The goblins on the table returned to playing cards and Grey’s healing beam returned to his hand as the monster began to circle them, clambering onto and off of tables with ease. The goblin riding it smiled sadistically, holding its lance high. The party drew their weapons and prepared to fight.
“James, get that thing to charge you,” Grey told him. “The rest of us will rush the rider and try to take him out fast.”
“Understood,” James replied. Red smoke radiated from his sword, and the others couldn’t help but notice they disliked him more than they thought.
Guardian Skill
Draw Rage
Taunt the opponent to divert focus away from your friends.
Gain a boost in aggro equal to 2*SPL.
40 second cooldown
----
Dire Wolf Mount
Now targeting Cieth
The wolf snarled, a bull being drawn to a matador’s cape, and charged toward James. The goblin crouched lower, ready to spear James through the heart, but it only met the hard metal of his shield and bounced off. Amelia saw her chance, leapt into the air and slashed at the goblin, but the dire wolf pivoted around to dodge the attack, crashing through tables and chairs as it did so. Amelia landed on a table, grabbed a chair and hurled it at the monster. It smashed into its eye, temporarily blinding it.
Dire Wolf Mount
595/600 HP
Patrick threw a bolt of energy at it, but the goblin tugged at the wolf’s reins, making it skid out of the way. James ran forward and tried to slash at its leg, but the wolf lifted it up and brought it down, pinning James to the floor. He tried to reduce the impact with his shield, but he still felt the hard rock slam into his back.
Cieth
275/300 HP
The wolf tried to bite down on him, but Patrick ran forward and jammed his staff between the monster’s teeth. He held out his hand and proceeded to shoot a fireball down the creature’s mouth. The wolf reeled back, coughing up smoke and letting James go. Patrick helped James to his feet, but as he did so the Dire Wolf raked a claw through his back, tearing his body apart.
Trident743
0/100 HP
Available Revive Time: 1 minute.
“Patrick!” James shouted as the sage slumped to the ground. The wolf snarled and tried to eat James again, but Amelia leapt forward and slashed at its neck. Grey ran over to them as the wolf swiped at Amelia, which James managed to block. Grey crouched over Patrick and dropped a white crystal onto his corpse. His body began to reknit itself as he woke up, coughing blood. Grey turned their healing powers on him almost immediately.
Item
Revive Stone
Revive an ally on 5 HP
----
Trident743
5/100 HP
----
Status Effect
Anti-Revive
Can no longer be revived for the rest of the dungeon unless an ability says otherwise.
----
Skibabylon
Healing Beam
“First time dying?” Grey asked.
Patrick cleared the blood from his lips and rose to his feet. “So glad they went the extra mile for realism, they really got the sensation of losing your organs down to a T in this game.”
“Get back!” James shouted. The Dire Wolf swung for him again, his claw going past him and cutting the top of Patrick’s pointy hat as he ducked from the oncoming blades. The goblin cracked the reins, prompting the wolf to leap over Patrick and Grey as the rider stabbed at the Sage with his lance. However, at the last second Grey pushed Patrick away and took the blow for him, the lance piercing through their chest
Skibabylon
50/100 HP
The goblin pulled his lance out, smiling with glee as Grey collapsed, the Healing Beam from their hand flickering but not going out. However, this moment of triumph was enough time for Amelia to leap up on the monster’s back. She swung at the rider, but the Dire Wolf realised she was there and spun around, trying to throw her off. Amelia lost her balance, the attack missed, and she latched onto the Wolf’s fur to stay upright. The Wolf tried to shake her off again, but before it could James ran into the monster and smashed it in the face with his shield.
Dire Wolf Mount
530/600 HP
----
Trident743
100/100 HP
----
Skibabylon
Healing Pool
5/200 HP
The beam flickered out of existence as it ran out of steam. Grey staggered back and collapsed as Patrick stood up, trying to keep the Cleric upright. Grey just smiled.
“Don’t get hit anymore, got it?” They told Patrick. The wolf growled and tried to slash James again, but narrowly dodged the attack. He tried to stab, but the wolf turned and the Rider parried the attack with their lance. The rider then received a firebolt to the face.
Trident743
Firebolt
----
Dire Wolf Rider
40/100 HP
Now targeting Trident743
----
Trident743
30/150 Mana
“Take out the rider!” Patrick shouted. “He’s almost down!”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Grey responded, leaning against one of the remaining tables. “The beast might go fera-“
Glass Angel
Rising Slash
----
Dire Wolf Rider
0/100 HP
Amelia landed on the floor and smirked. The others looked on in horror as the Wolf’s eyes turned blood red and it let out a howl of pure rage. The goblins who were playing cards immediately turned and fled.
Dire Wolf Mount
Awakening
----
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Status Effect
Awakening
1.5*all stats once conditions for activation are met.
“Well,” Patrick said. “Wish I’d known that a little earlier.”
The Wolf leapt at Grey, trying to bite them, but James jumped in the way and caught the monster’s jaws with his shield. The creature wretched its jaws free, throwing James off balance, and proceeded to bring its massive paw down on him.
Cieth
200/300 HP
James tried to crawl free, but the monster grabbed him in its massive jaws and easily bit through his heavy armour, piercing his ribcage.
Cieth
88/300 HP
The monster reeled back for another bite. Amelia leapt forward to try and stab it in the eye, but the creature easily sidestepped the attack and backhanded her away, crashing through the tables and chairs.
GlassAngel
25/150 HP
She stood up, coughing blood. The Dire Wolf ran at her, and Patrick threw another shot of flame to intercept it.
Trident743
Firebolt
However, it screeched to a halt at the last second, the bolt striking the wall.
Trident743
10/150 Mana
It turned to him and snarled, ready to pounce, giving Amelia the perfect time to leap up and stab it in the eye.
Glass Angel
Piercing Blow
----
Dire Wolf
455/600
Awakening
The monster tried to retaliate but James leapt between it and Amelia, both of them getting thrown back by the attack but softening the blow.
Cieth
Shield
----
Cieth
51/300 HP
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” James asked.
“The exit is just over there, you don’t want to level down and we should get the hell out of here?” Grey responded.
James nodded. “Exactly.”
The party turned to flee, although Amelia looked annoyed they weren’t fighting to the bitter end. The wolf growled and Patrick threw up a wall of knives to keep him at bay.
Trident743
Dancing Daggers
----
Trident743
0/150 Mana
The Wolf realised quickly it couldn’t go through the daggers and leapt around them, but it gave the party enough of a head start. They barged through the wooden doors, and Grey slammed them shut just as the wolf barreled into them. The wood splintered but held as they ran down the tunnel.
“I still think we could take it,” Amelia said.
“The only reason you can still run is because we have hitpoints,” Grey pointed out. “There was light in that room, we must be close to the surface.”
After they said that the Dire Wolf smashed down the door and bolted towards them. Patrick warped the wall of daggers in front of the wolf, and this time the Wolf couldn’t do anything but charge through it. The daggers barely seemed to faze the creature, and ran through even as they dug into its flesh. It howled and leapt forward, its jaws open, but Amelia ran forward and swung her sword like a baseball bat, knocking the Dire Wolf hard enough to stagger it.
GlassAngel
Perfect Strike
----
Dire Wolf
408/600 HP
Awakening
“I don’t know what I just did,” She said as she kept running. “But I wish I knew how to do it again!”
“You could at least learn your damn class!” Patrick shouted back.
The group kept running, narrowly outpacing the wolf, until James stopped running. The others nearly collapsed on top of each other, but quickly got back up and raised their weapons at the oncoming monster.
“Why have you stopped?” Grey asked.
“Because there’s a wall,” James said, running his hand along the rough stone. “You guys stand back, I'm going to break it d-”
Amelia leapt over James’ head and slashed downwards, cutting the rock in half and accidentally kicking James. He fell backwards and the others narrowly avoided him.
“What the hell?” He asked. Amelia shrugged.
“You were too slow and I don’t wanna die.”
Light spilled in from the hole Amelia had cut. The wolf took this opportunity to leap over and try and crush them, but James parried with his shield and Patrick responded with a blast of magic.
Dire Wolf
388/600 HP
Awakening
----
Trident743
5/150 Mana
The group rushed out of the tunnel and returned to the daylight. The Wolf followed as it always did, leaping out of the tunnel, over them, and slamming down onto the ground.
“I was hoping it would stay in the dungeon,” Grey said. “I guess we’re just fucked.”
The Wolf rushed towards Amelia and slashed at her. She parried with her sword, but it was knocked out of her hand and sent spinning like a knife. The Wolf proceeded to bite into her neck.
GlassAngel
0/150 HP
Respawn Timer: 10 minutes.
“I don’t want to die if the respawn takes that long,” Patrick muttered as the Wolf threw Amelia’s body aside. Grey ran towards her to revive her, but the monster swiftly batted them aside, crushing their ribcage.
Skibabylon
0/100 HP
Respawn Timer: 10 minutes.
The creature leapt towards Patrick, but James got in their way, the claws piercing his shield and almost stabbing him through the chest.
Cieth
Shield
----
Cieth
26/300 HP
James pushed the creature away and stood his ground. The Wolf roared again, ready to pounce, but before it could a storm of crossbow bolts embedded themselves into its flesh. The party turned to see a group of men in leather armour with crossbows advancing on their position, gunning down the wolf. It gave one last whimper of pain before it collapsed.
Dire Wolf
0/600 HP
----
NPC Kill. No XP will be granted.
“All that for nothing,” Patrick grumbled.
“I agree, we deserve something.” James added.
The new arrivals fed Grey and Amelia Revives and helped them up.
Skibabylon
5/100 HP
----
GlassAngel
5/150 HP
“Were you with Delarius?” One of the crossbowmen asked, to which the party nodded. “He came in a while ago and asked for us to go look for you. You’re lucky we arrived when we did.”
“Who are you?” Grey asked.
“We’re mercenaries for the Vagrant Trading Company,” another explained. “We run a caravan nearby and operate across the world. Our services aren’t free, but we owed Delarius a favour, so this one’s on the house. We’ll head back to the caravan now if you want to follow.”
The party sighed with relief now they were finally out of danger.
“Sure,” James said. “Still wish we were able to get the XP from that wolf…”
“We’re alive,” Grey reminded him. “That’s enough for me. Let’s get going.”
As the party followed their saviours back through the sprawling Heartily Field, they found themselves looking at a collection of five caravans in a circle. Each one had Vagrant Trading Co. printed on the side and was packed with a large variety of items, ranging from weapons to random stone trinkets. A small cluster of tents had also been set up, and traders were standing around bartering with other players. Delarius was sitting against one of the wheels, drinking a whisky.
“We got your friends Delarius,” one of the mercenaries said. “Now never ask us for shit again.”
“Good to see you again, friends,” he greeted them. “Slightly worse for wear, I see.”
“Can we sleep in those tents?” Patrick asked, collapsing against the side of the caravan as he did so.
“Of course, the Company offers cheap lodging provided you’ll barter with them.”
“I’ll go pick up some new gear,” Grey said “You guys go rest up.”
James Stats: Level: 3 HP: 26/300 STR: 10 DEF: 15 DEX: 5 SPL: 15 INT: 1
Grey stats: Level: 3 HP: 5/100 STR: 5 DEF: 15 DEX: 5 SPL: 10 INT: 0 Healing Pool: 5/200
Amelia Stats: Level: 3 HP: 5/150 STR: 25 DEF: 5 DEX: 10 SPL: 5 INT: 0
Patrick stats: Level: 3 HP: 100/100 STR: 20 DEF: 5 DEX: 15 SPL: 15 INT: 0 Mana: 5/150
