Avalon Rebirth

by Mitchell T. Jacobs

  He didn't have time to celebrate. An arrow suddenly thudded into his side, knocking him off balance for a moment and causing his health to drop even further. The damage wasn't the worst part, though. No, it was the status effect that came with it. And right now that was enough to throw their entire plan off balance, even with one of the enemy down.

  “Guys, I have to fall back,” he said. “One more good hit and I'm done for.”

  “We'll handle it from here,” Taji said.

  Erika didn't respond, which didn't surprise him in the slightest. She was still caught up in her battle with one of the rogues, hopping across the aerial platforms, the cave floor, even the walls and the ceiling at times.

  Darin moved back beside Leah, wondering when the status effect would wear off. The archer had cast Weeping Wounds on the arrow, a high-level support spell that prevented the target from being healed for several minutes. Coupled with the damage that he had already suffered and Darin was in a tight spot. If he took any more damage he risked being killed, and that would put the team at a severe disadvantage. At least this way he could wait for the timer to run out, heal himself and then go back into the fray. Hopefully the others could hold out until then.

  But it put them in a tight spot. With Leah chained to her spot and his own damage preventing him from joining the fight it was up to their two newest members to carry the load. And they'd have to do it against the toughest possible boss combination, to boot.

  “Not how I planned on this going,” he commented to Leah.

  She drew back her bow and snapped off a shot. “Not how I planned it either, but isn't how it always goes? Your plan's only good for the first thirty seconds before everything starts to go wrong. Now it's about seeing what we can salvage.”

  “Or what they can,” he said. Another arrow came streaking toward him, but the Pre-sight ability he had cast helped him to get out of the way. That was all that he was good for at this point.

  “I think it's time we stopped playing around,” Leah said.

  “Oh, this is what you call playing around?”

  “Since I haven't used any of my destruction spells I think that counts. I'm killing that archer, and I'm using everything I can to make that happen.”

  “Go ahead,” he told her. Saving the spells meant very little if the enemy just picked them all off one at a time. The sooner they could get rid of the archer, the sooner they had less enemies to worry about. And once they were abler to fight four on two the battle would swing even further in their favor.

  That was, if they were in any shape to fight at that point. Taji held steady, fighting off one of the rogues who charged in and out making strikes. Even without using Flash Step it was too fast for him to hit, especially when he carried a bulky set of armor and the weight of a shield and battle axe.

  Erika still fought with the other rogue, this time using wraith as another trump card. Her enemy must have mirrored her, because there were at least a dozen figures fighting it out. And then there was the archer, the one thing that was causing most of the problems. The rogues were difficult to deal with, and the swordsman damager had caused problems as well, but it the archer that was making things hard. It could reach out and hit anyone, and everyone had to keep their head on a swivel. Darin had failed to do so and was now stuck in his current predicament.

  At least the archer didn't have destruction magic, because then they would have been in serious trouble. The support magic was bad enough, though, and it worked in synergy with the rest of the team. Instead of dealing out huge amounts of damage like Leah was wont to do, the enemy archer focused on slowing down their team and creating openings for the rogues to make quick strikes. It was working too. Even though the Black Wolves hadn't killed anyone, Darin was effectively out for the time being and Leah was severely limited.

  But she could still lash out, and that might be their best hope for completely turing the fighting in their favor. The question was, could she get a good shot in without hitting anyone else? They didn't have a huge amount of room in here.

  “I'm starting off with a Fire Blast arrow,” Leah said over telepathy. “Make sure you don't get caught up in the blast.”

  Darin watched her pull back her bow and cast the spell, feeling the frustration simmering inside him. Right now he was just a bystander, doing nothing because wading into the fight was far too much of a risk. He could provide some limited direction, heal the others if needed too, but he felt like he should be on the front, fighting off the rest of the Black Wolves.

  And the worst part about it was that he was right here, but he couldn't do anything to help the other two. Their success was largely dependent on the new players. The thought kept repeating in his mind, no matter how much confidence he placed in them.

  Darin couldn't help it. He felt so weak at this point, a shell of his former abilities as a top-ranked player. A month or two ago this fight would have been a cake walk, not every worthy worrying about. Anything short of a legendary-class monster would have fallen victim to Silver Star.

  But then, there wasn't much drama in that either. Chad's words echoed in his mind. No one wanted to watch an invincible team stay on top for too long. After a while there was no drama, no excitement watching challengers line up and go to their doom like cattle to the slaughter. If someone wanted to change that, if someone wanted to shake up the entire complexion of the tournaments and breathe life into them…

  He hated to admit it, but whether he liked it or not the entire world of Avalon Online was changing. He could fight and claw every inch of the way, hoping against all odds that things would stay the way they were, even though deep down he knew it would never happen. Or, he could find a way to adapt to the changes, moving forward instead of dwelling in the past.

  And part of that meant trusting his teammates both new and old. They weren't going to get anywhere if he continually babied Erika and Taji.

  He glanced down at the timer in the corner of his vision. One minute. One minute until the effects of Weeping Wounds ended and he could heal himself. Just one minute, but a lot could happen in that span of time. Their fate could be decided before he even got the chance to go back into the fray…

  Trust, though. Trust in his teammates. They'd do it. They'd find a way to pull through, even in his absence. If they were aiming for the top there were times he was going to be down and out, and it would be up to the others to carry the team. They might as well start right here.

  Leah fired her arrow.

  The enemy archer tried to dodge out of the way, but Leah's shot landed far too close. The resultant explosion rocked the entire chamber, sending a gust of wind rippling past and tugging at his cloak. Erika and Taji both took a bit of damage, but the enemy archer bore the brunt of the destruction.

  Somehow it managed to survive the first shot, but just barely. It stumbled around, one leg hanging limp. Even at this distance Darin could see its health bar was firmly in the red.

  “Why didn't you do that before?” he asked.

  “Because you told me not to,” she retorted. “And because you were way too close to it and would have taken damage. Count yourself lucky I decided not to. If I had fired off a shot like that the rogue attack that hit you would probably have killed you.”

  “It's still alive...”

  Leah drew back her bow again. “Not for long. Guys, I'm firing a Force arrow. Plan accordingly.”

  A moment later a shockwave ripped through the chamber, putting the archer down for good. For one awful moment Darin thought Erika had been caught up in the blast as well, but the figure that flashed away was a doppelgänger. She remained upright and fighting with relatively low damage to show for it.

  The timer disappeared. Darin quickly cast heal on the entire party, then grabbed his halberd in both hands and charged back into the fray. Two down. Taji still stood, facing off against one of the rogues and taking continual damage. He wouldn't succumb, but he also couldn't hit his fast-moving opponent.

  Darin could ch
ange that in a flash, though.

  “Taji, I'm coming up beside you. Watch where you swing.”

  “Got it.”

  Darin watched the rogue's moves carefully, trying to decipher its movements. The figure traveled fast, though it was clearly visible and definitely not using flash step. If it had been there would have been nothing more than a blur. It would be difficult to predict where the rogue would turn up next.

  But that was where his weapon came in. Darin didn't have to be precise like Leah or Erika. With such a long reach all he had to do was swing it in a quick, wide arc, and chances were that he'd hit something.

  Darin did just that. He swung, expecting to feel the impact at any moment. But there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. He frowned and adjusted his grip, reversing the swing and coming back around with the spike of his weapon. If he couldn't get it moving forward…

  He saw the enemy rogue come in for another attack and realized his strike wasn't going to connect. Darin tried to shift his aim again, but he didn't think he could reverse the swing in time. The rogue was going to be in and out before he could adjust. If only-

  The impact surprised him, so much so that he almost dropped his weapon as the shaft reverberated from the blow. It took Darin a moment to even realize what had just happened. The enemy rogue had jumped right into the path of his swing and suffered a grievous blow. Darin brought his weapon around and prepared to finish his foe off, but he never got the chance. A rapier slid right into the armor joint on the neck, killing the rogue instantly.

  “So, that's the end of them all,” Erika said.

  “Wait, so you finished off the other one?” Taji asked.

  Darin made a face. “You killed it in a one-on-one duel? How'd you manage that?”

  “I had reach, and my weapon is really quick and easy to maneuver. I used that to keep the enemy at a distance and then I picked my spots. It took a while, but I was able to finish it off without taking much damage.”

  “You put all of us to shame,” Leah said. She walked up to join them, free of her bindings. “I got one kill because I hit it with two destruction spells, and the other two just ganged up on their kills.”

  Darin looked over at Taji. “So did you swing at the second one?”

  “Yeah, I was kind of hoping that we could at least corner it. And it worked out for the best, because I wasn't expecting it to just jump into your swing.”

  “Limitations of an AI,” Leah shrugged. “It's better than anything out there in the cave, but it still can't completely replicate human behavior.”

  “I'll take it. That thing was really starting to get annoying.”

  Erika knelt down. “Speaking of which, any idea what these things are?” She lifted up a black stone that glinted in the low light of the cavern.

  “Never seen it before,” Leah said.

  “Yeah, neither have I. Are there more of them?” Taji asked.

  The group quickly searched the rest of the chamber and found three more.

  “I guess that it's a loot drop from the boss battle?” Erika said. “But it doesn't say what it is.”

  “That probably means it needs an appraisal,” Leah said.

  Darin nodded. “Yeah, that's probably in order. I have a friend that can do it. But first we have to finish this place up.”

  “Aren't we done?” Erika asked.

  “With the fighting. But not with what we came here for. There's one more chamber,” he said, pointing to a tunnel that had just opened up at the far end of the room. “That confirms we completed the Cave of Origin, and it also has a teleport portal to the outside. Unless you want to walk all the way back?”

  “I'll pass, thanks.”

  A stone pedestal stood in the center of the next chamber, waiting for them as they approached. As soon as all of them were inside the passageway behind them shut, and the pillar lit up with lines of brilliant yellow light.

  “What's our team name going to be?” Taji asked.

  Erika smiled. “Putting us on the spot, huh?”

  “No, I mean we don't actually get to choose a name. The cave randomly selects one and gives it to us. That's how every team that takes part in the tournament gets them.”

  “That sounds kind of disappointing. What if you don't like it?”

  “They tend to be fairly neutral names at worst,” Leah told her. “Nothing embarrassing.”

  “But still, wouldn't you like to have the ability to make it up?”

  Darin shook his head. “I never really thought about it that way. I guess I always believed that it was the team that made the name, not the other way around. That our performance in the tournaments would be what made the name famous.”

  “I agree with that,” Leah added. “We weren't great because of Silver Star. Silver Star was great because we made it that way.”

  “Huh, that's pretty profound, actually. Almost sappy, in a way.”

  Darin cracked a smile. “Well, let's not stand around all day. I want to see what name we earned at least.”

  He walked forward and put his hand on the pedestal. The light shinned ever brighter for a moment, before it arced up into the air and formed a series of letters.

  Their name was Raven's Call.

  10

  They had cleared the first hurdle, but that was only one step in a long journey to the top. The newly-formed Raven's Call might have qualified for the D-rank tournament, but they still had many things to completely before they were fully prepared.

  Leah walked along the streets of the main hub, shopping, observing, picking up information and gossip wherever she could. Her team had the skills to challenge for the top, but they also only had very basic equipment at this point. If they wanted to make a serious challenge to move up to C-rank they needed as many advantages as they could get, even if they were small.

  But it wasn't just a matter of buying the equipment with the highest stats and using it. There were always restrictions as to what they could use depending on their rank. A-rank equipment was better than B rank and required a higher skill level to use, and so on and so forth.

  Their skill level was a point value directly tied to how many enemies they had defeated, and in the case of the tournaments it worked in tiers. A D-rank player could have killed the exact number of enemies that an A-rank player had, but once they stepped inside the arena the cap went into place. The players could only use skills and equipment up to a certain level until they progressed to the next rank.

  And then there was the issue of the point values that came along with everything. All players had a point value determined by their equipment and skill level, which translated into how powerful the team ranked and how many points their foes received when they defeated them. A team in the D-rank with maxed-out skills and equipment would be worth 20,000 points, 5,000 for each individual player.

  It seemed like nothing more than a formality of the scoring system, but Leah's time in the A-ranks had taught her far differently. The tallest blade of grass was the first one to get cut, or so they said, and it was no different in the Avalon Online tournaments. In multi-team matches, the strongest team was often targeted by all the others if they had a significant advantage.

  And strength was a relative term anyhow. Support magic was considered to be less powerful than destruction magic by the points system, but used correctly it could be just as strong, or even capable of exceeding it in some cases. Her team's fight against the Black Wolves had been proof of that.

  The enemy archer had also given her some ideas about a possible new character build…

  But there was another quirk to the points system, one that many teams tried to manipulate to their advantage. There were dozens of stages that a match could take place inside, ranging from forests, to swamps, to mountains, to caverns and many more locations. Every place had its quirks, its secrets and pitfalls that could greatly influence the outcome of a battle.

  That was where the points system came into play. In every matchup, unless the stage was alrea
dy defined, the lowest-ranking team was given the choice to pick the stage. There were limits, of course: once a team used a stage they couldn't pick it in any successive match-ups should they advance in the tournament. But even so, that gave the lower team a great advantage.

  It was enough to spark upsets in the first round, since the lower team had the ability to know what stage they were picking and plan accordingly. Some teams even used that as a central part of their strategy, relying on terrain to carry them to victory. If they knew what they'd be up against then they could lower their point values just enough that they'd be able to pick the location in every matchup. That was plenty possible as well, and Silver Star had done it more than once.

  There was risk when choosing that strategy, of course. Since the point totals were gathered up to the deadline and release en masse there was no guarantee that a team could accurately predict what the others would do. They could lower their point totals even further to make sure that they were always able to pick the stage, but then they ran the risk of being severely underpowered. A team had tried that once against Silver Star, making an elaborate plan that relied on the swamp stage. It would have worked perfectly, except for the fact that they were too weak to stand against a powerful foe. Once Silver Star had figured out the enemy trap they had simply steamrolled over them with brute force.

  That was just one of the parts of the metagame that went on in the tournament scene, with teams trying to gain even the slightest edge over their opponents. Leah didn't think it would be much of a problem in the D-ranks with so many inexperienced teams starting out, but habit made her think about it anyhow. And if they were going back to A-rank then it wouldn't do to have that skill wither away.

  She was in the process of moving to another shop when a voice called out to her.

  “Out on the town alone?” Leslie asked as she walked up, her long black hair flowing behind her almost like it was being tugged at by a gentle breeze.