Samuel Oakley, The tempest.
Samuel was well known for his great control over the water and wind elements. Of course, it wasn't always the case. As the bastard son of a prominent noble household, Samuel went through his fair share of struggles, those struggles turned him into the man he was today.
His father refused to acknowledge him and his siblings looked down on him. It wasn't that he was lacking in talent, as a matter of fact that was the root of the issue. His father felt it was an insult for the son of a wench to be more talented than his own children, his family did not try to hide their displeasure. Samuel had to endure words of abuse and at times physical trauma, he needed to bide his time.
When Samuel finally became of age the first thing they did was kick him out of the house. They gave him a meager allowance even by commoner standards and kicked him to the curb. But Samuel didn't feel down, it was the opposite. For the first time in his life he felt truly happy. He knew that there was no better revenge than to succeed.
So he went out and became an adventurer. He uncovered many treasures and traveled through many dungeons, his name became well known throughout the kingdom. What always brought him a smile was imagining his dad receiving congratulations for having such a talented son, ah the bliss... But eventually, he realized it wasn't enough.
He might be happy but on the way to the top he couldn't help but notice the distress of others. It was also around that time that Samuel met his wife and swore to protect her. Although he had endured and was finally on his way to nurturing a happy family the same couldn't be said for others. Many failed to reach the peak or gave up altogether.
It wasn't that his life was a mistake, he did learn many things. Through his whole journey he learned patience and he learned planning. He was meticulous yet bold. His personality was a bundle of contradiction, it was because he always knew how to act in which situation. He was a natural leader yet he always wanted to take matters into his own hands. And when he did, things turned chaotic. He was always the eye of the storm, his own storm.
They say that the most fearsome individuals are the silent ones. But what about when a patient man loses his patience? When a man that overcame much trouble without losing his cool finally gives in to rage? The aftermath doesn't need to be described, Samuel was such a man. Some said it was almost a unique talent.
But that brings forth another question, what could make such a person lose their patience, to give in to rage? For Samuel it was his loved ones. And as a caring person, it was a rather long list.
Samuel's mana turned chaotic. The wind turned rabid as if it were a ravenous wolf, its howling invoked fear even into the non-living. Before his other party members could even think to worry about their fallen comrades they all came to a stop. It was a budding hurricane. Water surged out of thin air and violently tossed away any opposition.
The army of skeletons was thinning at an unprecedented speed as they were minced by sharp blades of wind and washed away by furious waves. The inside of the dungeon was facing an unprecedented storm, and those caught in it felt like they were caught in a blender. Or they would if they could live for more than mere seconds.
The adventurers stood at the sidelines unaffected or at least not physically. Their mental state was one of immense shock, they could only standby paralyzed.
The skeletons were all turned into smoosh. It took less than a minute for all this to occur. Samuel was starting to calm down, his complexion wasn't in any way exhausted.
The winds paused and any remains of battle were washed away. Samuel stood unfazed as he let out a small breathe.
"I am all better now, let's take a small break before we continue" Samuel showed a hint of sadness as he looked towards the adventurers. The corpses of his two allies remained where they last stood.
His other party members naturally had no intention to deny his orders. They sat aside after carefully handling the bodies. They had wrapped it in a special material that prevented the dungeon from consuming them.
They waited for about 10 minutes before Samuel stood up and neared the boss door.
"We should finish this soon, we can take a proper break back at the town. We will return after dropping off the bodies." Samuel really intended to clear the dungeon in one go.
He placed his hand on the gate and looked back towards the adventurers.
"I can't sense whatever is past this door, are you guys ready?" He had a small frown as he hated mystery and uncertainty the most.
The group of what was now 6 had already gathered their weapons and belongings. They all nodded in approval as they approached the gate.
Samuel pushed open the heavy gate, the screeching gate slowly moved to reveal the deep darkness. Samuel walked in while wearing a stoic expression, he then stopped walking. He put his hand back motioning the others to stop.
"You guys need to head back!" Samuel shouted after understanding something.
The other adventurers were clearly confused by his words and unfortunately they were all inside already. The gates shut much quicker than they opened and the dark room was abruptly illuminated.
In the middle of the room stood the supposed boss, it was exuding a deathly aura. Its eyes became lit by purple flames.
"Trespassers are not allowed any further down" The lich said its iconic words in its hoarse voice.
The adventurers that followed Samuel had grim expressions after hearing the being's message. But it wasn't the message that caused it, it was the existence itself. A lich. As mere C-ranked adventurers they dared not think they stood a chance.
"This will be quite troublesome" Samuel let out an exasperated breath followed by a smile.
He looked behind him towards the adventurers as he did so raising their morale. They had Samuel, that was what the adventurers thought after seeing his confident behavior.
The lich didn't let the charade continue as it slammed its eerie staff onto the ground a couple of times. The rhythmic beating only added to the eerie atmosphere silencing the crowd. The ground trembled slightly until hands broke through its surface. The adventurers could count as many as 20 pairs of hands with a quick glance.
"Try to stay alive, I will take care of this" Samuel knew he would be risking his life if he babysat the adventurers. So he charged towards the skeletons climbing out of the ground. Some of which were wearing armor or holding sharp weapons.
Samuel coated his sword with a turbulent blue and green mana, he then performed a small spin before releasing a sharp swing. The mana transformed into a fearsome waterspout that stormed towards its enemy's direction.
The swirling water did not get a chance to show off its true prowess as the ground shifted and formed a sturdy wall in front of the skeletons. Even so, the wall was ruthlessly smashed through sending pieces of dirt flying everywhere. The skeletons, most of which were donning armor, cut apart any and all debris and shrugged off any leftover water. They had all climbed out of the ground at that point and were lusting for blood.
The small group ran over the remains of the broken wall and approached the dashing Samuel. Samuel was not fazed however as he readied another swing. His sword shone brightly green causing some of the adventurers further back to squint their eyes.
Samuel let loose the torrent green mana with a fierce horizontal slash. The surrounding air was sliced apart by the turbulent wind as it rapidly approached the large skeleton horde. Most of the skeletons were sliced in half with the sole exception of the more elite looking ones donning knightly armor. They had surprisingly dodged the strike by jumping or crouching. Still, most of the enemies were quickly disposed of by Samuel.
naturally, the lich had no intention to standby and watch. It cast a curse spell towards Samuel as its target. The curse however was repelled by a bright yellow light once it neared Samuel, it seemed Samuel possessed a curse dispelling item.
"Did you think I would enter an undead dungeon unprepared?" Samuel remarked as he finally reached the death knights that protected the lich.
His blade was coated by a dim green light, the wind element swiftened Samuel's blade allowing him to release rapid strikes towards the nearest knight. Had it been a regular skeleton its head would already be rolling on the ground. The skeleton knight, however, managed to deflect any significant strikes leaving it with only deep gashes on its armor and bones.
Samuel didn't expect his opponent would be able to avoid critical injury. He stopped cutting corners and release sharp blades of wind along with normal strikes. The skeleton was quickly overwhelmed and deep slashes started to appear all over its body.
Another knight tried to help out its comrade and approached Samuel from the side. It let out a sharp swing that Samuel evaded by moving aside. He caught the other skeletons moving past him but before he could try to help, spikes popped out of the ground with the intent of skewering him.
Samuel deftly jumped back and let out another sharp blade of wind that decapitated one of the attacking knights. Samuel gave the lich a stink eye before proceeding to release a fierce wave with the sole purpose of pushing back the attackers.
"You guys need to get past me first" Although he didn't want to babysit them he also couldn't let them die.
The skeleton knights that were washed away stood up groggily, water flowed out of their armor as they did so.
"Are you all ready for round two?" Samuel boldly remarked even while his mana was nearing depletion.