Kel’Van then turned to Voresh. “I’m taking the first watch, then you, then Fer’shad and Belar. If this orc can’t follow orders, he can go find the camp on his own.” Then the captain picked his sword and went to the edge of the rock to stand guard, not even waiting for either Voresh or Fer’shad’s response.
If Kel’Van had a cigarette, he would’ve had lit it now while he watched the insects dance among the trees. He didn’t understand why his anger got the better of him during his exchange with Fer’shad, but he understood it was warranted. Thinking about it brought back memories of Staff Seargeant Eckhert and his many talks about the responsibility of a soldier. With a smile playing on his face, he quietly reminisced on his time as an E-2 in the military and let one of that man’s earliest lessons wash over him.
“In order to protect the rights of every free citizen in this country, we in the military must give ours up.”
Damn if that wasn’t right. The military is not a democratic or progressive organization. It is a dictatorship predicated on the base understanding of following orders. Orders that need to be done. If not, then you have situations like what happened to his NCO and Fer’shad and lives get lost. As much as he didn’t want to wrangle Fer’shad in front of everybody, the orc needed to understand the importance of discipline and that his actions on a team has consequences. If hurting his feelings now saved their lives later, then it was time well spent.
Kel’Van meandered on his past life as a soldier, and then the thought of the boy came unbeckoned into his mind. He scowled as if he bit into something sour and vile. Avarice Online had provided a focus for putting the memory toward the back of his mind, and most times it had worked. But the times when he would contemplate too hard or question an action too deeply, the eyes of that boy would return, and Kel’Van would know emptiness and dread.
“Sergeant, help me…”
“Captain…Captain, wake up.”
Kel’Van sat up in his on the makeshift bed slowly. He began wiping the cold from his eyes when he spied Voresh crouching next to him. It was clear by the way he kept switching from eyeing him and watching beyond the cliff of their camp that something was wrong.
“What is it?”
“Captain, I think we might have a problem. Come see,” Voresh answered in a hush tone.
Voresh and Kel’Van stealthily but quickly roused the others. Crouched and weapons bared, they went towards the edge of their little camp. There, perched atop of the boulder they were able to see most of the forest below them quite clearly.
Voresh leaned almost over the edge, pointing at marks in the dirt. “See these little marks here?” Kel’Van peered over, and his forehead crinkled. There were five prints and a matching set next to it.
“Somebody had climbed up here and got a look at our camp,” whispered Kel’Van.
“And it just happened captain. I saw some shifting over there in the bushes. Then I saw the bush slowly open on its own. As I kept watching, I saw the footprints appear as the bush closed in on it itself.”
“A rogue,” whispered Kel’Van
“What’s a rogue?” asked Belar.
“It’s a class Terrans use for stealth. I’ll explain more later, but if Voresh is correct about when these tracks were made, then we need to move now,” explained the captain. “Voresh, can you follow these tracks?”
Voresh nodded his answer, then he hopped from atop the boulder and began retracing the rogue's trail. The group allowed him with his usual 20-feet head start, then they slowly followed Voresh as he stalked his prey.
Following the trail of whoever was spying on them was more arduous than expected. They had to go fast enough to catch up with the enemy while slow enough that the person wouldn’t know they were being followed. Not to mention, they couldn’t see who they were following. Kel’Van knew there was a cool down effect to stealth abilities such as these. It mostly depended upon the person’s level and how long they could maintain the invisible effect before they came out of it. He was hoping Voresh could spot him when the person came out stealth mode. They had already traveled through dense leaves and insects when they came upon a section of ground that was much more heavily layered with red and green grass. Though the trees overhead covered much of the landscape, Voresh was still able to see the imprints better on this type of land. He pointed in the direct area the tracks were and started slowly toward it. The tracker had barely started moving when the person popped out of stealth.
Kel’Van quietly crept up to Voresh’s rear and tapped his shoulder. Voresh acknowledged him with a nod in the direction of their prey.
“It is rather small, no?”
Kel’Van had to agree. The person was wrapped in colors of black and grey. Two long knives glinted from the hips wrapped tightly in leather. His face was hidden from view by a black and grey hood. That and he was facing away from them, tip-toeing his way through the tall grass.
“He’s in range for a heat wave attack. Soon as you see him on fire, everybody rush him,” Kel’Van ordered.
R.J or (Myboyblue88) was rather enjoying his time in the Gladys Mountains. People (after god knows how long) were finally able to figure out a way to by-pass G.A.I.A. and get inside of it. Last time that happened…. well, nobody likes to talk about the first time somebody discovered this place. None the less, the creatures so far that he has seen were amazing. That didn’t compare to what he saw atop the set of boulders near the bottom of that hill. He had spotted something dark green, walking back and forth on two legs.
He cloaked himself and then proceeded to investigate the boulder. He climbed a nearby tree with his knives and then landed near the top. All types of ideas were flowing through his head about what he had just seen. Was it a patrol protecting a dungeon? Was it protecting a world boss? He didn’t know or care. But before he went bragging to his work buddies, he wanted to search further for a more detailed explanation. As he landed, he had one more boulder to clear. He grabbed the edges of the last rock and pulled himself up enough to get a peek. What he saw scared him shitless…
“Holy shit, holy shit, HOLY SHIT!” was all R.J. could scream in his head. He had almost literally fallen off the boulder housing of…whatever those things were. All he saw was the levels and that two of them were not sleeping. Running through the dense foliage, he stopped. Looking around, he couldn’t remember where exactly his camp was at.
“Christ on a crutch!”
He came out of stealth so he could find his place on the map. He bent down into the grass to lower his visibility, then turned on his D.S. The world map came into view and the multiple dots indicating his party’s location was close. A sense of momentary release came over him as he noted they were close by. The ease was proven to be short-lived.
“Well damn, they’re only a few clicks away from me. I actually ran past them.” The rogue smiled at his own stupidity and fear. He started to walk in the direction of the campsite when he felt the air around him grow heavy and hot.
“Something is burning,” he said quietly.
Then a blaze erupted around him in a 10meter radius, bathing R.J. in flames and engulfing his world in pain, but years of playing had honed his reflexes. He automatedly went into a dive roll several meters out of the blaze and onto his feet in a crouching stance with both his knives in his hands. Fire was cascading on his clothes, and he had a burning status effect tagged on his D.S. The surprise attack took off 8% of HP, which was a lot considering it came with a D.O.T. (Damage over time).
“Okay bitches, let’s do it!” screamed R.J.
“Motherfucker,” was all he got out as he stared at a hulking green behemoth running at him with the size of a sword almost two times his height. Behind him were two others with a third bigger than all of them. His feet began running on their own accord before he even picked a direction. He mentally corrected his course towards the encampment. Leaves and blades of tall grass whipped across his face and hands as he barreled his way through the jungle. He prayed to every god, both Chine
se and Western, that he got to his party in time.
“How far you get on your report Kandice?” asked Gerald.
The group was sitting in a quasi-circle, jotting down their impressions of the mission in Gladys Mountains. So far as they were concerned, their workday was already over, and they were trying to make it easier on themselves by doing their mandatory reports now, instead of waiting to log out. No use wasting an hour or so of their own time before they could go home.
“I’m halfway done. Just down to the number-crunching now,” she reported.
“Same here,” cried Alex.
He was laying his back up against the wall, sitting down with a datapad on his lap. He looked up overhead at the two moons in the sky. The two spheres above looked as if someone drew a picture of them and planted them there.
“The two moons up there juxtaposing each other like that is beautiful.”
“What?” asked Gerald.
“The two moons up there; man they are beautiful, is what I’m saying is all,” remarked Alex. “I wonder what their names are?”
“Auros is the name of the closes one to us, and Degan is the one that is farther back with the hole in the middle,” answered Kandice.
“Wow, kick-ass names,” noted Alex with respect. “Did you guys come up with that?”
Gerald looked across to Kandice, his eyes telling her everything she needed to say about the subject. “No, an earlier person working on the original project came up with it,” she smiled, hoping the young boy would leave it at that.
“Hmm., it’s a good name. It’s a shame whoever made up the names weren’t the first people to get into this place. I think it would’ve wowed them.”
Kandice didn’t even bother to answer the boy or look up from her datapad to know what Gerald was thinking. They were not the first ones to enter this place. That honor belonged to a guy who died in here all alone, and the rest of us was paid blood money to keep it that way. A guilt that had weighed upon her heart every day hence.
“You sound as if you’re a fan of R.J. Alex,” laughed Ara. She was standing with a grin on her face, looking at her D.S. inbox mail.
“No, I’m not a fanboy, but R.J. he’s got the right idea. I mean, come on; you don’t think being the first people to be here isn’t exciting?!”
Kandice scrunched up her face and looked around. “Hey, where is our resident ninja?”
“You know he doesn’t like being call- “Gerald tried to say before R.J. came crashing through the bushes.
“INCOMING!!” R.J. yelled with a look of desperation in his eyes as he crashed to the ground.
“R.J., what are you blathering about!” Gerald said as he walked towards him.
R.J. gasped between breaths. “They are right be- “
A giant sword came pushing out of his chest and stomach. Blood spurting forth from both the wound, mouth, and nose of the now impaled rogue. The sword lifted his whole body up with R.J. grasping at the blade, then slammed him back onto the ground, impaling him to the dirt. A dark green monster smiling to himself as if he was singing a tune on a stroll, put his massive foot on the lower half of R.J.’s impaled body. He then twisted the sword, bringing new wails of pain out of his victim, then ripped his sword upward into the air, swinging rock debris, dust, and blood on to the four players standing in shock. R.J’s severed head flew into the air, hitting Gerald’s shield while sending a long arc of blood splattering across the face and body of Kandice.
The green-skinned monster was then followed by three more behind him. He flicked the blood from his sword onto the ground as if he was wiping grime from his hands and then addressed the players with a smile tinged with his victims’ blood.
“Why, hello there,” smiled Voresh.
CHAPTER 26
“They are so small,” was the immediate thought that came to Kel’Van’s mind as his troops caught up to Voresh. It’s not that they are small, but that we are big. REAL BIG. The elf female barely reached his chest, and they were tall by default. The second was with the way had to be the way the rogue was talking to them, they had to be actual players. Players he had full tilt too, implicating the rogue must have been a member of their party.
Their five-man party.
“Formation 2! NOW!!!” screamed Kel’Van.
Fer’shad rushed to the forefront, with the rest of the party forming their familiar diamond formation. As one, they rushed the group before them. The player group barely got their weapons in time to engage. Fer’shad with his left hand, shield bashed Gerald, who was himself holding his own shield with both hands and was knocked back. Then the large orc almost simultaneously lashed out his sword with his right arm, which sent the boy Alex, who tried to block the attack with his own sword, staggering back as well.
Voresh slammed his sword between himself and the two cloth wearers, separating the player’s group. He then kicked Alex in the side, forcing him to almost collide with Gerald. Then he quickly swung his blade toward the two cloth wearers. Kandice had hastily thrown up a blue arcane bubble of force around herself. Kel’Van grinned and pointed his sword in the other cloth wearers’ direction.
“HER!!” yelled Kel’Van as he poured a cone of flames toward Ara.
Ara swiftly threw up an ice shield to protect herself from the fire blast of the hooded green monster before her. But she didn’t see the other giant before Belar grabbed her arm and swung the woman face-first into the rock wall behind her.
CRUNCH!!
Ara’s D.S. reported a critical hit. As she began to cast a flash heal on herself, she felt her arm bend backward. Then all a sharp pain stabbed her brain, bringing her back to her senses.
“Arrrghhh!” she cried out as the woman then fell to her knees.
Then just as quickly, a foot slammed into her back while the point of a large sword passed through her throat. Gasping for breath and her HP blinking red, her eyes looked upward just in time to see the hooded orc’s eyes, as he pushed the bone sword fully through her neck. The length of the sword cut deeply, almost completely severing the head as it lopped to the side of her left shoulder. There, it dangled loosely from her body as her hit points flat-lined.
Sword strike hits Ara for 50 points…bleed effect 15 hp for 10 seconds
Sword strike hits Ara for 50 points…bleed effect 15 hp for 10 seconds
Ara slain…Exp 400
“Ara’s gone!” screamed Kandice as she looked on with horror at the brutality of the kill.
The Arcane mage's scream lit a fire in Gerald as he used his “Shield bearers’” rage skill and roared defiantly in the direction of Kandice.
Belar, and Kel’Van both stopped in their tracks, then sprinted toward Gerald in a frenzy. The shield bearing player had already switched his back against the trees to cover his blindside while Fer’shad continued to attack him from his front. Then Kel’Van came crashing past Fer’shad with a leap, coming down upon Gerald with all of his might, pushing the player down on one knee. Belar followed up behind him with a flying kick against his shield with enough force to slam him back against the tree once more.
Gerald tried to rebound and regroup his team by falling back on party foundation strategy. As Gerald successfully pulled both Belar and Kel’Van into attacking him, Kandace then started casting Arcane Blasts at their enemies' exposed back.
“Arrghh” cried Kel’Van as three concussive blue-colored forces of energy tagged him successfully in the back. He was unable to retaliate thanks to Gerald’s taunt skill, whose effect would last for another ten seconds. He could only attack him as he lost all motor control while he was in this enraged state. Even the ability to speak. But at least the force of both Belar’s blows and his own was wearing the tank down.
Kandice began blasting at another three volleys of arcane blasts at Belar's exposed side as well. She could only grit her teeth in pain, and just like Kel’Van, was incapable of fighting her while Gerald’s taunt ability was active. She instead performed multiple roundhouse kicks toward Gerald’s shie
ld as grunts could be heard from him behind it.
Fer’shad seeing the carnage being used against the pair attacking Gerald, dashed to their rear with his shield up. The Arcane mage's volleys continued, but Fer’shad’s shield held up to the task, protecting his teammate's backs from harm. He slowly crept up towards Kandice with his shield up, as she kept blasting away at the orc closing in on her.
Voresh was in a one-on-one situation with the player Alex who happened to wield a similar, if not smaller, version of his weapon. The half-sized player was skillful, but lacked the brute strength that Voresh possessed. Breathing heavy,Alex, with most of his skill cooldowns over, attacked ferociously. He closed the distance that Voresh had kept up with his skill “Eagles Launch.” He jumped in the air quickly and landed nearly on top of him, slashing the orc's shoulder on the way down. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he released his skill, “Double Puncture,” which enabled his weapon to make multiple stabbing strikes in quick succession. Voresh tried to block some of them but only succeeded in one. He was hit seven times in the chest by that attack alone. Alex then finished the flurry with the skill “Talon,” which was basically a cleave to damage multiple enemies in a wide attack, but Voresh successfully blocked most of the damage with his sword. Then the orc swung his sword in an arc, slashing against Alex’s midsection. The boy tried to block it, but the strength of the orc’s blow nearly toppled him over.
Alex spied the monster's HP, and that last volley of attacks he used barely knocked off 10% of his HP, leaving the orc at 70%. While his own health points had whittled away to 40% from monsters’ base attacks. Unless he got help soon, the fight was inevitably going to end with him dead, simply by attrition alone. Worst, by the way the monster's grin had grown, it knew it too.
AVARICE ONLINE: KEL'VAN RED HAND Page 24