~ CHAPTER 20 ~

THE MAGIC OF TRIAL AND TEAMWORK, PART 1

When you die in game, the first thing that happens is that the game shuts off your sense of pain. You need a certain level of discomfort to keep you from feeling like you’re floating, and to keep you in the action, but there’s an appropriate limit somewhere between ‘genuine discomfort’ and ‘this isn’t fun anymore’ that the game never goes over. If you want to experience actual pain, you can do that just fine in the real world, after all. The second thing that happens is that your vision goes all grey and swirly, and your perspective floats up to a short distance above your body.

By all accounts, it was a somewhat unnerving out of body experience, but it wasn’t really unpleasant. The unpleasant bit was the status ailment you got after you released back to town that reduced your Stamina regeneration. By all accounts, that was, but mine: I had yet to experience it. I was planning to keep it that way for a while.

After the girl noticed that her vision had not, in fact, gone all grey and swirly, it only took her another moment to react. She sort of wobbled to her feet, vaguely tried to dodge the next tree branch that came sailing towards her, stood there blinking when it connected with an ear-splitting screeching crackling sound and had absolutely no effect, and then got back into her stance with her shield raised. “Hey, ah… thanks for the save!”

“No problem. Here’s your sword back.” I panted to a stop somewhere sort of within reach and jabbed the sword at her, remembering just a little too late to give her the hilt end.

“Nice! Thanks!” She had a bright smile that was utterly at odds with the situation. “Do you have a plan?”

“Nope.”

“Sounds good, let do that.”

It took me a moment, but then I couldn’t help the giggle that snuck out. “Sure! By the way, that Skill has a two minute cooldown.”

She was giggling as well, now. “Shit, we’re screwed.”

“I know, right? What is that thing anyway?”

She raised her shield and deflected the next blow, sending it crashing into the ground in front of her. Her feet slid a couple of centimetres into the ground, but she didn’t look like she’d even noticed. “I dunno. Something to do with my quest? Calls itself a Defiler of Fates. You’ll see for yourself if you give it a good hit.” She looked embarrassed. “I, uh, kind of wasn’t really paying attention when I got the quest.”

The orb of fire surrounding her flickered a couple of times, then faded out of existence. That meant my Sign had lasted for three hits. It wasn’t quite true what I’d said that it had a two minute cooldown, but that was about how long it took for my Rune to refresh. In other words: we needed a plan. Sort of nowish. Start with the obvious. “If it’s for a quest, do you have any quest items to use, maybe?”

She considered, her eyes darting towards something in the air beside her even as she braced for the next hit. “Hmm. Doesn’t look like it. I think I have to do something to that big red crystal in the middle? Probably smash it?”

I eyed the crystal in question. It was at least three full metres above the ground, and larger than my head. Smashing it was one thing. Getting to it was another entirely.

*clang*

This time the branch ricocheted off her shield and into the sky. Her stance barely shifted, but there was now an obvious dent in her shield where there hadn’t been one before. Her words matched my thoughts exactly: “We’re on a timer, though.”

If we wanted to live, we had to find a way to defeat this thing before either she ran out of Health, or her shield ran out of Durability. The moment either of those things happened, it would be squish for us. Unfortunately, thinking fast wasn’t exactly one of my talents. “Any idea how long?”

“Not really. A while I guess? I don’t suppose you have a heal to go with that barrier?”

Yeah… Support class. Having at least some way to heal was kinda basic. I hung my head. “Sorry. I actually only have the one support Skill.”

“Dang, you’re like me, then. I only have one attack Skill and it’s on a forty-five second timer.”

Wow. That was… almost as sad as me. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about dragging her down. Only… “Holy cow. How long have you been fighting this thing, then?”

She cocked her head in thought. “Um… maybe five minutes?”

Only that. “Five minutes?! You must be practically invincible.”

“Um, I guess? Maybe? I mean, it’s ok if I’m able to block properly, which I’ve been able to do most times so far. So far. I sort of figured my Shield Discipline Skill might upgrade eventually, but it hasn’t, and now I’m getting pretty low on HP. I just hit forty percent Weakened.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be laughing or holding my head. “The main problem is you just can’t damage it.”

She grinned. “Yeah.”

“We’re screwed.”

“Didn’t we establish that already?”

Before I could start laughing again, I sort of heard a sound-like-thing and felt a pressure somewhere around the upperish part of my body. All of the air in my lungs exploded out and I staggered, discovering that I was now looking back towards where I’d entered the clearing. A branch smashed into the ground just in front of me, pelting my face with bits of dirt and grass. In the side of my vision, [Dazed] and [Weakened] both flickered into being. I tasted something strange and slightly citrusy in my mouth. Was that my blood? How interesting. Maybe the [Witch]es had wanted to make orange juice?

“Wah! Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” I heard the girl’s voice fade in from somewhere as if though water.

“Izh finehh, I zhink. I jush wazhn’t lookin.” I tried to shake my head. Was that double vision? No…

“Still, I’m supposed to be a Guardian. It’s just that I’ve never had to actually protect someone in VR before. Are you sure you’re ok?” She sounded genuinely upset, but my mind was only half with her.

I had eighteen Health remaining. One hit had done twenty damage, and it hadn’t even been direct. Another one would smush me. I did have a Health potion, but… no. I was starting to have the inklings of the basics of an idea. That or just a really bad bruise. I backed away carefully, giving the girl and her monster some space, and me some room to observe. Essy had won that earlier fight without ever actually fighting: I just needed to find a way to do something similar here.

The red crystal was just above the middle of the monster’s chest, way too high to reach. So, all I had to do was find a way to bring it within reach. Maybe I had a way to do that. Ok, first attempt: I waited for the girl to block the next hit, then dashed under the monster and aimed for one of its legs. “Force Infused Palm!” My hiss coincided with both my palms slapping against the bark.

It worked! Light burst from my palm as the [Knockback (weak)] effect kicked in, and the leg jerked away from me. Only… the distance was a couple of centimeters. The monster reacted as if I wasn’t even there. I watched as a status icon popped into sight at the top of my vision.

[Defiler of Fates]

Health 737/748 ~ Mana 360/360 ~ Stamina 35/36 ~ Flow 62/100

Yeah.

There was a feeling on my chest like a release of pressure. The sting I hadn’t noticed faded out, leaving me with a refreshed Rune. I tried to shake my head and winced as most of my side started stabbing at me. Really bad bruise.

That plan had been a complete failure. So, that just meant I had to… dodge!

I felt something whistle past my ears just moments before I hit the dirt. Just moments before I would have hit the dirt had my body not performed some kind of crazy ninja roll all on its own. Which Skill did that? Nevermind that right now. Somewhere in the back of my mind it felt like I should be feeling dizzy, but I wasn’t, and the disconnect was a tiny bit unnerving.

I heard the girl laughing somewhere above me. “Oh my gosh, you look so shocked right now. Was that the first time you’ve used that Skill?”

“That might not have been the best idea I’ve ever had.” After all, the only thing I’d achieved was to tell the monster I was an enemy.

“It’s ok. I just have to build up my threat again now there’s another target, so it’ll go back to attacking me. By the way, your boob is glowing.”

My what? Wait. Oh. Oh gosh.. Is that what it looked like. I mean, the Rune wasn’t technically on the… that place… was it? I felt my face starting to sting. “Um… don’t worry about it. It’s supposed to do that.”

I mean, it was, right? Supposed to glow. But why now and not earlier? If it had been so bright earlier that people could see it through my dress, wouldn’t I have noticed?

I backed away again, making sure to keep all potentially lethal flying objects in my line of sight. If knocking it over wasn’t going to work… I was out of ideas again. I recast my Sign on the girl just before the next swing hit to at least stall some damage, then waited a few more moments for her to re-establish herself as the primary target. She’d said she was a [Guardian], so it was almost certain she had a big natural bonus to getting things’ attention.

On the bright side, as long as I was aware of my surroundings, it seemed like I could try hitting it myself. I wasn’t so dangerous that I’d stay high on the monster’s priority list, after all, even if it did take a few swings out of spite. I didn’t have high hopes for the plan, but it couldn’t hurt to try, right? I dodged forward. “Myriad Fists!”

Actually, scratch that. I was wrong. It really could hurt. Five punches later, my knuckles were oozing blood and I was wincing in pain. I also only had seventeen Health left, not that it would make a difference. I still had [Body Conditioning (Passive)] equipped, right? Right? What was even the point?

I checked the monster’s status icon to see how much effect I’d had.

[Defiler of Fates]

Health 727/748 ~ Mana 360/360 ~ Stamina 35/36 ~ Flow 65/100

Three damage from the girl swinging her sword, and one from her blocking with her shield. Unless I’d missed something, that left a total of six from me. Well, it wasn’t like I had any pride left, right? With numbers like those, the monster was obviously meant to be taken on by a whole party rather than just one person. It was a miracle we’d survived this long.

A flash of something caught the corner of my eye.

*craaack*

Aaand there went her shield. Unless it still counted if she wanted to try dual-wielding shield-halves? I sighed. “Well, I guess it wasn’t going to happen.” At least I didn’t get my first death for nothing. I could tell the Keeper I died trying.

I waited for the girl to start running. It made sense to do so, even if the chance to get away was almost none. Instead she just grinned at me. “Hey, distract it for a sec can you?”

Huh?

Before my mind could catch up, my body reacted. I pounced at the arm the girl had just blocked and attempted to pin it to the ground. I might not be able to replace her as its primary target by this point, but I could at least be an obstacle in the way and buy her time.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Or at least I thought I could. Can you picture riding on a roller coaster? Without being strapped in? Where the designers actually were trying to kill you? Nevermind, the analogy doesn’t work, does it? Well, at least I had twigs to hold on to. The view was kinda neat, too. The clearing was about nine or ten meters across, mostly filled with muddy dirt or dense patches of long bluish grass, but there were a few of the curly fern-things here and there as well, with their glowy undersides visible in spots. Come to think of it, didn’t those fern-things actually fit the description for [Neit Bells]? My stomach lurched.

The swirls of colour around the girl had gotten so intense I had a hard time seeing the ground, but I did have a very clear view of her as she placidly stashed the broken halves of her shield in her inventory and then pulled out a second one. Um. Did that just happen? Was that the stupidest thing I’d ever seen, or the most brilliant? I wasn’t sure.

She wasn’t the only thing I could see that was completely clear, though: the red crystal was as well. I’d thought I’d seen an afterimage earlier, but there was definitely something going on here. My own wavy line seemed to be getting sucked into the red crystal, but it was pushing others out at the same time.

While my thoughts were not focussed on my rapidly approaching demise, the other branch came swishing up to meet me. It was like catching a mosquito. I was the mosquito. I decided to follow the example: I let go.

I landed with a jolt somewhat earlier than expected. Sixteen health. My feet appeared to have caught onto a jutting root-like-thing somewhere around the part that couldn’t really be called a shoulder. Also, sitting right there within touching distance, was that thing I’d been targeting all along. How… convenient? I felt suspicious. There was a strange tugging sensation all over my body and I felt weirdly… insubstantial.

From somewhere down below I heard the girl’s laugh. “Wow! Was that planned?”

“Um… definitely! Absolutely!” My world was spinning a little, but at least my left hand was free. “Totally! Force Infused Palm!”

At almost the same moment the girl also shouted. “Hey! You big lump of stupid. Look down here unless you’re too dumb to know who your real enemy is! Bleuuuh!” I couldn’t see her sticking out her tongue, but, like… what?

The monster’s two arms both switched directions in midair so quickly they almost knocked me off balance. My strike missed. There was a clang and a yelp, followed by a crash somewhere further away. Oh. I get it. She was a standard tank class wasn’t she? She’d used [Mocking Shout].

“Force Palm! Thing!”

Whatever, the game still understood my intent. The Skill activated just fine, this time crashing into the red crystal with a tiny explosion of turquoise light. The red crystal did nothing.

[Defiler of Fates]

Health 722/748 ~ Mana 359/360 ~ Stamina 34/36 ~ Flow 69/100

My vision swam a little. There was a loud ringing in my ears. Familiar. [Drained (61%)]. Also [Exhausted (51%)] and [Weakened (16%)]. This was unfair. How was this fight even supposed to be possible? What did [Isolated (Stage 1)] mean? I didn’t think my last popsicle would solve the Mana problem before we both ran out of Health.

I peered at the rest of my status.

[River]

Health 16/38 ~ Mana 8/41 ~ Stamina 10/41 ~ Runes 0/1 ~ Flow 48/62

I had five resources. Was that my Karmic Flow being drained!? What on Earth? What would happen if I reached zero? Seriously unfair! Probably more important was what would happen if the monster reached one hundred.

“Hey… um, quick question? What is your Flow at right now?” I yelled at her, hoping she could hear me from wherever she was.

“My what?” She shouted back.

“Your Flow!”

“What the heck?!”

“On your resource bar!”

“What? I don’t know. I don’t have anything like that. I just have Health, Mana, and Stamina! Here, what’s your name?”

Weird? Another clue? She probably wanted my name to give a party invite. That would help. I gave it to her.

I only had a split second to wonder before I heard the *ploop* I’d been expecting and immediately hit accept.

[Demi] has invited you to join her party.

[Accept] [Decline]

[Demi]

Health 17/60 ~ Mana 5/10 ~ Stamina 28/40 ~ Flow ∞/∞

[Weakened (43%)], [Saturated: Novice Healing Potion (32 sec)], [Infused: Novice Healing Salve (60 min)]

Oh? It was right there. Why could I see it while she couldn’t? My mind raced.

What was it my Skill had said? To perceive things that others cannot. Also, she’d used a Healing Potion. Apparently she didn’t realise just how short of a timer we really were on. Said timer was ticking up to one hundred. It was almost there. Flow. Why was it called that? How did they fit together? I let the train of thoughts keep coming.

Hers was infinite, which didn’t make sense, but mine had the same amount as my Karmic Flow. That didn’t make sense either, but Karmic Flow was the game’s way of giving out rewards. Mine was weirdly high, was that relevant? If it was getting drained, what did that mean? The game didn’t always give out physical items or Gemdust as rewards, though, sometimes it gave out Skills or fun quest lines or interesting events. There must be a reason why it was called Karmic Flow. Karma… fate? [Defiler of Fates]. Oh. Ok.

Perception. Red crystal. Girl who looks weirdly solid. Infinite Flow… at least in this specific situation. What would it be like if she had infinite Karmic Flow? Wouldn’t that basically be like god mode? Maybe it was just because hers wasn’t able to be drained? What did it mean to be immune to fate? Lots of dots, how did they connect? The word flow had also appeared in reference to the Mist, where did that fit into the picture?

The Eyes of Twilight. They were also connected. The wavy lines had made that obvious, somehow. The crystals above the Mill hadn’t been connected, though. That felt important. The Keeper in the centre of a web of something. The Keeper… the Mist… Runes. My Skill led me here. My Skill led me here. I felt a pinching on my chest. The Creator Flame was still… Isolated… from me. [Defiler of Fates]. What was created by the Creator Flame anyway? What did it mean to invert devouring? It comes quite easily to the Creator Flame. Idea?

Something shook. My foot slipped. I grabbed. I was holding on to a something for dear life, my feet dangling in the open air.

I heard the girl’s voice from below. “Haha, you shouldn’t go showing that view to just anybody, you know!”

Huh? What was she talking about? Never mind that, think!

I needed… My fingers ached where they were slowly tearing loose. Runes. I needed the Creator Flame. Now. I could feel the pinch where the Inscription was still drawing Mana from my body. Had it been almost two minutes? How much longer could I last? Please come back soon!

The monster took a long, groaning step, shuddering its whole body as it landed, and almost shaking my fingers loose. I flailed my legs. There must be something to catch onto! There was nothing. Now my whole arm was aching. My whole body. My entire right side was in agony where the monster had glanced me earlier, and now the muscles were threatening to give out. Wasn’t the game supposed to limit pain at some point? The icon for [Exhausted] started blinking as it flickered up to ninety percent. If I didn’t act now… please!

Please let me channel another Sign! I need to! If I can’t…

My breast was stinging painfully enough for my breath to catch. Not that I’d been doing a good job of that anyway. Another finger slipped.

If I can’t… this girl is going to lose three hours of her precious play time!

My vision wobbled. I felt like throwing up. If I couldn’t use my Sign now, it was over. A second attempt would be impossible. I could feel the monster getting ready for another swing, and the girl was still in a heap somewhere on the other side of the clearing, wasn’t she? Was she? I had to hang on just… just a little bit… longer…

My list of status effects shrunk by one. An overwhelming sensation washed through my body. Release.

My arms were shaking. My fingers had all gone numb from the strain, and where my right hand had been torn from the branch, they were bleeding. Turquoise blood flowed upward into the air. I didn’t need them.

I reached out my hand, gently touched that pulsing red crystal, and empowered my Sign.

“Hey! What are you doing?!”

Everything went black.

~ ~ 26/1/1/21:31 ~ ~

Status: [River]

Class: [Novice Mistborn Runemaster]

Location: [Lower Spelltouched Wilds - The Stormveiled Delta]

Health 15/38 ~ Mana 2/41 ~ Stamina 0/41 ~ Runes 0/1

[Drained (90%)], [Fainted], [Weakened (21%)], [Isolated (Stage 1)], [Eyes of Wonder] Equipped Skills (8/8):

[Force Infused Palm]

[Myriad Fists]

[Imbued Defence]

[Unarmed Discipline (Passive)]

[Body Conditioning (Passive)]

[Inscribe: Rune of the Creator Flame (1/1)]

[Sign of Inverse Devouring]

[Eyes of Wonder]

Statistics:

Defence +8

Resistance +5

Constitution +4 (-90%)

Willpower +4 (-90%)

Endurance +4

Spirit +1

Perception +1 (+5%)

Focus (-5%)

Strength (-100%)

Intensity (-100%)

Agility (-21%)

Celerity (-21%)

Equipped Items (3/8):

[New Arrival’s Simple Dress]

[New Arrival’s Simple Shoes]

[Valesilver Pin]

[Silversilk Bracelet] Other Skills:

[Elementary Ingredient Preparation (Passive)]

[Runic Plea] Other Items:

[Special Edition Founder’s Token]

[Novice Healing Potion]

[Novice Mana Potion]

[Small Pouch]

[Small Iron Key]

[Sugary Biscuit]x2

[The Keeper's List]

[Amarh Elbow Gristle]x18

[Thoril's Needle]x15

[Myrl Rose]x6

[Crushed Red Longshore Prawn's Shell]x3

[Red Prawn and Pepper Stew Jelly Popsicle]

Active Quests:

[Cryptic Flows of the Mist (Part 1)]

[Path of the Runemaster (Part 3)]

[The Keeper’s Garden (Part 1)]

[The Ancient Keeper of Runic Magic (Part 4)]

[Things Worth Finding in the Mist]

[The Eyes of Twilight]

Status: [Demi]

Class: [Novice Freechild Guardian]

Location: [Lower Spelltouched Wilds - The Stormveiled Delta]

Health 24/60 ~ Mana 5/10 ~ Stamina 27/40

[Weakened (20%)], [Saturated (3 min)], [Infused: Novice Healing Salve (59 min)]

Equipped Skills (6/8):

[Guarded Strike]

[Standfast]

[Shield Block]

[Shield Discipline (Passive)]

[Mocking Shout]

[Strength of Eternity (Passive)]

Statistics:

Defence +19

Resistance +1

Damage +2

Strength +8

Agility (-20%)

Celerity (-20%)

Equipped Items (5/8):

[New Arrival's Basic Short Sword]

[New Arrival's Basic Shield]

[Tarnished Iron Breastplate]

[New Arrival’s Simple Undershirt]

[New Arrival's Basic Chain Tasset]

[New Arrival’s Simple Pants]

[New Arrival's Basic Leather Boots] Other Skills:

Other Items:

[Special Edition Founder’s Token]

[Novice Stamina Potion]

[Novice Rejuvenating Salve]x5

[Guldrin’s Checklist]

[Saproot Seed]x14

[Mordalk Stew (cold)]

[Luma Feather]

[Garden Pebble]

[New Arrival’s Basic Chain Armour]

[Depleted Meridian Stone]

[Palt Lure]

[Greatshield of Dauntless Hope (Shattered)]

Active Quests:

[Wanted: Dead Spider Monkeys]

[Guldrin’s Experiment]

[Strength of Eternity (Part 3)]

[Asyr Hospitality (Part 4)]

[Mill in the Jungle]

[Wanted: Dead Starfire Wasps]

[Wanted: Dead Jungle Palts]