NOVEL WEB Chapter 18: Highschool from Hell Ⅱ
The team kept moving through the third floor and exterminated the small groups of imps as they recovered their resources.
"Any idea where the other two high demons are?" Abaddon asked Tom.
"I think we have one in the Library and one in the Gym," Tom said. "Which one do you guys want to go after first?"
"The gym has got to be the fiend." Skippy stated, "The fucking sex ed class had an Imp mother, then the gyms going to have a friend."
"That was the sex ed class?" Alex asked.
"Yeah?" Skippy said. "You didn't go?"
"No, Skippy, I watched porn like a normal person," Alex said,
"You knew it was the sex-ed class, right Tom?" Skippy asked.
"Actually, I'm in the same boat as Alex," Tom admitted sheepishly.
"Abb?" Skippy asked desperately.
"Porn," Abaddon stated.
"Well fuck all of you. I got to hang out with a bunch of hot girls for an entire period," Skippy shot back.
Tom shook his head.
"We're getting off-topic. Which high demon are we fighting?" Tom asked. "If we assume that the Gym has a Fiend, then what's in the Library?"
"Beholder, probably," Alex said. "Though I suppose it could be a drider. I don't think it's going to be a shadow or imp. Though all three could be succubus if that's the theme of the dungeon. I hope they're succubus's."
"So probably a beholder then," Tom said, ignoring Alex's horney musing. It was a lot harder now they were AFK.
Abaddon and Skippy nodded their agreement.
"Let's start with the fucking Fiend first," Abaddon said. "We're only pretty sure the library has a beholder. We're ninety-nine percent sure a friend is in the gym."
"Are we, though?" Tom asked. "Do we even know if the high demons are trapped in their rooms? The imp mother couldn't move because it was hyper-pregnant, but the other two demons were under no such restrictions. Update aside, this is real now. Everything we knew might be wrong now."
That caused a pause in the group as they digested the information.
"Yeah, if they're not locked in their rooms … Well, the library is on the way to the gym." Alex pointed out. "If the beholder draws agro and follows us to the gym. We're fucked."
This caused another round of silence as they considered their next move.
"So, the Library?" Tom asked.
"No," Abaddon said. Let's get to level 12 first. Between the Imps and the Imp mother, we're almost there. If we can each kill … 42 more imps, then we can get to level 12."
When no one argued, they took that to mean agreement and started to hunt the Imps.
At this point, the third floor was basically done, so they moved down to the second, where the imps were more plentiful.
Groups of imps roamed the second floor like patrolling guards, unaware their mother had been killed and stuffed in Skippy's inventory.
Now that the group had gotten over the surprise of having the game become a reality, they started to get back into the groove.
Abaddon could easily hold their attention while Alex focused on crowd control, and Skippy killed any stand-out enemies before they could become a problem. Tom just healed his team and occasionally buffed them. It wasn't the most glamorous job, but he wasn't sure if they would have survived this long without a healer.
Tom frowned as he started to notice another problem, Skippy wasn't keeping up as much as he had been expecting him to. Skippy had to use a skill if he wanted to one-shot an imp, and if he didn't, he often ended up having to hit the imps two to three times instead of just the once it should have taken him, and it was causing the group to fall out of sync.
The worst part, though, had to be the injuries were very real and very painful. In-game, if he had gotten scratched up like the imps had been doing to them, there would have been pain, but that pain would have been numbed and wouldn't have lasted. He could run around with a gaping chest wound without thinking about it. Now the pain could effectively cripple one of them. The Imps were also annoying. They spoke, and thanks to [Universal], he could understand them. It was mostly swear words.
Tom was doing his best to get the most out of the experience, and his status reflected that.
<[The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword] has Reached Level 26>
<[Wordsmith] has Reached Level 17>
<[Universal] has Reached Level 11>
<[Universal] has Reached Level 12>
<...>
<[Universal] has Reached Level 16>
<[Bright Arts] has Reached Level 21>
<[Bright Arts] has Reached Level 22>
<[Art of Life] has Reached Level 6>
<[Art of Life] has Reached Level 7>
<...>
<[Art of Life] has Reached Level 13>
<[Tactical Leader] has Reached Level 7>
<[Tactical Leader] has Reached Level 8>
<[Tactical Leader] has Reached Level 9>
<[Leadership Ⅰ] has Reached Level 14>
<[Raider Ⅰ] has Reached Level 10>
<[Raider Ⅰ] has Reached Level 11>
<[Raider Ⅰ] has Reached Level 12>
<[Coordination Ⅱ] has Reached Level 3>
<[Coordination Ⅱ] has Reached Level 4>
<[Coordination Ⅱ] has Reached Level 5>
<[Logistics Ⅱ] has Reached Level 8>
<[Logistics Ⅱ] has Reached Level 9>
<[Logistics Ⅱ] has Reached Level 10>
Tom turned off his notifications before he got overwhelmed. Moving down to the second floor, they made their way to the library, killing any of the remaining pockets of imps they could find. Tom could see the XP bar inching towards level 12. The Imps weren't worth a lot of XP, but there seemed to be a never-ending supply of Imps running around their school—just a little bit more.
"I leveled up," Tom cheered.
"Same," Abaddon said.
"I need a few more," Alex said
"Me too." Skippy agreed.
It only took another three groups of imps to get Skippy and Alex to level 12.
"Let's get somewhere to find to take a break and assign our levels," Tom said.
"Is that necessary?" Skippy asked.
"We've been fighting all day. As much as I love this, I am hungry and tired. We need a fucking lunch break." Abaddon said, marching off to one of the computer labs. They took their time securing the room and then took a few minutes to make themselves some sandwiches, eat, and assign their levels.
DING!!!
You have Leveled up
Congratulations, you are now a Level 1 Water Mage.
You have selected the Skill [Water Magic]
[Water Magic]: +0.5% to the effectiveness of all of your water magic.
"I took a Level in [Water Mage]. What did you guys take?" Tom asked.
"I evolved my class and added some levels to [Wizardess]," Alex said with a shrug
"I've picked up [Dancer] for levels 11 to 12. I got the [Mirage Step] skill to improve my mobility."
"I only added levels to [Giantslayer]," Abaddon said with a shrug.
For a long moment, they just sat there eating the food. Then Alex started to chuckle, and her chuckling eventually broke down into full belly laughs.
"Dude, are you ok?" Tom asked.
"Am I okay? Am I okay? Tom, I'm a sun elf from my wet dreams, clearing out demons from my high school with my best friends. This is the best day of my life." Alex chuckled as she hugged him.
Tom stared at Alex for a minute, but then he started to smile, too. For all of today's insanity, he was having fun.
"Did you guys see how I tossed that imp?" Abaddon asked with a smile on his face.
"Dude, That was fucking awesome," Skippy said. "It went flying. It was awesome."
"Honestly, today's been great," Tom agreed.
They all smiled, but Abaddon frowned as something crossed his mind.
"Does that make us bad people?" Abaddon asked.
They all looked at him.
"Wow, way to kill the mood, you fun nazi," Skippy said.
"I'm serious," Abaddon said, smacking skippy. "We're here eating sandwiches and having a good time while the rest of the world is freaking out and getting eaten. Does that make us bad people?"
"Of course, it doesn't," Tom said, half trying to convince himself. Half trying to convince his friends.
"When the world was normal, we were miserable. Life sucked. We got bullied and picked on and made fun of, forgotten about. That happened because that world belonged to people like Chad. Well, now Chad and the rest of them get to spend a little time in our world. And if they don't like it, they can shove it." Tom huffed
<[Wordsmith] has Reached Level 18>
<[Analyze Person] has Reached Level 9>
<[Analyze Person] has Reached Level 10>
<...>
<[Analyze Person] has Reached Level 12>
<[Best of Both Worlds] has Reached Level 8>
And now he felt guilty about his speech.
"Alright, that’s enough sappy stuff. Let's go find and kill some demons," Tom said, trying to clear the air.
The group left the computer lab and made their way to the library. After their previous slaughter, the imps were starting to thin out.
As they approached the library, Tom felt his excitement rising as they opened the doors and entered. The library looked the same as it used to be: a large room with cheap metal shelves lined with books. Most of the light came from the massive windows looking out the back of the school.
"Where is the beholder?" Skippy asked.
"Maybe it's a shadow?" Abaddon said as they scanned their surroundings.
Tom looked around the room. The shadows suddenly became more ominous as he scanned for the demon.
"There it is!!" Abaddon called out.
Abaddon charged forward and started to punch the wall.
"Abaddon, what are you doing?" Tom called out.
You have resisted Elder Orb Beholders [Illusionary World] thanks to [My Mind is a Temple, My Soul the Altar]
[Illusionary World]: This ability can be used to trap your target in a world within their own mind. You inflict illusionary sensory information on the target, convincing them that the false world is real while they sit there helpless.
That was all Tom needed to know as he ducked and rolled under a table just as a beam of bright blue magic passed right over where his head had been. Looking up, he took the room in as quickly as possible. Abaddon was trying to make a new hole in the wall, and Skippy was trying to eat a book. And Alex had slumped down next to him and, with her hand, reached under her clothes to fondle herself, a lewd grin appearing on her face.
"Yeah, just like that." she moaned
"Alex!" Tom hissed, smacking her on the back of the head.
That normally snapped a victim out of the illusion, but this time, it had no effect. Then he saw the beholder. Unlike the classical D&D beholder, the elder orb variant was a single floating eyeball surrounded by four other eyeballs, all orbiting it. The iris of the eye was a bright blue mixed with a shadowy purple.
Elder Orb Beholder
Lvl: 15
Hp: 240
Mp: 2,050
Stamina: 100
Skills: [Illusionary World], [Perception Filter], [Perception Warp], [Aether Beam], [Shadow bolt], [Shadow Plane Shift], [Mana Essence Shift], [Shadow Flesh]
The Elder Orb Beholder is a creature that has given up its flesh to fully commune with the magic of the world, becoming a creature of magic.
"Shit," Tom swore.
Pulling out Four of his scrolls, he immediately activated them.
"Summon Shield Bearer, Summon Shield Bearer, Summon Shield Bearer, Summon Shield Bearer"
Four massive suits of bronze armor appeared, each carrying a full-sized shield. Without fail, each of them interposed themselves between one of Tom's friends and the Beholder. The Beholder wasn't wasting any time. One of its orbiting eyes turned to face him, glowed orange, and then blasted Tom's Shield Bearer with a massive shadow beam that ripped his guardian apart in seconds.
"Aether and Shadow magic," Tom muttered to himself as he brought out another scroll.
Shadow Magic was fast and powerful but didn't have any defense worth a damn. Aether magic was powerful, but only in relation to magic. In hindsight, that blast to the head probably wouldn't have done that much damage. Putting the two together, on the other hand, meant that the best way to kill was with a physical attack. Which he didn't have, fuck.
The Beholder fired Shadow bolt after Shadow bolt as it chased him through the library, fortunately ignoring his friends. Unfortunately, he was the one in danger. He had to throw up a light shield to block the first shadow bolt. The second missed him by inches before exploding next to his head. Tom dashed down the lines of books as the Beholder followed after him, firing spell after spell at him, forcing him to dodge wildly. He was really wishing he had picked up a movement skill at some point.
Spinning around midstep, Tom unleashed a barrage of light bolts towards the beholder in hopes of stalling it. Fortunately, the Elder Orb was as predictable as they were in the game. Each time his spell shot towards the demon, it stopped moving, turned, and annihilated Tom's spells with its own Aether magic attacks.
Aether magic was, put simply, the magic of magic. Every good wizard learned at least a bit of it. But very few specialized in it because, against normal flesh-and-blood creatures, it wasn't very effective. Against magic, however, it could alter the spell enough that it would just fall apart.
But Tom was fine with that; he had an idea. The moment the Beholder stopped to counter his attack, his right hand started to draw his glyphs. He activated both glyphs at the same time. In a blinding flash of light, three Tom stood in front of the Beholder before the illusions took off in opposite directions.
The beholder's eye twitched as it rose into the air, firing shadow bolt after shadow bolt at the fleeing illusions in annoyance. The cloying mass of shadows blew apart metal shelves and the stone floor with ease. In seconds, the first illusion was hit, collapsing into motes of light as it tried to exit the library.
The beholder turned to the other two, firing off at the other two erratically. It attacks lighting up the library. Unfortunately for the demon, it had failed to notice Tom. His first spell created three illusions that ran around, drawing enemy fire. His second was an invisibility spell. While the beholder had been firing about randomly, Tom had climbed up the bookcases behind the beholder, gathered his mana, and launched a water blade directly into the demon's back end.
You have inflicted 180 points of damage on Elder Orb Beholder.
The beholder screamed in agony, its body immediately turning into shadows as it shot out the door.
"Light Bomb," Tom cast, trying to end the creature before it escaped.
He grimaced as his attack missed, and the beholder flew out into the school.
Turning around, he moved back to his friends to check on them. Fortunately, the Beholders [Illusionary world] required the demon to remain close by.
"What happened?" Skippy asked in confusion.
Tom dumped a few healing and cleansing spells on his team just to make sure they were ok before he spoke.
"You guys got caught in an illusion," Tom said. "Come on, we still have to kill it before."
Quest Update: High School from hell
High Demons Killed: 3/0
Demon Lord 0/1
<[Leadership Ⅰ] has Reached Level 15>
<[Leadership Ⅰ] has Reached Level 16>
<...>
<[Leadership Ⅰ] has Reached Level 20>
<[My Mind is a Temple My Soul the Altar] has Reached Level 17>
<[My Mind is a Temple My Soul the Altar] has Reached Level 18>
<...>
<[My Mind is a Temple My Soul the Altar] has Reached Level 21>
<[Water Magic] has Reached Level 2>
<[Water Magic] has Reached Level 3>
<...>
<[Water Magic] has Reached Level 7>
For a long moment, nobody said anything. As they figured out what was happening, they turned and raced towards the door to the library and looked down into the pit. On the first floor, swallowing the form of the Elder orb Beholder, was a Fiend. Its body writhed and changed, growing bigger, darker, and veinier.
"Does anyone else think he looks like a penis?" Alex asked.
"Seriously?" Tom asked, annoyed.
"Just a thought," Alex said innocently
A crown of horns rose from its skull with bull horns pointed straight up towards them. Its black-red skin was massively muscled and veiny. Its lower body was that of a scaled goat's legs with a spaded tail. Its face looked like a cross between a boar and a pug. Only it now had four eyes that glowed with the blue light of the Aether. It was also naked, its massive flaccid penis the size of a human arm. Out of reflex, Tom used [Agurs Eye].
(Crippled) Pseudo Demon Lord
Titles: Demon Lord, Boss Monster
This Pit Fiend came to this world with two other demons. The pact they signed stated that only one of them would live while the essence of the other two was consumed to fuel its ascension. Now, it's moving to cement its rule over this Lair and evolve into a proper Demon lord. In order to achieve this, it has eaten the elder orb in a moment of weakness, absorbing some of its abilities and kickstarting its evolution, and mending a bit of its crippled status.
Hp: 10,500
Mana: 760
Stamina: 3,250
Skills: [High Fiend Vitality], [Demonic Armaments], [Demonic Carapace], [Grand Slam], [Perception Filter], [Perception Warp], [Aether Beam], [Shadow Flesh], [Birth Imp]
STR: 78 / DEX: 8 / AGIL: 17 / CON: 500 / END: 100 / PER: 14 / INT: 76 / WILL: 68 / SPIRIT: 100 / EGO: 75 / CHA: 13 / LCK: 17
It looked up at them and gave them a monstrous grin, and Tom felt his stomach drop.
You may skip to the next chapter.
Name: Tom Bruner
Race: Half-Elf ()
Type: Humanoid
LVL: 12
SubRace: High Elf / Caucasian
Age 18
Health: 420
Stamina: 540
Mana: 2160
Health Regen: 6.0 per hour
Stamina Regen: 6.9 per min
Mana Regen: 12.0 per min
Titles: Beta-Tester
Immune
None
Resistances
Mental 31% Soul 21%
Weakness
None
Bane
Manslayer
Classes: Augur 10, Tactiction 1, Water Mage 1, 1 Unassigned
Total
STR: 12
AGIL: 12
DEX: 12
CON: 36
END: 12
PER: 120
INT: 108
WILL: 96
SPIRIT: 24
EGO: 12
CHA: 72
LCK: 12
Base
STR: 12
AGIL: 12
DEX: 12
CON: 36
END: 12
PER: 120
INT: 108
WILL: 96
SPIRIT: 24
EGO: 12
CHA: 72
LCK: 12
Personal: +4 PER +4 WILL +3 INT +3 CHA
Racial: +3 WILL +2 CON +2 CHA +1 SPIRIT
Bloodline: +5 PER +5 INT
Level Bonus: +1 to all Stats
Bloodline:
[Bloodline of the Keeper of Akashic Records]—Forgotten: Through your vein runs the blood of the forgotten Keepers of the Akashic Records. These monks, scribes, and scholars helped create the system, and within their blood are the keys to its secrets.
- [The Pen is Mightier than the Sword] - Level 25 >> Level 26
- [Words Will Always Retain their Power] - Level 18
- [Library of Akashic Records] - Level 19
- [Universal] - Level 10 >> Level 16
- [Wordsmith] - Level 16 >> Level 18
- [My Mind is My Temple, My Soul the Altar] - Level 16 >> Level 21
- [Thirst for Knowledge] - Level 5
- [Visions of Akashic Records] - Level 2
- [Soul Forge] - Level 10
- +5 PER per level
- +5 INT per level
Skill Slots: 11/60: Skill Points: 1
Personal Skills
- [Analyze Person] - Level 8 >> Level 12
- [Best of Both Worlds] - Level 7 >> Level 8
Augur 06/16
- [Augurs Eye] - Level 7
- [Bright Arts] - Level 20 >> Level 22
- [Art of Life] - Level 5 >> Level 13
- [Prophetic Meditation] - Level 8
- [Far Seeing] - Level 11
- Capstone: [Hand of Mercy] - Level 3
Tactician 05/6
- [Tactical Leader] - Level 6 >> Level 9
- [Leadership Ⅰ] - Level 13 >> Level 20
- [Raider Ⅰ] - Level 9 >> Level 12
- [Coordinate Ⅱ] - Level 2 >> Level 5
- [Logistics Ⅱ] - Level 7 >> Level 10
Water Mage 01/11
- [Water Magic] - Level 1 >> Level 7