‘T-ten thousand?!’ I thought to myself after reading the text of the side quest.
Wait, no, Scott isn’t dying he’s just bleeding from his arm. That wasn’t a fatal injury, he’s already standing up and everything.
I quickly turned my attention to reassess Scott's physical state and saw him clutching onto his bloody arm with Beth nearby tearing off big pieces of fabric from her sleeves.
She must be turning them into bandages.
Meanwhile, the crowd continued to argue as more and more bystanders were drawn into the argument.
“It was clearly a tiger that she killed!” An angry male voice shouted.
“Yeah, with an automatic compound crossbow.” The nerdy voice added.
“It wasn’t a tiger or a crossbow you morons, it was a…”
And so the story continued to permeate and change from person to person. None of them were able to completely agree on what they had seen, or what they were still seeing with the corpse if its associated quest were to be believed.
I looked back at the two quests in their blue boxes and saw that 15 seconds had been subtracted from each of the totals.
‘Frick, I have no time!’
I can’t let Scott die, but also just can’t let Letitia die either.
I turned to look in her direction now.
She was slumped against the far wall from us with Jackie crouched next to her side, talking with her. Letitia’s eyes were closed now though, and she didn’t seem to be responding to Jackie’s words.
“Goddamnit, someone call 911, and get an ambulance here right this second. Actually, tell them to get here five minutes ago, as fast as humanly possible, whatever.” Jackie was losing her cool too, which I could absolutely understand because I was right there with her.
I looked at the blue boxes and another 10 seconds had elapsed.
‘Frick, I needed to do something.’
These blue boxes were telling me that it was within my power to save both Letitia and Scott, but also needed to stop the veil from sundering or whatever that meant.
It was labeled a main quest, and if I failed I would lose a crap ton of experience because of it. I wasn’t sure what the outcome of losing all that exp would be for me, but I doubted it was good.
Regardless of its effect on me, leaving the corpse here for everyone to see was clearly causing everyone that looked at it to go a little bit batty.
I wasn’t sure what would happen to them when ‘the veil sundered’, but I doubted it was good. Judging by how they were behaving now, they were all quickly headed toward a physical confrontation.
10 more seconds had elapsed.
‘Frick, focus now Jenni!’ I scolded myself mentally.
Alright, basically I can’t afford to fail any parts of these quests. No one dies, no one goes crazy.
So what’s the plan?
Organizing the information available I mentally sorted the timers from soonest to happen to last to happen. With that perspective, I needed to help Letitia first, regardless of how I might feel about her as a person.
Her friendship with Jackie and the petty beef with me and my friends was trivial at that moment.
She was another human being whose life could be saved depending on my actions right now.
The question was then, how do I save her? According to the blue boxes’ quest, I could.
Any emergency medical services weren’t likely to get here in time.
I looked at Letitia’s timer, and it had just dropped below 1 minute to do something.
Frick, I could only use the resources I had available to me in this room.
I personally couldn’t do anything, I don’t think. My weird abilities could maybe do something, but I had a better idea, one that caused my heart to clench and my stomach to constrict in worry.
“Beth.” I shouted at her, causing her to look in my direction. “I need you to listen to me very carefully because we don’t have time. I need you to stop helping Scott and go help Letitia over there.”
I pointed at the limp form resting against the far wall, well away from where Beth was at the moment.
Beth’s Mom, who was a nurse, had taught her a fair bit of first aid, and right now she was the only chance Letitia had. Scott’s time remaining had already climbed to over 6 minutes from what little work Beth had done to him so far.
Beth opened her mouth to start giving her very valid protests, but there was just no time.
“I know exactly what you want to say, and I hear you. But please, if my friendship means anything, you have to go and help Letitia, right now. She doesn’t have much time.”
Beth’s face scrunched up in apprehension and concentration.
Before she could make a decision one way or the other, Scott spoke.
“Go, I’m fine.” With his good hand, he grabbed the fabric she was clutching from her hands and jerked his head in Letitia’s direction.
With both my words and Scott’s consent, Beth dashed across the room to where a tear-streaked Jackie was now desperately telling Letitia to “Open your eyes.” and “Stay with me.”
I turned away from them. I needed to focus on the other tasks.
Letitia was at 20 seconds remaining, and that meant the main quest was also almost under a minute now as well.
But I still had to make sure Scott would survive. I couldn’t just let him sacrifice himself.
I couldn’t go on with my life if I chose to just let him…die.
“Luke you little turd, go and help Scott wrap those bandages around his arm.” I turned around and haughtily ordered the slightly taller boy.
“What the f-” He tried to start protesting.
“Luke, you go help Scott right now, or I swear I’m gonna kick you so hard in your testicles that you’ll wish that big bad wolf had got to you.”
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Luke’s face turned white and his jaw hung open in shock and more than a little bit of fear at my threats.
“F-fine…” He said meekly before jogging over to Scott’s side.
At this point Beth had reached Letitia’s side and started creating more improvised bandages while telling Jackie to keep pressure on Letitia’s wounds.
I looked at Letitia’s time and saw that it had jumped up from 20 seconds to 25 seconds. Progress.
With the two wounded hopefully settled for the moment I turned my attention back to the main quest which had now dropped below 1 minute. Actually, it was closer to 50 seconds remaining.
Frick.
There was no time to try and carry it out of here. Plus the thing was huge, and probably weighed more than me, way way more. There was really no chance of me dragging it out of here, especially with so little time remaining.
No, there was only ever one solution to this problem, and if the blue box believed I could do it then I have to believe my idea was right.
I strode over to where the monster’s corpse had come to rest.
40 seconds remaining.
The thing was huge and ugly, covered in its own blood as well as the blood of others.
It was me who had done all of this to the creature, with these strange new abilities the blue boxes had given me.
30 seconds remaining.
I had to trust that these same abilities were the key to completing this quest, and that meant being able to destroy this monster’s remains.
My mind sunk deep within itself, down to where that upwelling of energy had been originating from. The strange power from before had seemed to start in my stomach area, so that was where my mind and thoughts had eventually settled as I mentally felt around for the source of these powers.
20 seconds remaining.
I felt something, something that seemed to generate a spark when my mind made contact with it.
I willed it to complete the task I had for it. Destroy this monster’s now deceased body with whatever means it had available.
Once more an upswell of energy shot out from my stomach and once more my right hand reached out before me. This time my hand was placed so my palm was directly over the beast’s body.
10 seconds remaining.
More eldritch words, that were not of my making, began to be uttered by me. Seemingly of their own free will.
Ash to ash
Dust to dust
Return to the void from whence you’ve come
“Grave Return!” I finally declared.
Congratulations! - New Spell Unlocked
Reward: 100 Exp
As I did so, a thin line opened up on my right palm and a small inky black drop of blood fell from it and onto the corpse.
Once the black drop made contact with the monster’s body it seemed to start a chain reaction that originated at the point of contact. From where it had landed the remains quickly began to dissolve and turn to dust that seemed to blow away on its own.
Within the span of just a few seconds, the beast’s mind-rending remains were gone.
I quickly looked at the remaining time left to see if I had accomplished my task in time.
The main quest’s timer had stopped with just one second remaining. After I had looked at that number with both apprehension and relief, the whole quest box seemed to disappear, only to be replaced by another.
Congratulations! - Quest Complete
Main Quest: Protect the Veil
Success: 100 Exp.
I let out a sigh of relief. While the ratio for the rewards between success and failure was absolute poop, I was just glad I hadn’t failed.
I then looked to the side quest to see what the current times were and to figure out what further action I might need to take.
Before I could though, the side quest also disappeared just to be replaced.
Congratulations! - Quest Complete
Side Quest: Spare the Dying
Success: 200 Exp.
Wait, 200 Exp, that would mean I saved them both right?
I quickly looked to where Scott had been standing only to see Luke diligently tightening the bandage on Scott’s injured arm.
A big smile bloomed on my face as my heart and stomach both slightly loosened their grip on my nerves and anxiety.
Looking over to where Beth, Jackie, and Letitia were, I saw Beth was also tightening bandages while continuing to instruct Jackie about Letitia’s body position and how to leave moving her for the EMS when they get here.
I felt another slight drop in my anxiety level at the scene before I finally turned back to the once-arguing crowd.
“Look, I think we can all agree it was some type of wild animal that Jenni had driven off right?” The formerly nervous boy declared.
“Right, and the weapon she used must have been something she found lying around. Probably something Damien’s Dad owned.” The female voice continued.
“That is the most logical conclusion, the weapon Jenni found she used to scare and drive off the wild animal.” It was the nerdy voice now who continued to cement their now more cohesive interpretation of events. “And based on the sound the creature was making…”
The formerly loud and raucous voices had turned into a much more calm discussion where their now decently sized crowd all gave their input on what most likely had happened.
It was utterly bizarre to witness from my perspective, because the more they went on, the further and further from the truth they seemed to get. Also, none of them seemed inclined to ask me for my input either.
Was this related to the veil that was mentioned in the main quest? Was that what was responsible for these collective delusions people seemed to have?
It must also have had something to do with my inability to explain any of what I saw and experienced to my friends before.
I gave out another deep sigh of relief, as more of my fear and apprehension seemed to melt away. It almost seemed like this horrific nightmare was finally over.
Congratulations!
Level Up!
Class: Magi 1 => 2
Mind: +1
Spirit: +2
Congratulations!
Level Up!
Class: Magi 2 => 3
Mind: +1
Spirit: +1
Aura: +1
Skills Updated.
“Woah.” I said aloud as another strange wave of energy seemed to pass through me.
Thankfully it was not painful this time. If anything, it felt a little refreshing.
So these classes could be improved huh? This really was starting to feel like some kind of game. There seemed to be a lot to it, and I had to admit, it did seem pretty interesting.
But while my thoughts began to dwell more on these blue boxes and their effect, another set of footsteps thundered into the room.
This time the new arrival was Damien leading a large group of EMS and police into the now much more subdued living room.
“I’ve brought help! Is everyone all right!” Damien loudly announced once he completely entered the room.
I, and many others, felt our eyes drawn to the two motionless bodies still laying down on the floor in pools of their own blood.
“Oh….” Damien responded with a low despondent voice and the color draining from his face.
That’s right, I may have saved Scott, Letitia, and others, but there were two other victims the beast had already killed before I even arrived.
Any feelings of happiness and pride I was starting to have vanished as I watched as two of the EMS workers dashed over to the unmoving bodies in a vain attempt to save the lives of those two innocent teenagers.
I, on the other hand, already knew from the blue boxes that they couldn’t be saved.
They were dead. Two people I went to high school with were now dead.
The EMS workers continued to desperately try to help them to no avail, others spread out to assist the injured and traumatized.
The cops also moved inside to assess the situation.
I stayed where the monster remains had once been, reflecting on those I had saved, and even more now on those I hadn’t.
I couldn’t help but wonder.
‘What’s going to happen now?’