My body ached and my head was killing me…again. Even the sunlight that entered my room felt like it was stabbing my eyes. If I wanted to get away from the damn light and the pain it brought, I would have to wake up. Which meant I had to first open the damned things.
Ever so slowly, I worked them open. It was slow going but eventually, I got to the point where everything around me wasn’t a blurry collection of color and shapes. The blurs sharpened and the shapes resolved into the wood ceiling above my bed. Given the wood and the soft mattress, I was sure that I could safely assume that I was still inside the game.
Mentally, I tried to figure out what had happened and how I had gotten into bed. Did I drink too much? Get beaten up? What had happened?
The last thing I could recall was a creep’s taunting and something about him finding me in real life if I tried to run. Everything after that was shrouded in some sort of haze. But, given how badly I was getting my ass handed to me at the time, I was fairly sure that I had lost. Which meant that I had just lost my freedom for at least a day. Of course, it wasn’t like I could be used in the way he thought.
But wait, if I lost, then why was I back in my room? While I was thankful, wouldn’t the creep have taken me to his room to play with his new toy? Sick of simply guessing and speculating, I asked my AI “Where is that fucker?” Hopefully the stupid system would understand who I was talking about.
“Trenton Vargus is still in limbo after being killed by you.” While the AI sounded a bit proud at this, my mind reeled at the information. I cheered at my victory but a small part of me felt confused because there was no way I could have won that fight. With a sigh, I pulled up my character's logs.
A ton of the information on it was old and useless. Pages and pages of information had built up since the last time I had looked. After a bit of skimming, I found the section that contained the information I was looking for. Not only did the log say I had won, but it listed every gain I got from the fight. From the level I gained to the stat points I had gotten. It even listed the points my class gave me and the skills I had managed to gain or level.
One of which I had no clue how I had gained. I mean, in what world would an opponent let me pick up his weapon? Not that I was complaining. The skill managed to bring my strength up enough to rid myself of my one debuff. Too bad nothing would help with the other debuff. For the next hour, I would have to deal with Mana Exhaustion. Then again, it was enough time to get some food and figure out what I wanted to do today.
The aches in my joints and limbs worked themselves out as I made my way downstairs, mostly. It was good enough that I could ignore it. Especially when I got distracted by a notification that popped up the moment I stepped into the very empty first floor.
Quest:
Gobble Gobble
Quest Type:
Extermination – Unranked
Description:
With the last of the frost thawing and the nearby swamp land warming up, the nearby Mud Gobbler population has exploded in population prompting the birth of a new Matriarch. The newly split population has an eye on Proxima and its surrounding lands. Kill the Matriarch before it settles in.
Requirements:
Hold back the swarm and kill the Matriarch.
Reward:
Mud Gobbler Grunt – 1 Copper, 1 XP
Mud Gobbler Soldier – 10 Copper, 15 XP
Mud Gobbler Berserker – 20 Copper, 75 XP
Mud Gobbler Guard – 1 Silver, 100 XP
Mud Gobbler Mage – 5 Silver, 250 XP
Mud Gobbler Assassin – 5 Silver, 250 XP
Mud Gobbler Head Guard – 25 Silver, 1,000 XP
Mud Gobbler Matriarch – 100 Gold, 10,000 XP
Failure:
Farms will be destroyed and the town will become a haven for Mud Gobblers.
Well, that explained why the place was empty. Everyone was out killing these things. “What can I get you?” The sound of a woman's voice next to me nearly caused me to leap for the ceiling. My attention went from the quest information to the room around me in an instant. I found myself seated at one of the smaller tables near one of the walls. Which was odd as I didn’t even recall walking, let alone finding a spot to sit.
With a mental flick, I closed the window and turned to look at the woman. “What is available for breakfast?”
“As most of the staff is out participating in the emergency quest, our options are quite limited.” While she spoke she looked as though she was trying to figure something out. “We have pancakes, breakfast burritos, or biscuits and gravy.”
The instant she said burritos, I wanted one. She took off to get a few for me as well as some juice. As I would be going after a few creatures, I went to pull my Chisa Katana out of my inventory to give it a once-over only to find that it was missing. Frantically, I tried to figure out when I had last seen it.
Which just happened to be during the fight last night. The thing was thrown from my hand as I took a hit. Before I could freak out about losing the thing, I recalled one of the first things I had spent some of the upgrade points on. While I didn’t know how a Soul Bound item would work in this game, I knew how it worked in others. Either the weapon would reappear in my inventory on its own or other people would be simply unable to pick it up.
Given that the weapon wasn’t in my possession now, it was either buried in the sand at the arena, waiting for me to retrieve it, or someone had carried it back with me. While my room was larger than my apartment, there were no real places for such a weapon to hide. Which left the arena.
With a resigned sigh at not being able to take my time enjoying breakfast, I ate everything in record time and started for the door. As I passed near where Ginny sat with her head buried in a book, she looked up. Before I could cross the threshold, she called out. “Oi, Kyren. I got your sword.” The dwarven woman practically vanished as she went into the back. It took her only a moment before she came back with my Chisa Katana.
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She looked like she was uncomfortable. Almost looking as if she had an itch she was too busy to deal with at that moment. As she thrust the blade into my hands the uneasy look vanished.
“Thank you,” I said as I gave the weapon a once over. It looked just as it had the night before, albeit, missing a few points in durability.
“Try not to lose it again.” She sounded like she wanted to lecture me but thankfully managed to hold herself back. “Not many would be willing to deal with the discomfort and pain of picking up a Soul Bound weapon for long enough to return the damn thing.” I sheepishly thanked her as I put the sword away and walked out of the building.
The streets were packed with people going to and fro. But not like normal. Every person I saw looked like they suffered from overindulging or were in a rush. The ones in a rush carried piles of supplies. Each of which was large enough to block their view of the street, not that that stopped them from running around.
I doubted these people were stocking up after the large festival. They looked too frightened for that. If anything, they looked like they were getting ready to flee at a moment's notice. Which kind of told me everything I had to know about this quest. While the quest description made it out to be something that happened every year, that didn’t mean that victory was guaranteed.
The town passed by quickly as I thought over the implications and possibilities. I only really started to pay attention to the world around me as I stepped through the gate. Everything looked different.
Each large hill was still covered in plants, but they were partially buried by mud. The worst of which was, naturally, in the valleys. In every direction, I could hear the sounds of one group or another fighting. Some used magic while others used their weapons to fight groups of creatures.
Of course, in common video game fashion, we were not the only ones with access to magic or weapons. Large frog-looking creatures were visible. Many with weapons and armor of one sort or another. All of which were covered in layers of wet mud. Mud that they happened to fling at an opponent when given a chance.
I wasn’t given long to sit and look over the field of battle. A mud bubble popping to my immediate left started me. My jump was likely the only reason the creature missed. Its bastard sword whiffed through the air a mere inch from my skin.
“Fuck!” I cried out as I yanked my sword out of my inventory. The creature's follow-up attack caused me to stagger as its blade slid down the length of my weapon before getting caught between the blade and the guard.
Given how easily I was being forced back, the creature was much stronger than me. So I cheated. I took a second to call up a fireball spell and targeted its eyes. The moment the ball struck the creature, a small steam explosion caused the creature to reel back. While the steam likely did little to hurt the creature, it was enough to give me the opening I needed.
My sword slipped out, around and across its chest. With a final cry, the creature's chest spurt green ichor as it collapsed to the mud. Not that I had time to celebrate. Its falling body gave me a clear view of the three that were rushing up the hill behind it. I had the higher ground but, with how hard it was to move around without slipping, they had the environmental advantage on top of a numerical advantage. I had no choice but to take the initiative. If I didn’t, I had no chance.
Fire also didn’t look like it was going to do much damage against the creatures. Which left me with two options, using an element I had little practice with, or going full-in on physical attacks.
Unlike the previous creature, the weapons in front of me were made of stone or wood. When I struck out, my sword cut through the old and partially rotten club like it was made of butter. While the lack of resistance caused me to stumble, I recovered nearly instantly. I even managed to somehow continue the strike and kill the creature.
My motion carried me toward my next opponent and away from the third. As I twirled around my dress billowed out. I was sure that if someone looked at me at that moment, I looked like some noblewoman playing at swords.
The large and unwieldy stone weapon caught the edge of my blade. My blade deflected down the length of the weapon and into the creature's hand. From where I stood, the stone weapon looked like a rocket as it flew off. Green blood spurted from the stumps that had held fingers but moments ago.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to deal the final blow to the screaming creature. I dodged to the left as the final creature took advantage of my exposed back. While its attack missed me, the attack did hit its comrade in mud, ending its suffering.
With a single strike, I ended the creature while it tried to yank its weapon out of its buddy's corpse. The four bodies went into my inventory while I debated how to find my next target. As I had seen nothing to suggest that they used mana, I didn’t think my Mana Sense would be all that effective. Not when the mud was practically steeped in Water and Earth mana. So much so that I could see it in the air. That left physically looking around to find my targets. Which didn’t take long. Not with there being a creature one hill over with its eyes locked onto me.
The trip down the hill was nerve-wracking. My feet slipped and slid as the mud threatened to send me for a fast and dirty ride with nearly every step. Eventually, though, I made it to the bottom. Next up, climbing the hill.
To say this was harder than going down the hill would be an understatement. A misplaced foot would have sent me, along with a bunch of mud, back to the bottom in an instant.
But at least I could now say I could swim in mud. That might not sound all that hard but have you ever tried it? While floating in it wasn’t all that hard, the thick liquid made every move slow going. Every stroke towards the edge used more energy while simultaneously providing little to no movement.
Of course, the moment I got out of the mud pit, the next set of creatures stumbled upon me. There were five of the damn things this time. Four of whom carried makeshift weapons while the last one carried a rusted iron sword longer than its arm.
I slipped and slid to get out of the way just as two of the group charged. As if they had anticipated my dodge the other two charged at my new location. The lack of traction prevented me from changing direction or speeding up.
My left arm screamed as it took a direct strike while my right one swung my sword through the arms of his partner. The creature’s wail was high-pitched and shrill. It sounded almost as if it was trying to use sound to cut through my skull.
I ignored it as best as I could as I focused on the creature preparing its next strike. While my left arm didn’t thank me for the abuse, I had it take a second hit while my right took the creature's feet out from under it.
With two creatures down, the other three charged at me. Two of them, having passed me when I had dodged, charged in from behind and to the right while their stronger cousin charged from directly ahead. Of course, the stronger of the three was the one to wield the best weapon leaving me no choice but to deal with him first.
Mana pulsed out of me as I cast my Mana Sense out. My head started to pound as my Mana Sense poured information into my head due to the sheer amount of mana in the area.
I didn’t know what was worse; the fact that the place brimmed with mana or that the creatures were jam-packed with the stuff. It almost didn’t make sense until I recalled how this place looked just the day before. While there had been hills and dirt, there had been nowhere near this amount of water, let alone mud. So either the weather had dumped a lake's worth of water late last night, or the creatures were somehow responsible.
I didn’t have time to contemplate more than that as one of the creatures behind me swung their weapon horizontally. It would have been easy to block if the creature in front of me hadn’t taken that chance to do the same thing. As my mind raced, I switched my blade over to my left arm while my right blocked the club.
Being right-handed, my left arm was not as strong and it showed the instant our blades connected. If not for the wrapped handle, I would have lost my sword yet a second time. Given my luck, it would have dropped into one of the mud puddles and vanished for good. Before I could readjust or even attack either creature, the third one struck. Its strike to my shoulder felt like a truck had hit it. I cried out in pain as I staggered under the blow.
Before I could right myself, something landed on my back and drove me into the mud-covered ground. Another weight landed on my back, pushing me deeper into the mud. While I struggled to breathe, I tried to make out what my overwhelmed Mana Sense was telling me. One of the creatures on my back was missing legs while the other lacked everything below their elbows.
They both worked to hold me down as their buddies circled around. The weapon strikes came rapid fire as they hit anything and everything they could. Not even caring that they hit those holding me down. The little amount of damage that made it through to me was nothing compared to what they suffered.
I don’t know why, but, at that moment, the image of the SoulStone came to me. Something told me that I could kill the group and get away if I used it. Then again, that was like using a flamethrower against a spider. Would some people do it? Sure, but a rolled-up magazine could do the same thing with less waste.
Still, the thought spawned another idea. While I didn’t have much experience with the other elements at my disposal, what was the harm in using them now? It wasn’t like they could get me in any more trouble than I was already in. Right?