The blue rune of the Beacon lost its glow as the two pieces of paper fluttered away in the wind. A chill went down Cole’s spine. Had it worked?
Suddenly a thin beam of blue light shot up into the sky from Cole’s position. It curved above him back down the hill, towards Venture. He turned his head towards the town, watching the light hit the centre of the town, where he knew the Adventurer’s Guild Headquarters was located.
The beam faded, and for a moment, nothing happened. Then, a tiny flicker of movement, a cloud rising from the town. It picked up speed, trailing white smoke behind it, like the contrail of a jet. As the cloud grew closer, Cole could make out a figure amongst it, a man in a full suit of armour rocketing towards him, helmet included. It was Godrick.
That is so freakin’ cool. Cole thought, too amazed to do anything.
There was a *BOOM* as Godrick flew right over him, arcing down, and slammed directly into the centre of the horde of monsters. A huge cloud of smoke covered everything below the top of the hill, leaving Cole unable to see past a few metres below.
He could hear strangled screams and howls, but there was still no sign of the armour-plated man. Cole began to wonder if he could do anything to help, but the heat of the Gate combined with the smoke made him wary of even moving a few steps forward. His eyes scanned the smoke cloud intently, watching for any sign of movement.
The hot wind began to disperse the cloud of smoke, and Cole could see a huge hole in the group of monsters. Kneeling in the middle, gauntlet planted into the ground was Godrick, whose entire body was billowing smoke into the air.
He could only assume the monsters closest to Godrick had been completely vaporised, as they were nowhere to be found. Further out from the middle of the group were Infernals sporting heavy burns, ironic for monsters that hailed from a dimension filled with fire.
Godrick rose to his feet, surveying the Gate in front of him. The man shook his head, turning his helmet towards the 3 bodies of the adventurers. His smoking arms stretched out, perpendicular to his body.
*FWOOOSH*
Twin jets of smoke blasted out, scorching more of the Infernals. He turned around in a slow circle, aiming to cover as much of the horde as he could. Unfortunately for Godrick, while the lower ranked Infernal monsters were being slain by the attacks, the higher ranked creatures, which were becoming more and more prominent amongst the group, didn’t take as much damage due to their inherent heat resistance. Godrick was just a bad match for these monsters.
The armour-clad figure realised this too, releasing one more cloud of smoke before pointing his hands back towards the ground, jetting himself up into the air. He flew up to the top of the hill, landing next to Cole in a much less chaotic manner than the one he’d arrived in.
There was a crunch as his steel boots hit the ground. There was another sound, like a ringing muffled voice, and Cole realised that Godrick was speaking to him. Cole motioned to the templar-style helmet.
“I can’t hear you.”
Godrick ripped the helmet off his head, muttering about bad design. He fixed Cole with a solemn look.
“You’re not stupid. Even you can tell that this is far out of the ordinary.”
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“What is it?”
“A Surge. Almost the worst type for Venture. Too many of our heavy hitters use heat-based abilities”
Cole wasn’t exactly sure what a Surge was, but it didn’t sound good. Now wasn’t the time for a crash course anyway.
“What are we gonna do?”
“You and me? We’re heading back. There’s nothing more we can do without getting ourselves killed.”
“And the town?”
“That’s what we’ll figure out. Come here.”
Cole walked towards him as Godrick put his helmet back on, confused. The man enveloped him in a hug. Cole was perplexed. Maybe the man was worried about what would happen to the village. He patted the armoured man on the back, hoping it would help in some way. Godrick’s voice rang from the helmet.
“Hold on.”
“Huh?”
Cole’s heart sank to the pit of his stomach as they blasted upwards. He clung onto Godrick as they angled towards Venture. He didn’t dare look down. Cole hadn’t even been on a plane before, too agoraphobic to really leave his neighbourhood. Now he was rocketing through the air supported only by a man he’d met less than a week ago.
He had a sudden flashback to being a child on a rollercoaster, laughing with his family as the pair dropped towards the town. He peeked down, about to scream as he saw the town square approaching. Would they stop in time? Would Godrick forget he was just a squishy human? Was he going to be turned into a pancake for the second time in his existence?
Luckily for Cole, the pair decelerated, smoke cushioning their fall like one of those self-landing rockets. As soon as Godrick’s boots hit the cobblestones, the young man sprang out of his grip, falling to his knees. He’d never thought he’d be so glad to touch the ground.
Godrick wasted no time, leaving Cole behind as he strode towards the Adventurer’s Guild Headquarters. A small crowd was forming, half of the people looking at the imposing suit of armour that was entering the building, and the other half staring at the young man with a tinge of green on his face. Cole flushed red when he made eye contact with one of the townspeople, jumping to his feet and scampering after Godrick.
When he passed through the doorway of the building, Cole could see Godrick, helmetless once more, talking with Lyndell. The Steward too had a solemn look on his face. Lyndell nodded, then stepped back, head tilting to the side and eyes glowing blue. Godrick turned to face Cole, and motioned for him to go to the mess hall.
“Wait in there. Lyndell is calling all active parties and Strike Forces back to the village. I’m going to find Percy, Argyle and Thesta. Once everyone has been gathered, we’ll explain what’s happening. Until then, do NOT tell anyone what has happened. The last thing we need is a panic.”
Cole swallowed, nodding his assent. As Godrick left the Headquarters, he could hear the monster wave warning bells beginning to ring. Cole walked in and sat inside the mess hall, noticing other adventurers and parties wearing perplexed expressions on their faces. Whatever was happening, it wasn’t something they were used to.
The mess hall filled up until there was over a hundred people, many electing to stand. Cole noticed Strike Force Talos walk in together, mirroring the general unease and confusion that was present in the room. He jumped up to go and sit with them.
Malena saw him first, waving her hand, “Cole! Do you know what’s going on? Someone said something about you and Godrick?”
Indeed, many of the adventurers in the room were pointing at him, exchanging words that he couldn’t make out among the general hubbub.
Cole shook his head. “I can’t say yet. You’ll find out soon.”
Tamika pouted, “Why not? Come on Cole, surely it’s not that big of a deal… right?”
“Leave the kid alone Tamika, he won’t know much anyway, considering where he’s from.”
That was Bellisaire, who had rested her hand on the other woman’s shoulder.
Cole turned to the back of the room, searching for Argyle, Thesta, or the brothers. Instead, he froze, making eye contact with the priest from the night before, clad in the same golden robes and leaning against the wall. The young Imperial nodded at him, smiling serenely. Cole looked away with an uneasy feeling in his belly.
Soon afterwards, the four people who Cole considered the ‘leaders’ of the Adventurer’s Guild arrived, causing the muttering voices to pick up in volume further. The group of four strode towards the front of the mess hall, turning to face the mass of adventurers.
A hush came over the room, air tinged with the scent of tension. Percival stepped forward, voice quivering as he spoke.
“I’m sure you all want to know why we’ve called you in under the emergency protocol.”
Percival bowed his head, searching for his next words. He held up the Infernal Heart that Cole had looted from the boar.
“My brother has confirmed with me.... that a Gate to the Infernal realm has opened within our territory. This Gate… has been confirmed to meet the criteria to be classed as a Surge event.”
There were audible gasps, curses, and shocked shouts at the announcement. As Cole looked around the room, he saw that the faces of confusion had been replaced with unsettling grimness. Some people had gone completely white, and others looked ready to cry. He needed to know how serious this was.
As Percival began to describe the type of Infernals that were spotted at the Gate, Cole leaned over to Tao, whose eyes were fixed intently at the front.
“What’s a Surge event?”
Tao let out a long breath.
“Most Gates disappear on their own, depositing any number of monsters and then fading out of existence. Sometimes, for reasons we don’t know, a Gate doesn’t dissipate, instead it sticks around, growing in power and size.”
“What does that mean?”
“The bigger and stronger a Gate is the worse the monsters are that can come through. There’s never been one that’s stopped before letting at least one D1 ranked monster through.”
Cole looked down, focusing on the last point.
“And what’s the highest rank that a Surge event has let through?”
Tao finally turned from the front, fixing Cole with a stare through his spectacles.
“Do you remember what happened to Shoi Cal?”