Spiteful Healer: Book One - A LitRPG Adventure, page 21
Those were the last words Eli heard before he sat in the sim-box and closed it.
When Eli entered the simulation, he saw a message on his screen.
The Character Re-Customization request has been accepted for one-time use. Any changes made will be permanent once you re-enter the game.
Changing starting islands or class is not possible. In the event of a racial change, you will be forced back to the nearest respawn location.
[]Accept
After hitting accept, Eli was back in front of the character customization screen. His avatar hovered in front of him, fully equipped. It felt oddly like looking in a mirror, yet he wasn’t quite himself.
The first change was easy. He added brown streaks to his blonde hair and tweaked the length to make it longer and spikier. He spent more time on it than he cared to admit but was still unsatisfied with the results. Eventually, he found a preset menu and scanned the options until he settled on a short, stylized version of his usual hair.
Next, he made himself a smidge taller, then shorter, then taller again, before finally settling back to his actual height. Zooming in on his face, he tweaked his eyes and jawline to appear more handsome and shrank his nose a bit—he didn’t like how big his nose was in real life anyway.
Feeling satisfied, he zoomed out and nodded at his masterpiece. The name box, however, was still empty, flashing to remind him it was waiting for input.
A name for someone at the top. Gotta be interesting but short and easy to say, he thought, tapping his fingers together. He looked around for words on his screen to spark ideas, but nothing was coming up.
Eli typed in Summer, erased it, then typed in Priest, then Healer. He considered Eirene before opening the game manual via the main menu on the character creation screen.
The Goddess Eirene is the goddess of peace, love, protection, and innocence. Her symbol is the golden star, Aegis, which shines in the sky all year round and is said to be visible even on the darkest, stormiest nights. It represents peace and protection for all life.
“If I think about this too long, I’ll be stuck here all day,” he muttered, entering ‘Aegis’ into the name field and hitting accept multiple times until he was back in the game world, standing in the forest clearing he’d left the day before.
Glancing around, Aegis couldn’t see his party members, and his party interface had been cleared. It was sunny now, quiet save for the wind brushing through the trees and the birds chirping in the canopy. He decided to take the time to open his menu and navigate to the livestreaming section. He had options to begin livestreaming and recording his gameplay or save the last 24 hours of footage from his character.
The ‘On’ button was grayed out; beside it was a note about a pending application for the Fanta-See Network.
His attention was diverted by the sound of footsteps approaching from the north. He felt the urge to hide but remembered that he wasn’t Winter anymore and resisted it.
Out of the dense forest emerged a group of seven players, all below level 10—some Aegis recognized as raiding party members from the previous day.
“Hey, excuse me, are you guys coming back from the Darxon hideout?” Aegis asked.
“Yeah. I wouldn’t go if I were you. That’s a good way to get locked out of the game for six hours,” the leading player replied.
“What happened to the raid from last night?”
“There’s some big abyssal dog creature roaming around outside the hideout. Wiped the floor with us. I think the raid leader is going to keep trying. He returned to the keep after his third death, but most of the others have given up. We’re waiting for a high-level player to hopefully come and help.”
“So the people in Orm are still sick?”
“Yep. If you got one of the priest quests, I suggest you skip it for now. The guys working at Averon are insane for putting something like that in a low-level area.”
Aegis mumbled to himself as the group continued walking. He became restless, knowing he had to wait for his companions but keen to get to the hideout to see what was happening.
He killed time by using his woodcutting axe and Herbalism skills to gather more resources from the clearing for crafting until, finally, another player appeared behind him: [Lina – Level 11]. She glanced about for a moment before spotting Aegis and waving awkwardly.
“Uhm… Eli?” the purple-haired player asked.
“Selena?” he replied, and she nodded.
“You changed a lot!” She looked him up and down.
“You only changed your hair color.”
“Yeah… but I don’t think anyone will know who I am anyway, so it’s okay.” She shrugged. “Is Derrick here yet?”
“Nope. I’m just chopping.”
“Okay.” She sat cross-legged on a rock, wiggling her toes and watching Aegis patiently. They didn’t have to wait long before [Darkshot – Level 9] appeared in the clearing. He had short, black, spiky hair, dark brown eyes, and an ungodly number of tattoos and scars all over his face.
Aegis rolled his eyes. “Please don’t tell me you’re Derrick.”
“I have evolved beyond Derrick. I am an absolute badass.”
“You look like you got run over by a street sweeper.”
“What are you talking about? Scars and tattoos are badass. I look like an experienced war veteran, shooting arrows from the darkness—Darkshot. Aegis, though? For real?”
“It’s the name of Eirene’s star,” Aegis replied proudly.
“It’s also a word in the English dictionary, like Winter.”
“Whatever. I couldn’t think of anything better. It’s good enough.”
“Well…” Darkshot said in a narrator-type voice. “Are you going live yet?”
“Nope, the application’s still pending.”
“Okay, good. I have time to practice for my grand entrance,” Darkshot replied. He began doing dramatic turns and whispering random phrases to himself, akin to something you’d find in a comic book. ‘Looking for me?’ ‘Don’t worry, I’m here now.’ Aegis ignored him and sent a party invite to him and Lina.
“Aegis, Lina, and Darkshot. I guess it’s not bad,” Aegis shrugged. “I’ve got a quest I was working on before Keldan interrupted the other day, but I’ve heard the raiding party that went ahead of me to the hideout got wiped out. Are you guys okay with helping me?”
“Mhm. I’m all done with my quests for a while.” Lina smiled as she hopped to her feet.
“Of course, we’re your armed escort, right?! But I gotta ask, can you not attack at all?” Darkshot inquired.
“Nope, zero damage from me. I’ll be the tank and the healer,” Aegis answered.
“Roger,” Darkshot nodded. “I’ve been waiting for this since you said you’d play. Onward to our first dungeon crawl!” He squeaked with excitement.
Using the tall mountain for guidance, Aegis ensured they were heading in the right direction, and as they got closer to it, the mountain’s height became increasingly apparent. The soft forest floor transitioned into harsh, rocky terrain, and the trees and vegetation grew sparse. They walked up an incline until they came to a rocky cliff.
Aegis, leading the way, looked down over the edge to see a roughly 20-foot drop to a vast, flat stretch of grassy land between them and the base of the mountain. This area featured a wide, fast-moving river running eastward, wrapping halfway around a ruined keep in the center of the landscape.
The keep had only one tower still standing; the other three had partially collapsed. The keep’s central building had some missing walls, and green plant life had overtaken the building’s large gray stones.
They were at least a quarter mile away from the keep but had a good vantage point to gather information. Cloaked Darxon cultists were moving along the fortification walls, wandering around inside the keep, and patrolling the parts of the river nearest the ruins.
However, a large black wolf roaming the fields drew their attention. Its fur shimmered and reflected light as if made of glass. The wolf, the size of an elephant, left enormous paw prints in the dirt, indicating it was circling the keep, even walking through the river, guarding the perimeter. [Boss] was written above its head in red text.
“That’s a Ferrawolf… why is that here?” Lina said as she watched it move around.
“What’s a Ferrawolf?” Aegis asked.
“They usually live near the edge of islands in level 30-ish areas. They’re typically not considered bosses and are much bigger. Most people don’t hunt them because they have an annoying skill that makes them stronger the more players are nearby. This one is much smaller, so it’s probably weaker.”
“You know a lot about the game, huh?” Darkshot commented.
“Yeah...” She tilted her head down and began to fidget.
“Well, my quest is to find the creature whose blood they use for the poison. I didn’t complete the quest, so I don’t think it’s that thing. But that fur… looks valuable…” Aegis was almost drooling. “It’s easy for small groups, right? Let’s go get it.”
He looked around for a few seconds before finding a foothold on the jagged cliff face and began climbing down. Without saying anything, Lina followed him.
“Why are you climbing? I bet there’s a ladder or stairs or something somewhere.” Darkshot said anxiously as he looked over the edge.
“It’s faster to climb, come on.” Aegis motioned him to follow with a nod.
“Naaah, I’ll find some stairs and meet you at the bottom,” he replied, pulling back from the edge.
“Come on, this way is faster. Unless… are you afraid of heights or something?” Aegis asked, looking up at him.
“Pfshh, scared of heights? Me? Yeah, right. You are. I bet you’re scared of heights,” Darkshot stuttered. Lina held back a chuckle, but Darkshot noticed. “You just wait. I’ll find a staircase down real fast and meet you at the bottom, but you’ll probably fall and suffer tons of damage. Then we’ll see who’s laughing.”
With that, Darkshot stormed off.
Lina and Aegis reached the bottom without issue. Looking around, they couldn’t see Darkshot anywhere on the cliff above them.
“So these Ferrawolves, they’re not tough for small groups?”
“I… don’t know that much.”
“Let’s try it.”
“Should we wait for Darkshot?”
“Eh, he’ll catch up.” Aegis eyed the wolf wandering around the keep alone, nearing their side of the river now.
“Okay.” Lina smiled excitedly. “I learned a thief skill called Feint. It reduces a target’s aggression toward me, so you can keep it attacking you. If you need me to stop using it, let me know… I think I can run away for a bit, but the Ferrawolf is probably faster than me.”
“Got it!”
Aegis marched forward, shield fastened to his left arm.
“Stupid Aegis. Are you afraid of heights? Mhu mhu mhu mhu…’” Darkshot mocked Aegis’ voice. He continued along the cliff until he came across a slope that led down to the bottom like a ramp. “Hah, I told them!” Darkshot said triumphantly as he strutted down the ramp.
However, as he got closer to the bottom, he spotted a group of players. There were seven of them in total, all standing around a single player named Galanis. When Darkshot approached, they all turned to look up at him.
“Oh, good, you’re here to join the Darxon Hideout raid?” Galanis asked with enthusiasm, and everyone’s faces beamed up at him. Darkshot nervously fiddled with his party communication chat.
“Psst, hey, Aegis, Lina, the other party is here. Looks like they’re grouping up to fight the wolf again,” Darkshot messaged.
“Don’t let them near it—agh, it hits hard. Keep them away,” Aegis replied.
“Why does it sound like you’re already fighting it…”
In the distance, he saw the Ferrawolf biting at Aegis’ shield while Lina maneuvered behind it, stabbing furiously. The moment he looked, Galanis’ group looked as well.
“Galanis, look! Someone’s already fighting it!” Eccen called out.
“Come on, we need to help them!” Galanis replied. The players drew their weapons, ready to rush forward.
“Wait! You mustn’t!” Darkshot dashed to stand between them and the battle in the distance, deepening his voice. “The wolf is a deadly foe beyond your abilities. You must wait here and allow me and my companions to deal with it.”
“Huh? Move out of the way, or those guys will die,” Galanis protested.
“What the heck happened to your face?” another player mumbled.
“You want to know what happened to my face?” Darkshot ran his fingers through his hair. “When I was a young boy, my village was attacked by these wolves. That is how I learned to hunt them.”
“Young boy? You’re a player, not an NPC…” Eccen replied, annoyed, but Darkshot continued.
“I will never forget the darkness that fell on my village that day. I imbue that anger into every arrow I shoot from my bow. That’s why they call me Darkshot.”
“Is this guy for real?” someone grumbled.
“Look, man—” Galanis tried to be polite.
“Darkshot,” Darkshot corrected him.
“Darkshot. I appreciate some good roleplay, but we’ve got to kill the wolf and get into that keep to save Orm. Seriously, those guys—” Galanis looked over his shoulder to see that both Aegis and Lina were still fighting the wolf without showing signs of struggling.
“Trust in my companions. Those who are born from the darkness understand best how to defeat it. Wait here, and we shall slay the wolf so that you can rescue the village.”
Darkshot placed his hand on Galanis’ shoulder reassuringly, then gave him a final nod before turning and dashing toward the battle.
“Aegis, don’t worry, they’ll stay back. I handled it. I’m such a badass.”
“That guy’s such a loser,” someone commented as Darkshot moved out of earshot of Galanis’ group, the others nodding in agreement.
“Should we go and help them or wait?”
“Sounds like they want to fight it by themselves, so let’s wait and see what happens,” Galanis shrugged.
The group watched intently with their weapons at the ready.
Using Brace, Aegis managed to reduce the damage from the Ferrawolf’s attacks to 40 and 35. The creature alternated between biting at his shield and clawing at him, the force of each hit pushing him back. He had enough time between blows to heal himself with Minor Heal whenever needed. If the fight dragged on, he’d run out of mana, but fortunately, Lina was stabbing it from behind uninterrupted and dealing massive amounts of damage.
“Don’t worry, guys, I’m here! Piercing Shot!” Darkshot shouted as he got close enough to attack. He released a giant arrow from his bow that pierced the side of the Ferrawolf and magically passed through the creature, dealing decent damage.
“About time,” Aegis replied.
“Let’s kill this thing fast so those guys back there are even more impressed. Multishot, Piercing Shot!” Darkshot shouted, shooting three times.
“Ah, wait, be careful!” Lina warned him, but it was too late. The three arrows pierced the Ferrawolf, dealing a large amount of damage. It stopped attacking Aegis and turned to growl at Darkshot.
“Why is it looking at me?”
“Aegis doesn’t have any good aggression-building skills yet, so I was using Feint, but archers don’t get any aggression reduction until they take intermediate classes!”
“You idiot!” Aegis shouted. “How do I get it back on me?”
The Ferrawolf charged at Darkshot, who turned and ran away, screaming.
“Pinning Shot, Pinning Shot, Pinning Shot!”
The arrows hit the wolf, but it was immune to the snaring effect, ripping out of the vines and continuing to chase him. “Aegis, get it off me!”
“I’m trying! Stop pissing it off even more! And don’t run toward the other players, it will only make it stronger!”
“Where the hell am I supposed to run?” Darkshot looked back to see the Ferrawolf gaining on him quickly. “Why is it so fast?!”
“Your healing generates aggression, but only if the person you heal has taken damage,” Lina explained while chasing the wolf with her daggers, stabbing it.
“Darkshot, you’re going to have to let it bite you,” Aegis declared as he ran behind Lina.
“Hell no!” Darkshot shouted back.
“Why not? You’ve got plenty of health. You’ll be fine!”
“Because I turned my pain threshold up to 10!”
“Why would you do that?!” Aegis yelled.
“I didn’t want to fall behind you!”
“Then take the hit!”
“I’m scared!”
“Is there anything you aren’t scared of?”
“Getting bit by giant wolves is a perfectly reasonable thing to be afraid of, Aegis!”
“That guy is kiting without dealing damage… Isn’t that just running away?” Eccen commented, watching Darkshot fleeing with the large Ferrawolf hot on his heels.
“Maybe it’s part of their strategy,” Galanis suggested.
The wolf lunged forward, its gigantic fangs snapping at Darkshot, who narrowly dodged out of the way at the last second.
“Let it bite you, damn it!” Aegis shouted.
“Easy for you to say, you’ve got a shield!” Darkshot called back, ducking under a swipe from the wolf’s paws and continuing to run.
“He’s going to keep dodging, so I can’t heal him. Lina, can you…?” Aegis asked, looking at her as they ran behind the wolf, barely keeping up.
Lina nodded, took out a spare dagger from her inventory, and threw it between the wolf’s legs, hitting Darkshot in the back and dealing 90 piercing damage.
“Ow, what the heck?! Did you throw a dagger at me?” Darkshot yelled, glaring back at her. She shrugged innocently.
“Minor Heal!” Aegis cast, healing Darkshot and causing the Ferrawolf to turn its aggression back to Aegis. He lifted his shield to block the attack while Lina continued her attacks. Darkshot took the opportunity to catch his breath.
