No notes from me at this time... well, save for the fact that this chapter revolves mostly around Mike's quest known as "The Anvil of Fury". Well... now to continue the story.
The Anvil of Fury!? Part 2
Tristram, 8:45 A.M., the caves, 9th floor
Mike was in the labyrinth, at a cave... which something around in the cave really heated up the situation... literally; it wasn't in sight though. Mike figured it could be those monsters that vanish, just like Shadow Drinker, that may be causing this heat issue. He made sure to keep his blade ready, & with that, he moved forward. The place was dark, & it was quite big. There were no monsters at this time, nor any enemies for that matter.
He came to a stop when he found a section that had a wide opening on the left & the right. That wasn't what caught his eye. When he looked at the ground, he was shocked to see there was actual lava! There was a pathway that only lead around to another part of the area, surrounded by more lava.
"Oh great... I bet they're around here somewhere near the lava.", Mike thought. "But who?", he pondered. He moved to the road surrounded by lava, & walked forward; the pathway turned abruptly to the left, & then forward. Everywhere he looked, he either saw lava, or the rocky walls.
As he crossed the roads surrounded by lava, he came to a place where there actually wasn't lava. The place had a door with a wall that wasn't complete. It was a fence like wall with a doorway, & when he moved to the right to see what was beyond the door, he popped right behind the door, shocked. He saw what looked like a goat demon, but its skin was very dark, & its fur was almost pitch-black!
" I didn't expect to run into another one of those freaks. He's dark-skinned, but he looks just like Gharbad & the rest of those goat demons...", Mike thought. He looked past the doorway a second time, & he was still standing there wielding a bow.
" Hmm... this maybe easy... perhaps too easy.", he thought. By the time he turned around, he noticed that there were now two goat demons. Then, a dozen... & now 25 of them... all of which were armed with bows.
" Oh man... why do I get the feeling they noticed me...?", Mike feared. They, the night goats, raised their bows, cocked their arrows, took aim at the door Mike was hiding behind, & fired several volleys of arrows.
Mike lifted his shield, & blocked several of them while dodging the rest. He opened the door, rushed toward the goat demons, claymore in hand. A few of the goat demons ran for their lives, while others attempted to pelt Mike with arrows. Mike gave the first one a critical blow, knocking him down to the floor with his claymore, dead. Before Mike could move, more arrows were shot.
Mike was dodging them at an ever increasing rate, raising his shield to avoid being struck. He struck another one of the goat demon twice, & killed another one. He almost got hit by the goat demons, & with that, Mike rushed towards the remaining 23 goat demons, & finished them off, slash-&-hack style.
" Man... that was tough.", he thought. He then turned his attention to his surroundings; the left was a dead end, but right was another story. He treaded cautiously toward the path on the right, & then he saw several monsters that looked like the butcher, save for the fact that they were missing a bloody apron, a cleaver, & their color was more yellowish than usual. 6 of them started to rush towards them, albeit, in a slow manner.
Mike retreated, luring them back the pathway surrounded by lava; one rushed slowly towards the pathway, & the two then started slugging each other. The demon tried punching him, albeit, he hit him once. Mike finished him with several hacks, & rushed towards the remaining five. He only got hit about 5 times, but he finished three of them off with his claymore, while blocking their punches with the shield.
The two remaining kept on trying to hit him with their fists; a meaningless effort, as they were brought to the ground, stab wounds all around. Mike went past the now dead beings, & then took the pathway the toad demons took.
He then came across another area, which was swarming with with more of the goat demons in the night clan variety. Each were equipped with bows, & before they started slinging bow slinging, & with that, Mike ran for it; a dozen total, as Mike noticed. There was lava right in front of the night goats, & behind them. There was only one pathway that led to the twelve goats, & Mike was taking it with the worst of intentions. Rushing towards the goat demons, he started slinging his sword, hacking them left & right while his brethren kept on firing more arrows. They either missed, or were blocked, & in three blows, one of the night goats were knocked to the floor, dead.
Mike ran towards the night goat demons, while they in turn, fled. He stabbed a second one in the back, & sent it to the ground, meeting the same fate as the last goat demon did. The warrior went towards the goat demons, while the remaining ten beat a retreat from Mike. The goat demons of the night clan found themselves at a dead end, with Mike coming towards them via the only pathway they just took.
Mike sealed their fate with the claymore. The first two were struck down in the back, while another was cornered & slashed; rinse & repeat. The only things they dropped were gold (630 to be exact), & two books. Picking up what he found, he took another look around.
After finishing off those monstrosities, he retraced his steps, & found himself back at the same area where he encountered the second group of night goats. There was a big hole in the wall that led down.
" I should head back to town.", Mike advocated. He was about to leave, but when he looked to the left, he saw something else. It was a large treasure chest, still unopened, right next to the entrance. Mike walked toward it, making sure to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. When he got close enough, he opened the chest. There wasn't much, except a shield with that was emitting very strong magic, as well as a strangely shaped staff that was also radiating with powerful magic. Even better was the fact there was 125 gold. He put what he found in his inventory, eager to see what it was when he returns back to Tristram.
He was about to leave, but before he did, something else caught his attention. There was a horrid stench of death coming from another area that wasn't explored just yet. It was to the left of the entrance he found. He walked towards it, weapon in hand, expecting an enemy to show up. What he found was anything but; he looked at the ground, & noticed the body of a slain hero. His corpse was right next to another hole in the cave, albeit, it lead upwards.
Mike walked towards the body of the slain hero. He noticed that there was something he was carrying right in the bag of his; Mike took whatever it was the slain hero was carrying; what he found was a suit of armor that was overflowing with magical energy. Mike took one last look at the body, & then, he started to look around. He heard several noises that sounded like footsteps.
" Rest in peace, my friend...", Mike said silently, walking towards the area where the noise was coming from. Before he made his seventh step away from the body, out of the shadows came another hideous monster with a horn on his head that was uniquely shaped. Mike evaded the charging attack, & turned to see who it was. The monster was enshrouded with the same stench of death as the corpse of the slain hero was covered in. Mike concluded that this monster was responsible for his death.
The monster made a screech of terror, roaring at the warrior. " Die! I am Break-spine the Cruel!", it bellowed. He made another charge towards Mike, while Mike evaded. He slashed Break-Spine in the back, while the horned demon turned to counterattack.
Mike put some distance behind him, & retreated through the exit he found close to the slain hero's corpse. Arriving back in a clearing behind the town or Tristram, he stopped, a little tired.
" I need something that can keep him still. But what?", Mike thought. He then remembered the spell Orion used on Snotspill. " Man... of all the times for Orion not to be around. Wait a minute...",
he remembered the books he found in the 9th floor of the dungeon where he killed the second set of night clan goat demons, as well as the last few spells he learned when he identified the last few books they found when they dealt with Zhar. He took them out, wondering what spell books they were.
On the first one he took out, he noticed a symbol that had a small circle that looked like lightning magic. The second one was the book of inferno.
" Not what I had in mind but... they'll do. This might help me stand toe-to-toe with Break-spine the Cruel...", Mike said. He began reading the Inferno spell book; it took him about an 40 minutes before he was done reading the spell book He had some difficulty with the Inferno spell book, but he managed to learn the Inferno spell. The second book took him almost double the time he took learning the Inferno spell. That didn't mean he didn't learn it, & with that, he was done reading. He put the claymore away, & took out the Knights broad sword of readiness out. He also changed his armor from studded leather, to the Obsidian scale mail he found. He was now ready to tackle the monster that doomed the slain hero.
" Psst! Over here!", Someone said. Mike turned around to see a kid step out of the bushes. He was a sad sight, wearing clothes that were quite messy. He also had a peg for one of his legs.
" You're Wirt, aren't you?", Mike asked. The kid nodded.
" I have something for sale, but it will take 50 gold pieces for a look.", Wirt offered. Mike looked at him with a bad look.
" What do you have?", Mike responded, handing over 50 gold pieces. Wirt showed him a ring that was severely flowing with magic.
" It is called a "Steel Ring of Wizardry". It will cost about 6000 in your case.", Wirt offered. He only had 755 + 1000 in his pocket now. He also had some other items to sell, so he decided to wait for now. He declined Wirt's deal, & walked away. He noticed a bridge that lead over a river of water; a short distance away was a house, as another tavern.
" I'm back at Tristram? I guess I found a new shortcut to use.", Mike thought. He walked towards Cain, aiming to identify the stuff he found in the ninth floor of the labyrinthine abattoir.
Cain greeted Mike in the same way he greeted most people. Mike asked him if he could identify the shield, armor, & the staff.
Identifying the staff & the shield he found was at the cost of 300 gold, but he found out it was well worth it; he found a unique shield that was very powerful, containing magic that boosted its armor class valiantly. The armor he found from the slain hero was very tough & sturdy, just like Orion's shield. The staff was uniquely shaped, & it was only known as " The protector", a very powerful staff. It was capable of healing its wielder, while protecting it & boosting Vitality. It also acted as a shield, & a damage reducer. Mike thought it would be best if he gave this to the group. He sold the shield & the armor, & with that, he earned 30000 gold. He then returned to Wirt, aiming to get the ring.
" Hey. I'm back!", Mike said. " 50 gold pieces to take a look at it.", Wirt responded, coming out of the bushes yet again. Mike handed him the gold, & he took another look at the ring.
" You say 6000 right? Here. I'll buy it.", Mike said. Handing him 6000 gold, Wirt gave him the expensive, yet intriguing ( & needless to say, powerful) ring. He equipped the Steel Ring of Wizardry, & left. He turned his attention to the entrance to the 9thfloor; he treaded cautiously, anticipating Break-spine the Cruel's arrival with the worst of intentions...
When he arrived, he notice the unique horned demon was bellowing strange noises.
" Hey! What's the matter? Scared!?", Mike taunted. The animal turned around, & saw Mike, standing at the exit, gear equipped & ready for action. Before the warrior could say anything, eight more horned demons, presumably Break-Spine's, showed up. Mike moved toward Break-Spine, but before he could reach the foul animal, the leader's minions surrounded Mike, while the leader rushed towards him. They all prepared for a charge attack, & then rushed towards him in a fast manner. They thought they could finish him with all nine of them attacking from all sides, but they were wrong.
Before they struck him, Mike ducked. All nine of them missed, & with that, Mike chanted several words, & in three seconds, a circle of lightning surrounded Mike, severely electrocuting most of them to death, while others were significantly weakened. There were only two horned demons left, & that was Break-Spine, & one of his minions; he, Mike, struck the minion with his blade, & finished him off with a burst of the Inferno spell. The lesser minion dropped to the floor after being roasted, dead.
Mike turned around to face the leader of the horned demons, aiming to do something maleficent to him to kill the monster. The unique animal bended down, & rushed towards Mike again, aiming to gore him. Mike sidestepped, & disposed of " The Cruel" as he saw fit. The demon-like animal dropped something that caught Mike's eye. It was a ring with unique designs, black gems embedded on the sides, its color everywhere else, gold-like. It was also radiating with strange, yet powerful magic.
Mike returned to Tristram via the new entrance he found when he retreated earlier. Walking towards Cain, he asked him if he could identify the ring he had. When he paid him the one-hundred gold, he found out that it was no ordinary ring, just as rare as the "Thinking Cap" Orion found.
" This is " The Ring of Engagement"; it's capable of lowering the damage & doing some damage to the opponent when it attacks. It also protects you from harm, while allowing you to lower your opponent's armor.", Cain explained. Thanking him, Mike left. He returned to Griswold's shop, wanting to see what he had for sale. Griswold could tell Mike hadn't found the Anvil of fury yet; it was the look on Mike's face that told him that.
" Nothing yet, eh? Well, keep searching. A weapon forged upon that anvil could be your best hope, & I am sure I can make you one of the legendary proportions.", Griswold told Mike; he nodded, continuing to look at what he had. Nothing had caught his interest, & with that, he returned back to the tavern for a break...
OK... That's that. I am not done yet with this chapter; this is part two of chapter 10. Please review. Have a good day, ladies & gentlemen.