Chapter 14

  The battle was over before it even began.

  When Ben gave the order to attack, his cherubs leapt into action. The very first attack by a cherub warrior triggered the Wrath of Heaven skill.

  Michael’s flaming sword appeared in a flash of light and dropped from above like a meteor. It fell in front of the cherub warrior that triggered the ability and bathed the room in blinding white light. The entire throne room of enemies was wiped out in a flash. By now, Ben and Eve no longer needed to cover their eyes to behold the light. It was blinding to enemies, but not to them.

  When the light faded, every Lizardmen in the room was dead. Their bodies burned with white flame, including the boss.

  Ben and Eve were stunned.

  “Well…that’s…anti-climactic,” Ben said.

  Eve gave a dumbfounded nod. Their attention was brought to a notification.

  [You are the first in Eternity to clear the Lizardman dungeon. This achievement will be announced through the game world. Would you like to reveal your name or hide your name?]

  “Hide,” Ben said.

  [A player and their party from Zone 21, within the American Server, is the first to clear the LIzardman dungeon. They will receive the following reward. 75 Gold coins. 1 silver chest, 1 silver key, and 30,000 experience point]

  Bing!

  [Congratulations. You have leveled up. You are now Level 9]

  Ben was surprised to receive the level-up notification. Sure, he just took out a room full of enemies, but those enemies were relatively low level, and he was splitting experience with Eve.

  They were still mostly level 4 and 5. The dozen or so elites were level 6. And the boss was level 7.

  Even with the experience bonus from the achievement, it shouldn’t have been enough to level him up, given that it became exponentially harder to level up at the higher levels.

  “I didn’t actually expect to level-up in this dungeon,” Ben said.

  Eve bit her lip in thought before beginning to type.

  “I think I may have something to do with that, because of my level 5 class skill upgrade,” she texted.

  Ben looked down at Eve in astonishment.

  “What? Really? What do you mean?”

  Instead of texting, Eve shared a part of her character screen with Ben. This time, it was her skill page. Specifically, the description of her Soul Link skill.

  Ben was too curious to resist looking.

  [Soul Saint Class Skill: Soul Link]

  [Rarity: God-Tier]

  [Effect: You create a link with either a single willing target, or a member of your party. Damage you take is divided equally among the members of the soul link. Minions that a member of the Soul Link summon are included within the soul link. As the creator of the Soul Link, you do not absorb damage for other members of the Soul Link, but they absorb damage for you. Range: 5 miles]

  [Bonus Effect: When any member of the soul link is effected by any healing effect, the other members of the soul link are healed for the same amount]

  [Bonus Effect: Experience is doubled for you and the target of the Soul Link]

  Ben’s eyes widened.

  “Experience is doubled!” Ben exclaimed.

  Ben was amazed. He looked at Eve in awe.

  “I think you are a walking cheat code,” he said.

  Eve swayed in that familiar way. She was clearly pleased with Ben’s acknowledgement of her usefulness.

  Ben was still receiving notifications, but he couldn’t focus on them. He had to take a moment to get over just how overpowered their class synergy was.

  It really was like her class was made for him.

  “Soul Saint?” Ben thought.

  Ben didn’t recognize the class name. It was definitely a hidden class. Her class seemed to follow the cleric archetype. She had access to the same spells and was considered a cleric for the purpose of gear. She just had an extra ability that others didn’t. A God-tier ability, no less.

  Her Soul Link seemed specifically built to compliment summoners. Ben knew of a skill like Soul Link. It was a skill learned by high level paladins and other faith-based classes. It was best used by paladins because of their tankiness. However, it wasn’t as potent as Eve’s class ability.

  The Soul Link that high level Paladins could learn was similar. It created a link between the Paladin and another target, but it didn’t extend to minions, and it didn’t allow the two members to share healing.

  Ben supposed that because Eve’s ability was her primary class skill, it was naturally stronger than the skill that Faith-based classes could learn from high level skill book later on.

  Her entire class revolved around the soul link. She could still learn spells like a normal cleric, but her Soul Link ability would likely continue to improve as she leveled.

  Eve had begun collecting the loot in the area. Ben was clearly lost in his thoughts. She didn’t want to interrupt him, besides, she had a job to do.

  Ben stared at Eve as she walked around collecting the minor spoils that had been dropped.

  “With her by my side, I might really be able to reach rank 1,” he thought.

  Ben shook the thought off almost as soon as he had it. That was impossible. What he was contemplating was out of the question. That implied a very long term relationship. In other words, vulnerability.

  He could never rely that much on a single person. He’d already made that mistake once. He didn’t plan on repeating the past.

  Ben began to walk forward. For now, they worked well together. That was it. At level 15, he still planned to part ways.

  Ben frowned at that thought. He shook his head and tried to focus on the moment.

  To speed up the loot collection effort, Ben had his cherubs help Eve. The summons couldn’t actually transfer items into Ben’s inventory. However, they could physically pick up the items and fly them over to Ben. Once the items were close enough, Ben just had to wave his hand to suck up the items in mass.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Eve blinked as she watched the cherubs go to work. She frowned and began to type furiously.

  “You don’t actually need me to collect items, do you?” Eve texted.

  Ben noticed Eve’s soured mood. He gave her a reassuring gaze.

  “Now that all the enemies are dealt with, my summons are free to collect loot. When we are actually fighting enemies, it is better if my summons focus on fighting, instead of looting. So you are still useful for picking up loot through 99% of the dungeon,” Ben said.

  Eve fidgetted but ultimately nodded in understanding. Ben looked at her in concern.

  “What’s wrong?” He asked.

  “I just don’t want to be a burden to you. You pretty much did all the work. If I don’t collect loot, I feel like I’m not being that useful. What happens when you gain more summons?” Eve texted.

  Ben’s eyebrow raised.

  “That’s what she is worried about?”

  Ben chuckled and shook his head.

  “Trust me, you are plenty useful. So cut out those silly thoughts.”

  Eve still looked skeptical. Ben sighed.

  “How about this? If I need you to do anything else for me, I’ll just ask. Trust me to be honest. And trust me when I say this now. You are a big help. More than you know. So stop worrying. I really appreciate all you are doing.”

  Eve’s eyes sparkled. She bowed her head bashfully and gave a small nod. Her smile returned. Ben smiled in satisfaction.

  “Better. Now let's see what kind of loot the boss has in store for us,” he said.

  Ben moved towards the throne that the boss previously occupied, Eve followed. The body was still burning with holy fire, like a bon fire. When Ben got near it, the familiar Need or Greed loot collection system manifested.

  First, Ben and Eve got a flurry of notifications about gold and consumable items that the boss dropped. It was similar to the Dire Bear with the notable inclusion of some minor skill books.

  Every class gained skills as they leveled up. However, skill books also dropped in the world that could supplement the skills of each class. One could get either a higher level version of a class skill, or different skills all together.

  A player could only equip a certain amount of skills, based primarily on their level, so players had to choose wisely. High level skill books were very rare, and very valuable.

  A few skillbooks dropped in the dungeon, but none of worth. Ben chalked it up to bad luck. It was one of the lowest level dungeons after all. If they ran the dungeon a few more times, they could probably get some useful skillbooks to drop, but Ben had no intention of spending more time than necessary in this low-level dungeon.

  Ben was happy to receive the items that he got, but he quickly dismissed those notifications. He wanted to see if the boss would drop anything truly valuable.

  It was only a level 7 boss, and he was now level 9. It would need to drop something special to be attractive to him.

  Ben paid attention to the next few notifications.

  [As a reward for being the first to clear the dungeon, the boss rewards have been upgraded]

  Ben’s grin widened. He waited patiently for the first loot to appear. The first one was exactly what he wanted the most

  [Level 7 Halbert: Kesh’s Dragon Bite]

  [Rarity: Rare]

  [Quality: Common]

  [Effect: Attacks deal bonus fire damage]

  [Effect: 10% Lifesteal]

  Eve immediately passed on the weapon, forcing it to go to Ben’s inventory. Ben wasted no time and equipped it. It manifested in his hand in a flash.

  Ben noted that the metal head of the halbert was pitch black with only a faint red glow. Even though it mentioned bonus fire damage, it wasn’t bathed in flame like Michael’s sword. Ben gave it a few practice swings. When he did, the head of the halberd ignited with fire. The fire extinguished when Ben stopped swinging.

  That was perfect. It made the weapon better for sneak attacks. Ben noticed that the weapon had a level requirement, unlike the weapons dropped by the Dire Bear Regional boss.

  That was standard. A perk of regional bosses is that they dropped gear that had much lower level requirements than normal. It was a valid strategy to hunt regional bosses in order to provide leveling gear for lower level friends or guild mates.

  Dungeon gear, similar to gear out in the world, had a level and level requirement that matched the level of the enemies in the dungeon. Thankfully, Ben was level 9 and would have no problem wielding the halberd.

  The halberd was one of Ben’s weapons of choice in his previous life. He used it when he was either low on mana, or when he was in a relatively safe position and could afford to give up his shield in order to do more damage. It provided reach and versatility that allowed him to still use his summons as meat shields while also allowing him to contribute heavily to most fights without expanding mana he could otherwise use for summoning.

  Conventional weapons were generally much more effective at killing enemies than a wand or staff. The halberd he wielded now would do several times more damage than his wand, while allowing him to stay within relative safety.

  Ben couldn’t wait to try it out in a real fight.

  Eve shook her head in playful exasperation at the way that Ben admired the weapon. Some men’s obsession with things like that was something she could never understand.

  The next few pieces of gear were nothing of note. He automatically passed on them after a brief glance.

  Eve got a ring that gave her a minor boost to faith. It seems like that halberd was the best drop from the boss. The last item peaked Ben’s interest.

  [Level 7 Red Dragon Mask of Fear]

  [Rarity: Rare]

  [Quality: Common]

  [Effect: On activation, inflict enemies within 20 meters with intimidation. Weaker enemies have a chance to panic. Cooldown: 1 Hour]

  As soon as Eve saw that Ben took interest in the mask, she passed on it. Ben smiled and took it out to immediately equip it.

  The mask had a long snout with its mouth gaping open and its teeth bared. Ben’s mouth seemed to be inside the maw of the dragon mask. The maw was open so Ben could chug potions while keeping the mask on.

  The eyes were angry and feral. Ben could see perfectly through the eyes of the mask. It was like wearing goggles.

  The mask was certainly intimidating. It was easy to see how it could insight fear. Ben turned towards Eve.

  “How does it look?” He asked.

  Eve shivered and began to type.

  “Scary,” she texted.

  Ben nodded and unequipped the mask.

  “I think I’ll only use it when I need to,” Ben said.

  “Good idea,” she texted.

  Ben nodded and took a few steps away from the throne. Eve thought he was going to leave but instead he turned around, made the sign of the cross, and dropped to his knees.

  Eve could see that Ben had fallen into prayer once more. She looked around cautiously as Ben prayed. She was half expecting another appearance from that angel, or another angel. However, nothing happened. Ben concluded his prayer uneventfully.

  Ben was half expecting a reaction to his prayer, but he wasn’t disappointed. He would pray even if he never got anything tangible for performing the action. His faith went beyond such superficial motivations. His sense of spiritual nourishment was enough. Anything more was just a bonus.

  Ben looked towards Eve.

  “Ready to go?” he asked.

  Eve quickly shook her head and pointed past Ben. Ben followed the direction she was pointing to see another door on the side of the throne room. Ben got the hint and headed there with Eve.

  When he opened the door, he and Eve were shocked and disturbed by what they saw.

  There must have been at least a hundred people, more specifically, NPCs. They were all locked in cages. The people scattered back in their cages when the door to the chamber opened.

  They were shackled and wore only tattered clothes. They ranged from all ages, men, women, and a few children.

  Ben’s face hardened. He walked forward and ordered his cherubs to break the locks on all the cages. The doors swung open but no one moved.

  Eve looked upon the people with pity.

  She walked forward into a cage and manifested a key she had picked up earlier. She gave it to the closest person, then stepped back next to Ben to give them space to unlock their own shackles.

  “You’re free now. We killed all of them,” Ben said.

  An elderly man stepped forward.

  “Are you serious? We…we can go? We’re free?”

  Ben nodded.

  “Yes, you’re free. I’ll help you get home safely.”

  The elderly man shook his head.

  “No need. There is a secret passage nearby. As long as you really killed them all, then we can get back to the village without problem. We just needed the chance to slip away. Thank you, strangers. May I ask your names?”

  “I’m Benaiah, and this is Eve,” Ben said.

  The elderly man nodded.

  “I’m Samual. My son sits on the city council. I’m sure he has been trying to find us. When we return, please seek him out. I’ll make sure you are properly rewarded.”

  Ben shook his head.

  “I don’t need a reward,” Ben said.

  Samuel waved his hand dismissively.

  “Indulge us. Let’s not argue over such small matters. If it's alright with you, I’ll lead my people away. Thank you again, Benaiah and Eve,”

  The man bowed respectfully and slowly led his people down the hall and through a hidden door.

  Ben could see Eve typing.

  “It’s so sad to see them like that. It can be easy to forget that they are just NPCs,” Eve said.

  Ben contemplated Eve’s comment.

  “Our actions should still matter,” Ben said.

  Ben and Eve shared a thoughtful silence before returning to the throne room and collecting the final few items.

  Unlike the Dire bear cave, there were no other hidden entrances. Eve was sure. The dungeon room where the NPCs were imprisoned was the only room that could potentially be missed.

  With everything properly looted, Ben and Eve took out one of their many town return scrolls.

  “I already have our next destination in mind. It’s closer to the starter village than to this dungeon,” Ben said.

  Eve nodded in understanding. They crushed their town return scrolls and disappeared soon after.