Chapter 10
by 
Frog-Wizard
¿attack in the dead of night?
A Village Slaughterhouse
Nothing really can prepare you for this, honestly he was kind of scared at first, fighting a human looking thing was hard at first, but once he landed that first hit, it was kind of.... exhilarating, sure, having the body of a bandit with their throat frozen solid on the ground was nothing normal even in a game, how did he even get to this point? well, Arsene also wonders that, honestly it's very exhilarating, but as he remembers it, it went this way.
5 or so minutes ago, Arsene finally arrived at this desolate village, no lights, no nothing, his arm was a bit sore still, but nothing really concerning he heard movement and he was about to say hi, but soon heard the contents of their conversation, still, it was only a partial understanding, some words he could understand, but most of them he could not, he hid, you can never be too cautious when you have 160 hp at most
Due to your Not So Cunning Linguist you are [1%] of the way to learning Common (Western Dialect)
"what? didn't i have.... Southern Dialect.... god dammit" he said as he checked on languages, of course people have different languages, he, being of a race without many communities, had Southern Dialect as most of the Serpentine live on the south, still, this means a problem, if he can only understand half of what they say, hell, even less than that he couldn't really talk it out with them... and what if they were Bounty Hunters? Slavers? Bandits? best to be hidden, and try and learn whatever it is they are saying.
"Im ------- you, They ------- ------ Johne, They -------- him ---- a ---, It --- ---------" said one of the men, more drunk than the other, even if he couldn't really understand what he was saying, he was clearly slurring his words, his friend, or companion, whatever they are responded in a same tone, less slurred though, Clearly being the one who could hold his **** better.
"i ---- you, to ---- ------- people that, it's ----------- to his ------, he ---- in combat, that's it" some words were easier to understand, and thanks to his higher guile he was learning faster, though he still had no idea whatever they were saying, maybe some guy called Johne died? at least the way they were talking indicated that this Johne was gone.
The sober man left, shaking his head, leaving the drunk one alone, now that he was paying close attention it was clear that they were some kind of Fighters, Mercenaries? Bandits?
Due to your Not So Cunning Linguist you are [3%] of the way to learning Common (Western Dialect)
"------" Gibberish, The drunkard said total gibberish, he didn't even know if it was because he didn't know, or if the guy was DRUNK drunk, he went to stand up, but a pop up surprised him and it made him stumble, making a sound, not loud enough but clearly noticeable for anyone near.
Stealth lvl 1!: The ability to go unseen, unheard, and to not raise alarms, hiding your presence from others. Asociated Attribute = Dexterity
+50 xp
"Who ----- There?" said the voice of the drunkard still slurring his words, He stood up, starting to walk towards the hiding spot of Arsene, how unlucky, leveling up stealth gave away his position, oh boy, the drunkard was getting closer and closer, and he had to choose quick, does he run? or does he do the stupid thing and try take the bandit on, he's tired, but still has enough energy for one quick battle doesn't he? His good arm starts to cover itself in ice, in preparation to cast Frozen Hand.
As soon as the Drunkard got close enough Arsene Jumped him, grabbing the throat of the enemy with his hand and casting the spell, just in time too as the pain from it made the drunkard unable to fully draw their weapon, placing his other hand on the chest too, they both fell on the ground and damage started to pile up at the cost of 40 mana, as he was casting it in both hands.
Dealt 27 damage to [Drunk Bandit]
Dealt 39 damage to [Drunk Bandit]
Dealt 54 damage to [Drunk Bandit]
Dealt 86 damage to [Drunk Bandit]
Arsene's scales were starting to glow a bright icy blue, his breath came out cold, as he was '****' or more like crushing the throat of this bandit, of course this was hard as the bandit was struggling, bandit, he doesn't know if he's a bandit, but it's easier for his mental to assume this humanoid being that he's trying to kill right now deserves it... just an excuse honestly, his body was punched once or twice, not doing any real damage until the last one, a dagger stabbed into his side.
-47 hp
Nothing fatal, only a small wound, it only motivates him to kill this guy even more, he's armed after all, 3 more seconds of the spell, before he has to renew it.
Dealt 126 damage to [Drunk Bandit]
Dealt 189 damage to [Drunk Bandit]
[Drunk Bandit] has been slain!
+250 xp
The drunkard died, and Arsene stood up looking at the ground, at his hands to be exact, first with horror at what he'd done to a 'living being', it was horrible, it felt so... real, he felt the last breath of his victim unable to leave it's throat, as he froze it shut forever... he felt.... horrible, then... Powerful, a slight smile creeped up on his face, his mind was processing a lot of stuff, of course this was all fake, but still, it felt great, what's the harm in enjoying the **** of one's and zeroes, moreover, what's wrong with enjoying killing scum, no good person would be hiding out in a desolate desert village right? These guys clearly have bad motives... he must kill the rest of them! it's the only right thing to do!
And that's where we are right now, of course Arsene still has yet to pull the dagger on his side, though his mind was probably on another train of thought, he had to be metodical about this, while he was powerful, he didn't know how many of them there were, he searched the pockets of his victim, some coins with weird etchings on them, he pocketed them, a small note he couldn't read, nothing really useful, so he just kept going, crouching alongside the windows dagger in hand, looking into each of the houses, some of them had some sleeping bandits inside of them, using beds that have been unused for longer than anyone here could count, he made his way inside through the window, two bandits, he had to be quick.He creeped up on the one to his right, placed his hand over the mouth of the bandit, casting Freezing Hand, his other hand stabbing his targets throat, unable to make any sound, the game doesn't even dignify the **** with damage indicators, just the message.
[Sleeping Bandit] Has Been Slain!
+150 xp
Sneak lvl 2.
He made his way to the other bandit, same process, sure, mana costly, but he has to make sure they die, mana is easier to recover than health after all, another frozen mouth, another slit throat, another dead bandit, "like lambs for slaughter" he laughed to himself, he was really enjoying this power he had.
[Sleeping Bandit] Has Been Slain!
+150 xp
He checks their pockets, same as before, some loose coins that he doesn't recognize, 80 mana lost in a few fights, do they give less xp because they can't fight back? is xp linked to struggle? it doesn't matter really "3 dead, how many are there? there was one, so at least four, none of them seemed like the boss so let's say five... at least two more guys... but i doubt there's only 5." he tried going out the window, but a sharp pain on his side stopped him, right, the dagger, he pulled it out, bandaging the wound, ignoring the category it was, he had a lot of stuff to do, lot of bandits to kill.
On the other side, certain bandit Woman was standing guard as she was ordered to, she smelled a familiar scent, blood, by orders she had to investigate, though she doubted it would be more than an open wound, she started to move, her heart clearly not in it "im gonna kill them if this is another social fight" she muttered under her breath, her wolf like ears twitched in annoyance.
He thought for a second instead of using magic and wasting all his mana, it was better to use a bit of the poison he got on that Tomb, even though his mana regenerates fast, it's not that fast that he could use it just like that, it would take a while and more levels before he was casting spells left and right, he had noticed 3 guys, including the one from before, were talking and drinking somewhat far away, he'd leave them for last, they were to close together for it to be an easy kill, they would notice and raise an alarm, and he had no chance to fight a group, his spells were single target after all, but he was lucky! or his enemies were unlucky would be more accurate, one bandit was out of sight of the rest of the group, clearly trying to relieve himself of all that liquid he just drank, Arsene got closer and closer, raised the poisoned dagger and plunged into his victim's back, a dry gasp escaped their lips.
Dealt 342 damage to [Distracted Bandit]
[Distracted Bandit] has been Slain!
+200 xp
No sound, the poison does it's work, did he get another notification? must have imagined it, he moved on, leaving the dying body on the ground, he had to look for the next victim before long, at least 8 people, now that seemed like a more rational number, and looking through a window he saw another sleeping group, 2 more bandits, at least 10, quickly dispatched these two in the same manner, i guess it really doesn't matter how strong you are, if you have your throat slit you die quite quickly.... "i wonder what kind of enemies won't die this easy...." of course this time he made a mistake, he made too much sound.
[Sleeping Bandit] has been slain
+150 xp
[Sleeping bandit] has been slain
+150 xp
One of the bandits, from the group that was drinking came here, for what reason? he didn't really know, nor does he care, but looking into a dark room, witnessing the sight of a scaly man in a robe holding a dagger above one of your dead friends, it would be pretty scary, the bandit stumbled and fell to the ground backwards, screaming "M-M-MONSTER!" of course... that word he understood, he smiled, this really feels great.
The smell of blood only got more potent for the Lup'ini, Myrna reached the place it came from, finding the dead bodies of two bandits, weirdly enough she didn't seem distraught, just surprised about it, and not even a 'how' surprise, a 'now?' Kind of surprise, certainly annoyed, then she heard the scream of one of her coworkers, a scream filled with fear, then the sound of lightning, a scream of pain, and silence, followed by screams of 2 other coworkers "hopefully they kill that fat bastard before i get there" she said, her ears twitching a bit, this time with excitement at the prospect of being free from this place, or fighting someone actually worth their salt.
Arsene pulled out one of the glands of the Electric Water Serpents from before, he ate it just like that, infront of the terrified bandit, he raised his left hand, he did a whole theater performance to cast the spell, it was unnecesary, but he felt untouchable, invincible, he launched the spell with all his might "Lightning of Leviathan!" the sound echoed arround the village alerting everyone of his presence, well, the scream from before already did it but anyway.
Dealt 578 damage to [Terrified Bandit]
[Terrified Bandit] Has been slain!
+150 xp
Arsene walked out, not minding the fact that he had to step over the charred corpse of a bandit just now, the two pals of this bandit finally reaching his whereabouts, seeing the scene they hesitate, somewhat terrified of what they see, but not enough to lower their weapons and run, the Serpentine says in an old forgotten language "Kneel, you gutless worms!" though it may sound like gibberish to both bandits, it would be scary hearing it, the hesitation was enough for him to launch another Lightning Bolt, Center mass on his victim.
Dealt 342 damage to [Scared Bandit]
[Scared Bandit] Has been Slain!
+200 xp
The heavy thump it does against the floor, smoking from the power of the spell, though this only bolstered the remaining bandit "BASTARD! I'LL ---- YOU, I'LL ---- YOU -----!" he screamed raising his sword and charging him, Arsene couldn't really dodge the attack of an actual fighter instead of a damaged skeleton, but he mitigated it nicely.
-5 hp
A shallow cut on his side, but it led to him being able to cast Lightning Bolt again, point blank against his newer victim, Arsene's arm was sizzling with some burns as he had used it too much, painful, very uncomfortable, but no actual damage, just a painful sensation.
Dealt 462 damage to [Furious Bandit]
[Furious Bandit] Has Been Slain!
He feels soooooo energized, nothing could stop him now! he felt as if electricity was pulsing all around his body, pushing him to the limit! this is the power of a lightning!
Lightning spell learned: Overcharge, 100 hp cost, this dangerous spell fuels itself by the hp of the user, lowering it constantly until they are at 1 hp, at that point the spell continues for an hour or until deactivation, highly related to emotional state of the caster, greatly increases all parameters and the power of all physical and magical attacks, greatly reduces the mana cost of spells.
He didn't even read it, lightning pouring from his body all throught his scales, he was laughing like a maniac even while some blood poured out of his mouth, as if he was one with his lightning magic, at this moment he was truly invincible! "Leviathan! Witness this! First hand experience on the destructive powers you have given me!" He screamed into the sky, of course that wasn't true to his knowledge, but it was highly thematic and he was in the zone, he felt a cold breeze, a blade cutting through the air, he leaned back, in a highly unorthodox way to his left.
A long golden spears stabbed itself into the ground, in the hands of a wolf-like woman, a Lup'ini from what he remembered of the character creator, A bestial race of brave wolflike-people, "such beauty" he thought to himself as he fully saw the woman, that hair, her movement, the moon and stars iluminating her like she alone existed under them, the leather armor that while used, had not even one cut on it, all the while lightning sparks come out of his eyes and traveled through his scales, he jumped back to make some distance from the dangerous woman, who clearly piqued his interest.
"You must be their boss, Lup'ini, it is mine pleasure to kill you." said Arsene, a fine distance away, doing a mock reverence "The name is Arsene! Arcanist of the south" he didn't knoe if the woman could understand him or not, but a presentation was in order anyway.
The woman scoffed at being called boss, her emotions were hard to read considering that his own were on hyper mode, she responded "you claim south, yet you speak without accent, you are a weird one mage... the name is Myrna, now die!" She screamed, not in anger, but determination, like if killing him was not a chance, but a fact, she jumped at him, but unlike the clumsy undead or the borish drunks, she was a real fighter, he had no time to dodge before the lance destabilized him, hooking the lower part of his robe and making him fall on the ground, she raised her leg and tried to stomp on his head, but thanks to the aumented parameters on the spell he could barely dodge it, he went for a Freezing Hand but the ice melted instantly, Overcharge stopped him from casting other elements, a hidden drawback?! No matter.
Arsene barely had time to dodge the next attack, a thrust that impaled the hood of his robe against the wall of an old house, ripping it off, and giving him time to move away while she tried to free the spear from the wall, looking at him, her tail wagging, at least both of them are having fun "Not bad.... for a mage you are quick on your feet" Arsene realized she could understand him, finally, a proper conversation, ignoring the fact that they are trying to kill each other.
"Same, didn't expect much from this place, yet you don't dissapoint.... Such a shame i have to kill you" dagger on hand, he went for a direct attack with though she managed to block it with her still stuck spear, she tried to kick him back but he retreated before it could connect, again at the starting point, he made a quick analisis of the situation, not knowing how she will react, but having **** other than to try, another head on attack, but this was a fake-out, instead of going for her he went for the clash of weapons, placing his hand on the golden spear, fully made of gold, highly conductive.
"Boom" he said with a smile, as he cast that spell point blank on her spear, Myrna realized half a second too late her look of surprised turned into pain as she took the brunt of the Lightning Bolt, the wall crumbles from the intense power that the trapped spear lets out, a puff of smoke appears soon after the spell is cast.
Dealt 683 damage to [Mercenary Myrna]
The power that Overcharge gave was not in mere numbers, after the dust dissipated, there was no Myrna, but some walls that were behind her had a suspicious Myrna shaped holes in them "eh, i'll deal with you later, wolf" he said, mostly because he enjoyed the fight, exhaustion has yet to catch up to him but his own arms wete frying themselves with the power of electricity, a last shadow started getting near, a bald man, tall as most of the houses in this village, a circular shaped weapon on his hand, a mace of some kind, he definitely couldn't beat him in a direct fight, so he jumped on one of the roofs of the old houses, if he had the high ground it would be easier to fight.
"Where are you!? You ------ ----------, You ------------!" Bellowed the giant, a Rysafaedr more likely, clearly blinded by anger while looking around for the bastard that killed his subordinates, Arsene wanted to understand what the giant was saying but it was imposible without knowing the language, though he was learning one expletive at a time, he covered his dagger in poison again, waiting, that bald bandit just needed to get closer, and when he did, he threw the dagger at that exposed head of his, just a cut would be enough to get that poison in.
Dealt 8 damage to [Bald Bandit Chief]
A small cut across the cheek, it would take a while for the poison to fully manifest from such a small cut, but he still had an advantage over the man, he was on a roof-
It came crashing down as the bandit hit the walls with the mace, he scrambled to jump to another roof before this guy had a chance to make him red paste, this giant was no joke, the fact that he was almost 2 and a half meter tall did not help (8 feet and a bit more) but he was not a coward, it's worse, he was overconfident, standing on the next roof over he raised his hand looking down at his opponent.
"Lightning!" He launched his Lightning Bolt at his opponent, but the Rysafaedr.... deflected it with a hit of his mace?! no trace remained from the spell, he never expected it to be deflected?! He jumped as he saw the mace come down on the house below him, rolled foward as soon as he hit the ground to fall as cleanly as possible, now he had to face someone almost twice as tall as him, and definitely twice as big in combat, how exciting.
"I'll ------ you like a ----, you ------- snake!" The mace brought down with such agility, a miracle he managed to dodge it, but he didn't really have time to marvel at his own ability, he had to dodge again, and again, and again, the Bandit Chief was a beast, and had a lot more stamina than him, he had to do something before it was too late, he needed to buy time so that the poison starts working, he fired another Lightning Bolt at the bandit, this time managing a glancing hit.
Deakt 87 damage to [Bandit Chief]
Another dodge, the swing almost got him that time, was he getting slower? Yes, he started to feel out of breath, was his stamina finally running out? He had to push himself, just a bit more, Killing this bandit is all he wants now! Though intimidation tactics or tricks don't seem to really work on this guy, he seems far to simple minded, he threw another Lightning Bolt, easily deflected, then another, and another, trying to make space, unluckily, he fell on the ground, pathetic really, he stumbled over a corpse and now he was trying to crawl, Arsene soon realized that he wouldn't get far, turning arround to see the Rysafaedr walking towards him slowly, starting to lift up that mace to end his life, though it was just a game it kind of scared him.
But fear and desperation are needed for survival, both hands pointed towards the Bandit as if wanting to block the attack, but in a last ditch effort, with his now very low mana, even with the reduced cost, spamming his most powerful spell had left him almost dry, he fired the Lightning Bolt mid swing of his enemy, not even aimed, just a last attempt at victory.
Critical hit! Dealt 1379 damage to [Bandit Chief]
It pushed him off by a wide margin, his weapon flting through the sky for a few seconds before landing 3 inches to the right of his head, he tried to stand up while his enemy recovered, not really able to, the bandit was not looking good either, while still having a lot of hp left, the poison is attacking his stamina heavily, not only that it's eating at his strenght.
"You really thought..... that you could kill me, scum?" Arsene finally stood up, the effects of the overcharge dissapearing slowly, his body starting to hurt and fall in the face of exhaustion, a whole day of just fighting and fighting, so exhilarating, he took out a dagger from one of the bodies, trying to get closer to the weakened giant.
Arsene attacked, but even weakened, the giant could stop his attack, the poison eating at him and the spell that took the air out of his lungs making him struggle against the mage, but winning the struggle, he opened his mouth to take a jab at the almost suscesful mage, but something neither of them counted on was the inmense internal damage Arsene had done to himself with this spell, spitting something that looked like blood upon the bandit, enough of a distraction, the dagger found it's mark on the eye of the giant.
Critical Hit! Dealt 241 damage to [Bandit Chief]
A splash of blood, a guttural scream of agony, determination coursing through his veins, in anger he raised the dagger again.
Critical Hit! Dealt 132 damage to [Bandit Chief]
A splash of blood, The sound of a broken skull, gurgles of phrases that will never be said, he raised the dagger again.
Critical Hit! Dealt 76 damage to [Bandit chief]
A splash of blood, silence, he raised the dagger again.
[Bandit chief] has been slain
+700 xp
A splash of blood, again.
Again.
[You Are Extremely Exhausted And Fall **** On The Spot]
[Take A Breather, Go Eat Something, Get Some Sleep]
[¿Close The Game?]
Myrna finally woke up, twitching slightly thanks to the Lightning magic still coursing through her body, she stood up wincing, she went through 3 walls, how? It was a powerful spell, but it seemed very basic on how it worked, did he have some buffs she didn't notice?
"Shit.... Klaus is gonna be mad about this..." she started to walk around the place, seeing the destruction, everyone seemed to be dead, heads frozen and throats slit, then the last few were struck by lightning, just like her.
"Everyone's dead.... ugh, Klaus will expect even more of me now-" she was left spechless at the sight, Klaus dead, his head almost caved in by a knife still stuck on his eye-socket, the killer? Dead or **** at his side, she was.... Happy "FINALLY, you bit the dust you damned brute, i have to thank you mage, i would have liked to do it myself but you did good! now where's that damned contract!?" The Lup'ini searched the pockets of Klaus with a big smile on her face, but she couldn't find that rolled up piece of paper anywhere "where did you hide it?! You are dead, it's not binding anymore!" The anger on her voice was palpable, she went to push the mage, maybe he was blocking one of the pockets.
"What? Why- no, impossible" she said in disbelief, she tried to, but no matter how much she tried, something stopped her from pushing the mage in that way, neither stabbing, or shooting at him with an arrow, nothing went past, realization hit her, that puny mage had the contract now "YOU PIECE OF SHIT, YOU BIG OAF SON OF A WHORE!" She screamed while kicking in the head of the dead bandit, Her contract, the same contract that stopped her from killing Klaus years ago, now stopped her from killing this mage, once again trapped.
"This is...... ugh" with a big sigh she adhered to the terms of her contract, looking incredibly annoyed by it.