“Man, I really wish the hospital didn’t count my death time in addition to my play time…” Zeilan reappeared in a flash of light and began complaining as he thought about the playing time he lost. Looking over his equipment screen, he sighed in relief as none of his important items dropped. He then looked around him as he remembered that Rook had died before him, and found the handsome construct leaning against a wall.
Once Zeilan looked over, Rook raised a hand in salute and began approaching him.
“Even though we died, you have to admit that was a pretty awesome last stand.” Zeilan grinned.
“...!” Rook returned a grin of his own as he remembered being back to back with Zeilan as they were surrounded by the player killers.
“By the way, did you drop anything important?” Zeilan asked.
“...” Once he heard Zeilan's question, Rook had a disheartened expression as he pointed to his back. For a moment Zeilan was confused, but once he noticed the absence of a certain weapon he understood why Rook looked so dismal.
“Oh no… you lost your bow.” Zeilan frowned. Rook nodded sadly, but then pointed towards a street to their right and began walking.
“You're right, we should meet up with Carro first.” Zeilan quickly followed Rook and the two made their way through the snow covered streets of Clorg. On the way they discussed the fight they had, and began coming up with new strategies to deal with a similar situation.
After a few minutes of walking they reached a familiar stand with a worried looking cat-kin at the front. Once Carro saw the two, she dashed forward and hugged both of them. “Thank goodness you two came back! I was getting anxious since you didn't return after two days. And Rook… you lost your bow.”
Rook shrugged as he wore a sad expression. “So Carro,” Zeilan interrupted, “I remember you saying you would prepare some good items for us?” He grinned.
“But of course! Nothing but the best for my favorite guards!” Carro brought them over to the stall and took out a bunch of items from her inventory. “You can both take one item free of charge, but the rest you’ll have to pay for.”
“Tch, so stingy.” Zeilan clicked his tongue, but began browsing through the items. Rook instantly began looking at some bows that she brought out, and picked out a longbow with a glowing gem embedded in it.
“That bow has a weak fire enchantment, so your arrows will always do some fire damage.” Carro explained. “Ah, that hammer can only deal blunt-type damage, so you might want to consider other choices if you like your current hammer.” She said to Zeilan who had picked up a large warhammer with a smooth surface.
“I think I’ll take it since my current weapon is falling behind in damage anyway. Also, I’ll be taking this, and this…” Zeilan grabbed a bunch of other equipment and paid for them with both money and by selling the equipment that he was replacing. Rook also did the same, and soon enough the two of them were equipped in shiny new armor.
“Mmm… there’s nothing quite like the feeling of getting a set of new equipment. Isn’t that right, Rook?” Zeilan looked over to Rook, who nodded in affirmation. “So new equipment is good and all, but what’s the plan to take down Glaide? I’m itching to get my hands on that irritating halfing. Did you know I was thiiiiis close to punching him in the face when I broke out of the encirclement of PKs?”
“Hahaha! Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance to beat him up. After all, this time I’ve made sure to thoroughly corner him. Over the past two days I’ve made deals and plans to finally stop his business once and for all. For the most part everything is accounted for, but you two will have a very important job. Once the ‘trap’ has been strung, there’s no doubt that Glaide will try to run. That’s when you two-”
“Finish him off?” Zeilan finished her sentence. “Count me in!”
Rook also nodded deeply as his eyes burned with a fierce desire for revenge. “Looks like you two are all fired up.” Carro let out her trademark smile. “Okay then, here’s the plan…”
*****
“I spy with my little eye… something that’s… round.”
“...” Rook pointed at a small bunny that was happily hopping about 100 meters away from them.
“Nice. I spy with my little eye… something that’s… white and sticky.”
“...” Rook pointed at a stick covered in snow.
“Aw, I thought you wouldn’t get that one. Oh! I spy with my little eye, someone who’s going to get wrecked!” Zeilan grinned as he tensed his body.
“...?” At first Rook was confused, but when he looked out across the snowy plains a grin also formed on his face.
For the past half-hour or so the two youths were waiting buried in the snow. Of course they were properly camouflaged and had proper accommodations to stay there, otherwise they would have fallen victim to the bitter cold. Seeing a group of players approaching, Zeilan recalled what Carro had told them a few hours ago.
According to Carro’s plan, the various players and NPC mercenaries she hired would begin attacking his main areas of operation, both inside the town and out. In addition to that Carro had been slowly weakening him by bribing players and NPCs, and began cutting into his business deals. Glaide had soon found himself unable to sustain a large amount of his forces, and soon they dwindled down to less than twenty guards.
At this point Carro believed that they would try to leave Clorg and head out to another town to begin business there, but of course she would have none of that. On their way out of town they would be harassed by a multitude of hired hands and once they were weak enough they’d be attacked by the rest of the people Carro had hired.
Zeilan and Rook were placed at an area just ahead of where the ‘final battle’ would be fought, and their job was to clean up if Glaide somehow got away. In the end Carro’s caution turned out to be correct as the two of them spotted a group of five players rushing towards them on a sled pulled by strange deer-like creatures.
So as not to alert the approaching players, they began messaging each other. After sending his message, Rook repositioned himself and pulled back on his longbow’s string and took careful aim at the sled. As he let his arrow loose it became coated in a thin layer of flame and ripped through the air as it headed towards the sled.
The players on the sled noticed the arrow as it flew towards them, but reacted too late as it hit the rope connecting the sled and the Delks. The Delks ran on in panic and the sled slowly slid to a stop as the players on it were temporarily at a loss.
The two youths then burst out of their hiding place and took a position on a hill overlooking the immobile sled. “It’s the end of the line for you, Glaide!” Zeilan shouted out as he looked down upon the small group.
“Ugh. Of course she’d leave you two waiting at the very end.” Glaide sneered. “All of you, take them out! There’s only two, but don’t get careless.” At his commands, the players following Glaide sprang into action and began to attack Zeilan and Rook.
Two of those players faded away and disappeared, while one charged straight at them and the remaining player began casting a spell. Zeilan and Rook exchanged glances, then they both nodded and began their attack as well. Rook began shooting arrows at the mage in the back, disrupting her casting while Zeilan ran forward to meet the player charging at them. As Zeilan brought out his hammer, he made a sudden stop and then swung his hammer in a huge arc to his right.
Although it seemed like he hit empty air, a grunt of pain was heard and something was sent flying through the snow. After that ‘something’ stopped moving, it was eventually revealed to be one of the players who went invisible earlier! “H-how?” Was the only word he managed to squeeze out.
“Your footsteps idiot.” Zeilan pointed at the tracks in the snow behind him. “Stealth doesn’t work well in snow.” Then, instead of heading over to finish off that player Zeilan instead changed his target to the other player who was charging forward and met him head on. While those two began to struggle with each other, Rook changed his target over to the downed player and began raining down arrows on him. Soon that player’s health was taken down to low levels, but the mage in the back finally finished casting an ice spell and fired it at both Zeilan and Rook.
At the same time, the other player who went invisible reappeared behind Rook and leaped through the air to stab him in the back! At this point Rook crouched down and just barely dodged the attack. Then he rolled to avoid an icicle flying towards him, and fired a particularly powerful arrow at the mage. The mage tried to dodge the arrow but was cut slightly by the powerful wind it produced, interrupting her spell. Rather than continue firing arrows at her, Rook instead pulled out a few arrows from his quiver and placed the arrowheads in-between his fingers, creating some make-shift claws. He then rushed the player who missed earlier and began an intense melee battle with him.
Meanwhile, Zeilan continued to fight against the player in front of him. The player used a great sword which cleaved the ground and caused the snow to scatter in the air. Not wanting to be outdone, Zeilan used [Strong Kick] to stomp on the ground and jumped high into the sky. He then spun with his hammer in the air and threw it down to the ground while activating [Crushing Blow].
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The hammer landed heavily on the ground, creating a loud *BOOM* sound and a powerful tremor. As soon as Zeilan landed on the ground he activated [Accelerated Steps] and began moving in a graceful manner towards the player with the greatsword. Zeilan only managed to hit him once with a [Strong Punch] when the first stealthed player came back with half his health and began to interrupt Zeilan by throwing knives or sand (which Zeilan had no idea where he possibly could have gotten sand from).
Taking a few hits, Zeilan was about to retaliate when suddenly the ground underneath him became frozen! While he slipped on the newly formed ice, his enemies took this opportunity to launch their strongest attacks at him. With a low growl forming in his throat, Zeilan let out a mighty roar as he used [Dragon Roar] to interrupt the enemies closing in on him. It was at this moment that Glaide appeared seemingly out of nowhere and threw a knife at Zeilan.
Zeilan was just barely able to activate his [Earth Armor] in time to block the knife, though he was still scratched a little by it. As he managed to pick himself up, he felt a sharp pain where the knife scratched him and looked up to find that his health was decreasing at an incredible rate!
“Hahaha… This is the strongest poison money can buy right now! Feel honoured that i’m using it on y- AARRGGHH!” Glaide suddenly screamed in pain as an arrow pierced his shoulder. At least two thirds of his health was taken away due to the surprise attack and his naturally low health and armor. With his health this low, Glaide retreated to the sled yelling out some incomprehensible curses. Zeilan quickly looked over to where Rook was and found that the player he was fighting against was in a [Paralyzed] state on the ground. I guess he used his paralysis arrows against that guy. Zeilan thought as he activated [Dizzying Steps].
Zeilan then proceeded to spin in place, using the ice as a means to help him accelerate, and then began throwing out seemingly random punches and kicks. Each of these attacks caused the players he hit to reel back in pain as they were temporarily stunned in place. Rook didn’t overlook this and began to rapid fire his arrows down at the stunned enemies, quickly bringing their health down to half.
When Zeilan’s skill finally ran out, all the other players quickly retreated. Before Zeilan could react though, he suddenly noticed a giant block of ice dropping down onto him! Gritting his teeth, Zeilan simultaneously activated [Precision Strikes] and [Rock Breaker] (almost dropping his mana to zero). He then yelled and began to rapidly punch right at the center of the block as his health began to drop.
All the other players watching this were stunned, because the force of Zeilan’s punches were actually so strong that it temporarily kept a block of ice five times his size above the ground! Not only that, but it was also beginning to crack as well! Fortunately Rook kept his cool as he took a deep breath and fired an arrow at the top of the block. The force of the arrow just barely managed to tip it over, and Zeilan finally had a moment of respite.
While the other players were still numb from watching such a spectacle, Zeilan sneakily drank a health and mana potion, then reactivated his [Earth Armor] and ran backwards to pick up his hammer that was still stuck in the ground. Following Zeilan’s movement, the rest of the players were stirred into action as the fighting began anew.
The player who Rook paralyzed earlier had just recovered, but Rook quickly turned around and began to savagely stab him with his arrows, making the player look like a porcupine. In no time that player turned into light particles and Rook was able to focus his attention on interrupting the mage who began casting more spells. With one of the players gone, the fight became much easier as Rook mainly fired arrows at the players Zeilan was fighting with, while occasionally interrupting the mage firing spells. While all of this was happening, Glaide was crouched behind the sled and began making rapid gestures in front of him as it seemed like he was typing things out.
Eventually after a minute or so of exchanging blows, Zeilan got lucky as one of the players slipped on the ice patch created earlier, allowing him to hit that player with a full-force strike, causing him to disappear into particles. With this player gone, the one wielding the greatsword quickly followed and now only Glaide and the mage were left. As Glaide had a slight look of fear on his face, the mage seemed incredibly calm by comparison and simply stared at the two youths as they stopped fighting.
After half a minute of enduring their intimidating gazes, the mage finally caved in and said, “Look, I was hired to escort him out of the town, but I’m only paid once we reach a safe destination. I’m pretty sure there’s no chance of winning now, so go ahead and do what you want. I’ll just sit over here.” The mage sat down on the sled and laid down her staff to indicate she was unwilling to fight.
“GRR. Best ice mage they say. Can’t even do her job right…” Glaide scowled at the mage. Then he finally turned over to Zeilan and Rook with a big smile and said, “Listen, we can talk this out! How about this, I’ll give you all the money i have on ha-”
Glaide’s words were stopped short as he saw Zeilan’s gaze sharpen, and Rook cracking his knuckles. Just as the two were going to attack him, they were stopped by a voice in the distance.
“Waaaaaaiiitt~!” When the two youths looked over they noticed that it was the familiar figure of Carro alongside a bunch of other players they came to know from doing requests for her. “Thank goodness, I thought you might kill him before I got here.” Carro then looked to Glaide and smirked. “Well, seems like this is the end of the line for you, Glaide.”
“I already said that.” Zeilan cut in, but he was splendidly ignored as Carro continued talking.
“You know Glaide, this would never have happened if you just accepted our terms and stopped taking advantage of the locals. But you didn’t, did you? So now we’re here, and now you have to pay the price.”
“Gah! This is just a game, Carro!” Glaide was infuriated as he spat out his words. “They wouldn’t just let an entire town’s economy get ruined like that.”
“Wouldn’t they?” Carro raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know what would happen if we let things get to that point, and it’s better to prevent that in the first place. Anyway, words are cheap and money talks. Boys, if you would please.” Carro stepped to the side, and the other players who were following her walked up to Glaide and began using a single skill.
“[Steal]”
“[Steal]”
“[Steal]”
Glaide’s face became pale as he watched helplessly as his items were slowly taken away. He tried to turn around and run but one of the players threw a knife which paralyzed him, and the [Steal] party continued.
“This is… a bit harsh, isn’t it?” Zeilan looked at the pitiful figure of the once haughty halfing. “We could just kill him and call it a day.”
“No way. This guy made me waste a lot of resources in preparing everything to take him down. I’m going to squeeze every last drop of money I can get out of him.” Carro’s usual smile was nowhere to be found as a dead serious expression covered her face. “Besides, he needs to suffer for incurring my wrath.” She added.
Eventually the players stole every possible thing they could from Glaide and he was killed in an almost anticlimactic manner. While Carro was dealing with the other players, Zeilan and Rook approached her. “So Carro, what’s next? Are we staying around Clorg for a while longer, or are we finally moving out?” Zeilan asked.
“Of course we’re leaving! An aspiring merchant can’t stay in such a small town after all. As for our next destination… how about the capital city of Hales?” Thinking about all the money she could earn, Carro finally let out her bright smile.
----------------------------------------
A bit anticlimactic? Yes. But hey, that was just a personal dispute between Carro and Glaide. Zeilan was just hired muscle to be honest.
So... I kind of didn't upload last week huh? Sorry about that. But here I am with a brand new chapter!
I was pretty much like this last week:
Spoiler :
https%3a%2f%2fpics.onsizzle.com%2fhmmm-showd-i-d...257001.png [https://pics.onsizzle.com/hmmm-showd-i-do-something-productive-to-day-or-should-1257001.png]
Actually... I've been thinking of a way to make it up to you guys, and what better way to make up for a missed chapter than... A DOUBLE RELEASE!??!?!?!!? That's right, refresh that page, because next chapter's coming out in a few (insert random unit of time here).
Fun-fact: The Ontario 401 Highway is the busiest highway in the world.