Open World Online (O.w.O)

“Who called?” -Infernal Devil-

His voice is deep and rumbling, as he acknowledged Siegfried’s existence and upon landing his sight at me the flames flickered on his eyes then dimmed as if he ‘glared’.

This fiend did not wear clothes, his well-sculpted red-skinned body glistening from the flickering flames and equally red leathery wings unfurled sprinkling fires almost creating scorch marks on the wooden furniture whenever it licked the furniture.

“Summoner, what do you wish of me?” -Infernal Devil-

He began to make a bow, stiff in his movement and judging by his pursed lips. I can assume that he does not like being subservient to someone.

(“Better to make it brisk.”)

*PINGGGG*

Hm...?

My eyes wandered to a sudden panel appearing before me.

-System-

[Quest: Devil’s Trade]

Description: It seems The Lord of this castle made a bargain with the devil. Find out what happened to the Lord.

Accept: Yes / No

Reward: [The Lord’s Vault Key (Unique)]

-System-

Raising my eyebrows I automatically accepted it and shared the Quest with Siegfried who instantly accepted. To make this brief, I asked...

“What happened to The Lord of this castle?”

It’s strange, in my heart it feels like I know this fiend will not be able to lie towards me. In my head though, this is a fiend, a devil... Lies are in their nature yet I am also 100% sure this devil will not lie.

In return for that question, the devil growled as if not wanting to answer but unable to hold it in.

I do remember the summoned fiend from this {Spell} can ‘Go Berserk’ but in this case, the fiend did not go berserk and attacked us. I wonder why? Maybe it’s related to {Status}? Does that mean this infernal devil has a lower {Status} compared to me?

Then the devil begins to speak in a growled tone like crackling fire...

“That mortal wanted power, and power... power is given in payment of blood. Yet, that weakling desires more than the bargain, Ha! Such arrogance wanting to outwit me!?” -Infernal Devil-

He spoke like an intense burning fire lingering anger from what happened.

“Where is he now?”

His flaring eyes dimmed again as if squinting before being forced to speak with annoyed growls.

“The basement was where he faced his punishment. I am delighted to what happened to him for what he tried to do.” -Infernal Devil-

He grinned, showing his serrated teeth and long fingers ended in sharp spikes and blackened as if it had been dipped in charcoal. The sulphuric scent grows intense to the point of uncomfortable...

(“The basement?”)

I racked my brain thinking of paths that we had explored but resulted in nothing, the only one was this room so I assumed there was a hidden entrance here.

“Well... You’re dismissed.”

In the blink of an eye, the fiend burst into spiralling fires and vanished.

“Uh... I guess, we need to find some hidden stuff here?” -Siegfried-

He shrugged his shoulders, already rummaging and putting his hands on furniture. While I follow suit...

(“Hmmm... I think if a player did this quest with low enough {Status} they will battle the fiend and get information from the fiend’s defeat I guess?”)

“Aha! Found it.” -Siegfried-

*CLICK* *GRSSSSS* *GRSSS*

One of the scorched bookshelves slides away after he pushes a hidden button revealing an open passage leading somewhere below hidden in darkness. Upon approaching it though, a panel appeared...

-System-

The Dungeon: [The Castle’s Basement]

Enter: Yes / No

Recommended LV: 50+

Mode: Solo / Party

-System-

I looked at Siegfried and he turned his head to me as I nodded. Making him tap something in mid-air and nearly instantaneously, we got transported towards the basement.

-The Castle’s Basement-

It’s dark... utter complete darkness as I open my palm and cast [Dancing Light] conjuring several globules of light that brighten our path.

At our left and right are cubicles separated by thin concrete... where lies within are instruments like manacles, tongs, old frayed whips that are caked with reddish brown colour, and the scent of rust permeates in the room.

“That’s pretty grim...”

I mentioned those things while allowing these lights to hover towards it. As Siegfried inspected them quite closely before shaking his head indicating it's nothing...

From here on, we move forward passing through these cubicles leading to a reinforced metal door. And Siegfried looked at each other as I held the handle and then tried to give it a push.

*CLACK*

It rattles but not budging so it is locked...

“Well... We don’t have a Rogue so uhm do you have anything Mag?” -Siegfried-

I nod before asking Sieg to give me some space as I raise my left hand towards the metal door and utter keywords of a {Spell}.

“[Unlock]”

Since it was a fairly fast casting time, the cast bar filled up a fraction of a second, and then we heard several clicks and creaks.

The locks of the door were unlatched and it went ajar as Siegfried gave me a thumbs up and then barged right in. With my lights following suit...

It’s a narrow passageway so we move in a single file. Siegfried at the front while I’m at the rear while manipulating several [Dancing Lights] to give us enough illumination.

Continuing forward, Siegfried abruptly stopped as I accidentally bumped his back.

“Ow... What’s going on?”

“It is a dead end...” -Siegfried-

He palmed his hands on top of the dead end on this passageway wondering if he could find some kind of hidden buttons or the like.

I waited until he found something at the bottom right corner of this dead end. A singular brick that is out of place, of which Siegfried pries it out.

Revealing a small hole, a bit dark and I manoeuvre one of the lights to help Siegfried...

“Aha!!!” -Siegfried-

His right hand mutates into a slender version enough to smoothly enter that small hole as I hear a distinct... *CLICK*

*GRRRRRSSSSSSSS* *GRRRSSSSSS*

The noise of stones grating other stones echoed within this narrow passageway as bricks slid away leaving behind a hole leading further below.

“Eyyyy!!!!” -Siegfried-

He grinned and giddily walked downstairs as I followed suit commanding these globules of light to illuminate where we were going...

--

(“Huh...”)

It’s still a narrow passageway with a staircase leading down. I was wondering if this might be a hidden passage to the Castle’s basement as we continue our journey.

*THUD* *THUD* *THUD*

Each footstep echoed as the staircase turned into spirals leading downward. It had been minutes of descending until we reached an open vast chamber.

“Whoa... High ceiling.”

We finally arrived at the castle’s basement, aside from the high ceiling several pillars act as a support. There are several barrels here probably to store wine as the stale scent of alcohol wafted in this musky basement.

Around those supporting pillars are sconces with their fires snuffed I looked at Siegfried with a knowing look as he nodded.

“[Widen: Fire]”

A fairly simple NPC {Spell} that Siegfried already knows from our previous dungeon crawl.

Upon uttering that keyword, in an instant, all sconces set alight in flame giving off enough light to see the entirety of this place as I dismiss those globules of light.

“Mag...” -Siegfried-

His cautionary tone alerted me and I too became wary as he pointed to something in front of him...

Tracing that direction, I see a kneeling humanoid figure lying on top of an upside-down pentagram.

Glancing at Siegfried, I’m waiting for his reaction as he notices my cue. In doing so, he nodded and stepped forward wanting to inspect this figure as I followed suit. Then a strong scent simply hit my nose.

(“Ugh... What is this scent?”)