The Realm Between: A LitRPG Saga (Books 7 - 10), page 42
“It is because Dyasitet has lost a piece of her,” Princess Zadori elucidated as she poked the embers with a stick. “Until we unite the Life Resin Orb with the Memory Lantern, Sheidan will remain in darkness.”
“Is that why the helioflies are gone, too?” he asked.
“Yes.” She nodded. “They migrate away from this area during the Great Trek. That’s what this event is formally called. I never thought I’d be a part of it.”
“None of us did.” Rerdam grunted.
“I’m actually quite fond of the darkness.” Uden stood and walked several yards away, stopping at the edge of the fire’s light and looking out into the black forest. He could see everything that most of the others couldn’t with his night vision.
“The dark doesn’t typically bother me either,” Jin spoke up, “but this is a different kind of darkness. It’s unsettling.” He hugged the Life Resin Orb a bit closer to his chest.
Feeling that he might need comfort, and perhaps out of her own fear of the night, Princess Zadori moved nearer to the elf. If he noticed, he paid her no mind, keeping his gaze on the fire as if lost deep in thought.
Though sleep didn’t come easily, they still took their customary watch shifts.
One of the thorn creatures emerged from the darkness during Rerdam’s turn, using the blackness of night to camouflage itself as it crept closer. It went straight for Jin, who was curled up on the floor in a fetal position around the Life Resin Orb. It reached him, too, stabbing him in the back of his head with one of its brambles and dealing almost half of his Health points in damage. The elf’s scream of pain woke them all before the old knight had even noticed the monster.
Rerdam moved as quickly as he could, but in his haste, he stumbled, missing his first swing at the creature, the blade of his sword burying into the dirt only a foot away from Jin’s head, which was still impaled on one of the monster’s brambles.
Upon seeing the predicament that the elf was in, the entire camp erupted in panic.
Azure thought his heart would beat out of his chest as he went for his sword. Should the creature land another critical hit on the elf, he would most definitely perish.
Princess Zadori fumbled for her bow. So shaken by the sight before her, she could not keep an arrow nocked to her bowstring.
It was the half-imp who rushed in to save the day, jumping on the brambly monster with a cross-slash that made it roll back away from Jin. Pieces of black debris went flying everywhere, but it wasn’t enough to stop the creature, who was still determined to claim the orb for itself.
Azure barely had time to Analyze the monster before it countered against Uden, running him through his chest and abdomen and dropping his Health points by half as well.
Level 31 Baleful Bramble.
The half-imp immediately fell back, his body suddenly flashing with an almost blinding light before his Health went up 100 points. It didn’t take much guessing to realize he had used the Heal Burst ability of his Silk Leggings of Life.
Rerdam stepped in to take his place, succeeding where he had failed initially, though this time he slashed across, shaving a good third off the creature’s top.
Azure tried to swing down on it, but the baleful bramble rolled backward, effectively dodging.
Princess Zadori crawled over to Jin, trying her best to pull him away from the monster, though it didn’t work very well when she weighed so much less than him. He had one hand on the back of his head trying to stop the bleeding and his other arm wrapped around the orb, but he barely seemed cognizant of what was going on around him.
Uden approached a lot more cautiously this time, slicing at whatever brambles reached out to attack him. Each swipe of his dagger caused a piece of the creature to rain down onto the ground. However, he was making no purchase toward ultimately dispatching it.
The baleful bramble, tiring of the half-imp hacking away at it, rolled forward in a violent attack. Reaching out its thorny limbs at an angle, they came in from the sides, wrapping around Uden and shredding through what little armor he had on. His bloodcurdling scream echoed through the forest, and his Health dropped to a critical level as the smell of copper filled the air, a red mist floating on it for half a second.
With their party falling like dominoes, desperation took hold. Rerdam let out a mighty war cry as he swooped in from behind the baleful bramble and chopped his sword down right in the middle of it. The black mass of branches finally gave way, dividing into two separate halves that fell harmlessly to each side. The monster’s death grip on Uden relaxed, and the half-imp was able to pry himself free, though he instantly fell to the floor from his massive wounds.
“Are you all right?” Azure was quick to the half-imp’s side, propping him up while Uden dug through his bag for the healing potions that Dyasitet had given him.
“Do I look all right?” The half-imp gave Azure a nasty glare but never stopped what he was doing.
Similarly, Princess Zadori was tending to Jin, but with a lot more care. He pulled handfuls of potions out of his bag, and she uncorked them for him, her face set with concern.
“Is my brain bleeding out of the back of my head?” he asked Azure as soon as he felt well enough to turn to face him.
Azure just shook his head. “I can’t see, man. It’s too dark.”
“It sure feels like it is.” The elf groaned and then kept drinking potions.
“Some watchman you are!” Uden seethed up at Rerdam.
The old knight was standing guard with his hand on the pommel of his sword while everyone else healed up or tended to the wounded.
“It’s dark. I couldn’t see.” There was only the slightest hint of apology in Rerdam’s voice as he kept his eyes set on the forest. “But before you blame me,” he glanced down at Jin, “why wasn’t your owl doing his job? He can see in this better than any of us?”
“When I sleep, he sleeps,” the elf replied irritably.
In a matter of minutes, Jin had drunk enough potions to be close to 100% healed. The wound on the back of his head had stopped bleeding, and he was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed, the orb in his lap.
Uden had used all the potions that Dyasitet had given him, which wasn’t much. At only 190 Health, he was still bleeding profusely from multiple wounds. Just moving caused him to wince from pain.
“Maybe you should use the power of the leggings again,” Azure suggested.
The half-imp scrunched his face up. “No. We just started this quest. I’ll likely need it in case of emergencies…like this one.” He glared at Rerdam again.
Feeling sympathy for Uden, who Azure had come to think of as a brother, he dug into his Bag of Holding to offer the half-imp the 3 Potions of Minor Healing that Dyasitet had given him. Having plenty of backups, Azure didn’t feel like he really needed them. Better to make sure all their fighters were able to perform if they should get attacked again.
Uden thanked him, his expression that of true sincerity, before he drank down the contents. While it still wasn’t enough to bring him to even half of his original Health, he looked a lot better afterward.
“He’s right.” The elf stood before addressing the old knight directly. “If we are to be attacked at night, you aren’t fit to guard us.”
“Now, hold on there.” Deep lines formed on Rerdam’s face.
“He and I both have night vision.” Jin gestured to the half-imp, cutting the old knight off. “We should be the ones keeping watch. And Azure,” he seemed to add as an afterthought.
“Why me?” Azure had no special skills that would help him detect enemies in the dark.
“Because I trust you.” The elf glanced at him.
“And you don’t trust me?” Rerdam drew his hand up to his chest. “I’m the one who killed that thing!” He pointed at the broken body of the baleful bramble.
“I know. That’s why I need you well rested. You’re a much better fighter than you are a watchman.” Jin softened the blow, but it still didn’t quell the old knight’s discontent.
“I’ll have you know that I’ve been taking watch duty since before these three were in diapers.” He looked from Princess Zadori to Azure, then to Uden.
“This is not negotiable,” the elf said firmly. “Uden, Azure, and I will rotate guard duty. You will focus on protecting the princess.”
And with that, the conversation was over.
GOD OF LIFE
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
THE REALM – DAY 717
The rest of the night passed in peaceful silence, though none of them slept well except for Uden. He needed all the recovery he could get.
As soon as light peeked over the horizon, they were on the move again. Tiny Owl took off ahead to warn them of any dangers in their path, and he didn’t come back until midafternoon, informing Jin that two low-level barbed skeletons were heading in their direction. Neither were armed, but both wore random pieces of armor.
After a moment of deliberation, the group decided to face them head-on. The more monsters they took out now, the less would have a chance to ambush them later. Besides, they weren’t that much of a threat.
Knowing what they were up against, Rerdam and Azure took the lead with Uden behind them and Princess Zadori and Jin at the rear. Tiny Owl kept track of the distance between Azure’s party and the barbed skeletons so that they would have the advantage.
Once the skeletons were close enough, Azure and his friends all Stealthed and took cover behind a copse of trees to lie in wait.
Rerdam was the first to rush out and greet the unaware skeletons, though the one he attacked had quick reflexes and was able to dodge out of the way of his sword. The second skeleton wasn’t so lucky when Uden came around the corner, putting all his weight into a side swing with both of his daggers that knocked off one of the skeleton’s arms.
Princess Zadori was of little use with her bow, so she played Bard Protect on her flute instead, keeping close to Jin as if the spell would cover him as well.
The barbed skeleton that Uden had attacked swung at him with its good arm but missed. Losing a limb had put it at a disadvantage.
Azure moved in to quickly end it, lopping the monster’s head off with an upward slash of his sword. The head landed and rolled several yards away, the mass of barbed bones instantly collapsing.
Defeated Level 25 Barbed Skeleton. 200XP rewarded.
The skeleton still engaged with Rerdam managed to claw a boney hand across his shoulder, though it didn’t score the flesh deep. Countering, the old knight swung his sword, slicing the skeleton in half at its torso. Its jaw chattered noisily as it fell as if cursing Rerdam with its final moments.
“That one was much easier,” the old knight said, pleased despite his injury.
The skeleton that Rerdam had slain donned a bronze collar while the other wore a bronze vambrace on the arm that the half-imp had left intact. Azure bent to pick up the loot he had earned from finishing it off.
You have received the following item:
Small Bronze Vambrace
Defense: +8
Type: Heavy Armor
Durability: 1/20
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 0.4 kg
The defense bonus for just one vambrace was better than Azure’s Black Wolf Bracers and his Black Wolf Armplates. He wondered if he could swap out one of his armplates with the vambrace and still get the bonus as if he were wearing two Black Wolf Armplates, but when he tried to put the Small Bronze Vambrace on, he found it wouldn’t fit, which was a disappointment. Regrettably, the Small Bronze Vambrace ended up in his Bag of Holding to be sold later.
They continued on, expecting more monsters but encountering none.
“This is not as bad as I had thought it would be,” Princess Zadori confessed when they stopped to camp for the night.
“You didn’t almost get killed,” Uden grumbled as he rolled out his bedroll.
“I’m talking about the number of monsters.” She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment. “Dyasitet had made it sound like we were going to get swarmed.”
“I’m a bit surprised as well,” Jin admitted, sitting on the ground and cradling the Life Resin Orb in his lap.
“Maybe we’re making good time, or perhaps we left before the monsters had a chance to get here.” Azure shrugged.
“I doubt that.” Rerdam shook his head. “We still might be under Dyasitet’s protection. Besides, we are still heading toward The Deathlands, not away from it.”
“This is true.” The elf nodded. “We should always be on guard.”
Azure was the first to take a watch shift, and just as he had feared, something lumbered out of the darkness to attack not long after everyone else had gone to sleep. A barbed skeleton wearing a helm made a beeline for Jin, its arms outstretched, ready to snatch the Life Resin Orb from him. But Azure had been standing at the head of where the elf was sleeping. Nothing was getting past him.
Upon seeing the skeleton, Azure swung his blade up like a golf club. Having been leaning on it while he was keeping watch, it was the easiest way to make a quick attack. The wind from his efforts caused the hood of Jin’s robe to flap in the breeze. Azure ended up catching the barbed skeleton in the ribs, merely breaking off a few pieces of them.
“Wake up!” he yelled to his comrades as he stepped forward to push the skeleton away from the elf.
Unfortunately, the monster didn’t give, and Azure moved right into its grasp. Angered by the attack, the skeleton wrapped its bony hands around Azure’s neck, the barbs on its fingers digging through his armor and deeply puncturing his throat.
Critical hit! Level 25 Barbed Skeleton delivers 250 damage.
The damage was enough to shave off a quarter of his Health. To make matters worse, the skeleton wasn’t letting go, intent on strangling Azure to death.
Princess Zadori rushed over to grab Jin by the arm and pull him away. As soon as they were at a safe distance, she took out her flute and began playing Bard Protect.
With Azure still in the monster’s grasp, Rerdam was hesitant to take a swing at it. He circled around the skeleton, moving in to make an attack, but the monster spun around, using Azure as a human shield. The old knight’s blade stopped just short of hitting him.
Uden was slow to get to his feet, but after a few groggy moments, he was able to help, doing his best to circle around the other side of the skeleton. Very much aware of what they were doing, the monster backed up, continuing to use Azure as a shield.
Tired of being dragged around and fearing another critical hit, Azure took a risk, grabbing the skeleton by its wrists and using all his strength to bend them inward. The barbs pulled out of his neck, and one of the monster’s wrists snapped from the force, causing it to silently roar in pain. Then Azure bitchslapped it with its own hand before effectively pushing it back.
Pissed off at the whole situation, he bent to pick up his sword while the skeleton was recovering.
Rerdam was already moving in to make the killing blow, but Azure wasn’t about to let him steal this from him.
“He’s mine!” he growled at the old knight, causing him to back off.
Swinging his sword overhead and chopping downward, Azure cut the skeleton from collar to sternum, bringing the fight to an end.
Defeated Level 25 Barbed Skeleton. 200XP rewarded.
Before he even bothered to celebrate, he assessed his injuries, resting the point of his sword on the ground and using his free hand to palpate his wounds. The punctures were deep and still bleeding, but luckily they only hurt if he moved his head.
Too stubborn to drink a healing potion, Azure bent to claim his loot.
You have received the following item:
Small Bronze Helm
Defense: +10
Type: Heavy Armor
Durability: 20/20
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 0.6 kg
He would have been excited about the helm if it fit his head. Just like the last piece of armor he’d received as loot, his body was too big to accommodate it. It was especially disappointing because he felt like he might eventually end up with a full set of armor if they kept killing these skeletons.
Jin offered to take over Azure’s shift early. Since he wasn’t fighting, the elf was not expending as much energy as the rest of his party. Besides, he had better eyes at night.
Azure wasn’t about to argue with his king.
Even though he had been allowed to sleep early, it wasn’t long before Jin was rousing his comrades due to an oncoming attacker. Thanks to Tiny Owl, they knew about the baleful bramble before it arrived and were able to be ready for it.
Azure was the first to act the second it rolled into the light, slamming his blade down directly on top of it.
Critical hit!
He had thought that would have been enough to defeat it until his Zweihander of Vengeance bounced right off the thing and it kept rolling.
Rerdam was right behind him, slashing away as well.
This particular bramble seemed to be remarkably resilient.
It struck out at the old knight, but he was able to dodge.
Knowing better than to try to fight the thing, Princess Zadori stood in the back with Jin, playing Bard Protect on her flute.
Grumpy from being woken a second time, Uden went in full force, slashing at the baleful bramble as if it had offended him with its presence. Black limbs went flying everywhere, and the monster quickly retreated into the shadows where it thought it had the advantage.
Azure followed until it disappeared, feeling it was unsafe to step out of the fire’s glow. Rerdam did the same, leaving the monster in the hands of the angry half-imp.
A few minutes later, a notification popped up in Azure’s vision, and Uden returned panting but no worse for wear otherwise.
“Is that why the helioflies are gone, too?” he asked.
“Yes.” She nodded. “They migrate away from this area during the Great Trek. That’s what this event is formally called. I never thought I’d be a part of it.”
“None of us did.” Rerdam grunted.
“I’m actually quite fond of the darkness.” Uden stood and walked several yards away, stopping at the edge of the fire’s light and looking out into the black forest. He could see everything that most of the others couldn’t with his night vision.
“The dark doesn’t typically bother me either,” Jin spoke up, “but this is a different kind of darkness. It’s unsettling.” He hugged the Life Resin Orb a bit closer to his chest.
Feeling that he might need comfort, and perhaps out of her own fear of the night, Princess Zadori moved nearer to the elf. If he noticed, he paid her no mind, keeping his gaze on the fire as if lost deep in thought.
Though sleep didn’t come easily, they still took their customary watch shifts.
One of the thorn creatures emerged from the darkness during Rerdam’s turn, using the blackness of night to camouflage itself as it crept closer. It went straight for Jin, who was curled up on the floor in a fetal position around the Life Resin Orb. It reached him, too, stabbing him in the back of his head with one of its brambles and dealing almost half of his Health points in damage. The elf’s scream of pain woke them all before the old knight had even noticed the monster.
Rerdam moved as quickly as he could, but in his haste, he stumbled, missing his first swing at the creature, the blade of his sword burying into the dirt only a foot away from Jin’s head, which was still impaled on one of the monster’s brambles.
Upon seeing the predicament that the elf was in, the entire camp erupted in panic.
Azure thought his heart would beat out of his chest as he went for his sword. Should the creature land another critical hit on the elf, he would most definitely perish.
Princess Zadori fumbled for her bow. So shaken by the sight before her, she could not keep an arrow nocked to her bowstring.
It was the half-imp who rushed in to save the day, jumping on the brambly monster with a cross-slash that made it roll back away from Jin. Pieces of black debris went flying everywhere, but it wasn’t enough to stop the creature, who was still determined to claim the orb for itself.
Azure barely had time to Analyze the monster before it countered against Uden, running him through his chest and abdomen and dropping his Health points by half as well.
Level 31 Baleful Bramble.
The half-imp immediately fell back, his body suddenly flashing with an almost blinding light before his Health went up 100 points. It didn’t take much guessing to realize he had used the Heal Burst ability of his Silk Leggings of Life.
Rerdam stepped in to take his place, succeeding where he had failed initially, though this time he slashed across, shaving a good third off the creature’s top.
Azure tried to swing down on it, but the baleful bramble rolled backward, effectively dodging.
Princess Zadori crawled over to Jin, trying her best to pull him away from the monster, though it didn’t work very well when she weighed so much less than him. He had one hand on the back of his head trying to stop the bleeding and his other arm wrapped around the orb, but he barely seemed cognizant of what was going on around him.
Uden approached a lot more cautiously this time, slicing at whatever brambles reached out to attack him. Each swipe of his dagger caused a piece of the creature to rain down onto the ground. However, he was making no purchase toward ultimately dispatching it.
The baleful bramble, tiring of the half-imp hacking away at it, rolled forward in a violent attack. Reaching out its thorny limbs at an angle, they came in from the sides, wrapping around Uden and shredding through what little armor he had on. His bloodcurdling scream echoed through the forest, and his Health dropped to a critical level as the smell of copper filled the air, a red mist floating on it for half a second.
With their party falling like dominoes, desperation took hold. Rerdam let out a mighty war cry as he swooped in from behind the baleful bramble and chopped his sword down right in the middle of it. The black mass of branches finally gave way, dividing into two separate halves that fell harmlessly to each side. The monster’s death grip on Uden relaxed, and the half-imp was able to pry himself free, though he instantly fell to the floor from his massive wounds.
“Are you all right?” Azure was quick to the half-imp’s side, propping him up while Uden dug through his bag for the healing potions that Dyasitet had given him.
“Do I look all right?” The half-imp gave Azure a nasty glare but never stopped what he was doing.
Similarly, Princess Zadori was tending to Jin, but with a lot more care. He pulled handfuls of potions out of his bag, and she uncorked them for him, her face set with concern.
“Is my brain bleeding out of the back of my head?” he asked Azure as soon as he felt well enough to turn to face him.
Azure just shook his head. “I can’t see, man. It’s too dark.”
“It sure feels like it is.” The elf groaned and then kept drinking potions.
“Some watchman you are!” Uden seethed up at Rerdam.
The old knight was standing guard with his hand on the pommel of his sword while everyone else healed up or tended to the wounded.
“It’s dark. I couldn’t see.” There was only the slightest hint of apology in Rerdam’s voice as he kept his eyes set on the forest. “But before you blame me,” he glanced down at Jin, “why wasn’t your owl doing his job? He can see in this better than any of us?”
“When I sleep, he sleeps,” the elf replied irritably.
In a matter of minutes, Jin had drunk enough potions to be close to 100% healed. The wound on the back of his head had stopped bleeding, and he was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed, the orb in his lap.
Uden had used all the potions that Dyasitet had given him, which wasn’t much. At only 190 Health, he was still bleeding profusely from multiple wounds. Just moving caused him to wince from pain.
“Maybe you should use the power of the leggings again,” Azure suggested.
The half-imp scrunched his face up. “No. We just started this quest. I’ll likely need it in case of emergencies…like this one.” He glared at Rerdam again.
Feeling sympathy for Uden, who Azure had come to think of as a brother, he dug into his Bag of Holding to offer the half-imp the 3 Potions of Minor Healing that Dyasitet had given him. Having plenty of backups, Azure didn’t feel like he really needed them. Better to make sure all their fighters were able to perform if they should get attacked again.
Uden thanked him, his expression that of true sincerity, before he drank down the contents. While it still wasn’t enough to bring him to even half of his original Health, he looked a lot better afterward.
“He’s right.” The elf stood before addressing the old knight directly. “If we are to be attacked at night, you aren’t fit to guard us.”
“Now, hold on there.” Deep lines formed on Rerdam’s face.
“He and I both have night vision.” Jin gestured to the half-imp, cutting the old knight off. “We should be the ones keeping watch. And Azure,” he seemed to add as an afterthought.
“Why me?” Azure had no special skills that would help him detect enemies in the dark.
“Because I trust you.” The elf glanced at him.
“And you don’t trust me?” Rerdam drew his hand up to his chest. “I’m the one who killed that thing!” He pointed at the broken body of the baleful bramble.
“I know. That’s why I need you well rested. You’re a much better fighter than you are a watchman.” Jin softened the blow, but it still didn’t quell the old knight’s discontent.
“I’ll have you know that I’ve been taking watch duty since before these three were in diapers.” He looked from Princess Zadori to Azure, then to Uden.
“This is not negotiable,” the elf said firmly. “Uden, Azure, and I will rotate guard duty. You will focus on protecting the princess.”
And with that, the conversation was over.
GOD OF LIFE
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
THE REALM – DAY 717
The rest of the night passed in peaceful silence, though none of them slept well except for Uden. He needed all the recovery he could get.
As soon as light peeked over the horizon, they were on the move again. Tiny Owl took off ahead to warn them of any dangers in their path, and he didn’t come back until midafternoon, informing Jin that two low-level barbed skeletons were heading in their direction. Neither were armed, but both wore random pieces of armor.
After a moment of deliberation, the group decided to face them head-on. The more monsters they took out now, the less would have a chance to ambush them later. Besides, they weren’t that much of a threat.
Knowing what they were up against, Rerdam and Azure took the lead with Uden behind them and Princess Zadori and Jin at the rear. Tiny Owl kept track of the distance between Azure’s party and the barbed skeletons so that they would have the advantage.
Once the skeletons were close enough, Azure and his friends all Stealthed and took cover behind a copse of trees to lie in wait.
Rerdam was the first to rush out and greet the unaware skeletons, though the one he attacked had quick reflexes and was able to dodge out of the way of his sword. The second skeleton wasn’t so lucky when Uden came around the corner, putting all his weight into a side swing with both of his daggers that knocked off one of the skeleton’s arms.
Princess Zadori was of little use with her bow, so she played Bard Protect on her flute instead, keeping close to Jin as if the spell would cover him as well.
The barbed skeleton that Uden had attacked swung at him with its good arm but missed. Losing a limb had put it at a disadvantage.
Azure moved in to quickly end it, lopping the monster’s head off with an upward slash of his sword. The head landed and rolled several yards away, the mass of barbed bones instantly collapsing.
Defeated Level 25 Barbed Skeleton. 200XP rewarded.
The skeleton still engaged with Rerdam managed to claw a boney hand across his shoulder, though it didn’t score the flesh deep. Countering, the old knight swung his sword, slicing the skeleton in half at its torso. Its jaw chattered noisily as it fell as if cursing Rerdam with its final moments.
“That one was much easier,” the old knight said, pleased despite his injury.
The skeleton that Rerdam had slain donned a bronze collar while the other wore a bronze vambrace on the arm that the half-imp had left intact. Azure bent to pick up the loot he had earned from finishing it off.
You have received the following item:
Small Bronze Vambrace
Defense: +8
Type: Heavy Armor
Durability: 1/20
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 0.4 kg
The defense bonus for just one vambrace was better than Azure’s Black Wolf Bracers and his Black Wolf Armplates. He wondered if he could swap out one of his armplates with the vambrace and still get the bonus as if he were wearing two Black Wolf Armplates, but when he tried to put the Small Bronze Vambrace on, he found it wouldn’t fit, which was a disappointment. Regrettably, the Small Bronze Vambrace ended up in his Bag of Holding to be sold later.
They continued on, expecting more monsters but encountering none.
“This is not as bad as I had thought it would be,” Princess Zadori confessed when they stopped to camp for the night.
“You didn’t almost get killed,” Uden grumbled as he rolled out his bedroll.
“I’m talking about the number of monsters.” She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment. “Dyasitet had made it sound like we were going to get swarmed.”
“I’m a bit surprised as well,” Jin admitted, sitting on the ground and cradling the Life Resin Orb in his lap.
“Maybe we’re making good time, or perhaps we left before the monsters had a chance to get here.” Azure shrugged.
“I doubt that.” Rerdam shook his head. “We still might be under Dyasitet’s protection. Besides, we are still heading toward The Deathlands, not away from it.”
“This is true.” The elf nodded. “We should always be on guard.”
Azure was the first to take a watch shift, and just as he had feared, something lumbered out of the darkness to attack not long after everyone else had gone to sleep. A barbed skeleton wearing a helm made a beeline for Jin, its arms outstretched, ready to snatch the Life Resin Orb from him. But Azure had been standing at the head of where the elf was sleeping. Nothing was getting past him.
Upon seeing the skeleton, Azure swung his blade up like a golf club. Having been leaning on it while he was keeping watch, it was the easiest way to make a quick attack. The wind from his efforts caused the hood of Jin’s robe to flap in the breeze. Azure ended up catching the barbed skeleton in the ribs, merely breaking off a few pieces of them.
“Wake up!” he yelled to his comrades as he stepped forward to push the skeleton away from the elf.
Unfortunately, the monster didn’t give, and Azure moved right into its grasp. Angered by the attack, the skeleton wrapped its bony hands around Azure’s neck, the barbs on its fingers digging through his armor and deeply puncturing his throat.
Critical hit! Level 25 Barbed Skeleton delivers 250 damage.
The damage was enough to shave off a quarter of his Health. To make matters worse, the skeleton wasn’t letting go, intent on strangling Azure to death.
Princess Zadori rushed over to grab Jin by the arm and pull him away. As soon as they were at a safe distance, she took out her flute and began playing Bard Protect.
With Azure still in the monster’s grasp, Rerdam was hesitant to take a swing at it. He circled around the skeleton, moving in to make an attack, but the monster spun around, using Azure as a human shield. The old knight’s blade stopped just short of hitting him.
Uden was slow to get to his feet, but after a few groggy moments, he was able to help, doing his best to circle around the other side of the skeleton. Very much aware of what they were doing, the monster backed up, continuing to use Azure as a shield.
Tired of being dragged around and fearing another critical hit, Azure took a risk, grabbing the skeleton by its wrists and using all his strength to bend them inward. The barbs pulled out of his neck, and one of the monster’s wrists snapped from the force, causing it to silently roar in pain. Then Azure bitchslapped it with its own hand before effectively pushing it back.
Pissed off at the whole situation, he bent to pick up his sword while the skeleton was recovering.
Rerdam was already moving in to make the killing blow, but Azure wasn’t about to let him steal this from him.
“He’s mine!” he growled at the old knight, causing him to back off.
Swinging his sword overhead and chopping downward, Azure cut the skeleton from collar to sternum, bringing the fight to an end.
Defeated Level 25 Barbed Skeleton. 200XP rewarded.
Before he even bothered to celebrate, he assessed his injuries, resting the point of his sword on the ground and using his free hand to palpate his wounds. The punctures were deep and still bleeding, but luckily they only hurt if he moved his head.
Too stubborn to drink a healing potion, Azure bent to claim his loot.
You have received the following item:
Small Bronze Helm
Defense: +10
Type: Heavy Armor
Durability: 20/20
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 0.6 kg
He would have been excited about the helm if it fit his head. Just like the last piece of armor he’d received as loot, his body was too big to accommodate it. It was especially disappointing because he felt like he might eventually end up with a full set of armor if they kept killing these skeletons.
Jin offered to take over Azure’s shift early. Since he wasn’t fighting, the elf was not expending as much energy as the rest of his party. Besides, he had better eyes at night.
Azure wasn’t about to argue with his king.
Even though he had been allowed to sleep early, it wasn’t long before Jin was rousing his comrades due to an oncoming attacker. Thanks to Tiny Owl, they knew about the baleful bramble before it arrived and were able to be ready for it.
Azure was the first to act the second it rolled into the light, slamming his blade down directly on top of it.
Critical hit!
He had thought that would have been enough to defeat it until his Zweihander of Vengeance bounced right off the thing and it kept rolling.
Rerdam was right behind him, slashing away as well.
This particular bramble seemed to be remarkably resilient.
It struck out at the old knight, but he was able to dodge.
Knowing better than to try to fight the thing, Princess Zadori stood in the back with Jin, playing Bard Protect on her flute.
Grumpy from being woken a second time, Uden went in full force, slashing at the baleful bramble as if it had offended him with its presence. Black limbs went flying everywhere, and the monster quickly retreated into the shadows where it thought it had the advantage.
Azure followed until it disappeared, feeling it was unsafe to step out of the fire’s glow. Rerdam did the same, leaving the monster in the hands of the angry half-imp.
A few minutes later, a notification popped up in Azure’s vision, and Uden returned panting but no worse for wear otherwise.
