Bloodlines Online

After getting a clue to the password of the dungeon Shade and Ezekiel split into two separate dungeon instances to try to get through the possible passwords more quickly.

Ezekiel would continue through the set he was checking and Shade would begin on another set.

If one of them happened to find the next rune then they would wait outside of the dungeon for the other to arrive.

Since Ezekiel had started the set of runes he had already been checking it meant he would complete it before Shade would finish his own.

Since he was solo now he would be getting more experience than before which was helpful but at the same time he focused on the password.

After a few more runs through the dungeon he had pressed the twenty fifth rune in the set he chose which still killed him meaning he had no idea which of the other two sets were the right one.

When he saw the dungeon entrance again he also saw Shade waiting with Hope and War God.

"Hey Belial, come join the team we have to explain what we learned."

He nodded and accepted the team invite before War God entered the dungeon to bring everyone inside.

Inside the dungeon they cleared the skeletons quickly while speaking.

"Ok so we think that the password is tied to the skeletons, there are twenty five skeletons of each of the four categories."

"There are also four types of runes wuth twenty five runes each."

As Shade explained it the other two began to get excited.

"So if we help to figure out which runes are which then we can make this go by faster right?"

Ezekiel and Shade nodded.

"Ezekiel figured out that this set of runes is not the next one meaning we have two sets left and im already working on one of them."

They began to organize how each person would handle the process.

The runes were scattered amongst the spell circle but they did have some pattern going on and if they were ro each start at an opposite end of the spell circle they could eventually find the rune that was next.

Ezekiel would be going clockwise around the spell circle and Hope would go counterclockwise for the same runes.

Layla would go counterclockwise for the runes Shade had been working on before.

Each of them wouls be in their own instances of the dungeon to speed up the process.

~

Ezekiel was getting annoyed by how boring this process was since they knew what to do now and all it took was tedious dying and repeating the dungeon.

'At least we don't have to deal with a hundred runes now... we just have to deal with twelve.'

When he looked around the entrance he saw hope.

"I found it! We have to wait for the rest but i found the next rune!"

Ezekiel ran over with a smile and clasped her hands in his.

"That's amazing we need to start working on the next set as soon as possible then."

The first to show up was Shade and when he saw them he ran over with a smile.

Then they had to wait for Layla who seemed to be taking her time.

While waiting for their friend they had hope show which rune was the next in the chain and recorded it in the sketch of the spell circle they each kept.

"So we have two rune types left and if we go for the same pattern as before we can get it done just as quickly!"

Over the course of this little challenge Shade had taken command and he seemed incredibly excited about each small discovery, Ezekiel had begun to just assume he really liked puzzles.

Once Layla came out they explained their discovery and began the process again.

It wouls not take them long but twelve potential runs in a dungeon with no real progress was beginning to get tedious.

While going through his runes in order Ezekiel eventually found the next rune for the password which made him very happy... until he got blasted by shadow mana.

'What the hell! The rune went dark like they are supposed to!"

He was blocking the shadow mana flood and healing himself from the damage but it wasn't stopping.

Eventually he pressed a random rune for the next set which killed him as it normally would but not before he took significant damage from the shadow mana.

~

"Ok so you day that you had to actually block the attack and when you went to press the next rune you almost died from the damage?"

"Exactly, it's like some kind of second defense or something..."

Ezekiel was explaining everything to the group inside of the dungeon and was ready to show them what happened to him.

"Well it sounds like once we actually start putting the final code in we will need to be guarded."

Ezekiel input the first four runes of the password and quickly raised his mana shields to guard everyone from the flood of shadow mana that came from the door.

"See? It's dangerous!"

He quickly pressed the next rune in the set and they were forced out.

At the entrance they quickly discussed with one another before splitting into two groups, Shade with Ezekiel and Layla with Hope.

They all entered the dungeon again with a very half developed plan in mind after only discussing it for a few seconds, because the players who were obsessed with them had been stalking the dungeon entrance.

To avoid the headache of fans and obsessed people they had to remain in the dungeon as much as possible.

And so it went on as they guarded eachother while trying code combinations.

As the number of runes that were possible to select reduced they could get through it faster and faster.

They had even reached the point where guarding from the flood of mana was easier than before and some used it to take turns training their skill.

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Now that didn't mean it wasn't dangerous as a few deaths came from recklessly guarding against the mana only to be taken out by it.

The main change came about from the group reaching the twenty fifth rune in the sequence.

Thats when shards of life mana from the ground began to erupt and try to pierce them.

These shards were made from crystalized life mana in constructs created by the spell.

Their steps were dangerous and the only duo that had an easy time during this was the girl's group since Hope had been practicing this very skill.

Ezekiel was unable to do much as his own skills with life mana were lower and he didn't know how to find the weakness of the shafds as quickly as she could.

Hope actually had to try to show him how the shards were made at a slower pace so he could see how to guard against them.

Because of her help he could at least keep then from dying but uninjured? Not by a long shot.

They simply had to make sure they were well prepared for the final process of putting the password in.

~

A few deaths later and a large process of clearing potential options lead them to the fiftieth rune, when that count was reached they were forced to guard against the threats further as the mana flood intensified and the shards of life mana became longer as if trying to hamstring them.

They were in danger with these more intense threats and most of the discoveries for the password came from Layla and Hope due to how much Ezekiel struggled against the mana constructs overwhelming his focus.

Once they reached the seventy fifth rune the intensity grew again.

At the eightieth rune it grew further.

It began to be clear that after the seventy fifth rune the intensity would grow every fifth rune they found and the danger was becoming overwhelming.

Faster constructs, more mana, longer constructs, denser mana to push them back.

The danger they were in made the door good for practicing a genuine threat but that was only when they were trying to reach the next rune.

With the final five runes to be found they relied upon Hope to actually help them guard against the life constructs while Ezekiel focused on the shadow mana.

They had recombined into one team so that once they reached the actual boss they could be ready.

They could not afford to enter the dungeon in a weakened state so they would heal the group while guarding.

Hope showed that she had even learned how to turn the life mana in her surroundings into armor but she could only use it to protect herself for now, but by keeping herself safe she could activate a healing aura.

This aura would require her to stand still and channel her life mana constantly but it constantly healed all of them at the same time.

Due to this Ezekiel could keep all of his focus on the shadow mana everytime... until they finally opened the door.