As Oege’s blade would clash with the monstrous Blackfeather’s claws, She would look into Mandy’s eyes. Mandy felt a searing trust within her look. “Don’t get hit” Mandy would smirk in reply. “Alright!” She said confidently.
From Mandy’s feet, a burst of bright flares would begin to erupt like a rocket ship readying for takeoff. As Oege would lose hold of Blackfeather for a moment. His monstrous form towered over her, as he began to slam one of his arms towards Oege. In the split of a second Mandy boosted towards Oege, summoning a large shield made of digital cybernetic fibres, and lifted Oege into her arms, travelling a distance, and then dropping her. “Let’s regroup.” Mandy fiercely said to Oege.
As Blackfeather would crash into the fibres, their HP value of them would decrease entirely. “Just as I thought,” Mandy stated. “Each of those shields has the power to block 1 million damage.”
'How many did you layer?’ Oege wondered.
“Three…” Mandy said sparingly. “I can only summon three, while each will take any attack, but there's an additional effect.”
As the shields would dissipate, if one looked closely billions of cybernetic spores attached to Blackfeather. “Childsplay!” he yelled menacingly. They would circle his body until finally, they would enter his body. Next to Blackfeather’s Health Bar, a new bar would appear. It was a very small amount but it was enough to send Oege the plan. Blackfeather would look aside to his Heath Bar to see what had occurred when he crashed the shields. He noticed a Grey Health Bar, entering from the right, and he looked at the status. It read 1% Infected... “This server has a Trojan?” He yelled in his monstrous voice. “I’m telling you now, even this will not be enough to defeat me.”
Blackfeather would rise onto his two legs, and stand in his dragon form. He was at least 10 times the size of Oege and Mandy. He let out a roar that screeched into the air as dark flames erupted from his mouth. “I am Blackfeather!” he roared. “And this is my world!”
Oege and Mandy would enter a combat stance ready to attack. It was a standoff for only a moment as the air wisped in silence. One could even hear the scorching of the city and the sounds of electrical distortion. A crackle came from Blackfeather stretching his wings into the sky and flapping them. The sky would begin to crackle the same, and suddenly more feathers seemed to be raining. Dark energy pulses from him for a moment as he returns to all fours. He then galloped towards the two in a stride, as did Oege and Mandy.
Blackfeather reached his two claws towards Mandy, lunging with his mouth. Mandy jumped in the air to evade, but a feather then landed on her, planting her on the ground. As Blackfeather neared Oege dodged the falling feathers, she reached Mandy in time to parry Blackfeather's attack. It was only for a moment but Mandy has freed herself from the effect of the feather. Oege then swung her sword back setting back Blackfeather, who sprung up once again, swinging at Oege. This time she dodged, but something about his attack, didn’t seem like he was trying to hit her. “Something is up?” Oege whispered to Mandy. “I didn't get a parry notification.”
The way Asper Online’s parry system worked was similar to many games that implored it, except for Oege, her class granted more visual cues. Similar to Rhythm games, attacks for her were followed by colours, and a glowing aura, that gave her information as to when an attack was starting and ending. An attack that was beginning would glow green which would slowly go into yellow and then red. This was a passive skill from the Samurai’s skill tree. When evolved, rather than colour it became simply large circles that decreased in size, and when they reached a certain size, meant the attack was going to hit. If a character would parry while the circle hadn't reached its smallest size, it would be considered a Katy-Parry or Light-Parry. Something that most players could do. But when a player was able to hit the critical point when the circle reached its smallest size, it would be called a Perfect Parry. Oege’s skill was so adept that not only was she able to see this in Blackfeather, but as well as the feather’s dropping from the sky. “You noticed it too?” Oege whispered to Mandy.
“The feathers aren’t ornaments on a tree, or weather effects. They are attacks like bludgeoning weapons that are amplified by weight. When I was affected by the status, I was being crushed but it didn't immediately affect me.” She then patted her backside. “Because of this suit, I can shift the weight of my character with the Deathmetal Suit distortion ability. She had changed the composition of her suit to make the backside with more physical consistency, which in turn made it more durable but less durable in her shoulder. She then started modifying other parts of her body until finally, Oege grew tired.
“Stop playing around!” Oege yelled.
“I’m just saying!” She replied whimsically. “If you can take care of the feathers”. She turned to face Blackfeather, with a sharp look in her eyes. “I’ll handle the dragon.”
‘Deal.”
From the bird's eye view of the battlefield, the sky would look like an impossible situation to overcome. To a casual player, it was a 1 in a million chance to dodge every single feather emitted by Blackfeather’s skill. It was truly an elite skill crafted by the developers. Even in our lives, whether you run to avoid the rain, or stand in amongst the droplets, you are bound to get hit by no more or less rain. Except if a person was using an umbrella, the rain would land on it instead. In this situation, Oege was to be Mandy’s umbrella. She entered a stance calling out the name of a skill she hadn’t used in a very long time. She closed her eyes and the wind gusted from her body lifting her gear. “All-Seeing Form, Omniscience.” Her Kimono would rise, and then she would jump towards the sky. She then continued to step as if there were platforms under her but no one else would see her jump into thin air. “Hummingbird Step” she whispered. She then looked into the sky what could only be described as the beginning of a rhythm game starting with its first circle closing in from 30 meters away. There was another 25 meters away, but even still, these were 2 of hundreds. Finally, Oege activated her PBE: Skill, ‘Reborn’, transforming into a preset of a small Dark Elf character. This way, she lessened the distance of her model, giving her more space between the feathers, although this made it so she had to move further. Due to the Hummingbird skill, her movement speed was increased significantly and Oege would go to work. Each of the feathers that were nearest were circled with red, and at least 10 would change from yellow at the same time. Even still Oege, ran across the sky above the fight below, parrying the feathers one by one. Below Blackfeather would stretch his arms and legs, showing the difference between the two. “So you’ve seemed to solve my feathers for now.” He said in a grim crackling voice. “I will eat you first and then the traitor.” He then lunged towards Mandy, who jumped back. In the back of her head, she remembered what Oege had said. “Don’t get hit.” And it resonated with her as she used her suit to create a whip that tethered at a nearby rock on the battlefield, pulling her to it. Blackfeather was very quick to see where she was going and appeared right where she was, spewing a breath of fire which seemed to encase Mandy, but Mandy evaded the attack, in a somersault over the fire over Blackfeathers head. His eyes would follow the motion, as she landed on his back, summoning a spear and striking between a scale. Blackfeather wiggled in agony, but the strike only did a slither of damage.
“Weakling,” He yelled, fluttering his wings which nearly hit Mandy but she quickly tethered away, sliding on the ground, keeping face to Blackfeather. Something about the fight with Blackfeather reminded her of Aur-Alan. She remembers being so focused, and the importance of not taking a single damage. Knowing that at any point, the monster could do an attack that she’d never seen and knowing she had to be ready for anything. Again, Oege would put her trust in her, but this time, Mandy put her trust in Oege. As she glanced to the sky, she would not see Oege, but she feathers, ceasing to exist. To Oege, the endless barrage was not just a challenge, but a test to herself. Oege became streams of light in the sky like stars scurrying to meet one another, with each clash looking like a firework. Mandy could only blink for a second as Blackfeather rose to her once again, attempting to defeat her in a single blow. She evaded once again, running up his arm, attacking with daggers made for her suit on the dragon’s skin, while she moved to his face. Blackfeather, surprised by the attack, went to scratch her, but ended up missing, while she leapt towards his face, slicing his cheek and landing far away in the distance. As she rose she liked her daggers, as if there was blood on them, but there was only dust. She gave Blackfeather a daring look. “The Aur-Alun was a tougher fight.” Mandy inspected Blackfeather and noticed he had only gone down a little bit of health, but he had 3% Infected. “I just have a little more stacks.”
Blackfeather lunged once again at Mandy, who dodged, but noticed a feather hand land on her foot preventing her from evading. “Is this it?” she thought. Blackfeather’s claw came from the bottom, slicing upward to hit a barrier created by the Mandy. Mandy then ducked and modified her suit to allow the feather to hit the ground without crushing her, like a chef pulling the tablecloth off a table smoothly, while the plates were on it. As the feather hit the ground it, created a crack in the ground. But it was then that she noticed something interesting. Her suit was able to interact with the feather. She didn’t understand exactly why, but the one flower passing through couldn't have been a coincidence. Oege must’ve let it through for a reason. Her lesson would be put to a halt as Blackfeather would emerge from the ground, attempting to grab Mandy, but she dodged backwards but it would be short-lived as he would emerge behind her, charging a skill. “It’s over now!” He yelled devilishly. Mandy seemed shocked but then she smirked, “Gotcha'!” He turned and came face to face with Oege’s sword. “Oege!” She yelled. “Thanks for the hint.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Mandy then tethered the feather that had fallen to the ground. Something was different from it. It wasn’t one of the dragon’s feathers, but something that Oege had crafted. As she interacted with it, it would become a spear that slotted into her hand. As the HUD came up, she noticed the name of the weapon. “Blackfeather Spear.” Mandy knew that Oege was a capable blacksmith, but for a weapon to be crafted while parrying hundreds of objects, put her in a calibre of her own. Mandy was even more shocked that the sword was made from the feathers Blackfeather created, meaning that the weapon she had was just like him. Yet while equipped to Mandy, it was light, and she felt agile. Mandy then coiled the weapon behind her head and tossed it directly into the place the Oege’s sword was stuck. It seemed to connect but Blackfeather evaded the attack by swiping at her head. “This is it," she thought just then she would see a flash of light appear in front of her. “Did she log out?” she thought. “Where was she?” She opened her eyes and it was as if she felt the warmth of her bed. She took off her headset and looked at her bedroom. How long had she been logged on? Her computer, and bookshelf. On a table next to her bed was a lamp with a picture. She picked it up. It was her sister. “Freya…” She said it softly, and the final memory was a gift she'd never hoped to forget. She couldn't help but notice a glow from the window. She walked slowly towards the wall where the window was, opening it to peer into the distance but something was wrong. When she looked outside all she saw was darkness. “Mandy!” a voice said. She heard it faintly but it continued to call her. “Mandy!” It was persistent, but it was very familiar. “Oege…”
“Mandy!”
“Freya..?”
Oege was once again clashing with Blackfeather. “What…” she whispered. “How.”
“What did I tell you?”
“Don’t get hit.” Mandy looked down to see a chunk of her hip, fizzling, her HP was slowly going down. “It’s now or never.” Oege said revering to her.
Blackfeather ran closer to Oege, but she once again swung him back. The two would run towards Blackfeather and Blackfeather towards them. Blackfeather swung his claw at Mandy but Oege came in front blocking the attack, while Mandy jumped into the air swiping at his face. The attack caused Blackfeather to be hit aback, but blindly he swung another attack, this time swirling around to hit them with his tail. “PBE: Skill Reborn!” Oege yelled while transforming into her Elf form, Blocking low, then transforming into her Ogre form, grabbing the tail. “Now!”
Mandy landed on the ground stabbing the tail multiple times, causing Blackfeather to take more damage.
“You scum!” he yelled, breaking free from Oege’s grasp. He then manifested a weapon in his hand. It was a very large greatsword that a player would normally hand. It was studded with black onyx, with each edge of the sword brimming with dark energy. The hilt was extended making it seem like a lance. He swung it downwards, extending his elbow towards Mandy. It would seem to hit something, yet it wasn’t Mandy, but one of her shields “One.” Mandy whispered. Oege then parried the attack as it hit the shield, causing another opportunity to attack. “PBE: Skill Reborn.” She then transformed into her mermaid form, swinging a sword made of water which seemed to wet Blackfeather. She would then call onto the skill again transforming into her Deity form. “Lightning Ram!” Although there was no weapon in her hand, she held on tightly and entered her stance, swinging at Blackfeather. In the sky, the head of a ram forged by threads of lightning would come crashing down onto Blackfeather. Amplified by the water he would be electrocuted. Even if his durability was high, the status effect of electrocution caused him to be micro-stunned. In that split of a second Mandy, took the weapon and broke it into two. “Ahhhh!” she yelled. Oege stepped aside as what Mandy would begin was a combo that no other player had ever done. A strike first to the neck, and then abdomen, and left inner elbow, right knee, right chest, a stab to the foot, uppercut, followed by afterimages repeating the sequence.
“Ugh, ugh!” Blackfeather grunted. He was beginning to be taken aback by her attacks, losing balance and attempting to keep. “What is this?” In sheer desperation, he swung inwards towards Mandy, but she dodged like a boxer sending a dozen strikes to the arm, causing damage to Blackfeather. Finally, he would put all of his last strength into a rush at Mandy, and Oege placed her hand on her blade blocking the rush, and she levitated in her Deity Form. For a split second, Mandy would receive a notification from her Deathmetal Suit. The Deathmetal suit, unlike other equipped armours, was almost a living entity. All of the nanomachines that made its composition fed information to its wearer. In this situation, the information that it gathered was that although Blackfeather wasn’t in very low health, he was exactly at 50%, and was 98% Infected. Oege had noticed too.
Blackfeather would then reach towards the sky and clench his fist. “Sunder Thy Earth!”
The two looked up and falling from the sky was a feather the size of a meteor. It was burning as it passed through the atmosphere. “You cannot defeat me. As long as I have Mercy in me, you will be defeated as the meteor hits the ground here. I will live, you will die!”
Just then Oege looked at Mandy. It was a look of trust. It was a look an older sister would give her sibling. She nodded her head and yelled. “PBE Skill: Reborn - First Preset.” Oege would finally transform into the first model she had created. It was the form of a human girl, wearing a dark flowery kimono. It was as if she had shed everything that was created to hide her true self.
Mandy felt entrusted with the outcome of the battle. Oege wouldn’t have left it to her if she didn’t believe in her, she thought. She held tightly to the broken Blackfeather Spears and crossed her arms. As Oege's sword stood high from Blackfeather’s chest she would grab ahold of it like Excalibur and begin pulling, but it wouldn't budge.
“It doesn't matter, in seconds you will be finished!” It was as if, the stone the sword was merged into was speaking, taunting the person trying to become king. What Blackfeather didn’t know was that Mandy wasn’t trying to pull the sword, she was trying to push it. “No Mercy!” she yelled.
Pushing the sword further into Blackfeather as he spewed blood. It wouldn't bring him to 0 health, but Mandy would receive a notification from her Deathmetal suit.
“Infection Complete!” it sang. Mandy would then hold onto the sword and yell her final skill. One that only could be used once a player was 100% Infected. “Medusa!” The meteor was nearing. The heat began to set ablaze the terrain around them. The city would begin to shear and Oege came face to face with it, attempting to push it back. To no use, as it pushed her towards them, but rather than trying to stop it she let it through and waited. From the hilt of the blade, bites of digital stone ate at the sword towards Blackfeather, as if he had just received a virus. “What is this?”
“I’ve never..!” he yelled but as he came to realize she was becoming petrified. “You think you can seal me?”
“I think I can do more than that.” The petrification would continue, turning every inch of Blackfeather into stone, and finally, it crept upon his face. He smiled, churning a breath of fire at Mandy and spewing it. If Mandy would let go, the Medusa would stop but she braced for the attack, when suddenly a feather fell to clash with his flames, neutralizing it. The chance was of no luck. Back when Oege was managing the feathers she had purposely parried a single one, far up into the sky and as if fell back to the ground, she would parry it up into the sky again, like a volleyball player keeping a rally, except she did this with herself, while juggling hundreds of others. To impact the flames, she dodged the feather and parried it downwards towards the meteor. Instead of the meteor breaking, it followed the path of the strike, while the feather sped quickly towards Blackfeather. The feather would reach into his throat, blocking him from churning flames and causing him to choke. The Neuropatch 2 in this situation could cause players to experience choking when drinking food and drinks. However, this situation was very different. Oege smirked. “URRRRRRRRGHHH!” Mandy would yell when finally, the petrification would completely cover Blackfeather. In his final words, he whispered. “Madder…Please come back to me…” It was done. He was completely sealed. Mandy would use the Blackfeather weapon and break off Oege’s sword from his body. He was no longer under the effect of PBE: Skill Mercy.
And it was then that Oege's calculation would come to be. The meteor came crashing into Blackfeather, instantly defeating and fizzling him with Mandy's HP blinking at 1HP.
—-----------------------------
In the distance, a group of players would receive a notification. Blackfeather has been defeated.
“Weakling.” the voice said. It was a female player, who was amongst 2 others. “I hope you won’t fail me in Dydas.”
"We won’t fail you master.” The two players were in the shadows, kneeling and rose to face Mad.
“Now go forth. Eden and Dusk.”
—-----------------------------------
Meanwhile in Losember, Mad would summon Jun’s repaired caravan. “PBE Skill: Bound.”
She had kicked Jun out of his own Caravan ownership, and now was the leader of Aurora.
—------------------------------------
Back in outer space, Madder would notice all events happening. “Nero that idiot. He wasn't supposed to kill Vice!” As the notification of Aurora changing ownership would appear to Madder, she felt a chill down her spine. "So this is where you were." Appearing in front of her in the form of Julia, was Mad.
“We meet again,” Mad said Solemnly.
—--------------------------------------
On the outskirts of Losember, a distraught Jun fell to the ground. “They’ve taken everything I worked for!” he yelled. He pounded his hands to the ground. “How dare she lie to me. All along, I thought we were friends!”
“Friends?” Hagerty said. “If I know something about friendship is that it is as strong as you remember it. What do you remember about Julia?”
“Jun thought, and when he did he remembered everything they had been through. The Hillsbane, The Markets of Elleon, the Ritual, and now even this. She was a player he could call his ally. He then remembered what happened in the market. “Did she get synapsed?” he thought. “We must head to Losember and speak with Diggy.” Hagerty insisted. “This is becoming more problematic each second.” Jun rose following Hagerty on Law as they rode into Losember. They would reach a deserted city but found a Tavern with a couple of players in it. At a side table, several players were playing a gambling game. “You gotta' be kidding me. At a time like this?” Jun thought.
The dealer would notice and wave for them to join. “It's the end of the world as we know it? How about you at least gamble your last lives away?”
“Why not?”
The two grabbed seats and entered what would seem to be a game of Poker. As the hands would be dealt another player entered the room and sat with them. “Mind if I join?”
It was Diggy.
“How about we set the stakes high with this game?” he said, offering an ultimatum. “If I win, you leave the game right now until the event is over…” Then Hagerty smiled. “If I win, you give me your city, and you invite me to Humanity.”
“Huh?”
Even Jun was surprised. “That’s never gonna happen…” Diggy said smugly. “You’re on!” The two shook hands and a game of luck began.
This chapter concludes Stories Told by Blades - The Battle of Matrice.