[Lifeberry Potion] = Lifeberry (+2, 0.5-0.8kg) + Water (Fresh, 0.5-0.75L) + Essence (Vitus, 0.05-0.1L) + [Cauldron] (Any, 380-400°K)
----------------------------------------
The spriggs truly were a force to behold.
A company had been established. Two rows of spearmen, another for archers, and a small troupe of witches in the backline. Though the plants on their body had mutated in different ways, all of their expressions remained the same. They watched the dwindling light of day, waiting for what would come next.
It was not just spriggs, either. They had further supplemented their ranks by forming stone golems, with bulky chests made of basalt and fists that could crush a skull. Green magical light powered them, radiating death as immobile vanguards ready to destroy anything in their path.
The sun continued its slow descent, just as it always had. The spriggs remained where they were, ready for anything.
And General Gornn stood in the front, donned in his full battle gear again. His jaw protruded out as his eyes studied the sun, his tower shield remained a bulwark, and his sword had been replaced with a spear of his own. Like a statue – or perhaps a monument for his nation – he remained a solitary monolith.
These weren’t mere monsters grouped together anymore. This was an army. Organized. Disciplined. Composed. It did not matter what they encountered. They were here to win.
And Jay and his friends watched from above, hidden in a wedge in the rocks that could just barely fit the three of them, raised a good twenty feet high to give them visibility over the rest of the spriggs’ new base.
Just as Trish explained, the location where they had first been captured was no more than a staging ground. They couldn’t have been more than a kilometer away from that part of the beach.
The spriggs had since gone due north for their real base of operations, however. This vantage gave them good visibility for the rest of the valley, and by choosing the sweeping cave system as their garrison, they could build minimal fortifications and still be able to come and go as they pleased.
That’s what they did for the main entrance. Most would think that no more than a hedge had sprouted up here. Razor-sharp thorns clung onto the edges of verdant green brambles, stretching in either direction along the cliff-face wall. But this was mere deception. The spriggs’ living wood had been erected behind, fortifying the bushes so they could not be breached. Platforms ran across their length, giving sentinels the room to see through without being seen themselves.
The perfect hideout, and one not easily penetrated or liberated from.
“What do we do?” Trish whispered from the safety of their cover, now dressed in her copper plate, with mud over its frame and her face for added camouflage.
“We wait,” Jay said.
“Are you certain this plan will work?” Hyuk followed, watching the tunnels behind from the shadow of their corner.
Jay shrugged. “Well, it’s too late to try anything else. So unless you want to go back…”
“No,” he hissed, almost too loudly.
“Then just be ready. It’s almost time.”
They all knew the stakes now. That witch, Zynth, had interrogated each of them many times over the course of however long they’d been trapped by her, using her magic to extract whatever memories she needed. To Jay’s surprise, his friends had broken first and willingly handed over relevant information after only a handful of these sessions. He had resisted until the end, refusing to give in, and suffered the most as a result. But part of him wondered if this was less about some innate bravado they lacked and more about their Expat Cores. After all, Zynth first became surprised when he refused to give in, and discovered his handicap shortly after that. Could their mind magic work more effectively against those with Cores?
Something else he’d have to figure out later…
Regardless of what they’d been through, the facts remained the same. The spriggs knew just about everything they did, and perhaps plenty more they didn’t. They knew about Naomi’s group, Viktor, how the Interstice came about, what they’d done to get out, and most importantly, where everyone else had gone from here. They would no doubt be tracking down Ben, Naomi, Sayid, and Desmond as they waited, and had the force to pull it off. If their mission was to capture all Expats from that island, then there would be nothing that Jay or anyone else could do. They’d surrendered everything they could already.
So what else was left?
“Got more movement,” Trish whispered, nudging them with her shoulder. They slipped deeper into the shadows. She gripped Jay’s steel combat knife, ready to use it again.
He winced at his best weapon in someone else’s hands, but there was no way out of it. His carrying capacity had been limited when he grabbed their weapons, and her gargantuan club did not make the cut. Besides, even if she lacked access to dagger skills, her military Earth training more than made up for it, and would be fine in a fight because of it.
Jay also had his other reasons, though this made his skin crawl. He glanced at his Guide, knowing what the Updates contained.
Rule 5 violated. You will be punished.
Rule 5 violated. You will be punished.
Rule 5 violated. You will be punished.
Rule 5 violated. You will…
Rule 5 violated…
Rule…
…
Yeah, this escape hadn’t gone unnoticed by their mutual enemy either.
All part of the plan, Jay reminded himself. And one that would begin at any moment now.
The sun dipped even further, kissing the horizon where the ocean met the sky. The pulsing rays of yellow, orange, and red began to dim further, twisting a cobalt blue into its nightly black. Stars began to twinkle with increasing intensity, and the crimson planet grew in prominence, no longer shrouded by the daytime sky.
Jay shivered, and he was not alone. With so little time to prepare and this E-Rank island’s atmosphere pressing against them, they had all gained the Chilled condition, reducing their already low vitality and hunger further while placing a perpetual drain on their sanity.
But nothing would compare to the drop that was about to come.
The sun disappeared for good. The pine forest darkened into a shadowy abyss, light no longer penetrating within. The trees jutted out from this miasma, a field of fine, sharpened spikes. The boulders stood out like black cysts. The ocean had become a sheet of dark gray, with only the thinnest reflection from the sky above.
And within this dark womb, Natura summoned its army yet again.
Out from this shadowed hell, green lights began to spring up. At first, a small few, but their numbers kept growing, and growing, and growing. Soon, it was as if the entire forest had been replaced with its manifestations. This sea of monstrosities sprouted outside the spriggs’ camp and began the limber forth, ready to charge.
And Jay’s brain exploded as he struggled to process so many manifestations at once. He’d never seen a quarter as many in one sitting.
Had he overdone this one?
You want to use Natura against them!? Trish had asked incredulously when he broke her out.
We’ll only have one shot at this, Jay explained. So long as we’re here, they must fight that army instead of us. That means they’ll never be more distracted than when the time comes.
That is a dangerous game, Hyuk had emphasized. Especially if you plan to break the Rules so much before then.
I know it is difficult, Jay had continued. The balance will be about ensuring they’re as busy as possible without us becoming screwed the next night over. We have no choice. There will never be another opportunity like this.
And as Jay watched over this infinite horde of plant-monsters readying to attack an army of plant-soldiers, a clear revelation came to mind.
He might have legit broken the server with this scheme.
So many mobs. So many bosses! So many entities rushing about at once in UHD. How the hell would the server’s RAM process a fraction of it?
Even General Gornn looked thrown off his game. His brow twitched in confusion, no doubt wondering why the attack was greater than it had ever been before. Though the spriggs had been handling this assault nightly, Jay had thrown a curveball in the last moment by freeing his allies and handing over all their gear. That was a Rule-break megastorm.
And damn, did it pay off. The spriggs were an army that could crush them like bugs, but not even they would leave this unscathed. They weren’t above Natura’s influence after all, even if they were made of wood and vines like everyone else in its guild.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
The monsters limbered forth, and they could see the nuances of its design moments later. Wolves, coyotes, gorillas, tigers, deer, birds, bears, moose… All manners of their nightly monstrosities rose from the depths, and they weren’t alone. Ents, turtles, elephants, rhinos… Natura had pulled out the big guns of this one, separating its forces into three separate detachments as they advanced on their mutual enemy.
Jay glanced at his companions, who all had this same frenzied tint in their eyes.
No, not frenzy. This was passion. The type of confidence one gained after making a move that was so legit.
They’d broken the game down to the numbers. They’d figured out the best strat to game the system of this prison break quest. It was the ultimate meta. A pure min-max of the Rule 5 mechanic, leveraged against their captors.
Could there have been a more baller play!?
There could not. And as the spriggs engaged this armada, they felt that too.
The archers launched a salvo into the approaching horde, only for it to not thin in the slightest. The witches cast a collective spell that seemed to slow them down, but they had trash DPS, so this did nothing but delay the inevitable.
When the manifestations hit the frontline golems, they recoiled back like pebbles struck by a tsunami. Despite their monstrous forms, their levels were too low for so much force at once. The spearmen jabbed through the gaps left behind, but they didn’t invest in quality builds like him, and could not handle so many enemies swarming them at once.
It was not long before a low thrum pervaded from the main sprigg army. The bitches in the main force had called for reinforcements, and the ones in the garrison sprinted out moments later, ready to assist their companions in this epic but futile fight.
And within moments of them engaging too, the entire spriggs’ battalion disappeared within an avalanche of green-tinted monsters.
Giving them the perfect opening.
“Now,” Jay ordered.
At once, the group leapt out of their hiding spot, made for the wall, and hopped over. Before anyone could pay them mind, they hooked away from the camp, hugging the cliff to keep the horde interposed between themselves and the spriggs. The battle continued behind, even as they ran to safety.
Just have to make it to the shore. Hyuk’s base had been captured and Jay’s and Trish’s were on the other end of the confrontation, but they still had another resource nearby to tap into. They pushed through the forest with all their might, their weakened bodies supplemented by skills to keep them moving.
They reached their destination.
Waves clattered against jagged rocks with a metronomic beat. The wind howled without pause. And in the depths of this shielded cove, Jay’s skiff rocked lazily back and forth, with its flat, oaken hull swaying against the current, and its mast furled in up top. This boat had once belonged to Viktor and could traverse great distances, but Jay had gained it for himself after defeating that man in one final, brutal conflict.
The group rushed down.
Only a few supplies still remained here, an emergency cache in case Jay ever had to abandon this island before getting the chance to prepare. Food, water, and sanity-boosting potions. The best minimal cost to ensure he could most effectively game his Stats.
There would be no better time to employ this strat than now.
His allies pilfered his supplies, and Jay did little to stop them. They still had future fights to contend with, and this was now the path to least resistance.
They still had to beat Natura at some point, after all.
Jay dug into a chest and found a lifeberry potion himself. Supposedly, this elixir was supposed to raise his sanity like tea used to do when he was a low-vitality newbie, but he was convinced that this was secretly a debuff. Whenever he chugged these potions, he lost track of the game-like nature of the game-like world, and that just felt like a perpetual scam to keep him from figuring out the meta.
But Stats were Stats and Natura’s presence dwindled it, so with a sigh, Jay swallowed the potion. His friends did the same. Their crazed frenzy died down, and they looked to one another, once again remembering an unfortunate truth.
This was far from over.
“I’ve got an extra sword for you,” Jay said to Trish.
“Keep it. I don’t know how to use those anyway.”
“What do you mean? You’ve been good with everything else.”
She stared blankly. “Do you just assume the US military still trains with bows and swords?”
Jay paused. Fair point. “Either way, grab what you can. We won’t have much time.”
True to form, howls grew louder. Like branches brushing against stone, alien monsters closed into their quiet cove. Glowing green eyes stared down from above, a reminder of their true enemy.
Shit. Natura must have been accounting for the spriggs and their army too, keeping a few troops in reserve for this moment.
They wouldn’t have time to pilot this boat to safety.
“Go!” Jay ordered before [Leaping] off the skiff. His body careened into the shoreline with a smack. Hyuk performed the same skill a moment later, and Trish was not far behind, though her heavy armor weighed her down. She trudged through waist-deep water with a grimace, knife in hand.
The monsters dove in before they could escape the cove.
Jay [Slashed] instinctively into a granite bear, shattering it at once. A pair of vined alphas moved in to replace, lashing into his armor before he could flee.
He tried to [Shirk] more away, but his arm was too sluggish. His body’s low vitality could not keep up with the pace he’d grown used to.
But then Trish [Stampeded] through and slashed with the knife, the steel blade easily tearing through everything it touched. Jay and Hyuk filed through the gap before it could be lost.
The trio rushed along the rocky shoreline, but Natura’s enemies were too hot in pursuit. For every one they knocked aside, two more were there to replace, weighing them down. Slashing into their armor. Trying to kill them before they could escape for good. How the hell had they gotten here so quickly?
Then the spriggs came.
A cavalcade of arrows eviscerated the manifestations in front, and a blast of green flame destroyed those behind. Before the Expats could find an alternate route, the spearmen formed their own ring, sealing all escapes.
Jay tightened in with his companions and swapped his sword for his geargun, but that was all he could do. Only the ocean offered an escape, but the second one of them made a step that way, another volley of arrows struck the ground nearby.
Just like that, it was over.
General Gornn marched to the center, coated in green-tinted ichor. His eyes burned with a verdant fury.
His jaw dropped. “Did you think such diversion would work against the Legio Geminus, hrm?”
Jay chewed his lips, gripping his sword tight.
“You would have had better chance to be less bold,” Gornn decided. “Let Natura attack as normal, and use chaos to slip through. But this is your mistake, yes. Interlopers believe they can be superior to Annwyn. That they can rise above all.”
His dark eyes twinkled under the twilight.
“Nothing can defy the natural order,” he declared. “In this world or any other. Nature is strength. Nature is power. All else are but lesser beings. You thought to use that power for yourself, hrm? You will never come close!
“That is why Natura rejects you and why you are drawn to Nightrealm, yes. You do not understand balance, only self-destruction. But the Empire is different. We understand this order, and will do whatever it takes to maintain it. Annwyn will forever persist so long as we can purge anyone with the Wyrm-bound taint.”
“What about your friends?” Jay asked. “From what I hear, not everyone in your Empire agrees with your mindset. I was offered a chance to get away before you decided to pull a fast one, after all. Do you really think you get to speak for your entire Empire just because you’re in command here?”
He did not blink. “I will do whatever is necessary to defeat the Wyrms and their spawn, yes. Those who disagree have allied with enemy. They will be dealt with, in time.” He twirled his spear. “Enough talk. Surrender or be crushed. Your Gods will not help you here.”
The group tightened further, watching their enemies on all sides.
Dammit. Whether Jay wanted to accept it or not, there was no way out. It would take nothing short of divine intervention to see them through this one.
An explosion suddenly rocked the ground. The group quaked, trying to see the source. It took a moment before all eyes fell into the sea, about a mile offshore, where the blow had come.
Smoke billowed from the spriggs’ corvette. Fire poured out from a hole in the side. The giant pod began to list from the impact, foam-crested waves flowing into the crater left behind.
General Gornn roared, seeing his main vessel hit. The others all looked from one to another, their ranks disrupted.
A low battle horn rang, drowning out all else.
Vruummmm!
And shadows suddenly flowed out from the darkness on all sides. They moved with a sharp, feral movement, even as they sprinted on two legs. Red, beating eyes gleamed under the crimson planet, ready to devour the creatures in front.
As the spriggs redirected to face this new enemy, Jay’s jaw dropped. His mind struggled to process what his eyes were now seeing.
Were those werewolves!?
Name: Jay Reis (Copper Age)
Vitality – ??/?? (Chilled+1)
Hunger – ??/64 (Chilled+1)
Thirst – ??/24
Fatigue – 10/24 (Poorly Rested+2)
Sanity – ??/110 (Chilled+1)
Main Crafts: Alchemy 2, Armor Crafting 2, Base Building 3, Cooking 2, Jewelry 2, Medicine 2, Tailoring 2, Tool Crafting 3, Tinkering 1, Vehicles 1, Weapon Crafting 2.
Weapon Crafts: Axes 5, Bows 9, Clubs 5, Daggers 5, Spears 5, Swords 11.
Armor Crafts: Heavy Armor 5, Light Armor 5, Medium Armor 8, Shields 6.
Sub-Crafts: Curved Swords 5.
Character Skills:
[Forbidden Knowledge]
Armor Skills:
Heavy Armor: [Push], [Stampede]
Medium Armor: [Recover], [Leap], [Waterform], [Quickstep]
Light Armor: [Dash], [Feather Fall]
Shield: [Brace], [Track], [Break]
Weapon Skills:
Axes: [Chop], [Whirlwind]
Bows: [Sharpshooter], [Longshot], [Scattershot Arrow]
Clubs: [Bash], [Paralyze]
Daggers: [Slice], [Flourish]
Spears: [Thrust], [Sweep]
Swords: [Power Attack], [Slash], [Rend], [Shirk], [Violent Storm]
Cursed Items:
[Vitaberry Bush]
Armor:
[Copperplated Hat+3] (Nightmarish+4), (Buttressed+3), (Hardened+2), (Reinforced+2)
[Copperplated Leggings+3] (Nightmarish+3), (Buttressed+3), (Hardened+2), (Reinforced+3)
[Copperplated Shoes+2] (Nightmarish+3), (Buttressed+3), (Hardened+1), (Reinforced+2)
[Silver Amulet]: Socketed with [Chipped Tourmaline] (Tempus)
[Silver Ring]: Socketed with [Chipped Beryl] (Frigus)
[Silver Ring]: Socketed with [Chipped Beryl] (Frigus)
Weapons:
[Pig Iron Scimitar+5] (Affinity+8), (Hardened+6), (Reinforced+6), (Stable+2)
[Treated Bow+2] (Hardened+2): Socketed with [Chipped Beryl] (Frigus)
[Iron Geargun+4] (Heavy+6), (Quick+2), (Thermal+4), (Expanded+1)
Tools:
[Copper Knife+3]
[Copper Axe+3]
[Copper Hammer+3]
[Copper Pickaxe+3]
[Copper Shovel+3]
[Basic Grappling Hook]
Boons:
[Minor (Speed)] (x3), [Minor (Sanity)]