There were two things that Galmi didn’t care much for. The first was the smell, it had a sort of sweet yet rotten scent that made his nose crinkle. The other was the slime that had clung to his body, a viscous fluid which coated the throat of Wyrmfang.

His descent was slow, as though Wyrmfang felt no urgency in swallowing him, and gave him time to think. The only idea he could think of was a bit crude, but in the end he opted to try anyways.

Galmi summoned forth a branch from his inventory. When it formed in his hand he twisted it, the motion slowed down by the constrictive throat muscles around him. The jagged ends of the branch readily dug into the soft tissue around him. His descent came to an end as he clung to the branch.

He pulled out another branch and embedded it into the throat at about waist height. He didn’t cling to that one, but instead kept his hand free so he could acquire another branch. In a matter of minutes of repeated action he’d created a makeshift shelf to sit on.

Wyrmfang’s throat muscles twitched and convulsed while dark ichor oozed from the wounds, but the wood shelf refused to fall. Galmi, seated on it, took a moment to relax his aching muscles and figure out what he should do next.

In the end all he could think of was to activate his Mind’s Eye skill. He gagged as the rotten meat smell intensified, but while he fought to not retch a certain bit of information piqued his curiosity.

“I wonder if I can reach that?”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Wulfram stared in shock at the empty space which had been occupied by that odd man. A few seconds later guilt started to chew at him, as he could only admit to being far too inattentive. Anger welled up within, but rather than direct it at himself he brought it upon his foe.

He gritted his teeth and brandished his sword, the tip of the weapon pointed at Wyrmfang. “Divine Strike!”

The length of his sword glistened a golden color before a beam of light was produced. The blast struck Wyrmfang and caused the beast to reel backward, a singed spot of scales marking where the skill had landed.

The gargantuan monster let out a loud hiss and spread his viper hood even wider. The motion produced more eggs which were flung across the entire city, crashing into buildings and people alike.

The other players who’d started to attack Wyrmfang’s body were forced to turn aside. They instead worked at dealing with the fresh eggs, as hundreds of new basilisk were spawned in Freedon.

A chill went down the back of Wulfram’s neck, and he hurriedly flew away from Wyrmfang. There was a loud snap as the jaws of the serpent closed on air, but the sudden movement was enough to cause a burst of wind that struck Wulfram. He tumbled back through the air and flapped his wings desperately to maintain some semblance of control.

When Wulfram managed to right himself he saw objects hurtling in his direction. With a flick of one wing he slipped to the side, and an egg passed by at an absurd speed. A few seconds later even more eggs were thrown at him, and he was forced to duck and weave.

As he slipped to the right of one he realized another was about to hit him. With no time to avoid it he instead swung his sword and shouted, “Divine Slash!”

The massive egg was sliced in half and fell harmlessly to the ground. Wyrmfang glared at him with his singular remaining eye, and Wulfram returned that glare with one of his own. That was when an icon appeared in the corner of his vision, and he realized it was the symbol for paralysis.

Wulfram mentally cursed his own idiocy as he was forced to float there helplessly. Another egg was flung at him by the serpent, and it cracked into him hard enough to fracture the shell. He cartwheeled uncontrollably backward as his health dropped, the egg falling to the ground after ricocheting off of him.

With the line of sight broken the paralysis was gone, and so Wulfram was able to flap his wings to once more regain control. Yet as he ascended up what greeted him was not another attack, but instead Wyrmfang unleashed a horrendous screech. The full length of the serpent writhed, and the long tail swung wildly smashing buildings and people.

Wulfram eyed the odd actions of Wyrmfang, but rather than attack he focused on recovery. “Divine Touch,” he said with one hand on his chest. The effect of the skill produced a light glow and regenerated most of his lost health.

Another movement drew Wulfram’s attention away from the boss, and he saw that off to the north a large crowd was approaching. Hundreds of horses, some dragging carriages and wagons, could be seen.

Wulfram smiled at the sight, but his enjoyment was short lived as another egg barrage started. He weaved his way through the shower, slowly learning the pattern, and in a moment of reprieve even used his Divine Strike skill again.

The battle after that fell into a sort of rhythm. The players on the ground focused on clearing the basilisks, and once they were gone focused on hitting Wyrmfang. Every so often the giant would swing his tail, but most of the players caught on to the visual cues for the attack and avoided it.

Wulfram, as the only aerial player, was the direct focus of Wyrmfang’s thrown eggs. He had to slip through the shower of projectiles, being granted only small moments of reprieve with which to launch a skill.

A health bar that belonged to Wyrmfang remained permanently fixed in the corner of every player’s vision. As the minutes slipped by the bar decreased steadily, with the amount of basilisks spawned increasing as it depleted.

There was no warning when the health bar dropped significantly in one moment, and Wyrmfang let loose a screech so loud that Wulfram had to cover his ears. The monster writhed as cracks formed along the body, and then the serpent exploded into a giant ball of green particles. The spheres of viridian spread out across the entire town, being absorbed by the various players who’d helped in the fight.

Yet contrary to expectations there were no items that dropped on the ground anywhere. Even the basilisks that had been part of the event didn’t produce loot. Instead in the epicenter of the green particles was a single man covered in mucus.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Event Cleared!

Wyrmfang has been defeated, and will now sleep eternally. With the death of Wyrmfang his cult will instead have to look elsewhere, and new quests will be generated to both help and hinder them.

Everyone that took part in the event have been given rewards based on contribution points. Those rewards have been automatically deposited in everyone’s inventories.

The town of Freedon is currently 85% destroyed and will require a great deal of time to recover. Contributions are allowed at the town hall, and quests to help rebuild the city have been generated.

Top Contributing Players

Wulfram

Ulstor

Selene

Erwin

Marcus and the others had gathered at the central plaza, and met up with Colbert and Maxwell. The prince, with the end of the event, had returned to his human form. As Marcus flicked away the alert about the event ending, he noticed a contingent of soldiers approaching from the south.

Ariana emerged from the throng of armed men and leapt into Colbert’s arms. She squealed with joy as the pair hugged each other. Marcus turned away from them with a smile, and opened up his inventory to see what he’d received.

“Snake scales?” he murmured.

“You got those too huh?” Nika asked as she strode over, “I think they’re for crafting.”

Marcus gave a small nod of the head, the thought of crafting making him think of Ivanova. After their first encounter he’d made certain to add her to his friend list, and so wouldn’t have a hard time getting ahold of her again.

The small red wolf in Selene’s arm started to wiggle, barking excitedly. Selene let the wolf go and the animal bounded off to the east. Selene frowned and started to walk after it.

“Where’s she going?” Selene wondered aloud.

As if to answer the question a man draped in some type of ooze stepped through the crowds. For some reason the players nearest him all gave him a large amount of space, and some even hurried away. The man scooped up the red wolf and hugged it, which earned a yelp of discomfort from Scarlet as some of the ooze got on her fur.

“Galmi!” Selene waved in an attempt to catch his attention. “Over here!”

Galmi looked to her and responded with a wave of his own. He put Scarlet down and started to head over to them, all of the crowd parting as soon as he neared them. When Galmi came close enough Marcus realized why all the players had avoided him, as a horrid stench seemed to come from the ooze on him.

“Nice to see you got out of that hole,” Marcus commented as he took a step back.

“Yeah it was no problem, I just had to ride the snake,” Galmi said with an awkward laugh.

Marcus frowned at that, and all of the others nearby grew quiet. Even Colbert and Ariana looked at Galmi. “You rode the snake?” Marcus asked.

Galmi flicked his one hand at the ground, which caused globs of mucus to splatter against the cobblestone. “Well...it was sleeping under that crack, so when it woke up I kind of held on and prayed.”

“So you were up there when that weird guy popped in and buffed all of us?” Nika asked.

“Weird guy? Oh, I think he said he was Wulfram. I used an item and it teleported him here.”

Ariana detached herself from Colbert and almost leapt into the middle of their group. “Wulfram! Did you say Wulfram?”

“Yeah?”

Ariana put her hands together in front of her chest and looked up at the man in question, who was still high above everyone. “I never thought I’d see the disciple.”

Marcus looked at her with a frown. “The what?”

Ariana giggled at the question. “The Disciple of the Divine, he was handpicked to help serve the goddess.”

“Didn’t know that was in this game. Is he the only one?”

Colbert walked over, having finished a discussion with one of his messengers, and wrapped one arm around Ariana. “I figured all of you adventurers would know about them. The last I heard there was Wulfram, and Jewelana who serves the God of Magic.”

Marcus jumped when Nika’s hand clapped down on his shoulder. “I’m going to go with Selene and help get this guy washed off. You heading off for the day?”

“Probably. I need to prep for court.”

“Neat, make sure to say hi to your mom for me. I need to take a shower before I go tackle my class.”

Marcus gave a very slow nod of the head, his gaze shifting for a moment to Galmi. “Don’t forget to see if he wants to come with us for your desert quest.”

“Like Selene would let me forget. Alright cya,” Nika said as she turned and promptly dragged Galmi and Selene away.

“Where’s Nika going?” Ariana asked, with a hint of sadness in her voice.

“She’s going to log off and get some rest.”

There was that awkward moment of silence as all of the NPCs merely stood there, as though frozen by the information, and then they returned to activity once more. It wasn’t a long pause, perhaps half a second at most, but it was long enough for anyone nearby to notice.

“Maxwell, would you be so kind?” Ariana suddenly requested of the knight.

Maxwell stepped in front of Marcus. “Marcus, the lady has requested of me to grant you an offer. You may turn it down without repercussion.”

New Class Available

Royal Knight Errant

You have impressed a Noble of Faran and earned the right to become a member of nobility, starting at the first step and working your way up.

Able to wear any type of armor with decreased penalties. Able to use any type of weapon that does not rely on mana. Capable of using any Knight ability. Unable to use magic spells, even if spells have already been learned. Can only evolve the class with the help of a member of nobility.

Warning: Once a class is chosen you can only change it again to an evolved form of the class picked. Appeals to the gods will often go unanswered.

With a great deal of effort Marcus managed to hold in his joy when the window appeared. If there was one thing he’d loved as a kid it was the stories of knights. There was no hesitation as he clicked on the accept button.

Much like with Selene, a glimmer of light flowed up Marcus’ body. Unlike with her there was almost no change, as he had changed out of the basic gear before leaving Faeriver. What did change was that his equipment felt lighter.

“Congratulations,” Colbert said, “once you’ve gained some experience come to the palace in Orlian.” With those words he scooped Ariana up into his arms and started to turn northward.

Ariana’s face reddened as she was picked up like a bride, one hand holding down her hat so it didn’t fall off. “Bye Marcus!” she cried out, but then she seemed to realize something and tugged at Colbert’s sleeve, “don’t forget the invitation!”

Colbert, who’d been about to walk away, glanced over his shoulder at Marcus. “Ariana wished for me to formally invite you to our wedding. It will be in four months, and we will have the court magicians summon you and your friends. We do hope that you will come.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Galmi shuddered as the ice cold water was poured on him. They’d found one with the help of an NPC, but rather than warming it up first Nika had promptly scooped it up and dumped it.

“Why’s it have to be that cold?” he grumbled as he rubbed his arms.

“It’s what helps kill the germs, be happy,” Nika casually lied as she discarded the barrel, “besides now maybe you won’t smell.”

Selene, seated on the ground nearby, laughed at them. Scarlet had crawled up onto her lap, and the fairy couldn’t resist petting the ball of fur. “Trust her, Galmi. You smell really really awful.”

“Alright, so while you dry off I wanted to let you know something,” Nika said, “see I was going to head off to the desert. There’s supposed to be a neat class there I can unlock.”

Galmi perked up at that bit of information. “I wouldn’t mind getting a class. Do you mind if I tag along?”

“Of course,” Selene replied with a smile.

Nika squinted for a moment at her friend, and then crept in close to Galmi and put her face next to his. “I don’t know how you got her to like you,” she whispered, “but I don’t think I’ve seen her open up so quick to anyone before.”

Galmi shrugged. “I guess if you crawl through a dungeon together for a few hours you bond?”

Nika glared at him, but turned with a harrumph. “We’re going to the desert, and all the info on it says it’s full of poisonous things. So make sure to pick up some antidotes. That goes for you too, Selene.”

“Don’t worry about me, I got a Wyrmfang’s Ring from the event. It makes me immune to poison.”

“What? I only got some stupid snake scales.” Nika sighed at her own misfortune, and then looked at Galmi. “Wait, did you get anything?”

For a moment Galmi hesitated, and then he opened his inventory and pulled out one item. It throbbed in his hand, while dark liquid sloshed out of the open holes on it. The mere sight was enough to make both girls recoil in disgust.

Unique Item

Heart of Wyrmfang

Unknown Classification

Unknown Bonuses

One of Wyrmfang’s hearts, torn from his body before his death. It continues to produce blood even though the body is gone. The purposes of the item are not known.

“That is disgusting, and I can’t believe...wait, did that info say you tore it from the body?” Nika stared in horror at Galmi. “Is that why you were covered in gunk?”

Galmi put the item back into his inventory, and then bent over to wipe his bloodied hand on the grass. “Yeah, had to use my carving knife to cut through everything to reach it.”

“Okay, sure, I’m going to throw up,” Nika muttered, “I don’t even want to think about why they have that in this game.”

Galmi could only shrug in response.

Nika let out a long sigh. “So I need to go teach my class. If you’re on tomorrow you can join us when we go to the desert.”

Selene carefully removed Scarlet from her lap and stood up. “I need to log off as well. See you tomorrow, Galmi!”

Both of the women headed off to find an inn, so they could log out without having to worry about their avatars. Galmi watched them leave, while Scarlet curled up next to his feet and fell asleep.

“Yeah...tomorrow,” he muttered, and then shook his head, “yeah.”

Galmi tried his best to put his worries away, and instead opened up his menu and scrolled through the skill section. He paused it when he reached the newest entrant, a skill that he’d picked up after the fight with Wyrmfang.

“Maybe I should go practice this.”

Help Files

The Continent of Faran

The continent of Faran is located in the western hemisphere of the world. Humans and dwarves are the main races of the continent, though a couple of other humanoids can be found.

Faran has the greatest biome diversity out of the three continents. The south-western area is covered in a desert, and is the only known desert in the world. A mountain range cuts across the central area of Faran and is home to the dwarves.

The northern expanse of Faran is swampland, along with a frozen wasteland further north of that. Very few people can be found living in that area, although the Temple of Spirit is known to exist there.

The three biggest cities of Faran are Orlian, Freedon, and Holygrande. Numerous other cities exist, but the main political and mercantile organizations operate out of those three places.

The continent of Ghandahar can be found east of Faran, while the Brimstone Gateways lay off to the south. Numerous small islands can be found in the ocean, though there are dangers in the open sea.