OL - 05: The Goblin Caverns

Back in the cabin, Bors lay down the injured Hunter. “Agh, this is painful. Thank you Bors.” Says the Hunter.  Blood could be seen dripping from his ribcage. Not only did the chief’s club break several bones, but the spikes punctured him deeply. It’s a miracle the Hunter was still alive. If one of the party had taken that blow, they would have surely perished.

“Here, let me cast a healing spell on you.” FieryPebble says as she places her hands over the hunter’s wounds. “Healing touch!” “Healing touch!” “Healing touch!” Little by little Hunter’s wound was healed, though not completely. However, Hunters suffering was visibly eased. “I’m out of mana. This is all I can do for now Hunter."

“It’s quite alright. The bleeding has stopped at least. I think I’ll live thanks to you.” Hunter said. “Excellent work. All of you. You all performed splendidly this time. Truly wonderful.” As he said these words, the party received experience for completing this task.

Ding! [You have levelled up!]

Ding! [You have levelled up!]

‘I levelled up twice, and I’m close to reaching the next level! But im not sure it was worth it…’ Merlin thought to himself at he considered the price they paid to succeed in this task.

The party gathered around hunter, as he lay there weakly. They couldn’t celebrate their success seeing their benefactor in such a state.

“Hand me my pipe, would you Merlin?” Merlin grabbed the pipe. ‘Its warm…and yet its not lit? How strange.” He thought. Merlin handed the pipe to Hunter. Hunter brought the pipe close to his mouth and whispered some strange syllables. Suddenly, the dragon pipe came to life and became a living miniature dragon.

“Master! You’re hurt!” It cried as it flew to Hunter’s side, rubbing up against him. The party was stunned at this sight. They never suspected the dragon shaped pipe contained such a secret. Hunter, pet its scaly head. “Now, now, Little One. I’ll be alright. I have an important task for you.”

“Yes master anything! Do you want me to take revenge for you? Was it these four that hurt you?” said the little dragon with a vengeful tone, breathing out small flames from its nostrils. “No, these are my guests. I need you to deliver a message.”

“Yes?”

Hunter whispered to the little dragon and sent it off.

“I’ll be back soon master! When I do you have to play with me!”

“Alright, hurry back.” Hunter smiled warmly as the little dragon flew out the window to complete its errand.

The party just stood there as hunter closed his eyes.

“Hunter, are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yes, I’m just a bit tired and I need to rest. However, I must entrust you four with a very important task.”

“Yes Hunter, please go ahead.”

“I need to you investigate the Goblin caverns.”

The party jumped in alarm. “But hunter, if such a powerful monster such as the goblin chieftain was forced to flee his home, then how could we dare to enter?”

“My injuries are severe, I’m afraid. I would not ask this of you otherwise. I was planning on going there myself while you lot continued your search for the missing man.”

The party was hesitant to take on the task. If they were to die in such a place, then their characters would be lost forever.

“Don’t worry. You all saw that little dragon speeding off right?”

The party nodded. “That’s right. What was that about?”

“I sent him with a message for the adventurer’s guild. This has become an A-rank mission, so I’ve requested reinforcements from an A-rank team. You will be accompanying them in my stead. Though, you must promise me. If they fail their mission, you four must immediately retreat. Don’t be reckless! Now go. Wait for them near the entrance of the caverns. Little one should have delivered the message by now and the team should be on their way as we speak.”

With that the Hunter, fell asleep and the party set off.

Merlin’s party traversed the woods. They had grown accustomed to traveling through the thick brush, unlike the first time they were led by hunter. As they made their way toward the entrance, the forest grew thicker and the path became darker. Animals no longer appeared around them and the birds ceased their songs. The forest grew lonely. A whistle could be heard from the wind blowing through the twisted branches. The trees seemed to lose life the closer they came to the map and the shadows made horrifying faces on the petrified bark. Soon they came upon a mound of earth on which nothing dared to grow. It had a pitch black hole upon it which seemed to lead to never ending darkness.

“We’ll set up camp hear and wait for the other team to arrive.” FieryPebble said.

“Do we have to be so close to the entrance? It gives me chills.” Said Merlin.

“Im afraid so. Otherwise we might miss them.” FieryPebble said.

Merlin and Bors went to get firewood while Robin retreated to the woods to keep an eye out for any danger. Soon after, the party heard voices and a party emerged from the dark woods. “See I told you it was this way!” Cried a knight.

“If it wasn’t for your lousy sense of direction, we would have made it here a long time ago!” A woman in robes said with an irritated look on her face. “Look at me! I’m filthy. I’ve got twigs in my hair.”

“Oh, don’t worry. To me you always look filthy.” Teased the knight.

“What!?!” She cried, fire filling her eyes.

“Now, now, let’s not fight. Peace and harmony always prevails.” Another robed figure said as he emerged from the woods.

“Shut it!” They knight and woman snapped back unison. The robe man didn’t seem to mind.

“You two bicker just like a married couple. Whenever you want me to officiate…” the robed man said.

A loud bang resounded and the robed man was on the ground receiving kicks from both the woman and the knight.

“Heal from this you bastard!” cried the knight.

“Die!” yelled the robed woman as she whacked the poor man with a staff.

Merlin’s party assumed a defensive formation and stood on guard. Although they were expecting other players, they could never be too careful and the dark forest had them on edge. Player killing was common place in secluded places such as these.

After the beating, the robed man stood up, muttered an incantation, and a white glow seemed to envelope him. All his wounds dissipated without a trace.

“If you’re finished taking your frustration out on me, I think I see our rendezvous.”

“Well, well, what do we have here? A couple of noobs came somewhere they shouldn’t have. How funny.” Laughed the knight.

Merlin and their party brandished their weapons.

“Woah! Don’t worry. We’re not here to fight.” Said the knight.

“Oh yeah? Why should be believe you?” Merlin said.

“This!” The knight reached into his coat and brought out a shining token as did the rest of the group. The token proved their identities as A-rank members of the Adventurer's Guild.

“Hold on, I recognize them!” FieryPebble cried.

“Huh? Who are they?” Merlin asked.

“In the forums I read about a party of high-level players that formed during the Beta test version. Supposedly they solved a huge crisis and without them One Life might not exist today. As a reward they got to keep their characters and even appeared in advertisements for One Life. See, that’s RaidDaddy, a knight. That woman is the sorceress, Nimue. That man in the white robe is Pen the cleric. That’s strange. Their other member is missing…”

“So, you’ve heard of us, eh? Good. If your friend wouldn’t mind coming out of the woods how about we get to business?” said RaidDaddy as he looked directly at Robin despite being invisible.

“How can he see me?” Robin asked.

“Hehe, because I was here…” said a low voice suddenly from behind.

Robin turned around quickly and thrust a dagger without warning. The clang of steel rang out as Robins dagger was blocked by a jet-black dagger that emitted a chilling aura. Robins hand began to grow cold and was forced to jump back. “Ho ho, a feisty one. Don’t worry, if I wanted you dead you be dead already.” Said the assassin.

“Haha, Lupin, quit playing around and come join us.” cried RaidDaddy.

“So, tell me, how does a low-level party like yourselves get assigned to an A-rank mission? That seems really irresponsible on the guild’s part.” Asked the knight.

FieryPebble explained to the group how their original assignment was to find a man that went missing in the woods and how they ran into Hunter and how a series of tasks turned into tragedy with the Hunter nearly dying from a spiked club to the torso all for the sake of a map. After discussing the mission, both groups gathered in front of the cavern entrance.  

“Well, shall we?” said RaidDaddy as he led the two parties into the dungeon. As soon as Merlin set foot into the dungeon, a thick aura of death filled his senses. A system message popped up in front of his eyes and those of his party.

[Caution! This area is certain death!]

“Here we go, stay behind us and don’t wander off!” Cried RaidDaddy.

“Great…” thought Merlin.

The group walked deep through twisted tunnels. It wasn’t long before they encountered a monster.

“Agh! Slash!” RaidDaddy narrowly avoided a heavy war-hammer. It crashed down and broke the earth beside him as he slashed a skeleton warrior rib cage with his sword. “It’s stuck! Lupin!” 

“Backstab!” Lupin appeared behind the skeleton and stabbed its spine with his dagger, causing the skeleton to stagger.

“Heal!” “Divine Light!” Pen was busy healing his party and damaging the monster with the power of light. It was particularly effective since skeletons were susceptible to holy power.

“Everyone, step back!” Nimue yelled.

“Oh crap! My sword is still stuck!”

“Let it go and jump! Fireball!”

The fireball struck the skeleton and exploded sending its bones scattering in every direction.

“Phew. That was unexpected.” Said RaidDaddy picking up his sword from the pile of bones.

“Why is that?” Said FieryPebble.

“This cave should be the abode of goblins!”

‘Is this what drove the goblins out?’ Merlin thought to himself.

“Let’s go on.” RaidDaddy said.

“Um RaidDaddy?”

“Yes, Merlin?”

“What shall we do with the loot?”

A shiny Warhammer and ruby ring lay where the skeleton once stood.

“Why don’t you all take it? You may need these things later on…”

Merlin picked up the ring and hammer and examined them.

[War-Hammer]

Requirements: 10 Strength

Damage: 10-20

[Ruby Ring of War]

STR: +2

VIT: +2

Merlin drooled at the sight of the items, but since they were items meant for a warrior, it was only right to let Bors have them. After all, Bors was the lifeline of their party. If he were to die then there would be nothing to stop monsters from attacking them. “Here you go Bors.”

Bors equipped the War-Hammer and ring and nodded slightly.

‘With this our chances of survival have gone up slightly.’ Thought Merlin.

The group walked on, the tunnel went deeper and deeper into the earth. The only thing that could be heard was the crunch of earth beneath them and water dripping from the stalagmites above them. They reached a natural stone bridge where nothing but darkness could be seen at the bottom and tread carefully.

“Sturdy enough. Follow me.” RaidDaddy said as he led the party across the bridge. As they reached the middle of the bridge, the temperature dropped dramatically. Then, RaidDaddy stopped without warning.

“RaidDaddy? Are you alright?” Nimue asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“Nimue, step back now!” cried Lupin.

Nimue jumped back as RaidDaddy swung his sword horizontally. “Cleave…” He said in a low guttural voice. RaidDaddy activated a sword skill and swung at his group savagely. Lupin lunged forward and blocked the blow with his daggers using a cross block.  They struggled in a deadlock for only a second, but RaidDaddy was too strong. Lupin’s guard was broken and he was knocked to the ground and left in a daze.

RaidDaddy turned his attention to the frightened party. His eyes glowed red. His demonic gaze locked onto FieryPebble as he lunged forward to strike.

"FieryPebble don't just stand there! Move out of the way!" Merlin shouted. Fierypebble tried to move but she was immobilized by fear.

Seeing this Merlin quickly dashed in and pushed her out of the way, bracing himself for the inevitable feeling of a magic sword cutting him in half. Just as the blade's edge cut into his leather tunic, a thin film of purple energy surrounded him like a second skin. "Mana Shield!" Nimue quickly cast the spell in a desperate effort to save him.

Thanks to Nimue's quick spell work, he was spared getting cut in half, but like swatting an annoying fly, Merlin was sent flying off the bridge into the darkness below. His screams echoed throughout the cavern until eventually fading out into nothingness.

“Merlin!!! No!!!” FieryPebble cried with tears in her eyes as she watched her friend plunge into the abyss.

“Stun!” Nimue yelled. A bright yellow light slammed into RaidDaddy and his body became stiff. Then Pen recited a prayer, causing a bright light to envelope RaidDaddy. Suddenly, a black miasma began to seep from his eyes, nose, and mouth and began to take shape above him. A ghostly purple robe with glowing red eyes floated within the dark hood.

“A spirit!” Cried Nimue.

“I got this.” Said Pen. “Exorcise!” The spirit reached out to attack the party, but it crashed against an invisible wall, suddenly is began to contort violently. It raised its arms and shrieked. Then it slowly dissipated into nothingness. All that was left was a scroll.

“Ughh…” RaidDaddy slowly got up. “What happened?” he asked.

Nimue came up to him and slapped him in the back of the head.

“OW!”

“You fool! You almost killed us!”

“But did you die?”

“That’s not the point! Look at poor Lupin!” Lupin lay there in a swoon.

“I got him.” Said Pen. “Heal!” A bright light enveloped Pen and he was restored.

“Ugh… what?” Lupin stood up quickly with his daggers raised. He lowered them after seeing the situation was under control.

“We’re fine, but the little one...”

“Huh? Was it Bors? I’ll never forgive myself if I hurt that innocent soul…huh why is that girl crying?”

“You…you killed their friend.”

RaidDaddy became grim. He looked over to see Bors holding a hysterical FieryPebble from jumping after Merlin. Tears flowed freely from both of them. Robin stood by them and looked into the darkness. A tear could be seen falling into the darkness.

“He sacrificed himself to save me… He can’t be gone! We have to go down and get him! Even if he died we can still revive him!” FieryPebble cried. She checked her party window to see Merlin’s status, but it was grayed out.

Pen approached the fledgling party "Its true that if we could recover his body, I could bring him back to life with the high-level Priest spell [Resurrection], however... there's no telling how far he might have fallen. From this height its possible his body was smashed into a pulp in which case even [Resurrection] might not bring him back. I'm sorry for your loss."

"No..." FieryPebble body felt completely out of strength. Bors had to hold her from falling.

“I- I’m sorry.” RaidDaddy looked down in shame. “I didn’t expect to find a spirit here. They only appear near graveyards or places where atrocities happened. Maybe we should leave.”

“We can’t. We must see this mission through.” Nimue said.

“That’s right. We can't let the little one's sacrifice be in vain.” Lupin said.

RaidDaddy walked over and picked up the scroll left behind by the spirit. He approached FieryPebble and handed her the scroll. “This is a rare item. Even we have only seen a few of these before. I know it can never replace your friend, but please take this. I'm truly sorry.”

[Spell: Life Drain]

Requirements: 10 INT

Allows the user to learn the spell Life Drain.

Inflict damage on the foe and absorb the damage as health.

FieryPebble did her best to compose herself. They were still on a mission after all. Danger still lurked around every corner and within every shadow. Bors and Robin still lived and looked to her for leadership. Her final memory of Merlin falling into the abyss...the look of fear and confusion in his eyes was something she could never forget. At that moment she vowed to never allow fear to paralyze her again. Never again would she allow her friends to suffer due to her inaction.

“Thank you. It's not your fault. We knew the risks when we accepted this mission.”

“Will you continue?” asked RaidDaddy.

FieryPebble picked herself up and wiped her tears. "Of course. We can't give up now. Otherwise, Merlin's sacrifice would have been in vain." she said. Robin and Bors nodded solemnly in agreement. A mix of grief and resolve filled their faces.

FieryPebble opened up the party menu and selected Merlin's grayed out name.

Merlin the Jester may have died but Merlin the person still lived. After a certain amount of time, he would be allowed to purchase a new license and re-enter the game with a brand new character. Maybe one day they would be reunited once again, at which point she would do everything in her power to repay him.

[Remove From Party?]

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Meanwhile, in the deepest level of the caverns, a body floats lifelessly. Suddenly, the body jerks and starts flailing around like a fish out of water. "Ah Help! He's trying to kill me! Murderer!" As the figure thrashed in the dark, Merlin's senses slowly returned, his mind foggy and disoriented. Disbelief washed over him as he realized he was still alive, spared from the clutches of death by some twist of fortune.

Merlin pulled himself out of the water and sat in the dark trembling in fear. “Great, just great. Why didn't that sword strike just kill me? Somehow, I managed to live, but for what? I’m still going to die here...”

He remembered the frantic struggle for survival, and those haunting red eyes filled with malice. "Surely, RaidDaddy's party managed to break whatever spell he was under. Otherwise...." The frightened faces of his party members flashed in his mind. He would never forget the look of FieryPebble's eyes as he plunged into the darkness.

"I hope they're alright..." He opened the party window to check the status of his friends. "Sigh. All grayed out... I'm too far away." Merlin scanned the area, but he could see nothing but darkness. Letting out a heavy sigh, he mustered his courage and prepared to delve deeper into the abyss in search of an exit. "I have to make it back for the sake of my friends."

[You have been kicked from the party.]

"Heok!?!"

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RaidDaddy led the party across the bridge where they came upon a dimly lit passage.

“Wait!” Lupin said, in a hushed tone. “Do you hear that?”

A mysterious chanting could be heard echoing through the tunnel, “Mortem ad vitam. In umbra resurge. Tenebrae vocant te. Spiritus, exsurgat!”

“I see now…” said RaidDaddy.

“What is it?” Asked FieryPebble.

“It seems a necromancer has set up shop here. Necromancers are incredibly powerful. Much more so than the average magician. This could prove troublesome.”

“Why is that?”

 “A magician is weak against physical attacks.” Nimue explained. “Against a powerful warrior-“

“Like me.” RaidDaddy said.

“No.” RaidDaddy frowned.

“Can I continue?”

“Yes, go ahead my love.”

“Ugh gross. Now as I was saying. A magician can cast devastating magic, but chanting the spell takes time. Without protection, a magician is vulnerable to attacks. A necromancer on the other hand, can summon the dead to overwhelm his opponents. At the same time, he can cast devastating spells from behind the safety of his undead.”

“What should we do?” FieryPebble asked.

“We will stop his ritual and free this land from his evil works.”

“Are you all ready?”

RaidDaddy’s group gave a thumbs up.

“How about you three?”

FieryPebble’s group nodded.

They walked toward the chanting, encountering more undead on the way. The party was prepared so they were quickly dispatched. Luckily the necromancer was too engrossed in his ritual to notice. Finally, they reached the entrance to a dimly lit chamber. There was a stone alter in the middle of the chamber, and the body of a man lay on the table. A glowing magic circle flashed brilliant golden rays of light, pulsing with power, in rhythm with every syllable of the evil chant. A grim fellow in a dark purple robe stood by the table lowering and raising his arms with growing intensity completely oblivious to the intruders standing at the entrance to his chamber. This was RaidDaddys group with Bors right behind them.

“He hasn’t noticed us” Whispered Nimue.

“I’ll go. He’s distracted. I’ll get him from behind. He’ll never see me. It’ll be easy. “Whispered Lupin with a murderous gaze.

“Fine go. Whispered RaidDaddy. “Wait for my signal.”

Lupin melted into the shadows. His dagger pointed straight at the necromancers back.

RaidDaddy whispered to FieryPebble’s party. “Just stay here and don’t draw attention to yourselves. Got it?”

FieryPebble’s party gulped and nodded.

RaidDaddy gave the signal. Lupin rushed forth like the shadow of an arrow. He aimed his dagger between the shoulder blades of the necromancer. As the tip made contact with the necromancer’s flesh, the necromancers arms flared up and Lupins dagger was pushed back by magical force! Lupin was blasted away. He lightly flipped and landed in a low crouch.

“Go!” cried RaidDaddy.

The necromancer let out a cold snort. “Hmph! You are like the others…Doomed!”

Nimue shot a fireball at the necromancer, but it was stopped by a spherical shield formed by dark power which surrounded the necromancer from all sides. The flames could do nothing but dissipate into the air.

RaidDaddy lunged forward and stabbed his blade at the necromancer. IT pierced through the shield a finger’s length before it stopped. “This is bad! We can’t get to him!” cried RaidDaddy.

"Voco mors stare!" the necromancer muttered an incantation and dark power swelled through the chamber and the ground beneath them began to crumble.

“He’s calling the dead! Get ready!”

Skeletal hands burst forth and dozens of skeletons rose from the dead. They weren’t at the level of the skeleton warrior they encountered in the beginning of the dungeon; however, their numbers made them an even deadlier threat.

“Crap! Cried RaidDaddy as he smashed the skull of a skeleton. As soon as it fell, two more took its place.

“Lupin! How are you holding up?”

“They’re weak, but there’s too many of them! And they just keep coming! We’ll be overwhelmed at this rate!”

A sea of flames shot forth from Nimue’s staff, clearing the room temporarily, but soon after dozens more rose from the earth to take their place. “At this rate, I’ll be out of mana soon!” She cried.

“Same here!” Pen yelled. Holy light enveloped the battlefield as the skeletons perished under the onslaught of holy power while the party was healed of their wounds.  “I’m using up mana faster than I can replenish it!”

As the team was working to fight off the skeletal horde, FieryPebble’s party watched in awe.

“Let’s go.” Robin said.

“Huh?” FieryPebble said.

“I’m not sure we’d be of any help.” FieryPebble asked.

“We can help. The skeletons are close to our level. We can help take some of the pressure off so they can deal with the necromancer.”

Bors nodded in agreement. His eyes burned with a desire to do battle.

“You're right. If we can keep the skeletons back while they deal with the necromancer, then maybe we can win this.” FieryPebble agreed with Robin’s reasoning.

The group looked at each other in silent agreement. Then they rushed into the fray with Bors leading the charge. Bors swung his war-hammer and a row of skeleton skulls were crushed into dust. [Critical hit!]

A group of skeletons turned their attention to the newcomers and rushed forward. The sound of clattering bones filled their ears, but the party met them head on. Bors swung his mighty hammer and the skeletons crumbled beneath him. Those skeletons that survived were finished off by Robin’s dagger. They took many blows from the skeletons, but FieryPebble was ever ready with her healing spells.

“Hey what are you doing! I told you to stay back!” cried RaidDaddy as he chopped the head off a skeleton.

“We can handle this! Get the necromancer!” FieryPebble cried.

“Fine I hope you’re ready! Nimue do it!”

“Mass invisibility!” cried Nimue.

Pen, Lupin, Nimue, and RaidDaddy vanished. All the skeletons targeting stopped and looked around. Soon their empty eye sockets locked onto the fledgeling party. “Not good.” Said Robin.

Bors brandished his hammer took a wide stance, ready to meet the bloody onslaught. “We got this.” FieryPebble said. “I’ll keep you healed Bors. Whatever you do, don’t stop swinging your hammer. Robin, make sure you take out any strays. Let’s do this!”

Skeletons rushed in from all sides, but Bors was incredibly strong and his hammer was incredibly heavy. It only took one blow to turn them to dust. Some skeletons narrowly avoided Bors’ vicious attacks, and would slip past to target FieryPebble, but robin would appear to snap their spines with a merciless blow. Their teamwork shined through and they became like a sturdy stone mill, steadily grinding all the skeletons to dust.

Meanwhile, RaidDaddy and his party snuck behind the necromancer cloaked in invisibility.

“How do we get past that shield?” Asked Lupin

“I’m not sure.” Said RaidDaddy. “But we’d better do it fast. I don’t know how long those three can last.”

“Wait, maybe WE don’t have to get past the shield at all… do you see that?” Pen said, pointing up at the top of the shield. “The rocks falling from the ceiling are passing through!”

Small rocks from the roof of the cavern were breaking off every time Bors hammer hit the ground. They passed through the shield unhindered.

“Yes, that’s the way.” RaidDaddy said. “Nimue!”

“I’m on it. I’ll need some time. As soon as I start casting this spell the invisibility will come off so I need you to distract him.”

“Okay you can leave it to us. Come on Lupin. We have work to do. Pen, keep us alive please.”

“Got it.”

“I’m out of mana!” cried FieryPebble. “Bors watch out!”

Bors fought harder.  If he was going down, he was going to take down as many as he could with him.

“I can’t keep this up…” said Robin.

As the party fought desperately for survival, RaidDaddy and Lupin began striking the necromancers shield like wild boars.

“You fools… it’s hopeless. Time to die!” The necromancer shot an orb of necrotic energy at Lupin, blasting him away and leaving him near death. 

“Lupin no! Take this! Piercing Blow!” RaidDaddy activated a high-level knight skill. His blade shone in a pale brilliance as energy gathered at its tip. His blade shot forward screeching like a hawk as it made its way towards the necromancer’s shield. It pierced through the shield, piercing the necromancer’s gut the length of a finger. The necromancer’s eyes grew dim, but this was not enough to kill him. The wound slowly recovered with the aid of dark powers.

“Arrogant fools, you can never defeat me. I control death. I cannot die!” The necromancer roared and prepared to cast a massive spell.

“RaidDaddy! Step back!” cried Nimue. “Fire Storm.”

A torrent of flame shot forth from Nimues jeweled staff and hit the ceiling above the necromancer with tremendous force, causing boulders and stalagmites to break free and crumble down. RaidDaddy grabbed Lupin and leaped as far away as he could, covering him with his body. The necromancer howled as he was crushed by the collapsed roof and the skeletons that surrounded them crumbled into dust. Suddenly the chamber grew extremely dark and icy cold. A hideous evil spirit rushed out from the rubble.

“My master will avenge me!”  it yelled before dissipating into nothingness.

“Phew. Nice one Nimue.” Said RaidDaddy.

“Thanks to you two.”

“Ugh what happened. Am I dying?” Lupin groaned. He only had a few HP remaining. Even a slap could kill him.

“Don’t worry. I got you. Complete recovery!” A white line shined over Lupins body and he was good as new.

“Ah. Thank you. Where are the little ones? Hmm?”

“Bors! Get him! Get him!”

FieryPebble was running around. She was being chased by a cute miniature skeleton. Compared to FieryPebble, it barely reached her waist.

“Clak! Clak! Clak! Clak!” Its jaw bone rattled as it ran.

“It seems you got yourself a friend!” RaidDaddy said as he walked over. He picked up the miniature skeleton by the skull and held him up. It kicked and flapped around trying to break free but not no avail. “You’re quite lucky. This little guy seems to be a special class of item called a pet. It must be a rare drop acquired from killing so many of the necromancer’s skeletons. Examine it and see!”

[Pet]

Little Bone

Level 1

STR: 1   INT: 1

DEX: 1   AGI: 1

CHA: 1   WIS: 1

LUK: 1   VIT: 1

Skills:

Rattle: Alerts nearby foes.

Owner: FieryPebble

FieryPebble sighed. “Creepy and useless…” Little bone heard this and became depressed. It just hung there lifeless as it was held up by RaidDaddy. Tears slowly dripped from its eye sockets.

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