Rebirth: Rise of the Slave Master

Chapter Six: The Twin Snakes

[Desert Serpent King] Lv. 10 Elite

The [Desert Serpent King] was a massive snake-type beast that only spawned beneath the giant Withered Ash Tree. Naturally, the tree was found on the peak of the First Journey Cape, the final grinding spot for new players outside of Oasis.

Although they called it a cape, the only sea it happened to overlook was a sea of sand. As legend had it, this whole area was once a bountiful ocean, and the withered old tree that grew atop this lookout was supposedly all that was left of the once-lush scenery. Of course, Theo had no way of knowing if this was true or not, but it didn’t change the fact that this was now an awkwardly jutting, jagged outcropping of dirt and stone that rose over the patchy barrens below.

The area itself was crawling with all kinds of snake monsters, which would prove to be quite the challenge when players finally made their way here. Snakes were notoriously hard to land a proper blow on and could hit you with debilitating status effects like Poison and Bind. On the other hand, they had comparatively worse damage and HP.

Theo had butchered his way through various enemy types on the way here, each of which was designed to introduce players to a new aspect of the game’s combat. As soon as his [Beginner Polearm Mastery] reached a high enough level, he would move on and wipe out the next camp. After maxing out at level 10, it had upgraded to [Lesser Polearm Mastery] Lv.1 and brought Theo up to character level 8.

Most skills and items in the game followed a set progression of Beginner -> Lesser -> Basic -> Intermediate -> Journeyman -> Advanced -> Expert -> Master -> Grandmaster.

With the addition of the next content update, Heroic-tier would be added, followed by the God-tier in the update after that. Lesser-tier skills usually didn’t show up until after level 10, so Theo had quite the head start.

[Fend]

FWOOSH!

Theo twirled the [Fine Iron Spear] and swept it from side to side, kicking up dirt and gravel as if digging a rough line in the sand. Three nearby snakes were unceremoniously catapulted backwards, with little damage numbers floating up above their bodies. Only the double-sized [Desert Serpent King] was unaffected.

This was the skill which automatically unlocked upon reaching [Lesser Polearm Mastery]. Unlike [Lunge], which let him charge quickly in one direction and make a more powerful attack, [Fend] let him attack every enemy in an arc in front of him. Although each of the attacks did a pitiful amount of damage, it also knocked the enemy back, allowing the player to catch their breath.

Managing distance with knockback skills was an all-important task for a melee damage dealer like Theo, since he wouldn’t be able to take but two hits before dying against higher level enemies. Many of the harder working players were level 4 or 5 by now, with a few oddballs reaching level 6 soon. Although they had lower levels than Theo, they had also been playing the game for the past five days.

Most of them had a more balanced build than he did, as well a full set of runes and various defensive skills leveled up. Theo, who only killed monsters and never did quests, hadn’t received any rewards from the NPCs. He had spared zero time to travel back and forth between town and was still using the [Fine Iron Spear] and [Novice Core Rune] he had received in the tutorial.

[Lunge]

After knocking back the [Royal Serpent Brood] minions that the [Desert Serpent King] summoned, Theo used Lunge to charge at one of the disorderly anaconda-sized snakes and stabbed his spear at it.

Combo x2! Critical Hit!

-351

-117

HSSTH ~ MISS!

That said, the damage that Theo could dish out with his seven straight levels of Strength pumping was nothing to laugh at. He followed up with another quick stab before he was forced to dodge a strike from the [Desert Serpent King]. The fangs of the massive reptile tasted bitter failure as its target was nowhere to be found, and it turned to look at the nimble Theo with hateful eyes.

Certain skills could be used in a combo attack to greatly boost the damage they dealt. Activating [Lunge] after knocking an enemy away with [Fend] was one such combo, and one of Theo’s favorites. Most skills that were from the same weapon proficiency could be comboed together, though thousands of other possible combinations could be found with enough time.

Combos were a fighter’s most important tool, as they could let the player deal more damage up close than from afar. Very few ranged or magical attacks could produce a combo effect, and it would usually result in only a bit of a extra damage or a status effect. Of course, it was also far more dangerous to be standing close to the enemy than attacking safely from range, so characters like Theo had a much higher mortality rate in Dream World Online.

“Dumb snake! Just be a good boy and give up those eyeballs!” Theo barked at the monster.

Elite enemies like the [Desert Serpent King] had a more advanced AI than monsters of the same level, as well as much higher attributes. They were somewhere between a boss monster and a normal trash mob like the [Royal Serpent Brood]. Even so, it was still a low-level monster and a beast-type to boot, so it wouldn’t prove a challenge to anything but Theo’s patience.

[Fend]

-33. Knockback!

-31. Knockback!

-35. Knockback!

-22. Knockback resisted!

Again, the massive [Desert Serpent King] resisted Theo’s skill effect.

[Lunge]

Combo x2!

-189

The snake struck back immediately.

MISS!

The battle took roughly 15 minutes to draw to a close, which was a shockingly long time to manage the attacks of three monsters and an elite enemy without being hit even once. Despite his boosted damage, Theo’s attacking speed was severely hampered by the interference of the trashy [Royal Serpent Brood] which kept respawning no matter how many times he killed them.

The [Desert Serpent King] was supposed to be fought by a group of level 10 class-changed characters, who could more easily control the weaker monsters.

“Loot, please!” Theo called happily as he inspected the monster’s corpse.

[Lesser Earth Essence] - An essence of a weak monster aligned to the Earth element. A reaffirming stability seems to emanate from this roughly formed gem.

[Serpent King’s Skin] - Scales of gargantuan desert serpent, the subtle softness belies its surprising defensive capabilities.

“Defensive my ass… it’s just decoration without a rune in it…” Theo mumbled before stuffing the crafting bits into his inventory, which was already brimming with various essences and monster parts.

[Serpent King’s Left Eyestone] - A tiny mineral deposit that formed in the eye of a giant serpent, what use could this possibly have?

Despite it’s lackluster description, Theo couldn’t seem more pleased with this drop, “Score! This is what I need for that guy’s quest… What else?”

[Serpent King’s Head Rune] Rune Point: Head; Rank: Lesser Lv.1

MP +200

MP Regen +5 per second

Special Ability: [Glare] - Summon an ethereal image of the Desert Serpent King to paralyze your foes with fear. Effect: Daze. Duration: 4 seconds. Base Chance: 80% (-2% per additional enemy). Target: 5 meter cone. Cooldown: 30 minutes.

A Lesser-tier Head Rune... maybe even the first one dropped in the whole game so far. Theo didn’t remember it, per se, but he could tell that it would be one of the most useful runes an early spellcaster could get. Daze was an ability which stopped those inflicted with it from moving or taking actions until the duration was up or they took damage. Although the cooldown time was pretty long, meaning it couldn’t be used that often, an area-of-effect control skill like this would be highly useful in escaping from monsters. It could also be used to stun a group of monsters long enough to hit them with a powerful spell.

MP was necessary to use skills, and it was one of Theo’s weak points at the moment with his [Beginner Meditation] only at level 3. He could definitely make use of the big boost this rune gave, but he didn’t need that much MP in the first place. It wasn’t worth losing the money he would miss out on from selling it.

As for the Daze effect, it was good but not irreplaceable. The effect would be next to useless against higher level targets with high Constitution scores, and the monsters it would work on now didn’t present any threat to him.

“Pass...” Theo said by instinct, though there wasn’t anybody around to share the loot with.

Since his skill level was still at [Beginner Rune Mastery] Lv.8, Theo couldn’t equip the rune until the skill evolved into [Lesser Rune Mastery] anyway. Even then, he wouldn’t do it, because that would ‘bind’ the rune to his character. He wouldn’t be able to trade or sell it after that.

“Damn money grubbers.”

Of course, this was intentional design by the game developers. Runes could only be equipped by one person in their lifetime, and were useless to everybody else after that. This would keep people from selling or trading their old runes to lower level players. If the price of runes stayed high, they could get more money from the 2% transaction fee. Recycling might have been good for the planet, but it was awful for the devs’ wallets!

Theo checked his character stats once again.

Character Information Name: Theo (8) HP: 150/150 Race: Human MP: 27/100 Class: Novice Attack: 129~141 Alignment: Good Defense: 0 (0%) Attributes and Runes Strength: 75 (+0) Head Rune: Empty Agility: 5 (+0) Heart Rune: Empty Intelligence: 5 (+0) Core Rune: Novice Core Rune Constitution: 5 (+0) Rune Locked Empty Willpower: 5 (+0) Rune Locked Empty Charisma: 5 (+0) Rune Locked Empty Luck: 5 (+0) Rune Locked Empty Skill List Skill Name Level Exp. to Next Lv. Tag Beginner Conditioning Lv. 1 0%/100% Beginner Meditation Lv. 3 17%/100% Beginner Persuasion Lv. 8 87%/100% * Beginner Rune Mastery Lv. 8 87%/100% * Dodge Lv. 6 75%/100% Fend Lv.1 8%/100% Lesser Polearm Mastery Lv.1 7%/100% * Lunge Lv. 2 12%/100% Perception Lv. 1 8%/100% Stealth Lv. 1 0%/100%

Level 8, and Theo’s HP was still only a measly 150!

Just leveling up didn’t increase your HP or MP at all, and required points to be placed in your Constitution and Willpower attributes. Or course, runes would also help alleviate this problem.

“I should be able to hit level nine after getting [Dodge] and my other two tagged skills up a level…” Theo quickly calculated. “Now for the real target… “

He cracked a smile and approached the Withered Ash Tree, stepping past the defeated monsters and circling around to the other side.

“It was about here, right?” he murmured, crawling around in a web of tree roots that were almost as large as he was.

Perception check… failed!

“Heeheehee… found it!”

Perception check… failed!

Perception check… failed!

In Dream World Online, certain locations and objects were considered [Hidden], and could only be accessed by players who succeeded on a perception check. Leveling the [Perception] skill would increase this chance, and trigger the discovery effect at larger distances. With his current level of [Perception], however, Theo had to be right on top of the secret location to activate the check.

Luckily, he already knew where his target was, or he would have no way to find it. What’s more, he could only check for it every 60 seconds, with maybe a 1/100 chance to discover it. What could possibly stop the crazed gamer from his grinding spree long enough to stand here and inspect the same spot on a tree again and again for over an hour?

After the 70th or so attempt…

Perception check… success!

Right where Theo had been standing, the roots suddenly shifted and squirmed, revealing a dark crevice in between.

You have discovered the hidden location: Withered Ash Hollow - A deep cave that stretches beneath the depths of the Withered Ash Tree, this snake-infested hole is home to the [Desert Serpent Queen], broodmother of the royal serpents. Be warned, adventurer, for the [Desert Serpent Queen] is the true boss of these fiendish monsters. Bring plenty of help if you don’t wish to perish within…

“Broodmother?” Theo chuckled, “More like loot mother!”

Without any further ado, Theo leapt into the hole between the roots and was quickly awash in a warm, rotting, earthy stench. The first batch of [Royal Serpent Brood] which prowled around the entrance had already noticed his noisy arrival and charged after him.

[Fend]

Snakes were flung in every direction, some of them knocking up against the cramped walls of the cave. Loose dirt and bone dust filled the air, and shiskebabed snakes seemed to emerge from the cloud of debris one after another. Theo was once again channeling the skills of the War God, crushing anything that stood in his way!

Nothing the Withered Ash Hollow could throw at him managed to slow his pace in the slightest, and this continued until...

[Jorm - Prince of Desert Serpents] Lv.10 Elite

[Gandr - Prince of Desert Serpents] Lv.10 Elite

The two serpents with bodies as thick as water buckets were coiled up and guarding a large, root-framed hole that led into a wide cavern beyond. Theo had already fought his way through dozens of [Royal Serpent Brood] to reach this point, and he knew a mini-boss fight when he saw one.

These types of door guards were typically called ‘bouncers,’ and would block the way to a boss room. While some later dungeons could have ten or more bosses, leaving bouncers as little more than an afterthought, Theo know that Withered Ash Hollow had only one. [Jorm] and [Gandr] were the final challenge before facing the [Desert Serpent Queen], though Theo considered them more of an appetizer.

Although slightly weaker than the [Desert Serpent King] on their own, they were each able to summon two [Royal Serpent Brood] every sixty seconds, and they would keep summoning snakes by the minute until they were finally killed. If a group of players didn’t take care of the weaker monsters first, they would quickly find themselves swarmed in trash mobs! Even Theo would end up dead if that happened.

While the princes had less health than the average Elite enemy, once you killed one of them, the other would receive an [Enraged] buff. His attacks would do more damage and come in faster intervals. It wasn’t a huge bonus, but would serve as a nasty surprise if you didn’t know it was coming. Honestly, almost all enemies that came in pairs had an ability like this, so only an inexperienced player would fall for this trap.

For Theo, the hardest part of this fight would be conserving his MP long enough to kill the [Royal Serpent Brood].

[Lunge]

Critical hit!

-283

Theo rushed in and thrust his spear at [Gandr] first, scoring a lucky critical hit for extra damage. The haughty-looking snake snapped at Theo right away, seemingly unphased, but the attack was just as casually sidestepped before the snake was stabbed again.

-109

Of course, [Jorm] wasn’t going to stand there and watch his brother be bullied to death, so the other snake moved to bite as well. Theo let up on his attacks for a moment as he cautiously moved around the cavern, dragging [Jorm] and [Gandr] out of a flanking position and waiting until their attacks started to sync up. Since they were likely immune to the knockback effect of [Fend], Theo didn’t bother wasting MP on skills and just attacked and dodged with a steady rhythm, slowly emptying [Gandr]’s HP bar.

HSSSTH!

After 60 seconds had passed, the snakes reared up and hissed loudly. As if they had tunneled in through unseen holes in the walls, four [Royal Serpent Brood] crawled out to attack. With only one target in the room, they immediately locked on to Theo and slithered after him.

[Fend]

Theo dodged to the side and carefully lined up the snakes before he swept them up into his skill and tossed them backwards. He quickly followed up with [Lunge] to gain the combo damage and immediately killed one of the four. This also put him out of range of [Jorm] and [Gandr]’s attacks for the moment.

If any other players could see this display, their jaws might drop to the floor. Every time the serpents appeared to have the player cornered, he seemed to luckily step into just the right place to dodge their attacks. That lucky spot would set him up for a proper counter attack, which he would quickly take advantage of and retreat again. Every time it looked like he would die, the player managed to somehow make it out alive!

It took Theo an average of 40 seconds to kill the four [Royal Snake Brood], so he was left with only 20 seconds to attack the larger snakes in between their summons.Time seemed to move forward at a crawl, but that wouldn’t change the inevitable. The massive body of [Gandr] eventually hit the floor, unmoving.

Elite enemy [Jorm] has become [Enraged]! Attack damage and speed will increase by 20%

“Heeheehee… two fewer snakes per minute!” Theo’s mind was totally elsewhere when the announcement sounded.

With only one serpent prince remaining, Theo now had more than double the available time to rain blows on [Jorm] like a punching bag. He didn’t even seem to notice the monster’s buff.

HSSTH! THUD!

A few minutes later, [Jorm] met the same fate as his brother, and Theo was surrounded in the characteristic flash of light that signaled an advance in level. He had finally reached level 9.

“Loot! Loot! Levels! Levels! I would say that nothing’s better~!” Theo sang to himself.

Had the [Desert Serpent Queen] been around to see this madman singing after he slaughtered her children, she might have reconsidered her programming’s instinct to fight him!