The journey ahead was nothing short of arduous, it wasn't an adventure—It was torture. No other word could describe it.
Nathaniel cussed for what felt like the seventh time in the day as he plunged his spear into the skull of a beast.
Even the pay he received couldn't cover up for the damages he had sustained during the battles their group had been engaged in for the last few hours.
But of course he wasn't the only one.
Azazel was more of a breathing corpse than a human, he looked battered and bruised it was almost pitiful.
Elias was spared the worst of it but even he didn't escape the brunt of ambushes their cohort had been unfortunate to encounter.
"Argh! Fuck this." Nathaniel yelled.
The blade of his spear pierced through the side of another, using the strength within him he tossed the creature towards the incoming hoard.
"How much longer?" He turned towards Azazel who was busy staring at his soul mirror while going through a list of builds he had.
|———————ΩBuilds————————|
–Fool's mask.
[ +20% crit- +10% adaptive attack-(active enchantment: stealth, illusion)- Passive: conceals the bearer's presence by 40%]
–Loki's monocle.
[+30% magic defense, +20% physical defense- passive: Eyes of jest (Amplifies the wearer's luck by 10%) Active enchantment: Chaos Aegis.]
–Mirror of lies.
[+60% mental defense +60% soul defense- passive (Chaos weave, retribution)-]
–Trickster's card.
[+30% attack speed, deals splash damage- passive(Null attribute- Negates mana) Active enchantment: sleight of hand (randomly chooses a class for the wielder depending on the situation.)-]
–Loki's essence.
[+600 magic power- passive( Deals AOE aura damage to surrounding enemies.]
–Jester's garment.
[+2300 hp -Passive: Let's bargain- (Reduces the cost of mana during spell casting or attacks)- Active enchantment: hybrid regen.]
–Loki's robe.
[+1800 hp - Passive: untargetable (when hp drops below 100% allows the wearer to become untargetable for 5 seconds) – Active enchantment: gambit( enhances damage by 10% after each critical damage dealt.]
–Jester's hat.
[Single active enchantment: Increases all attributes and stats by 50% for twenty minutes.]
–Asmodeus whispers.
[Passive: compel, Active enchantment - Hell's whisperer, devil's tongue.]
–Blood fang.
[+30% vampirism +10% lifesteal +800 hp - Passive (Regens hp based on damage dealt - After five consecutive attacks, increases damage by 70% for three seconds.]
|_________________________________|
After going through the list in haste he picked out five items he felt like he currently needed.
The first was the jester's garment which provided him with +2300 hp and its unique passive which allowed him to use devastating spells or attacks at half their mana cost.
The second was mirror of lies, an item which provided him with an eighty percent defense against mental attacks and soul attacks, it had two unique passives, one allowed him to perceive the weave reality within a certain radius around him, the second passive absorbed the damage dealt by the designated attacker, then reflected it at twice the dealt amount.
It was a good item but it was more ideal for one versus one battles, in an all out battle with multiple enemies, the second passive would be rendered useless.
The remaining items, blood fang, Fool's mask and trickster's card either provided him some measure of attack speed and defense.
Their unique passives as well were more suited for the current situation.
After equipping his build, a warm light enveloped him and in the next second he was wearing a dark robe-like overcoat with strange designs, small gold bells were attached to the sides, making the garment look a bit silly, on his face a pale mask which had inverted crescents for eyes and an unsettling grin covered his features.
A deck of cards materialized above his palm which he then tucked into the interior subspace of his garment.
The moment he activated the card, it would change his class and Azazel wasn't willing to gamble his life away on that choice, he was keeping the cards in case the worse happened.
He'd rather remain in his base form than depend on the probability of getting a good class.
As soon as he equipped the items he dashed forward.
"Switch."
Nathaniel fell back, allowing Azazel to handle the horde while he adjusted his build as well.
Just like Azazel, he was following a hybrid build between defense and attack, something like a semi-tank fighter.
The moment he did, he rejoined the battle.
His spear moved like a serpent's dance, claiming the lives of beasts with each movement.
Azazel on the other hand was no less terrifying, he moved with the grace of a seasoned dancer and the ferocity of battle hardened veteran.
Wherever his rapier flashed, beasts fell.
The beasts were mindless creatures with a single desire to devour whatever was in front of them and because of that they were actually quite easy to deal with but their numbers made it more frustrating than it was severe.
They both fought tirelessly but didn't stray too far away from the spot where Elias had taken cover.
Azazel wasn't about to have another conversation with the king explaining why his son became beast food.
As for Nathaniel, well he couldn't afford to have Elias die, not while the prince was still owing him his remaining payment.
Azazel's rapier slid between the ribs of one of the beasts, impaling it before tossing the creature aside, his muscles coiled like springs as he swapped positions with Nathaniel once again, unleashing a whirlwind of steel upon the monsters.
By the time it was finished, Nathaniel fell on his butt, he sighed in relief, looking up at the evening sky, a carefree smile appeared on his face.
"Hah… that was tiring." Nathaniel muttered, tasting blood within his mouth.
Azazel's gaze grew taut at the sight of the beast corpses.
"Dire wolves"
Elias, who was hiding on the branch of a large tree, looked around for a second.
When he confirmed that they were no more approaching hoards, he started his descent.
Azazel knelt beside a corpse, his intuition told him something wasn't right and it didn't take long for him to notice the oddity.
From the corner of his eye, a strange detail caught his attention.
On one of the wolves he'd killed he noticed a part which was torn out, like something had chewed through the wolf.
His eyes narrowed, then widened quickly.
Suddenly the forest suddenly felt a little too quiet.
"This is bad!"
"What is?" Nathaniel asked with a wary tone.
Azazel frowned.
"The wolves, they weren't alive when we fought them."
Nathaniel tilted his head.
"What do you mean?"
"These wolves are a necromancer's pawns, they were never alive to begin with." Azazel explained.
Just then as if to prove his point, the body of a nearby wolf twitched.
Azazel's face paled, his grip on the rapier tightened.
"We need to move, now!" he yelled, his voice urgent with panic.
Nathaniel had already begun moving, he grabbed the bag Elias was wearing then sprinted ahead.
Elias didn't linger, he ran as fast as he could following behind Nathaniel.
Azazel took one last glance at the corpse then began running as well.
If a high class necromancer was on their tail then forget the dungeon, forget Elias awakening, they were done for.
****
From the top of the tree where Elias had taken cover, a cloaked figure watched the trio as they ran.
Dark locks with blue undertones spilled through the hood of their cloak, a pair of golden eyes stared at the scene without any particular emotion.
The figure closed the book they were reading then tucked it into a small leather strap behind them.
Lips parted from within the shadow cast by the hood.
"A child of Amun Rá, a spawn of mischief and the champion of kretus, how unusual" they murmured, almost pleased, "for all three to be gathered in one place, it means the prophecy shall come sooner than anticipated."
They tilted their head at the sound of movements below.
The corpses had reanimated, already chasing the scent of the trio but before they could begin their pursuit, the figure spoke.
"Arcane myst-fire, pyro bloom."
A strange flame with a blend of pink, purple and blue drifted downwards in the form of petals, slowly yet graceful but the moment it touched the ground the flame expanded, engulfing every single corpse of the dire wolves below.
The flames reflected gold in their eyes then the next second, they were gone.