2022-01-27 05:00:34The goblin chieftain’s scream nearly deafened Kyle as he ran through the woods. He could feel the ground tremble beneath his feet as the creature chased him among the trees. Kyle’s gaze leapt around, he scoured his surroundings as he hopped over the thick, tangled roots of the trees.
Thankfully, most trees here were pine trees. They had thick, sturdy trunks, and planet of strong branches. Once he found a tree suitable to his needs, he slowed his steps.
“Hey, slowpoke!” He shouted again to make sure the goblin chieftain’s attention was still on him and waited for it to approach. There was no space for the chieftain to charge at him at a straight line, the trees would block him every few steps, so the creature just walked towards him menacingly, holding the metal tower shield.
Kyle shot a quick glance at the tree behind him over his shoulder. This had to work!...right?
As soon as the creature was close enough, he stuck his tongue out, and mocked it some more. The creature’s green face twisted with emotion. It shouted something in goblin and grabbed the tower shield with both hands before swinging it like an axe.
Kyle threw himself aside just in time. The metal shield passed over his head, hitting the tree with a loud crash. He quickly got back on his feet as the goblin chieftain tried to pry the shield off of the thick, sturdy tree trunk.
Kyle ran around the creature, blade in hand, and swung with all his might. Alarming creaks sounded as the creature continued pulling at the stuck metal shield. It didn’t seem to care too much about Kyle, or his attacks.
To be completely honest, it was quite… humiliating, for lack of a better word. Like the creature didn’t even see Kyle as a threat. Like he couldn’t ever harm it. Annoyed by that though, Kyle stepped back and took one of these precious moments to ponder.
The A.I. in this game was surprising, good, the NPC’s – enemies, neutrals and allies alike – were quite smart, and their threat detection worked near flawlessly. If the goblin chieftain didn’t consider him a threat, then with his current equipment, it wasn’t too likely that he would be able to do any real harm to it.
So, what could he do?
The first answer that came to his mind was the obvious one: get better equipment. But he couldn’t just up and leave now, and even if he did, without enough experience, he wouldn’t be able to gain much strength anyways.
The second answer was the slightly more obscure one, though it was quite an easy solution, all things considered. To use the environment against his opponent. Easy, he thought as the idea solidified in his mind.
He ran around the goblin chieftain and circled around the tree. He stopped when he reached the unharmed side of the trunk. He could still see the goblin chieftain struggling, trying to free its shield from the sturdy tree trunk.
Kyle took a deep breath, then raised his leg and kicked the tree with all his might. A loud creak sounded at first, but nothing more happened. Disappointed that his climactic moment of kicking a tree over an elite enemy such as the goblin chieftain didn’t happen, Kyle pursed his lips, and kicked the tree again, with a pout. “Come on!”
This time, the creak sounded for longer, and the tall, large tree waddled back and forth. It was getting more and more unsteady. Kyle prepared to kick it again. As he raised his leg, the chieftain suddenly let out an alarmingly victorious sounding cry and freed his shield from the tree trunk.
Immediately following his victory cry, the tree let out an ear piercing creak. Kyle’s eyes widened as the tree slowly toppled over. He closed his eyes as it fell on the goblin chieftain with a disgusting crack.
“Ugh,” He muttered, as he noticed the impaled creature’s corpse. “So much for looting that one.” Nothing could make him approach the disgusting, crushed, impaled, bloody mess of a corpse.
‘Level up:
Kyle – Lv. 20 Unclassed
INT 10 | WIS 10 | DEX 10 | STR 10 | CON 10’
‘Class Options Unlocked’
‘You may choose a class at any time. Beware: Your character will be locked into the chosen class until your total level reaches 50. At that time, you may choose a secondary class.’
Kyle’s eyes widened. “Finally!” He exclaimed with joy. But now wasn’t the best time or place to choose a class. Once they were defeated fully, monster camps would begin to repopulate within a quarter of an hour. He needed to go get whatever loot he could, and return home, or to Cacophus’ lair.
He was about to turn his back to the fallen tree and crushed goblin chieftain when he noticed the large tower shield laying on the ground, off to the side. His eyes widened once more. “Jackpot!” He said with a huge grin on his face. He snatched the shield and placed it in his inventory.
He sure didn’t intend to become a tank type character, but a shield as powerful as this could sell for plenty of gold, or even some premium currency, perhaps. That is, if he could convince a player that he wasn’t a hidden boss.
He hurried back to the camp, quickly searched the dead goblins, the tents, and the general area around the place, only to find a grand total of two gold pieces and a whole lot of useless, crooked arrows. He tossed the arrows aside, took the gold and hurried away from here.
By the time he reached the Lich’s cave, he still hadn’t decided what he wanted to pick as his first class. Now, classes and levels worked somewhat differently in this game, then it did in most other MMO’s.
“YOU’VE GROWN IN POWER!” The Lich’s voice echoed in his mind as soon as he stepped through the doors that led to the room that once was his boss room. It was more of a study now. “GOOD, NOW YOU HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF A MAGE!”
Magic… Kyle’s eyes glimmered. That was exactly what he wanted.
“Tell me more!”
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The Lich's Master Chapter 12: Desicion Paralysis
‘Kyle – Lv. 20 Unclassed INT 10 | WIS 10 | DEX 10 | STR 10 | CON 10 Available Points: 20 Achievements: Lich Killer Player Kills: 6 Glory: 30 Key Items: -Cacophus' Phylactery Special Quests: -Cacophus' Plea -The Dying Orchard Inventory: - 2 Gold pieces - Cast Metal Shield (Unidentified) [+10 DEF]’ The more he stared at his stats panel, the more indecisive he felt. What if he didn’t like whatever stat he chose? He would need to wait for at least thirty more levels before he could pick a second class. “NECRO
The Lich's Master Chapter 13: Distant Smoke
Kyle prepared himself for a long, drawn out, and ultimately meaningless discussion. These were elves after all, they weren’t known to be the fastest at making impactful decisions. But no, just like everything else in this game, the elves proved him wrong. The process of ‘convening’, consisted of a handful of elves listening to their leader’s quick explanation, nodding, and urging him to go ahead. It was so fast that Kyle hadn’t even gotten the chance to sit down somewhere. The elven leader then applied the contents of the vial onto the tree roots, then stepped back and watched as the sickly white lines on the tree seemed to become tainted by something black. “We shall see whether this works or not.” The elven leader muttered. The other elves nodded, and once again disappeared in the greenery as quickly as they first came. “I hope it does,” Kyle said with a light-hearted chuckle. “Um, is there anything else I can help you with?” He fished for a quest.
The Lich's Master Chapter 14: Hunted
The smell of smoke and ash filled his nostrils. Kyle dashed past the last few trees in his path, and immediately looked downhill, to where the pillar of smoke was rising from. His heart sank as the view stretched before him. His wooden house was no more. The last few remaining logs were still burning hot, and ash had covered the ground around the ruined house. A group of people were standing there, watching the last few dying flames as they consumed what was left of the house. “No…” Kyle whispered, his mind in chaos. Why? Why would anyone come and burn his house down? He’d never hurt anyone, not willingly. He’d left the players well alone ever since he’d gotten stuck in this game, and with the exception of that dumb Knight, they hadn’t even been aware of his presence. So then why? Why would they do this? Why would they destroy his home? He collapsed on his knees as he pressed his hand against his mouth. He couldn’t scream, he couldn’t yell at
The Lich's Master Chapter 15: Gotcha!
He couldn’t sleep. No matter how much he tried, he simply couldn’t convince his body to relax, and his mind to let go of his worries for a short while. It just didn’t seem to work. He lay on the soft fur bed, staring at the rocky ceiling, wide awake. The lingering smell of smoke was still fresh in his mind, so were the words of the players who were on the hunt for him. All because of that stupid knight. He felt as if his life had suddenly been turned upside down. Why had this caused more alarm for him than being stuck in this game had? He let out a deep sigh. He didn’t think he would be able to sleep today. At least, he thought to himself, they hadn’t found Cacophus’ cave. At least he was safe for now, and so was the Lich. He wondered what would happen were the Lich to be killed. Since the phylactery was in Kyle’s inventory, he wouldn’t die permanently, right? Truth is, there was no way to know that. Aside from giving i
The Lich's Master Chapter 16: The Top Ranker
About a second passed in silence before Kyle let out a cry. “For god’s sake, I’m NOT A BOSS!” His shouting was probably loud enough to be heard from all the way at the base of the hill. “I’m a player!” He felt the blade pressing against his neck move slightly as the owner of the hand holding it flinched. “You can’t trick me,” The woman said, though he could already hear it in her voice: Doubt. “I can prove it!” He cried out, hurryingly opening his stats panel. ‘Kyle – Lv. 20 Unclassed INT 10 | WIS 10 | DEX 10 | STR 10 | CON 10 Available Points: 20 Achievements: Lich Killer Player Kills: 6 Glory: 30’ “You can see this, right?” He asked in a hurry as the woman’s hand, and thus, the blade, moved further away from his throat. The hand on his neck let go of him, and he quickly backed off, and turned to face h
The Lich's Master Chapter 17: A Hopeless Escape
Kyle took a sharp breath as Igna unsheathed her blade. He considered trying to fight her, but not more than a split second of consideration was needed to figure our what a terrible idea that was. So, he turned around, and dashed in the opposite direction. Now, bounties worked a certain way: A player bounty was temporary. At most, they lasted for seventy two ours, as in, three days. For this one, Kyle had noticed a timer when Igna showed the interface to him. It had just eight hours left. That meant two things: Kyle had a slight chance of escaping, and Igna was in a hurry to kill him. As he dashed uphill, he forced himself to think. Hiding in Cacophus’ cave was not a viable option. Igna wielded the power of the sun god after all. She probably could defeat the Lich in just a couple of hits. Running towards the elves also seemed like a fairly bad idea. He had barely gotten them to accept him as an outsider. If he brought an angry woman with a fla
The Lich's Master Chapter 18: A Rude Interruption
His mad dash soon came to a screeching halt as he arrived at the peak of the mountain. Strong winds blew all around him as he stepped into a large crater atop the mountain. “Ran out of places to escape?” Igna shouted as she approached. Kyle gulped and quickly tried to put some distance between them. “Not exactly,” he muttered as he stepped closer to the centre of the crater. This place had all the signs of a boss arena. Now, things were mostly up to luck: What kind of boss would appear, and how could he take advantage of it? Those were what would seal his fate now. “I can’t convince you not to kill me, can I?” Kyle asked as Igna stepped onto the charred surface of the crater. She paused, looked around, then smirked. “Nah, I doubt it.” She said, tightening her grasp on the hilt of her blade. “I do like the venue though, that run up the mountain wasn’t a waste!” Her upbeat voice almost made Kyle forget the danger he
The Lich's Master Chapter 19: To Taunt a Boss
The boss kept wailing on Igna. His scythe moved quickly and decisively, forcing her to either back off constantly, or block his attacks and take chip damage every time. If she had the chance to go on the offensive, Kyle was more than sure that she would deplete the boss’ health bar very quickly, but as things stood, she simply didn’t have that opportunity. Not while the boss was solely focused on her. He glanced towards the entrance of the crater, could he leave at all? No, there it was, the rippling, misty effect in the air all around them. As usual, the boss arena would become sealed off once all players had entered, and it wouldn’t let anyone leave until either the boss, or the players were defeated. Kyle gulped. He did not want to be left alone here with the boss. He needed to help her, and then hopefully get her to believe him. Grasping the hilt of his blade tightly, he dashed to the armoured boss, and hit his back with all his strength. A ‘clang
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Chapter 277: The Locust Demon Arrives
The serene white light changed as soon as they stepped into the garden. It grew brighter, lighting up even the darkest corners of the garden. “Finally.” Azazel whispered. He calmly stepped towards the bright white light. “It’s been so long.” He and the rest of the group arrived before the tree. The Fallen Angel reached for the tree, only for his fingers to touch a barrier surrounding it. The yellow-brown barrier rippled as soon as the Fallen Angel’s fingertips touched it. Azazel flinched, and pulled his hand back as a look of disgust appeared on his face. With furrowed brows and blazing eyes, he turned around, and shouted at the top of his lungs. “Show yourself, Demon!” Droigheann flinched. “He’s here?!” The Demon of the Nightbloom asked wide eyed as he unsheathed his blade, and put his helmet on without hesitation. Luke stepped forward, making sure to stand in front of Caille and Kyle. Igna tightened her grip on the hilt of her blade, while Cacophus’s bony fingers rummaged through
Chapter 276: The Ancient City of Necron (4)
The fully armoured knight dropped his sword and tried to grab the slimy goo with both of his hands. The goo only latched onto his helmet further as he struggled. The man started to stumble a few moments later.Kyle couldn’t help but laugh a little, though his near brush against death kept him from enjoying Jeffrey’s suffering. The knight soon managed to grab onto the goo properly, and threw it away, only to be met with Kyle’s light magic.“Bolt of Light!” The young man shouted, then as the Knight raised his hand to cover his eyes from the bright golden light, he dashed towards him, blade in hand. He hadn’t used a sword properly in ages, not since he’d gotten his Summoner class, and started summoning powerful people such as Aoris, or Irena. But Aoris and Irena were busy protecting the cathedral, and Droigheann had his hands full with the remaining group of enemies.And he had a particular hatred against Jeffrey and his constant stupidity. He grabbed the hilt of his blade with both his
Chapter 275: The Ancient City of Necron (3)
“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Kyle rolled his eyes as the enemy charged at him and his allies. Jeffrey’s ridiculous accusations and ignorant behaviour was the last thing he needed at the moment.Droigheann unsheathed his blade and struck the ground with it. Black veins spread across the grey marble plaza, originating from his blade. They leapt off the ground, reaching for Jeffrey and his allies.“Fire storm!” A voice boomed. Kyle flinched as a whirling storm of flames burnt away the roots and veins. Droigheann gritted his teeth and removed his swords from the ground. “Damn mages,” The Demon grunted as he stepped forward. His helmet materialised in his hand, and he promptly put it on.“SHALL I DISPATCH OF THEM, KYLE?” Cacophus’ sudden question surprised him. “Yeah, please help Droigheann.” Kyle hissed as he pointed at the group. “We shouldn’t waste much time on them.”As he spoke, several shards of crystallised light formed at his fingertips. He fired them at the man leading the charge.“AS YO
Chapter 274: The Ancient City of Necron (2)
Kyle took the first step down the grey marble staircase. As his feet touched the ancient slabs, he involuntarily flinched.Azazel and Droigheann followed just a step behind, along with Cacophus, who chose to float next to them.“AMAZING, IT HAS BEEN PRESERVED PERFECTLY!” The Lich exclaimed, pausing just a few steps in, and carefully inspecting the waist high walls preventing them from falling off the side. “LOOK AT THIS CRAFTMANSHIP!”Kyle shot a glance at the waist hight wall. It was covered in intricate carvings from top to bottom. Just a few meters of this wall must have taken weeks to create, if not more. “Yeah, it’s amazing.”“Just like the legends.” Droigheann carefully ran his finger along the carvings. “A city of ancient wonders, housing powers beyond imagination, made from the most beautiful materials by the best craftsmen ever to grace the face of this world.”“Seems about right.” Azazel pointed at the buildings. “Any one of these would have taken months to perfect, if not y
Chapter 273: The Ancient City of Necron (1)
The Necronomicon’s pages turned on their own. Kyle waited patiently for the book to settle on a page. Once it did, he read through the spell. It was a modified dispel spell.“Stand back, just in case.” He said to the others. Everyone took a few steps back, even Cacophus who had just arrived. The Lich didn’t speak, but the green glows in his eye sockets glimmered and lit up brightly with excitement.Kyle’s lips curled up with a faint smile for a moment before he turned his gaze back to the Necronomicon. “Open thine gates, lift thine veil.” He recited the spell’s words clearly. “Allow me passage to what is rightfully mine, as I hold the Book of Ancient Secrets!”A moment passed before the spell fully took effect. The barrier around the Ancient City of Necron began to lower as Kyle felt his vitality drain with alarming speed. He looked down at the back of his hand with a panic as the few locks of dark hair dangling before his eyes slowly began to turn white.The mark of the Evertree glow
Chapter 272: The Records Restored
The elderly woman took the two pieces of the hourglass in her hand. A faint, almost mellow smile appeared on her lips as she closed her fingers around the pieces of the hourglass. “I am in your debt, Azazel, young man.” She whispered as she clenched her fingers further. The muffled sound of something cracking sounded. Then, a fine dust flowed from between her fingers. The cool breeze caught the dust, carrying it away from the patio. The elderly woman smiled. “No, come back.” Her voice was calm, almost as if she was speaking to an old friend. “I’m right here.” The wind whirled, suddenly changed its direction, and blew the dust right back at her. She closed her eyes and smiled. Kyle braced himself for… something. “It’s alright now.” Her motherly voice reached his ears. “It feels good to be whole again.” She turned her gaze towards the sky. “It is a beautiful day, isn’t it?” Kyle disagreed. Dark clouds covered the sky. “It is good to have you back, Record Keeper.” Azazel bowed his
Chapter 271: The Hourglass
It was a misty morning and getting out of bed felt like a huge chore. He still dragged himself out of bed, albeit slowly, and staggered towards the hot spring. He paused in front of the mirror for a second. The bite marks on his neck were awfully visible. Vis had definitely taken some of her frustrations out of him last night.He let out a sigh and went to take a bath. She was rightfully upset, and he didn’t care about how he looked too much. He bathed, then got dressed and opened the door of his room, only to see Droigheann standing there, leaning against the wall.“I didn’t realise you’d come out.” Kyle said as he fixed his cloak and hair before the mirror.“You were asleep.” Droigheann explained with a faint smile. “You found the second half of the hourglass.” He stated with a hint of curiosity in his voice. Kyle nodded. “We did. We almost died for it too.” He shuddered. “I’m never going back to the Celestial Plane.”Droigheann laughed out loud. “That is indeed a good idea.” The De
Chapter 270: The Waking World
His eyes shot wide open, and he stared at the grey ceiling above him. A couple of moths were walking in rough circles. One of them tried to fly, only to continuously hit the ceiling afterwards.He blinked a few times as he tried to figure out where he was.“You’re awake!” A panicked voice reached his ears. “Rhealis, they’re back!” It took him a moment to recognise Vis’ voice. A cold hand pressed against his forehead as he slowly began to notice the numbness around his right arm. There was a mild pain too.Footsteps approached as Kyle tilted his head to look at Vis. “Did something happen while we were gone?” He asked with a crusty voice. He licked his dry lips. He could use some water right now.“Your arm got charred!” Vis hissed wide eyed. Was she angry? “And the Fallen Angel’s wings started bleeding!”“Indeed,” Rhealis approached them with a glass of water in her hand. She helped Kyle sit upright, then gave him the glass. He drank it without hesitation. The water passing through his
Chapter 269: The Wasteyard of Heaven
Azazel led him through the distorted landscape in a hurry. “They can’t see as well here.” The Fallen Angel explained as soon as they walked through a cathedral door and fell upwards. Kyle hit the ceiling with a muffled thud. A thick, soft carpet had broken his fall.He moaned with pain still. Constantly falling somewhere was slowly taking its toll on him. His back couldn’t take many more falls. “Why?” He asked as he sat upright and rubbed his sides.Azazel flew up and closed the cathedral’s door. “Because of the distortions. They don’t see things as you do. They see what something is, can be, and was.” The Fallen Angel hesitated upon seeing Kyle’s confused expression. “You don’t understand, do you?”Kyle shook his head. “Nope.”Azazel’s shoulders dropped with disappointment. “When you see something,” The Angel said, speaking slower th
