As she got up and ran towards the door, Nikolas turned his attention back to the side of the ship. He leaned over and saw the monster he had just struck slowly climbing back up but it wasn’t alone. Two others were with him and both looked a bit larger than the first. Nikolas had to act quick, good thing he had a set of skills that would be fantastic in this scenario.

He smirked as he stretched his hand over the railing. “Go back to the ocean you fish freaks!” A magic circle appears and whips of golden light lashed out at the three below him. While they were able to strike at the monster, only the one he had originally struck (Level 1 mob) seemed to be harmed. It was thrown back into the ocean once more and Nikolas received a message before him.

“You have hunted 1x Forsaken (level 1). You’ve earned 10 points

So that was why he was so easy to deal with, he was only level 1. While Nik was only level 3, he was stronger than most. His robe aided in his magical prows and his stats were higher than a typical level 3. The main issue he had, was he lacked diversity in his abilities.

---

Items brought

Ravishing Robe
Endless Sketchbook [Desert Night]
Light of the Lost World
Deep Reflections

Instantly, the crisp London air that he was sitting in was washed away. In its steed, he found a warmer airbrushing through his hair. The smell of the sea was all around him. He opened his eyes and saw that he was on a massive ship. Not a cruise one or one that might have been common in the world before the Light, but one that seemed to belong to a different age. He walked over to the wooden railing and gripped it tight as he looked across the black, choppy sea. “Wow, I haven’t seen the Mediterranean since I was a kid. Did it always look this rough? He spoke to himself. He looked around and noticed a few other people were looking in awe. They must have been other players selected to come.

“So, we’re going to Ender’s Island huh?” he spoke to himself. Out in the distance, he could see a large mountainous structure jetting out from the waters. His grip tightened. “Well, let’s see what adventures await us here. Just wish I wasn’t alone…” He walked away from the railing and towards what looked like a door to the interior before he was able to below deck sirens began to wail.

---

Items brought

Ravishing Robe
Endless Sketchbook [Desert Night]
Light of the Lost World
Deep Reflections

Nikolas hesitated in responding to Emir. He wasn’t really tired but he was scared. He had a good skill to ward off incoming threats due to its long reach and multiple targets but he feared it would be taxing to his stamina. It seemed that Emir was already wary of them running out before escaping. He would need to keep it in mind. His simple blast of light wasn’t too overwhelming in terms of energy cost but it wasn’t strong enough to flat-out kill a vampire. It was just strong enough to cause them to back the fuck off for a moment.

“Right, knees to chest…” He muttered before placing his hand on the door. “Knees to chest, knees to chest…” He was working up the courage to open the door and bolt. He knew that there were more vampires. He could hear them scurrying about. How many, where they were, how they would react was all a gamble. Three, two, one…” He whispered before flinging the door open with all his might. Upon opening, Nikolas bolted making his way out the door they were in and into a small exterior hallway that seemed to be lining a courtyard of sorts. He started to run towards the large iron gate that stood on the other end of the yard. As he ran, he heard shouting and could feel the eyes of vampires starting to lock in on him.

He slammed into the gate, tugging it and pulling only to notice a pale red screen appearing before him.

NOTICE GATE IS LOCKED. FIND THE KEY TO UNLOCK

“Fuck! It’s locked.” He turned around to look and find Emir and Skye but noticed as the trio ran, a heard of vampires were starting to make their way towards them. There had to be at least ten or more. The vampires stopped before clashing with the group and instead pinned them to the gate like trapped livestock.

“Well, well, well. How did you three escape? The Mistress is away but Lord Marcus will be dealing with you lot. Come on, let’s get them to Marcus.”

Before any of them could react, a cold voice rang out behind the cluster of vampires.

“Marcus is already here you buffoon.”

The group parted and a lean man with bright red hair started to walk between them. The man was pale and seemed to radiate an energy that the others couldn’t match. Nikolas wasn’t sure what to say but what he did know was that he was frightened.

“Now then, you three seemed to be able to handle three of my men just fine. But how do you think you’ll fair against me? My Mistress will not be back until tomorrow, I’m sure she will understand if we got hungry by then.” His fangs poked beyond his lips as his curled them into a sinister smile. What else stood out was a single silver key dangling from his neck. Perhaps it was the kep to the gate? It seemed that Marcus was in the mood to finish them off here and now. What could they do? Nikolas gripped his fist and finally found some resolve.

“We’re not dying here!” He held out his hand and before the trio a bright light appeared. A magical circle formed, shining bright on the vampires causing them all to hiss and stammer backwards. As they did so, Nikolas’ ability cause thirteen tentacles to emerge. They began to whip and strike at the crowd but mainly focused on Marcus. “Get the key! Its on his neck!” He shouted. He knew his ability wasn’t going to last long but hopefully one of the companions would be able to snatch it.


Emir Nebu Skye LaValle

The pair walked the cow back to the farmer. Emir seemed to be okay but Nikolas noted he was moving a bit slower than normal. Emir did to the grunt work of this mission, all Nikolas had to do was whip the cow in place. Nothing too strenuous. As they got back to the farm, Nikolas let Emir do the talking with the farmer. It was when the screen acknowledged the completion of the mission did a smirk cross his face. ”Sweet! Another one down.”

Nikolas was taken aback a bit by Emir’s comment for the pair of them to go roll around in the hay. English wasn’t his first language, as such some phrases were new to him. This phrase though was one he had heard before. He paused for a moment waiting for Emir to further explain himself. Based on his body language and the tone of his voice, he did not think Emir fully understood the phrase. “Ah, I think I might continue on. Somebody said London has a safe zone and way point to central Europe. I’m trying to get back to Germany and find my family. Hopefully, our paths cross again soon though!” He flashed a smile and gave Emir’ a wave before parting ways.

[Exit]

Emir Nebu

As he was going through the various screens to ensure he was well prepared he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. A man was approaching him. Dismissing the screens, Nikolas turned his attention toward the newcomer. He was striking. Tall, blonde, and blue-eyed. Something about him seemed so familiar. It was when the man started talking did Nikolas realize they were both European. Perhaps he was also German? Since the world flipped on its head, accents and language barriers melted away. It was really hard to pinpoint people based on that. Instead, he had to rely on body language and context clues. None of that really mattered, what did matter was he was willing to help Nikolas on this mission. “Oh, I would love the company. Truth be told, I’m not too thrilled to navigate the sewers alone.” He gave the man a smile and reached out his hand to greet him. “I’m Nikolas. My class is Light Bearer.” He initiated the party system. Upon Dantalion’s acceptance, a single window would appear before Nikolas while two would appear before Dantalion.



The second screen for his new companion would be based on Nikolas’ own Veneration skill, allowing his party member to select a buff for themselves. ” Well, seems like the two of our classes have decent synergy.” He said while giving the man a smile. Like Emir, it seemed this Apocolypse Knight triggered the Black and White party bonus. A pretty good start. Nikolas closed out his screens after activating his item [Light Tattoo] and a small golden comet started to float around his head. Here in the dark, its circular path made it almost appear as if Nikolas had a halo. “I’m ready whenever you are. I’ve lived in New York for awhile, so I’m pretty comfortable with the subways. So long as they didn’t get too out of wack.” Nikolas started to move deeper into the subway region, leaving the camp behind and heading for where the tracks were. “I guess there is a connection to the sewers down here. Shall we get going?”

dantalion

As Emir dove from the ceiling, Nikolas reeled the light tentacles away from his partner and seemed to coil them around the cow to prevent it from struggling too much. He let out an audible gasp as Emir slammed into the cow’s back. It did not look as smooth as he was sure that Emir was hoping it to be. Still, the shadow man came through and the collar snapped onto the cow and within moments the look on the cow went from anger to a docile look.



Nikolas canceled his light beams and walked forward timidly toward the cow. “That wasn’t so bad.” Noticing Emir’s posture and offering to take a moment, Nikolas nodded. “Take all the time you need. I don’t think we’re too far from the farm anyways.” He walked back outside the cave and the cow began to slowly trot after him. In the sunshine, Nikolas's face could be seen with a large smirk. He was starting to get the hang of this world and was beginning to not be so scared. He turned back to Emir and gave a smile. ”Let me know when you’re good to go and we can head out!”



Emir Nebu