by Tom Harem
"James, we can't stop. He made his choice," Kendra reminded me, and for a moment, I'm pretty sure I saw a tear flowing down her face.
"I know, but he is doing it for us. We can't fail."
"And we won't. Now let's hurry. The exit is right there," Kendra added, pointing to a wooden sign held by heaped rocks on opposite corners.
The sign read, "You're leaving the city of Tommytown."
The city's creator didn't seem to have much originality. What a lame name. I'd give mine a big city name and I will when I get to that level.
We had already left town when we stopped in front of a road widening both ways. On the right side there was a green terrain surrounding the marble sidewalk while on the left side there was a volcanic terrain, filled with rudimentary stones, flanked by a gravelly rocky road.
"Now I understand why the Raiders avoid coming this way," Carly said.
"We have no choice," Mimi answered her and stepped forward, "Quickly. Before they catch us,"
Chapter X
We followed the rudimentary road, occasionally glancing back to make sure the Raiders weren't following us, also stumbling on the black pebbles that tarnished the road. Emma had clung to my shoulder. Jany was ahead of us, wielding the black hammer tightly, while Kendra and Carly protected our rear. Even the sun seemed afraid to set foot in that place long forgotten by civilization.
The boy was right. They didn't follow us there. Most likely, they thought we'd never get to the mountains, that we wouldn't get out of there alive. But they did not know one thing; they did not know that I could not lose, that I could not let the boy's sacrifice be in vain. I was fighting for them, for me, for him. It wasn't just a game anymore; I had made a promise and I was going to keep it. I was following the boy's path.
We had already been walking for over an hour when we arrived at some ruins, the ground still stained with blood threads and several level 7 monsters strolling around there.
"We better avoid the monsters," Mimi said, "let's focus on castles. We'll earn more experience and items."
"Are you sure? Do you think we can conquer level 7 castles?" Carly asked her.
"We don't have any other choice," Mimi said, looking around, "he said there were also level 6 monsters around here. There must be castles too. Just look for the right one and avoid the monsters. We can do it,"
"She's right. We're going to be fine. Let's keep going," I told them and smiled.
I didn't feel like it at all, but I know they needed it. A beacon of hope, something that would give them the strength to continue. I could hear my cell phone vibrating on my bedroom table, but I ignored it. This was no time to be distracted. We walked past the ruins, next to what was left of the walls, avoiding all the monsters. They had a slender black body and thick arms as if they were tree trunks and their hands were the branches. Even though they had normal feet, they hovered over the ground and slid across the air. Mimi commented that they were likely to have black magic, the strongest of all, but that the players couldn't achieve it. A way for the game to have the edge over us.
We stayed on the road, or in what looked like one. The small parallel gray lines by which we had been guiding had vanished after the ruins. We simply decided to head in the same direction and hope luck was on our side. It wasn't the first time we relied on her, and the last time it actually went well.
We walked for another hour or two. The sky once clouded was now dark and with no single light up there. The beasts howled and the sound swept across the volcanic plain. We didn't exchange many words. We were already getting tired and that meant sore muscles and a headache. Still, we couldn't stop.
Finally, a castle appeared in front of us. It was level 7 and twice the size of the last one we had conquered. The towers were strengthened with an extra layer of gray rocks and the castle door was already made of metal and not wood.
"No. Level 7 is too much," Mimi said, signaling us to stray from that castle before someone stepped inside the circle that activated the battle.
"But... what if we try? Think of the experience points we'd gain," Jany said to her. "It'd be great for us,"
"What if one of us dies?" Mimi replied.
"Let's make sure it doesn't happen," Jany replied, "we have to take risks if we want to catch Draken,"
"She's right..." Emma said, surprising everyone, "The longer we take, the stronger he will get. We can't wait. If we have to risk our lives to get stronger, that's what we're going to do."
"Emma... Are you serious?" Kendra asked her, with her bat next to her body, swinging it.
"Yeah. Seeing that boy sacrifice himself for us made me realize that we have to do it too. We can't be afraid,"
"Do you all agree?" Mimi asked. She yawned while waiting for us to answer her.
We all agreed that it was. Actually, I think we were all just a little fed up with the safe plays. We didn't want to keep running in circles, slowly growing, taking so long to even have a chance to recover their city from Draken and his group. I took the first step. I entered the circle that surrounded the castle and the red line turned on, blinking constantly, shedding light on the troops that were leaving the castle. A level 7 NPC, with a laurel crown and a red cloak with white folds, accompanied by 3 of the level 7 monsters we had seen before. Each of them offered 80 experience points and the main NPC was worth 100. We'd all go up at least one level if we got out of there alive.
"What's the plan, Mimi?" Kendra asked her and raised the bat to her chest level.
"Nobody moves. Emma and I will shoot several arrows and see how they react. We don't know what their magic is. We have to walk carefully," Mimi replied.
We all had our weapons ready. Whatever happened in there, we'd fight to the end. I grasped the weapon handle firmly. It was the first time I was going to use that sword in combat just like it was the first time Emma was using that bow. I breathed deeply, as soon as I heard the arrows tearing through the sky, going up until they vanished into the atmosphere and finally descended at full speed. The monsters raised their black hands and closed their fists. The three arrows were frozen mid-air, shattering into dozens of pieces shortly thereafter.
"Okay, ice. We can't let them trap our feet. We have to be quick and efficient. Each has 150 HP. Attack and step aside, giving way to the next. Okay? Keep attacks consistent and regular," Mimi said, organizing a plan, "Me and Emma will cover you. The NPC won't attack until the three beasts are destroyed. We don't need to worry about him now," she added.
"We can do it," I told them, "Let's do it,"
I lifted my sword above my head and started running towards them. I didn't even know if they were accompanying me, I just knew I couldn't stop, I couldn't show fear. One of the beasts stretched out her hand, pointed it at me and fired an ice stream. I wielded the gun horizontally, screaming, non-stop, running towards it, making room through the ice as I pierced the translucent blue color and hit the monster on his shoulder. He automatically lost half his life. I thought everything was going well, but I couldn't be more wrong. The beast I had struck placed his hand on the metallic part of the sword, and threads of ice broke out of his fingers, running all over the sword and freezing it. Damn it. I'd lost my weapon.
"Attack this beast," I yelled at them, "it's weaker,"
"You're too close for us to hit," Mimi yelled.
"Don't worry. Do it!" I told them and I punched him.
As soon as my hand touched him, a green mélange came out of his body and stayed in my hand. His face was shattered, one of his cheeks had gotten inside himself, but he hadn't lost HP.
Kendra and Carly had surrounded another of the beasts, hitting her in the body, puncturing her, dodging her hands. The beast was still trying to grab them even though she'd already lost 40HP. Jany was also fighting alone, using the new hammer, the latest acquisition, making sure she smashed the ice that the beast was using to trap her. Three arrows fell on the beast that had my gun. Great, if it wasn't for one of them hitting my weapon and breaking it into 1000 piece
s. The beast had 20 HP and I had no sword. Damn it. Things weren't going well. Jany was already tired of yanking the hammer and her movements were getting slower. Even Carly had part of her left arm covered in ice and Kendra could only move her right foot.
"Use your old sword. It'll have to do," Mimi said, "now that you've lost that one, you can use it again. Just go to the menu and equip yourself with it."
I did it as fast as I could. I went to the menu, moved the weapon from the inventory to my avatar and returned to the game. Carly was already with the HP bar at yellow and Kendra and Jany were on their way there. I pulled my old sword out of the sheath and stabbed the beast. This time, her HP went straight to zero. His body turned blue and shiny before it broke into dozens of pieces.
"One down. We did it, let's go!" I screamed and for a moment I saw a smile of hope in them.
It didn't last long. Jany was hit by ice splinters and fell to the ground, blood flowing down her arms and moistening her clothes. Her HP's down to 20. Carly's was at 40 and her fingers were all in living flesh from grabbing the spear despite the ice that covered the stick. Two beasts and the main NPC were still missing.
"Jany, step back and drink a potion. You too, Carly." I told them and went to help Kendra.
"No. I'm not spending one of the potions," Jany answered me.
"I wasn't asking you, Jany. Do it! Now. We can't risk it," I told her, looking at her with my half-closed eyes and my jaw clenched.
"Damn it. Okay," she said and walked away from the center of the battle.
One of the beasts trapped one of my feet but Kendra used her bat to break the ice. My heart was beating faster and faster. I had sweat and melted ice running down my body. My knees were sore even though I knew I couldn't stop.
"Got it. Let's do this, then. Let's focus on one while you shoot arrows at the other," Jany said, rocking the hammer and walking close to us.
As soon as she drew close to the beast that had hurt her, she knocked part of the beast's face off. The monster's HP went straight to 50. We had a chance. Emma and Mimi kept firing, arrow after arrow, towards the other beast. We surrounded the one that was weaker. Even though they were level 7 and could use ice, they weren't worthy opponents. They didn't move and their magic power was very weak. Nothing like the boy we'd faced before.
With a combined effort of my sword, Kendra's bat and Jany's hammer we destroyed another monster. Emma and Mimi had done an excellent job of keeping the other one busy. They had only taken 20HP from him, but he hadn't given us any trouble while we were dealing with his mate.
"Let's do it!" Mimi said, getting excited once again, "destroy him!"
Damn it. She really was a different person during battles. But she was right, we had to kick his ass.
The beast froze the whole floor around us. We were having a hard time standing up without clinging to each other. Our shoes slipped on the floor and we had nothing on which we could hang on. We tried to break the ice, but the beast kept creating more, replacing what we had broken, before we could even get close to him.
"Now would be nice to have fire magic," I said and laughed, even though it wasn't the right time.
"It would be great," Carly said, "If we can't get close to him, we won't get out of here,"
She was right. He kept using one hand to keep us away and the other to freeze the arrows.
"There's a way," Jany said, "brute force. I'm going to throw my hammer in his face. As soon as he's hit and retreats, you have to step on him."
"What if you fail?" Carly asked her half-sister.
"I'm not going to fail," Jany told her, "you better get ready. You won't have much time to move,"
We nodded. She bent her legs, took a deep breath, swung the hammer several times and, as soon as she felt it was the right time, threw the hammer across the air. He spun all the way along, striking the fine pale lips of the monster, tearing his face apart and throwing him to the ground. The ice disappeared. Me, Carly and Kendra ran like crazy all the way to the beast, making sure she didn't get off the ground before her HP got to zero.
As soon as this happened, he dissipated into particles that were carried away by the gusts of wind. He left behind only the smell of bleach and a green goo on the floor. All that was missing was the boss. He stepped forward and raised his hand. Electric beams dropped on his hand until they formed a yellow ball, with sparks sprinkling over his silver armor. He was all protected except for his head. He had 200 HP and, apparently, electric magic. We all looked at Mimi.
"Talk about pressure," she said and smiled, "If we can get those three, we can get this one too. He can't hit us all, right? Same as always. We shoot the arrows and you surround him. Hit his head."
"You're the boss," Carly said.
We ran back across the battlefield again. Everything was going well until the NPC pointed the electric ball at us. Contrary to what Mimi had said, he could hit us all, and he did. From the yellow ball emanated several thunders, each one towards one of us. We've all lost 35 life points in an instant. Jany had only five and Carly was close by.
"Go back. Hurry, hurry, hurry. JANY!" Mimi screamed, watching the NPC point his arm only at Jany.
All the thunder lightning had to do was scrape her skin off and she'd go back to level one. I couldn't let that happen. Before he fired, I ran towards her and, seeing that I didn't have time to get her out of there, I just hopped and used my body as a shield. I felt the rays rushing through my body, tickling my fingers and lifting my hair. My body fell to the ground. I could hear the girls screaming in the distance, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. I couldn't see them either, except for the silhouettes and part of their lips moving. I couldn't give up, but I couldn't get up either.
Suddenly, I heard the sound of metal colliding with metal. They were fighting while I was lying there. Damn it. I couldn't let them face the NPC alone. Not because I didn't think they couldn't do it, but because I had promised to help them. I had to. I closed my hand, and little by little, I started to rise up. The blurred vision was dissipating. My whole body was sore, but that couldn't stop me.
"You're not... alone." I told them, leaning on my sword handle.
Jany had drunk two or three HP potions. Their clothes were scorched but they had surrounded the NPC. They'd already taken 100 points of his life. They were so close that he couldn't produce another electric ball. He was trying to hit them with his fist coated with lightning or with his fingers that carried shocks. Little by little, I was recovering my legs' sensitivity.
Emma and Mimi were standing in front of him, shooting arrows at his face. 90 HP. We were close.
"Let's get this over with," Mimi said, "Towards level five!"
The girls kept on attacking him even though their HP was dropping and the pain that had to be flooding their bodies. Damn it. I had to help them. I screamed as I headed towards them, after losing 50 HP, and all of a sudden, I found myself face to face with the NPC. His eyebrows were thick and bushy, and his eyes were small, as well as his lips. I didn't hesitate. I stuck my sword in his eye and watched as he bled to death, losing the HP he had left, while the girls wrecked his armor until there were only broken pieces left.
"We did it!" I heard Mimi say before I dropped onto the ground again and my eyes rolled up.
When I woke up again, I was already at level five. The girls were a few feet away from me, circling a bonfire.
"Damn it. What happened?' I asked them as soon as I got up.
They also did, and they all ran to me, hugging me and asking if I was okay.
"My body's a little sore, but I'm fine. Don't worry. Don't worry. Jany! You're already level five and with wind magic. How do I choose the magic I want?"
"When you go to distribute the points, you have earned by leveling up, you will see an exclamation mark blinking. Press it and you'll have a list of possibilities."
"You can do that later..." Mimi told me.
"I'm fine. I'll get this over with."
"We can get going the
n. We're pretty close to the mountains," she replied, "One of the items we won was a map of the area. We'll get to the mountains before the sun rises in real life."
"A good night then," I told them and laughed. My chest hurt every time I did it.
I opened the status menu. I had forgotten to distribute the points from when I levelled up to 4, due do the scorpion sting, so I had 10 available. I distributed all points I had; four in HP, three in attack and three in magic. As long as I didn't have a shield, it wasn't worth worrying about the defense. I was almost on level 6. Nice!
Level: 5
Name: NoFunWarrior
Weapon: Silver Sword x200
HP: 70/220
Magic: 10
Attack: 135
Defense: 30
Special attack: Fire ball (costs 5 magic points)
Experience points to the next level; 360/400
Emma held onto my arm as usual. She walked next to me until we reached the mountains. Contrary to what I expected, there was almost no one in the entrance. Some players between levels 5 and 8, mostly talking in groups, but none of them seemed to be a Raider. They looked at us but didn't say anything. Me, Jany, Kendra and Carly had our HP's on the yellow bar.
"JAMES!" A voice called me away. Oh, shit. No. I'd recognize that voice anywhere.
"Naomi?"
"Hello! Are you hurt? Take this potion," she said and handed me a 50HP potion.
"What are you doing here?" I asked her before I accepted it.
"Is that any way to talk to your ex-girlfriend?" She asked and looked at the other girls, especially Emma, "I see you're in good company. I can cure them if they let me join the group." She asked.
She was at level 3 and had a bow as good as Emma's. It was going to be a choice we'd have to make very carefully. Would it really be worth having my ex-girlfriend on the team for some potions? My life was about to get very good or very bad. From the looks on the girls' faces, they weren't really finding Naomi very funny.
