“What's that?” I yearned for the same passion he had.
“The universe is bigger than you ever imagined. You have just gotten a taste of what real strength looks like. Cornelius is amazing, but there are others that have gone further. They have found a reason to push themselves, not just to fight, but to train for decades and face harder and harder challenges to find out what their limit is. To surpass it if possible.”
It seemed familiar. “I think I understand. It has been the same for me trying to reach the highest levels of gaming. That just doesn’t seem very appealing when everyone’s getting hurt.”
“Being the best, or having people praise you are both enough to motivate some, but after getting hurt as you did you realize being the best gamer or even the best fighter wouldn’t heal your back. Perhaps being the best isn’t where you should look. Maybe becoming the best will help you achieve the real goal that you are passionate about. You are at a crossroad, Lucius. You must decide if it’s worth it.”
“If what is?”
“The way I see it, what you’re fighting for isn’t the question you should be asking. Ask yourself, is there anything worth getting hurt for?”
“Oh…”
“After you find the answer, it’s a question you will have to wake up and ask yourself every morning for the rest of your life.”
***
There was no sleeping after my conversation with Kline even as I lay there trying. His questions kept playing back and forth in my mind as if they were trying to strangle me in their grip.
I hadn't yet looked at my fan page. There was probably damage done after I had held Victoria back, but it could wait until later.
I switched with Peter and Victoria. It was time for Oliver and me to keep watch. Even though I saw no danger of falling asleep I stood and joined Oliver as he kept both eyes on the goblin camp.
***
Grub. We are talking about sausage in some kind of white gravy that they were passing off as breakfast soup. It was basically like eating all-you-could-eat meat gravy. I know what you’re thinking. That it was probably as disgusting as goblin paddies. But after an endless rollercoaster of exhaustion and recovery, just to do it all over again, it tasted like a miracle food.
The NPC merchants were taking care of us this morning after last night's attack. There were a few that had stayed outside the gate to try and help even if they weren’t fighters. It was brave considering we were already shut out and our small numbers compared to the enemy meant we could be overrun and killed. Also, if they died, they stayed dead. I had never seen anything like this in a game. The players and NPCs were acting as one big community. They weren’t giving out quests, but everyone was helping with what needed to be done. No questions asked.
“How are you doing?” Victoria asked, sitting on a large brown wool blanket next to mine.
From my own blanket, I responded, “Good.” The rest of the group was standing, their bowls in their hand while talking to a neighboring group. “I can't believe you betrayed my trust and told on me, though.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yup. You're definitely back to normal. Was Kline able to help?”
“He kept going on about swimming bunnies.”
“What?”
“I know, right?”
“Was that all?” she asked under her breath, looking down, stirring her gravy.
I swallowed the sudden knot in my throat. It wouldn't hurt me to be straight with her.
“I don’t know. He got all philosophical.”
She ignored my lighthearted jab. “I’m really sorry for what I said. I just want you to be okay, and I don’t know what to do.”
“There is nothing to forgive. You have done more to help than anyone else.”
Her eyes darted back and forth, fighting back tears.
I scooted closer to her, not sure what to do. “Victoria. I’m okay, really. You know how I mentioned about wanting to become a pro gamer?”
She looked up, nodding. “I do.”
“I don’t…”
“Attention all falconers!” Cornelius echoed through group chat. “Head to your stations. Repeat! Attention all falconers! Head to your stations.”
We had joined his personal group, becoming part of the leadership team and group chat was saved for only necessary announcements like this. With a limit of 99 people in a group, it was just like being a part of a temporary guild. The issue was you couldn’t be a part of two groups at once, so we had to get creative with the communication channels.
“It’s time,” Victoria said, breathing deeply to calm her emotions.
The sun was just starting to peek over the city wall behind us. It cast a wide net of light above the battlefield, not yet reaching the ground. The rest of our group joined us as we walked toward the tower. It was more of a platform of stacked up carts and crates, but the craftsmen had stabilized it by hammering it into submission. They had even added a wooden crown around the top of the structure that came up to Victoria’s waist to help protect against projectiles.
This was one of three platforms that had been built. The main one was in the middle of the player defense and the other two were on either flank, giving more than one point of view of the battle that was destined to take place. Though it reached ten feet in the air, Victoria scrambled around to the tower’s rear and scaled it with ease.
She was joined by another player, this one with an owl on his shoulder. The rest of us took our places among the groups charged with guarding the makeshift tower. She didn’t let her falcon become visible for fear that it might be targeted.
“In position,” she said to the command group.
Looking back, I saw Victoria standing on high, her arms clasped behind her as she stared out across the field, seeing only what those with enhanced vision could see. A large part of me felt relief that she wouldn’t be a part of the immediate conflict. Not having to worry about her was a weight off my shoulders. But that didn’t mean she was safe. From her position, if the goblins were smart enough, she could easily become a target. Taking out the enemy’s eyes was a very smart move.
“Victoria, report,” Cornelius commanded.
“There is a mix of goblin spearmen and those with one-handed weapons and shields. I’d say the spearmen make up 25% of the army. Another 5% are slingers. They are gathered at the rear of the army. There are approximately 2,200 goblins and one hobgoblin near the rear. This one looks different. He’s wearing fur armor.”
“Jeffery, confirm.”
“I second Victoria’s assessment.”
Suddenly, a horn sounded with the dawn. It blew repeatedly as the trees of the horizon were lit like torches with daylight. The light came from behind, climbing over the tops of the wooden posts that made up the city wall. The battlefield was a failing shadow under the sun’s arrival. Without delay, the goblins came. This time every one of the monsters with sword and spear came at once.
Chapter 21 – Unleashed
The bullets from a multitude of slings reached us first. They shone brightly as they peeked in the sky, then tumbled toward us from the heavens. By now most people had decent armor to survive a direct hit, but I cringed at the memory of the damage one of the bullets had done to my iron helm. The dull thud, splintering of wood, and gong off shields drummed about the player encampment.
Even though we didn’t start out on the front line, a charging goblin burrowed its way through the army of players. As one, Kline and I leveled all our weight behind our shields and pummeled the goblin to the earth. Without its momentum six or more spears found it lying helpless.
Kline struck my shield with his fist, pumping his eyebrows in adrenaline-fueled celebration. His motivation was contagious, but there was more. I couldn’t deny I was progressing. Seeing my stats increase over the last couple of days and knowing it was my own strength that rose with them was invigorating. Just days before I could hardly hold my spear for 15 minutes, but now, through the trials of the goblin threat, it had become a trusty
companion. It was intriguing, but it wasn’t enough. How many dozens, if not hundreds of players had already died in the fighting overnight?
The bellow of a massive hobgoblin seemed to rumble the very ground I stood upon. I saw him from where I stood behind the player line and the goblin army, heads above everything else. The fur armor looked like the pelt of a giant wolf of gray and white.
He had left the rear of the goblin army, leaving the slingers alone, and was strutting forward toward the middle of the player line. More players were about to die.
The familiar itch of my back and heavy breathing overtook me. I looked to my friends who stared forward toward the goblins they were about to face when it was our turn to take our place on the front line.
Commanding my menu open, it was time to check my followers. I flicked it to my fan page to see what the damage had been after I hadn’t run to help my friends. Curious, my followers had only gone down by four million. That wasn’t the whole story though. The detailed stats said more. After I hadn’t run to help over eight million people had unfollowed me in a mass exodus. There was a common theme to their comments, all summed up in one word: coward. The gain in supporters had come because of the drama between Victoria and me. They wanted to see me prove myself and earn her trust. They wanted to see us together.
Another volley of stone bullets rose up in the sky, gaining altitude as they looked for their victims. They obviously could have cared less if their own were hit by the stones just as we were.
Raising my shield as the stones came, I heard a woman’s scream, as if it had been right in my ear. Victoria!
Turning, I looked up to the platform behind me, not seeing her.
“Victoria!” Peter shouted so loud next to me I had to cringe.
“I’m okay. Jeffery has a broken arm. It’s shattered. He’ll be out for at least an hour,” Victoria replied.
“Keep me posted with his condition,” Cornelius said. “Grab someone to guard you with a good shield.”
I knew both Peter and Oliver likely had me in mind, but if they said anything I missed every word of it.
When Victoria finally stood, showing herself to be okay, I turned back to the front and watched the hobgoblin as it came.
The memory of the molten rock that had filled my veins, causing me the worst pain I had felt in my life, stirred the pit of my stomach to boiling. How many people would it break, maim and kill? What of the stone bullets, or the spears and blades that would shatter, pierce and separate skin and bone? Could all of their pain even be measured?
This wasn’t a game. Becoming a pro gamer had to take a back seat to something more primal, something more desperate.
“Kline.”
I felt his eyes on me.
“If I get hurt, you have permission to kill me.”
“Eh? What are you about to do?”
What was worth getting hurt for? I didn’t hesitate.
Stomping forward and squeezing between the two players in front of me, I waded through my fellow players until I stood right behind the front line. No one said anything to me. Was it the anger or insanity that radiated off me that stopped their mouths? All of my focus was on one thing.
The players before me fought side by side, dancing to and fro between defense and attack. The enemy line was just as thick as ours, but not as organized. I would not fail here.
Feigning twice before lunging, the player on my right had a pattern to his attacks. The player to his left remained in one place regardless of the action he was taking. If I could just time it right this opening would do.
He leaned forward, immediately popping back to his defensive stance. A second time he lunged with his shoulders only, causing the goblin in front of him to flinch. On the third go, he committed.
I shot out from the player line, using the gap and the defending goblin as my opening. With both hands bracing behind my shield, I ducked low and drove my legs into the dirt with all my might.
These goblins were not the light, easy to defeat variety, but the heavy footsoldiers. Even then my size and momentum drilled a hole through their ranks like a railgun through a feathered pillow. I didn’t dare stop running. The goblins would most definitely pursue if I gave them a chance. Turning toward the center of the field, I continued at a good pace and headed straight for the blue giant.
The tight formations of the goblins we faced worked to my advantage. There were no stragglers, so I had a straight shot at my target if I didn’t slow down.
Was protecting others worth suffering for?
A sniper shot whistled toward me. With the morning light overhead and shadow encompassing the field, it made the projectile stand out even more than in the dark alone. A black streak trailed it.
Slowing a single step was all that it took to evade the well-aimed bullet. Instead of picking me off it dug into the back of a goblin. No mere stone would dissuade me from my path. It gave the gamer in me an idea.
I wasn’t stopping or attacking, all I had to worry about was a daring slinger that thought he could hit me without hitting his own. With my shield between me and the snipers, it would take a rare shot indeed to even slow me.
As I neared the boisterous hobgoblin, I heard a familiar voice through group chat.
“Lucius!” Victoria screamed.
Did she have to use the game system to yell at me? I could hear her as if she was standing right next to me. Actually, everyone in the group, including Cornelius and the leadership team could hear her. Well, I had everyone’s attention.
“I’m okay. I don’t want anyone else to suffer,” I replied.
As she argued, I ignored the rest. She could be just as much of a pain as Destiny. Destiny… Somehow Victoria had started to take my AI’s place.
Coming within range, the hobgoblin glanced my way, but kept walking. He was no more than a stone’s throw from the goblin line. That was to my advantage. The slingers would have trouble interfering in our fight.
Armored or not, this monster was using the traditional tree-club the other hobgoblins had used. That was where the similarities stopped. Its armor was more like a thick blanket thrown over it with a hole cut out for its head than armor. Only the hobgoblin I had faced the first night was as large. Above its head was the title only a boss possessed.
Rrasche
Master Sergeant of the Western Goblin Army
Boss Monster!
As my back started to spasm, I stretched into a full out sprint, my shield and spear pumping with my arms.
Suffering. Pain. Stopping the cause of these travesties flooded me with purpose.
The beast turned his head fully, amused that I was seriously attacking him, and cranked back his club into a two-handed grip, slashing across the horizon as if to part the sky from the earth.
Enough.
I threw my feet out and slid on my backside. A few branches scraped against my shield, which was held tight above me to protect my face. Digging my heel into the earth, my momentum brought me to my feet. Instinct took over. I drove my spear up under the low hanging fur into the joint of the hobgoblin’s hip. The blade sunk in, burying its bronze blade fully.
I stood my ground, arm’s reach from the cause of my greatest fear. Repeating my mistake now and retreating blindly like last time would cost me. Even if I was willing to pay the price, it would have to earn it this time.
Sensing it turn back toward me, I ducked under the spear shaft lodged in its hip. Slipping past it, I dived and rolled to stay in its blind spot. Coming to a knee, I was directly behind it. Picking up its foot, it wasn’t sure if it had crushed me. It scrambled about wanting to pound me, but unable to find me.
I was still alive. Suppressing a manic chuckle, the idea that had come to me while evading the slingers was perfect—for a game. There was no guarantee it would work here. I got up and ran while banging my shield with my fist.
Glancing behind me, the boss monster caught sight of me. The limp in its left leg slowed it, but not by much.
With
my shield in front of me and a raging giant behind, I headed right for the hundred slingers that wanted my head. The snipers responded almost immediately.
I saw the first projectile coming. Even expecting it I was almost too late. The distance had halved since they had slung at me before. Diving with little grace, I landed on my chest knocking the air from my lungs. I heard rather than saw multiple thumps, followed by a gasping snort.
My shield was pitched over my head as I lay there. Turning I saw the hobgoblin tip back, his arms whirling to catch his balance. The ground shook at the impact of his fall.
Something resembling the mix of a growl and a snicker escaped my gritted teeth. I couldn’t believe it.
A clang vibrated through my shield as it deflected a stone.
This was my chance. Staying low, I nearly bear crawled toward the hobgoblin, my shield arm tucked behind my head to save my already damaged helm and back from any bullets. With a step to go, I rose up, unsheathing my sword, and hacked at the closest foot of the hobgoblin, severing multiple massive toes.
The beast flailed, turning to its side and almost kicking me in the head. I slashed again, but blindly this time as I took off running.
Even with my shield sitting over my back, a stone cratered in my shield, tossing me forward. Taking a direct hit from one of their snipers was insane. I jarred my side as I fell and busted my chin on my own shield.
-17 Damage
Adrenaline took over and I was on my feet running in a sporadic zigzag back the way I had come.
My breathing started to sag.
It was then that I noticed a large congregation of goblins were waiting for me. Only their fear of the hobgoblin had kept them back this long. Now, they were running at me from every direction. Immediately I changed my course and headed right for the biggest bunch of them. With any luck, the slingers would think twice about hitting their own. Not that it had stopped them before.
Codename: Freedom: Survive Week One Page 24