A New World, An Immersive Game Experience



Eldrian couldn't waste any time pondering what the damage value for Wrath meant. He assumed, since it had no brackets, that it was a flat damage value. Probably capable of penetrating MR and maybe even resistances. 

There was only one way to find out, and Eldrian jumped right onto doing just that.

Using the altitude he had gained in his flight for some added punch, he brought the two-handed Willo down with all his might. 

The Death Knight met his attack with one of its own. Swinging its massive greatsword upward. The flames of death billowing behind the blade, and the flames of Wrath around the mace. 

When they met, time seemed to slow. 

'Oh, right. I wonder if the soul damage is just flavor text or if it is still dangerous?' Eldrian thought as he was sent flying.

With over twice Eldrian's strength (even with all Eldrian's buffs active), Eldrian's attack never even posed a threat. Not when it was as telegraphed as it had been. He should have known better. But, it had probably looked awesome to the others. 

'Not the time.' Eldrian chided himself. Though he couldn't help himself. This being a Dungeon, and the stakes so much lower than normal, he wanted to have some fun. Not fight for his life. 

'Still, I thought I would fare better than that.' With all the extra energy he had put into that attack, both with gravity and flight magic increasing his speed even more, Eldrian had hoped he would accomplish something.

Yet, he hadn't stood a chance in the face of 3k STR. Luckily, his body had reacted from all his training and diverted the force of the blow. And now, he was using several spells to ensure he didn't become a splattered blob on one of the buildings.

As soon as Eldrian reached the one he was flying toward, he immediately dodged. The follow-up attack from the Death Knight ripped through the walls, that Eldrian had used as a foothold. Just a second too late to make contact (their dilated time frame). 

'Cage, do your thing!' Eldrian shouted mentally. Activating the other ability (with plenty of choices) of Willo he had access to.

Carefully. Meticulously. Eldrian guided four of the focal needles around the undead while he ran—swinging his mace to kill the other undead in his way as he went. 

Once he had the first four in place and the Death Knight entered his designated trap area, Eldrian stopped and sent the last two directly at the undead. Aiming for its eyes. 

He had no idea if that was an actual weak point. But it was one of the very, extremely rare, uncovered places on the undead. Every other piece of its body was covered in armor. In fact, since it was a Draugr Revenant hybrid, the armor was likely part of its actual body. 

'Which is why all the dents are repaired by now.' Eldrian concluded his train of thought. Activating  Cage as he also swung Willo low. Hoping to force the undead to choose between its eyes or legs. 

Sadly, it didn't need to. It struck its sword into the ground, blocking Eldrian's direct attack. Meanwhile, the focal needles never made it to its eyes. A barrier stopped them just short. 

"Right, you can use magic too," Eldrian mumbled. Still, he had the others in place. So he activated the attack even though he hadn't managed to get any of the needles stuck into the Death Knight. 

Since Eldrian was already channeling Wrath, he decided to go with the Cage of Inferno instead of Benediction. The divine element might be the undead's weakness, but flames were his strength. And when facing an opponent stronger than yourself, you had to sure up your strengths. 

'Though, I'm pretty sure I'm screwed unless I can somehow find its actual weakness.' The divine element was a natural weakness of all undead, not the Death Knight itself. 

Naturally, getting it out of the stronghold was one possible option to go for. That is, if the Death Knight were to chase that far.

Eldrian had a feeling that the Death Knight wouldn't leave its home territory on the difficulty they had chosen. 

The flames from Willo's ability also proved woefully inadequate. As soon as the fire started to spread from the focal needles, the Death Knight had let out an awe-inspiring bellow. Which... had extinguished Eldrian's attack. 

"What sort of magic attack is that?!"  Eldrian shouted, running with his tail between his legs. Blood dripped from his mouth. 

'That was not an ordinary shout.' Eldrian continued to complain, getting to work healing himself as he dodged and weaved.

While his attack had failed, it appeared that the Death Knight had finally gotten pissed off. It was now chasing Eldrian and cutting down anything and everything in its path. Allies included. 

Running around a few buildings, Eldrian tried to use them to restrict his opponent's movements. Sadly, it simply tore through the buildings like a living undead bulldozer. 

Escaping also wasn't an option. Eldrian only managed to grow the distance between them a little. And that was with him using all the tricks he knew to increase his speed and slow his enemy.

By the way, the latter of those tricks were failing spectacularly before the Death Knight's stats. 

Make the ground soft. It simply resolidifies the ground. 

Make the ground uneven. Same deal. 

Make a pit. It makes a barrier foothold.

Throw some attacks from blind spots. Barrier. 

Use its allies to slow it. They're trampled. 

Fly. Well, that worked. But Eldrian couldn't go high enough to go fast. If he did, the Death Knight might stop chasing and go after the other players. 

'Yikes!' Grinding to a stop, Eldrian dived for the ground. Several small but deadly spikes had just sprouted from the walls around him. 'Shit, I should have gone up. Not down. Too late now.'

Eldrian quickly took control of the space around him. Setting up an anti-magic barrier. This kept the spikes from growing in any other spots. However, the Death Knight's will was not to be underestimated. 

'Huh, so this is what a contest of wills feels like.' Honestly, Eldrian had never had the opportunity to test out magic-canceling spells and barriers. 

Sure, they were nice and good. But generally, he either outclassed the enemy mages by such a large margin that there was no contest. Or he closed in on them and took them out, again, making the need to fight a battle of wills unnecessary. 

'Ugh, this makes me miss Two.' Eldrian thought, jumping into overdrive as he decided to simply destroy the building to his right. Fighting in the alleyway was a surefire way to end up dead. 

Diving into the building after breaking it with Willo, Eldrian finally sent Wrath out to do its thing. Destroying the entire interior and even bringing down the entire building. Hoping that would buy him enough time to gather his thoughts. 

It did not. 

As if it had a heat radar—or more likely a life radar—the Death Knight sent a massive attack of wind, fire, and earth right on Eldrian's location. Rubble between them be dammed. 

'Oh, give me a break dude!' Complaining as he sensed the attack, Eldrian finally had enough. Keeping control of Wrath was getting to be a massive pain. It was time to just let loose. 

'I had really, really, hoped I would have grown out of this...' Eldrian complained, putting up a barrier to soften the blow from the Death Knight's attack.

Gathering more and more Wrath from within himself, Eldrian knew that this would decide the fight. Thus, he fed his frustration and anger to the flame within himself.

Making sure to keep it at a manageable level but as hot as possible within that restriction.