:: Kai ::

Apparently the grove was a newly discovered dungeon. The Order of Valkyria managed to stumble upon on one of their patrols along the border.

The grove sat just outside the edge of the Bog of the Barons. The entrance was a small cavern that was blocked by fog that drifted from the barons.

Traveler Phoebe has invited you to a party.

I quickly hit the accept button with a smile on my face. I knew it was just a hunting party, but the way it was phrased made me happy.

For joining a party for the first time. +2 Luck

The four of us were currently preparing our gear and supplies outside of the dungeon. Phoebe, Hilda, and Shiroe were stalking mana and health potions in readily grabable places.

“What are those bottles?” I asked confused.

It was my first time actually seeing them in game. I never really had any use for them, because my Master always forced me back to full health and my Iron Skin technique had done the rest after he passed.

“It’s a potion dummy, haven’t you used them before?” Shiroe rolled her eyes at my question.

“What do they do?” I had a basic idea from previous gaming knowledge, but I didn’t know for sure if this game was different.

“Oh my god…he’s seriously never used one before.” Hilda stared at me shocked…like she was seeing a rare animal for the first time.

“How did you even level? Did you just suck experience from a group?” Hilda blurted out the first things that popped into her head.

‘She should really get some kind of filter or something.’ I thought passingly before I answered.

“I was trained by an NPC for a while and after that I just soloed up to my current level. I never took enough damage to need healing.” I replied leaving out Gor’thak.

The three of them stared at me…even Phoebe was a little bit stunned. It made me a little happy to see a change in her normally expressionless face.

“So anyway. Lets talk strategy or do you three want to stare at my good looking self some more.” I tried to be a bit cocky in order to change the subject.

Hilda recovered first by slamming her hammer into the ground. “I’m a 2nd Order Battle Priestess level 24…although that’s not my real class. I prefer it cause it sounds more badass. I’ll take care of the heals and a bit of DPS.”

“I will be the main ranged DPS, focusing on lowering health and crowd control. You already know I’m a 1st Order Mage level 23.” Shiroe chimed in with her sweet soft voice.

“And I will be dealing most of the finishing blows with close quarters DPS. 2nd Order Rogue level 26…though I like the term assassin.” Phoebe spoke softly.

The party system in Ethaessa worked a lot like many other RPG type games. You had the healer, who buffed and supported the group…which I don’t think Hilda will do that much of by her attitude. She looks more like a Paladin than a Priestess.

The next role in the party system is DPS or damage per second. They are the main damage dealers…basically they kill the enemies. Lastly we have me, the tank. Now I normally wouldn’t be a tank in any party, but I am pretty sturdy for a Bard and as long as I don’t encounter any 3rd Order enemies…it should be fine….right?

“Umm…I’m the tank so I will be in the front. Level 20.” I was as vague as possible. I hoped that they thought I was hiding some hidden class and not just protecting myself from embarrassment.

Shiroe didn’t say anything, but I could tell by the looks Hilda was giving me that this wasn’t the last time we would go over this.

“Alright now that we have familiarized ourselves. What do we know about the dungeon layout and enemies.” I quickly brought up a new topic in order to get everyone’s minds off of me.

“Zrelda said that the place was crawling undead. She only saw a few 1st Order Ghouls and Zombies, but she didn’t go to far in.” Shiroe met my eyes and knew what I was trying to do and I silently thanked her for it.

“Well that’s useful for now, but dungeons always increase in difficulty the farther you go in. So I’m guessing we might meet with 2nd Order Dullahans and Skeletons.” Hilda chirped.

From the way they were speaking I knew that the three of them knew a lot more about the creatures we were going to face than I did. So I would rely on them for now until I got used to fighting the undead.

“We good now?” Phoebe spoke up.

She looked the same as before, but for some reason I could tell that she was getting impatient…she couldn’t wait for the hunt.

“Yep…Yeah…Lets Go!” The three of us replied in semi-unison.

Phoebe went in first, because she had the superior agility and dexterity from her rogue class.

The climb down the small cavern hold was steep, but Phoebe was able to navigate us safely down a good path so that we didn’t fall and die.

I could have lead us down as well, but as far as they knew I stacked my stats into Endurance and Strength and Vitality only.

The hole took us down into a dark tunnel. It was difficult to see anything so Shiroe lit up a fireball and guided us through. Normally she would have used magelight, but apparently Hilda heard from Valkyran Knight that undead monsters fear fire.

The tunnel was short and it lead us to an open area. The area was shaped like a dome, with a large withering tree standing in the center.

I looked at the ground and it was covered with dead grass and decomposing bodies. The smell was nauseating. I could barely keep the contents of my lunch inside my stomach.

I motioned for the girls to stop. It was my turn to take the lead. I took a few steps forward and poked one of the decomposing corpses. The body didn’t move so I presumed that it was safe to continue forward.

“They must be previous NPC’s who came to the dungeon or something.” I said without putting to much thought into it.

We made our way to the tree in the center of the dome. There was something suspicious about this tree. It seemed so out of place in an area with so many dead things…why would a tree grow under the earth.

I reached up and placed my hand against the auspicious tree…

Hahahaha…Welcome young Thak to my domain…I see you have come to challenge me to bring yourself to greater heights. But you know….THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!

I knew this place had something to do with the Cherubim, but after hearing the creepy voice in my head my suspicions were confirmed.

I smiled for a few seconds only to be smacked in the back of the head.

“What the hell did you do!” Shiroe yelled at me.

I turned around to ask her what she was talking about, but before I could ask my smile faded from my face.

The group of supposedly dead bodies had stood up…

“Theres to many.” Shiroe yelled.

“Oh my god.” Hilda breathed in.

“Formation!” Phoebe yelled braking us out of our dazed state.

Phoebe and I ended up taking the front of the formation, while Hilda was behind us and Shiroe was behind her.

Normally the healer would be in the back, but apparently our priestess wasn’t as squishy as the mage. It was an odd layout, but I was hoping for the best.

Mindless Zombie (M) Lvl 22

It was my first time fighting an enemy that was over level twenty and there was…15 of them.

I supplied mana to my throat as I rushed forward and let out a roar. I didn’t have the battle cry aggro skill that most warriors and tanks had, but my enhanced voice had a similar effect on the zombies.

The zombies started to swarm me so I quickly unsheathed my rapier. I thrust my blade forward into the closest zombies chest.

The zombie didn’t even slow down. It merely walked even deeper into my blade. It was almost like it didn’t even feel pain or care about the damage it was receiving.

It lunged at me and scratched its decaying fingernails against my throat. I pulled back in disgust.

Tickled Skin. -2 HP

I could tell that attack normally would have caused much more damage, especially if I was a 1st or 2nd Order Tank…maybe even caused bleeding damage, but I was a special case. My hardened skin was like metal to them.

“Aim for the head.” Phoebe called out as she jumped over the top of my head. Her knife struck downward three times into the zombie’s head.

The momentum of the downward attack and the fast-paced strike reduced the first zombie into a pile of grey ash.

“Thanks for the tip.” I muttered as I felt the mana in my magecore start to pulse wildly. I was ready to get started.

The smile was back on my face and I forced a small amount of my mana into my arm.

“Rapid Thrust.”

I aimed my blade directly at the next enemy’s head and a few seconds later the zombies face looked like swiss cheese.

The zombie fell to the ground before it was reduced to a pile of grey ash.

Phoebe and I started to pick away at the zombies one by one, but the sheer amount of them was starting to overwhelm us.

Even Shiroe’s fireballs and Hilda’s wild hammer couldn’t control the approaching horde.

“Hear my voice…Goddess of Benevolence and help me fuck my enemies up.” Hilda was shouting out prayers left and right…I wasn’t sure about how legit they were, but the buffs and healing they provided certainly worked.

“Fireball…Fireball…Fireball.” Shiroe was draining mana like crazy as she tried to keep to many zombies from attacking us at the same time. I could tell she was feeling frustrated. She was the only one among us who was still part of the 1st Order and her repertoire showed it.

Phoebe backed up towards Hilda, because she was unable to handle the constant barrage of attacks. Her health was only a little bit more than Shiroe’s and Hilda’s since she was a lightweight rogue.

And as a result of backing up the remaining zombies started to swarm around me.

“Oh crap crap crap…Valkyria help him.” Hilda ranted in frustration as she thought I was going to die.

Bruised Right Arm. -15 HP

Bitten Leg. -12 HP

Pulled Hair. -3 HP

I received a flurry of messages on my screen…I could handle the scratching and biting, but who the hell was pulling my hair.

I roared in frustration and this seemed to cause the zombies to go into some kind of feeding frenzy as they picked away at my health.

I wasn’t able to use my rapier in such close proximity so I started to use my body.

Activating my Willpower and getting caught up in the fight I started to sing.

“Thriller, thriller night…killing zombies left and right…fucking dead things out of spite. Thriller, thriller night. I just punched a zombie…da da da da…punched a zombie.”

The Song of Renewal activated and gave me a small boost along with my willpower.

I jammed my thumbs into the eye sockets of the two zombies that kept biting my arms and I smashed their skulls together. The impact from my boosted strength caused the zombies to be reduced to dust.

Getting lost in my song I started to rip the zombies apart with my bare hands until only one zombie remained.

“Just you and me now, hair puller.” I stared the last zombie down until it finally decided to attack.

“[email protected] Punch.” I completely forgot about where I was and who was watching me…getting lost in the game and the thrill of the fight.

My fist collided with the zombie’s skull and sent it flying like a bowling ball. The zombie’s head smashed into the side of the cave turned to ash upon impact.

“Hahaha.” I laughed at the sheer awesomeness of what just happened, but slowly my mind started to come back to reality as I remembered the three hot girls standing behind me.

I turned around slowly to look at them…my face was completely red. This was my first time hunting with a party and I completely forgot that I was supposed to hide my class.

“What the hell was that.” Hilda stared at me.

“That was…” Phoebe glanced at me and then looked away, not finishing her sentence.

“Such a pretty voice.” Shiroe muttered absentmindedly.

We all turned to look at Shiroe as if she had a screw loose. “That’s what you got out of that.” Hilda exclaimed.

“Why did you sing?” Phoebe finally said.

“How did you survive and why did we get some buff from you singing?” Hilda asked a more serious question.

I retreated and pretended to check my messages in order to collect my thoughts, but I apparently had a few blue box updates.

Level Up +1

New Skill: Bare-Handed Mastery

Destroyed: Mangled Cloth Pants

I looked down at my pants…the cloth fell apart when I moved. Revealing my naked legs and a blurry mosaic over my private parts.

“Fuck…” My ears started to steam as I looked at the girls. They were still concerned about what happened in the fight, but they all turned a little red as my pants fell apart.

“Umm…is this a bad time to tell you I’m a bard.” I smiled sheepishly.

Chapter 20: Status

Status WindowName:KaiAlignment:NeutralLevel:21Class:BardRace:CherubGender:MaleTitlesSongscryerFame:120Infamy:950-Health:500 / 500Health Regen:4.5 / SecMana:650 / 650Mana Regen:6.0 / SecStamina:750 / 750Stamina Regen:6.0 / Sec-Strength:44 (+47)Agility:53Vitality:58Intelligence:59 (+5)Wisdom:69 (+5)Endurance:78Luck:39 (+47)-Attack:10-15Defense:30 (+70)Physical ResistancesSlashing:25 (+42)Piercing:25 (+42)Crushing:30 (+42)Elemental ResistancesFire:10%Water:10%Wind:10%Earth:10%Light:10%Darkness:10%

Skills/Abilities:

Spoiler : Iron Skin: Intermediate Lvl 4 (67%)

Willpower III: Intermediate Lvl 3 (53%)

Seven Pathways Meditation: Novice Lvl 9 (88%)

Mana Manipulation: Intermediate Lvl 1 (77%)

Voice Manipulation: Novice Lvl 7 (13%)

Music Mastery: Novice Lvl 7 (52%)

-Song of Renewal: Intermediate Lvl 2 (14%)

-Song of the Slumbering: Novice Lvl 6 (45%)

-Song of Sorrow: Novice Lvl 3 (26%)

Bare-Handed Mastery: Novice Lvl 2 (1%)

Sword Mastery: Novice Lvl 7 (5%)

-Rapier Mastery: Intermediate Lvl 2 (93%)

+Rapid Thrust: Novice Lvl 6 (12%)

Illusion Magic Mastery: Novice Lvl 3 (47%)

-Disguise: Novice Lvl 4 (44%)

-Glamour: Novice Lvl 3 (17%)

-Clone: Novice Lvl 1 (0%)

Equipment:

Spoiler : Swift Iron Rapier (10-15) Atk – (13/30) Durability

Torn Leather Vest (+10) Defense (-2) Luck – (6/15) Durability

Mangled Cloth Pants (+5) Defense (-1) Luck - (0/10) Durability

Rugged Leather Boots (+7) Defense (+3) Agility – (4/12) Durability

Necklace of the Black King (+10%) Magic Resistance – (24/25) Durability