Krlll… Krlll… Krlll…
Krlll… Krlll… Krlll…
Four gandr-gators lay in enormous lumps on the ground, rattling in mortal pain. They had limbs missing; their guts were spilled, and deep gouges ran across their disgusting bodies.
Drake Ace stood by a rock, cleaning gator entrails from his battle armor.
Eve was near the pile of monster bodies. She moved from one to the other, slipping her blade into the hearts of the fallen monsters. Every time she retrieved her sword from the innards of a gator, the beast led out a vacant sigh and became still. Drake was generous enough to let her have the kill experience points.
Rin, the only mage on the sub-team, was healing Nadja and Chad. The two mid-levelers had been hit by gator claws and had lost HP profusely. They were on the brink of death.
Five minutes back, Drake arrived at the strategic point with his sub-team. They found several gandr-gators prowling in the distance. The monsters were close to Piper's Reconnaissance team. Therefore, it was necessary to draw them away.
Drake immediately gathered 65% Aggro with his tank skill and invited the gators to come to him.
Rin, Nadja, and Chad were asked to keep their distance and support Drake and Eve with healing and buffs.
As the monsters barged into the light, Drake summoned the Almace, his legendary-tier broadsword. Known as the scarlet blade, the Ace had acquired it the previous month after defeating a Level 50 boss. Almace was one of ten legendary swords, out of which only six had been found yet.
Eve had brought forth Heartspan, another legendary-tier swashbuckler. It was a two-inch broad, four-foot-long sword that could pierce the toughest armors.
Only level 50 and above players could use legendary equipment.
However, they still faltered in front of the gators. The swords just wouldn't pierce their thick scales.
Drake and Eve had then transformed into their hybrid attributes. Ace aroused his wolf gene, which tripled his physical strength. Eve called forth her fox hybrid, becoming 2x faster and 2x stronger.
The duo started raining blows on the gandr-gators interspersed with magical fire and ice attacks.
In the end, they prevailed, even though the fight was exhausting.
Drake patted Rin's head to tell her she was doing well. He turned around and approached Eve. "Good work."
"Defeating these monsters would have been impossible without your strength," she replied, not meeting his eyes.
"We make a good team."
"I agree." She turned towards him and planted a weak smile on her face.
"Did you really mean it?" Drake asked out of the blue. "If we successfully complete this mission tonight, will you come to bed with me?"
Eve looked away and faced the sea of darkness ahead. She wrapped her short, thick, furry tail around herself, meaning she was acting defensive.
"Why would I say something that I did not mean?" the girl said, drinking an HP potion.
Drake held her by her shoulder and turned her around. His face was partially wolf-like.
Both the Ace's and Eve's hybridization and cyborgization were carried out in the Providence labs. Hybrid gene and cyborg parts had found balance in both of them—two perfect beings.
[ User: Eve Trinity ]
[ Level 50: Special Race ]
[ MP: 9403/ 21500 ]
[ HP: 14679/ 19500 ]
……………………..
[ User: Drake Ace ]
[ Level 50: Special Race ]
[ MP: 10001/ 24000 ]
[ HP: 18118/ 21000 ]
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Drake touched Eve's face. "You know I love you. Alice and Skylar are secondary."
The girl nodded, not meeting his eyes.
The Ace cheered up and raised his voice. "Well! Let's hope Piedpiper succeeds in the appraisal, and we can deal with this gandr-gator horde once and for all. I don't know how much more Almace can take. It feels on the verge of breaking." Alice sighed deeply. "My Heartspan, too, does not look good," she agreed, swinging her sword in the air.
"Yeah, killing a mature Karkadann was easier. The outlands are breeding grounds for very high-level monsters, most of them being special classes."
"ACE! COME IN!" It was the voice of Shay on the network radio.
"Shay! Kid, how's it going on your end?"
"It's unbelievable. This Lovelord guy is good. He killed seven gandr-gators single-handedly. Omar and I simply did not have time to participate. Not that we could do anything in the first place against these monsters. But my point is- this guy has crazy skills!" In the background, Drake could hear monsters growling in pain.
"I'm glad to hear that, kid. But he has substandard equipment. How did he manage to take on seven gators? Eve and I barely overcame four of them after the hybrid transformation."
"True, Lovelord's equipment is crap. But I must tell you, Ace, he's out of this world. He used fifteen dynamic skills at the same time! I can imagine how many passive skills he has. A gandr-gator ran into him and bounced off! The guy is basically a god!"
The Ace guffawed. "Have fun. When are you guys returning?"
"We'll head back in a few minutes."
"Okay, then."
Drake looked at Eve, who had been hanging on to every word on the radio earnestly.
"What do you think? About Lovelord and PiedPiper?"
"They are both good at their jobs. Excellent track record. And reliable too."
"Hmm. You seem confident. Did you know the duo before this?"
Eve bit her lip. There was no point in hiding anything from Drake. He picked up on lies with ease. "Yeah, I did."
"Explain."
"Well, I went to a school in Concord once. They were my classmates."
"Oh. Wow. That's- why did you not tell me until now?"
"It never came up, I guess."
"Were you close to Lovelord?" Drake was uncanny when he was reading between your lines.
"Noah and I were gaming friends."
"Oh, so this is the Noah Dr. Chrysalis keeps talking about all the time?"
"The very same."
"And it is the same name you mutter in your sleep sometimes."
Eve looked at Drake's face with apprehension. Where was he going with that?
"It's... umm… because we have a history as gaming partners."
"You like him, don't you?"
The girl shook her head immediately. The last thing she wanted was the two men fighting over her.
"No! I don't. Really. Trust me, Drake."
The Ace put up his muscular arms to stretch his back.
"I trust you, Eve. But I think I have given you enough time to make up your mind. The leash ends here. I will defeat these monsters tonight and take your virginity." His eyes were dead-serious.
Eve gasped. But it was not in response to what Drake said. The lake was in her line of sight.
"Ace!" Nadja called out. "We got company!"
Krlllllll!! Krlllllll!! Krlllllll!!
Krlllllll!! Krlllllll!! Krlllllll!!
The haunting songs of gandr-gators resounded throughout the area. It was as if they were approaching from all directions.
"Rin! Nadja! Chad! Get ready!"
The three youngsters rushed to their feet and activated battle mode.
"Ace! Come in!" It was Alice's voice over the team radio. All players could hear her.
"Yes, what is it?" Drake saw shadows appear around them. "We're kind of busy, sweetheart!"
"Piedpiper appraised a gandr-gator! There is good news and bad news!"
"Hurry now!"
"Good news- gandr gators are basically immune to most attacks. But if we alternate with frost attacks and sword attacks, the chance of their scales rupturing goes as high as 100%!"
"Perfect!"
"And the bad news-"
Krllll! Krllll! Krllll! Krllll!
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Krllll! Krllll! Krllll! Krllll!
Over a dozen gators appeared all around them.
[ Warning! ]
[ Second Wave ]
“We gotta go-”
Drake disconnected the radio and activated multiple skills at the same time. The foremost among them was his tank skill, which attracted monsters to him. Eve followed suit.
[ 75% Aggro ]
"Come and get it, fuckers!"