NOVEL NEXT Chapter 66 - Captain's Cabin
Archie stood in front of the captain's cabin door, with the giant, brilliant-cut pink diamond in hand. Flames covered his form as he activated Spirit Bond and placed a glowing Lava Wraith Elementalcore in his back pouch.
Behind him lay five steel short swords. Archie looked at them with annoyance. He was quite annoyed with how weak his Silver Carving Knife was and how it took him ten swings to lop off his left arm. So, he decided to make a short sword and etch onto its blade a higher-tiered sharpness rune.
Unfortunately, due to the dungeon's mana, the short swords he forged became attuned to Undeath.
Steel Short Sword (Common):
A steel short sword forged by Archie Gracefield, a Novice Forgesmith. Due to being forged within an area of high Undeath-attuned mana, the steel had been attuned to that of undeath. All cuts made on flesh with this short sword will inflict a degree of necrosis. Etched onto the blade are the runes of Soul-Bound, Self-Repair & Moderate Sharpness. Effects: Soul-Bound, Self-Repair, Necrosis Infliction & Sharpness. Status: Perfect. Requirements: Lv 70+, Undeath Affinity & Humanoid Race.
Thankfully, he remembered to Identify his short sword before entering the captain's cabin. With his plan of cutting off any limbs quickly if they get infected with undeath-mana gone, Archie had to go with plan B: don't get hit.
He was more than tired of this dungeon, first, all the gear he forged was as useful as paper in water. Manabolts tore through his armor with ease, something he would have to rectify once he found some mana-resistant material or figured out some runes that had mana-resistant effects. Second, he had to lop off his own arm to avoid turning into dust. Third, he couldn't even forge the short sword he needed to lop off a limb in case he got injected with undeath-mana.
"Now, without further ado," Archie muttered under his breath as he inserted the pink diamond into the large socket on the captain's cabin door before taking a step back. Not a moment later, the soft-blue light that illuminated the dungeon vanished, engulfing the cavern in darkness.
Did I fuck up? Archie asked himself as he looked around with a bit of concern. He could still see due to his high Perception stat and saw nothing really happened other than the light disappearing.
A few seconds later, the crystal above him relit itself, but instead of the blue light it previously released, it was replaced with a dim pink light. Once the cavern was fully illuminated, a soft click was heard from the door in front of him.
I guess this means I didn't, Archie thought as he activated Adrenaline Rush at 30% and Thornscourge Expansion. Steam released off his frame,e and molten-red tipped thorn-covered vines covered his body.
Not wanting to waste any more time, Archie pushed open the door and entered the captain's cabin.
A quick glance revealed that the room was somehow magically expanded, easily three times the size of its outward appearance.
Broken frames and bits of glass covered the floor of the cabin. Previously ornate mahogany wooden furniture was now torn apart and splintered across the cabin. Cuts were embedded into the walls of the cabin. Sword cuts, Archie deduced as he stared at the broken and fractured blades that were scattered across the room.
In the center of the cabin was a long rope that hung from the ceiling, and at its end was a noose. Attached to the noose was some sort of wight dressed in a tattered black coat with golden highlights. Unlike the rest of the pirates, this wight was in full gear; boots, pants, gloves, chestpiece, bracers, and of course the iconic tricorne hat. Attached to its waist were twin cutlasses.
[Stygian Wight Lv 89]
As Archie's eyes rested on the limp form of the wight hanging by the noose, he saw it twitch slightly.
Archie kicked off the planked floor and activated Savage Charge at the wight hanging above.
Archie's right fist smashed into the wight's sternum and launched it across the cabin and into the cabin wall. Its skull fell onto the floor, bits of vertebrae still attached to its base.
Archie landed on the ground and stared at the now headless wight as it landed on the planked flooring, boots first. It swiveled its jutting spine in Archie's direction, seemingly taking a moment to readjust itself to its current situation and locate Archie.
But Archie wasn't going to let that happen; he activated Savage Charge, appearing in front of the headless wight within moments. He released a flurry of blows across its torso before jumping backward.
A thin, shallow cut appeared across Archie's chestpiece as Archie stared at the wight who had drawn out one of its blades during the flurry of blows Archie landed upon it. The blade itself was alit with white flames, with its edges as dark as a shadow.
Archie instinctively knew the flames were dangerous. They shouldn't touch his flesh, lest he'd face something worse than what the previous wight did.
The wight slowly made its way towards Archie, its lit blade raised horizontally from the floor.
Ah fuck, Archie complained as he crouched slightly and slowly inched towards the wight. He knew the stance it took when making its way towards him, he played enough games to tell that was a damn Wing stance. A stance knights actually used in medieval times, when guns did not exist. What the hell is a pirate doing knowing Wing stance? Isn't that only known for royal knights?
Once the wight was five meters away from Archie, it lunged at him; its blade leaving a thin trail of white as it raced towards him.
Archie leaned to his left, dodging the wight's thrust, but his eyes widened as the wight's wrist started to turn impossibly. Its blade arced towards his head.
Archie channeled a surge of stamina into his right leg, kicking off the flooring and dodging the blade that whizzed towards his head with a hair's breadth. But immediately after dodging the blade, Archie kicked off the ground and smashed his fist into the wight's cutlass-wielding fist.
As Archie's fist smashed onto the wight's glove-covered knuckles, he had activated Impact Dynamo. The 30% filled Impact Dynamo exploded with nature-attuned kinetic energy and flowed through the wight's fist and throughout its body, launching it a few feet backwards.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Within mere moments, the wight's left arm exploded, scattering bone shards in every direction. Its cutlass sent flying past his head and embedding itself into the wall behind him, seemingly unharmed by the Impact Dynamo.
Archie felt his shoulder quickly pop back into place and swiftly cocked his left fist back before running towards the wight. He then activated Savage Charge at the now one-armed wight who stood a meter away from him before striking with his left fist towards its solar plexus. But just as his fist was about to connect with its solar plexus, his adrenaline soared through him.
An explosion of undeath-mana erupted from the wight, launching Archie backwards, his heel digging into the wooden flooring beneath him. His body was now covered with undeath flames that were melting the surface of his armor.
But with a quick surge of his own mana, he extinguished the undeath mana covering his armor.
The wight was now surrounded by an aura of undeath-mana flames, like the ones that previously encompassed its cutlass, but unlike those flames, they looked to be completely made out of shadows. Atop its head, instead of jutting pieces of vertebrae, was a head made of undeath flames. Its left arm, slowly regenerating itself.
Its aura reminded Archie of his own aura that he was currently releasing.
Archie surged mana and stamina into his being, pushing Adrenaline Rush to 40%. He kicked off the ground and raced towards the undeath-flame-wreathed wight, with a deep red steam encompassing his own body.
A smile grew on Archie's face, and his eyes widened, the adrenaline rushing through him filling him with large amounts of dopamine.
Archie's right fist smashed onto its flame-covered blade, knocking it away slightly from reaching his face, and following his attack with his left fist smashing into its side, where its liver would have been, had it been still alive.
He quickly sidestepped away from a sudden stab from its left arm, however, his eyes furrowed as he stared at its left arm. It wasn't an arm at all, rather, it looked as though the arm stopped at its elbow and became something akin to a bone-shaped blade fused to its arm.
It quickly struck with its right arm towards Archie's midsection, making him sidestep once more from its attack. Holy shit!
Archie's smile grew as he released a flurry of punches towards the wight, who seemed to meet him with every blow with its own blades. His own flames from Spirit Bond to quench the Undeath-Attuned flames from the wight's strikes.
Archie constantly pushed forward with every strike, pushing the wight backwards and keeping it on the defense. But during their exchange of blows, its skull of undeath flames trembled before exploding outwards.
Archie quickly kicked off the ground, launching himself into a backward tumble. Mid-tumble, he rolled into a crouch before ripping off his mask, now engulfed in undeath flames, and tossing it aside. An explosive head attack?
Archie kicked off the ground and charged towards the wight, his form becoming a streak of crimson red as he closed the distance between them and released another flurry of blows at it.
The undeath flames that exploded from its head scattered themselves across the cabin before quickly roaring into existence.
Within the roars of the flames around him, Archie heard something that made him smile, a crack.
Within the flames that encompassed both the blade and its arms, Archie noticed fractures starting to appear on its bones and blade, seemingly at their limits.
Archie stopped his flurry of blows, pivoting backwards to dodge a stab from its bone sword, before charging into its now unguarded chest.
Archie activated Savage Charge, closing the gap between them and striking its right side with his left fist. As his fist connected, Archie activated both Impact Dynamo and Thornscourge Expansion.
The 60% Impact Dynamo exploded through its body, shattering the bones that guarded its core, while the vines that erupted from his fists wrapped themselves around its core and retracted back to his fists.
Archie gritted his teeth from the kickback from the 60% Impact Dynamo and ripped out its core. Not a moment later, its undeath flame form stilled before extinguishing as the bones attached to its core fell onto the ground lifelessly, leaving a burnt, rotten scent behind.
Archie stared at the pile of bones and burnt, rotten flesh for a few more seconds before deactivating Adrenaline Rush, Spirit Bond, and Thornscourge Expansion. A quick glance at his notifications confirmed the wight's death—and his level up.
*[Stygian Wight Lv 89] has been slain – XP has been given. 1157 Tutorial Points given*
*Your Class has reached Lv 70 – Points allocated, +4 Free Points*
They can explode their heads and not die from it? Archie chuckled as he stared at the pile of bones and pus on the singed floor. As he stared at the pile of bones and pus he got upset. ...Man fuck wights…Why can't I do that?
In Archie's opinion, it was unfair that wights could explode their undeath flame heads and still live, while he couldn't do the same to his normal fleshy head….Some things in life were simply unfair.
Sighing, Archie looked at the dungeon completion notification.
Dungeon of the Cursed Ship
Objective: Slay the Captain ✔
Reward: Compass of Desire (Epic) & Sigil of Challenge (Unique)
Dungeon will automatically close in 0:10:58:04
Confused at the rewards he received, Archie found them in his spatial storage and took them out
One of the objects was a brass compass the size of his palm, which looked like it came from the early 20th century. Its dull red needle was pointed north, unmoving. Etched onto its corners were the four cardinal direction letters.
The second object was a bronze-colored coin the size of his palm. Atop the coin was an onyx-colored skull with a tricorne, most likely symbolizing the Captain of the Cursed Ship.
Compass of Desire (Epic):
A compass made from [Redacted] and crafted by [Redacted]. Points you in the direction of whatever you truly desire. Its accuracy depends on how close you are to the object and the strength of your desire. Effect: Soul-Bound, Self-Repair & Desire's Needle. Status: Excellent. Requirements: Lv 70+ & Humanoid Race.
"Woah! This is cool as shit," Archie said as he read through the compass's description. Is it limited to only objects? Archie questioned as he channeled mana into the compass before envisioning his father's face.
Staring at the compass, he felt it hum as the needle turned crimson for a moment but returned back to its previous dull red state.
Hmm, seeing how it turned bright, it probably means that I'm too far away, Archie noted before envisioning Xelgar.
This time, the compass softly hummed, and the needle turned crimson red while spinning around. Which checked out since Xelgar was exactly above him.
Sigil of Challenge (Unique):
A sigil given to the first person who has defeated one of the four Sigil Guardians hidden throughout the Group Tutorial. Will disappear once Group Tutorial ends.
Okay, looks like this dungeon might have been one of the special ones Xelgar mentioned. Archie shrugged as he placed both items back into his spatial storage.
Now with the dungeon complete, Archie needed to leave the dungeon before it closed on him. Looking behind him, he found the ashen remains of his mask. Sighing, Archie pulsed mana across his face and felt it start to repair itself.
Exiting the captain's cabin, Archie walked across the main deck and jumped over the forecastle railing and onto the Bowsprit. Once on the Bowsprit, Archie activated Thornscourge Expansion, covering his arms with vines.
Flinging his arms forward, vines exploded from his arms and soared through the air, latching onto the cliff above. Once the vines dug themselves into the stone and were firmly set, Archie slowly retracted himself upwards.
Archie stood in the center of his base with the Compass of Desire in hand. Curious to try out an idea he had when walking through the tunnel, to see if abstract concepts could work on it.
Archie channeled mana into the compass while envisioning a dungeon to explore, one that was special, not unlike the one he had just completed.
Once he felt the compass humming, he opened his eyes to see the crimson needle pointing Northeast.
Archie smiled at the new discovery and his next target. But just as he was about to leave his base, he remembered that he had to choose his next class skill.