Holy Blood 2-3 (Patreon)

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Chapter 3

We quickly finished our breakfast then made our way outside. The dark elves were moving to and for working on whatever task. I looked around getting my bearings. Before we got to work on the village, I wanted to tour the entire valley to make sure I had an idea of everything I was working with.

“Lulu. Where’s your new toy?” I asked the yawning woman.

“I left him near the cemetery. He’s technically undead now, so its better for him to be near the miasma that is produces in such locations.”

“Miasma? Should we be worried?” I asked looking towards the location.

“I suppose if we add another thousand bodies or any hateful deaths there, it might become dangerous,” she replied taking a thoughtful pose.

“I see. I’ll summon mine after we get into the forested area. Let’s find Nolliha and learn about the area.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

We asked a nearby elf and found out where Nolliha was. She was peeking in on the new mother with a couple of women. I realized that these women must really want to build a family.

“Nolliha!” I called. She looked over her shoulder then made her way over to us when she saw it was us.

“Lord Abaddon. How may I be of service?” she asked.

“We want to know the lay of the land. Would you mind coming along?”

“Of course, Lord Abaddon,” Nolliha said with a smile. I ignored the fact that Lulu would snicker whenever she said my name.

We made our way over to the edge of the village while Nolliha went to get geared up. When we were out of the way, I concentrated and started the summon skill. Nine hundred astral energy later, and Mohr was standing in front of me. I smack the side of his arm.

“Good to have you back Mohr! Like I said last time. Please stop with the suicide charges,” I said with a laugh.

He nodded then moved to stand to the side. His white plate mask didn’t lend any hint to what he was feeling but I felt he was pleased to be back. Mohr was becoming more and more like the friend I never had. Even though he can’t speak…

I concentrated again on the summoning skill. I wasn’t sure if I had to concentrate so intently to make sure that Kano or Mohr was summoned each time, but I’d rather not take any chances. I smiled when Kano emerged from the portal. 

“Kano! I’m glad you’re alright. I worried when the Goddess inhabited your body.”

Kano stared at me for a minute before she walked over to join Mohr. I nodded, happy to see the two of them. I thought about what else there was to do before heading off, then remembered the loot from Younmi. I hadn’t checked it over yet. Striking while the iron was hot, I opened my inventory to check.

-Book of the Dead

-Epic

-Level:100

-???

-Forgotten Emperor’s Robe

-Legendary

-Level: 50

-Armor: 100

-Worn by an Emperor that was devoured. It contains a tremendous power that has been seeped in death and darkness. Emperor’s Aura. All Stats +5,000. 

-Emperor’s Ring

-Mythic

-Level: 150

-???

After that there was a list of items that had a variety of uses but were mainly reagents. I wasn’t sure what I could do with a Demon Heart. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t use any of the items, but we were lucky to have survived the raid in the first place. The only item I was close to being about to use was the Emperor’s Robe. I closed the inventory when I saw Nolliha running up to us.

“Nolliha. You ready?” I asked once she’d met up.

“Yes, Lord Abaddon.”

“Just call me Abaddon or Lord both is just a bit too long,” I said with a small smile. “Now. Down to business. What do we have in this valley?”

“Not much. It is mostly plain lands that are good for farming. There are a few points of interest though.”

“What do we got?” I asked pulling a small notebook from my inventory.

“There is a cave to north of the crater. We’ve haven’t explored it too extensively due to the monsters inside. A field of crystal to the west of the cave. It would be good material for an alchemist if we could find one. That’s it for inside the valley. Everything is outside.”

“Do you happen to know what the ruins outside the valley are?” I asked writing everything down.

“We’ve checked it out a few times, but too little luck.”

“Alright.” I added it to the list. I don’t know why but I felt a drawn to it since I first got here. “Let’s check out the cave.”

Nolliha led us to the cliff wall, then turned north. I was impressed with how the walls were still so intact. I couldn’t help but wonder if something had melted into the wall to increase its strength. I was pretty sure that the valley came about due to a meteor strike or something similar.

Mohr led the way. According to Nolliha, there weren’t many monsters in the valley but the closer to the cave the more dangerous it became. We’d been walking for about a half an hour when a roar sounded out. Mohr swung his spear around just as a large body collided with it. He used the momentum to throw the beast into a nearby tree.

“Lion or tiger?” I asked trying to get a grasp of the creature. When I was able to get a good look, its information appeared.

Aris Tiger

Level: 70

Health: 10,000 Astral: 6,900

“Tiger. It has strips,” Lulu said. Kano fired an arrow that stabbed into the beast’s side. It roared in anger as it turned to face us. It was a tiger with green stripes. As we watched, energy pulsed around it and its wounds healed in a flash. 

“Is this going to be a regular thing the higher level we get?” I asked while channeling Blood Light to Mohr. He spun his spear and angled it at the beast.

“I got this!” Lulu said smacking her chest. “Younmi!”

“Eat. Can I?” The undead asked walking forward from next to Lulu.

“Sure,” Lulu replied.

Tentacles burst from his back and his formed looked like a mini version of the one we fought the last night. The tentacles shot out as the undead creature ran forward and they wrapped around the tiger. It roared as chunks of its flesh were torn from its body. Blood and gore went flying covering the forest floor.

Kano took the chance while Younmi was keeping it busy to bury three arrows directly through its eye. I tossed a heal on Younmi as I noticed his health was getting eaten way by the tiger. The rumble wasn’t as one sided as it appeared. After that it was only another couple seconds before the beast was defeated.

“Call him off before he eats the entire corpse,” I told Lulu as the final blow was delivered. I didn’t want to lose out on any loot that we might gain from the creature. 

“Younmi! You’ve had your fill! Back away,” Lulu called and the undead backed off, though reluctantly it appeared. 

I moved forward and examined the body. While we’d been in the game for almost two weeks now, I was glad to see that wounds that would be fatal were still as such. I would suck to blow something’s head off and have it recover without an issue. I glanced at Younmi, though I guess there are exceptions to every rule. 

“The tiger gave a good amount of EXP. It would be nice if we could get to level fifty today,” I said after I offered the body to Otris. I got a distinct feeling of joy from her. It looked like the Goddess liked cats. I would have to remember that for later. I might be able to get her a gift.

We continued from there sticking to the cliff edge. The gap between the florage and the wall gave us enough space to warn us in case another tiger attacked. Plus, Nolliha explained that the tigers were the weakest monsters around the cave.

“I wonder if it’s a dungeon?” Lulu said more to herself then the group about an hour into the hike.

“Dungeon? What’s that?” I asked moving to take a seat on a stump. With the satiation taking effect we actually had to eat or it would start giving debuffs. It was annoying but it just made the game feel more real.

“Ah. Novice. Most games have dungeons, or instances that are the same no matter how many times you go into them. There are usually monsters that are several times more powerful than the surrounding ones, with anywhere from one to dozens of boss monsters that guard treasure or other rewards,” Lulu explained while taking bites out of a sandwich.

“Well?” I asked turning to Nolliha.

“It’s a place of power. I’d not sure if its this dungeon Lady Lulu speaks about,” nolliha replied shaking her head.

“Either way we can get rewards but not without a challenge.” I finished my sentence with a large bite from my own sandwich.

“Yeah. I expect so,” Lulu said with a nod. “Being unable to recruit crafters our options for equipment are limited to drops from monsters. We have the advantage that you’re way overpowered for a priest and the level difference doesn’t affect our abilities too much.”

“That’s not exactly true,” I said shaking my head.

“What do you mean?”

I turned the screen I was looking at so that she could see its contents. It was a log of the village combat for the last year. It was rather dry after about two days ago. 

Savior’s Mantel – Having set out to save the village the world offers its help. Level+100. All skills and pools remain the same.

“I see. That makes sense to be honest,” Lulu said with a knowing nod. I raised my eyebrow and waited for her to explain. “Sorry. Again. There are times that the character participating in a story quest will be boosted to match the NPCs around them. The dark elves are all roughly hundred fifty plus. If you gave us a hundred levels we are right about that level.”

“I see. Though I’m guessing that’s not always the case?”

She nodded. “I still think that was meant for a raid sized party. We got through it with sheer luck.”

“Noted. That’s why we need to increase our levels as quickly as possible.”