I sat up on one knee and wiped blood from my nose and mouth, wincing at my enraged ribs, hoping I’d have time for them to heal. I glanced across the room and saw Leesha and three Darts in the thick of a classic rogue fight, flipping, spinning and tumbling around each other, only to come together for a quick exchange of blows.
Leesha’s health was already down to half, but from what I could tell, Dart showed no signs of slowing down. I recalled what he’d told us in the yeti cavern about the number of his illusions being tied to his health, and the fact that they didn’t even do damage. I’d made sure to remind Leesha of that before we entered the trading post, but without knowing which Dart was the real one until she struck, not only did Leesha have a level disadvantage, but her hit ratio was only one in three, at best.
“Get up,” the big Urok said, waving his hand impatiently. I’d apparently used up all of the time-outs he was giving me. “We fight again. No weapon. I kill you.”
“You know,” I said, clambering to my feet like an old man leaving bingo night, “you really should meet my friend Durk. I think the two of you would really hit it off. You’re both so eloquent.”
I wouldn’t have obliged him, but with a half ton of Urok between me and my axe, I had no other choice. Even the weapon racks were all across the room.
As I closed in on my fellow tank, I anticipated his haymaker and weaved to the right. The big guy stumbled forward, leaving me with an opening to land a solid left uppercut and right cross into his ugly chin. His HP dropped the tiniest fraction. It was shaping up to be a long morning.
+1 Unarmed Combat Skill Point
Luckily for me, this guy wasn’t so smart. Perhaps most surprising was that my Combat Assessment skill told me he was color-coded in yellow, meaning that I actually stood a chance of beating him so long as I played my cards right. In that moment, I had to ignore my gut and trust the Combat Assessment wasn’t just trying to see me get my ass handed to me. Because that was sure what it felt like.
Whiff!
Thud-thud!
Whiff!
+1 Unarmed Combat Skill Point
Before long, I got a good idea of his timing, only taking one glancing blow to the shoulder as I got inside his reach and let loose a quick flurry of combos before making a hasty retreat. After a minute or so of fighting that way, I could start to feel fatigue coming on and didn’t have much to show for my work. I needed something else — he’d lost less than a quarter of his health. I knew if he hadn’t sheathed his claymore, I’d already be dead. Lucky me — he seemed to enjoy pummeling the snot out of me. I landed another clean hit to the ribs and then danced away — or as close to it as I could get with my abysmal Agility.
+1 Unarmed Combat Skill Point
An idea came to mind as the most recent notification faded away. I’d been ignoring Unarmed Combat the entire game, meaning I probably had enough points to unlock something, anything that could help me fight the big bastard. With that thought in mind, I turn and bolted away.
With the Urok tank blocking my path to my Bearded Axe or any other weapons, and Leesha and Dart fighting to our right, all I could manage was to hide on the other side of the table. Glancing at the map Dart had been studying, I saw it was of Mythgard. But that hardly registered in my frantic mind as I pulled up my Pursuits Menu. I glanced at my number of Skill Points, scanning until my eyes settled on the Unarmed Combat Sphere.
Unarmed Combat: 6
Okay, so I had six Skill Points to work with — but that wasn’t it technically. My eyes raced down to the bottom at the Unassigned Skill Points.
Unassigned: 4
I moved the menu to the side just in time to see the Urok lumbering for me at a jog, eating up yards with every stride. Bellowing, he grabbed the table and flipped it over. I dove aside, narrowly avoiding being pinned under it. When I came to my feet, the Urok was charging at me, head lowered. It took every fiber of my courage — or maybe it was a lack of brains — to wait until the last minute to dodge aside, like a matador fighting a bull. I heard a crunch as the tank’s momentum carried him into another stack of supplies, but rather than admiring my handiwork, I pulled up the Unarmed Combat Pursuit Sphere. Part of me screamed to go find my axe, but in the complete destruction, I didn’t know how long it would take. Praying I’d made the right decision, I made a swift pass over the available skills.
Tier 1:
Haymaker — Throw a potentially disorienting blow with your dominant hand. Critical hits can result in mild “dazed” debuffs against your opponent. Improperly landed blows can result in debuffs against you. Requires 3 Skill Points.
Counterpunch — Use your opponent’s strength against them by timing a perfect blow that could effectively double the damage they would have inflicted upon you. Requires 5 Skill Points.
Gazelle Punch — Crouch down and launch upward and land a jumping uppercut (or hook, depending on height difference) against the opponent’s chin. Requires 8 Skill Points.
Bob and Weave — Gives you increased awareness of your opponent’s moves for 15 seconds for increased dodging. Has a two-minute cooldown period. Requires 2 Skill Points.
I thanked my lucky stars that I had a basic understanding of boxing. I was no expert, but I had some friends who were into it in high school, and some of the knowledge I’d gained rubbed off on me. A quick glance showed the boxes and crates rumbling as Urok unburied himself. I needed to think faster.
To my panicked mind, two moves were better than one. And I wouldn’t get very far bobbing and weaving with my low Agility. I dragged three of my Unassigned Skill Points over to Haymaker and all of my Unarmed Combat Skill Points to Counterpunch.
You have learned Haymaker!
You have learned Counterpunch!
I settled into a fighting stance and raised my fists as I felt the muscle memory of each skill form in my body. The Urok tank strode toward me.
“All right, you big bastard, come at—”
Apparently I was fighting a ginormous toddler, because he changed the rules. The Urok drew his claymore and made a massive overhead cut at me. I stumbled backward in surprise, my chest feeling like it’d been hit by a battering ram. I rolled away and risked a look down to see my beloved Iron Cuirass split like someone had taken a can opener to it.
“Hey, that’s cheating!”
I juked to the side as the tank made another haphazard swing of his claymore. He was becoming more reckless, it seemed — or perhaps just frustrated at my constant running. I stepped into the opening he’d made from the missed swing and triggered Counterpunch, landing a solid hit to the kisser.
The Urok’s face whipped to the side, seemingly made of rubber. His HP dipped down to two-thirds. Health-wise, it was almost a level playing field. When the Urok shook his head, I knew I’d rung his bell.
“Doesn’t feel so good, does it?”
All trace of simpleton joy gone, the Urok yelled and swung again with his claymore. Seeing the same attack pattern as before, I dodged the errant cut and nailed him with another Counterpunch, bringing his health down to well below half. The reaction was immediate.
Opening his fanged mouth in an ear-piercing roar, the Urok hefted his claymore in two hands and threw it horizontally at me. Taken completely by surprise, I threw myself to the side, feeling the hilt strike me in the arm as it flew by. I barely had time to scramble to my feet before the guy was in my face, swinging with both hands for everything he was worth, and moving twice as fast to boot.
A flashing word appeared over the Urok in yellow text: Enraged.
The buff gave the Urok Speed and Attack bonuses, but severely weakened his defense. Sounded like the perfect time for some ranged attacks, and for me to stop trying to go Muhammad Ali on this dude. I glanced over at Leesha, who was still hanging in with Dart, but really running out of steam. She looked to have only about twenty percent of her health left.
Hoping I could still outrun the Enraged Urok, I sprinted for her and Dart, shouting to her as I thundered toward them.
>
“Leesha!”
She glanced at me for the briefest of moments, and as she did, Dart twirled his blade, which was now wreathed in smoke. He lunged forward, but my timing couldn’t have been better. I struck the real Dart hard in the shoulder, driving him into the stone floor. He might have had the jump on me in levels, but when it came to Attack, I was clearly the superior one. Plus, with my Backstab bonus, I’d actually manage to take out a good chunk of his health.
With Dart at my mercy, I felt rage boiling inside me and I roared, swinging my fists to pound him to a pulp whether I died or not. But trying to hold on to Dart was like trying to grab smoke. He slipped away, leaving me grasping at air.
I rolled over, and, before I could rise, the Enraged Urok’s iron boot connected with my stomach. The force of the kick flipped me over, and I curled into a ball, unable to breathe or move from the pain.
Looking up through watery eyes, I saw him raise his claymore in both hands, preparing to cleave me in two.
And then a series of three arrows buried themselves in his scarred, unarmored chest. At such a short distance, each knocked him back a pace when they landed. The Urok stumbled, looking down in surprise at the perfect grouping of fletching sticking out of his heart before one final arrow struck home right between his eyes and toppled him over backward.
Fighting the urge to vomit, I let Leesha help me to my feet as Dart and two illusions slow-clapped for us several yards away.
“Guess I’ll have to hire better help next time,” they all said. In unison the three illusions reached for their belt and held up a round object the size of a baseball.
“Not the damn bombs again,” Leesha said as if she’d just stepped in dog crap at the park.
“This’ll be the last time we meet, Zane,” Dart said. “Take a step closer and I’ll blow you to pieces. Well, at least I’ll try to. Tell you what. If you don’t want me to slip your little secret to the moderators, I think you’d better transfer all your RuneCoins over to me right now. And while you’re at it, how about all of your gear, too.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, though it sounded unconvincing even to my ears.
Dart laughed. “Now’s not the time to play stupid, my friend. I know you’re hacking the game somehow. I don’t hold it against you. But if you want me to keep quiet, it’s going to cost you. Everything. And your Leesha, too.”
“Listen, Mysterio,” Leesha said, raising her weapons and stepping forward. “If you think I’m going to just hand over —”
She stopped as Dart raised the bomb. “Last chance, you two. Hand it all over or I guarantee you’ll be banned from MythRune before you can make it out of this cellar.”
I let out a long, defeated sigh. “And you promise you won’t tell the moderators?” I said.
Dart grinned and nodded. It was clear he loved the power. “Hand everything over and swear you won’t follow me anymore. Do that and your secret is safe.”
I reached up and lifted my Helmet of the Lucky off my head.
“Zane, no!” Leesha put an arm on my wrist to stop me, but I shook my head.
“Just give him what he wants.”
I looked up to see a thick, neon green smoke pouring in beneath the doorway behind Dart.
And then the door exploded.
57
The Immortal Question
The force of the explosion threw Leesha and me on our backs. We coughed and gagged, waving our hands in front of our faces to fight off the thick, acrid smoke. The room finally cleared, revealing Brandon’s wizard avatar standing over Dart, the sun head of his staff shoved under the illusionist’s neck.
“Sorry I’m late,” Brandon said, not taking his eyes off Dart.
“Where the hell were you!” Leesha yelled. “If you’d taken any longer, he would have made us strip down to our starting underwear!”
Brandon shot us a devilish grin. “Oh, it’s not like you two need an excuse to take your clothes off around each other.”
“Ha! I didn’t realize your brother had the sense of humor of a preteen, Z.”
“I thought that was good!”
“Maybe in middle school. How old are you again?”
“Can we stay on task here?” I cut in.
Placing my helmet under one arm, I walked to Brandon’s side. All three of us loomed over Dart, whose health was down to about twenty percent. But with Brandon in the fight, there was no way Dart was going anywhere.
“It’s over. Give us the token.”
Dart snorted. “Not a chance. How about you let me go before I report you?”
I shrugged, although my insides felt like jelly, and hoped Dart wouldn’t call my bluff. “Do you really think we don’t have dozens of burner characters lined up? They’ll never catch us all.”
He called my bluff with a roll of his eyes. “Is that a fact.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.
“You’ll never know,” I said, keeping my tone even in the face of my uneasiness. “But there’s one thing you should know. When you die, the token will drop.”
Dart’s smug expression was wiped away and replaced by shock. “What?”
“Are you serious, Z?” Leesha asked.
“Check the forums if you don’t believe me. Now tokens are the only things dropped for characters under level 30. So, what’ll it be? Give me your token and I’ll let you live.”
Dart spat at me, but since he was lying on the floor, it fell right back on his face.
“Smooth,” Leesha said, clapping slowly.
“I’ll give the token to you…over my dead body.”
“Fine by me,” I said. “Mind holding him still, Brandon?”
“Gladly.” Brandon pressed the head of his staff harder against Dart’s neck, forcing him to flex back to keep from strangling. I retrieved by Bearded Axe of the Tundra from beneath the pile of broken crates and returned, whistling and swinging the weapon in time with my stride. Damn, I was going to enjoy this.
“No, wait!” Dart shrieked and squirmed, but Brandon’s staff held him down by magical force. “I don’t have the token!”
I rolled my shoulders and poised the axe over Dart’s chest, taking aim.
“If you kill me, I’ll report you!” Dart’s yells had turn to whines. “You’ll never play this game again!”
I raised the axe overhead, pausing to look down at the squirming man. He could report me. Would I be able to do anything about it once I’d killed him? I’d worry about that when the time came. For now, with time as limited as it was, this was the only option. “Shut up.”
A sickening crunch rang out as my axe chopped through Dart’s armor and chest, striking the stone floor beneath.
Critical Hit!
Dart went limp and his HP plummeted to zero.
But I received no notification that he was dead. All of a sudden, I felt like I was the one who’d just been struck by a battle axe.
His HP hadn’t plummeted to zero. Dart had one hit point left.
Dart let out another moan, lifting his arms up and waving them around like a ghost. With a melodramatic gasp, he went limp and squeezed his eye shut, tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth.
“Or not,” Dart said, cracking one eye open to look up at me.
Brandon, Leesha, and I exchanged looks. Not. Good.
“Hit him again, Z,” Brandon said, voice shaking.
I yanked my battle axe out of Dart’s chest cavity and brought it down again.
Critical Hit!
Dart’s HP remained at one.
“What’d you do?” I asked. But I already knew the answer.
“I took a page out of your book, you big beautiful bastard,” Dart said, propping his hands behind his head like he was lounging on the beach. “But I did you one better. I couldn’t let myself feel all that pain. Who wants to deal with that in a game? Takes all the fun out of the experience. No, not only can I not die, but I was able to keep my pain sensitivity at zero. Check and mate.”
> “Oh yeah?” Brandon hissed. He held out his hands, and purple flames burst to life, enveloping Dart’s head instantly. He held the burning inferno over Dart’s head for several seconds, but when he extinguished the spell, Dart smirked back at us as if nothing had happened.
“That should have melted his face off,” Brandon said, shooting me a worried look. Out of all the things that could have happened, we’d never expected this.
“Oh no.” Dart assumed a falsetto voice and waved his hands in mock terror. “What will they think of next? You’re wasting your time here.”
“Hold up,” I said, ignoring the illusionist. We had another option. “Leesha, just steal the token from him.”
Leesha made a gun with her thumb and index finger and winked at me. “Bingo.”
She knelt down and started rummaging through Dart’s pockets. After several seconds, her face turned to a frown and then into downright frustration.
“Ugh! I can access his inventory, but it’s not there! I can’t find it!”
“And you never will,” Dart said. “Sorry to burst your bubble here, but it’s being held in a soulbound enchanted bag that is immune to thievery. As a practitioner of the Underground Pursuits, you don’t think I’d actually walk around with an inventory that can be pickpocketed, do you?”
“Shut up!” Leesha smacked him in the head. Even though he didn’t react to the hit, it was still satisfying to watch. “Well, what’re we gonna do, then? We can’t just wait here all day. The people upstairs are bound to notice at some point.”
“You’re the smart one,” I said, looking to my brother’s tattooed face. “Any ideas?”
Brandon thought for a moment then shook his head. “Dude, I dunno. I didn’t even think it was possible to activate God Mode with pain sensitivity at zero.”
God Mode: A LitRPG Adventure (Mythrune Online Book 1) Page 37
