Arhen
There was a certain familiarity that came with trudging inside the forest in the blackness of night. Now that I wasn't being chased by Beowolves the whole way, I could now take the time to appreciate the serenity of the forest in evening glow.
Although the context of it isn't much better. Grimm slaying is still involved in this little outing, but I still appreciated the sights before me.
The general kept contact through an ear piece as we trudged the forest. Slayer walked ahead, not even taking the moment to look to the side even once. It was as though she knew exactly where she was going, but still scanning the area.
I looked away from the snow and locked eyes with her. She was looking back at me while standing still. The message was clear, we're getting close.
We walked right into a clearing, like a hole made into the forest itself. There were small hills and valleys of snow and birch trees that stood alone along the distance of the frozen valley.
The silence prodded me to contact the Manor, but I watched as Slayer rose her hand to her earpiece and turn it off. I rose an eyebrow, confused until she fully turned and looked me in the eye.
Before I could speak, I saw the familiar gleam in her red eyes. The same shine they had the previous night on the courtyard. Her lips angled upwards, in what seemed like a mild smirk. Perhaps she sensed my confusion, because she motioned towards the clearing and the wide expanse of it.
That's right, once again. The two of us were alone. She wanted to continue where we left off the other night.
It was a bad idea. We were in the middle of a operation. However, the longer I stared, the more of that night I remembered, and the more frantically my heart raced.
Was it the same for her? Was that the reason she looked excited? Maybe it was the thrill, the beating of hearts amidst the clashes of blades. Even as I recall now, my mind was struggling to deny the appeal.
Hours had passed since I've killed Faceman and the other slaves. I was unbothered by the slaves, they were useless, nameless creatures to me. But for some reason, losing Faceman made me angry. Not because of the act of losing him, but losing him in such a stupid manner.
It hurts when you lose a good tool. A tool you've grown used to making use of. It's like finding out your favorite mug was broken. It was a stupid reason to get upset about, and yet, clearly I was if I'm still thinking about him.
Slayer's unspoken offer was a chance to blow of some steam. Maybe for us both, maybe she was thinking about a lot of things as well.
For a while, the only thing we did was stare at each other and listen to the howling of the cold wind. Then, I heard a growl. And it seems like Slayer was the first to notice.
The shine in her eyes vanished, as she stared into the silhouetted trees. Twigs snapped alongside dry and frozen leaves. There, the Grimm appeared. Beowolves and Ursa alike.
Slayer tapped my shoulder with her gloved hand and tossed a slim straight sword in my hand. "Later." She said.
She was probably referring to what we were about to do if the Grimm didn't show. Her tone depicted how annoyed she was, but resigned. This wasn't the way I had imagined to blow off steam but it was welcomed regardless.
The Grimm quickly surrounded us, but Slayer and I didn't feel threatened in the slightest. I could feel it in the air, something was watching us.
Layers of Frost began to cover my remaining hand. There was no need to hide my capability from her, she's already caught me using Ice Seed the first time, and I doubt she would have the care to tell.
"When the leader shows, make way back to the Manor." Slayer said. "I'll only need about 30 minutes."
"Alright." I said.
I heard a soft, melodious chuckle in my ears. It almost sounded like a giggle or a laugh that one forgot to hide. She didn't say anything else, only smiled as she vanished into the air and cut down the nearest Grimm in her way.
The Grimm roared and began a beastly charge. I managed to shoot a good number of them down with Ice Seed and even managed to freeze some Ursa in place.
Proficiency Level in Skill [Ice Seed] has been increased.
It was far easier to deal with them now than the ambush from earlier and the assault from the mine. They were slow, slower than before. And that made them easy to cleave through with the sword.
4,709 Exp
4,709 Exp
I found it oddly pleasant that I didn't have much work to do, nor did I have to watch my back with Slayer making quick work of the Grimm.
But the fight only lasted a few minutes before all the Grimm looked overhead in the direction of the Manor, and one by one they took off running.
Weiss must've started her distraction.
The sky-splitting roar that sounded through the forest was my indication of needing to leave.
Slayer looked back at me. "Remember, 30 minutes."
Weiss
It was hard to see, and the cloudy sky wasn't making it any better. It was going to rain soon, and that was going to make fighting the horde a little more difficult than first assumed.
She was beginning to use her aura now, which had meant that the Grimm were coming because of Arhen's provocation. The droids behind her stood still and apathetic, whilst the overseers tried to do the same, and yet trembled in failure.
For a moment, Weiss closed her eyes. She thought of Arhen, the warmth of his touch and soothing of his words. He was out there, fighting as bound as he is.
As the Grimm horde approached, Weiss unsheathed her rapier and revolver. She wouldn't let him fight for long.
Jaina
"Slayer, the horde has arrived. I'm sure you have no problems on your end?"
It was a lot harder than it looked in movies to be shooting and talking through an ear piece at the same time. The multitasking made it hard to aim at the Grimm lunging at her but she had managed for now, and still remained without a single scratch on her.
"I'm fine. I'm wrapping up soon." Slayer relayed.
"What do you mean?"
"It's a Titan. Although one of the weaker ones. I'll finish it off in a few minutes so I can head back to the manor." Slayer said. The connection of the earpiece broke, and for a few seconds there was nothing but static and constant ringing.
Jaina just shook her head at the faulty hardware, and continued to shoot at the Grimm coming their way. The Shadow Company was holding strong against them, without a single one being hard. And even though they have been disconnected, Jaina had absolute confidence that their leader could handle herself.
After all, killing Titans is her specialty.
Slayer
She heard a roar, and then a growl. And in a few minutes, something crashed onto the ground hard enough to shake the stone in the snow.
The Grimm was vastly different from it's counterparts that besieged the Manor, not just in it's sheer size, but it's coat of elegant white and icy blue eyes.
Slayer knew of this beast. This Grimm's territory was near this very forest in Solitas.
The 10th Titan. Shiva.
It made sense how Shiva had the mind not to attack her and Jaina itself when it first saw them. Slayer knew that she was made for sole purpose of killing beings like Shiva.
Even now, Slayer was perturbed by how cautious Shiva was circling around her. Maybe the Titan could smell the blood of it's other kin on her. It would make sense, she remembered killing no 6 before.
She watched Shiva's every move, she needed to be careful, this was still very much a Titan. If she gets hurt, she'll cause a lot of trouble for Jaina. And perhaps she feared breaking her arm in this fight, if it did, she wouldn't be able to draw.
The moment her thoughts had cleared, Shiva lunged at Slayer. Brandishing it's big, sharp claws made of ice that looked similar to razors. She brought a sword to it's paw and blocked it's lunge before it got too close to her.
The ridges of it's ice claws locked against the simple sword Slayer held against it. Shiva's added weight had caused it's claws to start sliding down with added pressure. It proved a bit challenging to push back, but Slayer held the lock there and eyed the sword carefully.
"No sparks." She muttered. That's right, when she and the servant clashed, there were always sparks made. For some reason, seeing the little embers had always culled the questions she had in her mind.
They had reminded her of something that she had tried to remember, but to no avail. Each time she heard the ringing of blades, smelled and beheld the sight of sparks and burning iron, something came to her. And it time, it faded.
Slayer wasn't supposed to think, but she had wondered if the servant thinks of that as well. She always feels something when she's around him, and Slayer could imagine how her face must've looked like to him that night. Was it monotone? Apathetic and unfeeling? If the servant told her that when she asked, then it must be the truth.
But that'll lead to more questions, questions she didn't have the answer to, questions she wasn't supposed to have.
Questions…why did she have questions?
"Why…?"
The roar of Shiva had brought her back to action. Narrowly avoiding the sharp icicles that sprung all around the ground from the Grimm.
"Slayer."
Slayer held her hand to her earpiece. "Jaina." She responded. "What about the Manor?"
"We're holding down fine on the East Wing, not sure about the West but Arhen must have made it there." The static cut through for a moment just as Slayer dodged a claw swipe from Shiva and pushed it back with her blade. "How goes things on your end?"
Slayer looked back at Shiva. "I'm wrapping up here. Et. 10 minutes."
"Alright, we'll hold out for a little more. Good luck Slayer."
Shiva growled as it tried to add more pressure in the struggle. Slayer looked at the Grimm with blank eyes, summoned a pistol in her gloved hand and unloaded on Shiva's body.
It leaped back before any of the bullets could graze it's white fur, and as it stared at the Titan Slayer, one could see that she had done away with the sword. Now she beheld a set of dual pistols, wooden garnished and ornate.
She aimed one at the Grimm, and for the first time. Slayer dropped the blank face that everyone grew used to seeing. Instead of her monotone gaze, her eyes conveyed hostility.
The once mesmerizing crimson shine of her eyes bore down on the Grimm like a reapers gaze. The gaze of absolute death.
"Stop making me work so hard."
Shiva roared in challenge and in rage as the Titan unleashed a maddening volley of icicles rapidly raising from the ground. Slayer jumped in the air, and watched as the icicles passed by just as the Grimm conjured a strong blizzard to push the Titan Slayer away.
The ice storm raged on without falter, and the closer she got to Shiva, the more ice piled on her clothes, gloves and sleeves. Slayer placed a loose bullet in her mouth and started firing at the Grimm.
Shiva dashed to the side to avoid the bullets coming it's way. Right as Slayer landed on the ground, she vanished into thin air and harshly kicked Shiva into the distant trees.
The Titan seemingly leapt while in midair and landed back on all fours while Slayer kept firing at Shiva's body, which only seemed to ricochet her bullets to the ground.
Slayer noticed that the bullets didn't bounce away as often as it would if it were armor on any other Grimm. It must be ice. She could see traces of it peeking out of the Titans arms, legs and even parts of it's fur.
She narrowed her eyes and took the bullet from her mouth, then Slayer loaded the bullet and fired upon the Titan. Instead of bouncing off the solid ice, the round imploded on Shiva's front legs, causing the ice guarding its shoulder to shatter.
Shiva erupted into a bestial roar of pain, and another in rage before the ice storm surrounding it drastically increased in ferocity. Continuously ramping up until the Titan roared once again, and a sudden force froze over the entire area and covered the snow with either spiralling ice spikes or shards.
A thick layer of ice coated Slayer's body, freezing her solid in a block of ice. Shiva then dashed and swiped at the ice block, shattering it to pieces.
The Titan loomed over the broken ice block, as if knowing that the Titan Slayer was dead. But was confused when it checked the contents of the ice and found no one there. Frantically, it moved it's head left to right, scanning the forest for where the Titan Slayer could've gone.
Shiva locked eyes with her at the very edge of the clearing, staring the Grimm down while holding the blade edge of a sword in her mouth. And looking completely unharmed. Barely a stain or a drop of blood on her maroon uniform.
Enraged, Shiva lunged forward and leaped into the air with it's paws ready to claw into the ground. Slayer braced her legs and leapt away from the Grimm, vanishing into the wind while leaving an afterimage behind.
Shiva's claw crashed onto the ground hard enough to shake the earth and split it asunder. Spires upon pikes of icicles big and small began to erupt from the frozen ground, tearing the snow out of the way.
The implosion rampaged without rest, chunks of earth vanishing into cold sheets of snow and fragile shards that gleamed amidst the moonlight like swords stuck to a frozen graveyard. Each time Shiva slammed against the ground, more of these fragile, blade-like ice shards would erupt from the ground.
The Titan was greeted with a bullet that struck against its side, and exploded into a ball of flame. The roar of pain was deafening, almost like the sound and smell of its fur burning to cinders. It spotted Slayer through the single standing trees on the clearing, both her pistols aimed into relentless fire.
Despite the pain, the burning of its side. Shiva ran as fast as it could to get away from the gunfire. It's heart beat faster than it ever had, This thing was about to kill him. There was no mistaking the look she had in her eyes, that bore down on him like death assured.
Even as Shiva dashed towards the side, Slayer took off running right alongside it and followed, without ceasing the rain of her bullets upon it. Most of the rounds blasted the trees into nothing, and some were felled. By the second, there was less and less of the clearing preventing her from reaching it.
Soon she cut right through the trees and ran straight to the Titan, out of sheer instinct, Shiva lashed out with its claws to defend and ended up clashing with the steel in Slayer's hand. When did she manage to remove the blade from her mouth? The mind of the Grimm didn't once remember the Titan Slayer giving any sort of mild reprieve in her attacks.
She was holding out against the struggle far easier than she did the first time. And effortlessly as well.
Slayer stepped forward, and suddenly, Shiva was blasted away with a sudden surge of power and unrelenting force. The impact forced it far back into the clearing.
When it tried to get back on its feet, the Titan suddenly lost its balance. And moreover, it was starting to get weaker. It was then Shiva had noticed a trail of blood, starting with a few droplets and going into a stream that led to a pool of it which had stained the white snow.
Where it's front arm suddenly was.
Shiva was bewildered, looking upon it's arm on the ground and his own stump. The more it looked the painful it seemed to be. But the Titan didn't have the time to contemplate the loss. Slayer charged at Shiva with such force that it left miniature implosions on the snow.
She glided on the snow as if she was flying, drawing back her sword and with a strong swipe against the earth, her sword split it apart with an immense force that carved out the snow and ground.
Shiva hurriedly formed a makeshift arm of ice and dashed away from the great slash. Slayer leapt in the air with her sword fully drawn back.
As she fell, Slayer slammed her blade down with a harsh bang that blew away the icicles from the ground and leveled the entire clearing. Large cracks and debris scattered all across what remained, while the desecrated land had layed covered in dust and smoke.
Shiva stood just outside of Slayer's destructive range. Watching her outline trail her figure in the smoke. She stood still, her sharp blade strikingly gleaming amidst the obscure gleam of the night sky.
Not even the opaque smoke could steal the menacing gleam in the Titan Slayer's eyes. She was far from done, far from being tired.
Slayer had never been touched. And the monster in human flesh had barely broken a sweat.
Arhen
Your Level has increased!
4,709 Exp
4,709 Exp
Proficiency Level in Skill [Ice Seed] has been increased.
Weiss and the general were doing a good job of taking care of the Grimm leading the siege.
There were barely any Grimm that opted away from the group that charged at the mansion. Leaving me with very few to take care of sans the ones that actually noticed me.
Going by what happened next, I wished that I paid more attention to what was taking care of rather than saying. Because all of a sudden, I found myself flying through the forest and landing on the snow.
-7,569 HP
The blow hit almost harder than the time that the caravan crashed into a tree. Safe to say that while it may have not killed me, it definitely left a mark.
It was only by the beastial roar and heavy foot stomps as the assailant charged at me did I know what it was that hit me.
One of those Ursa again.
That thing dies today.
It's claw swipes carried enough force to tear through some of the bark in the trees and leave deep gashes behind. Unlike the Beowolves, the Ursa must value strength instead of speed.
I opted to dodge out of the way when it came my way. Avoiding the smash of it's thick palm and the swiping of the claws it bared at me. I fired two Ice Seeds that burst into sharp icicles on the ground and on it's hand.
As it roared, I quickly shut it up with a harsh kick up it's chin. I could hear and feel the cracking of it's jaw as my kick blew it back.
It didn't take long before I was on it, jamming my sword right through it's throat and dragging the blade down. It required a surprising amount of strength on my part, but I ripped through quite easily.
6,371 Exp
Your Level has increased.
Proficiency Level in Class [Spellweaver] has increased.
Thankfully there weren't any more of those Ursa nearby where I could see. But I did spot a couple of Grimm moving away from the pack in the East Wing.
Taking a few minutes to rest and recover, I made way East towards the entrance of the Manor.
Slayer
30 minutes was over. And Slayer started a slow walk through the forest. She was following the blood trails, that grew from small drops spilled in a syncopated pattern, and now, large patches of red that dragged in a bloody line on the snow.
Hemorrhage. It's lost a lot of blood. And was getting slower the more often it crawled away from Slayer's howling footsteps.
Before her lay Shiva. The 10th Titan to exist on Remnant. Armless, with it's whole body riddled with deep gashes, burns and numerous protruding blades. And despite it's fading strength whilst bearing the throes of death, it still found the strength to crawl away from her.
Meter my meter. And inch by desperate inch.
Slayer would've opted to finish off the Titan and make way to the Manor, but her interest was piqued by how the Grimm tried desperately to crawl away from her. She had wondered if it was terrified of her, or maybe it was trying to preserve what remained of it's old pride.
Either way, it was dragging itself down a path that Slayer wasn't familiar with. There were some bodies along this road that weren't discovered by a Jaina and herself. Along with a destroyed cart and a pair of mechanical horses laying still against the trees, covered by snow.
Further by, she came across a large hole in the ground. The distance it spanned made it seem like something big was built here. Something like a quarry. Maybe it was exactly that, and now, this is what remained of it. Slayer could question as to what was capable of destroying it. It certainly wasn't a Titan. Shiva had done a lot more damage during their fight than this.
Slayer took a few steps towards the hole. And then suddenly a piercing pain shot through her head and squeezed it like a vice. She could compare it to a headache, the worst one she's ever had. There was not tangible thing hurting her, nor was there any sounds nearby. And yet her mind felt as though it was ripping apartment, and the ringing behind her ears made her deaf.
"̨͘.͟.͡.D̨i̶̸͟sap̢͟p͡e͏̵̵a̷̕͢r̵͜͡.̴"̸̷͠
The pain was consistent, and throbbing with more powerful surges every time. Slayer cried in pain as her knees began to give out onto the snow. Her vision was turning a bit blurry, but she could see the flashing light of her communicator.
What was this? What is this pain? Did she take things too far with Shiva? Or did this pain come from something else?
Slayer wanted the pain to stop. Her eyes, blurry as they were fell upon the earpiece in the snow. Jaina was calling. She needed Jaina, she could make the pain stop.
The moment she reached for the communicator, all the pain and ringing suddenly vanished. And was replaced it was the shrill sound of a bestial roar sounding from the darkness of the pit.
The shadows crept forward, seemingly latching onto the snow and slowly forming into razor sharp claws. The presence grew, until it towered over the clearing and covered the moonlight with it's body. A beast formed from shadows. It's right-arm, gigantic, and punctured crudely with wide rusted beams of metal. It's spine grew into a long tail made of bone and shadow, and it's pale, white eyes gleamed past the forest.
It's roar sounded more like a scream from where Slayer was kneeling. But the beast didn't even gaze at her, as it beelined straight through the trees in heavy stomps that shook the ground.
"Slayer? Slayer, are you alright?!"
Slayer slowly lifted herself to her feet, picked up the earpiece and latched it back onto her ear. "I'm fine Jaina." She didn't feel so. The residual pain was still there, held back by holding a fistful of snow her forehead. It cooled down, stopping the painful throbbing, but she was going to see Jaina when this was over.
"Something's making way to the manor, something big."
"What do you mean? I thought you had taken care of the Titan?"
Slayer looked towards the hole that the beast crawled out of. "It's something different Jaina. It's a Grue."
"Are you serious?" The static broke a bit. "Didn't we already clear the area though?"
Apparently not deep enough. "I came across where it was hiding by chance. It feel like what remains of a Quarry. It crawled out of the hole made by it, so I can assume that the Grue is what destroyed it."
"One of the dust mines I fear." Jaina paused. "You can tell me the rest later, you can make your way back to the Manor before that Grue gets here. I don't know much about the other wings, but we're just mopping up over here."
"Affirmative."
Slayer sighed, and let go of the snow in her hand. It couldn't be helped. She was going to have to deal with the headache all the way up to the manor.
She felt something in the air shift, and as she turned back, she came across Shiva's ice claw diving straight towards her head. It swipe lacked the power portrayed from it's earlier fervor. It's speed was lacking as well.
It was clear to her what this was. Shiva's last desperate attempt at living. It's attempt to preserve it's pride as a Titan and harm it's assailant. Slayer thought it pitiful, but still she closed her eyes.
And in one motion, ran her sword right through it's skull. Shiva's eyes immediately glazed over and drew hollow. As the weight of the Titans frame subsided, and it's body grew cold.
It took a but of effort to effectively pull her blade out from it's cranium, but when she did, the 10th Titan had laid dead at her feet.
Slayer hovered over it's body, and while gazing at it she plunged her sword into the snow. She fastened her white gloves, before stabbing into it's open wounds with her hand. Her hand traveled, deeper and deeper into Shiva's carcass. So much so that it's body ate away her entire arm.
She felt her hand grab something hard and solid, just below it's heart. And while using Shiva as a stool to push back from, she began pulling against the solid object, until she ripped it out if Shiva and although covered in it's warm blood, inspected it.
An ethereal blue crystal, shaped into a clean and solid sphere that was just transparent enough to see what lay inside but the opaqueness of it was unlike stained glass. Despite solid all the way through, the crystal looked fragile enough to be broken apart. Slayer was tempted, but she had bigger things to worry about now.
So instead, she forgoed the ethereal crystal and made it vanish to thin air. She'll think of a use she has for it later.
When the Grue isn't heading straight towards the West Wing.
Arhen
Things grew silent. Not many still remained. Most likely equated to a few stragglers here and there on the West. And Weiss seemed to have that place covered.
We may lost a few droids and overseers on our part, but they were acceptable casualties as far as I'm concerned.
I heard something smash against the ground, over and over. The surges remained stronger the more frequent the tremors came.
I looked around and saw nothing. But as I looked towards the forest, I only saw the mass of black shadow rushing me for a moment before I felt something crash into me and send me flying right through a pillar.
-24,359 HP
It took me a moment to recover from my blurriness. But when I did, I noticed two things. Firstly, the attack blasted me all the way to the outskirts of the East Wing.
Secondly, the black shadow from earlier was now in the air and reeling back for a second attack on the ground.
DEX Check l Req - 53 l Current - 56 l PASSED
Before it could reach me, I managed to double back from it's smash on the ground.
And it was a good thing as well, for the moment I dodged out of the way, the ground imploded and blew apart.
The moment the implosion stopped, I rapidly fired continuous Ice Seeds at it's trapped hand. It managed to freeze it over for only a moment, but it managed to break out from the ice quite easily because of it's strength.
But during the little time it was trapped, I managed to get a good look at the thing. At first I was surprised at it's appearance. How the hell did the Grue manage to climb out the hole?
It's big arm that nearly killed me also had little mementos from our first encounter together. The beams that I severed to escape along with Weiss were now lodged deep inside it's huge arm, continuously swirling with darkness.
The little gaps in the swirls were filled with glowing bits of fragile red crystals. Fire Dust. The Fire dust I threw at it when trying to escape. It obviously didn't work too well against it, being made of darkness and all.
As I stared and gave it a once over, I spotted a little glint that used to be on its teeth, but now rested firmly on its chest. A small transparent crystal fastened to string made of what looked like rags. While I had no way of knowing if that crystal actually belonged to Faceman's sister, something inside me just assumed it was. It may have not swayed my steps towards it, nor the bitterness I felt towards the Grue mocking me with its smile. But I will not lie, it made it a lot easier to draw my blade against it.
I found it optimal that it instead came to me. Was it for vengeance of its pride, or simply was it simply trying a loose end like myself? It saved me the trouble of having to look for it back in the mineshaft though. And although It's obviously a bit stronger than it was before with that attack from earlier.
I am too.
The mocking in its sneer was wasted. I wasn't going to run away this time.
Why should I?
When I could end this thing right here.
Quest Received.
[Gold Quest: For What Remains…]
Description: A lingering regret far buried below, an amalgamation of departed sadness. It stands before you, raging, craving vengeance for your stand. How karmic, when you too have lingering wills to settle.
…Don't you?
Defeat the Grue. And make sure you stay alive.
Clear Conditions:
[Defeat the Grue]
Reward - 20,000 Exp, ?, ?
The quest system was different, unusual. Part of me had my suspicions, but now I didn't even need to look at the glowing mark on my hand to know who was responsible.
I didn't have time to contemplate though, because as soon as I closed the screen, the Grue charged at me and knocked me back.
-19,258 HP
It stings. But nothing was broken.
I could've opted to hold back a bit in front of the few people that were here, but that was going to get me killed in this case. This is a whole lot more different than some Grimm stragglers in the forest.
The moment I activated [Frostmourne] I felt the drain on mana. It was like leaving the tap open on a drain in the sink, the waves felt powerful and yet they were going to someplace I couldn't see, but I could feel.
The Grue didn't relent, reaching out with its volatile arm for another slam on the ground.
It fired an Ice Seed at it before it could reach half way, and aside from causing the volatile arm to blow back on itself, the ice Seed no longer imploded into frozen shards. Instead, I exploded into ice spikes which broke apart and imploded one by one.
Frostmourne turned my Ice Seed volatile. Safe to say that the mana drain was worth it. I could already see the difference between this one and the one from earlier. It's arm wasn't frozen to the ground, but it looked like the Grue was finding it hard to move its joints around the explosive arm.
When I saw the familiar rise of dark energy around its body, I didn't even think twice before covering my ears and sprinting far away from it.
The Grue then turned its head to the sky and screeched. I could only hear a muffled sound of a shriek, that sounds like it came from someone's cries and felt the ground shake from the shriek's echo.
One by one, the light globes, windows and glass all in the East Wing all began to shatter. The cold white glow of the lanterns and flashlights in the area had all broken away and faded. Soon, only I was able to see the Grue, namely the white of its eyes.
CON Check l Req - 100 l Current - 55 l FAILED
Despite how clear my eyes were, I could only barely make out the basic shape of the Grue, namely from how its moves differed from the shadows that stretched towards it, and combined with its body.
Shit. That wasn't good. The Grue regenerates from anything in darkness. I need some light to be able to even damage it.
I felt the ground shake for a moment, then heard the sound of something heavy breaking through the air and leaving some stones behind. Then nothing.
By the time I looked up and saw the piercing fiery glow of the crystals in its explosive arm, the Grue was already on its way down and about to hit the ground with it.
-47,849 HP
I gave a dash to the side and managed to avoid the slam, but not much of the small explosion that happened afterward.
The force sent me flying and crashing beside a tree. Aside from the metallic taste of my blood rushing out of me in wet coughs, I couldn't breathe for a few minutes. It became hard to even stand, whilst I was leaning against a tree. If it wasn't the sickening feeling I got from my world being shook, it was the burns on my chest and the piercing migraine that followed.
I placed a hand on my forehead and felt something wet ooze out of a cut. Most probably the blood that was dripping on the full snow right now.
"Status."
Name - Arhen
Level - 27 [Exp - 485/17,134]
Title - None
Class - Spellweaver - Level 26/100
Race - Homunculus
Tier - Mortal
Alignment - Chaotic Neutral
HP - 12,340/103,806 [HP Regen - 786 HP/sec]
MP - 9,768/17,738 [MP Regen - 213,4 MP/sec]
STR - 45
VIT - 45
DEX - 56
CON - 55
INT - 45
WIS - 57
CHA - 55
Remaining Stat Points - 4
That attack nearly killed me. It might've been a combination of its sneak attacks from earlier but the explosion was the most damaging. And I just barely avoided the full brunt of it.
I'm in no state to continue right now. I need to get some sort of light into this area before I go and attack it. This thing is relentless, it should stop for a moment if I cause it enough pain to spasm.
The Grue ran towards the tree I was on, and just before I got ready to avoid it's attack, I heard something cut through the air once again, and suddenly, a large blue greatsword stabbed into the snow between us, with enough force to pierce even the stone below.
Then with a roar, something huge dived right towards the snow and landed with a small shockwave. When the dust cleared, all I saw was a giant suit of silver armor, holding the greatsword by its shoulder.
The glow from the blade allowed me to see the armor with less effort than it took to see the Grue. For starters, the armor itself was breaking apart. Numerous cracks and pieces of silver trailing amongst the snow, and still, little wisps of blue emanated from its body as though it were its chilling breath.
Its roar sounded beastly, though it carried the shriek in a tone that made it seem almost regal. Like a crestfallen knight.
I looked around the East Wing, until my eyes landed on the single bit of light from the balcony near the library window.
My eyes took in the sight of Willow standing from her wheelchair beside two servants with her gloved hand stretched out towards the Ethereal Knight.
I thought back to the class I had gotten from her, and aptly realized that the knight was probably her summon.
Winter Knight
Level - 75
Race - Summon
I could see its level since it was just below 50 levels ahead of me. But that means it really is very strong. If this was her summon, then I couldn't even imagine what Willow herself was capable of.
But now wasn't the time, the summon could probably take on the Grue while it's in darkness for a while.
The Knight will eventually lose, because it can't wound it, and the Grue definitely knows, and attacks without fear.
I gave her a small smile and made sure that I was connected to her using my scroll before I ran around the East Wing and fired ice seeds onto the broken globes. Frostmourne should enhance the effects of Ice based attacks, but I managed to deter the force a little so that the spikes that rose from the short explosion didn't turn volatile.
I wasn't sure if the Ice Seed's ability to freeze rivalled that of liquid nitrogen, but it should've been cold enough for the element in the light bulbs not to burn out on the spot when I turned it on.
While running through each of the lanterns I took small peaks at the fight the Knight had with the volatile Grue. The sound of roars, shriek, clashes and explosions sounded between the two as they swung relentlessly at each other like beasts.
The Knights arm was blown clean off, and could hardly hold the greatsword in its remaining hand.
The moment I turned on the lights and a cold white shined over the Grue and reflected the silver from the Winter Knight, the Grue arm punched right through the Knight and skewered it.
With a pained roar, its greatsword slipped through its fingers and stabbed the snow. The Knight disappeared into thin white lights that scattered like stars in the air. Leaving me staring down at the Grue once again.
It tried to rush me immediately, but then for a moment, I spotted a gleam from the balcony before the Grue was blown back with immense force. A white arrow stuck to its chest before it snapped it in half. Only for another to slam against its head.
There was only one person who used arrows in this Manor. And I didn't need to see her to know she was looking out for me on the balcony.
I eyed the greatsword that the Knight had left behind, and then the Grue that stood covering itself from the shining lights.
"Status." I said.
Name - Arhen
Level - 27 [Exp - 485/17,134]
Title - None
Class - Spellweaver - Level 26/100
Race - Homonculus
Tier - Mortal
Alignment - Chaotic Neutral
HP - 53,721/103,806 [HP Regen - 786 HP/sec]
MP - 11,145/17,378 [MP Regen - 213,4 MP/sec]
STR - 45
VIT - 45
DEX - 56
CON - 55
INT - 45
WIS - 57
CHA - 55
Remaining Stat Points - 4
I was feeling a lot better than earlier, and could even breathe easily again. I had one idea for how I could definitely beat this Grue. The idea certainly isn't one that I would usually go for, it sounded borderline foolish, but it's not like I had any choice remaining.
I walked until I stood right before the sword. I poured all my remaining points into [Strength]
Before holding onto it's handle.
As expected, the sword didn't even budge when I tried to pull it from the ground. I most likely didn't have the stats clear the check.
But that's what I was going to rectify.
"Recarmdra."
At first, everything went silent and still. Whether the snow that fell from the sky suddenly froze in the air or the air itself felt thick enough to slice through. Everything stopped in my eyes.
Suddenly, my body grew hot, hotter than it was down in the deepest layer of the mines, and even then the heat continued to soar. My heart palpated a rushed crescendo of beats against my ribs. It beat against it frantically enough for me to hear it clearly through my ears and feel it pump when I touched my chest.
A stabbing pain edged its way through the joints of my body. Seemingly tearing my muscles apart from the seams as my eyes saw nothing but surging red, that grew and pulsated with my burning heart.
My body felt like hell, but I could feel the power flowing through me. Surging in my broken veins.
Name - Arhen
Level - 27 [Exp - 485/17,134]
Title - None
Class - Spellweaver - Level 26/100
Race - Homunculus
Tier - Mortal
Alignment - Chaotic Neutral
HP - 1/970,200 [HP Regen - 203 HP/sec]
MP - 13,379/76,950 [MP Regen - 213,4 MP/sec]
STR - 98
VIT - 90
DEX - 112
CON - 110
INT - 90
WIS - 114
CHA - 110
Remaining Stat Points - 0
That health increase is absurd. And it made things a bit harder for me since the Regen had been halved, and is going to be locked out with next to no defensive power in a few minutes.
Despite how amazing the health looks, I essentially cannot take a single hit from the Grue. I'm not going to have enough time to heal enough of my HP to tank its attacks, especially that lovely arm.
With Recarmdra, I was easily able to pick up the sword and whip it to the side. The greatsword felt light even, and it resonated with Frostmourne. I'm guessing on some part that the blade is enchanted, and it has something to do with the matrix with Willow.
It was resistant as well, part of the Grue's volatile arm was already freezing up from just the air alone when it approached me, or Maybe it was just only cold enough to freeze the crystals in it's arm that made it volatile.
Either way, it became possible to knock back even that arm using Fatal End. The very clash was heavy on the Grue's part, but even enough for sparks to fly. At each desperate clash.
It became jarringly easy to handle it. And I could tell that it was getting frustrating. It couldn't tell where the newfound power from me came from. I wondered if its desperate attacks were not from frustration, but fear.
But fear didn't stop it from slipping up and holding its huge arm in the air long enough for the fire Dust to start heating up. That was a mistake on the Grue's part, as I took one large swipe at its arm and immediately ripped it out by the shoulder.
As if I would give it the chance to get the arm back.
The Grue roared, and for the first time, it roared with pain. It turned frantic, lashing out at anything that got near it. I'd compare it to the rage you feel when you stub your toe, but then again, a toe is leagues better than an entire arm being cut off.
The stub on its arm reformed beneath tendrils of shadows. Once it had its arm back, it growled at me and started to covet the shadows. Like the other times, it grew bigger and darker the more shadows it absorbed.
It's finally taking me seriously. I was wondering when it was going to use the dark magic it has. And the moment I did, the Grue slammed its fist into the ground, creating a pool of darkness where numerous black orbs spewed into the sky and rained down as dark thorns.
I started running to its side, taking sure to maneuver around the many thorns that descended on me. The ones that missed were the ones I felt Willow shoot down from the balcony.
When the thorns missed, the Grue stupidly launched it's volatile hand at me.
DEX Check l Req - 75 l Current - 112 l PASSED
While I admit that I wasn't expecting the Grue to be able to do something like extend its arm towards me, I managed to see it coming and avoided it cleanly this time. No way was I risking getting hit by that again, not when I had so little time remaining of [Recarmdra].
The arm blasting past me gave me the biggest opening so far. In the matter of seconds, I managed to completely freeze the arm to the ground. And this time it stayed there, but was quickly beginning to break apart.
I would only get one shot at this. Recarmdra is pushing on fumes as it is. And if I miss, I'll be stuck at point black range with the Grue while my [Constitution] is locked. Meaning that it's attacks will do more damage and I won't be able to block or deflect.
Sprinting towards it head on, I dodged another frantic swipe from its free hand and used Fatal End to knock it away.
I drove a harsh knee into its stomach, then kicked the Grue onto its back. It was only when I jumped onto its body did I realize that this thing was monstrously bigger than me.
Regardless, I raised the sword above my head right as it began to roar and aimed to drive it down its throat.
Midway, it was restrained by the Grue, who had managed to get its arm free from the ice and was desperately holding onto the cold blade, stopping the sword from running through its throat.
As it continued to struggle, I spotted a twinkle on the crystal in its neck. Faceman's necklace.
The grip on the sword grew harder, as I started to use ice seed to freeze parts of the blade. Its edges were no longer sharp, but instead of a blade, it formed into one very sharp icicle. With a tip far sharper than the sword ever was.
The Grue was relying on the friction the blade's edge provided its arms with. Since it was gigantic, it didn't feel much when the blade slowly cut into its skin. Now that I turned the very blade into one long, thin icicle, it had no way of retraining it.
All it took was a deep breath, and shove to blow its arms away from me, before I raised it once more and drove the icicle right through its throat.
The icicles went through the Grue and stabbed the ground beneath it with ease, as the dark beast rolled, trashed and frantically screamed until finally, it went limp. And all was silent.
17,451 Exp
Your Level has increased.
Quest Completed.
[Gold Quest: For What Remains…]
Description: A lingering regret far buried below, an amalgamation of departed sadness. It stands before you, raging, craving vengeance for your stand. How karmic, when you too have lingering wills to settle.
…Don't you?
Defeat the Grue. And make sure you stay alive.
Clear Conditions:
[Defeat the Grue]
Reward - 20,000 Exp, ?, ?
Your Level has Increased.
Proficiency Level in Skill [Ice Seed] has increased.
Proficiency Level in Class [Spellweaver] has increased.
Proficiency Level in Ability [Sword Proficiency] has been increased.
As the Grue and the sword faded into nothing, I ripped the necklace away from it and bucked down to my knees.
Recarmdra had finished. And my body feels as though it was pushed through the last layer of hell.
Everything was silent, all except for the wind howling through the snow fall and a faint crescendo of slow clapping hands. I looked only for a moment and saw the Liar. Before a crack sounded in the air, and I lost all feeling in my shoulder.
-33,560 HP
Right. My [Constitution] is locked. Every attack will do more damage. And with how winded that attack made me feel, I must've not regained that much health. I was probably sitting on a few thousand of what quickly became the last units of my life.
Jacques stood before me, grinning. He was certainly proud of himself, but he didn't have a gun in his hand. He wasn't the one who shot me.
I felt the vibration of footsteps and quickly scrambled to my feet. Only to stare down at Whitley holding a handgun right to me. Keeping it locked straight onto my head.
I was already prepared to encounter them after this operation. But I didn't expect the Grue to follow me here for a fight, nor did I expect it to be that hard to put down.
Maybe they were watching me, and perhaps they were the ones who broke the light bulbs and made the Grue stronger. They managed to target me when I was weakened. I won't lie, they were efficient. Whitley looks as though his improvising, although it's hard to see when my vision is getting blurry, and when he looks at me with a scowl like that.
He said nothing. Maybe an attempt to hide how much he hates me. No. I can't call it hate, his eyes depict jealousy, and franticness rivalling that of an insect realizing it's trapped with no way to escape.
Despite feeling the pain of a bullet wound on my shoulder my heart began to beat. Almost as much as it did in that fight. A feeling came over me, eerie like the crawling chaos.
Why?
Why did it feel so intoxicating?
Whitley's face shifted, he looked angrier. I don't disparage him, he must've seen the smile I had on my face. Personally, I don't think I could've hidden it from my face even if I tried. But I didn't.
I wanted him to know. The smile that drove the Liar to this point. The smile that seduced his mother and made her my loyal puppet.
I wanted him to know, that this was the exact smile I wore when I took Weiss in front of him.
He shook, and the arm holding the gun shook as well. It amazed me how well he could keep composed.
But I think my smile drove him mad.
I moved faster than I usually do and fired an ice seed into the snow near to them. Whitley's shot only amounted to a stray, since he was covered in snow from the explosion and distracted by the sharp icicles that remained.
Not that I could see it of course, I was already taking off running.
Whitley was prepared to kill me even though it would turn Weiss into his enemy. I can no longer stay on the manor with Whitley actively hunting me down.
While my [Constitution] was locked. Thankfully, my [Strength] and [Dexterity] received a boost by killing the Grue. So I had almost no trouble dashing across the East Wing. The General would most likely ignore me, but Weiss will definitely not let me leave.
In fact, she'll most probably be the one combing through all of Atlas for me.
Which meant that I could no longer stay in Atlas.
…
The sky was dark, and for the first time since I came here, it was actually starting to rain. Not many people were out and about, sans the rare few on West Atlas that made the streets their home.
Many of them had animal features like the slaves I killed earlier. Faunus, as I heard from Willow. I certainly got a few glances from them but no one questioned why I as servant was out at night, better yet in the cold rain.
They probably already pieced together that I was attempting an escape. Not really attempting on my part, if I get caught, I'm pretty much dead. In some ways, this was just as stupid as what that rat tried to pull the night before.
If someone had told me I would be doing the same thing he tried to do. I would've shot them at that field out of pure annoyance.
They looked at me impassively, some eyes had a strange twinge in them that spoke sadness, for me? Was it empathy? Or pity? I find myself no longer knowing the difference. Nor what I felt myself as I looked at these Faunus. Some older than the ones I've killed for fun.
Would they still look at me like that if they knew what it took to get to this point, how many of their kin I killed?
I imagine their looks would differ quite strangely I'm sure. Especially if they realized that I didn't care in the slightest, whether I've orphaned a child or not.
It's not like I had time to tell if that was a lie or not. I had to get out of here.
Leaping over the gate to the Manor was easy enough, and the moment I did, I had to hide.
I could see the hue in the droid's eyes turn red, and suddenly develop a tagging laser. I could speculate that Whitley did this to find me more easily, but I cannot disparage Weiss using this to find me as well.
In essence, two people were fighting to get to me first. One is out to kill me while the latter I'm not sure. Willow might outright kill me, Weiss too, if this little stunt did in fact trigger the yandere in her.
A small silver lining despite its lack of Exp, I managed to get rid of a droid that spotted me hiding in the streets. And I took the handgun it was using. In the few minutes that I've used one before, my general consensus around guns has changed.
Generally, most things except Grimm die when you shoot at them. Good thing I wasn't up against Grimm this time, and that I was slightly better than Whitley at aiming. Definitely not what I would call good. But at least I would hold my own if it came to surviving.
Although the droid's presence on the streets confirmed my earlier suspicions. They were combing through Atlas to find me, the streets were not safe. Until I remembered something I found while on an outing.
The underground tunnels.
The entrance to them was through a sewer, conveniently minutes away from where I left the downed droid. Crawling through a sewer didn't seem too pleasing, I doubt it would to even the most degenerate of Gamers. But like many, I don't have a choice.
I can only hope the nobles are as grandiose in their hygiene as they were spending money.
…
They weren't. They certainly weren't.
My only saving grace was that I managed to find a lit up area guarded by an overseer that looked like the right place.
I could see the tunnels just on the other side of the sealed door he was guarding. He was alone, and constantly looking left to right. He probably hasn't spotted me if he's looking around like that.
Slowly, I crawled out of the sludge inside the sewer and used Presence Concealment to get as close as I could before the overseer looked back at my direction.
A small thrust to his neck later assured that the overseer would no longer be a problem. I dumped the body into the flowing sludge of the sewer to delay discovery. Although the blood on the floor and hatch would be a dead giveaway as to where I went. And sadly I cannot afford the time to clean up the area.
So as I stood before the underground hatch with my sword strapped to my waist, I opened the iron door and closed it on my way inside.
The first thing that came to mind was how pitch black the tunnels were. The glow from Lucille's mark on my hand was the only way that I was able to see where I was going.
The ground I stepped on was solid with a railing nearby. When I walked over to them and waved the glow of the mark across the ceiling and walls, I quickly realized that there was none. Everything culminated in networks and swirls of gigantic pipes bigger than some roads and trains.
In truth they looked like the wires of some kind of computer, although I knew better than to think that. As I stepped off the railing and onto a few of the pipes, I could already feel the faint rumbling of trains running about. I might have been stepping on top of a subway at this point. That ran all throughout this network. Some of these pipes either went up, or dove even deeper into this place. So it was hard to believe that these pipes were only meant for trains.
There were little gaps in between the pipes that had the little sideways with railings on them from earlier. This one had a set of stairs going down before being blocked by part of a pipe.
The shadows that crept away from the faint light on my arm stretched. The silence in this path was deafening. I could hear, and feel nothing but the palpation of my own heartbeat. I tried to breathe, even if only to listen out for any clue that someone might be in here with me.
But nothing. Nothing but my own footsteps echoed in this silent place. I had the place mapped out on the corner of my eye, thanks to previous efforts. But even on the map, the tunnels weaved in such a way that I couldn't even tell a general direction of where I was going.
I heard a screech, and then a large bang upon an iron door. I froze, looking down at my map. Countless red dots appeared just above where I was.
I pulled out my sword and the handgun I took before. I would've thought the missing Overseer would keep their attention for a while, but it looks as though they just followed the blood on the door.
Carefully, I leaped over the railing onto another pipe, then ducked over to hide against another one. I kept Presence Concealment up just as a red spotlight passed where I was before.
The fact that the spotlights were still wandering around ceaselessly meant they still didn't find me. Good, I'm not the only one blind in these dark tunnels. Those spotlights meant that I was expecting them.
But they won't be expecting me.
Quest Received.
[Platinum Quest: The Burning Snow of Banded Iron III]
Description: It looks as though you are in a tight spot. The units from what were once allies have now turned against you, and are quickly boxing you in.
Escape is faint and narrow, and you can barely see it. The question is, what kind of escape do you have in mind?
…
I'm curious…very curious, indeed.
Clear Conditions:
[Survive the Ambush]
Rewards - [N/A]
She has it twisted. I've never once considered anyone in that Manor my ally.
It doesn't take a lot of thinking to know by now who exactly was behind the screen. There was only one person I knew who was capable of talking arrogantly like that. Who can make a quest so obviously biased to my enemies that they would leave no reward for my success.
It really is just like her. She probably wouldn't have done this for anyone else but me. The glowing of the mark of which her domain bears. The discrepancies between this quest and the ones I had before.
Lucille is leading me somewhere. But the question is where is she taking me?
As a droid slowly walked past me, I quickly decided that I would just go with the flow. She'll pull me into her domain soon, and maybe then I'll know the answer if I don't die.
I could feel her watching me. Even as I stabbed the droid and took the handgun it held. Almost immediately, I heard something sharp hit against the pipe I hid behind.
Bullets ricochet off the metal of the railings and the thick pipes, some of them denting and even piercing through with their shots and as plumes of gas shot out like wind.
Pretty soon, the other droids joined and pelted the pipe with numerous rounds like rain. The shower of bullets never ended, and almost made me afraid of sticking my hand out and firing back with the handgun.
I could hear from the sheer speed at which the bullets dented the pipes that I was severely outgunned. Still, I had to make do somehow.
The guns were far different from the kind that I had at the manor. The one that managed to spin each time I fired. I had managed to get rid of a few that were firing at me, but more kept coming, and the pair of handguns I had were starting to feel a little light.
Pretty soon, all I could hear were clicks. While I was sure the droids could not hear over the deafening sound of gunfire, this usually happens when the clips run empty.
I froze. I had no clue how to reload these types of guns. My heart spiked as I peeked my head over the pipe and immediately ducked down as a bullet grazed my head.
I closed my eyes. Should I risk just going at the droids with my sword? The idea was fucking stupid, I would obviously just get torn apart by the gunfire. They essentially had me trapped, lest I somehow know how to reload a handgun.
…
Honestly, I don't know how to describe what happened to me next. It was like I was dreaming, but not asleep. All the smells and sound just faded. The heartbeats, the drumming of the bullets hitting the metal and pipes. The deafening noise of repeating gunfire and ringing of shells hitting the floor.
All faded into nothing.
I felt tranquil, almost like regaining myself. Still as the nothingness in the empty sky. I saw someone, heavily obscured by a whiteness similar to distilled heavy fog. I couldn't tell much of where I was, or what I was doing. But all I knew was this was unlike any dream I had before.
Two figures stood before me. The one touching me was a silhouette of white. Almost blinding. Like it wasn't a part of the reality I saw. The silhouette unnerved me the longer I stared at it, but it looked between me and the figure sitting beside it as if it held almost no interest in me.
The figure sitting beside the silhouette was obscured by the fog. All accept their hands, smile and a few locks of their hair.
A woman. Short in stature but bountiful. With the only thing of note was how mismatched her hair was. Cloves of pink and brown.
I couldn't tell much of what she was wearing, but it seemed a bit tight. She fiddled with something in her hands with a creepy smile on her face. A gun. Similar to the ones I held in my hands.
But more, radiant. As if made by someone vastly more skilled than the gunsmith that made mine. Vastly more powerful as well.
She spun it around by the trigger, tossed it in the air, cocked it back. And repeatedly slid a mag in and out of the gun.
The silhouette turned to her. It seemed as though it was speaking. The woman responded. The pattern ensued over and over, with different gestures, fiddles and smiles. I was privy to them all, but silent to the words they shared.
Once more, I beheld as the woman took out a clip and tossed the gun in the air. Then it fell almost in slow motion into her hands, where she slid it in, pressed a button near the trigger and slid it back out. She did many tricks that ended the same way. Loaded the clips while in midair, to her side, flipping the gun around, etc.
All without once breaking the crazed smile she had on her lips. Enrapturing, almost as if I had known her all my life. And yet, with that connection, I could tell she was equally as deranged. Dangerous. Psychopathic.
And yet, I watch her. Relaxed. Not at all disparaged by her smile.
…
Slowly, the smell and sounds start to return, until I hear the metal chiming of bullets tearing through the iron pipe.
Only the warmth of a strange kinship and familiarity remain from the dream. I wondered where it came from, who that woman could be.
And even though the droids closed on me, I was calm. As calm as I was watching her. As calm as I was staring at Whitley, threatening Jacques, watching that woman die.
I was calm. A strange, chilling sort of calm. Suddenly, I didn't feel trapped anymore.
I felt…psychotic.
Proficiency Level in Skill [Gamer's Mind] has increased to [Level 10]
I remembered every movement that woman made in my dream.
Press the button beside the trigger, remove the clip and replace it.
When I did, I slid the chamber back on both of the handguns. Then for a moment, I peeked out of the pipe and blew a droid's head apart.
While the targets of fire differed it didn't stop me from continuously shooting down all the droids in my way. Rapidly switching to different pipes for cover.
I placed a mag on my mouth and bit into it before breaking from cover and shooting both my handguns at the railings above me, while aiming at the droids that were falling from above.
They'll keep coming. But that was fine.
I'll kill every single one of them.
The spray of bullets continued, with the droids now actively seeking to hide from my aim. Each time they peeked, I blew their heads off.
I turned my eyes to a path and railing I was on before. Then suddenly I saw a small twinkle of light that went away as quickly as I looked at it.
It took a few seconds, but when I realized what I was looking at, I immediately stopped shooting and pulled out my sword. At just that moment, I heard a deafening crack echo through the tunnels, breaking through the torrents of gunfire.
"Recarmdra!"
DEX Check l Req - 110 l Current - 112 l PASSED
Within just a few seconds I grabbed my sword and bashed away the oncoming bullet.
Damnit, a sniper?!
The sheer impact of the round sent be skidding back on the pipes. To avoid falling down deep into the tunnels, I forgoed my guns and instead jammed my sword into the pipes.
Despite the resistance in the blade, I still slid towards the depths. And at the very end, the blade of my sword snapped and broke apart.
With no way of keeping myself to the ground, I fell down deeper into the warrens.
…
This was bad, very bad.
I just activated Recarmdra, and now I'm falling down something deep.
I frantically darted my head left to right, trying to see if there was anything I could use as a fissure to hold on to. But all I saw were a mass of pipes all around me. Each one of them converging into a hole that lead further downwards.
Not even the map could tell where I was falling too. It was equally as blank and dark as the sight around me.
After some struggle, I managed to make my way near to one of the pipes as I was falling. The idea I had certainly relied upon chance. But I didn't have a better that I could executive before I hit the ground.
I activated [Frostmourne] and begun freezing the pipes with Ice Seed. I didn't stay still enough for the pipes to freeze all the way through. So I poured more mana into both Frostmourne and the ice seeds. They grew marginally more powerful, and they left behind thicker sheets of ice as I fell and scraped along the pipes.
All of a sudden, my hands almost slip off through an unexpected space inside on of the pipes. Almost like it had a tear. But the ice seeds capitalized on that moment and completely turned that tear into a frozen fissure.
It all but exploded within the fissure, with gigantic frozen spikes forming along the pipes. My hand was frozen onto the fissure, and at the same time I lay dangling in the air, the gunshot wound on my shoulder started bleeding again.
The force of my fall and my sudden suspension in the air must've reopened the wound I froze whilst running from the manor.
I took a breath and looked up. I could no longer see the top. I must've fallen far, the ceiling was covered in darkness.
No way up now. So hopefully the way out lay someplace deeper.
From the very vestige of my sight, I could see the gleam of a railing. There was a similar pathway even down here.
I broke my hand out of the ice and aimed to fall straight towards the railing. Landing on it was more painful than before with the wound reopening.
I bled onto the floor, but kept my glowing hand up onto the pathways I took deeper into the tunnels.
Jumping from pipe to pipe, the tunnels grew darker. But the glow from Lucille's mark grew even brighter and started to pulsate the deeper I travelled.
Soon, I came across a large hatch. A gigantic bolted door held together by a safe. There were buttons nearby for a sort of control panel, but I had no idea what to press. And I wasn't looking to delude myself into thinking otherwise.
I felt something hit hard against the ground behind me, then grow silent as footsteps echoed. The droids couldn't have followed me here. So it was definitely a person this time.
The question was whether they were friend or foe. Both were the same after all, but at least one of them may not attempt my life at first glance.
A white glyph appeared, castling a little orb of light above me and the hatch. I was not at all surprised to see Weiss here with me, and more or less pointing her gun at me.
"Arhen!"
Maybe it was out of just being a bit skeptical of the droids roaming around instead, but she dropped her gun when she stepped up and took a good look at me. More so my arm.
"I didn't get this here." If I got this wound while fighting the droids then the lack of numerous bullet holes made little to no sense in context.
She looked as though she had wanted to speak, but was interrupted by the sharp sound of a bullet ricocheting off the control panel.
We both looked back, and found Whitley calming walking towards the both of us. Pistol in hand and locked on to me. "Step away, Weiss."
She didn't. Instead, she continued staring at Whitley. "You've gone insane." She said, as if declaring what was clearly plastered over her younger brother's face.
Whitley bit back his tongue at her. I could tell he wanted to bite back. Say that she fucked the help. I was confused as to why he didn't, angry as he was.
He was still trembling, but no longer from my gaze. While I couldn't see well in this darkness, I imagine he was crying.
"Weiss, please." He started. "I know I can't expect anything from you. Expect your trust. Not after what I've done, and because of the things that I still want to do to you."
He paused. "Still. If even a small part of you sees me more than just the scum of the earth. Then please, listen to me." Whitley now turned to me, the flowing tears in his eyes all the more visible to me through his scowl.
"He is just using you!"
Weiss seemed taken aback. Despite her affection for me, she's hesitant, and looks confused as to who to believe. It's a good look compared to Willow's blind love. But at the same time, revealing it now under this situation is uncanny.
I don't dare try to speak. It would feel like I'm defending myself. And everyone knows that makes you all the more suspicious. Whitley hit the nail right on the head, but I won't give him the satisfaction of being right.
Suddenly, I began to hear a hissing sound so sharp that my ears dulled while hearing it. It left behind a ringing sound that made it hard to hear the wind. But I could feel the air change. And the wind grew more powerful the longer it remained.
I looked back towards the hatch only to see the bolted iron beginning to open up to cold air.
The wind was pulling me fiercely towards the hatch, and for a split second I held onto the railing to avoid getting pulled out.
Weiss and Whitley did the same on the railings just above me. Although gradually, I began to slip through the hatch regardless.
"Arhen!" Weiss reached out to me with her hand. Although it was a ways away, If I was careful on the railings I could make my way to it.
As soon as I made the first step towards Weiss's hand, Whitley fixed his gun on me and fired onto the path just below my feet. Weiss may have not noticed due to the harsh sounds or roaring wind, but the warning in his eyes was clear.
"Don't you even dare."
He fired again as I got closer, this time aiming for my hand. By reflex my hand jarred away just before the bullet hit it, but it took me only a second to realize what a stupid move that was.
Instantly I was blown back towards the hatch. At the last minute, I managed to hold onto one of the bolts that locked the door with my off hand. It was getting painful holding against the wind with my wounded arm. I was losing feeling in it by the second.
I took a moment to look up at Weiss, her hand still stretched towards me outwardly. I didn't even need to hear her shouting to know she was frantically trying to reach me. Her skin pale, her eyes on the verge of tears. She was mortified.
My fingers were slipping, and I took a moment to look down where I would eventually fall. It was the same sight I had back at the courtyard, I couldn't see the city below because of the clouds. But because of the rain, I couldn't even hear the loud banging of the factories below.
Whitley made his way down, and instead of shooting me, he slammed his hand down at the earlier control panel. The door was starting to close on me. And for that minute, I smiled at Weiss and let go.
I couldn't tell if the hatch had closed on my way out, but soon all I could hear was the rushing wind during free fall. I won't lie, it took a minute for the notion to sink in. Maybe seeing the ground of the floating city held by chains knocked that thought into me as it gradually got smaller and smaller. Knowing that, I opted to close my eyes and linger upon the sound of rushing wind.
I was falling from that floating city. And ice seed wasn't going to help me this time.
Bet many went expecting this to happen. Or maybe you were and I'm stupid. Either way, this chapter represents the end of the first arc and the short interlude next chapter will be the end of White Trailer. I promise it won't be long to read, but it contains the aftermath of the fight and a few surprised that will be important going forward.
By the way, I decided to change the name of the second arc. Don't know what I was thinking with the first one.