Elena walked through the desolate landscape carefully. She held her shortsword tight in her hand, ready for any monster that might pop out from behind any of the fallen trees around her as she moved. Thankfully, nothing did through the duration of her journey, and she was able to reach her destination relatively easily. It seemed the path that Baba Yaga had plotted out for her was indeed correct and free of danger.
The desolate, broken town that was formerly known as Dradum spread out before her. Under the bleak light that was filtered through the dark clouds in the sky, it appeared hopeless and dead. But Elena knew that it was far from dead. There were monsters crawling all around the entire broken landscape.
Carefully, she stepped through the broken gate of the town. She did not even take up to five steps when she heard an angry screech. She turned around and saw a small, but still sizeable half meter long centipede screeching as it ran towards her, its many legs scratching at the ground.
Elena rushed forward with the intention of killing the centipede before it could draw any other that were close-by. When she was close enough, the centipede leaped at her, but that was the spelling of its demise.
Elena held her knife in a back handed grip and dragged it through the centipede from front to back, cleanly splitting it into two halves.
Splat!
The centipede’s two halves hit the ground and moved weakly for a few more seconds before going still.
[Level 21 Ghost Centipede killed.]
‘Not enough to get another level.’ Elena thought with annoyance and brought up her status screen.
[Status]
Name: Elena Heart
Race: Beast-kin
Level: 26
Health Points: 750
Mana: 400
<Strength: 31>
<Agility: 35>
<Vitality: 40>
<Intelligence: 30>
<Dexterity: 35>
Skills:
<Beginner Dagger Mastery level 42>, <Beginner Butcher level 72>
Titles: None.
—
After skimming over her status, Elena continued moving. Every few minutes, she encountered another Ghost Centipede and quickly killed it.
“The monsters here are much more than what Baba Yaga told me.” Elena murmured, hesitating on whether she should keep moving forward, or if she should return.
“No, I’ve come way too far to go back now. When I return, I will be an adult!” She steeled her resolve.
Elena was from a small town that was built at the edge of the Desolate Lands. The town she was from was quite backwards, and a common way for young people to make others see them as adults was to make a trip to the Desolate Lands, max out their levels, and return for a class change. Only then could they show that they had what it took to be regarded as an adult.
Elena was one such person. She had turned nineteen a few days ago, and without her parents’ consent, she had gone to see the village elder, Baba Yaga, and asked him if she could traverse the Desolate Lands.
Baba Yaga, ever wise and blessed with foresight, had granted her the permission, and promised to handle her worried parents. He also gave her instructions. He plotted out a relatively safe path that would take her to a place where she could quickly level up. That place was Dradum.
[Level 11 Ghost Centipede killed. You have leveled up.]
Finally, her level got a boost. With a renewed fire burning in her heart, she went looking for the next monster to kill.
A few monster later, she leveled up again, and gained more confidence. At first, she had been hunting on the outskirts of the dead town, but seeing how weak the monsters seemed to be, she decided to head in deeper.
Five minutes in, she realized how wrong she was. She had made a mistake. A dozen centipedes surrounded her from every angle, and even more were climbing out of various nooks and crannies as they were called by their kin.
Elena weaved and bobbed, using the skills taught to her by her father as she kept the dangerous monsters at bay. But even then, her stamina was being drained quickly by the relentless swarm of monsters.
‘Am I going to die here?’ She thought grimly. Even then, she chose not to give up. She wanted to do her best and pull through. Maybe an opportunity to escape would show itself. She continued slashing and swinging, but the centipedes did not let up at all. Before long, she was forced with her back against the wall of a collapsed building. Just as she slashed at another monster, she heard a screech explode over her head, just as a giant, black, millipede jumped from the top of the wall she was leaning on.
.
.
A few minutes earlier…
“Leon, there’s some fighting going on over there. Maybe we should check it out.” Nedra said from her spot down beside Leon.
“Sure. After we handle that, we can call it a day and head back to the cathedral.” Leon nodded. Nedra led them in the direction that the fighting was coming from, and soon, they came to a surprising scene.
“Is that a human?” Leon asked. He was not sure. The person fighting looked like a young human lady, but seeing as he was in a world of swords and magic, she could simply be a member of a race that resembled humans.
“She looks like one. Should we help her out?” Nedra turned to look at Leon, even if she did not need to. She could see him just fine from the side.
“Hmm, sure, why not? If she is friendly, then perhaps she can help us with our own problems.” Leon shrugged. He summoned his dozen Undead Ghost Millipedes and had them charge at the Ghost Centipedes that surrounded the young lady.
One smaller millipede in particular went through a different route, climbing over the piles of broken rubble, and heading behind the wall that the young lady was back, to jump off the top and straight into the middle of the centipedes.
Screeee!
The millipede screeched angrily as it used that moment of surprise to tear off the head of a Ghost Centipede.