Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

When he finally reached the top of the wall, Kaizen hid behind a ledge and surveyed the scene below.

The fortress was in ruins, clearly abandoned. Even the inner walls were covered in moss and cracks, and many of the towers creaked so badly in the wind that they might collapse at any moment. Debris littered the ground, at least where Kaizen could see it from where he stood, and the place seemed much larger now than it did from the outside. There were gunsmiths’ huts, medicine huts, and other types of buildings in the main courtyard, not to mention the place with a large wooden door at the end of a large staircase. Despite all this, there was no sign of life or movement inside the fortress at first, but Kaizen knew to be cautious. There might be hidden traps and dangers.

Since going down one of the side stairs of the wall could be dangerous due to the situation of the place, Kaizen floated down, controlling his descent with <Psychokinesis>. When the tips of his feet touched the ground, he deactivated the ability, but was still alert.

Kaizen looked around, searching for any sign of life in the fortress. He spotted a small door ajar in a building with the classic tavern sign and decided to go inside. After all, if there was someone inside, he might be surprised if he ignored them.

Cautiously, he approached and pushed the door open. The room was dark and dusty, but the light coming through the door allowed him to see inside.

Kaizen felt a chill run down his spine as he entered the darkness of the tavern. The silence of the place weighed on him as if he were entering a crypt, for the tables and chairs of the place were intact. The sight of such a place, once so noisy and now so empty, gave him a feeling of dread.

The tavern was large, larger than most, so Kaizen actually had to enter the place to check it out. Kaizen’s cautious footsteps echoed through the empty establishment, as if he were the only living thing for miles around.

Though the situation was grim, the Psyker kept his mind focused, ready for anything, for something seemed to be lurking in the shadows, watching him.

The tension on his shoulders grew with each step as he carefully scanned the area. Kaizen went to the bar of the tavern and turned one of the bottles upside down, no liquid fell out, and the wine in this bottle had already crystallized from being left without its cork.

As Kaizen left the tavern and began to explore the place, he realized that this fortress was not only much larger than he had imagined, but much larger than any fortress he had ever seen in his life, perhaps as large as the Royal Palace of Tretidian. Several corridors intertwined, each one giving Kaizen a new sense of emptiness. Kaizen was prepared for anything, from deadly traps to powerful enemies, but he was not prepared for finding nothing. This was unusual.

However, he suddenly encountered something that made him stop. There was an odor in the air of this new corridor he had entered, an acrid and unpleasant stench that made him hold his breath. Kaizen had to cover his nose with the fabric of his robe to keep from vomiting. Gradually, he got used to the stench and realized that it was coming from a nearby door.

Cautiously, he approached the door and tried to open it.

“Damn…”

The door was obviously locked.

However, with a little mental effort, using <Psychokinesis>, Kaizen unlocked the door and opened it enough to look inside.

The scene took his breath away. The place, which looked like a large dining hall, was dominated by huge spider webs, which he immediately recognized from his past dealings with Spider-Scorpions, covering everything like a silken sheet.

Spider-scorpions were easy to recognize because they had eight hairy legs, a scorpion tail, and an exoskeleton as rigid as any arachnid’s. In addition, some were so large that they could devour a full-grown man in a matter of seconds.

Kaizen didn’t know what was more disturbing, their slimy, egg-filled webs or the creatures themselves.

Spider-Scorpions were deadly creatures, especially to low-level players, as they had a poisonous tail that could paralyze any enemy in seconds. The creature was known to live in abandoned places, such as the Iron Stone Forge and this fortress.

Kaizen didn’t just stand there, watching the webs and waiting for any sign of danger, because he didn’t like these creatures, so he just reached in and used <Free Flame Manipulation> at its maximum potential to burn everything in the room to ashes.

[You killed a Spider Scorpion. You gained +1000 XP].

[You killed a Spider Scorpion. You gained +1000 XP].

[You killed a Spider Scorpion. You gained +1000 XP].

…

As the messages began to appear in front of Kaizen’s eyes and he began to hear their squeaks, Kaizen closed the door and stepped back a little, not wanting to get caught in the fire. The relief of hearing dozens of messages was almost intoxicating, so much so that Kaizen didn’t notice something approaching him through the shadows. However, Kaizen felt a quick movement behind him and turned to shoot a fireball at what appeared to be a figure, but it was too late. The figure had disappeared.

Some players might think they saw things or were just confused by their own shadow, but Kaizen was used to encountering strange things in Rise Online, after all he had the Psych class.

I knew there was something else about this place. This whole fortress couldn’t have been built just to house a nest of monsters, could it, developers?’ Kaizen asked mentally, letting a grin escape his lips.

…

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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