End Online: Volume 3 Read online

  End Online

  Volume 3

  Copyright

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. Any resemblance to characters, names, locations or incidents are purely coincidental.

  Copyright © D. Wolfin 2014

  First Edition

  E Edition © 2014 ISBN: 978-0-9942421-3-6

  By making the purchase of this book you have been granted non-exclusive, non-transferable, right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced in any way without the explicit permission of the author.

  Table Of Contents

  Chapter 13 – Law of Vexl Underground Prison

  Chapter 14 – Religious Conscription

  Chapter 14.5 – Valentine’s Love

  Chapter 15 – Chain Quest

  Chapter 16 – In Search of ‘The Mysterious Boy

  Chapter 17 – Eldenweiss

  Chapter 18 – The Second Grand Inferno

  Chapter 19 - The Ghost of Eltreant

  A Few Words from the Author

  I would like to thank you all for purchasing my book. It is because of you all that I enjoy what I do so much more than what I would without you.

  I know that a lot of people have been waiting for volume 3 and have felt that the wait is somewhat too long. In which case I am here to let you all know what has been happening over the past two to three months.

  To sum it all up, I got a full time job. This is basically the only delay in my book releases. But I still manage to try and write at least one chapter every week or two.

  A Few other notes on this book in particular. There have been feelings of the books being too short and feeling unfinished. I plan to improve that starting with this volume!

  Volume 3 has an extra chapter and is also about 15 percent longer than the previous two. Bear in mind, this not mean I will be doing the rest this long. The length of each volume will be individual. This brings me on to the next point.

  I have begun working each volume towards a ‘small ending’ so to speak which should hopefully give a little more closure at the end. Of course, I still want to leave the feeling of “I want to know what happens next”, of course.

  I will not take up much of your time, I can say that I hope to have volume 4 released in July. Thank you all for reading and I will now disperse into mist until next time!

  Chapter 13 – Law of Vexl Underground Prison

  -Lost-

  As I turned my attention to the rustling in the bushes, a player stepped out in front of me. He was slightly shorter than me, equipped with a grey armour made from an unknown metal. Although, considering how much thinner it is compared to all the other armours I have seen, I gather that it must at least be a medium armour.

  He wears some kind of broad rimmed straw hat that appears to just be for show, so I cannot see his hair, or even his face, very well. I did however, notice the symbol of Forste on the back of a hand wielding a white longsword.

  All of a sudden I hear a voice call out from up in the trees.

  “Hoh, friends! What brings you out here?”

  Suddenly announcing that there is more than one, I lost my ability to talk. Inside my head played out all the possibilities as to why he would give away his position.

  ‘Perhaps there are more of them around. Give me a false sense of sense of security, then ambush Fen and I.’

  Looking up in the trees I spot the second individual, standing on one of the branches. He wears a couple pieces of light leather armour, a light brown full torso armour as well as wrist guards. His armour appears to cover more of his body than mine does under the cloak, but it also seems to be thinner.

  With short light brown hair, his whole character blends in quite well with the natural surroundings. If one wasn’t looking up, he would definitely be easy to go unnoticed.

  With my hunter’s eyes, I spot a considerably large longbow on his back. The bow itself seemed to have been ornately carved with the finest craftsmanship. It must be either a decoration or a formidable weapon, neither of which I would put a gamble on.

  “We happen to be going to a new dungeon. I suspect it may be quite tough though. Would you two care to join us?”

  Deep in thought, he proposes for us to join them. As suspicious as I may be, it is a perfect offer for someone like me. Glancing at Fen next to me, I see her not showing any care. Accepting his offer, I will probably regret it later if I turn it down.

  He tells me he doesn’t want to form a party. With his reasons unclear, I have my own reasons to not want to simply party with these strangers. If they discover my level, and it happens to be well below theirs, they may suddenly decide I am worth attacking.

  I follow them for a few hours before we reach an incredibly dense thicket. Mason pulled out a large shortsword, cutting his way through the overgrowth. Before long we had encountered a small mausoleum that was slightly larger than my bedroom.

  Apparently, this is the entrance to an underground dungeon called ‘Vexl Underground Prison’. The front gate easily swung open due to a broken lock, giving us entry to a flight of stairs leading into the ground.

  Once we had fully gotten into the dungeon, I noticed just how different a dungeon can be from the outside world. As the torches lining the stone brick walls, the entire area had a chill that made me feel like the grim reaper was hanging over my shoulder.

  I made sure to analyse the monsters that appeared in the dungeon. There were two types of monsters we experienced at the beginning, ‘Murderous Skeletons’ and ‘Imprisoned Zombies’.

  Name: Murderous Skeleton

  Level: 92

  Health: 781

  Magic: 50

  Stamina: 250

  ??

  Name: Imprisoned Zombie

  Level: 80

  Health: 923

  Magic: 0

  Stamina: 0

  ??

  Mason and Matrix started their attacks first. I could have easily beaten them to the zombies, but I was more interested in the level of their skills.

  Holding Fen back, Mason attacked first, shooting an arrow directly at the nearest skeletons chest. His arrow passing directly through its ribs only to hit a skeleton behind it.

  Matrix charged forward as soon as the arrow was released, chanting magic as he ran. It was a considerably long chant, which usually indicates a powerful spell. Yet, something about the chant seemed strange.

  I furrow my brows when he finishes casting the spell. After miraculously managing to continue chanting while being engaged in close combat, he released a simple fire ball onto the blade of his sword, wreathing it in flames.

  I am no expert on the magic of End Online, but such an excessive chant did not exactly match the output of the spell.

  Seeing the two show somewhat disappointing skill, I gave Fen the silent signal for us to attack. I was ready to pounce as soon as she let out an overwhelming barrage of ice bolts, annihilating the enemy. Through the companion window I read she even gained a level from it.

  Giving her an angry chop to the head, I scolded her for taking all the exp. Companions don’t share any experience with their kills after all.

  Shortly after, a collection of zombies ten strong came stumbling out of the mist further down the corridor. Taking the initiative I dashed at full speed towards them. Using my high speed I treated them like statues, weaving in and out as I hacked and slashed.

  One zombie at the end managed to get close to grabbing me. But my concentration was already at its highest. Activating ‘Backstab’, I quickly killed it.

  ***************************************************

&
nbsp; I see Mason and Matrix, the two brothers, staring wide eyed at me. Pride fills up in me that I have enough power to awe these two.

  I’m starting to feel a little safer leaving my back to them. All Mason wants is to make a good video, while his brother Matrix will follow him.

  At least, that’s what I have gathered from my impressions of them. If they do decide to stab me in the back, I am quite confident I am stronger than them.

  “Come on, let’s keep moving. We have a lot of ground to cover.”

  I want to clear this dungeon as fast as possible and get to Grenton. Speaking of which, Verde is still offline so I can’t talk to her to let her know I will be there after finishing this dungeon. Maybe I should just leave a message.

  “Verde, currently in a dungeon, will be at Grenton after. Expect me soon.”

  No, no, that’s a horrible message. I attempt to delete it, only to find that I can’t. My good mood fails in the face of my shame.

  Walking towards the mist concealing what lay ahead, somehow the mist moves along with us. It created the optical illusion that we are walking down an infinite corridor, like we are stuck in an infinite loop in space.

  All of a sudden a piece of the pavement beneath my foot sinks into the ground with no resistance at all. With my foot travelling down further than I had thought it would, I am stunned while falling off balance. At the same time, tens of stone bricks on the walls shatter as spikes stab directly at and around me.

  I try to activate my speed, but with my mind a confused mess and my reaction being far too late, it is futile. The moment I try to move, my foot is trapped by the depression in the ground, causing me to trip and fall forward.

  Slamming my eyes shut, I feel a slight pain in my leg.

  “…LOST!” Fen screams in horror.

  “Oh, wow!” “No way! How lucky can you be!?” Matrix and Mason’s voice also reach my hearing.

  Slowly opening my eyes, currently facing the ground, I see a spike impaling my leg. I feel a little queasy at the sight, but it doesn’t particularly hurt. Surprisingly, I don’t feel any pain anywhere else. In falling forward, I have fallen in between the gaps of the array of lethal spikes. Currently, I am being pinned in position by randomly positioned earthen spears under and around me.

  A notification in the corner of my sight repeats itself three times. Disbelieving my eyes, I feel like I have just won the lottery.

  Luck has increased by one point...

  In that one instant, my luck had increased by a total of three points!

  Although, it doesn’t change the fact that I am currently trapped, incapable of any movement beyond flexing my fingers and twisting my neck. These spikes also appear to be a release once kind of trap. Once they are sprung, they must be physically removed or reset.

  “Umm… Can you please give me a little help here.”

  My voice comes out a quieter than I intend, But the echoes of the room are sufficient for the words. All of a sudden a barrage of ice bolts comes charging around me, randomly breaking the stone lances when they came into contact with them.

  I finally spot that my health has dropped down to sixty percent.

  ‘Forty percent damage from a single one of these spikes impaling my leg. If I was hit with just two more…’

  A cold shiver runs up my spine. The thought of how close I just came to being respawned all the way back in Iceridge was terrifying.

  It only takes a few minutes until Fen finishes breaking all the spikes. In the middle of an area with mere stumps of the spears left, I face the others and casually brush myself off, trying to pass the incident of as no big deal.

  “Well, shall we continue?” I incline for the rest of us to travel down the hall. Fen starts to pout all of a sudden.

  “Ah, Fen.” I continue speaking, only directly to her this time, “Thank you.”

  The wolf girl gives a proud look, almost as if she was never grumpy in the first place.

  A cool gaze comes from the two guys, slowly easing off from the stunned expressions. They follow behind Fen and I as we start walking ahead, not speaking a word. What seemed like an endless tunnel abruptly turned into a wall.

  Walking towards a dead end, a quick glance towards the walls reveal two new paths splitting off from the dead end, creating a ‘T’ intersection. From a distance, it was impossible to tell with the texture of the stone bricks intersecting so perfectly.

  I sincerely hope that we don’t get stuck in some kind of labyrinth. To my knowledge, none of us have the ‘Cartography’ skill to create a map as we go.

  “Left? Or right?”

  I turn around to the others and pose the question. Fen just looks like she will follow me wherever I go, while the other two start to ponder.

  “Well, let’s decide it the usual way.”

  Mason pulls out a gold coin and flicks it in the air. As it falls back down, his hand flashes out, catching the coin and slapping it on the back of his other hand.

  Lifting his hand away from the coin, he makes his decision.

  “It’s a crown. I guess we should go left then.”

  “Huh? What do you mean? And this is usual for you?” I am taken aback by how easily he decides on which direction to go.

  “Well, no matter which direction you choose, it is still a gamble right? Rather than being indecisive, we usually just flip a coin to decide. If it lands on the blank side, we go right. If it lands on the side with the royal crown insignia, we go left.”

  “We’re going right!”

  My temper starts to get the better of me. There is nothing wrong with their logic, but I simply can’t agree with their decision making method. Feeling frustrated, I choose to go the opposite tunnel they decided on. Whether they follow Fen and I is entirely up to them.

  “Heh. Well, I guess we will go right then.”

  Mason’s face smiles, but I receive the sense that his face is resembling a mask, only showing the outside. Fen also seems to notice this and gives him an intimidating stare.

  With me in the lead, we venture to the right. Another trap depresses beneath my foot, except this time I was paying attention to my footing. I silently activate ‘Perceptual Sight’, causing my world to start playing at sixty percent speed.

  Bending my left knee, I spring backwards at the sign of danger. Fortunately for me, the trap this time is not an attack. Jumping back, I narrowly avoid the floor dropping out beneath my feet, revealing a seemingly bottomless pit about four meters wide, and endlessly deep.

  With pale faces, everyone else comes to an abrupt halt as well. The collapsing floor stops only inches in front of their feet.

  Mason would have fallen in if it wasn’t for my retreating leap colliding with him and knocking us both backwards.

  “Ah, that is a bit embarrassing.” My heart is beating at a rapid rate, adrenaline from the danger rushing to my head.

  “I guess we will have to take the left path after all.” Mason regains his composure, putting on the mask with a smile again.

  “Why?” I ask directly before crossing the gap in a single bound. It is fortunate the roof is so high otherwise I possibly wouldn’t be able to do it.

  “It’s easy enough to jump across, I would think having a trap means that there is something to protect behind it.”

  Fen easily clears the gap as well, but the brothers seem a little nervous about the distance. Reluctantly, they give in and decide to make the leap.

  Mason is up first. Taking a running start he leaps off the edge of the hole. Barely landing on his feet at the other end, his momentum causing him to fall and roll down the path for a few meters.

  “Matrix,” He calls back to his brother, “Take off your armour. You won’t make it with it on, it’s too heavy.”

  The person in question operates an invisible menu and changes his appearance to wearing just a grey tunic and equally loose pants.

  Taking an even bigger run up than his brother, Matrix launches off from the same spot as Mason did. Only, his agility wasn
’t as high as the other man. At the parabola of his jump peaking before half way, Mason suddenly panicked.

  As if by pure chance, Matrix’s jump had just enough power to allow him to cling to the other edge of the pit.

  Saddling his bow over his shoulder, Mason grabs the swordsman’s hands and pulls him up to safety.

  With all of us past the trap, low groans echo from down the corridor. A large group of fourteen rotting zombies come storming at us. Following up behind them are a group of skeletons just as big, their cracked bones clattering between the zombie’s grunts.

  With a large mob of enemies in front of us, and a bottomless pit behind us, we are in a rather delicate situation.

  Mason takes the initiative first. Standing in the centre of the path, he draws his bow. I cannot quite understand what he is doing, considering there is no arrow in the bow.

  “Wind Piercer.”

  The weapon in question glows with a blue hue, similar to the clear sky. In between the taut string and the handle, a thin arrow made of compressed air takes form. Both the zombies and skeletons are only fifteen meters away when he releases the string. The almost see through arrow launches with it, only to disappear moments after releasing it.

  A sonic boom blasts its way past me. Where the arrow had vanished, a large cylindrical cyclone of wind comes to life, blasting its way down the corridor at the speed of sound. The violent winds tear up the mob in front of us, blades of wind leaving nothing untouched. With no exception, even the floor and walls are carved into as the blast travels past them.

  “W-what was that!? Y-you can use magic too!?” I stammer at Mason, completely dumbfounded.

  “Tch, I didn’t want to have to use that.” He ignores my question, and just mutters to himself.

  “What the heck was that!?” Repeating my question, Mason finally looked at me.

  “It’s a sacred art.” He looks rather grumpy, “But I don’t like using it. It uses 248 stamina just to use once. Right now, I’m completely out.”