Cyberserk & Vampiress

Revenge of the Gnomes

King Arador listened with a smile to the claims of Count Grograb. The head of the ancient gnome clan made statements that meant little but was in the interests of the kingdom. Baron Raven conducted his affairs with courage and did not appeal to the king's advisors. It was the independence of the young subject that troubled King Arador. The young aristocrat could be taught proper manners. The young man does not care at all about decent behavior. The baron does not visit the palace and takes no part in the life of the kingdom.

Count Grograb acted wisely and honorably. He considered himself and his clan insulted. The man's punishment must be discussed with the king of men.

"Your subjects will receive extra access to the Grab clan's missions. It is a sign of respect," the gnome said.

"I accept your position," the king replied. "The Baron must learn the proper way of life. In any case, he needs to understand the meaning of the restrictions that exist in the Grossroads. The high aristocracy must not be disturbed with impunity. I fully agree with that. ."

"I make no concessions. I care about the position of my clan. A strong royalty will be a strong ally to the city. My predecessor and descendant did not contribute to the support and development of the new power in the city. I believe this is wrong. Baron Raven is an occasion to express his attention to your cause," grinned the gnome. "It is good to know that we understand each other."

The attack on the human had been carefully prepared. Over the centuries, gnomes have learned many ways to destroy their enemies insidiously and unexpectedly. Dan Raven was careless and unprepared for an attack from the citizens.

Outside the Adventurers' Guild building, several gnomes struck a human with unexpected magic. Gnomes never boasted of their success in magic, but they possessed an excellent collection of spells. Several wizards struck the enemy figure with powerful spells. Several crossbowmen backed up the attack with shots of special enchanted crossbow bolts.

The mages were surprised to see that the human had managed to survive the powerful magical attack. The experienced sorcerer's gnomes quickly struck again. Four warriors with axes jumped up to the human and struck him with their axes. This was the end of the attack. The human's defense missed enough damage and Dan died. 

One of the gnomes fell to the ground. This unfortunate person received the cruelest punishment and will now not be able to lead an active life for many years. But there were enough loyal and selfless warriors and mages in every clan. The law of Karma was very harsh. People had already learned that the punishment for murder was not infinite. A man lost the ability to move and became disabled for a hundred years. A gnome murderer would suffer for 400 years.

The gnomes picked up the body of the afflicted murderer and quickly carried him down the street toward the top of the city where the gnome quarter was located. The indignant murderers found no trophies on the ground! The wretched human had lost his experience but retained his property. The beggar baron had no stock of items in his inventory. The gnomes were very unhappy with the end of their punishment. But everyone knew that in the Assassins Guild the members of the group would be well rewarded. The order to kill the unpleasant person had been placed with the guild a few minutes before the attack. The carefully planned mission succeeded. Now the foolish goldie will know that his life in the city is not safe. No need to disturb the gnomes!

***

Dan Raven woke up in the Temple and shook his head with a chuckle. Nasty gnomes! Distracted from important matters. Prevented them from taking a quest to the Adventurers' Guild. Now he has to waste mana to travel to the guildhouse again.

The announcement of the game system flickered before his eyes. The young man turned his attention to the message.

[Warning. You are dead. Penalty: loss of experience points.

Warning. You have received a Mandatory Random Quest. Do not remain dead. Rank Purple - Epic. 

Quest Details: Find a Revival Point within 120 hours. Quest condition: The player can use any skill/spell only 1 time. 

Reward: Rebirth in 120 hours.

Have a nice game!] 

"Damned gnomes! Tom!" Raven instinctively cast the Phantom spell. "We've got to punish these shorties harder. I got revival penalties!"

"I get that," smiled the clone. "Buy me... you have no experience. At least give me your dagger. I'm not comfortable feeling unarmed."

Tom turned his head toward the exit of the temple and immediately noted that they were in an unknown place.

"This isn't Grossroads. This is the wrong Temple. It's too quiet. No one's here. I'm afraid we won't meet any kind and hospitable ghosts here."

Dan held out his dagger to his friend and checked the character attributes panel.

[Character: Dan (Human)

Affiliated Location: Earth 

Title: Baron

Profession: Swordsman. Blacksmith 

Level: 18. 0/430100

Attributes: Strength 5 (+4+8), Speed 4 (+0+4), Intelligence 5 (+0+4), Body 7 (+0+6). 

Free Attribute Points: 0

HP: 1300/1300

MP: 900/900

Weapon Mastery & Skill: Weapon Mastery: 18. Magic skill: 20. Expand Skills.

Free Skill Points: 17

Profession Talent: None

Achievement: Boss Killer Rank 2. 41/100. Dungeon Explorer Rank 49] 

"Missing one Body point. That's fine. It would be worse if my Strength or Mana was lowered. I want to summon hobbits. If this is a dangerous place to be prepared for trouble," Dan suggested.

"Summon the hobbits. But tell them to watch out for the stones. You won't summon them a second time," the clone agreed.

The hobbits appeared and spoke their minds at once.

"Bad place."

"A very bad place."

"Let's see what kind of place it is," grinned the phantom. 

Tom went in the direction of the Temple's exit. There was light coming in through the open doors. Dan noticed that it was bad weather or twilight behind the walls. On the player's map, the entire location of the unknown place was covered in a black fog of war. There was no icon with a possible revival point location.

"120 hours is five days. Koreima will kill me," the young man whispered.

"Enough others are willing to kill you here before the bloodsucker gets to you," the clone warned softly. He quickly stepped back to the pedestal where Dan continued to sit. "Get off that foolish pedestal for a monument to an imprudent i***t. What's the tactic, brother?"

"I'll have to think about it. There's plenty of mana. We can regenerate health," Dan said.

"I'm curious about one thing. If I cast a spell is who casts the spell? I'm your clone. I'd better not mess around with magic and just act with weapons," Tom suggested. He winked at the swordsman. "I noticed a few human-looking figures outside. We should destroy them and take the trophies."

"Let's try not to be so cocky. We've got the Walk of Caution spell. We can camouflage ourselves and do some recon," Dan objected.

"I think such a powerful cloaking spell should be saved," Tom disagreed. "There might be bosses here. The revival point is the destination of the quest. If it's guarded by a big boss you have a chance to get to it invisible. You can't apply this skill at the beginning. We'll try to proceed simply but cautiously. Give me your sword." 

Dan didn't argue. Cautious and simple is also a good way to start an adventure. Tom explained to the hobbits the way to fight the monster.

"Hobbits, hold your fire. I will attack one stranger and lure him into the temple. Here you must beat him with your daggers. You are the best. Hit the enemy and bounce off him. Proceed with caution. Kill the enemy and gain experience. Then we can buy weapons and food." 

Dan immediately clarified and saddened everyone with unpleasant news. 

"I can't use the store or the auction. There will be no food or weapons. Now that's unpleasant. Five twenty-four hours without food is impossible to live with."

"You're dead. The dead don't eat," the clone said quietly. He winked at the hobbits. "You'll have to do without beer and meat this time."

The hobbits didn't mind and quickly armed themselves with their daggers. Tom took his sword and went to provoke his first opponent.

Behind the doors of the building was an unpleasant and dreary atmosphere. The world was devoid of bright colors. Various shades of gray-colored the details and landscape. The figure of the stranger had no marker with the name of the monster or the name of the dead NPC. But the clone had already noticed that the stranger had a sword on his belt.

Tom took a few steps toward the unknown man and the stranger turned his head toward the clone. There were noticeable black gaps in the eyes and mouth areas of his gray face. The stranger drew his sword and walked toward the phantom. The cunning swordsman did not act recklessly and retreated into the temple building. The stranger kept up and entered the room.

The clone made a quick leap toward the enemy and struck him in the face with his sword. The enemy did not dodge and also struck a swift blow at his foe. At this time the two hobbits quickly jumped up to the stranger and struck their blows on the body, which was not wearing any armor. Tom continued to strike at the gray stranger. The hobbits were not cowardly and also tried to strike accurately and quickly with their daggers. 

The stranger fought silently. No blood flowed from his wounds. He paid no attention to his wounds and struck his sword at the clone with the monotony of a robot. The attacks were simple and Tom began to parry them. 

Dan watched the fight closely. He immediately saw that the stranger was a nasty fighter. He made simple attacks with his sword. They were fast enough attacks, but the man was surprised by the primitiveness of the techniques.

Suddenly the pattern of combat changed. Tom also stopped behaving under the pressure of a suicidal man. Now the clone was primarily concerned with deflecting the enemy's blows. The phantom made counterattacks quickly and delivered precise blows to the enemy's head. This tactic proved good and the three warriors were able to finish off the strange opponent.

The stranger was dead and left behind only a sword. Tom picked up the sword from the floor of the temple and shook his head.

"Crap. Like a player's store. But it still has plenty of durabilities. What's the score of the battle?" 

Dan was already calculating the amount of damage that had been dealt with the monster. The young man didn't like to do calculations. Normally, he always preferred to quickly look through the lines of information and renew the phantom.

"1800 health points. I'm down to level 18 and our opponents are about at the level of weak bosses," Dan concluded. He looked at Tom and didn't like what he saw.

The clone laughed and reassured his friend.

"The first fight is a test. I won't act like berserk anymore. I'm in a great mood for the second half of the fight with this clown. Great practice!" Tom winked at the young man and offered to test his mastery. "You should try it. Hobbits! You're just the best."

"Yes. It's my turn. You need to restore your health. I hope that health and mana are restored in this place," Dan smiled.

"I'm the best, I can lure the other gray enemy," offered one hobbit.

"Then I'll lure the next gray enemy. I'm faster than you," the other hobbit nodded his head.

The two brave fellows looked at Dan. They waited for their master's permission. Dan nodded his head and wagged his finger.

"Don't make any unnecessary moves. Hit and run fast. In the building, we'll be able to destroy these gray strangers one by one. Tom, I hasten to disappoint you, I didn't get the experience. Did you get experience?"

"I didn't get anything either except a trophy sword. Hold your sword and show us a beautiful duel," the clone held out his friend's weapon and prepared for battle. Phantom did not intend to stay away. Together with the hobbits, he was ready to strike a sudden blow in the back of the enemy.

The hobbit ran out of the building and very soon ran back in.

"He is coming! A very strange and unpleasant gray enemy," the hobbit warned.

Dan prepared to face the adversary. The man understood the terms of the duel. No magic and no skill. The usual sword strokes when you can only rely on long hours of fighting monsters and training with friendly opponents. Such a duel suited the young man. If this quest offers long strenuous training it is a good thing. In five days he could improve his mastery perfectly.