“So this is how we lose the Quest? In a blaze of glory! Fine! So long as we follow the Felzian Queen’s putrid scent, I will allow it! Thrall, you go in first.”

I leaned closer to Cerus, keeping my eyes on the 5-Star. “We’re not fighting them, Cerus. As soon as Henrietta dies, we’re out of here.”

“Coward.”

“Grim’s…right,” Opix said, chugging a mana potion. He tossed us some cheaper potions to fill our health bars to yellow. “We’re outnumbered.”

“Look at her, though. She is holding her own. Henrietta has the strength of a Swingtail! Surely she will survive this–”

I pelted Henrietta with Hidden Fists. She tripped, and one of the 3-Star beetle-looking mobs bit off part of her left leg.

“Oh.”

“We can’t afford to go back and forth with her. There’s still Ciz Weroz and Ysnik’s crew. Ideally, I’d like to avoid letting things get this bad, but we can’t afford to let u–... oh man…”

The 3-Star mobs were taking bites out of Henrietta like those old hungry hippo toys. Opix audibly cringed while I tried in vain to look away. Cerus laughed along at the whole display.

“Someone bring these mobs some eggs with their steak!” Cerus laughed. “And a fire! Rare steak is gross. Hmm… I wonder if she truly does taste like raw beef?”

I stifled a laugh, but Opix didn’t find it amusing. “She still deserves respect. We’re only at this point because there were no other ways out of this fight.”

“Why do you take issue with everything I do? Am I not allowed to have fun? Misogynist.”

Opix groaned while Cerus continued to make negative comments. Eventually, Henrietta’s eyes were locked on mine. I’d expected them to be pleading, remorseful, maybe even fearful, but, just like Jane’s, they were venomous. Strangely, that suffocating feeling from earlier didn’t hit me. I could see it slowly settle over Henrietta though, somehow. The longer she fought to stay alive. The longer she tried to fight off the beetle mobs, disregarding the 4-Stars and the 5-Star close by her.

Futility. I could recognize it now, in her. Henrietta was dead and she knew it. Opix told me that true strength would come the more I learned to hate my feelings of futility. I watched as Henrietta fought off more 3-Stars, ignoring the pain from missing chunks of flesh and severed limbs. If I wanted to make it home, I needed to have strength just like that. Be able to carry a face just like hers. I understood now the pride Cerus… had for Henrietta despite them being enemies. I doubted she would ever want to ally with us after today, but when next we met we’d have to come with our A-game. She had fight in her, and I needed to be more like her.

“Honeydew Henrietta!” I called. She frowned at me. “You’re strong! Thank you for fighting with us, I’ve learned a lo–”

“Eat a dick, Grim Hearts!” Henrietta roared. “Fuck you, fuck that bee bitch, and fuck that pink-haired asshole for makin’ Jane waste her time on him!”

“Fuck you too, cow!” Cerus shouted.

“If y’all ever come to Swingtail, you’d better fuckin’ remember us! Remember the Solstice Serenade!”

“Solstice Serenade can suck my dick!” Cerus yelled.

“We’ll be ready. I’ll be ready!” I said in response. I wasn’t trying to goad her, but I really did admire her as a fighter.

“There ain’t a single place in Swingtail y’all can run that we can’t see! We’ve got eyes and ears–”

Henrietta never got to finish the thought. The 4-Star Titan mob, who’d been watching the fight with intrigue, suddenly reached for Henrietta’s body and bit down on her head. The second Titan mob snatched the corpse and gnawed on it, bits of Henrietta getting stuck in its teeth before they all faded to mist.

Battle Complete!

The GALEROSE ALLIANCE has defeated SOLSTICE SERENADE by way of murder!

Your alliance now has 711 Battle Points.

“So much for her eyes and ears,” Cerus shrugged. She turned to us. “Surely this will not come back to bite us someday?”

“Our species is randomized, right?” I asked.

“Only before 3-Star. Once you’re a 3-Star, you can choose what species you spawn as.” Opix answered.

We stood in awkward silence as the mobs argued with one another in some unknown language, likely about Henrietta’s sudden disappearance. While I couldn’t speak for the others, that suffocation of futility still didn’t come to me as I’d expected it would. Instead, I’d been lost in a sea of comparisons. All I could do against both Jane and Henrietta was distract them – and while the prospect of being able to challenge them someday was fine, I was still here. I didn’t want this to be my role forever. Sure, I’d agreed to make myself the BP magnet of the group, but the inadequacy of knowing that was my only true purpose damaged a pride I didn’t even know I possessed.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Cerus stared at me a bit longer than normal and gave me the same inquisitive look she did when she first met. She didn’t stop looking when I caught her staring, merely tilting her and furrowing her brow further. I’d begun to say something to her, but Opix spoke up first.

“I’m surprised you’re okay with killing, Grim.”

“Little late to say that, don’t you think?”

“Maybe, but most normal people would’ve shown some sort of apprehension.”

“Henrietta and her friends are gonna respawn in the Beyondverse. We aren’t really killing her.” I paused. “I’d rather not do this to Ysnik and her crew, though. Killing kids is pretty crazy. Speaking of Ysnik, can we not skin animals anymore? Ysnik was right, that was pretty gross. And I’d rather focus on mobs instead of animals if we have a choice. I feel like I’m gonna get bad karma from killing those Tucaby.”

Cerus, who hadn’t stopped staring at me, spoke in an almost accusatory tone. “Killing enough of the same animal species gets you an armor set with a built-in skill based on the unique ability of the animal.”

“Really?!” Opix and I both shouted at the same time. Cerus nodded. “This is common knowledge in Swingtail, though it is generally something you would not learn until you were a 5-Star or you unintentionally obtained it. The number of kills required varies from species to species, but the armor is almost always the level of the creature.”

I took back everything I said about animals. I swiped through the Bestiary to see the entry on Tucaby, only for my hopes to be dashed when the note on them pointed out how rare they were. Ancient Sabertooths were supposedly plentiful in “Old Azeltos”, though it’d be a while before we ended up there.

“How come you didn’t tell us that earlier?” I asked.

“Because you would have taken my kills, thrall.” She turned her nose up at me. “I know your type.”

“Cerus, you and Opix killed more of those Tucaby than–”

Opix grabbed Cerus and me from the backs of our collars and blasted a Wind Burst from his mouth, launching us miles away through the bar and into a thick tree. I immediately got hit with a “Dazed” debuff that hindered my movements for three seconds, but Opix dragged me along while Cerus ran alongside him deeper into the forest. I turned around to see what that was about only for my heart to sink at the realization that all fourteen mobs that I’d summoned were following us at full speed. I couldn’t even tell anything changed.

“How did… you know?” I panted.

“The 5-Star! He started blinking! It felt off!”

“Now what, Angel Boy? Is this not the border between the Mid Tier Zone and the High Tier Zone?”

“Ah, shit you’re right!” Opix cursed.

“You didn’t think of that?!” I asked.

“Should I have left us to get trampled and eaten by that horde of mobs you summoned?!”

I… couldn’t say anything to that. Opix had a point. Still, this was not where we needed to be right now. The way back to the Mid Tier Zone was blocked off, and even worse we were headed straight to the Zone where Ciz Weroz had been since yesterday. If she ran into us now, we’d be as good as–...

Speak of the fucking devil… Here comes that karma.

Overhead a woman dressed in a black cloak jumped from tree branch to tree branch like a ninja, closing in on us from deeper in the forest. I didn’t need to scan her to know who she was. There was only one woman on the Battle Board with bone-white skin and hair. I couldn’t scan anyway her due to how fast we were running and how close behind the mobs were.

“Galerose Alliance!” Ciz shouted in a thick Czech accent. “Come this way! I will not harm you!”

“We can’t trust that!” I shouted in response.

At the same time, I felt air gather behind us. I turned to see what was happening, only to find the 5-Star Titan mob preparing a bomb attack no different from Cerus’ Big Ice Attack. Ciz pointed at it from above us and jumped down from the branches above to run alongside us. The mob shot the attack at lightning speed, but Ciz turned and caught it in her hand. The blast exploded on impact, sending us all flying forward. To my utter shock, Ciz didn’t take any damage from the attack. Rather than strike back, though, she gathered us up and ran alongside us.

“We’re almost in the High Tier Zone! Do not delay!”

“Who are you to tell me what to do?” Cerus challenged. “I will delay if I feel like delaying!”

“Goddamn it, Cerus!” Opix groaned.

“Oh! Sorry!” Ciz apologized. “Please do not delay. We are almost there!”

The four of us ran as fast as we could toward the High Tier Zone. The mobs behind us shot attack after attack at us, and Ciz graciously defended us from all of them. As terrified as I was that she’d suddenly turn on us, those fears slowly faded as we got closer to the forest’s exit. It’d taken us three solid minutes to finally approach it, signified by a steel slab on a brick wall with the words “Welcome to the High Tier Zone” burned into the metal. Steel archways led into the High Tier Zone, and the moment we passed through the red dots on our map turned white. I turned around and watched as the mobs that’d just been chasing us at full speed stopped in their tracks. Each of them gave us dirty looks, pacing side to side as if looking for a way into town.

“We are… safe!” Ciz panted. “They cannot harm us here.”

“And where is here, vampire?”

Ciz smiled, revealing two sharp fangs. “Here is the High Tier Zone.”

The High Tier Zone, according to the minimap, was a single massive suburb. As far as the eye could see were rows of vintage homes straight out of the 50s with matching lawns, mailboxes, and blocky cars in their driveways. It was a real mindfuck considering how fantasy everything was on the way here. Part of me was reminded of home, my old home in Short Hills, while another part of me was reminded of The Walking Dead due to how quiet and eerie it all felt.

Opix: Do you guys trust her?

Grim: We don’t have a choice but to trust her. We’re out of stuff and there are mobs ready to kill us outside the town.

Cerus: all your fault by the way

Grim: Cerus, Henrietta had us beat and I wanted to be sure she didn’t come back for us. Sparing her wasn’t an option, and you saw her fight off some of those 3-Stars.

Cerus: still your fault we are in this mess

Cerus: do better lil bro

Cerus: grim did i say that right

Grim: You know what? Fuck you Cerus. Did I say that right?

Cerus: no you missed a comma

“I have a place for you all to relax,” Ciz said with an awkward smile. “P…please, follow me.”