Chapter 22
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
Panting, the spearwoman clutched her spear for support. Looking up she glared in Eric's direction, hidden as he was by the brush at the edge of the stream. Eric hesitated, unsure of whether or not he should emerge and help her. On the one hand, he had just watched as her party was destroyed and then almost killed her with a stray arrow. On the other hand, the odds that she wanted to turn him into a flag with her spear as the pole didn't exactly seem low at the moment...
Opening her mouth, the spearwoman looked like she was about to say something, perhaps a harsh accusation or condemnation of his actions, or maybe a thanks for saving her, when the sound of roaring flames filled the air. Without warning, a fireball burst from behind the fallen tree in the middle of the glade. Turning, the spearwoman didn't even have time to shout before she was engulfed in flames, the fireball exploding against her unprotected side. With the sound of a small explosion and the smell of burning cloth, the woman was thrown to the ground, her spear falling lifelessly from her hands.
Shocked, Eric crouched down lower, abandoning the plan to emerge from hiding as he looked for the unseen assailant, was there some sort of monster in these woods that could use magic? Stealthily as he could, he knocked an arrow to his bow and peeked through the leaves. For a moment he couldn't see anything out of place in the clearing, just the corpses of monsters and men littering the once pristine forest floor.
"You might as well come out from hiding archer, I know you're over there." Came a voice from the same direction that the fireball had appeared from. As Eric watched, a hooded figure emerged, a woman wearing the same beginner gear as the other players he'd seen, as well as a hood attached to a frayed cloak. In one hand, she wielded a large lumberjack axe, while in the other, faint magical traces could be seen as she held another spell ready to cast. A wandless caster, Eric realized. This could be trouble.
"Don't you want to avenge your friends? Come on, fight me."
"They're not actually my friends, so I don't really care too much about avenging them and all that." Eric said, emerging from the brush and into the sunlight. Doing his best to appear casual, he allowed his bow to rest casually in one hand, the arrow nocked but not drawn. In his other, he brought forth mana, the flame coloured energy swirling around his hand, mirroring the pose of the mysterious woman.
The woman furrowed her brow, "Aren't you party members? Why wouldn't you want to fight after they died?"
"I think there's been a misunderstanding here. I was just hoping to steal their drops. I only decided to help them on a whim." Eric explained, allowing the flame mana to swirl around his fingertips. "I don't really give a damn about you killing her, I just want the loot."
At this, the woman bared her teeth in a feral grin, "Well in that case we're at odds. Because I want the drops as well." With that, she suddenly extended her arm, the flame mana condensing as she rapidly formed a clumsy Flame Strike. As the spell completed, she thrust her arm forward, sending the spell roaring towards Eric's position.
Swearing, Eric rapidly formed his own Flame Strike, firing it at her. The two spheres met in mid-air, exploding into a furious display or roaring flames which set the grass of the glade on fire.
As the spells collided, Eric readied his bow only to notice that the woman had already closed half the distance between the two and was quickly approaching the brook. At this part of the glade, the brook narrowed to only two meters in width, hardly enough to act as a barrier for his opponent. Bringing his bow up quickly, Eric fired an arrow at the woman and began to run parallel to the brook, not even pausing to see if his arrow had hit as he grabbed another from his quiver.
*Thwock* A meaty thud announced that his arrow had found a new home inside the woman's upper chest, but she barely even hesitated, adjusting her trajectory and jumping directly over the brook. As she landed, Eric fired another arrow, this one soaring over her left shoulder as she moved agilely to one side before charging towards him with her axe raised high.
Finding himself in the open, Eric prepared another arrow. Raising his bow, he fired another arrow which smashed into the woman's right side. Backpedaling furiously, he attempted to put distance between them as he tried desperately to nock another arrow to his bow.
With a ferocious yell, the woman jumped into the air, her axe crashing down towards him. Throwing himself to the side, Eric rolled lightly. As the woman jerked her axe out of the ground, he jumped to his feet, tossing away his bow and grabbing his dagger as he did so.
Holding the dagger in a reverse grip, he attempted to cast an Arcane Strike but the woman gave him no time to complete the spell, diving towards him and swinging the axe up in a diagonal slash. Abandoning the spell, he threw himself hastily to the side, barely dodging under the axe as he performed an undignified tumble on the ground. This was clearly what his opponent had been waiting for as she used the momentum of her swing to follow his roll, kicking him harshly in the ribs and bringing her axe up for an overhead slash.
Rolling to his knees, Eric desperately brought his dagger up in the guard position just like he'd practiced in the tutorial against Astrid. But how could a dagger block an axe? The axe deflected slightly off the dagger, it's trajectory changing and slamming into his shoulder instead of his head.
Instantly, Eric's healthbar went from just over 90% full to below 40%. Taking advantage of the fact that his opponents axe was still buried in his shoulder, Eric kicked out viciously, his foot slamming into his opponents knee, forcing her to the ground. Even as she fell, she still launched a punch at his head, but with a light shake of his head he dodged it, pouncing on his downed opponent. The axe clattering uselessly to the ground beside him.
Holding the dagger to her neck, he conjured a flame strike and held it above her face. Just as he was about to finish her an idea hit him.
"Nice fight. How would you like to join us?" Eric asked, his dagger and spell both ready to end the fight should she show any sign of resistance.
Confused, the woman gave him a perplexed look. Now that he'd gotten closer, he could make out her features beneath the cloak. She was an elf, with golden skin and shoulder length black hair. A small freckle adorned her left cheek. But by far her most striking feature were her eyes. With one violet and one a deep amber.
"What do you mean join you?" She asked, her voice a low growl.
"My friends and I are creating a team to fight for the Fate Championship. We're looking out for skilled players. I thought that that was a really intense PvP match and wanted you to join. Make sense?"
"Not interested, I play solo." She replied, but the hostility was gone from her eyes. Eric grinned.
"Come on, I know you enjoyed that fight just as much as I did. Tell you what, add me as a friend. If you ever need help or even if you just wanna spar, I'll be there. There's still a couple weeks before we have to finalize our teams for the regional preliminaries. Plenty of time to change your mind. What do you say?" He asked.
"You won, get it over with and kill me."
"Aw come on. We need strong players. And you're pretty good."
"Just kill me."
"Nope, you don't have to join the team. Just think of it as a try out."
"Kill. Me."
"How about this. You don't have to join us, just add me as a friend. Then you can reconsider it later on."
Seryllia rolled her eyes in frustration.
"Fine I'll think about it, but only after you get off me."
"Add me as a friend first and I will."
"Fine but you have to get off!"
Bringing up the UI, Eric looked through the options, finding the one he wanted. He sent a request to the woman still lying beneath him at knifepoint. Was this blackmail? Or extortion? Eric wondered idly as he waited for her to accept the request.
[Seryllia Vespin has accepted your friend request. You are now friends!]
"Now get off!"
Allowing the mana to dissipate, Eric jumped up, reaching down to help her to her feet. Ignoring his offered hand, she clambered to her feet on her own. Grabbing her axe as she rose.
Collecting his bow and returning his dagger to its sheath, Eric looked over at Seryllia. Glaring at him, she removed the two arrows from her body, snapping them off in the process.
"Hey! I needed those!" He protested.
"And I needed to not get shot, you're lucky I don't chop you in half right now."
"Awww come on Sery, don't be that way. It was a great fight. Plus you attacked me first!" Eric retorted. He was the victim here!
Ignoring him, Seryllia walked over to the edge of the glade. With one last annoyed look, she disappeared into the woods. The forest swallowing all traces of her passing.
After she vanished, Eric collapsed, wincing as he felt the numbness that indicated his shoulder wound. A few inches to the right and she probably would have just oneshot him. That was probably the most intense fight he'd had in any video game ever. The way she just kept advancing, ignoring all defence reminded him of a berserker. And the way she'd forced him to dodge so that she could follow up, setting up for an execution style chop with her axe had seriously given him chills. If he hadn't practiced that guard move in the tutorial he'd have been a goner, seriously.
Ah well, he'd won in the end. Plus he'd gained a fairly cute girl as a friend, even if she did seem to have some serious personality problems, like her tendency towards murdering innocent passers by. Anyways, now that she was gone it was time for the best part of any fight. Picking up the loot!
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Panting, the spearwoman clutched her spear for support. Looking up she glared in Eric's direction, hidden as he was by the brush at the edge of the stream. Eric hesitated, unsure of whether or not he should emerge and help her. On the one hand, he had just watched as her party was destroyed and then almost killed her with a stray arrow. On the other hand, the odds that she wanted to turn him into a flag with her spear as the pole didn't exactly seem low at the moment...
Opening her mouth, the spearwoman looked like she was about to say something, perhaps a harsh accusation or condemnation of his actions, or maybe a thanks for saving her, when the sound of roaring flames filled the air. Without warning, a fireball burst from behind the fallen tree in the middle of the glade. Turning, the spearwoman didn't even have time to shout before she was engulfed in flames, the fireball exploding against her unprotected side. With the sound of a small explosion and the smell of burning cloth, the woman was thrown to the ground, her spear falling lifelessly from her hands.
Shocked, Eric crouched down lower, abandoning the plan to emerge from hiding as he looked for the unseen assailant, was there some sort of monster in these woods that could use magic? Stealthily as he could, he knocked an arrow to his bow and peeked through the leaves. For a moment he couldn't see anything out of place in the clearing, just the corpses of monsters and men littering the once pristine forest floor.
"You might as well come out from hiding archer, I know you're over there." Came a voice from the same direction that the fireball had appeared from. As Eric watched, a hooded figure emerged, a woman wearing the same beginner gear as the other players he'd seen, as well as a hood attached to a frayed cloak. In one hand, she wielded a large lumberjack axe, while in the other, faint magical traces could be seen as she held another spell ready to cast. A wandless caster, Eric realized. This could be trouble.
"Don't you want to avenge your friends? Come on, fight me."
"They're not actually my friends, so I don't really care too much about avenging them and all that." Eric said, emerging from the brush and into the sunlight. Doing his best to appear casual, he allowed his bow to rest casually in one hand, the arrow nocked but not drawn. In his other, he brought forth mana, the flame coloured energy swirling around his hand, mirroring the pose of the mysterious woman.
The woman furrowed her brow, "Aren't you party members? Why wouldn't you want to fight after they died?"
"I think there's been a misunderstanding here. I was just hoping to steal their drops. I only decided to help them on a whim." Eric explained, allowing the flame mana to swirl around his fingertips. "I don't really give a damn about you killing her, I just want the loot."
At this, the woman bared her teeth in a feral grin, "Well in that case we're at odds. Because I want the drops as well." With that, she suddenly extended her arm, the flame mana condensing as she rapidly formed a clumsy Flame Strike. As the spell completed, she thrust her arm forward, sending the spell roaring towards Eric's position.
Swearing, Eric rapidly formed his own Flame Strike, firing it at her. The two spheres met in mid-air, exploding into a furious display or roaring flames which set the grass of the glade on fire.
As the spells collided, Eric readied his bow only to notice that the woman had already closed half the distance between the two and was quickly approaching the brook. At this part of the glade, the brook narrowed to only two meters in width, hardly enough to act as a barrier for his opponent. Bringing his bow up quickly, Eric fired an arrow at the woman and began to run parallel to the brook, not even pausing to see if his arrow had hit as he grabbed another from his quiver.
*Thwock* A meaty thud announced that his arrow had found a new home inside the woman's upper chest, but she barely even hesitated, adjusting her trajectory and jumping directly over the brook. As she landed, Eric fired another arrow, this one soaring over her left shoulder as she moved agilely to one side before charging towards him with her axe raised high.
Finding himself in the open, Eric prepared another arrow. Raising his bow, he fired another arrow which smashed into the woman's right side. Backpedaling furiously, he attempted to put distance between them as he tried desperately to nock another arrow to his bow.
With a ferocious yell, the woman jumped into the air, her axe crashing down towards him. Throwing himself to the side, Eric rolled lightly. As the woman jerked her axe out of the ground, he jumped to his feet, tossing away his bow and grabbing his dagger as he did so.
Holding the dagger in a reverse grip, he attempted to cast an Arcane Strike but the woman gave him no time to complete the spell, diving towards him and swinging the axe up in a diagonal slash. Abandoning the spell, he threw himself hastily to the side, barely dodging under the axe as he performed an undignified tumble on the ground. This was clearly what his opponent had been waiting for as she used the momentum of her swing to follow his roll, kicking him harshly in the ribs and bringing her axe up for an overhead slash.
Rolling to his knees, Eric desperately brought his dagger up in the guard position just like he'd practiced in the tutorial against Astrid. But how could a dagger block an axe? The axe deflected slightly off the dagger, it's trajectory changing and slamming into his shoulder instead of his head.
Instantly, Eric's healthbar went from just over 90% full to below 40%. Taking advantage of the fact that his opponents axe was still buried in his shoulder, Eric kicked out viciously, his foot slamming into his opponents knee, forcing her to the ground. Even as she fell, she still launched a punch at his head, but with a light shake of his head he dodged it, pouncing on his downed opponent. The axe clattering uselessly to the ground beside him.
Holding the dagger to her neck, he conjured a flame strike and held it above her face. Just as he was about to finish her an idea hit him.
"Nice fight. How would you like to join us?" Eric asked, his dagger and spell both ready to end the fight should she show any sign of resistance.
Confused, the woman gave him a perplexed look. Now that he'd gotten closer, he could make out her features beneath the cloak. She was an elf, with golden skin and shoulder length black hair. A small freckle adorned her left cheek. But by far her most striking feature were her eyes. With one violet and one a deep amber.
"What do you mean join you?" She asked, her voice a low growl.
"My friends and I are creating a team to fight for the Fate Championship. We're looking out for skilled players. I thought that that was a really intense PvP match and wanted you to join. Make sense?"
"Not interested, I play solo." She replied, but the hostility was gone from her eyes. Eric grinned.
"Come on, I know you enjoyed that fight just as much as I did. Tell you what, add me as a friend. If you ever need help or even if you just wanna spar, I'll be there. There's still a couple weeks before we have to finalize our teams for the regional preliminaries. Plenty of time to change your mind. What do you say?" He asked.
"You won, get it over with and kill me."
"Aw come on. We need strong players. And you're pretty good."
"Just kill me."
"Nope, you don't have to join the team. Just think of it as a try out."
"Kill. Me."
"How about this. You don't have to join us, just add me as a friend. Then you can reconsider it later on."
Seryllia rolled her eyes in frustration.
"Fine I'll think about it, but only after you get off me."
"Add me as a friend first and I will."
"Fine but you have to get off!"
Bringing up the UI, Eric looked through the options, finding the one he wanted. He sent a request to the woman still lying beneath him at knifepoint. Was this blackmail? Or extortion? Eric wondered idly as he waited for her to accept the request.
[Seryllia Vespin has accepted your friend request. You are now friends!]
"Now get off!"
Allowing the mana to dissipate, Eric jumped up, reaching down to help her to her feet. Ignoring his offered hand, she clambered to her feet on her own. Grabbing her axe as she rose.
Collecting his bow and returning his dagger to its sheath, Eric looked over at Seryllia. Glaring at him, she removed the two arrows from her body, snapping them off in the process.
"Hey! I needed those!" He protested.
"And I needed to not get shot, you're lucky I don't chop you in half right now."
"Awww come on Sery, don't be that way. It was a great fight. Plus you attacked me first!" Eric retorted. He was the victim here!
Ignoring him, Seryllia walked over to the edge of the glade. With one last annoyed look, she disappeared into the woods. The forest swallowing all traces of her passing.
After she vanished, Eric collapsed, wincing as he felt the numbness that indicated his shoulder wound. A few inches to the right and she probably would have just oneshot him. That was probably the most intense fight he'd had in any video game ever. The way she just kept advancing, ignoring all defence reminded him of a berserker. And the way she'd forced him to dodge so that she could follow up, setting up for an execution style chop with her axe had seriously given him chills. If he hadn't practiced that guard move in the tutorial he'd have been a goner, seriously.
Ah well, he'd won in the end. Plus he'd gained a fairly cute girl as a friend, even if she did seem to have some serious personality problems, like her tendency towards murdering innocent passers by. Anyways, now that she was gone it was time for the best part of any fight. Picking up the loot!
Panting, the spearwoman clutched her spear for support. Looking up she glared in Eric's direction, hidden as he was by the brush at the edge of the stream. Eric hesitated, unsure of whether or not he should emerge and help her. On the one hand, he had just watched as her party was destroyed and then almost killed her with a stray arrow. On the other hand, the odds that she wanted to turn him into a flag with her spear as the pole didn't exactly seem low at the moment...Opening her mouth, the spearwoman looked like she was about to say something, perhaps a harsh accusation or condemnation of his actions, or maybe a thanks for saving her, when the sound of roaring flames filled the air. Without warning, a fireball burst from behind the fallen tree in the middle of the glade. Turning, the spearwoman didn't even have time to shout before she was engulfed in flames, the fireball exploding against her unprotected side. With the sound of a small explosion and the smell of burning cloth, the woman was thrown to the ground, her spear falling lifelessly from her hands.Shocked, Eric crouched down lower, abandoning the plan to emerge from hiding as he looked for the unseen assailant, was there some sort of monster in these woods that could use magic? Stealthily as he could, he knocked an arrow to his bow and peeked through the leaves. For a moment he couldn't see anything out of place in the clearing, just the corpses of monsters and men littering the once pristine forest floor."You might as well come out from hiding archer, I know you're over there." Came a voice from the same direction that the fireball had appeared from. As Eric watched, a hooded figure emerged, a woman wearing the same beginner gear as the other players he'd seen, as well as a hood attached to a frayed cloak. In one hand, she wielded a large lumberjack axe, while in the other, faint magical traces could be seen as she held another spell ready to cast. A wandless caster, Eric realized. This could be trouble."Don't you want to avenge your friends? Come on, fight me.""They're not actually my friends, so I don't really care too much about avenging them and all that." Eric said, emerging from the brush and into the sunlight. Doing his best to appear casual, he allowed his bow to rest casually in one hand, the arrow nocked but not drawn. In his other, he brought forth mana, the flame coloured energy swirling around his hand, mirroring the pose of the mysterious woman.The woman furrowed her brow, "Aren't you party members? Why wouldn't you want to fight after they died?""I think there's been a misunderstanding here. I was just hoping to steal their drops. I only decided to help them on a whim." Eric explained, allowing the flame mana to swirl around his fingertips. "I don't really give a damn about you killing her, I just want the loot."At this, the woman bared her teeth in a feral grin, "Well in that case we're at odds. Because I want the drops as well." With that, she suddenly extended her arm, the flame mana condensing as she rapidly formed a clumsy Flame Strike. As the spell completed, she thrust her arm forward, sending the spell roaring towards Eric's position.Swearing, Eric rapidly formed his own Flame Strike, firing it at her. The two spheres met in mid-air, exploding into a furious display or roaring flames which set the grass of the glade on fire.As the spells collided, Eric readied his bow only to notice that the woman had already closed half the distance between the two and was quickly approaching the brook. At this part of the glade, the brook narrowed to only two meters in width, hardly enough to act as a barrier for his opponent. Bringing his bow up quickly, Eric fired an arrow at the woman and began to run parallel to the brook, not even pausing to see if his arrow had hit as he grabbed another from his quiver.*Thwock* A meaty thud announced that his arrow had found a new home inside the woman's upper chest, but she barely even hesitated, adjusting her trajectory and jumping directly over the brook. As she landed, Eric fired another arrow, this one soaring over her left shoulder as she moved agilely to one side before charging towards him with her axe raised high.Finding himself in the open, Eric prepared another arrow. Raising his bow, he fired another arrow which smashed into the woman's right side. Backpedaling furiously, he attempted to put distance between them as he tried desperately to nock another arrow to his bow.With a ferocious yell, the woman jumped into the air, her axe crashing down towards him. Throwing himself to the side, Eric rolled lightly. As the woman jerked her axe out of the ground, he jumped to his feet, tossing away his bow and grabbing his dagger as he did so.Holding the dagger in a reverse grip, he attempted to cast an Arcane Strike but the woman gave him no time to complete the spell, diving towards him and swinging the axe up in a diagonal slash. Abandoning the spell, he threw himself hastily to the side, barely dodging under the axe as he performed an undignified tumble on the ground. This was clearly what his opponent had been waiting for as she used the momentum of her swing to follow his roll, kicking him harshly in the ribs and bringing her axe up for an overhead slash.Rolling to his knees, Eric desperately brought his dagger up in the guard position just like he'd practiced in the tutorial against Astrid. But how could a dagger block an axe? The axe deflected slightly off the dagger, it's trajectory changing and slamming into his shoulder instead of his head.Instantly, Eric's healthbar went from just over 90% full to below 40%. Taking advantage of the fact that his opponents axe was still buried in his shoulder, Eric kicked out viciously, his foot slamming into his opponents knee, forcing her to the ground. Even as she fell, she still launched a punch at his head, but with a light shake of his head he dodged it, pouncing on his downed opponent. The axe clattering uselessly to the ground beside him.Holding the dagger to her neck, he conjured a flame strike and held it above her face. Just as he was about to finish her an idea hit him."Nice fight. How would you like to join us?" Eric asked, his dagger and spell both ready to end the fight should she show any sign of resistance.Confused, the woman gave him a perplexed look. Now that he'd gotten closer, he could make out her features beneath the cloak. She was an elf, with golden skin and shoulder length black hair. A small freckle adorned her left cheek. But by far her most striking feature were her eyes. With one violet and one a deep amber."What do you mean join you?" She asked, her voice a low growl."My friends and I are creating a team to fight for the Fate Championship. We're looking out for skilled players. I thought that that was a really intense PvP match and wanted you to join. Make sense?""Not interested, I play solo." She replied, but the hostility was gone from her eyes. Eric grinned."Come on, I know you enjoyed that fight just as much as I did. Tell you what, add me as a friend. If you ever need help or even if you just wanna spar, I'll be there. There's still a couple weeks before we have to finalize our teams for the regional preliminaries. Plenty of time to change your mind. What do you say?" He asked."You won, get it over with and kill me.""Aw come on. We need strong players. And you're pretty good.""Just kill me.""Nope, you don't have to join the team. Just think of it as a try out.""Kill. Me.""How about this. You don't have to join us, just add me as a friend. Then you can reconsider it later on."Seryllia rolled her eyes in frustration."Fine I'll think about it, but only after you get off me.""Add me as a friend first and I will.""Fine but you have to get off!"Bringing up the UI, Eric looked through the options, finding the one he wanted. He sent a request to the woman still lying beneath him at knifepoint. Was this blackmail? Or extortion? Eric wondered idly as he waited for her to accept the request.Seryllia Vespin has accepted your friend request. You are now friends!"Now get off!"Allowing the mana to dissipate, Eric jumped up, reaching down to help her to her feet. Ignoring his offered hand, she clambered to her feet on her own. Grabbing her axe as she rose.Collecting his bow and returning his dagger to its sheath, Eric looked over at Seryllia. Glaring at him, she removed the two arrows from her body, snapping them off in the process."Hey! I needed those!" He protested."And I needed to not get shot, you're lucky I don't chop you in half right now.""Awww come on Sery, don't be that way. It was a great fight. Plus you attacked me first!" Eric retorted. He was the victim here!Ignoring him, Seryllia walked over to the edge of the glade. With one last annoyed look, she disappeared into the woods. The forest swallowing all traces of her passing.After she vanished, Eric collapsed, wincing as he felt the numbness that indicated his shoulder wound. A few inches to the right and she probably would have just oneshot him. That was probably the most intense fight he'd had in any video game ever. The way she just kept advancing, ignoring all defence reminded him of a berserker. And the way she'd forced him to dodge so that she could follow up, setting up for an execution style chop with her axe had seriously given him chills. If he hadn't practiced that guard move in the tutorial he'd have been a goner, seriously.Ah well, he'd won in the end. Plus he'd gained a fairly cute girl as a friend, even if she did seem to have some serious personality problems, like her tendency towards murdering innocent passers by. Anyways, now that she was gone it was time for the best part of any fight. Picking up the loot!
