The message came through in the guild chat. It was in red so it was hard to miss it. Also a warning message made a sound to notify people that they need to read this as soon as possible and would keep on pinging every minute until you read it. It read as followed.
“We are going into battle in 3 days time. Those of you that can make it back to the capital in that time are obligated to do so. Those that cannot, have 8 days to get to the small town of Tanaris to the west in Heaven kingdom. Those combat classes that cannot make it and do not give a good reason why will be punished. More information will be given before we set out from the capital.”
This was an interesting development. The continent only recently started to experience large scale battle where guilds fought for control in regions. It seemed only a matter of time before the Brotherhood of Steel got involved. They were not sure if they were going to attack another guild or they will be defending, but all will be explained. The 3 days passed quickly. They used this time to go back to the capital from the dungeon of Mogul. Tinker went to the green house to collect samples for new potions.
Fortunately another worker helped him and not Peggy. It took him a day to stop at all three the places and after that he spent most of his time at Tristan’s office at his workbench. Tristan did no help make potions and just watched now and again when he was not working. He claimed he did not mind Tinker making potions here as long as he gave 1 of each different potion he made. Tinker did not mind, sure he would be losing money but the knowledge and Alchemy book Tristan had given him was worth far more. He focused mainly on making 3 types of potions. Those that Fortify stats, health and mana regeneration and poisons. He did not see much of the group, the others kept busy and made their own preparations for war.
At the start of the third day it was Saturday morning in the real world. So a lot of people were logged on. Major had planned it like this. With almost all the members gathered in the guild hall he stood up and started to speak.
“Greetings everybody as all of you know we are going to battle. The why and how I will get to in a moment. First of all normally it takes about a week to get to Tanaris from here, but I have rented horses so that all of you can ride their and arrive as soon as possible. The journey to Tanaris would take 4 days and on the 5th you will attack. It will be Sunday for most of you in the real world so time would not be a problem. Now the reason we are attacking. Our allies the Panthers owned Tanaris and the surrounding area. They are not a strong guild and focus more on production of goods and sales than raiding. The Pharaohs are a normal raiding guild that claimed the area through right of conquest for the extra money income.
We do not have an accurate count of their numbers but a good estimate is about 300 fighters. When I heard the news and accepted the request I sent an assassin to infiltrate the town and two hunters to keep an eye on the area surrounding the village so that if they get reinforcements we will not be blindsided. When the campaign ends 75% of the gold we are being paid will be divided evenly among all those that fought. 20 % will come to the guild treasury and 5 % will be given to the person that Gambit decides fought the best. Gambit will be the commander on site and come up with the battle plan. With all that said I wish you well”
He turned and made for the 2nd floor of the guild house where his office was. There was no talking as everybody awaited the next orders.
“Let us go to the western gate stables. Our horses are waiting there and keep on your black coats. We are a military group and will be dressed for battle. Once we step out of this house you are not to speak to any person until we are on the open road”
With that just over 70 people left the guild house and made their way to the stables. It was a site to behold. Walking in the streets were 70 players. Not saying a word with black coats flapping in the breeze. All the other players and NPC took notice. A well armoured warrior walked up to them and asked if he could join them but he was ignored. By the time they reached the stables they had about 300 people following them to see what this group of people were up to. Along the way many asked what they were doing and who they were but all they got was silence. At the stables were more than enough horses.
They had their pick, Gambit chose the biggest stallion for himself. Cuzen wanted a white horse and got a big white stallion of his own. The others were not bothered and just took horses that seemed to be friendly. Most of the people here had never ridden a horse but Gambit explained it would be easy. Just sit in the saddle and go with the motion. The game system makes it easier than the real world so they will catch on quickly. They also noticed 6 men that stood and watched them. They did not seem to be in a hurry. Gambit walked over to them and handed then 6 black initiate capes. They equipped it and mounted horses that were already saddled. With every person on a horse Gambit signaled them to move out. The pace was a nice gallop and they had 4 days of travel ahead of them. Tinker noticed how they seemed to be taking 30 horses with them. There were not pack horses and assumed it was for the people who would join them at the town before the attack.
They traveled well into midday before Gambit called for a halt. They would rest twice a day so that beast and man can regain their strength. Midday and at night was the only times they would stop. When it was close to becoming night time they stopped at a farmers land and rented out his barn for the night. Gambit asked who had the highest cooking level present. It turned out Tinker was it. He was asked to make food and use whatever people he needed, so naturally he volunteered Yuri to help him out. They would save the best food for the day before the battle to get the best buffs from it. It was during the second day that information started to come through. First was from Major back at head quarters. He did some more digging on the Pharaohs guild.
Turns out their guild master is named Ra and was a knight. The other people of leadership in the guild all had Egyptian God names. There was Isis, Lightning Wizard and leader of the spell casters. Anubis leader of the melee combat classes and also the strongest warrior in the guild that wielded a huge two handed axe. Osiris a priest and leader of the support classes like priests and shamans. Horus leader of the archers and rouges. The left over classes that fight with odd weapons reported to him. They also had a man named Amun that was a merchant and leader of the new production and mercantile part of the guild. He was most likely the person who suggested they attack the town and settle this area.
Later in the day the first reports came in from the hunters near the town. It would appear that the gate has been repaired and many of the warriors are still in the town. Some went off to hunt or farm. They would have more information later in the day. They could not tell the exact numbers but the 300 estimate seemed accurate. The assassin would sneak into the town tonight. At the end of their second day the hunters reported that all the parties that left seemed to have returned after a day of hunting.
They did not have a lot of sentries on duty so the assassin should be able to sneak in with little problems. The 3rd day while on the road Gambit informed them that the assassin had infiltrated the town and was busy counting the amount of enemies. He should be done some time tomorrow. The 4th day they made camp at the base of a hill as night fall was approaching. The town was just over the hill and here they should be safe. There would be no huge fires and no loud talking. Tinker and Yuri made dinner and would make the best breakfast they could to boost stats. Armour was repaired. Weapons were sharpened and last minute preparations were made.
Gambit would only tell them the battle plan in the morning before the attack. According to the hunters no real reinforcements had arrived during the past few days. The assassin that infiltrated the town turned out to be Quantum. He put the enemy numbers at about 300 players and 200 NPC. Normally there would be more NPC but it seemed the Pharaohs killed a lot when they took the town. Thus those that were there now, were those that fled or that are not very skilled. According to Quantum the enemy was preparing for defence. It turned out the enemy knew a counter attack would come and was ready for it. This night the amount of sentries was doubled, they knew the Brotherhood of Steel was out there and could attack any moment. With the added men at the walls there were less to defend those places of interest inside the town. Quantum was given the go to assassinate high level targets. Most players logged out and did not sleep in game thus he had to target the leaders of the NPC.
First to die was the new mayor who replaced the old mayor when the Pharaohs took control of the town. He was just a puppet put into power that slept alone so nobody would notice him dead till well in the morning. Next on the hit list was the quartermaster, the man responsible for the logistics of the town. He made sure that the town guard got what they needed from the people and merchants. If the guards ran out of arrows and their armoury was empty the quartermaster would make sure they get more. He was asleep in his bed with his wife so Quantum killed them both. Best to do it this way lest she wakes up and notifies other people.
Next on the list was the captain of the guard and his two sergeants. The previous captain and his two sergeants died when the pharaohs took the town. The problem was that all three of them bunked inside the barracks. Quantum thought of himself as skilled but not that skilled where he could go into a barracks of armed men. After about 30 minutes of watching and planning he came up with an idea. He was going to take them out one at a time while doing more damage to their supplies. The town had two armouries. One was next to the barracks and the other was on the far side of the town near a watch tower. He would go to the armoury and remove most of what he could and hide it nearby so that he can get it later and sell it. There was a guard fast asleep and was dead before he even woke up. It took nearly an hour to clear out the armoury and to find a place to store the items in. Now came the tricky part of the plan, he walked straight up to a guard close to the watch tower and started talking to him.
“You there, I need you to go back to the barracks and fetch the sergeant for me. I have papers from the Quartermaster that requests moving of a few items from this armoury to the other and I need the signature of the sergeant.”
“Jason is on guard duty, why don’t you just send him” That was a good idea, before Quantum murdered him.
“If I send him there will be no one left guarding the armoury.”
“True, which sergeant do you want. Both of them will not like it to be woken up this time of night.”
“It does not matter, now step on it and get it done. I’ll be waiting for him at the armoury.”
With that the guard was off. Quantum went back to the armoury and prepared for the upcoming murder. He was waiting outside when a middle aged man approached which he assumed was a sergeant.
“You the sergeant?” Quantum asked
The man nodded and was still wiping sleep from his eyes.
“Jason is inside packing what I need, do you mind to look and sign the papers”
The man nodded again and walked into the armoury. The room was poorly lit, only one lamp was shining in the far corner near a figure sitting up straight against the wall that seemed not to move. This did not make a lot of sense but it was late and the sergeant had many things to do. He wanted to turn around and sign the papers and be off to bed, when an odd sensation was felt in his lower back. That odd sensation started turning into pain, an unbearable amount of pain. As he tried to scream no sound came out, his throat was already cut. It all happened so fast, he looked down and saw a point of a sword sticking out of his body.
He sagged down and died in a pool of his own blood. Quantum was not sure if it was a cut to the throat or the sword he rammed through his spine and gut that killed him first. He cleaned his blades and set off to the other armoury.
Here was another guard fast asleep. It seemed only guards on the wall did not sleep but these inside the safe town slept as much as possible. Making sure nobody saw him he killed the guard in a fast and silent manner and entered the armoury. There would not be time to move all the items but the most valuable he put into his bag and set the next plan of his in motion. He entered the barracks and asked the nearest soldier to go fetch the sergeant. The man that came down the stair a few moments later did not seem pleased. He was not even halfway to the door before he started shouting.
“Why the hell would you wake me up this time of night. It better be good or I will kill you myself and 4 days from now when you revive I will kill you again.”
Quantum did not expect this type of reaction but he played it cool.
“Orders from the top, need to move items and I need your signature.”
“Yes you do, dam all you outlanders and the unholy hours you keep.”
At this point he was standing right before Quantum with a facial expression that said “I hate you.’’
“Well where are the papers let I can sign them and be off.”
“No, first you are going to see we take what is needed then you sign the papers.”
“Figures, a man can only truly sleep when you are dead.”
Quantum did like the irony of what the man had just said, he would have to take that phrase and make it his own someday.
The Sergeant entered first and the armoury had another light in the corner with a person sitting close by.
“I don’t understand….” Was as far as the sergeant got before the sword got pierced through his body and his throat was cut in near identical way as the other. This one took a while to die and he even managed to make a faint sound as the last of the air left his body.
Now all that remained was the captain. His plan was to also lore out the man. He thought the best place would be the first armoury. He walked until he found a soldier to talk to.
“Soldier I have a request of great importance for you. Commander Ra needs to talk with the captain of the guard at the second armoury. He needs to get there fast as possible and discreetly as he can. I would go but I most go find another for the secret meeting” He emphasized the word discreetly so that the soldier could understand that this was a secret and he was now part of it. At first the soldier seemed sceptical but at the mention of Ra’s name he would do what was asked of him. After the word secret was used he seemed even eager to deliver the message.
The soldier nearly ran back to the barracks to tell his captain the news. Quantum went back to the armoury to prepare it. He added the second body to the other one. As a person entered you could see people but not if they were alive or dead.
The captain arrived in due time. He was in his full battle gear. It seemed he was a prime example of a loyal soldier. Always wearing full battle gear when on duty or seeing his commander. This was going to make things harder but Quantum could still take him. He arrived and Quantum told him they are waiting inside for him. He even opened the door with a smile for the man. The man entered and saw two figures. He drew his sword and turned around to face Quantum. Quantum was already striking with his dagger for the throat but the old man stepped back and only took a bad cut on the neck.
“How did you know?” Quantum asked with some amusement.
“This room is much too dark and no matter how well you clean up blood the smell remains behind for a while.”
That is true. Quantum cleaned up the blood but the smell was something he had not thought about.
“So Ra has not got the stones to kill me himself and sends one of his lackeys to do the dirty work.”
“In a way, you have to die old man. Why don’t you scream for help?”
“I assume all the guards are stationed far from here and those that are close are well bribed to ignore a scream. Besides you will find that this old man is not that easy to kill”
It seemed luck was on his side this night. With new found confidence he attacked. The old man put up a good fight and his plate armour helped make a 20 second fight a good 2 minutes long. The darkness favoured Quantum but the captain was a veteran and worked his rotations well until Quantum’s dagger was firmly lodged in his head. Looting the corpse he found a ring that increases health by 500. The rest he would sell, for now he had to go hide. It will be dawn in the next hour and the battle would start in about two hour’s time.
All the Brotherhood of Steel members were online as the sun rose. They would attack in the next hour. First was breakfast that boosted stats then the battle plan. Yuri and Tinker used their spider eggs and any other item that added more bonuses. After that they all assemble by Gambit who was standing on a rock to elevate him. They were 107 people. The others joined them at the town and arrived during the night. The guild had over 350 active guild members but the other 250 were either offline, to low level, a production class or at their branch in the south and too far away to come.
The plan was simple. They would use the horses to cover the distance as fast as possible to the town gate and enter the town. There they would fight in streets or beside walls or pretty much any place where the enemy’s numbers would not count in their favour. If the enemies bunch at the gate entrance they would charge through with the horses and trample them. The town had 3 places to make a good defence, and it was in the form of a triangle. At one corner was the gate with basic fortifications. At another point was a high watchtower and the last corner was the small fort. The enemy would make their last stand there unless they are reckless enough to charge out. The other problem seemed to be the gate in their way but Gambit explained that it would not be a problem. The standing orders were to kill any person that wielded a weapon or chanted a spell.
When it is all said and done the message would appear in the raid chat along with any other change in plan. They mounted up and waited. One archer ran up the hill and down the other side. His job was to shoot arrows with small amount of dynamite at the town gate. He used a long bow which was known for their distance. They were not the most accurate of weapons but if you are aiming at a big town gate it was not that hard to hit. After he fired the 3 shots the archers on the wall started shooting back.
The arrows fell short and the archer just kept on shooting. The enemies did not see this as a threat. They did not sound the alarm and assumed one archer could not bring down the gate. When the 50th arrow hit the gate he stopped firing. He missed about 10 shots but 50 arrows lodged in the gate would do. He fell back to the others. All that remained now was for a wizard to detonate all the pieces at the same time. That would happen once they are in range and had their charge well under way. Some person yelled speech and so Gambit cleared his throat.
“I am not known for my legendary speeches but here it goes. What we do in live echoes through eternity.” Someone yelled that was the line from the movie Gladiator. He tried again “Losers complain how they tried their best when they fail, where winners go home and fuck the prom queen.” Another person yelled that was the line from the move The Rock.” He chuckled to himself and spoke from the heart this time.
“I can tell you guys that even if we are outnumbered 5 to 1 we will still win this day. Many of us will die but the enemy are already weakened. The NPC’s lost their chain of command during the night and what I heard the Pharaohs are bad players. They rely on numbers and not skill to best opponents. Now let’s go and take back this town before lunch.”
Cuzen chose this time to interject. “Gambit will you be leading the charge?”
“Yes” he said with confidence.
“What happens when you go down in battle? Should you not hang back and direct the attacks from there? I am sure only in movies generals charge at the head of the army. Rest of the time they hang back and make winning strategies.”
“I guess, are you volunteering to run point and die most likely before you reach the gate”
“Volunteering to run point yes, but I bet you 5 gold I will be alive and the first to enter the city.”
“Fine by me, just remember that all the wizards and archers are going to shoot at you thinking that you are the leader.”
“I will have it no other way.”
Yuri’s spirit hawk was flying high and giving him a good bird’s eye view of what was going on. What he can tell only about 2/5 of the people were at the main gate and about 1/5 was still running about. It seemed that not all of their players were online and ready yet.
They nodded at each other and all the horses started to climb the hill. Cuzen whispered in his party chat to his friends that they should not ride next to him and keep their distance. At the summit of the hill they could see the town in the distance. The archer who shot the arrows was almost all the way back to them. The alarm bells started to sound in the town. That was their time to attack. The 6 men that came along had drums and started beating them. They would also be part of the charge and beat the drums of war. It increases morale, added minor damage increases and also reduces damaged taken by 1 %. It was not much but for just beating drums it was worth it. They started the gallop forward. At about half a kilometer from the wall they changed to a full on charge. Everybody could feel goose bumps.
This was the first time they were assaulting a town of players and NPC. Not only that they were charging forward on horses. Not many people owned horses in the game so far and they could only imagine the fear inside the other people. Cuzen was so deep into the moment he removed his mace and raised it high just like in the movies and yelled. He was surprised that all the others did the same. All had their swords and staffs raised in the air and yelling like mad people. The Drums pace picked up as they sped closer to the town gate. When they were at 300 meters the enemy fired all they had. It was not a lot, all the defenders were not at the wall yet. The first volley was bad, it did minor damage and most missed. It seemed only the experienced spell caster and hunters took the speed of horses into consideration. At 175 meters the next volley was on the way. Just short of 100 meters it hit hard. Those that missed the first time adapted quickly. The healers started healing and Asmodian detonated the charges to blow up the gate.
At less than 50 meters from the gate another volley hit home and the smoke cleared from the town gate. It was badly broken and had many holes in it but it still stood strong. Cuzen was not going to stop instead decided they were going to ram the gate. All the knights were at his side. They only seemed to have lost Buster so far whose horse got killed. He should have been fine and would join the fight once he stands up and runs the rest of the way to the town. The others around Cuzen seemed to know what he was planning and came closer so that they could hit with more force. He was about to close his eyes before the big hit, but a red spell hit his body. He was dazed and trying to process what just happened but it was too late. He slammed into the gate and fell off his horse.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Most the knights were down and off their horses at this time. They broke down the door and would go on with the fight as soon as they were able to stand. That made way for the warriors and other plate wearing classes to come charging in. What few guardsmen that were in the way were crushed and the warriors went in different directions looking for a fight. The others came in as well and split up in groups and started attacking. A lot of the players seemed to be retreating to the only fort in the town.
That left the rest of those that could not, easy pick offs. Gambit ordered to go through the town room by room and leave the fort for last. When the NPC’s saw the players retreating a lot of them tossed away their weapons and surrendered. This would be the 2nd time in 2 weeks that they were attacked and they wanted no more part of it.
Cuzen had passed out because the next thing he remembered was that the archers who shot at the gate did a poor job. He stood up and saw not many people were around him other than the corpses of people and horses. He lost about 90% of his health and his armour was shot. The only explanation was that the red spell that hit him was Lava lash. A fire spell made to destroy heavy armour. The hp he had lost could be traced back to running full speed into a huge gate and been trampled by his allies.
The fighting was well under way and his group said they were going to go to the middle of town and then move left from there. That left the fort to the far right. He picked up his weapon and went down to the middle. He whispered into the party chat to find out where the guys were, turned out they were making their way to the watch tower to the far left of the town. He estimated he was out for between 20 and 40 minutes. None were shocked that he was not dead. When a person died in a party or raid group a notification messages tells you the bad news.
They were just surprised to see him up and running so soon. He caught up with them as they were leaving a house. They were waiting for another group to catch up that had been moving parallel to the wall so that they could attack the tower. There only seemed to be 8 guards or so but it would be best to wait and clear more houses. No need to die before they assaulted the fort and any number of guards could be in hiding behind the stone. They took some time to regenerate and heal Cuzen. As they were sitting around Quantum appeared from an ally way. He caught them of guard but they settled down when they saw a friendly face.
“Hey guys, long time no see.”
“Not really, we know you were following us about 2 weeks ago. Yuri detected you with his tracking skill.”
“I wondered if his skill was high enough, guess it was. His traps need a bit of work though. So let us attack this watch tower and be done with it.”
“We do not know how many are hiding in there.”
“Seven at the top that rotate and five hiding inside. I have been keeping an eye on them. Seems their orders are to stand here and defend the tower at all cost. They have to die to buy time for the others retreating to the fort.”
Tinker was eager for a good battle. Since they rode in on the horses all the fights have been very one sided and attacking a fleeing opponent was not really that hard. Cuzen took out his spare armour and made ready for the attack. Naturally it fell on him to go in first. Either the archers were out of arrows or they were already ordered to the gate and would be dead by now. After about a minute of beating the door to the base of the tower it caved in. Cuzen went in first followed by Tinker and then Quantum. The others filled in after them.
On the first ground level they met no resistance. They beat in the 2nd floor door and went in. Still no enemies were around. The same happened on the 3rd floor. When they entered the 4th floor the enemies were waiting. Cuzen used his leap and shield bash to create chaos and an opening for the others to enter. Tinker and Quantum ducked and rolled into the room to be as fast as possible and not be slashed. Lina came in after and she was ready to torch any foe in her way. The battle was over fast and 9 bodies lay on the floor. The door to the 5th floor was open and when they entered 3 people stood top with no weapons in their hands. They surrendered. With the tower in their control they now held one of the two vantage points for the town. It was a good strategic point to capture to give control and vision of this part of town. They looted what they could and went on their way.
When they got to the bottom another group caught up with them. The standing orders still stood. Clear each house and kill any who resist. In less than 2 hours they took out about 2/5 of the enemies and only lost 17 people. Most of them were the warriors and knights that charged in first. All the houses had been checked and been marked with a piece of chalk so that another team did not have to enter. The only place remaining was the fort. It seemed these past 2 hours was enough time for them to muster a defence and contact all their players in the real world and tell them to log in as soon as possible.
They stood well out of archer or spell range when they regrouped and waited to make their final attack on the fort. First they would rebuff and talk about the plan. Quantum shared his Intel. There were about 300 people in the fort with 2/3 being players and the rest of what remained of the NPC force. Most of their archers died at the gate so they only had a few at the fort and most of their spell casters. He also added this was going to be the hard fight of the day. The odds were now 3 against 1. The archer that shot at the town gate was already firing at the fort gate. The enemies knew now what that meant and wasted many arrows and mana to try and damage him, but he was just out of range every time. The odd lightning bolt did hit but with a priest to heal him the archer powered through. Isis was truly a strong Lighting Wizard to be able to land attacks at this distance.
The 6 men started to beat the drums to get things going. It was decided that the remaining warriors that wore plate and any volunteer could mount a horse to charge into the fort. Tinker was the only non plate wearer to volunteer. It seemed the others valued their lives. With last second preparation those had to charge mounted any horse they could find. The others that would follow after them were already moving closer to the gates and using houses as cover. The enemy saw this and rang their alarm bells. Cuzen found himself to be leading this charge. Only one knight remained alive that crashed into the town gate with him. He recognized Stan as the knight. They had talked briefly 2 months ago and that was all they all he knew of the man, other than that he and his friends passed the initiation test. He seemed ready for what ever happened next.
They waited for the signal. The gate would explode as they charged towards it. Gambit gave them the go and they were off. They were about 30 mounted soldiers with the most being of the warrior class. With a few paladins in the mix and 1 knight. Again they started to walk forward and they sped up to a slow gallop. The streets were wide so that they formed 3 rows of 10 riders. The drums paced picked up and so the pace of the charge increased as well. The gates exploded and no enemy fire came.
Cuzen lifted his mace like he did the last time to yell the charge. It was taken up by the others following him and all seemed well. Well until they were a few meters from the gate when the arrows and spells struck. Another Lave lash hit him squire in the body and nearly destroying his armour. Inside the walls the few guards were run over and that’s when the big spells landed. Cuzen saw what seemed to be blue/yellow bolts of something come his way. The next thing he saw after that was that he died and can relog back in 24 hours.
With Cuzen dying the others were sad but went onwards. In the spirit of friendship it was their motto to leave the fallen behind. The front row got instantly wiped by a shit storm of different spells the second row of warriors charged onward at the enemies ahead. The third row had orders to brake right and work their way up to the keep from there. Tinker enjoyed attacking from horseback. The added momentum to his strikes really helped. He was nearly near the end of the wall when he dismounted and used the stairs to go to the top of the wall. Only few archers and one mage were there. They only truly noticed him when he killed an archer and was in the air making ready to kill the mage.
In less than an hour they claimed the outer wall. The last remaining members were in the keep. More than half the Brotherhood of Steel members had died. But the enemy were down to their last 100 men. Now the odds were 2 against 1. Only Ra, Anubis and Amun remained inside the keep. Gambit being one of the last remaining plate armour users said he would lead the final charge inside and he would challenge Ra to single combat. With health pools full and mana mostly recharged they went at it.
Gambit yelled his challenge to Ra for in case he was there but no replay came it was their 46 Brotherhood of steel members against a hundred of them. It turned into a mostly melee skirmish. They fought shoulder to shoulder and pressed the enemy from the entrance all the way back into the hall until the last person fell. They lost another 20 members with Lina and Quantum dying among the people they knew. They entered the throne room. There 2 men sat talking. One on the throne and another right next to him. Ra and Anubis. Gambit stood tall and issued his challenge to Ra. Ra laughed and stood up.
“You have fought well Gambit of the Brotherhood of Steel. What makes you think you are worthy to face me?”
“We numbered in the 100 and you in the 500 and here we stand. 24 of us and only 2 of you. We beat you, either face me in single combat or be attacked by all of us.”
“We are 3 actually. Amun is hiding somewhere in the fort. Alright I will accept only if you agree to 1 term of mine.”
“If it is to save your items or allow you to walk if you beat me you can forget about it.”
“No nothing like that, your strongest warrior against mine. Think of it as a pre show for our final show down.”
“Well our strongest warrior died during the attack and I am the second strongest. The others after me also died.” He turned around and looked at his group. Only Boris and Tinker remained that were of the warrior class. Boris seemed to be a higher level and the logical choice but it did not feel right to order him to fight a match he is supposed to lose. Gambit was sad that Zane had died also. Even if he was a monk he would man fight any warrior and use his iron hands to block critical attacks.
“Boris, Tinker step forward. You guys are the only other combat class then me that have a chance against him. I do not want to order any of you to fight a person that has at least 15 levels on you Boris and 20 on you Tinker.” When he said that they could hear Ra and Anubis laughing. “So I need one of you to volunteer.”
Boris and Tinker looked at each other. Boris did not seem eager and Tinker himself did not feel the confidence to face him. But alas if he does not they would stand here till who knows what happens and he might as well get this started. “I’ll face him.”
Tinker stepped forward while saying that. He could see the relief in Boris face. Gambit nodded at him and gave him a fist bump for encouragement.
Anubis on the other hand did not seem worried. “You give me this rogue or make believe warrior to fight, if he truly is 20 levels lower than I am, you people mock me.”
Tinker was not one to gloat or insult but this tool thought he was not worthy to do battle against. He responded by not really thinking before he talked. “When I thrust my blade into you and before you die, know that we live to mock you”
Anubis did not enjoy that remark and was swinging his huge axe. Tinker Morphed agility and opened his inventory. He has a few potions he was saving for rainy days. Potions to increase health, fortify stats and even increase his damage and speed. The problem was that they had a few nasty side effects and in about an hour he would not be even able to fight a level 15 wolf. He downed the potions one by one and kept his eyes on his opponent. He was clothed in full plate armour accept for his arms. Tinker assumed it was to lessen the friction of his swings. The only thing that remained was to coat his swords in poison. He decided to coat the left hand sword with the paralytic and the slow poison on the other. If his plan works he could numb and even paralyze the right arm of Anubis if he managed to land enough strikes.
Tinker was ready and Anubis was nice enough to wait for him to finish all the pre battle preparations. Anubis stood waiting on him. Tinker knew speed and the fact the opponent thinking he was a weak warrior would count for him. He decided to attack fast and stay close, that his opponent does not have time to attack. To his surprise Anubis did not move and let Tinker attack him. Tinker landed 6 strikes and was aiming for his neck next but Anubis was swinging his axe down at Tinker who left himself open on purpose. With the incoming attack Tinker used the other sword to deflect the axe blow while at the same time twirling his body so that the sword in his right hand did a full 360° swing and landed with full force in the neck of Anubis.
It was a critical strike. Tinker was off balance after his fast twirl and retreated to gain distance and regain his footing. Anubis seemed amused, “You sure bite hard for a small insect. Now that my health is below halfway the real battle can start.” Tinker was not scared but he suspected that Anubis was a warrior that changed into the Berserker class. The lower their hp pools the stronger and faster they became. This was going to be interesting to say the least. Anubis sprang at him swinging faster than his previous attacks. The chance to dodge was low with those fast attack speeds. He could only block and parry the attacks. This went on for a full minute.
Tinker was on the defensive and waited for his openings that never came. Another minute passed and he did not seem to be slowing down. The berserker class did not let a small thing like stamina or fatigue stop them from attacking on and on. Anubis still had not manage to land a blow and Tinker knew what he had to do, he would have to take a direct hit and that will make an opening for him. He hoped he would survive a direct hit to his body if it was not a critical shot. As Anubis swung his axe from his left side Tinker jumped forward and stabbed him under the right arm pit and scored a critical hit and stabbed his neck with the other sword. Half of the axe blade was lodged into Tinker Leather armour and his life went down by nearly 70%.
That was bull shit, how could one strike be that strong. Anubis lifted his leg and semi kicked Tinker in an effort to remove his axe from his side. The extra cutting of the axe blade while he was falling backwards did another 10% of damage. He was fatally wounded and would bleed out. This type of wound can only be cured by healers or stopped by a good bandage. Anubis was very familiar with this type of wound and raised his axe above his head. He was walking past Tinker who was lying on the ground loosing the last of his hit points. Tinker tried his best to get a bandage to stop his bleeding and possibly save his life. He applied the bandage and saw he only had 4% life remaining and it was not dropping further.
It appeared that his bandage coated with the right herb stopped the bleeding cold. Lucky for him he had the fighting spirit stat which gives the user temporary boost of inhuman power when close to death. Anubis had his back turned and was yelling who was next, he did not see Tinker rise with weapons ready for a last attack. Ra on the other hand saw it coming and yelled for his friend to watch out. Anubis turned around with a winning smile on his face to see what his friend was yelling about until the moment Tinker decapitated him. Tinker was still taking in the moment when Ra yelled and jumped forward to kill Tinker.
Gambit stepped up to save him. Ra and Gambit fought for about 5 minutes until Gambit managed to disarm the knight and finish him off. Tinker was sitting and watching the fight and was thanking the priest that healed him. He was sad that his poison was not effective against a berserker but other classes would not be so lucky.
With Ra dead Gambit messaged everyone in the guild to share the news. Congrats rolled in along with request for details on the battle. The Brotherhood of Steel had won and done what they had set out to do.
4 days later they were all assembled in the repaired keep feasting. Tinker did not have to cook and the ncp’s took care of them. Every Brotherhood of Steel member that fought was online. Even the 6 drummers had not returned and stayed for free drink and food.
First the loot of the fallen members was returned to them. Next came the picking of items according to rank. Each person could pick one item and if they wanted more they had to buy it for cheap before it was sold. At the end of it all Tinker walked away with a new leather helmet, a ring that gives minor movement speed increase and a new pair of chest armour. Cuzen got a shield and 2 new sets of armour. His previous sets were both destroyed by the Lava lash spells. Zomger got a ring for reducing spell cast time and a new wand. Lina got 4 rings and an amulet all to increase her spell casting capabilities. Yuri managed to get a bow and new set of boots. Quantum took a dagger and a pair of boots as well. Gambit took all the items that dropped from Ra. The man had a good sword and armour that complimented any warrior class.
Next was the awards for whom gets the 5%. Gambit was trying to make it into a sort of Oscar nominations. He even stood up with a beer in his hand to talk.
“First up is Quantum our Assassin who infiltrated the city 3 days before we attacked and took care of the Mayor, quartermaster, Captain of the guard and his 2 underlings. During the battle he claimed many more lives and helped claim the Watch tower. He died when we assaulted the keep.” Cheers erupted all around. Quantum never boasted about his own deeds until you asked him what he had done then he will till you in great detail how great it was. Since nobody really asked him what part he played they were all stunned to hear what he did, he probably had most of the kills on Npc’s this battle.
“Second is Cuzen who volunteered to lead the charge and take the full force of the enemy attacks in the face. He also galloped full speed into a broken town gate to make way for the rest of us. Then his group along with another took the Watch tower. After that he led the second charge into the fort and died in a storm of spells.” More cheers erupted. Cuzen and his friends were of the newer members in the guild and they did not spend the bulk of their time with the guild so the guild knew pretty little of them.
“Third is Asmodian, our arcane mage who detonated the dynamite of both the town gate and fort gate. He killed most of the enemy spell casters in the forts lookout tower along with Isis the strong wizard. He died while doing so.” More cheers for him, 1 spell caster killing a dozen on his own was truly amazing.
“Fourth nomination is Yuri, The hunter that helped take the Watchtower, who shot the killing shot on Horus who was retreating to the keep. Also for killing Osiris before she could retreat into the keep. He was also part of the final attack into the keep and lived to tell his tale” Cheers erupted for him. He could not take all the credit, he only delivered the killing shot to already damaged people before they could heal up and become a problem again. Regardless in the heat of battle it is hard to take out key targets.
“Last but not least is Tinker. He was part of team to take the Watchtower, He joined the remaining plate wearing combatants to charge the fort. In the town and fort he amassed an impressive kill count. He fought shoulder to shoulder with me in the keep to rid the last of the enemies. Inside the throne room he volunteered to face Anubis the strongest warrior of the enemies in single combat, not only was he 21 levels lower than his opponent he also managed to win the fight alone with no help from us” The cheers erupted and were louder than any before. The truth was he actually lost the fight but Anubis thought himself the winner and did not bother to finish him off. Only the people that were there knew the exact details of the fight. When they asked Tinker he just said he fought and won.
“Now before I announce the winner 2 new pieces of information.” The crowed nearly started booing and tossing items at Gambit. He had built up the suspense and now he did not announce the winner.
“We found Anun hiding in a basement unable to log out, we helped him with that. Also Ra died by my hands and thus we defeated the entire Pharaohs guild and all their leaders.” More cheers for Gambit and themselves this time.
“I have talked it over with Major and we had decided to add another member to the elder counsel. (They were the leaders in the guild under Major and Gambit who voted and had a say in guild affairs.) We proudly name Cuzen to the counsel and his group of companions will be known as the Special Force Unit of the guild to become another rank of the Knights division.” The Knights were Gambits group that had all the combat classes. There were many different ranks and now the Special Force Unit was added. The other class were the Scribes that Major controlled and classes like merchants, bards and engineers belonged to this group. “For those of you that doubt them and think they are still new to the guild, they are good people and 3 of them were candidates for the award.” That would shut up any public complaints.
“And now the winner of the 5% is Tinker! Congrats and you can claim your money when you get back to the guild house. The rest of you will receive 70 gold for this battle. The money looted and those we gain from selling the loot after our other guild members have a chance to buy will be made available to you at a later time. With that I would like to end by saying how awesome we are and that tomorrow the first people may leave this place and return home”
Tinker did not know that he had just won 500 gold. That he would only discover when they were back at the guild house.