William finished his stretching and turned to complete the rest of his preparations including making sure his shield was on tight to his forearm and that his pommel was not slippery. He had sweaty hands and didn’t want that affecting his battle and end up causing him to be killed within seconds. Once done, he made his way to the door and turned the knob slightly. It squeaked quietly, but otherwise turned smoothly.
He had hoped this door would not be similar to the rest. He cracked it open–
The thing screamed like a banshee. Ancient rusted hinges did not want to open silently. He cringed and hoped that the entire courtyard had not woken up in an attempt to find the source of the noise. The only saving grace to this whole debacle was that William noticed that the doorway did not lead directly to the courtyard, but rather to a small area with a couple steps that lead up to another door. One shut closed and presumably prevented all of the Corrupted Dead from entering.
If his own experiences with the torches on the walls were a testament to workmanship, then these doors were made to last for thousands of years and survive sieges. Every single door was still in pristine condition except for non-wood parts including hinges and doorknobs. Once locked, they were in place for what felt like forever.
William was just thankful nothing had ambushed him while he opened the alarm sirens in the shape of doors. He let out a low chuckle as he carefully made his way up the set of stairs, noticing that they were sturdier and better overall compared to the ones inside. Probably less external effects like erosion occurred to them sandwiched in a closed area. Though he did not find a speck of dust here.
He reached for the second door and opened it slightly. This one did not announce his arrival like all the others did, it seemed to be of a better make than the rest he had seen so far. Smoother opening process, no banshee for hinges, and not locked from the other side–
William froze.
A Corrupted Guardsman sat only a few inches to the left of the doorway. A shorter, stubbier version of the one he had fought within the halls, yet it was still bigger than him. The armor on it seemed to be a bit more dented and destroyed, though not rusted. More like it had been beaten by a dozen bats relentlessly.
William took a deep breath as he prepared himself for what was to come. He pulled his sword out from the inventory and set it to touch the Corrupted Guardsman's leg. The hope was to damage its thigh, but not to debilitate it that the monster could no longer walk. He wanted to keep it mobile enough to stumble back and forth without balance. That should make it easier for him to push them off of the stairwell’s ledge and down into the abyss.
He swung hard, but without activating his new skill.
A large crack reverberated within the courtyard. It woke up with a scream and shriek, searching for whatever had struck it. He could hear others start shifting and shouting very much like this one had. He could imagine them rising up and beginning their charge in his direction. William stepped back into the building as the Corrupted Guardsman he attacked rose up and loomed above him menacingly. A skeletal hand grabbed onto the doorway to prevent him from closing it, pushing it open enough for it to enter comfortably.
It let go of the door and attempted to grab him a few times.
William danced back onto the few steps within the dark small hall, dodging all its attempts.
The Corrupted Guardsman seemed to grow miffed at its failure, it shouted and swung its sword at him recklessly. William grunted as he raised his shield and blocked the heavy strikes. He tumbled down the steps, flipping head over heels and rolled back into the stairwell’s ledge. He shot up to his feet as quickly as possible and turned to get around the doorway to hide and lure the Corrupted Guardsman in.
He could hear its heavy, lumbering steps with a slight delay to every other stride. William could hear the damage to its movement much less witness it soon enough during the battle. Ever since he figured out that causing maximum damage was not as vital as curbing its ability to move and keep it balanced, he had made sure to keep it as his primary tactic.
Its fingers grabbed the edge of the door like some two bit horror movie. A low guttural sound escaped it as it took its time to enter the building proper. William already knew that it had locked onto him somehow and would not stop until he was dead. He would need to kite it and get it into the perfect position to finally shove it off the ledge and down the missing railing he had pinpointed for the plan.
The Corrupted Guardsman roared as it peeked in and found him, swinging its blade toward William as soon as it entered into the stairwell’s ledge. Barely missing him.
William kept to his plan to draw it further in and kite it into the most optimal position. The Corrupted Guardsman charged him in a burst of motion. Faster than he had ever expected. He had never seen the previous monster he killed bolt toward him so quickly, the halls had limited its abilities. William lunged to the side before it shoulder checked him.
It surged past him, almost tumbling down the ledge in the worst spot possible. He knew that if it fell in this area, it would take the majority of the stairs with it and trap him up here and without a way to get down to his safe zone. William got back up and swung at it to slow down its pace. It blocked with its sword and leaned in closer trying to grab him again with its free hand.
William was well aware of its move set and tactics. The grab, pickup, and stab through the bottom of his mouth and out from the top of his skull was a common way he had died already. He was not going to fall for the same attack pattern after the dozenth time. Unlike before, he had more stats to boost him, including a single point of Dexterity that made him feel far more agile than ever before. The strength boost gave him the ability to move in bursts of movements powered by explosive limbs.
He had been sent flying with every strike by the previous Corrupted Guardsman and that was without the available space to take a full swing at him within the halls.
Yet, now he could reliably block its strike without being thrown around like a rag doll. Just enough to keep his feet under him while stumbling back a few steps, though that didn’t help the stinging pain and trembling of his body at every attack he tanked. The pain in his arm and side were getting worse, but he had to make sure the plan occurred perfectly. That meant kiting until he finally closed the inner door just in case something else made an attempt to interrupt their little skirmish. He didn't need curious Corrupted Mages coming in to blast him into smithereens.
William jumped back and allowed himself a moment to rest. “You’re stuck in here with me. This only ends in one way.”
The Corrupted Guardsman growled at him.
He couldn’t help the burst of confidence and adrenaline that coursed through his blood vessels. The excitement of fighting something so much stronger and powerful than him was an exhilarating feeling that he feared he could get addicted to. Struggling at the very edge of life and death. Any single attack was enough to end him. He needed to be perfect. No mistakes. No slip-ups. No tips. An immaculate victory was the only path forward.
This was not a feeling he had experienced during his first encounter with the original Corrupted Guardsman, yet now he could feel that burning sensation fill his entire being.
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A massive smile spread across his face.
Death was cheap here. He would end up looping back into the safe zone anyway. William could risk more than anyone with a sane mind would have attempted. Soon enough he would grow stronger and reach level ten. That was his current small goal to accomplish.
The monster charged him.
Its gait was ruined from the original onset of their battle. It made it harder for it to attack seamlessly when it took so much damage already to its leg.
William laughed as he blocked, parried, and struck back at it to the best of his ability. He was slowly being overwhelmed by its fury and the strength of its strikes. Even with it potentially being weaker and without the ability to generate as much power as it would have had it been able to set its feet and torque its body into the attacks. He had all these advantages and the fight still tilted in the Corrupted Guardsman’s favor.
It took some time, but he eventually got it to the area he had prepared. The Corrupted Guardsman paused for a second and pointed its sword at him.
William’s eyebrows rose, that was not something he expected. These dead monsters were pretty predictable and copied a few move sets because they did not have the ability to think. Only muscle memory carried their fighting abilities. This was very unlike the first Corrupted Guardsman, that one had attacked with reckless abandon, much like how this one had in the beginning.
It surged forward.
William scrambled to react in time. It blade got past his shield, left a deep cut under his right eye and barely missed ending him where he stood. William rushed backward as it began another attempt to overwhelm him. He was scrambling to keep his balance and not get his head taken off at the same time. He ducked under an attack and stepped in closer, slamming his shield into its hurt leg with enough force to drop it to the floor.
That gave him enough of a reprieve to retreat and catch his breath. He was soaked in sweat and breathing had become hard after what felt like hours of fighting without any meaningful pause. This needed to end soon or it would out last him. The Corrupted Guardsman stood back up and started their battle once more, pressing him harder. Every once in a while, it would try the same pausing move that had almost decapitated him. Trying to get a hit in before he could react.
William was fully prepared for it after the first time he had seen it. It was hard to forget something that had nearly killed you.
The monster struck his shield with another heavy blow, he stumbled a step backwards. Yet, this time he had a plan for this sequence. He knew it would press the attack with a wide swing from the left to the right. William used the momentum of his stumble to channel his [Heavy Strike] skill. He struck the Corrupted Guardsman on its breastplate, slicing through and sending it tumbling back a couple steps as well.
William nearly fell face first into the ground as a strange feeling of vertigo struck him for a partial second. It took a moment before he regained his sense of balance.
Yet, this was an opportunity he couldn't afford to waste.
He had to take advantage of this, even if it meant slightly more danger than he expected. William pressed his issue and rushed towards the stumbling monster. He struck at it wildly for a second, but found it slowly regaining its balance and forcing him into a stalemate.
William roared as he activated another [Heavy Strike] and cleaved its leg from the hip. The same vertigo hit him, but also the lack of resistance made him stumble forward and crash into the Corrupted Guardsman’s body. He hadn’t expected it to cut clean through.
The monster roared as it was pushed over the ledges edge, sending it down the black abyss below them. It smacked into a dozen stairs that were already damaged before continuing its fall and disappearing into the void.
William cursed again. He scrambled as he tipped over and slipped. The vertigo of his skill hit him harder than before only a last ditch effort saved him from falling to his own death. He clawed at the ground with his free hand while the other held tightly onto a precariously groaning railing. His sword slid down the ledge and fell after the Corrupted Guardsman. William’s nails dug into the wood as his body shook and trembled from exertions, just to keep him up.
His body dangled back and forth.
A scream escaped him as he forced himself up, ignoring the burning sensation that spread through his arms and the pain he was feeling all over his body. The ledge creaked as he threw himself into safety. The shield had slipped out of his hands during the mad scramble at some point, but it was caught by a protruding railing that teetered, it was slowly slipping. William rushed to grab it before it fell after his sword.
He had two more blades in his inventory, but had no more shields. That felt like a far more important tool than the other one because of how often he ended up blocking.
William crawled into the center of the stairwell’s ledge and fell onto his back. He took long, haggard, and deep breaths that made his body tremble. The thought of falling down those stairs made goosebumps rise along his spine. It was more of a question of the unknown down below rather than the immediate death that he would receive once he finally landed. Something about the darkness just didn't feel comfortable to him. Maybe it was just a human thing.
The system dinged and a notification appeared before him.
Battle Concluded!
Killed - [Corrupted Guardsman (E-)]
Runes Gained - 2512
Skill Upgrade -
Block Head [1/99] -> [3/99]
Novice Heavy Strike [1/99] -> [2/99]
William laughed as the notification proved the Corrupted Guardsman had not survived the fall. He had gained the same exact amount of runes he received when he killed the other Corpse Guardian, but that was only a fleeting thought in his mind at the moment. Rather, he was more concerned with how long it had taken for the notification to appear. How long had the Corrupted Guardsman been falling downwards? Including a few seconds of his struggle and then finally resting on his back, it could have been over fifteen seconds of freefall. That seemed like a horrific amount of levels to go down and darkness in the abyss.
He stayed on his back as he pulled out one of his other swords and held it up above him, studying its silver metallic luster.
Two thousand and five hundred runes were enough for two, maybe three level ups. More if he split them between his two classes and didn’t have to pay for the incremental increases at higher levels. Though his progress to level ten would slow down, he had much to look forward to, including having double the stats of anyone at his level. There was also the question of whether he would be getting any skills at level five or level ten.
Games tended to give one around that area afterall and if this system was designed after one, then logically it would follow that path.
He was at a level where he could test things out and figure out what path he wanted to go towards without much cost, but once he reached the higher levels, he would need to chart his own path without wasting stat points. Maybe get all of his attributes to ten first? He would end up deciding later anyways. Right now, he was more focused on getting more runes and killing another Corrupted Dead.
Hopefully he could get to level ten soon enough and learn something about the system.
William got up off the floor and walked up to the cut hand with the ring on it. The only loot he would be gaining that had the potential to be more than an imperial standard sword.
He placed it on his finger.
The system pinged him immediately.
Loot Acquired -
Ring of Advanced Life -
+10 Endurance
That was amazing. The largest boost that he had gained from any loot. More than a few levels of either of his classes at this point.
William laughed.
This was a blessing, one he intended to push as far as he could. He hurried to the door and swung it open—
His eyes widened as a fully armored knight in black armor stood before him, a gigantic thing that barely fit in the small area behind the door. Red eyes glowed and trailed behind it in a smoky visage. The black armor upon his shoulders seemed to suck the light into it, melding with the darkness and shadows around it.
Enemy Detected!
Corrupted Death Knight (D+)
Danger Ranking - Death
It shifted.
Pain lanced in William’s chest.
He looked down only to find a gaping hole where his heart should have been, one wide enough for both of his fists to fit through.
His body had not recognized that there was a chunk missing out of him.
He watched in morbid curiosity as blood and viscera began waterfalling out of him.
He looked back up as the world started to blacken.
The snapped its gargantuan sword, one that looked more lance than it did a blade, to get rid of the red blood on it. Its weapon had appeared out of thin air and then disappeared from its hands in a fog.
William fell backward and crashed into the ground. The last thing he saw was it turn away and walk back up the set of stairs, closing the door to the courtyard behind itself.
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