by John Nest
Due to this, the Ork Guards began to push Smoke farther away from the village entrance, back to his raft.
“Wait!” exclaimed Smoke. “I mean. Tamir usair,” he quickly added in Orkish.
“Kaniir? Vitsin kar gustori makoni?” quickly said Smoke, showing them his rare Claws of Chiropterra.
Every one of the Ork Guards began talking rapidly and examined the rare gloves, all of them enthusiastic.
“Debile! Nagunsar kamur dirir?” asked a female’s voice from behind the Ork Guard.
Immediately, Smoke’s gaze fell upon the old Ork High Priestess and her six female escorts who stepped out from the village gates. All of them clothed in the same long brown robe as the High Priestess.
“Madrir Meneur, vasinshair,” pleaded the Ork Guard, quickly lowering his head before the old Ork High Priestess.
“Oh, vasinshair,” added Smoke, following the Ork Guard’s lead and lowered his head.
“You are not an Ork, correct?” asked the High Priestess named Meneur. “What race do you belong to?”
Smoke was taken aback. He thought his long white hair, pointed ears, and dark purple skin was a dead giveaway of his race. “That’s right,” he replied. “I’m a DarkElf. Have you never seen one before?”
Meneur let out a light laugh. “I have, but it’s been a while,” she said and turned to face him. She glared her glassy white eyes directly at him. “As you can see, I’ve grown blind now.”
“Oh, sorry! I didn’t realize,” apologized Smoke.
“So, what is a DarkElf doing here?” asked Meneur. “You’re not here to steal our secrets, are you?”
“No! No, of course not!” strongly refused Smoke, shaking his head. “I was looking for a place to rest when I stumbled upon your village.”
Meneur scoffed, and slightly shook her head in disbelief of Smoke’s explanation. “Stumbled upon a hidden village in a swamp? Sure!” she said sarcastically.
“Anyway, I have a Quest here,” added Smoke. “And I was hoping that I could stay in your village until I complete it.”
“Hahaha!” chuckled Meneur. There was a delay for a few seconds, but the rest of the Orks joined in Meneur’s mocking laughter. “Sorry, but no!” she added with finality.
“Vasinshair! Tabanginir kir,” pleaded Smoke in Orkish, asking her to have mercy on him.
The rest of the Priestesses behind Meneur let out an audible gasp. At once, they began whispering to each other.
“Why do you have to speak our tongue?” asked Meneur out loud, her eyebrows met and her green nose wrinkled.
“Vilhom! Kavalor kir valuod,” said Meneur as she faced the Priestesses. She then turned to Smoke and said. “As MaduHai Code dictates, it is our obligation to give anyone who speaks our tongue food and water.”
“Great!” exclaimed Smoke, clenching his fist in victory.
“However, that does not mean that you can enter our village,” quickly added Meneur.
“But I need a place to stay for the night,” pleaded Smoke. “I’m confident in my abilities, but I need to rest. Also, I heard the swamp monsters get stronger at night.”
“Not my problem,” replied Meneur. “You shall have some bread and water, then you can go,” she added. “I’ll even allow you to rest on our shores outside our walls, but you need to leave as soon as possible.”
“Please, can’t I stay for the night?” asked Smoke. “I’ll do anything. Look, it’s almost getting dark soon,” he added pointing to the afternoon sun. “You can’t expect me to travel now, do you?”
“Really? You want a blind woman to look at the setting sun?” asked Meneur, sarcastic. She chuckled but shook her head. “I’m sorry, but no.”
Suddenly, one of the Priestesses behind Meneur whispered something to her.
“What! Send him over to the outpost?” exclaimed Meneur, intrigued.
Yet, her astonished face began to change expressions. “Wait here,” she said to Smoke, retreating back deeper into the village.
From far away, Smoke could only guess what Meneur and the other Ork Priestesses were talking about.
‘At least, they haven’t attacked me,’ he thought, hopeful that Wertlosvati had not made contact with them yet.
After a few minutes, Meneur and the other Priestesses returned.
“We’ve talked it through and it appears that it would be a fitting place for someone like you. So, do you want to stay in our outpost?” asked Meneur. “That place does have walls.”
“I would have really preferred to stay in your village, but Beggars can’t be choosers,” said Smoke.
“Great! I just have one condition for you,” said Meneur. “While you’re there, I want you to eliminate any kind of monster that may have taken over the place in our absence.”
A Quest Window popped up as soon as she finished speaking.
+ Quest: Cleaning up the MaduHai Mess
Monster Hunting Quest
Level: A+
Clear the outpost from any kind of monsters.
Accept the Quest? [YES/NO]
“I’ll do it!” said Smoke, ecstatic. “But after I’m done, let me visit your village.”
“I’m not promising anything,” replied Meneur. “But we’ll talk, if you do finish the task.”
* * * * * *
With Daga tucked safely inside his chest pocket and Igniz flying next to him, Smoke was gliding through the skies at top speed. They were headed to the given location of the MaduHai Outpost.
They could see that the swamp was filled with trees below them. Smoke knew that the monsters inside were powerful. They had to be in order for them to stand against the might of the Orks.
He then turned to the setting sun, which gave an auburn glow. “Looks like we’re running out of light,” he said out loud.
“Still can’t believe that the Orks left you alone,” squeaked Daga.
“Same here,” said Smoke with a grin. “Guess it pays to gamble a bit.”
“Don’t know about that,” replied Daga. “Big brother Igniz didn’t say anything, but even he has hesitations about this.”
Smoke looked at his dark ember sprite, who flew slower, evading his gaze. “Don’t worry, Bud. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
After ten minutes more, they finally arrived at their destination. It was on the edge of the swamp. A thick smog covered most of the Outpost, but Smoke could see the same monster-hide covered huts in the areas that were visible.
Learning from experience, Smoke knew to land outside the entrance. ‘Who knows what kind of monsters are in there,’ he thought.
Then, a notification window popped up after they softly touched the ground.
– Entered MaduHai Outpost
– This used to be a sentry post of the MaduHai Orks. However, a wyvern nest occupies this place now.
– Suggested level for entering this Outpost is 300.
Smoke gulped. His Cunning of the Dire Fox did not pick up any kind of creature inside the smog.
“Guys, looks like this was a bad idea after all,” he said.
Yet, before he could say anything else, a spiked gray tail came out from the mist and went straight for his head.
Thankfully, his Cunning of the Dire Fox detected the preemptive attack and he was able to dodge it.
However, his ability instantly lost the presence of his attacker when the wyvern returned to the smog.
“Igniz!” he shouted, equipping his Manatl Staff and Salamander’s Tongue.
Immediately, his symbiote understood what he meant. The two of them melded their energies and transformed into their Synergized state.
With his fiery flamberge in his right and brown-colored staff in his left, Smoke unleashed a barrage of fireballs into the smog.
“Nyooookk!” screamed from within the smog.
Then, he saw two gray wyverns over four meters in height. With one glance he could tell that they were taller than any of his Maneators. They had two horns on their heads and forked tongues which hissed in and out
between their sharp fangs.
One of the wyvern’s life bars displayed (1,190,000/1,200,000 HP), while the other still had a pristine one.
‘At least I can hurt it,’ he thought.
Using his Hyper Jump ability, Smoke leaped backward.
Yet, the injured wyvern flew over him and landed behind him.
THUD
Smoke was caught in the middle of the two gray horned monsters.
Then, they began blowing out hot gray smoke out from their nostrils.
Quickly, Smoke was about to be covered in the thick gray fog.
“This really isn’t good,” he said out loud.
Smoke activated the Salamander Tongue’s Incinerator ability. His flamberge lit up into flames before it shattered into a hundred pieces.
As the shards went ablaze, he knelt and created a spherical Manatl around him.
He could hear the screams of the two wyverns.
THWACK THWACK THWACK
Two spiked tails repeatedly came crashing down on his manatl sphere. Smoke searched for the main body of the wyvern but lost all visibility.
Now, that he was completely engulfed by the dense fog.
“I’m guessing this was all part of your brilliant plan?” pipped Daga from within his clothes.
“Of course, it is,” replied Smoke.
“Why don’t you let me fight too?” said Daga.
“No, it’s too dangerous,” said Smoke, unsure of Daga’s fighting abilities.
‘Besides, this is still manageable,’ he thought, as he continued to channel the absorbed damage from his Manatl.
Five minutes later, he canceled his Incinerator ability as his mana bar displayed (110,000/490,600 MP). The powerful attack came at a heavy toll of 1000 MP per second.
‘Gotta save MP,’ he reminded himself.
Smoke stayed in his kneeling position, waiting safely behind his Manatl sphere.
THWACK THWACK THWACK
After a few more blows against his barrier, Smoke canceled his Manatl and his staff began to glow.
However, as soon as he felt the mist on his skin, Smoke felt a heavy weight on his body followed by a notification window.
– [ENCUMBERED] Ponderous Mist has increased your weight by ten times.
‘Damn it!’ he thought, but immediately pushed it out of his head. He kept looking around, searching for signs of the scaly monsters.
“Raaaagh!” roared one of the wyverns, showing its nasty head to him.
Smoke grinned. After blocking all of their attacks, he transferred the energy to his glowing manatl staff. He charged for the wyvern’s head and sped up with his Hyper Jump ability, temporarily bypassing the encumbered status.
TUHOG
A bright flash of light erupted. Yet, as soon as it faded, Smoke saw that what he struck was not the head but the spiked tail of the other wyvern. The sharp spike was forcibly removed from the monster. It cried it out in pain as its life bar now displayed (996,000/1,200,000 HP) but quickly disappeared back into the mist.
His Cunning of the Dire Fox did not sense anything, but he knew from experience that a powerful counter-attack was coming. His head turned left to right, searching for signs of the monsters. As he was about to put up another manatl barrier, a sharp pain suddenly penetrated his stomach.
Reflexively, he looked down and found the spike from the second wyvern’s tail lodged into his abdomen, slowly being pulled out. He was instantly flooded with notification windows and his cursed Decay Aura activated, indicating that he had less than 25% left on his life bar.
Due to the monsters’ Ponderous Mist, Smoke was not able to fly out. He unequipped the Salamander’s Tongue and switched it out with his Digger’s Wand. He dug a tunnel right under him and closed it up the moment he fell into it.
* * * * * *
A half dead Smoke was slowly being pulled out of the escape tunnel by Daga in her human form.
PLOP
Daga dropped Smoke’s body on the ground and squatted next to him. With anger in her eyes, she screamed. “Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! You could have gotten yourself killed and big brother Igniz was still synergized with you!”
“Shut up!” yelled Smoke back as he was desperately putting on some healing salve on his stomach.
Daga fell silent but her quivering remained.
“Sorry,” said Smoke, guilty for shouting back at her. “But I can’t cancel the synergized form just yet.”
“Why?” asked Daga, still yelling.
“I’m not sure if Igniz will get most of the damage if we do disengage,” replied Smoke.
“Oh…” was her only response.
After he finished putting on the healing salve, Smoke got out a bottle of pompom juice and drank it all in one gulp.
“Now, let’s just wait for my life bar to fully restore before Igniz and I separate,” he said to Daga.
While waiting for his HP to recover, Smoke decided to give his Flame Master another call.
“Hey, Eleve, something came up,” he said brashly.
“Huh? What do you mean?” asked Eleve.
“I mean I can’t meet Chrys in Tacitl City by tomorrow,” said Smoke.
“Oh! Might as well,” replied Eleve. “Apparently, Duke Chrysopelea and the other Sonstwelters were enough to convince the King of the Thanotl Kingdom to form the alliance.”
“I see,” replied Smoke, feeling somewhat depressed that his presence was no longer needed.
“Yeah, so don’t worry about not meeting with him in Tacitl,” added Eleve. “In fact, Duke Chrysopelea is already headed back to the Vitzytl Kingdom now.”
“Really?” asked Smoke. “Where exactly is he?”
“Not sure, but I think he should be somewhere near your area,” replied Eleve. “Afterall, it is along the way.”
“That’s great!” exclaimed Smoke. “Can you tell him to make a quick detour to where I am now?” he asked, sending a map location over the call.
“Huh? Why would I do that?” asked Eleve.
“Tell him it’s about stopping the Orks from getting stronger,” replied Smoke.
“You’re being cryptic again,” said Eleve. “But fine! I’ll pass the message to Duke Chrysopelea.”
“Thanks, Eleve! You’re a life saver,” said Smoke.
“Yeah, yeah, just make sure that this isn’t going to be a waste of time on Duke Chrysopelea’s part,” added Eleve. “He’s supposed to start making preparations for war.”
“Relax! Trust me,” replied Smoke and ended the call.
CLICK—
“So? You plan to have Chrysopelea help out with the wyverns, huh?” squeaked Daga, who returned to being a little gray mouse.
“I underestimated them because of their life bars,” blurted out Smoke. “I would have been killed by that one attack if it weren’t for my recent Job upgrade to Beggar Evocati.”
“Told you, you were being reckless,” said Daga.
“Yeah, I was,” replied Smoke. “I should have been better than that, but I’ve called for reinforcements.”
“Are you sure Chrys and the other Sonstwelters will be enough to take on the wyverns?”
Smoke shrugged. “But Eleve told me that he had five hundred of them with him. So, that should be enough.”
Then, a game pod message window popped up.
Hey! I’m here. If you’re not here in ten minutes, I’m heading back home. XOXO
-Request prompted by
“Alright, my life bar is almost full,” abruptly said Smoke and canceled the Synergized state.
Igniz emerged out of Smoke as their energies broke off from one another.
“Hey there, Buddy,” greeted Smoke. “I’m going out for a while, but I’ll be back really quick. Keep an eye on Daga, okay?”
The dark ember sprite bobbed his head and looked at the little gray mouse next to Smoke.
“You’re not going to leave us for days again, are you?” squeaked Daga.
“No! Of course not!”
replied Smoke.
With that, Smoke logged out as Sierra was already waiting for him in his room.
* * * * * *
Nash stretched out his arms over his head as soon as he stepped out of his game pod.
His eyes immediately fell on his girlfriend, who was lying on his bed reading a book. Her face turned away from him. So, like any normal hot-blooded male, he enjoyed the scenic view.
“Hey! Got your message,” said Nash.
At once, Sherry turned around and greeted him with the sweetest smile. “Finally! That took longer than I expected!” she teased.
Nash dove into his bed and kissed her passionately on the lips. “What do you mean longer? I rushed here as soon as I read your game pod message.”
After they wrestled in the bed, Nash broke off Sherry’s lips to get some air.
“So? How’s it feel to get back into Zectas again?” she asked.
“Not sure,” said Nash, shaking his head. “I think I’ve kind of lost my touch.”
“Really?” asked Sherry, troubled. “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure you were just overthinking it.”
“I don’t think so,” said Nash. “I felt like I wasn’t my usual self in there.”
“Of course not!” exclaimed Sherry. “Your Mima is still missing, and I’m sure that it’s what you thinking. That’s why I believe that fully immersing yourself in the game is the right choice.”
“You sure?” asked Nash, skeptical.
“Positive,” replied Sherry.
Just then, Seth burst into the room.
“I got it!” he shouted, carrying a tablet with him.
“Got what?” asked Nash.
“I asked for all the video feeds on the street cameras and I finally found twelve routes that the kidnappers might have taken,” explained Seth.
“That’s great!” said Nash. “Let’s go to the police station.”
“Nah, it’s alright,” said Seth. “I already sent it to them online. They told me that they’ll get right on it and update us as soon as they have a lead.”
“And you believed them?” said Nash.