Chapter 14

The Continent's Seal

Dungeon: You have discovered Temple of the Dark Seal

+350 Fame

The first monster killed will drop the best loot.

2x Experience and Drop rate for one week.

I gathered everyone around me and said, “Alright, everyone is free to go whichever way they wish. I will be taking the fastest route towards the end. Anyone that wishes to accompany me must do as I say or face the risks.”

One of the rather more arrogant captains spoke up and asked, “What risks? What if we just follow you through but don’t do what you say?”

I smiled, took out a card from the deck in my belt, said release, and threw it a bit down the hall. It turned into a medium sized rock and hit the ground. After which the rock was pelted with poisonous darts that shot out of the walls of the hall.

I turned back to the captain and answered, “If you don’t do as I say, you’ll likely die from the traps of this dungeon. It is still up to you though if you want to do as I say.”

I turned to face the rest and said, “A little reminder. I stated that the group that accompanies me to the end will receive ten thousand gold upon our return to town. First let me clarify that at the town of Holesty, I have an account with the bank containing enough to pay each and every one of you the total of ten thousand.”

This got a few gasps and ahhs from the group. Even at the high levels, ten thousand gold was an amount that would take many months of hard work to acquire.

I continued, “However, to make it this far and die before getting to the end would be anticlimactic, so I’m adding another point. Anyone who stays with me and dies along the way will be able to receive their share of ten thousand gold upon their revival at Holesty should this mission succeed.”

“Woah! Really?!”

I nodded, “Yes. At this point, a few death are inevitable. There is a possibility that a person’s death may even contribute to the success of the mission. I have memorized everyone’s names. Should the mission succeed, I will direct the bank to give 10,000 gold from my account to each individual who dies here. I swear this on my reputation as the Scarlet Enchantress.”

“Oh ho, sweet!”

“Of course, this is only for those who accompany me. Regardless of success, no money will be awarded to those who split from the group I’m leading. I’m sure a few of you intended to split at this point and take all the treasure for yourselves. At this point, would those who intend to do so please leave.”

A few murmurs of conversations sounded through the group. It continued for a few minutes, ending in a group of eight users splitting off and going ahead. Their average level was about 290, a loss, but not too bad. Less than I had been expecting. Including myself, the group now had 24 members.

The reason that most stayed was because four of the twentyfour members were priests. The priests stayed because they liked my Mana channeler enchantment, and most everyone else stayed because they liked staying with priests.

I lead the group down three hallways until we reached a room with two Basilisks.

The creatures looked like giant lizards with a long neck leading to a head with three eyes. The third eye was horizontal between the other two and was usually closed. Basilisks breath fire at their enemies, and if you look into its third eye when the creature opens it, you will be inflicted with a status effect such as Weaken, Stone, or even instant Death.

I threw ten cards into the room after saying, “Release.” They turned into hell hounds and I ordered them to attack the basilisks.

Many of the group were surprised but I called out, “My hounds will distract them, don’t look at their faces!”

At this the team charged the beasts.

I’ve stated this before, but my summoned creatures don’t stand a chance against mobs with a significantly high level. It would take a hundred of my fiends to take down one basilisk, three hundred to take down both at the same time. If you didn’t already know, summoned creatures have less health than normal creatures of the same level. They are far more easily killed and most higher leveled creatures can end them in a single strike. In this case however they didn’t need to survive. They acted as disposable units to die in the place of the group.

The hounds however did not go down easily. Despite the fact they were the size of a small horse, they were as nimble as rats. The fact that they are fireproof helped as well. The basilisk’s fire breath did nothing.

However, the hellhounds could not be commanded to not look into the basilisk’s third eye. Each time one did, they died on the spot and I had to summon a new one from a card.

Thanks to the distraction of the hounds, the melee fighters were able to get up close to and attack the basilisks. The mages of the group attacked from a safe distance. I was apart of one of the mage groups. I cast as many curses as I could upon the basilisks. Curses have a low chance of affecting powerful creatures, but at least once every four casts, I was able to inflict at least one curse on one of them. Over time this would be enough to take them out.

Although the mages were safe from the basilisk’s teeth, claws, and fire breathe, they were not safe from the basilisk’s third eye. After one mage cast a lightning bolt at a basilisk, it turned its long neck and looked right at him, its third eye wide open. The mage screamed as he was turned to stone.

I ran up to the poor fool and took out a Remedy from my inventory and poured it over the statue. A moment later the mage was back to normal, though quite shaken.

The mages were in three groups spread out around the room. When a basilisk turned to look at them, they would all shut their eyes or look down. If not for the other men keeping the basilisks at bay, they could easily charge the mages and kill them all.

Suddenly an nine foot tall black ogre could be seen walking down a hall. Someone yelled out and I ran up and threw four cards into the hall. The cards turned to stones, blocking the passage. For a few moments.

The ogre knew we were on the other side and started bashing the rocks. It would break through soon.

I decided to speed the fight up by attacking as well instead of just cursing. I moved to a side of the room where no one would get in the way and cast Dark Cannon. A torrent of purple and black energy formed around my hand a shaped itself into a pulsing black orb. A moment later a beam of dark energy shot out from the orb at on of the basilisks. The beam was over two feet in diameter and cursed anyone, friend or foe that it hit or even grazed. Though it still took ten times longer than my cursing spell.

I set myself to attack again. I had already closed my eyes as I knew both basilisks were now looking straight at me.

The closer one tried to blow past the men and my hounds, but one of the hell hounds was able to latch its jaw on the creature’s neck, forcing it to try to slash the hound with its claws. Two of the swordsmen used this opportunity to simultaneously use a powerful sword skill. Both slashed through the neck at the same time, from opposite points, beheading the creature through its dense scales like a hefty pair of scissors through cardboard.

The melee fighters that were split into two groups now all assaulted the remaining basilisk. Two of them however let their guard down and look at the third eye while charging towards it. Both died instantly.

I shot another Dark Cannon at the other basilisk, aiming carefully so as not to strike anyone else.

It didn’t look at me so as to avoid the fate of its brother.

Due to the height of a basilisk’s neck, the safest spot to avoid their eyes is up close, beneath their gaze. This however puts you in range of its poisonous bite and razor sharp claws. However the group that was fighting was the same men that fought their way with me through the Wasteland and were buffed with priest buffs and my enchantments. They didn’t go down with one or two hits even from a basilisk and the priests at the sidelines were keeping them alive with healing spells.

The second basilisk was killed and I ran over to recast my temporary enchantments. The sound of the black ogre crushing the rocks in its way reverberated through the room.

I enchanted the six most capable fighters before the ogre burst through the hallway. My hounds attacked, but with a single swipe of the ogre’s cudgel, the hounds all died in an instant.

I took out another deck and threw six Flame Skull cards. They flew around to annoy and get the attention of the ogre. I yelled, “Stay at his back and sides, watch out for its seismic slam!”

The group continued as before, with my summons getting the monster’s attention and the group damaging the monster. However I had to summon a new skull every two seconds. The ogre’s cudgel was fast and could accurately swat my monsters from the air. I had to replace them as fast as they were being killed to keep the group safe.

Eventually the ogre realized the annoying skulls were not as annoying as the annoying Users that were attacking him. It raised its cudgel into the air and I yelled, “Moved Back!”

Only four did. The cudgel smashed into the ground. The shockwave it caused lifted everyone around the ogre off their feet making them land on their butts. In other words until they got back to their feet their were immobile.

Before the ogre could smash one of the melee fighters into goo, I threw a card at it and cast dark bolt to destroy the card in flight. It became a boulder that moved through the air as fast as the card I had thrown, and right at the ogre. The monster turned to face this new threat and smashed the boulder with its cudgel like a baseball bat through a dirt clod.

Spared from the attack that went to the boulder instead of them, the other fighters got to their feet and started attacking again.

The flame skulls were very effective at disorientating the ogre. They used fire magic to blind and distract the ogre so it could not get a clear shot at the melee fighters. The ogre swung wildly, but the men themselves were also a distraction. The true damage dealers for this fight was the mages. Basilisks have higher magic defense than average, while ogres have higher physical defense. Such strategies were discussed in length among the group captains before coming to the dungeon.

The ogre eventually fell to the magic attacks.

The three captains that lead the remaining groups came up to me and asked me what was going on. Why I was using spells and skills I had not used until now.

I explained that I intended to do all could to keep everyone alive for as long as I could. Using them before now would have been a waste.

We continued forwards through a few more rooms, killing the enemies along the way. When we reached a room with a long hallway I stopped everyone and moved in first. I threw a card which turned into a small rock. When it hit the ground, the floor opened up revealing a thirty foot deep spike pit. along the whole length of the hallway.

I took out a deck, held the whole thing and said, “Release,” before throwing the entire deck into the pit.

With a large rumbling sound, rocks appeared and filled the pit to about a foot from the top. I walked onto a rock and continued forward.

I told you before, but a large amount of rocks has many uses.

The groups slowly followed behind me over the rocks.

I do not have the skill to disable traps, but thanks to the many items I brought with me in card form, I was able to guide the group through the traps.

We did in fact have two thieves and a ranger who were capable of disarming traps, but I told them it was unnecessary. Though it truth it was because I felt their skill was too low for this dungeon.

Through the skilled use of using my endless armies of carded summons and items I had on me, we were able to pass through most of the monsters and obstacles.

When we faced three headed hydras, I called out five fiends at all times to deal as much physical damage as they could while the melee group defended the mage group that dealt the bulk of the damage through spells.

Against the spellbinder hags, I summoned eight imps to cast magic spells and curse the hags and draw their own magic attacks while the melee fighters fought up close.

When multiple types of different monsters showed up, things became very difficult. There was one incident where three Spellbinder hags, a Black Ogre and a Basilisk all came together to fight us. Our group was at eighteen before that room. Afterwards it was at ten. Eight melee classes, one mage, and myself. No priests.

I searched the data of the dungeon and found that the other group that split off previously had long since been wiped out. Though I do not know if it is from monster or trap.

Finally the one of the more severe problems hit the group. The durability of our fighter’s weapons had almost reached their limit. If I had known something like this was going to happen, I would not had sold back all the weapons I bought, carded, and released.

We were about two thirds the way through the dungeon. At least one person had a sword that was going to break in the next battle, and the rest were little better off.

I turned to face the group and said, “If we continue along the shortest route, we won’t make it to the end. We’ll have to take a detour around as many monsters as we can.”

No one argued.

Monsters can set off trapson some dungeons just as easily as Users. Most that live in such a dungeon have long since learned to avoid the traps. Therefore I choose a detour that went through many traps along the route.

I have yet to say anything yet about this dungeon, so I’ll do so now. It was built on a natural energy line that leads through the lands to every corner of the continent. The purposes of the temple and traps was to keep people out. The dungeon itself is built like a maze. If anyone of this group saw a map of it, they would fall into dispair. I feel somewhat sorry for the group that left, but I had no way to warn them as the journal did not have a map in it.

I prepared for weeks to make my near-infinite decks of carded summons for this dungeon, but the amount of rocks I had was more limited. Three days was a lot of time, but the quarry I chose had been mined out of most of the usuable stone ages before.

In addition to using stones to tactfully move over or arond traps, I also had to use them to seal hallways I knew monsters would come through to prevent an ambush.

It took a day and a half, but through sheer luck, (Not the hacking kind, just normal luck) we made it to the end without incident.

Before entering the final chamber where the dungeon boss was, I asked everyone if they wanted me to cast the enchantment, Love on them all.

The risks were high and the penalties heavy, but it was likely the only way the group would survive.

They all agreed, so I cast Love on them in addition to the other enchantments.

We entered the room and saw before our eyes a wealth of powerful looking equipment and gold. Swords with gems in the grips. Shields with a vibrant luster made of some unknown metal. Bows made with high elf hair. It was likely the largest treasure trove any of them had ever seen.

In the back of the room was a stone was with intricately carved images and symbols. This was the seal of the dungeon.

After entering, the door behind us closed. A black vapor seeped from the stone seal in the back of the room. It gathered on the floor and grew darker and darker. It became a solid form that rose from the ground to become a hideous monsters.

Above the creature’s head glowed the name, ‘Corrupted Guardian.’

The original guardian of this place was tainted by the dark energy that the leaked from the seal. Because it was formed partially from black magic, my attack spells and curses were useless on it. I could also see that its level was 440.

I took out two decks and called out, “Release,” on both of them. One deck contained sixty Flame Skulls. The other contained sixty level 240 bandits I’d conscripted and enchanted.

The point of the giant swarm of monsters and foes was to take the Guardian’s attention from the only people who could deal significant damage, the remaining party.

I couldn’t risk meditating with a dungeon boss out here so my mana dropped at a rate of 300 points per second due to all the Flame Skulls. At this rate I would be out in under a minute and a half, but I knew it would take longer than that. A minute and a half is how long it would take if none of the skulls died.

The black guardian rose its formless arm into the air. Tentacles shot from the end and sought out and destroyed a number of skulls. The attack skill was called Raging Thorns, and could take out a whole party if they were the targets.

The skill however had a cool down period and left the guardian vulnerable for a moment. The raid party did not let the moment pass. They used their strongest skills to strike the guardian.

I did not specify this before, but Priest buffs increase defense and magic defense, making the character harder to kill. Having no priests in our party did not diminish our damage output.

That and I used my strongest damage increasing Enchantments over the health and vitality regenerating enchantments.

The conscripted bandits would have to be paid 2000 gold each should they survive. Their damage output was minimal compared to the raid group, but they held the potential for critical hits, and with so many, a few could successfully deal critical damage a few times.

Still, it was the raid party that was dealing the most damage.

And although the bandits died easily, they did not stay down long. I mentioned this before, but I cast several enchantments on the bandits before carding them. It increased the cost of carding, but it was worth it. One of the enchantments I cast on each of them, was Love.

The creator of the firelight enchantments created a series of unique enchantments that drew power from a source other than components and were each unique onto themselves. I won’t bore you with the details, but the class quests required for me to gain this spell took about a month. The Enchantment Love was unique in that is was a permanent enchantment that did not expire on death, but rather activated upon death. The effect was to revive the person it was cast on upon death and maintain other enchantments to last after death. The enchantment drew its power from two sources. It drew power from other enchantments cast on the person, and on death itself.

The Enchantment Love, was an auto-revive spell that only worked if a person was under the effect of at least one other enchantment when they die. Usually if a User dies, they lose a level and a portion of their skill proficiencies. If they die and are brought back to life by Love, they lose two levels and more skill proficiency than usual. However, when they come back, the power of the other enchantments cast on them doubled. Permanent Enchantments are permanently doubled. Though the same enchantment can’t be doubled more than one.

The spell works the same way on NPCs, but since they normally don’t come back if they die, they have nothing to lose. However a User does. If they are killed after reviving, they don’t come back. Love cannot be cast on the same person until 24 hours have passed since it was activated. So if a User enters a fierce battle with Love cast on them, they may lose up to 3 levels, and more than double the proficiency loss of a normal death had Love not been cast on them.

When Love was activated, it was obvious. While dormant the spell took the shape of a small glowing red mark that formed an intricately shaped heart. When the person died, the heart mark spread over the body. So people on their second life had intricate glowing red lines on their bodies.

Since my enchantments are already strong, the effect of doubling them more than made up for the loss of strength from dying.

However, because I have not mastered Love yet, the person that revives does not come back with full health. I practiced the spell as much as I could, but for now, people only revive with 39% of their maximum health.

The guardian used horrible, deadly skills. I watched out for the area wide skills and warned the others when one was about to come the best I could. Two minutes after the battle started, and my mana had not reached bottom yet. There was only about twenty or thirty Flame Skulls left. There was about thirtyfive bandits left, a little under half of which were glowing. Six of the ten Users within the room were glowing.

When the bandit number hit twenty, I threw out another deck of sixty bandits.

I don’t have an infinite number of those if you were wondering. That was my last one. In total it took two and a half weeks to capture, corrupt, enchant, and card so many bandits. I think next time I do something like this I’ll just find a place where I can capture at least ten monsters an hour and get a thousand or so.

About ten minutes into the battle, three of the melee fighters weapons broke. The guardian still had a majority of its health. At this rate the party was dead for sure. I decided to go for broke and lend my Grass sword to a swordsmen with the instructions to return it when he was done. He put it to good use by lengthening the blade and slicing off some of the tentacles on the creature’s hand from a distance.

Other than summon more monster cards there was nothing I could do. My only damaging moves are ineffective against the boss. I had to support the group for as long as I could.

In case you were wondering, I do in fact have many potions on me. I rushed to feed them to whichever User had the lowest health while continuing to throw Flame Skull cards. It was thanks to this that the group was not long since dead.

The lone mage in the group eventually ran out of mana from contiually casting magic. I surprised him with an elixir, a potion that restores mana to full and costs six thousand gold to buy. The potion also increases magic attack for a short period.

I played the role of distraction, healer, and leader while directing large groups of bandits and flame skulls into irregular attack patterns to grab the boss’s attention.

After about thirty minutes, all but six of the fastest bandits were dead, and the only Users still attacking the boss was the swordsmen I lent the grass sword to and the mage I continuosly pumped with mana potions. I still had a swarm of flame skulls out, but it looked like the battle was nearing its conclusion. The guardian was covered in cuts and wounds, and a few of the tentacles that had been cut off were no longer growing back. It was reaching its limit.

I called out to the swordsman, “I’ll get its attention!”

I threw five mid-sized boulder cards. The guardian used Raging thorns to instantly pulverize the rock. The swordsmen used the opening to elongate the sword from a distance and deal and rotating slash faster than the wind. The tip of the long blade moved faster than the eye could see, and moved swiftly from one side of the room, through the other. The guardian that stood in the middle, had been bisected.

You have gained a level!

Just from being in the raid party with him I gained enough experience to reach my next level. There were five of use remaining at the end. Other than the remaining mage that survived the whole ordeal, the other two melee fighters had withdrawn to a safe corner due to their broken weapons.

If the swordsman had gotten unlucky or missed a step, he would have been killed. If he died, the monsters I could summoned would be of no help to the rest of us, and we all would have been killed.

The swordsman walked up to me to return the Grass sword, but I said, “Keep it. You earned it.” It wasn’t like I was going to do anything with it anyways. And although it was unintentional, I had put him through a hero test and he came out on top, protecting all of our lives. He would make a good owner of that sword.

I walked up to the wall where the guardian came from. I fired dark cannon at it, cracking and breaking through the wall.

The ground shook beneath our feet. It was a tremor that would be felt at some small scale everywhere in Versailles at that moment, but here at its epicenter it was an earthshaking quake. A moment later it died down.

The Continent’s Dark Seal has been broken. The negative energy long since bottled up beneath the surface has been unleased.

Black Magic spells are 20% stronger for all of Versailles.

The undead whose spirits were once forced into slumber have awakened due to the broken seal.

Undead Dungeons Unlocked throughtout Versailles.

This was a message that was received by every User on the continent at the same time.

No one knew it yet, but undead dungeons were some of the best in the game. The undead have infinite stamina and vitality. Defeating them gave more experience than usual monsters of the same level and more skill and spell proficiency as well. The breaking of the seal also awoke several of the most powerful undead bosses that were strong enough to cover Versailles in death and decay.

One of the best ways to make a hero, is to provide a villain. In addition to training my skills and finding secret enchantments, I intend to awaken the most powerful of foes within the game. I do this not to cause suffering, but in the hope that a hero will arise to defeat them.

I looked back at the remaining Users and said, “Mission complete.”

“Yeah!” one of them cried out. The others were too tired to celebrate.

I walked over to the pile of treasure and picked a few choice items from the pile. I told everyone else they could take all they could carry.

I was almost surprised to find that each of the remaining Users had brought an Item bag to store treasure it.

Of course they weren’t rich yet. They still had to make it out of this place alive.

Chapter 15

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