Warning: Pierced!
Another spear almost hit me in the chest, but I dodged it at the last second.
A third spear hit me in the gut, and terrible pain shot through my bowels as I was pinned to the stone behind me.
Warning: Pierced!
“Sam!” I heard Anna yell behind me, but I couldn’t speak. My health dropped to 20% and ticked down another percentage point each time I tried to pull the spear from my stomach. It was no use; the strength had seeped out of me the instant the metal pierced my stomach.
Anna came into my field of view and grabbed the spear.
“No…” I croaked, dreading having that big shaft yanked out of me.
But she did it anyway, and had it not been for the healing beam that washed over me, I might have passed out right there and then.
“Are you alright?” she asked as she tossed the spear aside.
“Holy shit that sucked,” I said, clutching my now healed stomach.
“Are you two lovebirds done chatting?” Trinity asked as she rushed past us and engaged an ogre carrying a wicked looking war hammer.
“Come on!” I urged Anna, and together we raced after the fearless warrior.
The den was full of ogres, but the three of us quickly fell into an efficient routine. Trinity engaged the ogres with her massive sword, while Anna kept her on her feet with a steady stream of healing spells, and I lit into the group with fireballs and crackling lightning. We encountered level 12s, 13s, and even 14’s with thick armor, but we didn’t get into trouble until we got deeper into the den and ran into an ogre warlock.
The master of demons wore a large skull on his head that reminded me of a sabretooth lion. More bones made up the rest of his armor, which wrapped around his chest and rose high upon his shoulders. Beneath the armor the warlock wore tattered robes. I studied the warlock’s stats, and soon wished I hadn’t.
Name: Unknown
Race: Ogre
Class: Warlock
Level: 15
Health: 100%
Mana: 100%
Armor: 100
Stamina: 400
Strength: 200
Speed: 200
Vitality: 450
Spirit: 400
Arcane knowledge: 750
His eyes glowed bright green, and behind him stood a beast born from the depths of hell. The demon was huge, at least ten feet tall and twice as wide as a man. It had red skin and a humanoid body with four arms, and a face not even a mother could love. Large horns curved up from its smooth red dome, and in its right hand it held a whip made of fire.
I glanced at the demon’s stats and felt myself shrink back. The thing was twice as strong as the warlock, and way out of our league, but that didn’t stop our fearless tank from charging right at the creature.
The warlock smiled at me creepily as its minion engaged Trinity.
“You keep her alive!” I yelled to Anna. “I’ll take the warlock.”
“Are you nuts?” Anna asked, but I didn’t answer. Instead I launched a fireball at the warlock, followed by a snaking arc of lightning.
The warlock raised a hand and absorbed my spells, then he grinned and shot his hand outward. I leapt and ducked behind a small stalagmite that exploded two seconds later. I popped up and shot a fireball at the warlock again, but the ogre only laughed harder and batted it aside with a lazy wave of the hand.
I felt one of Anna’s buffs wash over me, and my mana shot back up to 100%. Then she hit the ogre with the stunning enchantment that she had used on the other ogres, and to my relief, it worked. The warlock let out a terrible cry of rage, and I unleashed fireballs and arcane lightning in a steady barrage. I noticed that I was putting a dent in its health, but only about 20%, and my mana was almost down to zero.
Anna hit the warlock again in the midst of keeping Trinity alive, and I hurriedly brought up my interface, grabbed a mana potion, and drank it down. The warlock was moving at about 50% speed, but that didn’t stop him from eventually unleashing a spell in my direction. Luckily, I avoided the writhing green ball of energy, and retaliated with more fireballs. Meanwhile, Trinity was locked in heated combat with the demon. I glanced over every few seconds and cringed every time. The demon’s blows were incredibly powerful, and when it connected, our fearless warrior went crashing into stalagmites with bone shattering force. Anna kept a steady stream of healing spells focused on Trinity, but I couldn’t imagine how the blonde warrior was dealing with the pain.
The warlock turned from me with a sneer and shot a spell out of its fat finger that shot across the earthen chamber and absorbed Anna in glowing green mist. Anna cried out, and I felt her buffs instantly disappear. The healing energy around Trinity winked out as well, and the warlock laughed.
“No one shall have Urgoc’s treasure!”
I launched a fireball, sprinted around the stalagmite that I had been taking cover behind, and charged the warlock with short sword in hand. I almost reached him, intent on skewering his liver, when the demon suddenly sprang across the chamber in a blur of motion and lashed me with its wicked whip. The fiery whip wrapped around my right arm at the elbow, and with a quick yank, the demon ripped my arm clean off.
I stumbled, fell on my face, and stared horrified at my blood stump.
I screamed in pain and terror as blood gushed from the wound and my health flashed before my eyes.
20%
15%
10%
5%
Warning: Death imminent!!!
I tried to swipe my main screen and tap on a health potion with my left hand, but I was trembling like a man trapped under ice. The demon loomed over me, a grin spread unnaturally wide across its hideous face.
Fully expecting to die, I screamed defiantly at the monster.
Then Anna’s healing magic washed over me, and I watched mystified as my arm grew back inside the span of two seconds. I rolled onto my back, performed the necessary hand gestures, and unleashed a fireball right in the demon’s fang-filled mouth. Crackling lightning followed the fireball blast and slammed the demon into the ceiling. The demon fell screaming from thirty feet, and Trinity appeared below it. She thrust her sword into the air and skewed the demon right through the heart as its crushing weight smothered her. Anna screamed, and I watched with awe as holy light suddenly split the darkness, washed over the demon, and turned him to ash. Trinity looked around in surprise and stood up quickly.
We all turned to face the warlock, but the creature had been given enough time to conjure a terrible spell, and our small victory was brought to an abrupt halt as a green beam ripped through the cavern and slammed right into Trinity’s chest. I watched horrified as she flew back through the air and began to disintegrate.
“Help her!” I yelled to Anna as I downed a mana potion and threw a fireball at the warlock to distract him.
Anna tried to heal Trinity, but the incredible spell that the warlock had used drained her health too rapidly, and she continued to disintegrate.
The last thing that I saw was her fierce scowl directed right at me, then she was gone.
My anger swelled, and when I turned to the warlock and saw that his spell had drained his mana down to zero, I charged forth and pelted the demonic bastard with everything I had. Anna rushed the warlock as well, and for the first time fear shown in the ugly ogre’s eyes.
My fireball destroyed his armor, and holy light from Anna’s glowing palm dropped the ogre to one knee. His mana was refreshing, but not fast enough. I hit the warlock with lightning and he was lifted by the crackling electricity and thrown hard against the wall. He landed on his stomach in a smoldering heap and shakily lifted his head as I stalked toward him.
“You will never get Urgoc’s treas—”
Before he could finish, my fireball flew right into his mouth, and his head exploded in a shower of gore.
Silence filled the chamber, and the warlock turned to smoking ash.
Anna and I stood there panting as silver and gold coins floated
into our packs, and four items clanged to the floor from thin air.
“Holy shit,” Anna said. “We did it.”
“Yeah, but Trinity died,” I said as I fought to catch my breath.
“She’ll find her way here in spirit form, don’t worry.”
“Yeah,” I said with a small laugh. “And she’ll have lost a level. She’s going to be pissed.”
“She’ll get over it.” Anna bent and picked up the glowing sword among the loot. “Maybe this will make her feel better about it. Look, it’s legendary.
I read the pop-up screen beside the weapon and my eyebrows rose with each word.
Warlock’s Bane
Level 12 Legendary Sword
Strength + 25%
Speed + 15%
Armor + 25%
“Wow,” I said. “Yeah, she’ll like that. What else did we get?”
“This bad boy,” said Anna as she lifted a wooden staff up off the floor. “It’s better than the one I have, and look, it increases Holy Blessing by 30%. And there’s some cloth armor here that’s better than what you’re wearing.”
I accepted the robes and compared stats. The new one was level 10, Epic, and had about 10% better increases to health, spirit, and arcane knowledge. It also offered + 20 armor.
“Come on,” said Anna. “We better get out of here before the whole group respawns.
“We can’t just leave Trinity’s body here,” I protested.
“She should know better than to respawn in here. Come on, we’ll look for her in the graveyard.”
“But doesn’t she only have like 60 seconds to return to her body?” I asked.
“The countdown doesn’t begin until you leave the graveyard,” she explained.
We made our way back through the cave and out into the early morning sunshine. In the light of day, the full brunt of the damage that we had sustained was made clear. My robes were in tatters, and scorch marks covered my body with black soot. Anna hadn’t fared much better. Her robes and the leather armor beneath were torn and tattered. Big holes had been blasted in the fabric or sliced by the demon, and I could see parts of her shapely body beneath.
“I think we need to find someone who can mend armor,” I said as I surveyed the damage to my clothes.
“Yeah, we can find someone in town, or we just level and put on our new gear,” said Anna as she started through the forest.
It took twenty minutes to get back to the cottage, then another five to get to the cemetery, and just as Anna had guessed, Trinity was there in ghost form looking pissed.
“It’s about time you two showed up,” she yelled as she floated over to us.
Anna performed a quick series of hand gestures and extended a glowing hand toward Trinity. The warrior’s ghostly body became solid once more, and she wiped at the smudges in her armor annoyedly.
“Thanks, now gimme the loot,” she told us.
“You mean this?” said Anna. She tapped on the screen that only she could see, and a second later the legendary sword appeared in her hands.
“Warlock’s Bane...” Trinity whispered as she reverently accepted the blade from Anna. Her expression soon returned to disdain, however, and she sheathed the legendary weapon. “And the rest of the loot?”
“We got 10 gold from the warlock,” I said, and tapped on my inventory. Three gold and change appeared in my hand, and I offered it to Trinity.
“That doesn’t look like ten,” she said with a scowl.
Damn she was hot when she was mad.
“We beat the warlock together,” said Anna. “We split the loot.”
“I didn’t ask for your help,” Trinity reminded her.
“Yeah, well you sure looked like you needed it. You know as well as we do that you could have never cleared that den on your own, so cut the shit.”
“You got the sword,” I reminded Trinity. “It’s friggin legendary. Surely that is worth one death.”
“It’s a level 12,” Trinity snapped back. “Now I’m a level 11, genius.”
“Are you always such a bitch?” Anna asked with a cocked brow.
“And why the hell didn’t you resurrect me when I died?” Trinity asked the elven healer.
“There was no time.”
“Fucking amateurs,” said Trinity. She snatched up the gold I was still offering her and flashed us a peace sign. “See you around.”
She turned and headed south, and I hurriedly rushed after her.
“Wait!” I said as I caught up. “We did pretty good back there. Why not join our guild?”
Trinity stopped, put her hands on her hips, and looked me up and down.
“Guild? Two people aren’t a guild.”
“Are three?” I asked and offered her my most charming smile.
She rolled her eyes and resumed her march.
“Look, I’m sorry that you died and lost a level, but I can make it up to you.”
“Oh my god,” said Anna from close behind me. “You aren’t going to try that one on her too, are you?”
Trinity stopped and turned around again as Anna came to stand beside me.
“Try what?” Trinity asked.
“It’s nothing!” I blurted. “I mean, that’s not what I was going to say.”
“Mmm hmm,” Anna hummed.
“I’m serious,” I said defensively.
“What in the hell are you two talking about?” Trinity demanded.
“He says that his special skill is to instantly level…” said Anna mockingly.
“How?” Trinity asked, regarding me with renewed interest.
“Go ahead, tell her,” Anna coaxed.
I let out a sigh.
“By having sex,” I said reluctantly.
Trinity stared at me and a slow smile crept across her face, then she burst with laughter.
“Oh, that’s a good one.”
“Believe it or not, that’s what my interface says. Special ability, instantly leveling through sex. Note, also instantly levels partner.”
Trinity giggled and watched me closely, but when I didn’t crack, her mirth turned to intrigue.
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” she realized.
“Yep,” I said with a shrug. “But I wasn’t about to say that when Anna so rudely interrupted.
“What were you going to say? How were you going to make it up to me?”
“He wants to screw you,” said Anna.
“Dude …” I said tiredly.
“What about you, elf?” said Trinity. “If he’s got a magic stick like he says, why are you such a low level?”
Anna blushed. “I... well I don’t believe it, obviously.”
“If you did believe it, would you jump his bones?” said Trinity as her eyebrows danced up and down.
“Look,” I interrupted, to spare Anna her embarrassment. “We did well together. And I think that we’re all better off in a group. Come on, Trin, let--”
“Trin?” said the beautiful warrior.
“Let’s fucking pwn this world,” I said. “Let’s pool our abilities, work together, and level our asses off.”
“When you say level, do you mean screw?” Trinity asked.
“What? No, I mean, sure. If it really works, we’ll be unstoppable, but I’m not suggesting that—”
“Alright Loverboy, relax,” said Trinity. “Fine, I’ll join your little guild for a bit, see what happens. What’s it called anyway? Sam’s Club?”
I glanced at Anna, but she only shrugged.
“Uhhh, how about Heavy Metal Thunder?”
The girls glanced at each other, grinned, and burst out with laughter.
“What?” I said with a grin as they both turned around laughing and headed toward the cottage.
“Come on Loverboy,” said Trinity over her shoulder. “Let’s see if that power of yours is real.”
Chapter 6
“Not bad,” Trinity said as she plopped her things down in the corner behind the door. “There’s only one bed though, and it’
s not big enough for three.”
“I can sleep on the floor. You girls can take the bed,” I offered as I followed Anna into the cottage.
“Such a sweetheart,” said Trinity, then she selected her interface in the air in front of her, and her gloves and then bracers disappeared. I watched as she tapped away at her inventory, removing her armor one piece at a time. Soon she was standing in nothing but a bra and panties, and I tried not to stare at her amazing body as I moved the rest of the loot from my own inventory and onto the table by the fire.
“You can wash up around back,” Anna told her. “There’s an outhouse with a hand pump for water.”
“No need,” said Trinity. She selected something in front of her, and her body began to glow. The light became blinding, and when it finally died down and I glanced back at her, she looked like a new person. Her hair was done up in a long French braid and hung nearly to her pert ass. Her creamy skin was shiny and clean as well, and she gave a contented sigh. She saw me gawking at her and held up a small bar of soap. “Enchanted, by Calvin Klein,” she said with a wink, and with a flick of her wrist a long white evening gown appeared on her body.
“Who’s hungry?” Anna asked, then she dropped all her random loot on the table. Among the wares was a ham hock, some vegetables, a dead rabbit, spider meat, wild boar haunch, and four bottles of elderberry wine.
“I’m a good cook,” said Trinity. “I’ll whip something up. But first…” she popped the top off one of the bottles of elderberry wine, and Anna retrieved three glasses from the cupboard.
Trinity poured three glasses, and we all held them up over the table.
Rebirth Online Page 5
