A heavy rhythmic pounding welcomed me as my eyes fluttered open, beams of sunlight stretching across the floor through the opened window. The same window Lonni stood beside, his hand still holding the sliding mechanism. Looking down, I found myself lying across a monochromatic white bed, positioned awkwardly in the corner of the Pylon room.
…the fuck?
"Good mornin', Tom. I was starting to worry you wouldn't wake up." Lonni warmly greeted with a bright smile, his eyes lighting up upon seeing me moving.
"God forbid the overpowered asshole with a temper died." Terra added, walking into the room.
"I'll have you know I'm hardly the most overpowered. In fact, among those elite few? I'm probably barely the ni-well…" I stopped pondering the top 10 finalists from the tournament. A shudder ran down my back remembering the monsters that I can confirm dwell among us, including Korbin. Still, that archer seemed pretty morally inclined, even if she did totally brutalize that loud-mouthed pompous prince.
"…I'm one of the few you'd want to find you. I swear." I finally added.
"Cool. There's more of you." Terra replied in a monotone. Ignoring her attitude and checking my resource pools, I was pleasantly surprised to find all of them completely refilled, even though my head still hurt like hell. However, after spending a few moments trying to pin why logically it would still hurt while bolstering full health, the pain subtly subsided.
I swear, this new multiversal living shit just gets better in the worse ways by the fucking day.
Sitting up from the bed and feeling the thin, neatly tucked sheets lightly tugging on my chest. My focus sharply shifted onto my notifications after noticing I had a boat-load still left unchecked. It was mostly the Canis-Pantheris and zombie death notifications though, with each ones correlating level beside their names. The Canis-Pantheris were both level 3, with all of the zombies being measly level 1's. I'd even gotten experience for having Terra and Zach sign the contracts, too.
The boss, however, was a different story entirely.
You have slain [Canis-Tigris Nonpareil (level 5)]!
Additional experience rewarded for felling a stronger foe.
…
*Congratulations!* You've leveled up your class!
(Rogue [level 2])
->
(Rogue [Level 3])
+1 agility +1 endurance added to your stats
…
*Congratulations!* You've leveled up your class!
(Rogue [level 3])
->
(Rogue [Level 4])
+1 agility +1 endurance added to your stats
Holy shit, three levels in one fucking day?!
Now, one could argue, 'Tom, you've accomplished so much in such little time? Soul binding contracts, Pylon userption, slaying giant undead rats, massive waves spiders and their oversized mother, gargantuan wolf-tigers, literal fucking zombies, and a towering shadow wolf-panther boss just to top all of it all off. Of course you leveled up!?' I'd say sure, yeah you're right, except the levels came only after the last boss. Now true, I never really check these notifications as they come for I believe to be obvious reasons; fighting, hunting, surviving, all plausible culprits. But I'd NEVER miss a level up notification, and the frequency of annoying dings that rang through my head after defeating the last boss Implies the oversized dog-cat was responsible for a metric fuck-ton of experience. Which…is pretty fucking good to know is a possibility.
Reviewing my stat list, I noticed a boost in perception by one point, with a '+10%' symbol marked next to it. The same symbol could be seen next to agility, but it didn't manifest until I'd willed to search for the same symbol on other stats. That wolf-tiger boss clearly had a much higher perception than me, which didn't come to a surprise. Those animals have only appeared at night so far, meaning they were most likely nocturnal hunters who needed great vision. And, well, cats also just have great night vision.
Now, the agility boost on the other hand was a tiny hit to my pride. After all the buffs, my titles, and specialty items aimed towards boosting my speed to the max, that thing was still faster?! As much as I enjoyed the huge experience boost having slain the beast, one other factor bothered the absolute shit out of me.
I'm an outlier here. No two ways about it, the armor and insane weapon stat boosts alone just screams lucky, at most coincidentally qualified. That's not even taking into account the extensive experience in fighting to the death came rather recently all things considered, even if no one actually died. So how could any normal, untrained human being possibly have hoped to fight that fucking thing?! To me, the only logical explanation was that it wasn't supposed to be at the settlement at all. Why the oversized feline and its pack would be limited in the first place however I don't know, nor the source of those zombies.
Wait, the zombies…fuck, KORBIN.
The bed frame creaked loudly as I thrusted myself off the bed, scrambling to grab my twinblade resting against the wall in the corner and darting for the door. Lonni extended his massive arm across the exit, his thigh-sized forearm pressed gently against my chest.
"Woah woah, Tom. You should be resting man, I spent good TP for that bed. You hit your head like, hard out there, it was bleeding a l-"
"Doesn't matter, thanks, and I'm fine. But I have to check on my people. We leave now, all of us." I told them, twisting my second foot into my striders I'd nearly bolted out of the room without. Finding out who stripped me to my undershirt will be a violent discussion for another time.
"O-okay. You two heard the man. Let's get going." Lonni stammered confusedly to Terra and Zach. Without another word, we took off out of the pylon room and strident through the settlement exit. I'd nearly stopped in my tracks at finding absolutely no remains of our fight with that Canis-Tigris. None other than a small crater in the dirt where I'd apparently finished the beast off. Though, all I remember is stabbing into the beast as it slammed us both down, a heavy thud, and then total darkness. My mind racing trying to recall the fight, my eyes widened realizing I couldn't hear the others' boots clapping discordantly behind me. I stopped, turning back with a sigh at how far they had fallen behind. Once they got within spitting range, I turned heels and resumed the trek back to the settlement.
My resumed traveled didn't last long however, as the three others continually struggled to keep up with me, even when I'd limited myself to a brisk jog just to get my muscles loose. Frankly, these guys were slow. Especially Lonni. That didn't mean they shouldn't be useful, of course. Lonni having blasted me across the forest on accident paying plenty tribute to these strangers and their possible capabilities. Still, I have no time right now to wait around while they huff and puff through the increasingly humid woods under the hot sun. Not with the possibility of Korbin and his family being overwhelmed by the zombies of our fallen fellow settlers. So…what better opportunity for them to prove their worth?
"Alright, listen. I got to get back home, like ASAP. Lonni, I'm leaving you in charge of these three. You're going to lead them to the Pylon, you remember the way right?" I asked him, the group tiredly glancing among one another in concern.
"Uh, yeah. I remember the way but, you sure were going to be okay?" Lonni said, subtly flicking his eyes toward the other two. I patted his shoulder, then jumped up to swing my arm around his neck as we walked a bit from the other two.
"You're strong Lonni. Real strong, in more ways than one. A quality that should get you three to the next Pylon just fine quite frankly. I know what you can do, I've felt it personally." I said, rolling my shoulders to alleviate the phantom pain in my back. "But, these two have to be more than just ex-military to fit in right now. So let them prove themselves. Now, I gotta go. Be safe bud." I added.
Lonni's lips opened with the intent to speak, but I wasn't about to listen. Twisting on the balls of my feet, my legs immediately began pumping like pistons that belong to an engine I could never hope to afford, headed straight toward the beach. Sure, my overall movement speed increase during combat was already unmistakable, but this was my first time simply just running since the integration. And, well, I still don't think I'll be a 'run for fun' kind of guy but, I'm pretty fucking fast.
A smile crept across my face being thoroughly amused in my massive increase in athleticism, leaping instinctually over a sharp branch and somersaulting over the outstretching roots of the massive sequoias that peppered the forest like wood skyscrapers, passing the spot where me and Lonni killed those first Canis-Pantheris' yesterday.
A chilly mourning fog suddenly enveloped the forest in what felt like a single second, the air pressure shifting violently and causing popping in my ear as a wall of fog collapsed around me. My feet felt incredibly light, my heart rate nearly unchanged as I sped through the forest blindly. Within 12 minutes of nonstop sprinting and easily mantling the rapidly appearing obstacles hidden under the fog. Sand softly collapsed around my boots as I found myself stood just outside the gate to Korbin's Pylon. Magma cannons were now accompanied by a wall of orange energy that covered the perimeter walls of our… I suppose it's fitting to call it a city at this point based on size. Though, I suppose we lack the qualifying population at this point..
There were far more buildings peaking over the walls of the perimeter, all equipped with their own set of magma cannons and unmanned watchtowers. Approaching the gate, the glimmering metal wall opened from the middle like massive twin doors, rather than rising as it had my last visit like a garage. Behind stood Korbin, holding his rotting, dark ooze leaking little rat companion who exuded a terrible pallet of unknown foul smells, Randy. Korbin's hand gently stroked the back of the beasts sludge-greased nape like it were a common house cat.
"Hey buddy! You're back early, and you look sweaty?" Korbin peered behind me, his cheery attitude quickly dropping at noticing I was alone.
"Tom, did they fucking die already?" He asked, removing all prior enthusiasms in his speech and mannerisms. Even Randy's brow furrowed disapprovingly.
"What? No, no are you good though? Is Kaitlyn and Anna okay?"
Korbin's face contorted from his very familiar disappointed self to a look of genuine concern.
"Yeah, why?"
"The zombies? You didn't have any issue killing them then?" I answered, looking over his shoulder into the settlement.
"Zombies?! What zombies?" Korbin questioned, looking completely lost and scanning the area himself.
"Y-…you didn't have any?!" I reluctantly asked, knowing full and well he would've have noticed those clumsy and apparently heat-seekers of zombies. Especially since we built the foundation of this place just outside their graves…in fact, I'm pretty sure this place has expanded far past the shoreline Korbin buried them at.
"No, not last time I checked. Shit, I take it you did?" He asked, looking a little too excited for my liking.
"Yeah, it was the folks that died at that Pylon prior to us even getting there. They got back up at night, let in a big ass Canine-Tiger boss and damn near killed me." Korbin's eyes ignited as his excitement visually welled with every word.
"Okay okay, so wait because, I saw the notification that you finished those contracts last night. I figured, 'oh okay, he just went there, gave it and went to bed' type deal. You said a fuckin' boss snuck in there?" Korbin asked, his free hand extended as if begging for an explanation. Sighing, I gave Korbin the rundown of last night's horrifyingly thrilling trials and tribulations. Everything from the dog-cats, zombies, the boss, even my incredibly brief run-in with the guilt of having slain Terra's brother.
Korbin was like a little kid at story time, a bright grin creases across his beaming face as he listened with wonder to every detail.
"Damn, so you just left them back there to figure it out, for lil' old me?" He asked, spinning his toe in the dirt.
"Shut up. I thought you might be rotting flesh, and was gonna do you the decency of a quick death." I shot back.
"Please, the only thing rotting is your companions' corpses against a tree stump somewhere right now." Korbin quickly replied.
"Ha-ha, hilarious. Lonni's capable. He'll get them here." Korbin's head tilted, narrowing his eyes at my reply.
"Lonni? The 'cowardly giant' Lonni?" He curiously inquired.
"Yes. Well, no. I don't know, he switched up on me yesterday. Just snapped out of some catatonic fear-state I guess. He's a really cool dude now honestly." I briefly answered. What exactly caused him to switch was a mystery and, frankly one I have got to remember to ask about when he gets here. But when was easy to figure; after killing zombie Nathan. He must've really fucking hated that guy or something, because he finally showed an edge about him after handling the zombified manifestation of his ex's psychotic brother. Whatever it was, I could only rejoice he turned out to be so solid, assuming yesterday wasn't a flash in the pan.
"Oh, well that was fast." Korbin said, looking plenty confused himself.
"I don't know man. Hey I uh, sort of had this whole self empowerment moment with Lonni about their trip so, I'm just gonna go meditate for a bit until they get here and try shake that shit, that cool?" I asked, pointing toward the ocean. Korbin smiled as Randy leapt from his hand, allowing him to cross his arms.
"Sure buddy, enjoy it actually. Whenever they do arrive, you all are going to start pulling your fuckin' weight around here." He said, gesturing to the settlement.
"Um, okay? That sounds fair I suppose but, how?" I asked.
"Professions, you lazy shit. Now go stare at the back of your eyelids, and bring them into my office at the Pylon building when they arrive." Korbin said, walking back into the city, the massive doors shutting behind him.
Oh, no, I'm not hungry or anything but, thanks for asking.
Finding a nice spot along the shoreline where the tide just barely reached, I took a moment to bask in the natural beauty constantly unfolding before me. 8-foot crystal blue waves curved and crashed into themselves, the energy rippling dozens of feet across the water sending its full force rushing along the sand towards my crossed legs, seaweed piles being left at my feet in its wake. The unnaturally large birds above soared higher than they ever had before this whole Tutorial shit, their outlines resembling the grandeur of stunt jets zipping across the sky. Even the little crabs under large rocks along the shore were noticeably bigger, but were still small and docile enough to fall under 'cute' on my personal danger scale.
Closing my eyes, I focused on the soothing sounds of the ocean oscillating against itself, the rhythms feeling as in tune with my mind as the very blood circulating through me. Drifting into a meditative slumber, a final thought flashed through my mind.
Man, I bet Lonni's doing so well right now.
———————————————————
"…Now, I gotta go. Be safe bud."
"But T-" dust and few broken twigs kicked up into my face as Tom took off at inhuman speeds toward his beach Pylon, leaving me alone to lead Terra and Zach the rest of the way there. Tom was definitely an interesting guy, secondary to being the absolute monster in a fight that is. The first time seeing him practically toying with Anthony so handily should've been the first tell of his skillset. Then again, I have no clue what this guy was up to before this crazy tutorial shit to be this strong.
It was only after he blew up Carl and Cole's heads like a needle to a pair of overinflated helium balloons that the implications of what 'power' means nowadays truly hit me. In fact, it scared the ever living piss out of me. For hours, thoughts of being powerless to this guys blinding speed, the energy that swirled around both him and that Korbin fellow tormented me. I couldn't see the energy, but it was thick and palpable, like fumes in a sealed room. It made my knees buckle, though I felt no pain, not even weakness. It was even more involuntary than either of those reactions. Like the air itself was electrified, causing my nerves to tingle from statically charged head to toe.
All my strength, my combat experience, it meant nothing against a…half-decently built dude. True, I chose a mechanics role when I signed up, but that didn't mean my hands were clean with how often shit hit the fan where it shouldn't have. Not by a long shot. Best I could do was defend myself like prey and survive like a roach. Death constantly looming in every direction, especially with the contracts Anthony signed us up for after we went private. Of course, then there was that crazy ass tournament where we were forced to fight each other like animals. I didn't like being faced up against folks I would've died to protect the day prior, though that line grew entirely too blurry I got out a while ago. Even there, I lost to an absolute monster wielding a pair of massive hammers. What's worse, he pretended to let me use one after I couldn't help but compliment their incredible design. The weight distribution to have such small handles on maul-head of that magnitude was all but impossible for a person to wield practically before, I couldn't help but ask about it. Being eliminated wasn't so bad though, got to hang out with Terra and the group for a while to discuss our game plans and kick the shit.
Then, last night, we got back to the Pylon after exploring or surroundings. Seeing the bodies of my friends had hurt me in a way I was terribly too familiar with and not ever truly ready for. But to fight them? One would think it would be hell, like you just couldn't imagine bringing yourself to do it. Then Nathan rounded the corner. Nathan, that fucking rat. In over 25 years, I've never once understood why we kept that shit stain around.
The man was just evil, there was no denying it. Soon as the tournament opened up, he was taking his time hurting people at the fire arena. Including the women he'd be matched up with, something I had several heated arguments that ended in fist fights over, for ENTIRELY too fucking long. A sick fuck quite honestly, but he was great at killing and hid his true intentions well in public. Well, when he needed to in public. Every tour, every contract, he'd be tucked somewhere a football field away, veiled under his homemade camouflage. One by one, he'd 'reset' the target's heads as he put it. Didn't change how utterly fucking twisted his mind was.
"Uh, Lonni? Shouldn't we just head inside and stay here, where it's safe?" Zach asked from behind me, completely derailing my train of thought.
"No, not at all. I know the way, and daylight is much safer. Just don't be a coward for a few hours, and you'll be fine." I answered, focusing my gaze mainly on Zach at that last part.
"Why do you trust this guy so much? He's a total stranger, yet your real quick to follow his orders." Terra asked, looking annoyed with me.
"He's strong, Terra. Not just physically, but here," I tapped my chest, "and, kind of here." I said touching my head. "There's no reason to doubt his word, because he keeps his own to himself from what I've seen. I launched him across the forest like loose change Terra, and he came right back and damn near wiped us all out. The beast we killed last night? That was mainly all him. I just kept it busy until he could touch the thing." Terra's eyes fluttered in disbelief hearing my piece.
"I just don't understand. His way of thinking is soo…ruthless." Terra replied with a flicker of a sneer, before slumping her shoulders and clutching her forearms nervously.
"Maybe, but look around you. Everything has the freedom to be as ruthless as it likes. If you want any peace, you got to be able to be ruthless to defend it. He's just doing what he feels he must." A grin taking my face after so much serious talk before I continued.
"Come on, the other Pylon's way nicer. It's right on the beach too, real serene vibes. I think you'll love it." I told Terra, hoping she'd have enough hope to get going. She sighed in annoyance before finally responding.
"Alright, fine. Come on, Zach." Zach looked utterly shocked we weren't abandoning the instruction of the guy who just disappeared into the forest. Zach wasn't always a whiny fucking moron. Most of the time, he was rather capable. It's when stress and unanticipated variables on missions came about that he lost his wits. Unfortunately, none of this was predictable for any of us, which is probably why he's so useless. With any luck, he'll get used to this place a bit like I did, and soon.
After 30 minutes of fast walking through the many sequoia trees and clusters of foliage below while headed east, the wildlife showing less prevalent almost all at once as we crossed into a low hanging fog. The temperature dropped substantially as the mist contacted my skin.
A tinge of disappointment blossomed in my chest no longer seeing the dog sized squirrels and peaceful cow sized Capybaras roaming the woods anymore. Growing up a farm hand for my pops, I knew if animals cleared it meant a predator's scent was in the air.
"Just so you guys know, there's giant spiders out here. Lots of them. No sleepwalking." I announced while scanning around forest.
"OH. Oh ok. 'Giant Spiders by the way', thanks for the heads up Lonni." Zach exclaimed frustratedly. More will to avert my attention, I turned to face Zach seeking eye contact. His shoulders rose with his hands.
"I-I mean let's keep an eye out, y-you know?"
Coward.
Shaking my head, I continued forward along our journey. The trees along forest grew much closer in this section, which made me feel quite claustrophobic in truth. Of course, this area I recognized as the quarter way point back to the beach. 2 hours isn't a terrible pace, at the very least survivable.
After a few more minutes, rustling behind some large bushes a few yards away from us snatched our attention. Zach and Terra froze, dropping their head down to remain hidden. I crept toward the sound, peering through the bushes to locate the cause.
My shield ahead, I separated the foliage I'd felt made the noise, readying my flail for any monster that lay ahead. Of course, initially I saw nothing. That was until additional rustling brought my attention down to the baby cub sat on its rear below me, its head at about my belly button. It looked up at me, fear encompassing its body language as it whimpered scooting back.
"Shit, hey guys we got to get moving." I said quickly reverting to our previous route.
"What? Why what's wrong?" Terra asked, pacing beside me.
"Nothing yet, let's keep it that way." I answered, maintaining speed.
"Okay, you can't just keep us out of the loop on this trip." Terra demanded, slowing her strides.
"All I have to do is make sure you live on this trip" I snapped, annoyed with her constant prodding.
"That's rich from the guy who was pissing his pants not 24 hours ag-"
"Don't fucking start with me Terra."
"Hey guys?! Why the fuck did you pass this by, this things pelt and meats will last us a few days?!" Zach asked, dragging a lifeless oversized cub by its fur behind us.
"Zach, you fuckin' IDIOT!?" I yelled, walking towards him now. His eyes widened as he began backing up before flipping around as if reacting to a noise behind him. He sprawled toward me out of nowhere, followed by the thundering crashing of snapping bush limbs as the momma bear had apparently returned home.
Throwing Zach to the side, I raised my shield to block the charging behemoth of a bear. It crashed into the front, causing me to slide across the grass on my heels. Swinging my flail did no good, as the position I held my shield blocked the short chain from wrapping around enough for any real force, my arm unable to would reach around the shield.
Terra's magic purplish-light flew into the beast from behind, hitting its front leg. The bear hardly winced, but the leg itself gave out under the pressure. Pushing with all my might, I shoved hard off the beast, creating just an inch more of space to get a swing off. As my flail swung around however, the bear stood on its hind legs, affectingly slipping the spiked ball entirely as my weapon whiffed completely past it.
Zach closed in from behind the beast for a stab with his sword, only to be paw'd back through the air, smashing into a tree before falling limp to the ground. I'd found my footing just in time to step to the side of its falling paws as it returned to all fours.
Terra sent out another ball of purple energy toward the raging beast from its side, working her way to Zach from a distance. The magic puffed into its ribcage, the beasts head whipping toward her with an angry snarl in response. Its body twisted toward her as it quickly switched targets. My shield bashed into the bears thick skull as it began its charge, pumping my legs as it savagely thrashed its body trying to reach Terra, pushing us away from them at a curved angle. Once at a comfortable distance away, my leg stomped down shoving off the beasts thick skull.
Seeing more space was created, my flail flew from over top, headed for its rear as it struggled to stop its forward momentum. The bears legs shuffled to the side, my spiked ball grazing one of its hairs as it avoided my attack. A paw came flying toward me, its talons shining a chrome color in the light as I blocked. The paw smashed my shield, its claws piercing into the wood in front of my face before being torn from my hand.
"Fine, KEEP IT!" I yelled in frustration, swinging my flail in front of me in a downward circular motion to each side. The bear began reeling a bit, staying just outside my flails range. The beast roared in anger from not getting to attack, then charged at me with reckless abandon.
The elusive bear timed its attacks well, slipping between my swings, forcing me to turn and push off its head before it could wrap an arm around me. Its massive metal tipped claw came down on my side, ripping through skin in the gap of my armor and denting the portion it did hit.
Pain shot through my body like a cold plunge, a wave of energy surging through me. My arm strained under the force of unleashing a second flail barrage. The bear still somehow staying just out of my reach. Every few swings the bear would stab forward with a paw, clipping my shoulder then leg. Blood dripped down my armor.
If this fucking chain was a little longer.
Tom's double sword thing had a chain, an adjustable one too. I'd seen him make it a bit longer, or shorter, within just a few fights with it. Sure the lightning stuff was crazy strong, but that's not what I needed right now. Tom could reach this fucking thing. After all, it's not all that fast. I'm just…well, slow. My agility was dwarfed by my strength stat, at a 10:25 ratio, my strength had never felt more awkward than after the weird guy in the white room gave me a class.
Speed wasn't a necessity here either, though. Just range. My rapid continuity of swings continued, as did the monster's savvy awareness of where the damn flail was. It felt calculated, like it was actually aware of my strikes rather than reacting like a beast. Its counter swipes were beginning to hurt more than my hate could will, only infuriating me further.
Come on..
I swung for its exposed leg, only for it to be raised away just before contact.
Come ON…
Doing my best Tom impression, I shuffled my feet closer toward it for another swing, this time for the bears ribs. It raised its second leg, standing tall on its hind legs before moving its torso just far enough back, turning its hips to land away from me.
I stepped forward launching an overhead smash with the flail, aimed for its head.
Fucking REACH!
The animal leaned on its four shoulders to duck its head away from the trajectory of my flail, setting its feet for another counter swipe. A *clunk* sound and feeling shifted in my flail, however, followed by the spikes bashing into its skull, the smack echoing through the forest. Looking at my flail, the chain looked longer, by a decent margin.
Not willing to consider my newfound advantage, I pressed again. The beast was rocked, wobbling on its feet trying to defend itself. A claw would swipe in much slower, giving me time to bash its chest while its weight was forward. The sound of metal on metal exploded from the impact as my flail tinked off it's hard midsection. The bear roared as it stood up once more, its teeth the same shiny chrome as its claws, a gap in its fur where my weapon had hit revealing the same chromatic texture on its stomach.
Swinging upward, the bear lurched down for a double paw strike, only for its jaw to be met by my flail. Its jaw cracked and shattered, hanging vertically under its crooked nose. Swinging from the side, its attempted to drop its legs and turn tail back into the woods, its head dropping out of range.
Oh FUCK no.
Heat radiated throughout my body, burning with the ambition to kill this monster of a bear. I willed for my chain to extend as it fled, the familiar thump in my handle now tenfold as the spiked ball flew out like a hammer throw in the Olympics. As it loomed over the bear's shoulder, it turned in surprise, only for its head to be caved in as my arm finished its swing, the chain locking in place.
The beast crumbled to the forest floor, blood splattered on the trees and grass surrounding its corpse. My legs felt like paper under me, my whole body aching with a considerably sharp pain deep in my stomach.
*ding*
You have slain [Iron Ursid Level-3]
*Congratulations!* You've leveled your class!
(Warrior [Level 1])
->
(Warrior [Level 2])
+1 strength and +1 toughness has been added to your stat sheet.
Oh, oh good.
Falling to my ass, I sat on the fallen foliage below me, still 5 feet from the bear. My hand still gripped my flail, the chain running all the way to the bear's skull where the spike ball rested. My mind was a bit of a haze, trying to recall how I'd even changed the length of my chain.
It was eery, recalling how in touch I'd felt for a split second to the metals in my chain. I'd willed them to duplicate, as if they'd always been there. What makes me feel absolutely insane is, I swear it responded. Not with words, but affirmation. Of course, the length it rested at now more than quadrupled its prior giving confirmation of what happened.
I tried willing it back shorter, but the weakness I'd felt flared in my stomach, with a caution flashing in my notifications.
WARNING!
Attempting to use mana when completely depleted can result in long term damage, including some to other resource pools. This is the only warning you will receive. Good luck!
Confused, I checked my status, and noticed my mana was completely empty.
Health: 87/151
Mana: 0/52
Stamina: 34/104
Holy shit, I'm tired.
"Lonni!?" Terra yelled, running over to me.
"Hi, please don-" Terra began moving me all around, inspecting my wounds to make sure nothing was fatal. The pain forced a grunt from me, cutting my pleas short.
"How the hell did you even do that?! Your chain went out like a harpoon or something?" She asked, ripping her cloth undershirt to cover a claw wound on my side.
"No clue, besides a little wishful thinking to be honest. Costed me all my damn mana though." I said, not sure whether to praise or curse this new resource of power.
"Well, from what you shared when we got here, that ain't much to miss." Terra joked back as she tightened some torn cloth around my arm. Seeing Terra tending to my wounds again slowly brought the memory of Zach's existence, swiftly followed by a burning rage at his having provoked that damned bear in the first place.
"Where's the dipshit at?" I asked, only remembering his heavy tumble after I spoke. Peering over to the tree he'd fell under, he was gone.
"He's fine, for now. Thought I might kill him myself. He ran off to skin that cub, said he'd come get the momma afterwards." Terra said in disgust.
"Fuckin' heathen, he better prove his brass on this fucking trip. I'm not vouching for him." I sneered, feeling my resentment building for the idiot.
"Well…none of your wounds are mortal. And we'll all live to bring these home…" Terra began, straying from eye contact..
"…you're saying he wasn't wrong." I concluded aloud. Terra smiled meekly.
"I mean the pelt and claws on those things are pretty crazy, Lonni. He might not have meant for us to win like we did nor really contribute but, we still came out on top?" Her shoulders shrugged as she pitched the man's incidental accolade of endangering us just enough for good rewards. I was going to dismiss it until the memory of leveling crossed my mind, and I knew this fight must have played a huge hand in that.
Sure, I got some credit for that massive wolf fight with Tom, but I soloed this beast. It was all me. Honestly, it felt damn good, and I'd be blind, or at the very least willfully ignorant not to see Zach's stupidity was the catalyst.
"…alright, but he can't fuck up anymore. Not on this trip, or I'm leaving him for the spiders." I replied, amplifying my voice in hopes he'd hear. It's not great having to talk about anyone like this, but he needs to know the stakes.
"Fair enough. He's our friend, you know?" Terra said with a smile, clearly not understanding where my priorities are.
"Let's just get moving, help me get this shit out of its head."
After freeing my weapon, and Zach taking his time skinning the half metal hide from the momma bear, we set off again for the beach Pylon, my body throbbing with each step. The flail chain was stuck being ridiculously long until could get some mana back, so Zach was on both pelt and spike ball carrying duty behind me.
"Hey!…aren't y-you like…super strong or whatever?" He whined from behind, his feet dragging under him.
"Aren't you, like, the guy that almost got me killed or whatever? Keep walking, we're getting there." I snarled back, fighting the urge to bash his head with my good arm.
Fucking Zach.
Another 30 or so minutes passed, and the group had effectively exhausted all dialogue twice over. Zach would bitch every so often, but now even Terra was annoyed with him enough to shut that shit down before I had the chance, allowing me to save my strength for the journey. It felt necessary considering the mangled giant spider corpses that littered some areas of the forest as we trucked on. Much of which looked half eaten, with some smaller rodent looking hearts lying dead beside their half-eaten remains.
At first I figured this was Tom's work, however the scratches, bite marks and chunks of flesh ripped off implied this was another animal's doing. All the same, I focused on training all my senses on our environment. Though after tracking only a little further, my own legs began failing beneath me.
"Lonni man please, let's hold up a second. We've been walking for so. Long." Zach moaned from somewhere behind me.
"Yeah I'm not gonna lie, Lonni. I could really use a second." Terra added through surprisingly heavy gasps.
"Me too guys. I did fight a fucking bear today. We all get to bitch when we get there, it's close." I replied through my own heavy huffs. Kindness was a luxury for the comfortable right now, which wasn't me. Besides, the clearing to the beach was visible now, just around 40 years in front of us.
"Lonni, please I'm be-"
"No, Zach."
"Bro my fucking legs are on f-"
"No, Zach."
Pelts and the flail end fell to the floor all at once, making me turn to see why. Zach dropped to a knee.
"I'm fucking exhausted dude! Let me rest for just a min-" my hand was already on his throat pulling him to eye level with me.
"I have had about ENOUGH of your constant complaining, Zach. Either keep up, or stay behind. No one is waiting around for you." I said, dropping him and turning back toward the clearing.
Zach lay there coughing before he caught his breath.
"Man, you're just fuckin' like him now then?"
Zach spat at me through heavy gasps.
Like who?
Turning, I was about to ask when the site of a 10 foot long snake slithering down the tree behind him distracted me.
"ZACH WATCH OUT!" I leapt forward at the snake, pain sweeping throughout every bone in my body as I moved. Zach just ducked, but thankfully I'd managed to snatch the large viper by its neck in time for Zach's move to not even matter. Landing, I spun around a few times holding its head away from me, before launching it deep into the forest.
My arm cracked and screamed with pain as I did, collapsing me to a knee briefly. A cacophony of horrible hissing sounded from the foliage around us jarred me back to attention.
"East, to the light, just book it!" I yelled while beginning the mad dash for my life. My body wasn't functioning, my shield was gone, my weapon was compromised, my companions were too weak, and now I had to run. The others quickly passed me, only for Zach to slow up a bit, holding my arm and pulling me with all his might trying to help me run quicker.
"Come on jarhead?! Move it!" He yelled, only to trip on a fallen tree limb, tumbling over his own feet. My hand snatched his arm, yanking him to his feet before he could slow us both down too much.
The snakes weren't as fast as the spiders, but they were definitely on our tail by the sounds of their hungry hisses. I felt a few strikes grazing the heels under my boots when we broke through the tree-line and onto the beach. Seeing the massive super city surrounded by fiery walls, I pointed to it and wordlessly beelined for the door.
A few snakes kept chasing as we approached, until a cannon fired a giant ball of fire expertly over us, instantly frying the pursuing snakes in a burst. Seeing no reason to sprint anymore, we stopped, all catching our breath.
The front doors began opening, revealing Tom, looking completely the same as he'd left us a few hours earlier, maybe a little more rested.
"Oh! You made it. What's up guys? How was your trip?"
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