The bandits didn't hesitate to pursue her. None of them cared about the stone rolling in their direction. They were too puzzled seeing Jean's body imbued with purple. It was unusual to see such an effect, but in the end, that didn't stop them.
Dozens of projectiles pierced the air as she ducked behind the shield. Sparks flew everywhere as wounds formed. Screams of pain followed. One discovered himself blind, another had his throat slit, several mutilated and another nearly crippled. Those who could, fought to retreat, only to be attacked again.
Jean lunged forward with the red-imbued shield, mercilessly running over several of them along the way. The remaining ones met her two-handed sledgehammer. Only three managed to escape, and only because she was cautious. The glow in their weapons culminated in a spin on themselves that projected small, scattered slashes in her direction.
Jean managed to block most of the attacks thanks to the whispers, but she had no time to heal. Her eyes were fixed on an archer on the second level who managed to hit her leg.
The main thing was to take care of those around her first. She angrily pulled out the arrow and charged without losing sight of the archer. The three bandits intended to repeat the spinning blade skill, but instead they were struck by a yellow and red swirl. A tornado named Jean.
She managed to finish off those who were writhing on the ground before they got up, but an arrow hit her in the arm. The projectile barely stuck. She proved it so by pulling it out and throwing it in front of them while she healed behind the shield.
Jean conjured Weightless and charged, leaving behind her a serpentine trail of four colors. She quickly adjusted to feeling so light despite how the charge devoured mana with every step she took. With a single jump, she reached the second level.
The nearest archer desperately shot an arrow that she easily blocked from so close. A slash from the right found its way through his ribs to his organs. He collapsed instantly. The second archer behind panicked and jumped to the lower level.
Jean followed him without thinking despite the sound of the bow being drawn. It was not even necessary to block. Too slow for such a fast Jean. His death under the blade was swift.
New footsteps from the second floor brought two new archers. They were confident despite the spectacle. They fired without giving her respite, covering the pause to draw the bow of their companion. In an oversight, they reached her in the foot. The impact felt painful, but that wasn't the problem. Her leg began to wobble as if the area was numb.
“New skill?”
Jean limped back into the dark corridor, completely protected behind the shield. There were no more arrows as she tried to heal the wound after recovering mana with the help of Clear Mind. She picked up one of the stones and threw it imbued with Wisdom, Dexterity, Agility and Perception.
They discovered too late why their companions were practically all dead. The wounds were so severe that they never realized Jean was next to them about to kill them.
Before anyone else arrived, she recovered by devouring them and repaired all her weapons with the coins obtained. She did so by hiding in the darkness of the corridor while keeping an anxious eye on Ilya.
[You have learned Blade Dance — Basic Rank.
Swirling attack that doubles at a random height an energy blade of the same size as the wielded weapon. It consumes stamina and no effects can be added to it.]
[You have learned Crippling Shot — Basic Rank.
A projectile shot that excels in potency rather than offensive power. It consumes stamina and no effects can be added to it.]
[Ranged Weapon Mastery has increased to Expert Rank.
You are now able to hit moving targets and add Expert effects to this weapon mastery.]
[Mist Thrust has increased to Advanced Rank.
Increases its range to 6 meters, and its damage triples at less than 2 meters.]
[Mist Slash has increased to Advanced Rank.
Increases its range to 6 meters, and its damage triples at less than 2 meters.]
New footsteps echoed in the distance.
“Motherfuckers! Stop coming!”
However, not all footsteps resounded. Someone had arrived before anyone else. He had snuck in from the path that continued straight ahead.
Jean's high Perception made her notice his scent, but his position was uncertain. It was Yusthor's necklace placed at the last moment before the whispers alerted her that saved her. Although she dodged the first arrow, a second flew swiftly without room to equip the shield.
It struck her squarely in the head. The concussion almost knocked her down, but she didn't reach the ground. Her toughness, endurance and willpower overcame the shock in an instant.
“I fucking hate archers!”
Jean screamed as the bow string tightened again. Her veins swelled due to Nimireth's Rage, increasing her Strength, Toughness, Dexterity and Agility by 5. Her body was burning with power, but losing almost 5% mana per second.
Jean charged with shield in front and the sword charging Mist Thrust. The invisible archer shooted again trying to slow her advance, but she didn't need to take cover. There was something strange. His arrows lacked the offensive power of his fellow bandits.
After she pretended to miss the charge, the bandit exchanged the bow for a dagger that he carried on his back. “Just as I thought.”
With a wicked grin, she did a 180-degree turn thanks to Weightless. As much as the bandit focused on dodging while performing a succession of pirouettes, he was unable to dodge Mist Thrust's energy projection.
“I don't fall for those little tricks anymore.” She murmured as the man's body became visible on the floor.
“BEEAARR! BEAR, HELP!”
“That's the name of your boss? Let him come!”, she blurted out before she stomped his head.
The footsteps in the distance accelerated and increased. They seemed to come from every possible path. She deactivated Nimireth's Rage and hurried to devour and transmute him. The amount of coin she was getting for these bandits was juicy.
Back in the darkness of the corridor, she reflected on the combat. She had felt brimming with destructive power, but the consumption of Nimireth's Rage was disproportionate. After adding the effect of Weightless to it, she had consumed all her mana in just over 10 seconds.
“Nothing optimal at the moment.” She muttered, activating Clear Mind.
A deep and manly voice startled her. “Is it true that you come from Oblivion?”
It took Jean a while to find the source; the young man was barely visible behind a corner of a side corridor. A tall, strong, long-haired individual too far away to make out his features.
“I don't know what it was called, but it wasn't hell if that's what you want to know.”
“If she's a demon, why don't you kill her?” A young woman whispered. Her voice was sweet, too out of tune with the place.
The young man shushed her and turned again to Jean.“Do you have any idea what you're doing? What do you intend by openly attacking the Black Bear clan?”
“Are you the one they call Boss?”
The young man let out a long sigh. “Bear? No!”
Jean moved closer enough for her curiosity to bear fruit. The young man was dangerous. Possibly as dangerous as Red Eyes had been on their first encounter. How powerful did his boss have to be for him not to be so?
?Human Player?
Alignment: Neutral
Level 36
Name: Zath
Skills: [Precise Aim], [Mist Thrust], [Sniper]
Marks: [Thief], [Human Killer]
Details: The attributes of this player make him a difficult adversary for you in your current condition.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Highest Attribute (Dexterity): 75
“You see... I just wanted to pass. I didn't give a shit about you guys. But your friends wanted a dance so badly that now I have no choice but to kill them all! ... And you? You came for a dance too?”
She couldn't get a good look at his face at such a distance, but she could swear the guy smiled. “No thanks! I'll pass on dying! ... Word of advice, demon or whatever you are ... Leave! You won't be able to beat him!”
“You think so?” Before she got any closer, the guy and the young woman had already disappeared from sight.
“Nice to meet you!”, she muttered sarcastically.
A slight noise behind her alerted her. She waited for the whispers to no avail. It wasn't until she realized they were coming from where Ilya was that she rushed back. She prayed to find her sweating and shivering on the ground, but she was nowhere to be found.
“What the hell?! … Ilya?! … ILYA!!”
Noises returned from the distance. Something was moving away down the corridor they had come from. Jean ran with all her might until she was able to discern a soul.
“ILYA!” She didn't respond to calm her down. At first sight, it seemed as if her soul floated. However, after looking more thoroughly, she realized that someone was carrying her. His movements were strange. Perhaps due to the extremely thin body that surpassed even the most extreme anorexia.
“Hey, you! What are you doing to Ilya?!”
The man didn't flinch, and Jean didn't ask for explanations either; she simply shouted, invoking Nimireth's Rage increasing her Agility by 5. She began to quickly close the distance until Identify suddenly activated, surprising her.
?Undead Skeleton Player?
Alignment: Hostile
Level 36
Name: Lethann
Skills: [Blade Dance], [Mist Thrust], [Mist Slash]
Marks: [Bandit], [Thief], [Killer], [Torturer]
Details: The attributes of this player make him a difficult adversary for you in your current condition.
Highest Attribute (Toughness): 63
“WTF! A Player can be a skeleton?! … And even on top of that, he's harder than a rock.”
Whispers explained to her that certain players had skills to reanimate other players and put their bodies through three states after death. From zombie to skeleton, and lastly to wraith.
Jean equipped her shield within five paces of him. “What do you intend to do with Ilya, you bastard?”
Like a cacophony, a mixture of voices came from between the friction of his dry jaws. “You will be mine too!”
Jean couldn’t believe that he could speak. It was the whispers that let her know that it was a perception only possible with Linguist and Identify combined.
The skeleton raised the sword as it glowed. Jean relied on the memory of the slow preparation of the skill to plan her movements. It was the whispers that yelled, warning her to wake up.
With no need for prior preparation, the energy slash burst towards her, slightly cutting both walls of the corridor in its path. Blinded by the hundreds of sparks, she had no choice but to protect herself with the shield. However, even adding the brown imbued barrier was not enough.
A terrible pain struck her. Seconds after realizing the split shield and that the forearm failed her due to a cut that had shattered the ulna, her hip failed her and she fell to her knees. Blood gushed out in front of her incredulous eyes.
“You didn't die on the first try… Good material! The master will be pleased!”, the skeleton chuckled.
Jean shouted, summoning Nimireth's Rage again. She boosted her Wisdom and Agility, consumed 10 HP potions and overloaded the healing skill with the advanced Wisdom effect. She had never done it until now, she had never felt such fear.
Dozens of white trails circled around her body from her chest to her severe lacerations. Half of her mana dried up in just two seconds, and its pleasurable effect was eclipsed by a restorative sensation that bordered on pain.
She stored what was left of the broken shield and consumed 8 MP potions. Getting up was hell, but it was nothing compared to having to run for her life. The corridor was too narrow to draw the hammer and against such a high Toughness, she didn't think an edged weapon would damage him.
“Cowardly bitch, come and fight!”, the skeleton shouted as he ran after her.
Jean laughed out loud. Only a fool would fall for such a provocation. It wasn't the time to act brave in a place where she had no advantage. Still, her chest boiled with anger. She had Iya and time was against her.
After several seconds of escaping, Jean found it strange not to feel the skeleton's footsteps behind her. For an instant, she thought about looking back. She was right to keep running with all her might. Seconds later, whispers warned her that she was about to be decapitated.
She dove to the ground. She didn't get to see the energy slash above her pass, but the sparks and scuff marks against the walls that ended three meters ahead gave her an idea of its power.
Without a second thought, she continued running in the hope of getting out of the corridor. However, not everything was going to go as planned. The bandits had reached the room at the end. It was a bad time for another dance. Too many suitors.
“Fuck! Change of plans! I need gauntlets with elbow pads and metal-toed boots. Make sure they are very sturdy, and if possible, especially effective against undead. Spend what you have to spend, but leave room for potions.”
Again, she stopped listening to the footsteps behind her. She crouched again, but this time against the lower right corner in case the skeleton tried to trick her with a vertical slash. She waited and waited, but after turning around, she realized that it was no longer following her. The ones who were looking for her and had heard her were the bandits. Even so, none of them seemed to have the intention of moving deeper to look for her.
Jean deactivated Nimireth’s Rage and focused on recovering mana under the cover of darkness. She kept her eyes on a huge man who pushed his way through the bandits as he shouted. “Who is that demon fighting with?!”
“Maybe she fights with the thing we saw in the other area of the tunnels!”
“Let's get out of here, Jaqh! We have already lost enough men! It's too much! No treasure is worth losing our lives for!”
Jean recognized that voice. It was Zath's. From the way he was talking to that Jaqh guy, the one shouting had to be Bear. Jean couldn't see him clearly from there, but his voice felt as manly as Thor himself.
“You said before that she didn't look like a demon. Are you implying that the fading of the magic seals is not related to that woman? Do you really think it's just a coincidence?”
“I don't know what she is, but you can be sure she intends to kill us if we chase her. She told me so herself.”
“You talk to her?! Why didn't you attack her?!”
“After taking out eleven men in an instant? You want me to put your niece's life at risk?”
“And why the fuck did you bring her?!”
“With all due respect, Bear… I don't see a safer place right now than next to you!”, Zath assured calmly.
After a 10-second silence in which everyone nodded. “You, you and you, go up with the bows! If she comes out, you turn her into a fucking porcupine! You four, with me! You six, wait here! It's obvious she's still in there... What the hell are you waiting for? Go up with the archers, Zath!”
“I was thinking of accompanying you and leaving her in the care of the archers.”
“No! If anything happens to Erish, I'll kill you!”
Five men and three torches approached as she moved back. She could tell he had picked the strong and tall ones, but none reached his level. He was an authentic beast that barely made it into the corridor.
Jean couldn't retreat any further and risk being cornered by the skeleton. She waited until the last moment with Calm Mind and grabbed a stone that she hid behind her back. She again included Perception among the effects. When the whispers turned to screams and she had equipped what was left of the shield, she threw it over their heads.
The narrow and low corridor didn't help much. After slightly touching the ceiling, it ended up falling and exploding at the feet of the first four bandits. The remnants also reached Jean. Only one hit her in the right leg. Instead, they screamed in despair. Full of cuts and punctures, they recoiled back, crashing into Bear.
Before he angrily shouted for them to get out of the way, another stone exploded near their faces. This time, the explosion hit Jaqh squarely. His screams of rage resembled the roar of a bear. He was barely bleeding when the third blast occurred. That guy was either tough as stone or had overwhelming magical resistance.
Jean stepped back as she equipped a fourth stone, however, Identify put that idea out of her mind.
?Human Player?
Alignment: Hostile
Level ??
Name: Jaqh, aka Bear
Habilidades: [Charge Attack], [God Fist]
Marks: [Bandit], [Thief], [Killer], [Torturer], [Traitor]
Details: The attributes of this player make him an extremely difficult adversary for you in your current condition.
Highest Attribute (Strength): 59 (+15 more due to equipment)
“Extremely difficult? Just what I need…”
