NOVEL NEXT Tutorial 31 – Nose goes!
Liam fell onto his back as he felt the tension melt in his body.
A few chimes echoed in his mind as notifications appeared.
“Congratulations! Body Attribute Constitution Sub-stat Resilience has reached level 9! Progression to level 10: 5%!”
“Congratulations! Body Attribute Constitution Sub-stat Vitality has reached level 5! Progression to level 6: 0%!”
“Congratulations! Body Attribute Dexterity Sub-stat Agility has reached level 11! Progression to level 12: 15%!”
“Congratulations! Body Attribute Dexterity Sub-stat Reflex has reached level 11! Progression to level 12: 21%!”
“Congratulations! Body Attribute Dexterity Sub-stat Speed has reached level 12! Progression to level 13: 7%!”
“Congratulations! Body Attribute Endurance Sub-stat Stamina Endurance has reached level 10! 5% reduction to stamina drainage when running, dodging, and carrying heavy items. Progression to level 11: 0%!”
“Congratulations! Body Attribute Endurance Sub-stat Body Endurance has reached level 10! 5% reduction to stamina drainage when being attacked by powerful strikes or blocking multiple strikes. Progression to level 11: 0%!”
“Congratulations! Body Attribute Strength Sub-stat Power has reached level 11! Progression to level 12: 15%!”
“Congratulations! Body Attribute Strength Sub-stat Body Strength has reached level 9! Progression to level 10: 5%!”
“Congratulations! Mind Attribute Wisdom Sub-stat Common Sense has reached level 8! Progression to level 9: 0%!”
“Congratulations! Spirit Attribute Recovery Sub-stat HP Recovery has reached level 8! Progression to level 9: 3%!”
“Congratulations! Spirit Attribute Recovery Sub-stat MP Recovery has reached level 9! Progression to level 10: 1%!”
“Congratulations! Spirit Attribute Will Sub-stat Zen has reached level 11! Progression to level 12: 2%!”
Liam smiled as he waved the notifications away.
“We did it!” Ariyana shouted gleefully as she jumped up and down.
“I can’t believe that worked!” Roman said sounding shocked.
Blair dropped her great axe and ran to Liam. Excitement shown upon her face as she shot word after word in a fast-paced chatter, “I didn’t know that you could stack the same gravity spells! How did you know! Do you know what this means?! We can do so much with this!”
Liam lifted a hand up to calm her down as he tried answering, “First…I didn’t know that. Second…I agree we can come up with more strategies with this, but there’s a draw back.”
Blair stared at him. “What do you me…” She then realized what he meant. “The cooldown. If we tried using it at the same time, then it could hinder us when we need it the most.”
“Exactly,” Liam nodded. “If we ever do this again it’ll have to be at a critical moment.”
“I agree,” Blair nodded after calming down.
Liam then looked around her and shouted, “Roman!”
Roman turned to look at him.
With a smile and thumbs up Liam said, “Good job.”
Confused Roman asked, “What do you mean?”
Artem clapped Roman on the shoulder as he stated, “Those two spells worked out like a charm.”
“If you didn’t have the Electro Bolt and Stone Pike spells then we would have had to figure out a way to finish that beast off,” Mercer added as he walked up to him.
“But it was Blair’s and Liam’s Gravitational Force Increase spell that brought down the creature,” Roman argued still confused.
Liam shook his head as he slowly got to his feet. “Our Gravitational Force Increase did bring it down, but only after your Electro Ball spell tightened its muscles up enough to stop it from moving. You’ve been getting pretty lucky with that five percent chance to cause that. What’s your Lucky Break Sub-stat at?”
“What does Lucky Break have to do with anything?” Roman questioned as he brought up his Character sheet and looked through it. “It just hit level nine.”
“It’s close to level ten,” Liam said nodding with approval. He then answered, “It gives you a better chance at successfully landing those low chance success hit rates.”
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him.
“Liam,” Mercer started slowly.
“Yes Mercer?” Liam asked.
“How do you know that?” Mercer inquired.
“I had some suspicions when I was landing some low chances, but confirmed my suspicions when it leveled after making my Poor Quality Talon Dagger,” Liam answered nonchalantly. “Oh, and Lucky Soul levels when you find better quality or rare crafting materials and or items.”
“That’s an amazing find!” Mercer shouted as he pulled out a notebook and wrote it down.
Avery and Blair shook their heads as Artem and Ariyana smiled.
“Way to go Liam,” Ariyana grinned.
“Leave it to Liam to randomly figure something out like that hardly anyone knows about,” Avery commented.
Liam coughed then asked as he changed the subject, “Have you checked the loot yet Mercer?”
“Yes, I have,” Mercer replied as he pulled out a black leather-like choker. In the leather-like material were ornate designs that looked like swirls. In the middle of the choker was a metal circle with several smaller metal circles giving a ripple look to it.
Liam assessed it.
“Sonic Choker of the Bat Patriarch. Item Rarity – Rare. Item Quality – Poor. +5% to all chant type spells. +5% to all Field of the Charmed abilities.”
“I think this item dropped specifically for you Ariyana,” Mercer said as he handed it to her.
“Oooo. It’s so beautiful,” Ariyana beamed as she stretched over her head and to her neck. She pulled her hair out from the back and dropped it. The rippled metal sat in the middle of her throat at the base of her neck,
“How does it feel? Not too tight?” Avery asked as she stared at it.
“No, it feels just right. Doesn’t it make me look prettier?” Ariyana asked with a coy smile.
“I guess prettier is a type of word that can be used here,” Roman stated.
Blair smacked him on the back of the head.
“Ow,” Roman protested. “What the hell was that for?”
Blair didn’t respond as she gave Artem a challenging look.
Artem kept his mouth shut and just nodded.
Liam and Mercer let out a laugh as Mercer said, “Yes it does look pretty on you. And these are for you.” Mercer handed Liam four bubble bottom glass flasks with a tannish liquid and a cork stopper.
Liam assessed the items.
“Bat Oil. Item Rarity – Uncommon. Quality - Poor. Crafting material. Flammable. Can be used in several different Alchemy recipes. Or in a creative way.”
“Hm…interesting,” Liam muttered as he stared at the liquid. After a moment he placed them away in his inventory and started looking around.
“What are you looking for?” Avery questioned.
“The stone the monster took from the main room. I didn’t see it when we came in so I was wondering where it might be,” Liam responded. He looked up and tried peering into the darkness before adding, “I hope it’s not up there.”
“Uh…I think I found it,” Roman called out.
Everyone turned to see he was looking down into the pit. He pointed a finger in the direction of what he saw. They walked over and saw the stone sitting in a pile of guano.
“Not it. Nose goes,” Liam quickly stated as he placed a finger on his nose.
The others stared at him for a moment. Confused by what he meant and was doing, they each said the same thing.
Liam watched each of them do it slowly one by one until the last one placed their finger on their nose.
“What does this do?” Blair voiced the question they were all thinking.
Liam smiled as he said, “The last one to say that and touch their nose is the lucky one who has to go down there and grab it.” He then looked at Roman and gave an apologetic look. “Sorry man.”
Each of them looked at Roman who was staring at Liam. A few seconds passed before realization dawned upon his face. “What!?”
“A delay reaction?” Liam asked with a laugh.
Roman looked down at the object then back at them and protested, “You have to be kidding me?”
“Nope,” Ariyana smiled.
“Sorry it’s the rules,” Artem added as he looked away from him.
“Not you too Artem!” Roman shouted. He looked at the others who turned their gaze away from him as well. Feeling dejected he grumbled, “Why does it feel like you guys are against me?”
“No one’s against you. You just need to be quicker next time,” Liam said as he patted Roman on the shoulder.
“Screw that. I don’t want to do it,” Roman argued as he crossed his arms.
“No can do. We all agreed to this,” Mercer stated.
“What? When?” Roman questioned with a glare.
“Just a moment ago,” Mercer replied.
“Where was I when this happened?” Roman inquired.
“Off somewhere trying to process what was going on,” Ariyana teased.
“Gah. Whatever…fine,” Roman grumbled as he walked down the slope.
The group laughed as they heard Roman complain, “Why is the ground so squishy down here? What the hell! I almost fell. Oh god that was slippery. I swear if I fall in thi…” Dry heaving noises echoed out the pit. “It smells so bad down here!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Come on Roman. Don’t pout. You did well to not fall in any of it,” Ariyana said as they walked out of the tunnel.
“It doesn’t matter if I didn’t fall into it. I still got some on me when I pulled it out of that pile,” Roman rebuked.
“We’re almost there now. You can get rid of it soon,” Ariyana smiled as she moved a few more inches away from him.
“I can get rid of this stone soon, but I’m still stuck with this smell till we get out of here and I wash my armor,” Roman countered as he approached the bowl.
“Hold up,” Liam said stopping Roman from placing the stone into it.
Roman turned and asked while sounding annoyed, “Why? I want to set this down already.”
“Then set it down on the floor,” Liam suggested.
Roman grumbled under his breath as did so.
“What’s up?” Blair asked as she, Mercer, and Avery walked up to him.
Liam was staring at the stone slab blocking the door then up to the sculpted snake looking down at them. After forming his thoughts into words, he relayed, “I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but I want to make sure we’re ready to go. Our HP MP is fine. Roman’s Stamina needs to raise back up so let’s take a moment to stretch and rest up.”
“Good idea,” Artem agreed.
“What do you think is going to happen?” Mercer questioned.
Liam looked at him. “What I would like to happen is that slab drops down and we walk into an area where the Floor boss is. However, there’s a possibility that stone snake comes to life and attacks us. In the likelihood that happens I don’t want to be caught off guard.”
Mercer placed a hand on his chin as he examined the statue above the roof of the ruin. “Hm. You’re right. I didn’t think there was a possibility but now after thinking about it, it could happen.”
“So, what’s the plan if that snake thing comes to life?” Blair inquired as she stretched her arms across her chest.
“You and Artem stand a few feet away from this area. After Roman places the stone, I want him to run over to Avery and I who will be close behind you guys.” He looked at Mercer and Ariyana. “You guys stay as far back as you can.”
Mercer nodded as Ariyana replied, “Got it.”
“If that thing is the Floor Boss, Artem I want you to taunt it with a War Cry the moment it gets down. Blair, I want you to start your attacks the moment it gets taunted,” Liam stated as he gave out orders. “Ariyana cast your Echoes of Sound on Mercer. Mercer play your Resilient Defense song on Artem. When Blair gets its attention then play that song on her. Once when you guys are done with your buffs then start your own attacks.”
“Alright,” Mercer and Ariyana said.
“Roman if you can, use your Static grasp on it to create an opening for us to land a few extra hits in. Avery, use your Light as a Feather spell and then unleash as many attacks as you can. I want you to try and get as much venom in it as you can.”
“Got it,” Avery responded.
Roman cracked his neck and popped his knuckles as a reply.
“We all know what to do and ready to go?” Liam inquired.
Everyone nodded as they got into position.
“Roman, if you could do us the honor,” Liam said as he looked at him.
Roman walked up to the stone and picked it up. He then placed it inside the bowl and jogged over to where he was supposed to be.
With bated breath they watched for any changes. After a few moments nothing happened.
They waited a few more seconds. Still nothing happened.
As they relaxed Roman was about to say something, but then suddenly the two stones lit up their respected colors like a fire that came to life. Black and nasty green colored smoke started to rise from the stones and drifted up to the eyes of the snake.
The smoke disappeared into them like they were being hungrily eaten up. After all the smoke filled them, the eyes flashed to life.
A rumble vibrated throughout the room as the mouth of the snake widened. As the mouth widened a head began to slowly escape out from it allowing the creature to exit out from the stoned skin like it was shedding its skin.
Liam and his group watched as it slid down to the ground in front of them. Its body had a jagged and spiked tannish with white speckled colored scales. Its tail was black with eight moving spikes sticking out from it. The way its tail was shaped looked a lot like a spider. Especially with the way the spikes moved on the ground.
The size of the creature was as big as the Greater Bulldog Bat Patriarch, but its length looked like it was almost as long as a football field.
Liam assessed it.
“Spider Tailed Horned Viper. 300/300 HP. 50/50 MP.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Artem groaned as he saw the tail. Goosebumps formed on his arms as he released a shudder.
“Is it two Monsters we’re fighting?” Blair questioned.
“No! It’s only one monster. That thing is its tail,” Mercer replied.
Liam looked at him and gave him a puzzled look before realizing he must have reached level ten in his Perception Sub-stat. He then faced forward and called out, “Defenders! Start your attack!”
Artem released a mighty War Cry as he stomped a foot down trying to brush off his fear of the tail.
The Viper coiled its head back as it released a loud long hiss while staring at Artem.
“Voices raised high or volume of music reverberating around. Echo true inside the one who needs it most. Allow the sound to connect where it intends to. Echo loud and proud! Echoes of Sound!” Ariyana chanted as Mercer started playing his song of Resilient Defense.
Artem felt the buff wash over him and brought his shield up to embrace the incoming attack.
However, as he did this, he noticed the Viper snap its gaze towards Blair and swiftly lunge at her with its mouth wide open.