I arrived back at my hiding spot near the last simple bomb with only a few seconds remaining before the start of the wave, mentally chiding myself for waiting so long. The last wave had been almost too easy and I was dreading what would happen if this one was more difficult. I hadn’t placed the shrapnel bomb yet, choosing to hold on to that one until later. I had all ten simple bombs placed around the portal at various distances and 5 of the standard bombs, leaving 5 remaining in supply. I still had the trail of simple bombs leading away from the portal towards my hiding spot. I had my bow readied and my falcon companion was high in the sky ready to react. The timer ticked down to 0 and I held my breath.
00:00:00
This time there were a dozen absolutely massive shapes taking form directly in front of the portal. As opposed to the spider-like creatures that spawned all around the portal these large figures were all stacked in front. It was too far for me to make out any details but from what I could see they were vaguely humanoid just on a massive scale. I waited for movement like last time and as soon as the lead one moved I detonated the standard bomb right at its feet.
The first figure exploded in a cloud of gore, completely annihilated. To my dismay the rest of the figures did not react, the size of the first one must have absorbed the shock from the standard bomb. I had four more standard bombs planted but they would be too far away from the figures who were crowded together. As I anticipated the framework was ramping up the difficulty. I began to detonate the simple bombs that were close enough to beasts and could see it taking effect just not on the scale of the previous wave. One of the beasts gave a shout and as one they began to move in the direction of the mine. It felt like the entire world shook when they moved, almost in sync.
I detonated every mine in rapid succession as they came close and it continued to chip away at the beasts. One or two would drop with every triple detonation but it wouldn’t be enough. These beasts were massive and slow but either had massive health pools or were highly resistant. As they came closer I could finally trigger Identify.
Forest Ogre - Event Beast Wave 5 - Level 15 - Health 164/200
Damn. 200 total health was the damage of a lower end standard bomb direct hit. I would have to whittle these down slowly. I still had a few bombs planted between me and the slow moving ogres, 4 simple bombs and 1 standard. I would need to trigger them carefully to ensure the maximum amount of damage. I tried to spy the wave leader but all of the beasts looked identical. It must be one of the ones in the back but be roughly the same size as the rest.
Taking a moment to take stock of the situation I grabbed my bow as the beginnings of a plan started to form. I had to fight down my sense of panic at seeing the approaching ogres, I was still out of sight and had about 200 feet before they reached me. I waited for one to stand over a hidden simple bomb and triggered it, releasing an arrow at the same time. I watched as the arrow bounced harmlessly off its apparently thick skin and flopped to the ground. The ogre shouted and sounded angry, turning in my direction and began to run.
I held my ground and forced myself to take a deep breath. I couldn’t waste this standard bomb, I needed to wait. The other ogres had followed suit and were charging in my direction like a slow moving tidal wave. Every step was throwing up a cloud of dust and dirt, trampling trees and bushes alike. I grabbed my last two smokers from the bandoleer and threw them in the direction of the charging ogres. I triggered another simple bomb at the same time and watched as one of the middle ogres fell. The lead was about to be directly over the standard bomb, only 50 feet away from me. I grabbed one of my remaining standard bombs in my bandoleer, now down to 4 and got ready to throw it. I wanted to hit it with a double blast and make sure it was down.
It crossed over the standard bomb and I detonated it, mentally willing my enhanced explosion as high as it would go. I lobbed the standard bomb in my hand over the crowd and detonated it as soon as it began to drop to the crowd. I was rewarded with the sight of three of the massive ogres falling out dead. There were four left and I had to turn and run, out of placed bombs to hit them with. I sprinted back and turned to look, I could easily outpace them to the mine. I needed to whittle them down more before they made it to the mine, there was no more door to protect me there, not that it would have helped against these beasts. I spied one of the ogres wearing a different armor, actually shorter than its counterparts. I triggered Identify.
Forest Ogre - Event Beast Wave 5 Leader - Level 17 - Health 300/300
It was completely unscathed to this point. How it had avoided every blast I had no idea. I lobbed a standard bomb directly at the lead ogre and detonated it right in front of its face. Its head exploded in a cloud of blood and it fell immediately. 2 more regular forest ogres left and the leader. I had 2 standard bombs left. I had to make them count, I still had my shrapnel bomb but after watching the arrow bounce harmlessly off the ogre I wasn’t sure how the shrapnel would perform. I sprinted back closer to the entrance of the mine, desperately thinking of another plan. It spoke to my increased wisdom that I could even manage to think at all with my heart pounding like this. I looked up at my falcon friend flying above me and that triggered another idea. This would be my last gamble of this wave.
I climbed the largest tree I could find in the area and readied my bow. I waited for the ogres to arrive in my vision and shot it right in the chest. As expected it bounced off harmless, doing nothing but making the ogre angry, which is what I wanted. The three remaining ogres charged the base of the tree and began to slam themselves against it, trying to shake me out? I breathed a sigh of relief that they couldn’t climb until I felt the tree shudder. I instinctively knew that if I waited too long they would succeed in bringing the tree down, leaving me at their mercy. The wave leader stared up at me with cold, dead eyes, and then began to grin. The sight of that would haunt me for days I knew.
I grabbed all three of my remaining bombs, two standard and the shrapnel and took a deep breath. This had to be perfect. The wave leader kept staring at me, almost challenging me to try it. I remembered how he hadn’t taken any damage up to this point. I really hoped his explosion resistance wasn’t 100%.
As I was about to drop them the falcon dove down and shrieked directly at the wave leader, pecking it on the leg. It looked down and swatted at the large bird. I immediately dropped all three and triggered them as they reached near the wave leader's head. The explosion raged through the clearing at the base of the tree, killing the two normal ogres immediately. I didn’t get any notifications so the wave leader must have survived. I needed to think of a way to kill it and quickly, I was out of explosives. I tried to wrack my brain but was interrupted when the tree began to sway.
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Looking down to see the base of the tree had been damaged in the explosion. It toppled over and I had nowhere to go but down. I waited for it to get close to the ground and jumped, landing awkwardly on my leg despite my increased agility. My leg broke with a loud snap and I slammed to the ground head first and immediately lost consciousness.
I dreamed of flying. I soared effortlessly over the eternal forest, starting deep in areas undiscovered. I saw massive beasts roaming, fighting, eating and slumbering. Beasts of all manner, I saw another, or maybe the same eleuthari, walking through trees that made even that massive panther look small. I saw beasts I had never seen or heard of moving in great herds, climbing and swinging from the trees. I flew over old ruins, towns that had surely not existed before the integration of the framework. I glided effortlessly amongst these giant trees, dodging branches, even a town built entirely in the trees, humanoid looking beasts walked over woven walkways, going about their daily lives. I turned to stare and saw one of the humanoids looking directly at me, as if seeing me in my own dream. I turned and hastily sped away, leaving the deep forest behind.
I continued my flight path over the part of the forest I had begun to call home, seeing the Old Mining Camp far down below. Out over the plains I continued, floating with the wind. I came across the plain north of Etes, or so I assumed, seeing the city far in the distance. I approached and saw fire and smoke, the great city was besieged.
Beasts roamed the plains outside the large city walls, crawled over and were repelled by the citizens. I saw a desperate battle and one that Etes was losing. I wanted to stay and search for my mother but against my will I turned and began to fly north. I sped across the plains near the border, passing the site of Grove, the burned out husks of buildings. I crossed over to the nation of Norx, the aggressors of the war. I flew over towns and cities, each engrossed in battle with the beast waves. I saw a few completely overrun, no signs of life outside of beasts remained.
I spied the largest city I had ever seen on the horizon, it seemed to stretch endlessly from my vantage point in the sky. It had to be the capital of Norx, Salma. I saw the city fighting a war against a beast wave that had no end. Thousands upon thousands of beasts assaulted the walls, the defenders looking pitifully outmanned against them. I continued on over a palace that would have beggared Etes, the palace complex alone seemed larger than the capital of Eter. I saw a man standing on a balcony, facing out and watching the slaughter at the walls.
He wore rich robes of pure black, a massive crown of gold upon his head. He raised his arms and began chanting in a language I did not know, but I knew it wasn’t Norx. This must be the new emperor, the reason for the war that had started before the madness of the framework. He looked young, older than me certainly but not by much. Growing up in Etes I didn’t know much about the Norx.
I watched as a gruesome scene played out before me, a young naked woman was drug from the inside of the palace. Her mouth was gagged, her arms in the grip of two soldiers that towered over her. The guards placed her against the rail, her now obviously pregnant belly exposed to the sky. The emperor stepped forth and undid her gag.
“You bastard! How could you? All this time? All the disappearances? They were you! You're a monster! You would kill your own wife? Your own child? The woman screamed at the emperor.
“I do what I must” the emperor calmly replied, stopping his chanting. He reached down to the folds of his robes and retrieved a wicked looking knife. The woman began to struggle again against the guards, they held her firmly to the rail. The emperor sharply looked up, directly to my eyes. “I see you, little falcon, your time will come soon”.
I watched with horror as he plunged the knife in the woman's belly, slicing across and removing the unborn baby. She screamed and sagged as he quickly cut her throat and the guards threw her body over the railing. He took the unborn baby and started to chant again, I watched, transfixed as the body rose to the sky and caught flame in a bright blue burst of power.
The blue glow flowed down to the emperor and he smiled, relishing in the sensation. He raised his arms and visible waves of power flowed down to the body of his former wife. I could not look away as her body began to rise, bones jutting out from her skin, blood flowing from her wounds. She began to amble forth towards the city walls. I watched as corpses all over the city rose again and began to fight back against the beasts.
I woke to a sharp stabbing pain on my forehead, I shouted as I felt the stabbing pain again moments later. I opened my eyes to see the falcon’s beak diving back towards my forehead and felt the stabbing pain once again as it bounced off my forehead. It realized my eyes were open and let out a chirp. Turning its head and hopping off me, I saw the body of the wave leader, crushed under the tree. I triggered Identify.
Forest Ogre - Event Beast Wave 5 Leader - Level 17 - Health 70/300
The massive ogre was unconscious and near dead, but still had 70 health. “Please let that tree be too heavy to lift” I mumbled under my breath. I tried to move my broken leg and a lance of pain shot through it. I checked my health bar and it was still 1/2 full, I chugged a health potion from my inventory and tried to stand on my good leg. I was able to hobble over to the ogre, I had no weapons left except my throwing knives. My bow was lost somewhere when I fell from the tree, I wouldn’t be able to find it right now. I attempted my tried and true strategy of stabbing it in the head, my knife bounced off its hardened skin and bent, the ogre opened its eyes and roared.
I flew back in panic and fell, pain radiating from my leg. The falcon shrieked and began to circle around the ogre, clearly upset. The ogre started trying to move the tree and I held my breath, it had nearly lifted it when its arms gave out and the tree collapsed back on it. I checked its health and it had gone down by 5. I was at a loss of what to do. My health was starting to tick back up to full and my leg was hurting less by the second, the framework was weird about things like broken bones, I hadn’t found the pattern yet.
The falcon continued to circle around and started flying in and pecking the ogre. It roared in frustration and kept trying to wiggle out from under the tree, grunting with the effort. It pecked it all over until it started chirping at me, it was by the bottom of its feet. It pecked harshly a few times and I triggered Identify.
Forest Ogre - Event Beast Wave 5 Leader - Level 17 - Health 64/300
Well, I thought, it was better than nothing. I hopped over to that side and took out another throwing knife. I stabbed it in the foot and it tried repeatedly to kick me. I checked its health again.
Forest Ogre - Event Beast Wave 5 Leader - Level 17 - Health 61/300
This might be the most embarrassing death any beast has ever suffered I thought as I repeatedly stabbed the multiple thousand pound killing machine to death in its foot. It took me a few minutes and I broke most of my knives doing it but I finally got a notification.
Congratulations! You have slain the Beast Wave Leader!
Congratulations! You have survived Beast Wave Level 5!
Congratulations! You have reached level 19!
Congratulations! You have earned Silver Item Box x1, Gold Item box x2, Ruby Item Box x2!