Survival Interval: 448

Things had gotten quite hairy several times in the conference room. He had only dared to charge into the outside corridor one more time. The chances of getting constricted were just too great in the narrower halls, but that instance had been a simple out into the hall and right back in through the next door. In the end, Michael was surprised to find that he had killed 143 ghouls. He had practically been running on fumes to take down the last of them. After the battle, Michael had been surprised to find that his endurance had gone from 20 to 28. He had not realized that he had run into that many white drops during the battle. Perhaps if he had only gotten one or two less, he might not have had enough energy to survive till the end.

The white drops had not been the only thing gained during the battle. Michael had also collected 381 crowns and three more green drops. Michael could not help but to laugh, when the first that he opened turned out to be an average quality stamina potion. Perhaps he should have opened the green drops in battle, when he had a free moment. Although if he had, perhaps the battle managers would have ensured he got something else. The second green drop gave him a single vial of average quality sun essence. Not as good as the above average essence he had bought for his upcoming fight, but he was sure he would find an occasion to use it.

The third drop gave him something that would have also been extremely helpful. It was called ammo replenish. It would have instantly brought his bracer back up to full. For a moment, Michael considered whether he was getting some special attention since the item might only be beneficial to a small fraction of the contenders, but then he remembered that there were guns for sale. Sure no one could afford to buy one right now, but it was also possible that an ammo replenish might work to fill a quiver for arrows. The thought brought his mind back to what had happened earlier that morning. His elation, from having survived the latest battle, diminished slightly. At least there was one less asshole archer out there.

It was a wonder that he had been through two such deadly encounters before it was even 0900. He was well on track for having the most profitable day since the battle had started. He already had collected more status points and green drops than any other day, at 13 and 7 respectively. Not to mention the near 700 crowns he had already accumulated that morning. He was already closing back in on a thousand crowns. He was currently sitting at 952 crowns.

Overall he had made quite a good haul this morning, but the day was far from over. If he was successful in claiming the red drop among the other benefits he was sure to have, this morning's haul might pale in comparison to what he could gather later today.

In exchange for the morning’s success, Michael had to burn through two of his energy shots when things had gotten too dicey. He had also used 3 of the below average quality rebuff pills, but he had already accepted that he would likely use all five of the pills to even make it down to the red drop. The rebuff pills had certainly kept him alive. He had taken a hit early on in the hallway, but he had been clawed twice more while weaving between ghouls. A fourth time, he had been surprised by a ghoul that had actually come from under a table. He might have been paralyzed for only a moment without the rebuff pills, but any of the four times he had been cut such a debuff would have likely resulted in his death.

Michael took a good hour to map out the current floor he was on. Michael moved cautiously, but had apparently already pulled all the ghouls on this level. Most of the doors led to additional classrooms, offices, or storage closets, but there were a couple of other doors that led to exits. He had actually been far less trapped down on the basement floor than he had assumed. There had been a set of doors on both sides that opened to a short hallway ending in stairs back up to the surface and outside the building. However, the double doors having been closed had just looked like any of the other doors when he had been running for his life. However, non illuminated signs above the door did indeed indicate that they were potential exits.

A fourth single door exit was found at the back of the building where the building connected to another building. Just a single door that led through a short utility hall and then into the basement of another small building behind the main campus building. That building had several flights of stairs leading down. Michael guessed that was the main way to get down to the hydroelectric lab. However, backstage of the large conference room, he had also located a lift area where things could be brought down in mass from the surface. The lift also extended down to a lower level as well as a small utility stairs. Michael had two ways down, but of course he chose the bigger set of stairs in the outer building since they actually had lighting and would offer more space for him to work in. The utility stairs descended down into almost complete darkness.

Michael chose to eat a quick early lunch and sharpen his sword before descending down to the lower floor. Based on the lack of stairs leading further down, Michael guessed that he had made it to the right level. The door way out of the stairwell immediately led into a network of hallways and offices. However he hardly got a chance to explore before he was instantly swarmed, and one thing immediately became clear. The ghouls on the lower level were nearing the end of the first tier, whereas the ones he had fought just before were at the beginning to middle of the tier.

Michael was instantly pushed back under the onslaught by just a handful of ghouls. It was a good thing he had not tried to fight the ghouls yesterday, because the machete would not have cut it. Even with the sword, Michael was having difficulty cutting through arms raised to block his strikes. With no clear full power swings, even the few shots to the head he had managed failed to bring one of the hardened ghouls down. Michael was forced to use a handful of pulse powered shots from his bracer to gain enough breathing room to fall back.

Michael retreated back up the stairs to the first landing as he applied the newly gained sun quintessence to his sword. Normally a vial would allow several applications to a weapon as big as his sword, but he poured it all on, dropping the vial even as he turned around. The ghouls were on him almost immediately. The difference from before applying the sun quintessence was night and day. His first slash cut through a ghouls wrist and halfway through its head with ease. Michael swung again even as the ghoul fell at his feet.

Michael continued retreating up the stairs forcefully hacking through the swarming ghouls. After about 10 ghouls the sun quintessence’s effectiveness had been reduced by half. After another couple ghouls, it was as if he had never used it at all. Supposedly the stuff was supposed to last on the blade for longer, but slicing through ghoul bodies had decreased the time substantially.

There were still plenty of ghouls when the sun quintessence ran out, but Michael had worked himself into a good battle cadence. With liberal use of his quick step, he was able to manage. By the time he had faced the last of the ghouls, he had been pushed back up to first basement level and he was once again panting. His stamina had dropped down from 280 all the way to 31 in the several minutes of fighting. Quite the expenditure since according to his battle log there would only be 27 ghouls corpses strewn about in the stairwell. It was a testament to how much more difficult it was to kill higher level enemies, even if they were still in the same tier.

Once again the short fight had been profitable. He had netted two more white drops and one additional green drop. He added a point to both dexterity and agility, choosing to resume his decision to increase his movement and reaction speed. Michael also started to look once again at his strength. It was his highest stat at 30, but he was already once again facing enemies that were difficult to one shot despite now carrying a better weapon.

Then again, Michael also longingly looked at the other attributes. He greedily wanted to increase them all. Unfortunately, he would have to hang out here with that thought. He had used a health offering to boost his speed, and would now have to wait an hour till its effects disappeared.

His attention shifted to the green drop, but the drop only gave a pack of 3 poor quality energy shots. It definitely was not something to write home about since replenishing 25 pulse points would only be enough for a powerful enough shot to take down one mid tier ghoul, but he supposed he could shoot up two at once.

After the hour had elapsed, Michael continued back down the stairs. It only took him a minute to locate the double doors that led out and into the hydroelectric lab facility, and that was after taking the time to clear all of the offices on the way.

Michael was already fairly revved up from the morning action, so only needed to pause long enough to make the necessary preparations before he pushed through the double doors. Once again he found himself looking into a large laboratory. Once again the disembodied spirit wisp was standing hunched over the electric coils on a large generator. The overhead lights flickered with a steady cadence, even as yellow flashes illuminated the white skull with the piercing red eyes.

Michael threw back the above average quality rebuff pill as he squared off with the disembodied spirit wisp. The above average quality soldier shot was already streaming like fire through his veins. It was slightly boosting all of his stats, would further help him resist debuff effects, and help wounds seal themselves back up. This time, the creature immediately noticed him, when the door opened. Coils of wire dropped from its black clawed hands even as it straightened its body to its full seven foot height. The overhead lights flared back to full strength, actually illuminating the room with more light than he had previously seen during the battle except when out in the sunlight. The increased light made it very evident that the creature before him was slightly translucent. Michael could faintly see through the incorporeal being.

“Wwwwreeeeeiggghhhh…” stretched the creature’s mournful wail for a good 10 seconds. Michael felt his body continuously seize even as something within resisted restoring him to a normal state. The above average rebuff pill in conjunction with the soldier shot were working, although the wail was still seemingly sending flashes of paralytic flashes that were instantly being countered.

Perhaps based on the direction he had entered the room from, the creature already knew that any minions in range had already been dealt with so it did not bother to wait and see if anything responded to its cry. The shadowed figure floated down to the metal grated floor and started toward him. Its foothills passed silently as it moved. The creature was only walking quickly, but with its long gate it was still closing the distance with the speed of a decent jog.

Michael did not hesitate. A ball of energy flared into existence above his right shoulder. It quickly took the shape of a dart, even as its color darkened. Seconds later it met the creature at the halfway point slamming into the creature’s chest. Once again, Michael aimed center mass to decrease the chances that creature could dodge. The spirit wisp made no attempt to dodge the streaking projectile, and the dart hit dead center blowing a hole through the wisp’s chest. However, the creature did not falter a step. It only continued to close the distance toward him. Tendrils of wisp were already starting to fill in the hole.

Michael had little time to feel alarmed by the thought that the creature had basically just shrugged off his attack and the wound was closing. He was already moving onto the next task that he needed to accomplish. He had hoped to manage several shots, but ended up having just enough time to jab the below average quality energy shot into his thigh, restoring the majority of his pulse energy. A second later the creature was within its range. Michael back stepped even as a dark claw flashed toward him.

Through habit, Michael met the clawed arm raking down toward him, with his sword. Normally, one would expect a physical weapon to pass right through an incorporeal being. It meant that normally, Michael’s block should not have worked. However, the edge of his sword flared in yellow where it met the ghostly appendage. The sun quintessence seemingly did more than just cause more damage to the undead; it was a guard against incorporeal beings. However, Michael felt his arms strain even as the arm stopped, claws mere inches from his face. The wisp was strong, easily able to contest his 30 in strength, further boosted by the soldier pill. Not really surprising, given that he was facing a tier 2 undead boss monster. The difference was that it was using only one of its arms on an attack that took Michael both arms to hold off.

The creature was also incredibly quick. Its other claw swung down and back up, potentially aiming to eviscerate him. Michael was forced to quick step back. He took the full 3 seconds, putting as much distance between them as possible. Another energy dart started forming as he opened, guiding along with him as he moved back. By the end of his quick step, nearly all of his 50 restored pulse points had been put in the dart. The remaining few were used to send it streaking right into the creature’s face. This time the disembodied spirit wisp’s head jerked back from the hit. Michael immediately pulled two poor quality energy shots from his inventory and jabbed them in his leg as he continued moving away.

The skull face snapped back down to focus on him, but Michael did not miss that there were cracks emanating out from a point on the sunken cheek bone right under the left eye socket. Was destroying the skull face plate under the black hood the key? Michael pushed his energy into another dart and sent it streaking toward the creature’s skull, even as it started closing the distance between them once again. The creature was able to intercept this dart with its arm. The wisp’s right arm was obliterated. Seemingly, the skull was the vulnerable spot. Issue was that, he only had one more poor quality energy shot left, and 25 pulse points would likely not form a strong enough dart. He had only a couple shots in his bracer, so it would not be of much help even if it was boosted with pulse.

There were likely still two other poor quality energy shots near the door to the outer cavern. Michael had dropped them on their last encounter. He had hoped to recover them before engaging in the fight. They were likely still there, but this time he had immediately caught the wisp’s attention. Having been pushed back since the beginning of the encounter, he was too far from the doors to make a play for them now, assuming he could find them. There was a chance they had fallen through the metal grate flooring. No, they were not an option.

His play now, would be to finish things with his sword. Without one of its arms, he should be able to manage against the creature, however he would need to be faster and stronger if he wanted to break the skull face into pieces. Michael had held off on performing a health offering, since he had been unsure of which attribute would be best to boost. He now knew that he was lacking compared to the creature in nearly all regards. In a split second decision, Michael decided that he would have to go full offense if he wanted to win the fight.

Michael performed the first health offering after gaining some space with a quick step. He pushed for strength as the primary since he could always supplement his speed with quick step. He also pushed for dexterity and agility as well, but the barrier to boosting secondary attributes held. He immediately tried again. He got the same result. Gritting his teeth, Michael did it one more time. Three health offerings would bring him down to 80 HP. It had been the limit he had decided on before the engagement. Any lower and he chanced being killed far too easily.

Michael strained against the barrier for the third and final time, and like a withered rope finally giving way he felt the strands unwind before giving way entirely. Michael did not check, but he knew he had gotten exactly what he had wanted. A boost to all three attributes. Any elation however, was immediately quashed by the feeling of weakness and nausea overtaking him. There was something seriously wrong with what he had just done, but he hardly had time to dwell on the cause. Like an enraged beast, the disembodied wisp was relentlessly pursuing to rip him into pieces. He had already made it to the back of the room, to the other side and was moving back toward the center of the room as the monster chased after him.

Despite the feeling of unease that made him want to both throw up and lie down, Michael’s stats were seemingly unaffected. He had never been stronger or faster. Even off balance he was able to block the creature’s left claw. With both arms, he was even able to push the arm aside and make his own strike. The sword edge flared in gold as it struck the skull faceplate. It was only a glancing blow, so he did not notice the skull face taking additional damage.

With the use of a quick step, Michael was easily able to deflect another strike and deliver a full power strike. This time bone shards sprayed and the cracks spread further. Now nearly the entire left half of the skull face was spider webbed with fracturing bone. The lower jaw had even detached and now swung back and forth like a pendulum with every movement of the creature. The disembodied spirit wisp was able to gain the upper hand as soon as Michael lost the boost gained by quick step.

Michael was now matching its speed, but he was still being pushed back by the ferocity of the attacks. The feeling of unease was starting to intensify the more he moved. Michael found his world starting to spin, as the unease turned into vertigo. His boosts were not even close to wearing off, but the way his condition was deteriorating, he was not even sure if he would last another minute.

Michael only fended off the furious attacks as he waited for the quick step cooldown to elapse. A second later he resumed his attack. He sidestepped a swipe and delivered another savage strike to the skull. More and bigger bone chips departed, a few peppering Michael. The cracks now stretched to the other side of the face. The left eye socket was now not even attached on the left side. One more good strike would likely finish things. Michael had enough time to deliver one more blow before the 3 seconds elapsed, but the creature managed to block it with its remaining forearm. Like an artery had been severed, the shadowing substance started pouring from the location where the sword had cut deeply. The black fog spread in the air continuously before it dissipated from sight.

Michael was pushed back on the defensive. The vertigo was increasing substantially, so it took every bit of his focus to ensure the black claws did not reach flesh. Michael had a feeling that even one successful hit might be enough as he currently was. However near the end of the cool down, the creature swept its hand back, surprising him. He was still able to twist his body slightly. It was little more than a back hand but the outstretched claws easily tore through flesh scraping across several ribs.

He felt the searing pain, but he was absorbed in the fight. The vertigo had gotten intense, and the wisp was already swinging again. Michael reoriented and caught the attack just in time. Around the same time he felt that his cool down had expired. His next attack would likely be his last go.

Michael retaliated immediately, the 35% boost to his agility and the lesser boost to dexterity giving him enough of an edge over the wisp to take back the momentum. One quick swing deflected the creature’s arm. He then brought the sword back around, using his full power. Despite the world spinning around him, his sword struck true just above the nose. The bone only held for a split moment before it gave. The sword continued all the way through.

Black mist exploded out in all directions. The momentary loss of visual cues made maintaining his balance impossible. Michael crashed to the metal grated floor. His world spun intensely, but Michael still in battle mode struggled to reorient to locate his foe. He expected, he had defeated the wisp, but he would not be able to relax until he was completely sure. It only took him a moment to locate the red floating orb amidst a chorus of others. Michael immediately allowed himself to settle down, he came to rest with his back on the metal grate. He had done it.