Chapter 9: Chapter 9 – New Fire Spell! (Oriwynn Ruins III)

Strange noises reverberated around the tunnels and only got worse after about ten minutes of walking down a steep slope as I found myself in another chamber. The sounds appeared to be coming from inside the walls. I wasn't sure if there were other caverns parallel to this one or if I was also starting to feel the effects of this awful affliction. I guess only time would tell if I would become another one of its victims.

The decline in elevation had been enough for me to notice the surface of the walls change from a mixture of soil and stone to bedrock. It didn’t take a genius to know that this part of the cave hadn’t been dug out; instead, it was a natural feature of the underground. This led me to believe that whoever built the structure above must have done so for a reason, something to do with whatever evil is turning them into afflicted zombies.

The torch gave me enough light to get a gist of what this cave had been used for by Eldrin and his buddies. The campfire in the centre gave that away. Now why someone would have lit a campfire down here is a mystery in itself, as any normal person would have died after a few minutes of exposure, there was hardly any ventilation down here. Not wanting to die choking, I decided to avoid lighting it and opted for a far safer option, the torches. Once they were lit, I could actually see what had gone on here as I put my detective hat on.

At the far end of the cave, opposite where I entered, there was a pile of rubble blocking the path ahead. The surroundings hinted at an explosion that must have caused parts of the ceiling to rain down from above. It wouldn't take that long to clear, probably about twenty minutes, but it was still annoying as I would have rather spent that time moving further. I brought the torch in closer and discovered small cracks around the walls, along with some remnants of soot.

Moving on, I observed the campfire. There were a few dusty old bottles that had been sucked dry of whatever liquid they must have contained. From the test tube shape of them, I knew they must have been potions at one point or another. Right next to them, a small pile of well-crafted arrows sat looking as good as new. Must be that magical elven craftsmanship at work here again.

You Gained Empty Bottle (4)

You Gained Fine Wood Arrow (8)

A good clean and these bottles would be as good as new, that was if the system didn’t already clean them once placed in the Inventory. Now… if only I had a bow to test these arrows out. “Come on, Eldrin, you didn’t bring an archer with you on a crazy mission like this?” I cursed the elven archaeologist for making my life so hard.

I made my way to the rubble and began clearing it out of the way, taking extra care not to further damage anything. I did not like the thought of the ceiling collapsing on me, I really don’t think a health potion would fix that.

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Once it was cleared, I was slightly curious about the system, and whether my hard work had any sort of an effect on my stats. To my surprise, SP was still full. Great! From what I gathered so far about the system, standard actions like this didn’t cost SP, no matter how much of a graft they were, only special commands and actions had a system skill associated with them. All in all, I think this time it worked in my favour.

Moments later, I found myself yet again walking down another dark and narrow path. A loud BANG reverberated as if something had struck the wall of the cave, followed by a strange scraping sound. I stopped dead in my tracks as two pairs of them creepy green eyes emerged from the dark. They turned to face me before the sound of shrieks and growls filled the tunnel. “Here we go again.” I sighed.

As with the last time, I swiftly made my way back to the previous chamber, dropped my torch, and equipped the Wooden Shield before taking a defensive stance. Once the creatures arrived, the system did its thing. This time around, because I was fighting two enemies at once, the system had differentiated between them and placed an ID number of sorts after their name. This could come in handy later on when fighting larger groups of enemies.

[Afflicted Elven Warrior Level 3 (1): HP: 189/240]

[Afflicted Elven Warrior Level 3 (2): HP: 214/240]

I quickly glanced at my own stats to see where I was, to be on the safe.

[Ali’Creed Level 2: HP: 121/121, SP: 121/121, MP: 83/121]

Knowing better this time, I sheathed the sword in the scabbard that had materialized when I had equipped it for the first time. This was great for when I needed to cast spells, as it made the process a hell of a lot easier than going into my inventory and re-equipping things.

You Cast Sphere of Light: +10 XP

I lobbed it in the centre of where the creatures had just emerged from. They stumbled backward, growling in pain as the spell seared what was left of their decomposing skin. As opposed to the first creature I had encountered, these weren’t wearing any armour or clothes but instead had a weird piece of cloth around their private area. From what I imagine, they must have been working when they were attacked and must have taken their stuff off before getting the graft in. I noticed it did get warmer when I had removed the rubble earlier.

Deep scratches and bite marks covered parts of what remained of their rotting flesh and dark bones. The black tar-like substance covered almost the entirety of their heads and had made its way down in a pattern that resembled the roots of a plant. I did notice that moments after I cast the spell, the smaller roots vanished and weakened the affliction. Maybe if the light contacts the head directly, it would kill the affliction and, in turn, the host.

With no more time to waste pondering things, I rushed forward and swung my neat new elven sword at the one closest to me. The sound of bones cracking echoed in the cave before a shriek of pain erupted from the creature's mouth. I jumped a few feet back and waited for the next stage of their mindless dance.

[Afflicted Elven Warrior Level 3 (1): HP: 131/240]

[Afflicted Elven Warrior Level 3 (2): HP: 201/240]

After entering that strange frenzy mode, they both hurried towards me, going around the light spell, before unloading a barrage of attacks. The shield did a great job of fending off their attacks, but I could feel it had degraded a lot and would nonetheless break on me if I didn’t end this fast. I had enough MP to cast another Sphere of Light, so that’s what I did.

You Cast Sphere of Light: +10 XP

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Conversion Magic Skill is now Level 1

[Ali’Creed Level 2: HP: 121/121, SP: 121/121, MP: 7/121]

I took a step back before lowering the shield and pushed the ball of light right into the face of the one with the lowest HP.

You Killed Afflicted Elven Warrior Level 3 (1): +50 XP

Bonus XP for using One-Handed Skill: +5 XP

You have now reached Level 3: +1 Perk Point

Not exactly sure what happened there, but as soon as the ball of light kissed the creature's face, it caused its entire head to explode like a firecracker. I managed to duck behind the shield in time to avoid that disgusting black sludge landing in my mouth.

That was fucking disgusting…but more effective than I thought it would be. I could feel the magic within almost entirely depleted. While the other creature was still distracted, I materialized a magic potion and gulped it down in one go.

You consumed Magic Potion Level 0: +100 MP

[Ali’Creed Level 3: HP: 133/133, SP: 133/133, MP: 107/133]

The other creature also suffered some damage from the light and had recovered enough by now to continue its usual barrage of attacks.

[Afflicted Elven Warrior Level 3 (2): HP: 286/240]

After taking a few more blows, my shield cracked before splintering into a few smaller pieces, rendering it completely useless. After a second, it vanished completely. Meanwhile, I’d managed to hop a few steps back and run around the side of the creature. Using what light remained of the Sphere of Light spell, I hid behind it before waiting for the most opportune time to begin my own barrage of attacks. With the creature weakened by the light, I deflected a few of its blows and countered, one blow connected upon its neck, causing a great deal of damage.

[Afflicted Elven Warrior Level 3 (2): HP: 96/240]

With both light spells beginning to fade, it was time to cast another.

You Cast Sphere of Light: +10 XP

[Ali’Creed Level 3: HP: 133/133, SP: 133/133, MP: 69/133]

I held onto this one and extended my arm toward the creature's face, who began to stumble backward before tripping over a small rock. It moved around on the ground like a wounded insect before I landed my final blow right across the mouth. Its jaw had been completely sliced off, and the black sludge stopped moving as its host died… a second time. I used what was left of the light spell to make sure the black stuff was dead.

You Killed Afflicted Elven Warrior Level 3: +50 XP

Bonus XP for using One-Handed Skill: +20 XP

I let out a massive sigh of relief as I had somehow managed to get out of this one without taking damage. But I think my luck has run its course as I now had no shield. I caught a breath of air to calm my nerves before proceeding to loot the bodies.

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