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Proofreaders : LD, Ramzicmain, Kanadaj
Chapter 2a : Unavoidable confrontation
[10:12 - Royal Road] [20:31 - GMT+1]
Polly stealthily checked the virtual clock displayed in the upper right part of her sight. RoyalRoad interface displayed the real-life time in order to let the players keep their responsibilities.
However, Polly wasn’t concerned by her real-life responsibilities. She was just a bit tired of Momo’s rant about her love life.
Momo sighed, “Dilys has too much success. Every man I find to my taste ends up courting her.” She wiped her moist eyes. Despite her jealousy for her waitress, she couldn’t bring herself to hate Dilys. Their relationship was similar to a mother and daughter.
Momo, Polly and Dilys were discussing peacefully in the idle inn. Some players remained to chill out or find parties. The peak of activity had already passed, so Momo and Dilys wanted to spend time with their adventurer friend.
During the three hours following a certain incident involving a player and Dilys, Polly and Momo exhausted their stock of discussion subjects. Then, the subject became Dilys and how she was attracting a lot of problems.
“KABOOM!” A loud noise resounded throughout the village. Polly felt the ground vibrate.
“Kyaaaaaaaaah!!!” A woman let out a desperate wail outside the inn.
“!? What’s going on?” The customers and players who were lazing around began to make a ruckus.
“Dilys, go hide in the basement. I will go check outside with Polly,” Momo quickly ordered Dilys around. Then, she fetched her sword from under the counter.
Huh? Sure, ok. Don’t ask for my opinion, lol, Polly thought.
“BOOOM!” Another crushing sound made the ground shake.
A bunch of villagers passed by the inn, running at full speed.
Then suddenly, someone barged into the inn.
“Everyone run! It’s a Posho king! It has already destroyed two houses!” The villager exclaimed with a ghastly expression. “Someone please help!”
Every nearby player received the same quest notification.
Ting! You received the following quest :
Quest : Protect the village.
Time limit : Until the village is completely destroyed.
Reward : Experience, Fame
It’s unusual. Normally, the hunters in the village are enough to repel stray beasts.
“Let’s go, sis!” An enthusiastic young swordsman told a female mage.
“Hmpf?!” The mage was stuffing breakfast in her mouth when the swordsman forcefully grabbed her and dragged her outside.
Momo headed towards the exit. “Let’s go.”
“You don’t have to force yourself,” Polly warned while leaving the inn with her. Momo was a NPC. Death was normally irreversible for NPC.
“Don’t worry, even though I look like this, I was a warrior once.”
“Yeah? You’re better suited to be a security guard in the inn, though,”
“Ahah, does it have to do with fighting? Well, I couldn’t imagine doing something else than fighting either. In this period of peace, I am glad to find something else to do,” Momo nodded as they approached the loud noise.
“I have to protect my inn, and the village that accepted me,” Momo resolved herself.
“It can be helped, then. Let’s help together,” Polly sighed.
Which servant should I use? Polly was thinking as they both walked towards the epicenter of the ruckus.
Polly’s class, a.k.a Umbra Summoner, normally possessed 100 control points. Those points were distributed equally between summoned units. Every summon had their own control point requirement, depending on level difference, intimacy, intelligence, innate power…
Failing to fill the control condition would result in various problems:
Control points above 100% of the required amount: The summon would be completely submissive.
Between 75% and 100: The summon might or might not follow the orders of the summoner.
Under 75%: The summon might harm its master.
Under 50%: The summoning would fail.
Also, multi-summoning decreased the power of each summon.
I have 103 control points. Nightwraith requires 30 control points, Dusklash requires 70 and Grievespera requires 80 control points.
If I summon two servants, I won’t be able to control both... And Nightwraith will be weaker than if I keep him alone.
They saw a cloud of dust behind a street. The enemy was close.
“Let’s party. Also, I need a moment to summon,” Polly told Momo. The latter nodded and stopped. Momo entered into Polly’s party, and they were able to see each other’s HP.
Offering her right hand forward, Polly recited the magical formula, “Evil yet corrected, the broken wheel of fate ought to turn again. Wretched soul of the underworld, rise and struggle. Heed my call, Nightwraith. Come forth!”
Spoiler :
http%3a%2f%2fsand.daar.free.fr%2fwp-content%2fghos...oning2.jpg [http://sand.daar.free.fr/wp-content/ghost-summoning2.jpg]
As soon Polly pronounced the first sentence, a magic circle began to appear in front of her. Polly’s right wrist was engulfed in a black flame. After she finished the formula and the magic circle was complete, the bracelet around Polly’s right wrist disappeared.
A darkness appeared and expanded inside the magic circle. Nightwraith rose from the shadow. His eyes ignited with a red spark after being completely released from the shadow.
Spoiler :
http%3a%2f%2fsand.daar.free.fr%2fwp-content%2fohko.jpg [http://sand.daar.free.fr/wp-content/ohko.jpg]
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“Uoooh!!” The young swordsman, who rushed headfirst with his sis’, got thrown in front of Polly, Momo and Nightwraith. A female mage ran after the swordsman, picked him up and ran away for her life.
“INSTANT KILL?!” Polly and the rest turned their heads. Between two cottages, they saw a wild boar the size of a monster truck. It wielded immense tusks, and its dark eyes glinted with an ominous light. Bulging veins were scattered around its face as its snout puffed. It seemed a bit angry.
He charged towards the group. The group, in shock, watched it run towards them with a surprising speed. The monster truck boar didn’t fit in the clearance between the two cottages, but it wasn’t a problem for Posho King.
Spoiler :
http%3a%2f%2fsand.daar.free.fr%2fwp-content%2fPosho-rush.jpg [http://sand.daar.free.fr/wp-content/Posho-rush.jpg]
“Brabrabrabrabra!” A loud rattling came from the walls of the houses, destroyed by the majestic boar.
“SCATTER!” Momo shouted.
“Transfer Pain!” Polly activated her defensive ability, transferring a portion of the damage received to her servant. It constantly consumed mana, so she quickly deactivated the spell after the Posho King grazed her.
Everyone had jumped to the side and successfully avoided being impaled. However, everyone sustained some damage.
The Posho King pulverized a cottage at the end of his charge.
“T-this isn’t something we can defeat!” Polly shouted to Momo.
Even so, Momo gritted her teeth and braced herself. Polly imitated her.
“Nightwraith, Momo! I will try to summon a support! I’m counting on you!” Polly warned and retreated a bit. She didn’t know whether the summon would support them… or the Posho King. However, as they were, they would die with their current team composition.
Grievespera was an elf that turned into a banshee. She had become Polly’s latest servant, and her voice carried support class abilities. Even though she wasn’t limited to, her specialty included amplifying the regeneration or attack rating of her allies through songs. This characteristic of Grievespera made her a rare and valuable summon. However, Polly’s available control points wasn’t enough to control both her and Nightwraith at the same time.
Where is everyone? I’m positive there were players in the inn and lots of hunters and lumberjacks in the village!
Stars danced around Posho king’s head. He wavered a bit and then, shook his head to clear his confusion. Surely, he wouldn’t be unscathed after his furious charge. He saw Polly reciting a spell, and focused on her. He jogged towards her without charging.
“PAH!” Momo and Nightwraith grabbed the two tusks of the oversized boar during his quick advance. Momo’s veins were bulging with effort. Her face was all red and her arms trembled.
As Polly finished chanting her spell, the bandages wrapping her left arm were eaten away by a black fire.
A magic circle formed in front of Polly and a pitch black figure rose from the shadows. It was Grievespera. Polly shuddered at her dreadful appearance - long silky black hair dripped with unsightly darkness. Her eyes were covered in a black bandage, and black tears seemed to flow from under the black blindfold.
Though her body was almost entirely in black, the bottom of her face had immaculately white skin. Her crimson lips formed a bewitching smile while her legs were floating under the tattered robe.
Spoiler :
http%3a%2f%2fsand.daar.free.fr%2fwp-content%2fgrievespera1.jpg [http://sand.daar.free.fr/wp-content/grievespera1.jpg]
Her arms were sealed on her chest as a spear pierced both her arm and her heart. However, it wasn’t enough for Polly not to notice the size of the big hidden hills on Grievespera’s chest. Wait for it Polly, one day...I’ll grow too.
“Grievespera, please help us protect the village! Use a support song to help us,” Polly begged the banshee. Regardless of whatever happened, Polly began to cast a spell.
However, the ghost snorted. She didn’t want to abide Polly’s order. At least, she didn’t decide to fight Polly. The cheeky elf banshee averted her face, her chin held high.
Bonus :
I have added a drawing in chapter 1.
Spoiler :
http%3a%2f%2fsand.daar.free.fr%2fwp-content%2fbloodspurt.jpg [http://sand.daar.free.fr/wp-content/bloodspurt.jpg]
Author note :
Spoiler :
The pathetic word count : 1.5k
This partial chapter prepares the setting for the village.
Drawing & writing is hard ;_;
I'm open to criticism, so don't hesitate please. Precise commentary would be greatly appreciated xD.
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