Chapter 8: Chapter 8 – Afflicted Zombie Elves? (Oriwynn Ruins II)

The creature stumbled from out the passageway, almost tripping over the torch I had just dropped. It gazed at the burning flame for a moment before stepping over it and finally fixating its demented eyes upon me as I poked my head out from the side of the shield.

Those gleaming olive-green eyes radiated a murderous intent as it stumbled towards me with some weird jerky movements, starting and stopping every so often as if waiting for the next command. It felt like someone, or something was controlling it, but it suffered from serious lag.

From what I could see in the low light conditions, it most resembled a zombie. One that had aged very poorly, to the point most of its bones were showing with bits of rotting flesh hanging off in places around the joints of the jaw. It was fucking disgusting. There was also something off about the colour of its bones. They were covered in a slimy, tar-like substance that resembled oil.

Of more immediate concern, it was also covered head to toe in a light metallic armour that clanked and scraped every time it moved, most likely from way back when it was a normal living creature. This was very bad for me as I could only do serious damage to it in the few gaps that presented themselves. The armour was surprisingly in good condition, maybe due to a self-repair enchantment or something similar? I thought it’d look better on me, but I would need to kill this creepy fucker first.

The creature trudged forward and swiped its sharp gauntlet claws across the shield, scraping shards of wood off in the process. Lucky for me the shield provided enough of an armour threshold for the attacks to do little to no damage. The system automatically scanned the creature and initiated the combat screen.

[Afflicted Elven Warrior Level 3: HP: 145/240]

Hmm, an elven warrior before this ‘affliction’ fucked you up. Maybe this is also what became of the rest of Eldrin’s crew when they delved too deep here. In addition, its HP had already been diminished from something before, as I doubted it knew how to regenerate it, nor any other item. After the attack, the creature took another strange pause as it had before. Not wanting to wait for the next attack, I swung my axe right into the opening between its helmet and breastplate.

[Afflicted Elven Warrior Level 3: HP: 118/240]

The creature groaned and stumbled to the ground; when the green aura in its eyes magnified and became brighter. This was also the moment I realized that I had fucked up. The thing controlling it had just gotten a whole lot angrier. It jumped back on its feet within a second and entered a frenzy, the jerky movements all but gone. In a rage, its hand moved to its scabbard and unsheathed it, revealing a nice, curved sword crafted from the same materials as the armour.

“Oh fuck!” I growled before the barrage of sword swings that soon followed. With every blow decimating my shield and pushing me back, I had no time to counterattack or any sort of movement apart from getting pushed back toward a rocky wall. I had to do something very soon, or I was destined to end up like crazy green eyes over there. An idea popped into my mind. What if I could use the Sphere of Light spell to distract or even blind it? I could use the distraction to move to a better position and escape if needed… I put the axe back in the inventory.

You Cast Sphere of Light: +10XP

I released it right in the creature's face, where it would have the most potential of blinding it. It shrieked in pain before jumping back as smoke erupted from within the confines of its helmet. This was the same time I became distracted by the armour for a moment as it reflected the light in a golden bronze hue. The craftsmanship used to craft it must have been expert. I bet I could fetch some nice coin for that if I sold it.

The creature held its face as it burned, and I decided that was enough time wasted thinking of the money I would be making if I stole the armour and should focus more on living long enough to sell it, so I made my move. I re-equipped the axe and smashed it down upon its helmet a few times before stepping back towards the side where the passage back to the first chamber was situated. My axe hadn’t even left a scratch on the smooth surface of the helmet, but the creature's head must surely be seeing stars.

[Afflicted Elven Warrior Level 3: HP: 81/240]

The creature angrily shrieked at the sphere of light and shifted its rage toward it. While swinging its sword, one of the blows hit the spell, causing the sphere to move away in a balloon-like motion. The light continued to burn its skin; It was as if the light was its true enemy.

[Afflicted Elven Warrior Level 3: HP: 76/240]

This got me thinking again, what if I could use the sphere of light as a weapon against it? So far, it was proving to be highly effective. Maybe this was something to do with the black tar-like substance covering its bones. Maybe it reacted badly to light as down here, I was sure down here it hadn’t experienced any proper light. Wasting no more time, I materialized a level 0 magic potion and drank it.

You consumed Magic Potion Level 0: +87 MP

Within moments my MP bar had filled, and I could feel the magical energy within me begin to rattle with excitement. Another idea sprouted before I cast another Sphere of Light…

You Cast Sphere of Light: +10XP

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...before placing it in front of my leg and kicking it at the creature's face like a ball. Years of playing balloon football with my children actually paid off as the sphere struck the creature directly in the face. It screamed in agony as the combined light from both spheres burned it in the same way acid burns human flesh. With it distracted, I ran towards it and unleashed another barrage of attacks, this time striking between the armour again, where I would do the most damage. It dropped like a hunk of rock before wailing in severe pain.

[Afflicted Elven Warrior Level 3: HP: 10/240]

I grabbed the Sphere of Light with both hands and forced it down on the creature's face before pressing harder to ensure victory. It seared the bone like a lamb chop on a grill. It smelled fucking disgusting but resulted in a kill notification.

You Killed Afflicted Elven Warrior Level 3: +50XP

Bonus XP for using One-Handed Skill: +15 XP

Finally! Wasting no more time, I opened the loot menu.

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