As Raine spun sideways after bouncing off the Great Eagle, he caught a flash of sunlight reflecting in his peripheral vision. His eyesight was still blurry, but the pinprick of light, and the fact he hadn't seen Froust in several seconds, caused alarm bells to ring in his skull. He threw himself to the side the instant one of his feet hit the ground.
Froust used the last of his fading strength to adjust the angle of his stab, unerringly tracking Raine, though unable to keep up with his speed. The greatsword's tip skidded across the back of Raine’s superior scaled breastplate, doing minimal damage but throwing him off balance. [-18]
He crashed to the ground with a tucked shoulder, rolling once before throwing his arm out to impact the dirt. He slid another meter, coming to a stop while looking at the sky.
There were few clouds, the air pure and clean—pristine in a way that Earth would likely never be again. Two eagles were mid-dive, neither aimed at him. Their alpha was happily chirping as it tore a screaming woman in half. Froust coughed weakly, the sound coming from somewhere to Raine’s right and at an elevation that made it obvious the man had also fallen.
Raine's heart hammered away, the sound louder in his ears than the frantic crashing of combat. Giddy laughter bubbled from his core as every aspect of his being thrummed with pure adrenalin-fueled joy. This was it. This was what he enjoyed more than anything else in life. A good fight. Pushing his abilities. Dancing on a blade’s edge with everything on the line. There was nothing else like it. Eyes alight, body aching in protest, he rose to his feet, sword grasped firmly in hand.
Froust rose as well, shaking his head to clear his vision. Raine charged, his first two steps unsteady as Great Eagles fell like mortar shells around him. He reached Froust and two swords flashed, a clanging metal screech echoing between their bodies. Raine angled his following Slash upwards, the movement too quick for the greatsword.
Froust leaped back, weakened and on the verge of death from the alpha’s scream. Raine's knee slammed into his gut hard enough for blood to spurt from his mouth. The difference in Potency sent the larger man flying away to roll across the grass. Froust looked up to see Raine unveil another stealthed player, throwing him right into the waiting beak of an eagle that happily swallowed the man whole in two gulping constrictions of its long throat.
“You'll pay for this!” Froust spat crimson-stained saliva, rising to his feet once more.
Raine stopped in his tracks, head tilted and eyes wide, “Hey. That's a great idea! If you pay me fifteen gold, I'll help the rest of your people escape.”
Froust snarled through bloodstained teeth and charged with a roar.
Raine shrugged, brandishing his sword, “Oh well. It was worth a try. Maybe next time, eh?”
They clashed again, swords weaving and striking as they bent and twisted their bodies in an effort to land a solid blow. Raine's attributes were clearly superior, yet Froust was a class four martial raised from birth by a bona fide grandmaster. He was no slouch with his weapon of choice, while Raine's experience with a short sword could be counted in weeks.
However, Raine’s knowledge of analyzing the subtle movements of an opponent, adjusting his body in advance, and responding while taking into account the overall flow of a melee far exceeded Froust’s. Raine carefully observed every deflection, counter, and footstep, absorbing it all. With each clash, the short sword felt more comfortable in his hands, and Froust was pushed more and more off balance.
Seeing the perfect opening coming, Raine briefly thought about drawing out their duel for more experience, but the alpha was nearly done with the small fry and another of its ilk was already aiming for him and Froust.
A subtle shift of his lead foot clipped Froust’s boot right as he needed to sidestep. His eyes widened as he tilted off balance directly into Raine's Slash. The attack took him in the neck, biting deep and hitting bone. [Critical hit! -287] A spurt of blood splashed on Raine's chest as the large man’s health drained away to nothing.
Raine jumped back and Froust slid off his blade, eyes turning glassy as he collapsed into a burst of light particles. Two items dropped, but Raine didn't get a chance to grab them. He dove to the side as the eagle crashed into the ground where he was standing a moment ago.
There was no point fighting the pesky beast. Without a way to pin it down, it would fly away before he could kill it. Instead, he used fifteen of his last twenty Discipline to run down the final three members of Righteous. He caught one in the back, killing him instantly. The next was kicked into an eagle's path, and the last threw himself to the ground before Raine.
He unequipped several pieces of gear and dropped them, his hands together in prayer, “Wait! Wait, please! I can go, right? I don't want to die again. I can't take it. Please!”
Raine shook his head sadly, “I said three pieces each. Looks like your friends only dropped one.” Raine killed him before he had a chance to retrieve his dropped loot, “thanks, friend.”
Saving the last of his Discipline for dodging, he sped around the battlefield collecting the drops while avoiding the dive-bombing birds. Had the eagles been the type to chase him relentlessly, he would have been forced into the town for shelter. Since they preferred to bomb one at a time, it wasn’t too difficult to avoid them. At one point, he rolled forward, scooped a rock from the ground, and chucked it at a random bush.
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A resounding thud was followed by a shimmer of light that revealed a stealthed player, “Ow! Whatdcha do that for?” He was a more than respectable level six, with short and lanky close cropped dark brown hair that matched his piercing gaze. It wasn’t the color that was memorable, it was the razor sharp intelligence that shone through them.
What’s he doing here? I know he had a huge grudge with Righteous in the past, is this where it started?
One eye to the sky, Raine approached the familiar teenager, “You have something that belongs to me.”
The boy laughed awkwardly, scuttling out of the shrub on his butt, “You noticed?”
Raine rolled his eyes. As if I'd be sloppy enough not to count every item that dropped in such a small skirmish. “I can tell you're not with Righteous, so I don't have a grudge with you. Yet.”
“Sorry, sorry. Here,” the teenager tossed a pair of armored pants on the ground, swallowing nervously, “I only wanted something for my efforts, yah know? Bastards chased me all the way here from Mirror Lake.”
“So that's why,” Raine nodded, picking up the pants and turning to leave.
“What, didn't think they were here for you, did yah?” The boy laughed again, then dove from his cover as an eagle crashed into the bush. His dodgeroll was too close of a mimicry to Raine’s for it to be a coincidence.
Observed only a few times, then copied me perfectly on his first try. Probably did the same to Froust. No wonder they chased him all the way here. Stealing techniques is a taboo the world won’t get over for a while.
Raine waved over his shoulder, “Doesn't matter. I was going to clash with them no matter what. This was as good a place as any. See you around, Rhino.”
The boy leaped to his feet and jumped away from the large bird hovering over him, “Wait. Do I know you from somewhere? Did you play Death's Door before this? Is that how you know those Righteous Knobs?”
Raine didn't respond, walking into Vile Peak Town with a satisfied smirk.
Just enough to build some interest. He was well known for being a squirrely guy. Without the bartering chip of settling his grudge against Righteous, I’ll have to recruit him the hard way. No way I’m going to miss out on one of the best dragoons in the entire Tri-glades.
Melani Feleday
Mel glanced at one of the old-school VR displays in the gaming corner of her cafe. She checked the time blinking steadily at the top of the screen, instantly growing annoyed that she’d done it again. She worked a few odd jobs before inheriting her father’s legacy, and the thing she disliked the most was constantly watching the time for when she would finally be free.
The cafe belonged to her now, and she could come and go as she wished. There was no reason to constantly check the time, no reason at all. Her fingers dug into the counter, a non-smile stretching her lips tight.
He’s not coming! Ugh. Why am I still here? I should have gone home an hour ago. No! Stop it. Just stop. You can do it, Melbell. If you’re going to be a psychic, you’ve got to learn some self control!
She was well aware, as was everyone, that psychics, and especially telepaths, were rounded up and trained by the government. All too often, they were never heard from again. Sure, their posterchilds were paraded around on the news, giving the illusion that everything happening at PsyCore was on the up-and-up.
If there's one thing you can trust about the news, it’s that the news always lies. No matter what, I can’t get caught, and that means controlling my thoughts!
“Man, what are we even doing here? I’d rather live at the office until I can afford a thetadrive. I’ll stay, but I’m not paying!”
“You know why we’re here, so keep it down.”
Mel held in a sigh at the innocent boys’ antics. They came in every day, ogling her enough that she would have to be braindead not to know why they kept coming back. She fixed her smile and stood up straight, not at all above looking pretty to keep her father’s dream alive. Their actual words registered, and she hummed to herself, picking up a rag and scrubbing at the already clean counter.
Hasn’t been fifteen minutes since the last person mentioned ZionLine. It just came out today! How is it so popular already? Is it because most can’t afford the headset to play? The heart wants what the heart can’t-No!
Her hand slammed on the counter, hard. She winced, every pair of eyes not sucked into a game turning to look at her. She resumed her previous chain of thought, this time being more careful not to think about the tall, mysterious, and very dangerous man.
I could fit at least seven full-size berth tubes if I replaced all the consoles on that wall. If I charged fifty credits an hour, that would be around eight thousand a day. Not to mention food, drinks and healthcare. So, ten thousand. The headsets are only fifteen thousand, and the berths are around twenty. I would recoup the costs in less than a month. Still, it's a risk. If the game doesn’t maintain its popularity…
What am I thinking? All business is a risk! And the higher the risk, the higher the reward. I’ve already got the Hypernet relay, which is the biggest upfront cost. I’m going to do it. But first, I should buy one and check the game out for myself.
The front door opened, playing a jingle from an old popular game. Mel jumped upon seeing Phenalie finally show up. She quickly went through the motions of preparing the girl’s usual drink. By the time she sat down at the counter and unstrapped from her headset, Mel slid her triple-dose of caffeine across the smooth wood, “Hey beautiful, how’s life?”
Phenalie smiled sweetly, shy as always by the honest compliments, “Um, really great actually. I got a huge tip earlier. Didn’t even do anything for it.” She sat at a nearby table so they could easily continue the conversation.
“I told you!” Mel exclaimed. She removed her apron and circled the counter to sit across from the girl, “You just gotta keep a smile on your face and do a decent job. Eventually someone takes notice.”
Phenalie tried to hide behind her cup, failing miserably, “No, I mean it. I really didn’t do anything. I have no idea why he did it. Such a weird guy.”
Mel nodded emphatically, “Ran into one of those myself recently. He’s actually staying at the motel. Tall guy, really big. He looks scary, but he’s nice.”
“Wait, that’s the guy who tipped me! He checked out today and gave me the rest of his week’s rent.”
“What?!” Mel’s jaw dropped, her mind completely failing to wrap around the reality that he vanished before she worked up the courage to ask for his Ncode.