Ivory Online - The Dragon Knight: A LitRPG saga Read online

  The rest of the goblins behind them ranged from warriors, scouts, archers to the occasional healer. This was a full battalion and there were only two combatants before them. Fei might be invulnerable, but we weren’t.

  “Clarent, if we respawn, let’s bring a larger group along with us,” I suggested calmly, not taking my eyes of the ranting Goblin Warchief.

  “That might be a good idea, yeah. I hope Madam Mira has prepared enough of a force for us to utilize though,” replied my similarly calm companion.

  “Madam Mira?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Well, yes. She’s one of the revered Usagi clan. They are worldwide mediators who advise Kings and Emperors. They are respected almost to the point of worship by everyone, regardless of race.”

  Huh. So my evil advisor was a respected member of a powerful clan… of bunny girls. I wondered how they’d – especially Mira herself – react to the rule 34 images of her circulating the internet. I could imagine it would be a worldwide scandal. I however, would not like to be the one to show Mira her own uh… ‘alter ego’… because I actually might not survive that.

  “ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME, FILTH!?”

  “No, now fuck off,” I replied with irritation. I was trying to recall one particularly good illustration I saw on an imageboard and this house of horrors reject broke my concentration.

  There was a stunned silence from the goblins, as Clarent and I stared them down; me frowning unappreciatively and Clarent smirking, proud that he had a liege who knew how to give good lip service at opportune times.

  The Goblinkin did not think so however.

  “Kill them all! DESTROY THE RUTTING HUMANS RIGHT NOW!!” commanded the Warchief in a loud roar.

  For that matter, his minions moved forth to carry out his will, the warriors rushing with their great swords and axes drawn, the scouts forming the cannon fodder with their flinty daggers as well as short swords, and the archers pulling back the strings on their bows, preparing to fill us with holes. An array that would have experts flabbergasted and wetting their pants. Good thing I wasn’t an expert.

  I quickly cast Thunderbolt, queueing Fireball and Iceblast into the ranks of Goblins at the rear, throwing the archers into a disarray – a timely distraction. Fei dropped in from the skies to deliver a harrowing screech on top of our foes, causing the front ranks of attackers to clutch their ears, keening in agony. Clarent and I delivered the coup de grace when we opened our mouths to let loose the most potent form of fire known to man and magic – Dragon’s fire.

  The greenies bathed in the flame, skin and hair burning away as the sheer potency of the heat robbed them of life in seconds. Of course, even with the ability working at its max, it wasn’t nearly enough to clear the opposition before us – no. It was just an opening salvo to what looked to be a long and bloody battle. Seeing that there was no point in delaying, The Dragon Knight and I joined the battle fully, throwing ourselves into the fray of green skin, black blood and vomit, attacking and defending for all we were worth.

  I countered many attacks – it seemed I had some sort of sense as to when an attack was coming – from behind and before me, the requisite parries and knockdowns coming to me as naturally as if I were the one who devised them. It didn’t always work though. Sometimes an arrow would pierce my body, sending me into waves of agony – pain which served to distract me as a spiked club or a dagger would thinly pierce the fabric of my attire and draw blood.

  I was damn lucky this thing was scalable, elastic and otherwise counted as armor, or I’d be plugged full of holes, my intestines pouring out of me like a fountain. As it were, I sustained some brutal cuts and a few gashes, but my innards were otherwise fairly contained. The beasts I faced could not boast of the same luck. Many ended up dead, run through by my blade or burned by a gout of flame from my left hand. Fei constantly transferred Mana and Health to me, allowing me to fight relatively easy – minus the jarring pain – keeping a good reserve of HP and MP available.

  Occasionally, through the long skirmish, my stores of HP, MP and SP would suddenly replenish and all my cuts and bruises would close up. Pleased that I was leveling up, I fought with reckless abandon. Somewhere along the line, I gained the skill to deflect arrows, as a sixth sense would alert me as to an incoming projectile from the front, taking me through the necessary forms to repel it.

  After almost an hour or more of continuous fighting and killing an uncountable number of low level MOBs, I felt the burn in my muscles. Checking my SP bar told me I had 5% remaining. Breathing hard, I took a few steps back to orient myself, but my quarry gave me no respite – they kept coming and coming.

  A lucky bolt hit me in the breast, fully piercing my armor and embedding itself in my chest. I fell to my knees and coughed out a gob of blood, tears leaking out of my eyes from the sheer pain. It fucking hurt so much! Why did it hurt so much! It was just a fucking game!

  Master! Let me heal you!

  No… wait. Let me remove the barb first.

  Squaring myself, I grasped the shaft of the arrow and ripped it out of my chest, feeling an intense and dizzying amount of agony I could not escape, the edges of my vision starting to blacken. The Goblinkin around me had noticed my anguish and were closing in fast. It was either pull it out at once and bear it, or fight with an arrow lodged in my chest. I made my decision, but God I hated it.

  Do it now Fei!

  O-Okay!

  I felt a wave of pleasure and sweet relief wash through me instantly, making me feel three times better than when I discovered that girls did not as a matter of fact, have cooties, but something much better. Casting my own slow heal spell, I depleted my mana reserve instantly, but felt my vitality return as my HP bar climbed back to maximum capacity.

  Still, that did not resolve my stamina issue. The green bar was blinking desperately, begging me to take it easy for a while as it recovers.

  Fei, use screech on the enemies around me.

  Will do!

  I collapsed into a heap on the ground, panting heavily as the all too familiar keen of agonized greenskins filled the air around me. Utilizing those precious seconds to massage my aching muscles, I watched my SP bar fill up slowly, managing about a quarter before the first of my quarry fought off its pain to attempt another attack. Rising to its challenge, I took the fight to it, detaching its arm in a wide arc. Screaming, it attempted to bite me, but only got a taste of my fist.

  The Dragon Knight fared much better than me. Leagues in fact. Having a higher pool of points as well as his natural armor made him all but invulnerable to the level one greenies, leaving him to slaughter them with callous abandon. Clarent was a blur of fire, fists, flips and steel. All that flowed around him was gore, blood and his own laughter. The Dragonkin was lost in the revelry of his carnage.

  After ten more downed greenies, I realized I was in the same spot that I was in just a minute or two ago. Unlike before I could not rely on Fei’s screech ability as she did not have enough mana to cast it. Cursing my lack of luck, I narrowly avoided losing my head by diving into a roll, rising behind the Goblin warrior attacking me.

  I raised my sword to swing at my assailant when the corners of my vision suddenly tinged red and a sudden savage power entered me, filling me with an insane feeling of ferocity. Roaring, I swung downwards, cutting through its hamstring. As it fell to its knees, losing strength in its legs, I flipped over its body, plunging my sword into its chest, pulling it out only when my feet touched the ground once more.

  Instantly, the red tinge left and so did the savage power, leaving me with a feeling of disgust and shame. What on earth was that? I had never felt so… raw… in my life. I took a moment to flex my palms, noting the black spots that marked dried Goblin blood. How many of them had I killed today? How many would I have to kill? Will that… feeling… return again anytime soon?

  I looked around me to a scene that had me baffled. The scores of assailants who were earlier rushing to kill me now cowered on the ground, terror in
their eyes as they beheld my form. What was the meaning of this? There must be an answer in my prompts. I sorted through the many of them that had popped up during the battle to find the most relevant one.

  __________________

  Well done! You have learned the sub-skill ‘Execution’

  In rare moments during the heat of battle, your bloodlust will acclimate, allowing you to perform an instant kill execution on foes.

  Note: This is a subskill of ‘Swords’. Leveling up the main skill affects the sub skill.

  “And now… now you are laid to rest.”

  __________________

  __________________

  You have gained a skill level!

  Execution has reached level 3

  Chance to initiate an execution +12%

  Chance to cause terror in enemies from brutality +12%

  __________________

  A sub-skill? There were no subskills in the original IO. Such a thing would allow for too much mischief by players. Executions? Putting aside the feeling, the effects and the sequence itself remind me of the execution/takedown system in most combat-driven single player games, not MMOs. How many games exactly did Vena smash into this?

  At least, it explained the terror my formerly bloodthirsty quarry were feeling. Some ran away while most simply cowered on the ground, whimpering as if I whipped them to immobility. Feeling another surge of self-awareness from my actions, I sidestepped them and walked towards the only remaining foe who had been watching me since the fight began.

  “You are not of this world, are you? You are an alt-soul. You came from the prime world, did you not?” the Shaman asked in a raspy, snake-like voice. Unlike his kin, he bore no murderous intent towards me, as far as I could tell. He was simply intrigued by my very existence in this time and place. That did not make him less of an enemy, no. His age and true liege were hidden from me, leading me to believe that Gorank was not in fact his master. In fact, if my knowledge on these situations held true, I’d say the master of Gorank and Gorm sent both of them here with different purposes. Gorank to command the forces and Gorm to oversee everything else. No leader would put the brawny idiot in charge over the deceptively powerful and intelligent calculator.

  Another thing I did know was that Gorm would not be inclined to talk about anything he felt I did not need to know. In my mind, it was simple. Despite his obviously high level, I would fight the Shaman and kill him. He was too dangerous to allow to roam free. Classic boss fight. Without the advantage of teammates of course.

  Fei, drop in and use screech on the shaman in a minute.

  Okay! What about Clarent?

  I looked over to the Dragon Knight, who was engaged in a serious death match against the Warchief, Gorank. It would seem they were evenly matched, but on closer inspection, The Warchief sported more cuts and wounds as opposed to the Dragon Knight. A few of his scales were cracked, bleeding out green blood, but he himself didn’t seem to care. He seemed fully enthralled in his new opponent, lost in the miasma of battlelust as they traded blows like madmen. Clarent wore an ecstatic expression while Gorank possessed one of disbelief and rage.

  He’ll be fine. Get ready.

  “Hmm? I sense a connection between you and another. For it to be this strong, it must be a soul familiar, yes? Hmm…” the Shaman nodded thoughtfully, speaking to himself.

  “What I am or am not connected to is none of your business. Who is your liege?” I demanded, twirling my sword in my hand menacingly.

  The Shaman’s eyes glowed erratically, as he pointed to the Warchief. Was he… laughing? His voice told me as much when he spoke. “Why, it’s that big brute over there who is having his head caved in by your follower.”

  “You would have me believe that you serve one who is weaker than you?” I scoffed disbelievingly.

  “Why not? The information won’t do you any good otherwise, since I plan to kill you and harvest your soul,” He answered with a shrug.

  “I’d like to see you try shorty,” I chuckled, though inside I began to worry a bit. Harvest my soul? Would that be possible? I was technically immortal as I could respawn endlessly – with penalties of course – but what if using soul trap – assuming he had a black soul gem – allowed him to harvest my soul truly? I’d have to tread carefully.

  Now Fei!

  My familiar swooped in and activated her primary attack ability, Screech, on the Shaman. Apart from idly rubbing his ears, it seemed to have no effect on him.

  “Nice try, but you’ll find I’m above such low level abilities,” The Shaman’s voice was the very essence of boredom.

  “If at first you don’t succeed, try it the alternate way – with a sword in their throat!”

  My threat was followed up by an overhead swing of my blade, meant to cleave the Shaman in two. But as with any magic caster worth his salt, he erected a solid green barrier around himself, easily absorbing the damage from my blade. His eyes lit up again as he watched my futile attempt to hack away at his force field.

  “This shield is fed by my mana, which is heavier than what you yourself possess. I wager you could swing that rusty thing against my barrier for hours,” the Shaman stated as he laughed with that scratchy voice of his. It sounded like an old and broken down car’s engine trying to spark.

  He was right. As a former magic class user, I knew the potency of barriers against weaker melee fighters. He was a whole level 45 while I was under level 10. The distance between us could not be any higher. Still though, I had to take him down. He could easily be a threat for my new town, as it was part of IO to be attacked by monsters, although they hardly ever did any damage. This shaman alone could raze the town to the ground if he went all out.

  But still. I started this fight at level 2 and was strong enough to fight of waves of mobs – although I needed help from my companion and my familiar half the time – so levels mean little apart from stats. If I could find a way to outsmart the cocksure Shaman, I could win the day.

  “You are right, I am an Alt-soul or whatever you called me. That means that you cannot truly kill me, you know? You could kill me now, but I would simply respawn, grow stronger and take your head at a later date. This is futile.”

  The Shaman adopted a thoughtful look for a few moments before shaking his head vigorously. “Your silly words will not change my mind.”

  __________________

  Your attempt at persuasion has failed! Increase your Charisma stat for better chances!

  __________________

  So words will not work on him. I cast my eyes over to the Dragonkin and his foe, seeing that they were still locked in intense combat that would not end anytime soon.

  “Don’t bother. For a brute, Gorank is a pretty good fighter. Your man will win, that is obvious, but it won’t be anytime soon, I can assure you,” the Shaman chuckled.

  So it was between me and him. A low level Hero and a level 45 Goblin Shaman who seemed unbeatable. However, there was one game changer I had been hiding so far.

  Name: Jax

  Age: 21

  Title: Lord

  Liege: Queen Erea

  Alignment: Neutral

  Class: Hero

  Level: 6

  Exp: 200, 1000 to next level

  HP: 220 MP: 220 SP: 230

  Strength: 24

  Speed: 23

  Intelligence: 24

  Endurance: 24

  Charisma: 22

  Defense: 24

  Luck: 23

  AP points: 40 SP points: 8

  Primary Characteristics:

  Blessing of Vena

  Burst

  Seamless

  Secondary Characteristics:

  Fire breath level 1

  Minor scaly hide level 1

  Mental connection level 1

  Dragon tongue

  Minor Blessing of Fire

  Goblin Bane level 1

  On Glory’s Wings level 1

  Skills:

  Construction level 8, 35% to next
level

  Perception level 4, 7% to next level

  Examine level 4, 78% to next level

  Fire magic level 6, 80% to next level

  Swords level 10, 70% to next level

  Air magic level 4, 27% to next level

  Restoration magic level 1, 23% to next level

  Water magic level 2, 27% to next level

  Sneak level 6, 90% to next level

  Light armor level 7, 29% to next level

  Mining level 1, 10% to next level

  Woodworking level 1, 10% to next level

  Stonecutting level 1, 10% to next level

  Sub skills:

  Backstab level 4, 0% to next level

  Execution level 3, 0% to next level

  Massage level 1, 60% to next level

  Counterattack level 9, 99% to next level

  Description:

  Humans are the most prominent race in the realm, with a great aptitude to all fields they endeavor in. Eventually becoming the most populous, humankind has yet to reach its full potential.

  I blinked in surprise. It seemed most of my skills had leveled up from the last time I checked, with a myriad of new skills joining the fray thanks to the battle. I had also gained four levels, bringing me to level 6. That gave me 40 whole AP and 6 new SP points to play with!

  In most MMOs, Skill Points were used to advance a skill by one level. Here in IO, instead of advancing a skill by a level, you could rather open up a new page and select perks that boosted the skill’s effectiveness, as well as add new effects to it. Some said SP did not stand for Skill points, but rather Specialty perks. Still, I planned to buy a couple of perks in swords hoping one of them would give me an edge, but I now had a whole 8!

  First the AP points. I was still in the midst of battle, and even my cocksure opponent who felt no need to exert himself might change his mind at any time, so there was no time for deep inflection. I simply invested the points where I felt they were most needed. 6 to strength, 6 to speed, 6 to endurance, 6 to defense, 6 to intelligence, 5 to Charisma and the final 5 into luck. The familiar rush of power made me almost sigh with pleasure. Pleased at how well balanced my stats were, I opened up the Perks page.