COI C46
The sounds of clanking of his crossbow, easily heard and many know where he is positioned. Many thought he is bait, a suicide betrayal along with his group, and even compelling to fight on in the front with a range weapon. Here he is now, inside the sphere, who battled through Rune Isles between him and the mana beasts. Veteran of his guild, Raker Mawn, facing real life people calling them Isekai citizens and challenge to the limits under the Jigeram and Alga’s light. Alongside are other people like him, range units but compelled to use close combats with their looted weapons from the adventurers.
“This is team ‘what is left’ after the assault. The adventurers are starting to learn using their skills effectively among us. Still using fodder tactics, while being the back lines as targeting dummies, and the front bravely distracting the remaining of our fighters to the end. Thankfully, their backlines kept falling even they are covered. They still didn’t realize our teleportation trap place behind when we are backing away. This record set in day 3 after the city folks first contact this sphere . . . Then set to my files to Tech master, and done. Alright, there is no sign from them”
“It’s fine R-cord, we won’t be seeing finishers in a gruesome way. Except for you”
The man who is with them, who is reloading his crossbow, and with the sound of the clang ringing around them. The adventurers already learn about the sound and preferred to leave. It was meant for the Enders to lose on this point where their group already taken out when enemy reinforcement came.
“They already surrounding us, and you Voldemyr, just save us. That some psychological warfare”
“. . .”
“Let him be that way, McS4, we already lost by the look of seems. We should head back and meet with our new applicant”
They bring up their equipment and head out, through the open space of the fight. Everyone didn’t bother to fight them, because of that rumored man. It wasn’t because they are afraid of them, it is because they already met. Mix feelings flowing up among the adventurers as someone like him walking among the people who did this, nevertheless, he is famed for his silence and the sound of his crossbow.
“They are looking at you, seems like you met with them”
“Phew* Sigh*”
“Keep breathing heh, guess it’s nothing”
They passed along to where they needed be, until one of the adventurers surprised them.
By sheer moment of that action, Voldemyr negate the adventurer's abilities by enduring it with his body and raised his crossbow to his shin. The adventurer sees his companions didn’t continue the attack, by the look of his eyes when he sees Voldemyr's. He couldn’t understand why would they are not attacking them. The man continues, the flow of mana coming through his body. Voldemyr punches him with his free right hand and blocked his magic. His magic stops and felt it concentrates to his gut. Voldemyr took aim where the mana gathering to the enemy’s gut.
The adventurer fell down as Voldemyr fired. A strong bolt sound fired on him but was stop when someone else catches it. It was Altair, barely made it with his own hands. The Jigeram clearly weakens them both, for this moment to come by catching it by hand. It is lucky for Altair to save him from an experiencing shock. He looks at the tip of the bolt as it mended with a bullet. He throws the bolt on the ground and pop like an igniter
“It’s better to be on your way, Voldemyr, it’s an honor to see you again”
“I’m glad you remember me, back then it was an accident”
The two broke off where Altair had a chat with the adventurer. R-cord turned his eyes on them indirectly, the monocle he is wearing records what he sees. The man shows a deep expression what will going to happen. Like what happen before who fight with him during the retaliation, they flee with every precise shot impaled them, even the armored ones. It pierced then explode in the inside. They lost focus after seeing such a brutal shot. He is definitely a monster slayer, and he using it on them. Such a nightmarish experience.
Tabitha sees them coming inside the gate, a raker mawn member and two expected members of the Dexter Guild. She thought they come the other way around, most Enders can’t fight much longer from the adventurers trying to push. It’s a tug of war out there, but it is still good training. The enders had to play guerilla tactics and the adventurers learn how to survive every trick they have. The mind games keep them in check as the most effective strategy is to record everything had happen. Archivist greets Voldemyr as he didn’t know someone like her is training, by looking at her, it is not his expertise to teach her to kill monsters.
Then She says to him with a curious look.
“Wait a minute, you were part of the scavenging, you should be taking a rest”
“I already am, fighting and hunting here is relaxing”
“I don’t blame him, never get hurt here”
“This is no time for jokes Archivist”
Elrond sees them coming back after almost fighting with the adventurers. Through his keen eyes he sees them almost start a fight. They stop as they know each other, it might hurt the training, but there are more topics needed to learn than just fighting. And this man might help her survive in a near death situation.
A team was formed, only 5 of them, while Elrond watches them in the distance. They ended up heading to the secret corners of the sphere. Where the landmarks kept the guardians, it could be the right place to learn to fight. Tabitha hides her identity with a mask, it is kind of strange to hear her as an Enders by the adventurers. Thanks to her not updating her profile except the sub-information to be Myrrkei’s student, they are passing through and witness a fight in different direction. The entire battlefield is a rumble with lone gun shots left and right.
They reach to a secret door as they entered a garden that store different kinds of produce. Artificially made as it looks like it, but the lack of nature’s nutrient through only by Alga’s light as it was both near life and death. It is a good place for her to train in. McS4 uses a flamethrower to burned off the near-death vegetation, all cleaned, as there is a little sign of near-death life to regrow again. The environment is uneven and match what they wanted for her to learn. She pulled out the note and the relic she was given with before coming here.
The Dexters see the relic and explain it to her.
“Huh, Tabitha, that relic is not for fighting. It’s for sensing demonic presence”
“I didn’t know, what’s it used for?”
“It is more like it used for exorcism. Removing curses and being possessed, I’ve no idea how the Not Worthy Guild using it”
“And this one?”
“A notepad? And its blank, hmm maybe, R-cord tried doing stuff”
McS4 takes Tabitha’s notepad off of her hand as he tries to test it. The upcoming firing shot in the garden where he writes it down, under his own language, it quickly translated and search the information. After a closer look , R-cord was the one who understands it.
“Now I get it, you are not here to train as a fighter but as a leader”
“What?”
Archivist thought the same too, her unwillingness to use her magic to use to its full potential. She was forced to use it again to survive this world. Not knowing why, she probably has trauma by her own power, but him alone can manipulate the spells when they are trying to casts on him. Then it should be a fitting choice. McS4 and R-cord are great at following orders and Archivist too, maybe. To be sent here, closely to the undying inhabitant of creatures in horde. The application instructed to her do any situation needed. And they thought she could blast through even under the influence of Jigeram.
Tabitha let them write on the notepad, filling up collections of their equipment and skills, along with Voldemyr’s involvement. They write it all what they are going to do for this area. The area they are in is a passage way to the other structures inside, still sealed but it was for the waterways where it should have water to begin with. The training is to open new routes to every secret door they walk pass by. The robots are clearly from Enders, and those machines already prove defeating the adventurers by its secrets. The adventurers are not here yet, and it is a good chance for them to test their skills. Tabitha starts to wonder.
“Uhm, I was wondering, was this sphere for exactly”
“Nothing, it was sealed even for us who found it through a magic portal. Nothing much to say except controlling our powers in a weaker state, it is strange though. The landmarks should empower them, but it is a training ground or ceremonial trial by many races back to Horsin”
“Wow, then it is impossible to fully control this place”
“Not even elven magic reach here, like it was preventing for the elves to intervene”
“That’s enough, this place is now for training. Remember to learn that this place is weak as you’re equal”
Voldemyr ends the conversation and gives the notepad back to her. She uses her own personal UIs to improve the abilities she must supervise for. Limited to her abilities for not using magic, she was given other means of weapons. The first weapon she was given is a flashlight. She tests it out and flashes Archivist on purpose, the runes inside ignite the magic and force him back and further more as he stood in her light’s direction. She turned it off and R-cord warns to her, the flash light is a focus magic projector. Where the light is the arc of its cast.
Carved in runes as scrolls, as it has limited itself that requires mana. The mana battery is inside the flashlight and the lens where the runes of magic to be place. R-cord later teach her how to change lens in quick succession, Tabitha tries it and it is quite sturdy when she picks it up and down. R-cord added a bit more lens to have variety on her arsenal, its impressive that she held an archscience weapon.
“So, this is the combination between all magics, right?”
“It has flaws, most magic items, archscience weapons are not easily returned with magic”
R-cord continues to show her if she let it go, comparing the magic items she is holding. The flashlight didn’t return, even it stuffs inside one of their bags. According to his observation, it negates the entire components made on this flashlight. As if it won’t manipulate under someone else’s controls. It was convenient for Tabitha to see that it is impossible for it to be stolen, but looks gluttonous to feed it with her own into the mana battery and not using it directly.
They finally set out and took their first step, Voldemyr was the first as he jumps into a trap with his protective boots. The trap broke as the ground shifted, tearing the floor off and the first trap already broken.
“Wait a minute, that’s not a trap”
“Yeah, it’s more like it already been made”
R-cord uses his monocle to track who is plotting it, and there is a trace. The robots were following them, they seem to be explorers as they are moving from place to place.
“Tabitha, I think it’s better off we go hunting instead”
“Archivist, is there any good reason. You are the only person in front”
Tabitha finishes searching through her notepad, and names of them are a bit off. In code names she presumes. Busily learning their abilities, it’s much better off for her to test some of their abilities.
“Archivist? Why are you not answering?”
Archvist is tracking, hidden out from his face, she has no idea what he is planning to do. Through a good observation, Archivist had no doubts that it was a failed exploration.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
“Voldemyr, there is nothing much out here except for the robots”
“You catch on quick, yes, they already left after that attack”
Tabitha is continuing to further up her gears to the point she needs to improve it all. The UIs took her time to reimagine it, all of it are done and gives of a happy expression after some improvements. Mimicking R-cord’s monocle to have icons around her view, and with this, she mentally setting it up to her point of view. The mask she wore do so much wonders through her imaginations.
“Alright everyone, let’s go”
The formation they have is kind of misalign. Voldemyr keeps moving forward by the front as team leader where the indicators shared between him and Tabitha.
The icons on them, through memory, show significant amount to detail where the two codenames were quickly equipping everything as they move forward. Archivist opens his aura, sensing the area through every seismic step he could, and for her seeing their stats as she felt like she is some special group. They stop where they saw a robotic humanoid shining its eyes towards them. The three takes aim to the shadowy entity, the glowing eyes drop lower as the they focus on it. A sound coming from the other side as it already pounces at them. Archivist grab the charging humanoid and slam it on the wall. Then he jumps away where Voldemyr impaled its head.
“What was that!?”
Tabitha sees the humanoid pierced through its thick head, she turns around and sees the glowing light on the other side. A helmet rolling and that it belongs to the adventurer. It faded away after that, somehow, that adventurer was here inside these waterways.
“One of the robotic humanoids, it uses the light to hide itself and still camouflage in brink moment”
Tabitha turns again to see the humanoid self-repaired itself, the presents of the JIgeram helps it recover as it heals. It is impossible for this thing to die. Somehow these machines could heal under the Jigeram like such living things with Alga’s.
They continue on their journey. Door by door, there is so much things are happening through the echoes inside of this place. Fighting coming from place to place and loud sounds turn soft and screams quickly silence. It is quite strange to see why there is no lights, they reach a part they need to go up. But through elevation expectation, R-cord seems don’t want to go up there.
“Hey, we need to wait here”
“Is there something out there? I sense something but it already left”
“Then what are we supposed to do, leader, you decide”
Through McS4 and Archivist observation, it seems safe to go up. Yet, Tabitha receives data from his monocle as the map keep changing elevation inside the waterways. A strange phenomenon happening inside of it, it stretches up and down to wore off from something. The entire pathway terraforms itself in such bizarre disjointed figure, then another echo of screams coming in their way. Through R-cord’s indicator it already been gone, the distance track very far as it below them.
Within Tabitha’s mask, she sees through the distance by its perimeter. The elevation tricks them that they are far apart. Now as the waterways going up is slowly and returning to a correct height, they see lights coming over there.
“Let’s go, somebody is in trouble”
Tabitha runs as they follow through leaving Voldemyr behind as to watch from the back, carefully strategizing as something is coming from behind. The elevation on the other side starts to appear a new passage coming in, where he sees there are more of them. He fires at them as he reloading, the iconic reload in such a fast pace release a strong cranking sound.
A loud and powerful sound travel through the waterways, he begins to attract attention, as for his team they couldn’t make it as the adventurers disappears from their defeat. Tabitha sees through with her mask enough to see the humanoids, and it never use stealth but their numbers are big except their sizes. Big rounded and rolling around her, Archivist comes to her aid and carry her back to them. McS4 is setting up a perimeter as R-cord is aiming at them to secure their way back. Tabitha sees them rolling each other like balls bouncing everywhere to reach them. The shots fired at one of them as it tries to hit them.
Archivist tries to kick them like a soccer ball, leaving no available as the impact bounces off to the other rolling machines going at them. Tabitha got hit on the shoulder by the bouncing balls, where Archivist took a hit on his feet. Tripping and stepping from the balls on the ground, he fell to the ground in time inside McS4’s perimeter. Then McS4 charges at them with his air suction tank on his back and specialize thrower fueled by harmful substance. He releases a bluish flame at the machines. It shows nothing on the machine as it automatic shuts down.
Malfunctioning its sensors automatically response to defend itself. The nano machines inside were affected by the strange blue fire. Nothing happened, but for McS4 knows that it is a safety protocol where the Jigeram’s particles are dissolving. Tricking the nanites itself to be part of it. Archivist tried to bring Tabitha up and fight back, and R-cord keeps shooting at the front where the numbers of them are keep coming.
“Where’s Voldemyr?”
“At the back, the noise will gather more of them. We need time to get out of here”
“But we travelled so far”
“Then we should go where the adventurers at. The passage starts to leveling the entire routes combine”
Archivist heads it with his martial arts and magic put to good use. Through his techniques raising magics with earth, appearing through the dust, to pebbles, to rocks, and finally to stones, he strikes them down by the burst of it. Breaking and slamming it with a rock, multiple attacks are as hard as stone. Shattering the stone and merging back under his motion by hand, guiding its strength through his power. Leaving the other machines to focus on one person who is not fighting yet. Tabitha sees one of them charges at her, raises her flashlight and shines at it. The intense force is surging on it as it trapped itself in mid air with the same force.
It releases its hovering mechanism to force itself at her. That one steady moment as she sees R-cord switch his rifle to a hand gun, slowly took aim as the gun is setting to full blast. That pose he shows to her that he took aim for an execution than rather quickly shoots it. Menacingly of his gesture a pull from his trigger where it shoots, the humanoid still remains in air while the bullet closing near but stop as the machine. R-cord says to her in a respectful manner.
“Please turned off the flashlight”
Click then got shot, the humanoid lean to where the shots take aim. Throwing to the side that nearly hits her.
Tabitha looks at him in a such a cool matter, distracted by the intense moment. A pop up coming from her UI shows danger. Voldemyr’s position is pulling him back towards them, the sounds of the crank keep roaring on and on, like no man could reload and shoot that fast with that heavy crossbow of his. The numbers of the enemies of the front are lowering its numbers, but the robots taken out by the adventurers before is waking up.
“This is your training Tabitha, order us what to do”
R-cord says to her in such a dire situation, it feels real to them as she knows they are going to left the sphere if they lose.
Tabitha is receiving new information, both McS4 and R-cord, it shows the direction where the adventurers were coming from. It will help her order them to go there, ignoring the part of them being enemies and just to survive in this entrapment. She shouts at Voldemyr as loud as she can.
“Rally to me! We are going through there!”
Archivist rallied leaving McS4 continue to dysfunction the machines, every waking humanoid automatically sleeps when the flames hit them buying time for them to leave. Voldemyr is running towards them as much more machines coming in, big ones.
Tabitha received info from one of them as they are facing one big machine that fits inside this area, charging at them where Voldemyr kept aiming on the ground to make bump to its direction. It did slow it down, but not enough under their movement speed. McS4 puts stasis field, as he heard Tabitha panic by the size of that machine.
“That’s no robot, is a war machine”
They began to run and fight their way to the other side of the waterways, the tunnel of the other sides shows light as it finally level to its original height. The sounds of them fighting keep going where the sounds of the crank getting louder.
Archivist carried her once more from the steps of his feet surfing on the solid ground. The two had set up the stasis and run after them, Voldemyr had reached where they had fought and passed through, and the machine comes closer to the trap as it stops itself, for a moment. Its protection mechanism kicks in as it breaks it and return stationary, now slowly chasing after them. It starts to move faster in a greater acceleration. It’s getting deafening to hear by the crushing over the other machines, but it still repairs itself smoothly.
Closing into the light, more numbers of dead machine are recovering there. As Archivist and Tabitha fell to the ground where one of the machines grab his legs, Tabitha safely landed on her feet as he fell. She pulled out the flash light to push away the machines, one after the other, she can’t cover him for how long. McS4 comes to the rescue and wash Archivist with the blue flames, the machine stops as he pulled out. R-cord can’t shoot at them where the light from the entrance blinded him. They struggle their way out as Voldemyr is closing in.
Tabitha decides to run to Archivist but already pick off by the machines. It’s no wonder why Archivist kept carrying her through the passageway. These machines kept grabbing them from their own piles. Trying to break free, but she was overwhelmed by more upcoming robots. The humanoids are acting like zombies, as it reaches out to get them. Archivist and McS4 can’t reach her from where they got surrounded. R-cord couldn’t see much by the light. Nearly thoughts of her end, she quietly accepts her failure. A powerful crossbow shot nearly hitting her, but enough to bring the robots in line off balance.
Impaling them together, Voldemyr is there and breaking through the numbers of them as he is reloading his crossbow with a cranking sound. Tabitha sees him tight up his crossbow to his waist pedaling the crank as he reloads while running. He run pass through his team and save her. A strong man carrying only to his back, Tabitha didn’t realize how short he was as her feet nearly touching the ground. Both of them keep running out from the waterways as the others managed to follow them. The sounds of their rejoice by the two Dexters are imaginable as they got through there when its start to overwhelm.
The war machine still didn’t stop as it reaches them in high speed, accelerating in such terrible rate, crushing its way towards them. Even some parts of the other machines got stuck on it. Nearly to the end, number of gunshots entering inside the waterways. Somehow it passed through them as they don’t care as they almost succeed of escaping, it wasn’t intentional for her training to be this difficult. They didn’t expect that it was already taken by the adventurers and lost.
Causing packing up the machines from one place to the other, it wasn’t even that dangerous to begin with. The tech master, the old man, who surveying that part of the sphere, wasn’t done to monitor it. Recklessly thought of their lives being threaten they escaped from the waterways entrance and took a turn to the left or right, they split up and nearly run over by the war machine. The adventurers already setting up a trap for the big machine as they open fire. RPGs or any propelled explosives to take it out, and it did. The war machine breaks apart under multiple shots.
It soon repaired itself yet again as they imprison the machines without fail. The woman who left in charge sees them wearing Enders clothing, thought to be enemies, but Voldemyr is one of the group. She ordered them to stop as she greets them, the woman first meet one of the Dexters.
“Are you friend and foe?”
“You mean are you staying or leaving the sphere?”
The adventurers laugh as they couldn't believe that survive while being fired inside the waterways, its quite funny to see them getting out in such difficult place. It’s McS4 who is talking to her, through his helmet, he scanned her to show she was in disguised.
“Wait a minute, you’re not a woman”
“!!! Guess the jokes are ruin”
He quickly shows himself as a man removing his disguise, he tried this trick to the Enders and keep failing. And this man shows no exception than the rest. Voldemyr and Tabitha lied resting where Archivist besides them, believing it to be success. R-cord is surrounded by the other adventures where they are trying to see the guns he is carrying. Oddly looking but their scanners differ other ways. It can adapt to any ammunition and it depends on the bullet for damage.
McS4 finishes talking to the adventures as they are free to leave, because of their involvement to secure the monster guarding inside the tunnels. To where they are at now is like pool or something, the higher grounds in elevation is proven to be part of an artificial like lake. All of them gathered and others more to meet and greet with Voldemyr.
“It seems like that man knows about them. Tabitha, have you heard of him?”
“No, except that he is one of the members of my guild I join”
“Why not eavesdropping them? Like most Raker Mawn do under the tower”
“I am so glad to see you here, we heard so much of you helping us through the accidents happening in those dungeons”
“I still prefer you called it ruins, couldn’t be much to say entering the caverns accidentally”
“Yeah about that, what happened to those dungeons?”
“Sigh* (Again with those dungeons) It fills the place with critters entering. Like their hibernation inside of it, it even found those ruins”
“So it still happening even were not there”
“That’s still unnatural for the caves interact like that. Tell your friends, that this sphere should be fighting each other”
“Oh, we will, but not you”
“Huh? Why is that?
“We can’t harm our savior, and others won’t go near you fighting. Even someone is crazy enough facing you alone, then Altair came to stop it”
“That would be worrisome”
“How come?”
“If your people still not breach through that gate before actual size of the Enders Guilds, it is impossible to secure the place you are trying to get”
“You mean that?”
“It is a matter of time”
The adventurers did face him, getting impaled and stunned by him in such a brutal way. There is a time they face those people coming out from the gate, it was the small examples to show their strength from Rune Isles.
Experiencing the tricks and traps happening to them for the past few days, made them realize how clever will be those people in East Coast. It is one of the reasons how difficult to save them or they will be as bait as it needed to capture them more. They were hoping to ask help from them, but it was too much of a problem to them as they are now defending their city. It’s quite alluring to see those guys survive like that, the overwhelming incident where many adventurers gathered the dead machine to the point it rebooting themselves. It was a bluff for them to see.
Tabitha and the others returned back to the gate where Elrond sees them coming from the adventurers’ direction.
“You seem to get out from your training in the enemies’ territory”
“It’s more like him gets an exemption in their kill list”
“I see, then how about your training, Tabitha”
“I think we barely made it out, is something like this happened in Rune Isles?”
“Quite a lot exactly, we use emblems to escape. It’s slow but not corruptible"
Archivist breaks off their conversation "Curses by the goblins, those adventurers are already in our training”
Elrond continues on him “Don’t worry, there are other ways to train”
Tabitha wasn’t tired because of her traits, the men she has are not either and the place they train is invaded by the adventurers. The ring of her device shows that her time is up, nearly closing time of her daily work as a member. Her schedule seems to be having to continue learning first about Enders Bridge. Archivist gives them a farewell for her.
“That’s it, the lady is done for the day, we should be meet again tomorrow”
“That’s one heck of a time management you got there, Tabitha, then we will continue on learning about your people”
“Come see us to practice your leadership, your silence shouldn’t be good as we are all experienced here”
The Dexters left, and Voldemyr says his remarks about her.
“It’s your first day, and you are learning the abilities between us. It will be hard, let’s hope you learn a thing or two. Next time, you should invite the leader. Try the guildmember who reads mind”
Archivist didn’t expect him to be leading, yet, he is always managing the guild as the information network. Probably because he always inside the guild tower when he goes in. Still better for him to use telepathy than open his mouth. Tabitha listens to his advice and thought it was a great idea.
Outside in Enders Bridge she will be taking her time enjoying her free time, where Kiege and Juela come to her side to enjoy the night. It is a pleasant time for her to enjoy the rest of the day, being a leader would be difficult as the entire team she had are experience and know their roles without a leader. Which more vital she needs to become one, hearing both Kiege and Juela experiences having a leader. The synergy shows them an impressive feat together as one. In the meantime, they drank in sorrows and hear their days like most everyday people would in this sieged city.