Chapter 7 – Lantis Shows His Might – II

-15:34-

Before entering the doorway, Lantis had pre-emptively peered through the doorway twice to check for any movements inside as a precautionary measure. In both attempts, he only found silence as his answer.

Now when he was actually inside the hallway, he found that exact eerie silence combined with sinister darkness as his new foes.

Nothing could be seen clearly as far as his vision goes. Nothing could be heard except his own breathing.

He crouched down and quickly stepped into the hallway with his two blades held tight in both hands.

Before continuing any further, he suddenly halted and observed the hallway closely.

‘Time was a scarce resource’ with this thought as a stern warning. His brain immediately began to race with hundreds of thoughts that he could use as countermeasures.

"Think baby think! There must be something that could be productive in this useless brain of mine.

Barely 15 minutes remaining….how can I possibly reduce the scope of my area and still could achieve the objective within the given time?"

“First things first, where are those damn hostages had been kept? I need to find them first. Once I do that, the next thing should be to sabotage. That can perhaps actually wait.”

He continued to crouch and skulk through the hall. While moving down, he at least passed through 4 large doors, all fully intact and repaired.

Was it really a ruined castle? Or was it made to look like one?

He slowly moved to the doors on his right, as he could heard snoring coming from inside. When he was close enough to the door, he stood down and peered through the corners of the doorway. Inside he could see a large number of bed sheets on the floor, and sleeping in those furs and hide beds he spotted the forms of at least two dozen humans.

“Sleeping soundly like a log, huh? Well, I have a small gift for you all. I am gonna give you the best sleep of your lifetime.” Lantis scoffed as he began to think of a new plan. From his belt, he took out the only ‘poison bomb’ he had in his arsenal.

He held it in his hands and smirked, “Now this, my friend, is a good toy.”

“Helix, open database. Search poison bomb.”

//Opening database – Last updated 36 minutes ago.

//Connecting to server…

//Poison Bomb: Poisons bombs are one of the many weapons made available in the tutorial. These bombs when they explode release a poisonous cloud that quickly cripples anyone who inhales its fumes.

//Director’s remark: Quick, lethal and classy, these small guys know how to do their job and they do it well, perfect for a tutorial. Made from a plant with a very naughty secret, I swear when I say that you will not find this anymore in the game. Such is their rarity. Did you ask Why? Game balance, of course, a nightmare for every developer.

“This guy must have a shitty sense of humour in life. But this bomb is all I need right now. ” Smoothly holding the bomb in one hand, Lantis took out his firelighter.

The firelighter burned giving off a small yellow flame. Realising something, he restrained his breadth and covered his mouth and nose with his arm.

He quietly let the fire burn the fuse. Silently opening the door- just enough to open a gap and fit the thing inside. He shoved it inside and closed the door quickly.

Pssshhhhh……

The thing seemed to be doing its work, that’s for sure. You know those ghastly noises when people make when they are out of breath or are about to die. Yep, Lantis could hear those sounds now, very clearly and in numbers. Along with the white smoky fog that was coming from the bottom gap, it was no less disturbing than a horror movie.

Lantis gulped and spoke, “en, I should probably move on, now.”

-15:10-

He turned left again this time and continued to move forward soon coming to another door, this time on the right side. The door was open, so he advanced towards the direction and peered into the room. No one was there to greet him. There were more beds on the ground like the previous one, but they all were empty. No breathing or snoring, nada.

“Interesting.”

He observed the room and look for anything that might be of some use to him. There was a chest in the corner, which could be of value. But first, he went towards the nearby table and began to fiddle with the stuff over there.

“Lockpicks and a tension wrench, how convenient.”

Lantis took the lock-picking tools, as it may come very handy later on and began to look at the various documents on the table. Fortunately, all of them, for some strange reason were all in English.

He took one of this supposed documents, which actually turn out to be a one-page letter and began to read its contents.

[

By the three divines, we hit a real jackpot this time. The note has been sent and we will see how they respond. I believe it won’t be too long before those rats come out of their holes and then we will slaughter them. Send them to slavery or something; I heard there is always a good price for a good elf. Those pointy ears gimmicks really test my patience, why won’t they just give up?

In the meantime, we’ll keep breaking them down- piece by piece. Got some prisoners out there today, they will really ‘satisfy’ my urges for the coming days. We should be indeed set for a while, let the man rot in the cellar as I will feast with their maids. Hahaha!!

Oh and I left some wine for you for in the room, consider it a bonus.

Rigel Narsingthom]

-14:58-

Lantis looked around the table, picked one of the wine bottles and drank it. It didn’t even take him 2 seconds before he spilt it all from his mouth.

“Shit! Do they call this yellow ‘piss’ wine? Does something call ‘quality’ not matters anymore?”

He searched for more clues, opened the drawers, and looked into the corners and beds but apart from few coins. It seemed the room was exhausted of usable resources.

“Now, I know pretty much what course of action to take. Find that cellar, find what ‘they’ are planning and to see if I could do something more. I don’t really think it’s gonna stop just there though.”

He moved towards the chest and bent down, observing the lock.

It was time to pick the first chest in the game!

Of course, Lantis could have checked if one of the many keys he previously obtained could have opened the chest. Which he indeed did but surprise, surprise, it was only a fruitless effort.

5 seconds wasted, it was time to waste at least another 30 seconds. Lockpicking was a skill which seemed very ‘simple’ on paper but always torturing when you are the one actually doing it.

Lantis didn’t want to waste 5 minutes opening a single chest, he will attempt just 3 times if it does get opened, it’s a ‘bingo’, if it doesn’t he could only ‘let go’.

He slowly inserted the tension wrench with slight pressure. Pressure was instrumental in opening a lock, the rule of thumb for Lantis in such games- Initially use slight pressure, and then increase it slightly as if you are massaging someone’s boobs. Next, he inserted the pick with three ridges and slides the rack all the way to the back.

Khorok!

A slight sound could be heard from the lock, which made Lantis grin in glee.

“Well, so far so good.”

Using his left hand to apply the pressure using the wrench, he used his right hand holding the pick to rake the inside of the plug. Sweat trickled from Lantis' face but he intended to stay focused. He pulled the pin back, simultaneously lifting it up to put pressure. He kept repeating the steps over and over again- torquing the wrench and scrubbing the pins…and finally then…

Khorok! Khorok! Khatang!!

With a sudden noise, the lock got unlocked and the lid of the chest opened. Lantis was bewildered for a moment before he squealed with delight.

“Holy shit!!Fucking Jesus, I managed to open it on my first try. Yeah, baby. I rule the world.”

Sometimes, small things like this in life can give you great amounts of joy. This was especially true for stuff that you don’t expect as well. Lantis was in bliss with this feeling now; he totally didn’t expect to open the chest in such a short time. That was indeed a genuine claim considering his shortest track record was- 1 minute and 35 seconds, that too in his second attempt.

“My skills didn’t betray me, yep. I wonder what toys I got this time.”

He opened the chest fully and peered inside. What awaited him was a medium bag of gold coins worth 60 units, some precious stones, some antiques which he quickly disregarded from his ‘imaginary loot pool’ and probably the most fascinating- a handwear.

“Helix, what is this?”

//HELIX Database:

//Fine Brass Knuckles: These weapons are probably one of the most balanced ones available. Melee weapons that are shaped to fit over user’s knuckles, despite their unassuming appearance and weakness as a weapon- these weapons can be extremely ‘brutally’ lethal in the hands of an expert. Designed for violent unarmed-combat, inspired by 'reality'- in the game, you can do brutal takedowns, executions and of course- disarms with this on. Use it wisely.

//Producer’s remark: Brass knuckles, when a punch to the face is just not enough. The perfect weapon to use in a bad relationship. But don’t use it against an armoured knight though, now that will suck ass.

*This is a tutorial weapon. In the game, you can still get knuckles provided your tribe knows how to make one.

After reading such descriptions, who will still have the guts to reject such a treat?

Anyhow, Lantis wore the knuckles over his Vambraces. He liked the new shiny look and the heavy feeling that came wearing it.

He threw some punches in the air on purpose and was satisfied, “Yep, feels much better now. Worth it! I have enough power to knock out someone instantly with a few punches now. Now, time to go.”

His mind made up, he stepped back from where he came from and began to move towards the new direction.

The new pathway was less dark, narrower and there were lamps hung up on walls, pretty luxurious for a ruined castle such as this.

He was not even that far before he saw three humans patrolling the corridor. As usual, Lantis stooped down in the farthest corner of their vision observing them from afar while leaning at the nearby wall.

“I could have used smoke bombs, but I want to try my knuckles badly. So……let’s try them.”

He took out his bow and arrow, aimed the closest mercenary’s head in his ‘radar’, drew the string and exhaled slowly, releasing the arrow.

Twang!

The string snaped and the arrow flew through the air with ease, taking less than even a second to pass through and slam forcefully in the head of the mercenary.

Headshot!

Accuracy.76%

Lantis quickly moved backwards and hide in a corner and crouched down. He could faintly hear their steps coming towards him with haste. He still had the element of surprise, which was a good thing and only needed a moment to pre-emptively strike.

He saw one of them coming towards his direction and the other one who was following suit but lagging quite a few steps away from him.

“Perfect!”

Calculating their movements, Lantis sensed the opportunity. He got into an offensive stance, much like an experienced box fighter and put tension on his legs to move in reflex whenever the need arises to do so.

The moment he saw the mercenary in his attack range, his legs automatically uncoiled. Lantis instantly accelerated, with a ferocious punch coming from him to strike at the enemy’s throat with a second to spare.

BOOM!

BAM!

This was again followed by a jab from his other fist in a quick sequence. ‘Once you get started, you need to fuck it till you make it.” – Lantis followed this motto in its purest form. He saw the mercenary quickly stepping back trying to make a swing.

“Over your dead body, motherfucker.”

With a quick roundhouse kick from Lantis, the mercenary fell ‘spectacularly’ and Lantis made short work of him with a punch right in his face.

He stood over the mercenary and looked at him. The punch broke his teeth; the left eye from his socket was coming out. The bridge of his nose and cheekbones were hammered into a pulp.

Lantis looked at his own stomach with a sweaty look; he too had received a slash in his stomach area from the mercenary before he died.

Tired, he let loose his breath and looked at the oncoming mercenary who was just twenty steps ahead of him.

“No time to waste.” Lantis quickly reached the enemy to counter him. He dodged the axe swing but this time the mercenary threw a kick which overtook him with surprise. The mercenary didn’t stop there- he swung a slash in his arm and threw another kick to make him fall again.

“Shit, this is foul. But then again, that’s what I was doing till now.”

Lantis hit the mercenary under the jaw who intended to swing at him. He shrugged his shoulder and dodged it. He hit the mercenary four times- three lefts and a right in the face. The mercenary stumbled back, blood rushing from his nose. Lantis made another round kick on his jaw, knocking him out plain.

Now, that was a good brawl.

“That’s an instant KO. Point 1 goes to me, yeah; let’s check how much I was punished this time.”

Lantis looked at his HUD to see if he took any damage, after all, he was recklessly pushing forth like a turtle this entire time. It would be abnormal if the game didn’t punish him for that.

//Player Lantis (Warchief)

//Health [ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_] 88%

//Stamina [\_\_\_\_\_\_] 63%

//?

“Seems fair enough; I think, it would be better if I use my knuckles as a supplement to my blades. Now, that would be a good combination.”

He kneeled down and efficiently looked what he could get out of these three. The first mercenary didn’t have anything useful to him, the second one gave him few coins and a bread loaf but it was the third one which really made his eyes spark.

Weak Herbal Medicines Type: Medicine Effect: Can heal a meagre amount of health Rarity: Very Common Huntsman’s Axe Type: One-Handed Axe Damage: 12/ Hack-Slash Rarity: Common Durability: Good

Along with these two things he also found a jewellery ring the mercenary was wearing and a bronze key. Indeed, this guy who was a dead pulp looked no less than a fat sheep In front of Lantis right now.

-14:08-

“God, I am so tired now but this place doesn’t seem to end. With what little loots I am getting, I wonder if I can survive the entire game like that, firstly where are those peasants, damn it?”

Lantis continued his detour. He hadn’t seen or heard anything but he wasn’t going to take any chances- It’s either them or him after all. Taking out his bow with a tight grip, he tried to push the next door open but found it locked. He took out his keys one by one and tried to unlock it quickly.

“Come on….open up.”

Khatang!

He let out a short breath in relief, just another second and he would have gone desperate to the point of kicking the door itself. The door smoothly screeched open; this one seemed oddly really well-made. No holes, discolouration, oiled and really well-painted.

Holding his bow up and down, swinging it back and forth Lantis looked for any further signs of movement. After a few seconds, pass and nothing move he steps into the room and looks around. Another room with no humans at the moment, ‘just great’ he thought.

Searching for anything interesting, he found it was a storeroom of sorts but with nothing useful. He chanced upon a diary and looked into it. It was all about some expenses and savings, Lantis immediately closed the book. He sighed, kept it in his large inside pockets and quickly left the room.

He moved to the last doorway in the corridor he was treading on, the one leading to another hallway with a torch in it. He peeked through the doorway and still saw nothing but the flickering of another torch.

Readying his bow, he pushed the door open and entered inside. Continuing further down the lane, he reached a point what can be called a junction branching off into two paths. He took the path to the left and skulked down the lane. Wearing leather armour was indeed helping very much till now, in stealth and in hearing things, so Lantis didn’t found it surprising at all when it helped him do both of this things simultaneously at the same time.

-13:55-

A bit distance ahead of him, Lantis hiding in the shadows of a lamp saw something new.

“Orcs? What the fuck are they doing here?”

Two orcs and three humans were mumbling something with each other while guarding the door, Lantis couldn’t hear them very clearly but he knew the room they were guarding must have something useful.

But, the real question arrives. How to fuck can you kill them all in such a short time? Lantis’ brain began to churn out some ideas.

“Assassinations? Nope. Tackling? Na, won’t work. Aerial takedown will be highly impractical. Quick Takedown….but the orcs are damn bulky. What should I do then? ….looks like I got no choice but to use that.”

It was time to take out the real ‘star’ of the show. Lantis from his belt smoothly detached one of the smoke bombs he had.

He quietly began to move towards them ‘skulking’ from shadow to shadow, all the while trying his best to remain concealed in the corners.

When he was at a satisfying angle from them; with his firelighter on, he began to let the fire burn the fuse as he watched them patrolling. He noticed that they were moving in an irregular pattern, ‘all the more reason to use the smoke bomb now’ he confirmed.

As one could guess, Lantis didn’t really want to use the smoke bombs; it came in a really limited quantity but it gave the user a huge tactical advantage.

With a huff sound, Lantis threw the bomb towards those bandits.

Tap! Psshhhhh…….

The bomb fell far from him and just as it hit the ground; it began to do what it was made for.

Within a few moments, white smoke began to spread and rapidly engulfed the area. The orcs and the other mercenaries were caught entangled in its thick fog rendering them blind and confused.

Humans and orcs alike began to roar and cough out of breath. In this thick fog, it will be really hard for someone to sense the other and Lantis being the ‘lone wolf’ here had the advantage.

He was still far from them enough to avoid the on-going mayhem. Quickly tracking and marking each of their positions in his brain, Lantis began his move…..

Like a snake sneaking up on its prey, with his two blades intact in his hands Lantis reached the first Orc who was ‘about to be a dead Orc in a moment’.

He charged towards the orc with his axe swinging for a blow towards its head, the orc violently thrust his spear towards him. Lantis dodged barely with a moment to spare. He grabbed its bald head and yanked it back again to push his dagger inside his throat clean, then with his axe made a deep slice in his neck and threw it forward in disgust to bleed it on the ground.

His brown leather by now was a mishmash of red. Nauseated, he spat with extreme loathing, “Never was a big fan of orcs or goblins. God, the odour! It feels like I have been in a pool of piss filled with cow dung and rotten eggs.”

He quickly began to move towards the next Orc who was a bit right from him. The orc seemed to saw him as he levelled his spear towards him for a thrust; Instead of dodging or stepping back this time, Lantis lashed with his hands on and grabbed the shaft of spear knocking it off course. In a sequence, he brutally kicked the abdomen of the orc just in his genital area.

“AWWWWWW!!” The orc instantly cried and fell with his spear being free from his hand. Lantis hacked him with his axe right in his face and his kukri sealed his life with a slash in his belly.

//You have performed a disarm!

It felt like an hour had passed within seconds but Lantis knew this was all an illusion. Only in fights, the true tendency of a human starts to show up, panting and badly exhausted Lantis perceived the environment around him, “Only the humans remain now, but…..orcs vs. elves, now where I have seen that before?”

He quickly checked his HUD and yep, the situation was getting grave.

//Health [ \_\_\_\_\_\_] 79%

//Stamina [\_\_\_] 38%

“It is really getting dark souls now. No health recharges or special treatments…fuck, if not for the fact I am utilising my resources cautiously I would have been long dead…..but, I kinda like it.”

Lantis smirked as he thought all of this rubbish things, he could hear the pulse of his heart beating loudly and very closely now. The excitement of breaking through his limits running on his nerves made his mood all the way better, this was one of the traits of a player who has run through steeps and curves of life and the various experiences accumulated through playing games would know- To not give up under any circumstance, the moment you do that is the moment you lose.

Lantis leapt forward with all his might towards the nearest mercenary; he extended his arm in a killing thrust aiming his kukri right at his pitiful forehead. The kukri hacks the skull like it’s made of paper. The mercenary didn’t even have the time to register what happened to it.

With a slight shove from him, the mercenary fell. Only one remained now but as Lantis was about to turn he felt a searing pain in his back.

By now the smoke had dispersed and thus his location was exposed to the last one. Alarmed he was about to turn but the damage had been dealt by then.

//Vital Hit!

//Direct Hit!

//Vulnerable Hit!

//Health [\_\_\_\_\_] 55%

//Stamina [\_\_] 26%

Warning: You are bleeding. Tend to your wounds or take medicines/potions to heal it quickly.

Warning: You are low on stamina. Take rest for a while.

Lantis spun around and grabbed the mercenary by his throat. He flipped his kukri into a reverse grip and stabbed down the machete into the bandit’s eye. He yanked the kukri, gouging out the mercenary’s eye and released its throat to let the body fall to the ground.

Lantis too exhausted fell to the ground, “So I get it now, so executions, takedowns etc. are all heavy ‘power’ attacks that consume my stamina like water, makes sense. But, I won’t be throwing those cheap light attacks, not my style of playing. I must increase my stamina somehow later in the game. Sort of realistic in a way, but annoying as well.”

He looked at his wounds, god the guy really made a mark on him. He took some time to tighten up his wounds neat and tidy, to prevent the bleeding. Last, he also used that healing medicine to restore his health by about 15%.

“I need something that can give me stamina, is there anything up here?”

He checked the orcs bodies in search of something, but what he got was a totally different thing that was out of his very expectations.

“A scroll? What is this?” Lantis from the hands of one of the orc found a parchment of paper. He picked it up and unrolled it. Surprisingly enough, this time he was not able to read anything that was written on the roll. The written script seemed awfully different from anything he had ever seen before.

-11:43-

Ting!

You have found an archaic lore!

You have found the scroll “An enquiry on the survival in foreboding”

[The inhabitable lands of Wrothgard is a foreboding and unforgiving place for the unprepared. We Orcs, proud children’s of the fire and fallen ones, on the other hand, are used to living in the harshest of the environment and as such our people are sturdy and have a knack for survival. We will ensure that all our people and soldiers alike will share these experiences for the generations to come and thus are able to survive much better.]

Ting!

You have unlocked the scroll: Art of Survival I

And as such, your tribe will gain ‘-15% Land Attrition’ as ‘traditions’ when you will start your grand campaign.*

Also, the tribe that you will lead will gain a free technology: Advanced Foraging. *

*This boons will automatically come into effect once you have joined a tribe/clan/kingdom of your choice.

“It's a so-so thingie, after all at the end of the day- to teach my tribe a new technology, I must know the knowledge about that technology itself. God, one of a kind weird game this shit is. Fortunately, I know about that tradition thing but the foraging I will need to do some research.” Lantis thought coolly.

His injuries had been healed by now and his stamina recovered thanks to a stamina potion he got from the other orc. Taking the few gold coins he gained, he stood up and moved towards the room or hall they were guarding before.

The moment he went inside the room- Lantis immediately regretted going in. If the smell of that orcs blood was bad before, the odour of the whole room had already broken through the 4th wall. It was no surprise because where he was now Lantis deduced must be a torture chamber.

Furnaces producing molten materials, torture racks, brazen bull etc. etc. all kinds of things you name it could be found here. Lantis covering his mouth with a cloth searched for anything that he could find here. Suddenly, from his corner vision- he noticed a trapdoor on the floor itself.

Lantis gulped and walked towards it, all the while thinking about one thing, “Don’t tell me….just, fucking don’t tell me...”

He bent down on one knee and took out his keys to check if any of it matches with the door lock. It did.

Khatang!

Lantis peeked inside the door, his eyes adjusting to the new-found darkness. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could feel someone was watching him. He bent his head even more down and what he saw made his pupils dilate.

He saw at least a dozen people hiding in the cellar. All women and children, their clothes were torn down and blood coming out of their injuries. Their terrified faces looked back at him.

Nobody dared to move.