10 Vorn pt.2

"We can't go any further until we start acting like a team," Luxy said. "That means that we're going to have to trust each other."

"I don't trust four-eyes," Savage said. "He's hiding something. I can smell it."

"Can we discuss it after the mission?" Namey asked.

"We're not going anywhere until you tell me who the frig he is," she said pointing at me

"I agree with her. I think you should talk to us Namey," Luxy said. "We all left our parties because we didn't trust them. We promised to trust each other when we created Serenity."

"I helped create Jon. I used to work at Genesis studios until a few weeks ago," Namey said.

"What do you mean, created?" Savage asked.

"I can't reveal everything because it's not my place to reveal it but I helped write the program that created Jon. That's how I know that he has no caps on his skills and can gain experience a thousand times faster."

"So that's what you meant by my archery skills are 150 on a scale of 100," I said.

"You created your own NPC?! No wonder you know everything about the game. I thought you memorised the user manual" Savage said.

"Wait, who's secret are you keeping?" Luxy asked.

"My mentor. The man that was more like a father to me than my own father," Namey said.

"You better not be lying to me," Savage said.

"I swear, it's the truth," Namey replied.

"Here," Savage said. She thrust out her arm and Namey shook it.

Alright, guys, I sense a large monster in the next hall," Luxy said. "We should fight better this time."

She wasn't wrong. There was a massive spider-like monster waiting for us in front of a large door. It was probably a floor guardian.

Savage used her taunting skill to draw the frenzied attacks from arachnid and beat them away with her shield.

"Luxy! Now!" Namey screamed.

Luxy sent her floating blades flying at high speeds towards the arachnid's eyes. Her blades struck its eyes, blinding it. The monster began to launch indiscriminate attacks that nearly struck me.

"Jon! Single-shot to the head!" Namey hollered again. "Use power but not too powerful so that we don't get caught in the explosion"

I sent an arrow right into the monster's brain. There was a small explosion; enough to blow its head off and cause a shower of green slime without putting the group in any danger of being caught in the blast. I was getting a hang of mana control. I always only put in just enough to take down my opponent.

"Good work team," Namey said.

Behind the arachnid was a heavy stone door which when opened, activated a set of firelit torches that ran the length of the wall as far as they could see. It filled our view with an eerie blue light that sent swarms of deadly uvak bugs scurrying for refuge beyond the illuminated areas. They were content to stalk us and lurk in the shadows all around.

Namey had informed us that uvak bugs had highly attuned senses and only attacked those who were weak. The makers of the game intended to use them as a way to discourage lower-ranked players from attempting dangerous missions. That must be why the bugs fixed their attention on me.

Earlier that day I had gone through the guild registration process where my strength was tested and the results were beyond humiliating. I had a white guild card. Not even copper which was the lowest rating. Everyone had a laugh at my expense. If I'm really the maker of this game why wouldn't I just give myself awesome powers? Maybe Namey had lied to us about my 1000x experience gain modifier. Either way, I was the weakest adventurer in adventurer history and I had a white F- Rank guild ID to show for it.

My focus had to shift to the potential dangers of the tomb I was in. According to the lore, Dark elf mausoleums were notorious for their fiendishly lethal traps. We continued down the tunnels winding our way past various rooms until we came to the burial chambers. The uvak bugs matched my progress, endlessly circling just beyond the illuminated passages.

The burial chambers had twelve stone sarcophagi spaced apart in a circle along the walls and a large intricately carved sarcophagus in the middle, on what looked like an embalming table. Things were beginning to get scary.

On getting to the middle of the room, the stone sarcophagi around the room broke open and we were set upon by undead soldiers, archers and shamans. The shamans cast fire spells and the archers let fly jagged shaped arrows while the swordsmen advanced. They seemed to be well organized and fought as a group which was unfortunate for us to have sprung this trap.

"Luxy, go right! Jon, take the left! Savage, cover our rear!" Namey shouted as we sprung to action.

Luxy and I showered the undead with a barrage of arrows and blades while Namey intercepted the arrows and fire with sand magic. Savage held off the undead swordsmen that got too close. Just when it seemed like we might get overwhelmed, Namey's preparation was complete.

"Get down!" He screamed.

Sand materialised out of nowhere creating a vortex with us in the eye of the storm. It rotated violently, shearing the armour and flesh of the undead. It stayed for about fifteen seconds and by the time it was done, most of the undead had been vanquished. Luxy and I were able to pick off the rest of them.

As soon as the last undead soldier fell, the sarcophagi in the middle slid open and an even more dangerous undead crept out. It let out a powerful shout that knocked us off our feet and sent us flying backwards. It took a few moments to regain our composure.

"Savage, upfront! Luxy and Jon, take the flanks! I'll support from behind!" Namey shouted again. And again we sprung into action. This mummy was surprisingly quick and skilled. He moved gracefully and his attacks were hard to handle even for a B-rated tank like Savage. He must have been B-ranked at least.

After taking a lot of direct attacks on her shield. Savage released her full counter skill that reflected 50% of that damage as her own attack. The mummy was knocked backwards in confusion for only a second but a second was all we needed.

I sent an arrow toward the mummy's head but he was able to block it with an upward movement of his sword, however, the movement unbalanced him and unfortunately for him, that attack was only a diversion.

<Goddes's wrath>

Several daggers struck him in the chest, legs and sides but he still refused to go down. Instead, he staggered back towards the sarcophagus that he came out from.

Namey wrapped the mummy with sand and squeezed him until all his armour came undone.

I took Daegon's crown from the remains of Hoth and revelled in my first boss battle.

After the fight, Savage came up to me.

"You did well, newbie," Savage said. "You might actually be useful to us."

That was the biggest compliment I had gotten from the brutish girl so far. Just before we set out, I took a look around the crypt and took in the architecture and design that went into the place. The weapons that the undead carried reflected a different era. They had a lot of curves, inscriptions and animal skin grips.

I nearly jumped out of my skin and fell over backwards when small fingers tapped me on the shoulder. It belonged to a little girl in a white dress and a cloth covering her eyes.

"I have a message for you," she said.

"Who are you?" I said in fear.

"Hans and Abi are in trouble," she replied as she disappeared.

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