Chapter Eleven: A True Tale of The Heroic Kingdoms

Rain Falls, going forward as the vanguard, is much better at grasping the enemy’s timing now. Practicing against many gadget-warriors before, she’s now able to parry even the drilling sword attack. They can’t damage her easily anymore, but she was already on her backup shield.

Yushin and Gadras are both mobile attackers. They both have range and hit-and-run fast. The trio is careful not to get surrounded.

[Parry!]

[Clang!]

Every time there is an opening either Gadras or Yushin will move there to strike. The gadget-warriors are not enough to suppress them. It all changes when one of the elites attacks. They are smarter and defend better.

“Fall Back!” Yushin yells, while one of the elite’s spear damages Gadras. Three gadget-warriors fell, but they are constantly pushed back. Going that way they will have their backs to the door soon.

“Focus on the left side!” Rain advised and the duo also moved to strike.

[Shield Bash!]

[Spear Thrust!]

[Three-Pronged Pierce!]

Another two gadget warriors fell. They pretended to go forward, but backed away, earning a bit more space. Yet it is tiring to them.

“Use the gears!” Yushin moved first and put himself as a target so the other two could move closer to the giant gears. It is the same strategy Rain’s group was using at the forest to survive. Limiting the enemy space and using gears to block.

Another gadget-warrior falls, but at the same time, the elite’s leader hits his shield on the ground. The remaining eight soon stop attacking and encircle them instead.

“That one is much smarter. This worked with the group before,” Rain sighed.

Their soul and HP are already nearing a dangerous spot and there’s still the group of elites awaiting them.

“No use in taking risks. Gadras, we hit-and-run sideways. Rain, you shoot the rockbow near their feet. Even blocking won’t save them,’ Yushin said.

Both agreed, Yushin and Gadras rushing forward. The former hit a gadget-warrior with [Spear Thrust] and jumped sideways, opening space. The latter hit with his [Three-Pronged Pierce] and disappeared, running to the side. Even though it didn’t work for long it is still useful to distract them. With that opening, Rain shoots the rockbow at the ground.

Ka-Booom!

The elites could only protect themselves. Gadget-warriors took a lot of damage in the process. Rain advanced, Yushin and Gadras closed the three-pronged attack. Flanking is always effective. Every single gadget-warrior died.

The fight with the elites is not easy. They moved together to protect each other and their defense is good. The group couldn’t find their weak spot. Speed is the only advantage they got right now.

“We’re barely doing damage,” Rain complained.

“Did you watch Sp**t*c*s?” Yushin asked.

“Yeah… why?”

Yushin pointed to the shield and then up.

“...!!! You’re pretty crazy, you know…”

Yushin laughed, “Gadras, can you knock them down?”

“At least one of them, human. I’ll start,” running straight at both of them. When one spear came, he spun around to the side. Striking with the tail like a whip behind the enemy’s joints, knocked him down. Gadras copied a move Yushin used with the spear sometimes.

“Smart lizard!” Rain noted while running and setting the shield up for Yushin to step on.

Yushin grinned, ran and stepped on it, jumping as high as the roof allowed. Pointing the spear down, he fell behind all his weight. In real life, it is possible he would take as much damage as he caused by that attack. In Tales, the result was a very destructive move. The spear pierced the enemy’s chest through armor and everything. It broke right after.

Instant kill.

Yushin gambled the system would take into consideration weight and add penetrating power to the pierce. And won.

[Yrb’s Elite Blood x1]

[Yrb’s Elite Armor Piece x1]

The other one moved and slashed at Yushin, who rolled backward and dodged the attack. Gadras struck with tail and the elite blocked, but Rain is already behind him. She also aimed at the back of his legs, bringing him down. Striking with the sword between the eyes also proved effective. Gadras finished the enemy by stabbing him multiple times at several spots between the armor. Nothing dropped.

“Good.” Yushin took his last spear from inventory.

“Four more to go.” Rain Falls looked optimistic.

Yushin took a good look at their leader and shook his head, “We can’t kill them.”

“...Eh?” Rain looked puzzled.

“The human is right. That one is not normal, Short Legs. He looks the same, but has the presence of a king.”

“He is definitely smart and hasn’t made a move so far. It’s hard to think an A.I. can go this far, but I think he is analyzing our moves. He knew those two were going to die and used them to test us.”

“What should we do then?”

“Gadras, you think we can open that gate?”

“You can, human. Since it somehow thinks you are one of them.”

“We lure them in, shoot the bow and get past them. Then hope whatever lies beyond it can save us from dying.”

“But they will come after us, what do we do then?” Rain asked.

“At that point, if there aren’t any better options, we fight. But, remember, we need to reach the stronghold alive, and that’s it,” Yushin reminded her.

“Oh, that’s right!”

“Ok, get ready. Don’t fall behind and don’t stop, even if one of us is left behind,” they both nodded. Yushin stepped forward and aimed at the elite leader with a finger. He told him to come, making the sign with his hand. One thing he learned is that pride is somehow programmed into the A.I.

If you could somehow piss them off enough they would go crazy, like the Monarch Bear.

But the enemy did not care. It stood still motionless. Yushin decided to try something new.

“Once there was this poor kingdom with no pride and a coward king,” he shouted to all instead of talking to the party. The leader’s eyes shone for a second.

“The demons came and they wagged their tails. Hiding in their little mountain,” the leader’s teeth showed fury.

“Even after death, still standing still. Truly cowards, they are,” the leader finally roared loudly and gave the order to attack. The four elites rushed forward in unison.

“Impressive, Human. This king will pray their spears do not reach you,” Gadras said.

“...So this is the skill that caused the bear’s fury.” Rain nodded.

Yushin realized it reacted strongly to a few keywords: kingdom, pride, coward, death, and king. It seems the A.I. is able to understand emotions, almost like a sentient being.

Speaking no more, he pointed at the elites. The trio rushed forward as well and Rain shot the rockbow. As expected, they raised their shields to block it.

Using the momentum and cover caused by the explosion, Yushin ran on the wall and passed. Rain used [Shield Bash] to create an opening and pass. Yet when Gadras tried the leader’s spear pierced his sides. He still managed to pass, but nearly died in the process.

“Lizard!!!” Rain screamed and was about to go back. A system warning popped up:

[System Warning: Warning! Warning! An NPC in your party has reached critical health level. An NPC death is permanent. This warning will display only once.]

Rain, Yushin: “...!!!”

The leader moved forward to the finishing blow…

…[Parry]!

Yushin rushed over and somehow parried the attack.

“RUN!” He shouted to Gadras, who camouflaged and ran like a bullet. Rain took a step to go, but Yushin also pointed forward.

[Parry!]

He parried another attack while rolling backward. Rain and Gadras crossed the door and saw an open area with a bridge. It went further away into a huge stronghold made of some kind of White Stone. There were some gadget-warriors around. They only needed to run forward and reach the entrance.

They looked back and saw Yushin standing at the gate, smiling.

He hit the lever and the door started to close.

Rain, Gadras: “...!!!”

If that door stayed open the enemy would surely rush to stop them. A few gadget-warriors were no problem, but those elites are an unknown. Yushin was thinking about fighting them on the bridge and using his mobility to push them over. But that was far too much of a gamble. Closing the door and holding out as far as he can will give the two of them time.

Rain moved quickly and threw the shield to him before the door finally closed.

“Let’s go,” she started moving.

“This king’s debt will not grow anymore to the human. He better not die yet,” Gadras said with a hint of sadness.

They both know, it is a race against time. Yet there could be no mistakes or everything would be in vain. Running as fast as they could, hoping the smiling warrior could survive.

Yushin barely had time to grab the shield when the first attack came. He weaved sideways and countered with his own spear.

Somehow, having the enemy use spear was to his advantage. He was familiar with its range and pattern. The only problem is the number of attacks coming and how many mistakes he can make.

[Parry!]

He immediately thrust spear into the neck of an enemy. It is a weak point, but not enough to take it down. Another spear comes, and he tried to parry with shield, but the timing was much different. He took a bit of damage. His HP was only good for two more hits.

But, this time, he didn’t need to kill them all. All he had to do is run long enough. He tried to run on the walls and go to the other side, but the leader is smart enough to block his path. He roared and stabbed multiple times.

[Dodge!]

[Parry!]

[Block!]

While weaving around, he tried to damage his enemies as much as he could. Two enemies were near death. The leader still untouched. He is much stronger than the others.

Soon, Yushin had his back to a wall. There was no time to escape. His shield finally crumbled.

[Parry!]

[Parry!]

He finally missed a parry. His spear also broke. Taking out his sword, he only blocked once with it. Poor quality equipment.

But, finally, the system announced:

DUNGEON CLEAR!

REWARD: [Dungeon Rights]

‘Heh. They did it! Command: Leave Dungeon.’ Yushin finished activating the command when the leader’s spear pierced his spot.

Thankfully, he was already transferred outside, to the forest.

Sitting alone, in front of the white light, he laughed loudly.

It’s not that death was permanent. It’s not even clear if the penalties are harsh enough for him to worry about. But who likes dying anyway?

He is more worried about Gadras. It is clear that Rain Falls made it to the finish line, but if Gadras died it still wouldn’t be a good ending.

Yushin tried private messaging Rain, in vain. Seems being in a dungeon blocked all outside whispers. No one was around either. Expecting people from Red Clay Guild, they either haven’t made it there or were wiped out by the furious mob.

[System: You have reached Level 02!]

[System: Spear Thrust has reached a new level]

[System: You have learned [Running] skill]

[System: You have learned [Parrying] skill]

[System: You have reached enough spear experience to create a new skill.]

‘Whoa, a lot of level ups.’ While waiting and seeing no one was around, he opened his status window first:

[Player Yushin Class: Small-Time Captain (Hybrid Warrior-Magic Class) Level: 02 Race: Half-Human]

Title: None

Bounty: None

Fame/Infamy: 0

Strength: 04

Magic: 03

Defense 02 (Total 03)

Agility: 03

Intelligence: 03

Magic Defense: 03 (Total 03)

Dexterity: 04

Endurance: 05

Charisma: 02

Health Points: 100/2500

Mana Points: 100/150

Soul: 2/180

Wealth: 0c

‘Whoa, all stats leveled up. Dexterity, agility, and Endurance had the highest gains. Is it because I gained running and parrying skills?’ He opened the skill window.

[Skill List]

[Athletic Skills]

[Running (Passive)] Level 1.

Info: Increases movement rate when running and allows the user to run slightly easier on harder superficies.

[Defensive Skills]

[Parrying (Passive)] Level 1.

Info: Slightly increases parrying timing window.

‘Good, two passives. Parrying is a life saver.’

[Spear Thrust has leveled up. Would you like to choose a modifier now?]

When skill levels up, besides increasing in stats, one modifier per level can be added. Modifiers can be positive, negative or a mix of both. Spear Thrust has the following modifiers:

[Modifiers]

[Dash]: The skill can be used after a small run without losing speed. Increased speed and range. Cost: +2 Soul.

[Spin]: The skill is used after a small spin. Increases damage and penetrating power, lowers speed a little. Cost: +2 Soul.

‘Either speed or penetrating power. Mobility is a good thing, but I have no skills to damage armor-wearing foes. I’ll go with spin.’

[Physical Skills]

[Spear Thrust] Lvl 2. Atk 120%. Speed: 1.1. Soul cost: 7. Required: Spear.

Info: a simple attack with the spear.

[Spinning Spear Thrust] Lvl 2. Atk 130%. Speed: 1.0. Soul cost: 9. Penetrating Power: Low. Required: Spear.

Info: a simple attack with the spear. A spin during the strikes makes it slower, but also increases damage and penetrating power.

‘I see. It becomes a new skill, but I am also able to keep using the initial skill. What about skill creation?’

The skill creation window appears. The type of available skill to create is based on current skill level and other existing skills. Yushin could only choose:

[Spear Sweeping Skill]

‘Because I used Leg Sweeping Technique often I am able to create that skill? Is that how it works?’

[Spear Sweeping] Lvl 01. Atk 100%. Speed: 1.2. Soul cost: 6. Required: Spear.

Info: a simple attack with the spear, aiming at sweeping enemy legs or supports. Good chance of knockdown.

Yushin closed the skill window. Soon the white light shone brighter before disappearing. In its place, a female figure appears.

Rain opens a huge smile seeing Yushin, but she soon becomes her serious self.

Yushin smiles, “...The Lizard?”

“He is safe,” Rain nodded. “We tried getting into the stronghold, but even if we had three people, there’s no way it would move. It’s some sort of high-level mechanical lock. The lizard said we need a key or someone that can understand it. He stayed behind to look for clues. Can’t get out the same way as us anyway.”

“It’s a good thing he is alive.”

“He said you owe him and you better find a way to help someday,” Rain added.

“I will. Is that the dungeon?” Yushin saw a small object in Rain’s hand. A blue crystal in a diamond shape.

“Yes. Seems I can carry it around and summon it to open,” she looked a little restless. “...Do you want it? You went through so much after all. We wouldn’t clear it if it weren’t for you.”

Yushin shook his head, “No. It’s yours. If you feel indebted to me, then invite me to explore it sometime.”

Rain smiled, “I will. Can I… add you as a friend?”

Yushin could feel it took her a lot to ask that. He answered by sending her a friend invite and smiling. She was very happy, even if trying not to show.

“Oh. The two we left behind died and spawned in the city. They said no one was coming because the bear is still on a rampage.” Rain looked at Yushin with pitying eyes, since he was the bear’s number one hated player.

“...We better get going then. I’ll log out once we’re out of the woods.”

Rain nodded agreeing and they did so. She also had some level ups but decided to focus on that later.

After going through so much, running through that monster infested forest wasn’t as hard as before. Yushin crossed the woods, bid goodbye to Rain and logged out.

He played for many hours straight. His body was okay, but his mind reached its limits. All that action and intense moments took its toll on him. A single mistake would bring death. A small lack of concentration would bring doom.

But he felt alive.

He finally found something to fight for.

He wants to write his last journey inside Tales.

A tale none of his books could ever match.

A true tale of The Heroic Kingdoms.