“That bear that you just saw was bit by a Sand Snake before I found it,” he said. “It defeated the thing immediately but it was clearly poisoned. That’s when I noticed the bear was eating this plant. I decided to get the herb and managed to pluck some from the bush beside the bear when it was distracted, but I got caught pretty easily when I tried to sneak back.”
I looked at the stalk in my hand, taking a whiff of the leaves, but getting no scent at all. “Did the bear eat the whole stalk?” I asked. “Or just the leaves?”
“Whole stalk,” Raffyr said.
I nodded. “Here goes nothing then.” I put the plant in my mouth, chewing up the stalk and leaves. A sharp bitter taste struck me, sharp enough to numb my taste buds.
I chowed through the nasty flavor and swallowed, gasping as I gulped the herb down. The effects were instant.
DING!
‘Poisoned’ status has been healed! Chances of being poisoned by a snake have gone down by 10%!
Nice, I dropped to the floor, a sigh on my lips, my limbs finally stretching out in relief now that there was no pain constricting them.
“Thank god,” Raffyr smiled. “That worked.”
I nodded. “I can’t believe that’s how you found the herb though,” I sighed. “By following a Volcanic Bear.”
“Well to be fair, I didn’t really follow it,” he said. “It was already eating there. I just happened to notice it.”
“Anyway.” I stood back up. “We need to head back now. The other two will be worried if we’re gone too long.”
“Yeah,” the old man nodded.
We headed back the way we’d come, with the sounds of insects and birds not as threatening to me this time around. I thought about Freya and Viola, wondering what they were doing in our absence.
“Do you think those two are okay?” I blurted out, and then froze, wondering if I’d asked a very bad question. Freya said these two had no clue she was the one they had known as Frey, so I had to be careful not to say anything that would give that fact away.
Raffyr looked at me, and then smiled. “You just finished healing and you’re already asking questions,” he said. “Viola and Frey…they will be fine.”
“Well, the thing is—” I froze, and my eyes widened. “You called her Frey.”
“Oh, did I?” he chuckled. “A force of old habit.”
“You know she’s Frey,” I whispered.
The old man nodded. “Do not tell the elf,” he said. “She has not said anything to us yet, so it would be best she does not know that we’re aware of her identity.”
“We?” I asked. “Viola knows as well?”
“Of course,” he said. “We would know that longsword anywhere.”
“Oh,” I said, remembering that the longsword was how I’d connected the two identities as well. That weapon was the only thing ‘Frey’ and Freya had in common, so to speak. She should probably keep it away then, I thought.
“Nonetheless,” he said. “I believe Freya will come out with the truth soon. In fact, it might have happened with Viola while we were away.”
“Maybe,” I said.
It took the two of us another five minutes before we emerged from the forest, and the mouth of the cave was in front of us once more.
“Hey guys,” I chuckled, as we emerged from behind the bushes. “Did you miss—” I froze, my eyes picking on the scene going on in front of me.
Freya and Viola lay collapsed on the cave floor, with a staff and a longsword knocked far from their reach. A man stood above them, a rapier in his arm, with the gray blade poised threateningly over their heads. Dark armor protected his body, shaded the color and texture of the dirty charcoal.
He turned to us, this man of darkness, and a disgusted expression molded onto his face. “The Phantom Lord and the Lumina Knights,” he muttered, his face distorting with rage. “What the bloody hell did you do to me?”
***
CHAPTER SIX
I put my arms in the air. “Hold on.”
“Why?” the Knight asked. “Why should I listen to you? Why should I listen to any of you?”
My mind went clockwork, trying to analyze the situation. This man was clearly someone from the Dark Alliance. His black armor, as well as his contempt for the Phantom Lord and the Lumina Knights, attested to that assertion. However, why, or how he’d come to this time was beyond me.
I used my Analyze skill on him and the info screen emerged into my mind.
Name
Oris
Health
8790
Level
401
Mana
4510
Race
Human Swordsman
Stamina
8370
“What do you want from us?” I asked the man, dropping my tone, and disarming my voice. The more he thought we meant no harm the better.
“Does that mean we DO mean harm?” Acnologia asked.
I don’t think so, I said.
“You’re asking me what I want?” Oris asked. “What do you want with me?”
“We have no purpose for you,” I said. “We have no reason to hold you here. You are free to go, provided you do not do anything hasty.”
He chuckled. “Some arrogance you have, Eternal,” he said. “First you bring me to the past, and now you threaten me to leave. Pick a side, will you?”
I blinked. “I brought you here?”
Oris grit his teeth, and his blade moved closer to Freya and Viola, the sharp edge scratching the skin on their throats. “Don’t act like you’re innocent, Phantom Lord!” he yelled. “I know what you did. I know what the Lumina Knights did. You’re the one that needs to explain things. What the hell am I doing in this time?!”
My eyes widened. He’s been brought to the past by someone else as well, I realized. But why?
“It doesn’t make sense,” Nyx said. “I thought the light was the reason that we were brought here. How on earth did that Knight get here as well?”
“We could have been wrong in assuming the light was what brought us here,” Acnologia said.
“Hmph,” the Knight scoffed. “Can’t even justify yourself huh?”
“Let the two of them go,” I said.
“Why? So you can come and pummel me?” he asked. “No, I will not.”
A monstrous growl sounded from behind us, and all eyes turned to the forest.
All eyes but mine.
I shot into the cave, and pulled Dawnbreaker out of its sheath in a flash, the hilt flush in my palms. Before anyone even saw what was going on, I’d knocked the knight’s blade far from his hand, and the metal weapon clanged on the ground a few yards away.
I held up my sword, with the tip dangerously close to his neck. “Stand. Down,” I said.
Oris however, did not look at my blade. His gaze was directed to something behind me. I heard a loud thump, and in an instant the young knight’s eyes widened. I turned around.
And then I froze.
Oh dear, I thought.
The head of a massive bear emerged from the dense collection of trees, with flames of blood-red burning around its neck. I could tell just from a glance that this thing was at least three times as tall as I was, and that was about twice the size of the bear we’d face a few moments ago.
Raffyr backed up, and stepped next to me. Oris stood still, and I could sense no attacking intent from him any longer.
“Raffyr, keep an eye on the Knight,” I said and walked ahead, using my Analyze skill on the bear as I stepped toward it.
Race
Volcanic Forest Bear
Health
14730
Level
693
Mana
10410
Element
Fire/Earth
Stamina
13630
Damn, it’s strong, I thought.
“That’s less than a hundred levels below where you are right now,” Nyx said.
“The level see
ms plausible however, given this point in the past had some of the strongest creatures ever,” Acnologia said.
I take it this beast was one of the ones that went extinct? I asked.
“Indeed,” the dragon said. “It was one of many that will disappear from this world in a few more years.”
I twirled Dawnbreaker and tightened my grip on the weapon’s hilt. “Let’s do this,” I hunched down and shot forward, sword ready to strike. The bear pushed out, and its massive stature cracked the trees and bark as it met me within the forest, with its claws ready to tear into my flesh.
I, however, was too fast for it, and quickly jumped up to its neck, with my sword primed to strike into its body.
All of a sudden, the beast roared, rearing up onto its hind legs. The flames on its limbs grew, and in an instant, a wall of fire surged out of it, blasting into me. I flew back, and flipped in the air once before safely landing onto the ground, sliding myself to a stop.
Okay, that was unexpected, I thought.
“Tell me about it,” Nyx said. “Did not know these beasts were capable of using spell-like attacks.”
I grit my teeth. This just makes things harder.
The bear kept its position, eyeing me from afar. It let out a low growl, and slowly shifted its body to face me. Its flames burned with a greater vigor now, and rose a few inches higher than before.
I hunched down, coiling my muscles, and then dashed out.
But I didn’t head straight for the bear.
I surged to a tree far to my left and the beast followed me with its eyes, blinking profusely. It probably had no idea what I was doing.
I grinned. Just the way I wanted it.
Suddenly, I planted my foot onto the nearest tree and pushed off it, surging straight to my right. The bark I launched from snapped, and the tall tree fell away from me, cracking from the rebound force. I shot to the Bear in less than a second, and before the beast had even realized what had happened, Dawnbreaker had cut into its shoulder.
I pulled out the blade, dropping fast to the ground and spinning around. The sword cut into its legs as well, and the great bear roared in pain. I jumped back, and the beast thudded into the ground.
I looked at its health bar, and saw that about half of its health had been taken down. My attacks had also rendered its hind legs immobile. I had quite the advantage here. I walked up to the fallen beast, twirling my sword.
“It was a worthy battle, Volcanic Forest Bear,” I said as I raised Dawnbreaker above my head, ready to strike down.
A massive roar sounded from my left, and a blast of fire shot at me. I jumped back, falling onto the ground, and my eyes watched a beam of yellow and red flames sink into the tree besides me. The trunk instantly burnt down, and turned to cider in a flash.
I looked to the direction the attack had come from. My vision was clouded by the smoke from the attack, but behind the dark gray screen I could see the silhouette of a large creature.
Another bear, I muttered.
Suddenly a series of roars sounded through the forest, all of them occurring simultaneously, and from multiple directions.
“Uh oh,” Nyx said.
“That does not sound good, Diablo,” Acnologia said. “I recommend you retreat back to the cave. Immediately.”
Got it. I backed up, heading to the mouth of the structure.
“Zoran, what’s going on?” Freya walked up to me, worry on her face. “We heard that sound.”
“Arm yourself,” I said. “This is not going to be pretty.”
She nodded, and slid out her longsword. However, she didn’t stop there. She closed her eyes, and lifted her weapon, pointing it at the skies.
Her form immediately flickered. Winds swirled, and sparks showered the air, as though lightning were ready to descend the earth. The elven assassin suddenly changed appearance, with her hair turning blood red and her eyes changing to a deadlier version of the same shade. Runes of black formed over her body, the mysterious shapes decorating her skin.
The longsword in her hand changed form as well, glowing white and expanding until it was a massive broadsword of jet black, its width the length of my forearm and its height much taller than its wielder herself.
She’s switched to her Demon-elf form, I grinned.
“That transformation gets more and more impressive every time I see it,” Nyx said.
I glanced behind Freya, at Raffyr and Viola. The two of them stood next to Oris, who was still on the floor. Their eyes looked to Freya in wonder, in astonishment, in a little bit of fear.
This is going to take some more explaining to do, I sighed.
“Let’s get this done with,” Freya walked up to me. “This Demon-Elf side of mine won’t stay here for too long.”
“How strong are you anyway?”
“Level 632,” she said.
“Damn, you grew quite a bit,” I said.
“Well, it’s been a while.”
I heard a chain of roars echo in front of me once again, and this time shapes and colors accompanied them as well. A horde of Volcanic bears stepped out of the forest, each one as large as the one I’d just faced. They all bared their teeth at me, and their flames burned red and high.
“Zoran?” Acnologia said. “Looking at these beasts just made me realize that the Volcanic Forest Bear that we first attacked might have been a young child.”
My shoulder’s tightened. Oh no.
“That makes sense,” Nyx said. “Its size was a lot smaller than these beasts here.”
Great, I muttered. We just attacked a child and now its entire horde is coming after us.
“Hey, you’re the one that attacked it, so you don’t really get to complain.
“Actually, you didn’t just attack it. You killed it,” Acnologia said. “I believe we saw its health bar go down to zero.”
“Oh yeah,” Nyx said. “Wow, you really screwed up, Diablo.”
Not helping, I muttered and turned my concentration to the beast ahead of me.
“Do you think we can take them down?” Freya asked.
“Well, it’s the first big fight we’re going to take on in this world,” I said. “If we can’t take these things out, I doubt we’re going to survive.”
“A simple yes or no was what I was searching for,” she chuckled. “But that works just as well.” She held her sword out in front of her.
We immediately charged forward, the two of us against the group of bears coming at us. I could tell there were about eight of them, and one quick Analyze skill later, I saw they were all about the same level as the bear I’d just fought. Between Lv. 670 and Lv. 690.
This is not going to be easy.
I focused on my inner energy as I charged, and channeled it into my sword. The purple jewel on Dawnbreaker started glowing, and a rich hue of the same shade enveloped the blade. I felt the sword vibrate as I moved forward, and my eyes picked out my first target.
The beasts were charging at us in a side-by-side line, which meant the easiest way to break their formation was to attack one of the ones in the center.
“Take the one from the extreme right,” I said and Freya nodded, changing her direction, and heading right for the bear.
I shot straight through, ready to slash my sword at the bear in the center left. The beast reared up to me, the flames around it increasing in size, turning more intense by the second. I sunk my sword into its side, managing to get the blade to cut into its flesh.
I quickly pulled back and ran around it, readying myself for the next strike. Their hide is really tough, I muttered and swung hard once again. My sword didn’t go too deep, but I’d caused enough damage onto the beast to warrant doing it again.
All of a sudden, I saw a shadow behind me and the next thing I knew I was flying through the air. I smacked into the nearest tree, and crushed through a few branches before landing hard onto the floor. I rubbed my sides as I picked myself up once again. I’d been ambushed from behind by two other bears.
I glanced to my side and saw Freya a few yards ahead, with three bears pushing her up against a tree. Dammit, I cursed.
I heard a roar and one of the bears charged me.
“They’ve got flames,” Nyx said. “Maybe that’s what you should be attacking.”
My eyes widened. In an instant, I knew exactly what the spirit was talking about. I concentrated my energy into my hands and I thrust my palm forward.
“Tritus Oceanus!” I yelled.
A massive blast of water summoned from my palm and smacked into the bears, sending them pummeling through multiple trees before the attack finally cut off. I breathed heavy as I stood up, a little drained from casting the spell. The bears lay on the ground, immobile, the fire no longer burning on their bodies.
I turned to Freya, and my eyes widened. “GET AWAY!” I yelled and the elf immediately jumped, surging high into the air, giving me a clear shot at the bears behind her.
“Tritus Oceanus!” I yelled, casting the spell with greater confidence, and the blast of water surged out a second time. The bears went flying into the air once again, and collapsed to the floor, with their flames now doused.
“That worked better than I’d expected,” I mumbled.
Or so I thought.
A massive growl tore through the skies. And then another. And another.
I turned around, and fear struck my heart.
And then more fear added to it.
The bears I’d attacked first were now all up, only they looked different now. Flames of blood-red burned around their neck, wrist and ankles, the shade deadlier than before. Their eyes had shifted to a darker shade of the same color, and they glared at me, exhaling hot air as they stood up.
I could feel the rage they were directing toward me, and unease spread through my mind. Can I deal with this?
The bears charged at me, only now their speed was much faster than before. I shot away, rebounding off a tree and surging back at them once more.
Better go back to the classics. I put my hand in the air. “Uher!”
A dark phoenix immediately rose from the ground, smashing into the bears and throwing them high into the air. The beasts thudded into the treetops and fell to the ground.
The Eternal: Transcend - A LitRPG Saga (World of Ga'em Book 3) Page 6