The darkness within (solo)

[Hadrian]

Certain rules had been put in place by the developers to keep the peace. Adventurers could not fight within towns unless they felt like being punished by over powered enforcers. Outside of the towns however a different story unfolded. It was only a matter of time before Alex encountered a group of adventurers that saw no issue with the targeting of other players. Each of his hunters was the same level but what they lacked in a higher level they made up for in numbers. One samurai, a bard, and summoner had been after him for the past ten minutes. Originally the hunters had been five but the small party Alex had been in managed to kill one each before they fell.

Once the tables turned to a point that direct combat would yield no benefits Alex managed to run away. Although the three player killers did have a tracker who managed to pick up his tail. Either way it was impossible for him to fight any of them unless it was one on one. It had been a few days that he spent out in the wilderness, getting to learn the ins and outs of the woods simply for the sake of learning the terrain. Londinium was too far to escape to and even then this was good practice. Alex had no issues with player versus player when Elder Tale was just a game. Even though adventurers were technically immortal it didn’t mean that basic human decency should be broken.

When the chance came to test his skill against adventures with little humanity Alex felt no need to be humane. For starters it was clear that the samurai would have to wait till last. The summoner could be taken out fastest if he could manage a surprise attack. While the bard had to be killed before any buffs could be dulled out to the samurai. What was truly needed was to split the group just long enough to cause chaos. Luckily, Alex was not any sort of class that could do any of those things. “Think… think… ” there had to be options based on the battle seen so far. All three of the player killers had no previous experience, that much was clear based on how they fought in a group. It was also obvious the three still relied on the menu to a certain extent to fight and targeted smaller groups to overcome a lack of skill and experience by sheer number and force.

“The summoner is using carbuncle to heal the group… that bard is more status effect that dps… that samurai didn’t time ace moves all that well…” There was little chance the three would catch up to him so long as he kept running. Though continually running didn’t solve the matter either. For now Alex was far enough away they could see him just over the horizon but every once in a while the bard would let loose an arrow that just narrowly missed. He knew exactly where to lead them though, a part of the forest that the trees were only a few or so apart, where the star light would barley reach down beyond the canopy above. While he needed room to swing the big old sword of his it would be easier to launch a surprise attack then vanish back into the tree line. Naturally this idea hinged on the hope blink actually sent him where he wanted to go.

WC: 579

[Hadrian]

Every so often Alex would blink forward to entrench an outline in their tracker’s mind. It was important that the bard who managed to keep their group on pace with him pick up the pattern Alex easily left to discern. Footsteps were left in the mixture of dirt and leaves on the ground followed by a few meters of untouched land only to pick up footsteps again. Once he managed to get into a specific area he would use blink to get up into the trees and wait for the three to pass. The last he had seen of their formation the bard had taken the lead while the samurai followed close behind and the summoner straggled behind the other two.

If he timed all of his attacks just right, since summoners had extremely poor hp especially at level one, it might only take a few hits to kill the guy outright. There was no illusion he wouldn’t take damage before he could blink away. Either the bard would knock an arrow and fire a few good shots or the samurai would get one or two slashes in. Even with the assumption that the tactic would work it was highly improbable that it could be used a second time. The entire affair was like one grand chess match, a game Alex hadn’t been able to enjoy in a while. Some part of him hated to admit that no matter what moral high horse he wanted to take on the matter of player killing, some part of him had begun to enjoy the game of cat and mouse.

It was as if a surge of adrenaline coursed through his veins and the rush of player versus player had become even more alive than ever. No matter how much he enjoyed the rush it was never an option to start the fight but he would damn sure enjoy ending one. Really, he half expected them to wonder off and give up chase but the three player killers seemed honed in on him. The likely result of their two comrades being taken down. Once the tree line grew thicker and  field of vision grew darker Alex made his move. He used blink to get up into the tree line… admittedly just barely as he had to reach for the branch that was three branches lower than his actual goal.

“There goes the bard…” he thought as he waited for the right time to cast the next two spells that would hopefully deliver enough damage in a short time against the target. “Another passed…” his eyes quickly turned on the lookout for the summoner as the samurai ran on by. Alex had to make sure that the next two spells were timed perfectly, that the light they would inevitably give off didn’t alert the two who had run by to his real whereabouts. Alex held one hand on the hilt of his claymore while the other hovered just over the blade. His hands began to glow just before he uttered silently, “Inferno Strike”.

Now that the summoner was in range Alex concentrated once again channeled his energy into a spell. He held both hands firmly onto the claymore and steadily increased the strength of his grasp. Just as the summoner passed below his tree Alex muttered “Serpent Bolt” as he had cast the spell on himself and then leapt down to where the summoner was. A bolt of lightning immediately stunned the summoner just before his claymore slashed Alex’s target across the back. Over and over Alex slashed as many times as he could before the summoner even had a chance to react. Just as Serpent Bolt was about to run out a death blow was delivered against the summoner.

Unfortunately his assumption about a counter attack being imminent upon the attack was dead on. An arrow managed to fly directly into his shoulder while the samurai charged forward and unsheathed a katana. The first slash was the ace move Kabuto-wari, which Alex barely managed to block by moving his claymore upward horizontally with his free hand used to support the weight of the edge of the blade. Naturally though the slash of a samurai was far more powerful than his own parry. The force of the swing pushed Alex down onto one knee as he waited for the right moment to counter. It was impossible to beat the samurai right now. The bard had to be taken out next.

Alex completely tuned out the samurai’s attempt at trash talk, it didn’t really matter since he couldn’t break free of the samurai’s push downward just yet. For a moment Alex turned his gaze on the bard and casted evaluate. “Damn he’s about to Speed Sword Etude… Blink!” he thought to himself as he slipped forward a few meters and out of the samurai’s deadlock, who had now fallen forward onto the ground. Naturally though Blink moved him further than anticipated which led Alex to crash right into the bard. Luckily as his body slammed into his enemy the bard’s spell was disrupted. He grabbed onto the bard’s armor to stop his momentum and then rolled on top of the bard as they both were now on the ground. By now Alex’s wolf traits were in effect, eyes that glowed of amber brightly in the dark, ears that popped forth from his shaggy hair, and most importantly a boost to strength that enabled him to get punch after punch in as the bard laid on the ground with both arms in a defensive position.

A devilish grin emerged from his face as the pleasure of the fight had begun to seep forth to the surface. It was obvious though that these few cheap shots wouldn’t be enough to take out the bard before the samurai moved in for the attack. The minute five seconds passed Alex used blink again to move forward just as the samurai attempted to slash him in the back. Even now Inferno strike and Serpent Bolt were still in cool down and Alex was down to seventy five percent of his original health.

“You coward! We’re going to make you pay for that!” the samurai yelled.

Alex ran forward but he was rather exhausted at this point and his two opponents were right on his tail. Figuratively, since a wolf tail never seemed to appear when his features became prominent. Since both of his opponents were blinded by rage he had to take advantage and launch another attack. Alex stopped rapidly and then rotated 180 degrees, the large claymore let loose from his grasp as it had been thrown, rapidly one rotation after another moved it closer to the two targets. As the samurai dodged the bard managed to get a clean slice along the right arm. “Blink…” and in that instant Alex finally teleported exactly to the location he wanted. “Finally!!!” he thought as his hands clasped the handle of his claymore and began to run in the opposite direction again.

With both hands firmly on his sword’s hilt Alex knew his mana had run dangerously low. Two… maybe three more spells could be cast before he was completely out. As the bard stumbled back to a stalwart position the samurai attacked head on just as Alex had casted Serpent Bolt for the final time. Luckily a bolt of lightning stunned the samurai which gave him just enough time to slash horizontally at the samurai’s mid-section before moving on towards the bard. Alex casted evaluate as he ran towards the bard and noticed the bard about to use Speed Sword Etude again. “Blink!” his body teleported forward just a meter shy of the bard as lighting stunned the bard just as it fizzled out. Three strong slashes, the first diagonally across the bard’s chest, the second vertically across the midsection, and a final slash horizontally did enough to remove the second to last piece from the chess board.

Just then he felt a slash across his back, the samurai had used the ace move Kabuto-wari and managed a clean hit. Alex fell forward and rolled down on the floor from the force of the attack. As he managed to get back onto one knee and grip his sword’s hilt tightly the samurai smirked.

“You’re at 50% health and I’m still above 80%. This round is still my win.”

Alex knew the samurai wasn’t wrong. With his current HP and MP levels Alex had no chance to win. By now the sheer physical exhaustion never felt before in Elder Tale had set in. Every breath he took felt far too heavy. Yet a smile still ran across his lips. This was all still far too enjoyable.

WC: 1455

[Hadrian]

“I’ll give you the chance to beg for forgiveness. Grovel like the bug you are and maybe… just maybe I’ll let you leave your items on the ground and run off under a rock.”

The Samurai seemed to think that the upper hand meant his own intelligence or emotional state would be frazzled. At no point during the fight, from when the Samurai’s group had ambushed his group to the time where only the two of them were left did Alex show even a hint of gullibility. The fact his opponent hadn’t even picked up on that did annoy him to a certain extent. “Your level one… not 90. Nothing is scary about you fu*&^%$ idiot” he though as his breathe slowly came back. The more his opponent talked away Alex continued to think of a way to win. It was almost an insult to think that someone so pathetic would be able to finish him off.

Alex slowly made his way off the one knee and stood tall. The heavy sword which had been a trusted ally up till this point was held only with his right hand, the tip of the blade pushed vertically into the ground to make it appear as if Alex needed help to stand. Every scenario that ran through his mind led to his defeat at the hand of a fool. His mana had regenerated enough for exactly two blink spells but the chance it would continue to do so without the Samurai’s interference was slim to zero. The same devilish grin crossed lips that reflected the amber glow of his eyes in the moonlight.

“Your pathetic… three of you couldn’t kill me. Now the dumb meat shield is left and you think some sort of upper hand belongs to you.” Eyes full of murderous intent looked upon an enemy that began to be flustered by Alex’s defiance. “Elder Tale is too good for someone like you to be stuck in. I’ll end you over and over until you get the message.” Alex could see the rage grow in the samurai’s body. The chance to win was still pathetic if existent at all however it rose just slightly if the Samurai was so emotional that mistakes were made. Which, based on the battle so far, would happen at least once.

“Just die already! Die die die!” the Samurai yelled as a charge was directed towards Alex.

“Seven… five… three… now!” he thought as his right foot kicked the flat side of the claymore out of the dirt, which was sent right into the Samurai’s eyes. From there the claymore was clasped with both hands and pointed forward to pierce the samurai in the side. With a push of his body to the left Alex moved forward so that the side of the blade would run across his opponents gut and slide cleanly against his opponent. Finally he rotated 180 degrees and brought the claymore down vertically to slash down the samurai’s back.

Before he could attack again the Samurai kicked back to push him a foot back. The katana was unsheathed immediately and swung wildly back and forth until vision began to come back. “Why won’t you just die! Kabuto-wari!”

Alex barely managed to pull his claymore to the front and parry the attack, though it did send him back a few feet and the residual force resulted in some ticks to his health. “Use it… chain the attack you idiot” he thought as his counter attack was dependent on the next skill.

“Izuna-giri!” the Samruai yelled, a blast of wind bursted forward from the Samurai’s sword only to find empty air in it’s path.

“Blink!” he exclaimed the moment the Samurai had used the second attack in the chain. His body disappeared just in time to dodge the attack entirely and re-appear in the air above the samurai. The claymore came down vertically from the shoulder down to the knee of his enemy before a second slash ran diagonally from hip to should.

Before Alex was able to jump back out of range the Samurai managed to unfreeze just in time to slash Alex’s left arm. As much as he wanted to back up the fight had to be close range. It would be a bit before his opponent’s skills reset while his own mana was full enough to cast one more blink. His own health had dropped to 40 percent while the samurai was down to 65 percent. In a battle of HP attrition the samurai held the advantage. Anther slash came his way but was parried with enough momentum to counter slash and land a hit on the Samurai’s left arm.

The Samurai could no longer hold his sword with two hands but still had the advantage. “I can wield this one handed… I’m guessing that claymore of your's is rather heavy about now.”

Defiantly the first intelligent observation made by his opponent. Alex could feel the strength being drained from his left arm, the weight of the claymore similar to a bag of bricks being added to brick by brick. Much to his befuddlement though Alex simply looked on glad that his opponent clearly had no clue what to do next.

“Bushi Chousen! Now you have to attack me! No more running.”

Alex shook his head from side to side at the blatant misunderstanding of skills. “Yeah… if you still had party members…” he though before he rushed in and slashed horizontally with one arm only to be blocked by the samurai’s katana. His fist followed closely after to meet the cheek, then nose, and finally eye of the Samurai. At the first chance he grabbed the Samurai’s right arm and pushed it against the edge of his claymore.

The Samurai’s thumb had been split open, the katana once held so tightly had been let go. A head but followed which caused the Samurai to fall to the ground. His opponent looked up and witnessed a devilish smirk once again. Amber eyes glowed demonically down upon an enemy who was stunned at what had happened. “Interesting… combat is even more realistic than I thought…” Alex thought as he got on top of the Samurai and began to deal punch after punch to the head. Despite his enemy now in a defensive position, arms held up to try and deflect the hits, both of their health bars had begun to tick away.

Even though the game now allowed combat not scripted by auto-attack or special moves it still took into account the damage a non-monk would take punch after punch on an opponent. Still, the battle was a matter of health attrition and eventually the samurai would open those terrified eyes to a dead mage. Alex stood up and delivered a few cheap kicks to the side of the Samurai and then walked over to the katana. “No idea how to use this… rather you don’t wield it again either though.” With his good arm Alex clasped the katana and tossed it into the darkness of the forest.

As the Samurai stood up it was clear just one more hit against Alex of any decent sort would be enough to win. It would take a good five more from Alex’s claymore to do in the Samurai, which they both knew he didn’t have the strength left to wield. “This is my win a#$. Your…”

“Wolf now!” an unfamiliar voice yelled as grey wolf familiar attacked the Samurai over and over until only one hit was left before the fight was over. “You want the honor? To be honest this guy ganked me two nights ago so I’m happy to return the favor.”

“Your win… wouldn’t mind a heal or two though” his murderous demeanor had disappeared in an instant so as not to inspire the possible animosity of the female druid who had appeared. A friendly smile now crossed his lips.

“Thanks! Wolf… if you will.” The wolf then took a rather large bite of the Samurai to end the match. “I was watching for a while. Rather impressive to go head on like that. I’m Cleo. Heartbeat Healing.” Her spell enveloped Alex and brought him back up to 25 percent health over a few seconds. “Sent a friend request. Drop a quick hi sometimes.” She smiled as her right hand patted his head, the spot behind his ears felt particular good in a weird way. She then called back to town and left Alex in the woods to contemplate what had just happened. Slowly the rush of player versus player had worn off. Now he merely climbed up into a tree and gazed out into the open sky.


WC: 1448

- END