YM778.TV Chapter 169: The Contraption (2)
[Mana Point Maximum increased to 350]
[You have received 6 Stat Points to Allocate]
With his most recent experience in mind and his current need so clear, Henry allocated his Stat points instantly and put it all in Agility.
[Agility: 70 ———> 76]
His increased movement speed and his maneuverability would have taken the Mummies by surprise if they had been capable of feeling surprise. Either way, attacks missed more than they would have just a second ago and Henry planted two shots into the chests of two Mummies.
[Kill-Reward: 400 Exp]
Alas as those two fell, Henry found that more Spell circles appeared and summoned even more Mummies to bolster a force he had not even started out thinning.
They formed such a tight circle around him that he had to constantly remain on alert and even an attempt at jumping out would have rewarded him with deadly skewers that would have pulled him to the ground to be stabbed some more. If the first skewers had not already done away with his Hit Points, that is.
Just after a brief second of contemplation, Henry was cut and stabbed, losing him a total of 32 Hit Points.
[Hit Points: 40/240]
Of course, through it all, Henry still managed to take down a couple of them. He took down two with Mana-infused slugs fired from \'Violent Retort\' as well as a powerful pulse of Lightning to the chest of a third Mummy, courtesy of Shocking Grip!
[Kill-Reward: 400 Exp]
[Kill-Reward: 200 Exp]
"-Nyx!-" Henry yelled out suddenly when he started to feel overwhelmed. His recent successful eliminations did not put him at ease and he knew it was only a matter of time before he lost the rest of his Hit Points.
He didn\'t even have the opportunity to pull out a Healing Potion. Any attempt at such could distract him long enough to suffer multiple deadly strikes seeing as he was barely holding on as is.
It was as though the horse had already been alerted to his distress because she was there before the call was even completed and used her speed to shatter the formation forming around Henry.
"-How dare you!- Nyx yelled in a furious voice as she went on to stomp on a few of the Mummies, eliminating some of them while yelling,
"-Get some! Yeah, fall to my mighty hooves!-"
Henry could tell that Nyx had meant to sound menacing and despite how dire the situation might look to him, he could not help but allow himself a moment of levity to chuckle at the fact that he was the only one who could hear her chants and that didn\'t stop her one bit.
Henry gripped Nyx\'s reins and pulled himself into her saddle to escape the encirclement. The Mummies Nyx had not eliminated —the majority— charged after them but were all far too slow to catch up. They were also too slow to dodge or run when Nyx arrived and began providing more stomps.
The rewards for her kills kept ticking up in Henry\'s head. She was up to ten eliminations now since her Level-Up and seemed to be enjoying using her improved <Shadow Dash> skill while still being smart enough to manage her Mana reserves.
Henry didn\'t get off her saddle. It would be foolish to. Instead, he took advantage of being out of the reach of the enemies to fire shots with \'Violent Retort\', reaping Exp and ticking up the count toward another Level-Up.
He had just eliminated the fifth Mummy since he pulled himself into Nyx\'s saddle that \'Violent Retort\' let out the click of an empty barrel.
<Reload>
Henry called on the Sub-skill and although the blue glow shone across his weapon, no Slugs were loaded. The Fifty Mana-infused Slugs he had bought from Elminster were all used up. \'Bought\' being used liberally seeing as he was yet to pay for them. But that\'s beside the point.
Henry gritted his teeth and sent \'Violent Retort\' into his Inventory while drawing \'The Hydra\'s Sting\' but before he could turn the weapon on another Mummy and make it his next victim, he was reminded the Mummies were merely a distraction.
And the reminder came in the form of more Mana Blades sent by the Lich who was determined to pierce him enough that he\'d not shake off.
Nyx was dodging the Blades quite well and Henry pulled out two Healing Potions and drank them just in case he got hit.
[You have recovered 120 Hit Points]
[Hit Points: 160/240]
Meanwhile, the battles all over the Dungeon had not slowed down and somehow, everyone had broken into groups.
Aurelius stood to one side flanked by the two Squires, Alice and Darren, who were determined to pull their weight and prove the mettle they had already shown by volunteering to come along.
When Aurelius slid to the ground after getting slammed away by the Lich\'s fist spell, he shook off the stunned effect but before he could try again and continue his role as the distraction, the Mummies were summoned.
Armed with a rapier and a sword respectively, Alice and Darren had broken free from the encirclement before it could tighten all so they could fight by Aurelius\' side. Eloise was also an option but at the time, she had been preoccupied with spurring Henry on to search.
The second notable group was one of two; Louis and Andor had pulled close together. Mindful of his Mana reserves, Louis didn\'t want to be too indiscriminate with his Spell-cast so as not to wear himself out too fast in a battle that looked to be setting itself up to be a marathon.
He focused mostly on stunning the Mummies. He released minimal (in comparison to what he could do if he went all out) streaks of electricity that short-circuited whatever made the Mummies tick, stopping them in place for Andor to lop off their heads or shatter their chests.
The third ground were the ones under the leadership of Norbert although he was barely leading them at the moment. There was some synergy between those who belonged to the same group before they all got lumped together by necessity. All in all, though, it was every man/woman for him/herself.
It was against a column close to the third group that Eloise slammed into because of the beam fired at her by the Lich. She wasn\'t knocked out of course and she landed on her feet ready to swing her sword. Which was fortunate because she was quickly crowded by Mummies.
Grunting with effort, Eloise spent a few minutes cutting herself a path out of the encirclement. Despite her incredible Martial ability and her ability to blitz through the enemies, slashing them to ribbons, she found it difficult enough a task.
She could have sworn more Mummies had been summoned specifically for her. But the moment she got the chance, she yelled.
"If you can spare any attention and can attack from range, AIM FOR THAT CONTRAPTION ON THE CEILING!!!"
The second part of her yell was even louder and seemed to roll with sound waves that hit all ears calling the attention of anyone who could afford to spare it.
To further mark the point of interest, Eloise cast her magical beam attack and fired it at the Contraption. Leaving it smoking and, at the very least, softened up for further blows.
Nyx had just dodged another barrage of Mana blades when Eloise\'s yell rang out so of course, Henry affirmed it.
"She\'s right!" He said and fired shots from \'The Hydra\'s Sting\' into the Contraption. Merely causing a few dents.
Henry\'s affirmation seemed to spur Louis on and the moment he could afford space from the Mummies surrounding him and Andor, he fired a powerful streak of Lightning at the Contraption.
*Brrrtttttzzzzz*
*Kraka-Bang!*
The streak of lightning struck the Contraption and it continued to crackle for a whole minute after.
Henry watched, with narrowed eyes that quickly widened in discovery as the \'seams\' of the Contraption seemed to pull apart by a fraction of an inch.
"Holy shit," he mumbled, "Lightning is the Key!"