Team 17 rested for a couple of hours close to a big fallen tree, still euphoric from their first victory in a battle. Zortex’s teammates where all over each other complimenting this and that. Of course they also thanked Zortex for the work he had done, but that didn’t dispel his bad mood. He wanted more, something where he would really risk his life, like his first fight with the slimes or his battle with the skeleton. Meanwhile he also covered himself with more bandages and took a little nap. The deeper they went into the forest the more likely that they would find stronger enemies, and not only of the Srenc kind. Everyone set up their gear and Jake called for a new start of the operation. They had not explored new land yet and they were all in perfect health, so it was only natural that they could go on forward instead of going back to camp.

They moved for five more hours, killing all the wild animals they found. Zortex didn’t know at this point if he should call them animals or monsters. Everything had a level, so it would give experience if killed, but could a rat be called a monster? Now that they were distancing themselves from the edge of the forest a lot more animals were appearing. A few times they crossed path with groups of chicken-like animals, which had a level of 1 or 2 at most. There were more centipedes to be found, which were hunting the chickens as their food. There were also feline small monsters which had level 4, but they were able to kill only one when Zortex entangled it, the rest of them being too fast at running. It was in such occasion that team 17 met their second group of Srenc. Jake and company were chasing down a cat monster when they saw in the distance a group of Srenc chasing one of those Gorilla-Eagle monsters, and they were seen in return. Both groups stopped their hunting, realizing that the real enemy had appeared.

Team 17 had previously discussed what to do in such a situation, and the final decision was that they would stand their ground unless the adversaries had more long ranged fighters than them. The Srenc group had 6 people, but it seemed as they were all melee combatants. That was why they were chasing the Gorilla instead of damaging it from afar. Jake, Gera and Zortex stood in the front, while Rizza stayed 4 meters behind. They had positioned in a way that Zortex had a tree just to his right, so he launched Pravin to attach on the tree trunk, out of reach of the Srenc’s blades, but close enough to disrupt them with his tentacles.

The hunting party of Srenc behaved more orderly than Zortex would have expected. They were all above level 10 with a max at level 13. They also were better equipped, with every one of them holding a blade or spear, even if of low quality. The Srenc formed a front line with four of them holding wooden shield, and the last two, with the highest levels, followed behind, protected by their companions. When the Srenc started the charge Jake said:

“Rizza, start charging your spell. Don’t use full power, otherwise you would waste your mana on their shields. When they are in reach shoot the one to the left. Gera, you know what to do. Shad, block their movement with your spells and take care of the one on your side. I will hold the two in the center. We must take down one of them before the two behind can join the fray, otherwise it will be hard to win this fight”.

After launching Pravin, Zortex took out a bandage a revolved it twice in front of his eyes, and then he undid his Shadow Mask spell. This was a fight where he would have to get really serious and he could not block his mana recovery to maintain his mask. He thought about using his Tentacle skill as a whip from his right to the left, catching one of the Srenc on the unprotected side, but there were trees on the way, so he could not unleash his power. Therefore he took out his spear from the storage pouch and he held it with his left hand, while with his right he charged a strong Entangle spell. When the Srenc where in range he threw the spell in the middle of their formation, and without waiting to see the outcome he started charging a Decay Bolt. What Zortex didn’t expect was the efficiency of his Entangle. The center-left enemy was hit in the leg, as Zortex had aimed for it, and the blast extended also to the Srenc to its left and right. Root came out of the ground and enveloped their legs up to their knees. Even through the momentum of their charge they were not able to break through and all three fell face first to the ground, two of them losing their shields in the impact. Also the two Srenc in the back stumbled, running over the bodies of their allies that were kept on the ground by the roots. Both groups were surprised by such turn of events, but the first to react was team 17. Zortex threw his decay bolt on the chest of the level 13 enemy and watched him stop has if head just been vigorously punched. Rizza had been charging her spell, however it wasn’t meant to be powerful, so she threw it at one of the goblin on the ground who was trying to wriggle out of the roots and she shocked it paralyzed. Gera and Jake opted to charge themselves instead of waiting for the enemy arrival, and Shad followed suit, although he didn’t intend to start with the melee yet. While he was running he prepared a strong Acidic Shot, something that he was longing for to see the effects on a large scale. He poured 1/3 of his mana into it and two seconds before the other melee fighter would clash he threw it to the center of the enemy formation. The acid splashed on four enemies at once, the main receiver being the level 13 Srenc who was still stunned by the Decay bolt, and the three enemy who were now getting up from the ground. The first Srenc didn’t even have the time to scream, it just melted in front of the stunned eyes of the people. Two of the other were splashed considerably and cried because the pain trying to clean the spot attacked, but watching their own hands dissolving and bubbling away. Their HP bars quickly disappeared and they fell to the ground dead. Unluckily, the last of the Srenc was able to raise his shield on time, covering most of its body, apart a spot on its left arm. It hissed in pain and threw away the shield which was getting consumed by the acid. Even before team 17 met the other, three enemies were already dead, and one partially injured. The only untouched Srenc was the one on the right, the closest to Zortex, the one that in theory would have been his only target. It was almost upon him, but suddenly two tentacles attached to the arm where it was holding its sword and it was pulled against a tree. Obviously Pravin had helped his master to avoid any danger. On the other side of the battlefield Gera and Jake had finally collided with the last two standing enemies. On his own, Zortex decided to avoid using other spells and he engaged his adversary with his spear. The Srenc was still incapacitated by Pravin, so he could only defend itself with the shield trying to maintain its equilibrium while getting dragged by the tentacles.

“Jake, move!” Zortex heard Rizza say and then the thunder of an electric spell being unleashed.

This Srenc is more skilled than I would have thought. Without Pravin’s help I would say that it is almost at my level in a melee battle.

His encounter with the Srenc lasted 30 more seconds until two more tentacles reached his adversary left arm, effectively taking away the use of both arms leaving it wide open for Zortex to stuck in the heart the spear. The longer the range the less tentacles Pravin could use, but after dragging it close to him he made full use of his technique. On the other side the battle had already finished, with one Srenc fried by Rizza’s spell and the other killed by Gera.

Zortex sighed and conceded himself a smile. If in the previous battle he had been disappointed by his performance, this time he could see how strong he was if he could act in the way he liked. He reasoned that probably he could have taken on all of the enemies by himself if he had gone all out. This was why he wanted to enter this world. This excitement that was running through his veins had been his dream.

“Ahaha! This was…” Jake was speaking, but Zortex suddenly frowned.

“Behind you!” Zortex shouted to Rizza, just a second before three arrows sprouted from her chest, her HP reaching zero in an instant.

No No No No! Fuck all this. How could I be so stupid! Never let my guard down. How many are there…..5….6…..no, there are more also in the other direction….at least 11 in total. I must run.

“Rizza!” Jake shouted running toward his dead girlfriend.

Idiot. She is dead. You should be running or at least getting ready to fight.

Zortex understood that they were surrounded. While they were busy fighting the first group, another Srenc hunting party was alerted and they moved to join their companions, only to see that they were already dead.

“Pravin! To me” Zortex shouted and his pet jumped on his shoulder pulling himself with a tentacle. Gera at least understood the situation and started running to Zortex, believing that he was her best chance to get out alive.

That way. The archer are behind where Rizza was, so it is better if I go the other way. Maybe the Srenc will be distracted by Jake long enough for me to run away. Zortex sprinted with Gera on his trail. Two second later an arrow hit him on the chest from the front, a straight hit for the heart. Luckily he was wearing a good armor, so the bolt was blocked and he lost only 10 % of his HP.

Damn. I hate archers. There it is. No games this time. Let’s see how much fun you will have with a straight Acidic Shot on you.

Zortex stopped and aimed at the Srenc archer with a relatively low charged spell, but he supposed that it was enough to deal with a single archer. The enemy shot a new arrow at the same time as Shad shot his spell, and the two attacks connected. The arrow passed through the spell and hit Zortex again on the chest, but also the spell connected and the Srenc chest fizzled and melted leaving behind a dead enemy. Some of the acid had stuck to the arrow, consuming it, but also damaging Zortex a little, so this time it took away a good 20 % of his health. Zortex was about to start running again, but he understood that it was useless by now. He was already completely surrounded and the only thing he could do was to fight to dispose of enough enemies to create an opening. Looking behind he saw that Jake was being assaulted by three Srencs and he already had three arrows stuck on his body.

Soon he will be gone. Why the hell is he so taken by his girlfriend’s death? She will just respawn in five days. Anyway I will use his death as an opening for a strong attack. Zortex thought.

“Gera, protect me while I charge a strong spell. Also you Pravin” Zortex told her.

“Ok…” She looked at him with eyes wide open, surprise written on her face. What’s gotten into her? I thought she was the most cool-headed after me, but now she looks as if she has seen a ghost. I wonder if there are ghosts in AoL? Yes, there must be, otherwise Necromancer and other classes would be too nerfed. Fuck! I need to focus on the situation.

Zortex once again pushed 1/3 of his mana on his Acidic Shot spell and aimed. He let go the spell the instant he saw a sword run through Jake and bringing his HP to zero. The three melee fighters engaged with his team leader had been too busy to realized the danger, so they were completely unprepared when they got hit by the spell. Like the previous Srencs they screamed and started melting away, their bodies not though enough to resist the acidity and corrosion of the spell. Meanwhile Gera and Pravin were fighting three more Srenc when a javelin was thrown at Zortex from his side. He had no time to react, but he was lucky because it only glanced his shoulder and passed by him.

“Arghh” Gera gurgled , blood coming out of her mouth. The javelin which was meant for Zortex ended up transfixing her instead. She lost more than half of her HP, but the main problem was that she had completely lost her balance, so she made an opening for the two Srenc who were battling her. One of them slashed her side with its sword, and the other smashed her head with an heavy swift of its wooden club. In not even one minute Zortex was the only member of the team who was still alive.

I survived in a more difficult situation. This is nothing compared to the battle against the slimes. Now I still have HP, I can move and I have spells and weapons. And there is Pravin. I can win.

Now that Gera was gone he had to join the melee himself, otherwise he would be completely open for attacks while charging his spells. His spear was a good weapon for a charge, but it was not the best for close quarter battles, so he switched to the sword he had taken from the Skeleton Count. Pravin was shooting his tentacles repeatedly to a Srenc, but he was also not a good melee fighter, but rather a support character, and anyway his pet was lower level and lower stats than the enemies. Zortex avoided a sword slash from the Srenc which had been attacking Gera and he jumped to attack the one blocked by Pravin. He activated the poison spell and stuck his sword in the Srenc shoulder, causing damage but not as much as he would have liked. Shad dropped to the ground just in time to avoid getting hit by the club of the monster who had killed Gera and he shot a weak Decay Bolt to its knee making it fall. Two arrow arrived and pierced Pravin from behind, taking out a large chunk of his HP.

Now the archers are here. I cannot survive if they keep shooting from a safe spot. I must disable them.

Zortex laid low, charged a Blind spell and shot one of the three archer, hitting it on the chest. The black shadow raised itself enveloping the head and leaving it useless for the moment. The time he lost to make the spell was enough for the Srenc with the sword to stab him on the leg disabling any chance he had to just run away. Zortex grabbed the Srenc by one of the animal pelts it was wearing and he used the healthy leg as leverage to make it drop head first to the ground exactly in between his position and the archers who had just shot two more arrows. The two shot hit their companion draining away half of its life. Now that he was protected for a few seconds more Zortex charged a new Blind spell and shot the Srenc with the huge club who was about to smash him. The hit was successful and directly to the head, so no delay before the enmy vision would be obscured. Good, now I just need to kill it with an Acidic Shot and then I stab the one closest to me and use it as shield against the archers. Pravin will have to resist until I deal some damage to their long range fighters and then I will kill also his adversary.

Zortex was charging his Acidic Shot, but something unexpected happened. He had dismissed the club-wielding Srenc as already incapacitated, but its club arrived and smashed him in the head taking away almost all the HP he had left and rolling him in the ground.

Crap! He could not see me anymore, but I was blocked because my leg is impaled, so he already knew that I could not evade the attack and he just swung where I was supposed to be.

Zortex was on the ground, HP almost to the bottom and unable to move. Six enemies were still alive and Pravin was is only defense. The Srenc with two arrows on the chest closed on him, sword in hand, and stabbed down looking at him with a sneer even through its pain. I’m dead. Zortex thought. Pravin elongated two tentacles to help his master, but he was too late. The sword entered his chest and Zortex got a notification:

You have died.

10% of your items will be dropped to the ground. Bonded items are less likely to be lost.

10% of your experience for the next level has been lost.

Time before resurrection: 120 hours

Zortex found himself on his safe room. The last time he had been there it was like his old bedroom when he grew up, so he was just laying down on his old bed.

This sucks. My first death and it was at the hand of such lowly creatures. I got killed by numbers, not because I was weak. If the people of my team were as good as me I would have survived. Nothing I can do about it now. At least I didn’t have to watch Pravin die. Who knows….maybe he has killed one more enemy after I left, so it could be good for his experience. Argh! Too many sensations for my brain. Now I have a super headache coming. I need to rest.

Zortex’s room became absolutely dark and noiseless and he fell asleep.

Five days later

Time before resurrection: 5 seconds

“Ok, time to go” Zortex told to himself.

He appeared in the plaza in Asiago, the town he had put as his respawn point. He could not chose the camp because it was not considered a safe spot. If a person kept respawning in an unsafe space he could keep getting killed without any chance to defend himself. On the same way, if a previous safe spot became dangerous, the System would switch his place to the closest spot deemed safe. Let me check my status window:

Name: Zortex Enark

Class: Shadow Slime Warrior

Level: 11

Stats:

Strength

18

Health

221(221) + 2.2/min

Endurance

21

Stamina

525(525) + 52.5/min

Agility

19

Mana

694(694) + 35/min

Spirit

32

Skill proficiency

Knife mastery

Level 7

Throwing mastery

Level 2

Slimification

Level 12

Slime summoning

-

Sonar

Level 10

Slime eating

Level 9

Mana Control

Level 26

Spear Mastery

Level 9

Sword Mastery

Level 9

Tentacle

Level 6

Acidic Shot

Level 34

Blind

Level 43

Poison

Level 16

Entangle

Level 30

Shadow Mask

Level 34

Decay Bolt

Level 12

· Resistance to darkness: Every darkness attack will have 50% reduced effect on you. Increased vision at night.

· Weakness to fire: Every fire related attack will have 500% more effect on you.

· Weakness to light: Every light related attack will have 100% more effect on you.

· Resistance to electricity: Every electrical attack or buff will have 25% reduced effect on you.

· Slime muscles: Small resistance to some physical attacks

· You will not be able to choose any spell or skill unrelated to slimes or darkness.

· Godly senses

Remember that you can always discover new skills. Combining skills you already have or by using them in creative ways new skills can be created.

Not bad. I got two levels on those two battles and I’m not far from level 12. Probably if I killed one more Srenc I would have leveled up. Doesn’t matter that much right now. Skills level are the main factor in battles at my level. My Acidic Shot and Entangle have been incredibly effective in battle. Blind should also be, but I had not taken advantage of it. I must develop a fighting style where I can use it freely. Let me check what items I have lost.

Zortex put his hand in the storage pouch and in his vision appeared the list of things inside it. Under Zortex’s scrutiny everything was checked and he found missing a knife and a few empty crystals and one with the minor healing spell. He was about to shove away the list when he frowned. He looked again and his hands clenched at his sides, nails stabbing his skin and making blood flow. People could hear his teeth grinding and then breaking under the pressure of his clenching mouth. His breathing was coming rugged and fast. He was in the middle of an anger fit, his brain in disarray. He got on his knees and he slammed his fists on the ground with all the strength he had.

AAAAAAAHHHHH! This is bullshit. I have to protest. This must be a bug. It is not possible that something like this could happen. This is pure evil. I WANT BACK MY FOOOOOOODDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!

Zortex had accumulated enough food to feed himself for a whole year, spending a fortune on it. He had promised that he would never starve again in his life, but now in his storage there were just two loaves of bread and some jerky, the same things he had when he had started the game. Blood was coming out of his mouth and staining red the bandages on his chin. Not since his days right after being almost killed by Matthew he experienced such intense rage, however now he was not trapped in an insurmountable shithole of a room. Now he knew where to look for:

New skill learned: Unholy Vengeance level 1

You have experienced so much rage that only revenge will calm your heart. For the next week after being resurrected you will fill the presence of your murderer. The closer you are the stronger the imprint. The higher the skill level the more time it will last and the stronger will be your feeling

Zortex smiled with his broken teeth.

“Now I will be the hunter” He whispered.

“You can speak. Before I died you spoke to me” Rizza was standing behind him looking confused.

WHAT????

Zortex’s blood froze in his veins just as he was warming up at the idea of getting his sweet revenge.