Ultimatum: The Proving Grounds

by Wade Adrian

  Damn it.

  Those in plain sight were moving now, already firing up at the wall and throwing spells as they ran.

  He was out front, alone… and the mob was pressing in.

  Toby dodged another swing from each of the rogues, but an arrow from a third caught him in the shoulder.

  Damn it all.

  He was going to lose. Everything was going to be lost. They didn’t care about Bulorn. He had just played his part to get everyone they couldn’t seen in close.

  Fuck.

  Toby gritted his teeth. He swung to get the rogues to step back. He raised his voice as high as he could. “Everyone stay on the other side of that damned wall!”

  He swept his hand at the button off to his left.

  The world became awash of red before fading to black. Sound departed, leaving him in silence. Countless bright red and white swirling shapes barely discernible as people filled out the world ahead.

  His character’s voice erupted into a wordless cry he didn’t give as he charged forward, already swinging.

  Their swirling ghostly appendages tried to hit him, but their attacks meant nothing. He didn’t notice them do any harm. Wet noodles thrown at a wall.

  That wasn’t to say they weren’t hurting him, but his hit point bar was missing in action at the moment. For all he knew he could be perfectly healthy. Rage was supposed to reduce incoming damage as it buffed the damage done. With any luck, they had sent Bulorn out to fight because of how long it would take him to die. And if that was the case, it meant the rest were all weaker.

  Red and white shapes faded away as he barreled forward. He slashed and chopped. His could sort of see the Duo and Trio effects, as well as shock waves, but they were all muted and quickly faded into the darkness around him.

  All he knew was black and redish white.

  And redish white was bad.

  Ironic, since they were the color of his own attacks. There might be some self loathing worked into the rage ability. Or it was just a class color thing, regardless of the ability used.

  There were a lot more red and white shapes about than he would have thought. Clearly there were more sneaky types trying to stay out of sight than he had thought. But he could see them now… now that he had no way or actually telling anyone on his side where they were.

  Unfortunate.

  That wouldn’t stop him from going to town on them.

  Which he did.

  Part of his mind was trying to remind him that this effect was not going to last forever. He was getting further and further afield, deeper into enemy territory. He might have already left the range of Paul’s Guard effect and the reach of the healers.

  On the other hand, just because he could see someone now didn’t mean he would see them after the effect ended. Since they were actively trying to hide that was unlikely. Better to be rid of them now.

  He cast Soulbreaker into a tightly knit group. Most of the shapes scattered away, though one fell to the ground and vanished as the sword reappeared in his hand.

  Definetly weaker than Bulorn.

  The red and white shapes were thinning out. Some simply ran, and their ghostly shapes faded as they ran from him, but many had fallen. Not all of it was his doing, many of them fell without him ever getting close. Those on the wall were fighting as well, they were just being more sensible about it and fighting from range.

  A bright spot played across his darkened vision. Red and white shapes flew away from it. Jesse’s lighting, no doubt.

  Bits of sound from the world around him began to reappear. The darkness shifted before his eyes. Seemed like the effect would end soon. It hadn’t cost him his life, so there was that at least.

  He turned, looking for the wall. There were swirling red and white shapes up high… maybe the way to run… two shifting shapes were just behind him, already swinging.

  Toby swung without wasting time to consider. His health could be low. He wasn’t about to risk death needlessly… more than he already had, anyway. The rage was ending, he would be more vulnerable.

  He managed to strike both of the shapes with one swing, and followed it up with a second.

  Teach them to try and sneak up on him. It had been a stroke of luck that he had turned in time.

  He turned back to see far more shapes crowding in. Where had they come from?

  His hopes faded as he watched… until the two lines met.

  The newcomers stopped when they met up with the old red and white shapes. Some vanished. One here, another there…

  The blackened effect washed away, returning the world to full color and sound. It hurt his eyes and ears for a few moments.

  The fight he had feared… was not the fight he saw.

  Those that had just arrived were not decked in dark armor, and they didn’t bear red names. Theirs were blue… and they had flanked the attackers.

  Toby stood dumbfounded as he watched.

  This whole day had been one long goddamn mess. Nothing made sense.

  But maybe things were looking up.

  The last few of the red names bolted from the scene, only to be run down by the newcomers. They had horses of their own so the speed difference didn’t matter much.

  He made to sheathe Soulbreaker, but the sword caught his eye. He had seen it hundred of times by now, but something was… different. He held it up.

  The blade seemed longer and wider, and it came to a sharper point. Shards of metal had appeared jutting out of the blade’s base just above the hilt. Almost a second guard. The handle seemed longer as well. A soft red glow emanated from the sword for a few brief moments.

  Huh. He sheathed it on his back once more. It grew stronger as he grew stronger, perhaps that was part of it. Miller’s sense of style could use work, though.

  His health bar was a bit below half now that he could see it. He’d lost some during the rage but it hadn’t been major. Then again rage gave him damage resistance. If only he could use it more often.

  A few of the new blue names peeled off from the group and turned their horses toward him.

  He took a few steps that way. They didn’t seem the type to ambush him. If they were as bad as the last group they would have been just as red. It didn’t seem likely that the first red group had sacrificed themselves so a blue group could approach him without question. Possible… but not likely.

  The horses pulled up short as the man at the front dismounted. He stepped up to stand before Toby with a nod. He had swords at his side and a bow on his back. Another ranger. Place was lousy with them.

  The man smiled. “You could have lied about your height, man.”

  The name over his head was Taragon. It was a slightly different color than the rest of the blue names, it was leaning toward green.

  Toby blinked a few times. “Mitchel?”

  “You’re having so much fun you already forgot I was out here?” He glanced around at the field of corpses that so recently wore red names. “I can understand that.”

  The guild tag beneath his name read Kingsmen Reserve Corps.

  All of the blue names wore it.

  Toby let out a relieved breath. “No, just… nice to see a friendly face. Been a long fucking day.”

  “I bet.” Mitchel moved in closer, his hand reaching up to touch Soulbreaker. “That’s a hell of a thing.”

  “It looked more friendly awhile ago.”

  “Really? Huh.”

  One of the other blue names approached and bowed his head. “We’ve gathered up the enemy horses, sir.”

  Mitchel shrugged. “Don’t get attached to them, I think our friends here might have some claim.” He turned and waved at the corpses. “Secure the area, make sure they’re dead, and gather up the loot, eh?”

  The man saluted and turned away, already heading toward the nearest corpses and relaying the orders.

  “Huh.” Toby rubbed at his chin. “Look at you. Mr. ‘I don’t wanna make a guild.’ Shows what you know.”

  “Word is there are
rewards for helping Tobin Ironblood see this thing through to the end. We’re all a bit fuzzy on how we get flagged for those, but I figured a pretty obvious guild name might help. Plenty of volunteers.”

  “You are quite the welcome sight.” Paul was only a few steps behind toby. He nodded. “Our thanks for the timely rescue. We lost a few… but we would have lost more.”

  Toby flinched at the words. His best efforts hadn’t been enough.

  Mitchel nodded. “We do what we can. Difficult to ask more.” He turned and waved. “My people are at your disposal. If your ranks need filling, I’m sure they’re all willing to move from the Reserve Corps to the big times.”

  Paul bowed his head. “We’re humbled by the support.”

  “Bah.” Mitchel waved. “Toby and I go way back. Wouldn’t let him get caught up in this all by himself. And so I, and mine, are at your service.”

  One of Mitchel’s people approached leading two horses. “There’s about ten horses here. Not the best, but better than walking. What are we doing with them?”

  Mitchel looked from the man to Paul.

  “We could certainly use them.” Paul nodded. “But perhaps more for scouting. Not enough for our full groups.”

  Mitchel nodded. “Give them the horses. We can catch more easily enough. We’ve almost got it down to a science.”

  Toby raised an eyebrow at Mitchel as one of his other people approached carrying black armor. “Just what are you guys doing here anyway?”

  Mitchel smiled. “We were running short on luck when it came to finding events to take part in or even worthwhile mobs to grind. So we started hunting down red names.” He shrugged. “We get experience and the world gets a bit safer. Plenty of them to go around, sadly.”

  The man nodded as he dropped a bundle of black armor. “More where this came from. Looks like most of them had full sets of the stuff.”

  Mitchel raised an eyebrow. “Might have to talk us out of that. It’s solid gear, though it carries a rather negative connotation.”

  Toby tilted his head. “Why’s that?”

  Paul shook his head. “One of the main ingredients is ‘Blood of the Innocent.’ Blue players don’t drop gear when they die, they drop innocent blood instead. Makes it worthwhile for player killers to fight them, even if it’s not terribly economically feasible otherwise.”

  Toby’s face was drawn up in disgust. “You reward them for griefing?”

  Paul shrugged slightly. “It takes all kinds. They don’t get money or items, and when a blue player dies they don’t lose experience or item durability. It’s all PKs get. Had to toss them some sort of bone. So they can make unique armor. It’s not top tier… but it’s not bad.”

  Mitchel nodded a few times. “Toby told me he was working with the devs. Honestly, I don’t think I believed him.”

  “I daresay he’s even growing on us.”

  Mitchel chuckled. “Don’t worry, he’ll screw that up before long.”

  Toby narrowed his eyes at Mitchel. “Say what?”

  “You can be downright abrasive, man. I’m used to it. Years of small doses.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “See?” Mitchel pointed at Toby. “Just like that.”

  Paul shrugged. “We’re growing accustomed to it.”

  Mitchel smiled. “Alright, I’m going to see about getting all of this organized. It’s getting late, so I’m sure some of my people are going to be heading out. What say we meet up in the camp here where we have some walls? We can station people and discuss as needed.”

  Paul nodded. “Sounds good. You’re all welcome. And just to make it official…” He opened his interface and tapped a few times on the open air.

  Mitchel’s chin came up a few moments later. “Cool.” He tapped the open nothingness before him.

  His nameplate, as well as all the others that had arrived with him, changed to the same green as members of the Kingsmen proper.

  Mitchel nodded. “And just like that, we’re allied. Talk to us in alliance chat when you need us and we’ll do what we can.”

  Paul bowed his head. “Appreciated. If things go bad on your end, do the same. We have a lot of good people. Someone will come. But for now there’s much to discuss.”

  20

  They were set up back inside the camp a few minutes later. There was still light in the sky, but just barely.

  The leaders from each group, including Gorin and Mitchel’s groups, gathered in the largest tent. The rest of group one was allowed in as well. It was a might crowded, but they were all responsible for their people, and it was easier than relaying orders about later. Besides, it made them feel included, and Paul was all about that. The newcomers had put themselves in harms way to help.

  A large and rickety wooden table sat at the center of the room with a lantern hanging overhead and a few braziers lit around the tent.

  The black armor was laid out on the table as were a few other spoils from the fighting. The orcs had dropped some things and a few chests of loot had been found throughout the camp before the red names had even shown up.

  There were no chairs, so everyone simply had to stand around the table.

  Paul nodded when the last few entered. “Alright, we don’t have a lot of time, so let’s get this moving. Welcome to our new friends. It’s good to have you with us.” He nodded to Gorin’s people and Mitchel’s in turn. “As far as I’m concerned, we’re one big guild abusing the alliance rules to inflate our member count.”

  Mitchel smiled at that. There were a few chuckles around the room.

  “By all means,” Paul pointed to Mitchel and then Gorin. “Abuse that recruit button. Anyone of worth, snatch them up. This isn’t over yet. We’re making headway, but we still have a long way to go.”

  Claire stepped up beside Toby and lowered her voice. She seemed concerned. “You okay?”

  “Just tired.”

  Paul lowered his eyes to the table. “The first order of business is deciding what to do with all of this. We have plenty for a complete suit for each group thanks to the strangely industrial nature of our attackers.”

  There were some mutters before Paul held up a hand.

  “Consider the merit of it. You might not give one person the entire suit, but fill gaps in gearing as best you can. As for us, I’m planning to give ours to Tobin Ironblood. His death means failure, so the rest of my group is happy to forgo a few things.”

  Mitchel nodded. “Makes sense. Though that just tells me your group needs a second suit if one can be spared. That’s not a choice, after all, but a forgone conclusion any of us would make.”

  “I won’t argue.” Paul shrugged slightly. “But there are only so many that can use it. It’s technically plate armor, though this particular suit is available to medium armor classes as well, fortunate for Tobin, and fortunate for us all.”

  Claire smirked as she kept her voice low. “Who would have thought being lazy and not making a medium PK set would be so beneficial in the long run?”

  “Anyone who uses leather of cloth is still excluded from the plate, though there were a handful of light sets as well. The cloth variant isn’t as defensive, focusing more on damage.” Paul slid a few black hunks of metal over the wooden tabletop to Toby. “Those being more rare and more defined in purpose, we didn’t including them in the divvying. We’ll discuss those after. I would argue to give these sets to tanks, unless they already have better. Then consider melee DPS.”

  The group leaders nodded amongst themselves. Most of them were tanks, but Toby wasn’t aware of how to gauge their gear.

  He picked up the black breastplate before him and tapped on the pop up that offered to compare its stats to what he was already wearing.

  There was simply no contest. The black plate had far more armor and came with a pile or stamina to boot.

  He scratched at his chin. Plate armor wasn’t very barbarian… more Ringwraith. But he would have a hard time arguing its use with Paul. The set was clearly superior and it woul
d probably be some time before he found something better and better looking.

  Soulbreaker was already starting to look a bit… mean. This wasn’t helping. But Miller had cast him as the rampaging Mongol type.

  The other suits were divided up amongst the various groups. It seemed several of the other group leaders were as cautious as Paul, as Jesse ended up with one of the caster suits and Claire and Paul both got partial plate sets.

  Toby equipped his suit while the others talked about the remaining caster suits. All the black bits were better. Nearly his entire fur ensemble was gone. Sad. Not to mention people would take one look at him and run away thinking he was going to murder them.

  Really, the chances of him going on a murder spree were pretty low. Not impossible, sure, but low.

  The black helmet had a visor he opened as he looked about the table. Only his cloak and sword had not been replaced. He hadn’t found any jewelry or trinket type things.

  He twisted his hand in front of him. The black plates shifted and overlapped flawlessly. It looked a lot like the ghostly armor that appeared when Paul used the Guard skill on him. Except permanent. And shiny. And black as goddamn midnight.

  The negotiations wound down a few minutes later. Most of the gear was carted off by group leaders to be distributed outside. Only a handful of things were left on the table.

  Toby turned to see Paul wearing black gauntlets and boots with his otherwise shining armor. It gave a sharp contrast.

  Claire, meanwhile, had a black breastplate and shoulder armor over her white cleric robe. She still wore shining gauntlets and boots. Practically inverted from Paul.

  Jesse was a patch of shadow with blond hair. She looked herself over and nodded several times. “I can dig it.” She handed her fur hat off to Amos as she pulled up a black hood. Her hair spilled out the front as she pulled the hood low to shade her eyes. It looked like black feathers were hanging down around her shoulders. The only detail that made her look the least bit like a druid.

  Carol entered the tent a few moments later. She wandered over and bowed her head. “You sent for me?”

  “Yes.” Paul nodded. He laid his hand on another pile of black cloth. “This is you.”