Monster Mansion 2 by Dante King (best way to read ebooks .txt) 📗

“This is such a cool power to have, Kyrine,” Astrid gushed.

I had to agree. “It really is. I can think of loads of possibilities for something like this.”

I glanced at the stats of the creatures, but none of them had gained any levels from the fight. Despite that, I could feel that they had gained a bit of strength, just not quite enough to jump up a whole level.

In companionable silence, we made our way back toward the portal entrance, but before we reached it, Astrid stopped.

“Hey, Jeremy, that was some pretty impressive axe work back there,” she said. There was a glint of a challenge in her eyes.

“Well, thanks,” I said. “You were pretty good yourself.”

“Fancy a challenge? I’d like to see who's got the upper hand with these weapons.”

“What, you want to spar against me?” I said.

“Sure,” she said, giving me a challenging smile. “Why, scared you’ll lose to me?”

I laughed. I couldn’t resist a challenge like that. “Kyrine, I hope you’ve got those healing potions handy! Astrid might need them!”

Kyrine laughed. “I’ll make sure I have some to hand. Let me get out of the way! I don’t want to get caught up in this. I want to watch and then I can judge who has the best bladework!”

Kyrine moved away from us, then turned. She was watching eagerly as Astrid and I squared off and began to circle each other. The snow began to fall more thickly, and I figured that was Kyrine’s desire to make the scene even more dramatic than it already was.

I bumped up against something. Glancing up, I realized I had my back to the statue of me that Kyrine had created. In that moment, Astrid charged.

She moved like lightning, and she was stunningly beautiful in the skimpy armor Kyrine had provided her with. The cold had brought a flush to her cheeks, and her eyes were bright with the challenge of battle.

I blocked her first sword cut with my axe, and then took her second one on the steel that covered my chest. I aimed a blow with the pommel of my axe at her belly. I didn’t strike hard, since I was reluctant to really hurt her. Despite what Kyrine had said, and what I’d just seen in the battle, it still felt wrong to hit what certainly looked like Astrid’s unarmored flesh.

I needn’t have worried.

When my axe pommel was about an inch away from Astrid’s flesh, it connected with the force field created by her magical armor. It was like touching one of those plasma balls—blue lightning bolts flashed out from the spot where I’d connected, and there was a whirring noise like gears turning. Blue fire flew up around Astrid, and she let out a whoop of joy at the amazing effect of Kyrine’s magic stopping my blow.

I leaped to my left, warding off two rapid sword-blows with the haft of the battle-axe, then striking back with the blade, more confidently this time. I aimed my blow at Astrid’s head.

There was no need for her armor—she dived to my right, avoiding my strike, then aimed a killing blow up toward my head. I moved to parry it a second too late.

The last thing I saw was the look of horror on Astrid’s face as her blade sank through my eye and punched through my skull into my brain.

“Ouch!” I yelled, holding my face. There was a stinging, buzzing sensation in my head, but nothing worse than that. I blinked, then looked around. I was standing back by the wall where I had first entered, looking at Kyrine standing with her back to me in the snow.

Over by the statue, Astrid was looking around herself wildly, her eyes panicked.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck!” she was shouting. “What have I done!? Where has he gone? I didn’t mean to…”

“Astrid!” I yelled. “It’s ok, I’m over here!”

Astrid whirled round so fast she almost fell over, then dropped her sword and ran over to me and threw her arms around me as I approached her. I put my arms around her, feeling the warm skin of her bare back under my hands. Apparently, her magic armor only blocked dangerous blows, not affectionate touches.

Kyrine looked on serenely, and I turned to her. “Care to tell me what the fuck just happened?”

Kyrine looked puzzled. “What do you mean? Astrid won the duel, that’s all.”

“But… my eye? I should be dead but I’m not even in pain. It just tingles a bit.”

“Ah, I see!” said Kyrine, chuckling. “You’re forgetting what I told you! You can’t be killed here, no one can unless I choose. You, Astrid, and I are all protected from death here. If we’re wounded, we’d need a potion to heal and it will hurt, but if we receive a killing blow we will just respawn at the entrance.”

I gave Kyrine a look. Astrid looked chagrined that she’d forgotten. “I guess catching a sword in the face made me forget for a moment,” I said.

Kyrine laughed lightly. Astrid and I glared at her, then glanced at each other. Without a word, we both charged Kyrine.

Kyrine let out a whoop of laughter and fled from us, running light and swift across the packed snow. I couldn’t help laughing as I ran. Astrid was circling round to cut off Kyrine’s escape when the beautiful dungeon avatar suddenly launched herself into the air with a wordless yell of joy. She pushed her hands outward and began to fly forward, cutting a straight line through the air like a swimmer in a dive as she skimmed through the air above Astrid’s head.

Astrid, undeterred, made a great leap into the air and caught the dungeon avatar by the foot, throwing her off balance. I crashed into them both,