TRRINGG!
You have received a friend request from Emily of the Petal Dance Guild!
‘She probably wants me to pick up any items she drops…or even worse…keep track of me …..’ Weed cautiously accepted it, he didn’t have much of a choice. If he didn’t he risked Emily turning around and spoiling the plans.
TRRINGG!
You have accepted Emily’s friend request!
Emily is now your friend!
You can access friend list from the main menu or simply tap the whisper button and speak out the persons name. You can also create group conferences! To learn more click here!
‘Weed…’ Emily immediately whispered.
‘What?’ Weed asked.
“WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG TO ACCEPT THE REQUEST?” Emily thundered on him.
“Sorry….I just wasn’t sure what to do…” Weed whispered back as he recovered from her explosive shout. “You were an enemy till a while back…”
“Are you a professional gamer or some kind of scripted hero?” Emily asked without pausing her charge.
Weed knew what she was getting at. There were no enemies in real life this was simply a game and although she just killed Geomchi 5 a moment back and was trying to kill him as well, none of it mattered since their goal was common beating the game. There would be times where they would wear the mask of an enemy and a mask of a friend….that was all there was too it. Emily didn’t brood about who was her friend or her enemy she only looked at her gain.
“You just have to accept it!” Emily continued during the silence. “I need to be in touch with you, if I need to attack. Guide me since my POV goes to narrow from here.” Emily instructed him.
“But Emily-san….you do realize I don’t even know what attacks you are capable of …. Or what your mana conversion rate is or what your level…. Do you see what I am getting at?” Weed explained.
“Then be my eyes…” Emily ordered.
“That would also be difficult, I need to move out of here for the second phase of the plan…”
Emily was about two seconds from striking distance of the enemy.
“Do a wide range attack….attack from behind the ninjas, they have a sneaky habit of letting others do the killing for them…” Weed informed her.
“Yeah I saw…” Emily agreed. The ninjas didn’t notice her till after she launched a gust of wind pushing the frontline of the soldiers back. It gave the ninjas the much needed time to regroup. The ninjas were under the impression Emily would lead the attack but she didn’t do anything waiting for them to lead. In the end the ninjas caved in and became the vanguard of the resistance.
‘How long must I fight?’ Emily asked, as she poured in her stamina using the wind affinity attacks.
‘…’
‘Till I die?’ Emily asked in shock. She might have been helping Weed out but she was certainly in no mood to sacrifice herself for his goals.
‘I can’t say how long…it’s a gamble…pull back if you are below 2.5% HP…’
‘What! That’s insane! I would die…’
‘Stop being such a miser and use your recovery potions…’
‘I don’t have any…’ She cribbed.
‘Yeah right…a guild master doesn’t have recovery potion….all your comrades had it…you can’t trick me…its up to you whether you live or die.’
‘But….’
‘I need you to stay alive as long as possible…so use them all….’
‘But…’
‘Hey…the future of your guild is at stake here….do you really want to risk that over a few potions?’
Emily gave in. There were bound to be consequences for her actions; for being part of the coup. Her current circumstances didn’t give her room to negotiate. The guild masters who were part of the coup had been used. Arthur planned to finally kill them as well…or worse take them captive. Though they had expected as much and were prepared to take out any forces Arthur may have prepared all that changed with the Geomchis attack. Now all that guilds who participated faced an unknown future where they could be potentially disbanded. It was the reason why Emily decided to side with Weed in the first place since he appeared to be on the winning side…If Weed said that he could save the guild from those consequences then Emily knew she had to take the chance.
‘Contact me when you are at 5%. Pull back and heal. Be ready to help me at a moment’s notice, I will most likely be in a dire state…’
‘Where will you be?’
‘At the exit towards the manor… ETA 25 mins.’
‘Got it….’ Emily said as she hacked away at a few soldiers who from time to time managed to slip past the ninjas. It wasn’t looking to good for the ninjas who were mostly completely exhausted. Their situation was dire.
Weed looked at the young noble lady and asked her, “What is your name?”
“Catalan…of the house …of Bromier.” Catalan replied as tears welled up in her eyes. She was the sole survivor of the house of Bromier.
“Bromier Catalan?” Weed asked in confirmation.
Catalan nodded.
“Catalan there is something which only and you can do.”Weed then whispered something into her ear and her eyes went all big. She was afraid and Weed had the audacity to request from her the most ridiculous thing…help defeating the soldiers
“Everything depends on you….I stake my life in your hands and courage. I promise you no harm will come to you.” Weed said. He was telling her the truth, right now Weed was in complete control of the situation. Just like when he played Athenos, Weed could feel his sense of control and foresight return to him. He had never trained as a soldier in Athenos, he had always been a strategist or a commander who guided the forces from the distance. The situation in RREV right now was far easier than what he went through in Athenos. In Athenos he had to command over thousands of troops while resisting millions of enemy forces battling in space where the number of combat strategies increase exponentially….compared to that what was unfolding in front of him was child’s play. The only disadvantage Weed had was that he didn’t know Emily too well otherwise he would have guided her as he slid into the second phase.
As Weed got up slowly he felt a tug against his skirt. “What?” He asked the young noble.
“Don’t leave me…” She whispered with crocodile tears welling up.
“Stay here or hide deeper but I need to put an end to this madness.” Weed ordered her.
“But…” The young noble woman tried arguing back.
Weed crouched down to her eye level and held her hand. “You must be brave in these trying times only if you have the will to live will there be any hope….Trust me… I stake my word as a high elf”
The noble lady let go off Weed’s skirt and Weed ran off to the battlefield. Weed didn’t give her a second look.
His eyes were fixed on to the distant reward in the future. With clarity of what was going on, Weed knew that the sole direction of the coup lay in his hands. He had the power to decide which way the battle would flow. was betting on the fact that if Arthur’s coup fails then Richard would hold Weed in a more esteemed position.
‘At least the position of a Baron could be mine...maybe even the dragon blade bestowed upon Arthur…’ Weed thought as he made his way towards the area the ninjas were so so vigorously defending. Emily’s sudden appearance provided the perfect disturbance and distraction Weed needed. No one noticed Weed head there as everyone was busy preoccupied battling each other. Weed edged along the grounds as quickly as he could till he got to one of the many entrances of the garden maze. The entrance was of particular interest to Weed since the Ninjas seemed to be leading the soldiers away from here.
Just as Weed was about to take his first step; he paused for a moment. Traps . Ninjas were cunning and their success lay in planning ahead. Weed was sure the ninjas would have set up traps, he looked around and then spotted it; a thread dangling across at chest level and another at foot level. Weed carefully avoided those as he made his way in. Weed was most curious to learn what kind of attack the traps triggered but decided against testing them.
Weed finally walked down the grassy trail and found what he was looking for. In front of him lay nearly twenty people on the ground, tied up and their heads bagged.
Weed’s smile grew bigger and bigger. ‘I knew it.’
‘Emily how are you doing?’ Weed asked as he looked around carefully for any guards and then made his move. He wasn’t sure how strong Emily was but if she went all out then probably about now she was on the verge of dying.
‘ON THE VERGE OF DYING YOU STUPID ELF!! HOW MUCH LONGER??? THE NINJAS HAVE RETREATED AND LEFT ALL THE FIGHTING TO ME!!’ Emily complained as she handled close to two hundred soldiers on her own.
‘…’
‘TELL ME SOME GOOD NEWS!’
‘I found reinforcement.’ Weed whispered to her as he removed the gunny bags off the heads of the unconscious people; they all had red hair. Weed clenched his fist tightly; the conspiracy ran just as deep as he imagined.
‘Good when can you get them here?’ Emily asked as she emptied her last HP flask.
‘You need to lure the soldiers into the path taken by the ninjas….beware the ninjas have booby trapped the place…’ Weed informed her as he tried to wake up the unconscious men.
‘And then escape?’ Emily asked with hopes clouding her mind.
‘Head towards the manor…stay hidden…’ Weed said as he terminated the call. “GET UP!” Weed shouted as he then slapped one of the men till they woke up.
“Waahht” The man said as he appeared bewildered, shocked and afraid.
“DON’T KILL ME!! PLEASE!!” The man begged Weed.
“I won’t kill you…” Weed promised him as he wondered whether he should untie the man.
“You won’t?” The man asked suspiciously.
“Keep your powers at rest.” Weed said. He knew the prisoner had already activated his elemental affinity.
The man was slightly shocked; the elf appeared to be foreseeing his moves; a dangerous opponent.
“You are a fire user? Are you not?” Weed asked.
The man simply nodded.
“Do you know what is happening?”
The man nodded side ways, he had no clue. He was simply patrolling the border and the next thing he knew he was here.
“My name is Weed…” Weed introduced himself as he untied the man.
The man was unsure whether he should attack Weed or introduce himself. He however resisted killing Weed when he noticed Weed was untying others around him.
“The name is Aviur.” The man said as he began helping Weed and untying his fellow comrades. “We are of the fourth patrol unit.”
“You are in Lavias…” Weed began explaining but stopped as he choked under Aviur’s grip. The man who was just pretending to be scared a moment ago suddenly revealed his true colours.
“Let me explain you oaf…” Weed said as he gasped for air.
Aviur slightly loosened his grip. “Speak elf, lest you want me to burn you to cinder and ashes…”
“You are being used…” Weed hurried. “There is a coup happening in Lavias right now and you have been captured to take the fall for it all.”
Aviur grip tightened around Weed’s neck.
“…I can….. help……. escape…” Weed explained as he turned faint choking for air.
Aviur let go of Weed; who fell to the ground gasping for air.
“So what do you want from us?” Aviur asked.
“Stop the coup.” Weed said as he rubbed his neck while kneeling on the ground.
“You want my comrades and me, to interfere in another Empire’s politics….are you out of your mind?” Aviur asked as he woke up everyone.
“It isn’t an option you have….there are nearly two hundred soldiers outside this maze. The only path of escape is through them.” Weed said as he began drawing a rough sketch of the ceremony grounds.
The fire elemental patrol units huddled around Weed as he began instructing them.
“There are over a dozen entrances into the ceremony grounds from the maze garden….they are located roughly here, here and here…” Weed said as he marked out a few locations. “Just burn through the hedges and walk along the perimeter of the hedges till you find them.”
“The ninjas are taking them here…away from here…and into the garden maze. It is where the main battle will be fought. But not all soldiers will head there. Expect about fifty to stand at the exit towards the manor….” Weed explained.
“Why?” Aviur asked.
“Intuition but mostly logic, if the troops failed the remaining soldiers would wait it out. Fifty would be the number any good officer would place against water elemental ninjas…”
Aviur nodded, it made sense.
“That’s where we attack….” Weed pointed at the ‘x’ mark denoating the fifty soldiers position.
“So we leave the remaining one fifty to the ninjas?” Aviur cross checked with Weed.
Weed nodded. “Unless you want revenge….but one fifty is a lot of soldiers for two dozen men to take on…”
“No we are bit of a hurry…” Aviur explained. “Can you imagine what would happen if an entire patrol unit disappeared?”
“War?” Weed asked.
“Aye…I don’t love or care for the Wind Empire but as long as there is peace and I am alive; I am happy. If we don’t report soon, there is bound to be trouble…” Aviur explained. “So tell me how do we escape?”
“Aviur…you are a good man…but we just met. You don’t think I would just trust you with that information?” Weed spoke with confidence.
Aviur wanted to choke Weed again but Weed ducked.
“Don’t misunderstand me, I know you will kill me once you learn of the escape passage so think of it as a part of the bargain…” Weed explained.
Aviur scowled as he got up. “Fine Elf…but know this I don’t trust a scheming elf like you….you are hiding something….I know it…”
Weed smiled and got up. He was indeed hiding the fact that there was another way into the manor without confronting the soldiers. It was through the garden shed. However since the garden shed was near the ceremony platform….where Richard and Arthur were fighting, Weed wasn’t sure if he wanted to go near that area…just yet.
Aviur led the group and Weed was placed in the middle; to protect him and to make sure he didn’t try escaping. With complete disregard to the thick tall hedges, Aviur and his men burnt through each one. Their fire was sharp and tame. It burnt only as much required and never gave of smoke.
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‘Strong…’ Weed concluded. Usually weak fire elementalists would find it difficult to control fire and weaker their power more the smoke…this patrol unit appeared to be unusually strong. It worried Weed why were there such strong men only patrol units….
“Looks like you were right elf…” Aviur said as he burned two peeping holes into the thicket and looked at soldiers standing guard at the sole exit towards the manor. However there were only ten soldiers placed in guard….much fewer than what Weed had anticipated.
“Terrible estimates Elf…” Aviur commented. “Ten men is too few….I alone could kill them…”
“Then I leave the rest to you…” Weed said.
“heh…” Aviur scorned at Weed. He looked down upon Weed for being a pure neutral player. He was so thoroughly useless in Aviur’s opinion. Weed didn’t mind Aviur. Weed was painfully well aware of his limitations. However, he was also aware of his strengths; he had above average intellect (in his opinion it didn’t qualify for genius) and the elemental blacksmith.
Aviur raised his arm in the air and his comrades followed his lead.
A small spark flashed near their palm and a small flame was created. It grew steadily bigger and bigger as if they were holding a fireball. Weed had never witnessed a fire attack upfront personally and he found the heat unbearable. He was sweating all over as Aviur’s group cast multiple layers of fire around their destructive fire ball.
The plan to split the large group and take out those left alive individually.
‘Emily….’ Weed whispered.
‘…Yes Weed…’ He got a reply back.
‘Are you ready?’ Weed asked her as Aviur’s ball of fire grew larger and larger while swirling in his palm.
‘I don’t see…’
“HELLS RAIN!” Aviur shouted as he threw the ball of fire at the group of unsuspecting Wind soldiers.
Multiple explosions tore through exit and the Wind soldiers were completely decimated in a few seconds. The Wind soldiers stood no chance; it was surprise attack so defending was out of the question, it was fire element their fundamental weakness and add to that it layered several times over with powerful flames.
*Gulp* Weed didn’t expect the Fire Empire’s soldiers to be this strong. Weed wondered how did they ever manage to capture a patrol unit this powerful.
The explosions were mostly controlled and silent; other than the crackling of the fire there was no sound. Fire users could control fire, they didn’t require ingredients one normally required to make an explosion happen. By simply compressing the flames several times they were able to produce the same effect of an explosion.
“Now where elf?” Aviur asked as they walked out of their hiding spot and stood in front of charred bodies of the fallen wind soldiers.
Before Weed could answer….
“ATTACK!!” Wind soldiers screamed as they rushed out of their hiding spots. Some were hiding behind potted plants, some behind hedges and some were behind the walls of the manor. In all there were hundred soldiers. Double of what Weed estimated.
“ELF YOU TRICKED US!!” Aviur screamed out as he looked to burn Weed into ash…
TRRINGG!
Betrayal Skill levelled up!
Deceit skill levelled up!
Weed was long gone. Emily had taken the moment’s distraction zip past the soldiers, grab Weed and hide behind the thicket. The two of them then crawled away from the danger zone.
“It worked…” Weed said with relief spreading all over his face. Not only did his plans work but also managed to level up his unique quest skills.
“Where the hell did you find fire soldiers?” Emily asked as she gripped Weed’s collar and gave him an angry look.
“I’ll tell you all about it…but first we need to find Catalan…”
Emily frowned. “Shes dead Weed…”
Weed looked back at Emily in horror…he had promised her her safety…and he sincerely meant it. Weed had instructed the noble Lady Catalan, to rush to the soldiers after Emily backed off and inform them of an invasion against fire users. The soldiers would believe her and some wouldn’t. One party would go after the ninjas and Emily and another would stay behind to see whether Catalan was telling the truth.
It was Weed’s assumption that they wouldn’t kill her. Since in front of a greater common enemy she posed no threat. It was just as Weed foresaw, Catalan went ahead and told the soldiers of Fire soldiers invading. They didn’t believe her but decided they could always kill her later. As per the plan, Catalan would watch the soldiers from afar as they guarded. Weed then planned to go and save her amidst the confusion.
“How…” Weed finally asked after a long silence.
“I don’t know what you told her…but the soldiers made her stand along side the ten who were guarding the entrance…” Emily whispered softly as she avoided Weed’s eyes.
“You knew…” Weed spoke with anger filling his chest.
“I only caught a glimpse of her before the fire ball attack….I meant to tell you….” Emily defended herself.
Weed felt aweful about levelling up his unique quest skills; some of the skill exp he gained were probably at the cost of Catalan’s death.
“You don’t get it….” Weed angrily retorted. “She was probably the last living noble the only testimony to your innocence…..I bet you didn’t inform me because you were afraid I would change plans to rescue her…”
Emily hung her head low; Weed wasn’t off the mark. She only saw NPCs as NPCs, sacrificing a few made no difference to her till now….
Weed would have ranted longer but was certain Emily understood the consequences of her actions well enough. There was no need to add salt to the wound.
“Emily….not all is lost…” Weed replied.
Emily looked up slowly with tears brimming in her eyes.
“How can I undo it all?” Emily asked as she began crying. Nothing had gone as she had planned; even the fight with her ex master didn’t go as she wanted.
“Tell your guild the truth….I’ll handle the Lord and everything else…” Weed told her as he put up a cool front trying to impress Emily.
“Thanks Weed.” Emily said softly as she kissed Weed on the cheeks. It was hard for the love blinded Weed to see that Emily was putting up an act….but whether it was truly an act was something only Emily knew.
Weed’s face turned red in embarrassment. “We need to take care of those left…” Weed said trying to divert Emily’s attention away from him and change the topic. There were five fire soldiers left standing.
‘Remember Weed I trust you…’ Emily whispered as she rushed off. She didn’t wait for Weed to instruct her any further. She equipped her twin blade gauntlet and sped at the remaining enemy. If Weed had an iota of distrust in Emily it vanished then….he knew what Emily was trying to accomplish….death. Emily regretted her actions so much that she was ready to sacrifice her life (level in this case) to atone for her greed and crime.
Weed didn’t try calling her back or stopping her. He knew that if she didn’t put her life on the line defeating the remaining fire soldiers would be impossible. He couldn’t help her and it was her choice that she made. He could only respect her for it.
“WIND SLASH!” Emily shouted as she glided towards the enemy.
The remaining fire patrol units were worn out fighting so many wind soldiers but they still had enough strength to resist Emily.
They ducked in cover and launched multiple fire balls at Emily. Emily managed to dodge most of them but got hit by one. Even one fire ball was pretty effective. Though she didn’t take any direct damage thanks to her armour but the fire ball heated her armour to close to a hundred degree causing burn marks. Each time she now moved her torso her stomach would rub against the heated armour plate damaging her and causing pain.
Emily unequipped her gaunlets and pulled out a scythe. Fighting up close with fire soldiers was a bit too much. The intensity of their blaze would wear out Emily’s stamina faster than normal.
“GUSTY FURY!” Emily shouted as she swung the scythe that was larger than her.
The fire soldiers went flying back. Emily quickly changed weapons, reverting back to her gaunlets and sped at the fire soldiers. The scythe gave her added power but reduced mobility. Emily pounced on a soldier who lay unconscious and stabbed him multiple times till he vanished.
“HELLS RAGE!!” A soldier shouted. As he unleashed two fire line arrows at Emily.
Emily dodged them … but they were like homing missiles and eventually both hit her while she jumped in mid air. The damage was lower than what Emily thought they were capable off…nonetheless she only had 40% HP remaining. The continuous burn damage caused by fire attacks was where she was losing most of her health.
There were four soldiers left. Emily was breathing heavily, she was pushing herself hard to make each attack count.
‘Just how strong are they….’ Emily wondered. She had never fought fire users before so this was a first but they appeared to be ridiculously stronger than her compared to the NPC soldiers she had been fighting all this while.
‘Emily-san….have your attacks become weaker?’ Weed asked.
‘May be….’ Emily said as she definitely felt some kind of a power down. Emily quickly opened her attack menu option menu and checked the damage she was dealing….it was reduced by 55%.
‘What happened?’ Weed asked as he noticed Emily standing still longer than needed. The fire soldiers didn’t attack her imagining she was preparing a strong attack.
‘My attacks!’ Emily finally replied. ‘They are dealing 55% less damage…’
‘Does it say why?’ Weed asked.
‘I am losing 20% attack bonus since I am fighting a stronger element…’
‘And the remaining 35%?’
‘…It says….that the guardian of the land has revoked all bonus powers granted to players…’ Emily replied. Her voice trembled slightly as she had never seen this message before. She was excited even though she stood at death’s door since she uncovered invaluable information.
‘..’ Weed didn’t know what to say either. He was able to imagine many scenarios of what might have triggered this and what the consequences could be….but what bothered him at hand was Emily. She was still going at the soldiers with whatever she got.
“WIND SPEAR!!” Emily shouted out as she abandoned her physical weapons and began using the most powerful ones she had. The Wind Spear was the manifestation of a wind like spear in her hands, an invisible weapon which dealt critical blows the downside was it consumed vast amounts of stamina. Each time Emily struck a blow to the fire user she had to leave her spear lodged in so that the rotating motion of the spear could deal damage to the inards of the soldiers. The soldier who had been jabbed by the spear during this period would go into stun mode regardless how high their stun defense was. A powerful attack but since it took time to deal the damage, it left her vulnerable to attacks but given her HP and DEF stats she was able to take out three soldiers in the blink of an eye.
‘Weed I am down to my last 2.5% HP….’ Emily whispered. ‘Save my guild please…’
“DUSTY STORM!” Emily shouted as she kicked up the dirt in the air. The sand mixed with the winds providing cover and Emily moved into position. “WIND SLASH!”
“FLAME BURST!” Aviur, the last soldier standing, cried out in the confusion. He was completely blinded by the sand in his eyes.
The two attacks hit both people simultaneously…sending them both to their deaths. One would of course revive in 72 in game hours, the other never would.
The nobles, the wind soldiers, the fire patrol unit, the guild masters and the Geomchis....everyone died. It was within Weeds expectation that this would be the most likely outcome since he unraveled the mystery behind the coup.
Weed felt slightly low losing Emily. He understood her, she was playing for herself but she did care for one thing and that was her guild (maybe again out of longer term self interest). She didn’t want to lose her guild at all costs and decided to do whatever she could so that Weed could save her guild from disbanding. The burden of saving the guild was now left on to Weed’s shoulders…
‘No the burden of stopping this madness from spreading any further….and stopping a repeat of Skyholm rests on me; a no elemental affinity player of level 25…’
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Authors Note:
1. I blame the readers for making this a long chapter....more action more action....more words....more character more character....more words....*grumbles*.... I did what I could ..... if it isn't good enough, let me know. I'll work harder on the next scene which is also an action scene and yes the main course.
2. So I introduced something quiet big this chapter.... yeah if you havent figured out what it is....good riddance.
3. Emily and Roi Lee might have something against each other not that Weed knows about it. Why did Emily stop killing Weed? Why the sudden change of character? I hope this chapter was able to explain it. The players had been betrayed (by Arthur) and Emily simply switched sides.
4. So its a bit confusing and whose on whose side, who hired the ninjas...where did the fire users come from, who the heck are the soldiers.....well next chapter will clear all those mysteries.
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