I raced through the dense jungle, the sounds of pounding feet and ragged breaths following behind me. A panther perched on a branch swept a lazy paw down at my head as I ran past. I returned the gesture with [Hope’s Edge], slicing through it and the branch with one strike.
I didn’t even miss a beat as I continued running.
Behind me, seven Guildies desperately followed, most of them near drained of stamina. The five lowbies we were escorting were in their 20s, while the other two were max level. Only the two level 60s had stamina to spare - Bart, the first member of my bodyguard squad, and Bell, one of the other founding members of the squad. Bell - screen name TinkerBell - was a level 60 Mentalist. Like Bart, she had been there the day I had beaten Ysillith, and had been one of the first that I had recruited into Damsels. Shortly after, her, Bart, and five other high-level players had agreed to become part of my core team - my bodyguards, ostensibly.
In our first meeting, they’d insisted on choosing a name for themselves. Suggestions like ‘Death Commandos’, ‘Fedaykin’, ‘Damsels Eight’, and ‘Damsel's Protection Services’ had come up and been shot down.
The name they had eventually agreed upon: Ray's Angels - despite my protests. The name just stuck, and it appeared that I had no say in the matter. So three of my...'Angels', were here with me as we escorted the lowbies. Bart and Bell were on escort duty with me, while Tear - TeardropKiller - was scouting above the treeline.
The excitement had been infectious…at first.
Two weeks later, we were beat down, exhausted, and jumping down each others’ throats.
“We need to stop!” Bart called from behind me.
“Can’t!” I shouted over my shoulder. “They’re closing the trap!”
“Ray!” he shouted, his voice strained. “Goddammit, we can’t fight if we’re out of stamina!”
I glanced at their nameplates in my party interface.
Party Member #2
Name
BartHeals
Class
Heavenly Cleric - (Priest)
Race
Human (M)
Level
60
HP
910/910
MP
211/360
Stamina
56/420
Party Member #3
Name
TinkerBell
Class
Mentalist - (Mage)
Race
Troll (F)
Level
60
HP
760/760
MP
47/385
Stamina
24/360
Party Member #4
Name
TeardropKiller
Class
Cutthroat - Rogue
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Race
Hobgoblin (F)
Level
60
HP
985/985
Infamy
0/100
Stamina
107/225
The five other Guild members' stamina were near drained to zero. I looked back and noticed them trailing behind, the gap between us widening every second.
Fuck!
I ground to a stop, letting the others catch up. It would be at least a minute before their stamina was back to full. A minute we didn’t have.
Party Chat
RayGun47: Tear, what do you see?
TeardropKiller: Seven 60s in the air, on your tail, 200 meters. Three more to the west. Two to the east. Two in front.
TinkerBell: Thats way too many!
RayGun47: We can’t just leave them
BartHeals: They can just logout for a few hours. You can’t!
RayGun47: We have to at least try!
BartHeals: You’re gonna risk your life for some lowbies!?
RayGun47: They’re Damsels, Bart! Here’s the plan. Tear, keep an eye on those fliers, update me if they start to move. Bart, Bell, stay with the package. I’m gonna punch through the two fliers in the front.
“Ray, that’s dumb, man,” Bart said in person. “No offense to these guys,” he said with a wave to the five lowbies. “But if it’s you or their gold and trophies, we gotta pick you.”
“Wait!” one of the lowbies cried. His name was Ikikik90. “I’ve got all my gold on me! Please don’t leave us!”
Bell turned on the player, her expression less than sympathetic. “The fuck you doing carrying that much gold out ‘n about? Don’t you know Damsels be gettin’ hunted?”
“I-I was to-told we’d be prot-protected,” he stammered, withering under Bell’s glare. “The bank fees we-were eating me a-alive.”
“Protected? Yes,” Bart said, shaking his head. “But no one said you’d be invincible! There’s 12 level 60s up there - that we can see!” He pointed up at the sky. “Probably another 12 hiding in this goddamn jungle,” he added. He turned to me, an annoyed look on his face. “We can’t help stupid over here,” he said with a thumb pointing over his shoulder at Ikikik90.
“Alright, ease up-” I started.
“Hey!” another lowbie interrupted. “No one told us there’d be 30 max-levels after us night and day!”
Bart turned back to the new speaker, his eyes full of fire. “Ever hear of a bank? It’s this novel concept of a business that’ll store your money for you. So, you know, you don’t drop your entire fuckin’ life savings from one gank squad!”
“Gold or no gold,” the same player argued. “No one wants to corpse camped for two hours! I can’t believe you’re gonna leave us!”
“You morons realize Ray only has one life, right?” Bell asked, her tone incredulous. “I can’t believe you’re asking him to-”
“Enough!” I shouted, my patience worn to the nub. “While we’re bickering, the noose is tightening. I’m going to punch a hole through the front.” I turned to the lowbies, my face stern. “Follow Bart and Bell. Do whatever they say, understand?” The five lowbies looked around at each other, the more vocal ones grumbling under their breath. I closed my eyes and exhaled in annoyance. When I opened them, I forced all my frustration through my voice. “Do you understand!?” I barked.
They jumped at that, and nodded hurriedly.
Without another word, I aimed north, and activated [Bounding Leap]. My body went sailing up into the air, bursting through the jungle canopy. I quickly located the two fliers to the north before crashing back down through the leaves and branches. They were about 150 meters north, and hovering just above the trees - maybe 25 meters in the air.
Perfect.
My feet crashed to the ground and I deactivated [Bounding Leap]. Hopefully the fliers hadn’t spotted me, as I had only cleared the trees for a moment. I wanted to get closer before revealing myself. I reactivated my jump, but with less charge this time, allowing me to stay below the canopy as I leapt forward. The branches were dense here, but I managed to angle my body before jumping so that I cleared them with only a few bumps and scrapes. I jumped two more times, then landed softly beneath where I guessed they were flying above.
I gave Bart and Bell the signal through Party chat to head in my direction, then I started charging up [Bounding Leap] again. I let it go around a quarter charge, launching straight up.
While still in the air, I pulled out [Hope’s Edge], angling it behind me as I flew. I burst through the canopy in an explosion of leaves, directly under the two fliers' feet. Both of their eyes went wide as my glaive sheered through them, cutting through one’s hip, passing through, and catching the other in the gut. The terminus of my leap ended just above them, their bodies falling through the jungle canopy. My arcing jump reversed, the ability shut off from the combat flag, and I followed them down to the ground below.
I crashed to the ground, my knees screaming from the pain of the fall damage. The fall damage negation turned off if the ability ended prematurely, but a 25 or 30 meter drop wasn’t enough to do any serious damage. Just some pain, and a few percent off my HP.
Party Chat
RayGun47: The way is clear!
TeardropKiller: It’s a trap! 40 players just broke through the canopy using bounding jump. They’re heading for you, Ray! The fliers too!
BartHeals: Ray go! Leave us!
Oh, fuck! That many!? I stood frozen with indecision. There was no fighting that many level 60s, that was obvious. But was there was still a chance I could save the others?
I charged [Bounding Leap] and cleared the canopy once more to get a better look. What I saw sent shivers running down my spine, even as I crashed to the ground.
All across the jungle, tiny specks were leaping through the zone, like fleas hopping across a dog’s fur.
And they were all converging on my position.
RayGun47: They’re focused on me! Bart, get the others out!
BartHeals: Just stfu and go!
I turned away from the incoming players, charged my jump to the max, and jumped away.
As I flew through the air, I shot glances behind me every time I broke through the dense branches of the jungle. There was no way for them to catch me now. Even as they leapt towards me, I was leaping away just as fast. The distance between us stayed the same, no matter how many of them there were.
I hoped Bart and Bell could get the others away while the enemy players were distracted. We’d have to change the way we’d been doing things. This wasn’t working anymo-
Something intercepted me as I was mid-leap, a body crashing into mine. We were well above the canopy when we collided, and were falling towards the ground together, our limbs tangled.
It was a level 54 Reborn Undead Berserker who had crashed into me. He must have seen me coming and timed his jump to bring me down. He had his arms and legs wrapped around me now, a sick smile across his face.
“You’re fucked,” he said in my ear, the wind almost making the words unintelligible.
I didn’t have time to reply.
We crashed to the ground together, his body getting smushed beneath mine. The fall damage killed him instantly, and brought me down a full 40%. The pain was blinding, and I rolled off of him, my lungs struggling to pull in air.
“Gahhhh,” I moaned as I writhed in pain.
No time for that, gotta move!
I forced myself to my hands and knees, my ribs feeling like they were stabbing into my chest. I activated a healing potion, then tried to charge up [Bounding Leap].
Skill cannot be activated while in combat.
Oh, fuck! I spammed the skill, trying to get it to work.
Skill cannot be activated while in combat.
Skill cannot be activated while in combat.
Skill cannot be activated while in combat.
Skill cannot be activated while in combat.
Skill cannot be activated while in combat.
I looked behind me to spot my pursuers, but the dense foliage made it impossible to spot anyone above the canopy.
Gritting my teeth through the pain, I started running north, every step filled with pure agony.