A Sword and a Shield
A Sword and a Shield
Bud became one with the shadows the moment he saw Dave running toward him leaving his master all alone facing the elves.
Dave was happy with it. This way he would get all the EXP. Dog, on the other hand, held onto his club-whip and guarded Dave from a distance — Not from the elves but from the Lycan and the Monk who were fighting each other, in case one of them decided to take out Dave first.
Dave swung down with his glaive at the nearest elf. This one was still looking at where the Shadow Ghoul had disappeared to, thus failing to see the incoming glaive swing.
The elf died in one hit.
Dog and Bud had done an amazing job at lowering their HP, and they were all one hit away from death. The two Death Knights hadn't come out of it unscathed though. Their HP was in the red.
Dave turned to the second elf, another hit another kill and continued on with his slaughter. The elves meanwhile noticed the new challenger and ganged up on Dave. He currently didn't have the luxury of taking even one hit from them. His armor was cracked, and his HP had only returned to 11% thanks to his passive. Dortha's sneak attack had really done a number on him.
Dave dodged the elves' attacks with finesse. He had to. The Draugr found himself concentrating better under the pressure. The swings of swords and shooting arrows went past him as he showcased the best of his ability. He was fast, strong, and delivered death with every attack.
One of the elves was behind Dave. He had waited for the right time to nock an arrow and shoot at Dave's from his blind spot.
Dave didn't feel the approaching danger at all until he saw Singund riding on his undead war-boar, crashing through the trees, bushes, and anything else in his way. Singund hurled his sword with such explosive strength that it hummed as it flew.
The sword went past Dave's head, and he heard the sound of metal hitting metal. Turning, Dave saw the surprised archer still gazing at him. The elf rapidly nocked another arrow and aimed to take another shot at Dave.
"Like hell, you will!" Dave cursed and hopped back from an incoming sword swing.
In his jumping motion, Dave waved his hand, summoning eight spectral skulls that flew toward the archer-elf.
The skulls blew up, sending the elf flying and turning to mush, killing him.
Dave's EXP bar rose slowly but surely, but there weren't enough elves for him to level up. Given their EXP he would need to kill at least ten more yet there were only three more left in the vicinity.
"Lord! I brought more prey!" Singund howled in mad glee. A dozen more elves came chasing after him on foot. Singund had done a nasty job on these poor elves. They were full of scars dripping blood with each step, yet they still followed the undead Orc that had attacked them.
Dave grinned, more elves = more EXP, but also more risks. He didn't want to visit Limbo, not after he was so close to leveling up and finally being able to use Deadra's prized weapon and shield.
Dave switched to his gauntlets and used [Awakened Dragon]. The ability restored all of his fist-fighting skills cooldown. He then used [Advancing Dragon] and [Aura]. A surge of fire coalesced around Dave like a lit torch in the depth of the night. He dashed forward like a bullet at the elves. Dave struck the first elf with a shoulder bash, turning him into humanoid charcoal.
Dave punched another elf , before using [Immortal Apparition] and kicked another elf using [Dragon Kick]. From afar, the area was filled with several fire dragons dancing together in the infernal flames of death.
The greenery caught fire and the Drow Kingdom was set ablaze. The area around Dave got hotter by the second, and any elf that was nearby started to suffer. The Drows were creatures of the night. They prospered in the underworld where there was no day. But Dave's infernal aura was like a sun presenting itself to their world. Hot, blinding, and uncomfortable.
Not to mention the deadliness.
The elves wavered at the crazed bearded draugr's assault. They wanted to chase out the trespasser who had already stolen two of their Nodes, and weakened them significantly. But killing this Draugr proved difficult, and what frightened them the most were the two that still fought against each other. The were-wolf and the monk were still at each other's throats, as if Dave and the elves weren't even worthy of their attention.
"Singund, hold the ones that you just brought for a while. Let me finish up here!" Dave ordered mid-combo. His fists twisted into a machine-gun of consecutive attacks against a poor elf. Every fist that landed on the elf's body blasted out of his back in a cone of fire.
Singund tore through the elf ranks with an unbridled strength. He didn't care for the damage he took; he was even pummeling one with his own fists at the elf because he had thrown his flamberge earlier to save Dave.
Dave finished off the elves at his side and drank a health potion. He turned toward the elves that Singund was facing and told him to back off. Dave wanted to have the last laugh.
The orc had to fall back, disappointed that he couldn't revel in carnage a bit more.
Dave struck down at the elves with unstoppable might. Two minutes later, he was down to the last elf. His HP was deep in the red. He had taken a hit and was lucky that thanks to his item bonuses he was left with 0.5% of his HP. The only thing left was the very last elf, the final 0.1% EXP required for him to level up.
Dave dodged an incoming sword swing from the elf and used [Immortal Apparition] immediately teleporting behind the elf. He kicked at the back of the elf's knee. The elf staggered to his knees and Dave swung down at him with his glaive taking out a lot of the elves HP.
The elf rolled away and thrust his sword at Dave. The Draugr, grinned as he rapidly raised his foot and stomped down at the extended sword, the sword dug into the ground, staggering the elf and giving Dave the chance to retaliate through a perfectly executed [Mikiri-Counter].
Dave dove his glaive into the elf's exposed neck, and with a twist, the elf's eyes turned blank, and he fell to the ground limply.
A glowing light shone from around Dave. After all this time he had reached level 450.
Before Dave could enjoy the feeling, he had noticed that Dortha was howling in the distance. He was all alone, and the Monk was nowhere to be found.
"LORD! Watch out!" Singund roared out.
Dave felt the hairs on his neck tingling, turning as fast as he could, he saw the Monk swinging down with his staff at Dave's head.
Dave hastily stepped to the right, dodging the swing that cracked the ground and trembled the earth like an earthquake.
The Monk pulled back his staff and swung at Dave again. Dave's Tower shield was cracked, he couldn't block this attack, but he now he had a new shield that he could use.
Dave instantly drew Deadra's shield from his bag. A round shield that was big enough to cover Dave from shoulder to knee. The conditions to equip it were met, and Dave was able to hold it. He didn't have the time to inspect the item as the swing was closing fast on Dave.
Dave held his shield up. The same motion needed to use [Block] for any other shield. However, a notification appeared in front of his eyes.
Time seemed to slow down as Dave's brain was busy processing the information his eyes had just read.
***
The Cursed Shield of Ajax does not possess the ability [Block]
***
Dave's heart sank as he saw the unstoppable incoming hit. Without the ability to [Block], he was done for.
Then the staff struck at Dave's shield, the impact shook him, but strangely didn't damage him. Dave had closed his eyes for a moment, prepared to find himself in Limbo next. He didn't see what just happened. He looked over his shield to see something…unthinkable.
The shield was 'eating' the staff. And the Monk was desperately trying to pull his staff out.
Dave just noticed that the round shield featured sharp fangs locked onto each other, like the mouth of a dragon surrounded by a large metallic ring.
These fangs were now gripping at the staff, not letting it go.
The Monk groaned and heaved up, pulling Dave up with the shield. The Monk wanted to smash Dave down with the shield he held.
***
You have not chosen to Save [Basic Attack- Divine Staff-Smash].
[Reject] Ability will execute on its own!
***
Suddenly the metal fangs let go of the shield, and a glowing white aura shot out from it.
Dave noticed the Monk's smiling face change expression for a second as he tried to put his staff in front of him as if he was trying to defend himself from the white aura. But he reacted one beat to slow.
The moment the white aura touched him, the Monk was smashed into the ground as if a mountain had crashed into him.
Dave fell to his feet. He didn't understand what was going on.
'Did the shield do that?' thought Dave with complete confusion.
The monk stood up, blood trickling down the corner of his mouth.
"Thou had struck me with my own might, interesting. What a fine shield thou hast. It would be a shame if I took it!"
The Monk stood up and went towards Dave.
Dave cringed back. He couldn't win. The shield was damn OP, and he hadn't expected it, but it wouldn't save him. What pissed him off the most was that when he died, he would be sent to Limbo and downgraded a level and be forced to regain all his lost EXP. He wouldn't be able to use or inspect the shield until he leveled up once more.
"Oh, I still have the sword."
Dave took out Deadra's sword, the Cursed Blade of Duradel. This sword was nothing more than a big slab of wrought iron. Heavy, vicious and deadly. There was no finesse or dexterity applied in creating this weapon. It was made for one purpose, killing. And from the looks of it, this weapon was damn good at it. Several dents spread along the weapon's edge. There were blemishes and scratches along the weapon. It had gone through innumerable amounts of battles.
The weapon was too heavy for Dave to wield appropriately, but he still swung the thing at the Monk. The Ultra-Great-Sword was the same height as Dave, making the attack lack any sense of swordsmanship or delicacy. There was nothing but a thousand points of strength behind that attack. Yet, that was all it took for the Monk to have his eyes widen in panic and hold his staff in an attempt to block the attack.
The sword smashed into the staff with enough strength to crack the weapon and at the same time make the divinity wobble in place. The sword has pushed the staff into the Monk's chest and managed to nick his robe. There was a faint scar on the Monk's chest. Trickling blood came out of the injury and stained the monk's white robes.
-1HP
The Monk groaned the attack had damaged him much more than that. That 1HP was nothing compared to what the Monk's real HP Pool was. But this didn't stop the Monk from retreating. There was fear in those formerly calm eyes of his.
"The cursed sword of Duradel! That weapon belongs not to mortals!"
The sword, too heavy in Dave's arm threatened to fall off his grip if he didn't hold it hard enough. Dave dragged the sword, heaving, he pulled the weapon up and placed it on his shoulder.
Dave's left was guarded with a shield large enough to cover all of his vitals, and on his right was a sword that made a demi-god fear.
"Do I look like a mortal to you?" Dave asked with his infamous grin. If he was going to die, he was at least going to smile death in the eye.
The Monk frowned, then said, "Smoke and mirrors! You can't stand much longer still! Now, Die!" the gentle Monk turned livid and was about to charge at Dave.
Dave grumbled a curse under his breath, his bluff was useless, and now he was going under.
"Thank you for allowing me to see these familiar weapons once more. I'm sure they are happy to have found a new owner." A calm, familiar voice sounded next to Dave.
Dave turned, Dortha had reverted to his human form and gently smiled at Dave.
"They do not have the same effect as when Deadra used them, but your words, your fighting spirit even in the face of a foe far more powerful than you... you have reminded me of my old friend. He would have proud seeing someone as you following in his footsteps. For that, my claws are yours!"
"Silence old beast!" The Monk swung down his staff at Dortha. But the Abyssal Knight didn't give him a second glance. He waved his hand and the staff clashed against it — a bare humanoid hand against a rod wielded by a half-god. Yet surprisingly, Dortha's hand smashed away the pole forcing the crack that Dave inflicted on it to widen and the whole weapon to snap in two.
Dortha turned to face the Monk and spoke, "You had fought me when I was acting merely on instinct, do you dare fight me now when I am master of my senses? I shall promise you that today will be the last day you walk on this land."
The Monk roared, long gone were his initially gentle and calm features. By now they were replaced with wrath. Yet it didn't cloud his judgment. The Monk knew that if the two of them fought for real, it would be hard to decide the victor. What was most worrying was, even if he won, he would suffer greatly, but the Undead would eventually simply revive back to full power.
"Stones and Stars! Damnable Undead! Count yourself lucky today!" The Monk threw one last line of curses and disappeared, leaving Dortha, Dave, and his remaining Death Knights all alone in the Drow Kingdom.