“Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory”

- George S. Patton

My control limit was currently 8, but I didn’t want to waste mana on an air elemental. We approached the door to the next room; I had a skeleton stand in front of it, Drew kicked it open and my soldier flung itself inside. A CRACK! resounded through the air, and my skeleton flew through the doorway to land at our feet.

Drew slammed the door shut, and Tom swore. I paced back and forth, thinking about various strategies. My skeleton got shakily to its feet, and I could see a [60/120] hovering above its skull. Three ribs were scorched black, and I grimaced.

“Man, Zero, it’s a shame your ‘super valuable’ undead minions can’t speak or convey information in any reliable way,” Tom said sarcastically.

“You’re right, Tom. How about we push you in there and then you can gather reconnaissance,” Gabriel said acidly.

“Guys, we just need a strategy,” Rich said placatingly.

“I agree,” Aaron put in. I raised my hand for silence, and a moment later all was silent.

“How about this: Aaron will walk in absorb the first blast. Greg and Drew will dash to surround whatever is inside, and Gabriel and I will lay down fire. I’ll send in my skeletons in front of Aaron after the first hit, and then we’ll move in closer after that. We can’t assume that there’s just one enemy, so be prepared to adapt to a new situation. Everyone ready?” I posited my plan. Everyone nodded, so Aaron went to stand in front of the door. On the count of three, he opened it and rushed inside, closely followed by the rest of us.

Inside the room was a large onyx pillar, upon which sat a crystal orb. The orb pulsated with a sickly green light, and a hooded figure stood behind it, waving hands and chanting. A blast of lightning slammed into Aaron’s chest, pushing him backwards several feet. He let out a cry of pain, but Rich quickly cast a healing spell on him. Aaron grunted and rushed forward again as Drew and Greg split from the group. Greg launched an arrow as Drew threw a dagger at our foe, but both projectiles missed by a slim margin. Gabriel and I launched mana bolts at the enemy mage, but they appeared to cause minimal damage. I focused to [identify] him, and a small [Skeleton Mage (level 14)] appeared above the mage’s head. I knew that mana bolt did 15 base damage, and so far the intelligence boost was minimal, so total we did 30 damage. Assuming ‘minimal damage’ was probably less than 20% of total health, that placed the mage’s overall health, at the least, around 150. Seeing as how there was no door on the other side of the room, this was probably the boss for this level. That, in turn, meant that this boss probably had a lot more than 150 health.

The mage clacked out another spell, and the crystal orb flashed a sickly purple. Flames raged outwards, washing over our bodies. My health dropped about 60%, and I heard several screams of pain. I dropped to my knees and ordered the skeletons forward with a strangled yell. Gabriel and I cast [Mana Bolt] again. Gabriel’s slammed into the mage, but I was aiming for something else: the orb. The orb didn’t crack, but it did roll towards the edge of the pedestal.

“Drew! The orb!” I shouted frantically, hoping that Drew had not been incapacitated by pain. Luckily, he was still on his feet, so a small dagger struck the orb, causing it to roll off the pedestal and crash to the ground. The mage clacked angrily, bending down to reach for his weapon. My skeletons, only 5 now that one had burned up, rushed forward to grasp at the enemy. The grinding of bone against bone sounded throughout the room, my minions holding the mage against its will. Aaron strode forward, sword held aloft, and bashed the pommel against its skull. A dent appeared, but the skeleton didn’t seem fazed. Its eyes flared purple, and the hood fell back off its skull. Green flames flared up around its head, and a purple fog spewed from its mouth. Gabriel and I cast mana bolt again, and this time there was a notable effect: the skeleton’s bleach-white skull cracked a little, and Aaron leapt to take advantage of the opportunity. He coughed as he entered the fog, and let out a warning cry to stay away.

I could see his health dropping as he hacked again and again at the mage. Rich cast his healing spell, but the damage was irreparable. The mage scrambled and fought against its captors. My skeletal minions struggled to hold on, but the mage got a hand free. It twisted a hand into an arcane gesture and dark wisps of smoke trailed through the air. Smoke curled around Greg and three of my minions, and I heard a “Ah you gotta be kidding me!” before a strangled cry. My minions, plus Greg, collapsed to the ground, dead. Gabriel and I launched another mana bolt as Rich healed Aaron again and rushed forward with his sword. Together, Aaron and Rich bashed at our foe’s head for several seconds before prevailing. The skull shattered, releasing a ghostly wail before the room fell quiet. We waited a moment to make sure there were no surprises forthcoming, then gave a shout of victory! Gabriel scooped up the orb, gave a whoop, and tossed it to me. I Identified it, and gasped in surprise.

Name: Spell Crystal of the Eldritch Warlock

Rarity: Rare

Type: Spell Crystal

Durability: 3,671/5,000

Requirements: 20 Intelligence, level 6

Function: Use this Spell Crystal to travel the path of an eldritch warlock, equipping [Lightning Blast], [Vortex of Fire], [Summon Imp], and [Weak Scry]

This item was great! I think Gabriel met the requirements, or would soon, so I tossed the crystal back to him. His face tightened into a focused expression, and the crystal filled with green light. It pulsed red, and a pentagram of fire traced in the air. A small, goblinoid creature burst to life in front of us, and Gabriel gave a shout of glee. The small imp scampered around us, chittering animatedly. It had long arms that ended in wicked claws, long legs with spindly toes and feet, and a face similar to that of an insect. Its skin was green and hard, and it appeared almost emaciated. It ran around on all fours, and its small mandibles clacked together with a chittering sound that made me shudder. Gabriel cast his spell again, and another imp sprouted into existence.

“Hey, Zero,” Gabriel began, “How about we have an imp fight a skeleton?”

“Well, what are the imp stats?” I asked

“Uhh, let me check,” he paused, “8 Con, 15 Dex, 10 Intelligence, 10 Wis, 5 Strength, and 2 Charisma.”

“Hm, so objectively worse than my skeletons? Normally, I’d say yes, but none of my skeletons have much health left so I’d rather not waste them. When I get a way to heal them or reliably create more, we can have them duke it out. Cool?”

Along with the spell crystal, we retrieved the mage’s cloak:

Name: Veil of the Wraith

Rarity: Uncommon

Type: Cloak

Durability: 140/200

Function: Boosts effective Dexterity by 2 points. Makes it 10% harder for the wearer to be detected or hit by projectiles. Take 10% less fall damage.

I tossed it to Drew, and he clasped it around his shoulders. His form seemed less defined, and his arms shimmered slightly as he moved. I reached out a hand and caressed the pillar that had housed the spell crystal. It felt warm to the touch, and I could see my health bar steadily rising. I was enthralled by this black structure, but a thought had occurred to me.

“Hey, are you guys level 5 yet?” I asked my friends. Nods all around, so I thought Guild, and a prompt appeared.

Greetings, aspiring socialite!

It appears that you are surrounded by [5] potential guildmates…

Would you like to form a guild?

Yes! I quickly agreed. A puff of smoke blew out from our bodies, and I received a new prompt.

Congratulations!

You have created the first guild in Mythos, and are the guild leader! Your guild has been given the alignment Death 2 and any guild members without an alignment will receive this alignment until they earn their own.

As the first guild, you have been rewarded 1000 guild points.

Congratulations!

Your guild has reached level 2! You may now take jobs of higher levels, and your guild may hold official positions in a city. Your guild is also eligible to hold property under the group rather than an individual.

Congratulations!

You have reached level 9 for slaying a [Skeleton Mage]!

Because of your behavior during the fight, you have been awarded four points to Intelligence, and given 16 points to distribute between stats.

28% to next level

Congratulations!

Your party has slain this dungeon’s Floor 1 Boss! For completing the first level of the dungeon, you have been awarded:

100 Gold each Access to 2nd level Bonus 1,500 experience.

Excellent rewards! I felt my pocket grow heavier with 100 gold coins. I’d skyrocketed to level 9, and we managed to get the first guild going! I dumped 3 points into Intelligence, and the rest into Wisdom. My status sheet now looked like:

Status Sheet (Nathan/Zero)

Stats (Level 9):

Constitution: 12

Dexterity: 12

Wisdom: 36

Intelligence: 20

Charisma: 11

Strength: 10

Alignment: Death 2

Qualities:

Determined

Creative

Abilities:

Dark Resilience: Your innermost thoughts have revealed a desire for evil, and some greater power has granted you resistance to the horrific sights and sounds of this world.

Skills (level)

Reading (6) Writing (3) Poetry (2) Inspirational Leader (4)

Spellcasting (1) Mana Bolt (2) Summon Minor Elemental (2)

Create Skeleton (1) Animate Corpse (1)

Sneak (1) Staff-fighting (2)

So far, I was pretty ecstatic with my progress! I asked the others how they were doing, and they agreed that they were all pretty pleased with their stat allocation. Everyone was already level 9, which meant that we got classes next level! We high-fived, and walked back into the previous room. Greg stormed up to us and slapped Rich in the face.

“You guys let me die again!” He shouted.

“Greg, how were we supposed to save you?” I asked.

“Heal me!” He yelled at Rich.

“That spell instantly killed you! Even if Rich could heal to full health in an instant, you still would’ve died,” I reasoned with him. I watched him fume for a moment, but then he settled.

“Did anything happen this time you died?” I asked.

“It said next time I die, the respawn timer will be 4 seconds, double what it was this time,” he informed us. This was pretty ground-breaking. I did some math in my head, and I figured that we had somewhere around 15-25 deaths before it would be easier to create a new character than respawn. I cringed at the thought of waiting in the dark for all that time. Surely there were ways to cheat the system, right? Dismissing these thoughts, I moved my mind back to the present.

“Is there anything else that was new?” I asked.

“No,” Greg answered.

“Well we already know there has to be resurrection magic, right?” Tom said. I nodded, but said nothing.

“There’s got to be failsafes for dying. There’s no game that would let you dump literally countless hours into it just to be reset,” Gabriel asserted confidently. I wasn’t so sure, but the game seemed to have a ton of content. It was virtually indistinguishable from real life!

“Let’s talk about this after we get to the surface,” Aaron posited. Tabling the discussion, we marched back through the crypt, but I paused in the room filled with coffins.

“Hang on, guys!” I called to them before casting [Create Skeleton]. Bones whirled around me, but they were infused with purple light. I felt the spell fighting me as I cast it, but it still took hold. The skeleton that formed looked even more formidable than my previous skeletons. Its bones were tinted a dark purple, and the gap between bones, where the joints should have been, was a tad wider than with my normal skeletons. Even the finger bones seemed a tad sharper than they should be. I gaped in awe, and I heard Greg mutter “wicked cool” under his breath. The tag above my newest minion read [Cursed Skeleton] instead of just [Skeleton]. I could see a notification waiting for me, so I opened it:

Hold, Necromancer!

You have discovered the beginnings of a potentially great spell. The bones you’ve used in your meager reanimation spell were cursed, leading to the creation of even stronger minions! Continue studying and using these bones to reverse-engineer their curse and learn more about your field…

Cursed Skeletons Created: 1/15

Sweet! I wasn’t sure if this was a quest exactly, but I sure wasn’t complaining! I informed my friends of this development, then cast my spell again. Another warped figure assembled in front of me, but my friends were eager to move on back to the temple. I ordered a minion to stand at the entrance, then had the two fearsome skeletons ahead of us as a vanguard and my two normal skeletons behind us as a rear guard. We didn’t look intimidating, exactly. Except for Drew, we all wore the base gear of white linen cloth we’d received from the temple. I was a little self-conscious, but I figured people would be so busy staring at our minions, they wouldn’t even notice our virtuous appearance. It was time to start some waves.