New Story -- Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Groggily stretching as he awakened, Thaden felt a crick in his neck and instinctively cast Minor Regeneration upon himself. As the slight pain in his upper body muscles disappeared, the smell of old, dusty bones and muffled decay assaulted his senses, and he opened his eyes in shock.

“I’ve really got to stop falling asleep inside these dungeons,” he muttered to himself as the memory of where he was flashed back to him. He made sure his Minor Repulsion Field was active before he sat up and dusted himself off a little before looking around.

The final boss room looked pretty much identical to what it had been before he had collapsed in exhaustion. Piles of bones and an even larger pile of bone dust was scattered around the room where Arpath, The Bone Defiler, had met its end at Thaden’s hands, and he could only shake his head at how he had managed to survive that fight despite being outmatched and out-Leveled. It was only his quick thinking and determination – as well as an unlimited amount of Mana – that allowed him to survive, and he was extremely grateful to be alive.

He was tempted to check his message feed, but leaving the dungeon seemed more important to him at the moment; he really wanted to be out of there before anything else attacked him, thought he really didn’t want to have to backtrack through all those rooms again if he could help it. Fortunately, there was a glowing section of the wall near the bone throne that Arpath had vacated at the start of the fight, and he hoped that it indicated a shortcut out of there.

And perhaps some loot to go with it. More precisely, loot he might be able to actually pick up and use – which hadn’t been the case during his last experience in a dungeon.

Getting up from the floor, his stomach growled at him, indicating that he needed to eat something soon; unfortunately, he had consumed everything he had while in the dungeon, so he was going to have to wait until he found something or made it back to town. Thankfully, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been when he had practically starved to death after the Vogmite Tunnels Dungeon, though he thought it would get to that point if he didn’t eat within the next 12 hours or so.

Checking the bone dust that had been left behind after Arpath was slain, Thaden didn’t see anything of note that might be something he could carry. The large black bone staff the giant skeleton had carried was intact, but it wasn’t something that he could even carry; when he barely lifted one end of it with all his meager strength, he discovered that it wasn’t even something he could use – though it seemed valuable.

Defiler’s Bone Staff of Necromantic Manipulation (Epic) not compatible with current Class!

It was so heavy and large that he couldn’t drag it with him even if he wanted to, and he certainly couldn’t lift or use it. Letting it drop in disappointment with a thud, he moved onto the glowing portion of the wall he’d seen earlier. Standing in front of it, he reached out and touched it, only for the glow to disappear and the wall swung inward, revealing a short hallway inside that looked almost identical to the ones he’d already passed through to get to that point.

Walking inside, he was halfway down before the portion of the wall he had pushed open swung back into place with a *click* on its own, leaving him no way to get back to the Boss room. He only hoped that he wasn’t now trapped, though his feared were eased when he entered a treasure room only vaguely similar to what he’d seen in the Vogmite Tunnels – because there was a lot more here than that pitiful room back in the other dungeon.

“Jackpot!” he exclaimed, a huge smile on his face as he looked at 6 large chests of a better quality than he’d seen before, as well as a pair of weapon racks full of shiny-looking weapons. While he hadn’t gone into the dungeon with the intention of looting all the spoils at the end, he was excited to see what there might be.

Thaden ignored the racks for the moment, because he didn’t hold out any hope that he might be able to use any of them, so he moved to the nearest chest. Flipping it open, his smile only got wider as he picked up a large pouch that jingled with the sound of coins; looking inside, he saw a variety of copper and silver, but there was also 5 gold coins along with them. He didn’t take the time to count them all, but he thought that there was at least 6 and perhaps 7 gold worth of coins that he immediately put in his pack so that he wouldn’t have to carry it in his hands. Its weight was a welcome addition that he didn’t mind carrying around.

The lid to the next chest was flipped open… and he immediately disappointed when he found yet another shield he couldn’t use or carry. It was a large, black-colored shield with fancy silver embossing around the edges, and it was heavy enough that he could barely even lift it out of the chest before he was forced to drop it.

Black Bone Heater Shield of the Dead (Rare) not compatible with current Class!

He was slightly startled to find that the heavy shield was actually made of bone; he thought it might be iron or even lead for its incredible weight, but apparently he was wrong. As for it being “of the Dead”, he wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, though he supposed it was appropriate given the dungeon he was in.

The next chest held something he could actually pick up and place in his pack, though he couldn’t use it either. Fortunately, even though it tried to slip out of his hands, as soon as he intentionally tried to put it into the pack, it seemed to settle – as if it knew he wasn’t trying to wear it.

Shadow Cloak of the Dead (Rare) not compatible with current Class!

At best, he could sell it back in town; if not, he could at least give it away and not have to leave it here where it wouldn’t do any good. The slippery black fabric looked perfect for a stealthy type of person, which he could only assume some of the people from Earth might choose as a Class when they finally arrived. He still didn’t know what “of the Dead” meant, as this was the second time he had seen it, but he hoped to find out soon back in town.

Chest number four held some knee-high black bone boots that were entirely too heavy and large for him to lift, and even if he could get them near his pack, they were too large to fit into the opening.

Black Bone Boots of the Dead (Rare) not compatible with current Class!

Leaving them inside the chest, he opened the fifth chest to find something he desperately hoped he could use. Unfortunately, as he picked up the black bone staff, which was much, much smaller than the one that Arpath used, it seemed to fumble out of his fingers despite not weighing as much as the other black bone items.

Black Bone Staff of the Dead (Rare) not compatible with current Class!

Despondent about not finding anything for him, he turned to the last chest and lethargically opened it, expecting to be disappointed again, but this time he was pleasantly surprised when he lifted it out.

As he held up a robe made from a material so dark that it seemed to suck in the light, he didn’t feel it start to weigh any more or try to twist itself out of his hands. Looking closer, there were stitched silver accents along the sleeves that looked like skulls and different bones in an abstract way, and there was also a hood that had a silvery band of stitched symbols around its opening that appeared quite unusual. He wasn’t sure if the symbols were magical in nature, or just decoration, but he couldn’t help but think that it looked badass.

Dark Abyss Robe of the Dead (Rare) is compatible with current Class!

The name of the robe made him hesitate for a moment, given that it had both “Dark Abyss” and the now-familiar “of the Dead” moniker, but that only lasted for about 10 seconds before he pulled off his disgusting shirt and pants and slipped the robe over his head. The silky feel and almost oily feel of the fabric creeped him out a little at first, but almost as soon as it was settled over his frame, it felt like the finest silk against his bare skin.

It also seemed to send a jolt of energy through him that was both uplifting and painful, making him double over as he tried to figure out what was happening. Opening his Character Report, he discovered that something – which could only be his new robe – had altered his stats.

Health – 41/60 (+20)

Mana – 480/480 (+150)

Physicality – 6 (+2)

Celerity – 6 (+2)

Mentality – 48 (+15)

Personality – 1 (-3)

Fortuity – 8

There were (+) and (-) numbers next to every stat but Fortuity, and he was surprised to see that not only did his new robe give him a small +2 boost to Physicality and Celerity, but a whopping +15 boost to his Mentality. With the Robe, he could now cast every single spell he had access to, including Weak Resurrection, which had been too expensive before because of the tripled cost.

Unfortunately, at the same time, his Personality stat dipped by 3, bringing it all the way down to 1; he wasn’t sure if this was the maximum it would be reduced or if it just couldn’t go beneath 1, but that really didn’t matter. What mattered more was that everyone would probably look at him unfavorably now, just as they had when he walked into Ashcleft the first day and before his stats were increased. It appeared as though wearing something with skulls and bones stitched on it and it being “of the Dead” wasn’t going to win him any popularity contests.

But he didn’t care – because this was the first material possession that he’d earned, and he’d be damned if he was going to take it off just to satisfy other people. It might not be stylish, but it was comfortable, surprisingly warm for feeling like thin silk… and it didn’t stink like rotting flesh, decaying bone dust, and sulfur. He still smelled like that, but at least his clothes didn’t now.

Smiling at his new acquisition, especially after pulling the hood up and looking out from under the edge like some mysterious dark wizard, he got back to looting the treasure room. With the chests complete, he turned to the weapon racks, but he immediately realized that not much would be coming with him. All of them appeared to be made from some sort of dark iron material, and there was a single spear, a longsword, a spiky mace, a bow, and a dagger. The only one that he was able to slip into his pack was the dagger, as everything else didn’t fit.

Dark Iron Dagger (Uncommon) not compatible with current Class!

Unlike the items from the chests, all of the weapons on the racks were Uncommon in rarity, and they seemed fairly generic; there were no “of the Dead” monikers or anything like that – just fairly good quality weapons. At least as far as he could tell, not necessarily having a discerning eye toward such things, but they seemed to be well-made and didn’t have a spot of rust on them anywhere.

Disappointed at having to leave the rest, as he thought he could probably sell them for a good chunk of change, he sighed and lifted his pack back onto his back and looked around the treasure room to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. Seeing nothing else, Thaden noted that there was another glowing section of the wall past all the chests; moving over to it, he pushed on it gently and it rotated outward—

—which caused a strong breeze of fresh air to waft inside. Looking out of the opening, all he could see was darkness illuminated by the moonlight above, and dead trees a short distance away.

Huh. That’s handy. I’m already at the edge of the Mausoleum, meaning I don’t have to backtrack at all.

Walking outside, he wasn’t surprised when the opening in the wall he’d just passed through closed behind him; looking back at the carved stone relief on the dark wall, he couldn’t see any indication of where he had just exited. Granted, it was fairly hard to see with only moonlight for illumination, but he doubted he’d be able to see anything even in full sunlight.

It also turned out that he came out of the dungeon approximately 50 feet to the left of the entrance. As such he was able to orient himself – or as well as he could – and started to head toward where he thought he could pick up the road toward Ashcleft.

Walking through the dark, dead woods at night was a bit nerve-wracking, as he kept expecting a swarm of Phantasmal Shriekers to appear and swarm him, which was why he had his Minor Absorption Field up and ready for anything. However, the first Undead that he saw while walking through the skeletal trees didn’t even attack him, and it only took a second to figure out why.

Zombie Shambler – Minimal

Level 8

At only Level 8, the Zombie Shamber registered as so weak that it didn’t attack him, just like the beasts outside of Ashcleft. It was also quite slow compared to the Zombie Maulers that he had killed before, though it still looked like it could do some damage to someone if they weren’t prepared.

Needless to say, he left it alone as he walked through the dead forest, as well as the handful of other Undead he saw along the way.

Brittle Skeleton – Minimal

Level 6

Ghoulish Crawler – Minimal

Level 7

Phantasmal Spawn – Minimal

Level 9

It was frankly a relief to not have to worry about being attacked every step of the way back, as he was exhausted from the late night and hungry since his last meal was a while ago. Thankfully, he managed to find his way out of the forest thanks to there not being any fog present and he wasn’t forced to flee for his life, and soon enough he stumbled upon a familiar path that led southwest toward town. Shortly after regaining some semblance of direction, the world around him started to lighten as dawn approached like it was welcoming him home after such a harrowing experience.

Once his feet were started following the path which eventually led to a road, Thaden made sure he was adequately protected with his Minor Repulsion Field and Minor Regeneration before he finally looked at his message feed. There were quite a few messages about the Undead he’d slain, and at some point he stopped accumulating any more PICK. He even felt “full” inside his body, as if he couldn’t possibly fit any more, so he could only assume that he had hit his limit – which was confirmed by the messages, as well.

You have slain a Skeleton Warrior – Medial – Level 25!

No PICK received! PICK accumulation limit reached!

Please see a Support Class Representative for help in choosing your next Class! Until then, your accumulated PICK (180,000) will be held in reserve; you will not be able to increase your Level until you receive your new Class.

A familiar message indicated that he’d hit the 180,000 PICK capacity and that to make use of it – as well as likely being able to accumulate more – he’d have to see his Support Class Representative. I’m working on it; give me a break.

In addition to all of the “monster slain” messages, Thaden also advanced his competencies quite a bit. In fact, his Support Spellcasting Competency had not only caught up to his Defensive Spellcasting Competency but slightly surpassed it; Natural Regeneration Competency had also increased slightly, but only by a single Level.

Competencies:

Support Spellcasting Competency (Level 146, 26%)

Stronger Healing Advancement

Afterglow Advancement

Instant Gratification Advancement

Defensive Spellcasting Competency (Level 142, 87%)

Even Harder Protection Advancement

Extended Protection Advancement

Natural Regeneration Competency (Level 3, 42%)

Mana Management Competency (N/A)

He had no frame of reference whether those Competency Levels were good or not, as he didn’t really feel like anything had changed as they went up, but at least the Advancements had been beneficial. It would still be another 100 Levels or so before he acquired another Advancement, if the pattern stayed the same, so he wasn’t really worried about it right now.

Hopefully I’ll find out more when I see my “Representative”. I’ve got a lot of questions I’m hoping they’ll be able to answer.

After checking out all of the Competency messages, he dug into what was much more exciting to him and what mattered the most: New Achievements and his Quest completion. Rubbing his hands together in anticipation, he started to go through them all.