by P A Wikoff
The thought did cross my mind that they could have double-crossed me and liberated me of the rare dagger, but they hadn’t. I had figured out how to think things and not broadcast them. It was like trying to breathe shallow. Reaching one hit point, I was able to move around and speak once again. “Thanks, guys. That was really close.”
“Anytime,” Po said.
I equipped the shoulder armor after first removing a couple arrowheads from that crazy attack Xander did.
Finally, Camber walked into the room with a slight bounce to her step, holding her new star shooter.
“Can you even use that thing?” Po asked.
“Nope, but it looks pretty,” Camber said, placing her foot on top of Xander’s corpse like a trophy hunter, and posing with her new-found toy.
Moogi went up to her and started taking screen shots, and she fell right into the vanity of it all.
“Wait, so we each got to loot one item from him?”
“Yes, that is the benefit from being in a party,” Po said.
“That could be really bad for people—losing up to five items per death?”
“Why else do you think those GDF gankers always travel in packs?” Po asked rhetorically.
That made a lot of sense. I thought they were just a bunch of cowardly bullies.
“PUG on three?” MacGavin said jokingly.
“No!” Po and I said in unison.
There was a twinkle next to Xander’s body. Pushing him aside, I spotted Sally’s corpse. I knew this meant she was carrying loot.
“Do you guys mind if I loot this special earwig? We sort of have history.”
“Have at it,” MacGavin said.
Po gave me a nod.
Moogi went over to it and gave me two notifications.
“Moogi. Moogi. (You looted: Hero’s Thigh-High Boots. Weight: 400. Item quality: Rare. Resistance 3. Your loot priority is set to last.”
Right away, I replaced my ratty footwear with these shiny new boots. They were made of polished metal and went from my foot to right above my knee. They had great protection too.
“Hey Moogi, this is a strange item for a bug to have, wouldn’t you say?”
“Moogi. (I think she ate someone.)”
“Why do you think that?”
“Moogi. (Because there were a lot of items to loot, including your first candlestick.)”
Camber walked right up to me with a smile, “Hi, I’m Cammy. Nice to meet you.”
“Yes, I know. We’ve met.” Then I looked down and saw my mask lying on the ground. Right, she hadn’t seen me out of my disguise before. The other two didn’t seem at all fazed by my appearance.
“Nice boots. Score,” MacGavin said.
“I am saving my loot priority on the boss,” Po said, also noticing my new gear.
“About that. Shouldn’t we head back to the mansion,” I proposed.
“After all that, you want to turn back now?” Po said, starting to loot the other earwigs.
“Xander knows exactly where we are, and I’m just a summoner that can’t even summon a portal right now. Plus, we’re all nearly out of resources. We have to face facts—we’re underequipped, undergeared, and way over our heads,” I explained.
“Yeah, dude, we know that,” MacGavin chimed in.
“We’ve always known that,” Po added. “But we should see this thing through. I’ve never seen Ambrose before.”
That was when I realized how much fun this adventure was for them. We were doing something outside of their norm—outside of the mansion. That was why they came with me, to play the game—not to win, or grind—simply to play. I hated to admit it, but I was having a great time too.
“Don’t be such a buzzkill,” Camber said, placing her hand on MacGavin, knocking him out instantly.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Ignoring me, she stumbled over to Po who bowed his head towards her. Accepting her soporific touch, he too fell unconscious, with a thud.
“Stop that. I thought we’re on the same team?” I stepped backwards.
“Shh, they s’eepy,” Camber said, with a sleepy-eyed stare of her own.
She approached me slowly.
“Wait I…”
And with her drunken yet gentle touch, I too was out.
***
I was awake but somewhere else entirely. It was like another plane of existence. The terrain was rough and cracked, and the sky was dark purple. Every bit of our motion streaked behind us with blurring colors.
I waved at MacGavin and Po, who were also present. I tried to speak and ask how we got here, but all of my words came out backwards, yet, oddly, I understood them. It was similar to how I could understand Moogi—through concepts alone.
“We are in the dream world,” Po said, using his own backwards tongue.
“We sound so creepy right now,” MacGavin said, eating a meat stick of some kind.
“What is that?”
“Oh, this? I always eat in my dreams. Want to try some?” MacGavin shoved his stick of food into my face.
I dodged my head left and right. “Stop trying to force-feed me,” I yelled.
“It’s not half bad,” Po admitted, still chewing on a little bit of it.
“Where’s Camber?” I asked.
Po pointed to the sky.
Looking up, I saw that she was riding on a golden thread like a surfer on a wave.
“What is she doing?” I asked, trying not to move too much to keep myself from getting nauseous.
“Dreamweaving. She is using her skills to alter our fate.
Just then she zoomed by, and a thread went right through MacGavin and quickly stitched him up.
Then she was off again, leaving a trail of cartoon-looking stars behind.
Mac was now wearing all of the gear he took off back at the mansion. Before I could question it any further, the same thing happened to Po.
What a truly remarkable power she had. I would have never guessed it.
“How is it she can do that? That seems way better than my summons.”
“She already reached her tier six ability in dreamweaving as a fearmancer,” Po said in amazement.
“Wow.” So that was what it meant to level up beyond the low tiers. Briefly, I recalled wanting to be a fearmancer but decided against it in the end. I wondered what I might be able to summon when I reached my tier six skills.
“She must be high level,” I marveled.
“Yeah, quite.”
“It’s not fair. Women always get invited into groups. I should have rolled one, but no,” MacGavin said. “I just said ‘butt’ backwards. I want to remember that.”
I had no idea she had advanced so far. I figured she was low, like the rest of us. Her fighting wasn’t at all spectacular, but watching her work manipulating space and time, it was a sight to behold.
Taking one final pass, she stabbed right through me with the thread.
I felt great, like better than ever, fully restored. Looking at my arm, all my hit points, mana, stamina, and abilities were at my disposal. Even my resurrection sickness was gone.
“Thank you!”
“Butt,” MacGavin said one more time.
“Good luck, my chickadees! Woohoo,” Camber said as she zoomed off into the sky.
“What does she mean by that?” I asked.
Po turned to me to speak, but the world faded away before he had to chance to.
***
We were back in the room before the boss. One by one, we awoke. First me with a yawn, then Po, followed by Po kicking MacGavin to get him to wake up.
Camber had gone into our dreams and changed our past with a swish of her flying needle. I felt as if I’d slept for a whole month; she was truly remarkable. Not only that, we all had a buff that negated resurrection fatigue for one day.
“Moogi. (Camber has left the party.)”
“Where is she?” I asked, scanning the area.
“I am guessing a soft, comfy bed,” MacGavin said
.
“Correct. She must sleep for a day to recover from using that ability,” Po explained.
“I had no idea she was so powerful.”
“Oh, I knew. That’s ultimately why I came along with you guys. I had to see her in action,” Po admitted.
Here I thought they trusted in my party group. In reality, Xander wanted my blood dagger, Camber was an over-powered drunk who didn’t mean to join, Po only joined to see her in action, and Mac…
“Why did you come along with us, Mac?”
“To kick some shit in the dick!”
As crude as it was, I was happy I had reached one person.
Po activated his aura again, Mac started to charge up some energy, and I made a single potion. Our party of five was down to three, and we were as ready as we were ever going to be.
With determination in our hearts and fully equipped for battle, we entered the boss room, ready to give it our all…and kick Ambrose right in the dick.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Tele-Arena
T he plan was in motion. The battle had begun. We maintained a wide formation so that Ambrose couldn’t hit us all in a single attack.
With an energy field surrounding him, Po was tanking the wooden knight. “Keep it up, guys. This is working,” he said, after blocking one of Ambrose’s greatsword attacks with his energy field. Bright sparks showered him like a welder. Each hit against Po’s shield would somehow charge up his sword, causing it to glow brighter with each surge.
Attached to the towering wooden knight’s right leg was a large metal chain that bound him to a huge tree. Other than that, the chain itself didn’t do much except redistribute trash on the ground as it swished.
“Watch out!” I said, almost getting clotheslined by the chain as it got taut. I ducked under the chain just in time, all thanks to Po. The aura buff he activated before we entered increased my speed and kept me nimble.
I take it back. That chain sucks.
It was now my turn to attack. I darted back and forth, trying my best to not get crushed by any of the boss’s wide greatsword attacks. Even if they weren’t targeting me, his greatsword covered a lot of ground.
Once in range, I slashed at Ambrose’s legs a couple of times to keep my bleed effect constant. Each attack sprouted splinters, which I remembered restricted my movements last time. I knew the more I attacked his armor, the more splinters there were. So, I couldn’t overdo it by being overly offensive. Before my stamina got too low, I took off in the opposite direction, far enough to avoid all his attacks.
MacGavin saw my leaving as a cue for his turn to attack. He shot into the air like a rocket, with some mega jump skill he had.
*He’s slow and a little predicable, which also makes him easy to dodge,* I pointed out in broadcast, while I picked the score of splinters off my body.
Po was in no position to try and dodge anything. His role was to take the hits and keep our foe’s ire up. This was no easy feat after the amount of damage our DPS, MacGavin, dealt. After receiving one of Mac’s crushing blows to the back, Ambrose turned towards MacGavin for retribution.
Each of MacGavin’s powerful attacks drained his stamina bar in one fell swoop, leaving him vulnerable.
“Hey! Over here!” Po discharged a laser beam of stored energy out of his sword and straight at Ambrose.
As the beam hit the boss, it seemed to slow his movements to a crawl. Po’s attack gave MacGavin the time he needed to restore stamina and get out of harm’s way.
We were really doing it. As opposed to last time I faced this boss, this time his hit points were actually going down—most drastically after receiving a massive slam attack from both of MacGavin’s inflated spiked fists.
There was so much about this game that I didn’t understand. Watching Po and MacGavin fight together really opened my eyes to that fact. Being good was about knowledge, execution, and teamwork, of which they had all three. But where I lacked in gaming experience, my Blood Dagger more than made up for—slowly ticking away at Ambrose’s hit points, or at least keeping him from healing.
Hating to watch the action from the nosebleeds, Moogi waved at me to get back into the fight. Launching into a full sprint, I used up all my stamina just to reach them, which left me nothing left to attack with.
“Hey, Moogi, (I think I might have fled a little too far that last time. Can you make sure I don’t run out of the zone of Po’s aura?)
Moogi gave me an assertive nod.
Once able to attack, I managed to find an unarmored spot on his foot where a hairy toe was sticking out. Attacking it did considerably more damage than attacking him on his wooden armor. As an added bonus, I didn’t get bombarded by those splinter brambles. Like the earwigs, attacking different spots really mattered in every fight.
“I found a weak spot,” I cried out.
“So, have I!” MacGavin said in a deeper, more juggernauty voice than normal.
Looking up, I spotted MacGavin atop Ambrose’s back, pounding at his exposed neck over and over again. Mac got me there. His spot was much more impressive than stubbing a toe.
Ambrose thrashed and stomped, nearly crushing me while he tried to shake MacGavin off. His elbow knocked me through the air a couple of yards.
I had waited too long to retreat, and now I was paying the price. After hitting solid ground, I inspected my left shoulder. The spiked pauldron on that side was completely gone. Ambrose must have smashed it off with his hit. I was not expecting that at all. Which meant that all of my gear was vulnerable to being destroyed, the Blood Dagger included.
Shaking off my dizziness, I still had fifteen hit points remaining.
MacGavin had been thrown the opposite direction of the battlefield, and Po was now taking a beating with zero relief.
Ambrose flailed, kicked, and chopped relentlessly at our tank.
With one final thrust attack, Po’s shield was down, completely absorbed into his weapon. His sword now looked like a bright stick of energy.
Both MacGavin and I charged in to help take the pressure off of Po. Without our tank, it would be game over for all of us.
*Stand back!* Po broadcasted.
Not knowing what was about to happen, I turned sharply towards the corner of the room, changing my direction.
Moogi stood at an invisible perimeter, with its arms outstretched, showing me how far was too far.
With his weapon completely charged up, Po unleased a new surging lightening attack out of his sword that hit everything in the vicinity. Arcs of electricity bounded like a pod of leaping dolphins.
Ambrose fell to one knee, convulsing.
This attack was much stronger than the beam one. No wonder it took more hits to charge up.
I ran to the sidelines, and MacGavin did a mega jump, avoiding the attack by not being grounded. What a pro.
“Moogi! (Fifty percent!)”
Once Ambrose had reached fifty percent of its hit points, things got a little more interesting. A shockwave burst out of him and knocked us all to the ground. Mac took quite a bit of fall damage because he was already quite high in the air when it happened.
“What’s he doing?” I asked, keeping my potion on the ready. I might not be able to take another hit, especially to a part of me that didn’t have armor.
Ambrose reached down with both hands and pulled at the chain that bound him. There was a loud, grating moan as the tree ripped out of the ground, creating a tree-sized lance with the roots acting as the vamplate and the branches coming to a very sharp tip. It appeared that Ambrose was growing his lance there, and now it was ripe for the picking.
Without that chain holding him back anymore, nowhere was safe.
Po activated his shield once more. Only this time, when he got hit with the tree lance, it did more than just spark—it knocked him back about ten feet.
Swiping with his sword and thrusting his tree lance, Ambrose was executing some outrageous combos.
Just when I thought I had his pattern figured ou
t, he gained a completely new set of moves with that lance. Lucky for me, from this vantage point I could study his every move and attacking arcs.
With a shaky hand, I popped the cork on my instant healing potion and brought it to my mouth.
“We could really use a healer right about now,” Po admitted.
Before taking a sip, I looked at Moogi for answers.
A thought bubble appeared showing that Po was at 30% hit points.
MacGavin was busy in the background, bandaging himself up. It was up to me to save the day. I had to get in there. I had to help out.
I replaced the cork on the bottle and ran towards Po.
Dodging attacks, Ambrose was faster now, yet still a little predictable. He didn’t have to be spontaneous. The knight had a lot of life and did a ton of damage. All he needed was a good hit and it was over for any one of us.
*Oh, hey, buddy. What are you up to?* I heard Havok’s voice inside my head. At first, I didn’t recognize him, and I stopped moving for a moment.
*I am a little busy. I’ll link you later.*
*Okay. Lates.*
Po was taking the brunt of the abuse the best he could. Right as he unleashed his sword beam attack again, I used the opportunity to bridge the gap between us while the boss was slowed.
“Moogi. (Po is at 19%.)”
I was out of the greatsword’s range and made a dash between Ambrose’s legs, holding out the potion for Po to grab.
Ambrose swung right, then left, followed by an unexpected scissor attack, using both the lance and greatsword, at Po. This shattered his energy shield completely and pushed him farther away from me.
Wishing I had done more sports as a child, I tossed Po the instant healing potion.
He jumped towards me and reached out to catch it, but…
The boss charged in with a devastating thrust of his lance, giving Po a hero’s death. There was nothing left but a red mist, which slowly fell to the ground.
The potion bounced off of Ambrose’s thigh from where Po had once been, as he continued through the motion.