A/n: the pic is a joke. its the closest thing to the Mini-Boss i could find.
Arhg!! Spoiler!
I need to find someone for the pics...
Any advices?
•••••
Chapter 29: the great Orca Dungon, part 6: Underneith the City
Going through the Thirteenth and fourteenth floors was quite easy.
Whith the guidance of my Escort, i was able to take the shortest route to the next stairs.
I passed to the Fifteenth floor on the evening of the second day. The reason why it took so long was because i had insisted on disposing of the mobs on my own.
The fast and easily frightened large insects present in the 13th floor (the same one i had eaten for dinner in Orca) were trapped by a Ki shaped net before having their head twisted, the poisonous red lizards of the 14th level had a sturdy layer of scales and i had to hit them with Ki shapes Spinning Bullets. From them i got meat, chitrine shells, slales, mendibules and teeth.
I was expecting the loot to be good armor material.
The fifteen floor was smightly cooler and was fille with human sised Preying-Mantis and small skeletal birds. i took all my time to hunt those as they gave large scycle like blades and high quality feathers.
In the end i spend the same time in this floor than i did in the two above. Combined.
28 D until Tournament.
The sixtieth floor was filled with bears.
Large fury bears that charged anyone they saw.Attacking with their paws and teeth.
Using Spinning Bullets and Ki walls i killed them from afar.
The amout of pelts i looted was quite substantial...
As we went down to the 17th floor, the air got colder.
Here the Bears were thrice my size and dog sized Salamenders would spit fire at me from behing rocks.
It took longer to deal with them and he Orcs had to give me advices about the Salamenders.
Their scales were so thick that not even my Spinning Bullets could do anything and their fire went through my shields unstoped. The trick was to turn them outdide douwn usind Ki and to cut the soft scales of their belly.
I spent another day in this floor, pretendind to train for stronger adversaries when i was just looking for loot. The result was several Large Bear Furrs and Hard Warm Scales and a few Soft Warm Scales.
26 D until Tournament.
•••••••
I was sitting at an internet cafe close to the city center, waiting for the person who had answered my editing add.
Sipping on my coffe i wondered how to abord the subject of identity confidentiality with a total stranger.
Before that let's see if they have any skills...
My plan was simple: using one of the local laptop i would connect to my Royal Road account and transfer a day of training with Elia, and demand to see what he or she would do with it. If they were good i would then entrust them with the rest of the footage.
Since i had received the quest Ally of the Kingdom more than 3 month had gone by, in the meantime i founded and spread Centiped's fame, had undergone eleven different lessons at the Training Hall, including the one from the training master, had signed up for most of the Grand Tournaments competitions, explored the Grand Orca Dungon and Discovered the truth about the Orcs...
It amounted to a lot of footage. Since Ally of the Kingdom, the Orc situation, Elia's Final Trial and the tournament was'nt over he was left with the gruesome training back in Fridol.
I was still thinking when a soft voice interupted me. Since for the last weeks i had only heard the Rough nasal voices of Orcs i thought it was my immagination but the tall softly curved blonde beauty that was looking at me with curiosity comfirmed that it was not.
"Yes?"
"Are you the one who posted an add for a Video Technisian at the xX University?"
"I am. You must be Natanielle. Please sit down."
She sat opposite from me and commanded a cappuchino. And i ruddly starred at her.
Since when do Geeks look like her?!
Our eyes crossed and i quickly composed myself.
"So, tell me, do you have any experience in virtual video editing?"
"I have made several videos of players at the very begining of the game, showing how to use equipment, obtain quests, basic classes... Then i switched to following entire parties on hunts and dungons. The last video was of a prisonner escort mission that i took part in."
I see. And how many videos would you say you've done up to now?"
"Arround a hundred."
Promissing
"Could i see some of them now?"
"Of course! Let me."
She turned to one of the computers close to us and ,after signaling the coffe staff, used internet. It took only a few minutes for her to connect to Royal Roads! andaccess her videos.
She showed me a few of them, telling me what she wanted to transpire from the montages.
The videos were good, fluid and entertaining. Each had its own music that fitted the content and sent your heart pumping. The subjects were varied and the featured players were all colorfull in their own way.
The most interesting thing was the small interviews she did with them. At the end of each adventure she would ask them about how they felt doing it and what they were expecting out of it.
Exitement, action, fear, greed, adventure and sometimes even romance.
"Okay. I'm conviced. You've got the skills."
"Thank you"
"But what about Confidentiality?"
"What do you mean?"
In-game recordings are different from us meeting. If i hire you, you will know my true appearance and my avatar one. That is a big risk."
"Hum... True... i have bever betrayed my subjects trust and do not intend to. It would be a breach of professionality."
I took a moment to consider her words then pulled three USB storage keys from inside my coat.
"This holds about three months worth of Virtual Footage."
"What?! I can't edit all of that!"
"You won't have to. Not all at once at least. I had to do several things all at once so my actions are spread throughout the day. What i whant you to do is a montage about my training at the training hall of Fridol. Everything exept with the Master."
"Wait, you did the lessons at the training center? Why? They're boring!"
"They are good to lear the use of multiple weapons and how to counter them."
"... I see. Give me a month to watch and think of how to do this."
"So you're in?"
"Yeah."
After that the two of us exchanged our contact informations and went pur separate way. I cancelled my two other meetings with other editors and went home.
I changed into something comfortable and logged in New Roads!.
••••
The 18 th floor was filled with horse sised Salamanders who had grown clows and spikes on their tails.
They were so big now that i needed the help from an Orc to turn them over and even then they sometimes managed to twist back before i killed them. Also, it was starting to be cold so i had put on my new coat.
The 19th floor access was guarded by a fire spitting Giant Two Headed Red Hind Bear (no, no, it really is!) with red furr and spikes on his two necks.
I estimated its level to a hundred.
Before challengîg it i meditated and ate to refill my ki and stamina, then Leaving the Orcs as suport i went and killed the Giant Two Headed Red Hind Bear. I would jump arround to escape its paws and fire and pummelled its flanks while stengthning my fists with Ki, each time i was in danger the Ocs would use Ki shields to protect me, when my Ki or stamina was nearly depleated i would retire to meditate and eat while the Guardians distracted the creature.
In this manner it took five hours for me to kill it. I got a Giant Two Headed Red Hind Bear Complete Hide for my efort and leveled once and got 200 Fame for being the forst user to Kill a mob of this race.
Considering that with each floor i reached i got 150 fame, this expedition was quite amaising.
I put all five stat points into Speed.
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, the cold was seeping through my coat. It wasn't very surprising since after the fight it had been torn to pieces and even my tailoring skill didn't help much.
The food provisions i had baught in Orca were gone but we still had the meat from the many mobs i had hunted.
We camped at the entrance of the 19th floor.
24 D until Tournament.
All of us were now drapped in thick and warm Bear Furr Coats and Boots i had made. The floor of the 19th level underground cave was frosted, the earth cracked everythime we stepped.
To forage food from my surrounding i had to dig the ground a few centimeters to find roos, cuticles and seeds.
The first mob we crossed was a firre covered, horse sized Salamander capable of spitting fire and venom.
To kill it you had to estinguish the fire, turn it on its back and open up it belly with three to five Spinning Bullets.
It took four minutes to kill it.
The loot was a higher grade Hard and Soft Warm Scales and Spicy Slamander Meat.
We had gone through two more salamanders when a White Snacke attacked one of the Orc Guardians.
The others killed the snacke as soon as they saw it, on the other hand, the Guardian that had been bitté got poisoned and his skin became geen (or greener depending how you see things).
I gave him my best antidote, applied a cataplasm and bandaged his wound.
He was in bad shape for an entire Hour
durring which they camped and ate a Spicy Meat Stew i made.
As we were earing, a large red shape became visible. It had fire coming out two different dirrections at once.
It was a Giant Two Headed Red Hind Bear (GTHRHB). It was Comming Our Way and we were one man down.
Great.
Deafetting it took another three hours.
After that ther were more salamenders, a snackes, Bear, snake, salamenders, Bear, Snake...
The mob that i though was a Mini-Boss turned out to be a standard mob in the level bellow...
How depressing.
Our progress towards the twentiefth floor stairwaywas slow. Each time a mob saw us they would attack.
Salamanders and GTHRHB were easier to deal with as they were visible from afar and we had time to prepare. White Snackes on the other hand stayed hiden underneath frost until one of us was close enough to bite. Nearly each time a negative status would result from it: poisoned, feverour, dizziness, confused, hallusinations...
In a way the snakes were harassing us mentaly while the Salamanders and GTHRHB did it physicaly.
It was one of the most taxing situation i had been through.
It took us two days and a half to reach the stairs. To allow us to recuperate it was decided we would decend in the morning.
21 D until Tournament.