CHAPTER TWO: INSECT FIELDS

"Fuck these fucking bugs!" Andrew yells, swinging his hammer wildly in the air, splattering bug guts everywhere.

"Yeah they're annoying." AvatarPyro swings his sword, fanning away a few. He glances at Wundah who is staring blankly at the floor, "Yo dude you've been quiet since that clash with the Swordsman. You alright?"

A look of silent frustration on his face, "Who the hell was that guy! Dammit he was good!"

"They probably know more about this world too." Andrew puts his hammer away.

"True shit, plus they could have been good teammates, like how we took down that Cozazaza so quick." He clenches his fists.

"Bugs, bugs and more bugs." Andrew scratches his chest, "Hmm what kind of bug monsters were there?"

He turns to the two that were thinking loudly, "Seza and Giant Seza?" AvatarPyro says.

"That's so weird." A troubled look on Andrew's face.

"What is?" Wundah's eyes widen.

"Lightning in the distance." A ball of electricity flies overhead, in the distance a clash between a pack of Zinzo, giant electric wolf dragons and the two Adventurers is booming.

Without hesitation, Wundah sprints full speed towards the fight, "Let's go!"

The Zinzo are howling, sparks flying everywhere, "What the hell is up with these!" The Swordsman swings his Long Sword but is blocked by three Zinzo in unison, they counter attack right away as a single unit.

The girl with the bow is occupied by a Zinzo who keeps deflecting her arrows. Wundah jumps and slashes its neck. The Zinzo roars and flails around. Wundah rolls on the floor as sparks go flying. The other two Adventurers are rushing to support the Swordsman who's surrounded by three Zinzo. Andrew flings AvatarPyro into the air with his hammer, the Swordsman throws a Flashbang and the Zinzo can't see. AvatarPyro crashes down on one, the head falling to the floor. Andrew bashes the hind leg of one and crushes the face, breaking its horns and jaw. The last Zinzo is cut down by the Swordsman, it begins wailing in agony before falling silent.

A deep growl returns the scream from the distance, "What the fuck is that!" AvatarPyro screams.

"Holy shit." Andrew grips his hammer.

"Oh no." The Swordsman has panic in his eyes, "Lawa get behind us!" He yells at the girl as he rushes ahead.

"Let's do this!" Wundah sprints next to him.

They branch off and spread out, "We hold the line and fight bravely! I got your backs!" Andrew yells.

"If things get messy then bail!" AvatarPyro runs with his sword.

"I got your back guys!" Lawa yells from the top of a boulder as she fires arrows into the distance.

"Our first Elder Dragon, let's do this!" Wundah clears his mind and steadies his hands.

In the distance, towering high into the sky is a massive black Zinzo with red sparks flying from its body and hitting the floor next to it. It howls and more howls are returned from the ten fearless Zinzo that march next to their leader. The Adventurers clutch their weapons, ready for battle. The next few minutes are tense, the Zinzo are taking their pick, choosing what Adventurer to fight. Three for Wundah, the Elder and two others for the Swordsman, three for AvatarPyro and two for Andrew. They howl as sparks fill the air. The ten make their way slowly across the field, the moment is tense, the Adventurers slow their breathing, ready for the battle ahead. The ten rush and begin to swarm.

"We got this!" Wundah screams as the Adventurers charge ahead. They're spread out, facing their chosen enemies.

As the two Zinzo approach Wundah he slashes their front legs while sliding, making them fall over. He follows up with a deadly combo of slashes, tearing their necks open. AvatarPyro sprints and slides under the first Zinzo, driving his sword in the underbelly, it's guts falling to a heap on the floor. The other Zinzo dives at him, but he throws his sword, burrowing deep in the Zinzo’s chest. It falls over with a groan. Andrew is in full rage mode, he sprints as fast as he can and plants his feet on the floor, thrusting upward with all of his strength and upper cutting the Zinzo with his hammer, its head explodes, chunks of meat splatters on the other Zinzo who loses its footing and tries to run away while whimpering, but Andrew throws his hammer and causes it to trip and fall. Andrew jumps on its back and claws his way to the head and shoves his thumbs in the eyes, then starts to punch the Zinzo, hammer fisting it with both hands. It wails in pain as Andrew beats it to death. The Swordsman is rushing towards the Elder and two Zinzo, Lawa is out of arrows, all she has is a small dagger. He must defend her at all costs, he grips his sword as he thinks aloud, "Slice the legs, aim for the big one." He rushes and slices, but the two Zinzo run straight into his move, they throw themselves at him, but it was too easy. He turns around, the Elder is face to face with Lawa, as the two small ones distracted him, the Elder jumped over. The claws as big as Greatswords, it's about to strike, Lawa closes her eyes, there is nothing she can do, his eyes widen, his body moves on his own, "Nooo!" A thud fills the air.

The Elder holds the Swordsman up in the air and then throws him at Lawa, who falls to the ground. The Elder slowly walks up to her and strikes, but is blocked by Andrew's Hammer, "We got this, make sure to heal him!"

Lawa nods her head and rushes to the Swordsman. The three Adventurers are working together, fending off the Elder. Diving, jumping off each others weapons, attacking, and pushing the Elder away from Lawa and the Swordsman.

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The Swordsman coughs, blood falling down the side of his mouth, he coughs a few more times, his chest plate torn to pieces, his body oozing blood, "I don't think I'm going to make it."

Lawa is crying, "No! You'll be fine! Here take it! Take it!" She pulls out a Health Pill, her hand shaking as she tries to force it into his mouth, "Don't go!"

"I...love..you...goodbye Lawa." His arms go limp, his body stiff as his eyes stare into oblivion.

Lawa presses the Health Pill to his lips, "Don't leave, I love you. I love you!" His body shatters into many blue fragments and floats into the air, disappearing. All that is left is his sword. She wipes her tears and picks it up, "You fucking dragon!" She sprints towards the Elder.

The Elder wants to test her skill, and she hasn't used the Long Sword in ages, but the feeling, she almost remembers it. She swings, but the weight is different than how she remembers, much more than the Bow. She swings and misses, the Adventurers try to help, "No! This is my fight! Please let me kill it!" She pleads to the Adventurers, who hesitate but back off, and stand there ready to step in if she needs help. The Elder chuckles, taunts her, plays with his prey. It made a huge mistake, she's gotten used to the blade, way before the Bow, her Long Sword skills were unmatched. A gleam in her eyes, she jumps high into the air, so high that she's right next to his face, she swings with her right hand and the Elder moves to dodge, but that swing was a bluff, she flings the sword around her head and catches it with her left hand then slashes its eye. Shocked at her level of power, it begins to panic and take things seriously. It leaps backwards and begins to howl, energy glowing red, lightning surging into his body, the fight has just begun.

It lunges, but she is too quick, three more big leaps, but she is too fast. She deflects his claws with the sword and continues dodging the attacks. It creates a shockwave of energy, shooting into the sky above, she rolls, each bolt of energy missing by inches. She's smiling, she has him right where she wants him, his foot lands on something sticky, a thick paste, it can't move. While it was surging she crafted and set it up, she dashes to the leg and slashes hard, cutting it off. The beast howls in pain as it turns over on its belly, she chops its claws off as it groans in pain, she leaps on its head and begins to pry its mouth open with her arm and foot. She pulls out her dagger as the Elder tries to squirm away, but it is too injured to move. She chuckles, "Watch me, look at me and feel every ounce of pain as I do this. You've killed the person I hold most dear, oh Lubos, my love." She begins carving out every tooth in the Elder's mouth, it winces in pain. She sets them in a pile as the three watch.

"Should we stop her?" Andrew asks.

"Nah, I would do the same for any of you." Wundah says, taking a seat.

"True, it deserves this." AvatarPyro sits as well.

"Oh well, fuck it." Andrew takes a seat.

She gouges out his eyeballs and shoves her sword down his throat. Items pop up in their inventory. She presses a few things on the small screen in front of her, pitch black armor covers her body, her helmet shows her face, across her chest is a necklace of fangs. She presses some more buttons while holding his sword, the blade becomes black, but the handle stays the same. She sheathes the sword and wipes the tears from her cheek, "Thanks for coming to help us you guys."

"No worries, I'm sorry about your loss." Andrew bumps her fist.

"He will always be a great swordsman, forever in my memories." Wundah bumps her fist.

"I'm sorry, where will you go now? You're more than welcome to come with us." AvatarPyro bumps her fist.

"It's fine, thank you. I am forever in your debt. I'm going to finish what we started." She walks away into the distance, far, far away, until she can not be seen.

Our Adventurers continue onward, there isn't much they can do but move forward into the abyss. They cross through a valley, there are trees covering the right side, to the left there is a mountain full of white stones. The path they walk is narrow, the air is stale and quiet.

"Well, what's new guys?" AvatarPyro asks, kicking a rock.

"That move she did against the Elder, I gotta learn it." Wundah mimics the motions with his hands.

"I killed a Zinzo with my hands, what kind of sorcery is this?" Andrew chuckles while rubbing his chest.

"That was brutal as fuck, like holy shit dude!" Wundah's eyes widen.

They walk over a small stream, "True shit." AvatarPyro looks up at the clear blue sky, the small clouds floating overhead, the long neck of the crawling titan of a dragon, the Tizah staring them down at them from the top of the mountain, "Holy shit fuck balls Tizah!" AvatarPyro screams and the three grab their weapons as the Tizah lets out a vicious roar that sends the massive mountain boulders flying towards them.

The roar is returned by five more, all of whom are rushing down the mountain with fangs glared. The three rush into the treeline in different directions. AvatarPyro to the far left, Andrew down the middle, and Wundah to the far right. Four Tizah follow AvatarPyro, one follows Andrew and one follows Wundah.

"Ah shit really!" AvatarPyro screams, sprinting while glancing over his shoulder, puddles of drool falling from the Tizah’s mouth as he runs towards the closest one and slides underneath, deflecting a claw that barely misses his face. He jumps off of its arm and spins while swinging his sword to deflect the second Tizah tail, causing him to fly towards a nearby tree. He pushes off of the tree trunk and slices the first Tizah in the side of the neck. It falls down with a grunt but there is no time to celebrate, Tizah two is rushing at him with Tizah three and four, a single line of destruction, a train of claws and teeth. It's too late to dodge so he plants his Greatsword into the ground and braces for impact. From both sides Wundah and Andrew jump into view, Wundah slashes the neck of the Tizah, while Andrew smashes the jaw of the other. They crash into the middle Tizah, who begins to roll on the floor. AvatarPyro lifts up his sword, piercing the throat and sticking far out the other side as the Tizah lets out a final croak.

"Holy shit." AvatarPyro dusts himself off, items appear in their inventory.

"Dude that was intense!" Wundah is running a Sharpening Stone along his sword.

"We came just in time! Wooh!" Andrew is poking the Tizahs eye with his finger.

"Thanks guys. Fuck." AvatarPyro grips his sword with two hands and wiggles it out of the throat.

"I got used to the neck slash, it feels so natural and I get faster at it each time. Acquired skill by practice maybe?" Wundah sheathes his sword.

"True shit, the hammer feels heavier and more powerful every time I do the head smash." Andrew scratches his belly.

"Yeah, I get what you mean, our reaction times are getting better too." AvatarPyro flings the blood off of his sword and begins to sharpen it.

"Well, looks like the Mines is next on the map." Wundah says, walking through the line of trees. In the side of the hill ahead there is a small opening, a single mine shaft.

"This looks sketch as fuck." Andrew looks up at the dusty wooden pillars that hold the mine up.

"Only one way to go through." AvatarPyro presses buttons on his inventory, a torch appears, lighting the pathway. Our Adventurers make their way down the old dusty pathway into the dark and dangerous mine shaft.