Hyde gave the limb a few more good cuts until he realised something, something that changed the situation further… if I keep cutting the leg in the same place, I’m sure to make it through—it’s just like cutting a… tree down. The mental image of patiently cutting down a tree from its trunk like a lumberjack just made the entire situation worse.
“Mari! What the hell am I doing?” he screamed, turning to her.
“Cutting down a tree,” she smiled.
“Are you kidding me?” he grumbled, but soon trailed off as he noticed Nitro chanting a spell, that seemed familiar.
“Oh, great frost crush my foes, they shall perish under the great fist of the heavens, Comet!” She screamed, and just as she did snow-flakes formed, heralding the coming of a massive missile. All the players quickly dispersed at the sight of the ominous omen. What followed was a gigantic hail stone, several metres long and wide.
Upon its inception, among the silvery flakes and darkened sky, the ice spike fell. Nitro gazed ruthlessly at the fruit of her labours as all the players gave way to the great AOE spell. Soon enough, a comet crashed into the huge boar that now seemed small in comparison. The moment it was forced to yield before the powerful weight, Nitro too collapsed without warning.
“This is our chance!” One of the sword wielders said, noticing that the boar wasn’t getting up. It was finally their chance to strike something other than its legs that were thick like trucks.
Hyde followed the flood of melee fighters, now swarming the beast’s head. With his sword in hand, he inflicted mortal wounds that were too deep to heal. The beast soon exploded into a tsunami of crystal dust, creating enough grains to even shut out the sun.
The crowd of players stopped at the confirmed kill and then raised their weapons and cheered. The giant black boar was dead. Interestingly enough, it hadn’t done to much to prevent it’s murder, but some of the other players shrugged and simply said, “That’s all you can expect from a Gamon.”
The army of players nodded to one another in respect and appreciation of their combined struggle. Shortly after they disappeared, finding their own party members and guilds. Hyde did the same.
When he made it back to Mari and Nitro, he found them both on the ground, one like a lifeless fish and the other keeping it company.
“We won?” Nitro asked.
“Yeah,” Mari said, glancing at the dust slowly disappearing with the wind.
“Woo, go team!” Nitro chanted, unable to move a muscle.
“Hey, why are you lying on the ground like that?” Hyde said, curious enough to ask.
“Exhaustion,” Mari replied.
“Exhaustion?” he repeated. “But when we were having that obstacle race, she had no problems casting spell after spell?”
“We were on training grounds,” Zora explained, walking up to them with Abe, Remi and Mila. “The cool down and Exhaustion mechanics were tweaked for our little activity.”
“Oh—” he trailed off. So she can cast one or two good spells before this, he thought, looking at the barely conscious demonic crimson fish, that was forced to land.
“C’mon, I’ll carry you,” he smiled, helping the powerless girl to her feet.
“Really?” Nitro said shocked.
“Yeah, why?” he carried her in a piggy back position.
“They always leave me when I’m Exhausted!” she revealed.
“What? Are you serious?”
“Yeah, sometimes they’ve left me in really dark places and it’s been so scary…”
“That’s so cruel!” he looked at his—companions— baffled by their actions.
“It’s Lolo’s own fault,” Remi shrugged.
“What!” Nitro retorted.
“How many times have we warned you to not just cast massive spells?” Zora eyed her.
“A few…” Nitro whispered, which was an obvious lie. After that comment, the conversation slowly died. With everyone on their feet and Nitro on Hyde’s back, he asked, “So what’s happening now?”
“Back to the expedition,” Abe smiled.
“Oh, okay,” he replied, realising that it was that simple.
Just like the nameless guild the rest of the players participating in the dynamic event left the area to go do other things. The party put a good amount of distance between themselves and the event area before Hyde asked, “What was the point of all that before?”
“What do you mean?” Zora asked.
“I mean, was there any reason to kill that giant boar?” he wondered. “I’m pretty sure it didn’t drop any loot or anything like that.”
“Check your tablet,” Remi said.
Without saying another word, Hyde did as he was instructed to. What he found was a Congratulations message across the screen. He clicked it away and found a few highlighted items as well as additions to his stockpile of cash.
“Oh so we do get loot, it’s just delivered directly to the tablet, right?” he said.
“That’s exactly right—” Abe trailed off when Zora began to speak.
“Hey, I think it’s going to rain,” she said, glancing up at the dark clouds. A few moments later the first few drops came falling. “We’ll take shelter in that cave,” she ordered.
They left the monotonous fields and walked to the nearby cave opening in the base of a small rocky mountain. They prepared a small fire and sat around it.
“Thank you, Hyde,” Nitro whispered as he lay her down.
“No worries, Lolo,” he smiled.
“What! I’m going to—” she trailed off, knowing that there was nothing she could do with her dead-fish-like body.
“Sorry, Nitro,” he gave a polite nod.
Before she could speak, Remi whispered, “Lolo.”
“Dammit all! Just you wait!” Nitro screamed. Somehow, her threats didn’t seem all that worrying. Maybe it was because of how small she looked laying down, unable to lift an arm or leg. She seemed so defenceless.
Soon the rain outside intensified from a few subtle drops to an unmistakable monsoon.
“Wow, it’s really coming down,” Mila said, watching the downpour. “Just moments ago we were fighting a Gamon in broad daylight. I wonder if the others are also hiding in a cave from the rain.”
“Probably, game or not. It sucks to be drenched and shivering your way into a cold,” Zora said.
“Still it was amazing how many players there were and so many people working together to fight one beast,” Hyde smiled. “Oh by the way, where did you guys run off to—I didn’t see you guys at all during the chaos.”
“Oh, we were on the Gamon’s back,” Mila grinned.
“On its back?” he perked up.
“There’s a critical spot there that helps you kill it faster,” Remi explained.
“Wait so me chopping at its legs like a lumberjack was useless?” Hyde said.
“Sort of,” Abe giggled.
“What!” he turned to Mari, who had already turned away from him pre-emptively. “How did you guys even get up there?”
“Jumped,” Remi nodded.
“Using Weightless,” Mila added.
“Oh…” Hyde whispered. “I should have known.”
“You’ll get used to it eventually,” Abe smirked.
“I hope so,” Hyde smiled. “Anyway, are dynamic events random?”
“Random?” Zora repeated. “There are theories on the subject, some say that they’re completely random, others think that they appear to entice a reaction in passing guilds and parties.”
“Oh, really, I see,” Hyde nodded, understanding the ideas, however something bothered him. “I feel like I’m forgetting something important...” he trailed off. “Wait! We can get colds?” he perked up.
Before the question could be answered, a loud smash rang against the walls of the cave. Far too close to be ignored. The members of the nameless guild jumped up, all but Nitro, obviously. The wall behind them, further into the cave, was breached. The rocks crumbled and crashed, giving wa
y to a cloud of dust.
As it cleared, a huge shadowy figure stood behind the airborne grains. It had pointed ears and a mean face with great upward-facing tusks. With a brutish expression, massive claws and a muscular stature that resembled a bodybuilder, it eyed the cautious party.
Their tablets rang, but none reached down to check the message. Every one of them was sure… that another dynamic event had found them.
CHAPTER 16
“Is that a—” Hyde trailed off in disbelief.
“Cave troll!” Zora raised her brows in shock, her eyes still hoping they were wrong. “We need to leave!”
Fortunately for them, the beast hadn’t decided to attack… yet. In that lulling moment, they quickly accounted for everyone and confirmed their tablets in their possession. Hyde helped Nitro up, who had now regained most of her strength.
The ground shook with the slow unwieldy steps of the cave troll. The walls reverberated the loud thumps as the gravel shifted.
The beast trampled over their fireplace as though it was just a pile of splinters and tiny embers.
“Mari!” Zora yelled, backing away with the other members of her party into the downpour outside. The Sentinel quickly summoned her tome. The rain drenched the backward moving party in an instant, making their hair heavy and re-colouring it with darker shades, while their metallic armor glistened with the droplets splashing against them.
“Retreat!” Mari screamed at the top of her lungs. The voice that projected from her lips wasn’t like the normal monotonous one Hyde was familiar with. This one was stronger and infused with the power of a Skill.
The group was quickly enveloped by an unmistakable light that clung to their thighs and shins. Weightless. Their armor and clothes seemed nonexistent and their muscles moved effortlessly. The backward walk had become far easier without the strains of fear chilling their bones.
Another Boon was applied at the same time, this one, however, formed a glowing outline of a kite shield. Barrier, allowing them at least one safe encounter with the beast.
A creature of this level was bound to even overwhelm a platoon of players, much less an army.
“Run!” Zora’s voice echoed and the party heeded her words, racing with an almost superhuman speed. Without glancing back, the group knew the cave troll had decided to pursue them as the sound of thumping and the shaking ground steadily followed them.
No one could speak, but then again, no one needed to. Even if the leader hadn’t sounded a particular place to retreat to, the destination was obvious… Get as far away from that thing as possible. The general direction they were heading in, under the tears of the dark clouds and across the green field, was towards a fairly close forest.
The soaked ground splashed against their dashing boots. The general thought that circled in their minds was… Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. However, one member of the guild stayed lucid, Zora. She opened her mouth and screamed, “Abe!”
Without any further instruction, the Sentinel chanted a phrase, giving them all the blessing of Resolve, the Boon to remain steadfast. Their equipment glowed with the new effect and the droplets splashing against them glimmered with the light.
They arrived at the mouth of the forest, quickly passing the first few trees. However, what they found hiding among the trunks wasn’t exactly in their favour.
Large, mostly bald, humanoid creatures with horns and ragged faces stood lining the interior of the forest. Ogres. They glanced at the brutish creatures for a bit and then gritted their teeth.
Hyde, on the other hand, still not very familiar with the beasts, gave them a little too much of his attention, almost forgetting that they were running away from something big and scary. He looked at them in awe, studying their features, until they began shooting arrows at them.
This time, before Zora could yell, Mari summoned her tome, quickly casting the spell Shield of Absorption, easily nullifying the arrows flying in their direction. Now under the mobile dome, they stayed close, clustered together as they passed tree after tree, forcing the ogres who really wanted some player kills to work for their money.
However, while everything seemed nice and peaceful inside the turquoise dome of translucent light, something changed on the outside, something had disappeared.
The loud thumps and earth shattering dash at their rear was gone. Are we safe? Hyde thought optimistically, but he was sadly mistaken as he looked over his shoulder, only to find the huge cave troll now airbourne with a clear trajectory.
“Zora!” Hyde screamed, but it was too late. She was only given enough time to turn before it slammed into the ground just behind them. The ground cracked slightly and the shockwave sent them flying.
After a wet, marshy crash, they got back on their feet. But one was Crippled. The one suffering from the greatest injury among them was Nitro. At this point her legs could only muster a crawl in order to escape the monstrous creature at their rear.
“Is everyone alright?” Zora asked, counting the amount of heads around her.
“No wait…” Hyde noticed one was missing. He glanced back, over his shoulder, only to see the youngest of their pack desperately trying to get away from the mighty claws about to cut her down.
“Nitro!” While under the effects of Weightless, Hyde moved at a breakneck speed with his silvery blade manifesting in his hands as he escaped the protective bubble and arrived in the nick of time between Nitro and the giant cave troll.
He swung the steel sword, ready to Parry the attack, but something was different about this one. He didn’t know it then, but the result was blatantly obvious… it was unblockable. The strike came from the left, and his iron intercepted it, but the sheer force of the attack broke through his stance, carrying him off the ground, before being launched. He flew like a smacked fly or a crash-test ragdoll across the forest, past the towering trees in the opposite direction of his party.
“Hyde!” they screamed as they watched the wet, armored boy disappear among the leaves and trunks.
Mari quickly cured Nitro’s Condition, and now in tip-top form, they ran in the opposite direction of Hyde. It was a decision that no one liked, but they had no choice with such a beast on their tail in a forest full of ogres.
With their teeth gritted, the party made their way. The protective bubble expired, but Abe produced an identical sphere as they ran.
We’ll come back for you.
Hyde landed with a loud crash as he struck dry soil, throwing dirt and dust up. After coming to a rough stop, he struggled to his feet, quickly noticing the absence of the downpour. How far did I fly? He glanced up at his half-full life bar, noting his health, and then at the peripheral trees of the forest a short distance away. But after getting a good look around, he deduced that he’d arrived at the forest’s heart.
Everywhere around him the trees were glistening with the showers, splashing on leaves, dripping from branches and running down trunks. This place was different, special somehow. The rain wouldn’t come here. Even though he knew that a good fifty steps would bring him to a group of angry ogres, this place seemed peaceful.
After glancing at the untouched blades of grass around him, he noticed a large, slightly damaged, stone gate with deep engravings running across it. It didn’t seem all that amazing, but something about it was mysterious. Maybe there was something in the air that pulled him to it. After taking a couple of steps towards the structure, the carvings began to glow. He noticed the carvings on the steps leading downwards just beyond the stone gate starting to shine as well. Further down was a portal that resembled the one leading into Houses of Challenge. However, this one was different, even though he wasn’t too familiar with portals in general, he could tell that there was something very different about this one. He looked down at his tablet and soon it all became clear.
The sound notifying that a message had come in, rang from the tablets hanging from the members of the party currently being pursued by a huge cave troll. Although, the preoccupation of trying to get away
dominated everyone’s actions, Mari reached for her device.
“Really, you have time for that?” Zora smirked.
“It’s from Hyde,” Mari replied, looking down at the screen. The guild chat was up and Hyde’s name appeared with a message next to it.
Maybe it was the change in her expression that made Zora ask, or maybe she was just worried. “What did he write?”
“He found it.”
“Found what?”
“The House of Sages.”
CHAPTER 17
“Really? He found it?” Zora said in disbelief, still leading the pack away from the hulking cave troll. She quickly grabbed hold of her own tablet, navigating to the map screen. On it she saw a series of light blue dots around the icon indicating herself. The blue markers signified the other party members and then there was one far off in the distance, representing the member of the party that had been sent flying across the forest. Hyde.
She made note of his location and then glanced up, looking at the HUD where the duration of Boons ticked away. Weightless was about to expire. She could tell that they only had a good couple of seconds before the superhuman speed was cut short and they returned to the familiar speed of mere pedestrians.
“Group up!” she yelled, ordering the party together into a cluster. “Remi!” she cried.
It only took a second for them to come together and for Remi to activate the appropriate Skill. Shadow Refuge. The moment the Skill was cast the party stopped abruptly. As did the pursuing cave troll. It looked about in the direction the party was headed, but found nothing. It was like they’d vanished.
Or more precisely they were under the effects of Stealth, the pseudo-Boon that hid their presence from others. Now with the cave troll sniffing for their scents, they took a breath, taking their first break since starting their seemingly endless dash.
“I’ve got my money on us never escaping the troll,” Abe grinned.
Dullahans and Tablets Page 14