The beast was gigantic, much larger and broader than the General, and its wings were so huge they tore through everything in their path. The last thing Mike saw, as the tunnel collapsed in front of him, was the General being sliced in two.
Mike recoiled as stones rained down and blocked the tunnel.
"What the…? Why did the beast kill the General, was it trying to make a point?"
He stared at the wall of rocks. Suddenly they exploded outward. Stones flew in every direction; it felt like the whole tunnel was crumbling.
Mike felt something grab him. He was caught in the claws of the Queen. She hoisted him upward.
"Shit, let go!"
Mike slammed into the Queen's hard carapace. Sunlight hit his face. They were now above a field of flowers, a beautiful sight in a terrible situation. Mike had to think fast. They were rising higher and higher into the air.
"If she lets go now, I am done for… shit!"
Mike swung his sword and, with a clean cut, hacked off the Queen's right wing. She screamed; black, nasty blood sprayed down and splattered over the flowers. The severed wing despawned just before it hit the ground. The Queen's grip loosened, but that was not enough; she could not fly anymore. Mike took the chance while she still held him and cut off the other wing. They began to fall.
The impact was brutal, but Mike scrambled to his feet. The gigantic creature rose again, and Mike felt how small he was in front of it. He hurled his sword toward the Queen, but it had no effect. She roared and lunged, baring her fangs at him.
She struck so fast that a small shockwave rippled out. There was no chance to dodge. Mike raised his sword and held it vertically. The fangs slammed into the blade with a clang and the sword shattered. Mike was thrown backward by the force. The ant queen followed the momentum and struck again. This time it was impossible for Mike to do anything.
She hit him square in the stomach. Mike hung there on the Queen's teeth, pierced through. He spat blood and looked anything but fine.
The Queen flung Mike into the flowers. His body slammed into the ground and blood spurted everywhere, this time red, not black. Mike landed a short distance from the Queen.
—Poisoned—
HP: 36
-4 poison per second
Mike smiled as blood ran down his lips.
"Unfair. That thing is way too powerful for a first boss. Maybe it was a mistake, and the General was supposed to be the boss I fought…"
He watched his HP drop.
HP fell to 30. Mike spat more blood.
"Y-yeah… that… m-must be it."
The Queen loomed over Mike, ready to finish him off. She lowered her neck to strike. Time seemed to slow.
"Is this it?"
Mike tried to close his eyes; everything was red now. But then, maybe, a glimmer of hope. The broken sword lay beside him. He waited for the Queen's attack.
"One chance. Just one."
Then it came. At the last moment, Mike rolled toward the sword and snatched it up. The Queen's bite crashed into the dirt.
"She is vulnerable now!"
Mike gripped the sword and drove it straight into the Queen's neck. Already weakened from losing her wings, the blow seemed to be enough.
After a scream from both Mike and the Queen, it was over. The Queen bled out and tried to stagger away, but after a few steps she collapsed. Mike had no strength left either and fell back into the flowers. He watched as the wound on his body began to turn green. That did not look good.
A menu floated above Mike:
HP: 16
Poisoning stopped
Mike looked at the Queen and could not help but grin.
"D-done it."
The Queen's body began to fade, and a sound like a bell chimed.
—Tutorial complete—
Well done.
Reward:
Open world
Start in: Dasum Village
Level up to 2
"I do get a level up after all?"
HP: 110
Sword: 0
Strength: 0
Magic: 0
Attacks:
Standard Attack: Shadow Strike
Locked: level 100
Locked: level 200
Locked: level 300
Locked: level 400
Locked: level 100
Teleported in
3… 2… 1…
Mike watched the flower field vanish around him.
Mike opened his eyes and found himself in a bed made of cloth. Looking around, it seemed like a healing room. Normally you woke up here if you had died in the game. But he had not died.
Mike sat on the edge of the bed and tried to stand, only to collapse onto the floor with a loud thud.
Later, when he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing before a large black castle. The sky was a shadowy black and lightning raged above. Mike turned and saw black figures behind him. They seemed to be suffering, screaming horribly yet unable to move. He quickly looked away and read the text floating above him.
—Chosen of the Shadows, welcome—
In this quest you will be tested to see if you are worthy.
Suddenly something stabbed Mike from behind. He did not have time to turn. An inky black spear of energy pierced straight through him.
"Argh!"
Mike dropped to his knees; his vision blurred and turned red. Blood poured from the wound and soon the ground around him was stained crimson. He saw a shadow behind him holding a sword.
"I… did not pay attention."
The shadow vanished. Mike watched his HP plummet.
His life bar blinked red.
HP: 5
…
"W-why… why so fast?"
Blood streamed from Mike's wound, and his vision turned completely red. He could not see anything anymore, but he could still hear the faint beeping of his HP warning. Mike knew it would soon hit zero.
"T this is not fair… where even am I?"
A strange, heavy feeling washed over him, as if a massive aura had suddenly appeared. Mike froze.
"H-hello?"
[Child of Shadows — the Shadow Mark has been successfully engraved]
Shadow Quest will unlock at Level 25
"H-huh?"
Mike wiped the blood from his eyes and tried to focus on the text floating above him, but he could not hold his focus for long.
…
HP: 1 —
A flash of white light
and Mike opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was his HP bar floating above him.
HP: 110
"F-full again?"
Mike gave a strange grin, relieved that he had somehow made it out alive.
"W-where am I now?"