36
February 12, 2023
Floor 21, Ridge River
"So what's this idea of yours?" Israel asked Naomi as they walked along the left bank of the shallow creek. "You sounded pretty excited about it during breakfast."
"Hang on," Naomi muttered as she fiddled angrily at the shoulder straps of her new steel breastplate. "That fucking Water Sprite mob messed up the latches. Now it feels like the armor is about to fall off."
Israel scratched at his stubble, seriously pondering what she had just said. "Is there any part of that possibility that's supposed to be bad?"
"Shut up and help me with this."
Chuckling, Israel sheathed Silverthorne and walked over to her. Turning her back, Naomi pushed her thick, wavy hair out to the other shoulder. Her hair and skin smelled like flowers. "Can you see it?"
Furrowing his brow as he eyed the intermingled straps, Israel began trying to pull the most tangled ones apart. He had had no idea just many straps and latches were required with plate armor.
"What did the Water Sprite hit you with, a tank?"
"You're one to talk. I recall you getting knocked to the ground."
"The dude targeted me while my back was turned," Israel protested. Removing one of his fingers when he thought he had finally made some progress, Israel sighed when nothing changed. "Well, that was a fail. Time for plan B I guess. Take off all your clothes."
"Wait, wait." Naomi waved a hand while keeping her body rigid. "Whatever you just did, it's working. Don't move."
Freezing in the middle of trying to get his hand out of the latches, Israel blinked. "Ok...now what?"
"Tighten the strap wrapped around your index finger. Don't go too far…" There was a moment of intense silence as she waited, and then, "Perfect, right there...keep your finger there."
Israel suppressed a laugh.
Naomi swatted at him with her hand. "You're a child."
"I think that's more of an insult towards you than me, considering."
Shaking her head ever so slightly as she chuckled, Naomi stopped when he yanked the last strap back. "Good. Ok, we're good to go."
Releasing hold of the armor, Israel suppressed the urge to kiss her exposed neck. Not because it would've been inappropriate, but because he wanted to do it tenderly. With feeling.
What the hell is wrong with me.
"Right," He began again as they continued along the bank. "This idea you brought up?"
"Well to start," Naomi said as she carefully avoided stepping on some dandelions on the ground. "It wasn't technically my idea. It was Evie and Kat's."
Israel raised a hand to his forehead to ward off the sun as he peered out ahead. The gentle rolling hills continued for what seemed like an eternity in front of them, dotted every now and then by various mobs, but not far ahead the river forked to the left where it became a short but deep stream that flowed down into a small gully. Just beyond the fork, Israel could see the bridge that led across the river to the village of Neza. Though they couldn't see it past the hills, Israel knew the safe zone wasn't far.
"Evie got the idea first when I was hanging out with her the other day. She told me she wanted to join us in doing the patrols."
Israel glanced over at her in surprise. "She and Kat have both been helping in giving us their map info for some time now."
Naomi nodded. "Yeah, but she wants to do more than that. So this morning she messaged me and said that Kat and Will were both down. They want us all to form a guild, and I think it's a good idea."
Israel laughed. "Seriously? Why?
Naomi shrugged. "Symbolism? It would be a morale booster for the player base to know about a guild made specifically to save people. Who knows, it might even get us volunteers to help take on different patrols."
"You and I have been doing just fine with patrols since Floor Three." Israel replied. "We don't really need help."
Naomi lifted an eyebrow at him. "You're not thinking straight. You imagine the Assault Team and the Holy Dragon Alliance when you hear the word guild. Think of the people who died in areas we hadn't patrolled yet on a given day, or had just finished patrolling, ever since we started this. We could definitely use the help."
Israel was quiet for a moment as he thought it over. She was right, his distaste for the idea of guilds was because of Lind and Kibaou, not the concept itself. And with even just Evie, Kat, and Will helping with patrols and organizing research...it would only aid them in the long run.
Glancing back at Naomi, he nodded amenably. "So what did you tell them?"
"To wait until after I convinced you."
He grinned at her. "You know me too well. Still, we should all meet up before we go making decisions that big. We can show them all the work that goes into what we do, and then they can decide."
Naomi flashed her special smile at him for just a moment before returning to her message screen. "I agree. They aren't doing anything big today, so I told them to meet us at Neza. It's pretty close and we're heading there anyway."
Israel's eyes widened. "Right now? Someone's in a hurry."
Naomi shrugged. "I think this could be the start of something really good. Why delay it? Besides, those three are awesome. I've been wanting you to hang out with them more."
Israel rolled his eyes. "Why, so I can watch Will judge me in silence like the living friendzone that he is?"
Suppressing a laugh, Naomi was about to reply when they were forced to pause on the fork in the river blocking their path.
"It's not very wide," Israel offered as he gazed into the water. "But I for one would rather not get my clothes soaked."
"Same." Naomi glanced around, and then pointed down the slope where the stream formed into a small lake. Around the lakeside however, ran a dirt track that led back up and passed the river bend. Following the path, Israel and Naomi saw it connect to the wooden bridge just beyond the stream.
"Looks like we have our way around." Israel said. "Watch your step on the way down though. The slope looks pretty steep."
"Fair warning in advance," Naomi said as she walked past him and began trudging down into the gully, "I will laugh at you if you fall into the lake."
Israel followed behind her, both of them keeping their eyes to the ground as they descended the small but relatively steep slope. "I won't laugh at you. I'll be too busy watching your nipples harden underneath that form fitting armor."
Naomi smirked up at him. "Who are you talking to? Your nipples are bigger than mine."
"For the last time," Israel growled as they both reached the lakeside, "Guys have bigger areolas when they work their chest muscles out all the-"
All at once, the surface of the lake exploded, sending a massive jet of water up into the sky above the small lake. Before the water had time to properly break apart in the sky above them, a large beast crashed up onto the lakeside just in front of Israel and Naomi.
Covered in water, mud, and barnacles, the creature looked like a statue of a horror monster buried for a hundred years in the ocean. Half a head taller than both of them, the monster had to crane its neck to examine them, It's two massive arms snapping away from it's sides.
Their weapons already in hand, Israel and Naomi braced for combat.
"Is this some kind of water mob?" Israel asked uncertainly.
As if angry at the question, the beast roared vehemently. Two huge, leathery wings spread apart on either side of it's back, and in one arm appeared a large two handed sword. And then it's entire body, from the wings to the sword in it's hand, burst into flame. A name appeared above the beast's horned head, followed by three health bars.
Abidox the Infernal
Israel's jaw dropped as he realized what was in front of them.
"It's a Field Boss!" Naomi shouted, already pivoting on her right foot and yanking him back with her. "Run!"
Turning on his heels, Israel sprinted beside Naomi as they raced back up the slope. If they got out of the gully, it stood to reason the Field Boss might not follow them as that marked the end of the lakeside area.
Before they could reach the top, however, the fiery monster slammed down into the ground ahead of them with wings still outstretched, cutting off their escape.
Stopping dead in their tracks, Israel and Naomi stumbled backwards as the creature's flaming sword came slicing through the air towards them, just missing Naomi and singeing Israel's scale mail armor.
Naomi dashed to the right, and it was obvious she planned on trying to crest the slope at a different angle, but Israel grabbed hold of her shoulder.
"It can fly faster than we can run!" He yelled, his eyes fixed on the Field Boss, "If you try to escape, he'll come down on us again and we might not get back in time."
Naomi's glance shifted from his frightened but determined eyes to the Boss stepping towards them, it's flaming sword arced back for another swing.
"We can't fight a Boss!" She shouted at him before pulling out of his grip and yanking him along with her. "We have to get out of here!"
Knowing that pulling against her would only halt them both, Israel cursed under his breath as they again sprinted up the slope. Once more, the beast had but to flap its wings before crashing down right in front of them, This time slashing out at them with a flaming tail that Israel hadn't even seen up until that point.
Before either of them could react, the tail crashed into them, sending them both tumbling down the slope and back to the edge of the lake.
Jumping to his feet, Israel bent down to help Naomi only to discover she had broken her fall and was already back on her feet as well, axe and shield held high in front of her.
"We can't beat him to the edge," Israel repeated breathlessly, his eye on the Field Boss. "We have to fight."
"So it would seem," She replied cautiously, "But not both of us."
Glancing over at her, Israel nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. I can distract him while you-"
"I'm not leaving you here."
"Right back at you."
Taking in a deep breath as she readied her axe, Naomi nodded at him. "Together then. Field Bosses aren't anywhere near as strong as the Floor Bosses are, but it still took five Assault Team members to kill the last one on Floor Twenty."
Opening its wings, Abidox propelled itself into the air towards them.
"It's using a heavy two handed sword, so our attack speed should be relatively higher," Israel noted. "As long as we keep changing positions, we should be able to avoid losing too much health."
"Easier said than done."
And then the Boss was on them.
Dodging out of the way on either side as the monster crashed down, Naomi and Israel wasted no time and charged forward, their weapons a blur as they launched a merciless assault. Slashing open the monster's right shoulder with Silverthorne, Israel reversed the blade's path and laid open another, deeper cut down it's thickly muscled side. He then followed up with a sword skill Martial Arts move, punching down onto the wound with all the might of his ice coated arm.
Howling from the pain, Abidox was about to retaliate when Naomi's axe buried itself into the fire demon's left arm. Letting out a vicious yell, Naomi forced the axe out, ripping out a large chunk of the Boss's skin and muscle along with it. Stepping forward, her shield took on a golden hue as she activated a shield bash sword skill, ramming the buckler against the monster's side. Pushed off balance, Abidox twisted around to strike at her, but Israel would have none of it.
Leaping up into the air with his Acrobatics skill, Israel held onto Silverthorne with both hands and lurched forward, the tip of his blade aimed at the back of the monster's neck. But before he could reach his target, the demon's tail slammed into him.
Feeling the flames burn into his armor as the tail bore him to the ground, it was all Israel could do not to scream in pain as he struggled to squeeze out of the mass of muscle and flame covered skin. Hitting the ground hard, Israel felt the wind get knocked out of him, and it took all his willpower to keep his eyes in focus.
With a grunt, Israel forced himself into a hard roll to the right, tearing away from the tail and stumbling back to his feet, albeit a little off balance.
Looking up, Israel saw Naomi dodge an overhead blow from Abidox's flaming sword and arc her axe into a backhanded swing, hacking off the Boss' left hand. In a rage, Abidox again swung his greatsword, this time with far greater speed and supported by a swing of his massive tail.
Lifting her shield, Naomi braced herself. A massive boom echoed out over the lake from the impact, and Naomi was thrown violently to the side some feet away from Israel.
Darting over to her, Israel helped her to her shaking feet.
"He's coming back." Naomi said breathlessly.
"Get ready to defend," Israel replied with a pant. "Once we've cleared an opening, go for the tail."
Nodding, Naomi took on a grim expression as Abidox closed the distance.
The lake shuddered with each blow as the Field Boss let loose it's full fury on the two players. Standing side by side now, Israel and Naomi had to use all of their combined skill to ward off the assault. Deflecting some blows, dodging others, and at times even lifting their weapons for a combined block against the heaviest attacks, both of them nonetheless began to rapidly accumulate burns, cuts, and bruises all over.
Checking on their health as the battle raged, Israel struggled to reign in his rising panic as he saw both his and Naomi's health hit the halfway mark and continue to dip. The Field Boss itself still possessed two bars out of it's three.
Finally seeing an opening after a particularly ferocious tail swipe had been side stepped, Israel nodded over to Naomi. "Now!" He screamed.
Charging forward as one, Naomi and Israel ducked the flaming greatsword as Abidox tried to stop them, and flew towards the tail. Raising Silverthorne, Israel hacked down at the tail with all his might, creating a tremendously deep cut into the base of the whiplike coil of flesh.
Following his lead, Naomi brought her axe down with everything she had, even throwing her own body weight into it when Abidox tried swiping her away with his stump of an arm. The resulting blow left her temporarily helpless on the ground, but it paid off. With a screech, Abidox swiveled its head around in time to see its tail shatter into a thousand pixelated shards.
"Naomi!" Israel screamed.
Turning onto her back while keeping her shield held above her, Naomi tried to rise but was too late. Bearing down on her with all it's might, Abidox prepared its sword for a killing blow.
Throwing himself forward, Israel activated his Martial Art sword skill and threw his forearm up into the flaming sword's path. Stumbling backward as it's sword shuddered and recoiled backwards, Abidox quickly recovered and again sped forward, slashing outward with reckless abandon.
Israel readied Silverthorne at an angle to deflect the blow rather than block it, but at the last moment, Naomi reached him, both her arms pressed against the back of the shield as the sword collided into her. With a cry of pain, Naomi flung her arms out as she toppled backward, her legendary shield shattering into pieces.
Seizing the opportunity she had given him, Israel slashed Silverthorne at a downward angle, laying open the right side of the monster's face and severely damaging it's right eye. From there, Israel roared with fury as his fist smashed into the Boss' face. There was a loud crack, and Israel could feel bone give way to his knuckles. At the same time however, his heard something pop in his wrist, followed by excruciating pain.
…
Gulping in air as best she could, Naomi struggled to get to her knees as the world vibrated around her. Her health was now in deep red, and she was still unable to fully comprehend her shield breaking after using it for nearly every battle in the past few months of never ending combat, but Naomi instantly forget it had even existed when she heard a loud and all too human pop as a result of Israel's punch.
Rising to her feet, Naomi saw the monster's jaw hanging broken and partially torn out of its face in the aftermath of Israel's punch. Next she saw Israel on his knees but a few feet away, crying out in pain as he cradled his right hand. Hatred dancing in it's eyes, Abidox stepped forward, preparing its sword for another blow. Israel seemed scarcely to notice.
"No!" Naomi screamed.
Distracted by her cry, Abidox turned to face her. Lifting it's one good arm to prepare another blow, the Boss was interrupted by Israel weakly seizing hold of its wrist.
Shrugging Israel off without much effort, Abidox brought his sword up in an uppercut slash, ripping open Israel's armor and flesh as though it were paper. Cut nearly from his thigh to his neck, Israel crumpled into the dirt like a rag doll. His health, already in the red, plummeted at a fatal pace.
In an instant, the entire world dissolved around Naomi as she cried out in horror, tears streaming from her face. She had no idea why she was crying so profusely, why if felt like her heart had just been ripped from her chest and forced down her throat. She had never in her whole life imagined feeling so broken, so hopeless, as she did in that moment, helpless to Israel's health about to hit zero.
Why should she even go on? There seemed no reason. Her universe shattered a thousand times a second as she replayed the fatal blow a thousand times in her head, unable to blink it away, unable to save him.
She tried to stand, but her body still shook from the blow she had received, and her mind was in an even worse state. So instead she started crawling towards him. Completely ignoring the Field Boss, she inched towards Israel. Maybe if she got to him in time, if she could just touch him. Maybe time would reverse itself. He was laying on his side, his back facing her, so she couldn't even see his face.
Her eyes never left his health bar as it continued to drain, its parameters beginning to beep as his health hit the five percent mark.
Three percent.
Two percent.
One percent.
And then it stopped dropping.
Remembering to breathe, Naomi gasped in air after what felt like an eternity of drowning. The only explanation was that Israel had managed to open his menu and get to a health crystal or potion while his HP was still dropping. Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks when she saw Israel stir, an empty health potion deteriorating in his hand, rolling onto his back only to see the Field Boss stepping forward before Naomi could get to him.
"No." She breathed, unable to even find enough voice to yell. "Take me. Look at me. Kill me."
Ignoring her quiet pleas, the Field Boss closed the distance to Israel's helpless body.
Then two figures leapt down into the gully beside Israel, Their swords crossed over his body in defence.
"Heal!" Came a familiar voice right next to her.
Startled, Naomi looked up to see Evie's face beside her, a health crystal in her hand.
Her health returning to the red and yellow border, Naomi again struggled to her feet.
"Wait," Cautioned Evie. "One more. Heal!"
Another crystal shattered above her, and then Naomi's health was safely in the yellow. Closing her menu, Evie helped her to her feet. Still intent on reaching Israel, Naomi finally realized that the two players defending him were Kat and Will. Blocking a blow from the Field Boss with their combined defense, Kat unleashed a shield bash sword skill, knocking Abidox back several feet while Will quickly used three crystals on Israel.
"Get out of the gully," Evie ordered, "We'll hold him off."
Naomi shook her head as they sidestepped the staggering Boss and made it to the rest of the players. "You can't beat it alone."
"She's right." Israel said, his voice colored with obvious pain as he flexed his wrist. "We finish it together."
"Fine." Will answered, his Katana at the ready as he eyed the monster. "But let me and Kat take tank positions. The rest of of you go DPS and switch when we say. It's down to less than a health bar, so it should only take one well timed assault from all of us. "
"Agreed." Evie replied with a nod before turning to Naomi. "You're going to need this back."
Glancing down, Naomi saw her axe in Evie's hand. Seizing hold of it, she fell in beside Israel, wiping away tears in embarrassment when he looked over at her.
"Naomi…" He faltered, clearly unsure what to say. He must have seen her face when she thought he was going to die. He must have seen how empty she had felt.
"It hurt when he broke my shield, ok?" She lied. "You were crying too when you hurt your wrist."
She saw his by his expression that he believed her.
"Kat, with me!" Will cried, and the two of them closed ranks.
After blocking several attacks from the Boss, and Will even countering once or twice, they waited to call for a switch until Abidox's last attack was broken.
"Now!" Kat cried as she and Will deflected a particularly heavy blow, glancing the flaming sword aside. "Switch!"
Evie leaped forward, her knives a blur as she slashed and stabbed the demon's chest. Israel and Naomi were both still in pain and winded so they couldn't match Evie's charge in speed. Nonetheless, they inflicted numerous cuts on the monster's face and chest, vengeance for the pain he had caused.
Leaping into the fray, Will and Kat unleashed their own assaults, and within seconds, the last bar of health was gone.
Crying out one last time, Abidox the Infernal dropped his sword and shattered into a million pieces.
They had won.
Dropping to the ground to rest, Israel and Naomi sat back to back, each leaning on the other.
"How did you know we were in trouble?" Naomi asked.
"We didn't at first." Evie replied. "We waited in Neza for about ten minutes, but every time I checked your position on the map, it hadn't changed, so we started getting worried and ran here as fast as we could."
"I'm just glad we got here in time." Kat said quietly. "What the hell kind of a place is this for a Field Boss spawn?"
"Field Bosses can emerge anywhere," Will answered. "In the Beta there was one almost right outside the gate of one of the main cities on Floor Six."
Turning his head to the right, close to her hear, Israel whispered, "I'm glad you're alright. I guess he hurt you even worse than me, making you cry like that. Still, I'm making fun of you forever. That's just a given."
"I know, I know." Naomi smiled, still hardly able to suppress her joy that he hadn't died.
And then she realized just how happy she was that he was ok. It seemed like her heart, her mind, the world, and the universe had all automatically repaired themselves as soon she knew Israel was safe.
Oh for fucks sake. I'm in love with him.