《Somatic Horizon - A LitRPG Odyssey》8. Duel
Advertisement
A smiling young man in a suit stood at a desk beside a barred door of solid iron. He had a piece to a half-assembled jigsaw puzzle in his hand.
“Hello challengers. Welcome to the third floor. Would you like a drink?” Huay tensed up at the realization that he was level 28. She looked to Salein to see if there was any danger.
“His name is Ezzaan,” said Salein, ignoring the clerk to address Huay. “He poses no threat so long as we accept his offers of hospitality.”
“Challengers. Would you like a drink or not?” Ezzaan sounded a little irritated.
“Yes.” Salein took a seat at the nearest table and gestured for the group to follow suit.
The clerk brought glasses of brown liquid out from under his desk and served them to the group on a tray.
Salein took the first sip, then Huay next. It tasted like an herbal tea, but she couldn’t identify it as anything she knew in specific. The drink was bitter and difficult to consume at a paltry level 4, but the group had as long as they needed to work their way through the cups and so they weren’t worried.
Salein emptied the backpacks onto the table and ordered everyone to start sorting the loot. A few minutes later, there were four piles—each roughly the same size. Looking at the loot, the four of them couldn’t help but smile. The sheer abundance of their treasure was intoxicating.
“This is enough for each of us to bring home at least 20,000 Loya,” said Salein.
“That’s more than double what we had expected to get.” Beale smiled. “We can call it quits with the adventuring for a while after this.”
Jorlaan nodded at Huay in approval. It was still impossible for him to talk, so he wasn’t capable of much more, but Huay figured he must have been impressed by her talent for appraisal.
That’s definitely enough for a camel. Huay had no doubts that she would live well-off for a long time—provided that she could survive to the end of the dungeon.
“Ezzaan. We’re ready to go through that door. Open it.”
“Very well then. I will lead you to your trial and explain its conditions once inside. Please follow me.”
Once the group had gathered their belongings, Ezzaan took out a key and unlocked the door. Ezzaan and the party entered into a hallway with a vaulted ceiling and walls painted white. Four statues stood wearing golden tiaras, each blocking a doorway.
“You will each pick a golem to follow. The one you choose will serve as your opponent in a one-on-one match to the death.”
Advertisement
“What are their levels?” Beale looked to Huay.
“From left to right it’s… 9, 12, 15, and 18.” The distribution was obvious even without her power: the higher-level golems were physically larger and looked sturdier.
“Jorlaan takes far left. Huay gets middle left. Beale takes middle right. I’ll take far right,” Salein declared.
“Why does Jorlaan get the easier fight? He’s twice my level…”
“And half-dead. You’re uninjured.”
Huay’s stomach dropped with the acknowledgment of her upcoming opponent. It had a vaguely humanoid form, though its body was a goopy mass of clay and sand in a constant state of melting and reforming. The proportions were off, as well—a gigantic torso with thick long arms held up by stubby legs that looked like tree stumps. There were no distinct facial features except for oversized holes where its eyes should have been.
“Please approach your chosen opponents. The battles will commence shortly.”
The others walked up to the golems Salein had assigned them. Huay did the same after a few moments of hesitation. She wasn’t confident in her odds of survival, but backing away wasn’t an option either. Preparing for the worst, Huay slid the magical ring she’d kept in her pockets onto a finger.
“Please follow the golems.”
The opponents came to life with those words and the doors swung open on their own accord. Everyone followed a golem into their respective rooms.
The door slammed shut behind Huay the moment she stepped foot inside. A gilded chandelier hung from a tall domed ceiling covered with patterns of planets and constellations, giving the room an iridescent glow. The walls, like the room prior, were painted white. The ground was soft with a thick layer of beachlike sand spread out around the arena.
The golem spun around and bowed to Huay. She dropped Jorlaan’s backpack off by the entrance and pulled out her sword. Huay had no idea how she was supposed to win; she began to study the golem’s levels in hopes of finding a clue.
Its legs, in spite of their small size, were level 14, while the disproportionately large arms were only level 7. She also noted its eye holes were the strongest area at a formidable level 17. Huay wasn’t quite sure what to do with this information, mostly due to a lack of experience.
The golem exploded into motion, charging like a bull, though its arms remained stiff at its side. Huay, unprepared for the attack, barely managed to brace herself before the golem’s head crashed hard into her side.
She stumbled back and yelped as the arm she’d used to block burst into pain. The Pocket Gauntlet absorbed some of the impact, but it only protected her hand and wrist.
Advertisement
The golem reoriented its body and charged again. She frantically jumped out of the way and tumbled onto the sand as it came, watching as the golem continued its charge until it crashed headfirst into the wall, slightly deforming its body. It pulled itself off and stood motionless for a moment as it reformed.
Another charge followed. Huay dodged again, getting used to how it moved. It crashed into the wall, reformed, and charged once again. And again. And again. The golem always ran in a straight line until it hit something. I have to make a move, I can’t keep dodging forever.
She recalled the strategy for fighting golems that had been outlined in the guidebook: Attack randomly, until you get lucky enough to strike the core. The best time to attack is while the golem is reforming its body, which makes rapid hits in quick succession an effective approach. The core is about the size of a grapefruit and is extremely fragile.
But Huay wasn’t confident in her ability to make any hits at all—let alone rapid ones. She could not muster the power in her strikes to penetrate deep into the golem’s body, judging by how little the wall had affected it. Luckily, the guidebook had also provided a secondary strategy that could reduce the guesswork: she could cut off a segment of the golem and see if it kept moving to know if it contained the core, but Huay didn’t think she had the strength to pull it off in the time it took the golem to reform its body. That settles it then…
She gripped her sword with two hands and brought it up by her shoulder, like a baseball player at-bat. The form wasn’t what Beale had taught her, but it was the best she could come up with in the heat of the moment.
The golem came rushing and Huay took a wild swing when it came near. Sandiver cut effortlessly through its left shoulder, sending its arm to the ground, the golem itself doing most of the work. The creature immediately dug its feet into the sand to slow itself but knocked into Huay before managing to reach a stop.
Huay flew until she landed hard on her back, the abrasive sand tearing her sweater and peeling layers from the skin of her legs. Blood began to trickle out from her calves. She looked at the golem’s arm on the ground and noticed that it wasn’t moving. So I have to keep guessing…
The fallen arm became a viscous mass of goop when the golem stuck its leg into it. The fluidized clay crawled slowly up the creature’s body until it began to accumulate at the base of its arm.
The golem reformed fast and, before she could try for a second strike, it was fully healed and charging her once again. She swerved out of the way before the attack could connect, then readied her flawed stance.
Huay’s next blow, on the following charge, severed the golem’s other arm. She dodged out of the way after landing the hit, having grown more accustomed to its movements.
The golem’s remaining body crashed into the wall and began to liquify while the fallen arm flailed on the ground. Huay rushed to stab at the arm before it reformed, now aware that the core was inside.
After a series of frantic jabs, she heard a sound akin to glass breaking. The arm liquified immediately thereafter and the rest of the body, which had been inching toward it as a viscous sludge, became still.
“+461 XP.”
Huay enjoyed a breath of relief and put Sandiver back in its sheath. Adrenaline-repressed pain erupted throughout her body. Fuck! She bit her lip. The pain was unbearable, but she found herself happy. It felt good to win—especially after the incident with the miniboss. And that wasn’t even the weakest one! Maybe I can make it through this.
She hobbled over to the now open exit and marched out into a sand-covered foyer. Beale and Salein were already sitting on the staircase to the fourth floor, neither looking worse than when they’d come in, staring at the door from which Jorlaan would soon arrive.
“Good job on the win,” said Beale, whose gaze didn’t avert from the door, “We’re just waiting on Jorlaan now. He’s taking a while… But he should be out pretty soon.”
Salein sat wordless on the first step, her face melancholic.
Huay walked over to a wall and slumped down against it. This guy still isn’t done? But that thing was like half his level! She tried to focus on her breathing to help with the pain—though Jorlaan’s absence made her uneasy.
Five minutes passed.
“He’s still not here…” Beale’s tone was shaky.
“Then we’ll have to wait longer.” Salein had her fists clenched tight.
Thirty minutes passed.
The three of them remained silent, all aware of what had happened.
Eventually, Salein spoke. Her words barely were barely audible.
“You… You killed him, didn’t you?”
Advertisement
The Forgotten Man -- Platinum Online
James Cartwright was robbed of his life and left to rot in long-term care after a devastating stroke. Then, after 20 years as a forgotten man in bed 6 of the Royal Albert hospital, James is digitised by a mysterious company looking to capitalise on untapped digital resources in the online game Platinum Online. Jim will work with the company's erratic AI 'System' to overcome the grief he feels at his own death and being forgotten by the people he knew. James has only one real option: Sell valuable materials in-game to pay for his continued existence while System finds a way to break him out and bring him back. Will Jim find a way to escape the digital world and reunite with the daughter that abandoned him? Read The Forgotten Man to find out. *** This GameLit/LitRPG novel is inspired by games such as Heroes of Might and Magic, Eador, and the RPG and economic systems of various MMORPGs. The story will take a few chapters to get into the action, but you can look forward to small group combat that increases in size to small army combat as the narrative progresses.
8 159The Tail of a Dragon
Ever wondered what happens when a dragon is born into a fantasy world? Yeah, me too. Time to find out how this goes, because everybody loves the tail of a dragon--pun intended. So don't blast me on the title. If you like game elements and level-ups, you'll enjoy this novel. If you enjoy evolution-esque LitRPG's this novel might be your cup of tea. Our young...protagonist, has a bright future ahead of him! Although, he might need to increase his intelligence and figure out what that red box is in front of him. The traveling knights find a batch of young hatchlings, and its up to the youngest dragon of the batch to save his brothers and sisters from those evil humans!He'll even go out of his way to save the blue dragon that he detested for learning how to walk before him! Red beats blue anyways, am I right?
8 241The Dungeon Crawler's Academy
In a time past, an ancient void threatened all of reality. Defeated by Gods and Heroes, what now remains of the surviving worlds has settled into a relative peace. The 'Final Reality', also known as the Ninth Reality, has become the last bastion of life. A conglomerate existence stitched together from what remained of the past, present, and future.Now, within this world made of worlds and its many moving pieces, a young alchemist aspires to find his place amongst the twists and turns of the realm he calls home. What fate might plan for him is unknown, but his first steps? Enrolling in the prestigious DCA, a school dedicated to training freelance adventurers.© All Rights Reserved
8 186Don't Come Inside, Okay?
Lars Cromwell just got dumped by his girlfriend of 3 months, apparently because she found someone better. Although the normal man would have been bummed out by this, Lars didn't particularly mind. Because Lars just won the lottery, which meant he was about a billion dollars richer now. And he had one less person to share it with! Even if he was single, at least he was filthy stinking rich! In any case, this is Lars' story. A story that begins just like how many others do. With his death. Join Lars as he reincarnates into another world as his Avatar together with his favorite game's Dungeon and it's NPCs! = This Work is on an indefinite Hiatus. I do not know when I'll get back to this, but I plan to rewrite a bunch of stuff when I do. If you liked this, keep following it so that I can inform you of when I improve this! = Hello, I'm Lire, and this is my 2nd fiction. I recently got into the whole dungeon thing, and thought that I wanted to write one of my own! Chapter Length: 2000+ Words. It can only be more, never less. Chapter Release Schedule: Whenever I can write. I am juggling this with my main Fiction, so yeah... Disclaimer: - Don't expect much statistical growth from the MC. Although I plan for him to refine his techniques and increase his repertoire. - You can guess from the name, but there will not be too much action in the dungeon itself. Plus, the dungeon has been fully built, so not too many things will be added either. The whole idea is to kill potential intruders before they enter the Dungeon. - This will be more like a Kingdom building story, than a Dungeon Building one. MC will try to dominate his surroundings so that he can keep his Dungeon safe. - There will be Slice of life elements, since realistically speaking, events aren't supposed to happen all the time. - This work is inspired, to a certain extent, by Murayama-sama's Overlord Light novel. Minus the 'emotionless' undead MC, and the premise of misunderstandings. The NPCs will also be aware that they were characters in a game, that came to life for some reason, so no need for MC to role-play to pull the wool over the eyes of his own allies. Also, unlike Overlord, there is a chance for the cast of characters to increase through a built-in gacha system(This is not a spoiler, this will literally be explained in the first few chapters.), except that the rates are absolutely abysmal, so it won't happen frequently. Maybe I'll use a poll to decide the next ally? We'll see.
8 124Son of the Night
Since the dawn of time, the Demon race and Humans fought each other over land and resources. Neither side could gain a decisive advantage. Was history determined to endlessly repeat itself? Everything changed once the mysterious demigods appeared and took the humans' side. Clueless of this struggle Akira tries to find his own path in this war-torn society. Why should he care about the fight between the demon race and demigods? Honor! Survival! Fighting for friends and family! These were the values he believed in. However, soon his heritage would come to haunt this son of the night (Those looking for Romance it is there just in the later chapters.)
8 202>
Fierce competition on the market ha been going on since Virtual Reality (VR) became a trend, but none of these technologies offer a full dive system. All VR items that are out in the market are those types include a screen wide and big enough to cover ones vision, inserted to a pair of googles and several attachments included. That change Everything when a company named Game Platform Technologies (GPT), Launch the first ever full dive technology that offers high realism as if you really are inside another world. Notes: the story will be a First person point of view, and i plan to mix a couple of genre here but over all its a VRMMORPG novel
8 201