Five blades sunk into the troll-giant, each characterised by their wielder.
The delicate-looking Diamond sword contradicted it’s beautiful facade by brutally slicing tissue and tendon behind the knee. Biting deep through into the bone.
A blade made of darkness, lined with a silver corona was dug tip first into the back of the other knee. It had an effect that looked similar to melting through it but all tissue simply vanished on contact.
A huge leap enabled the huge face of an axe to be buried all the way to the shaft into the ropey thigh muscle twelve feet off the floor. As it made contact with the flesh it shimmied, vibrating on a level so fast it drilled the axe further in.
On the other side a similar leap concluded with a huge man digging both his forearm blades into the other thigh. They had both been transformed into preying mantis style blade arms from the elbow down. Native to some creature in Pallimustus they were a feature of a rather aggressive bug bird, as such they were boosted by an equipped item and they were sheathed in multi-hued metal.
The result of four strong attacks on its legs brought the troll-giant being to its knees, pitching forward it struck the ground with its mighty hands to break its fall.
The fifth blade took this opportunity. The wielder ran in from a shrouded hiding spot and didn’t hesitate striking at the exposed head. The length of the giants arms holding it up meant that she still had to leap to reach the scraggly haired dome. Using a special attack which drained most of its stored mana it burned a hole into the top of the monsters skull much like the blade of darkness in it’s knee. When it was buried almost to the hilt another feature of the sword was used. The wand held along the spine rapid-fired three fire-balls directly into its skull.
The giant had been around thirty feet tall. A squat frame that supported a body almost as wide at the shoulders as it was tall. It was obviously humanoid with subtle differences, its hands had eight fingers on each with the digits splayed like a fan, a third eye was in the middle of its forehead and a nest of sharp needle teeth that didn’t quite fit in its mouth. It wore the skins of various animals and the villagers of the local area as clothing, crudely put together in the short few weeks it had existed.
Monsters like this were frequent in the world and plagued the helpless, driving them into reinforced towns in response to their presence. This was why the Adventure Society was formed. A group of magically enhanced individuals who pledged to aid any that were under threat from monsters around the world. In a world without the convenience of globe spanning transport at the touch of a debit card the Adventurers normally stayed within their local area, specialising in their local types of monster and strength. Different varieties of monsters spawned at different strengths around the continents.
The Mitchells and their significant companion Ragnar were adventurers. They had been given the privilege of accepting a contract from the Adventure Society to deliver a supreme monster killing weapon to a mountain city on a different continent. This was not the first great distance travelling the Mitchells had undertaken but at least this time it was voluntary. They were not native to the magical world of Pallimustus but came from Earth, where magic was someone pulling a coin from your ear or getting a lucky double drop from a vending machine. They had been pulled from that world quite suddenly with no warning and brought to Pallimustus for reasons they still didn’t understand. Once in a world filled with magic and monsters they soon found out that this world had gods, real gods who turned up when people prayed and actively influenced the world around them. Ragnar was a member of one of these churches, he was an adventuring acolyte of the church of Hero, a god that had taken an interest in the Mitchells.
Four of the group stood back as the slight woman who struck the killing blow strode around the prostrate giant twitching on the ground. Golden runes were streaming from her eyes as she walked, flowing down her arm to rest on the floor. As she walked away from the monster towards the group she activated the ritual circle she had laid out and the contents burst into flame.
“Burn the trolls.” James said as they all stood in a line watching the body burn.
They watched with grim satisfaction as the body withered down to the size of a normal man. They had been fighting the Corpsetaker Giant for the last two days. A silver rank monster that was not to be trifled with unless you knew what you were doing. With limited intelligence the monster started out infiltrating small villages and taking one or two people it fed on them and grew. Using the life energy to grow bigger and stronger after only a few victims it was a power to be reckoned with. Silver rank endurance, cunning intelligence and a malevolence on the higher end of the monster encyclopaedia they were hunted down with extreme prejudice. The team had found the monster listing on an Adventure Society notice board in front of one of the village town halls, after seeing the destruction it had been causing in the area they chose to act swiftly before it could do anymore damage.
The team and Ragnar were bronze rank. Normal people on absorbing four essences evolved to iron rank. On unlocking all twenty powers with the use of awakening stones they then had to train hard with repetitive exposure to danger to progress all those skills to rank up to bronze. The subsequent power jump of the individual was incredible. They knew from speaking to those higher rank then themselves that the next leap in power to silver was even greater. They had managed the fight with the silver rank monster by superior training, teamwork and equipment.
In their time in the world the Mitchells had worked incredibly hard to form a potent team. Tactics, coordination and trust meant that they worked well together. In his time with them Ragnar had worked with each team member individually; they had all learnt their strengths and weaknesses and he was a welcome member (if not officially) to the team.
The Serenity was one of the Mitchells prize possessions. It was a mid size luxury yacht, made of shimmering blue crystal with huge dark smoky windows. The prow was high with a broad curve down to the keel. It was flat bottomed which you could just see between the four huge almost ten foot tall rugged rubberised tyres on either side. The wheels were magically magnetised to the hull with a gap wide enough to fit your arm. The stern had a drop deck which reached almost all the way to the ground with a wide platform holding a central staircase in the centre leading to the middle deck. Behind the staircase on the bottom deck were the sliding doors to the four cabins, one for each of the couples in the team, a spare cabin taken by Ragnar and a workshop. The middle deck had the living space, with a richly appointed dining area, comprehensive kitchen and a living space at the bow. The middle deck stern had flanking staircases up to the top deck that had a large seating area at the back with a square table surrounded by benches. There was a large drivers station with a wide captain’s chair in front on a complex series of controls, a large crystal canopy covered the drivers station open at the back but could be extended to cover the rear two thirds of the top deck. In front of the drivers station was a large open foredeck with benches around the edge to allow passengers to relax and watch the scenery go by. The Serenity was made of highly customisable Fourth-Stage Crystal, obscenely expensive and normally an incredible luxury. The team had earned the vehicle by doing work for the Adventure Society and then saving the life of Efkycharkzshyn, or Charlie as they started calling him who was a master creator of the Fourth-Stage Crystal vehicles. The vehicle had been upgraded further when they stopped at Stonewall on their way to complete the contract, isolated by their biology the Stonewallers had fostered a society that strived for perfection in everything they made, luckily for the Mitchells what the Stonewallers made mostly was weapons and armour.
Now fitted to the Serenity were four guns on the rails. They could be moved up and down the railing, stored back into the crystal and popped up on the other side of the vehicle, they could be moved anywhere on the ship. They looked like old swivel guns from a wooden battleship of earth, smooth plain metal with simple banding around the barrel. Instead of firing a cannonball with explosives and flintlock they shot disruptive force energy and were extremely good at it. They had engaged the Corpsetaker Giant with them from the limit of their range and had fought a retreating battle away from the silver rank monster to attrit it as much as they could. After most of a day of expensive use of the guns the impressively hardy monster had started to flag. They switched tactic to running circles around it, barraging it with the guns and their own powers. The monster had then tried to flee, luckily even for silver rank, Corpsetaker Giants are not known to be speedy. Another upgrade to the Serenity was employed, this time taken from a pirate ship when they had liberated the crew from a hijacking on the ocean. A huge harpoon gun was mounted from storage on the prow and sent a magically reinforced bolt deep into the giant’s back, towing the Serenity whilst they continued to pound its health down.
By the time they jumped off the top deck of the Serenity to close in and kill the monster it had next to no fight left in it. They had not underestimated its power and fought it the smartest way they could for their rank. The only reason they closed in hand-to-hand was to get the most experience they could for their powers.
They stood in a line watching the impromptu bonfire. The big bearded Ragnar stood with his axe slung across his back, leaning his thick forearms on his huge decorated kite shield that was resting on the ground. He wore thick quilted robes with magical chain mail reinforcement. He had a huge bushy moustache that stuck out either side of his face and a bushy beard that fell down to his chest.
Next to him making him look like a normal size man was an even bigger bearded man, he wore tough travelling clothes with his entire right arm and one side of his chest was covered in armour. James had his arm draped around his wife’s shoulders, his eyes were blank as he used a power to watch the scene from the birds circling high above. He had a thick beard that was neatly kept short, his wife wouldn’t allow him to look like a scruff. His hair on the other hand was borderline untameable, thick and black it swept back off his head and almost fell to his shoulders. He had made a recent attempt at controlling it slightly and shaved the sides, after he was done being told off by his wife she had to acknowledge how much more manageable it was.
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Lucy had her arm around James’ waist as he was so much taller than her. She wore a biker-jacket style coat, it was a dark forest green with fitted sleeves that had dark steel bracers that covered her forearms. The left arm that wasn’t wrapped around her husband was slightly chunkier with a tell-tale oval muzzle above the wrist. She wore tough fabric leggings underneath interspersed with removable armour panels she had added to fight the silver rank monster. She had tied her brown hair back in a no-nonsense ponytail for the fight, keeping it out her eyes while she drew combat rituals.
On her left her sister-in-law stood reflecting the firelight in her armour. Covered in large diamond panels and white ceramic with black detailing. It fit her athletic figure like a glove, conforming to every curve. Her long blonde hair was in a thick braid that reached to her waist with a gentle curve. The hair was full of miniature barrel charms, all intricately carved and they glimmered even without the light hitting them. Kyra’s diamond sword was no where to be seen and she stood with her arm around her husbands waist who stood next to her.
Kyra had pulled Theodore’s cloak aside to snake her arm around his waist. He stood in what looked like a black martial arts outfit, loose flowing fabric around his legs tucked into a dark pair of high boots. Around his waist was a belt around a hands span wide, it had armoured panels and rows of pouches and bottles. One of the pouches was a rectangular box with with the tips of shurikens poking out, there were various knives and swords on both hips. He had a chest strap going from one hip to the other shoulder with throwing knives the size and shape of bowie knives but flat handled, magically magnetised on. He was completely bald, not through choice. When they ranked up they all improved physically and aesthetically, apparently whatever cosmic force governed how this worked had decided that Teddy should be forever bald. He stood companionably arm in arm with his wife watching the fire.
Whilst the others were all chatting on the interface about what they were doing next and what was for dinner, where they might go next and complimenting each others performance Teddy was busy. As the pseudo-team leader he was going through the battle log to assess the fight for a post-fight evaluation.
Battle log:
Serenity Swivel gun: Fired disruptive bolt at Corpsetaker Giant
Serenity Swivel gun: Fired disruptive bolt at Corpsetaker Giant
Serenity Swivel gun: Fired disruptive bolt at Corpsetaker Giant
Lucy Mitchell: Used spell Rune Lore [Fire Enhancement]
Lucy Mitchell: Used spell [Fire Enhanced] Magic Missile at Corpsetaker Giant
Serenity Swivel gun: Fired disruptive bolt at Corpsetaker Giant
Serenity Swivel gun: Fired disruptive bolt at Corpsetaker Giant
Kyra Mitchell: Summoned Diamond Weapon
Kyra Mitchell: Used Earth Spike
Kyra Mitchell: Attacked Corpsetaker Giant with Diamond Weapon
Theodore Mitchell: Summoned Dimensional Blade
Theodore Mitchell: Used Wraith Dash
Theodore Mitchell: Attacked Corpsetaker Giant with Dimension Blade
Ragnar: Used [Special attack] Mighty Strike on Corpsetaker Giant
James Michell: Used Animage on himself. (Mana cost increased for multiple transformations)
James Mitchell: Attacked Corpsetaker Giant with [Transformed] arms. Bare Arms bonus still applies
Lucy Mitchell: Attacked Corpsetaker Giant with Athame of the Combat Witch [Special ability] Dimension Edge applied
Athame of the Combat Witch’s mana reservoir is being refilled by Corpsetaker Giant
Lucy Mitchell: Used Dragon’s Hair wand on Corpsetaker Giant
Lucy Mitchell: Used Dragon’s Hair wand on Corpsetaker Giant
Lucy Mitchell: Used Dragon’s Hair wand on Corpsetaker Giant
Corpsetaker Giant has been immobilised
Lucy Mitchell: Used Rune Lore [Pit of fire]
Corpsetaker Giant has been defeated
Teddy looked across at another tab on the interface, this was his custom ‘Home Screen’ where he chose what items went where, in the centre was the notifications section where there was a new item.
You have defeated Corpsetaker Giant.
Corpsetaker Giant has been wholly annihilated, it has been automatically looted.
10 Bags [Giant Powder] (silver rank) have been added to (Mitchells) inventory.
1 [Giant Toe] (silver rank) have been added to (Mitchells) inventory.
1 [Monster core (silver)] have been added to (Mitchells) Inventory.
40 [Silver] spirit coins have been added to (Mitchells). Inventory.
10 [Silver] spirit coins have been awarded to (Ragnar).
“That’s an alright haul.” Teddy said, turning away from the giant pulling Kyra with him. “Let’s go over the fight on the way back to the village.”
They had passed a few villages before committing to the monster hunt. A silver rank monster that fed off its victims to become stronger was incredibly dangerous if not dealt with properly. Feeding off an essence user would make it far stronger. Part of being an adventurer was having the wisdom to know what fights you should go for and which you shouldn’t. They had surmised that multiple urgent messages had been sent to the local society branch which were competent and would send a suitable silver rank adventurer to deal with it. When they saw the state of the last village they passed they couldn’t stand by. Half the village was destroyed and half it’s people eaten by the monster. If they did nothing then the monster could reach the next village by the time help came. Worst case the Serenity was capable of engaging then running away.
Lucy and Ragnar exchanged a coin, Ragnar giving up one of his silver ones to her. He was always a chancer and had made a bet to Lucy that the lootables would involve weapons.
“By my axe! Such a formidable opponent should produce such little spoils!”
“You big cry baby, you’re getting paid in silver coins for a job you spent most of the time eating.”
“Those marvellous weapons on the good ship Serenity were fortuitous, more so that feasting may endure with their one handed use!”
“Maybe we should add some rules about responsible use of cannons on board? Maybe not one handed while eating a sandwich.” James chipped in.
They all made their way up to the top deck, Teddy turned the Serenity around an set it off at a moderate pace and put it on cruise control before meeting the others at the back around the table.
On the way he was almost knocked over as Kyra and James released their familiars onto the top deck. James’ familiar was a huge bear. Taller than James by a head or two and looked dark and sinister, he appeared on all fours on the deck and was instantly set upon. Kyra’s familiar was a golden Labrador retriever, a breed not native to Pallimustus so was novel to the locals. He was a lean athletic dog with a short coat and wide head perfect for patting. As soon as he was released he went for Koda’s neck, bowling him over onto his back, the big bear let him, playing along with all four of his mighty paws in the air and Teddy just had to step around them.
“Onto the front deck, both of you. Go play around the big gun. Go!”
Lucky leapt off and dashed at Teddy with a quick nip before running off and Koda gave a lazy swipe that was terrifyingly fast before lumbering after the dog. Neither would ever be quick enough to catch Teddy whilst he was looking their way. The big gun on the front deck was part of their continent spanning contract. They had to take weapons-grade materials on the level of the atomic bomb across the continent to a town named Stonewall who were designers on the level of Oppenheimer to convert it not into a bomb but a huge quad barrelled gold rank weapon. It was currently under a giant tarp and tied off tight, the use of the gun on the Serenity’s deck would break the ship as it had to be mounted and loaded properly if not they could have taken out the silver rank monster with ease.
The contract that they were on was still active, they were still wending their way towards the final destination of Honshuraskil but at a much more sedate pace. They had contacted the Adventure Society in Greenstone when they dropped in some adventure board notices they had picked off little villages on their way through to a local branch, doing what they could to help on their way past. They found that there was a message for them to contact the deputy director as soon as they could.
………
“Ahh Mitchells! A good sight to see. If you have our message than I assume you have the cargo and are on your onward journey?”
“Heeey Vinnie! We had a little excitement but yes we’re all now finished at Stonewall, sad to leave some of the friends we made there behind but we have some nice keepsakes to remember them by.” Kyra cheerily replied.
“I hope you know, no one has ever managed to be as successful with that contract as you all have. Also, don’t call me Vinnie please.”
The deputy director was a well dressed man, with an outrageously proportioned moustache that the boys had been convinced was due to an essence power until Kyra caught him waxing it in place one day.
“The Families back here have noticeably diverted their attention off your contract. I don’t know what you finally did to be the last straw but you found it. Thats not to say they’re any less… persistent in other matters, but at least your name doesn’t come across my desk everyday.”
“Damn V, its almost like you want to forget us!” James said.
“The next thing I want to see about you people is a contract complete notice. Thats why I asked you to get in touch. Due to the delays in you getting in and out of Stonewall you’ve missed the weather window for getting into Honshuraskil, there are savage magical winds that stop any movement in or out for the next six months.”
“Six months?!” Teddy exclaimed. “Well that must’ve been a tight deadline to get it in beforehand.”
“I’m sure you noticed the urgency of the contract. The winds contain the gold rank threats the city needs defending using the weapon in your possession, luckily they are suitably reinforced that it will not break them to not have it this time. All I am saying is take your time, take care of yourselves and the weapon but there is no rush to get to Honshuraskil.”
………
They had left Stonewall three months ago, taking every contract they could find from every noticeboard. They had visited over a dozen villages and towns and were living the adventurer life.