The faint glow of moonlight fell on the chamber like rain droplets, painting the hall in a faint white glow. This visual effect was only amplified by a small spring that poured from the marble wall into the abyss below, projecting a faint rainbow over the stone entrance. With berry vines tastefully woven around the white pillars, a female figure slept soundly in the middle of the room…
A loud blare roared from a crystal bell, breaking the silence. The sleeping figure scrambled at the sound, and a manicured hand fumbled around, only to grab it by her fingertips. “Damn it, why can’t you arrive later?!” Delphi hissed and tossed the alarm at a wall. As the crystalline device bounced off the wall, she hastily adjusted her robes and fixed her hair before she strutted towards the scrying chamber.
For over three weeks, she had been trying to keep track of Alcydes. But every time she looked at him, it was a one in three chance that her scrying even worked! Even with borrowed amplifiers and tools from the other gods, the ritual still failed to take hold occasionally. How was she supposed to keep track of him if he kept vanishing? She was getting wrinkles from all this worrying! Wrinkles!
As she stepped into the chamber, her hand snatched up the brazier before she stood over the scrying pool. With her arms moving in wide circles, Delphi waved the brazier over the scrying pool and inscribed the array over the entire pool. With the pattern rapidly forming, the goddess held her hand high and boldly chanted, “Ist’ro vumal ist. Gho’vu dem rohs vetil! Let my sight see beyond mortal limits, and turn my gaze upon the Hero. Let me see where he walks upon these lands, and grant me a view fit for the eyes of an eagle!”
The silver fluid rippled, and Delphi’s mood brightened when she saw the image clear up. With more of her power fed into the pool, the silver finally turned crystal clear, showing a dilapidated shack sitting on the edge of a coast. Seeing her Hero walk into view from under a tree, Delphi eagerly leaned down to get a better view. Thankfully, despite the unstable connection she had been dealing with, the elfkin Hero seemed to be still in good condition: Same sword, same cloak, all limbs attached. As she looked at the rest of his attire though, Delphi frowned at how off-setting it was. Where had he gotten that shirt? Or those shoes? The style looked familiar to her, but she couldn’t place her finger on it.
It was only when the young Hero turned and called out to someone that she realized something was off. Stepping out of the shack, a tall, shaggy-haired man clad in Earthen attire closed the door behind him before he walked over to her Hero. Delphi cursed the pool’s inability to transfer precise noise in the current ritual but watched with narrow eyes as the man approached her Hero. As far as she knew, there wasn’t any new Heroes that had been sent to Nymue. Or at least, she assumed he was new, given the clearly manufactured attire. Then again, maybe he had been given a Skill to produce things, like Thomas had…
Delphi could only watch as the man pulled out a metal vehicle from his guild tag, her mind racing to process the information. However, as the two hopped on the vehicle, the image fogged over and quickly became a censored mess that covered the area, just like how her previous attempts had caused-
Delphi stared at the obscured sight for several seconds before she snarled and backed away from the pool. “So, that’s the bastard keeping me from keeping an eye on my Hero,” she cursed, tossing the brazier almost haphazardly to the side. She didn’t know what skill had been used, but next to nothing could stop a heavens-grade scrying! If this kept up, she couldn’t make sure her hero was safe! How was she supposed to be sure that he was growing properly? If he wasn’t strong enough to take down the Demon Lord when they returned, leaving it up to all of the Star Heroes…
Delphi stomped over to the nearest stone case and lifted the lid off. With inhuman speed, Delphi’s hands began to dig through her box of ‘favors’ for something to use. She couldn’t curse him directly, especially with how it’d draw attention from the other gods. But if she could find something to actually make something do the work for her-!
After tossing aside some expired Philters of Passion and a vibrating Mace of Healing, Delphi’s face lit up, and she pulled out a small case. Her fingers nimbly tore open the arcane seal, and she lifted out a small copper pennywhistle. It had been made by Svarog roughly 800 years ago, back when she had been in a pranking war against Pokk. Granted, the godly bastard managed to turn those emberwasps back on her, but if the magic still worked…
Delphi chuckled ruefully, then hid the whistle under her robes before she marched towards the feast halls. She’d need plenty of food on hand if she was going to keep a sturdy eye on the scrying pool!
----------------------------------------
Troy skidded to a stop as he neared the Shallowcoast gate and turned the ATV off before he hopped off. As Alcydes walked behind him, Troy Stored the vehicle in his guild tag. The light faded quickly, but as Troy turned towards the town, he noticed that there was something off with the atmosphere. Rather than steadfast persistence, the town seemed to have a frantic air that hung over it.
As a carriage rolled towards him, pulled by a navy black horse, Troy stepped out of the way and began looking around. However, as he got a second look at the beast, his head snapped back when he noticed a rather abnormal trait. “Did that horse have a webbed tail?” he asked aloud, trying to get a better view around the wooden vehicle.
“Selkies. Act as land and water transport,” Alcydes pointed out, tugging at his sleeve to make Troy keep moving. Troy kept looking back for a moment, then eventually followed Alcydes down the street. As they passed through the town, Troy had to suck his gut in to slide between two stacks of wooden crates.
As they passed by the town well, Troy glanced around at all the activity going on. Several adventurers were hauling stone displays and statues inside, while a dedicated crew lifted a boat out of the water over to a drydock. When the two stopped on the sidewalk, a team hauled several logs towards the north, each log bigger than the person carrying it. Once the lumber-lifting strongmen passed by, the two rushed across the street before they finally neared the guild hall.
As Alcydes pushed the door open, Troy was surprised to find that it was emptier than normal. The tables were empty outside of two groups actively eating. Instead, the few adventurers still in the building were talking to the receptionists. When a trio of elves left with a sheet in hand, Troy immediately hurried towards the open spot and straightened himself. “Hi, I would like to get a quest, please,” he greeted the thick-bearded dwarf behind the desk, then glanced around the hall before he asked, “By the way, I have to ask: Why is everyone in a massive rush right now?”
The dwarf jumped at the question, wide-eyed at the comment. “You haven’t heard? What, do ya live under a rock or sum’tin?” he exclaimed, then waved a hand at the area, “The church got news that a big storm’s hittin’ in the next week, so we need all hands on deck! If we don’t get the town, port, and bunkers secured, we’ll be flooded up to our knees before the main storm hits!”
Troy winced at the revelation and looked around anxiously. “Jeez, I hadn’t realized it was that bad,” Troy commented, then looked around with caution, “Is it really that bad when a storm hits?”
“Not when it’s probably prepared, no,” the dwarf commented, and jerked a thumb portwards, “However, that also means a lot more lesser quests need to be done, so we can make sure nothin’ gets damaged. Granted, most of that falls under lesser quests, but at least we’ll have plenty of lab’r to help cover that. Hones’ly, I’m just glad we have enough folks with stone-focused Skills to seal up the bunkers again.”
Troy hummed in thought at that, then slowly nodded. “Alright, I can see why you’d be worried about that. In that case…” he mused, then looked down at the dwarf’s guild vest, “-Morta, what Brick-Ranks are available today?”
Morta chuckled faintly and began to browse through the options. As he moved towards the button though, he frowned and shook his head. “Sorry, but we’re fresh out of Brick-rank quests. Looks like the last ten were taken less than five minutes ago,” Morta stated, then began to scroll through the other quests, “If you want though, there’s still plenty of Glass-Ranks left. There’s clearin’ up debris, clearin’ roads, sortin’ emergency supplies…”
Troy nodded along to the listed quests as it expanded, each one having its own merits. It’s not like it would be a problem, especially with the mess going on. As he glanced over at Alcydes however, he pursed his lips at how Alcydes was already fidgeting and playing with his short sword. “Actually, I have a different request, if you’re able to bend things slightly,” he commented. When Morta looked up from the list, Troy leaned in closer and whispered, “You see, my partner’s a Charcoal-rank, but has been getting a bit stir-crazy from being unable to do them himself. So, is there any chance you could give us a Porcelain-rank to help… calm his nerves?”
The dwarf tilted his head, then scrolled back up the list. “I supp’se I could give you a low Porcelain quest, if yer partner is actually a Charcoal-Rank,” Morta replied, then looked over at the young elfkin with suspicion, “At leas’, if you can prove it.” Alcydes sat up at the question, and quickly pulled out his guild tag. All it took was a quick scan of it, and the screen flashed in confirmation.
“Aye, that will do it!” Morta chimed, then handed the pendant back. As Alcydes put the guild tag away, Morta sped up his scroll to the new section. “Alright, there are a few pretty easy Porcelain quests you can take, if you’d like,” he commented as he read through the list, “There’s some giant rats spotted ‘round the eastern storerooms, along with plenty of tread-grubs disrupting the fields…” Morta paused as he read the next quest, and finally spun the screen around, “There ya go! This quest should be perfect for starting ya off.”
Troy glanced over the details with a discerning eye, only to frown in contemplation. “So, we’d have to fight… vampire eels?” Troy asked aloud, pointing at the squiggly image on the quest image. He shook his head at that, then raised an eyebrow at Morta, “What makes them so important they need to be hunted before the storm?”
Morta coughed in his hand, then pointed at the details. “Well, they can only travel by water, so normally, they’re limited to the port,” he explained, waving his hand in the air as he did so, “But with the floodin’ bound to happen, they’ll be a lot more… mobile than the norm.”
It took a few seconds for Troy to catch the meaning, but when Morta drew a slithering line on the table, he hissed through his teeth at the concept. “Yeahhh, that makes sense,” he grumbled, leaning back in frustration before he asked, “Sure, I’ll take the quest then. Is there anything else I need to take care of first?”
Morta tapped the desktop for a bit, then finally snapped his fingers. “Oh, just one more thing,” he recalled, and reached under the desk. Troy was soon struck dumb when the dwarf pulled out a large bundle of papers, which dropped on the countertop. “There ya go - One above-rank quest disclaimer package!” Morta affirmed and dusted his hands off.
Troy hesitantly leafed through the pile, then looked at Morta with skepticism. “Is all of this really needed for just one quest?” he asked, poking the paper in concern.
Morta let out a snort at that, then grabbed a mug from out of public view. “What? You think you can go beyond regulations without some disclaimers?” the dwarf asked, then took a deep gulp before he elaborated, “If we let all arrogant hot-shots and noble brats take quests above their station, the guilds would be sued into the hells and back! If you wanna do a Porcelain quest from the guild, you gotta sign this first, so we can’t be held responsible.”
Troy snorted at the comment, but took up a wooden pen before he began to fill out the details. While he thought the sheer number of papers were pretty overdone, he wasn’t going to complain about some quick papers being filled out. Besides, with how the selkie was a vast difference from regular horses, he was curious about how different ‘vampire eels’ are…
----------------------------------------
Troy looked into the shallow water with a flat expression on his face. With the waterlogged boardwalk being inches above the water, Troy watched as a large, sinuous figure slithered through the water. When the aquatic beast latched onto a pier with a flared mouth, Troy pointed at the eel-like beast and bluntly noted, “That’s a fucking lamprey.” Sure, it was nearly three feet long, but why was the ‘vampire eel’ a pretty bog-standard lamprey?
Troy continued to watch for a little while, idly noticing the other lampreys that swam through the water. It was only when a broad-handed smack struck him in the back of the head that sent him stumbling forward that he snapped out of it.
“Now’s not the time to sightsee, you gawking greenleaf,” a burly, female elf in a leather vest chided, then pointed at the water and told Troy, “If you’ve got time to watch, you’ve got time to kill those bloodsuckers!”
Troy rubbed the impact with a wince but reached into his jacket to grab his guild tag. “Fine, fine…” he grumbled, then activated the guild tag to access his storage. He pulled out his rifle with mild difficulty, and after double-checking the ammunition, he pointed the firearm at the parasitic fish. Now, how did it go for hunting fish, again - Aim for just above the head to account for light refraction, right?
Troy let out a slow breath, then primed the rifle before he finally fired into the water. The shot made the water splash up, but a pale streak of blood followed the lamprey as it swam away with a small head gash. The man cursed at the failed shot and primed the rifle again before he aimed for the next lamprey. While it took a few seconds for the surrounding eels to calm down, the following shot safely punched through the eyes of a two-foot lamprey.
Troy smiled in satisfaction as the dead body floated to the surface. However, as the dead corpse floated on the water like driftwood, a small scream escaped his lips when several younger lampreys swarmed the fresh corpse. The juvenile fish tore into the still-warm body with a frenzy, the body visibly shriveling up as they drained it dry. With pieces of flesh being ripped away, Troy’s mouth felt dry, like the body when the swarm finally swam away.
“Yeah, they’re real vicious, ain’t they?” a voice suddenly chimed in from behind him. Troy looked away from the fish body to find a slim male elfkin looking sympathetic, a steel-tipped harpoon in his hands. When the man realized that Troy’s attention was now on him, the man chuckled slightly before he pointed at the body with his harpoon. “No matter how quick you kill them, the eels are quick to cannibalize their family if you don’t get them out fast,” he commented, then shook his head and added, “If only they were satisfied with killing their own kind.” Troy pursed his lips at the comment, but a sudden scream made him look towards the docks.
“Shit, there’s one in this fish!” a bearded oruk man spat out, and a small commotion made Troy spot three men standing over a massive tuna. While it was several yards away, Troy could make out a man reach into the fish with a gloved hand to pull out a five-foot lamprey. As the parasitic fish flailed in their grasp, the man tossed them on the docks in front of Alcydes. The lamprey barely slithered away before Alcydes’s shortsword cut it in two.
As the dead body flopped aimlessly, Troy turned back to the water and cocked his rifle. He may be less experienced than Alcydes, but that wouldn’t keep him from trying to keep up. After taking a moment to draw his spear out of Storage, Troy aimed at the closest lamprey, just above its brow. With a sharp crack, the lamprey’s head was destroyed by the bullet, and Troy stabbed his spear below the dead fish.
The speartip barely fished the dead fish out before the closest lampreys got at the corpse. Troy stabbed it a second time to ensure it was dead, then reloaded his rifle to shoot those opportunistic parasites. As he aimed at the next lamprey though, he barely got the blow in before the lampreys from before latched onto the new kill with a vengeance. Troy cursed his misfortune and was forced to let the body be consumed while he stored his other kill. While the body was torn to shreds, he stomped several yards downshore before he selected a new target.
From there, his time hunting the ‘vampire eels’ fell into a pretty similar cycle: Aim at a close lamprey, shoot it with the gun, fish it out before the other lampreys hit, repeat. The only time he took a break was for reloading, moving to a ‘fresh’ area to avoid bloodlust, and Storing the vampire eels. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a perfect rate: If he had to be honest, barely 40% of the eels were fished out before another lamprey had latched on.
As Troy sealed away the thirtieth eel into his guild tag, he looked at the sheer number of floating corpses with disdain. He had tried his damnedest to collect them, but it was still a pain to leave all of the others floating. As he looked around the port, he paused when he noticed a large skiff pulled into the last open dock. The crew was quick to hop out, and as they passed netful of fish from the boat to the docks, the waters thrashed from the activity.
“Heads up!” an elven fisherwoman called out, then tossed a rather large bundle over the water. Before the waiting men on the docks could catch it, a large lamprey leapt out at the easy prey, only to be cut down by Alcydes.
Seeing an opportunity, Troy picked up his spear and high-tailed it towards the dock. As some of the fishermen grabbed their own polearms, Troy skidded to a stop and hefted his spear up with both hands. Unlike the loose eels swimming around the shore, the entire perimeter of the boat was literally swimming with lampreys. Troy only had to look around for a single solid target, then thrusted downwards to skewer a sizable lamprey.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Troy tossed the body on the shore, and quickly stabbed down again when the gap filled up again. The dock quickly became a stage for pandemonium as more fishermen joined him in the skewering. The air behind them was soon filled with flying, flailing fanged fish, which was soon accompanied by Alcydes’s swinging blade. With a pile of parasitic eels growing behind the crew, Troy’s body soon became soaked in sweat.
When the other fishermen finally stepped away, the school drastically reduced, Troy stumbled back and fell down with an unsteady thud. “Holy shit, I wasn’t expecting spearfishing to be this strenuous,” he murmured, and swept the sweat away. As he pulled out a water bottle from Storage though, a slow chuckle came from one of the fishermen.
“Yeah, it can be a real rush when the vampire eels are like this,” the elfkin from before commented, then drank from his waterskin. As he wiped his mouth though, he frowned at the sizable pile of lampreys before he hesitantly added, “To be honest though, they have been getting very ravenous recently.”
Despite his mouth full of water, Troy winced at the comment. He tossed the empty bottle on the dock, then stood back up on shaky legs. “I’ll take your word for it, but it’s still quite the hassle,” he commented, and put his weapons in Storage before he began to separate ‘his’ kills from the rest of the pile. As he held hefty handfuls of halved fish though, he paused and gave the elfkin fisherman a contemplative look. “Actually, is there any damaged fish you’d be willing to sell to me cheap?”
The man looked at Troy with a wary eye, then slowly asked, “Why would you want to use something like that?”
Troy shrugged, then pointed at the water as he explained, “Well, with how the eels are being frenzied over it, I figured it would work as some nice ‘bait’ to get the bigger ones out.”
When he pointed at the slithering figures in the water, the elfkin let out a snort before he glanced at the water. The man looked at the water for a bit before he rubbed his chin speculatively. “I suppose that we could spare some, especially if it helps clean the population,” he muttered, then glanced at the elven woman still in the boat. “Hey Skyr, how much chum-grade fish do we have today? Got an adventurer looking for some not-so-live lures.”
The svelte woman looked up from the small mast and tied the sail to the frame before she answered, “Well, we’ve got a good number of small fish, thirty or so half-eaten corpses, and thirteen fish that may or may not make it to the stall.” Skyr glanced over at Troy, then told him, “I can give you the smaller corpses for a kram a piece, the half-bodies for two krams, and the rest for five krams.”
Troy hissed through his teeth at the answer, but reached for his guild tag as he thought it over. He glanced over at the nets carrying fish, each bigger than his forearm, then finally asked, “How big are the smaller ones?” When Skyr held up a fish the size of her hand, Troy hissed and stated, “In that case, I’ll get fifteen half-corpses and five of the higher-grade ones.” Troy pulled up the menu, but when he clicked on Storage, he paused before he reluctantly asked, “By the way, how do I access my money from Storage?”
The question sparked a wave of laughter from the fishermen around him, which Troy reluctantly joined in. When the laughter finally died down, the elfkin leaned forward and pointed at the lowest button. “Just click there, and you can withdraw easily,” he told Troy, and the man nodded in thanks before he pressed on the button.
Troy held out an open palm as a steady stream of small square copper coins poured into it. As Troy got his first solid look at the currency, he was surprised to find only a small pentagon etched inside, with a series of unknown letters scrawled inside. They weren’t the oddest coin, but having a coin that wasn’t round definitely stumped his mind. Once he had gotten enough coins to fill both hands, Troy shook his head to break the connection. “This should be enough, right?” Troy asked, holding the handfuls out to the elfkin.
The elfkin took his hat off, scooped the pile into a spare bag. After slowly pouring the coins out one by one into a donated hat, the man finally nodded in satisfaction. “Yeah, that’ll be more than enough,” he commented, then turned to Skyr and said, “He’s good for two sets of fish, and five floppers!” As the elf loaded the fish into a sack, the man looked over at Troy and asked, “So, mind showing me how you plan on using them?”
Troy gave a rough shrug, then threw his rope over his shoulder. “Suppose so, especially since it’s pretty simple,” he commented, then looked over to Alcydes and asked, “Hey Alcydes, could you help with this? I’ll need a second hand here.” Alcydes tilted his head as he walked over with visible curiosity. Troy pried the mouth of the dead fish open and shoved a finger-sized splinter in to keep the jaw open. “[Remote Control - Rope]!” Troy commanded, and the rope he pulled out immediately rose up.
After it wrapped three times around the splinter, Troy had the rope tie itself off and held the fish up by the cord. “Alright. Now, let’s give this a test,” Troy muttered to himself, and tossed the makeshift rope in the water. The corpse barely sank below the now-muddied waters before the rope thrashed about wildly. Troy forced the rope to lift up, his hands coming up as leverage, and the body shot out with no less than seven vampire eels latched on.
The corpse fell to the dock with a splatter, and Alcydes quickly darted forward. His sword darted in and out with deft precision, and the eel bodies were swiftly decapitated. “Great job, Al!” Troy complimented, giving the kid a thumbs-up. While Alcydes turned away to pick up the corpses, Troy held the fish up and gave it a speculative look. “Yep, I’ll definitely be getting good use out of these,” he mused. As he prepared to throw the fish back in though, a sharp cough came from behind him.
“I’ll admire the creativity, but could you take it away from the boats?” the fisherwoman asked, and pointed away from her boat, “We already have a storm coming in, so we don’t need choppy waves before it hits.”
Troy snorted at the comment but lowered his arm mid-throw. “Yeah, I suppose that’s fair,” he responded, and wandered back down the docks.
With Alcydes now helping him, Troy slowly worked his way down the shore. The ‘hooked on a hook’ method seemed a lot better than normal, with roughly five eels latching on each time. However, with the lampreys being so ravenous, the makeshift bait was quickly torn to shreds. As Troy put on the last full fish, he looked down the coast for another key point. After some glancing around, he perked up when he spotted the single stone pier a few blocks away. There weren’t any boats there at the moment, but the rocky outline easily could be a hiding spot for all kinds of fish!
Troy sprinted over to the pier, his feet slipping slightly on the stones. With a small hop onto a bigger stone, Troy lifted the bait overhead and began to spin around. He spun around once, twice, and on the third spin, hurled the fish out into the water. The slimy corpse hit the water with an audible slap and floated slightly before it sank down below the surface.
Troy waited with bated breath as the rope slowly fed itself into the water. However, unlike the rapid response from earlier, the eels didn’t latch on immediately. Several seconds passed in relative silence, the only sound being the small roar of waves. A growing sense of dread was the only warning Troy got before the rope snapped out towards the depths.
Troy cursed at the sudden change, and grabbed the rope. As the rope twisted around, Troy stumbled forward before the burn of friction made him let go. “Shit!” He cursed, shaking his hands. As the rope quickly vanished into the water, Troy forced the end to tie around the closest boulder.
The rope barely knotted before the core was forced taut. With the rope audibly straining, Troy grabbed hold of the rope and began to back up. “Hey Al, I could use some help here!” he begged, his hands scraping against the rope, “I can’t keep hold of this by myself!” Alcydes darted forward at the request, and grabbed hold of the rope. With the elfkin pulling it back at a rapid pace, Troy felt the distance rapidly cut down.
When the submerged bait entered shallow water though, his breath hitched at the sight of something trailing behind. A serpentine figure that dwarfed the fish, or the boat he had gotten the fish from. Troy’s grip slackened at the mammoth figure hanging on, but Alcydes gave one final tug that yanked the figure out of the water.
The water erupted upwards as the being shot at them, a writhing mass of teeth and flailing slime. Troy dropped down, barely avoiding the flailing beast, and grabbed Alcydes to keep him low. The beast slammed into the stone pier with a vigor, and Troy flinched at the sound of stone cracking.
Troy glanced over at the beast and had to bite down a scream. The writhing beast was definitely related to the vampire eels he’d been hunting, with the same pale skin and fanged maw. However, unlike the eels he had killed, which were only a few feet long, this beast was several yards long. With its maw being bigger than Troy’s head, Troy visibly shuddered at the thought of what it leeched off of.
The beast bit through the cord in a single bite, then let out a rattling roar as it spun around. When the beast turned towards the two, Troy looked to the docks for assistance. While some of the dockworkers were already grabbing spears and other weapons, they weren’t close enough to jump right in. Troy gulped in fear, then pulled his spear back out of Storage. “Alright, Alcydes, we’ll need to move fast,” he told the kid, trying to stay calm, “We just gotta keep dodging, and-”
Troy’s comments were cut short when the massive lamprey shot towards them, tearing across the pier with astonishing speed. Troy leapt to his left, nearly falling off the pier while the serpent shot past him. With the serpent slithering past, Troy pulled his spear up before he thrusted down with a cry of, “[Tack Anchor]!"
Rather than stabbing the beast though, a searing headache shot through his head like a bullet, forcing him to freeze from the pain. Troy slumped down as ice picks danced a pattern inside his scalp. Eyes scrunching tight, he rubbed his head furiously to quench the pain. What the hell caused this? Dehydration? A hidden gas leak? For all he knew, the massive vampire eel had a protective ability, hence why they’re called vampire eels.
A raspy hiss grew louder behind him, and someone grabbed Troy by the back of his shirt. The air hissed past Troy as his rescuer leapt to shore, and the stone shattered behind them. When they landed, Troy was dropped on the ground before a hand patted him on the back. “Stay here until you recover,” Alcydes told him, and set a bottle next to him. When he stepped away, Troy looked up to find him charging back at the lengthy lamprey. The massive eel lunged at the elfkin, only for the kid to leap up and visibly flicker further down the length.
As fishermen and guards rushed to attack the beast, Troy stumbled into a sitting position. The pain was slowly dying down, but the pain still persisted in his head. “What the hell even happened?” he hissed to himself and snuck a hand under his shirt. As he pulled out his guild tag, Troy shakily held it up before he fed his mana into it.
When the screen finally came into view though, Troy soon hissed in pain and disappointment at what was listed at the top:
Troy Ericsen
Brick Rank - LVL 3
HP: 123/135 | MP: 6 /145
[STABLE TRAITS]
[SKILLS]
[STORAGE]
[PARTY]
“Are you serious?” he hissed, disappointed at the lack of details. However, when he noticed that his mana seemed different, a niggling thought began to grow. He knelt low to ignore the cries of battle, and tapped on the skills to double-check something. After scrolling down, he tapped on the entry for Tack Anchor and the screen appeared over his Menu:
Tack Anchor
Rank: ✩✩✩ | Proficiency: Novice
Type: Active | Cost: 20 MP/Use
Once the Skill is applied to a pointed tip,
the next piercing blow you inflict pins the
living target to the closest surface
for up to [10] seconds.
Troy growled at the description, then rubbed his temples in frustration. “Is this migraine really due to mana deficiency, of all things?” he hissed, and wiped the screens away. If it needed more mana, then he’ll need a lot more to at least help fight it off! As he stumbled back up, Troy looked at the battle on the shore, then at the bottle Alcydes had left for him.
Troy glanced at the mixture with apprehension, but popped the cork out. While he hadn’t tried it before himself, the fact plenty of folks drank it at the tavern at least suggested it was at least something palatable. With a gulp, Troy lifted the bottle to his lips and drank it down. While the texture was like a luke-warm, chunky smoothie, he was mildly surprised when the taste of sweet berries hit his tongue.
Troy chugged the drink down, then put the bottle in his guild tag. When he checked on his Menu though, he perked up at the sight of his mana quickly nearing 10. Unlike the slow crawl from earlier, the mana was rising up back at nearly one each second. As the number shot past thirty, Troy grabbed his spear and ran towards the battle.
As he ran back on the rocky pier, the fishermen scrambled back when the lamprey rose up into the air. Several harpoons and spears still stuck into the beast, but its sinuous body was still strong despite it practically pouring blood like a shower head. When the beast let out a roar, Troy’s heart clenched when it dove down towards Alcydes with its mouth open. As it shot down, Troy grabbed his spear in both hands before he lunged forwards.
“[INTERCEPT]!” Troy bellowed, and he felt his body shoot towards the beast with unnatural quickness. He pushed past two fishermen, and his spear slammed into the lamprey’s jaw. While Alcydes had already darted away, Troy’s body pushed the lamprey away from its intended blow. As the ringed maw bit into the stone, Troy yanked his spear out and thrusted downwards. However, the lamprey slithered away from the blow, despite the apparent injuries.
As the lamprey coiled around itself, Troy was forced to step aside as the other fishermen rushed past him. With several armed with only spears, Ogir stood out like a bishop on the field as he stepped forward. “Alright, you sons of whales!” the oruk captain barked, holding his polearm high, “Let’s make sure this bloated bastard gets gutted for all his kind’s drained us for!” A series of roars erupted from the other fishermen, and they began to hack and slash at the beast.
The lamprey let out a deranged screech as spears and axes tore into it, ripping the leathery skin apart. When a particularly brave dwarf stabbed into it with a barbed harpoon, the beast let out a screech and latched onto the new attacker. The dwarf let out a scream of pain, and the lamprey lifted him up before a guttural sucking sound filled the air.
Bile poked the back of Troy’s throat as the dwarf began to visibly shrivel up. Shit, wasn’t there something to make parasites let go? Troy bit his lip, trying to think of what it was while the man was drained of blood. When he looked to the town, his mind finally connected the dots when he spotted an unlit lantern hanging from a post. “Someone hit it with a red-hot weapon!” he shouted, trying to let as many people know, “The pain should make it let go!”
Several people glanced over at the comment, and some even began to pull out different weapons for whatever skills they needed. However, the veil of indecision was finally broken when the elfkin from earlier charged forward. “[Burning Brand]!” the man shouted and shoved his steel spear clean through the lamprey.
The vampiric eel let out a squeal of agony at the injury, and the dwarf was dropped onto the ground as the beast flailed about. As dockworkers pulled the drained man away, the beast continued to flail about. Its wiry body struck the pier hard enough to shatter parts off. As its blood leaked into the bay, the water turned into a maelstrom. The pier was slowly losing terrain, and the only safe areas were slowly vanishing.
When the lamprey turned to the water, Troy’s lips thinned when he realized that the beast was coiling up for another lunge. “Oh no, you don’t!” Troy hissed through clenched teeth, and lunged forwards with his spear raised, “[Tack Anchor]!” The spearhead glowed briefly from the Skill, and Troy plunged the spear down through the beast.
The lamprey froze at the impact, its body pinned by the skill. When the head turned to hiss at him, Troy screamed out, “Kill the bastard, quick! Before he guts me!” The hiss turned into a serpentine scream as folks began to assault it.
But as Troy stabbed deeper, Ogir leapt past Troy, his poleaxe held in one hand. “Alright, you bony bitch. Open wide!” the oruk screamed, then hefted the axe high. When the lamprey leaned back, the oruk’s eyes gleamed before he exclaimed, “[EXTEND EDGE]! [CLEAVE]!” The oruk’s axe flashed down in a blur of white, and the lamprey’s head was nearly torn from the body in one blow. The massive lamprey let out a gurgle, blood gushing from the neck, and fell with enough force to make the ground tremble.
As the vampire eel’s blood drained out into the water, Ogir landed on the corpse and spun his poleaxe around. “That was a good workout there,” he complimented himself, then slammed the butt of the pole down on the body. The oruk looked down at the kill, then gave Troy a short nod. “Thanks a lot for keeping it from escaping,” he commented, then raised an eyebrow as he asked, “What made you think about the fire trick, though?”
“It was an old fictional trick in exploration stories I heard growing up,” Troy responded, then grabbed the spear with both hands. He slowly yanked his spear out, and shook the blood off as he explained, “A lot of them mention leeches that latch on while wandering through swamps, but the red-hot heat of a lit cigar or cigarette would make them let go.”
As he glanced over at the downed dwarf, a poultice of some sort being spread over the wounds, Troy winced before he added, “Honestly, I’m just glad that the trick worked so well.”
Ogir let out a snort at that but shouldered his weapon with a fluid motion. “Well, if it isn’t broken, it’s valid to me,” he commented, then looked at the dead head of the eel with disdain. “Still, I don’t know how it could’ve grown this big. They’ve only been showing up for the last five years. This has to be at least twice that old.”
Troy looked at the beast speculatively, then tossed out the idea, “Well, I fished it up. Maybe it was just the great mom of all the others.” As the captain of the guard’s expression turned pensive, Troy looked at the nearly removed head, then asked aloud, “Hey, since I fished up this bitch, could I claim its head for storage?” Ogir started at the question but gave a mumbled agreement as he continued to think things over.
With the oruk giving general agreement, Troy pulled out his guild tag and approached the head. After he pulled out a hacksaw, he cut the remaining flesh away before he finally held the tag up to the fully decapitated head. “[Storage],” he stated, and the head quickly vanished away. As the head disappeared though, he paused when he saw the display:
[Skill Harvest] has successfully
processed a skill from your kill.
[Barbed Pierce] has been added
to your skills!
“...What?” Troy flatly asked, his brow furrowing at the new screen. However, his pondering was cut short as other men stepped up to the corpse, and Troy waved the screen away before he walked away from the crowd. He looked around with concern, then finally walked over to Alcydes, the elfkin sitting on the edge of the pier.
As the kid stabbed a rather greedy vampire eel, Troy crouched down and placed a hand on the elfkin’s shoulder. Alcydes started at the movement, but Troy leaned forward and gave Alcydes a thankful smile. “Hey Al, thanks a bunch for helping me back there,” he commented, then pointed towards the town, “However, it looks like it’s going to be pretty busy. So, how about we turn our quest in?” Alcydes huffed at the comment but Stored his latest kill away before he stood up.
----------------------------------------
As the two walked away from the pier, Delphi let out a scream and tossed the flute into the pool. “Damn it! Why couldn’t he have bitten it?!” she whined and fell back on the floor. She had gotten them to the shore, she had tried swarming them with the flute. She had even gotten the Vampire Eel Broodmother to attack them! So how the hells did he manage to avoid being bitten?!
As she threw her bowl at the wall, a sudden chime made her freeze. “Delphi, please report to the eastern chamber,” a stern voice commented from overhead. Delphi continued to stay still for several seconds, praying that she had misheard that. But when the chime echoed again, Delphi threw her shawl on and walked towards the room with dread. She just knew she’ll be getting the blame for all of this…