The group was led into a large open room. The ceiling had to be at least 15 feet in the air to form the structure with beams across the top. The lighting was dim; they used candles that appeared slightly magically infused. The decor reminded Ob of a themed medieval hotel; there were shields, banners, and animal heads that Ob had never seen besides one. A horse-like head with a single horn in the middle of his head. Ob couldn''t help but smile at the sight. The room had several pillars as support from the ground to the top. There were a couple of couches for seating, but the room''s design was straightforward: get your keys and go to your room or go outside. This was not a place to hang about.
And yet, people were hanging out. Three of them. Two of them were human men, twins, it seemed. One had black hair, the other had red. They both were small, with pointy teeth and sharp noses. They were carrying a sword and shield each. They wore chainmail armor and did not look happy to see the new team walk in. They both looked like they were well battle-tested, with scars littering their arms. Ob assumed they purposely wore sleeveless tunics to showcase the scars, an intimidation factor. Ob was not intimidated; he was actually far from it.
Scars, he thought, scars only show part of the story, the part you survived, which is good. They don''t show who caused the damage or how the scars were treated. Ob began to think back to when he got his first scar from running; he was getting ready for his heat, he was warming up, and he stepped on a rock, lost his balance, and scraped his knee on another rock. Hardly the heroic story that people might think; if anything, it shows how clumsy he was. He scratched absentmindedly at the scar on his eye, now covered by some eyebrow hair that had grown around it. He was walking home when he saw one of his younger sisters being harassed by some neighborhood boys. Ob sprinted in with a flying jump kick, landing one straight in the chest and sending him flying. Ob was then elbowed by the other guy; it wasn''t a hard elbow, but facial wounds bleed easily. Blood was pouring out his eye, and he turned to face the other bully; the bully lunged at Ob, but he dodged it and kicked the guy in the thigh with force. The bully fell to that side, screaming in pain; Ob then kicked his other side with the same force. The bully, screaming in pain and holding back tears, was grabbing both legs and bent over; he didn''t see the devastating punch to the temple that came from Ob; he was knocked out. "Now that was a scar that was a story of triumph," Ob thought with pride, thinking back on the time.
These guys, their scars looked like they willingly ran into thorn bushes and did nothing to treat their wounds. Instead of looking tough, they looked like idiots. Next to the twidiots as Ob called them, was a huge minotaur, half man, half ox. The bottom half was that of a powerlifter man, with thick muscular legs attached to an equally thick and muscular torso. The head was that of a minotaur bull head with two long, pointy gray horns. He had his massive hands on the hilt of a big claymore resting on the ground. His eyes were two little red beads staring at them with disgust.
As they got to the front desk, Lani had gone into the back to grab their keys. Two more beings walked in the front door. These two looked like the other Succubus, tall, purplish skin, walking with sultry. They wanted the whole world to know that they were sexy and weren''t afraid to use it to their advantage. They approached Ob and hissed, "What are you doing here?"
"Hello to you, too," Ob responded without looking at him. One Succubus stayed next to Ob, and the other went to the other side where Abigail stood.
"I did not exchange pleasantries, peasant; I asked you a question. Now answer it." The one closest to Ob hissed again.
"What is your name, M''lady?" Ob said in a somewhat mocking tone.
"You dare mock me? Diedra, the new leader of the Dark Wings?" Diedra spat.
"Congratulations on the new role, heard your old leader got burnt out," Ob said with a straight face, just now looking at Diedra. To his surprise, she was more human-looking than a demon; this shocked him since the voice was one straight from the depths of hell. She had a large button nose with dimples on her right cheek. Her eyes were purple, and she wore purple lipstick. Ob was impressed and thought, Magic HAS to be making everyone more attractive, right?
Diedra''s face twisted in anger. "You insolent little ant! How dare you make a joke at the dead. For one who you had the gall to kill, you dare speak ill of the dead, do you?"
"I," Ob said calmly, his voice slowly turning to ice, "did not speak of her at all. I don''t know Diedra, but you and your 4 buddies best get to steppin up out of my face. I am tired of people strolling around me, acting like they are hot shit. You are not. Move or join your former leader," Eclipse growled a growl of agreement.
"A threat?" the Minotaur spoke up. His voice was impossibly deep. "That''s ballsy from a freshly minted bronze," he said, smelling the air as if he could smell the fresh bronze advancement on Ob.
Ob noticed that Vincent and Abigail kept quiet with two different facial expressions expressing the same thing. Shock. Vincent''s face was that of a best friend, shocked and proud that his friend had just said something crazy for once. Abigail''s face, however, was one of a mother shocked her little innocent child would say such horrible things. Ob was usually milder. He knew he had the capacity but did not like it. However, Ob was tired. He is tired of daily dealing with people who are so self-righteous that they make a living here so unbearable. He was tired of feeling that people could just treat him like garbage because of his level. He has only been here for 4 days and is still exhausted by it. What would it have been like to actually grow up here?
His thoughts were interrupted by an intense aura being smashed into his. It was the same one that the other Succubus tried. He pretended to be scared again, watching his strength stat slowly increase. Without further conversation, the twins leaped into action; they both started sprinting towards Ob, swords at the ready. The red-haired one went in for a swing, then backed off and hid behind his brother''s shield. The swing missed Ob and landed on an invisible shield. Ob looked to see Abigail''s eyes glowing, and she was chanting something. "Let the shield protect." Ob was able to translate in English; it must sound better in the elf tongue. Ob activated his Cloak. It expanded to the size of a king sized sheet. It folded over him and shorded him in total black and he disappeared into the shadows just as a bright white flame erupted toward the shields of the twins. The shield held off most of the flame. Not all of it; the black-haired human''s arms were severely burnt, and he could no longer use the shield or fight. He screeched in pain, spat towards Eclipse, and made for the door. As he was almost at the exit, an arrow entered his thigh; with another shriek of pain, he looked to see another arrow hit him in the shoulder.
Vincent fired arrows in many directions to protect his healer and girlfriend. Vincent saw the glorious attack of Eclipse and was once again in awe. He shook himself from that and saw one of the little men running for the door, "Not so fast there," he said with a smile, launching the first arrow into the thigh to stop him in his tracks, then loaded and launched the second arrow into the shoulder of the man, pinning him to the wall. Vincent took a second to appreciate this bow given to him by his now-dead grandma. Vincent didn''t have an ability like Abigail or Ob to identify the rarity of items; he would have to let one of them test it out for him to see, but instinctively, he knew this was divine.
Vincent was brought back from his thoughts into his fight as he heard a war cry from the Minotaur charge him; simultaneously, he was slammed with the seductive aura. He felt the sudden urge to shoot Abigail; the aura was strong. He was doing everything he could to fight it but couldn''t help but draw his bow, grimacing towards Abigail. "Vincent, what the hell are you doing?" She said, ducking out of the way of an arrow fired from her boyfriend at her.
Abigail began to chant another spell, "Rush forward, pulses of health." shining from her hands, a circle of pink formed and moved towards Vincent, then another one formed, then another, then another. Seven circles were moving towards Vincent at this point. The first one connected and splashed pink waves all over him, circle after circle. Vincent was being splashed with these pulses of health. Eventually, with the strength from the pulses, he could fight the aura with his own. He broke free. He was no longer under the control of the Succubus. "Thanks, Abs!" he said, gasping for air.
"Let the shield protect," she chanted again, this time over Vincent, "I purged you from the first effects. That new spell should protect you from any other aura attacks. They pose the biggest threats. We need to handle them."
Just as she finished that sentence, razor-sharp claws came right at her throat, and she ducked just in time. Diedra, the new leader, was noticeably fuming angrily now that her aura had been broken. She lunged at the enchantress, seeking to gain any blow. As she went to lunge one more time, she felt something pulling her leg. She turned around to see Ob holding her leg and getting ready to throw her across the room. She flapped her powerful wings and twirled in the air, watching as Ob was thrown a couple of feet back. "YOU" She spat.
This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
She changed her target and started towards Ob. She pulled out a thorny black whip. It dragged along the ground beside her, tearing up the rugs like butter. Ob''s eyes widened; he could not let that thing touch him. He activated his Cloak once again and entered into the shadow background, to hide his presence. This was an odd sensation. He could not see, only feel. It also did not remove him from the physical space, only hide his appearance. What he felt was very powerful. The aura of Diedra reached out to where he once was, noticing he was behind her. He reappeared and kicked her in the back just like he had to those teenage bullies, but this time, it was with maximum force. The Succubus slammed into the wall and grunted in pain; the wall she landed into had shields, some of which had spiked, and she was starting to get cut. This time, Diedra started chanting something, "Be it now or be it later, suffer the curse of a hater." A dark purple mist formed around her, and she was sent flying towards Ob once again. He jumped into the shadows, he was getting used to projecting his senses to help him see and move around. He was getting used to dodging this way. Ob reappeared and kicked her again into another way, but the cloud was following him. It surrounded him, and he began choking; all he could see was purple. The smoke was slowly poisoning him, and he was losing vision. A whip came snapping out of the purple cloud and struck Ob in the leg, leaving deep gashes; he screamed. Blood was now pouring out of his leg while he was still choking.
Ob could feel his health drop rapidly. Ob''s vision was getting more and more blurry the longer he stayed in this haze. He used his Cloak again to disappear into the shadows. He knew the smoke would follow this time, but he had an idea. "Hey, Eclipse, you mind flapping your wings over this purple smoke so I can deal with Diedra?" Without words, Eclipse did just that; as Ob returned, he could finally see the Succubus ready to lash her whip again. As she did, he jumped into the shadows to appear right behind her and let out a huge blue flame, using dragon''s breath. The fire managed to enter Diedra''s cuts and start to burn her from the inside out, just like in the last battle.
She whirled in anger and pain, rage painting her face. She was not going to let this lowly bronze kill her. She had to survive; she had to win. Desperation set in, and she reached inside her bag to pull out a vile; she smashed the glass all over her head and felt the liquid pour out. She began to scream in pain as the cuts and bruises began to close. What were once open wounds are now scars. The scars started to protrude sickly thorns that matched her whip. Diedra smiled a smile that would give Pennywise nightmares, her eyes no longer that sweet purple. They were completely black, her joints now thorns; she started slowly jerking towards Ob, readying her whip.
"What the hell," Ob said, backing away from this nightmarish creature. "What the hell!" Ob said, walking backward, mind reeling. "I definitely can''t punch and kick her anymore. I need a weapon, I need long-range magic attacks, I need something. ANYTHING."
Item: Dark Heart VON said out of nowhere as if he was responding to Ob.
Keystone Item
Legendary
Consume the dark heart to unlock a legendary-level skill to an open skill. You have three skills available. Would you like to use them? Yes/No? Caution: there is a chance this goes to an "undecided" power and skill; once decided, the skill cannot be replaced. Run the risk of getting a skill unrelated to your "undecided." Still use? Yes/No?
"I best not take anything risky right now at this moment; let''s call it a fail-safe," Ob said, denying the item. That last dragon''s breath did not do too much on his manna consumption. Only a quarter was taken away. He had to think and had to think fast.
Eclipse flapped her wings for Ob so he could continue his fight with Deidra. She turned her attention back to her opponent. It was the other Succubus; this Succubus was slow. However, her attacks were powerful. Eclipse was agile for a dragon, but this was a confined space where she could usually fly and do her attacks. She couldn''t escape too high. Frustrated, she had to think of a different strategy. She then remembered she had gotten the ice breath power; she shot ice at the feet of the Succubus. The Succubus began to lose her footing; just then, Eclipse came flying in, smashing her tail into the side of the Succubus and sending her flying into a pillar. She completely split the pillar in two on impact and broke the next two, finally smashing into a wall. Purple blood started trickling out of her mouth and nose. With another blast of ice breath, Eclipse from the Succubus to the wall. With a big breath, she blasted a massive white fireball toward the succubus icicle, completely incinerating it right then and there.
Abigail was getting frustrated, seeing her friends being attacked and knowing she couldn''t do anything about it. "Wait, I can! I think I need to touch them; we have to kill the Succubus, and then the others might be freed!" Abigail yelled.
"Everyone, close your eyes," Eclipse spoke into their heads. She used her solar eclipse ability. The shimmering orange and red grew brighter and brighter like the sun, and then the black scales covered the sun to still have the brightness but intensify like a solar eclipse. The opponents were screaming at how badly their eyes were hurting. They could not see a thing.
Vincent acted as soon as they started screaming. He opened his eyes and began firing arrows at the Diedra monstrosity. The arrows bounced off some of her spikes. "Damn," he swore. He fired three more arrows, aiming to be more precise, each arrow landing in a different spot. One landed in her temple, one in her side, and the other in her thigh. Diedra screamed. The scream of banshees is high pitched and jarring. Diedra was now blind, in pain, and dying fast. She wasn''t sure what happened, but she knew that she was going to lose this fight. It was coming to an end. There was nothing she could do. Just as she began to take another step, a tall man stood in front of her, eyes full of rage; the last thing she saw was a blue fireball being hurled toward her. She was burnt alive.
As Diedra, the final Succubus, lay dead, the Minotaur and the twins start shaking their heads clear. They were clear of that pervasive aura. "Ugh, thank you." The Minotaur said, "They have been controlling us for a few weeks now. Damn, beasties. We''re sorry we attacked you a lot. Thanks for not killing us. We''d love to repay you somehow."
Ob, coughing from the smell of two burnt Succubus, imagined the smell would be like finding rotting roadkill and then burning it in a sauna. "Don''t worry about it. Vincent here shot at his girlfriend because of that aura."
"Thanks for the reminder, Ob," Vincent said sheepishly. While grabbing Abigail''s hand, "You did great." Kissing her on the cheek.
"How were you not affected by the aura?" The black-haired twin asked.
"Now, that''s an expensive secret. Y''all have some safe travels. We must be going." Eclipse interrupted. The Minotaur took the hint, disappointed the black-haired twin didn’t ask anymore questions. Each party shook hands and departed from each other. The other party was limping away, sustaining significant injuries but being alive.
Status: Enemy defeated - Diedra, Leader of the Dark Wings
Reward - 7500 gold pieces
Reward - Succubus wings
Reward - Succubus horns
Reward - Tentacle of the Dark
Enemy Defeated - Succubus
Reward - 3000 gold pieces
Reward - Succubus wings
Reward - Dark Stone
Level Up - Skill: Stalker
Stalker is now level 7. Stalker has advanced to bronze tier. Stalker has unlocked the ability to completely hide in the shadow realm.
Level Up - Skill: Dragon''s Breath
Dragon''s Breath is now level 10
Level Up - Skill: Dragon''s Hide
Dragon''s Hide is now level 6
Level Up - Power: Draconian Ally
Draconian Ally is now level 8
Level Up - Power: Slayer
Slayer is now level 3. Slayer has advanced to bronze tier. Slayer has unlocked the ability to learn about weaknesses off monsters.
Level Up - Ob
Ob is now level 4
34 attribute coins have been added to your pile total coins: 34
"Well, it''s now dark, and everything is closed," Ob told the group after looking over his spoils and notifications. "Maybe we try to find a shop for food and healing stuff, then head back to the cave?"
"Let me heal; it will help me level up." Abigail said, "But yes, food sounds very nice right now." The rest of the group nodded in agreement and set off. As they headed out the door, a familiar voice cried out for them to wait.
"My friends, my friends, I have sent you into a trap. I am in deepest apologies; let me make it up to you with a feast, a feast!" A scared-looking Lani said he knew he had just messed with some mighty people. It might not have been his fault, but he still felt remorse.
Ob looked at the group, most specifically Eclipse; she gave him a slow nod and spoke to him. "I am sure you sense the same as I do. He is no longer under the influence of the Succubus." Ob nodded, confirming that he had sensed the aura of the Succubus; that is how he knew they were walking into a trap. I really need to train; there is so much for me to learn, he thought to himself and Eclipse.
The group agreed to Lani''s proposal; he showed them their room, a large master suite. The suite had three large rooms, the size of a small city studio apartment. A large living room with couches and a large circular dining room table was between the rooms. As the meal was being prepared, Ob went to clean himself off. Abigail had gone to each of the drawn baths and used one of her healing powers to set the water to heal, "let these waters cleanse the wounds of battle." The water glowed teal green like her eyes do when she is in battle.
Ob, still amazed by magic, watched as the gashes on his leg slowly closed and the pain faded away. Ob stared at his leg, which was beginning to heal. He watched as the wounds closed, his skin reformed, and his blood faded. "Wow, this is amazing." He blew some fire into the water to increase the temperature; after all, he could not burn. Ob closed his eyes, took a warm, healing bath, and waited for a hot meal to arrive.