Chapter 11: Verminscourge's Test

[Reputation: 5]

Ever since the dark elves had aligned themselves with him. He noticed that his reputation increased by 5

Also, the dark elves could leave the dungeon, unlike the other monsters he got from the system. But he hadn't sent any of them out into the world yet.

They were still fragile, with only the elder of the dark elves being the one with a class. So the first thing that he made the dark elves do was to try and master one of the plague classes.

So there were currently long lines formed by the dark elves, each of them forming a line for the statues, with the statue of the Verminscourge being the most popular.

The reason for this is because dark elves were natural-born assassins. So they were more inclined with a class that suited their nature, which Hale didn't oppose. The dark elves when reaching the base of the statues, all subsequently prayed to it.

This was because, they needed to pass a test, which would be held in a different space.

Their act of prayer would transport their soul to the test. So there were currently a lot of people in motions of prayers, their faces changing depending on how well the test was going.

Currently, no dark elves have passed a test yet, but he had a feeling that the dark elf named Anastasia would pass it soon.

That was just his hunch though.

He hoped that the rest of the dark elves would all pass the test soon. He wanted to increase the amount of strongmen in his army. In preparation for not only the players but for the first major event of the game.

The first major event was titled, Resurrection of the Black Emperor.

Countless forces under the Black Emperor, who was otherwise known as the strongest rogue. Set fire and caused havoc in the continent of Solvaria, the starting continent for all players.

They did this by causing massive dungeon outbreaks and setting their forces to assassinate higher-ups of various kingdoms.

Which caused a lot of instability and death. The death of those under the hands of the forces of the Black Emperor would have their souls taken and used as food for the resurrection of the Black Emperor.

Hale wanted to use this first major event, to also cause chaos, hoping to spread the name of Noxious so that he could increase his reputation.

With a strong force, it wouldn't be too hard for them to wreak havoc wherever they go.

So he watched in anticipation, waiting for the first dark elf to pass the test for a plague class.

...

Anastasia looked at the tall and sinister statue of the Verminscourge.

His figure was sly and his face was obscured by the shadows. Calming her racing heart, she took a deep sigh as she started to pray.

This was the eighth time that she attempted the test.

She believed that this would be the final one, she had been so close last time, but she just made one little slip-up. And she tragically failed the test.

With her eyes closed and her hands clasped in deep prayer, she felt an inexplicable pull, as though the very essence of her soul was being drawn into the statue before her. When she could finally open her eyes again, she was no longer in the same place. Her hands were now chained in a dark and dingy prison cell.

The chains were nailed to the stone walls, and the air was thick with a putrid stench, a nauseating blend of decay and dampness. Shadows flickered as rodents scurried across the filthy floor, their sharp teeth gnawing hungrily on the remains of a decomposing corpse.

Not surprised by this scene, she focused her eyes on the rodents who were eating the corpse.

The clues to her escape were the rodents and the corpse. On her first attempt, she found the situation to be quite bizarre. But now, she realized how intricately the test was made.

Using a foreign power, she focused her will on the rodents, their snouts buried greedily in the decaying flesh. The rodents as if inflicted by a strange spell, froze mid-feast, lifting their heads in unison to fix their unblinking gaze upon Anastasia.

Anastasia could actually control the rodents. This was what she had found out, on her first attempt.

Using the rodents she commanded them to eat her hands that were in cuffs and chained to the stone wall. Although it sounded gruesome, even horrifying, she knew it was her only way to escape from the cuffs.

Anyway this wasn't even real, when she was pulled back to the real world, her hands were still perfectly intact.

Watching the rodents scurry from the corpse to her hands was quite intriguing. The hair of the rodents was dark, their eyes red, and their teeth sharp. They looked quite demonic, but she felt an inexplicable bond with them.

As the rodents got to work, she endured the horrible pain of watching your hands being eaten alive.

When they finally freed her from her bonds, she only had two bloodied stumps on her arms.

Now that the first step was finished, the next step was to open the locked cell.

Luckily it seemed as if the test wasn't that unforgiving as the keys to the cell were conspicuously placed on a table. Not only that, there was a lamp next to the keys as if trying to say, "Hey the keys are here!"

What a friendly test.

She couldn't reach it, but that couldn't be said the same for her pet rodents. Who squeezed out of the cell bars, and took the keys for her. Using their teeth they brought it back to Anastasia, who located the correct key and unlocked her cell.

The door let out a loud moan, announcing the opening of her cell.

Luckily, the guards weren't alerted by the sound. As Anastasia calmly looked for a guard and a specific door. This was the stage that she got stuck on, for the longest of times. The prison was large and filled with countless dangers.

Not only that, the guards of the prison were horrifying to deal with.

They wielded halberds, and they were clad in gleaming steel armor, with their most striking feature being the crow masks they wore. The crow mask was made out of the same cold metal as the armor, with beaks that jutted out sharply

She once tried to confront one, but to her horror, she discovered the truth—they were not human. The guard removed his crow mask, only to reveal a birdlike face beneath. Its sharp beak gleamed cruelly, and its piercing red eyes glowed with an insatiable, predatory hunger that made her blood run cold.

She wondered if such creatures actually existed in the world.

After a couple of minutes of navigating the prison, she had finally found the correct guard. He stood tall like a mountain, closely guarding the door, as cold and unyielding as a machine programmed solely to fulfill its duty, alert for any intruders.

Although they looked quite menacing, Anastasia had already found out a weakness about them; they held insatiable appetites.

Commanding the rodents that followed her, she gave them the task of luring the guard away from the door.

Without hesitation, the creatures scurried into the guard's line of sight, darting across the cold stone floor. The guard's crimson eyes flared with predatory hunger as it fixated on the fleeing rodents. Driven by instinct, it abandoned its post, chasing after them and leaving the door it had been so diligently guarding unprotected.

Seeing the guard gone, she took the opportunity to sneak into the room.

The room was a storage room, as countless weapons and equipment lay waste. Paying no mind to the weapons and pieces of equipment, she looked for a specific vent. The vent led to a sewer, her route of escape.

When she finally found the vent, she commanded the few rodents that she still controlled to open the vent for her. It took a long time, but they eventually opened the hole for her.

She plunged into the hole, the world around her blurring as darkness swallowed her whole. The only signs she was truly in the sewers were the overwhelming stench that assaulted her senses and the sickening splashes of her feet as they sank into the filthy, stagnant water beneath her.

But, she had no time to pay attention to this.

This was the final step, without wasting time, she hurriedly ran across the tunnel. On her seventh attempt, she reached this stage. But, she was eventually swallowed by the darkness and unknown beast that lay dormant in the sewer.

Her feet splashed relentlessly as she hurried through the sewer's murky depths, the sound echoing in the oppressive silence. A chilling presence seemed to follow her every step, an unseen force closing in. With no desire to turn around, she ran for her life.

She didn't know how long she ran for, but eventually, the chilling presence stopped chasing her.

With enough distance traveled, she finally saw light at the end of the tunnel, literally. A glaring bright light encompassed the end of the tunnel. Without questioning her decision, she ran into the bright light.

Her senses dazed as countless memories and skills flooded her mind.

Eventually, she woke up. Finding herself kneeling in front of the statue. But this time, she knew that things were different from before.

She was the first to become a Verminscourge.

...

"Oh, it seems that my hunch was correct."

Hale muttered under his breath, as he saw the dazed figure of Anastasia, adjusting herself to her newfound strength. Countless dark elves stared at her with amazement and envy.

"Hopefully the rest pass the tests soon."