Battle Maiden

Book 2 : Two Paths

Chapter 2 : White Collar, Swindles

*****

A huge cavern filled with filth, and had a rotten smell. The darkness in it was chased away by a crackling fire, that was feasting on the carcasses littered around the floor. The elite guards of the dungeon’s boss, turned into a source of light by the invader. The lone invader had to improvise, as his torch would soon be extinguished.

The invader dressed in a jet black fur coat, looted from one of the higher-ranking minions. By his side, there was an iron sword, cracked, and stained with blood, clearly showing that it had been through many battles, and survived. Sweat and blood sullied his pretty face, but his gaze was as sharp as ever. Amongst all his features, his blue hair seemed out of place.

Not knowing whether the boss was capable of understanding him, Spoon just had to put out a cool line (as he proclaimed).

“So.. It’s just you and me now..”

The dungeon boss, a bipedal rat twice his height, wore a makeshift scale mail made from scrap metals and bones. In its hand was a huge club, with spikes protruding around the head. It was the biggest opponent Spoon had ever faced. Yet fear did not came to him.

He was too tired to even feel fear. It had been more than a week of him going in and out of the dungeon. trying to kill every single rat inside. His only break time was when he had to go to the blacksmith to fix his equipment, and even then, he had to undergo an hour of walking. He intended to finish this, here and now.

Sword readied, he walked towards the huge rat. The beast, watched him getting closer. Then suddenly charged at Spoon with the club raised. For its size, its speed was incredibly high, catching Spoon by surprise. The club swung down on Spoon, barely deflected by his sword. Spoon lost almost half his life, and the durability of his sword fell drastically.

Kicking the ground with all his might, Spoon managed to gain some distance between them. However, there was no room for comfort, as the feral beast immediately started charging at him again. This time, it swung its club horizontally, sweeping everything in its path. Spoon managed to jump in time to evade the attack completely, striking back with a strong, solid attack to its hand.

Spoon’s counterattack was strong enough to disarm the giant rat’s spiky club. Now, Spoon could stop worrying about the crushing blow of the club. Instead, he now had to worry about two sharp sets of claws.

‘I should have gone for the legs.’

‘Disable its speed first.’

Waiting for an opening, Spoon could only evade the relentless attack of his foe. Ever since it was wounded, its attacks became much fiercer. Spoon chose to only evade and not block, since his sword looked very brittle at this point.

Some time passed, and Spoon was still unable to find the right opening to strike the the legs he was hoping to disable.

‘It was much easier when Sera was here.’

‘But I’m much stronger now. Why can’t I find any openings?’

‘What’s the difference between then and now?’

‘We made an opening for each other.. That’s it!’

“You don’t simply find an opening, you make one!”

Spoon jumped backwards again, trying to gain some distance. As expected, the rat soon charged at him. Enemy AI had a certain pattern in fighting, and once you learnt it, fighting them would be easier.

Spoon was waiting for the rat’s forward lunge. He kicked the dirt on the ground, towards at the beast’s eyes. Startled at the sudden lost in vision, the huge rat tumbled and rolled on the ground.

‘From the way it held the club, it’s right-handed.. Left leg it is.’

The opening Spoon had created wouldn’t last long, so he immediately went straight towards the beast with his sword held in both hands. Sending his sword diagonally downwards with all his strength, he aimed at the rat’s hind leg.

“Focused Strike!!”

The sword strikes cleanly sliced through the thick leg, scattering blood, dirt and debris along the way. He had leveled up the skill quite significantly, as it was the only offensive skill he knew. However, abusing the skill had caused the sword durability to drop very fast quickly. He had to limit the usage to only when he was sure the attack would connect.

A long,crack line appeared on the sword. Spoon was getting worried. But the opportunity presented in front of him was very tempting. He had a clear shot for a second attack on the rat’s tail. Remembering Sera telling him that the tail was a weak spot, he decided to go for a second focused strike.

“Focused Strike!!”

Connecting the first strike to the second focused strike, the sword slashed upwards, severing the tail. Feeling greedy, Spoon decided to push for a third attack, only to be knocked away mid swing by the rat's desperate retaliation.

His greed caused his health to drop to in the red zone, below 20%.

'It seems like it's anyone's game now.'

Spoon and the huge rat struggled to stand up, as both had received a sizeable amount of damage. As Spoon tried using his sword as support to help him get up, he fell face first, eating dirt. He had realised something.

His sword had broken in half.

The good news was, the broken half was embedded in the giant rat's back. Must have sunk in during the attempt on the third attack. Still, to lose your sword here in this situation was never a good thing.

'Well, I still have one third of a sword in my hand..'

‘A game won’t be fun without challenges after all.’

“Let’s end this now!”

Spoon charged forward, betting his life on a full on melee. The rat, unable to stand on its hind legs, was now in a crouching position. It mirrored Spoon’s charge, hoping its size advantage would secure its victory in a frontal clash.

Which would definitely have been the case, if it still had all its appendages intact.

The beast swayed from side to side as it charged, unstable due to the fact it had an injured arm, a missing hind leg and tail. Still, the force of it’s charge was not to be underestimated, as the ground shook every time the beast propelled itself forward.

Spoon took advantage of this weakness, changing the course of his charge at the last moment. The huge rat was unable to go against its own momentum, and slid past on Spoon’s his right. As it desperately tried to stop its huge body, Spoon ran towards its exposed back. His eyes were fixed on the piece of his blade which was still stuck on the rat’s back.

‘Let’s find out if my skill can apply to any attack’

Spoon leapt as high as he could and as fast as he could, clearly intending to take a shot at the rat’s exposed back. But instead of his sword, he had a different thing in mind.

“Rider Kick!!”

Well, it’s a focused strike using a kick attack. He was already at the level where he no longer needed to shout out the skill name to activate it. Regardless, it did what Spoon intended it to do. Aimed at the blade protruding out of the rat’s body, he hammered it deeper into the rat’s body. Deep enough that you could no longer see the blade on the beast’s back, and for the tip of the blade to pierce its chest.

The kick however, damaged himself, as Spoon only wore beginner shoes for protection. His mobility was greatly reduced. He took some damage, leaving himself with a meager fifty health.

Spoon was sure that his last attack did some significant damage to his opponent too.

But the rat just refused to die. Both of them, mere inches from each other, could no longer move from where they stood. Spoon did not have enough stamina for another focused strike, so he slashed with whatever was left of his sword.

Not even as long as a dagger, Spoon brought down slash upon slash on the grounded rat. The master of the dungeon was at his mercy, as he expended the last of his strength, slowly finishing it off. Slowly burning off in a gray flame as if vaporizing into smoke, the huge rat dissipated.

The invader had triumphed. Spoon had won.

*Ttring*

A system message rang out. A feminine voice followed right after.

-You have leveled up-

-You have leveled up-

-You have leveled up-

‘Three levels for this fight alone.’

*Ttring*

Another rang before he could do anything.

-Quest objective met, report the result to receive reward-

This was followed by many more rings, informing all the stats and skills increased from the fight. The deadly fight bore its fruit, and the rewards reaped were sweet. Still, Spoon’s face showed no happiness, for his sword had broken.

He rummaged through the place where the huge rat died, and collected all the blade pieces. His prized sword was broken into three separate pieces. The loot he gained from the mob boss totaled to 1 gold piece and 46 silvers, plus two other items.

Rattenkönig Charm (Necklace, Accessory)A necklace made from intertwining rat tails. Mysteriously give it’s owner a

high resistance towards poison and plague.

Durability : 28/30

Equip

+ 10 Wisdom

- 25 Beauty (Wearing this will temporarily gives the owner the beauty stats

if (s)he does not have it, and set it to -30)

Bonus effect

+ Increases poison resistance.

+ Immunity from hygiene related disease.

Limitation

Level 25 +

Rat King Hood (Hood, Head)The hood provides decent defense and gives its wearer some resistance to poisoning.

Made from sable black fur, the wearer is less visible under the cover of darkness.

Durability : 54/65

Equip

+ 200 health

+ 20 defense rating

+ 20 Vitality

+ 200 Stamina

Bonus effect

+ Increases poison resistance.

+ Rodent-type creatures will not engage you in battle when worn

Limitation

Level 32 +

Vitality 60 +

“This items are quite good, but why does it have to be so freaking ugly??”

The necklace, could be hidden under his tunic. But the effect would still take place, giving him a beauty stat of minus thirty.

The hood, a unique item dropped by a boss class monster, would give a huge bonus that would help his survivability a lot at his level. It’s black color complemented the cloak he got previously, and by wearing all three equipment, he was practically immune to any type of poison. The sad thing was, the hood had a huge rat ears design coming out from the sides; making it’s wearer look like a Mickey Mouse cosplayer. Good things always come with a catch.

“I wonder if I can get my sword fixed..”

*****

Sera grumbled as she headed towards the south gate. It’s not like she had a choice, she had to go in order to get her shield back.

Not all was bad though. She did buy a new outfit to replace her tattered beginner outfit. Nothing fancy, just another dress of higher quality. She bought it on a whim, as the dress looked nice and easy to move in.

Sera found out from the clothing store owner that the blacksmith was shut down due to some accident, and a knight had been sent to investigate the cause. Which explained what Vanessa was doing in the store; sleeping on the job.

‘It’s full of foot-soldiers,’ thought Sera, who just arrived at the southern district.

The southern part of the city was where the barracks and command post for the royal army in Greyhold was located. This was made so as to ease the exploration and as a defense from unknown dangers of the southern lands.

The southern gate was still a 30-minute walk away, yet she could already see the huge gate from where she stood. The city was not named the fort city for nothing. It was here that the first global event had taken place, a siege by a massive goblin army. Those who took part would say their victory was thanks to the city’s impenetrable walls.

‘From the looks of it, they are preparing for another expedition.’

Exploration was a vital part in Royal Road. In the beginning, all players had to start in the central continent. Other cities only became available after a player discovered it, some offering a high reward quest to the one who first step foot in the place. The benefits, such as discounts and fame from exploration, made guilds compete with each other in order to spread their influence, and secure their foothold in the Versailles continent.

‘It must be the reason why she told me to come here.’

‘That might be her.’

Vanessa was easy to spot, due to her tall build. She was giving orders to the soldiers, sending them running around on errands. Next to her, was a small figure, half of Vanessa’s height, dressed in a pure white robe. As Sera moved closer, it became apparent that the robed figure was a Priest of Freya.

“Hey, you made it!” Vanessa shouted as she spotted Sera.

“I had to, you still have my shield..”

“Well, you asked me to get it fixed. The blacksmith is shut down, so I had to bring it here. One of my men is fixing it right now as we speak,” Vanessa showed no guilt, as if her action was the only right thing to do.

“You could at least have told her, Van,” the robed person finally spoke, looking up at Vanessa.

“I really thought there was no need for it,” Vanessa shrugged it off.

The robed man let out a sigh. It seemed like the two were close. Shorter than Sera, he looked like a small child, yet his voice and the way he acted made him seem like an adult. As if noticing the curious gaze Sera directed at him, he introduced himself.

“Please don’t be alarmed. I’m actually older than I look.”

“My name is Reghas, a Priest of Freya. I’m a halfling.I hope that answers your curiosity.”

“And that girl is Sera. Yeah, she is quite rude. She did not introduce herself first when she met me,” Vanessa cut in before Sera could even utter a single word.

“I thought you were the blacksmith..”

“So you’re saying you don’t need to greet a blacksmith properly?”

‘There is no winning against her.’

“I’ll admit my mistake. My apologies.”

Sometimes, the fastest way to end an unwanted conversation was to just agree to whatever they said.

“Don’t worry, I understand your confusion. A halfling is usually more hairy than this guy,” Vanessa broke out into her trademark laughter.

‘And she said I’m the rude one.’

“The goddess Freya loves beauty; as a priest of her order, I should maintain my looks at all times,”explained the priest.

“Yeah. He’s shaved so much that he has intermediate level in dagger mastery from only shaving his beard,” Vanessa laughed even louder.

“Yes, very funny,” Reghas commented sarcastically.

“Actually, it’s still in beginner level 8,” He added, correcting Vanessa.

“And I’m pretty sure that it’s a useful skill in a pinch,” he showed no sign of annoyance at Vanessa’s teasing.

‘Weird pair.’

“Excuse me, but I’m sure you called me here for a reason,” Sera cut in, “Plus, I really want that shield back..”

“Very well,” Vanessa said as she waved her hands to the priest, “I believe you can handle things from here, I’m going to take the little miss on a walk.”

Reghas nodded, and went on his own way. Vanessa patted Sera’s back with such strength that you might as well call it a slap, telling her to follow.

“Show me your stats.”

Sera saw no reason not to. It might also make the walk less awkward for her. A simple voice command allowed Vanessa to see Sera’s stat window, which was usually private. Vanessa’s eyes were beaming as she studied the numbers in front of her.

“I knew you were interesting.. But this..” Vanessa’s eyes jumped back and forth from the status window to Sera,“A flower with thorns, I expected that much. It seems like I misjudged how sharp the thorns are.”

Sera gave a confused look. She never saw what others’ stats looked like, and therefore did not have any idea of how much her stats outclassed most players around her level. The only person she fought with was around her level and had almost the same stats, but was overall better in terms of fighting. She thought she was weak.

”What do you mean?”

“You have a very strong foundation. And your skills, are very well rounded,” Vanessa moved her finger to operate the floating window, the skill list soon showing up.

“Sword Mastery Beginner 7, Shield Mastery Beginner 4, Bandaging Beginner 1, Cooking Beginner 1, Identify Beginner 1, some weird skill.. Herbology Beginner 3..”

Many of her skills were obtained from reading books in the library. Since she was mostly cooped up indoors, she did not have the opportunity to raise the skill levels of most of her skills.

“I can see why you said my stats are well rounded, but saying I’m strong is a bit over the top,” Sera said.

“I’ve had a hard time fighting rats. Only managed to beat them with some help,” she explained. She did not want Vanessa to have too high of an expectation towards her.

“Don’t worry about that. Me and Reghas will be your guide,” Vanessa slammed her fist on her chest plate, showing confidence.

“I did say that I will help you become stronger,”after she said that, she stopped walking. They had arrived at their destination. It was a barrack, filled with soldiers, and quite a number of clerics and paladins. They were busy loading supplies into wagons lined outside the premises.

“Biggs! Wedge!” Vanessa called out two names with a loud bellowing voice. In an instant, all eyes were fixed on her. Two men soon came running with great haste.

“Yessir!” The two men yelled in unison as they stood at attention. These two, Sera presumed, must be Biggs and Wedge.

“Bring me the shield I told you to fix yesterday. Also bring some armors for recruits. On the double!”

As soon as Vanessa finished her sentence, the two men scampered away. Vanessa then turned her attention back to Sera, smiling, showing her full set of teeth. You would think with all that laughing and yelling, most of her teeth would have long fall off.

“Now where was I?” Vanessa asked. Maybe she was a bit senile after all.

“Guiding me?”

“Of course! The army and the church have agreed to work together in an expedition towards the south. Reghas and I will lead this expedition, as the representative of both sides.”

“Let me guess, you want me to come along?”

“It’s very obvious isn’t it?” Vanessa exclaimed, adding the trademark laugh of hers.

‘I really don’t want to leave the city.. But an expedition like this means free food, plus they have their own blacksmiths and cooks. When the church is involved, I hear the rewards will be high.’

‘It should be safe, travelling in a big group. Just tag along and leech off them for a week or two.’

Since Sera couldn’t think of any disadvantage of joining the expedition, other than having to leave the comfort of the city, she decided that it’s a good deal overall.

“It’s a very tempting offer, so I think I’ll accept it.”

“Offer? I think you’re a bit confused here,” Vanessa said, no longer smiling.

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“This is not an offer my dear. This is your payment for me to repair your shield. You will serve me until the expedition ends,” at the end of her explanation, she laughed again, much louder this time.

‘This old hag does things as she please!’

A quest window regarding the expedition popped up, at the bottom was written in bold “You cannot refuse the quest.”

Sera had been scammed!

*****

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Author Wrote: It's a late update. So I apologize for that.

Credits for PR goes to someone who wished not to be named. The person preferred to hide in the shadow, stealthily.

Comment or advice is highly appreciated, especially the battle scenes. I always struggle with battle scenes.