New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 65 The Test

?***POV David Magnus***

It had almost been a week of in-game time now since the tournament positions had locked. David was currently playing his character in the game, named Khalor.

Khalor was an undead caster type, in the wraith subrace. But his class was special.

Khalor was wielding a bident, contrary to the normal caster weapon of wraiths. He was using a mix of spells and melee fighting, using every bit of time he had during the fight.

Khalor was currently in a zone where he could cross paths with other players, so he was trying to go further into monster territory. His current level was 36, so he could advance much further into monster territory.

Khalor could reach zones of monsters a few levels over him and still fight well alone. He pushed further into the zone to get away from prying eyes.

Khalor was already attracting unwanted attention with his uncommon weapon for his class. So many players approached him to know where he had gotten it, and if it was a class-related weapon.

Some went further still, trying to pry the information out of him. Those, he reserved a very nasty fate to, wiping the floor with their bodies and stealing their loot.

As Khalor made it into the level forty monster zone, most players stopped following him. They did not want to die in that zone and lose their hard-earned levels.

As soon as his groupies stopped hounding him, he found a quiet place with open fields and stood still.

"Come out." He said, raising a hand in front of him.

At first, nothing happened. But then the ground shook and hands started popping from the ground.

Some consisted only of bones, others were in multiple different stages of decomposition. A few ghost-like entities also started appearing from thin air.

Khalor looked at the small undead army form up before him with a smile.

"We answer our master's call!" Those that had vocal cords shouted as the line finished forming.

As for the others, they either clacked their bony jaws together or performed an eerie wail that pierced the veil of the afterlife.

Khalor grinned widely, in a fashion most would describe as devilish. But to him, it was just his natural smile that had been deformed by his past experiences.

"We hunt once more, my friends! For our lord! Hades!" Khalor rallied, before marching deeper into the monsters' territory.

As soon as the horde of undead, numbering in the dozens, met a monster, the poor soul would be shredded to pieces.

Khalor only joined in to keep his undead from getting killed, and mostly observed from the side the rest of the time.

They hunted a while in this fashion, before entering what Khalor knew was a Zone Boss's territory. They wouldn't cross another monster for a while until he heard a loud screech.

An armored form walked up to Khalor. The only thing distinguishable from its face, hidden underneath a full-faced war helm, were two glowing purple eyes.

It stopped in front of Khalor and knelt.

"Master. The creature has appeared. It is in the clearing up ahead, but refuses to come down from its perch, even with all the taunts thrown at it." The armored form said in a cavernous voice.

The armored form before Khalor was a Death Knight, one of the strongest undead to exist. Hades himself had assigned it to him, to act both as a guard and a monitor.

Khalor was currently trying to prove his worthiness to lord Hades, to inherit his legacy. He knew from past information that Hades's legacy was one of the strongest there was, and he needed it for his plan.

Khalor nodded at the Death Knight's words, and walked forward, entering the aforementioned clearing. And there it stood.

On a tree, highly perched, sat a gigantic two-headed raven, with feathers falling and skin rotting. This undead monstrosity was his test.

Lord Hades has ordered him to make it a part of his forces, as proof that he could tame the forces of undeath, and lead them into battle to maintain balance.

Khalor was more than welcoming this challenge, as he already knew what needed to be done. So many players had attempted this challenge before him and failed.

But he would be different because he knew. He knew the way.

Khalor ordered his small army to back away from the bird, and he himself walked forward. He stopped in the middle of the clearing.

"All of you, back away. I don't want anyone to interfere in this fight." Khalor ordered his undead army.

"Yes, Master!" They responded.

As if of one mind, all of his undead lackeys walked to the edge of the clearing, and turned to observe their master. They instinctively knew their master would fight with all he had.

Khalor looked at his army retreating and then turned to face the bird. He simply stood still, looking it in the eyes.

The raven eventually cawed loudly. Words echoed loudly in Khalor's mind.

"Have you come to best me, servant of Hades?" An ethereal voice asked.

Khalor only responded with a smirk, not even opening his mouth.

"Then so be it." The voice echoed in his mind again.

"Die!" The voice shouted, as the bird cawed loudly.

The two-headed raven dove from its perch, heading directly toward Khalor, who finally reacted. He burst forth, heading towards the bird too, on a collision course.

His bident appeared in his hand, as he lunged to the side slightly, evading the deadly talons, as it zoomed past him. He jabbed his bident at the bird as it flew past, drawing first blood.

The raven did a couple of dive passes, trying to catch Khalor in its claws, but every time missing and receiving damage instead. It knew it had to change tactics.

After regaining altitude, it flapped its wings, keeping its body afloat at around one hundred feet in the air. Khalor looked at it fly up and braced for the next dive pass.

But instead of diving back down again, the raven spread its wings wide, screeching loudly. The next moment, feathers detached from its body, with the pointy tips aimed at Khalor.

The feathers then shot forward at breakneck speeds, aiming to impale him and end his life. Khalor, of course, would not let them.

He started running in a curved path, forcing the feathers to spiral toward him. Khalor kept just enough speed for the feathers to miss him and land on the ground behind him.

After the last feather hit the ground, he abruptly stopped his running and faced the raven.

"You are not the only one with ranged attacks!" He yelled as he brought his bident before him.

"Skull Bombs: Death's Cascade!" He shouted as hundreds of skull-shaped white flames appeared behind him.

When he swung his bident at the raven, half the skulls launched forwards, aimed directly at the bird in the sky.

The raven's eyes turned to slits, as it dove at an angle, trying to imitate Khalor's previous maneuver. Unfortunately for it, Khalor had considered that possibility.

He waved his bident again, this time sending the remaining skulls on a collision course with the raven, opposite the other skulls.

The raven, realizing its mistake, changed its plan. Instead of flying into the skulls at full speed, it flew back upwards before curling its wings on itself.

The skulls all hit their mark, causing a midair explosion. The skies flared up in bright white light, visible for many miles around.

Khalor knew this fight wasn't done, since he got no kill notification, and he awaited the raven's emergence. He didn't wait for long, as the bird flew out from the fire, still burning white.

It screeched loudly, aiming its hate-filled eyes at Khalor. The raven performed a full circle in the air, gathering speed, before diving at him at speeds unperceivable.

Khalor lost sight of the monster when it dove, as it became a blur in the wind. But he was not worried.

Quite the contrary. A victorious smirk appeared on his lips as he lowered his weapon.

Khalor, instead of bracing for impact, or trying to dodge, stretched his arms to the sides, making a T pose.

The raven flew right into his chest, becoming a shadow as it did, and disappearing. When it did, Khalor slumped to the ground, his eyes closed, but his face still sporting a smile.

When he opened his eyes, he was floating in a dark space, devoid of any light. Before him, floated the gigantic raven, looking at him with predatory eyes.

It spoke into his mind.

"Do you fear death!?" The raven asked.

"I fear not death, as it is but a cycle of life." Khalor responded calmly.

"Then what do you fear, puppet of Hades?!" It said, with a follow-up question.

"I fear but only the end of the cycle and the break in its balance." Khalor said.

He was reciting from memory what the last owner of the legacy had said, in hopes it would still work for him. The raven looked at him for a few moments, its beak still closed.

"What could a weak thing like you ever do against an event like the break in balance and the stop in the cycle of life?" The raven asked, its eyes squinting.

"All I could do is to struggle to keep balance and force the wheel to keep rolling. At the cost of my own life, if need be!" Khalor replied, clenching his fists.

The raven looked at him, keeping quiet. Then it flapped its wings, sending Khalor tumbling through the space.

"Then so be it! I will help you in your futile endeavor, if only to collect your soul myself at the end!" It bellowed.

Khalor hit an invisible wall and lost consciousness. When he came to, he was sprawled on the ground in the clearing, a small two-headed raven perched upon his chest.

'It worked!' Khalor thought to himself, clenching his fists and grinning like a madman.