Chapter 84 – Haunted

[Disputed Crowen Territory]

[Paul]

Paul cut through the bushes and trees faster and faster. The uncharted forest slowly gave way to his team as they pushed their way through, spilling out onto a large, open dirt road.

“Fucking finally.” Miguel shot out from behind. “You really have to take us on such a roundabout path, Paul? We could have taken out that outpost easy.”

Paul looked out at his team, doing a quick headcount, completely ignoring Miguel. He was the mission tag along and Paul was really starting to hate the guy.

“Missions already done.” Stephanie said from behind Miguel, hand resting casually on her rapier. “No point in ruining it now by getting caught up in some pointless fight.”

“The mission isn’t done.” Paul reminded everyone as the rest of their group made it out of the forest and onto the road. There were six of them, including Paul. He was the group tank, joined by a warrior, a rogue, a duelist, a brawler, and a healer.

He had wanted to bring a mage with them on the mission, but he had heard a rumor that the Rough House didn’t like them, and they would likely get some sort of penalty if they completed their mission using one.

“What do you mean, the mission isn’t over?” asked Miguel. “I was there. We definitely killed those U.F.E. assholes and got away scot-free. I don’t even think the news has made it back to the front lines yet thanks to how efficient we were. We should have attacked that outpost. They looked like they had some pretty good gear.”

“I’m not sure what you quantify as getting away, but we’re still in enemy territory, no matter how close we are to our own borders. The mission isn’t done until we’re back at the base. Until then, I don’t want us getting involved in any fights we don’t have to be. I know you’ve heard the rumors. The ghost hangs out in this area. Are you going to be the one to deal with him?” Paul asked, staring down Miguel.

“If I have to,” Miguel said, matching Paul’s gaze.

“Let’s not fight guys.” Came their healer, Brian. “I’m with Paul on this one. We made the right choice. That outpost likely see’s a lot of activity and we could have gotten overwhelmed. I know this took a bit longer and we all want to get back so we can join the Rough House. Then the real fun can start.” He said, smile turning menacing.

Paul nodded at Brian. He always liked to bring a healer along who would agree with him. It was hard to argue when both the tank and the healer were on the same page. Everyone outside of that tended to fall in line.

“He’s right. Let’s just hurry up and leave. It should be a straight shot back to base. And we’re close enough that if we get into any serious trouble, we could probably expect reinforcements.” Stephanie said, receiving several nods from everyone but Miguel. The brawler simply spat on the ground and turned to walk down the road.

Paul let out a sigh, and the group began walking down the road with him.

The mission had been far easier than Paul was expecting. He had heard all sorts of rumors and legends about the sort of things people had to go to join up in the Rough House. Membership was always a quest, and it was always a suicide mission. If you survived, that meant you had what it took to become a member of the Rough House.

Paul couldn’t help himself from grinning. He had taken his team deep into enemy lines where they were supposedly training new healers. The U.F.E. had devised some method to reliably produce healing spells among people. Crowen had a huge advantage in that they secured the services of the Red Cross and their healers, but if the U.F.E. was able to get a reliable source on healers or get a healing spell for every one of their soldiers, that would shift the war front yet again. His mission was to stop that.

It had taken them months of fighting and surviving tooth and nail deep in enemy territories, but they had finally found it. There was a small remote village that offered a quest chain from the village mender. Once you did it, he would give you a rare healing ability manual. Healing spells were always hard to come by, so this quest existing was a literal money printer for the U.F.E

When his team finally found the village, there was a small U.F.E. fortress protecting both it, and the quest giver as dozens of soldiers filed in and out doing the quest chain for their free, rare healing spell.

The one mistake the U.F.E. had made was not guarding the village with any decent soldiers. Everyone capable was already on the front lines, and they must have assumed that no one would be this crazy to push this deep into U.F.E. territory.

Miguel had been right; they steamrolled their way through the fortress and easily slaughtered the NPC. Now they just had to make it back in one piece and they could join the Rodeo’s Rough House. That was the real goal of all of this.

Paul didn't necessarily look up to Rodeo like everyone else did. He thought the guy was a bit unhinged, but Rodeo had the king’s ear, and if you joined the Rough House, you became part of an elite unit. Paul had witnessed firsthand the resources poured into the Rough House. People were getting rare classes, rare cores, rare race upgrades. On top of that, Rodeo was some sort of genius at training, morphing everyone into pure killing machines.

That was Paul’s goal. He didn’t care for the war one way or another, he just wanted to get everything he could to rare and get the hell off this floor. If he was lucky, everyone would kill themselves off and it would no longer be his problem. He just wanted to get stronger so he could climb the Tower.

The group moved quickly down the road, lacking their usual sense of alertness. They would be back at their own forward camp by nightfall, and there was little in the way of threats this far up the road. They had, in fact, passed the last outpost they would come across. Paul had made them go around being extra safe. But now the group was relaxed, talking casually amongst themselves about the first things they were going to do once they got back. They had been away from civilization for a long time at this point.

“Hold.” Said Harold, the other group warrior. Paul looked up further down the road, squinting at someone walking towards them.

Jerome, their rogue, moved back into the forest and melded with the shadows. Everyone else fell into a defensive position as the person in the distance kept walking down the road towards them.

As the person approached, he heard a gasp from Stephanie, the group’s duelist.

“It’s the ghost.” She said in a hushed whisper.

“That’s not the ghost.” Miguel scoffed.

“He’s wearing blue. The rumors say he wears blue and always fights alone.” She protested.

Paul felt his grip tightening on his sword handle as he pulled out his shield from his void sack and equipped it. His focus wasn’t very high, so it took him a few moments longer before he could really tell what he was looking at. He felt tension bleed out of his body at the approaching figure.

It wasn’t the ghost.

It was a kid, barely a man, wearing a blue robe more like a coat, hanging open and revealing a smattering of mismatched armor underneath. He looked like he had been dropping points into strength, but didn’t quite have the confidence to back it up. He wore a shell-shocked look on his face as he stopped before the group.

“Ho there.” Paul said to the approaching man. “Mind letting us pass through?”

The man stood there for a long moment, eyes falling across each member of the group before landing on Paul.

“There are only five of you… Where is the sixth member? I assume he’s your rogue - can you ask him to come out so I can speak with you all?” he asked, voice almost innocent.

Everyone drew swords on him at that, but he didn’t move or stumble back an inch.

“Explain yourself. What do you know about us?” Paul demanded.

“I know you’ve been harassing our back lines for the past several months and are likely the ones who killed the quest giver. They aren’t happy about that at all. Based on your movement patterns, I imagined you might be taking this road out of here. It was smart not attacking the outpost. We had a trap set up for you there. If you don’t mind waiting with me, the U.F.E. should be here shortly to arrest you all.”

Paul glanced down the road behind him, then back at the guy blocking their path. He didn’t seem threatening in the slightest – but that didn’t mean a lot in this new world. If he was this informed and blocking their path by himself - he was likely the real deal. Plus, his confidence likely meant he had nearby allies. Although their rogue was yet to send out a signal that he had found anyone else lurking around. Paul grimaced to himself. They had been so close to making it out without getting tangled up in some sort of bullshit.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Should have stayed in the damn forest.” Paul grumbled under his breath as he raised his shield.

“You really should have.” The guy nodded along at him, face considering.

Paul didn’t wait a second longer. He activated his shield charge, flying towards the guy and slamming his shield straight into… nothing? Paul looked around, confused. His target was gone. He looked down the road to see him standing about ten feet away now.

Fucking movement techniques, he grimaced.

“Please. We don’t have to do this. I promise I won’t let them execute you. I’m sure you’ve got tons of information you can give up. I bet you won’t even get any jail time if you tell them enough!” He said, an almost naïve tone in his voice.

“I’ve heard enough of this kid’s shit.” Miguel said, sliding on a pair of spiked gauntlets and walking towards the guy.

The guy pulled out a large two-handed sword as Miguel took another step towards him.

“I told you it’s the ghost.” Stephanie spat out.

“Please don’t make me do this. There's a better way.” He said, voice pleading with the group.

Paul squinted at him, sending signals to the rest of the group to get into formation. There could be no room for error if this really was the ghost. Little information was actually known about him, just that he showed up randomly on battlefields wearing blue and wielding a greatsword. Whatever battle he graced was always a victory. Everyone said he moved like a ghost, but there was little information as to what they actually meant by that. Rumor even had it he was trained by Gideon. Paul had trouble reconciling the stories he heard of the ghost with the almost timid person standing before him.

“What exactly are you going to do to us?”

“If you force my hand, I’ll have no choice but to kill you.” He said matter of fact, like it was the obvious outcome of a six versus one battle.

Paul had heard enough. He activated his protection aura, gray mana seeping out of his skin from his stone mana core and solidifying all over his body, dangerous spikes jutting outwards from his stone skin. He slammed his shield in an attempt to draw in the ghost’s focus.

He watched as the ghost fell into a stance. Five diamond shaped blue ethereal missiles formed just above his shoulders. He cast another spell on himself and launched forward in a surprising speed, ducking under Miguel’s powerful swing of his fist.

Stephanie moved in to intercept him, her rapier at the ready and aimed at his eyes as she released a deadly mana empowered thrust. He deflected her attack, his sword taking a deep blue glow as it made contact with Stephanie’s rapier. Her eyes went wide as she tried to pull back on the sword and go in for another thrust, but her movements were so incredibly slow. Like she was stuck or something.

“He’s got a slow spell. Be careful!” She screamed, letting go of her weapon, which hung in the air for a moment before slowly falling towards the ground. The ghost was on top of her in a second, sword bearing down on her. Harold swung in with his great sword to deflect the attack and save Stephanie.

Moments before the great swords connected each other – the ghost disappeared completely, leaving nothing but hints of an ethereal blue after image. Paul’s eyes went wide as he saw the ghost reappear behind Miguel, the momentum of his sword still swinging down hard. The ghost cut Miguel straight through, cleaving off his arm from above the shoulder.

Jerome made his move then, launching out of the shadows of the forest, daggers poised to stab the ghost in the back.

That’s when the five missiles hovering in the air launched themselves simultaneously at Jerome, each one finding a home in his head. The rogue fell to the ground dead, the ghost not even turning around to acknowledge the attack.

Miguel screamed on the ground, still not dead, but close. Brian started weaving a healing spell but never got the chance to get it off. A loud bang rang out before he could get the spell off. Paul looked at the ghost, who had a flintlock pistol leveled at the group. Brian fell to the ground, a new hole in the center of his forehead.

The ghost grimaced, tucking the flintlock back into his belt.

Absolute amateur Paul screamed at himself. The group had gotten far too relaxed at the end of the mission. Always use your deadliest attacks first. Don’t give the enemy a chance. That’s how they survived for so long on the mission. They went all out from the first second. But they had gotten overconfident, they had gotten cocky. They had gotten lazy.

Three of their members dying in the drop of a hat was all the shock everyone else needed. Stephanie retrieved her sword, and lightning began to coalesce and radiate at the tip, her ultimate attack. She could hyper condense her lightning mana on the tip of her rapier. At that point, it didn’t matter where she stabbed, they would instantly fry to death from the mana.

The ghost tilted his head, a curious look on his face as Stephanie fell back into stance.

“Sorry hun, you may have gotten the jump on us, but we’re done messing around. You’re about to find out how deadly lightning can be.”

The ghost began to laugh. Like a full-blown belly laugh. Paul ignored his obvious bait tactics, and quickly charged in again. He was done with the games. It was time to end this.

The strategy was simple. Paul and Harold would distract the ghost, and Stephanie would wait for the perfect moment to strike. She didn’t even need to get a clean hit, her mana just needed to touch him, and he would be dead. No one survived her [Bolt Thrust].

Harold swung in hard with his great sword. Powerful waves of flames erupted from the backdraft of his swings and the ghost jumped backwards to avoid them. Paul shield charged in again in an attempt to catch him off guard. He met the shield charge, barely able to block it with his sword. Paul grinned as he blew past his guard, knocking his arms up into the air and exposing his chest.

Stephanie lunged in with a deadly grace. The ghost disappeared again, reappearing behind them a second later. Harold had already seen that trick and was already mid swing in the space behind him and Stephanie. Harold’s attacks were great for zone control and AOE. He just needed to know the general area, and that was usually enough for him to hit something. The ghost disappeared again, reappearing back to his original spot in front of him and Stephanie as Harold’s swing went wide, another wave of flames erupting from the sword and hitting nothing.

Paul slammed his foot into the ground activating his [Stone Wall] ability. Five interlocked stone pillars shot up out of the ground, blocking them off completely from the ghost. They all three put their backs to the wall and stared at the empty space before them, the only spot the ghost could appear. He obliged, popping in front of them, another barrage of missiles at the ready.

Paul charged in again, swinging hard with his shield and erupting individual stone pillars from the ground in an attempt to throw the ghost off balance. Whenever he tripped up, Harold was there with another powerful swing of fire. He even slammed his foot into the ground, causing hot flames and magma to crack through the ground and spread like a broken glass window. Paul immediately felt invigorated as he stood on the area of effect ability. It would make allies stronger while hindering and burning enemies.

Let’s see the ghost fight on this. The ghost stared down at the AOE, not daring to step forward and approach the group.

“I’m fine to just wait.” The ghost said, sitting down just outside the radius. “Like I said, reinforcements are on their way. This is probably better, actually.”

“God damn him.” Stephanie spat. “I’m done waiting for the perfect moment. Let’s just swarm the fucker.”

“Stephanie wait-“ Paul said, but she was gone in a flash. Her quick step had evolved to an ability called [Storm Step], a powerful rare ability that allowed her to move as fast as lightning. The ghost was fast, but she was faster. She reappeared behind the ghost, a small bolt of lightning heralding her arrival and exploding in a bright flash, blinding her opponents briefly. She lunged in hard with her rapier, still radiating the powerful concentration of lightning at the tip. Harold was already mid jump, coming down like a meteorite as he swung down to match Stephanie’s attack. Paul charged in again. They all missed, the ghost disappearing again, but they were ready for that.

He reappeared a moment later, swinging down on Paul, who easily deflected with his shield. They were ready for this tactic, and they erupted again in power as they all launched another volley of abilities and attacks at the ghost. The fight was hectic and erratic. The ghost had an awkward fighting style. None of his attacks seemed lethal. He made feints here and there and was constantly darting back and forth, exchanging blows and blocking attacks with each one of them, but never focusing on any one person. It seemed as though he was trying to cover a lot of ground.

Paul got an opening, slamming his foot into the ground and sending mana coursing into the earth below. A stone pillar erupted out of the ground at an angle and slammed into the ghost’s chest, sending him flying backwards. Paul grimaced as he watched him recover in a second, spinning off the ground and falling into a stance, breathing heavily.

“This should be enough…” He heard the ghost mutter under his breath.

“Run!” was all Paul managed to say before the ghost disappeared. He didn’t know what was about to happen, but it became obvious the ghost had been preparing for something.

Paul understood in that moment why they called him the ghost. He watched as the man disappeared before him, then he was next to Stephanie, swinging down hard, only to disappear mid swing and appear behind Harold, cutting deep into his shoulder. The ghost disappeared again before the cut cleaved all the way through Harold. He appeared before Paul in a deadly thrust, only to disappear again mid thrust as Paul raised his shield to deflect. The thrust landed home, erupting out of Stephanie’s throat and cutting her head off.

Paul slammed into the ground over and over again, erupting as many pillars as he could to obfuscate the field. Harold cast another magma field. But it didn’t matter. The attacks didn’t slow down in the slightest, they only sped up. Paul watched as the ghost riddled Harold with half a dozen slashes in a second as the ghost moved like… like a ghost. The ethereal energy blue energy wrapped and surrounded him, creating uncatchable after images. Harold quickly fell dead as the ghost cleaved him through.

Paul redoubled his stone skin, but it didn’t matter. The ghost disappeared, only to reappear a second later, mid-swing and full of power, slamming his great sword into him, knocking him off balance. The ghost beat and chipped away at his stone armor in a flurry, showing no signs of slowing down.

Paul dropped his sword and shield.

“I surrender.” He said, falling to his knees.

No final attack came. Nothing came. Paul glanced around, looking for any sign of the ghost.

He was gone.

He grimaced as he looked down the road, a contingent of U.F.E. soldiers bearing down on him. He had failed his mission.