Spending My Retirement In A Game

Eisen sat at the front of the carriage drawn by Fafnir. Sky, Bree, and the kids were sitting in the back, resting after that unexpected battle in town. They did pass by a few more people after that, that seemed to belong to the group they had just tried to push out, and they seemed generally quite aggressive. It seems like the other players already sent out messages to everyone in their group.

Some of them actually left pretty quickly, realizing that they wouldn't be able to do anything against Eisen, but there were plenty that did try their luck. Even if they couldn't do much, they did manage to delay the journey a little bit. From what that roleplayer earlier said, it sounded like there were much stronger people in their group. Worst-case, the players that were attacking were just trying to buy time until they arrived. Eisen didn't know what sort of powers those people may have.

The 'Curse of Infestation' that the roleplayer had wasn't effective against Eisen, just because he could burn the maggots away, but if they had a curse that had worse compatibility with him, then Eisen could be in trouble. Not to mention, the curse's power could just become a lot stronger and become hard to deal with. Even if Eisen was sure that he was going to get through whatever they could throw at him, he still didn't want to risk the others potentially getting hurt. Sure, he could resurrect Caria, Melissa, and Sal, and their material-requirements for that definitely wouldn't be at Silber's level, but the process of dying would still end up being incredibly traumatic for them, Eisen was sure of that.

That was why, as they continued through the forest on the path that Sky and Bree and figured out together, Eisen was trying to come up with some methods to defend themselves. If he had to categorise cursed energy in any way, then he figured it was somewhat opposed to holy energy, which also existed at a slightly different level to regular mana. While they were still similar in nature, the ways they behaved in many circumstances was different. And considering the implications of cursed and holy energy, he figured that it would be possible to defend against the former with the latter. Luckily, he had plenty of that to go around. Not only did Eisen have quite a few individuals with religious classes or even races scattered around Asgard, but there were so many players that chose to play some kind of cleric class, as they were often optimized for healing, that he had a few dozen different variations of unique holy energies in his item storage, saved away in mana crystals.

Amongst them was a particular type of mana that seemed pretty useful, which was one that was used by a player that was actually pretty similar to that roleplayer from earlier. Not because that player acted superior and did bad things, but because they had a similar level of commitment to their role. They were roleplaying as this sort of stoic priest that had vowed to rid the world of all hellish beings, which was why their mana was optimized for combat; a sort of 'cleansing' mana. Since cursed energy seemed somewhat similar to the mana that many monsters from hell possessed, it should be perfect.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

So, while they were driving, Eisen created a few simple accessories for everyone. Amulets, bracelets, earrings, whatever was needed to construct a thin protective layer around them. At the very least, it should be able to fend off the level of that roleplayer's energy for a while. Though, Eisen didn't really have the time to make much more than that, since it seemed as though they soon arrived at their destination. A small base camp had been created in front of some kind of cave. Wooden logs that were carved into points were set up around the perimeter as a rudimentary wall, and from what Eisen could tell, there were a few extremely simple buildings inside. Maybe they had people with construction-based classes, or they simply took over a camp that had been here for a while. Either way, from the level of cursed energy that was practically flowing out of the mouth of the cave, it was clear htat this was the right place.

For now, the old man stopped the carriage, telling the others to stay behind while he walked over to the gate. So as to not be rude, Eisen decided to knock.

"Hello there! I am here to take the black dragon's trial!" the old man said loudly, but a voice came from the other side.

"Hah! As if! We know who you are; you're just here to attack us and try to kill the dragon!"

"No, no, I am really, legitimately here to attempt its trial," the old man responded.

"Just drop it! Leave, or we will attack!"

Eisen let out a long sigh. He tried it the nice route. Again, Eisen tried to knock. Though this time, with just a little more force than usual. The gate practically shattered apart. It was a shoddy construction in the first place, and the cursed energy flowing through this part of the forest had clearly decreased the quality of the wood considerably, so it was hardly a surprise. But the people beyond the gate clearly thought otherwise.

Some of them were hit by the parts of the gate that were shot outward, quickly mending their wounds while others got ready for the attack. Eisen sighed and took out his greatsword. There were so many people here that he should probably get a little bit serious and not play around. He didn't need to put on a show to try and scare them off; he just had to fight everyone.

Quickly, the old man pushed himself forward, almost using the weight of the sword to pull him along. Crossing the distance to the first player, Eisen pulled the sword up and cut through their body. Before their torso even fell to the ground, they died and their body fell apart into mana, like all players' bodies did when they did. By then, though, Eisen was already at the next group, cutting through them similarly. One of them was able to at least raise their shield to try and block, but it was a low-levelled player with a shield just as shoddily constructed as the gate, so it was destroyed alongside the player's shoulder. Eisen kicked the player in the chest and threw them backward. The impact seemed enough to finish them off and stunned the two players that were hit by their body.

Before they recovered, they lost their heads.

A few of the players started throwing spells at Eisen, infused with cursed energy. He cut through them with ease, or blocked them with the flat side of the sword. The cursed energy was unpleasant, but these attacks didn't seem anything too worrisome. Either way, Eisen was able to get rid of those players quite easily as well. As he fought, Eisen was trying out a few new tricks. Since he wasn't relying on the system for his physical growth anymore, he could manipulate things well enough that he could only increase the size of his sword. It was possible to some degree before, but something like what he did at the town earlier when destroying the building the players hid out in was only possible now.

Using that freedom over his abilities, Eisen was able to just momentarily increase the size of his sword, cutting through the players even too far away for him to normally reach. Of course, he could use his mountain-cutting swordsmanship to reach distant enemies as well, but Eisen had to mentally prepare for each attack, so it would take much longer than just doing it this way. Eisen wanted to get rid of the small fries before the heavy hitters intervened. Though, as he was fighting, he did spot a few people that didn't seem all too interested in what was going on. Maybe they were a little annoyed, but they weren't worried. As if they knew that they could get rid of Eisen whenever they wanted. At least, that's what they probably thought. After all, it wasn't as though Eisen was displaying any particular combat abilities, and as far almost all players were concerned, Eisen was a craftsman, not a fighter.

Well, if they were cocky, that would just make them easier to take care of.