Nijana just grinned at her. “Nothing you need to worry about. And, I have a name, you know.”
“So what is your name then, pix? Er, lass?”
“Nijana Celestina,” she replied, and brightened her grin. “Princess of the sailing thieves of Faeheim.”
Chapter Twelve
“Saw it with my two eyes.”
Guy folded his arms across his chest, staring intently at the elven woman he spoke with.
“Are you sure?” he asked to confirm.
“Yes,” the woman replied and pointed at René’s Cove’s second entrance. “The people killers—”
“Player killers.”
“. . . took a prisoner. A level 1 Bard. She was a fairy too.”
“Thank you,” Guy said and bid the woman farewell.
He walked through René’s Cove, the village where the Seraphim had docked, and eyed a few elves leaving their homes knowing that the PKers were no longer in town. Outside in the Verte Woods… well, that was a different story. Now and then, if you listened close enough, you could hear a few PKer groups taunt the village’s guards, daring them to leave and fight them. He even heard a few calls for one-on-one fights, but nobody answered them.
Guy and his companions were prisoners in René’s Cove. He returned to the docks where the Seraphim was and winced when he saw its lights were still off. Arn still hadn’t fixed the problem with its power. Using the ship to sail away might be their only option unless the PKers left.
Tempeste, Rachael, and Kam sat near the Seraphim’s entrance, trying to make the best of their situation. The weather was pretty nice, so was the sea breeze blowing in and scattering the smoke from Kam’s pipe. Guy approached the seated group, drawing their stares up at him.
“Okay, that’s five people I talked to now,” Guy said. “They all claimed the PKers took a woman who looks like our Averyl lookalike.”
“Nijana,” Kam said, correcting him. “Her name is Nijana.”
“Still waiting for an explanation, Kam,” Guy said to the faun. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Kam pulled his pipe from his lips to speak, holding it steady with one hand as he looked at Guy. “Had reason to believe she was a resistance member.”
“Resistance?” Guy asked.
“Aye,” Kam said. “Fae from the empire opposed to its plans to dominate Faeheim.”
“He is correct,” Zuran said unexpectedly.
The dark-skinned and shirtless fae stepped off the Seraphim, making his pecks, bald head, and large muscles shine when the sunlight touched it. Zuran continued as he walked toward the group. “My family made deals with the resistance in the past to undermine the emperor’s plans.”
As Guy recalled, Zuran was related to the ruler of the Firethorn Kingdom, one of the few fae nations capable of standing up to the Autumnfall Empire. It seemed Zuran and Kam both had dealings with the resistance.
“She might be a member still,” Zuran said.
“Yeah,” Guy snorted. “A member who stole from us.”
“Perhaps it was part of her mission?” Zuran suggested.
“No,” Kam cut in. “She confessed who she was to me the other day. Claimed to be the pirate princess of Faeheim.”
“That makes no sense,” Zuran said. “They ain’t no pirates on Faeheim. Autumnfall and Firethorn crushed them ages ago, long before the affliction had spread.”
“Nevertheless,” Kam said. “That is what she told me, and after seeing her sword skills, I believe it.”
Zuran crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “Were there secret pirate groups we did not know of?”
“Led by a fae woman who looks and sounds exactly like Averyl?” Kam added.
“Well, the only way we’ll know for sure is to find her,” Guy said. “And that means we’ll have to leave the city and—”
An arrow sank into the dock, missing Guy’s foot by inches.
“Son of a bitch!” Guy yelled and spun to the arrow shooter.
A Ranger laughed, one PKer got into René’s Cove. Three guards drew their blades and chased the little shit out of town.
Rachael stood with Guy, sighing. “The PKers still have the village surrounded, eh?”
He nodded to her. “Yep.”
She looked away from the village, fixing her blue eyes on Guy. “We’ll have to fight through them first.”
The Planet of the Elves – Quest Updated
Objective: Travel to the elven homeworld and investigate the second Averyl.
Arrive at Alfheimr and search for clues [Completed!]
Accept Tempeste’s offer and travel to Lumière City.
Find a way past the PKers.
Learn more about the differences between Averyl and Nijana.
The appearance of the quest update screen caused a pleasant beam to brighten Rachael’s face. “Does that mean the White Dragon agrees with me?”
“It does,” Guy said and shut the screen. “It does, but to do that, we gotta get rid of these PKers. Or at least sneak by them.”
“It is unlikely you will slip past,” Tempeste said, standing to join Guy and Rachael. “By now, word has likely spread of a Paladin among you.”
“Which would explain why that arrow landed near me,” Guy said. “They want to know what I’m capable of.”
“Or to kill, then take your body,” Tempeste said. “After that, they will resurrect and try to tempt you to join them.”
Hmm, and didn’t that woman say the PKers took Nijana as a prisoner? I guess they needed a Bard. “Hey, Tempeste,” he said, drawing her bright green eyes to his face. “I know you want to preserve balance and all that, but we can’t afford to wait for them to leave. We have to push past them. Will you give us a hand?”
A gust of wind scattered Tempeste’s blonde hair and tickled the ends of her pointed ears. “Will you help my people?” she asked.
“We’ll speak with your king,” Guy said. “Hell, it’s clear we have to if the White Dragon is pushing us to do that. The real Averyl’s with your people, and it sounds like the empire found their way here with the help of the sentinels.”
Tempeste led Guy and Rachael to the village’s exit, just past its legion of guards. They peeked out and into the forest, noting a few PKer groups lingering about. Guy spotted fewer PKers when compared to earlier, confirming what he had discovered. One group had taken Nijana and fled, while a smaller one stayed behind to finish their death sport.
“Usually, by now, they would move on and harass another settlement,” Tempeste explained. “Their numbers seem to be small, but I have no way to confirm it.”
“Me, Xanthe, Zuran, might,” Rachael said. “We can fly above and look down.”
“Thing is,” Guy said as he gave the thick forest a second glance, its vibrant tree leaves and large branches especially. “Wouldn’t the treetops get in the way?”
Rachael stood with him and watched the lush emerald leaves and branches of the forest. “Eh, maybe, but what other choice do we have, Guy?”
“Not much.” Guy sighed and nodded to her. Rachael buzzed her wings and levitated half a foot above the ground. “Hey,” Guy added before she flew off to get Xanthe and Zuran. “Stay safe out there.”
She looked at him, smiling with her hands behind her back. “I’ll be fine. What’s the worst that could happen? We can fly, and they can’t.”
Rachael flew back to the Seraphim, her buzzing wings echoing her departure. About a minute later, there were three people in the skies, Rachael, Zuran, and the shadow angel, Xanthe. The trio flew ahead and vanished from sight as they scouted the Verte Woods ahead.
Rachael’s party status changed in a way that made Guy’s heart race.
Rachael | HP: 194/344
[Regeneration] [Bleeding] [Crippled]
Her HP was dropping fast. He wasn’t sure about Xanthe and Zuran, since they weren’t in his party. Rachael’s HP continued to decline, then shoot up. She probably cast a healing spell. It fell again, then slowly rose with Regeneration. Th
en plummeted to dangerously low numbers.
106, 96, 86. Fuck, she was dying.
Guy yanked Asteria’s Sword from its rest on his back and looked left to right for signs of a battle. He saw nothing, and it only kept his heart thumping hard. A moment later, the buzz of two fae and the flying wings of a shadow angel entered his ears. Rachael, Zuran, and Xanthe came crashing down in a rough landing, their bodies covered in arrows, blood leaking from their wounds.
Guy dashed to them, placing his sword back on his back. “Rachael!”
Rachael plucked one arrow from her right shoulder and brought it to her wincing face. “Okay, so they have a lot of fucking Rangers . . .”
She cast Medica, but with Zuran and Xanthe not in the party, neither recovered HP. Guy added the two to the party. Rachael resumed casting Medica, then cast Recovery Orb several times, leaving three shimmering orbs for the three to pick up and heal themselves. Certain healing spells didn’t work unless the targets were in your party. Guy made a mental note about that.
Tempeste joined the group and stared at their healing wounds as the arrows fell off their bodies and vaporized upon hitting the ground. “I presume they are still a threat?”
“No, just lots of Rangers,” Rachael said. “But their numbers are definitely smaller.”
“And they have marvelous aim . . .” Xanthe said drily.
“Let’s break into two groups,” Guy said. “Group one hits the first gate, group two the other.”
“You wish to divide us, darling?” Xanthe said to Guy. “I think we need all our firepower combined.”
“Yeah, but these PKers seem to rely on overwhelming people with numbers or drawing them into the open for an ambush. So, let’s bait them into coming after one of our two groups. It’ll force them all out.”
“Hmm, I see where you’re going,” Rachael said. “Once that happens, our second team will run from the other gate and hit them from behind.”
“And,” Guy added. “It’s all Rangers, right? Leather armor, low HP, and defense. It shouldn’t be too hard to kill them. Fuck, Henrietta knocked off a chunk of Emeraldal’s HP even though she was a lower level. The hardest part is going to be getting close since they’ll be shooting us. But if we survive their burst, then they’re dead. You can’t shoot a bow when someone’s in your face pushing your aim away. If they can’t shoot, then they aren’t a threat.”
“It could work,” Zuran said. “They do not seem organized either.”
“It’ll work,” Rachael said. She eyed Guy with a cheery smirk. “Guy’s the one who came up with the plan. It has to work.”
She shut her eyes and giggled. Guy flushed and took a few seconds to shake out of it.
“I’ll lead party one,” Guy said. “Tempeste, you lead the second one.”
“Very well.” Tempeste pivoted to Zuran. “May I have the Mage in my party? Ice spells will prove beneficial in operations such as this.”
“Yeah, about that.” Zuran chuckled. “I can only use fire magic.”
Tempeste crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the Mage. “You do not have the Ice sigil?”
“We’ve only encountered three elemental sigils,” Guy said. “Light, which I have, Water which Kam has, and Fire for Zuran.”
Tempeste held the look, pulled a sigil from her inventory, and approached Zuran. “Take this then,” she said, offering the sigil to him. “It is my Ice sigil. Please return it to me when you are done.”
Zuran accepted the sigil and placed it on his left bicep, glistening in the sun. It glowed as it synced with his astral circuits. “Thanks, I will make good use of it.”
“Ice spells have a random chance to freeze targets,” Tempeste explained. “It is particularly good for crowd control or disabling an enemy. Try your best to freeze their arms, then shatter them.”
Guy and Tempeste formed their respective parties and returned to the Seraphim to collect everyone else while explaining the battle plan. Tempeste’s party strode to gate one, and Guy’s party to gate two. The village guards said they were crazy for challenging the PKers like that. Guy glanced at his party.
Guy | HP: 886/886 | MP: 216/216 | AP: 0/100
Rachael | HP: 344/344 | MP: 125/248 | AP: 0/100
Ulysses | HP: 107/107 | MP: 0/0 | AP: 0/100
Not one of them was level 20 or higher. They were probably right.
“So, one problem,” Rachael said and pointed at Ulysses. “He’s level 2 . . .”
Guy scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, but hey, this is how PKers level up, right? Takedown other people, focusing on party leaders who yield more experience points. Maybe this’ll be a good power level for you, Ulysses.”
“Or an early grave . . .” Ulysses said drily.
“Just try to run in a zigzag pattern if someone shoots at you, or somethin’,” Guy said. “And you know, if you die, you’ll get Resurrected.”
“Would he even be able to do any damage with his level?” Rachael asked.
“Shit damage is better than no damage,” Guy said. “Look for their lowest Rangers. It should be easier for you to hurt them. And honestly, you and Zuran are the only sources of ranged damage we have.”
Ulysses sighed while shaking his head and stared at Emeraldal’s bow in his hands. “Don’t know about this, mon ami . . .”
“Like we said earlier,” Guy said. “I don’t think these guys are organized. They sound like a bunch of assholes having fun. They aren’t expecting this.”
Guy guided his party forward, past the village’s gate and into the scrap that awaited in the Verte Woods. Guy unsheathed Asteria’s Sword, and his party followed afterward and stood at his sides. Their aggressive stance hooked the hunters’ eyes of a few PKing Rangers in the woods. Laughter echoed. Guy’s party convinced the Rangers that they would be an easy kill.
“Hold on,” Ulysses grunted. “Are we the bait party?”
“Uh.” Guy didn’t know how to answer that. He focused on the movement of the Rangers creeping forward.
“Guy . . .” Ulysses grunted again. “Please say no.”
“We are, Ulysses,” Rachael said.
Guy and Rachael strode ahead to meet the Rangers. Meanwhile, the star-elf Ranger in their party just lowered his head and sighed.
“For fuck’s sake!” Ulysses yelled.
Rachael chuckled to Ulysses. “No turning back now!”
Ulysses ran to keep up with Guy and Rachael. “Dude,” he called out to Guy. “Why would you have me in this group with my level?!”
Guy just laughed.
Ulysses looked toward the star-fae Medic. “Rachael, say something?!”
“Guy got us this far,” Rachael said. “I trust his judgment.”
Rachael and Ulysses positioned themselves behind Guy as he took the lead, using his body, high HP, defense, and Asteria’s Sword as a walking shield.
Guy stared at each Ranger, raised Asteria’s Sword in the air, and jeered at them. “All right, motherfuckers!” he yelled. “Who wants some of this?!”
The PKing Rangers spread out from side to side, nocked arrows that magically appeared, and sent them through the air. They all wanted him. Guy swatted the first volley of arrows away, using the flat of his blade. He repeated for the second volley, though he felt three or four sink into his left arm and right leg. The Rangers ahead just winced and nocked more arrows. Guy didn’t even need to use Provoke on them; he just needed to stand in the open as the party leader. His death would yield the most experience points, and his enemies knew that.
A third arrow assault flew toward Guy, and he swung Asteria’s Sword once again to deflect what arrows he could, groaning at the pointed tips that found themselves in his body. Behind, Rachael brightened with a glow of green and blue light as she cast Medica, restoring his lost HP.
The Rangers hesitated to launch their fourth assault. Instead, they moved to spread out, trying their best to strike Guy from the side or behind. Guy could only parry forward attacks, and it seemed they got that through the
ir head. There was no point in standing still.
Guy charged to the nearest PKing Ranger, swung, and missed. The Ranger freaked out and backpedaled, hit Guy with six arrows, then two more to the leg. Guy had to use 5 HP hyposprays and grab two Recovery Orbs from Rachael just to stay in the fight. Ulysses grew a pair and began shooting off as many arrows as he could. Guy closed the gap between him and a wounded Ranger, cut him up and down, and finished his combo with a strike across the Ranger’s face, sending them hurtling to the ground. Rachael snuck in with her Oak Staff and pulverized the Ranger’s head into the dirt, cracking it open to release the pink chunks of his brains to the landscape.
Obtained: 150 Experience Points
One down, way too many to go.
Guy and Rachael stood back-to-back, weapons raised to defend rather than maim. A lot of arrows came rocketing toward them, and the village’s guardsmen weren’t helping. Guy glanced to the side, his eyes searching for the one thing that could get them out of their bind. Tempeste and her party.
He spotted them leaving René’s Cove’s secondary gate, slowly creeping toward the violence, using the trees in the forest to mask their approach. Her party cut off the Rangers’ ability to retreat. Guy had the Rangers right where they needed to be, between the village’s wall and Tempeste’s party closing around them.
One Ranger had groaned and tried to limp away. He had about a dozen arrows sticking into his thigh and left torso. Ulysses had sent a few arrows into them. Guy waited for a break in the arrow assault and a heal from Rachael to top up his HP.
Guy | HP: 713/886
[Regeneration]
Good enough. He dashed and slashed that Ranger down.
Obtained: 1500 Experience Points
Guy has attained level 16!
Rachael has attained level 11!
Ulysses has attained level 3!
That one was a party leader. Damn, I can see why they kill people rather than do dungeons.
Two down, and soon afterward, the Rangers realized they could lose a third when Guy and Rachael ran to them. The Rangers backed up, firing arrow after arrow hoping to sink them into Guy and Rachael’s legs. Guy stopped running and held his hand to Rachael.
Mirror Princess: A LitRPG Space Fantasy (Sword of Asteria Book 2) Page 11