Episode 9: Demons of the Marsh
Candeo Marsh, an infamous area for PVP players to clash to their heart's extent. The area itself was dark and gloomy with the moon forever illuminating a soft blue glow. This glow was reflected all across the waterlogged fields while an assortment of spiders, alligators, and some weird carnivorous plants made their home here. This was a level 50 area so everything was much stronger than anything we had faced before. But I've come a long way from being a low level Ronin. Hell, the rest of us were doing fine too. It was about time that we tested our skills on real players so I decided to take us here. We rested in the town of Candetonn where Candeo Cafe sat. It was cleaner than any inn or bar we've been to before so it was a nice change of pace. However, the prices of the food and drinks were not so accommodating.
"I think we spent too much..." Soran sighed as he sat back in his seat. Each of us had ordered our own Grilled Fish Fillet. I would list down the ingredients if I didn't consume it all in a few bites.
"Who cares? I've never had food that tasted this good in real life!" Daize was definitely content with his purchase. "The buff this provides is awesome as well."
Being the most expensive item in the menu, this chunk of meat from the sea provides us with an extended attack and defense buff which will help us when we take on other players. All we needed to do was wait for the rest of our party to form. The remaining members were M and his friend whom he had mentioned before. Apparently, he had already started playing AKO a few days ago and managed to level up enough to join us for our PVP adventure.
"What's taking them?" I crossed my arms as I sank into my scarf.
"In hindsight, we probably should've saved these for later." Soran sadly looked at the empty plates in front of us. The buff these gave us ran on a timer of around an hour but unfortunately, the food was too delicious to be left alone.
"Argh!" A player near us suddenly slammed his fist against the wall. "That's the fourth time this week!"
Glancing at him, I noticed he had gauntlets with three large blades sticking out of them. He was obviously a Brawler.
"Dude, calm down. It's just a necklace, we can forge another one." His friend, a Duelist, put his hand on his shoulder.
"Where are we gonna get another emerald then?"
"What seems to be the problem, good sirs?" Daize and his stupid smile greeted the pair. "Surely you know that this area is a PVP area. You're bound to lose something if you're not careful."
"You don't understand!" The Brawler sighed and recollected his thoughts. "I lost a rare necklace 'cos of a cheater. The Demon took it."
"Cheater? What Demon?"
"You haven't heard about him?"
'No we haven't, just explain it.'
"Out there in the wetlands, lives a Player Killer who attacks from the shadows with his knives."
"Ooh, throwing knives! Scary!" I said in a sarcastic tone.
"The scary part is that he seems to have an unlimited supply of them." The Duelist continued. He was right in that regard; throwing knives do a lot more damage than arrows so they limited the amount one player can carry at a time. "He also hides in the trees well enough that all he needs to do is hit you with a barrage of blades until your health whittles to zero."
"Infinite throwing knives? Is that some sort of rare item?" Soran asked.
"Maybe it's just some hacker like he said." Daize suggested.
"Man, the way that guy moves, it's inhuman." The Brawler said. "Anyways, I'm done for tonight."
We exchanged goodbyes before both of them logged out, leaving us thoroughly intrigued. Just who the hell was this player?
Opening: Crossing Field by LiSA
Before we could delve any deeper into our thoughts, however, two players came into the cafe. One of them was M with his usual smug face since he was wearing his stupid hat proudly and the other was a Wizard which was basically like a Sorcerer except the magic staff they used was more damage focused than support.
"Yo!" The Wizard raised his hand to greet us. This was Orhaxum who was the closest friend of M. His bright cyan robes made him look like a priest while his hair, which was of a similar but darker color, extended down his face, covering one of his blue eyes.
"Took you long enough." I quickly navigated to the party menu to invite them.
"M's the one who delayed us." Orhaxum said.
"Sorry, I was caught up with something in real life." The guilty party explained. He probably had to eat dinner or something.
"What matters is that we can finally leave now." As they accepted the request, I scanned through the player list. For the first time, we actually had a full party of five. "Right, Orha you're on healing duty."
"Of course…" Even if he was a battle type mage, he was still the only one with a healing skill.
"Speaking of healing, where's Megumi?" Daize asked.
"She said she wanted to party up with Arryn for a bit. I don't know why though." I answered.
"Jealous?" The Archer grinned like an idiot. This type of teasing would never have happened if she didn't reveal that she was an actual girl.
"Yeah, I'm jealous she gets to be away from your ego for a little while." Closing the menu, I made my way to the door. "Come on, I don't want this buff to go to waste."
"By the way, who's she?" The Wizard pointed at our Knight who then proceeded to turn red.
Our footsteps squished in the mud as we walked carefully across the Marsh. I had put everyone in a certain formation. Daize was obviously jumping from tree to tree, awaiting a surprise attack. Soran guarded the front while M and I took to the rear. Orhaxum was placed in the middle since the healer is almost always the first target when it comes to fights. We had to be more careful than usual since PVP areas were no jokes. Die and you lose money and EXP, not to mention the items or consumables you have equipped.
"Man, why did I agree to go with you guys?" M groaned. "There's literally nothing happening. I could be fishing right-"
"Wait!" Soran held his hand up. In front of us were multiple cubes emanating a faint blue light. He curiously touched one of them. "Are these…"
The knight jumped back as a loot menu popped up. Some gold, a belt of strength, and a couple of potions… this was clearly the dead body of a player.
"Gaia cubes. In the lore of Aura Kingdom, a manifestation of an envoy's soul." Orhaxum explained. He always enjoyed reading up on games' stories more than any of us.
"There's lore?" I asked. We never really paid attention to the story that much since it was just exposition after exposition. The trees ruffled as Daize jumped down to look at the cubes.
"Hey, this guy dropped a clothing item!" He instantly put on a new pair of dark brown glasses which were slightly bigger than his default. "Wairuzu, you can have my old ones if you want."
"Oh I don't think so!" I had a personal rule stating that my avatars should never EVER have glasses.
"Hey!" Orhaxum raised his staff and slammed it onto the ground, attempting to make a loud thud but only getting a soft squish. "We should be careful. These cubes are fresh, meaning the killer or killers can't be far."
As if to emphasize his point, a stray arrow found its mark at the center of our formation. It had a weird fuse attached to the tail.
"Hey Daize, you misse-" I was immediately blown back as the bolt exploded. The others were also thrown away, save for Soran who stood his ground with his shield. Out from the blue brush came five players, one of which was the archer who shot the arrow. One of them, a guy with a Holy Sword, took his place in the front. Obviously he was the head honcho. Looking closely, they all had a blue tint to their armors which made for an excellent camouflage for this area.
"Looks like we got ourselves our prey. Taito, take care of the healer!"
Taito, who was apparently a Gunslinger, raised one of his pistols and fired a large blast at Orhaxum who was on the ground. Unfortunately for them, the Wizard was a battle class. He fought back with a bolt of lightning. The two blasts collided and cancelled each other out. Getting back up, he cast a healing circle around us which slowly regenerated our health. It wasn't as fast as Megumi but that was a given. Everyone immediately sprang into action. Soran's shield met the blade of the leader's great sword while my Tachi clashed with another guy's lance. M quickly accessed his skill menu and created a portal that burst out a couple of shadow balls every few seconds. As my sword was parried, the Lancer backed off and shot his spear straight at my chest. I weaved side-wards before he went for another jab. Seeing an opening, I spun clockwise and slashed him diagonally. Stumbling back, a green aura surrounded him. A Bard class character was strumming his harp and healing the Lancer.
"This isn't good." I heard as I jumped back beside Orhaxum. "Bards are full on support characters. Their healing is unmatched."
The Holy Sword wielder smirked as he knocked Soran back from their clash. "That's right! You have no chance of beating us!"
"I wouldn't be so confident if I were you…" Closing my eyes, I analyzed the situation. Holy Douche-bag was playing the role of the tank while the Lancer was their main attacker. Gunslinger and Archer ranged and Bard healer. Grinning, I raised my sword with both hands.
"Orha, AoE attack!"
The Wizard understood and immediately raised his staff to bring down a rain of fire at the center of the enemy team. The Area of Effect was large, Wizards were known for that. The group scattered as I immediately went for the Holy Sword user. He blocked my attack with the flat of his blade.
"Daize, trees! Soran, go for the Gunslinger!"
Nodding, our archer leaped onto the tree tops. The knight also followed up and sprinted towards the gunman who fired a couple of rounds towards him, all of which ricocheted off of his shield.
"Um…" M stood there with his scythe raised, confused as to what to do since we kind of left him behind.
"Just back me up alright?" Orhaxum aimed two more lightning bolts at the Archer and the Lancer. As suspected, they were both extremely agile. The bolts met their mark at their feet as they barely dodged the attacks.
"I got just the thing!" M held up his scythe and fired a blast that emitted blue smoke. The projectile landed right in front of the Lancer and blew up in an icy flurry. The blast applied the ice effect onto him which limited his movement.
"Right, I forgot about that!" Orhaxum charged up his staff and sent a light blue blast into the group, affecting everyone in its radius. With that, the Archer and the Lancer were effectively slowed down.
"Nice try! But that won't stop us as long as we-"
"Can we stop talking, please?!" I slashed left and right as he parried each blow. Swinging downward, I used the momentum to throw myself over his head and slash down his back. He grunted as he took damage from my attack.
"Jean, I need hea-" To his dismay, the Bard in question was trying to fend off Daize who was jumping from tree to tree, firing arrows each time.
"Sorry, but I think your healer is busy!"
"Damn you!" Raising his sword, the fight begun once more.
I struggled as my shield was riddled with bullets. I know Wairuzu assigned me to take care of the Gunslinger because I had the best defense to do so but there was no way I could get near him at this rate. Looking behind my shield, I noticed that he was glancing at the Lancer and Archer who were hit by Orhaxum and M's blasts. He immediately closed his eyes and sent a shock-wave across to them. They immediately regained their speed.
"What the hell?!" M raised his scythe and blocked the Lancer's weapon, immediately returning fire with a barrage of fireballs but ultimately missing. I started to rush towards them to help but was shot in the back. Grunting, I stood back up and glared at my opponent.
"Eyes on me, girlie!"
"I am not a girl!" I activated my dash skill and made it to him in no time. My shield knocked the Gunslinger against the bark of a tree. Chaining to another skill, I sent a flurry of slashes flying across his body. I didn't stop until his health reached zero. As his body turned into another blue cube, I turned around and activated a new skill I had gained, Defense Posture. Raising my sword, a white glow shot out to the rest of my party. This white glow granted them a large increase in defense.
"Thanks for the assist, brave knight!" I shouted as I leapt out of the tree. The Bard that had been firing music blasts at me fired one more. This time I took the hit with the help of Soran's defense buff, it took out half of my health but that was all I needed. Spinning, I fired a power shot at the enemy who tried to shield himself with his arms. The arrow knocked him back as I landed. Sprinting around, I unloaded the rest of my quiver, taking his health down to a measly amount. Before I could fire the last shot, however, a giant sword swung down in front of me, forcing me to back off.
"Get away from our Bard!"
Swinging my sword, I tried to hit the Lancer but he was too fast. I exchanged my sword with my shield as I blocked the arrows coming from the Archer. Another circle of green light formed around us as Orhaxum casted his healing spell.
"I'll slow them down again!" M charged up another ice blast.
The Archer fired a purple arrow towards him. I stood in between them to block it but as soon as it hit me, it went through me and hit M with a large blast of dark energy, closing his dark portal as well. As he stumbled back, it was clear that Orhaxum's healing circle wasn't enough. The Lancer spun his spear around and gave themselves a red glow indicating an increase in attack. He then rushed towards me and let out a flurry of stabs which started to take my health down fast, even if I had my shield out. As I was brought to my knees, another bomb arrow knocked me back and cleared the way for them to attack my friends. I struggled to get up as they ran past me...
As I rushed towards the battle, Daize was evading the large sword that was swinging at him. Luckily, the sword's attack was slow because of its size. I took this chance and aimed for the Bard who was consuming some health potions. With my Tachi in hand, I leapt up and spun around. The Bard immediately strafed to the left as my sword met the ground. After managing to pull it out, I was met with the blade of the Holy Sword. I could feel its weight as he pushed it down on me.
"Die!" The leader shouted. Unfortunately for him, I wasn't a good listener. Grinning, I pulled out my Trump card. Overtime, I had learned how to activate this skill at will. I never managed to learn how to keep it from draining me so I only used it in certain emergency situations. This was indeed one of them.
"What the hell?!" He started loosening his force on me as my body glowed a bright orange.
"Enhance!" I swiped his sword away with one motion. I then proceeded to hit him with a barrage of slashes, draining his health down to zero. As he knelt down in defeat, he uttered his last words.
"What are you…?"
I watched as his loot dropped onto the ground. Turning towards the Bard, he scampered back in fear while staring at my red eyes.
"Stop! I give up! Just let me keep my Healing Gem! Please, it was a gift from a friend!"
Raising my sword, I did not feel any pity. In fact, all I wanted to do was kill the bastard. And so I did, with a single slice. He too disappeared into a blue flash. As I stood there with my body up in flames, Daize approached me slowly.
"Dude... don't you think that was a little bit too much?"
Ignoring him, I sprinted towards the remaining two enemies. With ease, I cut them down. The Lancer attempted to swing at me once more but I caught his weapon and shredded it with a few hits, the durability must not have been much. As for the archer, I fired an energy wave that knocked him down, allowing me to stab him in the chest. Moving back to the Lancer, I held him down and pierced his abdomen as he spoke up.
"You… demon!"
The rest of my party gathered around me as I deactivated Enhance. I had to stop since my head already felt dizzy from that short fight.
"What the hell was that?" Orhaxum asked.
"Nothing, just some skill I picked up a while back." I noticed that we were missing one person. "Where's M?"
Behind them stood Soran who had a distressed look on his face. His armor was dented and his shield was thoroughly scratched.
"I… I couldn't save him. I'm sorry." He clenched his fist in anger while his face showed shame.
"Hey, hey!" Daize immediately walked up to him. "He'll just respawn. We can grab his stuff and give it back to him when we get back to Candetonn."
"I know but… if I can't protect you guys then what's my worth as a tank?"
"What do you want us to do then? Wallow in sorrow?" I sighed as I grabbed his shoulder. "You did what you could. Stop complaining, it's annoying."
Soran was always sensitive about his self-esteem. Even the smallest thing would bring him to tears. It really ticked me off whenever he put himself down like that.
"Let's just grab this loot and… Orha?" I glanced over to our Wizard who was standing suspiciously still. As he fell to the ground, we saw multiple blue knives sticking out of his back. They were see-through like a hologram. We watched in horror as he disappeared along with the knives which burst into a blue light.
"What the-" Daize nor any of us reacted fast enough. In an instant, multiple blades hit the Archer and whittled his health to zero.
"Soran stick-" I found the knight with a large blue great sword lodged into his chest. The sword itself was also see through as it disappeared, leaving a gaping hole in his chest. Soran immediately disappeared into a blue cube as well.
Holding my Tachi with both hands, I realized that he had stopped attacking. I scanned the treeline looking for the attacker but was only met with a deep and distorted voice.
"You…"
"Show yourself, you coward!" I shouted back.
"You're like me." A knife shot down in front of me. The blue flame-like Aura surrounding it like made me realize what he was talking about. The way the light covered the knife was similar to how my orange Aura covered me and my tachi whenever I activated Enhance.
"Who the hell are you?!" I got no answer. After a good minute, I came to the conclusion that he was gone. Was that really the Demon? He just killed all of my friends in a heartbeat. Just like I killed them…
'No! I'm nothing like that weakling fighting in the shadows!' That's what I told myself again and again. Unfortunately, I was too stubborn to accept the truth at that time. The truth being that there were two Demons now.
Ending: Yume Sekai by Tomatsu Haruka
Next Episode: The Grand City
