Brittany hated bats.
Once in her real life, she had visited a historical monument – a fort belonging to an ancient king – whose basement dungeons were filled with bats. Though they slept during the daytime, the tour guide had warned her and the other tourists to tread carefully and not to disturb them, but she had been young and careless. Not to mention, a very clumsy individual.
An unintentional mistake on her part had led to a sequence of events that made the bats wake up from their sleep and swarm around the tourists. Though the casualties were none, the trip into the dungeons had to be cut off on short notice and a panicked run upward had begun. Even the guide had difficulties controlling a frenzied crowd, annoyed and scared both at the flying mammals. Fortunately for them, they had not been vampire bats. Not that those sanguivores fed on more than a tablespoon of blood anyway, and even less probability that they would feed on humans. But the way these bats had fluttered about in the dungeons created a furor among the crowd. Mostly, parents who were worried about their children.
Though informed of how the bats functioned, being passionate in zoology and ornithology, she still held a fear of them, a fear that continued to be a part of her life here as well.
Several of the bats landed on the ground, baring their fanged teeth while the others circled over their heads, waiting to strike.
Those that were on the ground prodded them to retreat, but one look at Blondie told her that wasn’t an option.
Blondie pointed her gun at the bat in the leading position and shot. The bat toppled to the ground and lay dead for a brief moment before vanishing in a puff of black smoke.
That made a frown encroach on Brittany’s brows. She hadn’t expected the body to vanish into black smoke. Whenever a creature died in the game, the earth usually pulled the corpse inside to its deep embrace.
“Strange!” she whispered.
Blondie nodded at her. It was clear that she had expected the same thing too.
Only Brad went on shooting the bats like the weird death smoke thing was not a surprise.
Brittany loaded a .308 round into her Remington and took down one of the flying creatures.
CardioBlast: Difficult
Instant Kill
+130 XP
The bats were incessant however, and she was unable to reload before several swarmed around her face, and the electrical shocks were intensely painful.
[-50 Damage]
[-50 Damage]
She slashed at one of them with her hunting knife, drawing blood.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
GutSlash: Easy
Instant Kill
+100 XP
“Oh, that’s polka dots in reverse!” Blondie joked, pointing at Brittany’s face.
“Not the time, Blondie!” she snarled.
“I only wish there was a mirror somewhere around here!” Blondie smirked.
Brad only snickered.
Do I really look that bad? It wouldn’t be surprising. I felt the bat’s blood splatter on my face.
She ignored the willful mockery and focused her mind on the swarm of bats. Another one got the best of her and zapped her.
[-50 Damage]
“Ouch!” she yelled and retaliated angrily with a mighty slash of her knife.
GutSlash: Medium
Instant Kill
+115 XP
The bats retreated from her face and she took a defensive stance, swiveling the knife in her hand into position. Before long, Blondie and Brad ran out of ammo. They had no more bullets to fire and cursed out loud as they repositioned their weapons to use as clubs.
Brittany contemplated what she needed to do, considering her small knife was now their only viable weapon. Being on the defensive would be slow and lazy while going on the extreme offensive would be too silly and could lead to her doom. Whilst the knowledge of how the game worked post-death remained elusive, she felt it best that she does not employ a tactic that could be termed as reckless. Heaving a deep breath, she decided on a mix of both offense and defense.
To her side, Blondie and Brad didn’t seem to have any qualms. They had decided to take the reckless route.
Brittany slashed right across a bat’s wings, sending the flying mammal crashing into the ground.
GutSlash: Easy
Instant Kill
+100 XP
And then she raised her knife to send another the same way.
GutSlash: Easy
Instant Kill
+100 XP
LEVEL UP!
+1 Agility
Blood dripped from the steel of the knife, each drop an indicator of how ruthless of a fighter she had been. Stab, jab, and slash - she combined and executed them in an alternate fashion, succeeding in her goal each time.
HeadStab: Easy
Instant Kill
+130 XP
GutSlash: Easy
Instant Kill
+130 XP
GutSlash: Easy
Instant Kill
+130 XP
By the time she had taken down her eighth foe, no bat seemed ready to come near her. Instead, they all flocked towards where Blondie and Brad fought. She could say that the battle went ill for them considering how they had retreated into a corner, swinging their guns at whatever came close. Brad fought a little distance away from Blondie, but neither could come to the succor of the other. From her vantage point, it almost seemed like the bats would get the best of them. And who knew what death meant for her two friends?
Were they really friends? Hadn’t I been tricked into joining their Guild?
Yet she knew the rules of the Guild. Though the game reset had not made anything clear, she could guess that it had not changed the rules when it had. As one who valued loyalty above anything else, she decided to help them out. Besides, getting rid of the bats meant time to explore the ruins inside and find out what kind of a control station Sariel hosted.
----------------------------------------
© Copyright 2022 R.M. Mulder. All rights reserved.