Chapter 82 - Cleaning up
Draco pulled them away from their dastardly discussion when he urged for the party to move on. They left the now empty plains, walking forward to the abode of the Wood Elves.
Draco wanted to alleviate the pressure on the other groups before visiting the Dryads and sending this unique quest into phase 2.
When he reached the Savannah, all one could see were Manticores - Lions with scorpion stingers as their tail while also possessing wings - and Shamblers - which were huge masses of tree bark, vines and wood - fighting viciously.
The various other monsters could only serve as a backdrop for this intense fight, leaving one startled by its intensity.
Draco cricked his neck before adding himself to the fight, once again using Rain of Arrows as an opening salvo. Against the thick and powerful Shamblers, it didn't do much even with his strength, but it was super effective on the flying Manticores.
The air-borne Lions were shot down like planes during World War 1, falling to the ground in a heap of blood and meat. More than half of the arrayed Manticores could only greet Cerberus after this salvo from Draco.
He also made sure to include the various other miscellaneous monsters in his trajectory, sending them to the yellow springs as well.
Roma took charge of the Shamblers, she and her Witch Slaves casting out unhealthy amounts of black flame onto the plant-type monsters, sending them to non-existence as they clawed and screamed in a voice that sound like a tree branch being bent.
It was less than 5 minutes later that this area of the Savannah was cleared, allowing Draco and Roma to proceed to the home of the Wood Elves. On their way, they killed various parties of monsters, racking up experience points and loot on both sides.
By the time they reached the home of the Wood Elves, Draco was level 17, 86% and Roma was level 9, 12%.
「 Name: Draco
Class: Avenger (Optimal)
Rank: Adventurer (1)
Level: 17
Exp: 86%
Str: 10
Dex: 20
End: 10
Int: 10
Spr: 10
Cha: 10
Lck: 9
Combat Skills: Absolute Void, Revenger, Cloud Feet, Armageddon, Instant Healing, Rain of Arrows, Necrotic Hands, Evil Curse, Life Steal, Divination, Dark Resurrection.
Non-Combat Skills: Soul Bond, Omnipotent Archer, Charm, Insight, Foresight, Flexibility, Illusion.
Tradeskills: Smithing (level 33, 39%), Alchemy (level 37, 40%), Enchanting (level 26, 42%), Cooking (level 3, 15%), Taming (level 1, 0%)」
Draco placed 5 of his 6 new stat points into charisma and the remainder into luck. On the character sheet, there were typically two types of stats.
There were the combat stats, which included strength, dexterity and intelligence. The non-combat stats were charisma and luck. Spirit and endurance teetered on the edge of both sides, not really sticking to one.
Strength denoted your physical prowess and the raw damage one could do with melee weapons.
Dexterity denoted your speed in terms of movements and attacks, as well as the damage one could do with ranged weapons.
Endurance denoted one's ability to withstand damage, one's total health, one's total stamina and one's total stamina consumption.
Intelligence denoted your magical prowess and the raw damage one could do with spells.
Spirit denoted one 's ability to control Worldly Energy, as assisted by the game. Worldly Energy was the rawest form of Mana, so this also denoted one's mana regeneration on the combat side, and one's ability to craft properly on the non-combat side.
Charisma denoted your visual and oral prowess. Your words naturally sounded pleasing to the ears of others, no matter how vulgar or unreasonable.
Luck denoted your karmic prowess. For combat, it affected your critical hit rate. For non-combat, it affected too many aspects of Boundless, but the main one was the quality of drops, as well as the chances of higher loot from opening chests.
(Author's note: Please remember this at all times. In the first 50 or so chapters of Guild Wars, we had faced slow leveling progression because I needed to set some things up for the remaining 1000+ chapters. Now, we are resuming leveling progress, so remember what these stats do for Draco and other players.)
Omar and a few Wood Elf babes dropped down from some trees and smiled when they saw Draco, though one could see the traces of battle on them. Some of the girls were those Draco had filled with his seed, and their eyes as they gazed at him were filled with obeisance and a slight desire.
However, the scenario did not allow for debauchery to resume. There was an invasion of parasites and parasitic monsters that threatened the very lives of every member of their race, so s.e.x could come later.
"Omar. Give me a situational report." Draco cut to the chase and got down to business, only smiling at his chosen girls slightly.
"We have split our people into various hunting parties to clear out the monster presence in the Savannah. We've been encountering some difficulties here and there, but my people have long mastered the terrains here. No lives have been lost."
Omar spoke quickly and calmly, nocking an arrow and firing it almost without looking, his projectile piercing through the head of a parasitic monster that was trying to creep on them.
Draco could only sigh internally when he heard this. Unlike the Gypsies who had to turtle up and defend assiduously, the Wood Elves were powerful enough to directly hunt down the monsters, although they were quite careful about it.
Still, the disparity in strength was hard to fathom.
"It seems like you don't need my help then?" Draco asked with a slight smile.
Omar smiled back and beat his chest with pride. "Not until our darkest hour!"
Not until our darkest hour!
This line held the pride and confidence the Wood Elf race had in their combat and hunting prowess. That was understandable though. Putting aside the males, just the ferocious and powerful glint in the eyes of the females told of their intense prowess and self-confidence.
This, added to their beauty and lovely bottoms, was what made Draco go weak to his knees before them.
They were even fiercer than lionesses and stronger than tigers. The phrase 'strong and powerful women' did not even begin to describe them.
Seeing that his help was not needed, Draco could only unwillingly leave. One should know that despite how serious he was on the surface, some part of him hoped to spend some more time with these beauties, as he had not had enough.
But time was going and things needed to be done. He had spent a lot of time on this quest because he had spent almost a full day outside. 5 whole days had passed in-game, he needed to get out there and catch up with the progress of Umbra.
The Wood Elf girls also looked distressed that Draco was leaving, but they could only swallow their desire and focus on protecting their people. After the problem was solved, there was plenty of time to drain the fellow till he became a dessicated husk!
The party of three traversed the Four Point Valley on foot, since they needed to thin out the monster presence. It would've been incomparably easier to just blink to their destination, but that would be cutting the leaves without pulling out the roots.
By the time the party of three reached 1km of the Orc Encampment, they were rendered absolutely speechless. Even the witty and troublesome Qiong Qi was left flabbergasted.
That was because… the battlefield was mostly dominated by Green Orcs!!
What the f.u.c.k?
These greenskins were lost in the throes of battle, pitting their lives against those of the monsters. Even though their numbers were far fewer, their intensity was unmatched.
Their faces were locked into euphoric and blissful expressions as they slaughtered their enemies, even at the cost of sustaining injuries. Their bodies were covered with dirt, grime and blood, looking like murderers of the highest order.
What even blew the minds of the party of three further, was that one of the Green Orc females fell to her knees after she beheaded an enemy, m.o.a.ning as a golden shower erupted from her special place.
To achieve orgasm from battle… what even the f.u.c.k?
The monsters were more organized here, because if they foolishly fought each other, they would be slaughtered by these mad Orcs.
Some monsters hadn't even been killed. Those that had holes that could be penetrated, as well as those that had appendages that could be inserted, were taken away towards their encampment.
One could only gulp when they realized the fate of these monsters.
Draco shook his head and pulled out Pinaka once again. At this point, his special Archery technique was about 30% complete. Just a bit more and he would be able to create the first level of the skill.
He had tentatively named it The Star Shot Technique. That was because his arrows shined like stars as they pierced through the atmosphere, right into their targets.
His level had reached 19, 65% and he had increased his intelligence to 15 from 10 and his spirit to 14 from 10. Unlike other melee class users, all his stats were necessary since he could use magic.
Roma had gone to level 13, 14% and was still climbing. Her growth was so fast that most players could only sigh with envy. In just a matter of hours, she had caught up with the top most echelon of the playerbase.
Her Witch Slaves were now doing most of the fighting on her behalf. Whatever filth Qiong Qi had been whispering into her ears had finally taken root, and her actions began to change subtly.
Of course, Draco knew this. He didn't stop this because while being pure-hearted was good, Roma needed to became a lot more…'unkind'… if she wanted to follow someone like him.
Draco was evil, Eva was evil and everyone around them was varying degrees of evil except Rambunctious Buttlover.
That fellow was a noble hero with the most honorable goal.
If Roma was exposed to all of them for a while, her personality would naturally shift. However, that would take too long. By having Qiong Qi fill her mind with such malice, it would quicken the process.
Roma callously watched as her Witch Slaves captured various monsters and began to drain them heartlessly. Their withered bodies became fuller each time, some of them regaining flesh and vibrancy, although at minuscule levels.
This meant that they were becoming more humanoid and regaining life. With life came pleasure and pain, which should have weakened them, but rather strengthened them.
Their intelligence rose and their personalities began to diverge, forming something unique for each of them. Their speed and strength drastically increased as they devoured more and more life essence.
The Witch Slaves did not have stats or levels, but their prowess could be tracked by Roma, and by extension Draco, which was how he knew all this.
Both Draco and Roma had the unique and head pounding challenge of having to manage friendly fire. The Green Orcs were too lost in the heat of battle to even realize that the Witch Slaves were on their side.
If anything, they hated the Witch Slaves for stealing their kills! They also blocked Draco's arrows at times, using their weapons or their bodies.
Draco and Roma wanted to pull their hair out and use their feet to bash the skulls of these numbskull Orcs!
F.u.c.k, we are your allies! ALLIES! Do you understand what that word even means?!
Still, it was only in the face of adversity that one could progress. Draco had to utilize his Void of Perfection to redirect the trajectory of his arrows. With his weak brainwaves from before, this feat would've been impossible.
Now, he could barely move them a little. In truth, this had more to do with the psychic abilities that his Dark Angel Inheritance granted. Control could theoretically allow one to achieve telekinesis at higher levels, but the requirements for that would be too strenuous.
One would barely be able to lift a tennis ball.
Moving a high velocity arrow, although small, would directly tear one's mind apart.
To give an analogy, it would be like freefalling from the sky and grabbing onto an outstretched beam. The result of that would be one's hand tearing out of its socket.
It made his slow refinement of his technique experience drastic improvements. In fact it wasn't just the first level, even the barest foundation for the second level was beginning to form.
For Roma, she had to co-ordinate with her Witch Slaves to avoid the assaults of the indignant Green Orcs, as well as take down their enemies. This pushed the communication between these two parties to the limit as they began to refine ways in which to utilize their growing prowess.
After all, summoning Witch Slaves was something every Queenmother could do only once. Frankly, it would be too overpowered if they could summon these entities over and over again.
One characteristic of Necromancers was that the undead they summoned could never grow. Only the Necromancer himself could grow and summon more powerful undead.
But Witches - which was technically the class Roma possessed - could summon undead who could drain the living of their life essence and become stronger. They could use the same magic as their summoner, and possessed sharp intelligence.
If they could be summoned endlessly, wouldn't Boundless have been swarmed to death by Witch Slaves?
It took almost an hour to clear the battlefield this time, and Draco as well as Roma were no longer lax after it. Roma's face was flushed with exertion as her lovely caramel skin glistened with sweat.
Draco had to rub his temples to alleviate the strain on his mind.
It would be much easier to use telekinesis if he had some idea of how to utilize his Dark Angel Inheritance, but he didn't, so he had to use Control to simulate the effects and have his bloodline provide the raw power needed.
When the Green Orcs finally realized that there were no longer any enemies to kill or capture, they turned to Draco with surprise in their eyes.
When had the Blessed Envoy of the Almighty Duke arrived? Had he been witness to their racial prowess in battle?
Haha, no wonder he looked so defeated!
When Draco saw this go through their minds, he began to rub his temples faster, feeling that he might burst a vein at this rate.
Roknar sidled up to Draco with a confident smile on his face. "Haha, did Lord Drake see our mighty prowess in battle? We might have done much better had some inbred fool not ruined our flow by shooting arrows."
Roknar failed to see the fear and shock that emerged on Qiong Qi's expression as he stepped back slowly.
"Sigh, even then, it wasn't too bad. However, there was some other ingrate that sent a bunch of undead to slow us down. Truly, one could only wonder which idiot would do such a thing." Roknar added with a shake of his head.
Roma's body trembled as she lowered her head sadly.
Draco's body froze as his mind fell under the weight of the words he heard so far. After going through all this nonsense, this dog-like greenskin had the audacity to insult him and his woman?
Qiong Qi made the sign of the cross as he dug a hole in the earth and stuck his head inside.
Roknar began to laugh as he thought about how the Duke's Envoy was so flabbergasted that he could not even deny their prowess. Truly, they had made a good showing today!
"Hm?"
However, Roknar soon noticed something. He saw those very same undead that he had insulted sidled up to the woman standing behind the Duke's Envoy, bowing to her as they reported their gains.
When he saw this, his smile froze and light beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. He felt as if his mind had touched upon a certain conclusion, but it was too terrifying for him to acknowledge.
As if guided by the will of God himself, his eyes fell on Draco, and saw the bow in his hands. There was an arrow still held in the nocking point of the bow, telling Roknar that the weapon had been used up to just a few seconds ago.
At this point, Roknar began to bathe in his own sweat as the threat of death whispered naughtily into his ears. He realized that he had sent a nude picture over to death, and instead of being blocked, death had sent a nude picture back!
A black aura began to emerge from Draco's body as his red eyes began to glow with malice and anger. His breathing became slow and his hair started to wave in the wind.
At that moment, Roknar made the best choice he had ever made in his life.
He fled!
Roknar turned around and threw his long legs forward, escaping as fast as he orcishly could. In fact, the fellow began to hate his parents for not granting him four legs when he was born, so that he could run faster.
He realized that no matter how far he went, that suppressive and fearful aura seemed to be always behind him. With despair clouding his mind, Roknar began to feel his body slow as his forward momentum weakened greatly.
In fact, his body began to move backwards even though he was taking steps forward, like an invisible rope had been tied to his waist.
"SOMEONE SAVE ME!" Roknar cried for help, but none came. After all, the other Green Orcs had similar expressions of despair as they were being pulled towards Draco.
They had teased the devil and wanted to go home v.i.r.g.i.ns after arousing him? Too naive!
It was time to pay the price!