by Ryan DeBruyn
Rocky scanned the area. “Victoria, where is the healer?”
She looked from side to side. “Letoya said he would be here. He likes to brag about his valor to anyone who will listen. But he is basically a coward. Has anyone seen Gaston?”
“Yes, actually!” Sela half led, half dragged a man along behind her. He either had deplorable hygiene or had just woken up. Sela pointed at him. “This is Gaston, and he has graciously volunteered—” Gaston made a noise as if to protest, and Sela cuffed his head before continuing, “—to heal for us. I have told him that Bart and Mr. Pips will stay at his side at all times. For his protection.”
Gaston gulped as he eyed his new bodyguards..
Rocky wasn’t keen on forcing an unwilling participant to tag along, but there was no stopping Sela once she got started.
“Gaston, here, has been charging the citizens to heal injuries that would heal on their own. If they refused to pay, he browbeat them into it, using foreign laws that don’t exist in the Grotto.” She smiled. All teeth. “Now he is going to earn those Crystals.”
Mr. Pips and Bart stood beside him, looking very grim, and Rocky almost felt sorry for Gaston. Almost. A rustle and some buckles clanking brought his attention back to Sela. She balanced a pile of mismatched armor in front of her.
“I didn’t have time to grab anything from the shop, but some crafter lent me some of their stock,” Sela said as she lowered the items to the ground.
She put on a set, and Zippo and Rocky did the same.
Rocky analyzed the gear. None of the pieces were Enchanted. They were probably the pieces the Territory produced while waiting for someone to learn Enchanting. He committed to examining Enchanted gear and discovering how it was created when he returned.
The armor wouldn’t do much but add another layer for monsters to rip through. But it was still better than nothing. “There are twelve invaders who want some attention. Let’s go give it to them.”
The group exited and circled the Grotto’s exterior walls. They took off, heading along the golden threads.
Sela ran beside him in her human form and exclaimed, “Azoth just came into range. I told him to scout.”
His heart thudded hollowly, and he tried to reach his pet again.
Nothing. He gritted his teeth, determined to find a way to talk to Azoth again.
“Sela, ask him to scout the attackers and figure out what they are.”
Sela laughed. “He says ‘big and ugly.’”
That sounded exactly like Azoth.
Having Azoth join the party was a boon. They were fighting from a numerical disadvantage, and Rocky wasn’t sure of the strength of their opponents yet.
He summoned his shadow clone and mentally sent it ahead to scout. Using a new trick, he entered a half-Meditative state in order to see what his clone was seeing.
The clone outpaced the group, which was easy to do as a shadow clone. There was no need to conserve energy or be stealthy. Or be held back by Victoria’s slow running speed.
Rocky was excited to see a tanking class that had survived this long in action. He was willing to trade speed for someone who could divert attention away from him. He had met a few people who had chosen front-line classes early on, but not a single one had made it this far.
If we are going to win this fight, we will need better tactics.
His mind's vision through his clone sprinted on, but he slowed down, eventually coming to a stop. The rest of the adventurers followed his lead and came to a halt. They chattered, questioning the action.
“Rocky?” Zippo asked.
He scrutinized his troops, considering the group's composition.
“Bart, Mr. Pips, you two are the most experienced hunters. Do you have any traps or skills that lend themselves to ambushes?” Both men nodded, scratching their heads. Rocky continued, “Sela, you can set up pitfalls. Anything else?”
His clone ran on in his mind, following the strings.
“Are we going to try to set up an ambush here, then? That does seem like a better plan than a headlong attack, “ Sela mused.
Rocky motioned his sword tip to himself and said, “I want to see the enemy and figure out what we are up against, as well as how long we have to prepare.” He turned to Bart and Mr. Pips. “Have you hunted this area? Where is the best spot for an ambush?” He motioned with his arm along the golden strings.
“I had a group of noobies out here the other day. We found a large clearing and shot some low-level boars from the treetops.” Bart indicated the direction with this chin. “This way.”
In his mind's eye, he searched for signs of monsters. He almost gave up when the massive pink leg of a humanoid swung out from behind a tree. His clone Analyzed the limb.
Northern Ogre
Master-Goliath
Level 11
Health points 3200/3290
While the ogre wasn’t as big as Tao or Gamma, it was easily twenty-five feet tall and thick limbed. The Northern Ogre carried a carved tree club that dragged on the ground, leaving deep trenches in its wake. He willed his clone to go into stealth and find the boss creatures.
Everything went blank. The feed cut off as something flattened his clone.
Rocky flinched momentarily, but at the concerned looks, he explained, “My clone just ran into an ogre and got flattened from behind. They are definitely big and ugly!” The party entered a long grass clearing surrounded by massive trees on all sides. The canopy parted and opened to the cloudless blue sky as they entered the meadow.
Bart turned and spread his arms in an open gesture. “Here we are. The tree heights are tiered, which allowed the new hunters to fire from a safe spot while I trapped the area and drew the quarry back to them. Will this do?”
Rocky nodded. “Victoria, we’re going to need you to act as the bait. We want to draw in the whole lot of them. You good with that?”
Victoria crossed her arms, hugging her small shield. She opened her mouth, then closed it. Sela put both of her hands on the woman’s shoulders, and Victoria nodded stiffly.
“They are coming from that direction—” he pointed to the gold strings, “—so let’s start setting it up. No need to tell you your business, right?”
Bart and Mr. Pips looked at each other and then at Gaston. Gaston stared at Sela, his face quite pale. Rocky pulled mines out of his Bag of Holding and tossed them to Bart. “Don’t worry. Zippo will ensure Gaston is safe.”
“Sela, tell Azoth to harry them from above, group them up, and force them this way,” said Rocky.
“You know he won’t understand that, right?”
His head fell. Azoth would definitely not understand that. He mimicked the birdbrain’s response. “Hairy. Rocky want Ogre’s hair?”
Sela laughed and gave him a thumbs up. She would take care of it. She knelt and placed a hand on the earth, still chuckling softly, setting up her Pitfalls. Zippo climbed a tree, also preparing for the fight.
Rocky summoned his Shadow Clone again. It popped into sight with a duplicate of his own bare backside mooning him. Rocky shook his head.
I’m not the one who crushed you. Go attack an ogre with your behind.
He checked his Ether pool. One hundred and fifty points. But it was slowly creeping up. There was nothing left to do but wait. He jumped into a tree opposite Zippo, closer to the border where the ogres would enter.
A cursory glance down made Rocky’s stomach roil. He jumped a few trees away. His body’s reaction to his Perception skill wasn’t a comfortable experience. Most akin to the intense desire to find a toilet, however, he couldn’t deny its effectiveness. Mid-jump, his eyes alighted on a few large Fusion mines half-hidden in the forest foliage. He kept jumping from tree to tree until his stomach settled. He landed on his final tree and placed his skill point into Knight’s Resolve. He had no use for Envenom in this upcoming fight, but a mine going off could deal some serious fire damage.
His tree vibrated under his palm just as hi
s ears picked up on distant crashing noises. A massive crack jolted him, and he winced as the noise assaulted his highly attentive ears. A huge roar accompanied the death of that unseen tree. Wind whipped the leaves around Rocky as a tree flew through the air. A fraction of a second later, Azoth winged by. His pet was definitely getting to the ogres.
Azoth banked and easily avoided a boulder that whistled by. Thunderous thumps accompanied an animalistic human-like roar. Rocky studied his pet and his cheeks began to hurt from smiling. He wanted nothing more than to hug the beastie.
Azoth faltered in the air for a moment before shooting straight up, almost performing a wingover. Rocky lost sight of Azoth.
A Louisville Slugger cracked a homerun beside Rocky. Every muscle in his body clenched tight. What had happened?
Underneath him, the branch twanged. He registered a second crack. Then he was freefalling along with something huge and very dark.
He converted his sword to liquid, narrowly avoiding impaling himself. His wild eyes searched for the enemy. Two black orbs met his gaze.
Azoth. We need to talk about timing. Oh—right—dammit.
Azoth landed first, grunting as his four mismatched legs absorbed the fall. Rocky landed atop the semi-truck-sized Chimera. His short-lived relief vanished and his lungs compressed due to the impact. His body ejected the air in his lungs causing his diaphragm to spasm.
Azoth rolled and leaped excitedly, bucking Rocky off his back. The loud breaking branches and crashing leaps of his pet were not subtle. Rocky tried to catch his breath and calm Azoth. The ogres would hear his pet’s rambunctious dance. At least he didn’t step on a mine.
His heart beat loudly in his chest. Despite the counter-productiveness of what was happening, his breath caught. Azoth hopped around with happy feet. His pet jumped up onto his back feet, spread his wings to lift briefly into the air, and landed before bouncing again. Rocky wiped away a happy tear with the back of his hand.
His stomach tried to exit through his mouth. Rocky opened his hands and tried to place them on Azoth’s bouncing chest, hoping to calm the enormous puppy. “Whoa, buddy. Calm down—” A gargantuan tongue assaulted him, followed rapidly by a horned head prodding him and knocking him over. Rocky laid on his back, pinned by the Chimera’s enthusiasm. “Azoth, I can’t hear you. I have lost my ring.”
Sela popped out of stealth in her cat form and head-bumped Azoth, which freed Rocky. Sela and Azoth locked eyes, connecting in a way that Rocky couldn’t. Not without his ring. He missed his pet more than ever. He didn’t like being separated, but he didn’t expect the stabbing pain when he finally saw Azoth.
Azoth looked back and forth between Sela and Rocky. His eyes were dimmed and his ears fell. Azoth took off while wistfully peeking at Rocky. Sela nodded briefly to Rocky before vanishing back into stealth.
What just happened?
His feet on the ground picked up tremors through his leather boots, and the sound of large footfalls was unmistakable. He quickly jumped back up the broken tree. Rocky’s brow furrowed. Would the ogres avoid the loud noises Azoth had caused?
His eye caught movement as a massive tree-club whipped toward him. He pistoned his legs out of the crouch and shot backwards toward another tree. The echoing boom of the club’s impact put Azoth’s recent attempt to shame. Buckshot splinters peppered him, and he crossed his arms to protect his face. He flinched as small paper cuts bloomed on his exposed skin.
His heart pounded against his rib cage and his hands pulsed as adrenaline pumped through his system, intensifying his focus. He turned on Stealth and Dark Cloak. His emotions warred within him, tangled and messy. He was going to fix that problem, but for now, he wanted the anger. Maybe even needed it.
His eyes were glued to the pudgy face of his assailant when the tree that he landed on vibrated. His eyes scanned the area and landed on a second ogre. The ogre who must have just rung the proverbial bell that he was crouched in. The first Ogre charged at his new perch and the second struck again. The healthy tree wasn’t meant for this kind of abuse and split down the center, its dying whine assaulting Rocky along with the stench of ogre breath.
The second ogre’s eyes locked onto the patch of blackness and roared. His Dark Cloak managed to steer the spittle away from him, at least.
You just let two ogres sneak up on you. You have to be better Rockland. Or there won’t be a next time—next time.
He leaped out of the tree toward the clearing and released both his Skills. He needed the ogre to pursue him.
Most of the guiding strings were gone. The four that remained included the two golden ones, and he faltered. A stuttering step corrected the slip and he sprinted, tempting the ogre to chase after him. These two needed to die first.
He scanned the clearing in front of him and found that the others were fighting ogres of their own. He wanted to help, but he had his own problems.
The ground shook as a mine exploded, launching a distant ogre into the air. The violent shockwave rippled the terrain, and Rocky half-hopped when the subsequent wind buffeted him.
His gut clenched—his Perception warning him of a pitfall—and he leaped over it, clearing the twenty feet he needed to avoid disaster.
A furtive look over his shoulder made him gasp. The two ogres had followed and hit the pitfall like a train derailed by a broken track. A thud echoed as their chests struck the far edge of the hole. Fat-fingered hands scrabbled on the ground, gripping and tearing out long grass. But to no avail. Rocky skidded to a stop and charged back to the pit. He was going to finish these blockheads.
He darted toward his quarry. His sword hummed, almost whispering, about the taste of blood and their defeated souls.
An ogre emerged from his hiding spot just beyond the hole and advanced toward him. Its calves flexed, and it shot over the pit effortlessly. The creature's leap made his look like a child playing kindergarten hopscotch. He Analyzed his airborne foe.
Bam-Bam
Master-Yabba-Dabba
Level 23
Health Points 2322/ 2450
Boss
His assailant sailed toward him, and Rocky desperately charged his Dark Blade skill.
C’mon, then. Step up to the plate.
The ground groaned as Bam-Bam landed in a two-foot stomp that vibrated up Rocky’s feet. He released his Skill with three charges and entered Dark Cloak. Bam-Bam braced a two-story metal I-beam in front of his chest and face, successfully blocking Rocky’s attack.
Rocky’s black phantasmal blades struck the steel, and a cacophony filled the air. The momentum of the blades pushed past the right side of the I-Beam and cut into Bam-Bam’s right arm. The boss’ roar joined the screech.
Rocky resumed his charge, crouching and pumping his legs. He dropped two more Dark Blade’s worth of Ether into his sword, ‘Dark Tidings.’ He held the Skill in the blade and slashed at Bam-Bam’s Achilles tendon—and the blade stuck. Panicking, he added his torquing core to the blow. With the ease of a butter knife in teflon, his edge breached Bam-Bam’s tough skin. The resistance turned his blow and his slash cut into the ogre’s calf. The boss howled louder as the blade’s darkness spread up and down the spasming calf.
He liquified his blade, releasing it from the clenching muscles of the ogre’s calf. Without a moment to spare, he reformed his blade and turned.
Bam-Bam shifted his foot and sidekicked at the dark cloud that had attacked his calf. All the air whooshed out of Rocky’s lungs as the ogre’s massive foot connected with his chest. He bit his lip as pain blossomed along his front. Only the disgusting pinky toe had fully connected, luckily. Bam-Bam swayed further onto the heel of his injured leg.
Rocky rolled back to his feet, spitting the iron taste out of his mouth. Bam-Bam attempted to balance on his single injured leg and fight against Rocky’s phantasmal blades simultaneously. Even with ogre strength, he failed. Just as the two trapped ogres reached hands and heads out of the pit, Bam-Bam fell right on top of them. They all crumpled back down into th
e hole, and Rocky surveyed the battle during the respite.
Three cooling ogre corpses laid around the clearing while three others battled on.
An ogre and Victoria stood toe-to toe. Her opponent grunted as it teed off, and she caught the tree-club on her small shield. He expected this diminutive woman to fly away or be reduced to a cloud of misty blood. Her shield glowed, and the tree rebounded viciously. The ogre managed an, “Oooyyy” before the club smashed its teeth and nose in a sickly wet crunch.
Sela dodged the feet of another ogre as Zippo threw fireballs at its face. Meanwhile, Mr. Pips stood beside Gaston and held up two hands. Rocky’s gaze followed the direction the man’s reach indicated. The final ogre struggled to free its leg from an enormous fluorescent glowing bear trap.
Bart got into position on the other side of Gaston. He extended one arm and braced it with the other, squinting down the length of his arm and over his extended finger. He raised his thumb forming a finger gun, then dropped the thumb. A bolt of glowing blue pumped out, racing at Mr. Pip’s trapped foe. The skill cut through the creature's tough hide and dug a deep furrow into the muscle beneath. The ogre rocked back.
Rocky turned around in time to see Bam-Bam leap out of the pit. The enraged boss vented a roar that bounced off the trees, and his bleeding calf pulsed out a misty red aura that quickly surrounded Bam-Bam. Amidst the chaos, another ogre exited the trees behind the pit.
Rocky Analyzed his foe again.
Bam-Bam
Master-Yabba-Dabba
Level 23
Health Points 1843/ 2450
Boss
Bloodlust-Aura
He saw the same aura climbing up the ogre behind Bam-Bam and Analyzed … her?
Pebbles
Master-Doo
Level 29
Health Points 1250/ 1250
Boss
Bloodlust-Aura
The two minions, now covered in a red aura, leaped out of the pit.