I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. My body was on autopilot while my brain ran through various weapon skills I had ever used. I was trying to come up with how skills from each could be applied to everything from weapons to everyday objects. I was so engrossed in my meandering thoughts that I didn’t notice the scenery around me change until the sound of crunching stones and a warm breeze brought my attention back to the real world.
For hundreds of feet in every direction, the snow was gone. Dirt and grass were exposed to the air. Patches of it looked moist while others looked like they had been left to sit in the hot sun for days on end.
“Yeah,” Michael said as he took in the place. “The farmer here has a beetle problem.”
“Must be a fairly decent-sized group to heat up so much area in such a short period of time,” Victor stated from where he crouched. He dug a hand into the dirt and let it run through his fingers. “Might even have their own queen.”
A decent-sounding thwack came from Lance. One of his hands was wrapped around a fist as he excitedly spoke, “God I hope so.”
“We all know you like to hunt but try not to bite off more than you can chew.” Linda rose from where she sat, to stand on Michael’s shoulders. “You know as well as the rest of us that a queen is a rank D threat.”
“Thank the gods above,” Called a young male voice from our left. His accent was something rough and hard to pin down. It was thick enough that the thing made it hard to understand him. “Please tell me you were sent to deal with these damn pests. They are eat’n all of me stored seeds.”
“We are.” Michael nodded at him. “Can you tell us anything you know about the situation?”
The guy shook his head. “There isn’ much to tell that you that yah probably didn’t already know. Fucking hell, you likely know more about these fuckers than me.”
I took the opportunity to get closer to the man as I worked to understand him despite his accent. All the while, I was trying to learn what I could about the situation and the creatures. After all, who knew when I might have to go against these creatures myself? “Is there anything you can tell us?” Michael asked, “Any information would be helpful.”
“They came durin the day. A swarm larger than any I had ever seen before.” His eyes looked off in the distance as he recounted the event. “Blotting out the sun as they hovered over the farm. I only really noticed them as the light snow of the day turned into a soft drizzle.”
Wait, did that mean that the creatures were able to heat an area up? Was that a magical effect or some biological process? “They hovered there, high above me farm, for a couple of minutes before dive bombing their way to the ground. Me and my wife hid in our house,” the guy pointed at a hill just in sight. Now that I knew where to look, I was able to see the door. It was half hidden by a dirt mound.
“While me parents and other farmers told me stories, each pales in comparison to the actual event. I will never forget the sound their bodies made as they pounded into the ground.” He shuddered. “I had hoped that was the end of it but no, my luck wasn’t that good. The dirt wasn’t frozen enough to kill them on impact.”
Did he just say the creatures survived a high-speed impact with frozen dirt? Just what were these things made out of? Iron? Steel? “The next morning, as the sun rose, the creatures reawakened. Their droning hum echoed off these here hill hills. Sounding the death march for my farm.”
Michael laid a hand on the guy's shoulder. “Go inside and be with your wife. We will deal with things out here.” The guy looked like he was on the verge of crying. Instead of answering, he bowed and took off in the direction of the door. In mere moments, he vanished into his house. As soon as he was gone, Michael turned to the group. “Well, not as bad as it could have been.”
“Still not good though.” Patric pointed out. “You know as well as the rest of us how many it takes to warm up this large of a space in one night.”
Michael nodded, looking at me, likely to make sure I was paying attention. “At least a couple hundred.” He took a deep breath. His head swiveled toward the center of the circle. “Nothing to do about it but to kill them. Jeremiah, any chance you can force them to stay on the ground?”
“Depends,” Jeremiah swiped through an invisible screen. “Do you mind getting soaked?” I watched the group plan as I wondered how such a small group was hoping to deal with such overwhelming numbers.
“Too much water and the place will become a mud pit,” Lance pointed out.
“Or wash away entirely. Spreading the issue out and making it much harder to find and kill them all before they can multiply.” Linda added.
“Ok,” He swiped on the screen. Muttering as he went. “Tornado? No, that would just toss most of them far away. Hurricane has the same issue. Those three are useless here. Ah, what about,” Jeremiah’s voice rose as he offered another spell option. “How about Gale Force? I should be able to direct the wind downward, probably.” He didn’t sound all that confident, sounding more like he was guessing it would work.
Not that the rest of the group seemed to mind. Each nodded at Michael before he gestured for the mage to get to work. Jeremiah walked away. Heading around the edge of the circle he muttered. One of his hands down at his side, pointer and middle fingers pointed toward the ground as the rest curled together in his palm. The other hand made some random-looking and sweeping gestures. Going from the ground to the sky at times to making circles in the air.
“Victor, Kyren, head over to the top of the farmer's house. Kill anything that tries to escape or heads your way.” Victor grabbed my arm, pulling me after him as he moved to follow Michael’s order. The rest of the group broke out their weapon of choice. Lance whipped a few thin knives out of a hidden thigh sheath. They sliced through the air as he moved through a couple of positions before returning them to their places on his leg. From his belt sheaths, he pulled out knives that looked longer than my forearms as he repeated the cutting motions.
A small staff made of a metal so red that it teetered toward black in color appeared in Linda’s hands. She gestured with it, lips set in a thin line as she focused on something.
Patric pulled out his own small blades but also checked over a pouch built into his armor that I hadn't noticed before.
Of the group, Michael was the most showy of them all. In one hand he held a giant axe made of a mix of bleached bone. Coupled with a white metal, the material shone as the sunlight hit it. The other hand hefted a shield nearly as tall as him made of a dark wood with some gold-colored metal set into it. The way the metal had been added in seemed deliberate rather than for looks or decoration. Almost as if the creator had some purpose for the metal that wasn’t related to structure or looks.
As I watched, the two objects started to glow. The emitted light increased in scope until it covered his body and the area immediately around him. If I had to guess, given Michael’s class and position in the group during a battle, it was likely some ability that increased defense or something.
As soon as we reached the peak of the hill, Victor pulled out a beautiful bow made of a crimson-red wood with blue metallic accents. “Stay there and stay quiet.” He muttered toward me as he strung his bow. “Do not try and interfere unless something is about to hit you.”
“But…”
“No buts.” He glared at me. “We have been fighting long enough to know what to expect. You jumping in to help will only make everything worse. Hell, someone would probably get hurt trying to save you.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but no words came. My mind was blank as every possible excuse vanished. There was nothing I could do and we both knew it. I looked out at the group. What I found was a group that looked like they were used to this. None of them looked hesitant or nervous. Almost like they had participated in such battles dozens of times before.
Their postures did not change much. Just little things here and there. Alone, the changes were meaningless. Taken as a group, however, even I could tell that they were each ready to move in any direction. Able to react to anything.
They also stayed silent. None of them joked or talked about something meaningless. Not even to discuss strategies or plans. If I had to guess, each probably already knew where to go and where everyone else was going to be.
Jeremiah panted as he joined us on top of the hill, nodding at Victor. Victor grabbed the string of his bow and pulled it back. He didn’t string an arrow as he readied to fire on the barn. “Wake them up!” Michael’s order was close to a roar. In response, Jeremiah fired. I cringed, as I thought he had just dry-fired his bow.
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Something flashed out of the end of his bow. A white shimmering object streaked toward his target, briefly leaving a line connecting him with the barn. Something made an audible thump inside the barn followed by a small crackle and pop of something glass bursting. For a brief moment, nothing happened.
The silence didn’t last long. Whatever Victor had fired into the barn did something to piss the creatures inside off. A deep droning buzz filled the air. While it was loud, I felt it more in the chest than anything. The noise rapidly rose in both volume and tone. From my vantage point, I saw Lance’s ears flatten against his head as his tail twitched in agitation.
Then it just stopped. One moment it was nearly loud enough to force me to cover my ears, the next the place was as silent as the grave. I frantically looked around. Trying to figure out what was going on. The only thing I noticed was how calm the rest of the group was. They all sat in silence until Jeremiah seemed to suddenly decide that it needed to be filled and called out, “The person with the least number of kills buys the first round.”
Everyone groaned but kept their eyes on the target as they readjusted their weapons. Victor pulled the string of his bow back. A bright crimson rod formed where an arrow would typically rest.
A dark green wave exploded out of the barn door. The light from the sun high above shimmered as whatever it was charged our group. As he was the closest to the group, they rushed towards Michael. Looking almost like a wave of water, they splashed against his planted shield. Most were diverted left and right, but a fair few exploded upwards. They didn’t get far. At nearly twenty feet up, they encountered something that shot them back toward the ground.
Whatever force was acting on them caused a ripple to flow over the wave. The sudden attack using their brethren from above caused parts of the stream to pinch and bunch up. Victor, seeing an opening, took advantage of the bunched-up sections. His prepared arrow flashed out and impacted one of their bodies. Red light flared before exploding into a fireball as wide as my chest.
He continued to fire as the rest of the group charged in. His arrows targeted the denser sections while the rest of the party took on the stragglers, survivors, and those trying to escape. Unfortunately, I was unable to watch any one fight for very long. My eyes had to flicker from person to person, target to target as I tried to catch as much of the fight as I could.
What I saw amazed me. Patric repeated his vanishing act. Popping up behind, below, and even above a cluster. His knives slashed out a few times before he vanished again. Moving to take on another group as Lance finished the previous group off.
Lance’s arms were a blur as he slashed at the clusters with his hands. His knives sat in their sheaths, unused, as he used what looked like claws. Not that it made a difference. With every slash, bodies fell.
Linda made crazy and wild gestures. I couldn’t see what she was doing, just that she was pushing and pulling her hands in the direction of one person or another. All while, she stayed behind Michael.
Michael, for his part, stood there like a statue, the light coming off him like a beacon even during the day. His axe only moved when the waves tried to go around him. As soon as he did that, they reoriented on him and he returned to blocking their attacks with his shield.
A small cluster managed to make it through their blockade. They ignored the rest of the group as they charged in the direction of the only other enemies in the area; us. In panic, I pulled out my sword. While I didn’t know how to use it, it couldn’t be that hard. I just had to remember that the sharp side goes into the enemy.
As the small cluster approached, the world seemed to slow down, allowing me to see the beetles for the first time. Their vibrant green carapaces glimmered in the light while their wings vibrated through the air. A humming sound joined with the clacking of their mandibles as they chewed at the air. The sound promised pain and maybe even death if they were allowed to get to me.
I didn’t move. I couldn't. I was frozen there. My body refused to move. In the back of my mind, I knew this was a game but it just felt so real. The pain as something stabbed, burned, or otherwise hurt me would feel real. It would feel like it was happening to me and not some avatar on a screen. The very possibility of feeling such pain caused my mind to stall out.
Add to that the fact that I didn’t want to find out how death worked here. Even if I knew I would respawn. Death was still death, I would still feel it. I also knew that if I didn’t move, or defend myself, I was more likely to die than if I stood here and did nothing. But, still, I could not move. Even as I watched the beetles as their clicking mandibles closed in on me. I could not move. It was almost as if my body and mind refused to move. Refused to fight back against the death that they thought was inevitable.
My heartbeat, already going a mile a minute, sped up until it practically vibrated in my chest. Adrenaline surged ever faster through my veins. My eyes focused on the clicking mandibles that looked like they could rend my flesh with ease. As the world around me faded, I watched the shadow of death approach.
As suddenly as the attack came, it ended. A sharp knife sliced up and through the closest creature. It cut through the carapace as if it were nothing more than a piece of paper. The weapon changed course as it flowed from one attack to another. It sliced and gutted creature after creature as they charged at me.
Not that they let a little thing like being eviscerated or even having their wings removed stop them from reaching their target. Their mandibles clicked as they continued to charge me. Those with enough momentum to make it the rest of the way to me even without their wings hit my skirt and bounced off. The sticky transparent green liquid that squirted from their bodies was only made worse by the veritable puddle of it that trailed them.
Though I wanted to throw up, I was happy to find that the majority of the creatures did no damage. A glint of light drew my attention back to the knife as it was placed into a sheath. The hand that had been using it returned to its position on the bow. Without a second of hesitation, Victor pulled the string to his cheek. A cheek that moved as he said something. The combination of rushing blood and my stalled-out brain prevented me from hearing a word of what he said.
A light breeze caused the hem of my skirt to brush against my leg moments before two sharp stings stabbed into my right leg. Tears welled up and my jaw tightened as the pain steamrolled me. As it did so, it brought with it yet another shot of adrenaline. In panic, my head spun around as I frantically searched for the source of the pain.
Sticking out of my right leg, with a small but growing spot of red, clung two of the heads. Each flexed as the pain continued to flare. I stood there transfixed. Unable to do anything as I watched their movements slow and, eventually, stop.
Not thinking, I reached down, wrapped a hand around one of the palm-sized heads, and gave it a sharp yank. The mandibles must have still been clamped down, even in death, because the head took a thumb-sized chunk out of my leg. Blood gushed out of the wound. As more adrenaline surged through my system, the pain seemed to fade away.
The amount of blood should have caused me to stop. To think about the consequences of my next action, but it didn’t. I didn’t pause before I yanked out the second head. It took with it yet more flesh and muscle.
Suddenly I felt lightheaded as everything around me started to go fuzzy. While blinking brought the world back into focus, it lasted maybe a second before unfocusing again. As I mentally fought with my eyes, I didn’t pay attention to my surroundings. Not noticing that I was no longer looking down at my bleeding legs but up at the clear sky. A red flashing bell icon flickering on and off in the corner of my vision.
“Warning. Your health is critical. It is recommended that you find a suitable healer.” Came my AI’s voice. It sounded soothing. I must have said the words out loud because the AI’s voice became more stern. “Get some fucking healing!”
That managed to snap me out of my stupor. My mind worked overtime as I forced it to focus. Before I could fall back into my previous state, I bit my cheek with as much force as I could muster. A coppery tang covered my tongue showing just how deep I managed to bite. My mouth filled with saliva as fast as I could swallow it. Using the act of swallowing as an anchor to this moment, I worked to get up.
As soon as I tried to sit up, the world spun with enough force to knock me back to the ground. That was not a good sign. Either the beetles had some sort of poison or I had lost quite a bit of blood already. Given that I had no way to deal with poison, I focused on staunching the bleeding.
I tried again, but this time I rolled to one side. While my head still spun, the move worked. I found myself in a half-fetal position. As long as I didn’t mind breathing in shallow breaths, I would be free to examine the wounds on my legs.
There were two deep wounds. While there was a ton of blood around them, almost none of it was new. If anything, the wounds looked like they were already healing on their own. Scabs covered most of the exposed muscle. The only part that still bled were the top layers. Even that was more of an oozing than anything else. Given that I was still a low-level player, not much different than a typical human according to the system, I doubted that I was healing because of my stats.
Pulling up my character sheet, I looked for anything that might be affecting me.
Name:
Kyren Vulpier
Race:
Human
Level:
1
Class:
XP:
95/100
HP:
21/115
HP Regen:
15.5% (17.83) per hour*
MP:
130
MP Regen:
+14.5% (18.85) per hour*
Current Ailments:
Bleeding* (Fading)
Damaged Muscle – Right Leg*
Current Buffs:
Newbie Protection*
Damage Transfer (Group Spell)*
As I read over the new ailments, and wincing the effect, the Bleeding ailment disappeared. With a quick glance at the wounds, I confirmed that even the weeping had stopped as the wounds finished scabbing over. Rereading the other ailment, I shuddered at the thought of how much it was going to affect my ability to even walk if I didn’t get it healed.
Trying to distract myself from the bad news, I glanced over the group spell buff. My eyebrows rose as I took in what it was saying. In effect, it transferred a set amount of damage from me, and everyone else in the spell, to the caster’s designated target. Given that there was only one healer in the group, this had to be the result of one of Linda’s spells. But who had she designated to take the damage? Who was paying the price to keep me alive? Who had saved me by taking the damage themselves?