The Matriarch was a hulking beast, at least two stories tall with sharp fangs that jutted out for almost one meter. Its fur was covered in deep ripple patterns, and its eyes shone with a cruel ruby glow. The Matriarch wasn’t alone either as there were almost 50 boars milling around it, each of them stomping on the ground impatiently. Each boar was at least level 20, and were much larger than they normally were.
“...I don’t think we can fight that.” Q was already taking a few steps backwards.
“I second that notion.” Kukis moved to the back of the group.
“Hmph. A challenge like this is exactly what I was looking for!” Sir Albert stepped to the front and put on a brave face, but Q noticed that his sword was trembling.
“For now, let’s not provoke them okay?” Celinus was already preparing a spell to cast just in case.
Strangely enough, the boars didn’t make a move towards the players and simply glared at them. A few of the boars seemed just about ready to charge forward, but a single grunt from the matriarch caused them to back down. For a good minute, this staring contest continued until another group of players approached the area. There were at least 30 players in this group, and though most of them seemed to be groups of parties, a large majority were wearing dark clothes and black mantles.
“There it is! Let’s take it down for some amazing loot!” One player with a large greatsword said.
“Leif… are you sure we’ll be fine against them? I’m not sure if this many people will cut it…”
“Come on Frey, everyone can take on two boars, and then we can finish off the matriarch after.”
While most of the players braced themselves for the upcoming battle, one of the dark clothed men called out to Q’s group. “Hey, are you guys going to co-operate as well?”
Before anyone on their side could say something, Q instantly yelled out, “No!” and folded her arms. The man seemed a little dissatisfied but didn’t pursue the matter any further, though Q noticed that a few of the dark clothed men were constantly keeping an eye on them.
“Miss Q? What are you doing? This is a great opportunity to work together to bring down this boss!” Sir Albert seemed shocked at Q’s decision.
“It’s also a great opportunity to get killed.” Q frowned.
“Q… you mean to say that defeating the matriarch is not a good idea?” Brie scrunched her eyebrows together.
“Obviously not.” Q continued to watch the boars which were still waiting in place.
“...It’s because of the ecology, isn’t it?” Sal’ Karn suddenly spoke up.
Q nodded. “Yeah. Though there are also other reasons, defeating this boss would most likely lead to the extinction of the boars in this area. What will the new players hunt when they get here? Rabbits? Then what happens if a special boss appears and they kill it, causing the rabbits to become extinct?” She shook her head. “Honestly, it’s better to leave them alone and allow the population to get back to normal before hunting them again.”
“That’s… true.” Sir Albert seemed to cool down a bit as he considered the consequences of defeating the matriarch.
“Well, that’s not all either. First of all, I don’t think that anyone over there has experience in working in a large group. I also have no doubt that the matriarch can kill us in one hit, so I’d rather just stay back and hope not to get noticed.”
“Hrmph. I could probably take on three hits.” Baldur seemed to be fearless as he cracked his knuckles and looked towards the boars.
“Enough talk, it seems the fight is about to begin.” Sal’ Karn reminded everyone of the real issue at hand, and they all moved to a large hill to watch over the battle. A gentle breeze blew by and lifted up Q’s hair slightly, and causing it to shimmer a bit in the afternoon sun. Sir Albert saw this, and as if not to be outdone he decided to bring his sword out and stood tall to make a pose.
Unfortunately light bounced off his armor and sword, blinding everyone in the nearby surroundings. Not only that, but the light also hit one of the boars eyes, blinding it and causing it to stumble. Once the boar fell over, the matriarch immediately squealed and every single boar began to charge towards the large group of players. The Matriarch itself stood in the same place though, still glaring at the group of players. For a moment the players were caught off guard, but they quickly made evasive maneuvers and began to engage the boars.
“...Of all the things you could have done...” Q let out a disappointed sigh while she watched the chaos occur.
“Uh...” Sir Albert quietly sheathed his sword and looked for a patch of shade to sit in.
Meanwhile, the players were scrambling and struggling to form back up into their groups. For the most part they were able to get away unscathed, but a few unlucky players were trampled by the group of boars and were promptly killed. By now there was less than 30 players, and the rest began to attack the boars in some way or another.
“[Earth Lance]!”
“[Heavy Slash]!”
“[Barrier]!”
Many buffs and attacks were used by the players, and they were able to take down two or three boars before they turned around and began to charge again. While most players moved out of the direction of the charge, some of the more daring ones decided to stay close and took a few swipes at the boars on the outside edges.
This pattern repeated, and the boars numbers were slowly being whittled down. The initial group of fifty slowly dwindled down to forty, and the players got into a steady rhythm of attacking and retreating.
“Huh. They’re working together a lot better than I thought they would.” Q laid down on the ground and propped her head up with her hands.
“Of course they would. You might not know it since you sort of crashed the event battle, but these players were undergoing some intense group training; us included.” Celinus smiled. “I can still remember the instructors struggling to keep Albert and Sal in line…”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Oh? That sounds kind of interesting.” Kukis urged Celinus to continue.
“Hehehe. Well, Albert here would always insist on charging forth into battle and never stayed in proper formation for too long. Anytime we’d practice with monsters out in the field, he would always be the first to run ahead and start hacking away. Sal on the other hand, he was a different kind of problem.”
“Don’t call me that.” Sal’ Karn made a displeased face but didn’t insist any further.
“Whenever the instructors would tell us to do something, Sal would always insist on doing it another way. He was always saying things like, ‘That’s inefficient, we should strike them here’ or, ‘Everyone is too slow. You all need more training!’ Needless to say, the instructors were less than pleased with his words.”
“Seems like you’ve had a lot to deal with.” Q chuckled.
“You have no idea. All of these boys are so rowdy, it gets tiring keeping them in line sometimes.”
“Oy, the matriarch is doing something.” Baldur returned their attention to the battle, and they watched as the matriarch began to move.
With each step it took, the ground shook a little, and it began to speed up gradually. The players noticed this and used a few ranged attacks on it, but none of them seemed to affect it. Arrows bounced off its hard fur, and magic didn't even cause it to flinch. A large health bar appeared above its head though, but there was almost no discernible damage.
Despite the attacks being ineffective, it seemed that the matriarch became incredibly angry and let out a loud squeal before charging towards the players. While most moved out of the way long before it began to charge, the few daring players decided to stay behind to get in a few hits. This was a mistake though, as when the matriarch approached the ground shook beneath their feet, breaking their balance and leaving them open to get hit. The matriarch lowered its tusks and hit the players, causing them to disappear into particles of light on impact.
“Th-... that w-was a one-hit k-kill…” Celinus stammered.
“Yeah. Aren’t you glad we didn’t fight that thing?” Q smiled wryly while continuing to keep an eye on the matriarch’s movements.
“...Maybe. The players still have a chance though. If they constantly dodge and attack the matriarch after it finishes its charge…” Sal’ Karn began to speak, but then trailed off once he saw what the matriarch did next.
Rather than slow down and turn around like the other boars did once they finished their charges, the matriarch made a slight hop and then began sliding on the ground sideways. This motion allowed it to maneuver itself so that it could face the players, and it began charging again.
“Did… did that boar just drift!?” Kukis watched dumbstruck at the spectacle.
“An interesting tactic, to say the least.” Brie seemed to be impressed by the matriarch’s movements as she watched on intently.
At this point, the players were completely panicking and ran in all directions in an effort to avoid the boars’ charge. Those who were targeted by the matriarch were the unluckiest, as they lost their balance once it approached, and then promptly got trampled. The other boars were also going after the players at the same time, and began running over each of them.
As the players were killed off one by one, they eventually decided to retreat. The matriarch wouldn’t let them off so easily though, as it dug its tusks into the ground and then brought them up with great force. Large chunks of earth were sent flying and crashed down onto the players, burying them and killing them on impact. Once all the players died, the matriarch let out a triumphant squeal, and then looked over at Q’s group.
For a moment, everyone froze up as they didn’t want to make any movements to attract the matriarch’s attention. Luckily for them, the matriarch seemed to lose interest and snorted, gathered all the remaining boars and returned back into the forest. After the matriarch left, everyone let out a sigh of relief and relaxed.
“That was really scary!” Kukis exclaimed.
“Aye, I swear I saw my life flash before my eyes.” Baldur seemed to lose his confidence from earlier.
“Even though it's just a game, I have to admit, that was pretty scary…” Sal' Karn frowned as he imagined what might have happened if the matriarch decided to attack them.
“So… shall we continue our journey then?” Sir Albert returned to the group.
“Yeah, let's get a move on.” Q nodded, and they began walking to the direction of the Forest of Fog…
*Back in Foria's square*
A flash of light appeared in the square, and it faded away to reveal a cute girl. A pair of female players idling in the square noticed this, and began talking once the girl appeared.
“Woah… who is that girl? She looks so cute!”
“Do you think she's a new player?”
The girl who appeared seemed to hear their words and began to approach them. “Excuse me…” The girl's voice was incredibly soft and melodious, and caused the players to relax a little.
“Hello. What's your name?”
“I am… Phanos. Pleased to meet you.”
“A-ah, the pleasure’s mine.”
Phanos smiled at her words, and proceeded to ask a question. “Would you two lovely ladies happen to know a player named Brie?”
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Emerald's Ramblings: That's what I've decided to call these now.
Sorry about missing a chapter last week. The entity known as RL-chan wanted Emerald-senpai to notice her. This chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but eh. Also, if you expected Q to go in balls-blazing, I'm sorry to have broken your expectations.
Fun-fact: Megaman X5's bosses names were all references to Guns n' Roses (done by the translator).
Extra: Thanks to Ivanator The Great for the review :)