Adrenaline Junkie [Book 2 Complete]

Walking through one of the many tunnels that he had yet to explore, Archie decided to stop putting off the exploration of his base. Sure, nothing had come from any of the many tunnels that surrounded him, but ever since he had first arrived, there was always this thought of suspicion whenever he looked at the tunnels.

There is no way that the glowing stones at the bottom of the tunnel were placed there by chance, nor the way this base was formed. Archie thought while turning back around and going into another tunnel. Having found it leading into a marsh.

Yeah, this wasn't by chance at all, someone made this. But why? Considering this place is based on something called the Emernigan Isle, there must have been something going on here to warrant such tunneling.

Going through the next tunnel Archie was stumped; it was a dead end. What? Archie thought, looking around, even touching the wall in front of him to see if it was some type of illusion. Even after trying to illuminate his surroundings with Forgesmith's Flame, trying to see if he missed something, but nothing. Not even a crack or a bump was on the dead end in front of him.

Okay, something was here, there is just no way every tunnel I checked led to something, and this one doesn't. Archie thought, looking above him trying to see if there was something he missed. Were the people living here, in the middle of constructing it?...No, that can't be it, the back wall is way too smooth for it to be in the middle of tunneling.

Not wanting to waste any more time staring at a wall, Archie returned to his base and set out to explore the second-to-last tunnel he had yet to investigate.

While looking around the tunnel Archie took notice of something, paint. Or at the very least something that looked like black paint. Initially, he took notice of the thin trail on the right side of the tunnel, but as he delved deeper, it grew in both size and thickness.

What previously started as a thin line of light blue paint, was now entirely covering the tunnel. The paint in Archie's opinion had its pros and cons; the pros being that it was surprisingly reflective towards the light from his Forgesmith's Flame and was different compared to the other tunnels that were bare. The cons were that it was ominous, to say the least.

Well as ominous as the color light blue could get.

After a few minutes of walking down the light blue painted tunnel, Archie saw light. The light was unlike that of the tunnels that led into the jungle or other parts of the island, it felt different, to say the least.

Archie deactivated Forgesmith's Flame, using the light from the end of the tunnel instead. As he got closer to the end of the tunnel his curiosity increased. From what he could see, there seemed to be some sort of large, cavernous area at the end of the tunnel.

As he got closer to the end of the tunnel, he noticed that the cavernous area was under somewhere he knew. He'd activated Vital Sight ever since the start of his tunnel exploration, not wanting to be jumped on with his pants down.

When he looked up, he saw the vital energies and sparks of Xelgar and Syllia. He was right under the Assistant Village.

At the end of the tunnel, he saw a large, cavernous area. At the top of the cavern was a large giant blue crystal that shined a soft blue light which illuminated the cavern and the ends of the tunnel.

At the bottom of the cavern was a giant lake and within that lake was a giant ship in ruins. A pirate ship to be exact, Archie thought while staring at the black flag, framed by two crossed bones under an eye-patched skull.

Behind the ship was what looked to be a cave-in of sorts, blocking off the only entrance and exit into the cave. Essentially painting a picture in Archie's mind. Pirates hid in the cave, but something caused a cave-in, trapping them inside. A generic pirate dungeon concept, one he had seen quite often in various MMOs.

Archie looked at the notification he had gained when he took notice of the ship.

Dungeon of the Cursed Ship
Objective: Slay the Captain
Reward: ? & ?
Requirements: Must be a Tutorial Participant.
Warning: Only parties of up to five members may enter, and only one party is permitted at a time.

Unlike the previous dungeons, it was missing the question of whether or not he wished to enter the dungeon. Was it now showing because he was in the dungeon? Even though he hadn't seen a door? Or was the end of the tunnel the 'door'?

Stepping back, Archie noticed the notification disappeared. Taking a step forward, brought it back.

After going back and forth for a minute, it really did seem that the end of the tunnel acted like a door. I guess the door for a dungeon doesn't need to always be a physical door, just one in a metaphysical sense, Archie thought. I can guarantee that I'm gonna say the same thing the next time I find something similar.

Just as he was about to jump down, he saw movement atop the ship….is that a skeleton? The skeleton wore a tattered navy blue pirate coat with brass buttons on its side. On his hip was a leather belt, and attached to the belt were a few pouches, a cutlass, and what appeared to be some sort of gun. It had neither gloves, pants nor boots attached to its skeletal body.

Archie tried to identify the skeleton but was met with nothing. It seemed that he would need to jump onto the large ship below to be able to properly interact with the dungeon. But if he were to just jump where he stood, he wouldn't even be able to reach the bowsprit.

Even Vital Sight revealed nothing. It was like looking at Cyric, but without the sphere of vital energy at his center. Considering that Cyric is a vampire, that sphere of vital energy was undoubtedly blood. Confirming his belief that it was an undead he was looking at due to its nonexistent Vitality.

Taking a couple of steps back, Archie dashed forward and kicked off the edge of the tunnel, towards the ship.

While mid-jump, Archie identified the skeleton pirate.

[Bonekiin Elf Lv 78]

Landing on the bowsprit gave Archie purchase to get a better look at the Bonekiin Elf. He noticed bits of rotted flesh hanging off its bones. Kicking off the ground Archie charged at the skeleton, his punch aimed at its head.

The force of the punch launched its head towards the forecastle railing. Suddenly, Archie heard a loud bang and sharp pain coming from his side. Ducking under a swing of a cutlass, Archie delivered a side kick to the headless skeleton, activating Retaliation.

Ignoring the sharp pain from his side, he moved towards the headless skeleton. He stared at the shattered rib cage of the elf and took notice of a small dark orb hovering in its chest cavity.

Identifying it revealed nothing. Curious as to what it was, Archie crushed the hands of the skeleton, making it unable to use either its cutlass or gun. Poking the orb, made the skeleton shudder for a second. Is this its version of a heart? Archie questioned still poking at it and watching as the reconstruction of its bones kept restarting with every poke. If I rip it out what happens? Would the bones reform around it, like the Lava Wraith? Or would it be different considering that it's not an elemental?

Curious to find out, Archie pulled the hovering orb and as he did so, he felt something akin to a thread snapping, causing the bones of the skeleton to lose their strings and collapse atop the floor, lifelessly.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

*[Bonekiin Elf Lv 78] has been slain – XP has been given. 936 Tutorial Points given*

Shrugging at its sudden death, Archie stared at the pile of bones at his feet. He hadn't received any vital energy from the elf Bonekiin, which made sense due to its non-existent vitality.

Archie tried to identify the orb and was met with success.

Bonekiin Elf Core:
A core from an E-Grade Bonekiin Elf retaining fragments of its records, left behind after its death. Can be used for various forging.

Unlike the cores he had read previously, this core had no medium applications. Probably due to its undead properties, Archie thought, rolling the small core in between his thumb and pointer finger. Maybe he'd be able to use it in the future to make tools that require an undead's core.

Tossing the core into his spatial storage, he continued to rummage through the skeleton's belongings. In the pockets were small golden doubloons, twenty of them to be exact, which he pocketed away for himself.

Picking up the cutlass, he identified it and was intrigued.

Cutlass of Undeath (Common):
A blade originally made from steel by an unnamed blacksmith. Due to being handled by a being of undead for a long period of time, the undead's aura of undead has attuned the steel into that of undeath. All cuts made on flesh with this cutlass will inflict a degree of necrosis. Effects: Soul-bound, Self-Repair & Necrosis Infliction. Status: Moderately used. Requirements: Lv 75 +, Undeath Affinity & Humanoid Race.

"So undead have an affinity for undeath," Archie spoke aloud while flipping it around in his hand. It was the first weapon he had held that was a higher level than him. While making a few swipes at the air with it, its balance kept shifting around, making it impossible to make a proper slice with it. Not to mention the unsettling energy he felt while holding the sword, he believed that if he grabbed it without his gauntlets, he would have been inflicted with necrosis. The constantly changing balance is most likely due to its level requirement, Archie thought. It would be impossible for anyone to make a proper slice with that blade unless they fulfilled all of its requirements.

Seeing that there are sentient undead like Cyric, then I might come across some sentient undead and it would do me some good trying to make a weapon that an undead can use. Archie thought before tossing the cutlass into his spatial storage, it would be good to have a model to see if he could assimilate the Undeath-Affinity onto the sword.

I might get kidnapped and get prepared to be their dinner, and making them something with their Undeath Affinity might be my ticket out, Archie joked.

Moving towards the magical gun that somehow pierced through his armor. Archie looked down at the hole the size of his thumb that was just above where his liver would be. Judging by what he saw when looking through the hole, it was his liver. That's why that fucking hurt, Archie realized; it was quite literally a liver shot.

The magic gun melted a hole clean through his armor and almost two inches deep into his body. And considering the black spots growing on his stomach and it starting to harden before flaking it was attuned to undeath.

Archie quickly channeled a large surge of vital energy to flush away the decaying energies that were eating through his flesh and vital energy. After a minute, Archie stuck his finger into the hole in his side and dug it around a bit before taking it out and flicking off a dark black congealed liquid and watched as it sizzled across the wooden floor of the ship before melting through it.

Now with the decaying energy out of his body, Archie's wound sizzled before healing in less than a few seconds. Now with that out of the way I can look at that magic gun, Archie thought before using Identify. Afterall, it had melted through his newly forged armor as though it were butter.

Mana-Pistol of Undeath (Common):
A pistol made by an unknown E-Grade gunsmith. It can release a total of six piercing manabolts from its chamber once charged with enough mana. This pistol has been saturated in the aura of an undead being after many years of use thus attuning any manabolt fired from its chamber to be attuned to Undeath. Effects: Soul-bound, Piercing & Necrosis Infliction. Status: Moderately used. Requirements: Lv 75 +, Undeath Affinity & Humanoid Race.

Archie stared at the pistol, it looked like a pistol from the 20th century, very fitting in his opinion for a pirate to wear, considering how horrible flintlocks were. It looked to be completely made out of some sort of metal and judging by how it looked and with a quick Material Insight check it was indeed made from steel.

After inspecting the pistol Archie also noticed something from the pistol's description, it didn't have a self-repair effect. Rather it had a Piercing one instead. He would need to be careful when taking apart the weapon once he was level 75 in his race. Other than that, it made sense as to how it was able to pierce through his armor; his armor was great against physical attacks, but not as good against magical ones considering how the manabolt tore into him.

Tossing the gun into his spatial storage, Archie stepped over the bones of the dead Bonekiin Elf, looked over the forecastle railing, and saw four more skeletons moving across the main deck aimlessly.

[Bonekiin Elf Lv 78]

[Bonekiin Human Lv 79]

[Bonekiin Elf Lv 77]

[Bonekiin Dwarf Lv 76]

The elven Bonekiin were in the back, similarly, dressed as the previous one he had killed, but with some type of mana-long gun and no cutlass attached to their belt.

The human Bonekiin looked almost indistinguishable from its elven counterpart, except for its thicker bone structure. Which matched Archie's prior connotations of elves being archers and long-range fighters, thus making them more fragile compared to their human counterparts. Nevertheless, it wielded two cutlasses on its side, a tattered coat draped over its shoulders, and a pair of worn-out boots.

The dwarf Bonekiin stood at a height of one meter and was the only one with the remains of a beard on its face, or hair really. On the few long beard hairs that remained it had metallic studs attached to them. It had a pistol in one hand and nursed a bottle of liquor with the other, seemingly uncaring that its contents spilled onto the floor once poured down its 'throat'.

I just gotta blitz them before they catch on, Archie concluded before hopping over the forecastle railing and onto the main deck. Upon landing on the main deck, Archie remembered that the ship was rotten. As such his left foot broke through a rotted plank flooring and produced a loud cracking sound, alerting the Bonekiin on the main deck.

"Fuck," Archie chuckled as he pulled his foot out and kicked off the ground activating Savage Charge at the human Bonekiin. Mid-charge, Archie activated Thornscourge Expansion and ducked under a manabolt from one of the elves.

Archie threw a punch at the human Bonekiin's head, who in turn blocked it with one of its blades and tried to skewer him with the other. Archie quickly pivoted out of the way of the second blade and kicked the side of the human Bonekiin, making it skid across the deck.

Feeling a sharp pain in his upper right back, Archie turned to face the elves and activated Savage Charge, having seemingly forgotten that you need to take out the ranged fighters in a fight before anything else.

Archie took another manabolt to his torso before he crashed into the elf Bonekiin, quickly activating Adrenaline Rush at 10%, ripping its arms apart, and holding it in front of him to take a shot from its elven comrade.

Archie dodged a biting lunge from the elf Bonekiin he held, he smashed his left fist into its chest cavity and ripped out its core, making its animated bones fall onto the ground, lifelessly.

Launching a vine to wrap around the other elf Bonekiin, Archie pulled it towards him and sucker punched it to the ground before stomping down and crushing its core.

Archie sent a surge of vital energy towards the manabolt holes in his body, pushing out the undeath energy surrounding the wounds. Unlike the pistol, these manabolts tore through him entirely, leaving behind thumb-sized holes in their wake.

Archie dodged a sudden throw of the human Bonekiin's cutlass that lodged itself into the wooden wall of the Captain's Cabin.

Jumping atop the railing, Archie activated Savage Charge at the human Bonekiin, as he was midway towards the human Bonekiin, the dwarf Bonekiin released a loud burping noise, before a large jet-black flame raced towards both him and the human Bonekiin.

Archie flung his right arm to the side, releasing a surge of mana into his vines, making them explode forward, attaching themselves to the ship's side railing, and pulling him towards it.

Kicking off the railing, Archie activated Savage Charge towards the dwarf Bonekiin and smashed his fist into the top of its head, caving it in somewhat. With his other hand ripping out the dwarf Bonekiin's hand that held its pistol. He then shoved his left fist into its chest cavity, Archie ripped out its core, before letting it drop onto the floor.

Archie quickly turned to his side, raising both his hands in an X shape, blocking an overhead chop from the human Bonekiin. The jet-black flames that the dwarf shot at it seemingly did nothing more than burn its tattered coat and boots away, revealing its nude self to Archie.

Archie spartan kicked the human Bonekiin's pelvis, cracking it slightly, but still in place. Confirming that humans indeed did have stronger bones than elves, at least in this case.

The human Bonekiin jumped backwards before charging back at Archie, with its blade now encompassed in jet-black flames, similar to the ones the dwarf Bonekiin shot at him.

Not wanting to get close to those flames, Archie punched forward just as the human Bonekiin was a meter away from him, activating 5% Impact Dynamo. The blast extinguished the flame and staggered the human Bonekiin slightly, giving Archie the opening he needed to get into its guard and deliver an uppercut with his left fist. The blow launched its skull into the air above.

Archie's right fist smashed through its chest cavity, ripping out its core, and making its bones collapse onto the main deck lifelessly.

Deactivating Thornscourge Expansion and Adrenaline Rush, Archie went to grab his loot.