[A/N:Before we begin, info dumps. Pain.]
Luke
'Where the hell am I now? Can a man get 30 minutes of sleep? And by the look of things, we're in a field of… Wait a minute!' Over to my right, were two figures. One clad in red and the other in black.
Just as I was about to take a step in, an older man blocked my nonexistent path. "You can't intervene in their path, no matter what. This… is for the better." He commanded me, pausing at the end of his words. The man had this aura around him, I just can't explain it in proper words. This might just be the unreachable chad state.
"Too many changes to this world could cause it to turn against you, even if you're a 'type'. One of the things you need to keep in mind for the future. It isn't fun having to spend 4000-something years stuck on a planet that wants to murder you, that's for sure." That's fair. It's like having an overbearing roommate, but this one kills you. And so, I just sat there, looking at the scene unfolded in front of me.
"Are you happy now father? To see your kingdom in ruin? To all the knights, friends, civilians, and even that man of yours, dead because of your decisions." The knight in red armor taunted, even removing her helmet to emphasize her point.
"You bastard-"
"You're not wrong there at all. I was always the unwanted child!" This only seemed to make the red armored woman more crazed, as the small house behind her fell in front of both of them.
"FINE! You want the crown!? Then pry it off my cold dead hands, but not before I gut your insides for what you did!" She lady in black armor shouted, raising her sword up for one last strike.
"Let's do this FATHER! ONE LAST CLASH!" The other shouted, also raising her sword. Both warrior's swords sucked up all the surrounding ambient mana, charging up their strongest attacks. And with a drop of a pin, they went off.
*CLANG*
They final slash to end it all. The knight in red fell to her knees and in her last dying breaths, said. "Denied once a- *cough*. Damn it! i- it was supposed to be me~." The lady in black didn't come out unscathed either, getting a deep gash along her entire chest. Though she was still alive, it wasn't for long. No matter how much mana she had, she couldn't heal anything of that level fast enough for her to survive it. And on a pile of dead knights, on top of a hill, that was her resting place.
To her death, she only had one regret. "If only Luke didn't die" She later succumbed to her wounds, alone and feeling guilty of her past actions and mistakes.
"That was rather sho-" The dream was apparently going on for too long, and Salter was now trying to wake me up. "Luke~. Hey~, wake up~. I got the holy water you needed~. It's time to grind~. I'll jump your bones if you don't wake up in the next 5 seconds~." Upon hearing the threat on my life, I opened my eyes as fast as I could. Nope, I'm not dying on my first day.
"Do you have the holy water?"
"Of course. But it was tough finding a church. The majority of the places here are shrines, I wasn't able to find it till I went over to the next city" Salter says with a sigh.
Grabbing the holy water and both of our swords, I doused the two weapons in the holy water. This would let me hit the ghost, while also giving Salter more damage. Now that we were ready for the challenge ahead, I raised my hand. "I.D Create: Undead". The world around us once again shattered, this time, being replaced with a graveyard, overlooked by a massive mansion at the end.
…
[Quest Added]
[I'm the queen of the castle.]
Objective- Defeat the ghost queen to finish the dungeon.
Bonus Objective- Defeat secret boss.
Secret Objective- ?
Reward- 60K EXP, 1 Gacha Token, [Undead Monster Hunter] Title.
Bonus Reward- [Familiar Stone]
Secret Reward- ?
Failure- Eternal damnation in hell.
…
Either the game is telling me to fuck a ghost with the secret quest, or it's telling me to get a pet. Both are equally good, but one is better. Whichever one that is, it's all personal preference.
And looking at the other notifications filling up my screen. Oh no.
[Quirk Assimilated]
[Quirk: Steel-like Bones] (Active)
You can harden your bones to the point that they're as tough as steel. It runs on milk.
+1000 HP
+25% Damage to fist-type attacks.
Cost- 30 SP per second.
[Quirk: Fa Jin] (Active)
A simple quirk that allows you to store kinetic energy. The energy can later be used to strengthen attacks or provide a short burst in speed.
Conversion- 40 SP/ 1 STR, DEX
[Quirk: Danger Sense] (Passive)
Similar to the 'Spidey Sense', it can warn the user of incoming danger. The user will receive a stabbing sensation when warned, however.
Cost- 5 HP per warning
[Quirk: Black Whip] (Active)
Allows you to create black tendrils that can be used to grab/ pull things. It also gets stronger the more emotions the user is feeling at the moment.
Costs- 50 SP per tendril.
[Quirk: Smokescreen] (Active)
Creates a thick cloud of smoke that comes out of the user's body.
Cost- 50 SP per meter covered by smoke.
[Quirk: Float] (Active)
Allows the user to float in mid-air, giving them the ability to seemingly fly if used correctly.
Cost- 5 SP per foothold.
[Skill Updated]
[Quirk: One For All] (Active)
Cost- 500SP- 400 SP
Those are a lot of notifications. The other quirks should be from the other users, though I'm not familiar with three of them. The abilities themselves are pretty good if combined with the boost that OFA provides. Getting a basic look over our surroundings, we found multiple graves, a forest to the west of us, and a totally not villainous giant mansion up north.
Just as we were about to move, a rotten hand sprung up from below. Then multiple other hands came out of the ground. And as to signify their arrival, a skeleton rose from the dirt and 'screeched'. Now the hands were accompanied by their bodies, all of them crawling out of the soil.
Not leaving any of them to transform into some rat king abomination, I bring the wrath of the storms upon them. *ehem* I mean lighting, yes, lightning bolts. None of that chunni stuff a second ago.
*BZZT*
I was quickly overwhelmed by the burnt smell of rotten flesh; it was quite unbearable to even stick around the zombies and skeletons afterwards.
[Stats Plundered]
STR- 7, END-4, DEX-2
They weren't that much stronger than the goblins. Then again, they didn't have any weapons or armor of note besides some of them wearing suits.
But now that I'm here, where should I go? It's either the forest or the mansion. And now that I think about it, I'd be better to go through the thick and probably foggy forest than a mansion filled with tight corners, some large sections, and possibly ghosts.
And so, we ventured forth into the unknown, killing any and all zombies that either me or Salter came across.
…
Taking our first steps into the forest, we were met by the guards. They still seem to be zombies, only difference here is that they seem to retain some knowledge on how to wield weapons and have armor. Weapons ranged from daggers, bows, swords, axes, and spears.
The zombies adopted a wave strategy, going in squads to whittle us down so as to swarm us with an all-out attack later. First wave came in and they looked to be peasants, wielding farming equipment and wearing rather worn-out clothes.
Gripping my weapon tightly, I channel some electricity through my sword. Going for the first enemy, I swung overhead, taking it down successfully. But, two from the back, in a sort of planned attack, stabbed me in my sides with their pointy rakes.
[120 Damage Received]
That was more painful than I expected, shit. 'Lightning Bolt' There, that should take out both of them. Wait, aren't there more? Looking behind gave me an answer, as Salter had already killed the rest of them.
[You Gained a Level]
[Stats Plundered]
STR- 2, END-1, DEX-1
Neat, but there's still like 20 more waves of zombies, ghosts, and other bullshit. Giving a glance towards the new horde, I used both 'Twister' and a couple of psychic crystals to shred or leave them brain dead. This surprisingly worked, as they stopped struggling as soon as they were caught up in the large spinning death tornado.
Next wave came in and now they were some basic soldiers with swords and one spear guy. They were all quickly taken out with a couple bursts of 'Force'. This kept going on, with the hordes slowly but surely growing stronger with each wave, more and more undead joining them, and getting bodied by the holy water enhanced swords.
Every 5 waves though we were met by a mini-boss, a stronger variant of a standard enemy. Nothing particularly of note until wave 15, dungeon dropped a buffed-up version of the tank from left for dead. So much for doing the mini-boss solo.
After that quick recap of monotonous wave clearing, we finally finished wave 19.
[You Gained a Level] X11
[Stats Plundered]
STR- 37, END-23, DEX-41, INT- 7, WIS- 4, LUK- 2
[Skill Gained]
[Psycho Slash] (Active)
Cut the air using your mind. Can be used to give enemies a bad time.
Damage- INT +WIS X 2.3 Slash Damage
Cost- 750 MP per cast
[Skill Upgraded]
[Plunder +1]
Stats Plundered: 1/10 - 1/5
[Telekinesis Mastery] (Passive) {Apprentice}
+20% Damage to [Esper] class attacks
-10% MP cost to [Esper] class spells
Surprisingly it got better, the game never told me it could. But this should be the last mob until we get the sweet reward at the end of the tunnel.
*clop clop clop*
Horse-rider? Wait one second. If this is what I think it is then.
[Secret Boss Triggered]
[Boss: Dullahan]
'Shit.' Just one word was able to describe what was happening. A rider atop the hill of corpses that were decaying. Riding high and mighty on his horse, he wielded a giant glowing sword in one hand and an armored head in the other. The boss just gave this ethereal feeling in the air, what might be massive amounts of mana being poured out by the sword. The horse neighed seeing us standing at the bottom.
"Hey Salter, can I do this thing alone? I know you can nuke it with your NP, but I just want to see if I can fight it. Just trust me on this one okay." I pleaded with the Yandere. The expression on her face turned confused then a bit angry but she eventually nodded, accepting my decision to get fucked up.
With a sigh, I charge up myself and my weapon with any and all buffs I can give it, both lightning and crystal shards joining my weapon. And in an attempt to damage it, tried to strike it down with lightning.
*BOOM*
Nothing, absolutely nothing. Some 'it was not very effective' levels of damage right here. Hey! At least I tried. Now giving the mounted man a stare down, he decided to rush at me first, sweeping his sword in a relatively low from his point of view.
[100 Damage Received]
Even if I side stepped from this, a small part of my left arm was still cut. It wasn't an issue with the my regeneration kicking in, but what is an issue was the incoming blade coming for my head once again.
Instead of doing something reasonable and smart, I opt to instead challenge the blade. Swinging my own sword into his, enhancing the attack temporarily with 'psycho slash'. This worked surprisingly, the two hits staggered the headless man long enough for me to plunge directly into his suit of armor.
"ARGHGHHHHH" The Dullahan screamed in agony from its helmet, feeling the pain of being pierced through the 'chest' yet not being able to die from it. Dislodging the sword from his chest, I look back at him only to see both him and the horse writhing in pain as small streaks of red pigment slowly danced around him.
This red thing, for lack of a better term, was most likely mana. Or at least mana that was deeply infused with rage. The amount was uncertain, but it was enough to, after a couple of seconds, create a mist around himself to attack me from.
The mist covered most of everything, including his horse. Now that I'm stuck in said mist, my only way out was through him. Which was quite easy, as I had my downgraded spidey sense with me, I dodged his first strike by ducking. Second attack wasn't as lucky though, as it ripped a portion of my mid-section.
[750 Damage Received]
On the verge of death once again. My closest dance with it actually, besides my death anyway. Grabbing the still stuck glowing sword I yanked it out of my gut, looking at the hand still attached to it. Putting it on my right hand, while using storm bringer on my left, I cast tornado once more to clear up the mist. With my vision being cleared up, I could finally see the unarmed boss in front of me.
And just like me, he did the best attack he could.
[100 Damage Received]
He got off his horse and punched me, straight in the face. Just tried to knock me the fuck out, I guess. This last-ditch effort failed as I slashed both mine and his sword into the head he was holding. "HAHAHAHA! I won! Eat a dick you horse riding, sword-wielding, headless bitch!" I shouted many profanities in my head out of victory.
[Secret Boss Defeated]
[Special Rewards will be given out.]
[Cursed Blue Sword of the Monarch]
A magic sword used by an old king. It was stolen when one of his subjects ran away with his prized daughter. Now in the possession of the princess, the knight lived happily ever-. The village they were in was raided by bandits. The princess defiled, and the knight tortured and was forced to watch as they murdered and continued defiling her corpse. Cursing vengeance upon them, he watches over the forest surrounding the village, protecting his wife's final resting place.
Damage- {(STR+ (DEX/1.5) X 2.4) + INT}
Special Skill- Accursed Rage
[Accursed Rage] (Active Weapon Skill)
User goes into a berserk-like state, where they will protect anything precious to them. And if the thing you are protecting gets hurt or is destroyed, the user will go deeper into the state, getting stronger for each second until the enemy is desecrated.
+1 points in each stat per second that the user is in stage 1 rage.
+5 points in each stat per second that the user is in stage 2 rage.
Cost- 1 - 10% HP per minute.
[Master Bedroom Key]
[Familiar Stone]
If used on nothing, the stone will search through the multiverse for a suitable familiar. Though, if a target has already been established, the stone will bind to the creature.
[You Gained a Level] X3
[Stats Plundered]
STR- 36, END-25, DEX-49, INT- 7, WIS- 10, LUK- 1
Was going to expect more, but the sword itself is already enough to body most mobs. What makes all of this even better is that fact I can dual wield both of them. Taking a page out of the edge lord black swordsman should turn out well enough to survive.
And as for the key, it might be a shortcut straight to the boss, or perhaps a secret room full of valuables. Both work just as fine.
But just as I was going to examine the weapons further, Salter coughed. "Luke! We still need to finish the dungeon, time is ticking." She reminded me in a desperate tone. "Sorry! Just a bit lost in thought, that's all" I reassure her.
"If that's the case, then we better head to the mansion. The faster we complete this, the faster you can get to your bed." Is she doing this on purpose? Is my yearning for sleep being weaponized against me? Yes. Maybe I should invest in literal cockblockers.
…
An hour of walking and killing zombies, ghouls, and other undead later.
We made it to the mansion. Looks quite nice actually, if it weren't for the oversized spiders blocking the way it would. How did this even happen! Who approved of the giant zombie spiders! *sigh* They're at least dead now. Lightning and lots of magic does that to living beings.
Moving on, the inside of the house itself, or the first room I visited, was large. It could fit around 100 people easily. Guess what it was filled with now? Ghosts! The people that were here for what I assume to be a party, are now ghosts.
The loud creaking of the door alerted all of them to our presence, and because of game physics, they all rushed towards both me and Salter. They were all relatively easy to take down, the only thing stopping me from killing all of them is their sheer number and the fact that they barely give any stats. So instead of going through the entire thing, I let Salter handle it.
Quickly notifying her through our connection, she began to charge up mana. Small red and black spirals crept up her arm, slowly crawling and converging towards her sword. Coating the blade in this semi-liquid mass, she slammed her sword into the ground.
*BOOM*
*BRRRRR*
The entire house fell apart. Bits and pieces of debris and loot raining from the sky. Dust clumped up into a massive ball behind everyone. And finally, a large bathtub that somehow managed to survive the carnage.
"WAAHH! How dare those peasants ruin my mansion like this! I'll show them what your little revolution will do when I'm angry!" The figure in the tub shouted in anger. Getting out of said tub, it revealed a lady in all white, from her hair, to her shoes… Why was she taking a bath in full clothing? 'Observe'
[Queen (Princess) Caroline, Booette
HP- 100% (0.5% per min)
MP- 100% (30% per min)
LVL- 100
Rank- Boss
Skills: Ghost Physique, Dimension Magic
STR- 20
END- 80
DEX- 190
INT- 200
WIS- 40
CHA- 45
LUK- 22
Thoughts about you: Doesn't know who you are, but is extremely angry at anyone.]
'I wonder if she can make a fake inve-' Salter raised her sword once again, but this time going in for a downward slash. "Wait! I have an idea. We might be able to beat her without killing." I proposed to Salter, who clicked her tongue, but accepted nevertheless. But the boss heard my shout and turned back, raising her hand up, and she prepared to blast us.
This was really bad; she could send us to a planet where it is just filled with open blenders. Salter grabbed a hold of me and dashed over to a safer place. "I'll trust you this time Luke. But if you're going to die, I'm going to step in unlike last time." She warned me, staring a hole into my soul.
"I can agree with that, just please stop staring at me like that." I fearfully stated, not wanting to burn from her fury.
And so, I made a plan. A plan so great, it would make people jealous of me. It was simple, use the familiar stone to get a free waifu. Magic like that would be of great use, using dreams as a jumping off point to create worlds to explore… and pillage.
I just have to get close enough to use the stone without it searching for other random familiars. Easier said than done, when the thing you're trying to capture can just blip you out of existence and into the fucking shadow realm, send you to another dimension, evil bullshit.
In a stroke of sheer genius, I remembered the dust ball. It would make a great o̶r̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶g̶r̶e̶a̶t̶ smoke screen to hide whatever I was preparing. Slowly moving towards the ball of lung death, I launched the attack.
*POOF*
[1 Damage Received] X25
*cough* *cough* holy shit! My lungs! *cough* 'force' *cough* Don't breathe and everything will be alright. This should buy me enough time to take her within the stone. But the sudden stabbing sensation fills my senses, reflexively jumping back to avoid something.
*blip*
A clear circle where I had just been, appeared for but mere moments, erasing everything in and around the circle, missing me by only a foot. "I know you're there~. Come out, come out wherever you are~. I won't bite~ I'll just have you pay for ruining my house~." The inner workings of a yandere… but for house, I guess. Can't really blame her for it either, since it could have been rather important to her. My guess is that she was bound to the house when she died, and now that the house was destroyed some sort of switch spell activated, letting her run loose.
No time for that right now though, we have to focus on the ghost queen waifu if we want to get her without using extreme measures. Activating 'OFA' and dodging her multiple attempts at sending me to the shadow realm, I was able to get around 3 meters before I reached her. But a stray shard of glass got itself stuck in my foot and my screams of pain revealed my location.
[1500 Damage Received]
The whole right half of my body disintegrated. The only reason why I'm still alive is OFA giving a boost to END. Still, it hurts like a massive bitch. The only thing keeping me from letting out cries of pain is the fact I could use it to my advantage.
After letting the dust settle, the 'queen' approached my body, a very smug look on her face. "HAHAHAHA! Look at what happened to this one. Tried to oppose me! What a joke! No one ca-. WHAT!" She noticed that I still had most of my body. Caroline narrows her eyes almost instantly, realizing what has happened.
Using that small window of opportunity, I took the win, crushing the familiar stone in my hands. The motes of light once again appeared, this time congregating towards the struggling ghost lady. The light wrapped around her arms, slowly moving its way towards both ends of her body.
[Princess Caroline has been captured!]
[Dungeon Boss Defeated]
[Familiar Compendium has been sent to inventory]
[Would you like to change familiar's name?]
[Yes] [No]
I think the name is good enough. Caroline just sounds nice, doesn't it? And we just got a spatial warping familiar who may or may not kill us.
[- 20 Affection with Caroline, for using a weird spell that won't let her kill you.]
[-50 Obedience with Caroline, because she hates you]
"Let me go this instant, peasant! Whatever you've done to me, I will rip you to shreds. If I'm being particularly merciful, I might just make you disappear." Caroline screeched out, trying her best to attack me, only to be given a shock courtesy of the brand. 'Oh, so it's like a slave brand. Going to have to change that later once we're out of here.' I thought while signaling Salter to come back.
[Quest Accomplished]
[I'm the queen of the castle.]
Objective- Defeat the ghost queen to finish the dungeon.
Bonus Objective- Defeat secret boss.
Secret Objective- Make the ghost queen your familiar.
Reward- 60K EXP, 1 Gacha Token, [Undead Monster Hunter] Title.
Bonus Reward- [Familiar Stone]
Secret Reward- [Greater Heart Crystals] X 6, [Phase Walk]
Failure- Eternal damnation in hell.
[Undead Monster Hunter]
+ 25% Damage towards undead enemies.
+ 5% Damage resistance against undead enemies.
[Greater Heart Crystals]
A large heart-shaped crystal so powerful, it is said to seduce married women into falling in love with the user.
+ 15 Affection/Reputation to anyone this is given to.
Note: Only works until the target's affection/reputation is at 75.
[Phase Walk] (Active)
The power to go through walls. A no clip that works in real life. One slight problem though, you can fall through the ground. Better luck next time.
Cost- 1000 SP per second.
[You Gained a Level] X 3
That n-. Oh shit! "Salter, I know you might be mad. But think about it for a minute. I was able to beat the boss." Of course, it failed to calm her down, what did you expect? "You said it wouldn't be suicidal, and the minute I take my eyes off you, you end up doing this!" She pointed to everything around us.
"But I was st-"
"I get it already. You were able to beat the ghost queen. But in a battle where people have powers capable of killing you in a single hit, why do you choose to be suicidal? I- I- I just don't want to lose you again. All I ask is for you to be safe. Can you at least try to listen to what I'm saying, if only for a little bit?" Her voice slowly grew sad whilst saying this, her arms wrapping themselves around my body.
While all of this was happening, the ghost queen was shouting profanity after profanity at us. It was quickly stopped; I don't know how though, but it was stopped. And with everything finished, I raised my hand and shouted like an anime character. "I.D: Escape"
[A/N: This took a rather long time to make (google docs wouldn't work with me sadly). Anyways, I would just like to thank 'morde24' and 'Amarathaine' for beta reading the chapter. And chapter summary is below.
Luke goes to sleep for 30 minutes, is somehow transported to the past, and meets a future version of himself. He's woken up by Salter and they both go into the undead dungeon. Fight zombies, skeletons, ghosts, etc. Gets into a fight with both a secret boss dullahan, and a ghost queen who can send him to other worlds. Secret boss gets demolished, while ghost queen becomes a waifu for all of us to enjoy.]