram that brought them back outside. "Sigh, I think that's the last dungeon, for today, I warned them it was a bad idea and they nearly got themselves killed. Whatever...I'm just glad we managed to keep them alive"
Denjiro dropped each member out of his mouth while Sukuda carefully set them up against a tree to rest in a random part of the forest. Sitting down to rest, the warlock soon fell asleep...
Sukuda
[Level 23 Achieved]
Tempest
[Level 20 Achieved]
Sokoyai
[Level 22 Achieved]
A Few Hours Later...
He awoke to someone lightly slapping his face, only to see Sokoyai bent down looking at him closely. "Heh, glad to see you're ok Sukuda, we were all worried something might've happened when we all blacked out. Seems you managed to get us out of the dungeon before that rotten tree could finish us off!"
"Yeah, you're welcome. I'm just glad to see you all made it out safe. Let's hurry and head back to Wolfborne before it gets too late" looking up at the sky, they could tell it was getting late as the sky began turning violet signaling evening...
Making their way back to Wolfborne, Hiara asked where the others will be sleeping tonight. "I usually sleep randomly like an inn or random cabin I find in the woods when I'm out monster hunting or searching for a dungeon"
As they walked through the streets, Sukuda replied: "I and my party at the time figured out the king and his shit of a knight Maximus were abusing their power and stealing from the innocent, once we found that out, I personally took care of ending his miserable life and therefore claiming Wolfborne as my own"
Hiara was taken aback by Sukuda's blunt confession. She spoke up: "Isn't that a bit extreme? Killing the king and his knights?" Sukuda's expression hardened as he turned to face her. "Do you know what it's like to see your people being oppressed and robbed of their hard-earned resources every day? To live in constant fear and uncertainty? The king and his knights were corrupt to the core, and someone had to put a stop to it"
The group fell silent as they followed Sukuda through the streets of Wolfborne. The town looked different than before, with merchants and townspeople going about their business like nothing had happened. It was if the previous regime had never existed. Hiara broke the silence. "Sukuda, are you saying that you're the new ruler of Wolfborne?" Sukuda shrugged nonchalantly. "I suppose you could call me that. But I don't rule with an iron fist like the previous king. I make sure that everyone has a fair chance and that justice is served"
Reaching the golden castle, Sukuda led everyone through the large royal lobby Where they were taken up stairs to the east corridor where rooms were aligned across the hallway. "You can choose any one of these bedrooms Hiara, Tempest...I'll be in my room if anyone needs me, but I'm sure I'll fall asleep before something actually comes up"
While the rest of the Party closed the door to their new rooms, Sukuda made his way across the corridor where he found his clone still sitting upon his throne fast asleep from boredom, snores echoed throughout the large room. "Heh, you may be a perfect duplication of me, but I doubt I snore this loud"
Approaching the snoring doppelganger, Sukuda lightly kicked his foot. "Hey wake up, you did your job pretending to be me, all that's left is for you to keep watch over the castle in case we're attacked. You don't have to just sit in here, just stay within the castle" The clone slowly stirred awake, rubbing his eyes and letting out a deep yawn. "Oh, Sukuda? I must have dozed off for a while" Sukuda nodded in response. "Yes, but We can't afford to let our guard down now, not after all that we've been through. Make sure to stay alert and keep a lookout for any potential threats"
The clone nodded, quickly getting up from his throne stretching his limbs. "Don't worry, I'll handle things from here. You should get some rest" With a nod once more, the young warlock made his way to his royal bedroom before utterly passing out the moment his head hit the pillow...
As the sun shined over Wolfborne, Sukuda was awoken by his pet slime Denjiro who bounced excitedly before him, it's purple circular body jigging. Sukuda sat up in his bed as he looked at Denjiro. "What is it, Denjiro? Why are you so excited?"
Denjiro made a series of cute noises, bouncing even higher as it communicated with Sukuda. It seemed to be pointing towards the window. He got up from his bed, walking towards the window to see what it was that had Denjiro so excited. Looking outside, he saw a group of villagers standing at the gates of the castle, they seemed nervous, looking around as if they were being watched.
Sukuda quickly got dressed, motioning for Denjiro to follow him. As Bloodspire made his way out of the room, he knocked on each member's bedroom door, alerting them that something might be happening near the castle gate.
"What's going on?" Hiara called out from behind her door. The purple-haired caster spoke louder: "There are villagers at the gates. We need to find out what's going on. It could be nothing, but it's best we check the situation in case something really is happening"
That's when Tempest stepped out of his room half awake. "What are you yelling about Sukuda?" The mage yawned trying to keep from falling over. Bloodspire told him to wait until everyone was here before he explained it once more. "I hate repeating myself, so it's better to just wait until the whole party is finally here"
As the rest of the group gathered in the hallway, Bloodspire began to explain the situation at the castle gates. "From what I've gathered, there seems to be a group of villagers gathered at the gates. They seem frightened. We need to investigate and see if we can help"
"Sure, why not, it's not like we have much to do at the moment" Hiara commented before the party made their way outside the castle. Standing in front of the royal castle gate, Sukuda watched as a group of citizens ran up to him in fear. "Thank heavens you've come king Bloodspire! Something awful as happened outside the kingdom. We normally send explorers out to find needed resources such as extra food or veins containing ore or gold. We may be a wealthy kingdom on the outside, but our once terrible king Julius wasted our kingdom's gold to appear more wealthy towards the other 3 kingdoms...anyways, some of our explorers have gone missing around an abandoned temple but I and my fellow explorers are too scared to look for them"
"Alright, me and my party will search the temple for your missing friends. I'd suggest you stay in the city until we figure out what happened"
Max Leveling party set out towards the abandoned temple, keeping a wary eye out for any signs of danger along the way. After traveling for about an hour, they arrived at the temple, they noticed that the entrance looked old and worn. The path leading up to it was overgrown with ivy and weeds, suggesting it hadn't been used in quite some time. However, as they approached the entrance, they could feel a sense of unease settling over them.
"I'll go 1st, you all stay behind me in case there's an ambush" The berserker warned. Suddenly Sokoyai snapped back: "Fuck that! If there's an ambush, it's going to be a blood bath!" The blood elf dashed past the others pulling out a pistol, following Akuyomi close behind.
As they reached the top of the stone steps, Sokoyai spotted a figure standing in front of one the white marble columns aligning the entrance. "Watch out!" Throwing his arm Sokoyai fired a single shot right for the suspicious figure, only for the silhouette to dodge with immense speed.
"Nice shot...but I'm afraid a mere firearm won't do you any good against one who's foresight surpasses that of a mere human" Stepping out from the shade, a tall muscular man with dark skin Stepping forward into the light. He wore a gold GI like your typical marital artist, he had spikey light brown hair with one big strand lying across his face. "I'm curious of just how strong your party is...could it be enough to beat my foresight?"
Akuyomi looked at the man with an intense stare. He could feel power emanating from him. "Who are you?" he asked, getting ready to draw his legendary weapon the martial artist smiled, his eyes glittering with excitement. "I'll tell you, but only if you can survive two minutes against me...I am a master of foresight and a skilled martial artist, I came here to test my skills against worthy opponents... and it seems I have found them."
Sukuda was confused by his challenge. "Do you mean fight each of us in a 1V1 or do you mean our entire party!?" Their target smirked going into a kung-fu stance. "I mean I'll take all five of you on!" Hiara clinched her fist growing frustrated towards the new combatant. "Tsk, you really think that low of us!? I'll show you that it'll take more than just foresight to win a fight! Demonic transmutation!" The fighter watched as her left arm transformed once more into a giant muscular demon arm. "I'm going 1st!" She cried out advancing her opponent.
Her party watched as she threw a fierce blow right for the martial artist. That's when a 3rd eye opened in the center of his forehead. It's iris glowed gold as their foe could see mere moments into the future and know the demon Hunter's next move. "Your next words will be: "Demonic strike"
"Demonic strike!" Hiara sent a sudden punch straight for him, only for the man to lean just out of the way of her fierce attack. The fighter grinned, his eyes flickering with amusement. "Impressive, but not enough" He launched himself towards Hiara, moving with blinding speed.
She tried to counter with another strike, but again he seemed to anticipate every move she made, dodging it with ease. Hiara gritted her teeth in frustration. She had never faced an opponent with this level of foresight before, and knew it was going to be a tough fight. She took a step back, her demon arm reverting back to its normal form.
As the rest of the party moved in to help, the stranger seemed to anticipate their every move with ease. Sokoyai fired their weapon, but the Seer was already out of the way before the bullets could even hit.