Halfway through her backflip, Mel looked to the side. Jimmy’s curious, almost pensive expression told her he had no idea what was coming.
Snapping her muscles in concert as she landed, Mel jerked sharply while keeping a grip on Jimmy’s head. She felt the telltale snap and threw him into the bog directly behind her.
Her heels were hovering over the murky waters, a position she quickly remedied as she surged forward and switched to [Firestorm] to push back her assailants.
Luckily, the motion of the flip had removed the knife from her back, but Jimmy had done some damage. Despite her armor and bloody coat, she knew she had taken a savage blow.
At least he’s gone, Mel thought. She would have loved to make his ending filled with suffering, but she just did not have the time. Half of what she had done was on muscle memory and instinct alone.
How messed up is it that I have muscle memory for being stabbed in the back? Mel thought to herself.
She pivoted her twinblade, blocking two probing strikes while the injured and profusely bleeding Defender hung back and searched through his pack. Mel knew her luck wasn’t going to hold much longer. As soon as he fully joined the fight, she would be severely pressed.
How many times am I going to get something stuck in my back? Mel thought bitterly.
First it was arrows, then an axe, and finally a literal dagger. It was a small mercy none of them had been something like a greataxe.
The flames kept the others at bay long enough for her to reestablish her footing. The twanging cord that stretched from her navel out to the swamp behind her began to twang with alarm.
Mel struggled to keep the relief from her face. She used [Tempest Heart] to switch from strength enhancing [Firestorm] to the seldom-used [Thunderstorm].
Crackling electricity rolled down her body and jolted any of the three men that came at her with their conductive metal weapons.
Mel charged at them as soon as they recovered from the shock. Their natural reaction to recoil worked in her favor as she charged the fourth member when he brought a potion bottle to his lips.
There was no greater opening than this. With his fellows unable to help him, Mel drove her twinblade into his stomach. She used her small stature to slip the blade under the breastplate near his hip and stabbed up into his diaphragm. The tip sliced into the bottom of his lungs.
The hardiness of Copper bodies worked against her as the man used [Retaliate] with his shield before she could drive the blade up any deeper for a killing blow.
Stunned and disoriented, Mel’s instincts kicked in. She dove to the ground, tucked her shoulder, screamed as the jolting pain of rolling struck her like a lightning bolt, and kicked out at her attacker’s knees.
Flames swirling around her as she switched to [Firestorm] and dismissed her twinblade. Mel twisted and grabbed the man as he crumpled to one knee. With one hand tucked beneath his breastplate and the other at the top, she chucked him like an oversized turtle into the bog.
Unfortunately, he had downed most of the potion and the damage she did to him was temporary, at best. Already, despite the heavy armor weighing him down, he was swimming back to the shore with his wounds mending.
One of his allies turned to help him, while the other two turned on Mel.
Mel took out a [Small Health Potion] of her own and downed it in one, knowing she couldn’t afford to be slowed by her injury.
The pain subsided as her wounds knit back together with an intense itching sensation. She summoned her twinblade again, turning it slowly around to keep their attention.
“Swim, Anthony!” one of them called. He had clearly seen something in the water, judging by his tone.
Mel rushed forward at the two still facing her, forcing them to backpedal closer to the edge of the bog.
It truly was unfortunate that the axe-wielder was able to drink most of his potion.
Unfortunate for him.
As he thrashed around, it only heightened the predatory hunger of the thing in the water.
The ground rumbled. Sheets of shallow ice cracked and splintered.
Bog water created a rippling series of V’s as the monster Mel had sensed, courtesy of her blessing, went in for the kill.
She switched to [Windstorm] at the last moment, leaping away with all the force she could muster as the monster breached the surface of the water.
Mel gasped aloud as the monster showed itself in all its horrible glory. Green mossy scales were covered in festering pits that oozed bog water. Its weeping teeth were black as obsidian, matching its dead-eyed stare.
Spines the size of small spears bristled on its long crocodile-like tail. Everything happened in a blur of frantic motion. It snapped its jaws down on the unfortunate man in the water, slicing him in half with ease. Its tail swished sharply, sending jagged spines sailing through the air.
Mel batted aside two spines but was grazed by another on the shoulder, her [Sanguine Coat] ripping and turning black around the wound before it recovered.
Your [Sanguine Coat] resists [Bog Blight].
The others weren’t so lucky. Their heavy armor squealed as the spines turned them into pincushions. It was a testament to how well they worked together that they didn’t run for their lives or break at the sight of such horror.
[Sobekile (High Copper Rank–Plateau Beast)]
To continue fighting each other would have been asking to be slaughtered. The three men turned to cover each other as they backed up toward Mel, out of range of the creature.
It crawled up onto the land with insectile legs like black spikes that tore up the soft ground and gave it a firm foothold.
The problem was, Mel could be real petty when she wanted to. Deklin used to tell her that she elevated pettiness to an art form. She dealt in grudges all her damn life. Ever since her deadbeat mom abandoned her when she was five.
If they had been something other than the Stolst gang, maybe she could have worked with them despite the ambush. But this was a creature that was beyond her. Mel could tell that this thing was meant to be conquered by a group of people, if not everybody on the plateau.
However, she wasn’t about to leave a debt unpaid. She waded in, slicing one leg, then the other in quick succession. Her heavily enhanced twinblade cut through their armor.
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Two of the Defenders went down, the third turning away from the sobekile to send out a roar of pure rage her way. It rippled through the air turning red as blood. Mel braced and was still thrown off her feet from the shockwave of the attack.
Aspect Skill: [Barbaric Roar]
Turning his back on the sobekile had been the wrong choice. The creature, the size of a minivan, rushed forward faster than it seemed possible for so much bulk. It snapped the man around the middle, but he must have been made of sterner stuff than his friend in the water.
He struggled valiantly, his two friends unable to reach him as they clutched bleeding and severed tendons that prevented them from retaliating or reaching their friend to help.
Mel’s title, [Vessel of Anguish], showed its worth more than once this fight. Her attacks inflicted heightened pain that they couldn’t resist.
For a moment, Mel and the sobekile’s eyes met. Dead-eyed black to shimmering green. An understanding passed between them.
Mel dismissed her twinblade as the sobekile thrashed its latest victim apart. A buzzing sound filled the swamp as mutated wasps the size of cellphones emerged from the oozing pock marks on its back and swarmed over the remaining would-be killers.
Monster Skill: [Blight Swarm]
Mel grimaced. What a way to go.
The sobekile looked at her, and for a moment she thought she was going to have to fight this thing that had just slaughtered the four Defenders.
Despite the fear in her chest, she didn’t summon her twinblade.
It studied her briefly as the two remaining men screamed and thrashed, striking out with everything they had at the swarm of giant wasps.
Mel had the distinct impression that the monster could kill them at any time. Instead, it very slightly dipped its snout in a bow of respect.
Mel returned the gesture, bowing more deeply but keeping her eyes on it all the same. She wasn’t dumb.
The sobekile turned away from her, leisurely snapping at the left-hand man already beset by wasps.
Mel took that as her cue to leave. She didn’t want to wear out her welcome.
More importantly, she didn’t want to see it feast. She might want them dead, but that didn’t mean she enjoyed the gorefest that would surely follow.
She only started running once she was covered by [Hidden Mist] again and out of its sight. The last thing she wanted was to spike its pursuit instinct. It took every ounce of willpower not to sprint away as fast as she could the moment it had turned on the Defenders.
The rush of runic experience was a thin poultice for the horrors she had witnessed. If that was a plateau beast…she didn’t know how she’d ever be ready for it.
It acted like it was on a whole other level, despite being High Copper like the frostbite scorpion she had killed with Heath.
Even after a few miles were put between her and the sobekile, Mel didn’t rest. She crossed fully into the grasslands plateau before she dared to do anything other than run.
Tired and sore, but not too badly hurt anymore thanks to the potion she used, Mel finally collapsed and looked over her notifications.
Your [Tempest Heart] Divine aspect skill advances to [Copper Rank (Grade 4)].
Your [Strength (Divine)] attribute advances to [Copper Rank (Grade 4)].
Your [Sanguine Coat] Blood aspect skill advances to [Copper Rank (Grade 7)].
Your [Vigor (Blood)] attribute advances to [Copper Rank (Grade 6)].
Your [Omen Mark] Omen aspect skill advances to [Copper Rank (Grade 4)].
Your [Bane of Tartarus] Omen aspect skill advances to [Copper Rank (Grade 5)].
Your [Basic Weapon Knowledge] class skill advances to [Novice Basic Weapon Knowledge (G-Tier)].
Mel took a deep, calming breath. She had come far from Mundane rank.
I didn’t even know I could improve my weaponry skill on its own. This opens up new avenues of progression.
Then again, after all her training with her twinblade, she was a little surprised it hadn’t occurred earlier. Like so much else, it probably took testing her newfound skill against true adversaries rather than “safely” training on her own in a clearing.
The recent improvements only further substantiated her belief that the more difficult an enemy she faced, the greater her growth.
Assuming she survived.
Even Sylvie wouldn’t have been so reckless as to willingly call down a powerful monster to provide her an opening against her enemies, Mel thought. And if Sylvie wouldn’t do it, that meant Mel was venturing into dangerous territory indeed.
She was reckless, not suicidal.
Mel took out some of the stolen supplies for a late afternoon meal of dried meat and flatbread. One thought dominated her mind.
I killed Jimmy and didn’t even get to savor it!
The man who had ordered the death of her friends, and she gave him a quick death. It seemed fitting somehow. Despite how much pain he caused, she had considered him barely more than an afterthought.
Mel gingerly rubbed the healed wound on her lower back, marveling at the wonders of health potions. Her health still was a long way from full, but she wasn’t worried. It would recover in time.
While thinking about Jimmy and the Stolst gang, golden Shardscript blazed to life before her eyes.
New Quest: Sunsetting Stolst
Having conquered the majority of the Stolst gang, including their elite Bloodletter group, you only have one head left to take in order to avenge your fallen friends.
Objective: Defeat Warren Stolst (0/1).
Reward: [Empyrium Gem]
“I would’ve done it for free,” Mel said to the empty, mournful wind that blew through the grasslands. “Though getting another [Empyrium Gem] feels like a callback to Dalmanii.” Mel grinned to herself. That had been a good time, winning the [Gambler’s Guild Empyrium] off the leader in a no-holds-barred wager that he couldn’t win.
Only an idiot wouldn’t cheat with so much riding on the outcome, Mel thought to herself with a self-congratulatory pat on the back. It wasn’t her fault the guild leader was a worse cheat than she was.
She reread the description, noticing something she hadn’t before.
Mel frowned, watching the grass bend and sway like green ocean waves. Groups of people moved apart from one another, careful and tense, but none of them were close enough to pose an issue to her.
Who the hell are the Bloodletters?
It struck Mel as ironic that a group with such a badass name hadn’t even appeared on her radar until now. Was that the group of five jackasses? They nearly killed her, and they had worked exceptionally well together, but she didn’t think they deserved such a brutal name.
Mel belatedly remembered the notification she received when killing that first Defender. Huh, I guess they were the Bloodletters. Not that it mattered. They were dead, based on the notifications she skimmed through now that the battle was over.
She dismissed the thought of returning to the area to loot what was left of their bodies. There had been an…understanding between herself and the sobekile.
The next time she saw the creature, it wouldn’t be so friendly.