“Exactly so,” Richard agrees.
“We have ninety minutes remaining in this match. There is still plenty of time for my players to solve the puzzle before them,” Charles reminds them.
“And now, let’s return to the field,” Evan says.
Chapter 65 – Restless
“What should we do?” Conrad yells while looking back at Wesley, who is stationed in the middle of the plateau on the mountain top. The leader is making adjustments to the defense in response to attacks on the mountain.
Seeing all the action at the far end of the road, especially the way Heimdall has been mowing down the invaders, is making Conrad antsy. He blows air nosily out of his mouth, in an attempt to calm his nerves.
“Stay put,” Wesley orders immediately. “Your assignment is to defend the portal, and to do that you have to remain at your current position. I understand you would much rather join Heimdall and fight the Virtuans head on. Believe me I’m itching to climb down the rope myself. It is mighty tempting to abandon post and charge at those guys. But there are enough defenders, immensely skilled players, to handle whatever the Virtuans can throw at them. Our assignment is to keep this area under our control and to prevent the other side from taking the back door to reach the portal.”
“Yeah, but Heimdall is hogging the spotlight!” the big man whines in frustration.
The knight chuckles at the reminder of how much Conrad loves to preen for the camera. “Look, we still got thirty Virtuans on the field. I am one hundred percent certain that you will eventually get your opportunity in front of the camera by the end of this event,” he says reassuringly.
Conrad raises his eyebrows in skepticism at his leader’s words, but remains silent.
Wesley yells out. “Any sign of the enemy from the back?”
Lucious turns around from his twelve o’clock position on the mountain top. “No,” he says quietly. He shares a look with Diana, his partner manning the rear. “I have a feeling the frontal assault is a Trojan horse,” he says quietly so that only his girlfriend can hear.
“Could be,” Diana agrees. “You would expect to see an attempt to hit us from the back by now. Each side has ten mounts, and we’ve seen only five so far. That leaves another five fliers floating around,” she notes while nervously checking the clouds above her head for signs of the gigantic snakes.
* * *
“Up there!”
Suddenly a cloud runner appears above the defenders on the mountain top.
Carlos quickly surveys the scene. He sees a bunch of those irritating lightning rods that can negate his mount’s lightning breath. “Let’s change strategy,” he decides and wills his mount to dive toward the priest standing near the eastern edge of the plateau.
Chhhhhhhuuuurrr!
The gigantic snake descends with the quickness of a lightning bolt and rams its head into the helpless defender’s chest. The surprised target is pushed by the momentum, and knocked off the plateau. He falls to the ground with a “splat!”
The cloud runner twists and turns to avoid the ensuing arrows, and dives to avoid a fireball thrown at it as well.
Carlos sees another defender standing a bit too far from the lightning rods. He enters the magic screen view, and directs the runner’s lightning breath to target the mage. Once he clicks on the “Activate” icon, the player returns normal view and sees that the lightning bolt has successfully hit the target.
“That’s two down,” he says while making a fist bump.
* * *
“Don’t look now, but the Virtuans are trying to take over the sky!” Evan says. “That rider is absolutely wreaking havoc on the defenders!”
“My players are professionals,” Charles says with a quiet confidence. “They won’t fold that easily on the field over some minor setback.”
“I’m sure your player is happy getting his ten seconds of fame right now,” Richard replies coolly. “But for the viewers keeping score, that is the only cloud runner left in the tournament,” he reminds the audience. “And so the question becomes: what can one snake do to wrestle the momentum away from my players?”
“With take, we’ll need to continue watching the cloud runner to find out,” Evan says and the camera turns over to follow the rider.
* * *
“Whoa!” the rider yelps as Carlos tries to tighten his grips on the reins of his cloud runner. The snake has been busy weaving its body in the sky to avoid the arrows and spells. So far nothing has landed, but it makes for a difficult ride for the player on the snake’s neck.
Finally fed up, Carlos yells, “UP!” He tugs on the mane of the snake to emphasize his desire to climb back up to the clouds for a quick breather.
* * *
“Okay, what do we do, boss?” Conrad asks as beads of sweat drip down his face. The gigantic snake sure knows how to move! It is simply too fast for the sniper to follow with his visor, much less shoot at.
Wesley looks around the plateau to review his options. There is absolutely no way for my archers and spell casters to keep up with the snake while it is in the sky. The only way to take it out is to lure it to the ground. Now who is the best option to serve as bait? I need someone with high agility, a rogue class preferably. Quickly, Wesley’s eyes settle on Pablova. “Hey Pablova!” he yells.
“What is it?” the rogue yells back while keeping his eyes glued to the sky. His back is leaning against the lightning rod.
“Are you willing to serve as bait?” the knight asks. “I need you to move away from that lightning rod and stand closer to the edge. The rider will come down from the sky and try to knock you off the mountain.”
“With my high agility, I can dive to avoid being rammed and quickly counterattack,” Pablova finishes the thought aloud.
“And while you keep the snake occupied on the ground, the rest of us can target the creature,” Wesley adds.
“That is assuming I won’t be hit with friendly fire,” the rogue notes.
“You won’t,” the cavalier assures him. “Isn’t that right?” Wesley asks aloud.
“YEAH!” a chorus yells in response.
“That guy is making us look bad on the stream. We need to regain our honor by taking him out,” Yagrissil adds.
* * *
The cloud runner stays aloft in the sky as the rider scans the defense once again. Since manually controlling the mount is considered an in-game skill requiring expenditure of mana, Carlos has to take a brief rest to allow his mana bar to refill. Finally he decides to target the guy in green leather holding a bow and arrow. “Come on Tammy, time to make another dive,” he tells the gigantic snake.
The cloud runner breaks free of the cloud cover and quickly dives toward the archer!
* * *
“Here they come!” Pablova yells. “Come and get me,” he taunts while making an obscene gesture. He continues to hold his ground while firing arrows at the snake. However, none of his arrows manage to score a hit!
Churrrrrrr!
The cloud runner dives even faster, trying to ram the defender off the mountain!
The rogue waits for the snake to reach him. Wait! Wait! NOW! Pablova dives forward on the ground and drops his bow and arrow. The rogue plants his legs on the ground and he quickly pulls out his twin daggers.
The cloud runner misses the agile rogue; but it flies too close to the ground, allowing the daggers to reach its soft underbelly and make two deep, long cuts. The thief continues to hold up his hands, allowing the snake’s momentum to cut deeper into the soft, unprotected flesh. Soon, the daggers reach the cloud runner’s heart. The gigantic snake shakes for its final moment of life, and then collapses on top of Pablova.
The crush damage immediately sucks half the victor’s health bar, and gives Pablova stun status.
Carlos sits frozen on the dead mount, shocked at how easily it has died from mere daggers!
“Get him!”
Before the rider can dismount, he is bombarded with arrows and fireballs.
* * *
Pablova rips his virtual reality equipment off his head in frustration as the “Game Over” flashes on his screen. “So much for not being hit with friendly fire,” the player complains bitterly. He decides to leave his apartment for a quick smoke outdoors.
* * *
“Well, there we have it!” Evan says aloud for the camera. “The last of the dangerous cloud runners have been vanquished!”
“But it was a costly exchange of lives again,” Antoinette notes in reference to Pablova’s death by friendly fire.
“We are on amateur hour,” Charles taunts. “These kinds of accidents will occur frequently.”
“It was necessary,” Richard defends his players. “Since cloud runners are new to the game, we don’t know if they can somehow be revived by the animal tamer. Thus, my players instinctively decided to kill off the rider. It was sound judgment, in my view.”
“Perhaps,” Charles offers. “Your side still has more men on the field.” The live counter shows thirty three Eternian players to twenty nine Virtuan players left in the tournament.
“While the defenders on the mountain regroup, let’s see what’s going on in the passage way on the ground,” Evan says. “How will the Virtuans get pass Heimdall?”
The video technician takes the cue from the host, and immediately turns the camera back to the area in question.
Chapter 66 – Duel
Virgil stares at Heimdall, who meets the stare head on. The two men lock eyes for a long time. Finally, the leader of Easy Money looks away in frustration at his inability to weaken his opponent’s resolve. “Give me buffs!” he orders. “I will challenge Heimdall to a duel and take him on personally,” Virgil announces to his members. “I will try to push him to one side for containment purposes, and make a path for you to squeeze through. Be ready to make a break for it!”
“Yes sir!” the remaining alliance members say in unison.
Divine John approaches Virgil. With one hand on his cross and the other hand on his leader’s head, the priest starts casting a divine spell. “Oh Great Gods of Eternia, Hear My Request, Please Give Thy Servant Mastery of Himself! Amen.”
“Thank you,” Virgil says. He is pleased to receive the Martial Mastery spell, which provides double damage on a ten percent increased chance of successful critical hit, with an additional quarter gain in health. Unfortunately, the spell drains a quarter of the caster’s mana bar.
Virgil slowly approaches the Decapitator, and pulls out his twin scimitars. He is a Ranger class character, with a decreased penalty for using an off-hand weapon. Further boosts in the Dexterity ability have decreased the two-hand penalty down to ten percent. All I can do is play defense and back Heimdall into a corner, Virgil reminds himself. Surely that will be enough.
The mercenary leader raises a scimitar and points the edge of his sword at the black armored fighter. “I challenge you!” he declares aloud for the camera.
“About time,” Heimdall replies as he twirls the pole arm behind his back. “I was falling asleep waiting for someone to step up to the plate.”
“Then I will be happy to wake you up!” Virgil replies. Without warning, he charges directly at the fighter!
CLANG! Heimdall sets his hands wide apart on his weapon, allowing the two blades to fall on the metallic shaft in between his hands. The wily fighter kicks out with his left foot, but his opponent quickly hops back to avoid the crotch kick. The warlord presses onward with a quick jab using the pointed end of his pole arm.
Virgil uses his superior speed to sidestep the jab, and counters with his own jab with a scimitar.
Heimdall moves faster than one believe possible for a man his size, and knocks the blade to his right. With the pole arm extended out, Heimdall dips the long weapon and sweeps it to his left to take out his opponent’s ankles.
Virgil reads the move and jumps up in the air to avoid the sweep. However, he jumps too high in the air. Before his feet can land on the ground, Heimdall sweeps his pole arm to the right side again.
The warlord scores a hit to his opponent’s back and causes Virgil to stumble forward. Heimdall seizes the opportunity; he immediately aims his blade at the disoriented fighter’s neck and swings down with his Called Shot melee skill.
Virgil blindly throws his scimitar up, and manages to deflect the blade slightly as it cuts into his forearm instead of his neck.
“Tch!” Heimdall clicks his tongue in annoyance. How the heck did he stop my Called Shot? Before the warlord can make another attempt, his target wisely hops back to regroup.
“In case you’re wondering how I knew the shot was coming, I studied some video of your fights once my employer got a confirmation that you will be joining the tournament,” Virgil reveals in response to his opponent’s unasked question. “As a professional player, I evaluate the biggest obstacles to my objective and figure out how to neutralize such threats. I’m sorry, but you won’t find me an easy opponent to dispatch.”
The player sees the “Weakened” status on his right arm due to the cut from the pole arm, and tries to draw attention away from the hit with his monologue. Virgil sticks his left scimitar out in front of his body, while holding the right scimitar closer to his chest. He slowly steps closer to the warlord again to resume their duel.
“Ah, is that so?” Heimdall says in amusement. “I guess your employer is getting his money’s worth from you. But with that useless arm of yours, how do you expect to defeat me now?” Again moving much faster than one can believe possible for a man his size, the fighter cuts the distance between the two and jabs at Virgil’s face.
The ranger knocks the tip of the pole arm over to his right, and quickly pivots his left foot. Virgil adroitly spins his body toward his opponent and swings his right arm out with the scimitar’s blade parallel to the ground.
The blade fails to reach the target’s neck when Heimdall twists his pole arm horizontal to the ground and blocks the incoming blow. “Phew!” the fighter whistles in appreciation at the quick counterattack. He pushes the blade back and hops back simultaneously to regroup.
Virgil’s eyes light up as he sees that his opponent has moved toward the left wall, creating an opening to pass through! “NOW!” he shouts.
“CHARGE!” Divine John, the second in command, orders. The remaining members of Easy Money quickly enter the path and bypass the duelists.
Heimdall tries to move to intercept these Virtuans, but his path is blocked by Virgil. The warlord redoubles his effort to take out his opponent. “You got me,” he admits.
Chapter 67 – Next Obstacle
“Yeehaaa, we’re home free!” Quintan Sticky Fingers says in jubilation as he leads the pack toward the shimmering portal. As a rogue with high Dexterity value, he is the fastest member of Easy Money. Splat! The runner suddenly slams into an invisible wall! The collision leaves the player with Stunned status.
“Stop!” the priest yells when he sees the fallen thief up ahead. Standing his ground, Divine John casts a detection spell. “Oh Wise Gods of Eternia, Hear My Prayer! Please Share Thy Wisdom, and Reveal All! Amen.” With the aid of the Detect Magic spell, the wall becomes visible with a light blue hue. The wall covers the entire length of the passage way and stands three stories tall. It is impossible for them to climb over without the assistance of the assassins’ corp.
“What should we do?” Georgina Spellman asks while knocking on the wall. “Should we wait for the wall to expire? Or do we try to attack the caster magically?”
Divine John glances back at the duelists, and sees that his leader is only blocking right now. Nursing an injured right arm, it’ll be a matter of time before Virgil is defeated. “We can’t afford to wait for the spell to expire,” he says. The priest points at the group of spell casters standing next to the portal, a distance away from the
wall in front of him. “Look, there are a number of spell casters here. They can easily pass mana to the owner of this wall to maintain it until the end of this tournament. And if Heimdall manages to defeat Virgil, the rest of us won’t stay a chance against the Decapitator. We need to disrupt the spell somehow.”
The second in command looks at the players before him and quickly formulates a plan of action. “Archers, keep sending Hail of Arrows over the wall, and make the spell casters waste mana on protection spells. We also need area of effect spells like Earth Shake, Hailstorm and Firestorm. If the owner of the wall takes damage, the maintenance link to the wall could be severed. All we need is to get one lick in. Now let’s go do it!” Divine John claps his hands once.
Easy Money begins to carry out John’s orders, sending arrows and spells over the invisible wall and hitting the Eternian spell casters.
* * *
“What should we do?” Wyatt the Tinker asks as he sends arrows over the wall along with Iorne, who is no longer concussed by the bombs thrown earlier at his former position behind the abatis.
Kassender tries to see what is going on with Heimdall, but her line of sight is blocked by the Virtuans at the wall. “Trista, how are you holding up?”
The air mage is seating cross legged on the ground, leaning against the Divine Loadstone. “I have just enough mana to maintain the wall until the end of this tournament,” Trista replies. “Feel free to play with those guys on the other side.”
The high priestess looks at the live counter and then back at the enemies across the invisible wall. There are too many Virtuans unaccounted for. She sees the Eternian spell casters waiting for her orders. “Save half your mana for now. Use the rest as you see fit in responding to the enemies in front of us,” Kassender orders.
“Permission to cast a Black Hole,” Godo the Black requests.
“If you can ensure that Heimdall won’t be sucked in, go ahead,” Kassender replies.
“Roger that,” the mage says as he begins preparation.
* * *
World of Eternia: The Complete Collection Page 40