“Argh, this isn't comfortable at all." Fidgeting while I got dressed, I looked down at my usual clothing. "It's just a normal shirt, skirt and underwear. Why does it feel so weird?"
"We've been naked for a year, of course it'll feel strange." Looking at Rebecca who had just spoken, she too fidgeted. "Still, it's better than being completely bare. I can't believe we had to be naked all this time, did they say why?"
"It is because beings like yourselves can not attune to nature while clothed. Plus the Spirit Realm does not usually allow for outside material to come into its realm. But an exemption can be made for the Spirit Queen." Maji, who stood nearby, explained.
"I see. But I never felt like I was 'attuning to nature'." Picking up my bow and quiver, I slung them over my shoulder before looking at Maji. "We are ready to go."
"Very good, My Lady. Please, follow me. We will meet with Greyback near the exit closest to the town." Leading the pair of us out of the room, we walked for a few minutes before exiting out of the tree, a small hole at the base.
As soon as I stepped outside, the Fairies all swarmed towards me, all of them looking extremely excited and happy. This is the first time I've come outside since evolving, to them it's the first time they've seen their queen.
It felt weird to suddenly have such a title. I wasn't against it, but such a change really left me wondering just why I was chosen in the first place. With dozens of Fairies sitting on my head and shoulders, I couldn't help but smile at them, greeting them casually.
"These are Fairies?!" Looking to my side, I saw Rebecca completely surprised and shocked, looking around at the swarm as if it's the first time she's seeing them…
"Wait, you can see them now?"
Maji cackled suddenly. "The Fairies only reveal themselves to those they believe will not harm them. You, My Lady, were chosen by them and your partner here has now earned their trust, most likely because of your relationship. Come now, we shouldn't keep Greyback waiting too long."
As we start walking, the swarm disperses once more, except for those that rested on myself and Rebecca, who was excitedly chatting with the Fairies. They didn't speak back, but their reactions showed they adored Rebecca.
After a few hours of walking through the forest, we eventually found Greyback, who wore the same scholarly robe as before. Upon greeting him, the four of us, and the dozens of Fairies who had stayed with us, made our way to the forest's edge.
As we approached it, I could now see a film of mana on the border, stretching as high and as wide as my vision allowed me to see. Stepping through it, it allowed me to easily pass, as is the case with everyone else.
"I will lead the way. My Lady, Madam Rebecca, please be prepared. In the last year the amount of undead has increased and they have experienced change."
Keeping a hand on my handgun at my waist, I merely nodded in response as Maji started to walk. I would take a full day of walking from here to reach the coastal town and I felt oddly excited. I hadn't seen the beach in nearly three years!
Testing out my eyes, I found myself surprised to see how far I could see now. Using them to keep scouting ahead, I soon found a large monster in our path. Looking like a giant lion with a sheep's body, I informed Maji who stopped and looked directly ahead, as if trying to see it.
"A Sphinx out this far? Troubling. It should be of any concern for you, My Lady, but it might be best to steer clear. It might have claimed the territory to bear cubs, in which case it would be a far more difficult fight."
Accepting this, I motioned for Maji to continue and with a bit of detour we ended up walking around the Sphinx. Looking at it closely, I did indeed see three cubs hiding underneath its body.
After a full day and night of walking, most of which was silent, we managed to avoid any threats due to my eyes being able to find it well before it found us. We had also come across a lot of Dimensions with some of them being suitable for Rebecca and I to enter. Soon, on the morning of the second day, we found the coastal town.
Using my vision, I disappointingly found that it wasn't as packed as I thought. There were some blind spots due to the buildings, but from this distance it honestly seemed like we'd easily finish the Husks in no time.
What made me feel excited is the sight of the sea! A beautiful blue sea for as far as my eyes could see. The smell hit me as well, giving me an urge to head straight there, strip out of these uncomfortable clothes and dive in.
"Let's get up close and personal. Bek, I'll be on mid range support and utilise my magic while you kite the Husks and finish them off."
"A new strategy! Oh man, having you as mid range support will be interesting." As she drew her shotgun, I turned to Maji and Greyback.
"You two are to remain near me and only participate if the situation looks bad."
"""Yes, My Lady."" Both of them spoke at the same time as I felt a very small poking coming from my cheek. Looking down, I saw a Fairy floating there, pointing to themselves.
"You guys stay with me and Rebecca. Support us when I say, okay?"
The fairies all glowed happily, with the Fairy who has asked beaming and bouncing. Once it flew back onto my head, I looked at Rebecca and we both nodded. She took the lead while I paced about ten metres behind her as we entered the town.
As soon as we entered, I sensed something strange about the town. Walking along the street, it wasn't long till we found our first group of enemies. Bek moved in quickly, gunning them down without wasting a single bullet.
A Husk, more specifically a Runner, emerged from a side alley. Pushing my palm forward, I quickly released a FrostFire Orb. The orb very quickly took form and noticing the huge power behind it I realised that this is the first time I'd used magic after both my mana control training and evolution.
The orb fired off straight away due to already pushing the spell out without realising the power which, without the time to adjust the power, meant I could only alert Bek.
"Rebecca, dodge my attack!"
Perhaps sensing it before I spoke, she had already shifted to her clone and bounced back to me very quickly. The orb exploded on the Runner, erupting into a huge ball of fire and ice, which quickly enveloped the other Husks and buildings nearby.
"Ruby, what is it with us and burning down towns?!"
"Ah, it was a mistake!"
"Your mum is going to be sooo mad at you."
The fire and ice seemed to quickly spread, but suddenly opposing fire and ice appeared, swallowing mine with some difficulty. Turning my head, I saw Greyback standing there with both hands outstretched.
"Thank you, Greyback."
"Hmph, next time make sure to adjust your power, My Lady. Still, what a unique power. A spell that can freeze and burn?"
"I can teach you if you want."
"I wouldn't dream of it, you have far more important things to concern yourself over, My Lady, this lowly one will learn himself."
We continued down the streets, but barely running into more Husks, we eventually killed another group before Rebecca and I stopped.
“Is something the matter, My Lady?”
"Yes. For a town 'flooded' with Husks…there are not a lot of them." Looking around for a few seconds, I narrow in on a wall nearby. Approaching it, I squat down and look at the damage to the wall.
"Bullet holes, sword slashes…someone has been fighting the Husks." Sniffing the air, I frown even more. "Gunpowder…and not the good kind, it’s poorly made. Recently fired, maybe a few hours at most." Standing, I look at Rebecca who also nods.
"My Lady, please forgive my ignorance, but what is gunpowder?" Turning my attention to Greyback, who looked rather interested, I briefly explained that when we fired our weapons it used a chemical that leaves a distinct smell. He nods slowly, looking more confused than before. As I'm planning to explain more in the future, I heard voices coming from a street over.
"Woah! Did another team come through here?! This is our section though."
"Ah! Who set fire to this building?! Are they trying to burn the town down?"
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
My eyes widened at these sounds and turning towards the end of the street, I saw a group of six people round it, their eyes locking onto us, glancing at Rebecca before moving to Greyback and Maji. Their eyes quickly looked at my ears before they reacted, drawing their guns as two people stood in the front with a shield.
"Monsters! Tell the captain!"
Before I could utter a word, the group raised their rifles while one of them ran. Without a word, I moved fast to Greyback and Maji, raised my hand and created a mana shield. I've never tested to see if mana shields could block bullets, but I was about to find out.
The sound of automatic rifles sounded out, their weapons pointed towards either me or Rebecca. I knew she could look after herself. At first, I had thought the mana shield was ineffective, but when I looked closely, I saw that on collision with the barrier, the bullets were destroyed.
"Oh thank god." Muttering to myself, I turned my attention to getting out of this mess. These humans…people, they've only reacted because we're drastically different. The last sound of a rifle stopped and before they could reload, I held out a hand once more, using Nature's Call.
From underneath them, hundreds of vines and roots erupted, quickly ensnaring the group. Controlling the vines, I made sure their weapons were pointed at the ground and away from us before using a few vines to cover their mouths. If they started screaming like idiots it would be a pain.
"Bek." Calling out wasn't really needed, she already moved towards the group, passed them and stood on watch on the other side. I approached the group who were struggling, with some trying to invoke magic like fire to burn the vines but it was fruitless.
Looking over the group, I saw a male who had steady eyes, looking at me with more curiosity than fear. Controlling the vines, I removed the ones around his mouth.
"Do you understand me?" Looking at him, I watched as his eyes widened before nodding furiously…or at least trying to.
"Yes! Yes I do, but how can you speak English?!"
"Calm down. I'm the same as you lot, from the same world. I've simply stepped into Lvl 3 where one must evolve. Surely you've seen others at Lvl 3?"
Seeing him shake his head, I simply shrug. “Well in that case never mind. My name is-”
“Ruby, we got company.” Redoing the vines around the male’s mouth, I quickly moved up to Bek.
Looking down the street, I saw a group with about twenty people aiming their weapons at us. Feeling a bit annoyed at the response, I was about to move my hand up before a man moved forward.
He had a gorgeous beard, like a Viking's, long tied up hair in a ponytail and a fairly muscular build. He didn't have a weapon drawn, but I knew if he ordered it the others would start firing.
"If you can understand me then tell me what happened to my men."
"They're alive, just a bit tied up." I respond while staring at the man. Something about his demeanour bothered me, like I had seen it before, the way he stood with both hands in his pockets and the little lean forward he had.
"I'd like proof of living."
Glancing behind me, I moved my mana and brought the one who I had spoken to over to us. Still bound, he could only slightly move to show he wasn't in peril.
"Hahaha! Good play on words, they are indeed a bit tied up!" Turning back to the bearded man, I felt a bit surprised he could laugh in this situation. "Since you can speak our language that means either you're the same as us or know those like us."
"You're not wrong. It's the former."
"Good! Then, what's your name? Don't tell me it's some sorta Elven name that I can't pronounce?"
Looking the man over, I initially thought against saying anything, but a feeling in the back of my mind kept bothering me about him. After careful consideration I opened my mouth.
"Midnight of the clan Unity of the Lost, previously the Dark Reapers. To my right is Winter, the same clan and also my wife. And who are you?"
I had expected the man to instantly respond, instead his and the reaction of everyone behind him was far outside my expectation. Almost all of them lowered their weapons, surprise, excitement and confusion ran amok with the group.
The leading man opened and closed his mouth several times, as if completely speechless before folding his arms and changing his expression to be dead serious, staring at me as if trying to look through me.
"Fact?"
For a second, I felt confused. What does he mean? Then I remembered. A common practice with The Dark Reapers is to fact check someone in deep dive, as to assure that they really were who they said they were. Looking at the man once more, that feeling in the back of my mind finally connected with a figure from my past, a friend who I had been on really good terms with, even to the point of…
"When planning our wedding, I chose my two best men to be Sheep and Ghost. Upon hearing this news, a certain individual became sad. But after telling him that I wanted him to be the bad comedian who tells lame pun related jokes, he immediately became overjoyed, preparing hundreds of wedding related puns. It's good to see you again, Jokestar. Fact?"
As if shock were a physical entity that hit him in the face, he looked stunned for a moment before cracking a huge grin.
"So you recognise me? Well, I was the 3rd person you told about your engagement to Rebecca there. And the first to tell me about the pizza story."
"AH! YOU TOLD HIM?!" Throwing a hateful look at Jokestar, I quickly turned to Rebecca who was blushing. "Of all people, you told him?! Oh my god, now it makes sense as to why he kept offering to buy me donuts or pizza!" She turns on me and crosses her arms.
"A-ah, wait. I only told him because he was like, mega upset at the time! I thought it would be a funny story to cheer him up."
"Hmph! Well, Spirit Queen, I expect a lavious, delicious dinner when we return. No if or buts!" Poking her tongue at me, she turns back to Jokestar. "And why the hell are you out here?"
Jokestar, who had just finished ordering his men to keep watch, came over to us and grinned at Rebecca. "Ouch, Bekky. And here I am over the moon that I've run into you two. What are the chances?"
"I wish they were zero." She returned the smile before turning to me. "What do we do now?"
"Good question. Jokestar, why are you guys here?" Turning to him, Jokestar's face turned serious.
"Two reasons mainly. First, we are clearing the town for Class Points, our lead team is nearly Lvl 3. Second, it's to get access to the sea with a mainly functional dock. We are hoping that with enough time we can start drilling for fuel."
Pursing my lips, I knew all too well the downside to not having fuel. Taking in the smell of the ocean from here, I slowly nodded.
"Does that mean you know where a fuel source is?" With interest, Rebecca asked Jokester who shook his head.
"Honestly, it's a pipe dream, just another attempt. We don't know the first thing about extracting fuel." He sighs heavily as I look around us.
Jokester. The leader of the General Team within The Dark Reapers. Spanning about 300 players, there were teams within this team, like Retro games, arcade games, vloggers and more. The General Team usually met up and would LAN together for a new release of a big title, and Apocalyptic World was no exception.
"Jokestar, don't tell me this is all that's left of the General Team?"
"Mm?" Looking up and around, he shook his head. "No, only a small team. The main team is at our base…if you can call it that. We have about eight hundred and sixty seven people."
Frowning for a moment, I opened and closed my mouth before turning to him. "Excuse me? How many?" Hearing him repeat the number, I nearly fell on my butt. "And they trust you to lead them?!"
"Wow Ruby, way to go kick me in the gut. Yes, I lead them, but it's getting difficult. We barely survived the second nexus event. Now a year has passed and the next one is surely due." He sighs before frowning and looking at me. "Wait, if you two are here, are the rest of the Mechanical Team?"
"Ew, don't use that name. And no, they're at our base. We can explain in full detail later."
"My Lady."
"I know, Greyback. Jokestar, there is a big pack of Husks moving in from up there." Pointing down the street behind me, I see him nod and start ordering his guys. They quickly positioned themselves in formation as if well practised, aimed down their sights and the moment the Husks appeared they started to fire.
“Ruby.” Jokestar turns to me.
“Jack.” Tilting my head at him, he looks behind me.
“Mind freeing the rest of my men?”
“Ah? Oh, sure.” Flicking a wrist, I released the others who I had bound, the six quickly gathering their weapons and joining those already fighting.
As I’m about to talk to Jokestar, a Fairy poked my cheek and looking at it, it pointed towards another direction, worry on his face. Looking towards the direction, which is where we had arrived from, and after focusing in that direction for a few seconds, I sensed a massive presence coming from there.
“Maji, what is coming towards us?”
“I’ll scout it, My Lady.” Maji disappears in a puff of black smoke.
“Greyback, I know a lot of this is confusing, but we may need your help in a moment.”
“No need for formalities, My Lady, just command me.” Greyback bows slightly.
“What’s with this, Ruby? Got a gorilla and a guy wearing a cloak calling you My Lady? What are you, a Queen? Hahaha!”
“Well, you’re not wrong.” Rebecca chuckles as I sigh.
“Jokestar, prepare to retreat. Something is coming this way, and it’s powerful.”
Without question or hesitation, he nods and starts relaying orders to his men who immediately start retreating back towards us.
Maji reappears by my side and, bowing slightly, she spoke. “My Lady, the Sphinx from earlier has started to walk towards the town with her cubs. I recommend getting away, she’ll be here within ten minutes.”
“You heard her, Jokestar.” Turning to him, he simply nods and yells for his men to fall back faster.
“Greyback, do you know a spell to stop those undead?”
“Yes, My Lady. This one may interest you, I can teach it to you if you find it worthy.” Greyback walked in front of me and after waiting for Jokestar’s men to pass him, he raised his hand towards the swarm of Husks.
“Absolute Zero.”
I felt a huge surge of mana coming from Greyback, far more than I’ve ever outputted. In a blink of an eye, everything in front of him had frozen solid, as if someone had paused a video, except everything is now covered in a thin layer of ice.
“It takes most of my mana, My Lady, I can not use it again for a day.”
“That’s fine, Jokestar, let’s head back to wherever your base is.”
“Got it, move out everyone, we’re heading home.”
Following the team quickly out of the small town, I couldn’t shake the weird feeling I had in the back of my mind. Glancing at Jokestar as we walked towards a row of cars, I couldn’t help but think of how strange of a coincidence it is that we ran into him and the rest of The Dark Reapers shortly after leaving the forest. Were we really that lucky, or is there something that pulled us towards each other?