by Jason Cheek
“What a bunch of fucking idiots. You kill me, and I respawn, whoop-de-fucking-do. You guys, however, are going to be losing some fucking levels by the time they’re done with you.” I said with a bloody grin, pointing back behind them at the wall of Worg Riders nearly on top of us.
I could see the sudden comprehension in the eyes of the Syndicate players standing around me as they gazed out incredulously at the army of NPCs charging across the field. The problem was pretty straightforward. There were only two places the Syndicate players could respawn: either the graveyard inside the town limits or the graveyard at the edge of the forest on the outskirts of town, which also just happened to be located in the middle of the invading Goblin army.
With their current list of crimes against Delonshire, any Syndicate player appearing in town would be immediately killed or imprisoned on sight and then banned from using the graveyard in town. This would constitute a loss of experience points due to being killed by NPCs. The graveyard outside of town basically had the same issues, except the Goblins would immediately slaughter them instead of Delonshire guards. The only plus side would be that they wouldn’t officially be banished from Delonshire if they ever decided to change their reputation with the town. Either way, they were looking at losing some levels from the constant deaths.
Genele was the first to react. Stamping down on my chest with his booted heel, he raised his sword to end my life just as a silvery shape slammed into his chest with a growling shriek. I saw a flash of fangs as blood sprayed over my face as the Syndicate Guild Leader stumbled back clutching at his throat as Neysa suddenly appeared next to me covered in blood. Whipping around, she dove on top of Mebrin, the Syndicate’s priest, instantly bearing him to the ground as her fangs ripped out his neck in another spray of blood.
Neysa’s attack was like a catalyst to my words as the Syndicate players as one turned around and ran. Each was hoping to break away from the attack on Delonshire to save their hard earned levels. If they’d worked together as a group, some of them might have managed to fall back all the way to the forest to break contact with the invaders and survive but, as always with PVP Guilds like theirs, it was everyone for themselves. Within seconds the only two Syndicate players left next to me were Mebrin and Genele. I heard Mebrin’s gurgling scream as Neysa savaged the priest’s throat with a wrench of her jaws as his Hit Points plummeted to a sliver. Pushing myself back up to my knees, I shouted at Genele.
“Hey, asshat! Why don’t you tell me once again who's going to be losing their sponsors after this shit gets posted?” I laughed at Genele as his face took on a purple shade. I thought for sure the coward was going to run off after the rest of his guild as I watched his eyes dart nervously around the field, but as the line of Goblins slammed into the players attacking Delonshire, he turned towards me with a look of fury as he started stalking towards me once again. Before he’d taken three steps, Neysa leaped away from her dying prey and lunged for the Syndicate Guild Leader.
I watched in horror as Genele managed to get his sword up in time to stop her lunge by thrusting his blade deep into Neysa’s ribs as she fell back whimpering in agony. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw that Neysa still lived. Instead of falling back, she backed up out of range of Genele’s sword as she warily circled the warrior looking for an opening.
Although Neysa was now Level 27, in comparison to Genele’s Level 25, and should’ve had a fighting chance to take him out, I knew that like me, Genele had taken the P&M exam and would easily tear her up instead. Even worse, Neysa had started the fight out with only a third of her Hit Points. I helplessly clenched my fists as I watched her dark blood pour out of her wound. With my current 18 points of health, I wasn’t in any shape to give her a hand. Hell, I’d be lucky to climb to my feet without help. I gnashed my teeth in frustration. There had to be something I could do. I was searching through my available spells when I took notice of Mebrin’s rattling breaths as he clutched helplessly at his torn throat.
Immediately, the beginnings of a plan began taking shape in my mind. While I’d been going through my skills and spells, I noticed that the two Death magic spells I had only took 45 Mana to cast. The only problem was that the Raise Zombie spell was a three-minute cast. Even so, it was the only chance I could see for us to take this asshat down.
With one hand on my sword, I began crawling towards the dying priest. I saw the panic in his eyes as he saw me come to a stop next to him. Smiling into his fearful face, I planted the point of my blade over his heart as I cast my first spell, Soul Stone. As soon as the instant cast completed, I drove my blade through Mebrin’s chest killing him instantly as a Soul Stone with a Level 23 priest appeared in my inventory. Taking hold of the Soul Stone, I laid down on the ground next to Mebrin’s corpse and began casting the next spell I needed, Raise Zombie.
My hands began to weave and twist in the required forms necessary to cast the spell Raise Zombie while keeping my movements hidden. The last thing I needed was for Genele to see me casting a long ass spell. The half-assed plan I’d come with was crazy, but it was the only thing that had the chance of saving us both from the Syndicate Guild Leader. My Mana had barely reached 50 when I’d come up with the rough plan.
Fifty points of Mana normally was only good for one very weak heal or attack spell which wouldn’t be enough to save either one of us. Well, I probably could have cast a heal on myself and left Neysa to her fate, but that just wasn’t who I was. Neysa had somehow come through hell and high water to save my ass at the last moment. Besides, I wouldn’t be able to look at myself in the mirror if I left her here to die. While all of those thoughts were going through my head, I noticed that the two Death spells only took 45 Mana to cast. As soon as I’d seen that, I knew what I had to do even though the Raise Zombie spell was a three-minute cast. It was the only option I could see that gave us a chance to win.
Gritting my teeth, I watched the unfolding battle around me as hundreds of players were slaughtered left and right. For some reason, none of the invaders interfered with the fight going on between Neysa and Genele. Three minutes was an eternity in a battle. I watched with my heart in my throat as Genele chased after my Silver Dire Wolf like a man possessed. At the beginning of the fight, Neysa managed to hamstring the warrior, but after that, she couldn’t break through Genele’s defense. Every time she attacked, his shield smashed her back again and again. Throughout the continuous fighting, Neysa was able to dodge the worst of the warrior’s strikes, but I could tell from her movements that Genele was slowly wearing her down. As my cast came to an end, I heard a Neysa suddenly cry out from a mortal wound as the zombie priest climbed to its feet beside me.
Immediately my senses expanded as if I’d grown another arm that I intuitively knew how to use. The zombie’s spells and attacks instantly became available to me as I rolled to my knees and took in the situation. Even with the Mana I’d used for my three-minute cast, I’d still managed to recover 257 points of Mana. My Hit Point situation was even better at 466. Whoohoo for having high spirit.
I saw Neysa collapsed at Genele’s feet growling in defiance as he raised his sword for the finishing blow, but before the blade could strike its killing blow, my new zombie priest finished casting Holy Shield as a golden aura appeared around the Silver Dire Wolf absorbing the attack. Following my will, the zombie priest immediately began casting Minor Heal on Neysa as Genele’s head whipped around in shock at having his kill stolen from him.
“Goddammit, what the hell do you think you’re doing Mebrin?” Genele shrieked as the golden light from a healing spell enveloped the Silver Dire Wolf at his feet. “If you even think about betraying me, I’ll kill you myself!”
I laughed evilly at the incredulous expression on Genele’s face as my own cast of Holy Shield completed. Again my zombie priest cast Minor Heal, only this time the golden glow was centered on me as my health shot up 480 points. As soon as the light faded, I stood up straight feeling noticeably better. I took a second to cast Ice Barrier as
the gaping wounds on my back instantly healed. With the worst of my wounds mostly mended, I began striding towards Genele with my black blade held at the ready.
“What the fuck are you doing Joe? You’re my freaking brother!”
“How do you like my new friend, Genele?” I asked, chuckling as I came to a stop. Jerking my chin towards my new zombie priest, I willed the creature to step up beside me. Putting a friendly arm around the zombie’s shoulder, I hugged the corpse close as the Syndicate Guild Leader had a conniption.
“Joe, I’m going to beat your ass inside and outside of the game! First, I’m going to break your legs here and then I’m going to log out and break your legs outside of the game!” I let Genele rage and threaten as my zombie began casting another heal on Neysa while I scanned the pitched battle going on around me. Although the Delonshire defenses seemed to be holding, the players in the field were being cut down left and right. The only reason the fight against the players had lasted as long as it had was that there were so many lowbies for the Goblins to slaughter. Even better or worse, depending on who you were, the players were being dragged right back into the fight as soon as they respawned, since the graveyard was basically in the middle of the invaders’ ranks.
Still, even with all of the available targets, I needed to move out quickly if I wanted to get away because soon the Goblins were going to stop ignoring us. The only problem was that Genele was in-between me and Neysa. To be honest, I wasn’t willing to face Genele one-on-one without my full strength. Especially my full casting strength. Hell, the two defensive spells I’d just cast had dropped my Mana pool back down to 137 points, so there was no way I was going to batter the asshole down with my mage attacks.
While I could fight one-handed melee and had acquired a number of special attacks, I wasn’t a professional warrior. I was a fighter. A fighter that currently didn’t even have a working shield. So, facing off against a professional, defensive tank was the last thing I wanted to do. Besides, I wanted to do more than just hurt Genele’s pride. I wanted him to be deleveled back down to a newbie. It was the only way I’d be able to get a couple of days worry-free to head over to the Human lands to help Domenic with his Nightmare quest and get everyone invited to the guild.
Focusing my thoughts to Neysa, I told her to get ready to run as my Mana pool dropped to 87 points. Instantly a wave of ice washed over the Syndicate Guild Leader freezing him in place as I rushed past him to my animal companion on my heels. I could feel her pain through our mental link as she urged me to go on without her. Snorting in annoyance, I spoke to her softly as I sank to the ground next to her side. My heart ached as I ran my hands over my little Silver Dire Wolf’s battered body. Even with two back-to-back Minor Heals, she was still in rough shape as I gently lifted her to her feet.
I heard her whimpers as I ducked my head under her belly to drape her across my shoulders. Her entire body seemed to spasm in agony as I stood up in one go to get to my feet. Adjusting her carefully on my shoulders so that she was wedged between my backpack and neck, I picked up my blade and took off at a run ordering my zombie priest to attack Genele before the sheet of ice holding him in place completely melted away. The zombie’s feral growl was the only response I received from my minion before the shrieking started as the creature tackled Genele to the ground in a feeding frenzy.
Within moments I was in the center of the one-sided slaughter as Goblins rode down the few remaining groups of players who were fighting back-to-back for their lives. Stumbling over corpses, I ran keeping the Dark Blade of Lord Kayden at the ready as I headed for the Delonshire lines. At first, a few individual Worg Riders thought to take me down, but my black blade made quick work of them as I savagely hacked my way through Worgs and Goblins alike. Within moments I was fighting for my life as more and more Worg Riders broke off from their individual attacks against the lowbie players to come after me instead as arrows began raining down on us from every direction. I felt several hit Neysa as I raced through the scrum, but the Holy Shield my zombie priest had cast kept her from taking any damage.
Although the game mechanics stopped me from killing equal level foes with one or two blows, it didn’t stop me from being able to maim the fuckers instead, so as more of the invaders broke away from their slaughter of the lowbie players to focus on me, the more brutal I became. Stabbing through a Goblin’s eye, severing another’s hand at the wrist, cleaving through the front leg of a Worg, a Frost Nova for a larger group, I did my best to keep the Goblins at bay. I hit the proverbial fifty-yard line, but, no matter how many of the green bastards I left screaming on the ground behind me, it just wasn’t enough.
I managed to close to within twenty-five yards of the Delonshire barricades when the shit hit the fan. By then, I was fighting for my life over Neysa’s prostrated body. It all happened in the blink of an eye. One second I was in the home stretch and the next I was blasted off my feet in a confused mass of stank, fur, and flailing limbs. Rolling to a stop, I screamed in agony as one of the Worg’s maws chomped through my lower leg as two others leaped on my chest. One worked to savage my unarmored face while the other snapped at my flailing arm.
There was no time to think. Neysa was lost somewhere in the confused melee, so I had to shrug off the pain and move if I wanted to keep her alive. Like flexing a muscle, I went for my default attack to buy time as an icy wave blasted out from my body freezing Goblin and Worg alike in a ten-meter radius. Pushing the Worg off my face, I drew my Leeching Dagger of Piercing in my offhand and struck at the Worg clamped to my lower leg in the back of the head with both of my weapons, triggering my double Backstab attack as the massive damage killed the Worg instantly.
The eight seconds of the spell’s freeze effect was ticking down as I twisting both blades through the Worg’s vertebrae. Standing up with one hard yank, I tore the beast’s head from its shoulders leaving its fangs still latched to my leg as I swung around and sank my blades into the back of the next Worg’s head killing it in one shot as I triggered my special attack. I had less than two seconds left when I struck the last of my Worg attackers. Ramming the Dark Blade of Lord Kayden up with all of my strength, the blade sank deep into the underside of the Worg’s jaw and into the creature’s brain as I slammed my Leeching Dagger of Piercing through the top of the creature’s skull just as the freeze effect released my attackers.
Healing energy shot up my arm and into my body from the dagger embedded in the Worg’s head as it yowled in agony. Its body convulsed like it had latched onto a live wire as I braced my feet. Using the hilts of my blades like handholds, I swung the Worgs’ body around in a wide arc blasting the three nearest Goblin riders off their clawed feet as I twisted both of my blades to widen the wounds even further. As I spun around, I saw Neysa on the ground a few yards away from me where she’d been thrown in the fall. Completing my spin, I slammed the Worg hard into the ground with a roar as I pinned the beast with my knee like a cowboy taking down a steer. Blood poured out of the Worg’s gaping wounds as I yanked my black blade free and slammed it home again and again until the Goblins riders bum-rushed me.
Backing up to take a stand over Neysa, I fought like a man possessed as I whittled down my attackers Hit Points one strike at a time. The Goblins tried to land a hit on me, but my flashing blades deflected their strikes with ease. Between the high quality of my blades and my enhanced stats, I dominated my opponents as my weapons sliced through their leather armor like hot blades through butter. Still, it was the first time since I’d started playing that I had to rely solely on my melee skills to take down my opponents.
I felt Neysa’s thoughts heavy in the back of my mind, begging me to leave her to her fate so that I would live. While it might be the smart play from a cold-hearted, professional player’s perspective, I wasn’t about to leave her to be butchered alive while I ran for the safety of the Delonshire lines. Mentally admonishing her to save her strength, I fought on using every skill and ability that I had.
Throughout the fight, I
slowly realized that Neysa had barely moved. When I’d first took a stand over her, she’d initially tried to climb to her feet but had immediately collapsed panting heavily. It reminded me of an article I’d read that talked about dogs and pain. Outside of cases of acute injuries where dogs whine or cry out, typically dogs only showed that they were in pain by panting heavy. The thought concerned me enough that I split my attention to check out my girl’s stats after I dropped the first Goblin. Pulling up my HUD, I immediately saw the problem. Whatever Genele had done to Neysa had nearly killed her even with the heals she’d received from my zombie priest. While her wounds had mostly stopped bleeding out, her Hit Points had leveled out at 42 points of health. Meaning, whatever was wrong with her was still going on, only now her blood loss matched her natural regeneration speed.
I swore a second later as another Goblin took the place of the one that I’d managed to kill a moment earlier. Spinning around, I sank my dagger into the second Goblin’s armpit as my dark blade took the nasty creature’s head clean off its shoulders. Kicking the body away, I swore under my breath as another two Goblins took the green bastard’s place a second later.
Stepping up my game, I ignored the pounding from the three new Goblins as I focused my strikes on the last Goblin of the original three trying to burn him down as quickly as possible. Slamming my dagger into the Goblin’s eye, I sliced the fucker open from groin to sternum with my dark blade as the Goblin stumbled back in shock trying to hold in its internal organs. Before I could take a breath, three more Goblins stepped into the newly vacant gap as the situation completely went to hell.
