“So, Leonidas was involved,” I said.
“No, Lord Leonidas was not involved,” Gofi snapped, glaring at his guard. “Lord Leonidas never raised a hand against the Human tribes.”
“But he was there,” I said.
Gofi snorted angrily before nodding reluctantly.
Was Leonidas there egging him on? Did he do something to Gofi to keep him enraged?
“Enough talk, I have answered your questions. Now, either you leave, or you die,” Gofi yelled. The Rhinoman was clearly ready to attack us at the slightest provocation and I wasn’t sure if we could win. Not against a level 31 and his two guards. That was just too big of a level gap for us to overcome without one of us using our ‘Summon: God Fenrir’. And that was an extremely valuable, and likely never to be earned again, onetime use spell. A reward that was given to each of us for helping the God Fenrir.
“Just one more question,” Olaf said, one of his own hands moving toward his hand-cannon.
“Ask, then leave or die,” Gofi said.
“Why would Chief Chosi send us here to kill you?” Olaf asked.
“That traitorous cat,” Gofi roared and stomped his foot again, his anger about to boil over before a hand was place on his shoulder.
“Calm, brother,” a soft spoken Rhinowoman said.
Gofi turned to the source, a fist raised in anger and ready to attack only to suddenly wilt. “Sister Zemira, I . . . I am sorry.”
“Be at peace,” Zemira said, instantly calming the large Rhinoman. “I have listened. I am Zemira, Gogi was my husband. Please, come in and let us speak.”
“But sister . . . they are not Beastkin,” Gofi protested.
“No, they are not,” Zemira replied, walking toward the large hut Gofi originally emerged from.
“Is it safe?” Micaela asked, looking unsure about following and putting to voice what most of us were feeling.
“I do not see the Cheetahwoman,” Vision volunteered, appearing from the spirit realm in a haze of blue smoke.
“Only one way to find out,” I said. “Just in case, be ready to run Vision.”
“Why don’t you stay outside the village and keep watch. If the Cheetahmen show up, come and warn us,” Micaela said, presenting a better idea.
“You got it, Boss,” Vision said, vanishing from view before the words even finished.
With that, we entered the village, nervous and uncomfortable with all the glares directed at us.
The large center hut was filled with oversized furniture. Unlike Chief Chosi’s hut, it wasn’t stuffy or stiflingly hot and filled with the scent of incense. Instead, it was light and had a breeze running through it from the open windows. All in all, a major improvement.
“Go play with your friends, Gobi,” Zemira said as soon as we entered the hut.
The small Rhinoman child looked disappointed but didn’t argue with his mother.
“Please come in and sit,” Zemira said, motioning to a table and chairs. “I will make us tea.”
After the experience with Chosi and her attempts at hypnotizing us, I was less than keen on drinking anything given to me, especially by people Chosi tried to trick us into killing. I doubted she would honestly poison us, she had Rhinoman Warriors just itching for the chance to kill us already.
It only took a few minutes before she placed clay formed mugs before each of us and then sat down herself.
“Why did you agree to kill us?” Zemira asked, cutting straight to the core of it.
“Chief Chosi used a form of hypnotism on us,” Olaf answered. “Bye-bye here resisted,” he paused to motion to me. “But due to the situation at the time, we felt it best to accept the quest if only to get out alive. As a group, we decided that there was more going on and that trying to talk to you would be for the best.”
Zemira nodded. “Chosi . . . she is a very dangerous individual. You are lucky to have escaped with your lives. Though . . . you are adventurers, it is not as if death will stop you for long.”
“Why does she want your tribe destroyed?” I asked.
“I cannot say for sure. What did she tell you?” Zemira asked.
We took a few minutes to relay Chosi’s story, and she nodded along silently.
“It is true, Leonidas was once an adventurer that all Beastkin could rely on to help. And it is also true that he vanished, and based on the story he gave my brother, it is also likely he was taken as a slave.” Zemira stopped for a long minute, clearly looking lost in thought.
“Knowing the stories of your husband does not mean he spoke the truth. However, I believe it’s probable he was taken as a slave,” I said. “But how does that justify destroying three tribes?”
“It is also true, that my husband’s brother committed horrible atrocities in his grief,” Zemira said solemnly. “But killing him will not bring those who died back. It will more than likely spell our deaths as we would be all but defenseless without him. My Warriors are proud, but they do not possess the same skill as Gofi.”
“Which brings us back to the question of why Chosi wants you all destroyed,” I said.
Zemira sipped at her tea, lost in thought once more. “The obvious answer is that it weakens Leonidas’s position as Lord of the Bazaar. However, with his strength, there are not many who could stand against him, not even my oaf of a brother-in-law. I believe this is more political maneuvering by Chosi. Some play that she believes will bring her closer to him.”
“What is her story anyway?” Olaf asked.
“Chosi . . . no, the Cheetahmen are not strong despite being born predators. They are fast and have sharp claws and teeth, but when faced against someone truly strong, they run. They are cowards at heart. The only way they can fight is through subterfuge and deceit. Trickery. It is no wonder their Patron God is Esu, the trickster,” Zemira snorted, disturbing her tea and causing her to blush. “Anyway, Chosi is very much like that. A trickster, something you should have noted with her use of ‘Hypnotism’, trying to trick you into attacking our people, a feat that you would never be able to accomplish.”
“Hey now, no need to be insulting,” Olaf said defensively.
“I mean no offense, but at your current level you would be little more than an inconvenience to my brother and the few Warriors he has available,” Zemira said.
“Would Chosi have known we couldn’t beat Chief Gofi?” Olaf asked, frowning and scratching his chin.
“My brother is not Chief, I am,” Zemira corrected. “A small deceit . . . but do not tell Gofi, he believes he is Chief. Anyway, yes, Chosi would know you would not be able to win.”
If Chosi knew, as the quest suggested, “Then how does she gain?” I voice my thought aloud, getting a bad feeling.
“The Cheetahmen, they are coming,” Vision said, appearing suddenly.
That would explain the bad feeling. This was all a trap.
I cursed as I finally put it together.
“What?” Olaf said.
“Chosi is a lot more clever than I gave her credit for,” I said.
“What do you mean?” Olaf asked.
“Oh Leonidas, adventurers have killed your friend and ally Gofi and his entire tribe. But don’t worry, I will help you in their place,” I said, trying and failing to imitate Chosi’s voice. Still, it got my point across. “It didn’t matter if we succeeded or not. She was always going to attack this tribe, she just used us as a scapegoat, someone she could blame after the fact.”
“That conniving b-” Olaf started to curse but was cut off when Vision reappeared suddenly.
“How many?” I asked, cutting Olaf off as I looked to the Spirit Wolf. Sometimes, I hated being right.
“Twenty-three, including Chosi,” Vision answered. “All between level 19 and 23.” If I had a moment, I would have given Vision praise for becoming such a good scout.
“Spread out around the village or coming straight at us,” Olaf asked, his more military thinking mind already working on a strategy.
“Straight at us,
” Vision answered.
“Good boy,” Olaf said, watching Vision vanish again before addressing the rest of us. “I hope you all are ready for a fight.”
Quest Alert: Chief Chosi of the Cheetahmen 2 (Recommended Level 23-27) – Failed!
Chief Chosi of the Cheetahmen Tribe asks for your help to depose the tyrant Lord Leonidas Lionman, beginning with removing his chief supporter, Chief Gofi of the Rhinomen.
Penalty: Loss of Reputation with Cheetahmen Tribe, Enemy of Chief Chosi
That wasn’t exactly unexpected. I knew we would fail the quest not five minutes after it was offered to us. I supposed deciding we were going to fight for the Rhinomen just made it official.
“You would fight? For us?” Zemira asked, sounding surprised.
“It’s what adventurers do,” Olaf replied with an overconfident grin.
“But . . . I . . . you-” Zemira stammered.
“What Olaf’s says is true,” I said, interrupting the stuttering woman. “However, with that size of a force, we’re going to need help. Can you convince your brother to fight with us?”
“He will protect his people,” Zemira said, refocusing.
“Great, get anyone who can’t fight to safety. If possible, sneak them out of the village to someplace safe, just in case we fail,” Olaf said, checking his hand-cannon once more.
“I get to kill Chosi,” Rose declared.
“No!” Zemira and I said at the same time.
Seeing Rose deflate and pout, I quickly explained. “We need her alive,” I said, then looked to Zemira for her reasons.
“She will have answers to questions I have long wanted answered,” Zemira stated.
While I would have loved to know what questions she wanted to ask, it would need to wait.
Vision reappeared, “They just came in view of the front gate. The Rhinomen do not appear worried.”
“Is it possible they have been hypnotized?” I asked.
“No,” Zemira said sadly. “They just do not see other Beastkin as a threat. They wrongly believe a Beastkin would never harm another Beastkin.”
“Where did they ever get that idea?” Olaf asked.
“Lord Leonidas,” Zemira answered, a frown marring her face. “However, I am certain that he said a Beastkin should never hurt another Beastkin . . . but . . . my brother-in-law is not very smart, a detriment that many of my people share.”
I felt myself growl in irritation. “I just wanted a simple adventure for once,” I grumbled under my breath, steadily getting louder as I ranted. “No politics. No war. Just . . . monster hunting. But can I get that? No, of course not. And why not? Because I’m Bye-bye freaking Jacko.” I tilted my head to one side then the other and rolled my shoulders once. “And I’m freaking pissed.”
“Zemira, better get your villagers moving. Bye-bye looks . . . um . . . yeah. Just, get your people ready,” Olaf instructed.
I spent the walk to the village gates buffing everyone I saw, fighter or not didn’t matter. I spread the magic and then started drinking from my thermos before spreading even more around.
“Sister . . . you would have us fight with . . . with . . . with them?” Gofi asked disbelievingly.
“If we are to survive, yes. And remember, Chosi must be taken alive,” Zemira instructed, telling her brother to capture Chosi for the third time.
“Worry not sister, none shall survive the ‘Piercing Horn Charge’ of the Rhinomen Tribe,” Gofi reassured his sister.
“No, Chosi needs to live,” Zemira said again. “She must be captured. She may have information about my husband, your brother’s capture.”
“What?” Gofi raged loudly. “I will destroy her.”
Zemira groaned. “Gofi, no. Capture her.”
“But . . . she knows about Gogi,” Gofi protested.
“Which is why she must be taken alive,” Zemira said slowly, clearly starting to lose her patience.
Gofi snorted. “But I can still break her legs, right?”
“Probably for the best,” Zemira said placatingly.
“Good, I shall crush her legs,” Gofi declared loudly.
“I shall see to my people’s safety,” Zemira said. “Chash, come get me as soon as the fighting ends.”
One of the two guards that originally stood at attention suddenly and clapped a fist to his chest. “Yes, Lady Zemira,”
Zemira had barely reentered the village when Vision reappeared. “They started to fan out their approach,” Vision said.
“How do the Cheetahmen fight?” Olaf asked, looking to Gofi.
“They are cowardly fighters. They strike quickly and without warning, then flee like cowards,” Gofi answered. “But, if you can shake the ground they stand upon, their speed is worthless.”
“Okay, go for the legs, got it,” Olaf summarized.
Despite what Gofi said, hit and run tactics were fairly effective if you had enough speed to make it work, and the Cheetahmen definitely did.
That left me trying to figure out how I was going to slow them down. I was quickly running through my spell list to find something that might be effective. ‘Beginner Holy Shock’ would be good to stun one target and open them up for something stronger or something like ‘Ligament Rip’ to slow them down. ‘Boar Charge’ would be great but I doubted I would be able to get that many of them gathered together at once. Maybe ‘Lesser Heavenly Blade’ to hold one of them out of the fight and kill them slowly. ‘Lesser Holy Blast’ would be great to counter that kind of speed . . . maybe. Unfortunately, I didn’t really have anything to trip them up. I didn’t even think my ‘Net’ skill would be enough.
“Olaf, you got any tricks for slowing them down?” I asked.
“I do,” said Micaela with a wicked grin. Looking down at her armored hands, she asked, “Shaker, you ready to rumble?”
“And how often can you use that?” I asked.
“Every 30-seconds,” Micaela replied.
It wasn’t a bad cooldown, but I wasn’t sure it would be enough.
“Olaf?” I asked, looking again to the person I originally asked.
“Sorry, I don’t. I can make sticky bombs but . . . I never thought I would need them,” Olaf answered.
“Olaf, next time, ask Jack if you need something,” Rose quipped, her eyes darting around the field outside the village gates, moving from one Cheetahman to the next.
“Baby, I might just kill your sister . . . on accident, of course,” Olaf said.
“I understand completely,” Baby replied. “There are times I wish this was a space-based game so I could vent her into space.”
“Sis, I’m kind of impressed. I never thought you had it in you to even picture killing me, let alone planning for it,” Rose replied, grinning. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve dreamed of plucking your wings off one by one on a few occasions.”
“That’s just disturbing,” Baby replied with a shiver. “Anyway-”
Rose pressed on, “I could always embrace my Vampire side. I bet Fairy tastes delicious.”
“Okay, enough, you win,” Baby said, shuddering. “Anyway, I can-”
Rose smiled victoriously. “Anyway, here kitty, kitty, kitty,” Rose shouted out to the field, cutting off Baby again, working to interlock her shield in preparation for the fight that was about to start. As it was, just after the shields locked into place, we heard something thud then mewl in pain. The sound of rapid footsteps moving away sounded a moment later. “Huh, I didn’t even use taunt yet,” Rose said with a small laugh, something we all echoed.
“You have spirit, too bad you are not a noble Beastkin. If you were, we might have become friends,” Gofi commented, stepping up next to Rose.
“Gee, thanks, that’s just what I’ve always wanted,” Rose replied, suddenly swiveling her interlocked shields just in time for another Cheetahman to thud against it then run away.
“What are they doing?” Baby asked.
“Testing us,” Olaf answered. “B
ye-bye, next time Rose blocks an attack, be ready for a second Cheetahman to try a sneak attack to Rose’s rear.”
I nodded, feeling the tension welling up as the Cheetahmen in the field started lowering themselves and tensing up to pounce, very much like the cats they were related to.
Movement came swiftly and Rose reacted to block. Even as she turned, I moved and attacked the space behind her with my spear, putting as much power behind the ‘Power Thrust’ subskill as I could. The poor Cheetahman that went in for the attack looked at me with wide eyes as he basically skewered himself, unable to stop before he ran right into my spear, piercing through his shoulder and crippling the associated arm in one move.
I jerked the spear back, but it didn’t quite come free. Knowing another attack would be coming at any moment, I kicked the Cheetahman in the chest and pulled back on my spear, wrenching it free in one very not so smooth move, cutting and tearing at the wound.
“Surrender or die,” Olaf said, aiming his one hand-cannon at the Cheetahman.
Unfortunately, before the Cheetahman could surrender, Gofi attacked. A singled metal covered foot stomped down and the life was ended.
“No prisoners,” Gofi stated coldly, glaring at Olaf and me equally.
“Except Chosi,” I mumbled, worried that Gofi wouldn’t care.
“Three right,” Vision said, popping up suddenly then vanishing, leaving most of us confused until Micaela punched the ground, causing a shockwave to rumble through the ground, causing three Cheetahmen to stumble before they could attack us.
Vision tackled the closest of the three, pulling him to the ground for Micaela to attack followed closely by Gofi and three of his Rhinomen, attacking the other two downed Cheetahmen with reckless abandon.
“This is too easy,” Olaf mumbled, seeing Vision was occupied he looked to our aerial support. “Baby, fly up, look for a group trying to sneak around or sneaking into the village.”
“On it,” Baby said, flying quickly upwards then zipping toward the village.
“Jack, follow her,” Rose ordered.
I didn’t need to be told twice, I activated my ‘Sprint’ subskill and ran into the village, following below the flying Fairy and jumping over the village wall when Baby flew past it. Baby stopped suddenly and started throwing blasts of green magic from her little wand at the ground.
World Tree Online- the Endless Savanna- 3rd Dive Page 25
