章節 11: Down in the Dungeon Pt. 5 The Knight from Hell

The knight walked slowly towards the group with its sword out and shield up. The tower shield was just slightly smaller than the knight, but it was still quite massive. Ian began to slowly back up, as did Markus and Derek. Zoe looked at the boys and laughed.

"What's the matter boys, you afraid of a little knight?"

"That knight is monster; a normal human can't wield both a claymore and a tower shield. It has some ridiculous strength and can't be beaten easily."

The knight began to run at Markus with its claymore and swung down with the mighty sword. Markus was just fast enough to block it with his buckler, but the knight was using its inhuman strength to force Markus to his knees. Derek ran to help him, but the knight used its large shield to block Derek and keep him from helping his friend. Ian took over the command and started to issue orders.

"Rose, be on standby if someone needs healing. Zoe, protect Rose and Alice from any incoming mobs or ranged attacks that the knight might have. Alice, wait until Markus is clear and start blasting the knight. I'll try and help Markus get away from the knight."

Ian sprang into action and went to knock away the knight, so Markus could get away and regroup with the others. What they didn't expect to happen was the knight uttered what sounded like a spell and a magical hand formed and held the sword in its place. The knight wound up a punch and hit Ian in the face with its steel covered hand. Ian went flying backwards and hit the ground hard. The knight grabbed the sword from the magical hand and pushed Derek backwards a few feet. It left Derek and Markus alone and started walking towards Ian with a purpose. It took its claymore and placed it ever so roughly in Ian's side.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!"

Ian wailed out in pain and the knight continued to drive it deeper and deeper. Once it was satisfied with the depth of the sword, the knight grabbed Ian's arm and started to chant. The chant seemed like another spell, but this time it was different as the magic energy began to form on Ian's arm.

Ian was struggling to pay attention between the pain of being stabbed and the magic energy forming on his arm. Markus and Derek rushed over to help Ian, but it did more harm than good as the knight ripped the sword from Ian's body and released his arm. Ian was now bleeding profusely from his open wound and had some magic symbol on his arm. Derek charged at the knight and attempted to push it back with all his strength. Markus activated his Born Leader skill and started giving out instructions. Derek activated his Rage skill and ran over to the girls so he could protect them while Rose got close to Ian to heal him.

Rose, who was having her very sanity tested, rushed over to Ian and started to heal him.

"Take it easy, Ian. I'll have you healed in just a sec."

As Healing was Rose's first skill, she was proficient in it and it was very effective. Alice was so focused on using fire bolt that she had forgotten that she had another spell. She charged up an electrical orb of magic and released a small blast that hit the knight square in the chest. The electricity covered his entire suit of armor which caused the knight to squirm and move. Smoke was coming from the gaps in the armor and the knight was struggling to stand. As this was happening, Rose was almost done healing up Ian. Once Ian was feeling better, he grabbed his stack and joined the fray. The knight was struggling to stand, and it looked even more pissed off. It stood up and used its sword to walk until the electricity dissipated.

The knight was furious and howled a large cry, then began to rush towards the group. Ian, not fully back on his feet, only thought about protecting his friends.

A flash of light came from the wooden stick and its weight seemed to increase in Ian's hands. The stick had turned into a kite shield with a handle and a loop for using it on one arm. Ian couldn't question it right now as he and the others were in some danger. The knight's claymore connected with the newly formed shield and it was completely stopped by the wooden shield. The knight appeared to be stunned as the metal sword was stopped by a wooden shield that had just appeared out of fucking air.

"Ha, fucker. You can't hit us as easily now can ya!"

Markus and Derek were having a much easier time hitting the knight now that it was preoccupied with trying to get past Ian's new shield. The knight was struggling even more as it had to deal Ian's defense and the offense that was coming from Alice, Markus, Derek, and Zoe. The fight was dragging on and everyone was losing steam.

*Pant pant*

'This is taking too long. We need to finish this now!'

With that thought, Ian's shield turned back into a stick.

'Ok, this might just work.'

The boys continued their assault on the knight with the girls providing as much support as possible. After some time had passed, the whole team was about to pass out and the knight's armor was pretty destroyed. Its shield was no longer useful as Derek had put so many holes in it. Markus and Ian had worked together to break the knight's sword, so it didn't really have any weapons to fight with. The knight fell to its knees as it had lost the will to fight.

Markus looked at Ian, "You should take the last hit man, it's only fair."

Ian, too tired to argue with him, just shook his head in agreement and walked up to the knight. He put his stick next to the knight's head and wound up. With all his remaining strength, he smacked the knight so hard in the head that the helmet caved in and the knight fell to the ground.

*Ding*

Ian heard that magical noise and immediately checked his status.

Ian

Age: 17

Class: N/A

Skills: N/A

Level: 1 Exp: 840/1000

'300 experience points for one enemy! That's insane! I really should've let Rose finish him off. Damn!'

Ian also noticed something else in his Status, something that wasn't there after they had beaten the skeletons yesterday.

Afflictions/Buffs/Debuffs: Curse of the Hunted (Mark of the Revenant) The afflicted has been marked by the Revenant of a former Grand Knight. The afflicted can be found by once the Revenant has reformed and found a new body. The Revenant will hunt down the afflicted until the afflicted has either died or the Revenant is done in by a higher power. Due to the power of the Revenant, it doesn't have a time limit.

'Oh shit! This is really bad'

"Hey Ian, how much experience did you get?"

"Hey, Earth to Ian. Hello."

"Sorry, I was a little overwhelmed. I got 300 experience from the knight."

'I can't tell them about the Revenant, they'll be too focused on fighting it. I'll have to find a way to beat it on my own.'

None of the knight's gear was usable so the group called it a day and camped out before the gate of the third floor.

Once the group felt rested and everyone was back on their feet, they moved down to the third floor. The floor had enormous tress that were so tall you couldn't see the tops of them. The ground was covered in grass, rocks, and various forms of fungi. The tree trunks, which were as thick as a hippo, were covered with long, thick vines that didn't seem to end. Everyone was very cautious though; the area was too quiet, and they didn't know what kind of creatures would be here. There was the same stench of death and decay on this floor as there had been on the others only this time, the scent was much stronger.

"Everyone be careful. There could be enemies hiding in the trees."

As if by some mystical and omnipotent power, as Ian said something an arrow flew past the group and ended up in a tree. The group followed the direction of the arrow to a high tree branch where a figure was standing there, bow in hand. The bow appeared to be made from bones and animal skin. The figure jumped to a lower branch and the group had a better look at the monstrous thing that shot the arrow at them.

It was pale with long white hair and its face was horrifying with the lack of a nose and skin. It had armor that looked like leather, but it was discolored and covered in small spikes. The creature had a scabbard on its hip with what looked like part of a femur sticking out.

"Spaste Itona."

The creature yelled out the words and then a hail of arrows started to come down from the treetops.