by Charles Dean
Not wanting to waste the opportunity, however small it may be, both Miller and Lee redoubled their attacks. The Paladin thrust forward with his spear, repeatedly stabbing into its chest. One blow sank into its neck, causing thick black blood to ooze forth from the wound for a moment, but unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that the cut was rather shallow and not too serious when the blood quickly slowed to little more than a trickle.
Lee, however, was much luckier. While Miller went to work on the creature’s midsection, Lee maneuvered around and went for its head. As far as he was concerned, there was no point in dragging the fight out any longer than he had to. Whatever this thing was, it was clearly capable of doing a great deal of damage with only a few attacks. The longer the fight drug on, the more likely someone was to end up injured, incapacitated, or dead. Lee wanted to cut right to the quick and slice open the creatures stubby neck, but a vile tongue snaked out of its mouth and parried his first attack. His blade bounced off the harder-than-metal tongue and slid away harmlessly, but without losing any momentum, he stepped closer and jammed one of his two swords straight into the visible part of what he hoped was its rotator cuff. He felt his sword scrape against bone as it dug into the creature's shoulder, and there was an audible snap as yet another tendon was severed.
The beast slumped into an even more awkward angle, reached down with one of its extra appendages, and grabbed ahold of Lee. The webbed hand wrapped around Lee, its sharp claws digging into him and slowly shaving off hit points as the creature lifted him into the air. But, before it could crush him properly, Miller intervened. The warrior leapt forward and used his spear to vault himself onto the creature’s back. He pulled a small axe from his inventory as soon as he was on top of the creature and began hacking away at the arm holding Lee. In less than three chops, Lee felt the arm falter, release its grip on him, and then finally give way. He took more than a dozen of damage as he landed face-first into a pile of rugged rocks, but he was free.
Miller seemed to have caught on to the idea and decided that he might as well go to work since he was already in position. He started hacking around with his axe rather than jumping free, but the creature quickly swatted him away with its remaining arm, sending the Paladin flying off of in the opposite direction from where Lee had fallen.
Lee caught sight of David as he was freeing himself from the severed arm. He hadn’t been good for anything other than shouting warnings and taking hits as far as Lee could tell, and now he was standing over Ling. When he saw Lee watching him, he shouted, “I don’t have any bandages, and this looks bad! I think she’s taking internal damage!”
Crap, so there is a timer to this fight.
Lee saw Ling shake her head and try to stop David. Then, through Ethan’s ears, he heard her protest. “It’s okay,” she said weakly. “I follow Augustus and Lee. It’s okay if I die.”
What are you talking about? I made that up on a whim! Lee reeled under the impact of what she was saying. She actually had enough faith in him and Augustus that she was willing to let herself die. She was willing to go peacefully and without putting up a fight. He forced himself back to his feet and stared at the fiend that just wouldn’t die. The thing had reared up onto its two hind legs, regardless of one having a severed tendon in one leg, and balanced itself with two arms. Despite the beating it had taken, it still somehow managed to pose a serious threat. More so than anything Lee had likely faced before.
Unfortunately, even though he was stone-cold sober now, the inebriation had done its job. There was no way he could back away from the fight, even if he had wanted to, and Lee once more felt his feet moving before his brain could even get over the shock of the last attack.
It’s like a berserker skill, Lee thought as he struggled to retake the reins on his stupid body’s stupid bravery. It’s only making sure I don’t stop attacking, but when I had a plan of attack earlier, it went along with that fine, Lee mused, trying to change his path so he could sneak around the back of the beast.
Success! He grinned as his body circled the enemy instead of charging headlong like a starving mutt at a food bowl. Success indeed.
The beast lashed out with its last good arm, but Lee was able to halt his charge and back out of reach just in the nick of time. The creature shifted its weight as it reached out for him and was forced to scramble to keep upright when its attack didn’t connect with anything. Taking advantage of the opening, Lee scurried forward and around behind it. When he saw one leg hovering inches above the ground, twitching and without an ounce of weight on it, Lee knew he was safe. He knew that the thing wouldn’t be able to shift which foot it stood on to strike him, and it didn’t have the previous freedom it had before to go wild with its tail. So, Lee ran up and swung as hard as he could at the beast’s remaining rear support beam.
As his blade cut through weak scales and tore flesh, ripping the tendon open, the thing let out a piercing scream that hit Lee like a migraine and a hangover all at once. Lee dropped both his swords and clutched his ears in pain. “What the hell was that?” he asked. “Can’t you just die?!” he screamed over the ringing in his ears. Ethan’s ears seemed to be fine, so Lee switched over to the mouse’s senses until his could recover.
“Awh guuhht diss!” Miller shouted as he readied his spear and prepared to charge again. He was clearly trying to say ‘I got this!’ but his speech was slurred by his inability to hear his own voice.
Oh man, I hope I didn’t sound that bad. Ethan, tell me I didn’t sound that bad, Lee pleaded as he jumped up and began to drag himself onto the creature’s back.
Little Ethan just turned his head away from Lee. It was clear that he was using his silence to let Lee know that he had, in fact, sounded that horrible.
Traitor, Lee shot back just as he managed to climb up. It had been rather easy since both of the monster’s back legs were now out of commission and its rear had collapsed onto the ground, but balancing was difficult as he made his way to the back of its head. He was almost taken out by the flying, supersized claw that Miller hadn’t chopped off, but finally, he reached his mark.
This is where I’m supposed to say some cheesy pun, right? Lee plunged one sword into the creature’s back, which he used to maintain his balance and steady himself, and then stabbed his other into the creature’s spine with all of his strength.
You have killed the Krobken. Your party has been awarded 50 silver and 750 Experience for its share of the battle. Your share of this is 25 silver and 375 Experience.
“Dangit! That should have been my kill!” Miller churlishly expressed his consternation from below. “I WANTED TO KILL A DRAGON!”
“It . . . wasn’t exactly a dragon?” Lee slid off of the beast’s back and onto the ground next to Miller.
“It sure felt like a dragon fight, but you’re right. Next dragon, I call dibs. I want the kill shot on the next one. I want to bask in the glory of defeating man’s greatest foe!”
“I thought that was time?” Lee corrected him with the proper adage.
“Time? Why would time be deadly? Don’t be abstract. Artists are abstract and—”
“Guys, I think she might really die,” David called, drawing their attention back to the immediate problem.
Right! The liquor’s aftereffect had caused me to charge back into battle, but he said that she had taken some type of internal damage.
“Well, can anyone stop it?” Miller asked.
“Umm . . . We didn’t find any health kits or medical supplies back at the quarters earlier, and we just don’t have any on us. I don’t know what to do here,” Lee admitted.
“Aren’t you supposed to be a god?” David turned to Lee, aghast. “Don’t tell me you can’t even save one follower? Are we not even worth a try? Is she not even worthy of an attempt?”
“Stop talking to the Herald like his favors are yours to beg! If a great and mighty god like Augustus or Lee could be manipulated by the words and deeds of others, then how powerful can he really be?” Mill
er’s retort was sharp as he picked up his spear and came face to face with David.
A god . . . Lee wanted to laugh at the thought. Me? A god? An idiot who almost died? And would have if not for his shape-shifting-absentee-father gorilla? The same fool who was just knocked back and forth by one Krobken, the chump who needs his buddy Wolfe to put together even one decent raid group? I’m suddenly a god? His laughter broke forth and grew as he walked up and crouched next to Ling. Yeah. I’m a god. That’s right. Because some stupid, blue-box notification system in a different world says so, it must be true. No, she’s going to die because I’m not a god: I just have the ego of one. I thought I was risking my life by coming down here, but I was really just risking theirs . . . His laughter died out as he put a hand over hers.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. It’s too bad no one is a healer. He chewed on the thought as he stared down at her face. She really was beautiful, like an angel, and she really was at peace.
“Is it working?” David looked up at Lee. “I don’t see anything. Is your magic healing her or not?”
My magic? I don’t have any magic. But, even while thinking it, his eyes landed on Ethan. No, that’s not true. I do have magic. I just don’t know how to use it on people. But . . . He took a breath to steady himself and squeezed her hand. He concentrated for a moment, then, in the same way that he had funneled magic into Ethan when he made the clay mouse, he channeled his spirit through Ling. He felt his energy pour out of himself and into Ling. He felt it fortifying her, doubling down and reinforcing her veins, muscles and organs, and removing her injuries. The process was remarkably similar to when he had created his golem, only now it was draining him so badly that he worried it was actually his entire soul slipping inside of her and not just ephemeral magic.
You have discovered the basic school of magic healing.
You are the first Herald to discover a school of magic without help, a teacher or the assistance of a tome. You have been awarded 10 bonus Intelligence. Current Intelligence: 45.
“Ugh.” Ling groaned and stirred slightly. She had been sickly pale when Lee first approached, but he could already see a faint bit of color returning to her cheeks; and, though it may have been his imagination, her hand felt a tiny bit warmer where he held it in his own. After a long and tense few moments, her eyes fluttered open. “What . . . What was that?” she asked weakly.
“I think it was called a Krobken, but I can’t be certain.” Lee shrugged slightly. He didn’t feel like he had the energy to move at all. The healing process had drained a lot out of him. Too bad there isn’t a mana bar or something, he thought as he wondered how much of his own energy he had imparted to her.
Your current Spirit Energy, the energy used to perform magic, can be displayed as a bar if desired.
Wait, seriously? That’s helpful. Please do. Immediately, right next to where he could view his health, which was down to 41 thanks to the final fight with the Krobken, a purple bar appeared. But purple? Why purple?
The color was selected at random. If desired, both the color and your overall UI may be changed at will.
Make it blue, Lee responded through thought. Mana bars have to be blue: it’s just common gamer sense.
Are there any other desired UI changes for prompts, notifications and status bars?
No, well . . . not right now. Lee brushed it off. He was too tired to deal with anything requiring serious thought at the moment. His bar, first purple and now blue, was completely depleted and the effects of an empty bar were very noticeable.
If it’s depleted, then does that mean she’s not fully healed? He let his heavy eyelids slide shut so that he could rest for a while as the drained Spirit regenerated.
——-
Lee opened his eyes and found himself staring into Ling’s.
“Hey, he’s moving again, boss,” David called.
“Don’t act like he was sleeping! His eyes were closed because he was praying to his father!” Miller corrected angrily, even though Lee had, in fact, rested for a moment.
“Well, if he wasn’t sleeping, then how come he didn’t respond to anything?”
“That’s because it would be rude to ignore both your father and your god just because some mortal was pestering you for your attention,” Miller stated matter-of-factly. “If you’re ever going to make it as a Paladin, you clearly need to understand the importance of certain parts of religion.”
“Mmm . . .” David nodded. “I see. I have much to learn.”
Don’t agree with him! You’ll just make his ego even bigger! Lee winced at the thought.
“Did you . . . Did you save my life?” Ling asked softly. “I thought you said it wasn’t a problem if we died. Didn’t you tell us that faith would grant us a happier life in heaven than on earth?”
Lee let out a half-hearted laugh. “Yeah, but I’m selfish and didn’t want to lose my sparring partner.” So, I’m being lectured even for saving your life.
“Well, thank you.”
“Can you move yet?” Lee asked. “Do we need to bring a cart down here to ferry you back up?” I’ve only recovered 10% of my mana, so if her injuries are still life-threatening, I can’t really heal her much more.
“Oh, yeah. I can. I just . . .” Ling blushed as she looked to where Lee was holding her hand. “I just didn’t want to move while you were . . . umm . . . while you were praying. I mean . . . I didn’t want to interrupt your prayer.”
“Oh. Well . . .” Lee withdrew his hand and broke eye contact. “If you’re okay, let’s get going.” He stood up and dusted off his pants, making a lousy attempt at removing some of the dirt and grime but doing little more than taking a few rocks off a mountain would.
“Lee,” he heard Ling say, and he felt a tug on his shirt from behind. “What happened to me? What’s happening to me?” she clarified.
“What do you mean?” Lee didn’t understand her question. “I mean, I think I just helped heal you, but I couldn’t exactly describe how.”
“Oh! No, that’s not what I meant. I meant . . .” Ling bit her lip then looked at Miller and David before shaking her head. “Never mind. Let’s just keep going.”
“Okay.” Lee didn’t know how to answer her question. Is healing magic is such a foreign idea to them? I mean, there were plenty of people around when I almost died, and no one had that magic. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone use any type of magic other than Miller’s drunken aura ability since I got here. Maybe magic isn’t something most NPCs have. “Well, how much further do we have to go before we reach the old guard station?” he asked David.
David pointed in the direction that the beast had come from. “If I remember correctly, it’s actually less than a few minutes from where we’re at now.”
“You think we’ll run into more of those?” Lee asked. “Did the guards say they encountered several or just one?”
“Don’t know. Just know it was monsters because that’s what they were shouting. As far as the details . . . Well, I never heard those. The only ones that got out were either too horrified to talk about it or didn’t spend a lot of time talking to slaves and peasants.” David shrugged. “For all I know, there could be five or ten of them further down in this place.”
“I see. Only one way to find out, I guess.” Lee sighed and then began moving past the piles of debris and broken tracks that had been left behind.
True to David’s estimations, it wasn’t long before they arrived at a wooden structure built into the wall of the cave. Miller, seemingly oblivious to the possibility of a monster lurking within that could harm them, walked up and opened the door without a second thought. The first thing he saw was that there were three corpses leaned against the far wall between two small cots. Lee couldn’t tell whether the decomposing bodies belonged to former slaves or guards, but he was extremely aware of the orange-sized, mosquito-like creatures that burst from their heads as soon as the door swung open.
“Ahh!!!” came a girly scream from behind Lee as
he pulled out his sword.
“All bugs must die!” Miller shouted, activating his drunkenness-imbuing war cry and stabbing at the closest insects with his spear.
The bugs didn’t seem to be affected nearly as badly by his shout as the Krobken had, but they still tottered from side to side midair and seemed to have trouble buzzing in a straight line. Unfortunately, their erratic movements only made them that much harder to hit. Lee was fairly confident he could have swatted them out of the air if they had kept moving in straight lines, but now he was afraid that it was going to be almost impossible.
Not so fast, you little bastard! Lee cursed one overgrown insect as it sped toward him. All he could do was take a guess as to which way it was going to zip before it reached him, so he swung out blindly with one of his swords and hoped for the best. He missed the fruit-sized insect’s body entirely but still managed to clip off part of one of its wings as it sped past. The small creature spiraled out of control and crashed into a corner of the small room, and that was where Lee decided to leave it for the time being. Without the ability to fly, there was very little chance of it rejoining the battle before they were able to finish off the other two.
Feeling that he had struck upon a bit of success, Lee began swatting at the mosquitos with the flat of his blade as if they were tennis balls and his sword was a racket rather than a weapon. He bugs sped at him time and again, but they never seemed to make contact or draw blood despite their long, wicked-looking proboscises, and not a single one of the bugs was able to alight anywhere long enough to start feeding. Just as he was considering pushing into the building and getting aggressive against the assailing bugs, two arrows swished past his head and picked off one of the two bugs attacking Miller.