Unbound Deathlord: Challenge Read online

  'Kill to Survive' was the name of the skill I had chosen together with darkvision. Both were magic skills and were now on level one; using them a lot would level them up. Leveling them up would make them stronger and grant me new magical skills.

  I really wanted to do some real magic, like throwing fireballs. Not that I would be able to do so any time soon. I had chosen death magic to heal myself, since I was a solo player, and because deathlords had a ten percent efficiency bonus to death magic. And I had chosen darkness magic because of the darkvision, which would be much safer than walking around with fire, as had already been proven by my actions. But as soon as possible I'd start on the fire path.

  I was very into mages. Granted, kicking people in the face or hitting them with pipes was fun, both in Valia and in the real world, but killing people just by thinking about it was way cooler.

  For now, everything my mighty death element magic skill did was heal me by one HP. It was so pathetic after the hard fight that I laughed. I had five stamina remaining; one extra attack or dodge and I would have become unable to move for five minutes.

  There were two exclamation point buttons visible now, one of them with a brand new 'T'.

  Trait received: Shadow

  You have learned how to pass unnoticed by your enemies.

  » Sound and smells reduced by 1% while hiding

  Traits were like another kind of attributes in that they both affected what the character could do and how well he could do it. Also, the trait points were added to the attribute points before dividing by ten to determine the overall character level; I was currently level zero.

  Even if they helped with the character level, traits came with a few setbacks: they were a whole lot harder to level up, were not all known and had to be unlocked by the character actions.

  The trait system was the closest thing Valia had to a traditional class system that divided people into warriors, rogues, mages, archers, bards, and so on.

  Discovering the shadow trait was interesting. The first stealth skill players could get made it harder only to see the character, not hear and smell, so a player going for the stealth path would also need the shadow trait to become more effective. It was a nice touch, as traits were leveled up by acting in the right way while skills did so by continuous usage. Combining both would lead to a deep and immersive character – a real ninja in this case.

  I checked the other exclamation point.

  Willpower increased to 1 (+1)

  Fighting to the brink of exhaustion requires a lot of willpower.

  » Stamina: 100 (+5)

  Willpower increases stamina? Well, I guess a willful person will go further than one who gives up early. Why doesn't it also apply to MP, though?

  For the next nine minutes, I remained seated there. Thanks to my one point in constitution I recovered ten stamina – nine base points plus the constitution value – and one HP per minute if I was resting. When my stamina was full, and my HP got back to eighty-six, I took the ghouls' equipment.

  Corroded Copper Sword

  » 25 (+2 [Strength]) physical damage

  Corroded Small Copper Shield

  » Resistance: 50%

  The shield's resistance was used for any damage that had to pass the physical barrier of the shield to get to me. Blades, spears, arrows, fireballs, ice spikes, it all fell into that category. Lightning, life magic, and other stuff usually didn't.

  I took the new weapon and strapped the shield to my arm, leaving the pipe on my belt. One of the shirts became a makeshift bag where I put the two new pair of shoes while the two belts became bindings for the extra sword, which I carried in my shield hand with the bag for now.

  It was an RPG law: take everything possible for selling later. There was no way to take the extra shield, though.

  Although I'd probably get back to this corridor to save the prisoner, there were no guarantees so I decided to bring everything with me.

  I put the other shirt and the two extra pants over what I was wearing. While handling the pants I found hidden pockets sewn inside them with a silver coin in each. Sweet. Was this a bonus for listening to the conversation earlier? If so, it was an interesting touch to the game that would slightly change the way I played. Listening to enemies' conversations wasn't useless anymore.

  Two silver coins and a few items richer, I hid the corpses, the shield, and the torch in the A-2 cell and went on.

  None of the other rooms had anything whatsoever, and I finally got to the end of the corridor, where the two ghouls had stood. Only a single torch remained at the beginning of the stone stairs. Contrary to the uneven stone floor until now, the stairs were perfectly cut.

  A door was at the end of the stairs, slightly ajar. I silently looked inside.

  Two more ghouls were in there, seated in front of each other, a table between them. Both were asleep with their heads on the table. It was a small room, with no furniture besides the table, chairs and a single torch on the wall, with another door on the other side of the room. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of perfectly cut stone, too.

  I took utmost care as I slowly entered the room. The ghouls' shields were on the table with some copper and silver coins scattered on it. The coins, two empty bottles of wine, and some cards made it clear what they had been doing. I put my bag and wrapped sword on the floor and positioned myself behind the nearest ghoul.

  With one hand I blocked his mouth, and with the other I struck his neck with the sword. I felt the blade cut through flesh and scratch bone and felt a chill down my spine. He managed to open his eyes, but couldn't even move before dying.

  Attacked a sleeping target for 2.0x damage!

  Sneak attack for 2.0x damage!

  Critical hit for 2.0x damage!

  162 slash damage dealt to Ghoul

  HP: 0 / 53 <?>

  Blood poured from the wound and covered the table. It shone gruesomely on the torchlight and the foul smell of it made bile come to my mouth.

  Part of me wanted to feel bad, knew I should feel bad. It was a gruesome scene, the bloodied sword in my hands, the blood covering the table, the eyes of the dead ghoul wide open.

  But I didn't. They were game characters and had been put there by the game designers so that they could be killed. More importantly, they were my enemies and would kill me if they had the chance.

  The Underworld was no place for mercy.

  Instead, I had the opposite reaction: I felt amazed at the realism of it all and wanted just to do it again. Which I did; the second ghoul also died in his sleep. I took the coins and cleaned the blood on the clothes of the dead as if it was the most common thing in the world. Seven silver and three copper richer, I took all the ghouls' equipment that I could and proceeded to the door.

  Never before in my life did I open a door so slowly. On the other side of it I saw an enormous hall. On the wall to my right there were big wooden double doors. To the left, a large staircase that divided in the middle and lead to two doors upstairs. On the first floor there were eight metal doors, each with a letter engraved on it, from A to H, four on each side of the room. I was on the A-door, closest to the staircase.

  There were torches on the walls, all lit, but thankfully no enemies were there. I closed the A-door and walked in a crouched position to the B-door. Again I opened it as slowly as possible.

  A room just like the one at the A-door was there, but this one had no ghouls, its torch unlit on the wall. I entered, closing the door behind me just in case. The door to the cells corridor was open, and no lights were visible in there. Even so, I checked all the cells, every single one of them open and empty, except for the last cell which had a lone copper coin that hardly paid for the time it took me to get there.

  Back to the big hall, I went for the C-door. As I slowly opened the door, I heard a woman scream.

  Jack Thorn

  Unbound Deathlord

  Level 0

  Hit Points:100 / 100

  Mana Points:100 / 100


  Stamina:100 / 100

  Attributes:

  Strength:1

  Agility:1

  Dexterity:1

  Constitution:1

  Intelligence:1

  Perception:1

  Willpower:1

  Charisma:1

  Traits:

  Shadow:1

  2. Red Hot Chili Bones

  'A world without bribes is like a machine without oil. '

  - Father

  "I don't know! I swear by Lathar! I don't know!" She cried and desperately yelled some words between screams of pain.

  Two loud cracks were followed by even louder screams and a genderless voice.

  "Speak, human! Where is he? Where is the Resistance man you were supposed to meet that day?"

  "I don't-" She began to reply, but another crack interrupted her and she screamed again.

  "Stop lying! If you don't, I will bring new toys next time I come. Do you want that? Do you?"

  "No! Oh, Lathar, please, no. Please. I don't know-" Again she was interrupted by cracks.

  I kept listening as I opened the door. The room had a lit torch, and a ghoul was leaning on the opposite door, looking at the corridor with his back to me.

  Holding my breath, I entered the room, closed the door to the hall, put my bag and surplus swords on the floor and walked as noiselessly as possible. When I got behind him, I did almost the same as I had done to the sleeping ghouls. One hand closed his mouth while the other quickly put a sword through his neck. Sneak attack and critical hit: instant kill.

  I dropped the corpse gently on the floor to prevent sounds and walked downstairs. A little further into the corridor, right next to the C-1 cell, there were two other ghouls, one to each side of the door. They had their backs to the wall, and one of them was smoking a straw cigarette, which gave out a strong smell that almost made me cough.

  How fun would it be, having an all cool shadow trait and getting discovered because I coughed at cigarette smoke?

  There was no way to approach without being seen, so I charged full speed ahead, my sword held in front of me. I aimed for the neck, but the ghouls saw me and moved, forcing me to lower the sword and hit the first one's stomach instead. I stepped back as he counterattacked.

  "Intruder!" He yelled. It became a fight against the two ghouls, but they were slow, and the sword did a lot more damage than the pipe. Dodging two swords was harder than one, but still doable.

  I'm no intruder, idiot. I'm escaping, I thought as I killed them. I was panting at the end, with only twenty stamina left. I could hear no movement inside the room, so I took the time to check the new exclamation point that had appeared.

  Agility increased to 2 (+1)

  Fighting two enemies and not getting damaged has sharpened your reflexes.

  Constitution increased to 2 (+1)

  By repeatedly fighting to near exhaustion, your body becomes more used to harsh treatment.

  » HP: 110 (+10)

  » Stamina: 110 (+10)

  Level up!

  Current level: 1

  HP, MP and stamina restored

  My very first level. It had taken me half an hour to get to level one, which was a little too much. On the other hand, I had only killed six enemies. Recovering all my HP, MP, and stamina was a pleasant surprise. Instantly, all the tiredness left my body, and my breath went back to normal.

  Sweet. And a little scary that the game has so much control over how I feel.

  My stamina back, I charged again, this time into the room.

  I was met with a ball of fire flying directly at my head.

  Somehow I put the shield on the way just in time to block and wondered if I would have been able to do it if my agility had not just increased. How exactly did these attributes affect my virtual body and my perception of it? I had just witnessed the system remove all my tiredness, so it was an interesting line of thought.

  All considerations left my mind the moment the ball of fire exploded on the shield. The unexpected force of the explosion made my arm jerk back, and the shield hit my face. The fire burned my clothes and heated my head.

  20 shock + 2 burn damage received (22 total)

  HP: 88 / 110

  Shock damage was the damage that went through the shield, which I lowered slightly to check the room.

  It was an ordinary cell, but there was something very disturbing about it: a woman in underwear was hanging by chains on her wrists. She was in the center of the room, her blood pouring from lots of livid red wounds. Her hair had been crudely shaved, with patches here and there, and she was looking down, sobbing. It was such a sorry scene that it was enough to make me understand why it was necessary to be of age to play an Underworld species.

  Before her stood a living skeleton. Its bones were red, and so were his clothes: a leather jacket with straps closures, leather pants, and boots. Without any meat on the skeleton's body, the clothing was loose. It held a whip in its hand.

  "Ah, a deathlord! Come, let me give you your final death!" It lashed the whip at me.

  The torture scene had caught me by surprise, and I just stood there, waiting for the skeleton to move. I snapped out of it as the whip came at me and put the shield up again.

  The hit was too powerful, and the shield broke into pieces, the whip hitting my forearm after that.

  Your shield has broken

  36 slash damage received

  HP: 52 / 110

  I felt so much pain that I almost fainted, my vision becoming blurred for half a second. It made me fearful, which in turn made me furious, and I attacked the skeleton head on.

  A laugh came from the skeleton as it opened its jaw and a small flame appeared inside. One second later the flame flew to me, becoming bigger as it left the mouth. It was too close to dodge and positioned myself to take it in the chest.

  36 fire + 8 burn damage received (44 total)

  HP: 8 / 110

  It hurt a lot and made me stumble. I could smell my burnt skin. The heat and the pain were so intense I just wanted to curl someplace cold and cry. Just the air passing by my neck and chest as I moved was painful enough to make tears come to my eyes. If it wasn't for my street fighting experience in the real world, I'd probably have done just that.

  As it was, I let out a cry of pain and fury and hit the skeleton in the head with my sword, using all the power I could muster.

  The sword hit and bounced from the skull, not even leaving a mark.

  4 slash damage dealt to Red Skeleton

  What? Four damage? And I just took forty-four? Is this even serious?

  After a leap back, the skeleton, still laughing, used the whip and I reflexively put the sword on the way. The whip wrapped around the blade and with a pull from the monster I was left without it.

  This is ridiculous!

  Desperate, I took the pipe from the belt, closed the distance and swung with my full force on its arm. A tiny crack appeared on the bone, and the skeleton gave out a yell of pain.

  12 blunt damage dealt to Red Skeleton

  Of course! Different species and races reacted differently to certain types of damage. Skeletons had nothing to fear from slashing and piercing while having their bones smashed was a nightmare.

  The skeleton tried to step back again, but I accompanied it. It stopped laughing, and another fireball started to form inside its mouth. The pipe met its head.

  13 blunt damage dealt to Red Skeleton

  Disrupted spell-casting for 12 pure damage

  Spell disrupting, the eternal weakness of mages and the reason they had to be protected by allies.

  Keeping close to the torturer and attacking it with the pipe made the fight fairly easy. Half a minute later the skeleton received the final hit and its bones dismantled.

  I was panting again. A dark semi-transparent energy raised from the bones and entered my body, healing one HP.

  Man, this game is hard! And killing this skeleton is for a C+ rank quest too. To be fair, killing it was easy after I got the
gist of it.

  Strength increased to 2 (+1)

  Hitting enemies with all your might makes you even mightier.

  Dexterity increased to 2 (+1)

  Each time you hit your mark you get better at it.

  Willpower increased to 2 (+1)

  Resisting pain and purposefully taking spells takes a lot of willpower. Or idiocy.

  » Stamina: 115 (+5)

  Wait, had the game just called me an idiot? It had not been smart to do that, but it was not nice to be told so. I wondered if it was enough for a suit.

  Trait received: Antimage

  You hate enemy mages. Well, you hate enemies, but the mages even more so.

  » -10% damage needed to disrupt enemy spell casting

  I was in pain, but considerably less than I thought I should be, and it was fading away too quick. The four shirts I was wearing were torn apart on my chest level, and my flesh was still hot. Still, I only felt as if hot water had been poured across the area.

  My forearm was the worst. It had already stopped bleeding, but I felt it pulsating in a slightly more painful way than my chest. In a fit, I spat on the red skull of the skeleton.

  A quiet sob made me remember the woman. She had been looking at my back, but as soon as I turned to her she gasped, and her eyes widened.

  "D-deathlord..." She said terrified.

  How does she know? How did the skeleton know?

  She was a medium boned woman with green eyes. Not gorgeous, but certainly comely. Her lack of hair and sore eyes made her look fragile. Or maybe it was the blood all over her body. As she watched me looking at her, she tried to twist weakly, but her feet chained to each other and her body weakness made it too difficult.