“Are you familiar with Strike Force Talos?” Lyndell asked, turning to Cole.
The young man was slightly taken aback at first. He couldn’t believe his luck, remembering Malena and her band of adventurers. He’d been slightly dismayed at the lack of time he’d been able to spend with them, but now he’d been provided with the perfect opportunity to do so.
‘If only it were under different circumstances’ he thought ruefully. The imminent threat of the entire town being either overrun or folded into the Empire wouldn’t exactly prosper a jolly mood. He supposed it was up to him whether either of those two outcomes would eventuate.
Lyndell’s eyes glowed blue once more, and his mouth as if he was speaking, but not a single sound came out. The glow faded, and he spoke again, this time to Cole.
“They’ll be here shortly. While we wait, is there anything you need before you leave?”
Cole furrowed his brow, thinking about any useful tools he could use. A lightbulb bloomed in his head, inspired by his recent defeat of the Infernal Drake.
“A couple of spears would be great. And something to keep them out of the way during combat.”
Lyndell nodded. His eyes flashed blue, mouth moving with no sound.
“They’re being brought here now.”
Cole was stunned at the utility of the Steward’s class. If this all ended happily, he’d love to learn about what it did. There had been no need for such a class in Vestria Online, with instant messaging between guilds and party chat features, so he was interested to learn how this world managed without it.
True to the Steward’s word, Strike Force Talos arrived down the stairs shortly after. Cole smiled at them, glad to see familiar faces. While he didn’t doubt the effectiveness of other Strike Forces, he was glad he wouldn’t have to do awkward introductions in the middle of a Surge.
Thesta briefed the group of adventurers on their task. They were to ensure Cole got to the Gate in one piece, and make sure he could link up with Percival and Godrick so they could figure out how exactly he was going to destroy it. He already had an idea, based on some of his experiences with his own Spatial magic as the Magus Supreme. While Thesta was explaining their responsibilities, a young boy arrived carrying a long leather case, with three spearheads poking out the top. A long leather strap hung off it, which would allow him to have both hands free.
The young boy smiled, with a grin that was missing more than a few teeth, and held it out to him.
“Here you are sir! Extra-friction enchantments will stop them from falling out!”
“Thank you.” Cole replied, fastening the spear holder across his body. “It’s perfect!”
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The young boy went to leave, but froze, as if he’d forgot something.
“Remember to shop at Master Ruevel’s for all enchanting and artificing goods! Lowest prices and highest quality!” he squeaked, before dashing away.
Lyndell chuckled. “The Adventurer’s Guild will foot the bill this time. But I believe you should now be ready?”
He looked to the members Strike Force Talos, who all nodded, resolute expressions on their faces. They were ready.
Then he looked at Cole. The young man swallowed, but set his jaw, nodding as well.
“I’m ready.”
“Well then. All I can do for you now is wish all of you good luck.” Lyndell bowed to the young man, leaving him unsure of what do. He merely nodded stiffly, slightly uncomfortable at the solemn mood. “Thank you.”
Malena beckoned him, motioning towards the door. “Let’s move out.”
The band of adventurers filed out of the building, Thesta splitting off to oversee another section of the palisade. While most normal citizens were indoors, a few volunteers could be seen briskly walking through the town square, in fervent conversation with each other. Cole realised that they were going to exit the town through the gate he had been defending with Thesta.
When they arrived at the exit, he was glad to see that all of the melee fighters were there as well. A new group of adventurers were talking with them, obviously relief. That was good, he thought, they deserved a break. He went to greet them, and say goodbye, but the new adventurers hadn’t come alone. Talking to them, and one of the [Knights] Cole had fought with, was a golden robed priest. Cole backed off, fixing his eyes straight forward. He couldn’t hear much of the conversation, but he could feel the gaze of the Imperial priest burning into him as the [Knight] told him all about his amazing powers.
‘There’s no time to worry about it.’ He thought, reaching the gate. ‘All I can do is keep moving forward.’
Strike Force Talos, plus Cole, exited the safety of Venture. ‘Relative safety’, he corrected himself. Stannis took the lead, a huge hammer hefted in his arms. The young man realised that this was the first time he’d seen any of them with weapons. Malena carried an incredibly long blade, which he recognised as a nodachi. Bellisaire had a powerful silver longbow, which moved with a faint, smudged, afterimage. She carried no quiver of arrows. Tao and Tamika each carried staves, which was an obvious indicator of a magic using class. In the world of Vestria, one could not call upon the various types of magic without some form of conduit, at least during the early to mid-levels.
When Cole had been a lowly [Mage] he too had carried a staff, continuing the practice long into his tenure as the [Spatial Mage], really only meeting the requisite power for free casting when he became the Magus Supreme. Now, he channelled magic through the power of runes, like Thesta. He was still excited to explore their versatility. Normal [Mage] spells didn’t combine like he’d seen his runes doing, but they also seemed to be much more powerful earlier on. Other ways of channelling magic included prayer to the various gods, using artifacts, and some other, darker practices that he didn’t know too much about.
Once they had entered the forest, the group began a swift jog, angled towards the Gate. Soon after, Malena pulled level with him. “So why have they picked you as the hero of the hour? Is it something to do with you being an outworlder?”
Cole went to reply, but he couldn’t get the words out past his heavy panting. He’d sort of forgotten how generally unfit he was when not under the influence of Runic Speed. For the hundredth time in his life, he resolved to start regularly working about, but he had a feeling that he meant it this time. For the current moment however, he traced out a quick purple rune.
“Sort of. I have some knowledge about the Gates, and my class seems to be incredibly effective against the Infernal creatures. If I can meld those two things together I can shut the Surge down.”
“How could you possibly have any idea of the way the Gates work? Surgebreakers study for years just to figure out how to close them, and that’s all they do!” she said, clearly unconvinced.
“Let’s just say I’ve had more experience with them than most people,” he replied. “Besides, there’s no harm in trying.”
She rolled her eyes. Malena clearly didn’t believe he was telling her the whole truth. Hopefully they ran into some Infernal creatures so he could should her just how deadly he could be.
Cole’s prayer was soon answered. A flash of red up ahead signaled a group of monsters marching through the trees.
‘Showtime’ he thought, grinning to himself. ‘Here I come!’
Malena put her hand on his shoulder as the party came to a stop. “Stay here. Can’t have you getting hurt already.”
As he saw the monsters, Cole’s mouth dropped open. A large group of Gargoyles was stoically marching towards them, backed up by Imps. They were basically the equivalent of Kobolds with wings and would perform swooping dives with their jagged tridents straight into the heads of any unlucky adventurers.
“Stay here?” he stuttered. Surely they couldn’t handle this on their own?
Strike Force Talos moved ahead of him, fanning into formation to meet the group Infernal monsters that were eager to turn them all into charred corpses.
One moment there were forty or so monsters.
Then there were none.