In the Drunken Elk tavern, town of Hornsby, Osten Territory, a [Wolfkin] and a [Dwarf] were arguing over dinner and drinks.
“I’m tellin’ you, we need to backtrack to either a city or a bigger town. Our adventurin’ supplies are running low. We can’t keep going with just the three of us. And I’ll be damned,” the [Dwarf] slammed the table, “if there’s enough talent in this town to fill my boot.”
“And I keep telling you,” the [Wolfkin] retorted, “that it has to wait. We’re running low on funds, and a roundtrip like that will put us deep in the red. Unless we can find a caravan to escort that’ll pay enough. And even then, we’ll just break even. What are we supposed to do when we arrive at a larger settlement, hmm? We’ll still be too broke to purchase supplies, and no one will join us with our books that far in the red. We should stay here another month or two, take the premium on the easy jobs because the guild here is so understaffed, and then we can move on.”
“Oy, if I have to kill another [Goblin] or collect another mushroom—”
“Hey guys!” a blonde [Human] interrupted, plopping down in an empty seat, “Guess what?”
The [Wolfkin] and [Dwarf] glanced at each other, shrugged together, then simultaneously answered: “You’ve been kicked out of the brothel,” and “You’ve been arrested for harassing—no wait, the brothel one is better.”
The [Human] gawped at both of them for several long moments. “Really?” he pleaded at them. “Has your opinion of me fallen so low?”
“Fallen? Nay. ‘Tis where it always was,” the [Dwarf] smiled, then deadpanned: “In the gutter.”
“I’d say ditch, but yeah.”
“So cruel,” the [Human] replied, faking a tear, “No, actually, I found a mage and a tank for us.”
“Are they female?” “Are you an idiot?” “Can the mage heal?” “Did you meet them in the brothel?”
“Yes, no, I don’t know, and … yes? But! They were customers, not employees.”
“Oh really?” two male voices echoed in the [Human’s] ears.
“Cody!” a soprano voice ◐ cried out from the door. A tall female in flowing white robes came crashing into the [Human], hugging him and squealing. “We found you!”
“An [Elf]?” the [Dwarf] asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Two [Elves],” a contralto voice ◮ stated as she sat at their table, previously inconspicuous despite the full plate armor. “The name’s Riviera. And my partner there is Alia.”
“Hi!” Alia ◐ squeaked, still squeezing the poor lad.
“Thosdrean Koboldgrip,” the [Dwarf] replied coolly, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.
“Wolfram,” the [Wolfkin] replied, offering a handshake to Riviera. “Cody was just telling us you were interested in joining our team?”
“Alia! Stop smothering the man, and sit down,” Riviera commanded, pulling the other [Elf] into the seat beside her, before addressing Wolfram. “And yes, though I was under the impression from Cody that it was his decision to make,” Riviera’s voice dropping as she side-eyed the [Human].
“Cody’s full of shit lass,” Thosdrean replied, “Ordinary business is attended to by majority vote. Addin’ a member by full consent. Cody gets leader rights in battle, but only because he’s on the backline and has a head for tactics. His—” the [Dwarf] waved a hand through the air searching for the right word, “judgment outside of battle is more questionable.”
“I see,” Riviera replied, pulling Alia into a hug to keep her from squirming in her seat. “So, what would you like to know about us to help with your decision?”
“Can she heal?” Wolfram asked.
“Yes I can! Would you like a demonstration?!” Alia replied.
At Wolfram’s shrug, Alia conjured a [Mage’s Blade] and, just as quickly, sliced deep into her palm, spraying blood onto the table. Wolfram and Cody started sputtering in shock, while Thosdrean merely looked impressed. This lasted but a moment when “All done,” Alia said in a sing-song voice, showing them her bloodied, but healed hand. A moment later, even the blood was gone, whisked away to System-knows-where.
With his heart pounding, Wolfram gasped out, “I vote yes.”
“Very well,” Riviera said. “And you master [Dwarf]? What would you like to know?”
Thosdrean glanced at his team members sequentially, then back to the plated [Elf]. “Let’s armwrestle.”
“Oh come on, Todd,” Cody whined. “You can’t filter out every prospect by testing their STR against yours.”
“Actually, that’s fine by me,” Riviera interjected, “If we’ll be on the frontlines together, Thosdrean should know I can hold my own. Admittedly, I think a spar would be more illustrative, but arm wrestling is acceptable.”
With that, the prospective party cleared the table as Thosdrean and Riviera set up on either side. The commotion—sometime around when the blood started flowing—had started to gather attention from the rest of the tavern, and a number of bets were quickly being made. The two competitors grasped each other’s hands, and then, at Wolfram’s signal, Thosdrean began flexing and squeezing his arm muscles to push Riviera’s hand down. Riviera on the other hand, was relaxed and unmoving, like a mountain, seemingly unaffected by Thosdrean’s efforts. The metaphor was not lost upon the [Dwarf]. The crowd was starting to quiet down at this surprising turn of events, when the [Elf] addressed her opponent. “Do you wish to concede?”
“Nay!” he gasped out, “You may have some Skill that prevents you from movin’, but you don’t win unless you put my own arm on the table. At best, I’ll settle for a draw.”
“I think not,” Riviera grinned, then slammed the [Dwarf]’s hand into the table with a bang, followed by the cheer of the crowd. “Alia, come patch up Thosdrean in case I tore anything.”
----------------------------------------
A few minutes later, the prospective party was reseated, with a fresh round of brews and a food order placed to the kitchen. Thosdrean was staring into his mug, while the rest of them silently sipped. “Alright, you’re in,” Thosdrean relented at last. “Didn’t think anyone other than a [Dwarf] would be stronger than me. And an [Elf], golly.” The [Dwarf] mumbled to himself into his mug for several moments, before speaking up again. “And call me Todd, please.”
“Wow,” Wolfram grinned, showing a bit of canine. “First day you get to call him Todd. That’s a record for sure.”
“Oh shut up, Wolfram. Unless you want me to tell them your real name.”
Alia ◐ gasped! “You have a secret name! That’s so cool! I have loads of secret names!” Then she gasped again a moment later when the food arrived. “{Pizza!} I love {Pizza}! I haven’t had any in decades.”
“Wait, what was that word?” Cody asked. “We just call it flatbread.”
“It’s [Ravornian],” Riviera ◮ answered as Alia burned her mouth on the first slice. “Alia and I know this as a [Gnomish] dish off of the peninsula there. I didn’t know it had spread this far east.”
“Western [Gnomish]? This isn’t [Gnomish]. It’s a [Human] dish from the north.”
“No, definitely [Gnomish],” Riviera explained as to a child. “A thin bread covered with a savory berry sauce, cheese and toppings? It’s {Pizza},” she concluded, repeating the [Ravornian] word.
“Berry sauce? It’s tomato.”
“And tomato is a type of berry. Congratulations,” Riviera gave a dainty clap, in stark contrast to her full plate armor. “You’ve used local ingredients.”
“A tomato is a berry?” Cody really was too hung up on his culinary cultural history.
“Actually,” Riviera changed tack, “I had a question about the composition of our team. Specifically, Wolfram. How are you a [Thief]? You’re way too memorable. I mean, your van dyke beard is beautiful, but doesn’t it make you more... conspicuous?”
“Not really,” Wolfram replied, waving a hand around. “How many slices of pizza have I stolen from the table since the food arrived?”
“Uhh… zero?" Alia guessed, after a glance at the table. “You haven’t taken any pizza.”
“Nope. It’s three.”
The two [Elves] took a second, and much harder, look at the table.
“Color me impressed,” Riviera replied. “I have high perception and I didn’t notice anything until you pointed it out.”
“Umm—” Alia asked quietly. “This is a bit off topic, but can I—can I stroke your beard?”
----------------------------------------
That night, Todd lay awake in his bed at the inn, staring at his Status:
> Name: Thosdrean Koboldgrip (L86)
>
> Race: [Dwarf] (Re) (L43)
> Class: [Hammer Dancer] (Ra) (L43)
>
> HP: 13,655/13,703
> MP: 1,050/1,250
>
> CON 105
> STR 261
> DEX 105
> INT 50
> WIS 50
> CHA 50
> Free 0
In pure STR, Todd knew just this morning that he was likely the strongest person in the entire kingdom, if not the next several over. He had a (remarkable) race with fixed STR gains and a (rare) Class with fixed STR gains, with forty-three levels in each. Heck, Todd knew that he was risking becoming unbalanced with his other stats falling out of ratio.
And yet today, their new [Elf] tank had just tossed him around like it was nothing. She didn’t even look strained!
“What the hell are you, lassie?” Todd whispered to himself.
----------------------------------------
“Have I complained yet today about [Elves] living too long?” Alia ◐ asked in the inn room.
Alia (L152), [High Star Elf] (Ra) (L76), [Pyromaniac] (Ra) (L76)
Riviera (L150), [High Star Elf] (Ra) (L75), [Personal Royal Guard] (VR) (L75)
HP:
158,813/158,813
626,745/626,745
(5,700 / hour)
(8,970 / hour)
MP:
253,000/253,000
322,806/322,806
(4,500 / hour)
(5,310 / hour)
CON:
110
520
STR:
110
520
DEX:
110
260
INT:
330
165
WIS:
330
165
CHA:
150
164
Free:
2
13
v.1.13
“No,” Riviera ◮ sighed, “You haven’t.”
Eighty-eight years ago, Riviera was ecstatic to be reborn as an [Elf]. Now though, after eighty-eight years of Alia’s hyperactive, overcharged, juvenile, combustible (often literally) and dangerous (sometimes exceedingly) personality, she had to wonder.
“S. T. U. pid. [Live Slow II].”
Actually, that wasn’t true either. When Alia and Riviera were [Goblins], Alia already had a higher tiered [Live Fast] Trait, and so the System-awarded [Live Fast II] Trait evolved into a choose your own Skill, which neither had ever heard of before. Riviera herself though was glad for the x2 XP multiplier.
However, when Alia and Riviera became [Elves], they did gain [Live Slow II]—standard for [Elves]—which then promptly merged with their [Live Fast] Traits. Riviera—confusingly—had her Trait downgraded twice to [Live Fast 0], which, while nominally providing no bonus XP, did get added to her other XP multipliers in effect. Ergo, the 8x multiplier of [The Goblin’s Share] ended up being an x9 multiplier for her, when used in a group of 2. On the other hand, Alia had [Live Fast IV] downgraded three times to [Live Fast I], turning her base 16x multiplier into a 2x multiplier.
“STU. P.I.D. [Elves] and their long lives.”
She was still sour about that.
The upside though was that now Alia and Riviera were earning XP at a much closer rate to each other. And the new [Years of Experience] Trait they picked up this life helped a bit. As did [Speedy Speedster], giving them a pre-Class multiplier, which, given that [Elves] didn’t Class until their mid-60s, meant they had earned a lot of bonus XP during their extended adolescence. And of course they had their [Goblin’s Share] multiplier.
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Between all of that, the pair were still leveling up ~40x faster than a typical [Elf]. Eighty-eight years old, and levels 76 and 75 respectively, an achievement which would normally take an [Elf] over two thousand years.
And Alia was still complaining about it.
“Ess tee you, pee eye dee. La la la, ha ha ha.”
Riviera was pretty sure there was something wrong in her head this life. Burning down a small forest probably should have been an early sign.
----------------------------------------
The next day, the party of five began making their way west along the little-traveled road there—or, at least, what remained of the road. An hour into their hike, Riviera ◮ fell back to Todd to speak with him.
“So, probably should have asked this earlier, but—what are we doing?”
“Oh? Fair point. Hmm,” Todd rubbed the braids in his beard as he thought about how to summarize it. “So basically, this stupidly-rich old guy is really interested in the ruins of Excelsior. But the market to purchase Excelsian artifacts is really thin, so he’s bonked. What does he do? He puts up this quest to collect fresh relics from the site. Of course, he doesn’t just want to receive a bunch of bricks, and adventurers want to know what’s goin’ to be of value. So the quest comes with an extremely convoluted rewards system based on what is recovered. Of course, the ruins are deep within monster-infested forests, so only a gold-ranked team such as ourselves could handle it. Though,” Todd paused his monologue as he ticked through some figures in his mind. “I suppose a full raid of silvers would to. And that’s basically it. Kill monsters, recover relics, make coin. It’s about a week to the ruins from here, and then a three week return trip to Akira City, where the old guy is.
“Huh,” Riviera acknowledged as she chewed over what he said. “So, how did you end up waylaid in that town?”
“Our last mage found out she was pregnant when we were already on our way out, and together with our old tank—who was the father, mind you—decided to take a break from adventurin’ to raise a family. Or, at least, not go into monster infested ruins while pregnant.”
“I see. And then you couldn’t decide whether to stick around longer or head back to find some talent.”
“Basically. You two are a goddessend. You slot right in, and if the mage is anywhere near as powerful as you are strong, then you can keep up with us just fine.”
“What about Cody? Isn’t he a bit young?”
“Aye, he is. Only 24 winters old for a [Human]. But he’s already at Level 36 for both his Race and Class. The four veterans—that includes the pregnant lady and her man—after we lost our last [Ranger] durin’ a huge [Troll] fight, we spent months tryin’ to find someone else. Ended up decidin’ just to get a promisin’ youngin’ and shape him ourselves.”
“Not a bad idea. I’ll have to keep that in mind.”
“Aye. I may live twice as long as the [Human] and [Wolfkin], but we’ve got nothin’ on you [Elves]. You could train up a whole team multiple times most likely. Though, speakin’ of,” the [Dwarf] dropped his voice, “You’ve got an (ultra rare) Class don’t you?”
“(Ultra rare)?” Riviera replied puzzled. “No, (very rare). What made you think (ultra)?”
“Huh. I couldn’t figure out your stat distribution for you to overpower me like you did. [Elves] don’t have a fixed distribution to STR, so either you had a very powerful Class or you’re wildly unbalanced, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t the latter. I’ve got a (rare) hammer-based melee Class, so I figured you’d need two steps up on me to beat me that soundly.”
“Not bad reasoning. Though you’ve overlooked an important point.”
“And that is?”
“It’s rude to ask an acquaintance about their stats.”
“Ha! Yes, I suppose we ought to bloody ourselves in order to really get to know each other.”
----------------------------------------
And bloody themselves they did. The monster-infested forests were, well, infested with monsters. And monsters loved chewing on two-legged critters.
The party though put up a fine show. The new additions in particular proved more than able to carry their weight. Riviera was a fantastic tank, and unless the monster was stealth-based, nothing got past her shield or her aggro. On the other hand, when Alia got going, she really got going, and damn near torched everything. Curiously, any plants she burned she made sure to heal or replace afterwards, with the end result being that the aftermath of their battles were curiously both smoky and green.
They fought through the forests for eight days before arriving at the ruins and making a semi-permanent camp. With a base of operations set, they then began systematically clearing out all the monsters they could find and mapping the ruins out. Both the monster report and the map would be useful to future adventurers. And particularly with the map, there were several parties who could be interested in purchasing a copy. On that, Wolfram took the lead, as he had a Skill that both helped him recognize the layout of the ruins, draw the map accurately, and figure out which directions to go to continue filling in the gaps. Unfortunately for them, very little of the ruins was intact or recognizable at the outskirts and the exploration was slow.
----------------------------------------
Four days in, the five of them were crowded around a wall staring at a 20x20 cm square hole, into which Wolfram had stuck his nose.
“Well, good news, bad news,” the [Wolfkin] said as he retracted his head. “Good news is that this little tunnel does open up into the room behind the locked door we’re trying to get through. The bad news is that the wall—and therefore the tunnel—is five solid meters of very dense rock, which means we’re not breaking through the wall either. Suggestions?”
“Ooh ooh ohh!” Alia ◐ cried, jumping up and down. “I’ll do it.”
“Do what?”
“I’ll go through the pipe.”
“Lass,” Todd started, “You may be a scrawny [Elf], but I know that you cannot fit down that tunnel.”
“Actually,” Riviera replied, “She does have a particular Skill she could use for this… Is that what you’re thinking Alia?”
“Yup,” Alia said then put down her staff, and started peeling off her jacket.
“You three,” Riviera quickly barked out. “Around the corner. Now.”
“Wha…” Cody started.
“She has to get undressed to use the Skill, now [Move]!” she commanded, using a Skill to get them to move faster.
When Alia was done, she used [Amorphous Body] and a handful of other Traits to shimmy down the hole in a way that truly was impossible for anyone with a skeleton. At the far end, she extricated herself from the hole, and with just a touch of flame and [Dark Vision III], she began looking around the space, her eyes widening when she realized where she was.
“No,” she whimpered, backing up against a wall. She flared the fire higher and brighter, looking all around her like a cornered animal as the light brushed against the far edges of the chamber she was in. When the flame finally reached a crescendo, she extinguished it, then slid down the wall onto the dusty floor with her bare legs. In pitch darkness now, she began to cry, a low keening noise.
Alas, like every other time this life, Alia was unable or unwilling to communicate telepathically through their bond.
Twenty minutes later, Alia got up off the floor and, relighting her way, moved towards the door. After just a few moments, she unlocked the door, and let it swing out revealing all four members of her party. Riviera quickly rushed to her, wrapping her arms around her, and letting her rest her head on her shoulder.
“Do you, uhh… need a minute?” Todd asked awkwardly.
“Go ahead and explore the area. We’ll be along shortly.”
Riviera continued to gently pat Alia as her renewed tears slowly fell. When they had dwindled, Riviera asked, “Are you ready to tell me what’s wrong?”
“It’s—it’s the Academy.”
“What Academy?”
“Amelia’s! I don’t know how I didn’t recognize it before. *hic* We’ve been walking around here for days and…. I didn’t recognize it. I— I— I can’t even remember what the Academy was called?! What’s wrong with me?” she screeched out at the end, the sound echoing off the stone around them.
“Shh, shh, nothing’s wrong dear,” Riviera soothed. “You’ve had hundreds of years of memories since then. Some things are just… forgotten. You know the saying: Elves forget more in their lives than they can ever remember.”
“I, I guess,” Alia responded a touch calmer, for just a moment. “But, it’s Amelia. She was the first. And, I mean, … I’ve sometimes thought to myself that I really am Amelia, and that I’m just playing dress up like all these other people, living their lives. But sometimes I forget her and then I just am those people, with those other lives. I, … Am I really Amelia anymore? Am I any of the other mes? What do I call myself when I have no name? The Stupid System even calls me Fly #5. What’s wrong with that?!?!” she shrieked near the end.
Riviera allowed a moment of silence. “You didn’t have a choice, I guess, to stop being Amelia. I—I suppose I chose to stop being Elaria Greenwood when my people died. I chose… to become a [Dryad] and forget the world.”
“But that didn’t happen,” Alia ◐ responded in a whisper.
“No, that didn’t happen. By some ridiculous chance I met you and not some mere [Sylphan Tree]. And then you warned me that I might get dragged along with you into the treacherous ocean of reincarnation. And since then, I’ve done some marvelous things. I flew!” Riviera ◮ chuckled. “And I became all these other races. I became a mother and then a father. I was a lady and a craftsman. I got married, and fell in love. Twice. And the … the [Goblins], the [Gobbertons]. I don’t know. But, at least, I suppose, I chose to jump into the maelstrom. Amelia, you didn’t.”
Several minutes passed as Alia quietly cried into Riviera’s cold plate.
“No, she didn’t,” Alia replied finally, snorting the phlegm in her nose. “I think I’m fine now. Alia just—she wears her emotions on her face you know. She doesn’t hide anything in her heart, it’s all out there for the world to see. And, uhh, I reacted badly—to that. Umm, are we better now?”
Riviera smiled. “You and I will always be good. That puny marriage we had a few lives back? Ha! It was fun, but mere marriage cannot transcend lives. We are bonded, you and I. And that is a bond that survives even death. I think a few tears in an old ruin are fine.”
“Umm, yeah. That’s right, that’s right,” Alia replied awkwardly, moving to pat her dirty hands on her robe before realizing her state of undress. “Umm… Everyone saw everything, didn’t they?”
----------------------------------------
On their last day at the ruins, the team was making their way back out towards camp when Wolfram suddenly stuck out an arm and called everyone to a stop. He crept forward slowly, looked around the corner, cursed, then called back quietly. “Guys, you’re going to want to see this.”
As the other four members of the party stuck their heads around the corner looking out of the ruins, they saw a large herd of quadrupedal lizards bunched together at the far end of the field, a few hundred meters away. “[Rzarks],” Todd muttered. “That’s a pain in the ass.”
“What’s wrong with them?” Riviera asked.
“The standard plan of attack is run away and bring back the army together with a platoon of [Fire Mages]. They’re weak to the element, but they move in such large herds that small adventuring groups can’t do much about them, no matter how strong. Way more problematic than anything else we’ve run into so far.”
“Fire, huh,” Riviera said rubbing her chin. “Alia.”
“Yes,” Alia snapped her attention to Riviera.
“How do you feel about [Siege Fireball]?”
“You mean it, Riviera! You’ll let me use it?”
“Yes, but only one, and only twenty thousand mana. I don’t want to burn the forest down.”
“Yes!”
“Wait, what—” Todd began, but was interrupted by:
“[Siege Fireball],” Alia snapped out, and a walnut sized ball of fire launched forward towards the herd at the speed of an unladen sparrow. It stayed small for most of the trip, then, as with all exponential growth, it suddenly grew out of control, spanning fifty or more meters across.
The [Rzarks] had no time to react, and were engulfed by first flame and then explosion. A roar and thunderous clap rang out across the open field, and then echoed off the nearby mountains moments later. Within a heartbeat, the vast majority of the herd were killed instantly, with most of the rest grievously injured. A group of three that had been just a little farther away was mostly unharmed, but turned tail and ran away into the forest.
Todd just stood there gaping as the burning grass nearest them crackled in flame. Wolfram was contemplative, and Cody was perplexed.
“Hey, Wolfram,” he asked. “What did I just see?”
The [Wolfkin] shrugged. “[Siege Fireball] apparently.”
----------------------------------------
The team left without further incident, loaded to the brim with all the relics they could carry. Todd at that point was unashamed to use Riviera’s greater STR to carry even more money-making goods. And then loaded up Alia with as much as she could carry. Which, if anyone had noticed, was more than Wolfram and Cody were carrying, but no one did.
Three weeks back to Akira City and the team raked in a huge payday. Payment was split six ways, one to each team member, and then the sixth went to the party fund for covering costs. After such a long adventure, the team was more than happy to take some time off and relax with the comforts of civilization. The easy days began slipping by.
One day, the party was sitting in a tavern over drinks when suddenly Riviera and then Alia both stiffened up.
“Alia,” Riviera ◮ began hesitantly, “did you get that notification as well?”
Alia ◐ gulped. “Yeah.”
“Do you… um, I think, err, we ought to hurry back. And fast. Like Baron Rin fast.”
“Umm… okay, I can do that. Ugh, I’ll go get our stuff and meet you back here,” and with that parting thought, Alia took off like a [Rogue] running for his life in the dead of night, though it was only mid-afternoon.
“Lass,” Todd began, glancing at the sole remaining member of their suddenly-disgruntled [Elven] duo. “What happened?”
“Our Race,” Riviera began. “The rarity increased a step. We weren’t close to the threshold though. You know what that means?”
“A lot of them died. And suddenly I’m guessing,” Todd paused, taking in everything that had happened in the last few minutes and leaping ahead to the obvious conclusion. “Should you really be rushing off? The Star Forest is almost five hundred klicks away. Wait a few days. Don’t be rushing to your grave.”
Riviera slowly shook her head. “Alia has [Census]. When we left, we knew there were 97,567 [High Star Elves] in the Star Forest, with perhaps a few thousand abroad. The next Racial rarity threshold is around 41 thousand, which means at least over a fifty thousand [High Star Elves] dead, not even counting the regular [Star Elves]. That’s a,” Riviera swallowed hard. “I’m not sure catastrophe is big enough.”
Wolfram and Cody paled at the number, but Todd was only puzzled. “[High Star Elves]?” he asked, and then his eyes widened as he wheezed out, “You’re over Level 50!”
“We are,” Riviera affirmed, but grew serious as Alia came back with their light packs. “Todd, Wolfram, Cody. It’s been a pleasure. I wish we could have parted at better news.”
“Now hold on,” Todd interjected, as the two [Elves] reached the door. “We’re coming too!”
“You can try,” Riviera deadpanned, and then the two were off in a gust.
“Wolfram!” Todd commanded, “After them. We’ll catch up, but get going and keep an eye on them.”
----------------------------------------
Wolfram burst outside the tavern, asked the bystanders which way the [Elves] went, then took off after them down the main boulevard. The road was crowded, and Wolfram quickly shimmied up onto the rooftops to move quicker. After a minute, he finally found the two moving through the crowd, just a touch slower than he was, and he was slowly gaining pace. He was at three hundred meters and closing. By the time they blew through the gate, he was down to two hundred meters, but now was running on the road outside the city behind them. Suddenly, they veered off the road into the high grass and continued running towards the forest.
The heck! Wolfram thought, and then bounded after them offroad. Trees had just started appearing around them and Wolfram was down to just a hundred meters, when suddenly their speed tripled from the pace he could sustain. He came to a halt, panting lightly as he watched them take off deeper into the forest, faster than ever.
“What the fuck.”
----------------------------------------
The party of three—they really ought to pick a group name—made with all due haste after their wayward [Elves], and were making seemingly excellent time over the following days.
They knew things had gone horribly wrong when all of the plant life around them was frozen, covered in freezing rain, sleet, and snow.
Then they panicked when they found the first [Ice Wyvern]. Not alive, mind you; a hole had been burned straight through its chest, killing it. But anything twenty meters long and weighing 10,000 kg that can fly and spew magical breathe is likely to do that to any sane sapient.
The panic was renewed at [Ice Wyvern] #2, but by numbers 3-8, they had grown numb and were barely fazed by them. They paused when the last three corpses were found altogether, but they pressed on into the frozen forest.
Then they came across an evolved [Blizzard Wyvern], and five underling [Ice Wyverns] around it. This battlefield was clearly far more extended, over five hundred meters or more. And yet these terrors of the skies had been felled. An [Elven] watchstation was nearby, but all of the bodies had been frozen solid and none were the [Elves] they were looking for.
They pressed on.
Finally, the sounds of battle reached their ears. As they pressed onward, silence soon fell, blanketing them until a sudden keening wail erupted. A minute later, a [Blizzard Wyvern] flew away, deeply injured, but alive. With trepidation in every step, the party moved forward to the approaching battlefield.
Two [Blizzard Wyverns] were dead, one with its wings seemingly shorn off by a sharp blade. And, scattered about, another twelve [Ice Wyverns], burned and sliced.
And one [Elf].
The party quickly rushed over to the prone form laying against a boulder, the boulder itself having been cracked from where she had apparently collided with it. Her armor, banged up badly; her sword, nearby but chipped; her helmet, she had apparently wrested off and tossed nearby. Blood flowed freely from her mouth and nostrils, and her eyes were closed as snow started to accumulate on her.
“Riviera,” Cody whispered, and she startled awake.
“Oh, hey guys,” Riviera rasped, then coughed. “Fancy seeing you here. Like what I did with the place? Thought it could use more white.”
“Never thought you’d be the one to poke fun at a time like this lass,” Todd mumbled. “Now, open up, we’ve got a high quality health potion here.”
Riviera shook her head loosely. “Won’t do any good. Besides, Alia’s waiting for me. Can’t just stick around a century.” Riviera coughed. “Say, Todd. I’m feeling a little loose-lipped right now. Might be the blood loss. How about a secret? We leveled up a few times from those [Wyverns], but well, now you’ll know. [Short Status: Visible].”
Alia Starwood (L168), [High Star Elf] (Ra) (L84), [Pyromaniac] (Ra) (L84)
Riviera Starwood (L168), [High Star Elf] (Ra) (L84), [Personal Royal Guard] (VR) (L84)
HP:
0/185,749
15,235/867,590
(6,255 / hour)
(10,450 / hour)
MP:
0/316,695
44,321/430,203
(5,038 / hour)
(6,185 / hour)
CON:
110
622
STR:
110
622
DEX:
110
290
INT:
381
184
WIS:
382
192
CHA:
158
180
Free:
19
1
v.1.13
As the three of them stared at the Status screen, Todd started chuckling maniacally. “Bleeding out on death’s door, and you have damn near as much HP as I do.” Cody just fell onto his ass and just stared up into the sky, though whether from the stats or the name of the Elven royal family, none could say. Meanwhile, Wolfram held his soft hat against his chest, looking sheepish at seeing something so intimate; even more so than after Alia’s incident weeks ago.
“Come now, Wolfram, it’s not that bad,” Riviera jibbed at him, seeing his face.
“Waldo.”
“…eh?”
“My name’s Waldo. I just go by Wolfram because … it sounds tougher. Err… I thought… I should share a secret too,” he ended bashfully.
“Huh. Well, I guess I can try not telling your grandkids if I ever run into them. Strange, I think this is the first time I’ve been conscious when I di—”
> Ding!
>
> You have died.
----------------------------------------