Chapter 5

Dave appeared in the middle of a dimly lit hall. He had been here before with Bone Breaker and Stainless Steel. They’d opened a concealed door in one of the walls. The secret entrance to the hidden chamber where they encountered Deadra.

But now the wall with the door in it was blocked with fallen rubble, massive fragments of stone masonry and broken pillars choked off access.

Before he could investigate further, a notification popped open.

Kis’Shtingbrah The Ruthless.

You have Boss Stats for the duration of the Mission.

Your status window and skill-list have been temporarily modified. Please verify and accept the changes.

You gain 10 CP for each enemy death in the dungeon and 100 CP for every enemy you kill personally.

Level

N/A

Class

Boss Class

Name

Kis’Shtigbrah

Race

Undead

Health

250 000

Mana

50 000

Stamina

Unlimited

Rage/Focus

1000

Intelligence

260 +(200)

Wisdom

310+(200)

Dexterity

260 (+200)

Agility

260 +(200)

Vitality

25,000

Strength

260 +(200)

Magic Absorption

2000

Damage Nullification

4000

Immunity

20% +(5)%

-

-

HP Regen

0.1/sec +(500)

Mana Regen

1.1/sec +(500)

Stamina Regen

+∞

Rage/Focus

Regen

20/sec

Title

Ruthless!

Your Character Class and Skills are disabled for the duration of the Mission

You can use the following Skills during the Mission:

[Call to Arms]: You can summon your minions in numbers equal to the enemies you face up to a maximum of 10 minions. The minions will be summoned in the order of most advanced to the least.

[Decimating slash]: 400% bonus weapon Damage to single targets (Cooldown: 40 second).

[Shield Bash]: 1000 points Flat Damage and applies a Knock-back effect.

If the player with the knock back effect collides with terrain they will be stunned for 2 seconds taking another 1000 Flat Damage

If the player with the knock back effect hits another enemy, both enemies take 1000 points of Flat Damage (Cooldown: 20 second).

[War-Cry]: Increases Minions Damage by 200% for 60 seconds

[Rage]: Passive, when HP drops below 10% adds 200% bonus Damage.

[Boss Prestige]: Increases size and reach, your avatar exudes a aura that inflicts a mild Fear status effect.

Do you accept the changes?

Y/N

Please note: declining will reset your character to its previous stat levels, but will not cancel the Mission.

You may cancel the mission for the price of 10,000 CP, but your reputation with the undead will be affected.

“Meh, why not,”

Dave pressed accept and his avatar started growing.

In a few moments, Dave’s body was twice his normal height.

”Yeah! I could get used to being this big.” Dave looked at his new stat tables again, and saw the grayed out original skill-list. “Damn. Not having my my regular Skills is a bummer, I’ve learned their strengths and weaknesses. Now I have to get used to all new Skills.”

“Wait a sec.”

Dave rubbed his earring, discovering he still had the [Zealot] Skill from Drahma’s gift.

He was also still able to split his sword and use its Ability [Soul Burn]. The [Ring of the Ruined King] was still usable too, though after his adventures in the Underworld the Ghost Knights levels were rather low now relative to his own.

Dave left the ‘Boss-Room’ where he had ‘spawned’ and started exploring the rest of the Desolate Temple.

Dave wandered around the Desolate temple. The dungeon was a maze full of ancient sarcophogi and musty bones. There were undead mobs stalking the corridors, many of them were Elite Skeletons or Elite undead. But, nothing really different from when he visited the dungeon the first time.

“This place hasn’t changed much.”

When Dave reached the mini-boss’s room he found a single Lesser Death knight standing guard.

Unnamed Lesser Death Knight

Tier (Savage)

Level 250

HP 250 000

Danger: Friendly

A weak sentry of the Undead guarding the tomb of an exiled Knight

Hmm, this guy didn’t have the flavor text last time.

“Hey man,” said Dave

The Lesser Death Knight turned to look at Dave

“Sir! How may I serve?” asked the Death Knight humbly.

Oh, so he considers me his superior even though his rank is higher than mine. I think it’s because I have the ‘Boss’ title.

“Tell me about this dungeon.”

“Yes, sir. You must be new, sir. This is the resting place of an old servant to the Undead-King.”

“It seems more like a prison than a resting place for a loyal follower,” Dave said.

“Indeed, sir. The king exiled the servant. We are here to guard this place so that the servant does not escape.”

I guess he doesn’t know Deadra already passed on.

“Very well, I’m going to look around. Keep up the good work.” Dave gave the Guard Guy a thumb’s up.

“Sir, that is the dungeon’s exit, you might encounter some trespassers, it could be dangerous.” The Death knight cautioned after seeing the direction Dave was taking.

“Meh, so what? Why wait for trespassers to enter when you can take them down at the gates.” Shrugged Dave.

“I never thought of it that way, Do you want me to accompany you, sir?”

“Yea, come along.”

Dave and the Lesser Death knight walked through the dungeon toward the entrance,

Whenever they ran into an undead, it evinced surprise at seeing the Boss and the Mini-boss walking together. Curious, the undead would begin to follow them.

Ten minutes later, they were at the dungeon’s exit. But unlike the time he came in, there was a fog-wall in place.

Dave touched the fog-wall and a notification popped in front of him.

You are about to attempt a Dungeon-Break!

The Lesser Death Knight spoke up nervously. “Sir, I advise you not to leave. The dungeon protects our lives, If we leave we will die permanently”

“So, what are the benefits of staying in this dungeon besides Contribution Points?”

“The dungeon doesn’t just grant us CP, sir. We also gain power. The dungeon absorbs a portion of the essence of the trespassers that die in it.

“When the amount of players that die in the dungeon surpasses a threshold, the dungeon the dungeon will distribute the Essence gained from the slain to us, and we will grow stronger with time.”

I think he means EXP when he says essence. Which means dungeons can absorb EXP by killing players. But I’ve never gotten EXP from killing players.

While Dave was pondering the dungeon game-mechanics, the fog-wall parted and a priest stepped through. He was looking backward, apparently in the middle of talking to someone else.

“I tell you Fortress, she got some FINE pipes on her, bro!”

Dave frowned. That voice was familiar.

When the priest turned and saw the mob of Undead monsters looking at him him he froze, his salacious grin turning into a rictus.

The two towering undead leading the crowd had big red text over their grinning-skull faces. One title read ‘Dungeon Boss’ and the other ‘Mini-Boss.’

An armor clad figure collided into the rigid priest from behind and started hollering.

“The HELL, Flanker! Why ya standing in the way like a drooling ‘tard?!”

Noticing his friend’s frozen stare the armored Player glanced around the room and paused, like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck.

A hunter appeared through the gate and pushed into his two buddies. This Player was quicker. As soon as he saw the two boss monsters he moved backwards.“Yeah. Buh-bye!”

“Wait!” Dave said.

The three players’ eyes bulged.

“There’s a saying: ‘Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.’ He was a good villain. I happen to like gold too.” Dave said to the trio, grinning.

“W-why is the boss talking to us?” asked the priest.

“Boss? Villain? GOLD!?” the armored one asked at the same time, scratching at his helmet.

“This is so very not-good, guys! Bosses don’t just start chatting up players...” the priest was beginning to panic.

“Calm down dude. Look at the beard, that’s obviously Mr. Skeletal,” the hunter said in a pedantic tone.

“Heh. Your Hunter Skills stand you in good stead.” Dave smirked.

“Sir, should I kill them now?” asked the Lesser Death Knight.

“No. At least, not yet. I may find some use for the TNT.”

Dave was intrigued. This was the third time he’d met them. The first two times were on random Missions. This time, he’d chosen his spawn location, yet here they were again.

It was too farfetched to be a coincidence that they were again in the same place and time as Dave. He needed to figure out why it kept happening.

The priest and the armored Player had sighed in relief at not being killed outright, and were now chattering to each other in an excess of nervous energy.

”What is the TNT-thing he called us?”

“Hang on, if this is Mr.Skeletal, why the hell is he big...like huge-big now?

“TnT, that’s like dynamite, right? Awesome, we are DYN-O-MITE!”

“Yeah bro! The three DYN-O-MITE Duo!”

The two high-fived each other and started an elaborate handshake ritual. The Hunter just rolled his eyes, shaking his head in long suffering silence as much hand-slapping and sound-effect vocalizing followed.

“I was always huge,” Dave answered with a cocky smile, “And sorry, but no. It stands for Terribly-Named-Trio.”

Pussy Flanker

Level 86

Priest

Human Fortress

Level 88

Tank

Perfect Shot

Level 90

Wood Ranger