Vivian watched over the hedge until the Lady and Kors’ battle drew them away from where he stood. When they passed from view and the sounds of their clash grew faint, he dropped to the ground and shimmied through the hole in the hedge. Halfway through, he paused, peering through the hole in the hedge at the fight.
Kors backed away from the Lady, panting, bleeding from a hundred tiny cuts. He wiped his mouth and raised his sword at the Lady, breathing too hard to speak.
The Lady regarded him with cold indifference, but her wilted flower and the glowing green and pitch-black blood that streaked her told a different story. The Lost Ones floated around her, no longer on the attack, but waiting for Kors to charge to play support and defense.
Vivan nodded. Perfect. It’s time for the swoop! He climbed through the hole and rose to a crouch, but no higher, hiding himself beneath the squirming red-thorned-green vines that coated the floor like a mass of mating cobras. Vivian cast them a wary look. You won’t turn on me, will you?
The vines swayed gently. Careless of Vivian, they twisted in on themselves idly.
Excellent. At least for the Lady’s adds, aggro reset. I’m just an NPC right now, not a combatant. He grinned to himself and lifted his black shirt to cover the lower half of his face, raking his bangs into his eyes to disguise the upper half. He edged quietly around the edge of the battlefield.
Where’s my body?
He scanned the field. Between the undulating vines, the blood splatters, and the party members’ and Lost Ones’ bodies, the ground was a mess. Shaking his head, he sighed quietly. I’m not going to find anything in there without losing the element of stealth. I’ll have to loot my body after the battle.
Keeping an eye on Kors, he subtly inched closer to the two of them. Who do I go for first?
I should go for the one that poses more danger to me while I have the element of surprise and nothing to lose. But which one is that? The Lady or Kors?
Kors should have less HP, but he’ll be quicker, and might be able to surge his damage to a ridiculous level. The Lady will have more HP, as well as more varied attacks. As a hidden boss, she’ll do massive damage if she hits me.
Either of them will be able to OKO me right now. I’m a Lvl 1 with 10 HP and 5 in both my defensive stats. It’s really mox nix who I get the sneak attack on.
Vivian considered the two of them for a moment, then shrugged. Whoever shows their back first, dies. Easy enough.
Kors narrowed his eyes, mopping the sweat off his brow with a quick gesture. Green glowed around his limbs, and he leaped at the Lady. She thrust a claw at him, and the vines lifted off the ground and closed in on him, threatening to catch him in midair.
Kors twisted, the System glowing on his limbs as they moved subtly to avoid the vines. The vines thrust past him, missing him.
While he hung in the air, the Lost Ones charged at him, shrieking. Green glowed as Kors kicked the air and spun. His sword swept forth, and two Lost Ones fell away, screaming as their halves struck the ground.
The Lady screeched, spitting black goo at him. Where Kors had severed her arm earlier, a dark-toned, woody vine now grew, split into a rough, mitten-like hand. She caught his sword in that rough mitten shape, closing gnarled branch-fingers around it. The sword bit halfway through her palm, but couldn’t cut through it the way Kors had earlier.
Kors scowled. He yanked his sword.
The Lady gripped it tightly, refusing to let it budge. She dragged him closer, smiling slowly, black gunk squeezing out from between her sharp teeth, long tongue dangling out.
“Fuck you,” Kors muttered.
Raising her other arm, the Lady punched Kors in the gut.
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Sword still stuck in the Lady’s hand, Kors flew back, hands gripping the air as if he held the sword. He struck the ground and rolled. The vines lashed at him, tearing his armor and skin like paper. Blood spotted the ground after him.
Vivian's eyes widened. My chance!
[Tiptoe Through the Tulips]
Vivian leaped up. He kicked off the vines and charged toward the Lady’s back. She twitched and half-turned. Too slow!
He struck with the hand claw, reaching under the Lady’s rose. The claw hooked into her eye sockets. Using it as his fulcrum, Vivian slammed against her back. He hung from the claw, the full force of his weight on the Lady’s head.
The Lady’s head tipped back. She screamed, grabbing at her head, blindly reaching for Vivian. Cold hands closed around Vivian’s wrist.
Yanking himself up with the hook, Vivian planted his feet on her hips and slashed her throat with the spade in his other hand.
The Lady gargled a scream. She fell backward, the rose on her face dropping petals as she fell. The hand wrapped around Vivian’s wrist squeezed tight.
Snap.
A wave of nausea struck Vivian. Pain stabbed into his mind. He instantly released the hand claw as his hand went weak. Jumping away from the Lady, he winced as even that jostled his broken wrist. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Hurts!
HP: 5/10
Vivian scowled. That counted as half my HP? Motherfucker! I’m not going to die from a broken wrist!
[Lady of the Lost] defeated! [Level +8]
Legendary Skill Acquired!
[What is Lost Cannot be Found]
Eyes shining, Vivian grinned. That’s a hidden Boss for you! EXP galore! And a Legendary Skill? Hell yeah! Why did I never bother to kill the Lady? The Legendary Skill on Floor One has got to be one of the easiest Legendary Skills to get!
“You!” Kors shouted. He charged at Vivian.
And for the second half of my plan… Vivian quickly allotted a point to STR.
HP: 10/10
Click! Vivian winced as his wrist snapped back into place. He spun his hand around, flexing it experimentally. Phew. Two hands!
Lost my hand claw, though.
Kors slashed, limbs glowing green. Vivian swayed back, but not far enough. The sword bit into his chest. Blood flew.
HP: 4/10
Vivian allotted another point to STR.
HP: 10/10
He grabbed onto Kors’ shoulder and drove his spade at the man’s armpit.
Kors yanked himself away. Vivian’s blow skittered over his ribs instead. Kors drew back his sword. Green light gripped him.
Now! Vivian charged in. Doggedly, he chased after Kors, refusing to give Kors any room.
The green light continued to glow, and Kors continued to backpedal. Gritting his teeth, Kors scowled at him. “You…”
“System junkie. You know, there’s entire builds set up to take advantage of System junkies. Can’t strike until you get far enough, huh?” Vivian said, smirking. He slashed at Kors’ chest, slicing away HP.
“Back off!” Kors snarled. He backstepped on and on, quickly closing in on the yews.
“Uh, no. I’m not stupid,” Vivian said. His eyes flicked to the hedges behind Kors. Two steps. One.
Kors’ back hit the hedge. The green light faded as the skill canceled, the System recognizing the move could no longer be completed. Kors grinned. “Idiot—”
The second his shoulders struck the roses, Vivian plunged the spade into his chest. Hot blood rushed down his hand, coursing over his wrist.
Kors gasped. He gripped at Vivian’s hands. “You… you…”
“Yeah? What is it?” Vivian asked. He twisted the spade.
Kors tensed. Blood welled up in his mouth, and he spat it out.
“Yeah, I don’t care. Piece of trash wannabe mafioso. Just ‘cuz you’ve got a good class, doesn’t mean you have the right to bully everyone around you. Though,” Vivian said, looking at Kors. “I guess it’s a little too late for that life lesson.”
Kors laughed. “So you’re a Player disguised as an NPC?”
“Something like that,” Vivian said.
“You sound like a child. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. If I didn’t use Noah, someone else would. You think I like chasing kids down? You think I do that for fun?”
“I don’t know what your hobbies are,” Vivian said.
Kors shook his head. “I’m the same as Noah. A dog someone raised. I just happened to scrape my way high enough to stand on top for a moment. Is enchanter really so bad a life, anyways? It’s not like just anyone can solo climb. As long as he cooperated, we would’ve taken care of him for the rest of his life.”
“But that’s not what he wants,” Vivian returned.
“Does anyone get to do what they want, in the end? I don’t want to be here, dying. The world is cruel, and all we can do is survive it,” Kors said. His head drooped.
“That doesn’t mean you have the right to decide Noah’s life for him,” Vivian argued.
Kors giggled hysterically. “Are you actually the Vivian? You sound like someone from a hundred years ago. The world is hell, now. You should see it. You should go…”
“I can’t,” Vivian said.
Kors said nothing. He slumped.
[Level +2]
Vivian tilted his head. He grabbed Kors’ chin and gently turned his head up, looking into his eyes. Licking his lips, he released the man’s chin. “Dead.”
He yanked his spade out of Kors’ chest and turned, taking in the battlefield. Wilted vines died all around him, quickly decaying. The Lady of the Lost crumbled before his eyes, flaking away into phosphorus-edged ash. Three bodies laid splayed around the battlefield.
Vivian twisted his lips, then shrugged. “Time for loot.”