Starting from Zero

Book 2, Chapter 8

They are after me!

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We marched deeper while clearing those Mutated Zombies on the way. Then I felt a decrease in their numbers. Looks like we're near the next monster zone. And just as expected, we saw something ahead, almost 2 meters tall. Its body is fully covered in black armor, without any part exposed.

I used Identify from afar. Undead Fighter, level 100, attacks will absorb HP, high Defense, adept at using combo skills, 20% resistant to Dark magic. No particular weakpoint.

Ohh this thing looks strong! I ordered Lucky to stay guard. I'll try this loner out on myself. Lucky started to protect the surrounding area while I charged at the Undead Fighter. He spotted me soon, with a shift in hand, a jagged black sword appeared in his grasp. I rushed to his face and slashed downwards. The fighter dodged it with a neat side-step. Using my great Strength, I forcefully jerked my sword from downward slash to a horizontal sweep.

A hit. Clang! A really big recoil pushed me back three steps. Jesus that's some hard defense. The hit only dealt 113 damage!

Just as my attack has finished the Undead Fighter charged toward me. He's fast. He reached me in an instant and I don't have time to evade. I kept stepping back but he still hit me spot-on with a sweep. I felt my body shook and blood came out of my throat. That was like getting run over by a truck. But the attack didn't end. The Undead Knight used the recoil force and spun in a circle, slashing from the other direction, then followed by a fast third sweep. Now I'm totally crashed, I took three hit! My HP is down to 19. Shit he almost finished me with just one combo! Anyone else in my shoes would have been dead by now. But I got pretty high HP. Plus I'm no ordinary people, I have the Collar of Protection!

I didn't get the chance to finish my thoughts before the fighter charged again. Damn it, there's no breather!

"Lucky! Help!"

Hearing this, Lucky immediately reached us with a powerful gust, which caused the Undead Fighter to lose his balance and started spinning funny. I took the chance and cut him several times. I may not kill him but at least that felt good!

Realizing it's not good idea to mess with Lucky, the Undead Fighter started to flee without hesitation. But those two legs have no chance against Lucky's wings. Lucky quickly caught him in a claw swipe, sending him crashing into a cliff, then he disappeared in a white flash. I ran over, ah I'm rich! There are two gold coins on the ground! Ah hahaha! It's not surprising that high level monsters carry more money. Pity he didn't drop his equipment. If I can get my hands on such cool armor set I'll be the center of the crowd!

While I'm daydreaming, I heard noise coming from the valley. It felt like the footsteps when an army is marching. And it didn't take long before I saw what it is. A row of eight Undead Fighters appeared around the corner ahead, running towards me in an orderly formation. What's worse is that there are more arrays coming behind them and not stopping.

Well all I did is killing one of the outer guards, do they have to send a freaking army on me?!

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Lucky deserves to be a top-class companion, it reacts fast -- Lucky just grabbed me and started to escape without a second thought. God knows how many tens of thousands of Undead Fighters are after me, I sit on Lucky's back and can't even make out where this crowd ends! Lucky is fast but it's only level 67, and couldn't fly very fast with me sitting on its back. I watched the undead force getting closer, and threw some magic missiles now and then, to no avail at all. But my actions inspired Lucky. It turned its head around and started to shoot explosive fireballs. Totally different from my pathetic spells, each of Lucky's fireball can crumble a small mess of them with ease.

Frankly speaking, this could have been a nice way to grind up only if we're not being chased like scared puppies. Those undead fighters ran after us all the way the the valley entrance. When we exited the valley, I looked back, praying that those undead would stop their pursuit. Because they're already out of bounds!

Unfortunately the God didn't hear my prayer. (I'm a Dark Fighter, maybe I'm praying to the wrong god? Lemme try Satan next time!) The valley exit didn't stop the huge army any bit, they just rushed towards us without stopping. We turned and started running right away. I patted Lucky's back and ordered it to fly into the Lost City. The valley faces the backside of the city and the city gate is on the other side. Let's see if you can just jump into the lake and chase me, the monster in the lake will definitely do something!

We dropped flat on the ground as soon as we're past the city wall. Lucky is down out of exhaustion while I'm too scared to stand! Man those guys are terrifying. I'd better avoid them in the future!

But we reached level 70 after all this run-and-blast. Aha! Level 100 monsters got nice exp reward. It's a pity I couldn't pick all those gold coins back!

While I'm panting I hear a familiar voice above me. "Ziri? Hey mate, what happened to you?" Clark stared at the cracks on my armor and asked.

I saw Clark and answered: "Just my luck! I went to train in the Dark Valley and met those Undead Fighter or something. I killed one of them and a whole damn legion is on my tail now. They chased me all the way here!"

"You...killed an Undead Fighter in the Dark Valley?" Clark raised his voice.

"Yeah. Did I do something wrong?"

"Well aren't ya a brave one!"

"So...what happened?"

Clark just laughed: "I sure can't tell you the whole thing, come with me now, I'll find you someone who'll explain to you."

I followed Clark into an Appraisal Shop. Then Clark introduced me to the shop owner, who is the guild master of the Appraiser Guild in Lost City. Hearing that I killed a fighter in the Dark Valley that old man laughed hard and almost choked himself to death. Oh wait, he doesn't need to breath!

"What's this all about?" I'm starting to get annoyed because they just laugh.

Seeing I'm getting angry, the old man tried to hold back his laughter. Hard. "So...you really don't know?"

"Know what?"

"You took the wrong turn in the Dark Valley and encountered the guards of Dark Palace. You're lucky it's just one of the outer minions!"

"Huh? Minion? That was level 100 Undead Fighter! And thousands of them! Those were just minions?"

The old man chuckled: "The Dark Palace is a forbidden realm for us denizens of the dark. All of us vowed to protect the place with all we have."

"That serious?"

"Of course. The place is the source of dark powers. Legend says that the Star of Genesis which created the world split into two halves, one of them is dropped inside the forbidden area, becoming the source of darkness!"

"Is there a reward for taking that dark source? Any quest for it?"

"Take??" Guild master and Clark stared at me, agape. The guild master claimed: " It's impossible to take the dark source! There are way too many guards! What you saw today is the outer most part of the forbidden area. There are endless level-250 Undead Guardian Knights behind those fighters, and level-350 Dark Sorcerer Formations. Suppose you can sneak past these ones and reach inside the forbidden area, you won't get the source either. Rumor says there are eight identical Hidden Palaces, each with 7 floors, and each floor is protected by countless guards ranging from level 400 to 800. Now do you still think you can do it?"

I'm not convinced. "I have Lucky, I can raise it to level 800. What kind of monster can fight against a top leveled dragon companion?"

"Let's not ask whether you can reach level 800 at all. You won't do anything even if you are 900. The last two guardians of the dark source, are two level-1000 Dark Fiend Dragons!"

"Ugh. That looks hopeless."

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P.S. That reminds me. The author is going to tease various gods and deities of different culture and religion in the future, too. Again, please don't take it serious.

P.S.2 Ohh someone put my list onto novelupdates.com Well thank you!