Cade woke up with a start, the others waiting for him already. Yawning, he stood up and threw his camping stuff in his inventory. Chewing on a nutrient bar, Frida came up to him and handed him several Void Marbles and some coins.
“This is your split of all the money I have left over after buying the elixirs yesterday.” Cade took them, taking them into his inventory.
“Alright, is everyone good to go? Let’s head to the top!” Cade made his way to the shimmering entrance and passed through the veil. The others followed immediately after him. Outside, it was still bright; like no time had passed. Messing with time has got to be hard, whoever these monsters were that took over the planet, they had some insane powers.
Cade started walking up the slope, his companions following closely behind. He stopped as the ground shook, like a mini earthquake. The bushes and trees near them shuffled their leaves, a low roar heard from somewhere above them at the same time.
“What the hell is big enough to make that noise? Sounds like it’s near the top of the mountain.” Cade thought aloud.
“Something able to cause that much noise and shaking is going to be massive, so I’m going to go out on a limb and guess we may have a boss on our hands.” King commented.
They kept walking up the mountainside, the occasional shake causing their nerves to spike and hair to stand on end. Roaring would sometimes accompany the shaking, but was much less often heard. After a couple hours of hiking, which did nothing to make any of them tired whatsoever thanks to their strengthened bodies, they saw a massive opening torn into the side of the mountain. Fairly close to the top at this point, they were confused as to why there would be another hole, but this one didn’t have the same kind of entrance. It was carved with an ornate pattern on either side of the tear. They had to brace themselves every time a tremor occurred, pointing to it probably coming from inside of there.
“Okay… let’s hit the shop real quick and get ready, then we can head in. Anyone have any complaints?” Cade looked around, nobody seeming to have an issue. They were used to throwing themselves in harm's way, and another cave wasn’t a big deal. Even if there could be a T-rex or something crazy inside. He bought several elixirs, and a couple Status Nulls.
“Hey Cade, how much do you have left over? I still have a lot and I think I'll get another of the Void Charged Regen Elixir’s just in case. I owe it to everyone.” Brandon was definitely trying to show he was a team player, so Cade handed over the rest of his coins. “Thanks, I have one if anyone needs it. Let’s try not to use it though, eh?”
They dropped down to the entrance and started to walk through the threshold when a light flashed, pulling them all through the entrance and depositing them inside. They could still see the entrance, but it seemed as though they couldn’t leave for now.
“Okay, weird. No shimmer, but we are definitely inside of an instance now.” King said what they all guessed.
They all summoned their weapons and started to advance. Brandon entered stealth and King led the way, their strategy as normal. King shouted and pointed, moving slightly to his left, something clattering against his shield with some force. Cade was directly behind him and had to shake himself off as a wave of hot water sloughed off King’s shield to splash around them. It hurt, that water was definitely boiling.
“Anyone have eyes? I didn’t see what threw that at us.” King was soaked and he was not happy as he called out.
“Nothing on my side, Brandon… take a look?” Cade watched as his silhouette moved forward in the direction the water had come from. They heard his knife *shick* into something wet.
“Got it. It’s a small turtle, I’ll bring it over.” Brandon jogged back, a fairly normal turtle held by one leg, blood streaming from a wound between its shell behind the head. It had a blue tinge to it and no name displayed.
“Did you catch what it was called?” Cade asked.
“I think it said Floodshell. I wasn’t paying much attention though.” He shrugged and dropped the corpse behind them.
“DUCK.” Frida screamed out, all four of them dropping to the ground as a fireball the size of a basketball flew overhead where they had been. Cade felt the hairs on his head and neck singe as it passed by.
“Okay, so that one was water, this one can shoot fire, or can they all do that?” King stood and pointed his shield towards where it had come from. “Do we have any lights? I can’t see shit.”
“Actually… yeah. Hold on.” Brandon produced a couple camping lamps, lighting them with the flint. The cave illuminated for the most part and they all swore and moved closer together as they noticed how surrounded they were. On all sides of them were little eyes reflecting the fire light back at them.
“Okay, new plan. We fight our way through these things. Frida, you’re with King and his shield. Crow, on me.” He figured pairing a shield wielder up with each of them could alleviate the need to dodge the incoming fireballs and water shots. He saw the mouths of several of the small turtles open, either a flame or water ball appearing above their open mouths. The turtles shuddered before firing, the balls of each element rushing through the air at them. Cade dodged and activated his ability, his sword lashing out to smack one of the turtles off a ledge ahead. Frida shot forward after the projectiles flew around them and in two quick downward smashes, reduced two of them to dust. That hammer was a good choice against the hard shelled creatures. Cade swatted aside another turtle as it prepared a water ball, the boiling water falling over the creature. It cried out with a small noise, cooking in its own shell.
“Hit them as they charge up the abilities. They can’t contain their own elements.” Cade shouted over his shoulder, hoping the other two would hear him. They fought through the turtles, moving further down the cave. It was slow, but they were making progress. The roaring returned after they turned the first bend. The ground shook and Cade had to drop to one knee to steady himself. They kept killing turtles, the only injuries they sustained were when one of the turtles shot out a bolt of lightning. King made the mistake of trying to block it unknowingly, and shocked the hell out of himself. He was still conscious, but the skin on his hands and arms was burned pretty bad and his teeth were chattering uncontrollably. Cade offered him up an elixir, which he drank and thanked him. They defended him from the turtles as the skin on his arms started to heal and his nerves stopped freaking out.
“Doing better man?” Cade turned and looked, King standing up and his shield returning to his hands.
“Yeah… don’t catch lightning. That shit sucks. I can still feel it in my brain, man.” King shook his head like he was clearing it of a bad memory and returned to the front. The roaring returned, loud in their ears and shaking their teeth, like they were just around a corner from whatever was producing it. At the end of the turn ahead, a small army of the turtles waited for them. Two slightly tinted yellow turtles stood at the front, charging up something Cade did not want to see or feel. He threw his blade out and swiped sideways, knocking the turtle's legs out from under them and stopping the charge. The blast released sideways, taking several blue and red ones out, even exploding several of the water balls that were being charged. The water rained down and the silly things screamed in agony as they cooked. King ran forward and swiped his shield along the ground, finishing off several of them that were struggling to right themselves. Frida swung her hammer, finishing off the rest of them.
They were able to take a second to rest, catching their breath and preparing themselves for whatever was around the corner.
“Anyone want to guess what’s around the corner?” King said as he stretched out his shoulders, arms wheeling around.
“Probably a big version of these small guys. But it could be something else…” Frida commented and trailed off.
“I’ll go peer around the corner. Wait here.” Brandon walked off, his stealth activating as they watched his silhouette slowly move towards the edge of the cave.
[ Yeah, Frida was spot on. Although I can only see its head. Probably 10 feet long. The rest of its body is submerged in what looks like boiling water. Neat. ]
They all received a minute later. Brandon made his way back and deactivated his stealth.
“Okay, gameplan. Frida, I think your Meteor Blast is going to be useful here. I’m thinking it's going to be hard for us lowly blade users to get through its shell, so we are going to be the distraction team. Good with that?” Cade asked, and she nodded in confirmation. “We will focus on distracting it, Crow can try to land some hits to slow it down, and King and I can keep its attention and use our shields to take the hits. Any questions?” Cade looked around. King grumbled something about always taking the hits but he had a smile on his face. They were all excited to fight whatever this thing was.
“Alright, let’s get it. After you King. Let’s figure out what it can do and watch each other's backs.” Cade reached out a fist and received a fist bump in return, a somewhat questioning and hesitant bump coming from Frida. They all summoned their weapons and started to advance. Brandon and Frida behind King and Cade. They rounded the corner and saw the head and eyes of a massively oversized turtle turn towards them in the water. It lifted out, giving them a full view of its neck and head. It roared at them, a strange dull noise so loud that they had to cover their ears. Cade thought it sounded like a dinosaur from the old Jurassic Park movies his Uncle had loved.
A large mouth ringed by what looked like a beak so sharp the light glinted off of it, ending in the point of a snapping turtle, snapped shut as it ended its roar. It removed itself from the water faster than Cade thought it could have given its size.
“This thing is strong. Nothing that big should be able to walk through water that deep. Be careful.” Cade called out to his friends.
“Oh shit. Look at its name, guys.” Brandon said seriously.
“Dark Scion, Carapax the Primordial. It's a Dark Scion. Not good.” Cade read the name of it out loud. “Nothing changes, just be aware that it has been getting steadily stronger, so this is likely the strongest monster we’ve fought.”
The turtle was easily as big as a garbage truck, mottled colorings of void black and the various colors of the smaller turtles showing through. Its skin outside of its shell was a dull grey color, and its eyes were a piercing black. Cade watched as it reared back, pointing its mouth upwards towards the ceiling. A fiery ball of energy quickly built before it threw its neck and head forward, propelling the ball straight at them. They were still far enough from it that it was trivial to dodge and they scattered and regrouped as it watched them.
“Go,” was all Cade said before they shot forward, all except for Frida. She stayed in place, eyes on the monster as she charged up her ability. They had to hold it for 20 seconds for maximum output for her charge, and they intended to do as much damage during that time. Cade went to the right, Brandon out to the left far enough to get behind it, and King postured his massive shield right in front of it. As he got closer, Cade got a better look at the rest of its body. The shell had protrusions that looked like they functioned as spikes, so attacking from the top would be slightly more dangerous than he initially thought.
The Scion began charging up another attack, this time the yellow of electricity building inside of the ball above its head. Cade jumped back, seeing the others do the same. They knew they wanted to avoid getting hit by it, but electricity was so much harder to dodge when you had metal weaponry in your hands. Cade looked over to see King banging his gauntlet on the face of his shield, yelling at the giant turtle.
“Look here asshole, throw it my way!” He managed to get its attention, the ball of lightning buzzing as it careened towards King.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
“DASH!” King shouted out, appearing near Cade as he avoided the deadly electricity. It hit the ground where he had been and crackled menacingly against the ground. They saw it travel through the water on the ground, and Cade noted to make sure they were not touching wet ground when it used it again.
“Phew… Glad that worked out. Wasn’t sure if my speed would be quick enough to avoid that.” King raised his shield towards the monster again.
[ I am ready. 15 seconds of active time. ] They all received the message from Frida simultaneously.
Brandon jumped off of an outcrop of rock, landing on top of the back of the monster's shell. He ran up its back, avoiding the spines. He reached the soft piece of flesh between its neck and its shell and stabbed his ability enhanced blades into it. The beast immediately cried out in pain, its shell glowing slightly. It bared down and rapidly spun in place, launching Brandon across the room. Unfortunately his Seax dagger had been torn from his hand, still embedded in the creature.
“YAH! Look at me, you oversized pet!” Cade knew it wouldn’t know what he was saying, but it made him feel better to insult the monster. Across from him on the opposite side of the Scion, he watched as King braced himself with his shield over his body, braced against his back, kneeling down on the ground. Frida’s hammer face was glowing with a blinding light as she held it out to her side. Running towards King, she leapt up onto his shield just as he pushed upwards, launching her several dozen feet in the air. Frida flipped forward, righting herself with her hammer out behind her, both hands swinging downwards. Crying out as she swung, the hammer collided with the top of the monster's shell. The resulting explosion felt like a cannon had gone off in the cave.
Pieces of shell flew everywhere as the monster fell to its belly, legs splaying sideways. Dust filled the air, Cade hiding behind his shield as best he could. Hopefully Brandon had been far enough from the blast to minimize damage. Standing back up, Cade carefully made his way towards the creature. He saw a figure rising from the dust - Frida. She was stumbling, her left leg dragging underneath her, using her hammer as a walking stick. He put his gladius away and ran to help her.
“Ah. Thank you. Although I managed to hit it, I was impaled by one of its spikes, I can’t even feel that leg right now.” She put her hammer away and put an arm around Cades shoulders. They made their way to the cave wall and she pulled out an elixir, drinking it quickly.
“Nice move Frida, badass way to kill it!” King ran over. Brandon was seen in the distance going to remove his blade from the creature.
“Okay, so why haven’t we received any rewards?” King asked.
“GUYS. THIS THING IS NOT DEAD. NOT DEAD. Oof.” Brandon shouted at them, his sentence cut short as he was sent flying. He hit the ground and rolled several times.
“BRANDON, No!” Cade shouted out, starting to run. King caught him by the shoulder.
“Protect Frida, I got him. Dash.” King disappeared in a blur, appearing protectively in front of Brandon.
[ He’s out cold, looks like one of his arms is badly broken, some blood coming from his nose, but he’s alive. I’ll stabilize him with an elixir. The Scion is moving around. ]
[ Okay, good. Thanks King. Take care of him. Frida and I got this. ]
Out of the dust, a large shape began to move. It stood up, much taller than the turtle had been. The dust started to settle, Cade catching sight of what awaited them. It had transformed into a humanoid-esque creature. The shell was gone, like it had shed it completely. Dark swirling patterns interspersed with the same bright elemental colors moved across its skin. It had a long neck, about the same length as before, but its head had shrunk down, eyes forward this time. Its hands looked like the pads of an elephant, with the addition of foot long fingers that ended in deadly looking claws. It looked at Cade and Frida, its mouth opening to fire a ball of blue energy at them.
Cade ran forward towards it, intending to intercept the ball of water before it could reach Frida. She was still recovering and would need a moment to right her leg. The ball launched in his direction; thinking fast, he took his shield off, holding it with both hands. Spinning in place, he threw his shield towards the floating blue ball. They collided and the shield was sent flying sideways as the superheated water blew apart in mid air. Cade ran over and picked the shield up, having to stow it immediately as it had absorbed a ton of heat. Another fireball was being built up above the monster, and Cade was without his shield. Wait… vambraces. He remembered he hadn’t tested out his new armor.
Cade braced his feet, raising both of his forearms up in front of his face, doing his best impression of Wonder Woman. The fireball was released towards him and the crackling mass of energy closed in on him. He could feel the heat and knew he probably was losing some hair. The fireball made contact with his vambraces and he grunted as the physical mass of the energy ball pushed him backwards. The vambraces took effect and the fireball was rebounded away from him. Unfortunately his aim was off and he redirected it nowhere near their enemy. He shook off his arms, the skin underneath was hot and the hair all over his arms was singed. His Rat Hide vest was singed in a few places as well.
“Frida, you up for another attack soon?” Cade shouted over his shoulder.
“I need to charge it up, and I’ll be slower this time. Still not completely healed, but yes.” She yelled back.
[ King, how’s Brandon? ]
[ He’s awake, but definitely concussed. He’s refusing to take the high tier potion, but did take one of the lesser ones. ]
[ Got it. If one of us gets hit, Brandon, you HAVE to take that potion. Focus on healing. Frida and I are going to take it down. ]
Cade shot forward towards the monster, his sword flashing as it whipped around him from right to left, individual linked pieces shining bright as he activated his ability. The blade swung through the air with a whistle, cutting into the beast in front of his right arm and back. It cut deep, drawing blood as it tore into it. Swinging the blade again, he removed the blades from its hide and had to leap backwards as a fireball hit the ground where he had been standing. Reengaging, he ran and slid on the wet ground below it - sliding between its legs. He swept his sword across the flank of its left leg. It fell hard to that side, and Cade had to avoid the claws on its right hand. He noted that they were crackling with electricity.
[ Claws are electrified. Watch them. ]
[ Four more seconds and I’m ready. King, please come here. Cade, when I give the signal; get behind it. ]
King activated his ability once more after checking Brandon was far enough away from the fight to not be in immediate danger. He appeared next to Frida. Cade was too busy dodging lightning claws to see what they were planning, but he trusted them to give him the signal and get what they needed done. Swinging his sword to parry an arm, aiming below the claws, he felt the skin on his arms and head stand on end, the static electricity too close for comfort.
“NOW CADE.” He heard Frida yell. As quickly as he could, he pivoted around the creature, getting to its back as he deflected another arm from him. Unfortunately in his hurry, he was unable to keep the claws from contacting his sword. His body went stiff then spasmed uncontrollably. He had held onto his sword handle so hard he was sure he had broken fingers, and he had bit cleanly through his tongue and part of his cheek. He fell backwards, noting that his health had dropped substantially. A status change appeared below his health bar. Paralyzed. His eyes were still open however, and as he fell he was able to make out King and Frida appearing between him and the monster, Frida’s hammer swinging sideways to take the monster in the side of the chest underneath its left arm. He lost consciousness as it made contact, clanging to the ground.
King
King was down on a knee, trying to force feed Brandon an elixir with one hand whilst trying to keep his shield angled towards the Scion. Frustratingly, it was not going as well as he wanted, so he took his shield and stabbed the blade into the cave floor. His strength let him dig it far enough in that it stayed on its own. He released it and turned, using one hand to open Brandon’s mouth and the other to pour the elixir into it. He looked over and saw Cade throw his shield at a blue energy ball. The water element shattered and dissipated. Cade ran at it and flayed it with his ability, King was impressed with his tenacity. He heard coughing and looked down to Brandon waking up. His arm was wrecked, lying limply at his side. He had blood running down his nose and the side of his head, but his health wasn’t terribly bad.
“Breathe man, I force fed you an elixir, but you may want to take that high tier one. Your arm is mangled and you likely have a concussion, based on how much blood is coming from your head.” King kept talking but turned back to watch the fight.
“Ugh… No. Not going to waste that potion on me.” He quietly got out, coughing to the side, away from King.
“You sure? Not sure if Cade is going to like that.” King was sure he wouldn’t, but Brandon was a grown man and could make his own decisions. As if he could hear them, Cade sent a message checking on them. King told him he was refusing to take the high tier elixir, and promised to keep him safe. Another message came through from Cade, followed by another from Frida. This one was for King. He smiled as he guessed as to what her plan was.
[ Claws are electrified. Watch them. ]
[ Four more seconds and I’m ready. King, please come here. Cade, when I give the signal; get behind it. ]
“I have to go help Frida out, can you stay hidden for now and take another elixir?” King said to Brandon, helping him sit up against an outcrop.
“Yeah, I’ll hit my stealth and just hope it doesn’t accidentally take me out I guess. Go.” Brandon let out a chuckle and shooed him away with a hand.
King grabbed onto his shield and pulled it from the ground. “Dash.” He appeared next to Frida. She explained her plan quickly to him, careful to not lose concentration. He knew it took her complete focus to build her ability up, especially to its max.
“Okay, whenever you’re ready, grab on, let him know, then hold on as best you can.” King was excited. This ability made him versatile and gave him an edge. He wanted to protect his friends, even though he was still pissed at Brandon. That could wait though, they needed to live through this.
“I am ready.” Frida quietly said to him. She reached over his left shoulder with her arm and grabbed onto his clothing. Her right arm hung off away from them, the hammer face glowing rapidly.
“On your call.” King set his feet and got ready for the acceleration, knowing this would be harder carrying another person.
“NOW CADE.” Frida shouted above the cacophony of the fight.
“Go, Now.” She gripped his chest harder, and he activated his ability. They appeared in front of Cade right as he got hit by a claw. King saw him seize up and hit the ground hard. In the span of a tiny moment, Frida swung her hammer from his right side and hit the monster in its left armpit. The sound of the hammer blasting apart a creature of flesh and blood was something he’d never forget. The thud producing echoed around the cave, followed immediately by the creature ceasing to exist as the top portion of its body evaporated into a fine mist.
“Holy shit, lady. That is insane.” Frida stepped away from him and checked on Cade. The monster was for sure dead this time, notifications starting to hit his display. Remembering to check on Brandon, he ran over and saw him trying to stand. Holding his broken arm close to his body, he noticed it had begun to heal, but would likely take a while. He stowed his shield and put an arm underneath Brandon’s shoulder.
“You good, man? Frida took it out. She’s something else.” King shook his head as Brandon chuckled.
“No kidding, not sure we would have been able to beat that thing if we didn’t have her.” They hobbled together over to where Cade lay. Frida fed him an elixir and then slapped him across the cheeks lightly, trying to wake him up. Cade’s hair was standing on end still as he shot up, his body folding upwards at the waist like an old Halloween decoration. He had a wild eyed look and his teeth were still clattering slightly.
“Cade, the monster is dead. You need to try to relax and drink another elixir. Everyone is alive and good.” Frida consoled him and tried to calm his quite literally fried nerves.
“You took a good shock there man. Everything all good up there?” King tapped the side of his head and pointed at Cade’s head.
“I…uhh I think so. I feel like someone hit me with the world's biggest stun gun. Damn that sucked, you were right.” Cade said, his voice stuttering. King laughed, unable to keep himself from laughing at Cade's ridiculous appearance. The Rat Hide he wore had taken a lot of damage but he could see it starting to repair itself already. The holes in his clothes and the head of hair that made him look like a mad scientist sent him over the edge.
Brandon broke through his laughter, bringing King back to reality.
“So, did anyone else break through into D-Rank? I have the choice of new abilities. Didn’t expect that.”
“Same here, but I’m going to wait till…. I can recover a little more… to look.” Cade was having a tough time getting words out. Should we be worried about him? King thought to himself.
“Yeah, I have new options. Good loot as well. Going to browse what I got.” Frida turned and sat down a few feet from them.
“Looks like I got about ten thousand coins, a new shield, and ability choices.” King added. They all sat down and relaxed as they went through their loot.
Congratulations - You have reached the rank of D. You will be given a selection of abilities to choose from. Select one:
Cleave: The wielder can activate this ability to speed up and add force to any swing of a weapon. *Applies to any weapon. Exclusions: Pugilistic equipment and weapons.
* Mana Cost: 12
Doctrine of The Shield Master: The Shield Master is one that invests their entire being into becoming the perfect defender. Doctrine of The Shield Master allows the user to take a portion of their other stats and permanently apply them to the Durability stat. All defensive moves, defensive Abilities, and defense oriented movements are boosted by the same amount as the stats removed from other stat bases.
Warning: Stat reallocation is permanent and may not be changed after submission.
Warning: This is a passive stat and does not require Mana to function.
Sentinel’s Reach: The wielder may activate this ability to project a copy of their defensive weapon in front of them. The strength and distance the energy copy will travel are dictated by the wielders Strength and Durability.
* Mana Cost: 15
* Durability and Strength will extend and strengthen the projection as the stats develop.
----------------------------------------
King was very happy. He had some good options, but he knew which one he wanted. He had no intention of being a completely defense oriented fighter, and Sentinel’s Reach granted him a ranged ability that scaled off his best stats anyway. He chose it, going with his gut instinct.