Zero Potential: Chapter 14 (Patreon)

Chapter 14

Seven guard captains, a bit more than Terra remembered from her past lives, but nothing she couldn’t handle. Each guard captain wielded a weapon that they specialized in. One used the sword, another the spear, the third used a scythe, the fourth a massive tower shield with spikes, the fifth a powerful bow, a sixth and likely the most devastating of all was a magician who clearly could use all forms of the Elemental and Healing arts. The seventh of course was a hidden assailant who hid in the shadows and wielded two daggers whose edges seemed laced with poison.

In her past lives, the seventh and final guard captain would likely have gone unnoticed, but thanks to one her now fully charged Burning Eye of the Tiger, she saw the hidden figure’s frame burning brightly from within the shadows. Seeing the hidden guard captain Terra realized that this newfound vision was a result of not one but two different effects of the eye that blended perfectly together. The first effect was the Tier II Omniscient Gaze, that when combined with the Tier II Identify Hidden Assailant proved to be too much for whatever protections the rogue captain had in place.

Terra herself would have been angry at the ploy of using shadows to hide, had she not been using similar actions herself, by using her own Obfuscation Aura that when aided by her exceptional Willpower was more than enough to keep the would-be guard captains’ attention off of her.

Moving quickly, Terra decided to press her advantage of being able to strike first. With her unpowered Arcane Staff of the Elements secured tightly to her back, she decided to use what remained of the chipped and broken sword that she had entered the dungeon with. Despite being broken down to half of its original size, one side still had enough of a blade to slice through a would-be opponent. The blade was not strong enough to take on any of the true warriors, as the warrior of the sword, spear, and scythe all had thick armor to protect their hands and vital organs from strikes. The mage as usual wore little more than cloth armor but was protected on both sides by the shield bearer and the scythe wielder. While the bow master stayed in the back providing cover fire for everyone.

To do this correctly, Terra would need to strike down two guards with one decisive strike. For as soon as she made her move, her Obfuscation Aura would shatter and break, revealing her presence to everyone.

This was why, Terra made the plan to quickly disable the hidden rogue directly with her broken sword, while she simultaneously cast a spell to take down a second guard captain from those that were gathered.

Moving into position, she noticed the fact that the hidden rogue began to get more agitated the closer she got to him. While her aura and silent movements hid her from the rogue’s thoughts, purposefully forcing him to look away, it was clear that on some deep primal level the rogue felt the danger that was Terra.

This part of the dungeon never ceased to amaze Terra, she didn’t know how these beings came to be here, nor why they always looked and acted so lifelike. In the end they were just chalked up to being a true mystery of the world and of magical dungeons in particular. While Terra had killed this rogue dozens of times, it always changed. One time the hair would be red instead of blonde, one time it was a female instead of a male. Slight variations that always made you pause and evaluate your surroundings.

With that pausing, Terra gave a quick look around, trying to see what this rogue’s particular talent was towards. If they were a trap expert, then it would not be out of the question for them to hide a trap right behind themselves. Fortunately, this was not the case.

Sniff.

The faintest scent of ambrosia and vanilla filled the air around the rogue. That along with the glowing green blades were enough to tell Terra that this rogue’s specialty was poison. This was both good and bad, likely it meant that some of the bulges along the rogue’s body were poison vials that if pierced would release toxic fumes that would eventually lead to her own destruction. Fortunately for Terra, there was no concern about striking at a poison vial while dealing with this rogue.  Most of the time, the quickest way to deal with a rogue would be to stab them in between the ribs, but for this floor, Terra needed to do something different.

This floor, much like the previous floor, had a secret to it, one that was both profound and easy to grasp.

See this floor was the floor of the once future but now forgotten king.

This floor was meant as a lesson for anyone who would dare to ascend above their station in life. You see, the king on this floor is immune to almost everything, Magic was the only known way to take down the king originally. But he also had another weakness that was unknown to people at the time.

Only once when Terra was truly tired and had broken her weapon in a previous life did she realize the true weakness of the king.

In her mind, Terra warred with the thought of her first time discovering the true secret of this floor boss. How she had been tired and overly forceful at the time, but it paid off.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

With that one calming Meditative action, her mind cleared as all memories of the past were gone. The only thing that remained was the present, and the nearly impossible task before her. Right now she needed to take down seven elite guards as quickly as possible.

With only her magic and a partially broken blade, still this was enough to enact her plans. More than enough to kill all seven of the guards, but she needed to make sure she killed at least one in a particular way.

Focusing her mind, she envisioned the spell she wished to create, along with the attack she wished to perform simultaneously.

One second there was a calm panic that filled the room, as all the elite guard captains began to nervously shift their weight from side to side, as if anticipating the impending doom.

Then the next second.

BOOOMMMM!!

An explosion of force erupted right from the middle of the pack of guards.

Burning Electrical Spike.

A burning spike of metal and electricity erupted from the back of the shield bearer. Since the massive shield used to protect the bearer was in front, and the spike that Terra managed to create was in the back of the warrior, nothing could be done to negate the free open strike.

In the cave six sets of eyes were all but drawn to the blindingly brilliant burning torch that magically appeared right out of the back of the shield bearer.

The mage seeing the spike, instantly reached out his hand trying to help, but was instantly zapped by the building electricity that Terra was still channeling into the spell’s creation. This was a masterpiece of destruction that she had managed to create over the course of many lifetimes. A masterpiece that was now 30% easier to cast, thanks to all her hard work in this very dungeon.

The rogue also turned to face the shield bearer, unaware of the fact that the caster of the devastating spell was right behind him. That the only reason the caster was still hidden was due to two main reasons, the first is the explosive volatility of the spell Terra used, and the second was that the rogue’s own hidden profile concealed Terra from being viewed by others.

This was when Terra made her second decisive strike.

Slink, slink.

Terra slashed out twice, striking out at the rogue’s wrists that were used to hold the two daggers. Despite the fact that her blade was shortened and dulled from constant use, there was enough of a blade that Terra with her skill and intense strength was able to slice through the wrists of the unsuspecting rogue.

Clatter, clatter.

With that both hands fell to the ground, still gripping the blades that they once wielded.

“GAHHH!” The rogue, just now realizing his plight cried out in pain, as streams of blood flowed from his wrists.

This was what Terra had been aiming for all along. Not being caught, but she realized that such a fate was unavoidable. Rather, she wanted the two blades of the rogue.

First, she needed a new weapon that wasn’t broken if she wanted any chance of taking down the king. Secondly, she knew the ultimate secret of this floor.

Realizing she needed to move before the remaining four guards were upon her, she lashed out.

Slice, kick.

With deft movements she slashed out, with her broken sword, slicing at the neck of the rogue, then kicked his pained body away.

Clatter.

The hilt of what remained of Terra’s broken sword fell to the ground. But Terra was already moving to grab the two daggers that had fallen to the ground.

Unlike most people, where they would try to break the grip of the hands that held the blade, Terra gripped the hands first, forcing them to continue to wield the blades they held in life. This was to enact the second and most glaring lesson of this floor.

That you are only as good as the people who serve you.

That the damage you sustain from someone you trust, someone that you let get close to you is the blade that will cause the most damage and lead to your quickest downfall.

Even with the rogue’s hands acting as a larger hilt, Terra made the two blades sing.

Sparks flew, as she would artfully deflect an incoming sword strike, then use her dagger to float under and around the arms of the well armored sword champion and pierce its neck. While her left hand completely parried the blade of a scythe.

Terra then brought her now free right hand around to parry an incoming arrow, before using the same blade to redirect an incoming spear thrust, towards the scythe user. That was the advantage and disadvantage of two wielders who had long reach weapons, they could overlap if you drew them in close enough, which is what Terra did.

Meanwhile Terra switched to her Commanding Aura, dropping her now broken Obfuscation Aura for one that would simultaneously raise her own abilities, while lowering the abilities of those she fought against.

The effect was immediate.

What began as Terra having a hard time deflecting and parrying blows became incredibly easy, as if she was pushing little children around. Little children that could cut off an arm if she was not careful, but little children all the same.

With momentum and strength on her side, Terra quickly lashed out slicing, twirling and pivoting in between and then through the spear and scythe wielder’s blows. Making sure to lash out at exposed vital areas. For the spear wielder, she found a femoral artery on the inside left leg. For the scythe wielder, it was a vertical gap in the right side of their breastplate, where the front and back plates met. In that gap, Terra slammed her dagger forward, breaking through ribs that shattered upon impact, as she drove her blade deep. Then with a quick kick off, she not only removed her blade from the side of the scythe wielder, but then managed to use the remainder of her momentum to jump up and over the spear wielder who still had not realized the gravity of the strike they had been dealt. That or it was so early, that adrenaline had not yet given way to shock yet.

Either way, she would need to make a quick strike to the spear wielder, which she did by flipping over, and driving down her dagger into a slight gap right between the spear wielder’s helmet and the top of their armor plating.

Slink.

The blade sliced through organs and the right lung. Again, not enough to kill the spear wielder immediately, but right now that was not the goal. For as soon as the spear wielder died, their body armor and weapons would be immediately reclaimed by the dungeon. Any items that were not fully claimed by Terra that was. This was why Terra used this moment to turn and redirect the spear wielder towards the archer who was even now releasing a barrage of arrows.

Arrows that Terra used the much larger spear wielder’s body to block.

In time Terra would grow up strong to be a powerful and intimidating force, but that day was not today. Today she was still small, today she was still holding the body of a recently awakened being.

Tink, tink, thwack.

Multiple arrows hit the body of the spearman and surprisingly one sounded like it struck something vital.

Of course, Terra didn’t have time to look at this, as she was already onto the next phase of her attack.

Kicking out the knees of the spearman, she brought his body low, then planting her foot in the bent knee, Terra pulled and withdrew her dagger from the spearman’s neck, making sure to twist the blade slightly on its last few inches out, purposefully nicking an artery on the way out.

Splurt.

Blood sprayed, but Terra was already moving.

Her next step was to dash towards the still disabled mage. Having the lowest constitution of anyone, a Mage has the hardest time pushing through the effects of stunning attacks, which was why Terra specifically chose lightning to be an additional component of her initial attack spell against the shield bearer.

By now the shield bearer was gone, a quick glance with her periphery showed that the rogue was also gone, and the sword and scythe wielders were both in different phases of turning into black dust and being reclaimed by the dungeon.

This left just the spearman who also had the faintest traces of black smoke appearing at its multiple wounds, the slowly recovering mage, and the archer. An archer that was already notching five arrows onto their bow.

At this distance, it was clear that there would be no way to move or dodge so many arrows from such a short range. Granted they wouldn’t be as powerful, as they wouldn’t fully reach their rotation and true flight path, but they would still hurt like a bitch. That was why Terra decided to use the enemies and terrain once again to her advantage.

Charging forward, Terra lashed out with her two daggers, impaling the mage as if picking his old frail frame up with a two-pronged fork. Then not missing a step, she continued to charge forward, straight towards the archer.

Thunk.

Terra felt the impact of five arrows strike the mage right in the back. The impact was enough to be felt and slow down her momentum slightly, but in the end it wasn’t enough. As Terra crashed into the archer with the now quickly fading mage body in between them. But not before the weight of the mage helped Terra tackle the archer to the ground. With Terra on top, and her two hands now free to stab at a nearly defenseless archer, Terra rained down blows quickly.

Her first strike sliced through the bow that was being used as partial protection and sliced into the leather clad chest of the archer. The second blade slashed along the neck, and then continued making a large slash through the right arm and shoulder of the archer.

After that, Terra went wild, striking and slashing at the archer until it stopped squirming and black clouds erupted from the body dropping Terra to the ground of the floor.

When everything was done, all that remained of the once filled guard room was Terra, a discarded half blade still in the corner, and two daggers that still had two hands and bloody stumps attached.

Looking down at the blades that were still in her hands, Terra took a moment to smile and collect herself.

“I always wondered why every other floor has monsters that stay in place, while this one had the guards that would always disappear right after you killed them.” Terra said, speaking to her two stolen blades of the dead. “I knew there was a difference, I just could never tell why, until now.”

Creak.

As she collected herself, the sealed double door that had been part of the stone wall a second ago now appeared and proceeded to open loudly.

Even now Terra could see the massive hulking size of the once and future king of the world. He was a barbarian, or at least that would be the class of adventurer he would fall into. Nothing but a loin cloth, a giant broadsword, and of course a glowing crown of power to his name.

The nearly naked form of the king was a ruse, designed to get people to be drawn in to try to strike the body with swords or poisonous items. Even magical weapons had their efficacy halved against his seemingly enchanted skin. Even spells were tough to cast upon him, as the sword he wielded was a magical artifact, one that seemed to allow the king to cut incoming spells apart.

All of these benefits made for a warrior that would normally be impossible to beat.

Fortunately, for Terra she had dealt with this very champion hundreds of times before. Even now, she felt a slight burning desire to push herself just a little harder at the sight of this warrior. Just looking at the king, it was clear that his attributes had in fact been improved for this very battle.

Smiling devilishly to herself, Terra strode forward.

With each step, she increased her pace by half, within five paces she was at the door and at the sprinting speed of the fastest regular human. But she was not done yet, as she continued to increase her speed, pushing her legs to their maximum. In her mind she saw the notifications, telling her that her Athleticism, and Running Skills had been identified and improved, but that meant nothing.

To Terra, there was a much greater battle going on right now, one where her Commanding Aura was encountering the Commanding Aura of the once an future king’s. This was new, something that Terra never even realized the king had, that or the increased difficulty gave the king his own Commanding Aura. Regardless of why the king suddenly had the same aura, the effect was the same, their wills met, as the entered into a test of dominance and determination.

Their wills met, and then as she charged forward, she felt the will of the King’s shatter.

“Oof.” The king let out a slight wince as he staggeringly took a half step backwards.

That was all the opening Terra needed, as she feinted to go left, getting the king to raise its broadsword to its right. Then Terra struck out with both blades. Her right she plunged deep into the heart o the king, while she used her left to continue pushing the misplaced blade further away from her intended target.

Thud!

Terra landed on top of the king, her blade piercing into and through the oiled chest of the barbarian king.

There was a moment of shock that registered on the king’s face. A slight moment, when it seemed to recognize Terra. “You…” was all the once and future King said, then his body began to dissolve into a cloud of black smoke.

Tinkle.

The only other sound was that of a golden crown hitting the ground and rolling until it was right next to Terra and her blades.

Seeing the crown, Terra instantly realized that something odd had happened.

Not for the first time, the beliefs that Terra had about this world had changed, for before her was not a cursed crown at all. Rather, before her was Benevolent Crown of the Once and Future Queen.