AN: Heyo!
The answer to last week's puzzle was: 0! And before you all go 'whaaaaaaaa?' in the reviews, I'll explain the puzzle.
Think of the 8x8 as the spaces of a board. Like a chess board for example. It has 64 squares in dimensions 8x8. And you start the game with 32 pieces. Therefore, 8x8=32. The other three are similar board games.
8x8=24 (Checkers)
8x8=32 (Chess)
9x9=40 (Shogi)
19X19=0 (Go)
Since 'Go' is the only game with a board of 19x19 dimensions, where you start out with no pieces on the board, the answer to the puzzle was 0.
It is by far the most convoluted puzzle I have heard, and It's no surprise that none of you answered it correctly. Don't feel bad. Just feel hungry cuz you get no delicious Victory Cookie. It's mine now! Hahaha! *NOM NOM*
Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft. If I did, I'd make bats drop bat fangs, which can then be used to make Potions of Levitation.
Beta: Myself
Chapter 67
Sewers
It didn't take long for Attila to sway the Silver Intent group to her side. The information was too valuable to pass up. So the team of Floyd, Soul, Cara, Void, and Attila were to set off on their latest side mission into the Nitebane sewers to reactivate the water and an EXP Factory.
Once they were all in agreement, Attila guided the group down some levels, but not to supply themselves for the mission. They wouldn't need to go on the mission if the skyscraper community wasn't already scraping by. They could only rely on what they brought with them.
Instead, Attila took the group down to the section of the skyscraper that was left hovering over Nitebane. It was surreal; looking down only to realize the building you were in wasn't connected to any of the foundations below.
It really was like someone had cut the skyscraper in two. The gap spanned several floors, and left quite a fall if a Crafter ever slipped.
Or, as one of the Attila's people demonstrated, if a nerd-poling Griefer was suddenly knocked off by a snowball.
Four of Attila's people stood at different corners of the skyscraper, throwing snowballs down as Griefers tried to build themselves up. Their accuracy was impressive, as Floyd saw one snowball clip a Griefer atop a nerd-pole hiding behind an adjacent nerd-pole.
I guess they have to be this good. Floyd thought to himself. The safety of their community rides on defending themselves here.
"How's it looking?" Attila asked one of the snowball throwers.
"Pretty good. We've been able to keep them back." He replied while chucking another five snowballs down. "Heard about the meeting with the smugglers. Sorry for—"
"Don't be." Attila stopped him. "If it meant feeding you lot, I would've done it again." She suddenly smirked knowingly. "Though, after tonight, maybe I won't have to do it again."
She turned to look at the Silver Intent group as she said that, and it dawned on Floyd how serious a mission this way. Attila's community really needed supplies. And if they failed, the community would either starve or be at the mercy of those swindling smugglers.
"So, how *hic* do we get down from here?" Floyd snapped out of his thoughts hearing Void's drunken question. "Don't *hic* tell me we gotta explode our way down."
Attila rolled her eyes. "No, nothing crazy like that."
"Thank, Notch…" Cara breathed a sigh of relief.
"We're gonna be jumping down!" Attila cheered, much to Cara's horror. It was probably on purpose though, given the brunette's grin. "Banzai!"
"Whoa!"
"Huh?"
"Oh my GOD!"
"What the hell!?"
Everyone gave a startled cry as Attila, with a forceful tackle, knocked into all the Silver Intent members, sending them and herself plummeting out of the hovering skyscraper.
"WHY!?" Cara screamed in anger and terror as she maneuvered next to Attila only to shake her by her shirt. "PUSHING PEOPLE OFF A SKYSCRAPER IS NOT HOW YOU ASK FOR HELP!" She screamed over the streaking wind.
Void had his hands folded as he fell, looking mildly annoyed with Attila's idea of explaining how they'd get down.
"Um… Miss Akrasia?" Floyd addressed the brunette nervously as he looked down, the bottom end of the skyscraper quickly approaching. "What's to keep us from going splat!?"
"Don't worry." Attila laughed as she withdrew a bucket. "I got… oh."
The disappointment in that 'oh' caught the attention of everyone as they eyed the brunette girl examining the inside of a bone dry bucket. "I could have sworn I filled this up." When she noticed everyone looking at her she rubbed her head sheepishly. "See, I was going to place water down before we landed to cushion the fall. But… I seem to have forgotten." She blinked a few times, trying to think of something more apologetic to say. "Whoops."
It was absolutely the worst choice of a word as it caused everyone to scream in alarm as they flailed around in their fall. The edges of the bottom half of the skyscraper never looked sharper.
"Who forgets something like that!?" Cara accused.
"Hey! It's an idle task, alright!?" Attila defended.
"Alright, let me rephrase; who forgets something like that AND THEN PUSHES SOMEONE OFF A BUILDING!?"
"…okay, yeah, whoops."
"Vines!" Soul shouted out as he pointed to the ivy crawling up the sides of the skyscraper. Their last hope. "Grab on!"
The falling group of five angled themselves towards the vines. With extended hands they desperately scrabbled to catch hold of the plant and save them from their fall.
Attila and Soul were the first to manage, gripping the sleek vines as if their lives depended on it, which they did. It took Soul, Void, and Cara a bit longer with them constantly wincing from rope-burn every time they grasped a vine. They were falling too fast and they weren't as tough as Attila or Soul to manage on the first try.
But eventually (and much further down from Attila and Soul) they managed to grasp a handful of vines and slow their descent. This left them hanging off the fifth or sixth floor of the building.
"Hey! You're not a Griefer!"
Cara's head snapped below her to spot two Griefers clinging to the vines. She could tell they were Griefers by the mismatch of stolen gear they wore. They must have fallen off a nerd-pole and, like them, managed to survive the fall by gripping the vines.
And they looked pretty pissed off too. They fumbled at their backs for sword handles and began climbing towards Cara.
"Hope you're ready to die, because—Whaaaa!"
Before the two Griefers could get any closer, Attila and Soul dropped down right on top of them. Their faces were used as springboards as the brunette and axe-wielder kicked off of them and snagged a handful of vines so that they flanked Cara. The displaced Griefers let out cries of dismay as they fell further down the building until they slammed into the unforgiving street.
After breathing a sigh of relief over surviving the fall, Cara joined the rest of the group as they carefully climbed down. With the Griefers still patrolling the streets below, the group thought it safer to swing into the lower floor of the skyscraper and stay hidden.
Attila guided them through the broken floor and down shattered staircases as they made their way to the basement. There was water leaking into it through holes spanning the length of the building, but Attila assured it was a good thing…
Right before she set up some TNT in the center of the basement floor.
"Stay back." She warned needlessly as the Silver Intent group had already huddled to the farthest corner. Attila then lit the fuse, and ran over to join them, just as the TNT exploded.
When the smoke and falling debris cleared, it was to reveal a hole that led down into some dark, waterlogged pit.
"The sewers." Cara commented with a grimace, already crawling over to the hole and dangling her legs down into it before she pushed off the ledge. Down she fell, swallowed by darkness, only to land with a faint splash. "This is disgusting…"
"Just pretend it's water." Attila called down as she hopped in to follow.
"I'd like to point out that this is the second time today we've had to pass through toilet water." Floyd bothered to comment as he and Soul both jumped down, followed by Void.
It was frightening to fall, only to have your senses completely obstructed when the light vanished. There weren't any torches or anything. Just pitch black darkness much like the endless Void that started all Crafters' existence.
Of course, the Void didn't have water up to your knees. And Floyd kept telling himself it was just water.
"Can someone put down a torch or—Ow!" Void shouted from somewhere nearby. "Who just scratched me!? Cara?"
"No, why would I—"
*UHNNN!*
"Zombies!" Void shouted before a series of violent splashes sounded to Floyd's left. "Someone turn the lights on!"
Thinking fast, Cara withdrew a splash potion of Night Vision and chucked it into the general area. Immediately, the sewer tunnel came into focus, lighting up in the eyes of every Crafter within the potion's splash radius.
Void was wrestling with two Zombies, his back pressed to the water and his head fighting to stay above the surface. With his enemies in sight, the brown-haired drunk had no problem driving his sword into their chests.
"Get off!" Soul shouted, lumbering through the water and yanking the Zombie off of Void. He then delivered an axe slash with blinding speed to the Zombie's skull. He wrenched the axe out, killing the Zombie in the process and turned to spot another Zombie face. On instinct, the axe wielder swung down onto it.
"Whoa! It's me!" Floyd shouted as he blocked the axe with his sword. The action sent vibrations jarring down his body, but he was able to stop it. The blue-nette was still wearing the Zombie Head to cover his supposed Hacker markings. "Can I take this thing off, yet?"
"Oh… Sorry." Soul mumbled as the blue-nette wrenched the thing off his head. Attila took care of the other Zombie terrorizing Void, eliminating the last visible threat. "Why is it so dark down here anyway?"
"Well, Mobs can't spawn in the light." Attila sarcastically remarked. "They had to keep them darkened, but the sewers were usually off-limits. There was no way the Mobs could climb up onto the streets."
"So then we'll have to be fighting Mobs throughout this whole sewer." Void commented with a swig of his Awkward Potion. "Happy happy."
"I said I needed a capable team." Attila reminded as she waded through the water, picking up soaked rotten flesh and depositing it into her pack. Then she moved over to the sewer's wall and made some motions with her fingers, trying to recall something. "Let's see… the pits are to the west… and the water control station is to the northeast…"
While Attila spoke to herself, Cara called the group over. "How are you all holding up?"
"Well we fell down a sewer, so—"
"You know what I mean." Cara rolled her eyes before softening her expression. "We've already done our mission, guys. We can just go home, really."
"And pass up valuable intel on the cult?" Soul scoffed. "Not a chance. This could be the next devastating strike against them! Think about it; if we can locate the cult's Eastern Division, we could become as famous as the Angel of Death!"
Soul was so excited, Cara didn't have the heart to tell him that it probably wouldn't be that simple. Even with the intel, Brett would want to recruit more fighters, and make a plan. Strategize. Not the all-or-nothing gambit Soul had in mind.
Cara was about to explain this when Attila returned. "Okay, so, I got it all figured out. We need to split up into two groups." Cara seized up in panic, but Attila ignored it. "The direction of the pits and the EXP Factory will have more Mobs, so only the strongest should go. And by strongest, I mean Soul and I."
Soul nodded proudly at the distinction, though Cara stepped forward to protest. "Why are we splitting up? We should stay together."
Attila shook her head though. "We need both the water flow AND the EXP Factory on to call this mission a success. But if the water flow is on, we'll be swept along with the Mobs to be grounded into EXP. We need to turn the Factory on first, get to safety, and then turn the water flow on. And that'll take twice as long if we stay together."
"Twice as long, maybe, but twice as safe." Cara argued, not liking the idea of her team separating.
"We're not facing Hackers." Attila reasoned, though Floyd couldn't help but notice how her eyes slid over to him before snapping back to Cara. "If you're worried about Mobs then you must have little faith in your team."
"I don't have—" Cara stopped as Soul touched his hand to her arm. The purple-haired leader turned to see Soul's confident face. A brief conversation flashed between them in an instant before Cara relented. "Fine. But I want Floyd to go too."
'In case Attila tries anything,' went unsaid.
"That's fine." The brunette nodded before she pointed to Void and Cara, and then down the other end of the sewer. "The water control station is that way. If you follow this tunnel and ignore any branching paths, you should get there in no time." Attila fished in her backpack before pulling out a clock. The arrow was halfway between midnight and dusk. "When it's three-quarters to midnight, turn on the water with the appropriate labeled lever. Hopefully, we'll be done on our end and meet you back at our skyscraper."
Cara pulled out her own clock and nodded. "Three quarters to midnight… with maybe a bit of extra time. Just in case."
Attila chuckled at that. "Just in case."
With that said, the two groups split up. Cara and Void heading to the water control station while Attila, Floyd, and Soul headed to the EXP Factory.
It wasn't long before they found Mobs.
Attila had been right in saying the tunnels were packed with them, and she was right in assuming she'd need capable Crafters to fend them off. With his Night Vision, Floyd spotted Creepers, Spiders, Zombies, Skeletons, and even Cave Spiders nesting in the damp darkness below Nitebane.
The Skeletons were the most problematic, as fighting ranged enemies in water always is. The trio had to use the other Mobs wading towards them as cover, just to avoid the volley of arrows.
Though, as a group of Zombies approached, Floyd had the sudden urge to try something.
He quickly took off his iron helmet and replaced it with the Zombie Head. When he turned to face the Zombies, he made moaning sounds and held his arms out, trying to pretend to be one. The thought process was that they would accept him as one of their own and let him pass.
It was a calculated risk…
…But damn was his math wrong!
"Ow! Okay, that was stupid of m—Soul, don't you hit me again!" Soul stopped himself from swinging his axe as he realized it was just Floyd in a Zombie Head.
"I swear, the resemblance is uncanny…" He tried to defend, even though it really wasn't.
Attila, meanwhile, was placing TNT down behind her and lighting it up. When it exploded, it propelled her through the water like a jet ski, allowing her to cleave a path through the Skeletons.
Not wanting to be outdone, Soul pulled out the boat he had used when traveling down Daymonte's river and paddled forth with it. He swung his axe in a wild arc, dooming and Mob that dared approach.
Floyd had half a mind to do the same with his own boat, but realized there weren't many Mobs left to fight. It even looked like Attila and Soul were competing with each other to see who could kill more.
"Twenty-five!" Attila boasted as she cracked a Skeleton's skull with the hilt of her sword.
"Twenty-SEVEN!" Soul shouted in triumph as he cleaved a Creeper in two.
"Bullshit! You skipped a few numbers… or did you forget how to count?" The brunette taunted, while smacking a cave spider to the side.
"What was that?" Soul called back mockingly. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you over all the kills I'm getting!"
"Oh, very clever, little lost boy." Attila clapped mockingly. "Must have taken you a while to come up with that one."
"Well I—"
In an instant, Attila ricocheted off the sewer walls, slashing at the remaining five Mobs in one fell swoop. She bounced off the side once more and landed right in front of Soul, splashing his face with some water. When she turned her head up, it was to offer a winning smile.
"Thirty-one to twenty-seven." She singsonged haughtily before adding a whispered, "I win."
Responding honorably to his loss, Soul splashed her face with water that Floyd had to keep telling himself was just regular water. The brunette's mouth had been open to boast at the time, meaning she just got a mouthful of just water for her hubris.
"Peh! Peh! Ugh!" She wiped her mouth on the edge of her shirt, which was probably just as soaked in just water as she was. "Poor sport. For shame, little lost boy, for shame."
Soul didn't seem bothered, wading past the brunette like he won the exchange. Meanwhile, Attila bent low and reached her hand deep into the just water to pull out some bones and soaked rotten flesh.
"You must really need supplies." Floyd watched as Attila turned his way. "Going so far for your community, even for half-soaked trash."
Attila smiled softly. "I'm probably not gonna tell them where I found this." She commented as she tried to wring the just water from the rotten flesh. She tilted it to the side, examining it slowly, before reluctantly eating it. She swallowed quickly, not wanting to taste it as it went down, and she looked ill as she recovered some Hunger. "But every bit helps. The bones will certainly be of use back home."
"…If you don't mind me asking, Miss Akrasia," Floyd ventured tentatively, "what made you a part of that community in the first place?"
"Yeah!" Soul shouted, suddenly interested. "And while we're at it, what made you join the Endward Cult? Those bastards are a bunch of killers!"
Attila hummed in thought, shaking some just water off gunpowder she scavenged. "Well… I guess sharing some old stories wouldn't hurt."
Attila waded forward, making sure the two were following before she began her tale.
"You already know that when Nitebane fell, a lot of Crafters made communities in the skyscrapers and blasted them into safe havens away from the Griefers." Soul and Floyd nodded. "Back then, it felt like the whole world was turned upside down. I mean… we were living like refugees. Families and friends were scattered or missing or dead. Nobody knew what happened or what to do or where to start.
"So, naturally, people turned to those that acted like they knew what they were doing. In this case, the Endward Cult."
Soul narrowed his eyes, the memories of what those black-capped Crafters were capable of flitted across his face.
Attila laughed. "I can guess what you're thinking." She turned to Soul, adopting an understanding expression. "I take it the cult took someone from you, right?"
"…Yes." Soul growled, his crimson eyes burning with anger… and regret.
"Well, that's what they tend to do." Attila glanced up, looking at the ceiling of the tunnel when really she was thinking back. "Of course, we didn't know it at the time. The Endward Cult wasn't seen as the murderers they are today. Back then, all we knew about them was that they were a branch of a college. They were studying Normal Sense and how all Crafters have an inherent knowledge of things beyond our comprehension."
Floyd thought back to how he was able to know how to smelt ingots from iron. Or how he knew things his brain couldn't possibly know. Cobb had shown the same thing. Normal Sense.
"We didn't understand what they were studying, but we had no choice but to trust them." Attila continued. "They promised food, protection, and supplies. So long as we joined their 'cause' and help rid them of the Griefers. We agreed, obviously, not knowing that they didn't just want to rid the Kingdom of Griefers… but not caring because we were desperate and hungry."
It wasn't hard for the blue-nette to imagine a group of starving Crafters, stranded in a skyscraper, with no hope of escape. Their best attempts at staving off Griefers being to shoot them or keep them from clawing their way up. They would've turned to anyone… and they did.
"I was a decent fighter, then." Attila continued modestly. "And I couldn't stand to watch the Kingdom I grew up in just roll over and die. So I got stronger and agreed to help the Endward Cult, hoping we could one day overthrow the Griefers and take back control." She sighed wearily. "Funny how things never work out like I want them to."
"What kind of attitude is that?" Soul interjected angrily. "Sounds like you've already given up?"
Attila closed her eyes somberly. "Maybe… I should."
"Cut the crap!" Soul angrily splashed her with some just water. "You wanna give up now after all this time!? Then what was all the hard work for, hmm?"
"You don't understand, Soul." Attila shook her head. "I don't want to give up… I don't! But… I'm starting to wonder if there's any way out of our current predicament. What can I do against a Hacker?"
"You can fight!" Soul shouted, only to grow angrier at Attila's derisive snort. "You can! I don't know how strong you think these Hackers are, but you can't just do nothing! You gotta fight and—!"
"And while I'm fighting, my family will starve!" Attila whipped her head up to glare at Soul. "While I'm fighting, they'll be defenseless! While I'm fighting, they'll loyally run to assist, and get struck down themselves!" She bawled up her fists. "And if I die… my last thoughts will be that they'll die without me."
Soul and Floyd remained silent as Attila tried to reign in her emotions. It wasn't that she was afraid of dying. It was because she didn't know her group was capable enough to survive without her.
"I wish I could be sure." Attila continued, voice cracking. "I desperately wish I could be sure that they'll live. That they can be strong enough to survive, even without me. But… but I can't." She shook her head. "They still need me. And I've lost too many of them recklessly trying to take back Nitebane…
"All the attempts… all the failures… I lose more each time, yet I'm the one that has to keep on living." She tilted her head to look at Soul. "How can I keep living with that? How can I endure losing so much… and stand to lose even more?"
He didn't have an answer. This wasn't like 'The Angel of Death' and her Paragons. This wasn't a trained band of badass Crafters.
This was just Attila, leading a small, starving community of innocent, loving people. They couldn't fight like Attila. There was a reason she had recruited the Silver Intent to gather supplies.
"If it was just me… if my life was the only one at risk, I'd happily storm Lunar Castle and slay Ocan in a heartbeat. But it's not just me." Attila repeated. "It's Kate… and Davey… Marge, Aaron… Shana, Gary, Ross… all of them. It's all of them I'm worried for…"
"…Then teach them how to fight." Soul spoke confidently.
Attila let out a sarcastic titter. "So that they can rush off to their deaths? I don't—"
"I've seen how much they care about you." Soul interrupted, thinking back to the glares they shot his way when he insulted Attila. "They'll run off to fight that Hacker anyway, even if you don't train them."
Soul withdrew his axe and swiped it through the air a few times. "Teach them how to fight for themselves… and then let them fight for you."
Floyd was surprised at how inspirational and moving those words were… and even more so that they came out of Soul's mouth.
Attila looked to Soul in a new light, a soft smiling spreading across her face. Her grayish-green eyes looked hopeful and she stood up a bit straighter. "I guess I could try that…"
Attila leaned forward, her eyes closed as she neared Soul's face. Soul's crimson orbs looked confused at her actions, before they snapped open in shock. Floyd's were the same as he watched Attila's lips near Soul's. Was she about to…?
With the present situation, Soul could only stare blankly at the approaching lips of the brunette. He awkwardly looked to Floyd for some kind of assistance to which the blue-nette mouthed 'I don't know!'
Deciding to just go with it, Soul closed his eyes and leaned forward to meet her half-way. His movements were shaky and his cheeks were heated up in a faint blush…
Floyd saw the edges of Attila's mouth quirk up in a smile. One of her peeked open as she dipped a hand in the just water.
Soul's heated face was soon doused as Attila splashed the unsuspecting axe-wielder with just water. He was so caught off guard that he slipped back, clonking his head on the side of the tunnel and sinking below the just water's surface.
Attila bent over laughing, even as Soul pulled himself out of the water, swearing madly and clutching the back of his head in pain. "Sorry, little lost boy. No kiss until the second date." Soul's face blushed several shades darker, eliciting more laughs from the brunette.
It was enough to get Floyd laughing too. Sure, the axe-wielder would hate him, but this was what friends were for: laughing at each other's expense!
Soul scoffed, trying to shrug off the embarrassment. "See if I ever do anything nice for you again." He muttered under his breath.
"Aww, I'm sorry. Really. I didn't mean to embarrass you." Attila walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, to which the axe-wielder flung aside. "Come on. What you said was really nice. You should say things like that more often."
"Leave me alone." Soul whined as he splashed her face with some just water.
Attila blocked it, smiling mischievously before rushing towards him. "Sounds like somebody needs a hug!"
"Don't touch me, woman!"
"I thought I was just a girl."
"Th-that's what I said! Now stay away!"
Floyd kept on laughing as the two ran down the sewer tunnel. Seeing them get along after they had fought each other the first time they met was a heartwarming sight.
It got him thinking of the fight Soul had with Cobb and how the two obviously didn't like each other.
Maybe there's hope for them too.
Inventory (Floyd): Wooden Shovel, 1 Wooden Pickaxe, 1 Iron Pickaxe, 1 Iron Sword, 1 Wooden Axe {Weak}, 1 Bow, 1 Fishing Rod, 1 Furnace, 1 Crafting Table, 5 Sticks, 3 Ladders, 17 Cobblestone, 1 Oak Wood Door, 1 Minecart, 1 Bed, 1 Boat, 1 Potion of Fire Resistance {8:00}, 1 Banner {Endward Cult}, 1 Potion of Fire Resistance {8:00}, 1 Potion of Swiftness II {1:30}, 1 Potion of Water Breathing {8:00}, 2 Flint, 2 Gunpowder, 9 String, 10 Ink Sacs, 3 Wool, 1 Mob Head {Zombie}, 1 Iron Helmet, 1 Iron Chestplate, 1 Iron Leggings, 1 Iron Boots, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Entry Pass}, 4 Emeralds
[EXP: 15]
AN: Short Chapter. But, eh, what can you do.
I wanted to discuss more of Nitebane's History, but it didn't come naturally. Next time it'll probably be discussed more in-depth, along with a few other bits of info about the Endward Cult.
Again, I really like Attila in that she's a Crafter who wants to save her Kigndom... but at the same time, she wants the comfort of knowing her people can survive without her. I feel like secretly that's what all parents want: To raise a child that can support themselves and grow and live on.
This Chapter had a bit more humor... but I swear to god if someone makes one more ship name, disaster will strike.
Don't think I won't do it! I'm the writer here! I can write whatever I want! I'll go all Game of Thrones on these characters if you force my hand.
...Not really.
But, please, no more ship names! It's getting kind of stupid.
It's been a while since an Omake. There's one below.
I won't be able to write next week because I have several real-life priorities to deal with. But I'm sure you'll be able to manage.
Omake: Till it Breaks
"Aha! Guess who just found a chest full of bones!" A smuggler shouted out gleefully as he piled them all into his backpack.
"Good find." The smugglers had moved to the suburbs on the outskirts of the Kingdom to search for supplies. Larril smirked just thinking about the 'favors' they could ask of Attila once they showed off their latest merchandise.
Of course, there was no way that little brunette and her community of misfits could ever scrounge enough emeralds. So she would just have to keep begging like the little bitch she was.
"Hey, Larril." The same smuggler raised his hand. "Since I found them, you mind if I make the demands of Attila?"
Larril's smirk quickly morphed into a disgruntled frown. "No. I'm in charge of the ten of us, so I make the demands. The rest of you are just muscle."
"Oh, come on." Another smuggler whined. "Can't you just… throw us a bone?" As he said that, he held up one of their newly found bones, like a stage prop.
"…I'm gonna forget I heard that." Larril gave a short two-note whistle to signal his fellow smugglers to leave. By then, they had picked the house clean and were ready to move on to the next one.
However, as they exited onto the suburb streets, Larril noticed something off about their group.
There was supposed to be ten people. Nine smugglers and himself.
So… why was there an extra female?
"Hi there."
Immediately, Larril and his nine smugglers jumped away from the extra Crafter, readying their blades and bows. "Where the hell did you come from?"
The blue-haired female ignored the question. Instead, she turned her head to regard each of the smugglers. For someone surrounded by hostile enemies, she seemed unconcerned.
"Hmmm…" The woman tapped her chin in mock contemplation. "I don't think I can take you to go…"
"Hey! Bitch!" One of the smugglers stepped forward, keeping his bow trained on the woman's head. "Our boss just asked you a quest—"
The smuggler never got to finish his sentence as a fist crashed into his face in the blink of an eye. The smuggler was already rendered unconscious from that one blow, but the smiling blue-haired Crafter deemed it necessary to follow up with another punch to the face. There was the sharp sound of a nose breaking before the smuggler finally fell over.
The remaining smugglers could only gawk at what they just witnessed. The woman hadn't even used a sword or bow, yet she knocked one of them out in an instant.
The blue-haired woman grinned down at the unconscious smuggler. "That's one point!" She cheered happily. "Now for all the rest of you, we're gonna play a little game I like to call 'Till it Breaks!' Don't worry though, the rules are suuuuper easy."
A few smugglers took a step back, while the few archers began shooting at the weird woman.
However, she quickly side-stepped each shot, dodging them by a fraction of a hair each time. And yet, she looked to be spending the minimum amount of focus on her movements.
"Now you see—whoa there—" She interrupted herself whenever she dodged a particularly close attack. "Each of you has breakable body parts. The more important the part—whoopsie!—the more points I give it. Like, for example… "
One of the smugglers rushed in with a sword. As he swung it towards the blue-haired woman, she twirled to the side before darting under the smuggler's guard and kicking the side of his knee. There was a creaking sound and the smuggler buckled.
"Al~most!" The blue-haired woman sing-songed as she lifted the smuggler's foot while pinning the other one with her knee and yanked hard, twisting it sharply.
*CRACK*
"EIYAAAAGGGHHH!" The smuggler howled in agony as the woman let the broken leg fall. It was bent at the knee in a way legs should never bend. "That's five points, right there." The woman chirped to the horrified smugglers. "Arms. Ribs. Skulls. Spines. Anything counts. And if I break a hundred points," she giggled, "then I win! Though I'm gonna try and break my record." Another light giggle. "Ahh, I could do this all day…"
"What… what are you!?" Another smuggler made the mistake of shouting to catch the blue-haired woman's attention.
She tilted her head to the side as she regarded that smuggler, the moonlight gleaming of her feral smile.
That same smile soon took up that smugglers sight as she darted before him and brought her elbow down on his collarbone. The sickening crunch and the smuggler's cry of agony told everyone she just earned a few more points.
However, she didn't stop there. She somersaulted into the air before angling down into a shattering drop kick upon the prone smuggler's chest. There was a creak and a few audible snaps. A bit of spittle flew out of the smuggler's mouth as he seemed too blinded by pain to react properly. Yet his ribcage didn't break. That brought a disappointed frown to the woman's face.
"Hmm… let me try that again…" The woman commented idly as she jumped off the smuggler with a front flip before straightening her feet out to dig into the poor Crafter's chest again.
*CRRRACK*
"There's the twenty-pointer." The woman looked pleased at the smuggler whimpering on the ground. "Buuuuut, I can probably get a few more points off his arms…" She rolled the smuggler onto his belly, indifferent to his suffering, before gripping his left arm at the elbow and forearm.
"P-please…" The smuggler begged, his mind fighting to form words through a haze of pain. His efforts were only met with a sharp yank and a splintering snap of bone.
"Sweet! Now to break the other one so I get the point-multiplier!" As the woman wiggled her fingers eagerly over the smugglers right arm, she paused to look up from her work. "You know, you guys don't have to wait your turn." The other smugglers stood frozen as they watched their comrade's torture. They were too terrified to do anything. "No? Al~righty, but remember you can jump in whenever you feel like it."
The casual, almost inviting way she said that was a sharp contrast to how she broke the smuggler's right arm immediately after. "At this rate, the only thing I won't be breaking is a sweat! Hehehe…"
"R-run away!" Larril ordered as he and the six uninjured smugglers fled down the street, abandoning their downed brethren.
"What the—there's no running in this game!" The woman cried out in annoyance as she pursued.
"Split up!" Larril shouted, realizing that that was his best bet in escaping the crazy woman. She couldn't go after all of them and there was a good chance she'd run after the others.
Even though his chances were good, it didn't matter. Looking ahead, he saw the street was blocked off by several Crafters wearing…
Black leather caps. Larril gasped. The Endward Cult.
He and his fellow smugglers skid to a halt as the black-capped cultists held out their swords to point directly at them. It was then that he heard a strangled cry sound from behind.
He whirled to watch the blue-haired woman riding atop the smuggler's shoulders, her arms wrapped around his neck in a powerful hold. Her grin was absolutely manic as she jerked her arms to the side, snapping his neck.
The smuggler fell to the ground, like a puppet with its strings cut, with the woman kneeling atop his back. She poked at the smuggler's neck, tilting her head to get a better look at his face. He twitched a little, but couldn't move until his Health ticked back up to heal the broken neck.
The woman just shrugged before rolling off the smuggler and back to her feet.
Larril's eyes darted between the woman and the band of cultists. He had to think fast if he wanted to survive this.
Suddenly, Larril pointed to the woman. "Hey, lady! Why don't you try playing your game with them!?" He thrust his finger in the cultists' direction, surprising a few of them.
"Psh. Because they're my rock-paper-scissor buddies. Duh." The woman answered back without missing a beat, tripping up the smuggler.
"Wha… y-you mean," the head smuggler gulped, "y-you're with them!?"
"Yup-yup!" The blue-haired woman beamed with an innocent smile deceiving of her true nature. "Now, could you maybe show a bit of backbone?" Her smile turned into a playful grin. "I promise not to break it~!"
Three of the smugglers crumpled to the ground, holding each other in sheer terror of the woman skipping towards them. Larril remained where he was, working his brain twice as fast to escape the situation.
The last two smugglers had their eyes flickering between the cultists barring their path and the terrifying blue-haired woman that took pleasure in breaking bones. They chose the lesser of two evils as they charged the blockade of cultists.
They were brutally put down as half-a-dozen swords impaled them, killing them instantly. It was the sight of their heads skittering across the ground that finally gave Larril an idea on how to escape the situation.
"W-wait!" He cried out, hands held up in surrender. "We… we can make a deal!" The blue-haired woman didn't seem to have heard him as she skipped closer and closer. "We-we're just some lowly smugglers! We're not worth killing!"
"Aww, don't sell yourself short." The blue-haired woman finally responded as she cracked her knuckles. "You look worthy enough to me."
"Just… just wait—Agh!" The smuggler yelped in fright as the hand he held up in surrender was roughly grabbed and brought level to the ground. The woman then jumped, twisting her body so that his arm was between her legs before the added weight knocked him to the ground.
In his current position, Larril found himself pinned to the ground by the woman's legs in a far side arm bar. His head spun to face her and watched her toothy grin as she began to pull on his arm with all her strength.
"S-stop!" Larril cried out desperately as the woman pulled more and more. "Y-you cultists like to kill Crafters, right!?" He winced as his arm creaked in protest. "W-WE CAN FIND YOU MORE!"
Just when he thought his arm was going to break, the pulling suddenly stopped. His arm was still held and he was still pinned to the ground, but the woman had stopped.
She tilted her head to look at him curiously. "More?"
"Y-yes!" Larril nodded his head frantically. "Spare me and… and I-I-I can help you find a lot more Crafters. A lot more."
A whole community worth, in fact.
The woman frowned, tilting her head up to think it over, all while in the same position.
"S-so?" Larril questioned nervously. "Do we have a—AUGH!"
A sharp snap followed by blinding pain that slowly dulled to a tingly feeling in his left arm left Larril curled upon himself. "Don't rush me." The woman chided, though she rolled to her feet and pointed to the watching cultists.
"Make sure he doesn't get away." She ordered, hiking a thumb towards Larril. "We got time anyway. I'll finish off those broken points later. And as for you three…" She strolled over to the three cowering smugglers still shirking away from her. She hovered over them with a predatory smile. "I'll need a few hundred more points, please."
AN: Welp, I'm scared.