by G. Akella
It happened at minute twenty nine of the battle. Max was just about to signal his team to stop damaging the toad, glancing back to see how things were going with the boss whose health bar was hovering at around a quarter HP. Cenatodone was a bloody, mangled mess of ragged skin and puss; his roar, however, was ferocious as the boss sought to finally catch the insufferable bipedal creature darting to and fro in front of his nose. Nearly one third of the meadow was covered with a brownish smoky ooze. At more or less regular intervals all along the shore lay the disfigured corpses of toads that had crawled out of the morass. Max counted eleven in all. The Blades' casualties were more than modest with only seven gray icons at the end of the raid's list. Everything looks good so far, he thought with almost palpable relief, and was about to give the order to lay off their target when there came a low rumbling from the depths of the swamp that seemed to shake the very bedrock of the earth. The sound spread through the meadow like some gooey substance, all-enveloping, and now seemed to echo all around them. A film of gray fog materialized over the wounded monster's hide, then rose sharply into the air, assuming the hideous shape of something that distantly resembled Jabba the Hut from the classic 20th century film about interstellar adventures and some troubled dude with a freaky voice and a black bucket for a hat.
Attention! Cenatodone has summoned the power of Urgot!
The detestable shape crowed with triumphant laughter before disintegrating into gray scraps of fog. The monster's mutilated sides caked over with an ashy coating that crumbled to the ground almost instantly and started spreading rapidly in all directions.
"Get away from the boss! All melee, fall back!" Amit bellowed into the channel. "Quickly!"
Alas, his command had come a moment too late. Close-combat fighters weren't mages capable of instant teleportation, and the mushrooming gray blob quickly took hold of virtually all the Blades surrounding the boss. And the next second, massive bone spikes shot up from the ground. The collective cry of agony that soared over the meadow at that moment left Max in a daze, as more than one hundred people were ripped apart. He had never seen so much blood in his entire life. The raid channel discharged some astonished swearing, then a pained sob, and finally silence. Drenched in blood, the spikes retracted back in the ground seconds later. The only one to survive them was Allard. Unfortunately, after getting tossed high in the air by the spikes, he couldn't cover himself with a shield, and the heals that landed weren't enough to offset the monster's next blow. The main tank collapsed on the ground, dead. Letting loose a triumphant roar, Cenatodone wasted no time bearing in on the nearby group of druids and priests with speed belying his bulk. There came a series of sickening crunching sounds of bones being broken and bodies mangled. The beast then opened its gullet and disgorged a cloud of toxic gas, extinguishing color from another few dozen icons. Spinning one hundred eight degrees, Cenatodone began lumbering across the meadow toward archers clustered in the distance, the ground groaning under its three-toed paws.
"Fan out in a circle! Maximum damage on the boss! The tanks are all dead! Whoever got aggro has to kite! Everybody, keep a close eye on the aggro list!"
Notes of alarm were now distinctly heard in the normally imperturbable Amit's voice. The archers and casters fanned out in what appeared to be a futile attempt to delay the inevitable.
And things were looking so good! Max lamented to himself. But now the blasted thing will trample everybody down within minutes. We can't keep up damage with any consistency while running around in a circle like headless chickens, and the tanks are all dead... Wait a second—not all the tanks!!!
"Finish off the last add!" he roared into the main raid channel. "Bonbon! Grab that lizard!"
Max felt as though some unseen force gave him a mighty push in the back. Without stopping to consider his actions, the warrior gunned forward to intercept the monster. The boss did not immediately notice the biped rushing at him from the right, but then...
The multiton carcass suddenly froze as the boss' serpentine eyes filled up with blood, as if the Ancient Beast had just come across his Sworn Enemy. Cenatodone brought his head low to the ground and let out a deafening roar.
Thoughts and images rampaged in Max's head. Rustling canopies, the murmur of a forest creek, the cries of birds... and the green eyes of a black-haired elven female.
"This is my forest!" he spat into the muzzle of the reptile looming over him... But instead of words, there came only ferocious growling.
And when Cenatodone pounced on him, his consciousness faded into blackness.
That's a wipe, Vagabond thought to himself the moment the laughing shape made of mist appeared over the boss. Intuition is a funny thing—either you have it or you don't, and that was especially true in a magic-based world. His suspicious were essentially confirmed when nearly half the raid, including Allard the main tank, were dispatched to the Land of Eternal Hunt not fifteen seconds later. Sure enough, Amit was scrambling to salvage the situation, but it was no use. With nearly a quarter of his HP remaining, there was no way the survivors could kite the boss to victory. He felt a glimmer of hope at the sound of Max shouting in the channel, but it died almost instantly—the prospect of a level 150 tank holding a boss three times his level was simply laughable. Allard had had a hard enough time, and that was with a damage multiplier of two instead of three, far superior gear, and a slew of dedicated healers. No, Vagabond hadn't given up. He mourned Jolie; he mourned all of his fallen clanmates; he mourned all the levels lost that was sure to set the clan back months... But he simply didn't know how to express his emotions. He had lost that art nearly forty years ago in the distant year nineteen ninety eight. Still standing there and sticking to his rotation, the clan's leader kept loosing arrow after arrow at the beast as it sowed death on the meadow, realizing in the corner of his mind the futility of fighting instead of sounding a retreat. Idiot, he thought to himself at the sight of Max rushing to intercept the boss. And then the unthinkable happened.
Cenatodone stopped! The boss' aggro skyrocketed to an incredible five hundred points—and against a guy who hadn't dealt him an ounce of damage! For all his skill, the perished Allard hadn't risen above three hundred throughout the fight. The Ancient Beast stiffened, then let out a terrifying roar. Just then, a ripple ran over the tiny elf figure, the name above his head turned red, and in an instant the enraged reptile was staring at a hoary cave lion, the animal's tail lashing its sinewy sides. The lion crouched, bared his large white fangs, and roared in response.
There were plenty of shapeshifting druids in Vagabond's clan, but none who had ever gotten anywhere near this size. And certainly none of them were capable of what the lion did next. Max—judging by the floating legend, it was still Max—easily evaded Cenatodone's attack, then leaped effortlessly onto the back of the dinosaur's neck, dug his claws into the brownish skin and began tearing at the flesh unprotected by the bone armor.
Sure, any mage or druid in cat form could theoretically pull off that trick. However, the former wouldn't last five seconds on the monster's neck while the latter could only hang on for dear life without dealing any damage whatsoever. When designing the druid class, the developers had decided that a druid in cat form could only deal damage with the forepaws. Which made sense, considering the unpleasant prospect of chomping on undead bones or rotting zombie flesh—even at less than full immersion, there would hardly be many volunteers. Naturally, druids still had full use of their mouth cavity while shapeshifted, being able to eat and drink and even bite. However, a cat druid biting for damage was as effective as a warrior wielding a sledgehammer deciding to use his teeth against the enemy instead of his weapon.
All of these thoughts raced through Vagabond's mind as he kept on firing, observing as the enormous reptile spun in place at the center of the meadow, trying to shake off the unwanted rider.
"Hold on, Lucky!" he whispered yearningly.
"Damage to the boss' rear! Look alive! Don't hit the cat!" Amit commanded into the channel
, his voice back to normal.
Realizing that their mass death was being delayed, the Blades fell back with their regular groups and proceeded to unload on the boss.
"Hold on, Lucky! Just hold on, friend..." Vagabond's lips muttered. This was the closest he'd ever been to a prayer.
Paying no mind to anyone else, Cenatodone began rolling on his side, trying to crush the rider with his weight. But the gray cat would leap to a safe spot on the hide at the last moment—calmly, as if taunting the monster. When the boss had only several percent left on his HP bar, he turned and started toward the swamp with a dejected whimper. But he didn't make it to the water. The monster's feet gave out halfway, and the enormous carcass came crashing down on the grass, blackened with blood and poison.
You have gained a level! Current level: 208.
You have 1 talent point to allocate.
Class bonus: +1 to agility, +1 to constitution.
You have 3 stat points to allocate.
……………………………………………………………………………..
You have gained a level!
You have gained a level! Current level: 210.
You have 6 talent points to allocate.
Class bonus: +1 to agility, +1 to constitution.
You have 9 stat points to allocate.
Attention! You have garnered the attention of a higher being. Kirana, the Goddess of Vengeance, knows of your existence.
You've earned a unique achievement, Cenatodone's Slayer. Cenatodone is a unique boss that can only be killed once. You and your allies have been granted a permanent 5% increase to your physical and magic damage.
You have earned a new title, Ally of the Great Forest.
Your party has destroyed the companion of a god hostile to the Great Forest. The Great Forest doesn't forget its allies! You will be granted the following bonuses for as long as you remain on the territory of the Great Forest:
3% increase to physical and magic damage,
3% increase to the effectiveness of healing spells,
3% increase to armor class.
Your clan has gained a level!
The Night Blades clan is now level 8.
Now available: clan treasury upgrade to level 8. Clan membership limit increased to 5000 sentient beings. New options available in the clan menu.
Your reputation has increased. Light elves are neutral to you.
Your reputation has increased. Dark elves relate to you with respect.
Standing tall on the back of the perished monster, the lion sucked in a chestful of air and let out a triumphant roar that seemed to reverberate off every tree leaf and blade of grass in the vicinity. Then, with an easy hop onto the grass, landing softly and soundlessly, the great cat fixed the group of elves with a look of utter loathing.
"Max! Max!" a beautiful red-haired young woman dashed toward him from the meadow's edge, choking on tears.
"Alyona! Stop!" a black-haired male in a vinous mantle shouted after her, but she just waved him away.
Meeting the young woman's gaze, the lion bared his teeth and growled menacingly. But the growling lasted only a moment, giving way to a look of intelligence on the animal's muzzle. He crouched, then took two giant leaps across the meadow, and disappeared amidst the bushes and trees.
"What just happened?" Teetotaler asked Vagabond in a private channel.
"Hell if I know," the other shook his head, watching the redhead scamper after the lion into the forest, followed by the mage with the strange name Luffy.
"Orders, boss?" The raid leader's ever-inscrutable face was glistening with sweat, his black mantle torn in two places.
I wonder where he'd managed to tear it, Vagabond thought to himself before answering aloud.
"Start putting up sentries to work in shifts. It's red alert. Whoever's not on duty can rest—we've got six hours of licking our wounds and twiddling our thumbs. Donut!" finding the rogue with his eyes, he waved him over. "Come. Maybe you can explain what the hell just happened?"
I'm a fool! I am such a fool! Alyona scolded herself while tearing through the shrubbery. She should have insisted on heading straight to the Wild Wood! Max had warned them that he could turn, and there would be nobody who could help him! What were they going to do now? Track him, catch him and take him to the Wild Wood in a cage? He didn't recognize any of them anymore! What an idiot she was! She should have told him about her conversation with her brother long ago! But no, she thought they had all the time in the world! She wanted the thrill, the romance! Idiot!
She could hear someone running behind her. Luffy, most likely. Maybe Max would recognize him? After all, they had both been there for the encounter with those hunters. Seeing light filtering in through the trees ahead, Alyona ran out onto a meadow strewn with yellow flowers. And froze, stricken by what she saw.
Lying in the middle of the meadow was Max, his muzzle resting on his forepaws. Bending over him was a level 194 dark-haired female PKer. In her hand she held a curved silver dagger.
Hesitation gave way to resolve. How dare that bitch threaten her man?! Alyona wasn't the least bit scared by the rogue's level. Even a skilled level 200 assassin would need to sweat quite a bit to take down a healer in a duel, and if you took into account the damage said healer could dole out in return... And if anything went wrong, Luffy was right behind her.
"Get the hell away from him!!!" She shouted, taking a step forward and raising her staff, ready to strike at the rogue with Moonfire...
"Alyona! No!!! She's a friend!" the mage shouted from behind her as he emerged out of the woods.
He raised his hands soothingly, panting. Then, turning toward the black-haired woman, he said in a completely different tone.
"Hi, Tasha..."
"Hi, darling," sheathing her dagger, the rogue gave Alyona an appraising look. Then she chuckled and said with a hint of irony in her voice. "This is our brother's woman, I take it? A feisty one—I approve."
"We were just in a scuffle, and, well..." Luffy gestured woefully at the lion lying in the grass.
"I can see that," the woman sniffed. "Thankfully, this is still rectifiable." Rolling up her left sleeve, she demonstrated a deep cut on her arm. "I gave him my blood. He'll sleep for about an hour, and then turn back."
Sliding toward the mage, she peered into his eyes.
"Go on, sweetheart. Tell me what you've been up to without me..."
Chapter 10
He opened his eyes. Everything was a blur at first—or rather, a yellow, flowery blur. It took a few moments for his vision to normalize, whereupon he saw Alyona's alarmed face looking down at him.
"How are you feeling?" she asked softly, caressing his cheek.
"Fine," Max replied, his voice hoarse. He sat up and stared at his palms.
"What happened? Why am I level 156? I thought that I died..."
"You didn't die. You shifted into a cute little kitten, a gray one," the young woman sniffed. "Almost four feet in the shoulder. Donut will fill you in on the details," she nodded at the group walking over to them.
Following her eyes, Max's eyebrows began to arch upward.
"Tasha? What is she doing here?" he exhaled in surprise, pulling off his helm.
"You ask her that," there were notes of jealousy in Alyona's voice. "But if it weren't for her, you wouldn't have turned back. At least not until we dragged you all the way to the Wild Wood."
The young woman's voice suddenly softened. Running her hand through the warrior's tangled hair, she drew a sigh.
"Sweetheart, if you only knew how scared I was for you..."
"Sweetheart?" he repeated, looking askew at the woman.
"How silly you are," Alyona said gently. "Do you think I'm such a fool so as to not notice the way you've been looking at me these past few years? I'll have you know that women's peripheral vision is far more developed than men's."
"And?" Max lowered his head and shut his eyes.
"And what? It is clear that you, sir kni
ght, have decided that courting your friend's sister in the absence of said friend would somehow besmirch your honor."
"Um, yeah, I suppose," he said, looking up at her. "I thought that we'd get him out first, and then..."
"From what I hear, he's no damsel in need of rescuing," Alyona scoffed. "But I decided not to wait and have already asked him about us."
"You did what?!" Max stared at the woman in shock, having missed his mouth with the rolled-up cigarette he'd fished out a few seconds earlier.
"I told him that we were already together, so..."
"So what? What did he say?"
"Well, he did say to expect a beating when he gets out. But, aside from that, he didn't particularly mind," she giggled.
"And you! Why keep it yourself?" Finally catching the cigarette with his lips, the warrior lit up and pulled on it hungrily. "Why didn't you say anything to me?"
"I like it when you blush," Alyona flashed a playful grin. "First of all, I was busy pretending not to notice you looking. Second of all, what woman doesn't like being admired like that? And finally, don't I have a right to expect some flowers and candy to go along with a passionate profession of love? Where's the romance, huh?!"
"But I... I've nothing against that, it's just... Why come clean now?"
"Because I've nearly lost you, silly!" Leaning in, Alyona gave Max a tender kiss on the lips. Then she drew back, wiped away a tear, and wagged her finger at him. "This means nothing," she winked impishly. "Keep courting me as if nothing had happened."
"Are you sure about this, Alyona?" Bonbon grunted, having approached with a group of others. "Just imagine the size of the litter box! Expect a truckload of sand deliveries every other day!"