As a Soul Reaper, I have seen quite a few scary things, things that would give veteran adventurers nightmares. Most of the nightmares feed on wayward souls which is why I have to face them. That doesn't mean I'm not scared, those things are always terrifying but I usually have ALL my abilities to deal with them. Laying semi helpless on the ice, feeling woozy and staring up at a pissed off undead minotaur, who knew that I was the one that had cut off its arm. That experience got added to the list 'Times I Thought I was Going to Die'. It made it all the way to number 3, it was nestled between the incident with corrupted white rabbits that killed 196 adventurers. And that time my mother caught me peeking at the neighbour's wife, that summer they moved the bathtub to their back garden.
I rolled a few times to put distance between myself and the minotaur, it stomped its huge foot down where I’d been laying. The ground vibrated as I rolled and I threw myself to my feet, I turned etheric just as my feet touched the ground. There was another loud boom that flung me backwards, I tumbled end over end hitting my head on the ground repeatedly. When I eventually stopped I groggily saw that the battle axe had created another creator in the ground, even more of the road was turned to pointy rocks or gravel from the impact. I thought it must have missed me but then I realised that it hadn’t. I had felt the axe pass through me, more specifically straight down the middle. If I hadn't turned ethereal I would have been cut in half. I shivered at the thought and tried to sit up, everything began to spun and I felt a still woozy so I continue to lay on the ground.
The minotaur roared again and I remembered that I was still in danger, despite my Danger Sense remaining silent. I thought about using Etheric Step to move further away but something inside of me told me that I'd overused the ability and if I forced it I'd be unconscious for a few hours when I reappeared. Instead I cast Lesser Regeneration on myself and the spell went to work, instantly I began to feel less woozy and after a few more seconds the world stopped spinning. The purple small winged wyrm in the sky stopped circling the fight at break neck speeds.
I sat up and looked around. The minotaur had its back to me and was raising its battleaxe high into the air. I wondered what it was doing, I looked down to see that its arm was the intended target. I frowned in confusion for a seconds, why was it going to attack its arm? Then I saw the movement. A green small winged wyrm was struggling to free itself from the monster's grip. Its eyes met mine and it opened its mouth to. WHAM. The battleaxe smashed into the creature and it disappeared in a explosion of rock, ice and red mist. I winced as a small green orb floated up through the battle axe and into my Soul Lantern. As the minotaur lifted up its axe I used Mage Hand to pull my scythe towards me, it flew at me like a missile and I caught it out of the air.
I took a quick second to look past the minotaur to see what my party was doing. Harold was set up and ready to block or parry the battle axe, Taylor had just fired an ice bolt at the minotaur but they looked like they were running on empty though. Clair was knelt on the ground and I winced, it looked like she was suffering spell feedback. Raven was nowhere to be seen but that was a good thing, her sneak attacks dealt a lot more damage.
I needed to get over to them somehow. I had the majority of our potions in my bag and Taylor would make better use of them than I could. I could feel that Man on the Job was only masking my presence a tiny bit. I had attracted too much attention from the minotaur and it wasn't going to let me disappear into the shadows, not after cutting off its arm. This was evident when it turned the purple flames that lit its empty eye sockets on me again. I could feel its hatred crashing on me like an elderly woman watching the children who crushed her prized petunias. I took a few steps back and got into a defensive stance. I didn’t like my chances of blocking or parrying a blow but I could dodge and if I was lucky, I might actually survive.
Harold banged his shield and yelled something that was lost to the wind. He must have activated his Enraging Shout skill as the minotaur snapped its head in his direction. I sighed in relief as I felt Man on the Job fully veiled me, my relief lasted until I heard the large battle axe whistled towards Harold. He ducked down behind his shield and there was a mighty gong as the axe bounced off the shield, the shockwave pushed him backwards a few feet, thankfully he managed to stay on his feet. The minotaur's arm came up to swing the axe again and I took my chance. I dashed forwards pushing my body to its limits, Combat Grace activated and my footsteps grew surer as I moved faster over the unstable and cracked ground. It was like I was gliding over the ground like a famed Grim Reaper. I made sure to stay out of the minotaur’s direct line of sight and tried to stick to its blind spot.
An ice spike blasted through the minotaur's ribs sending a shower of bone out its back just as I leapt into the air, my Danger Sense screamed a warning at me but there was nothing I could. I turned Etheric as the ice spike flew through my head. I winced as I momentarily felt the intense cold that radiated off the ice spike, then it was gone. I twisted my arms and started a powerful rotation of my scythe as well as casting Empower Attack. I had done this before and had managed to cut a large boulder in half with the attack, I could cut the monster cleanly in half. A savage grin spread over my face as I imagined the look on Raven's face when I showed her the kill notification. A large cloven hoof lashed out and kicked me in the chest, the hoof was so large that it practically covered my entire chest. I felt a few of my ribs crack and had all the air driven out of me. A strangled cry escaped my lips as I flew backwards, fast enough that I only had time to blink before I was bouncing and rolling along the cracked ground. While I didn't know what it looked like at the time, Raven told me later that I looked like a sack potato that was hurled down a steep hill. I felt even more bones break and my scythe fellow out of my hands before I slammed into the collapsed stone pillar.
I must have passed out because when I opened my eyes, the minotaur’s battleaxe looked more like a hatchet. I was slumped against the stone pillar trying and failing to catch my breath. I put my arms down to lift myself up but my body refused to move. I wiggled my fingers to make sure that the arms were still attached and I saw my fingers twitch. I let out a sigh of relief that I instantly regretted as my ribs reminded me that they were still broken. I wiggled my fingers more purposefully and cast Lesser Regeneration on myself. I screamed as an unknown number of cuts and scrapes fixed themselves and the skin around my broken bones became taught. I instantly stopped the spell as the pain started to become too much. I fumbled around trying to get my bag out from behind me, after a few attempts and a lot of pain I managed to pull it onto my lap. I dipped my slightly less mangled right hand into my bag of holding and pulled out a restoration potion. I slammed it like a sailor that had been stranded at sea for 5 years, slams their first alcoholic drink when they finally reach port. I cried out again as all my broken bones knit themselves back together. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling as the tissue and muscle separated to let the bone shards return to their correct place. I finally understood why Taylor used their sleep spell before administering one of these potions. I coughed up blood as it was forced out of my now unpunctured lungs. I checked my health status in an attempt to distract myself as my spine started to fix itself.
Health: 107/2500
Health: 307/2500
A regeneration potion healed people for 100 health instantly and then 200 health per second for 10 seconds. Lesser Regeneration healed 5 health per second once the spell was cast and it had only provided a tick of healing before I cancelled the spell. That meant I only had 2 HP after hitting the pillar, my pale face went even paler. I'd almost died. I slammed a second potion, this one was a lesser health potion which would bring me back to full health after 10 seconds. It tasted like ear wax and raw sewage and I struggled to keep it down. I'd drunk the potion too quickly after the last one and now couldn’t have any more potions for at least 2 hours.
I looked around for my scythe and saw that it was laying near where I had been kicked. I cast mage hand and used the spell to carefully pick up my scythe, I slowly brought it to me making sure not to attract any attention from the minotaur. The monster was swinging what was left of its battle axe at Harold and had stopped paying attention to me. I watched Harold deflect a swing and to my shock I saw his shield bend a little. That shield was incredibly durable and was able to stand up to a stone elemental hammering on it for hours. Like they had done at mountains by the Brent Woods when we’d been hunting for elemental cores. The purple small winged wyrm was shooting globs of goop at the monster and Taylor was firing ice spikes whenever they could. Clair was releasing an endless barrage of arrows, they hammered into the monster sending bone shards flying. All of this seemed to annoy the minotaur more than anything.
As I watched, Raven appeared 20 feet in the air above the minotaur and fell from the sky. I guessed that she'd stayed in the alcove and was only now making her first strike. She descended like a hawk swooping down on an unaware rabbit. She plummeted toward the unaware minotaur and as she passed its head her daggers lashed out, they passed through bones like they were butter. The undead monster roared in what I hoped was pain but was more than likely outrage. Raven hit the ground and rolled as a hoof lashed out at her, she avoided the kick and popped up behind the minotaur again. She struck at the monster's right leg and again it roared as bone shards went flying. It swung its broken battle axe around in a low circle, attempting to catch Raven even if she tried to dodge. Black, inky shadows rose up and engulfed Raven seconds before the battle axe passed through them. The shadows dissipated revealing empty space where a dead body should have been.
Harold banged on his shield with his sword and the minotaur roared at him in frustration. It raised the battle axe up over its head to bring it crashing down on him, and that's when its right leg gave way. I heard bones snapping and the monster roared once more as it came crashing down to its knees. Harold stood ready in case it had any hidden surprises as Taylor, Clair and the purple small winged wyrm unleashed everything that they had at the prone minotaur. Arrows, magic and gobs of goop rained down on the creature and for a brief second I thought that it would be enough. A skeletal hand, slammed down on the stone throwing up small rocks and dust that was whipped into my friends by the wind. The monster slowly got back to its feet. Er, foot. It only had one leg left and it wobbled precariously in the wind, but it managed to stand.
My health had finally reached full and I slowly rose to my feet as well. I was almost as shaky as the minotaur; however, after a brief moment of vertigo my shakiness passed. I watched as the monster changed tactics. Instead of the long sweeping power strikes it had been doing, it was now quickly striking Harold's shield. 3 quick staccato bangs rang out as the battle axe hit the shield. and my blood began to run cold. The monster had entered some sort of berserker rage and had changed from power to speed. I looked at Harold’s shield and saw that the dent in it was rapidly growing. I checked my health before checking the minotaur's and grimaced.
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Health: 2497/2500
Skeletal Minotaur
Health: 5000/24000
Mana: 50/100
Stamina: 152864/200000
I hate high level monsters, they always have a lot of health, skills and abilities that make them hard to deal with and if they don’t have lots of mana, they have more stamina than an army of adventurers put together. This monster obviously fell into the later category. From the way its attacks were bending Harold's shield now I figured that it was using an ability meant to shred armour. I would have wanted it to go through stamina faster but that was just wishful thinking. I was thankful it didn't seem to have the ability to cast spells. I don't think we would've lived long enough to regret picking that fight.
I shook my head, I needed to play to my strengths. I had recklessly charged the monster and attempted to use my strength to overpower it. I was not the strongest person in my party so it should have been obvious that I wouldn't overpower the minotaur. Stealth had always been my strength, I had class abilities that made me almost impossible to detect yet I had ignored them. I was tempted to think about why I had disregarded them but now was not the time.
"You are a Soul Reaper, not a Barbarian. Bloody act like one." I repeated in a thick accent reminiscent of an old instructor I'd once had.
I began to take stock of myself. Man on the Job had been forcefully deactivated when the minotaur had kicked me, thankfully Right Clothes for the Job had stayed active and had more than likely saved my life when I hit the stone pillar. I reactivated Man on the Job and I felt my presence fade into the background as the ability encompassed me. I let the shroud from Man on the Job billow out however I made sure that its effects were only felt within 10 feet of me. I suddenly became aware that I was holding my scythe in a vice-like grip. I took a few deep calming breaths to calm myself, slowly my emotions grew distant, the fear I’d felt after being kicked disappeared alongside the worry I had for my friends. The world lit up in shades of pastel green and aquamarine blue as my class began to resonate with my soul. I could feel all my abilities strengthen as they were being used as they were intended to.
I walked out onto the broken ground as the undead minotaur swung its battle axe viciously at Harold. I watched as he ducked behind his shield to avoid the blow and I saw his shield bend even more. I picked my way across the ground making slow but stead progress, I wanted to break out into a run when Raven again but I held back. Raven began to fall from above again but shadows consumed her as the minotaur noticed her and swung the battle axe. She rose up from the minotaur's shadow and lashed out with her daggers striking at the uninjured leg. Once again shadows engulfed her as she dodged the battleaxe that flew at her. I let out a breath as the battleaxe dissipated the magical darkness and Raven was no where to be seen.
My cautious steps became firm strides as I passed the worst of the broken ground. Sweat began to form on the back of my neck and my emotions began to break through the calmness that had fallen over me. I started to feel anxious as I got closer and closer. I had walked through lots of battlefields collecting the souls of the fallen but I had almost died from this monster once already, now I planned on standing next to the beast. I crouched and grabbed hold of the ground as the battle axe whistled above me, the displaced air threatened to throw me off my feet. When I finally reached the monster I saw it’s hesitation as it became effected by the shroud from Man on the Job.
The shroud Man on the Job could create had a few different effects that I could change between, most of them made it uncomfortable to be in the shroud or helped keep me undetectable by making people's perception of me fuzzy. The effect I pushed out now was the sense of indecisiveness, it was the most insidious effect I had access to. It would make those affected by it question if they were doing the right thing. Not an existential crisis level of indecision, more like a lingering doubt that would grow the longer they were exposed to the shroud. I mainly used to to fell from angry people but when fighting monsters it sometimes made them hesitate before they attacked. The split second could make the difference in a close fight.
I stood behind the minotaur, ready to dodge any hoof coming my way. I saw the minotaur's head tilt and turn slightly, as it tried to look for me. It could sense that there was something behind it but I was invisible to the monster. I let out a small sigh, I had never been more thankful that Man on the Job was such an overpower stealth ability as I was now.
Harold must have realised what I was doing as he yelled and began to attack. Harold dodged the minotaur’s swing by rolling forwards, he sprang to his feet and swung at the monsters left leg. His strike didn't do any real damage but it did cause the monster to refocus on him instead of searching for me. Taylor dual cast ice spike aiming for the monster's chest and both of them connected blasting a few bones out of its back. Raven appeared, once more, in the air in front of the minotaur. She must have triggered an assassination skill of some sort because she blurred forwards and exploded through the monster in a shower of bone shards.
I covered my face as I was showered in bone fragments. Yet again I was thankful that it was a skeleton and not a living flesh and blood minotaur else I'd be covered in gore. The minotaur wavered from the barrage of attacks, it staggered back a few steps and I spotted my opportunity. I quickly cast Empower Attack and brought my scythe down in a diagonal slash, the slash connected with its remaining leg.
Touch of the Reaper had some nasty effects that were a little gruesome, however the ability alo made it possible to cut through anything. With the ability disabled I was expecting my slash to meet strong resistance, just like when I’d cut through the minotaur’s arm. I was completely shocked when bone parted like butter and my scythe passed effortlessly through the incredibly thick femur. The monster roared as it crashed to the ground with a loud bang, sand and loose rocks were flung up into the air from the impact.
My Danger Sense activated and I followed my instincts by jumping as high as I could. The giant battle axe burst through the cloud of debris and passed through the spot I had been standing in a few seconds before. As I landed back on the ground the I felt my Danger Sense activated again and I threw myself to the side just before the battle axe slammed into the ground. I took my eyes away from the axe as the monster roared in anguish, I looked up to see Raven standing on its neck, her daggers glowed a sickly purple colour before she plunged them repeatedly into its skull. The attack was so swift and vicious it didn't have time to defend itself before she'd managed to sever its head completely. Notifications began to fill my vision as Raven help up the head in victory.
You have slain a Skeleton Minotaur Level 50, as this creature is recognised by your class as a foe, you do not receive any penalties. You have earned 100xp.
Your skill Acrobatics has increased to level 6.
Your skill Lesser Regeneration (minor) has increased to level 10 (max).
I sighed in relief and let my shroud dissipate, I also deactivated Man on the Job since I didn't need to remain hidden.
Name: Luca Piel
Class: Soul Reaper level 10
Xp to next level: 1475/1500
Health: 2500/2500
Mana: 308/2500
Stamina: 270/2750
I gawked at the xp to the next level, I only needed 25 more xp. I never managed to get xp from fighting even when I was part of a party, the usual xp sharing didn't work unless my class considered the creature as a foe. This however felt like a cruel joke, it had taken 40 years to reach level 10. I’d tried so many things to try and level up, all of which had failed spectacularly. Now I was the equivalent of 2 skeletons away from level 11 and a new ability. I hoped that my choices wouldn't have restrictions like all of my other class abilities.
I know I should have been ecstatic about the increase in my Acrobatics and Lesser Regeneration but they were overshadowed by the xp needed to my next level. I cast Detect Evil to see if there were any other skeletons I could use to quickly get the xp to level up but unfortunately they were all dead. My shoulders slumped in defeat and I walked over to Taylor who was healing Harold. She’d created a small ice hut to shelter everyone from the wind.
"Do you need healing Luca?" Taylor asked as they finished healing a cut on Harold's face.
"No thanks, I used a potion after being kicked." I replied while shaking my head.
“That was reckless Luca, What were you thinking charging the minotaur like that?” Clair asked, I could see the worry on her face, despite the anger in her voice.
“I thought I could end the fight quickly.” I said but even to me it sounded too reckless.
“That’s not like you,” Harold said frowning, “Fight smarter, not harder. That’s what you usually tell me.”
“I know Harold. I just lost myself in the moment. It won’t happen again.” I said ending the conversation.
I could see that both Harold and Clair wanted to say more but I was saved as Raven entered the hut. She strode up to me and thrust out the minotaur's decapitated skull. The left side was almost completely gone and it still had some of the purple goop from the small winged wyrm dripping from it. I looked at her in pure confusion as to why she was giving it to me.
"I want to keep it as a trophy." She stated.
I thought about asking her to get to goop off but shrugged not seeing a reason to deny her the trophy. I held open the bag of holding and marvelled as it expanded to allow the skull to fit inside. I think it'll be a while before I get used to that. Raven pushed half of the skull through the mouth of the bag before the rest just disappeared. I hoped that the goop wouldn’t leak onto anything else, the last thing I wanted was for the poison or whatever it was leaking on our food rations.
"I think we should rest here for a short while before we continue on." Harold decided and we all nodded in agreement.
Rest time after a fight was always important, everyone was coming down from the adrenaline rush from the battle. Everyone was still riding the battle high and could be prone to making hasty or rash decisions. We all took a few minutes to reset ourselves, I sat down and meditated. I slowly came back to my normal self as the calm and coldness from my class faded away. Alongside this, my emotions came flowing back. Fear, anxiety, worry, happiness and anger all hit me harder than the minotaur had. They swirled around me like a tempest as I meditated and tried to level myself out. Once I’d gotten myself to some semblance of normal I began to go over the fight in my mind. I thought over what I could have done better and realised that I had been too callous. When the ice spike made me phase I should have backed off instead of carrying on with my attack. Also my reliance on Etheric Step as well had been a big hindrance, without the ability to teleport I’d been vulnerable and had almost been killed. The problem had stemmed from my over usage of the ability when crossing the stone pillars, it had been petty to show up Raven like that and the consequences were evident. I needed to be more cautious and thoughtful when using my abilities, I had known there would be a fight and I'd still used Etheric Step constantly rather than a more mundane way to cross the pillars.
I stayed in my meditative state going through everything including the ambush on the road to Bridalford. I had lots of things I could improve upon and I still had large areas that I needed to train to cover my weaknesses and flaws. I wasn't sure how long I’d meditated for, but when Harold nudged me, Clair had already returned with the horses and everyone was getting ready to mount up. I eyed my horse as I approached it, something about the way I was looking at it must have spooked it because for the first time ever it didn't attack me.
"Let's find this bastard." Raven gestured.
We all nodded in agreement and continued on the road through Wyrm Territory.
