“I’m… so sorry that happened,” Jay sputtered, breath catching in his throat. “The Monster Hunters shouldn’t have done that to you. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“You misunderstand,” Pami said, gesturing for me to take the bouquet of flowers. “This was something we requested of the Monster Hunters. It was a service they provided because we did not have the heart to put our own people down. And we are lucky that they did.”
Jay took the flowers, although the game provided little information about them. The flood of pop-ups was too much to see through since each flower was an individual item. He stored them in his inventory, which didn’t cause any reaction from Pami, and returned to the conversation.
“I still don’t get it,” Jay said quizzically. “Why would you want the Monster Hunters to hunt your people down? Why would you consider doing it yourself? I guess I’m missing what it means to be lost to The Fury. It sounds like a disease.”
The Elder woman sat down in front of Jay, returning to her previous pose. She was much closer to him this time. Her eyes remained open, but it didn’t look like they were focused on Jay. Her sight seemed to pierce through the room, searching for something far away.
When her eyes returned to the present, she was less hopeful than before. “The Fury takes us over, making us more beast than human. You’ve seen our Battle Form. We find ourselves melting into the anger, the rage, and the fury. At some point, it becomes impossible to disentangle it from us. We cannot leave the Battle Form, driven purely by instinct and wrath.”
“So you’re stuck in that form forever?” Jay asked.
“Until the release of death, yes,” Pami confirmed. “So you see, it was a mercy. The Monster Hunters returned us to Gereg, and we could initiate the ritual to return, cleansed of any lingering effects from The Fury.”
Jay found the thread of what was going on. When the Dissimu were overtaken by The Fury, the NPCs transformed into actual monsters. The game’s story indicated that Monster Hunters were the first to hunt them down. That saved the NPCs from having to do it, thus relying on their Battle Form to hunt down their own kind. If they were to do that, the candle would be burning on both ends. The Dissimu hunting down their own people would slowly be claimed by The Fury, too.
Pami was essentially referring to the cycle of resurrections implemented into the game. NPCs were also subject to it, but Jay had never seen one who was aware of the ongoing process. She had her own model for it, but she seemed to understand.
Jay found difficulty forging a proper reply, so he threw out the first thing to pop into his head. “It’s tragic, and I’m starting to understand why the Monster Hunters were an important part of your cycle. But I’m still missing the link between the crocodiles and the alligators.”
“We are nearly there,” Pami promised, her expression encouraging. “In exchange for their services, we granted them training and access to our transformational powers. This was made possible through their ability to utilize Synthesization. By synthesizing our Battle Form, they could match The Lost and their endless anger. Since the power was borrowed, the Monster Hunters did not struggle with The Fury in their access to the transformation.”
The excitement was brewing in Jay’s chest. If the transformation was a utility power, he could activate it at his current level. His outlaw fighting style was already potent at melee range, but he might even be able to take on the role of a tank with the Battle Form. At the very least, it would make for some substantial burst damage. That wasn’t even including The Fear’s potential in player-versus-player.
Without pausing, Pami continued. “In order to understand the next part of the story, I needed you to understand what The Fury means to our people. To the Dissimu, it is a natural part of our lives, but it is a part we must constantly be vigilant against. It is something that looms over us. We do not walk beside this anger; we push against it. At least, we did…”
Her words hung in the air. Jay knew her story was building up to something. He knew this was related to Monster Hunters, and there would undoubtedly be a quest at the end of it. He hoped Pami could also provide a path to the second Angerine trial. Although he wanted access to the Battle Form, the trials remained his top priority.
Still, Pami was bringing him closer to understanding his class. He was starting to see how the class fit into the game world. The Monster Hunter was a core component of early life within the world of Tumultua Online. The other classes were likely developed as a response to the absence of Monster Hunters.
“Before our people were fractured a few years ago,” Pami finally declared, adjusting her course slightly. “The crocodiles and alligators always worked harmoniously to keep the island’s wildlife in check. The island has always tended to rapidly develop life, including monsters like the Scyllo you defeated. They can be quite dangerous and disruptive to the local ecosystem.”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The island was definitely a great place to level. Based on Pami’s words, Jay ascertained that other elites would be generating and developing. He nodded his acknowledgment, hoping Pami would continue.
She did. “The crocodiles began to revere The Fury more than Gereg. Their faction believed more in the power that the form of battle brought us than our faith. At first, this seemed to be a small, rogue element. As time marched on, I discovered that the beliefs were spreading throughout the entire crocodilian half of our people. What was I to do? I could not force anyone to return to our way of life. I did not want to slay an entire group of people I considered brothers and sisters.”
Pami sighed deeply. The natural elements of the room seemed to sigh with her. “So we let them leave. Their beliefs were only dangerous because they were disruptive to our faith. Or so we thought. In the end, The Fury that they revered slowly manifested and took on a life of its own. Some believe it has become a true deity from the fervor of their beliefs. I would not go so far.”
Her words stopped abruptly.
Jay endeavored to empathize with Pami. She probably felt in some ways that her people’s problems were of her own making. They weren’t—mostly, it was other people’s decisions, but that didn’t change how she likely felt. He wanted to help, knowing the rewards would match the quest’s difficulty.
“What do you think The Fury has become?” Jay asked. “The crocodiles obviously have some kind of power over the island. Maybe, if we know what it is, we can figure out how to destroy it.”
His goal was to push their conversation to the crest, where he would be offered a quest. There was so much information about the Dissimu spinning through his head. He could barely focus, dwelling on the possibilities of acquiring the form for himself.
“I do not care,” Pami admitted. “And I do not think it matters, either. The spell the crocodiles cast over the island prevents my people from continuing the cycle. It doesn’t seem to stop the crocodiles from returning. Over time, the steady state between our factions has dissolved, with most of our warriors being destroyed. Igno and a few others remain, but The Fury is already breathing down their necks.”
“So you need my help,” Jay said.
Pami’s eyes were grave. “Need is the operative word. Without your help, my people will be eliminated within the next year. Since the island is sealed off, it is unlikely that any other help will come. I am hopeful that you will answer our plea since the Monster Hunters have such a history of reckless support for others.”
“I don’t think you mean reckless,” Jay pointed out. “Not to correct an Elder, of course. I simply mean that the word doesn’t really fit.”
Pami shook her head, sad words spilling out of her. “It does, Monster Hunter. Reckless support is the reason you are the only one that remains.”
“I’ll help, even if it is a little reckless,” Jay admitted. “I hope you’ll keep that in mind when deciding whether to help me find the second Angerine trial.”
“You already have everything you need for that,” Pami stated. “You will see.”
System Message: Quest Accepted! The Lost Lambs. The crocodiles faction of the Dissimu has gone completely rogue. They’ve turned to The Fury, but the alligators don’t know what that means. Find some way to eliminate whatever is blocking the resurrection sites on the island. “Outside the God’s Box” debuff eliminated: 0/1.
The quest’s objective was vague. The party would be used to that since more of the quests tended to be about goals instead of steps. It was helpful for players since objectives could often be completed in a multitude of ways. The most direction a quest had given the party was the cabin quest, which had been set as a trap by player-killing Demons.
Pami claimed that Jay had everything he needed to find the second trial. He found himself wanting to disagree, but it wasn’t worth it. If he could clear the island and return, she might be more willing to offer him information. Since he didn’t even know where the second dungeon was, he could afford to be a little patient.
The biggest bonus was that if the party completed Pami’s quest, they wouldn’t need to be concerned about character death on the island. The Gereg shrines would become active again, reducing the most significant downside to a loss of character level. That was better than character deletion any day of the week.
“Do you have any other information my team might need?” Jay inquired. “Where do the crocodiles currently hold their base? How to fight them? What sort of object the spell shrouding Gereg from this island held in?”
“Unfortunately, I must leave all these things to you,” Pami said, bowing her head. “I cannot venture from this space, or the spell I weave that protects our home will unravel. I can offer you two more things. Firstly, if your mission is successful, there is something I need to show you. It will help you understand the next steps in your path as an Angerine initiate, though I have no doubts you will succeed and become Angerine.”
“What’s the second thing?” Jay wondered. He also believed that he would succeed, so it wasn’t worth dwelling on the praise of an NPC. His focus was on attaining that success, so he could see the next steps in his path. Undoubtedly, that was when she would share the location of the second dungeon for his next trial.
Pami stood up, brushing the folds out from her robes. She offered Jay a hand up, which he took. The older woman was surprisingly strong but could also turn into a twelve-foot-tall alligator-formed menace. It made sense.
“The second thing,” she said thoughtfully, “is a word of caution about the brand of dangers you may face. You spoke of the different forms with Igno—”
“How do you know that?” Jay interrupted. Pami didn’t answer; she just continued speaking.
“So you know that Battle Form is not the most deadly thing you face. Given their other choices, we must assume that the crocodiles are willing to use their final form to protect whatever is maintaining the spell. Their fervor cannot be understated.”
“Final form,” Jay muttered, trying the words on. He didn’t like how it sounded on his lips. Although it sounded likely something he wanted to obtain, he had little interest in facing off against it.
“It’s called the War Form,” Pami explained. “Although, my people sometimes call it the form of death. Once initiated, the user is unable to transform back. It varies across Dissimu, but eventually, the strain destroys the body.”
Pami shook her head vigorously. “We are not people of War. It is meant to be a matter of last resort. Those who choose to take on the War Form cannot return to the island, even with the power of the cycle.”