Chapter Six – A Stab-for-All in the Town Square
A/N: Skills Appearing in <<-->> are skills used with "Path of Silence" (meaning he is not saying them aloud)
Glowing coals illuminated the tunnel as Knox walked toward a large opening ahead. The boss room. Two months had passed in game and he’d practiced until he’d been forced to log out from lack of sleep. Finally the time had come to test his skills and leave this place. It would be nice to think that this was his decision... but in truth it was the three baby pictures that had already appeared on facebook!
Knox had completely forgotten about Sher! He had gotten too absorbed in clearing this dungeon and he’d been stuck out of game when the alarm was supposed to remind him. A suicidal act. Sher was not the forgiving type, and as promised naked baby pictures had begun to appear one after another! He had enough experience with Sher to know deleting them would just make things much worse... Better to give in!
He had already sent her a PM telling her he’d be there in three days game time. If he died during the boss fight... well, let god have mercy on his soul. Thus, motivated, he strode into the boss room without hesitation. There are far worse things than Salamandra Lords!
Knox didn’t wait for an invitation. He slammed a vicious kick into the knee of the first Salamandra Guard to reach him, a casual movement that betrayed its difficulty. As it fell, Knox’s drove his dagger into its eye socket.
‘Introductions, complete.’
A sword swing whistled toward his right side and he swayed, smoothly to the left. As the sword went past, he stepped forward and grabbed the wrist, slashing the tendons in the arm just above the elbow. Then he yanked the Salamandra Guard toward him and used its body to block a fire ball from the boss. He could have dodged the boss’ attack but why bother when such a convenient meatshield was available?
Cutting the crippled Salamandra Guard's throat, he let go of the body and engaged the remaining two Salamandra. He rolled past the legs of the Salamandra on the right and hamstrung it. He came back to his feet in time to parry a blow from the fourth Salamandra. With a rapid torque of his body, he spun inside the Salamandra’s defense and slipped his dagger into its heart.
*squelch*
As he pulled his dagger free, he jumped backwards to avoid the fire ball that crashed into his previous location. He walked past the remaining Salamandra, who was now crawling on its knees and stabbed it in the base of the skull, before continuing toward the boss.
“Alright Scaly... Round 2.”
Knox managed to close the distance in an instant and began slashing. Aiming for the sides of the body, his slashes seemed little more than flickering red sparks, as his daggers reflected light from the surrounding coals.
The Salamandra Lord stabbed with its spear and swung its tail like a battering ram but none of the attacks came close to landing. To Knox it felt like The Salamandra Lord was in slow motion... He could see the shoulder motion that gave away a spear thrust. The shifting of its lower body that signaled the tail trying to blind side him... He could see it all. Every time the Salamandra Lord moved to attack, Knox dodged with the minimal movement possible to maximize the amount of damage he could do.
When the tail would swipe across the floor, Knox leaped nimbly over, leaving a growing number of red cuts on the appendage.
‘This... Is way easier than I thought it would be... No! Mustn’t lose focus like last time!’
At 75% HP the boss got its first boost yet even so Knox only received the occasional graze! The boss slammed its spear against the ground and a wave of fire exploded outwards but Knox was ready.
He easily cleared the upper edge of the fire wave and triggered the first stage...
When the skill triggered, a black energy cloaked Knox’s body as his speed jumped into another dimension. He moved so fast that a veritable wall of blades sliced into the Salamandra Lord’s lower body. Crimson droplets flew in every direction as the slashing combo, designed for speed, carved away.
Knox slammed the pummels of his daggers into a large wound on the Salamandra Lord’s side.
More blood poured from all the wounds that Knox had inflicted and the boss’ HP dropped to almost 55%... The next attack that the Salamandra Lord dealt was the start of Knox’s plan to systematically destroy the Salamandra Lord... He allowed the attack to come perilously close before striking out. His dagger flashed, slashing the wrist. The boss’ spear fell from nerveless fingers and clattering on the ground.
The entire plan hinged on whether or not his theory was right... Knox assumed that the ‘Regeneration abilities negated’ meant that it would now be possible to maim or cripple the boss as long as the bleed effect was active.
‘Judging from that limp hand... It seems my guess was right.’
The Salamandra Lord howled in fury as its HP dropped below 50% and it swung its whole body around, trying to crush Knox with its tail. As the tail crashed into the ground beside him, Knox once again activated burst! With the speed and agility the skill provided, he scaled the boss’ body like it was a ramp and activated stage two.
Knox’s daggers stabbed into either side of the Salamandra Lord’s neck over and over. Each dagger eerily struck the same spot over and over building damage to ridiculous heights!
‘Shit! I still can’t go higher than 4 hits?’
With the first stage that focused solely on speed he could unleash a frightening number of attacks. Due to the precision required in stage two, the number of attacks was greatly reduced. Knox planted his feet into the back of the Salamandra Lord and flipped backwards off the boss.
He landed heavily, his breathing ragged and his arms trembling.
‘Damn... Still hard to use it twice in a row.’
He glanced quickly at his status bars before checking the Salamandra Lord’s reaming HP.
‘A little over 25%... If I’m right and he enrages at 25% then this could get tricky... I should have barely enough stamina to use it once more... Still need more mana to use rupture again... Gonna have to buy some time.’
He began to execute ‘stick & move’ tactics. He used the boss’ disabled left hand as an opening to attack, then quickly moving away before the boss could smash him with his tail. Knox took some damage from the fire waves that the boss periodically sent out but judging by the damage he was taking he’d be able to survive long enough.
‘Finally! Enough mana, for one last Rupture...’
Knox shoved his daggers into their sheaths and pulled them back out...and the blades glistened with a silver-blue liquid, the last of his poison supplies. Knox’s body shot toward the boss, as he chose to forgo conserving his stamina and end it in one go.
*Slash*
*Slash*
*Slash*
He cut the boss everywhere he could reach to spread the poison, aiming mostly for the stomach and chest area, he cut several deep wounds into the Salamandra Lord’s body. Then he switched his grip, preparing to burst for the final time...
With the last strike, Knox’s body stopped responding to his commands... He swayed drunkenly on his feet until a sweep of the boss’ tail sent him flying.
When the boss began to move toward him Knox closed his eyes...
‘Shit... Failed again... At least I managed 5 hits this time...’
*Thud*
Knox opened his eyes at the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. He was just in time to see the Salamandra Lord’s body crack before turning gray and disappearing.
*Tring!*
Knox felt a huge grin spread across his face upon reading the message.
“Gahahaha! I killed that bitch!”
Knox lay there laughing for awhile...
____________________
The square was populated by shops, chattering players and the shrieks of NPC children as they splashed around in the fountain. The weather was rather cool and so Nightshade was working on practicing her smithing outside the blacksmith’s shop.
Which, in retrospect, was the start of everything.
“Come on, you should definitely join my guild. We’ll power level you, give you any equipment you can’t make... All you gotta do is create weapons and armor for the guild.”
Nightshade let out a sigh, as she tried to tune out the idiot standing in front of her... Somewhere in his family line there must have been mules because along with his long face, he seemed to have a stubborn streak a mile wide.
It had all started about thirty minutes ago when he’d mistaken her for an NPC. The girl who sat there was beautiful… Long silver hair flowed down her back framing startling green eyes, a cute button nose and captivating full lips. One might take her as a simple beauty at first glance and yet... If one looked closer they might notice the fire in her eyes and the stubborn set of her jaw line. She wore a fierce scowl of concentrated fury while hammering the metal in front of her like it was an enemy. Simply put, in the young man’s opinion she seemed too beautiful to be a player’s avatar... Writing off the NPC as non-important, he’d begun to ID some of her scrap swords and seemed shocked by the stats...
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For some reason... Maybe due to lack of intelligence? The persistent player completely failed to think of the kind of personality that would go along with creating such swords. When she got up and pulled out some barley bread, he was surprised.
“You’re a player?”
“Duh.”
After realizing she was a player, he became determined to get her in his guild. Beautiful and useful! In his mind, that was the perfect type of woman.
“Come on, baby! We’ll even provide you with materials for leveling your blacksmithing! Every blacksmith needs a good guild right?”
Nightshade finally had enough and her abrasive personality began to surface.
“I’m sorry... It’s impossible.”
“What? Why?”
“I’m allergic to idiots.”
“What the... Do you know who I am?! Do you know what level I am? I’m Marik! Leader of the Soaring Hawk Guild! I run this town!”
“I’m also opposed to being around anyone with an I.Q lower than their shoe size.”
Marik’s face was beat red, verging on purple and his rather short temper was getting the best of him. He’d already begun to draw his sword, when he managed to control himself.
“Your last chance. You really should say yes.”
“I refuse. Idiocy may be contagious.”
“That’s it you die!”
Marik’s sword never made it out of his sheath, as suddenly an explosive pressure could be felt in his right temple. He had time to turn his head slightly in that direction and caught a glimpse of an expressionless dark elf, just before he turned into a ball of light and disappeared.
____________________
Knox was a little surprised to level up...
‘That guy must have been pretty high level? Well, whatever, I didn’t like his face... Seriously, horsey faced bastards should just die.’
“Soo... Who was that idiot? Sorry, if you were talking to him but his face pissed me off...”
Nightshade, who had been sitting calmly until this point, suddenly jumped to her feet and grabbed the Greatsword that was leaning against the blacksmith’s shop.
“Uh... wait... a sec... Sher... I mean Nightshade! Can’t I get a pass, just this once?”
“PUNISHING WAVE!”
“GAAAH!”
“PUNISHING WAVE!”
“KYAAAH! I’M SORRRYYYYY!!!”
Then the mutters of the onlookers started to become more noticeable.
“Did you see that?!”
“That dude just off’ed some other player, didn’t he?”
“Yeah and now the girl is trying to kill the murderer!”
“Maybe we should help out?”
“Yeah! We might get a reward from the guards if we help kill a murderer...”
“Uh, Sh...Nightshade we might have a little problem...”
Knox said just as a fire ball whizzed by over his head. Nightshade spun around, and her sword came up glowing violet. Then without warning she sent a purple crescent blasting into the ‘would be’ good citizens!
“PUNISHING WAVE!”
“GAAH!”
“What the f... We’re just trying to help you take down that murderer!”
“Oh, shit she killed several of the low levels with just that attack!”
“NO ONE TOUCHES HIM BUT ME! DIE!”
“Oh my god! How can you just kill people?!”
“WHERE DO YOU SEE PEOPLE? I SEE TRASH! PUNISHING WAVE!”
Nightshade screamed. Knox sighed and got to his feet...
‘She’d probably need a hand...’
‘Ah! So nice to be able to do this again...’
Nightshade began decimating anyone who came in reach of her Greatsword with powerful swings, mixed liberally with blasts of Punishing Wave. The entire square soon turned into a riot, dozens of players, trying to take out the player killers who’d attacked them for no reason. NPCs fled down side streets, while NPC children dashed for shop doors that were quickly shut behind them... In a matter of minutes the entire square had been thrown into pandemonium!
Knox quickly took out the squishy classes, cutting the mages’ throats, puncturing the healers’ lungs & slashing the arm muscles of any hunter he came across. Some people finally noticed what he was doing and a group of players made a b-line towards him.
Knox spun through the group aiming to take him out, cutting throats, eyes & stomachs in a blur. Then the group got hit by one of Nightshade’s Punishing Waves and Knox left them to their fate.
He decided to intercept the few people who’d begun to panic. Knox thought that it was probably in their best interest to not allow anyone to get reinforcements, so he took out everyone who tried to flee the slaughter.
‘There is NO RETREAT! Do you see an exit sign? It’s on the tip of my dagger. Right this way!’
Then, when people seemed to be desperate to take out Nightshade in a last ditch effort, he laid into them from behind. He stabbed Knights and Warriors in between their armor, like a stealthy can-opener.
The last player alive, stood there on shaking legs.
”How...? How the hell can something like this happen? Two players took out over twenty people?”
Knox ended the player’s mumbling with a Backstab... Then there was silence. Together Knox and Nightshade had killed all the players in the square.
*Tring!*
Knox whistled. If he ever needed money he could turn himself in... to get stats for killing people? He loved this game!
After reading the system message he walked cautiously toward Nightshade who was leaning on her sword, huffing and puffing. When he got closer she glared at him.
“Don’t think I’m done with you yet!”
“Yeah, yeah, you can punish me later... But now I think we should scram... We’re probably gonna have to kill the guards on the way out of here, too.”
“This is your fault!”
“Uh...”
Now that he thought about it... He probably shouldn’t have just killed that guy...
“Yeah... Sorry? I guess I shouldn’t have killed that guy...”
“What? No that part was fine... I was going to kill him if he didn’t shut up. What’s your fault is making me wait for almost a month and a half!”
“Ah, I see. I see.”
Knox nodded. That made much more sense to him than her being upset about the random guy.
“Anyway... PUNISHING WAVE!”
“GAH DAMMNIT IT! CUT IT OUT! YOU SAVAGE!”
“WHO’S A SAVAGE? ARE YOU CALLING ME THE SAVAGE? PUNISHING WAVE!”
“GAAAHH!!! SOMEBODY SAVE ME!”
Five minutes... and multiple beatings later...
“If you don’t want to continue your punishment, you’ll have to help me! I found something a while ago...”
“Fine I’ll do whatever you want! Just don’t hit me with that skill anymore... Why the hell does your sword skill feel like getting hit with a bunch of whips, anyway?”
“Just shut up and come along.”
Just then guards ran into the square and fanned out to surround the two.
“Halt! You are to surrender peacefully!”
“How many ‘pieces’ do you think he means?”
Nightshade asked with a huge grin. Then she hefted her sword. With another sigh Knox followed Nightshade out of the city of Regus... Which was suddenly short a dozen guards and most of its player population...
____________________
They had been walking down the road back toward Cara City for three days when suddenly, Nightshade veered into the trees.
“So, where exactly are we going? You haven’t even told me yet.”
“You’ll see in a minute... I discovered it while some Exp was trying to escape from me.”
“Ah, yeah... Stupid Exp; always trying to run away...”
After hearing this, most of the low level mobs immediately vacated the area...Thus Knox and Nightshade’s path up the mountainside was uninterrupted. Knox decided to let the dozens of fleeing goblins go... They looked rather traumatized about something.
‘Oh, my god it’s her! Flee! Tell the others!’
‘The terror of the goblins has returned!’
‘NOOOOO!!!! She killed my entire family line! I was the only one to survive...’
‘The Scourge of the Goblins!’
Knox walked on, completely unaware of the panic whispers surrounding him. Nightshade led him to a small pass in the mountainside. The entrance was so small Knox wasn’t sure that he’d fit even going through sideways...
“Through there? Really?”
“Yup! One of the little buggers ran in here trying to escape me... Can you believe it? I squeezed through though and hunted him down!”
Nightshade began slipping through the passage and Knox followed.
“Woah... Didn’t see that coming.”
Once they left the pass Knox couldn’t help but stare around in amazement... A huge valley spread out in front of them, and in the middle of the Valley was a golden shrine.
“So, the shrine’s the target?”
“Yup.”
“What stopped you from...”
Nightshade shrugged.
“I killed the goblin... And something told me to go down there alone would be bad.”
‘Hmm... Her animalistic instincts are usually quite accurate.’
“But I looked into it when I got back to town. If we go through this valley, we should be right near Cara City. We’ll have to find another pass like this one... but it should exist.”
“Sounds like an adventure to me. Let’s go.”
They moved along a ledge that led down into the valley and soon stepped into chest high grass, spreading as far as the eye could see...
*Tring!*
“Nice! I wonder what kind of monsters are here though...”
Just then a loud buzzing sound filled the air and the grass all around them began stirring like a strong wind was coming... Some instinct warned them both and they jumped out of the way just as a huge swath of grass was cleaved in half.
Standing in the newly created clearing, were a bunch of giant praying mantis. They were at least four feet tall, with huge claws, green bodies and mandibles that were clacking in anticipation.
“Bugs... With sword skills.”
Knox and Nightshade looked at each other.
“They just attacked us didn’t they?
“Yes... Yes they did.”
“Those bugs are mighty full of themselves...”
*Evil Grin*
“Kill them all?”
“All? Really?”
“We could resume your punishment...”
"Killing them it is... Seems most reasonable."
To be continued...
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Author's Notes: Chapter Six Complete! Which means, we are about half way through the first arc!
Comment's/Opinions/Ideas are all appreciated!
Special Thanks to: deathninja, Ramzicmain & Kaine
