He woke up in the middle of a village.
He blinked, looking around and taking in his new environment.
A golden light flashed, and he tensed.
"Fucking hell, again?"
A familiar woman materialized in front of him.
"Greetings, welcome to phas.." Her empty facial expression twisted into confusion.
"Dreadborne Saint?" Her voice was less mechanical. "You should not have a class."
"Oh, thank god." Relief filled him when he saw the guide again. "What the hell was that first phase and why did you just leave me?"
"that's right you tell that intern." A familiar voice invaded his head.
"Experienced. You have five minutes to prepare for the combat phase." And before he could speak, a gold light flashed, and the woman was gone.
"Okay, this is getting ridiculous." He groaned. "Do I at least get a weapon?"
On queue, a massive sword popped into existence.
"I can't carry that!" he yelled into the sky.
[INITIATING PHASE 2]
[LOADING ABILITY]
[POTENTIAL: EPIC]
[LOAD SUCCESSFUL]
[PASSIVE FIGHTING ABILITY- EPIC: IRON WILL, HOLLOW HEART]
["Most saints pray for peace. You became the reason others pray for mercy."]
[EFFECT: GRAVEGRIP: +200% MIGHT WHEN WIELDING A WEAPON.
CAN CAST SPELLS WHILE BLOCKING OR MID SWING]
[SAINTS WEIGHT: CANNOT BE KNOCKED BACK, PULLED, OR LAUNCHED WHILE GROUNDED. STANDING STILL FOR 1.5 SECONDS CAUSES YOUR AURA TO THICKEN, REDUCING DAMAGE BY 20%
EVERY BLOCKED ATTACK RESTORES A SMALL AMOUNT OF EMBER CRYSTAL.]
[EXECUTION WINDOW: EACH BLOCK BUILDS A STACK OF RETRIBUTION. AT 5 STACKS YOUR NEXT STRIKE BECOMES A DREAD EXECUTION. UNBLOCKABLE. DEALS BONUS MAGIC DAMAGE BASED ON RESOLVE. INFLICTS FEAR ON LOWER-LEVEL ENEMIES]
He blinked. He hated reading.
He picked up the sword that had manifested.
[BASIC GRAVEBLADE]
[ATTRIBUTE: NONE]
[QUALITY: COMMON]
[SPELL: NONE]
["This blade was never meant to be lifted by the living. Yet here you are."]
"Well, that's a bit of a letdown." He studied the massive blade, forged from tarnished black steel, its edge jagged like shattered bone. It hummed and vibrated slightly as he lifted the blade. It felt as if it remembered the battles Zane had yet to fight.
"interesting," Pora manifested with a pop and looked at the blade. "It feels… unholy."
[WAVE ONE STARTS IN 30 SECONDS]
He swung the massive blade; it felt light in his grip. He was liking the new ability already.
"This should be fun." He exhaled, readying himself for what was to come.
A loud rumble started from within the village. He was in the dead center, surrounded by 5 buildings, two in front of him adjacent to each other and a path leading between the buildings. It led to a gate with a Dracula looking castle.
"That's not creepy at all." He muttered. Then a golden light, and a pop. A full-grown man fell on his ass ten feet in front of Zane.
Zane jumped. "Dammit, warn me next time!" he yelled into the air.
The man got to his feet, he was around Zane's height, just over six feet, long matted black hair and a beard that needed trimming. He smiled; his teeth crawled with maggots.
"Oi there, ye tryna fight are ye?" the man tried to say.
"Translation: are you ready to get your ass beat?" Pora watched amused. "Is that a pirate? He's such a cute pirate, can we keep him?"
"What? No. Did you not see his teeth? Hey man, let's place a bet, if I win you got to go see a dentist. If you win, you can kill me." Zane hefted his blade, then activated deathlight aura. The dome, spread, touching the pirate. His eyes went wide, and he tried to move away, but Zane did not let him.
"Oi, what the bloody hell is tis." The maggots popped and sizzled as his mouth moved, going airborne like they were invading the ground.
"Oh god, that's disgusting." He held back puke as he moved forward. The pirate drew his rapier and took a defensive stance.
Zane looked in the corner of his vision, his first shard draining slowly. "Not letting those run dry again.." he grimaced as he remembered the feeling.
The pirate lunged first. Fast. Faster than expected for a rotting corpse in human skin. His rapier flicked like a silver fang, aiming straight for Zane's chest.
But Zane did not move.
He caught the rapier with his blade, the clang echoing through the ghost town. The force rocked him slightly, but he did not stagger, thanks to his new fighting style.
[Retribution stack: 1]
"He's a fast little pirate, isn't he?" Pora said cheerily. "it's not too late to make him our pirate."
He ignored the parasite in his mind.
"You are way faster than I thought." Zane said as they broke free. He pushed forward, his aura slowing the pirate down. He swung the massive blade in an exaggerated arc. The pirate leapt backward, barely. The blade shaved off his beard and cut deep into the ground as he failed to stop his momentum.
"Well, I saved the poor barber from having to deal with that rat's nest you call a beard." He pulled his sword out of the ground. The dust was still settling from where he impacted the ground.
"Watch where ye swing that thing." The pirate grinned, then choked. He put his hand to his chest.
[-15% Attack Speed]
[-10% Defense]
[Health siphoned. +4 HP to Zane.]
[Health full. Health gain null.]
"Ah right, I'm a walking funeral home, forgot." Zane said casually.
The pirate roared and rushed forward, blade flicking, but every strike was just a hair slower than before. Zane blocked one, sidestepped another, then retaliated with a clean horizontal sweep that carved through the man's midsection.
Black blood sprayed.
[Retribution: 2 Stacks]
The pirate stumbled, one hand clutching his open side. Maggots spilled like coins from a torn pouch, wriggling across the stone.
"I hope you're ready to see the dentist." Zane joked, spinning the Graveblade with unnatural ease.
The pirate screamed, eyes glowing green as his flesh rippled, he wasn't human anymore. Not really. Veins pulsed across his face like something was crawling beneath the surface.
"Phase One's got nothing on this guy," Pora whispered. "Guess we found the final boss of dental malpractice."
The pirate's next strike wasn't aimed at Zane; it was aimed at the ground. His rapier plunged into the stone and unleashed a shockwave of rot, dark tendrils spreading in every direction.
"Well, that's not good." Zane looked down and watched the sickness crawl up his legs.
[STATUS: WEAKENING AURA - 25% EFFICIENCY REDUCTION]
"Oh goody! A battle of the auras. Can't wait!" an overexcited Pora chimed in.
What should I do?
"Oh, I don't know, try bursting your aura. You know, completely draining you of one of your ember crystals. Maybe that will work." Pora answered.
"Maybe?" he hissed.
"Ye talking to yourself?" the pirate laughed.
Zane concentrated on his aura ability and drained one of his ember crystals, the aura pulsed and erupted outward, punching through the rot and reclaiming the ground. The pirate flew back as the aura hit him.
His first shard was empty, and he watched the second drain as he brought his aura back under control "shit…" he whispered.
[Retribution: 4 Stacks.]
He surged forward.
The pirate, already back on his feet, swung.
Zane blocked high and kneed the man in the stomach with enough force to launch him back several feet. As the pirate scrambled to his feet, Zane closed the distance.
[Retribution: 5 Stacks.]
"It's time for you to walk the plank." Zane said as he readied his blade.
"Now that was just bad…" Pora pointed out.
The graveblade ignited. Light and shadow twisted as he raised it overhead. The world slowed. The air shimmered.
[Dread Execution: Activated]
Zane brought the blade down in a vertical arc, the sound of a bell toll echoing through the courtyard.
It struck the pirate cleanly down the middle, splitting him with a hiss of smoke and light. The ground cracked. Black mist erupted upward.
Silence.
The pirate dropped, cleaved in two. His body melted into the stone, leaving only his sword behind.
[WAVE ONE COMPLETE]
[+120 XP]
[LOOT: ROTTEN RAPIER – (COMMON)]
Zane breathed out hard, his aura dimming. His ember crystals were blinking in his vision. Half a shard left.
"That wasn't bad," he muttered. Pora floated beside him, tentacles tapping together. "Wave one and you're already glowing like a pissed-off lightbulb. I'm so proud."
He shook his head. "What the hell comes next?" Somewhere deep in the village, another rumble echoed.
And this time, it felt bigger.