#Frying Pans and Fires
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!" (me)
"I DON'T KNOW! WHERE'S VOLTANIS!" (Kenobi)
"I DON'T KNOW! WHY ARE WE YELLING! WE'RE RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER!" (Splay Mark)
"I DON'T KNOW! LET ME WHISPER VOLTANIS" (me)
[Notrem] :WHERE ARE YOU!?:
[Voltanis] :I DON'T KNOW! I THINK I'M STILL IN THE PAST! I GOT WAYLAID BY SOME CLASS QUEST! HOW AND WHY ARE WE YELLING WHILE WHISPERING! WHAT'S HAPPENING OVER THERE!?:
[Everyone] :I DON'T KNOW!:
[Notrem] :WE'RE BACK IN RHESTA, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE WE LANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF SOME KIND OF WAR!:
[Voltanis] :AGAINST WHO!?:
[Kenobi] :I DON'T KNOW! SOME KIND OF FORCES OF DARKNESS!:
[Splay Mark] :LET'S STOP TALKING! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!:
Kenobi wasn't wrong. Rhesta was indeed under attack by some kind of army of "Forces of Darkness". Overhead we had harpies flying around, on the ground there were little knee-tall imps carrying little spears, medium-sized warriors(?) with an extra arm growing out of their belly that held a knife (I saw one attacking an NPC by grabbing him with his two regular arms and stabbing with his belly), ceiling-tall things with one eye and one spindly leg, but had two oversized elongated arms that it used to balance itself and attack, and finally we had rust coloured, three nostriled hounds.
It was these hounds that went straight for me.
Seriously, they didn't even look around. Every single one just came straight at me.
Two arrows felled one of them, but gave another enough time to reach me. It tried to bite my legs. I took advantage of this and kicked it in the face, and then shot it. The point blank arrow killed it instantly.
*At least they're fairly low leveled.*
Another arrow killed another hound that barked at the wrong time as the arrow flew into its mouth.
I reached into my quiver to find that, while there were still bolts in it (I put a wooden board in my quiver to form two sections), there were no more arrows.
"[LOAD QUIVER]!"
[Load Quiver] is a default skill granted to all archers for refilling their quivers that took 10 seconds. This is to bypass the process of manually grabbing arrows one at a time from the inventory and loading them into the quiver. It would have been a lengthy process that might discourage players from being archers.
*I should have reloaded after the boss fight. My crossbow is not suited for this kind of fast-paced combat, I'll have to use my Sword-Bow for now.*
Already, there was a hound leaping for my throat. I shoved my weapon down it's throat instead, slicing the hound open from the inside.
I drew my Sword-Bow (without an arrow) and spun to meet the next one, releasing the draw in the process. The blade flicked across its face, slicing it a fourth nostril, followed by a quick "Zero-Shiki" style stab. The scimitar-like design wasn't optimal for stabbing, but it got the job done.
http%3a%2f%2fwww.angelfire.com%2fempire2%2fbishoun...oshiki.jpg [http://www.angelfire.com/empire2/bishounenharem2/kenshin/zeroshiki.jpg]
"I got your back!" Kenobi said as he stood behind me.
His blessed weapon was extra effective against the demons, but his missing buckler made him more vulnerable.
"Thanks."
"Get down!" Splay Mark said as he randomly appeared next to us.
Kenobi and I quickly dropped to the ground as he swung his NaS in a circle, beheading a demon warrior and clearing a space in the process.
An imp managed to sneak through due to its small size, but a quick swipe from Kenobi quickly killed it.
A cyclops(?) lumbered towards us and slammed one oversized fist downwards.
Right then Splay Mark suddenly pressed his NaS against himself.
Immediately, the weapon fused with his body and turned into a tattoo!
"This new skill is surpris(ugh)-ingly useful!" Splay Mark said as he caught the fist with his now free hands (hence, the "ugh") , "HUAH!"
With all his not inconsiderable strength, Splay Mark shoved the fist away and caused the cyclops to stumble on its single leg.
"[Pull]!" Kenobi yelled as the monster tried to catch its balance with one of his arms.
As though it was pulled by a chain, the monster's arm was forced towards Kenobi's raised hand and it fell face first. It was killed shortly after by a Shower.
*The Skill Book!*
"Use Skill Book!"
Skill Learned!
Shackle Shot:
Fires an enchanted arrow/bolt that does no damage.
Instead, it will pass through the target and bind it to the next thing it hits with an ethereal chain.
Mana cost: 60
Binding force increases with each level.
This skill is considered a magic skill and its effects are also magical in nature.
(It's pretty much the same as that Dota skill by Windrunner )
http%3a%2f%2fstore.cdn.gamesports.net%2f3000%2f3217.jpg [http://store.cdn.gamesports.net/3000/3217.jpg]
*Sweet!*
Realizing that we've spent too much time on the cyclops, I spun around to check our six.
Sure enough there was a warrior, hound and an imp coming towards us. Also of some concern was the swarm of harpies that were starting to congregate around the area.
"[Shackle Shot]!"
The enchanted arrow glowed green as it left my Sword-Bow. It struck the warrior's raised "belly" arm (that it was using to protect its face), went through it, and then through the head as well. A glowing green chain trailed after the arrow (going through the head) before it embedded itself in a wall. The chain then grew taut as the warrior continued to run forwards, and pulled its hand backwards, causing it to stab itself in the face with the knife.
*Excellent! I had expected the arrow to stop when it hit its head, but I think this is even better! It seems to consider the entire body of the unit as the first "target".*
With the warrior dead, I turned my attention to the imp.
I quickly adopted a crouched position. While it is a slightly awkward position to fire a bow from, I found that it's always easier to aim at a target that's at the same height as you. Of course, I'd normally have little trouble with hitting the imp, but I needed to use [Snap Shot] (which is harder to aim) if I wanted to kill the imp in time to take on the hound.
One dead imp later, I "empty" drew my Sword-Bow once more and released it to chop off the front two legs of the hound, resulting in:
http%3a%2f%2fd24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net%2fpho...Q_700b.jpg [http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/aRQZQYQ_700b.jpg]
And killed it with one more strike.
*I thought of that trick on-the-fly, but it's turning out to be a pretty effective move.*
"Splay! NPC in distress! On my two!"
Even though we had to break formation, certain things couldn't be ignored. At any rate, Kenobi and I would definitely be able to cover each others' backs.
The NPC I mentioned was a house-lady trying to defend her home from a trio of warriors with a frying pan. It's not as though we were the only players around, but most of them seem to be preoccupied with their own fights.
Activating his skill, Splay Mark Charged to the lady and snatched the frying pan from her hands. The warrior closest to him grabbed his shoulders and stabbed Splay mark with his knife, only to have the knife caught in the hollow of the frying pan as he blocked it.
Swinging the frying pan violently upwards, Splay Mark managed to disarm the warrior before smashing its skull in with a sickening crunch. After giving the Frying Pan a look Splay Mark muttered something before placing the Frying Pan on his head, where it turned into a tattoo resembling a Nasal Helm, with the handle forming the nose guard.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
http%3a%2f%2fd30u0kofcv45jk.cloudfront.net%2fE10...0942_1.jpg [http://d30u0kofcv45jk.cloudfront.net/E1010942/E1010942_1.jpg]
"Terry Crews! Toss one over here!"
Splay Mark grabbed one of the remaining two warriors and tossed it over to a female player who was wearing light plated armor and wielding a broadsword, who had just finished off the demons around her.
Shortly after, Splay Mark killed the last one with a few Sakuragi Hanamichi style headbutts.
"Ma'am, you should get back inside and hide until the fighting is over," Splay Mark told the NPC.
"Hold on! Ask her if she has any flour!" I shouted over, and ducked as a fairly large cyclops hand flew over my head after it was sliced off by Kenobi.
"He asked me to ask you if you have any flowers."
"F-L-O-U-R!"
"Oh! Flour! (pronounced incorrectly by him as "Flar", as in "Tar")"
The NPC nodded once before running into her house and passing Splay Mark a large brown sack.
"Here's the flour," Splay Mark said as he passed me the sack, "What are you gonna do with it?"
I sawed open a long slit in the sack with the bayonette of my crossbow before tossing it as high into the air as I could. Even though my strength stat wasn't as high as Splay Mark's, it still flew considerably high.
As the sack went up, it spun and dispersed the flour in all directions. The harpies flying in the air got confused as they flew through the white cloud.
"Wait, you're not planning to..." (Kenobi)
"EVERYBODY GET DOWN! FIRE IN THE HOLE! [SHOWER]!"
I aimed upwards with my Dragon's Breath and activated the skill. The flaming bolt split itself into 6 bolts and scattered into the cloud of flour.
http%3a%2f%2fwww.dguv.de%2fmedien%2fifa%2fde%2fwun%2fbil...gr.jpg.jpg [http://www.dguv.de/medien/ifa/de/wun/bilder/referate/ref3_5_gr.jpg.jpg]
And that happens.... Well, in mid-air at least.
To their credit, and fortunately for me, none of the other players were heavily injured. On the other hand, majority of the Harpies over us were either dead or otherwise incapacitated.
"Everyone! Everyone! Look unto me!" Kenobi shouted out as soon as the ringing began to fade from our ears, "The foe are numerous, but weak! We need to strike now while they're still confused by the explosion! This town square has 8 exits! Clear the area and form parties! Each party should take one exit and make your way to the either one of the four main gates and close them so that no more can enter Rhesta! Get any other player you find along the way to join your party! WE WILL SHOW THESE HELL-SPAWN THAT WE ARE NOT TO BE MESSED WITH!"
(REPLACE RANDOMLY LOUD CHEERS HERE!)
"Let's split up. We're likely among the highest leveled players here so we should lead a few of the parties!" Kenobi suggested.
"Got it!" (Splay Mark)
"I'm gonna take my party that way," I pointed vaguely towards the small castle on the south-western side of town, "I'll lead them for awhile before getting a better vantage point up there to shoot harpies down."
Shortly later, most of the monsters in the town square were cleared and we killed our way to whichever exit was closest. In my case I just made a beeline for the aforementioned south-western side. I found that my party consisted of mostly warriors (including the swordslady that called Splay Mark "Terry Crews"), with only a few mages and archers.
Slowly, we made our way forwards, following the road. If the road were to split, we'd split our forces and quickly re-form our parties. Occasionally, we'd find a straggler and invite him into our party after quickly explaining our situation.
When I reached the castle gates, I realized that my Snap Shot skill was about to hit Intermediate level (as it was by far my most used skill) and I randomly fired one into the crowd.
Your skill [Snap Shot] has increased to Intermediate Level 1!!
For reaching Intermediate Level 1 in this skill, you have learnt a new skill!
Skill Learned!
Reload:
Passively decreases the time taken for [Load Quiver] to complete.
Current decrease: 10%
*Now's not the time to celebrate though!*
"HALT! By order of the Duke! None may enter the castle without written permission from at lea~"
"DO YOU REALLY THINK THIS IS THE RIGHT TIME FOR THIS! I NEED TO GET AS HIGH AS POSSIBLE TO SHOOT DOWN THOSE HARPIES!"
"... A-Alright. Get up there!"
And I did just that.
********************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Elsewhere:
Warrior A: "OH MY GOD HE KILLED KENNY!"
Warrior B: "WHAT!?!?!!? WHO!?!?!?"
Warrior A: "That old man over there!"
Cyclops A: "I KeEEEeeell him!!!!"
Warrior C: "Cyclops A! What happened to your head? Why's it on the floor when your neck is way up ther~ GUA~ak!"
Imp A: "BLaAAA-RRgh!"
Warrior B: "Warrior A! Do you see my other two hands? I can't seem to find them! They were on my wrists a moment ago!"
...
...
...
Warrior B: "Warrior A? Where'd you go? Huh? Kaa! BUuua!"
Warriors D - B7, Imps B - A10, Cyclops B - Z, Harpies A - G, not necessarily at the same time: "BluUa! KaK-Guu, BLLaaAaRRRG-HAK! Chee-GAAAK!"
Old man: "You guys... are all too... Weak..."
********************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Back to the MC:
*I might have bitten off more than I could chew this time...*
While the shower skill made it easy to hit multiple targets at the same time, and that my Dragon's Breath could kill the flammable Harpies with only one or two hits, the number of Harpies were overwhelming.
Since they could fly, they could continue to pour in even though the other players were pushing the rest out of town, and they were naturally drawn to the tallest structure in town.
And of course, the tallest structure happens to be the one I'm on.
"[Shower]!" I shouted, and a wave of fiery bolts killed two more Harpies. But four more took their place, "Che!"
I managed to stab one in the chest with my bayonette, but couldn't pull free in time to get the others.
*Shit! Will this be my first death?*
Suddenly,
*ThWanG!ThWAng!ThwANG!
*THOk!ThoK!thOCK!
Three arrows were fired in rapid succession from an unknown source, each killing one of the remaining Harpies.
"Oi! Obnoxious-Idiot-Mustache-Otaku! Why don't you make way for a real Genius to save the day?"
...
...
...
...
...
*Oh God... Please... Not her...Anyone but her...*
********************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Author's Notes:
Hello again!
It's been two weeks since the last chapter (even though it was a side story), and our heroes managed to get from one fight straight to another.
And also, Hooray for random appearances by side characters!
Since work has been getting busier, I've been forced to go back to typing with my phone, since my work computer isn't connected to the ^%&@-ing internet.
On a side note, I have a strong feeling I forgot to write something down in this chapter :/
As usual, any and all comments and criticisms are welcome!