by Mars Dorian
“I wonder if there’s a limit to how far we can go. You know, like an invisible barrier.”
“There isn’t,” Rokkit said and pushed himself into the conversation. “You’ll circumnavigate the planet and hit the Eastern Isles. Every place you see is accessible.”
“Have you circumnavigated the planet before?”
“In a previous life,” Rokkit said with a smile.
All three of us stared into the endless horizon while Yumi-D was busy steering the ship toward our target destination. Speaking of which—I looked up my e-scroll and checked the distances in the world map.
Destination to the Western Crescent: 127 kilometers. Time: 8 mins 45 second.
Fairly long ride for a game journey and we weren’t allowed to skip the travel time.
Yumi-D shouted from the quarterdeck. “Watch out for turbulences. Waves are nasty around these waters. Oh, and if you fall over the rails while carrying heavy armor, you’ll kiss the ocean floor in no time. And you know what that means.”
“Goodbye precious character build,” I said.
Yumi-D winked at me. “Have you watched the video with the fifty most ridiculous Crystal Crusade deaths? Digital mother nature has wiped out more players than boss enemies.”
I walked toward the railing and watched the waves splashing against the rear as if to prove Yumi-D’s point. The stormy ocean shook up the frigate pretty good. I had to stretch my legs apart to keep my balance. Water splashed over the railing and bounced off my chest plating. “Someone pissed off the sea gods,” I said.
The weather thundered the farther we ventured into the deeper sea. I wanted to check my glossary of the Western Crescent and learn more about the new race and the landscape when our boat shook. Both of my legs needed to stretch to prevent my character from flying over the railing.
“Worst wave ever,” I said to no one in particular.
Rokkit unsheathed his massive broadsword with his right hand.
“It wasn’t a wave.”
7
I hated it when Rokkit was right, and he often was. Our hybrid frigate swayed as the waves hammered against the starboard like vicious beasts. I carefully stepped toward the left railing and spotted movements in the water about twenty-five meters in front of us. A dark-green object surfaced. Scales protruded from the creature and glittered in the sun. I squinted my eyes and still failed to categorize it.
“Reepo infestation?” I asked Rokkit.
“Can’t get a reading from my analyzer yet.”
Nevertheless, I unsheathed my engine blade and moved into attack stance. The creature matched its speed to our boat and exposed its body. It looked like a mix between the Thornbasher creature I had fought in the cloister and an oversized octopus with its tentacle-like arms. The analyzer updated its stats.
Enemy: Aqua Scalebasher
Type: Amphibian
HP: 5700
Weakness: Fire, Sharp Weaponry
Special: Can fight on land and water, long-and short-range
Drops: Scales, Swallowed Treasures (unknown)
The creature noticed us and erected from the water, turning its spiky back to us. Smooth scales protruded from its slimy skin. I had seen this pattern before. “It’s gonna spam us with thorns.”
“What?”
“Take cover, everyone.”
Scales protruded from the creature’s back and pierced the ocean air. The sharp, organic projectiles rained down on our boat. We spread apart and increased the distance to each other. A tough challenge, considering how small the deck was. A couple of scales darted along the starboard. Some dropped into the water beneath our boat. One single sucker pierced the sail and ripped right through it. A digital miniature model showed up on my upper-right corner.
Frigate HP: 6102/6500
I had to worry about my health, the HP of my teammates, and the damage done to the frigate. Worse, our space was limited which meant we had little room to evade. Meanwhile, the Scalebasher whooshed around the ship in a wide angle. The creature dashed into the water and surfaced in front of the other rear again, about twenty-two meters away from us. I ran to the other side of the railing and aimed my harpoon gun glove, but since the creature outweighed me by at least two hundred kilograms, it was going to pull me into the ocean. Lancer Rokkit used his shield to deflect most of the scale attacks, but his short-range specialization restricted his battle maneuvers. I ran toward the cannon, lit the fuse and unleashed a shot. The projectile impacted the water and splattered droplets into the air. The Scalebasher avoided my cannonball with ease and blitzed through the waves. Way too fast for my targeting.
L’ocean conjured the particles fleeing from the crystal in her staff and cast a Reepulse.
“No use,” she said. “The water mitigates the impact.”
Plus, her skill was a crowd control ability used against dozens of enemies staying close to each other.
This fight sucked already.
“Yumi, we could really use your help here.”
She set the ship on auto-cruise and joined our formation. Yumi-D used Insight to get a reading of the far away enemy, pulled out a Windcutter bow, and chose her appropriate array of arrows.
“Hurry, before it releases another spike volley,” I said.
Too late. The Scalebasher released a new round of scales and darkened the sky with dots. The spikes ripped through our sails and pierced the deck. The frigate’s HP dropped to 86.5% of its original base value. Two scales had hammered my armor and dropped my health by fifteen percent. Yumi-D didn’t seem to care at all—she jumped on the railing and made her boot soles claw into the boards for stabilization. She aimed her Windcutter, activated a skill that doubled her firing rate, and released dozens of armor-piercing arrows. They curved down at the far away creature in the water. One third of the darts whooshed straight into the waves, the other hit the Scalebasher and caused decent damage. The creature stopped its new attack, dove into the water, and accelerated toward us. Yumi-D jumped off the railing, landed on the deck, and shouted. “Everyone, hold onto something. Ram attack.”
My head turned left and right, looking for a safe place. I grabbed the railing and squeezed tight. The Scalebasher ram attack hit our frigate hard. Its hitpoints reduced to 78.3% while our maximum speed dropped.
Even Rokkit got mad. “If that bitch is ripping a hole through our frigate, we’re all done for.”
Horror stories flashed through my mind.
One stinky Scalebasher could perma-kill all of us without having to actually eliminate our avatars. The creature needed only to focus on sinking our ship.
Not gonna happen.
With Yumi-D’s support fire, I used the ship cannons again. I aimed with a slow and steady hand and released the cannonball. This time, I achieved a near critical hit, but when the creature’s HPs dropped to around half of its original health, it changed its attack pattern. Again. The Scalebasher neared our port side and wrapped its tentacle-like limbs around the railing. The slimy stinker pulled its oversized body onto our deck.
Rokkit grinned. “Welcome to my domain, you ugly mofo.”
And ugly it was. Eight tentacles, a cone-shaped body wrapped in shell armor, yellow eyes, and a lengthy mouth with razor-sharp teeth were enough to scare every child for a lifetime. I used my new BlitzBlade and focused on the tentacles spinning around in the air like snakes. Thanks to the sharpness of the blade, I cut through two tentacles like warm apple pie. I even caused a stun damage which unfortunately only immobilized a tentacle instead of the whole creature.
“Watch out.”
A third tentacle whooshed at me from the right flank. I ducked and rolled sideways, missing yet another tentacle that hit me from behind and threw me through the air. My char splashed into the red sea.
No, no, triple-no.
Thanks to the heavy weight of my LowShell armor gear, I sunk like a ton of titanium steel. The depth swallowed me like a voracious sea monster, far worse than the Scalebasher. Yumi-D’s earlier warning became
a self-fulfilling prophecy. My armored body sank three meters, six meters, eleven meters. High above, the sun light shone through the surface water before the abyss darkened my vision. I couldn’t die like that, so I raised my left hand and aimed my harpoon gun glove at the port bow above the water before it vanished from my vision. The harpoon pierced the hull and tightened the chain. I grapple-hooked upwards and splashed out the water. I wanted to use the chainlink ability again but the cooldown needed a couple of more seconds. Damn. L’ocean bent over the railing and spotted my char diving into the water below again. She tossed a smart rope at me which my gloves managed to grab. I climbed up the rear and reached the railing, where both L’ocean and Yumi-D helped me up.
“Thanks a thousand times.”
“It’s not over yet.”
On the deck, Rokkit deflected a couple of tentacle jabs with his raised shield. He looked like a midget compared to the sea monster, but he fought well. Even better, the Scalebasher had lost half of its tentacles and staggered around the deck like a crippled jellyfish. And with its attention spent on the Lancer, I pulled a spike mine from my inventory, placed it a meter before the creature, and raised my gunblade. Thanks to game logic, it still functioned despite being plunged in water. I fired a shot into the rear of the Scalebasher, caused minimal damage but demanded all of its attention. It was a taunt attack without using the actual skill. The ugly-ass beast turned its head toward me and staggered forward, crawling straight into my trap. The spikes unleashed and caused critical damage while pinning the creature to the deck. The stagger status effect appeared over the creature which meant it would suffer from at least 150% of normal attack damage. I switched to my BlitzBlade, dashed forward, and rammed the edge of my blade into the creature. Pushed the trigger and jammed countless volts into the mofo.
The electro-damage stunned the creature and drained my Reepo batteries. Rokkit followed up and pierced the back of the monster, causing a whopping 175% of his average damage. The Aqua Scalebasher unleashed a high-pitched screech and died before our eyes. Crimson blood with dark strains poured out the wounds and washed over our deck like a liquid plague. The creature’s corpse dwindled and released collectible items. Scales, meat, and one item that surprised the crap out of me. A high-quality, dual longsword with mech upgrades and nice bonus effects such as 20% slice damage deluxe and advanced bleed damage chance. What a beautiful and effective weapon. Rokkit’s eyes almost rolled out their sockets. He took the melee weapon and drooled at its mechanical surface design. “That fishy bastard was actually good for something. May the Aeons bless those geeky bastards who keep these rare items coming.”
Not gonna lie—he deserved the item. Despite Rokkit’s annoying remarks, he acted as an excellent team fighter who knew his character abilities inside out. He always rushed to the front line first and helped out his co-players, even me. On top of that, he had developed a variety of useful Lancer skills.
“Splendid teamwork everyone,” L’ocean said. “This was a tough battle but we won.”
I joined her compliment. “Couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Of course we did it,” Rokkit said. “Can’t lose to a fish with tentacles, unless you’re into bondage like Boltzmann.”
“Let’s not fall into hubris again,” L’ocean said. “Dash almost drowned, and you almost fell over the railing. Maybe we should take this incident as a warning to pay more attention. The enemy strength is only going to increase at our target destination.”
“Aye, aye,” Rokkit said half-jokingly. His mood had surged since he received the mid-rare blade.
Yumi-D resumed her position as the temporary ship captain and put our frigate back on course. Despite the damage done to our vessel, it still managed to function—albeit with restricted maneuverability and lower maximum speed. As long as we remained above the water, I didn’t care. Permadeath was the only problem I worried about.
Distance to the Western Crescent: 6.4 kilometers.
8
The land mass of the Western Crescent greeted us on the horizon. Amazing how fast ten minutes blitzed by when a giant sea monster almost beat your digital testicles into pixel dust.
Yumi-D remote-folded the sails and switched to 100% Reepo-battery control as we entered the dock of the little fisherman’s village. Slender, wooden houses with pointy roofs and strange statues revealed themselves to us. The architecture differed from the European-styled towns of the main continent and looked more Asian. Earthy colors with blue and red symbols graced their facades. In-between the houses, furry, humanoid creatures walked with grace.
Quest update: You’ve reached the Western Crescent. Find the leader of the Preshaar and deliver Balzac’s scroll.
Our frigate docked. Rokkit pushed the anchor into the depths of the water. We stepped onto the footbridge and walked toward the crowd of beast men who stared at us with bewildered glances. I used the group chat and whispered. “Are these the Preshaar?”
“I think it’s your extended family,” Rokkit said.
Even this far, I could tell those beast men grew tall. They had customized gear plates with bone chains and earth-colored symbols on their claws and feline faces. Their bodies oozed developed muscles. Mechanical bracelets and gloves covered their claws and feet, probably not just for aesthetic reasons.
I found the Preshaar to be beautiful and scary at the same time. We seemed to be the only humanoid characters in the area, which spiced up the tension. Dozens of yellow eyes followed our movements as we entered the heart of the fisherman village. Some beast men purred when we passed them.
“Let’s buy a local map,” I said.
Yumi-D nodded. “I know where.”
She guided us through the footbridges that acted as paths between the various tall huts of the sea village.
We entered a market place where the Preshaar sold unique items and exotic fruits, as well as gear for gathering, hunting, and fishing. Crates filled with the strangest forms and potions graced our view. I felt like being transported into a new game world. When I stepped forward, a Preshaar almost slammed into me. I waited and watched the giant creature look down at me with a dismissive sniff. He mumbled something and continued walking. Seriously, we players looked like dwarves compared to this hairy race, even the Lancer.
“Note to self: don’t bully the beast men,” Rokkit said.
Yumi-D approached a Preshaar’s stand selling a strange assortment of items. He had just done a deal with a child-sized beast boy.
Yumi-D unleashed a sound that couldn’t decide whether it was a roar or a gurgle. The merchant creature moaned back with little interest. “What do you want?”
“We come from the mainland and have a message for the leader of the Preshaar tribe,” Yumi-D said. “Do you know where we can find him?”
The creature sniffed and scratched its pointy ears. I still couldn’t decide whether they were bored or annoyed. And even though they had human features, they acted more… feral.
“What’s it worth to you?” the beast man asked.
“You mean in monetary terms?”
“Mmmmrrr.”
“How about fifty creds?”
“A hundrrred,” the Preshaar said.
“Sixty-five,” Yumi-D said. “C’mon, big guy, we’re poor humans from the continent, just barely out of school. And you know the college debt these days.”
“Seventy-five and you got yourself a deal, midget maid.”
Yumi-D sighed but agreed to the deal. The merchant welcomed the bills with shining eyes.
“A name, please,” I said before the merchant lost himself to drooling at the bills.
“Kharra is the name of the Preshaar leader you’re looking for. She lives in the rock village nearby. Close to the Killa Kanyon.”
The beast man stared at all of us. “She doesn’t like humans though.”
“She will when she meets us,” Rokkit said. His statement put a frown on the Preshaar’s hairy face, so Yumi-D quickly diverted. “How can we get to that v
illage?”
“Walk. Fly. Or rent a fowl and ride. The village is a handful of kilometers away.”
“Thank you for your time. You’re very kind.”
“You give me money, I am more kind.”
“Merci, that’s it for now.”
“Meharrr,” the Preshaar merchant said.
Yumi-D bought a local map and a few consumption items which seemed to lift the beast man’s mood. We left the market and followed the trail to the local stable.
“Friendly folks,” I said to no one in particular.
“They’ve been living on the Western Crescent for hundreds of years and hate human intrusion.”
“This is a minor travel hub,” Rokkit said. “The Preshaar on the countryside won’t be as tolerant.”
Tolerant? I feared the Preshaar from before was about to break my bones like a twig. Considering that we had to convince this race to join our cause made me cringe. I crossed my fingers and hoped for better relations.
Inside the stable, the fowls roared as our boots hit the ground. The stable master guided us along the barns and showed each animal’s characteristics. These bird beasts looked like the steroid versions of their continental cousins. They stood at least twenty percent taller and had enough muscle mass to run through a wall. More raptor reptile than bird.
“Are they infested by the Reepo?”
L’ocean shook her head. “They are a special breed so the Preshaar can ride them without squashing the animals’ bones.”
Not only did they look like upgraded versions of regular fowls, they also leveled up in pricing. We paid almost double to ride them. Still, I had zero interest in traveling through this new land on foot. The bestiary of my e-scroll logs only showed the basic animals and monsters lurking in these lands, but they looked dangerous enough. I feared getting ambushed by overpowered monsters that lingered in the nearby woods.
“The Preshaar village is about four and a half kilometers away from our current location.”
