[Celestial Arms 2 | Solo] Out from the Dust -- Part 4

[Saber]

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[attr="class","nameBox"]Saber
Level 90 -- Assassin

[attr="class","statBox"]Words: [821]

Tags: [Solo]

Skills Used: [N/A]

Notes: [Gotta Go Fast]

[attr="class","titleBox"]This broken glass is all I've got left!

[attr="class","textBox"] The Assassin slammed down onto the floor with a heavy thud, his body appearing out of the air as he was transported back to the designated location by the Trickster. He first hit with his feet but quickly dropped down onto his hands and knees to save his body some pain, a heavy wind sweeping up the dust and rocks surrounding him. The man rumbled in his throat and clenched his hands into fists, clutching some of the dirt and dust in his palms as he let his body get reoriented again. There was too much of this teleporting going on and Saber didn’t like it, he didn’t like any of it. The Assassin didn’t mind jumping off high places or running into dark tunnels, but he hated being thrown some place and getting dropped in blind. This was no different. In order to calm his mind, the Assassin checked around himself; he was underground and boy was it dark. The only light that filled the tunnel was the glow of the bugs on the walls, underground mushrooms, and a few torches placed here and there to line the walls. Well, at least the place had been navigated before.

“Time is short, Elf. Get to your feet and follow the tunnels.” A voice filled the air, clouding Saber’s mind as the Assassin returned to his feet. The familiar voice was that of the Trickster, and said voice made the Assassin snarl. That damned thing had thrown him to the wolves, essentially, and hadn’t even told Saber where he was being placed. Not only that, but the Trickster was so quick to teleport Saber that it left the Assassin absolutely no time to prepare. If he had time, he would have asked for Lotus to be sent as well. That was too late now, it seemed. Saber was going to have to do this alone. Again.

“Directions?” Saber said aloud, glanced to his front and then back behind him. The tunnel he stood in went both ways, as did the lights. That put him in the relative center of the underground maze he was now in and limited his choices. If he went the wrong way, Saber would waste time and if the Trickster said that he didn’t have any, then that was a mistake he could not make.

“Forward and then turn left. Quickly.” Saber huffed and trusted the voice in his head, one of the few times he ever did. The Assassin shook off the effect the teleport had on his body and began to run forward, sprinting up the tunnel as quickly as his legs would allow. His lungs worked on overdrive, his nose and mouth sucking and blowing out oxygen like the well-coordinate machines Saber had tuned them to be. His stride opened and the distance became nothing but dust beneath his feet. In a blink, the Assassin shifted from his starting position to the bend, not stopping even as he passed into it. The Assassin banked hard to the left and jumped, his feet tapping against the right wall as he used his momentum to keep pace, much like a race car. After a few touches though, the Assassin lunged back to the main floor and continued up the tunnel.

“Follow this tunnel. You will pass through four splits in the path but keep going straight. At the third split, head to the right.” Saber had already passed the first split and continued straight regardless of the instructions he had been given. The split in the road he whizzed by went in two directions; one to his far left but that tunnel was unlit. The other direction was down and to the right. If he wanted to get above ground, then that path was obviously not the right one. The second split was quite the distance off, but Saber narrowed his eyes and lowered his body, accelerating a little more as he kept pace. As he closed in though, Saber learned that he wasn’t alone.

Out from the shadows ahead of him, a large group of Kobolds stepped forth. They had their backs to the Assassin and seemed to be harmlessly passing through the passageway but at Saber’s pace, they wouldn’t clear out in time. The Assassin huffed and considered going over them, but that would leave him open to attack, and he could find himself in a sticky situation if they called for help. That left him with a simple decision; he would go through them. In order to cut the group off and make them pretty much a neutralized threat, he would have to knock out their leader; the Kobold Noble. Dispatching the creature would be easy and the Assassin would lose minimal time by doing so. Without missing a step, Saber reached behind him to his lower back and grasped the hilt of one of his daggers. It was time to make a hole.

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[Saber]

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[attr="class","nameBox"]Saber
Level 90 -- Assassin

[attr="class","statBox"]Words: [759]

Tags: [Solo]

Skills Used: [N/A]

Notes: [Clock's Ticking]

[attr="class","titleBox"]This broken glass is all I've got left!

[attr="class","textBox"] “Six seconds…” Judging from the distance and the speed Saber was going, he was only a few seconds from the group of Kobolds. They seemed oblivious to the Assassin and he didn’t even bother with activating any of his hiding skills. Instead, he powered forward. His boots tapped against the stone floor and the Elf zipped along, his eyes narrowing down on the Kobold Noble. His blade began to glow in its hilt as he slowly drew it out. With each step, the Kobold steadily came into Saber’s range.

“Five…” The fingers Saber had wrapped around his dagger tensed and the blade came slightly more free. The Assassin’s eyes bore into the Kobold’s back as it turned to give orders towards its underlings. The annoying voice pierced the silence of the rocks and echoed through the tunnel, pinging in Saber’s ears. The Elf seethed beneath his scarf.

“Four…” Saber pulled his dagger completely free and shoved off the ground fiercely, digging his toes into the stone as he vaulted forward. His sprinting turned into aggressive lunging as he bounded forward, the distance between himself and the Kobold almost becoming nothing but the length of his arm.

“Three…” The group of Kobolds positioned themselves in the center of the connection zone and they fanned out inside of the room, most likely taking a break as some of them sat down. The Noble barked at two of the underlings and slapped them with his bone club. The two smaller creatures were knocked off their feet from the hits and the Noble snarled at them.

“Two…” Suddenly out from the side of the tunnel Saber was passing through, an additional number to the Kobold count appeared and looked straight in towards where Saber was coming. The moment he did, the Kobold’s throat was slashed. Saber burst out of the darkness in a wave of shadows, his presence filling the room the instant his foot touched down in the center of it. Several of the Kobolds reacted and went to guard themselves, the little creatures stumbling out of fright. Blood splattered out from within the wounded Kobold’s throat and the little creature’s health bar was vaporized.

“One.” Saber took another two steps and just as the Kobold Noble turned around, the Assassin grabbed the demi-human by the throat and snatched it off its feet. The surprise-adoption caused the Kobold to flinch and its hands opened; the bone club dropped from its fingers as Saber carried the Kobold into the next tunnel. As he jumped inside, Saber buried his blade into the Kobold’s stomach, twisted, and then sliced through it. The Noble coughed and threw up a wash of blood, the liquid splattering the stone wall to Saber’s right. Quickly, the Assassin stopped moving and turned ot his left. With a heavy slam, he smashed the Kobold Noble against the wall and then slashed out its stomach. Poison seeped into the Kobold’s system and its health bar deteriorated rapidly. Sheathing his sword, Saber unarmed himself and then tossed the Kobold into the air. A heavy punch sent the Kobold leader into the previous room and the creature slammed into three of its underlings whom had started to try to chase Saber. Like bowling pins, the three Kobolds were smashed down and tackled to the floor. The Noble shattered into dust and Saber vanished into the tunnel again, continuing forward. The Kobolds, now leaderless, stared towards where the Assassin had gone but none dared try to follow.

Saber banked to the right as he entered the next section and sheathed his dagger, the weapon vanishing beneath his cloak once more. The Assassin took in a sharp breath and then released a steady flow when he exhaled, collecting himself again as he followed the directions of the Trickster. He wasn’t too far off, it seemed. As he moved further and further through the tunnels and closer to the surface, the tunnels began to shift from simple stone holes in the wall to sewers. He was still far from an exit, but he began to hear the sounds of horses, carts, footsteps, and people through the cracks. A few waterways came into existence and sewer creatures also came into Saber’s path. He ignored them and continued forward, not daring waste any more time.

“Time?” Saber asked, calling out to the Trickster who must have known how close he was. The Trickster seemed a bit flustered.

“Almost there! Hurry! Head to the right at the next turn!” Saber grit his teeth and rumbled. He couldn’t go any faster, dammit.

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[Saber]

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[attr="class","nameBox"]Saber
Level 90 -- Assassin

[attr="class","statBox"]Words: [918]

Tags: [Solo]

Skills Used: [Explosive Sigil]

Notes: [Splash]

[attr="class","titleBox"]This broken glass is all I've got left!

[attr="class","textBox"] At the next turn, Saber ducked to the right and found himself skidding to a halt almost immediately. His view was filled with nothing but webs and from within, a massive eight-legged creature emerged to face the Assassin. Saber’s nose wiggled beneath his scarf and he slowly stepped back and out of the passageway as the silky mess of a tunnel in front of him gave birth to an oversized arachnid. Quickly, Saber checked its level and potential stats; they weren’t good. If Saber wanted to manage his time then dealing with a level thirty Digger Tarantula wouldn’t be the best way to go about it. Saber could handle a Kobold Noble without stopping but a spider? Impossible. Saber had dealt with the creatures several times before and they were in no way easy to defeat. Their speed and agility, as well as their ability as predators made them extremely annoying to deal with. Soooo… Saber rumbled in his throat.

“Trickster. I need another exit.” Saber darted to the left and accelerated as quickly as he could as the Tarantula hissed loudly behind him. It burst out of the tunnel and gave chase, its legs skittering along the walls as it followed after the Elf. Saber grit his teeth and moved as fast as possible. The Spider was fast though and eventually, it would catch him.

“Turn right. Now.” Saber jumped to his left and planted his feet firmly on the wall, glanced to his right to see the Tarantula lunging at him from the ceiling, and then dove back to the right and into the next passageway. As he jumped, the Assassin left behind a present in the stone. The Tarantula landed and Saber snapped his fingers; the knife he left behind erupted into a fireball and blasted the spider off the wall. The creature let out a painful hiss and ran off, its body ablaze. Saber checked his back to confirm that he was clear and then continued forward. He ran along the right side of the passage, following the river as it led him forward. The Trickster called him to turn right again and then quickly back to the left. As he did the swift two cuts, he saw the passageway he was supposed to have emerged from; it was coated in spider webs and dozens of the creatures were nestled around it. Good thing he chose not to fight his way through.

The next passage Saber found himself in was the final one, he could see it. The passage curved slightly and the walkway he ran along inclined slowly down at a steady angle, allowing the water to accelerate. At the other end, Saber could see the light from the outside. It seemed that the Trickster wasn’t leading him into the city, but to somewhere else. Rather than ask questions, Saber prepared his mind for what was beyond. He squeezed his hands into fists and pumped his legs ferociously at the floor, closing the distance rapidly. He glanced behind him as he heard a loud, echoing squeal and spotted the angered Tarantula reappeared and its eyes glowed an aggressively bright red. Saber sucked his teeth and looked forward again. It would be close.

“Trickster, do I have to jump?” Saber called out, but he didn’t get an answer. Saber’s body began to feel light as he ran and he snarled.

“Oi! Trickster!” Nothing, again, and that left Saber with only one option; go. He didn’t bother asking again and steeled his mind for the potential danger he was about to encounter. He had done this several times before, so what was another jump going to do? As much as he would have loved to be prepared, there was no time. Saber looked over his shoulder towards the angered Tarantula and swiftly calculated the time before the two would clash, and it wasn’t far off. When he looked forward again, Saber’s eyes hardened. The Assassin reached back to his waist and yanked his dagger free. The sound of rushing water and the noise of the screeching spider deafened Saber’s thoughts. With a heavy breath, he blocked it all out. His mind cleared and the Assassin prepared himself.

One last time, Saber looked over his shoulder to see the Tarantula almost at his heels. Looking forward, the exit was blindingly close. The Assassin nodded and stepped hard, vaulting forward and turning to his right. His blade shimmered in the light as he turned and the spider behind him lunged forward, its fangs coming out of the dark. Saber tapped his left foot down and jumped backwards as the spider came into reach. Both of them were bathed in sunlight as they burst out of the tunnel’s exit and appeared nearly thirty feet above the pool of water below. Saber winced and dug his blade into the Spider’s gut, pushing it up and away from him as he rolled backwards over his head. The Spider hissed loudly and tried to dig its fangs into the Assassin, but the Elf quickly redirected the spider’s body and shoved the creature out of his face. The shove launched the spider an additional ten feet forward, and into the dead zone. Both beings dropped out of the air; Saber splashed into the water below, the spider splattered in the rocks.

Saber’s vision faded as he hit the water, his eyes glazing over with a mix of darkness and light. Once more, he was bathed in light and warmth.

“This… crap… Dammi—!“

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