Lulidew

[Fae See] Starved Obsidian Necromantic System

As Lorien had paved the way for the others, he turned back and called out for the rest to follow. “Seems like its mostly safe inside. No new traps whatsoever.” But it sure did feel oddly cold for some reason. It truly was a place of mystery and it seemed like the pyramid was a living being itself.

That was when he noticed Xune’s skeletons getting speared by the same trap and Mantis following suite as well. Xune’s skeletons were pretty sluggish after all and they didn’t have the agility whatsoever to go about it, thankfully she had the soul shields to defend them though. Mantis on the other hand… For someone who had been so arrogant earlier, Lorien found it funny that she didn’t avoid the trap at all and went to trigger the very same trap. Or could it be that she wasn't able to perceive where it was? That could have been something he overlooked.

There wasn't much point to Lorien leading the way revealing any possible traps if she was going to step on them regardless anyway. That seemed to defeat the point of this strategy. The boy shook his head, sighing. Although his plan was a reckless plan, sure, but at this rate they would never make any progress trying to trigger every trap by throwing pieces of rubble and broken equipment every 5 steps they took. That would take ages to get anywhere! “Boss lady, perhaps you could put up barriers on us again as we venture deeper in. That could help with any unexpected traps.” He suggested to Xune.

Anyway, the boy would wait patiently for the others to catch up. They should probably regroup before entering the main chamber.

[Fae See] Starved Obsidian Necromantic System

Lorien didn’t know what Mantis was saying as she was speaking in a foreign language the entire time but he could tell that she had no intention of healing him. Strange… Did she notice he was lying somehow? “Sorry, could you speak in common? I don’t quite catch what you are saying.” He said, tilting his head to one side innocently as he did so.

As Lorien proceeded to sensing the traps, she seemed to have called him something crude. He only raised an eyebrow in response, although he returned his attention back to sensing out the traps. He realized he was unable to sense any of the traps, he could only pick out on a clearer image of the pyramid they were in, which didn’t seem all that helpful. “I don’t sense anything out of the ordinary. Maybe we just need to avoid the traps as they come.” He announced his findings to the others. He then turned to Ryker. “If you ever need some new armor, I could craft one for you once we’re done with this mission.” The boy offered.

“Anyway, I’ll see if I can secure a safe path in. I might just be fast enough to dodge the traps, you just need to follow the path I take and see what traps spring out. If I do get injured though… Well, I’m able to heal myself so it should be fine. Or perhaps I can rely on Mantis for that?” He looked at Mantis with a slight teasing smile.

He then turned to the entrance once more, preparing himself by taking in a deep breath, before going in with [Dash] and attempting to jump over the area with the spike traps from earlier. He continued venturing deeper in, using his [Sense] to pick out any unnatural movement from the surroundings in case another trap were to spring out.

[Dash] – Fast F, athletics F, acrobatics F, energized F
Description: Dash nimbly with 2x movespeed up to 40ft.
Cooldown: 0 Post
[Sense] – Grade E – Feature: dark vision, heightened sense F (hearing), appraisal E, perception F, energized E
Description: Sense the area around with enhanced sight and hearing, while also being able to see in darkness.
Cooldown: 0 Post

[Fae See] Starved Obsidian Necromantic System

As the party were about to enter the pyramid’s entrance, Ryker was the first one who crossed the entry way and a bunch of spikes erupted from the ground aiming to pierce him. Thankfully Lorien wasn’t in the front this time round, so he didn’t need to budge an inch to dodge it.

When Xune would ask if anyone knew about traps, Lorien shook his head in response. It’s not like he had a trap detection skill or anything, but he might have a way of spotting them still. “I could try to sense the area around us, but its pretty limited.” He said, before carrying on to use [Sense] in order to sense the area near the entrance for any traps.

[Sense] – Grade E – Feature: dark vision, heightened sense F (hearing), appraisal E, perception F, energized E
Description: Sense the area around with enhanced sight and hearing, while also being able to see in darkness.
Cooldown: 0 Post

[Fae See] Starved Obsidian Necromantic System

Xune stole the spotlight this time round as her soul flames blasted all the skeleton warriors into smitherins. Lorien, watching the scene unfold before his eyes, his smirk vanished quickly as his neutral bored expression came back on, alongside a small hint of disappointment to it. He wanted to test out himself against the new strong foes! However, the spider boss lady had other plans it seemed. She did end up expending a lot of power in that one attack… Was she getting irritated that the pyramid wasn’t letting them in anytime soon?

And to make matters worse, she ended up burning barbequeing the remaining firbolgs in her attack. Lorien took note that he ought to avoid getting on her bad side or he might just end up like them as well.

He followed silently along with the group going into the pyramid, listening in on their conversation along the way. He didn’t really know much about her mission to collecting these relics, but it sounded like a fun quest. That was when Xune asked for some healing, to which Mantis stepped in to help out with that. Her method of healing was pretty… interesting to say the least. Lorien eyed her blood tentacles as they did their job, penetrating the spider boss’s body to heal her. Actually, that looked like it could be fun.

“Hey, Mantis was it? I’m injured too. Could use some healing.” Lorien lied, clutching his abdomen as if he had some internal injuries. He had already healed himself earlier, but he was curious how it would feel to have those tentacles forced their way into his body. "The damned soul drain had got me good." He groaned while faking a pained expression.

[Fae See] Starved Obsidian Necromantic System

As Lorien dashed right back into the soul drain radius, unfortunately he ended up getting some of his soul sucked anyway. Pain struck his body as he felt his soul being pulled out of him, and his body felt like it had lost some strength too. It was an unpleasant, unnatural feeling, but he was also pretty intrigued by it. So this was what it was like to receive soul damage, the boy mused to himself.

That aside, the boy launched his attack deep into the depths of the pyramid entrance, and as it travelled deep into its belly, the pull from the pyramid started to fade as well. He heaved a sigh of relief as his reckless plan had worked out in the end, and even felt kinda proud of himself for figuring out the pyramid’s mechanism before the others did. Maybe he was a hidden genius? Well, every party needed a genius strategist on their side to balance out the dumbness after all. Without him, they’d be wandering about all day figuring out a way to get in there. He did take some damage from the stunt however, but it was definitely worth it and he did enjoy the pain too.

“It’s done. It seems like launching attacks or spells deep into the pyramid’s belly can help to satiate its hunger and prevent it from draining all our souls out. Works as a temporary measure of course, but having those barriers up too would be ideal if the pyramid ever gets hungry out of nowhere again.” He spoke to the others aloud and more notably to Xune who had the power to grant them barriers. It could tank 1 soul draining hit at the very least. However, as he turned to actually face them he realized the party was still under attack from the skeleton soldiers.

Oh right… They were busy dodging out of the harmful soul drain area instead of fighting the soldiers within it. A good call… But it did seem pretty meek of them. A true warrior would have fought the soldiers with all their might, regardless of whether their souls get sucked or not in the process. Oh well, it seemed like it was Lorien’s time to save the day again. Geez, what would they do without a great knight of darkness like him?

Both Xune and Ryker had a skeleton undead each going for their throats. They could take em, probably… And Mantis, she seemed very loyal to their spider boss so she would cover for her if needed. In that case, trimming out the undead horde would be the better move here. First, he would move closer to the horde using [Dash] while still maintaining somewhat of a distance between them like around 30ft, before sending out an area ranged darkness attack near the back of the horde of undead chasing them using [Rend III]. Afterwards, he’d heal himself using [Heal]. "Well then, let's test and see how strong you are compared to the previous bunch." He said with a smirk on his face. He couldn't help but to get excited knowing that these guys were stronger than the small fry they faced earlier.

Actions:
1. Move closer but not too close using [Dash] – Fast F, athletics F, acrobatics F, energized F
Description: Dash nimbly with 2x movespeed up till 40ft.
Cooldown: 0 Post
2. Attack the near back of the horde using [Rend III] – Fighting style [Polearms - Specialized] E, area E, range E, athletics F
Description: User swings his poleaxe, sending a dense wave of darkness out. This wave of darkness splits into numerous waves, slashing at all targets in a 15ft radius at a range up to 30ft away. (darkness deals slashing physical damage)
3. [Heal] - Healing F, energized F
Description: User summons dark aura to heal themself for 1HP
Cooldown: 0 Post

[Fae See] Starved Obsidian Necromantic System

Seeing how the rest of the team was getting their soul drained as they too approached the entrance, Lorien clicked his tongue. They were getting nowhere with this. So they couldn’t enter the entrance directly… Then what were they supposed to do here exactly? The firbolgs brought them to this very entrance but it wasn’t very welcoming. The pyramid was still spewing out more undead that seemed stronger than the ones they fought outside so far, being reinforced by soul flames.

Meanwhile only a handful of the firbolgs remained, most having scattered off or gotten their life drained by the pyramid. It was unfortunate… He did try to save them as best as he could, but most of them ended up dying anyway. What to do, what to do… the boy thought to himself.

His eyes lit up as he thought of an idea. Well, it was probably a stupid idea, but it was an idea regardless. “Hey boss lady! I got an idea. If this pyramid likes absorbing energies so much, why don’t we pump in even more energy right into its mouth?” He called out to Xune. He then dashed closer to the entrance and slashed the air in front of him using [Rend], sending darkness deep into the mouth/entrance of the pyramid for an area blast inside of it. After he was done with his stunt, he used [Dash] to turn back and escape from the soul draining in case his plan had failed.

Actions:
1. + 2. Dash in and send an attack into the entrance of the pyramid using [Rend] - Fighting style [Polearms - Specialized] D, range D, area E, fast E, acrobatics F, athletics F
Description: User dashes nimbly up to 80 ft with 4x movespeed, before slashing a wave of darkness at a target 100ft away. The wave of darkness explodes upon reaching the target, hitting all targets in a 15ft radius around it.
Cooldown: 2 Post
Actions: 2

3. Dodge out of area using [Dash] – Fast E, athletics F, acrobatics F, energized E
Description: Dash nimbly with 4x movespeed up till 80ft.
Cooldown: 0 Post

[Fae See] Starved Obsidian Necromantic System

As Lorien stepped nearer to the pyramid, he suddenly felt a sensation pulling him in and his soul felt like it was being drained as well. “Damn it…” He cursed under his breath. Sure he said he wanted a foe that could drive him to the brink of death, but he had imagined it to be more of a fair honorable battle to the death kinda thing instead of getting sucked into the mouth of a giant living pyramid. That would be lame. But it wasn’t like the pyramid cared all that much about his feelings.

Without a moment to lose, he turned back trying to dodge out of the suction area with his nimble movement and quick speed, using [Dash] once more but with more force this time.

Actions:
1. Dodge out of area using [Dash] – Fast E, athletics F, acrobatics F, energized E
Description: Dash nimbly with 4x movespeed up till 80ft.
Cooldown: 0 Post

[Fae See] Starved Obsidian Necromantic System

Lorien watched silently as the darkness from his weapon sliced through numerous of the undead in its path. He sighed… Just like that? These foes weren’t strong enough to get him excited. And besides, they were already dead beings. That didn’t make it as fun to kill. On the other hand, there were some very interesting living comrades in the party who seemed more than capable of putting up a good fight. As he had this thought, he observed Mantis and Ryker as they too fought back against the undead in their own styles. He could feel his heart throbbing in excitement, but he shook his head out of it.

“Calm down, Nyx… Now’s not exactly the time for pointless duels.” He whispered to his poleaxe while patting its head gently. They would only waste their precious energies before the quest if they had a mock practice duel right now. Oh, and there was that issue of the pyramid spewing out an endless horde of enemies. Besides, surely there would be more interesting foes up ahead in the pyramid? Maybe one that could drive him to the brink of death? That might be fun.

Now, back to the endless horde… Xune was kind enough to give them barriers each, aiding them in their fight. Meanwhile, Lorien was considering using an area attack this time round, but the issue is that he couldn’t avoid hitting allies in the area of attack yet([Selective] skill), so he had to hold back for the time being. That was when boss spider lady gave her orders. Run to the entrance as she blew the place up, and hopefully they too wouldn't get blown up in the process. The spell she was casting seemed very powerful too… Could probably vaporize him within seconds if it actually hit him. Although to be completely beaten up and destroyed by a tiny cute spider lady, that could also be a fun thing, he nodded to himself.

Anyway putting weird thoughts aside, now that the boss was on the move, he just had to follow orders. Without much emotion showing on his face, he dashed towards the entrance of the pyramid using [Dash], and using [Sense] to sense for any strangeness or signs of an incoming attack.

Actions:

1. [Dash] – Fast F, athletics F, acrobatics F
Description: Dash nimbly with 2x movespeed over 40ft.
Cooldown: 0 Post
2. [Sense] – Feature: dark vision, heightened sense F (hearing), appraisal E, perception F, energized E
Description: Sense the area around with enhanced sight and hearing, while also being able to see in darkness.
Cooldown: 0 Post

[Fae See] Starved Obsidian Necromantic System

Lorien

Lorien found himself in the middle of the Fae See, following behind a group of firbolg guides as they led the party to their destination. The forest around them were dark, gloomy and silent. However, instead of feeling fear, the boy felt homely and comfortable more so than anything. Places that were dark and silent had a very peaceful and tranquil vibe after all; it was only natural that a previous shut-in like Lorien would enjoy being in such a place.

A few days back, the boy had been looking for yet another mercenary job to take up to build up on his levels in this new foreign world that resembled one of those rpgs he used to play. Making money to earn a living was also on the priority list, which is why he became a mercenary in the first place. That was when he came across this job that involved exploring some pyramid structure in the Fae See. He liked the creepy vibes it was giving off, and since he hadn’t explored the Fae See all that much, perhaps it would be a good opportunity to explore a new area.

As such, he accepted the request and headed on to the place. The employer turned out to be a tiny spider lady resembling… What was it called again? Arachne? Anyway, she seemed small and cute, although just a little creepy. The rest of the party consisted of a holy knight of sorts, a crazy looking elf and a samurai lady. Among them, the holy knight guy seemed the most out of place. He seemed too good to be here… Or perhaps he was biding his time silently, waiting for the right time to exorcise the spider boss? After all, it was not strange for paladins to hunt down necromancers. If such an infighting were to happen, things could be fun, the boy nodded to himself as a slight smile found its way onto his face.

Then, they arrived.

Undead monsters spawned out of nowhere, attacking the firbolgs while the pyramid’s opening tore open like a wound. Admittedly, things were getting scary… but at the same time, very cool. It reminded him of a VR horror game! Lorien didn’t know whether they ought to just ditch the filborgs and enter the pyramid, or to help fend off the undead. He would think that doing the former would be too cruel to their kind guides, so for now, he decided to lend a hand. Besides, he wanted to test out his skills against this new enemy.

“Boss lady, I’m going to see if I can help out.” He told Xune in an emotionless serious tone, taking out his poleaxe and dashing up to a nearby undead before it could reach one of the firbolgs. He swung his poleaxe, sending a wave of darkness out towards the undead. If he couldn’t make it in time, his range would at the very least. [Rend IV]

Actions:
[Rend IV] – Fighting style [Polearms - Specialized] E, range E, fast E, acrobatics F, athletics F, energized E
Description: User dashes nimbly up to 80 ft with 4x movespeed, before slashing a wave of darkness at a target 30 ft away.
Cooldown: 0 Post
Actions: 2