[Iron-tipped Arrow] = Stick (Hardwood+3, 0.75-0.9m) + Iron (Arrowhead, 0.65-0.8kg) + 3 Feather (level 51+, 0.1-0.15m) + Twine (Hemp+3, 0.2-0.3m) + [Knife] (Copper+3) + [Workbench] (Iron)
----------------------------------------
“We’ll have to go inland,” Naomi said.
Ben scoffed. “Then what? You saw what that thing did to the other island. Those were basalt cliffs, Naomi. What do you think will happen here where everything’s sandstone?”
“I don’t know! But I do know what’ll happen if we stay in the harbor, so unless you have a better idea…”
“Yes, I do. We go for the Evershadow.”
Sayid shook his head. “That leviathan craves Expat blood more than anything. If we run and hide, it will climb inland and hunt down the others. Their deaths would be on our hands.”
“On your hands!” Ben pointed out. “You’re the one who fucked up, remember!?”
Desmond stepped forth. “Oy! You heard Sayid. It was an accident, mate. We always knew the risk of crossing over with it around.”
“Yeah? Maybe that’s how you see it, but I’ve built too much over too long just to have the whole thing thrown away because someone else fucked up. If Sayid wanted to do what’s best for the group, he should’ve stayed out there and died like the good soldier he is.”
His rapier was out at once. “Do not speak so flippantly of another’s life, Ben. Need I remind you of the debts you’ve accrued.”
“Enough!” Naomi shouted, jumping between the two. “We’re wasting too much time as is. We need to evacuate. Now!” She turned around. “What are you still doing here, Jay? I told you to leave.”
“But I can help,” he said.
The others all turned at once, their faces a mix of surprise and disbelief.
“No, Jay,” Naomi said. “You don’t get it. This isn’t like that troll fight where we have a chance if we group together. Leviathans are the epitome of each Rank – the strongest boss out there – and this one is a full Rank above us. Even if we got every single person on this island to join as one collective force, all we would accomplish is bringing it a free meal. This is about as bad as it gets.”
Another bellow rolled over their land, reminding them of the monster that was slowly inching forth. Waves crashed against the shore with increasing urgency, the swells larger and more powerful with each crest.
Jay quivered without intent. Even though this monster was still more than a mile off-shore, he could feel its presence slowly closing in. Just like his exposure to Tül’Rah, he could sense a power level he could not reach.
But more than that, he could see his allies doing the same. Ben, Desmond, Sayid, Naomi. All of them shivered at the very thought of confronting this leviathan. As if they were as powerless too. The very brutal killers that the Wyrms selected, a full Rank higher than him, with all the benefits from their Expat cores.
Just how powerful could something be to put them on their heels?
“That’s it,” Ben said. “I don’t care what the rest of you are doing. I’m making for the Evershadow. It’s the only place we stand a chance.”
“We can’t just leave without at least warning everyone else!” Sayid countered.
“You can do what you want, but I’m not sitting here and waiting to die.” He looked around. “Anyone else want to join the train? You’re welcome too, Jay.”
“What about those minotaurs I told you about?”
He humphed. “I can have that low-level trash cleared out within the hour. A labyrinth wouldn’t be the worst place to set up either.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Naomi said. “Even if we all hunkered down low enough to dodge those bone dragons and nightshades, the sun will still set long before we have new defenses. And Natura could convert an entire underground island into its manifestation with all of us clumped together. Rule 5 would make it a death sentence.”
“It’s still a better idea than staying up here and knowing we’ll die.”
A swell rocked the harbor, sending their rafts careening into the shore. Mist rained down from above, and clouds began to form.
And the Expats couldn’t help but argue, even as their impending demise closed in. Ben insisted that the Evershadow was their best bet, Sayid wanted to track down Kevin and the others and warn them to take cover until the leviathan passed, and Desmond was split between the two. Even Naomi was indecisive, trying to make the case that they could muster a defense inland in the hopes that the leviathan would sate itself on every monster between.
Jay couldn’t believe it. After all the time around people of this power level, he’d genuinely thought they would be the ones to have this place figured out. In a world where enemy power was defined through levels and anything could be crafted against them, how else could people rise in the ranks than by learning every nuance of the game they were operating under?
But when push came to shove, these other Expats were just as lost as him, willing to turn and run at the slightest provocation. If anything, the extra advantages they’d been given seemed to work against them now. Because for all their raw strength, none had considered one simple fact.
They could always just win.
“I’m staying!” Jay announced.
Everyone hushed.
“You’re all thinking about this wrong,” he continued. “Whether we go inland or underground, we’ll lose everything we’ve built here. Which is fine in and of itself, but unless we gain anything from running, all we’ve done is set ourselves back. ‘Natura can only rise. It does not recede.’ That means at its core that the threat can only ever escalate.
“But if we manage to kill this boss? Not only would we save everything, but we’d get whatever loot it drops. What better way to survive in this world than to defeat the biggest fish around?”
Naomi sighed. “Jay, did you forget to top off your sanity again?”
“Nope, I’ve never been more clear-headed than now. You can run and hide, but I’m going to beat this thing.”
“Got a plan then?”
Jay nodded. “Yes. And it’s simple enough.”
“What could you possibly do against a creature of that level?”
“Not me. We. I’ll need help.” Another sentence he thought he’d never say, especially to the woman who’d nearly killed him, all those weeks before.
No, Naomi had saved Jay, in a way. Even if she didn’t know it, that struggle had made him this much stronger and tougher. What was this next insurmountable goal compared to the ones he’d faced before?
Ben scoffed. “And what’s that supposed to mean? We’re just as underleveled as you compared to this monster.”
Jay gleamed, eyes fixed forth. “Then we’ll just have to hit with a weapon so powerful that levels hold no meaning.”
* * *
Waves struck the shore with increasing intensity. Rain fell from a darkened sky, the light of day blocked by a miasma of growing fog. Another trick from this monster. It could kick enough steam into the air to alter the weather itself. Like a Voidstorm on the move, this leviathan could destroy an entire civilization, should it have ever landed on Earth.
And Jay stood on the shoreline, right where it would soon come, with nothing more than that which he’d crafted by hand.
Well, not everything. He had a few extra tricks up his sleeve for this one.
Ben, Desmond, and Naomi were rushing around, hauling as much of their equipment underground while Sayid used his enhanced alchemic speed to evacuate Kevin and whoever else might be in the area.
There was no telling just how devastating this technique would be.
All Jay could do was wait. His strength was the lowest, his gear the weakest, and he lacked a class of his own to make a difference in the preparation before. By all rights, he should have been the first one running for his life.
But he just couldn’t accept it. Not the slanted odds nor the truth of what this world was turning him into.
After a rough start that left him robbed of a fighting chance, he had done everything in his power to keep himself alive. Slaying monsters, looting dungeons, murdering whatever innocent creature came across his path. Hell, he’d made a deal with what could only be described as an Eldritch deity… All to give him the means to craft his way out of this chaotic mess he’d been given.
But the one line in the sand had been other people themselves. Getting knocked out by Naomi or dealing with Rule 5 were just excuses. The truth was that Jay only preferred to be alone so he never had to consider what could happen.
A wolf couldn’t bite anyone if it was left on its own.
And he felt like one too. More so with each day. Whether it was killing monsters by the day or defeating the manifestations at night, Jay no longer had to be encumbered by the morality of Earth. Not here. On Annwyn, the only consequences were whatever its game-like design threw at him. Other humans were just further elements to be manipulated like any other.
That was the type of thinking he’d never had on Earth, but here? It was all so… Easy. Natural, even. As though the moment he read the Guide and understood the environment he’d been thrust into, a missing part of his mind clicked into place.
Like his soul finally found some dark, inner peace.
The clouds thickened. Rain began to fall. Tentacles clashed against the water’s surface, thick and black, with barnacles running along their length and sharpened spikes that could tear an ox in two. Thunder roared, the leviathan unleashing a blood-curdling cry.
But even as Jay quaked from the instinct of seeing a creature so powerful, he did not run for his life.
Not yet.
Because always lurking in the back of his mind, Jay knew that life would be so much easier if someone else around him were to die. It wasn’t even that he liked seeing others got killed. No, that would be less complicated.
The truth that he’d only now discovered was even more insidious. Jay only privately wanted others around him to die because it would be convenient for him. Because if someone else were to die, then there was a chance he could recover their Expat core. No more complicated than that.
Was that why the Wyrms had chosen him? Not because Jay was outwardly sadistic, but because he cared so little for the value of another life?
Jay clenched his fists, shrugging off the thought. It didn’t matter what reasons those gods had for selecting him for this quest. He knew himself, and he’d been hiding for too long. It was time to stop worrying about mere survival and start doing what was right.
For others as well as himself.
That was why he had to stay. Jay wouldn’t let this chaos define his second chance at life.
The tentacles clattered against the shoreline, cracking through the sandstone cliff with ease. A giant riptide appeared near the beach. As the water sucked through an open hole, sand began to follow, tinted red where Sayid had bled out. It disappeared into a growing hole beneath the surface of the water.
And then the leviathan rose up.
Though the tentacles could each tear down a skyscraper on their own, their size and bulk were nothing more but the tip of the iceberg. The actual creature stretched hundreds of yards long, with chitinous plates that could have been outfitted onto a battle cruiser, disappearing into a giant maw, with rows and rows of teeth, stretching into the vacuous hole that defined its mouth. Thousands of eyes sprouted open along its worm-like body, bright yellow as they took in the world around before narrowing onto the island above. More tentacles rose soon after, swaying back and forth as they readied to kill.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
It took everything from Jay to even check the Guide for the entry.
Wandering Tyrant (Level ???) – A D-Rank leviathan found across any ocean in the Annwyn archipelago. This creature is known for traveling great distances in order to feast on Expatriate blood.
Contains a leviathan core.
Research still available.
The implication of a “leviathan core” briefly crossed his mind, but then the tyrant roared a second time, and a warm mist rushed out, staggering Jay back another step. Its tentacles twirled through the air, ready to destroy everything in its path. The clouds darkened further, lightning beginning to form.
Though his fingers quivered and his body struggled against this overwhelming aura, Jay pushed through it all. He had to move quickly. Every second left unchecked was another he couldn’t afford.
He reached the small of his back, and his leggings beneath. His fingers found the polymer grip, and his body grew to ease. He grinned, now feeling secure with his trump card at play.
Jay yanked the 9mm pistol out and aimed forth, right above the tyrant’s maw, where the eyes clustered most.
He pulled the trigger.
The air condensed where the bullet tore through the air, burning bright. The path was visible for all to see as the oxygen went ablaze. Thunder resonated out, shuddering the very earth around. This unbeatable ball of death raced forth, sundering heat waves throughout the atmosphere as it raced right into the leviathan who had foolishly chosen to stand in its way.
A single of the wandering tyrant’s thousand eyes burst with monster ichor, with no more damage of note.
The other surviving eyes all narrowed onto where Jay stood, however.
He gulped, body twitching under a fresh wave of antipathy. At least I know that Plan A failed.
Only then did he turn around and sprint the other way.
The beach rocked where the tyrant’s tentacles struck the ground, but adrenaline was pumping hard, and Jay knew that he’d only have precious seconds to escape. He launched straight for the cliffs, where Ben’s mine remained.
Rocks fell like rain as the tentacles collided with the land. Jay grit his teeth and pressed forth, pushing for the mine entrance. A vanguard of Ben’s constructs hobbled past him, all armed with enough explosives to level a city block. Their eyes burned with alchemic energy, stoic even in the face of the tyrant.
The blasts came moments later as the constructs engaged the leviathan, sending fresh shockwaves out. But Jay didn’t need to turn to know the result.
He’d only gained a few more seconds, max.
Too slow. With every ounce of strength he could muster, Jay dipped into [Rend], timing a [Leap] to launch at the quick step.
His body launched forth with inhuman speed just as a tentacle zipped below. The force itself was enough to send him flying faster.
Snap.
Jay watched in horror as his copperplated shoes dissolved into nothing.
It didn’t even hit him…
But the result worked to his favor, and between the [Leap] and the residual kinetic energy of the tyrant’s tentacle, Jay’s body tumbled through the mine entrance. His enemy roared again, seeing its prey escape.
His legs burned anew from leveraging both skills, but Jay tumbled even deeper. The other Expats waited behind, jaws clenched, and eyes widened against the destruction coming for them.
“I got you, fam,” Desmond said as he yanked Jay to safety.
Only then did he turn, though he regretted doing that much.
This was a side entrance into Ben’s otherwise expansive mine, and though it lacked the size of the main cavern, it still held strong at two stories tall, carving straight into the sandstone cliff-face where he had made his home. It then disappeared into layers of granite that stretched a quarter-mile long.
And yet, the wandering tyrant had climbed onto the shore, and its vacuous maw lined with never-ending rows of teeth merely ground the stone into sand before sucking it onto the chasm that defined its throat.
Even though they were sprinting underground with an entire mountain for defense, this creature was barely slowed in pursuit. If it wasn’t for Desmond’s inhuman strength and speed, Jay suspected he wouldn’t have been able to outrun this monstrosity.
This can still work, he told himself. It had to. He couldn’t allow himself to think negatively.
Not when everything was going according to plan.
He gripped his Bag ‘a Mats tight, knowing what would soon come.
Naomi waited at the rear, a longbow ready for use. She nodded as Jay closed in.
You want me to do what!? Naomi had shouted when he’d given her the plan.
You’re good with a bow, right? Jay had asked.
She’d crossed her arms. Of course. But if you’re wrong, you’ll get us all killed.
But if I’m right, he’d countered. We’ll destroy this boss in a single blow.
That was all they needed.
Naomi pulled an iron-tipped arrow with her care package attached. She winced at the sight of her Satchel of Infinite Smoke, knowing the sacrifice would be made.
Jay did the same. He wouldn’t be escaping this crisis unscathed either.
He turned around again. The tyrant continued to close the gap, pushing deeper into the mountain where the group waited. It sucked up everything in its path, from the stone to the wooden support beams to the ores to everything in between, right into its all-powerful maw.
He held his Bag ‘a Mats with both hands.
The wandering tyrant almost reached their spot. Wind tugged against them as it continued to suck everything forth.
This was it. Jay’s moment of truth. Everything hinged on him reading the situation right and leveraging the rules of this game to their advantage. If he chose poorly, they would no longer have enough time to run away.
He threw the Bag ‘a Mats with all his might, right into the wandering tyrant’s ever-expanding throat. It sailed through the air, the open opaque compartment facing outward.
Naomi fired her arrow right into this point, her own Satchel of Infinite Smoke tied onto the shaft.
WARNING – Do not mix this [Bag ‘a Mats] with any other similar item that contains transdimensional space. Both items will be destroyed in an intraspacial explosion, along with anything nearby.
It’s a ‘Satchel of Infinite Smoke,’ Naomi once explained. Like your Bag ‘a Mats, it contains a bottomless compartment. Every time I reach in, I pull out a new smoke bomb…
Time slowed into a trickle as the two Wyrm-blessed objects collided as one, with the satchel containing an infinite number of smoke bombs zipping right into the backpack that was bigger on the inside than the outside. The D-Rank megaboss sucked forth both with glee, the noxious combo teetering into its throat.
For half a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then a bright, incandescent nova flashed into existence where the two Eldritch constructs had once been, its color a mix of black, purple, and crimson. Bolts of lightning struck the cave walls, ripping chunks into the center, gaining mass. This caused more lightning to form, shattering more from the cave wall inside. As each object got sucked into the intraspacial explosion, they shrunk in size and twisted in shape, their very essence perverted by the reality-altering bomb.
Jay felt a tug against his knees as gravity began to concentrate on the ball of lightning. He clung to the cavern floor, now feeling like it was the wall. The others did the same.
The tyrant was not so lucky.
Its ear-splitting roars turned into a painful cry as the fell magic of the two impossible items tugged against it. Like the cave wall, the bolts of lightning tore different parts of its maw into the center, from its razor-sharp teeth to the softer flesh to the chitinous shell, all like they were nothing. Even its tentacles were torn from its body and sucked into the center like spaghetti from a bowl. As seconds compounded, more of the tyrant dissolved into this miniature black hole, leading to ever-more agonizing cries.
It didn’t matter what this leviathan’s strength was or how impossible it would be to destroy through conventional means. The wandering tyrant was still governed by Annwyn’s version of physics, and with two unfathomable items colliding at its center, there was nothing it could do.
What were levels and Rank when reality itself was breaking down?
Somewhere along the way, Desmond grabbed the others and rushed up the cavern floor, using his rune-enhanced strength to fight the shifting gravitational pull. Only Naomi remained free, her [Wallfoot] skill letting her accomplish the same task.
The intraspacial explosion reached its crest behind, glowing ever brighter with all the mass pulled into it. The tyrant had been reduced into a motley of shredded meat interposed by flickers of lighting. Its cries had long since died down, replaced with a mere guttural whimper.
A final flash erupted, enveloping the entire area where the lightning had struck into an opaque, luminous shell. For a fraction of a second, there was only bright light.
And then there was nothing.
No sound. No explosion. No concussive force.
Just… Nothing.
Jay gaped without words as he stared into the open space where the intraspacial explosion had once been. A perfect sphere had formed, stretching well over a hundred feet long in every direction, disintegrating everything nearby. The granite, the ore, the sand on the beach, the trees above.
And the leviathan itself. Where once a colossal sea monster terrorized them, only the same empty space remained.
For the top half, anyway. The lower extremities flopped out of the ocean and into this crater a moment later as reality came into this open wound like antibodies to an exposed artery. But like a snake without its head, the tyrant’s body dropped, erupting with more monster blood than the ocean could fill with seawater. The tang of ichor and brine filled the air seconds later, its host now dead.
It worked? Jay almost couldn’t believe his eyes.
He looked at his open palms and grimaced. Without his Bag ‘a Mats, he couldn’t accomplish half the things he’d done…
But it was worth it, and as Jay turned around, he could see this truth on the faces of his fellow Expats. They all grinned, looking at him as though he were their equal despite the difference in power and Rank.
The others began to clap their hands together, their cheeks flushed as they watched their savior. Even Naomi. Tears were in her eyes as she stared into his, but they weren’t of judgment or anger.
No words were needed. Though they had both sacrificed their precious gifts from the Wyrms, they had lived to see another day.
This was all that mattered. Not items or gear, but the people who built them. Without his rare, ephemeral compatriots, what would a man become in this world? No more than a monster fighting monsters with no humanity attached. But so long as others were around, there was still hope for a brighter future… A better one.
Jay smiled wide. For perhaps the first time in either of his lives, he was glad to have others around.
Not all wolves need be alone.
Name: Jay Reis (Copper Age)
Vitality – 55/61
Hunger – 69/72
Thirst – 23/24
Fatigue –44/48
Sanity – 83/100
Main Crafts: Alchemy 2, Armor Crafting 2, Base Building 3, Cooking 2, Jewelry 2, Medicine 2, Tailoring 2, Tool Crafting 3, Weapon Crafting 2.
Weapon Crafts: Axes 3, Bows 4, Clubs 3, Daggers 3, Spears 5, Swords 9.
Armor Crafts: Heavy Armor 5, Light Armor 2, Medium Armor 6, Shields 6.
Character Skills:
[Forbidden Knowledge]
Armor Skills:
Heavy Armor: [Push], [Stampede]
Medium Armor: [Recover], [Leap], [Waterform]
Light Armor: [Dash]
Shield: [Brace], [Track], [Break]
Weapon Skills:
Axes: [Chop]
Bows: [Sharpshooter], [Longshot]
Clubs: [Bash]
Daggers: [Slice]
Spears: [Thrust], [Sweep]
Swords: [Power Attack], [Slash], [Rend], [Parry]
Armor:
[Copperplate Hat] (Buttressed+2), (Reinforced)
[Copperplate Coat] (Buttressed+2), (Reinforced)
[Copperplate Leggings] (Buttressed+2), (Reinforced)
[Copperplate Gloves] (Buttressed+2), (Reinforced)
[Silver Amulet]: Socketed with [Chipped Tourmaline] (Tempus)
[Silver Ring]: Socketed with [Chipped Ruby] (Ignis)
[Silver Ring]: Socketed with [Chipped Ruby] (Ignis)
Weapons:
[Copper Sword+3] (Sharpened+5), (Hardened+2), (Reinforced+2), (Stable+2)
[Wooden Bow+3] (Elemental), (Reinforced+2): Socketed with [Chipped Ruby] (Ignis)
[Basic Leather Quiver]: Contains 20 [Flinthead Arrows] (Elemental)
[9mm Semi-Automatic Pistol] (Accurate+2), (Quick): Contains 3 [9mm Cartridge] (JHP)
Tools:
[Copper Knife+3]
[Copper Axe+3]
[Copper Hammer+3]
[Copper Pickaxe+3]
[Copper Shovel+3]
Boons:
[Minor (Speed)]