“Incoming!” the DCA aerial scout being trailed by the rhino yelled. Flying right down the corridor, he was followed by the rhino youth as it tore out of the underbrush, tossing its head.
Ebony Plated Rhino
Level 217
Its eyes locked onto those who were hiding at the end of the corridor. It had two forward-facing eyes under two massive horns and above a single larger horn that pointed straight forward like a spear.
“This is a youth?” someone yelled out. The creature was one meter wide, one and a half tall, and four long.
Its mouth rested beneath the shield-like face. Its skin was wrinkled, looking like an Earth rhino’s, but as dark as night. Hitting the eyes was an impossibility; in fact, it had virtually no weaknesses on its front.
Its side and back were also heavily muscled and looked like slabs of armor that one might find on a tank. Cracking the skin of the rhino would be hard, but with blunt weapons, they could cause internal injuries.
The rhino entered the corridor. Gurren and Lox leaned into their shields. Steve also leaned forward.
“Quagmire!” one of the mages called out. There was no need for them to call the spell out to cast it, but they did it to inform the others.
The rhino’s momentum seemed to be arrested. It hit Gurren and Lox’s shields with a massive hit, bouncing back a bit only to find that its legs were stuck in a muddy quagmire. It yelled out, trying to release itself, but only sinking in further.
“Finish it off!” Lox yelled.
Dwayne and Dave left the way, jumping onto the walls while pulling out blunt weapons and hammering down on the rhino. Lu Lu’s lightning attacks slowed the creature as she quickly used up her limited Mana supply. Suzy’s rock and Earth golems joined in on the melee, as did the rest of the Stone Raiders.
In a matter of minutes, the rhino gave up and fell over, leaning against the walls.
Suzy flicked her fingers, directing her Air creations toward the rhino. There was a wet sucking sound as they freed the rhino from the ground before taking it out of the corridor.
Mages repaired the corridor, talking to one another about making it more effective.
Dave checked Gurren and Lox’s shields. They were okay, barely a scratch on them. However, their enchantments needed recharging.
In five minutes, they were ready for their next customer.
“Number two, ebony rhino order up!” Steve yelled.
Like with the first creature, the second was stopped before it could reach Gurren and Lox.
The third hit their shields, making them grunt against the strength of the ebony rhino.
Dave was pleasantly surprised as a screen filled his vision.
Level 233
You have reached Level 233; you have 155 stat points to use.
He grinned. These rhinos were strong beasts. As such, he was actually able to get enough experience to level up.
“Damn, it feels good to gain another level!”
The other Stone Raiders grinned and cheered, working on their corridor as Suzy moved the third body off to the side.
Now, it was time for the last and strongest rhino.
It was Level 735. This kind of beast couldn’t be found on any other continent. The third had only been a Level 504. A two hundred level difference was immense.
It had taken them twenty minutes just to wear down the third. They carefully examined the corridor; one mistake and the rhino would be able to tear them apart. It was nearly three times stronger than the levels of everyone there, but on a stat-for-stat basis it was only about one hundred levels stronger on average.
Dave was stronger than it stat wise, but his strengths lay with magic and outthinking his opponents.
A tree was toppled in the distance. The whole forest shuddered as it fell onto the others around it.
The aerial scout was breathing heavily, not daring to move into the corridor as the rhino shook the splinters off its body, some as big as a man’s forearm.
“Steve!” Lox called out.
Steve fired out bolts from his hand, angering the rhino and taking its attention.
It turned for the corridor and started building up its momentum again.
“Suzy!” Lox said.
Around the rhino, Earth and metal creatures appeared, hitting the rhino. They would have torn any normal opponent to shreds, but now their attacks were more likely to break them than the rhino.
The rhino seemed to glow with a red light. The summoned creations were even weaker than before, as if their Mana had been suppressed.
It continued forward, picking up speed at an alarming rate.
Dave destroyed ground, trying to trip it up. It jumped over the opening. A quagmire slightly paused it before it slammed into Gurren and Lox. Dave and Dwayne braced them as they were all pushed back half a step.
They pushed forward as the rhino bucked and moved, its horns tearing the corridor apart.
“Mages, repair; everyone else—attack!” Dwayne yelled out.
This had been a simple clearing mission: take out creatures that would attack them if they sensed them. It shouldn’t have been anything hard to handle.
Right now, none of them were thinking that this was anything easy. They were fighting with everything they had and the rhino’s massive hit points were only slowly declining. They hit weak points, but still it was like hitting a steel wall.
Everyone’s arms and limbs were getting numb from the impacts.
The mages were doing everything in their power to just maintain the walls and try to slow the rhino. It truly was a beast worthy of Ashal’s infamous wilderness.
Dave thought of what would have happened if he hadn’t stumbled across this creature with his Touch of the Land.
He continued to slam down on the creature with a summoned war hammer. It felt as though he were cutting a tree instead of trying to kill the creature.
One person was too slow and got hit by the rhino’s horns. He was tossed; blood came from his body despite the fact he was roughly a Level 500 talent with his stats.
He downed a Health potion as everyone else continued their attacks. Even the DCA scouts joined in on the fight. This rhino was nearly two to three times the size of the original rhino youth, a seething mass of angry and armored beast.
Gurren and Lox were just able to stay on their feet even with all of the training, strength, and gear.
“Not my first rodeo!” Steve yelled, jumping up onto the wall. Using the flat of his axe, he slammed it against the rhino. Each of his blows brought the rhino’s Health down in big chunks.
The Stone Raiders yelled out, hitting harder and faster. Suzy’s phoenix let out a screech. Lightning moved from her mouth as if it were twin black and white snakes coiled around each other.
It hit the rhino, stunning it and dropping it to the ground. The lightning attack had stunned the creature, allowing the Stone Raiders an opening.
Although it was nearly immune to magic normally, if that magic got within its protective armor-like skin, it could kill them.
Suzy called out buffs, enhancing Strength and Stamina; the rhino went slack, its Health points drained.
Still, other than a few scratches, there were no openings in the rhino’s natural black armored hide.
They slumped down where they were; if one part of their group had paused or given up for just a minute, then they would have lost one or more guild members. They thought of themselves as powerhouses, and they were since when they had started with the Stone Raiders. Though everyone was a powerhouse compared to when they started off.
“Damn, I forgot what it feels like to be truly scared of a single opponent,” Dwayne admitted.
“Feels like we’re always getting swarmed with lesser talents. Been awhile since I fought something that was so much stronger than me.”
“Same. Gets the blood going though.” Lox whistled and wiped sweat from his brow.
“You’re right about that! Nothing like fighting a creature well above your le
vel to make you feel alive.” Dave laughed, his breathing quickly coming under control.
“Now, how the hell are we going to deal with these rhinos?” Suzy looked to the four massive corpses.
“Well, we’ll need to skin them, then we can sell them off. They make high-class potions and their meat is divine. Cost as much as some people’s monthly wages for a single meal,” Lox said proudly.
“How we going to open these suckers up?” Gurren poked holes in Lox’s plan.
“Well, Josh owes me a favor,” Lox said.
“Okay, so what, we’re going to haul these things over to the rest of the guild and then get Josh to skin them?” Dave asked. “You do know that they weigh as much as Steve!”
“Hey! I’ve been on a diet!” Steve complained.
“You don’t even eat!”
“See—air diet.” Steve winked.
“Yes, Lu Lu, you’re a much cuter contracted creature—yes, you are.” Suzy scratched the tired Lu Lu. Her attack on the rhino had drained most of her Mana reserves. She preened under her mother’s attention, stretching outward.
“Well, looks like someone is growing up.” Dave looked to Lu Lu.
“Yeah, I’ve been giving her a one hundred percent experience draw. I want her to level up as soon as possible so that she can be capable of defending herself,” Suzy said.
Lu Lu let out a pleased chirrup.
Dave laughed. It seemed like the little phoenix loved the attention.
“Well, when Ela-Dorn finishes with those summoning halls, I want to see if I can get something a bit…bigger,” Dwayne said.
“Not about the size, but about how you use it,” Steve said.
“I saw you slapping a rhino with your axe just a few minutes ago!” Dwayne retorted.
“And sometimes, it’s a really good idea to hit bigger things with a big axe!” Steve said with a brilliant smile.
“Oh, I think I just had an aneurysm. Hi, my name’s George. What’s your names?” Gurren held out his hand.
Lox snorted and slapped the hand away, a smile on his face.
“So, how are we moving these multi-ton rhinos?” Suzy asked.
“Oh, I have an idea or two.” Lox smiled at Steve.
A few minutes later, Steve was complaining. It was easy enough to wave spatial items over the rhinos, capturing them inside. The four rhinos were held within two rings. Steve had strengthened steel links through the two rings that hung from his shoulders. “I think I just heard a gear give way!” Steve complained.
“Oh, stop complaining and watch for holes. I don’t want to have to pull your ass out of a ditch again!” Dwayne said.
Steve muttered about the inequalities of a contracted beast while everyone continued on toward the raid party with high spirits. They kept out an eye for creatures that might be in the forests but few tried to approach them.
“Look at that—Myrai’s root,” someone called out, checking the area before moving to pull up the rare medicinal root.
Ashal’s wilderness was like an entirely different world than the rest of Emerilia. Everywhere one went, there were rare and aged resources that could support a family for a year in Gudalo.
That said, with all of the dangers, everyone checked the area before gathering materials.
“It might be worth setting up an ono when we get to the portal just for all the riches we’re gathering,” Dwayne said.
“I heard that the mage’s guild is interested in studying the creatures that are defending the portal. They don’t have anything recorded that’s like these creatures and no more than two types of Affinity spirits in a single area,” Suzy said.
“Yeah, they’re going nuts about that Human-looking character who’s sitting on the throne. The Aleph, even with all of their records, haven’t been able to shed any light on it,” Dwayne said.
There was a loud noise behind Dave.
“Man down,” Steve said, his voice muffled as his face was stuck in the ground.
“Fer the love of Mithril! How in the bloody mountains did you do that?” Lox yelled, his fists on his hips, looking at the helpless Steve.
“Hey! Give a man a hand. I can’t move my hands to get these friggin’ rings off!” Steve tried to pull himself upward with his legs but only served to shake himself around.
“I would ask how many brain cells do you have left in there, but I know there’s nothing,” Gurren complained.
Dave sighed. He used a spell that reduced gravity, allowing Steve to right himself.
“That gravity magic is some good stuff. Might have to look into it for adding onto my weapons,” Steve said.
“Just try not to stick your head into any other small hills we come across?” Lox asked.
“No promises!” Steve said in a semi-serious tone.
Gurren and a number of the other Stone Raiders moaned in complaint.
The DCA scouts looked to one another as if wondering how the Stone Raiders were able to do anything. It seemed that they were having more trouble just moving their loot than actually fighting a herd of ebony rhinos.
“I’ve heard about how resource-rich Ashal is, but since I’ve been here, it’s been incredible the types of things we’ve found. Just going from Devil’s Crater to the portal, others would be interested in just gathering the resources along the way. Also it could be the start of an adventuring road. I heard that there have been a number of dungeons and lairs found in the area,” Suzy said, ignoring Steve’s accident.
“All of the dungeons we’ve marked seem to be of the highest quality; being left to themselves, their creatures and resources have increased in ability by a large margin,” Dwayne agreed as they continued onward.
“I can also tell you that opening a few mines in the nearby area would be a good idea. I know that Grahslagg Corporation would be interested in dropping off a few automated mining drills in the area,” Dave said.
“Ashal truly is a wilderness that rewards the brave or foolish,” Lox said.
“If one can get past the dangers that lurk around,” Gurren said.
“Well, we should hurry up if we want to get back to the rest of the raiding party before night falls,” Dwayne said.
***
Josh heard screams, followed by gurgling noises. Parties that were on standby rushed to where the scouts were.
“Air snakes!” someone called out on the information channel.
Air snakes were ethereal-looking creatures. They were see-through to most people; they could be sensed by using arcane sight but otherwise only when they were moving erratically could one see them.
They flew through the air. Their main attacks were a powerful Air spear and a poison that could take out anything below Level 1,000, paralyzing them.
Their poison went for fifteen grand soul gems for just a tincture of it. However, getting that poison was not only difficult, but led to many deaths.
Summoned Air creatures cut out toward where the Air snakes were.
After ten minutes, the fighting was over.
“If I was allowed to go then I would have been able to finish off those things in seconds,” one of the Portal Purge Guild members said.
“Yeah, it’s just the guildmasters playing favorites. The Stone Raiders and the DCA are getting all of the action. So what if they have higher levels—we’re better at fighting!” another said.
“They are the top ranked guild. The DCA is the highest rated POE fighting force right now, below the Dwarves. I wouldn’t want to be fighting against a Dwarven warclan,” another opined.
Josh pulled out some jerky and bit into it. They weren’t part of his guild and he didn’t overly care what they said. He was secure in his knowledge that no matter what the Stone Raiders were ranked out of the guilds on Emerilia, to him it was the best.
Lucy floated over on her carpet as summoned creations and the fighters who had gone out to support the scouts came back carrying wounded.
“Three DCA died, one Fellox Player,” Lucy said, seeing where Josh was lo
oking.
Josh let out a sigh. “It might be good training for the DCA but I can’t help but feel upset when we lose even one of them. Emerilia’s AI is just so advanced that I can’t think of them as just NPCs. Why the hell would a game want to have such developed characters?”
Josh didn’t see the complicated look on Lucy’s face as he took another bite of his jerky.
“Well, shows that you’re Human. I think if we just started treating the POE like expendable resources that we’d lose a little bit of our humanity,” Lucy said.
Josh looked to Lucy. “That was deep, and call me soft, but I agree.”
“Three more days and we’ll reach the portal,” Lucy said.
“So, thoughts on putting an ono there?”
“I think it might be a good idea. The people who have gone off to kill off creatures have come back with some good loot. The group that killed off the ebony rhinos two days ago—the meat by itself is worth three common soul gems per kilo. The hide, it’s some of the strongest I’ve ever seen. They’re holding onto it to give it to Florence; she’s looking for a leather worker who might be able to turn it into light armor. There’s a lot of beasts out here, all of them powerful and with valuable resources. Also, Suzy came to me asking if they put some money forward, whether Grahslagg Corporation could get a lower rate for moving materials from here. They want to set up a mine,” Lucy said.
“Damn, I’ve got to see about going out and fighting some of these creatures. Can you see if Florence could contact me if she does find someone to make armor out of that rhino hide? I’d definitely be interested,” Josh said.
“Send her a message yourself, you lazy ass!” Lucy complained.
“But you’re faster than me!” Josh complained.
“You annoying Lucy again?” Cassie appeared from where she’d been checking on the newest Stone Raiders who were coming out for the first time. She had wanted to make sure that she had picked well, talking to Esa about the newbies.
The better the recruits she could get, the stronger the Stone Raiders would be. With their limited spots, it was key to get not only the strongest but the ones that best fit with the guild.
Time of Change (Emerilia Book 7) Page 24
