Chapter 87. Lost Archives
With approximately one hour and thirty minutes of walking distance to the Dungeon, the young Necromancer had plenty of time to think.
One of the topics was his fast adaptability to this new world and its sense of normalcy.
'I've been reading novels and mangas for years, fantasizing about being transported in a different world. There, I'd learn awesome skills, kill enemies while leading an awesome life, and flirt with beauties daily. But reality often differs when compared to a flight of fancy...'
Leaving aside the fact that he might get his third member crippled if he was to flirt with anyone other than his tigress, if there was one thing that Michael found strange, it was how easily he got accustomed to killing.
Be them monsters, ghosts of those who were human beings before, or even human beings... he had no qualms when it came to ending them, especially since the Sanctuary would reward him for doing so.
'In the end, it still comes down to human nature. Leaving greed aside, since my survival is at risk, I can't compromise my life for morals. I'm not that noble.'
Humans are strange creatures in that sense. They try daily to prove that they are more than the animals they evolved from, but when shit hits the fan, they always show their primal nature at the drop of a hat.
'Foolish. Anyway, it seems that there are plenty of ghosts in this area. Helen said that the Lost Archives are part of the Horadric Archives that were sealed using a spell and then displaced into the Void. Doing so would hide these important materials from prying eyes, allowing only the Horadrim to access them. Unfortunately, something went wrong in the Void, and the Archives were lost in the Void. Therefore, the name.'
By the time they resurfaced, plenty of ghosts and demons roamed the sealed chambers, making it difficult even for the Horadrim to snatch it back from the hands of the Burning Hells.
If there was one good piece of news, all books were encrypted into the Horadric language, making it impossible for the Burning Hells to use them.
The possibility of traitors was also taken into consideration, but all Horadrim are placed under a curse upon their entry into the 'faction.' Their memories would be erased upon leaving, or in the case of betrayal. Be it willing or unwilling.
"*Sigh* It would be fine usually, but these trashy ghosts keep attacking me in such a frenzied manner. And they give only five experience points each... It's such a major waste of my time."
By the time he reached the Dungeon, he already killed 43 different types of ghost-like creatures, including the Wraiths, Phantoms, and other kinds of weird shit.
Luckily, he still got 533 gold coins from the whole mess, so it wasn't too bad overall.
Just as he was counting his gains, Michael heard a 'huh!?' and looked surprised toward the Dungeon entrance. A party of four fully decked Wanderers made an appearance.
[Newbie?](?)
[Looks so.](?)
[His gear isn't bad, though. Around Level 20, I think.](?)
[Shut up, you three! Kid, where are your other party members?](?)
"???"
Michael was a bit stumped, but he explained calmly to the three men and the woman that he was adventuring solo.
The men were instantly alarmed, but the woman looked curiously at his minions.
[Are you a summoner Class?](?)
"Yes. A Necromancer."
[*Whistle* A Necromancer, huh? Impressive, kid. What's your name?](?)
"Michael. Yours?"
[Felix.](Felix)
Looking at the manly woman wielding two battle axes, Michael swallowed any snide remarks he had and nodded politely. The men also introduced themselves.
'A Ranger, a Mage, and A Druid. With the Barbarian lady leading the charge, it should be easy for them to clean up the Dungeon. They don't look like City Guards either.'
[Anyway, do you have the coins to pay for information?](Felix)
"Huh!? What information?"
Upon hearing the response, all four people rolled their eyes at the ignorant newbie.
[*Sigh* This is why letting newbies leave towns without proper training is stupid... Information about the Dungeon in front of you. 5000 gold coins. No bargaining.](Felix)
"...okay."
Upon thinking for a bit, Michael accepted and initiated a trade with Felix since she seemed the party leader.
Once the money reached her inventory, she started speaking.
[It's a standard maze-like Dungeon. There's a shit-ton of rooms inside, so you might have to waste a lot of time to get to the objective. Belv, give him the map.](Felix)
[*Sigh* I'll have to draw another one once we get to the Inn, won't I.](Belv)
[Huh!?](Felix)
[Yes, yes. You're the boss...](Belv)
Michael grabbed the piece of paper and looked bemusedly at the suppressed trio. He only glanced at the Dungeon's layout briefly, after which he turned back to Felix.
[The Dungeon is infested with Ghost and Demon types. Your first priority is to kill two Elites, called the Demonic Vanguard. Once you do, the next portion of the Dungeon is opened.](Felix)
"What about the most dangerous monsters?"
[Ugh...](Belv)
[Yeah, it's definitely that one. It's called a Carver Lunatic. It's small in size and just runs at you crazily. If you can, kill it from a distance. The greater, the better. If it gets close to you, it suicide and freezes a four-meter radius around it. It's very annoying to deal with the frostbites.](Felix)
"What happens after you kill the vanguards?"
[You're pretty confident, kid, aren't you!? Well, after you kill those two Elites, the real shit begins. You'll need to search the Dungeon for two Mechanical boxes that must be returned to some pedestals in the main Boss chamber. Those boxes are required to unseal the coffin of the Boss. Once that happens, you need to kill it, and you're done.](Felix)
Michael turned slightly speechless at the telegraphed explanation, but he had nothing to say since it made sense.
"Any tips about the Boss?"
[Hmm... Kill it fast? It has a strange skill where it throws ice shards randomly. It also raises these weird stone pillars in the Boss room, and once the ice shards hit them, they multiply and continue moving around. They also bounce back from the walls. In the end, if there's nobody to tank them, it gets pretty hard to deal with it.](Felix)
"So the Boss needs either high burst damage or someone to tank the ice-shards while the rest of the party deals with the main culprit. Got it! Anything else worth mentioning?"
[Not really. It's a decent Dungeon when it comes to drops. Our team encountered an Event as well where monsters kept spawning from Heaven knows where. It was a slaughterfest. But the gains are pretty good in terms of experience and items.](Felix)
"Understood. Thank you for the information."
[Don't mention it. You paid for it, after all. You're going solo?](Felix)
"Yes."
[Mhm. You're probably after the Codex of Power perk. Good luck, kid! Don't die!](Felix)
Waving goodbye to the party, Michael watched them use quick travel to return to the city. As the portals closed, Michael also dropped his guard slightly.
Frowning, he looked at the Dungeon before him and started climbing the stairs.
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Felix and her party returned to Nevesk. They headed straight for the Inn, where they ordered food and drinks.
[Boss, I didn't think you're so black-hearted as to cheat newbies out of their hard-earned coins!](?)
[*Sigh* It's not that I'm complaining about making a new map, but selling the one we bought for 500 coins along with the information we gathered from other Wanderers for ten times the price... Boss, are you planning to open a merchant caravan or something? You're pretty gifted at swindling people.](Belv)
[Piss off! What do you know!? Is the information about the Boss not valuable? Plus, we gave him the map with the marked areas where he can find Elites and the Boss Room. We spent two hours trying to find the damned Mechanic Boxes needed to unseal the coffin. We also barely survived that bullshit ice-shards spell. Leaving aside the time he'll save, the information on the Boss should prove life-saving for him.](Felix)
[Pfft! Whatever you say...](?)
[Hmm... do you think he can clear it?](?)
[That kid? Alone? Hmm...](Belv)
[It's possible. We're Level 50, and the monsters there are much stronger. As for that kid... he didn't even get his first Class Awakening. The monsters should be easier to deal with, and so will the Boss. He has a decent chance.](Felix)
[Mhm. His minions looked sturdy as well. If he has them tanking the ice shards, there won't be anything to bounce from the walls.](Belv)
[Fuck!](Felix)
[[[Huh!?]]]
[The added damage! We didn't tell him about the added damage of the ice shards after they hit the walls and the pillars!](Felix)
The other three also cussed in low voices, making the drinks and the food on the table taste worse.
[*Sigh* If he makes it out alive, we'll make it up to him. After all, we took his coins but didn't provide all the information. We still have a reputation to uphold. If he dies... we'll make it up to his family.](Felix)
[[[Got it.]]]
Looking through the window at the bustling crowd in Nevesk, Felix shook her head, wishing the Necromancer the best of luck.
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As for the newbie who was tricked out of his 'hard-earned coin,' he was currently perusing the library.
He already moved through five empty rooms but encountered no monsters. There were plenty of books and dusted tomes, though.
'As expected, I can't read it. I don't have the blessing of the Sanctuary either, so I can't forcefully understand what it's written here. Still... why didn't the Horadrim come here themselves? It's impossible for them not to know of it. If this place holds knowledge of great importance, how could they not be here trying to regain their valuable possessions?'
Smelling foul play, Michael decided it was best not to get involved with the Horadrim.
Unfortunately, he remembered Lorath and the second Main Quest he got, which was to search for another Horadrim member.
'Seems like I'm fated with this organization. If I can't avoid it, I'll prepare for them. I don't like the idea of being used by a bunch of scheming old men. Hmm!?'
Looking ahead, Michael finally encountered his first enemies in this Dungeon.
What was surprising was the shout of a blueish humanoid creature. It looked at him and his minions, then its eyes turned bloodshot, and it started charging.
"The fuck is that Megamind wannabe doing?"
[ Carver Lunatic (Minion) - Level 25 ]
Scared of the familiar name, Michael immediately threw a Blight at it, effectively slowing the strange creature. By the time his Skeletal Mages finished shooting at it, it was only a Corpse on the ground.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the only creature in the room.
"Corpse Tendrils!"
Using his crowd-control skill, Michael caught the 'vanguard' charging at him and immediately used Corpse Explosion.
With him reaching Level 22 and the final Skill Point he got, Michael decided to invest it into his main attacking method. Unfortunately, the Level 2 Corpse Explosion only increased its damage from 50% to 55% of his normal magic damage.
Seeing the damage values over 50 appear above the caught monsters, Michael smiled and realized they were already afflicted with the Vulnerable status, therefore taking increasing damage.
From there on, it was a walk in the park. He did meet this new type of monster called 'Carvers,' which were Kobold-like creatures from Hell if he was to compare them to the fantasy monsters he knew.
"It's a strange creature that looks similar to the Fallen. Yet, it has more dog-like features. Also, they seem to prefer scimitars as weapons for some reason. They also have Shamans and Champions, which are more troublesome to deal with but still manageable for now."
About ten minutes later, Michael met his first Elite Vanguard.
[ Skeew, Demonic Vanguard (Elite) - Level 25
*Chilling Wind: Summons a wall of wind to block all ranged attacks.
*Frozen: Summons three balls of frost. Upon explosion, they freeze and deal 200 fixed damage in a five-meter radius. ]
Skeew appeared to be a Carver as well. However, his 4-meter-tall body set him apart from the other minions around him.
Furthermore, he carried a three-meter-long sawtooth blade, with which he kept hacking at Michael. The damned Elite seemed to hold no respect for aggro mechanics and instead charged stupidly at the Necromancer.
He was almost split in two with an overhead chop from the huge doggy, but he activated Blood Mist at the last moment and moved further away from the crazed Elite.
Finally, after five minutes of intense combat, Skeew and his minions fell to Corpse Explosion and the relentless attacks of his Skeleton army.
Grinning, he grabbed his loot and continued to the next point marked on the map, where he would find the next Demonic Vanguard.