"Here we go!" Sarah's voice morphed into a growl as a collection of spectral swords manifested into existence around her, spinning over her head like a dance. The swords were easily the size of a small person, each one laced with a jagged, flesh rearing edge. Just the sight of the terrifying blade made Zander shy away in fear, not to mention the bloody aura it gave off, instilling the nearby area in a small layer of blood-colored mist.
Sarah stepped forward as the first thrall emerged into view, pushing back Maia in the center of the formation. The creature emerged from the edge of the void, its massive palms gripping the carpet with intensity as it roared. Its usually hollowed eyes glowed a burning red as it raced towards the group, launching itself into the air with a massive leap, lowing its fist towards the waiting group.
Before it could even reach them, a glowing sword cut through the beast's skin, splitting it in two from the head down. The cut was perfect, spilling the insides of the thrall across the floor, and splitting its halves just enough to miss the waiting scouts, who now faced dozens more thrall, all at once.
[Time Remaining: 30:00]
In just a few seconds, another ten thrall fell to Sarah's blades, but they began to overwhelm her limited arsenal. More than twenty thrall charged them at once, with even more following in their footsteps, all in their desperate, unflinching charge to kill them.
Xavier stepped forward, his axe flashing briefly before slicing through the bodies of two more thrall, their corpses falling silently in the canopy of grunts, shouts, and screams that emerged from the thrall. Another group of thrall rushed forwards, sending a flurry of attacks towards the lone man, but a massive ball of blue fire impacted the closest one, sending the rest reeling from the heat. Xavier glanced back to the source of the fire, his eyes locking with Maia, who nodded to him before continuing her spree of fiery spells.
Zander unsheathed his sword as he watched an endless rain of fire stream upon the thrall, carving a path of flame along the carpeted floors, which caught alight under its burning glory. As more thrall pushed forwards, whispers of flame caught their fur alight, which quickly spread along the course of their bodies. Despite this, the thrall didn't seem to care, pushing instead even further onwards, still posing a danger despite the flame eating away at them. This created a vision of nightmares, these horrifying creatures becoming even more eldritch as a sudden cloak of flame coated their skin.
He slashed forward at a few of the thrall that came near, their usually hardened skin softened by the buffeting fire, which seemed to not only burn them, but weaken them as well. His weapon cleaved through its chest, carving a deep scar into its lungs, which left it crying in pain and writhing on the ground, bleeding until it eventually suffocated on its own blood, or the massive hole left in its chest.
He slashed across the legs of the next thrall, managing to clip its limbs, sending it tumbling to the ground. In just an instant, he raised his blade above his head, the weapon sparking with that familiar blue energy, before slashing down on its head, ending its life in just a few seconds.
The fight continued for a few minutes with the front line managing to hold. Zander helped his comrades in arms as they fought off the horde, taking the brief moments they allowed for an opening to cut down the berserk monsters, cleaving down an impenetrable horde of beasts. They worked in tandem, one assisting another until a massive pile of bodies piled in front of them, their monstrous forms creating higher ground for the scouts to stand upon, which led to even more thrall being taken out.
The fight moved smoothly, despite the immense size of the enemy, the scouts quickly cleaving through the main force of the horde, until something changed. A brute class thrall sprinted through the defensive line, sending Xavier flying backwards with immense force as it charged. Zander and Sarah quickly swung their swords, attempting to cleave through the beast, but it was too quick. The ethereal blades, alongside Zander's sword infused with sword energy, missed. The beast slammed into the group causing the floor of bodies they stood upon to shift.
Zander swung his arms in an attempt to keep his balance as he watched the others fall to their feet, barely managing to catch himself by burying the blade of his sword into the mangled mass of flesh below him. He watched in horror as the beast loomed over Xavier's prone form, grabbing him by the neck. The beast lifted him high above its head, watching as the helpless man flailed about wildly, punching the tempered, closed fist that held him tightly.
He struggled for but a moment, his efforts fruitless as the grip on his neck only tightened. His breathing became ragged and heavy, and Zander could only watch in horror as he began to scream, before his breath was cut off of air completely.
Xavier's shaky hand reached for the upper part of his chest, gripping the necklace he'd worn so fondly throughout their journey. He pulled, ripping the necklace in half, palming the insignia and holding it tightly. "F-forgive me- ack~!" His words were disjointed. "Save me, Lord"
Snap!
His plea came out as a long sigh, as the thrall snapped the man's neck before dropping him, sending him tumbling to the ground, falling limply. The light drained from his eyes by the second as he spent his final moments looking into the sickly yellow wallpaper, his arm reaching weakly for the small, intricate flowers painted along the wall before he finally fell still.
"XAVIER!" Sarah shouted, finally getting back on her feet, her seven blades swimming around her in the air, glowing brighter than ever before. She glared at the thrall that took his life, her eyes filled with intense, infinite hatred. She shot forward, faster than a speeding bullet. She shot through the air in an instant, reaching the thrall that stood over her fallen comrade. Her blades whipped around her, cleaving through the air as the trail of her blood-red aura tracked behind her.
She didn't speak, choosing instead to slaughter her enemies around her, her blades swirling in a twister of blood and gore as tens, if not hundreds of thrall were torn apart. The thrall that had slain Xavier had fallen without her even noticing, caught in her unending torrent of violence. Her voice overpowered the carnage, her scream slowly escalating as she fought. More and more bodies began to fall around her, with some even beginning to fall atop her, burying her in a tomb of corpses.
Zander threw himself back into the fray, diving headfirst into the horde that now surrounded Sarah. He pulled off the mountain of bodies that lay atop her now unmoving form, pulling her free. She gasped for air, pulling herself to her feet in an instant, her eyes ablaze with hot anger.
"Captain-" This was the first time Zander had referred to her by her title. "What do we do?" He asked, looking back towards the rest of the scouts, who struggled against the ever-flowing horde.
Her eyes widened, and she shook her head, seemingly shaking herself from her trance-like state, free of bloodlust. "I-" She stuttered. "We can't escape, not with this many thrall. We need to just survive… Though I'm not sure how" she admitted. Zander's face went pale, but he took a deep breath, steadying himself.
"I shouldn't have brought you here, not with things being so different…" She muttered, slashing her swords towards the nearest group of enemies, cleaving them in two. Her face was plastered with guilt, her expression one of disappointment. Despite her woes, she pushed forward into the crowd of bodies, paving a path that Zander eagerly followed, a bead of sweat drifting down his tired body. He felt his movements begin to slow, his arms becoming significantly more difficult to move. His slashes became sluggish, barely having any power behind them, the only thing allowing him to kill more was his newfound power, which began to fizzle.
[Thrall Killed]
[+3 Essence Gained]
[Thrall Killed]
[+4 Essence Gained]c
[Thrall Killed]
[+1 Essence Gained]
This fight alone had netted him nearly a hundred essence. He didn't quite understand what they were used for besides shopping within the local centers, but having a number that increased with his efforts motivated him to keep moving, to push forward past the certain death that awaited him. He glanced at the timer that had been placed in the corner of his vision, the countdown to their salvation.
[15:24]
Fifteen minutes left… They had already lost a member, and they were quickly becoming exhausted by the second. Grunting, he reluctantly activated his only other ability: [Adrenaline]. In an instant, he felt his tiredness fall away, his movements suddenly filled with life. At the same time however, a small sliver of energy slowly began drifting out of his core, leaving him with a slowly growing feeling of emptiness, as if he was being hollowed out from the inside.
He roared as he launched himself forward, joining Sarah in her unstoppable path of annihilation. He carved through a streak of the horde, turning them into piles of grotesque guts and gore, a remnant of what once was a series of terrifying beasts. He felt his strength skyrocket as he kept killing, the two of them speeding through the horde in an instant, taking over the battlefield in a shower of blood.
Why am I so strong? He asked himself during his insane rampage, his new armor coated in a massive stain of blood. Even against the brute class thrall, he'd have been crushed in an instant, and he was sure a normal thrall would kill him, even if he gained a lot of stats during this fight. Shaking himself out of it, he kept fighting, another minute ticking by, and then another, and another.
[10:00]
The lights suddenly turned back on around their complex, enveloping them in a blanket of bright red light. Zander missed a step as the lights suddenly flicked on, sending him tumbling into a corpse of a thrall, cut in half.
SKRAAAAAA~!
Another vicious scream resonated throughout the halls, this time hundreds more resonating eerily in the newfound light. Zander's mind flashed back to the moment the raids hit The Garden, remembering the thousands of buzzards that clawed their way up the walls, just as the thrall did before. His face flushed with terror as he remembered the destruction they caused. He remembered their sharpened claws glinting in the bright light, their sharpened teeth biting into the flesh of their victims, and the crunch of bones as the monsters celebrated their hunt.
"Agh~!" Maia's shrieked in the midst of the horde. Separated from her group, she and Reginald had been fighting together, taking on the seemingly never ending hordes with deadly efficiency. Zander turned his head towards the two, only to see a lone Maia, standing atop a massive group of thrall. She screamed as one of them grabbed her leg, pulling her balance out from underneath her, sending her toppling to the floor.
"No!" cried Reginald, who fought only a few feet away, just barely out of reach. He slammed his fist into the nearest thrall, sending it tumbling to the ground with a yelp, his other arm outstretched in an attempt to help Maia, but it was to no avail. A palm the size of Zander's head gripped his shoulder, sending him flying back into another waiting squad of bloodthirsty monsters.
Maia was in no better shape. She unleashed a fiery wall at her nearest attacker, whose close-fisted hand still held onto her ankle, her efforts having seemingly little effect on the monster. The beast roared in her face, sending her reeling, falling to her knee as the scream disoriented her. Just as she began to stand back up, the monster pulled on her limb, grabbing her firmly by her thigh, and slinging her over its shoulder, like a sack of potatoes. She opened her palm, slapping its sides with fire-empowered punches, but it had little effect, her magic power drained from the elongated fight. She let out a heartbreaking sob as she felt her power drain away, knowing she couldn't stop what was to come.
Zander beelined to her, finding himself stopped by more thrall at every turn. He sliced the bicep of a thrall, sending it reeling in pain, only to be blocked by another one, then ten more. He screamed in anger as he kept fighting, but he found himself being pushed back by the swarm, and eventually he fell to one knee. A thrall loomed over him, its arms raised in a brazen attempt to slam him into the ground, an act that would surely kill him, but he managed to scoot out of the way just in the nick of time, skidding across the carpet on his back. His eyes darted back and forth as he moved, just barely finding Sarah fighting between two brute class thrall, their skin glowing a vibrant green, a symbol of some magical power.
As Zander struggled to find a foothold, he glanced back over towards Maia, who still flailed from the thrall's shoulders. Its hollowed eyes blinked blankly at her as it watched her pointless struggle, as if observing her like a lab rat. Just faster than Zander could process, he watched as the thrall shifted Maia off of its shoulder, before pulling down.
Maia slammed into the ground, face first. Her head split open, blood spilling out of her skull onto the carpet, creating a puddle of blood and viscera pooled around where she hit the ground. Zander's blood ran cold, an overwhelming feeling of dread coursing across his body as he watched her twitch on the ground, a small groan barely audible amongst the chaos. Time seemed to still as he watched as the thrall flipped her over, watching her frantic eyes as what remained of her mangled body struggled to survive. The thrall raised a fist, its unmoving and inexpressible face remaining constant, a reminder of its uncaring, barbaric nature.
Thud!
The rest of Maia's face was caved in, smushing anything from her jaw up into a red paste.
Whoom. Zander almost fell on his back as he felt his power drop, his seemingly unending strength halving in an instant as Maia died. His strikes felt weak as he fought off the next few thrall, his expression turning dire as he felt his advantage fall away. Now surrounded by three thrall, he struggled immensely, barely avoiding their attacks by a hair. He groaned as a punch slammed into him, sending him sprawling on the floor. He scrambled to his feet in an instant, just barely avoiding the next flurry of attacks that launched towards him. He staggered, managing to throw a desperate slash towards the nearest thrall, slashing its arms deeply. It stumbled for a moment, faceplanting on the ground. It shrieked violently, but its scream was cut short as its comrades stomped on its face in an attempt to get to Zander, killing it instantly.
Now, with only two, he still struggled. It seemed that whatever spell Maia had cast, it was the reason for their continued success prior. He took a glancing blow, feeling the wind get knocked out of him as he backwards. As he moved through the air, he saw another fist fly towards him. He twisted, his body barely managing to spin in the air. The attack barely zoomed past, grazing the side of his stomach slightly, its small claws leaving a mark on his skin. He gasped as pain flooded his vision, the two attacks doing a number on him as he tried to scramble out of the way. The two thrall followed him, as if they were closing down on their prey, and he felt his life flash before his eyes as they loomed above.
He closed his eyes, squinting as the next attack came instantly, waiting for the release of death, only for one of Sarah's ghostly swords to come swinging in, slashing through the beasts' arms. Two massive, furred hands fell to the ground as blood spewed from the wound, splashing Zander in spurts of blood. The sword zipped around the two monsters, before turning its blade directly towards their chest, its form blurring as it sped through their bodies, piercing their hearts.
Zander gasped, regaining his footing before sending a glancing look back towards Maia's corpse, and Reginald, who was now within arms reach.
"NO!"
Reginald screamed in anguish, his face twisting in a guilt ridden expression, his hand gripping the brim of his shirt, just above his heart. He sobbed as he fought off the few other thrall around him, before rushing towards Maia's prone form, avenging her in an instant. He fell to his knees as he held her body in his arms, tears flowing down his face as he began to wail, his voice hoarse in sorrow.
Zander choked a struggling sob, holding tears back as small flashes of Xavier and Maia flew through his mind. The time they'd been together had been short, but they had been the only friends he'd had while on this layer. Sorrow gripped at him like a noose around his neck.
Zander swapped into a fully defensive stance, his strength no longer able to overpower the thrall without a devastating blow from his sword energy. He carefully timed his attacks with his dodges, doing his best not to engage more than one monster at a time, another minute ticking down from the clock as their struggle continued.
[5:00]
[Good luck]
The harrowing message spread itself across Zander's vision as he and Sarah struggled for survival, the horde thinning visibly as thrall stopped pouring over the side, leaving around one hundred weaker thrall left. Sarah roared with effort as she doubled her efforts, her swords swimming through the air around her, acting as miniature turrets. She held one of her spectral swords in her hand, using it as her main weapon as she thrusted, piercing the head of a neighboring thrall, before spinning in a one hundred and eighty degree turn, quickly slashing the neck of another. It clutched its new wound, falling to the ground as blood seeped from its neck, before suffocating on its own blood.
Zander grunted as he stepped up, grateful his [Adrenaline] ability hadn't sent him into a rampage. He turned off the ability as their numbers began to thin, until finally, the last remaining thrall fell to the ground, dead. He watched as Sarah shivered, breathing a heavy sigh of relief before running towards the fallen form of Xavier, his neck twisted unnaturally behind his head.
Zander fell on his backside, sitting quietly in place, his legs too weak to carry on. He'd felt even more tired than before he activated his ability, the exhaustion compounding as [Adrenaline] filled him with energy. He still felt hollowed, like something was missing from inside of him, but that feeling had grown exponentially, and he began to properly understand what it was. It felt like a jar, or a container of energy was buried inside of him, slowly draining as his ability ran rampant, and only stopping when he turned it off. He thought it akin to a form of mana, a resource that used itself as a cost for spells or other magics.
Logham blipped into existence behind them, his arms covered completely in blood, his breath heavy. Sarah grunted at him, giving him a nod as Logham walked up to Reginald, who still cradled Maia's body in his arms. His face grimaced as he saw her state, and he patted Reginald's shoulder softly, before walking to the rest of the group. As he walked, Zander caught a glimpse of tens of bruised across his body, each staining his skin a dark, nasty purple.
"That was foolish" Logham said, his eyes downcast to the carpet, which was now thoroughly stained a deep red. He balled his hands into a fist, squeezing his fingers together with all his might as he visibly stopped himself from screaming, heaving a deep breath in and out. Two lines of moisture darkened his cheeks, and he straightened his back, his head cast to the makeshift sky, which still glowed a bright, terrible red.
"Why is the timer still going?" Zander asked, interjecting between the grieving scouts, his face filled with concern. To their surprise, the timer that stuck itself in the corner of their vision was still ticking, despite the minute that had passed since the last thrall fell.
[3:32]
[3:31]
[3:30]
Sarah opened her mouth to reply, but whatever she was going to say was interrupted by a loud clanging. Their heads whipped around towards the source of the noise, but nothing emerged. Zander frowned as he pushed himself to his feet, activating his [Adrenaline] once more, his energy flooding back, despite the drain in his core renewing once more.
Slam!
Slam!
Slam!
The noise came closer and closer, growing louder and more intense each time as whatever it was made its way towards them. Carlos, who'd been fighting in a nearby room, the flow of battle taking him away from the main pack, sprinted towards them, taking up a fighting stance, facing the source of the noise, which led towards the edge of the complex, overlooking the endless void below.
Zander waited impatiently, shifting his feet nervously as he thought about what could be coming. He didn't hear the familiar cry of hundreds of monsters, and he certainly didn't see any movement. He frowned as something… familiar began to play in his mind, a conversation- no, a warning.
Bernard had pulled Zander aside just after the raid on The Garden. Through this, Zander finally learned the significance of killing a brute class thrall. He'd explained that brute class monsters were stronger counterparts of basic monsters, those with an enhanced or magical ability, yet there were two more classes above the brute, the variant, and the chieftain. A chieftain was the highest tier of monster, something that could contend with the strongest adamantine level humans, the powerhouses of the layer. It boasted incredible skill, autonomous movement and thought, and high intelligence, which ended up making these few creatures some of the most terrifying and fearless monsters on the layer. Despite their brutal strength, there was one distinction that made the variants and chieftains different than a mere upgrade from the brutes.
Intelligence
Normal monsters, alongside brute class monsters, were mindless beasts, charging and pummeling any living being it finds until death, but a mindless beast could be easily tamed. Variants and above did not have that problem. They boasted sapience and had a collection of tactical skills and abilities that enabled them to think and plan on the fly, making them conniving leaders of monsters that devastated the both homes and battlefields. Their presence wasn't felt in the outer territories, though, due to their home territory being within the Skyscraper's lower levels, causing trouble for citizens in the human territories, leading to massive, rampaging hordes of monsters akin to a khanate horde wreaking havoc across the megastructure.
Zander had placed the facts aside, those powerful enemies feeling like they were across the planet, but he was suddenly reminded of those dire words as he felt an imposing, overwhelming presence unleash itself. Sweat dripped along his back as he watched an enlarged hand reach over the edge of the wall, before pulling itself upwards to reveal the biggest creature he'd ever seen in his life.
The thrall was gigantic, towering over even the brute class thrall's height, its shadow spreading across the length of the entire complex. Zander's heart dropped as he watched the creature emerge, its presence sending him to his knees in fear. He gasped for air as the beast finally emerged, and for the first time, Zander knew true fear.
The thrall's face was no longer twisted in the horrific expression of its counterparts, instead boasting an arrogant look of indifference when it looked upon the small group, its gaze barely happening upon Zander, and instead moving to Sarah, who was frozen in place.
"V-Variant…" She muttered, her eyes bulging. Her jaw hung open as the creature of nightmares emerged, encouraging a series of whimpers or grunts from the scouts. Zander felt the pressure increase sharply, his senses on fire as he felt the full force of the creature's aura fall over him.
Being enveloped in such an intense aura was akin to a mixture of pins and needles, and overwhelming dread. He felt as if the entire world was about to fall apart in front of him, and there was nothing he could do but watch as life itself would soon cease to exist. It came in waves at the start, hitting him as if it attacked, then receded, before attacking once more, but once it fully unfurled, the feeling became constant, and the reality of the situation sank in.
A variant?! His mind burst into thoughts as the massive thrall fully clambered onto the complex, staring Sarah down with intensity in its eyes. In his current state, he could barely take down a normal thrall, much less a variant. He knew, with absolute certainty, that if that thrall wanted to, it could kill him with the wave of its hand.
"No- not quite a variant. It's too weak" Sarah corrected herself, stabilizing her emotions. She gained a burst of confidence with her words, summoning her swords. She looked back to the scouts, shouting loudly. "It's mid-evolution! It doesn't have the boosts of a variant, but it's got the intelligence! Be careful!" She swung her swords towards the beast, aiming to cut its head off in a single act, but it raised its arms protectively. The swords sliced through the air, towards its waiting arms, but when it tried to cut it, the blades bounced off, spinning off into the air, like an astronaut in space.
The thrall erupted into action, slamming the ground with its massive fists, sending a shockwave along the carpeted ground. For the second time that day, a shockwave of pebbles and concrete exploded, the edge of the explosion just barely reaching Zander, cutting into his skin. He grunted in pain as the thrall moved once more, its speed rattlingly fast. Despite its massive size, it moved faster than Zander could see, seemingly teleporting in front of Sarah before balling its fists into an uppercut, which swung through the air towards her.
Sarah shouted in defiance as she fell backwards, causing the blow to just miss her chin. Before she could fall on her back however, her backwards momentum suddenly stopped, as if something caught her just before she landed. Two glowing swords flew from behind her, righting her in place before continuing their string of useless attacks.
Zander stood in shock as the two dueled valiantly. Sarah had proved just how devastating her attacks were by carving through the hordes of normal thrall, and killing a few brutes with the help of her squad, but in the face of a thrall that nearly reached variant class? She was outmatched completely. Still though, skill overpowered the difference between the two as she danced between the beast's attacks like a ballerina, her movements smooth and elegant as she nudged herself into the small spaces that both allowed her safety and secured a counterattack.
Sarah tried everything, every move in her repertoire, every trick of the eyes, every boost in strength, no matter how minute, yet nothing she did seemed to allow her to even deal damage to the thrall. Her nerves grew exponentially as the fight went on, her energy seeping away with continued exertion. Her mana slowly began to run dry as well, as each attack with the sword used a tiny chunk of her reserves, no matter if it had an effect or not.
She's going to die. Zander concluded, watching her desperate struggle underneath the overpowering force of the thrall. His mind raced, and he struggled to move with the weight of the thrall's aura, but managed to push himself to his feet, fighting the overwhelming urge to run away and hide until everything cleared up.
The thrall slammed its arms down towards Sarah's head, forcing her to block with one of her swords, using both of her arms to support her weapon as the overpowering strength bore down on her. Her legs buckled in place, and she fell to a knee, using the support of the ground to just barely keep the exchange in a stalemate, neither of the two forces of nature able to move any further. They both knew that pulling away would open themselves to attack, so neither of them dared to budge, despite the thrall's apparent inability to take damage.
Sarah began to shout, her voice drawn out and hoarse from fighting the earlier hordes. Her cries of strength turned into a whimper as she felt her strength begin give way, threatening to leave her open to the machinations of the thrall. Just as the last vestiges of her strength faded, the thrall staggered, moving onto its hind legs and stumbling backwards, almost tripping over its own feet. Sarah looked up at the beast, only to see a mass of bodies mingled together. It was Zander, who'd thrown himself on the beast's back in an attempt to stop its attack, clinging on for dear life as the thrall fought to remove him.
"Zander?! What are you doing?" She asked, her voice cracking. "Get to safety!"
"Hell no! If you die, I die. Simple as that!" He shouted back, squirming out of the way of a flailing punch that would've easily killed him. Less than a second later, Logham joined Sarah, his palm slapping the forearm of the beast, causing a miniature explosion to erupt where he touched it. He followed up with another, and then another, leaving a small radius of singed hair, turning its pitch black fur orange with embers that burned its skin.
Next came Carlos, who used his blades to slash the beast's fingers, causing it to lose grip whenever it managed to snag Zander's clothing, threatening to slam him to the ground. He stuck by Sarah's side, refusing to move even when the wild swings of the thrall almost took his head off, not even blinking in the face of such strength.
Reginald was the last to arrive, his mourning interrupted by this… cur. He slammed punch after punch into the thrall's gut, causing large, widespread bruises to spread across its skin, shown through the holes of burned out fur, which gave way to its skin. Reginald channeled everything into his attacks, slamming the beast with his overwhelming, seemingly infinite fury, causing the monster to grunt in pain with every strike.
Zander unsheathed his sword once more, coating it in another layer of sword energy, the lightning-like energy sparking across his blade. He stabbed it down towards the monster's thick hide, but barely managed to pierce it, even with his increased sharpness and damage. Frustrated, he raised his blade back up and stabbed down again, and again, until a series of small, minute cuts littered the thrall's body, causing a small trail of blood to follow its movements.
The group worked in tandem, using Zander's distraction to dish out as much damage as possible, though the effects were minimal, it seemed, as the thrall mostly ignored them, still ever hyper focused on Zander's rodeo atop its back. It swerved and slammed itself into the ground in an attempt to rid itself of Zander, but he managed to leap off the beast's back before continuing his reenactment of Julius Ceasar's murder. The number of stabs Zander dealt out went from ten to fifty in just a few moments, the amount of tiny, scarlet red spots of blood more than doubling.
Angry, the thrall regained its footing, leaning up towards the ceiling and roaring, beating its chest with its fists. It began to move, charging towards the collective group of scouts whilst Zander leapt onto its back, using his newfound strength stats to launch himself into the air, just barely managing to grab back onto its back.
Instead of fighting the scouts again, the monster reared itself back, before charging headfirst into the group, catching the members in a death grip as it pushed forwards, edging them all closer and closer to the edge of the complex, and the void below. The squad couldn't move away, caught in its charge, desperately pushing with all their might against its immense strength. They locked in a stalemate, until the thrall managed to gain a step forward, and then another, and another, until eventually it pushed past them, catching the scouts in its arms as it moved into a full sprint, moving closer to the edge with every thundering footstep.
Zander flew into a fit of rage, his mind falling into anger as he saw red, slamming punch after punch into the thrall's hide, his attacks doing little but satiating his berserker-like state, each attack feeling like a thundering, slamming sensation of pleasure, enveloping his mind in a trance, bloodlust overtaking his thoughts. It felt as if the thrall was a punching bag, impervious of damage, yet sending blow after blow into its side sent an endless wave of relief into his mind, fueling his rage.
Sarah, Carlos, Reginald, and Logham panicked as the threat of falling into the unending void became quite apparent, the thrall just a few steps from plunging them over the edge of the cliff, sending them falling to their certain doom.
"Its ankles! Cut its ankles!" Sarah shouted, and as they began to fall off the edge, they all swung their attacks towards the back of its foot, their combined efforts cutting deeply into its skin. It roared in pain, teetering in place, but still it began to take those final few steps. Another wave of attacks made it lose its balance, and finally it fell forward, its toes hovering over the void as it desperately tried to find a foothold, only to find nothing. Its balance fell away, and its began a downward descent towards the unending nothingness below, taking the entire squadron with it.
All five of them fell forward, plunging in parallel with the walls of complex that stretched ever downwards. The five of them managed to dislodge themselves from the thrall's iron grip, twisting out of its arms as they now skydived towards the end. Zander, still encased in a blood rage, felt nothing as he fell, lifelessly clinging to consciousness as his [Adrenaline] began to run out of mana, the familiar exhaustion flowing back into his body.
As he fought to stay awake, Sarah was thinking fast. As they fell further and further, Sarah rallied the last vestiges of their strength, spinning her hands around her head, as if casting a storm upon her enemies. In an instant, her swords swung around, pushing the group towards the sickly yellow walls of the complex, nudging their bodies so they were pressed into the wall. Next, the swords aligned themselves with the falling scouts, moving just as fast as their fall, they placed themselves underneath them, before burying themselves into the side of the wall. Each person reached out towards the sword, catching themselves upon them. As for Zander, three of her seven swords formed a barrier around him before catching him firmly, holding him in place far lower than the rest.
They watched as the thrall continued to fall, disappearing into the endless void below and passing the fog, never to be seen again. Reginald breathed a sigh of relief, placing both his hands along the length of his personal sword that kept him alive, not daring to move.
[Lure (Silver) Cleared!]
A flash of text appeared before each of them, signifying the thrall's death, or certain death that would cause the void to end the quest.
Sarah breathed heavily, every bit of concentration being used to hold the swords together as she desperately tried to think of a way to get them back to solid ground. She panted for breath as she looked around, feeling the texture of the wall softly.
"Captain!" A voice rang out across the empty space. Logham shouted towards her, not daring to look down. "What do we do?" He asked, his voice filled with concern. He shifted on his feet, looking for possible spots to climb up the length of the wall, but there was nothing. They weren't out of the woods yet.
"I don't know!" She shouted back, grunting as a wave of pain hit her, her mind shaking as a massive headache formed. "I've got… two free swords, but I can't move any of the others. The weight is too big to dislodge them! If one breaks, I'll lose too much concentration, and we'll all fall!" Her words caused Reginald to bury his face in his hands, despair taking over.
"Shit…" Logham muttered, biting his nails as he sat still, silently watching their inevitable deaths unfold. Even Sarah, the ever present schemer, had nothing left, and her posture deflated as the situation hit them. "Could you… use the remaining swords as a ladder? Bring us up one at a time?" He asked, hoping some of his words would inspire action, but she shook her head, to his dismay.
"No! If I did that, I'd expend the last of my mana, and we'd all fall to our deaths. We're stuck here… I don't know what to do. I'm sorry." Her last words came as a whisper, and she leaned against the wall, searching for something, anything that could give any spark of a solution, but everything seemed to just fade away.
Minutes passed as the group slowly began to accept their fate, and Zander napped silently as they just sat there, waiting. Sarah leaned against the wall, looking like she was going to vomit, beads of sweat constantly running down her face as she exerted herself by keeping the swords together. Her exhaustion was slowly building, and she knew it. Sooner or later, she would fall tired, and they would die.
"Do we have a stamina potion?" She shouted once more, this time directed to Reginald and Carlos: "Or a mana potion? Ideally mana?" Reginald shook his head without speaking, but Carlos took off his pack, searching through its contents.
Carlos frowned. "Maia had all of the mana potions. Her pack's still up top with her body." He shrugged, his face lodged in a deep frown. "I may have a stamina potion, but I'll have to check" He said. He reached into the pack, pulling out item after item for a brief moment, before finally finding what he was looking for. He pulled out a vial of lemon yellow liquid, raising it above his head so Sarah saw.
"I've got one, captain!" He said excitedly, before carefully placing his feet far enough apart to get a decent through. He lined up a practice shot, as if he was about to hit a golf ball. He breathed out heavily, before launching the potion through the air, across the void. It flew through the air, enveloped in the red light, which glinted off the glass container of the potion, sparkling as it flew.
Logham tensed as he watched the potion fly through the air, knowing it was likely their last hope for the time being. The dread of knowing that if this fell, they would die within minutes was harrowing, and he felt he could barely watch, his usual jolly nature completely disappeared in the moment. It seemed to arc in slow motion, inching towards Sarah's waiting hands before cleanly landing in her palms. Her hands closed instantly, catching the potion with ease.
In an instant, Sarah popped the cork of the potion, chugging it down as fast as she could. She felt her stamina flooding back, refreshing her mind. In her mind, she knew that it was the only time she could use a stamina potion in the next week, meaning that once she got tired, it was all over. The knowledge kept her mood down, despite their brief victory, and she curled into a ball, pushing herself up against the wall.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The scouts held on for a few more hours, their progress nonexistent as they waited. Logham and Carlos had fallen silent by now, their heads pointed downwards towards the void that would soon be their grave. They'd discussed every possible way to safety, but all of them required Sarah to have mana, something which wouldn't happen unless she deactivated her weaponry, plunging them down in the process.
They'd tried to lodge their weapons into the wall as footholds, but only sharpened swords as strong as Sarah's could pierce the wall, much less make a dent in it. They tried to find a foothold of some sort, even considering using random reagents to make their own, but nothing worked. Anything they made bounced off the wall, as if it was extremely slippery, and they didn't have anyone talented enough to craft anything that'd relieve their situation, especially without any tools.
As the excitement of the theory crafting concluded, Zander began to stir, his eyes slowly opening. He was lying on his stomach, his face hanging off the edge of the sword, making it look as if he was mid-fall. The moment his eyes opened, he squeezed them shut, yelping loudly as he rightened himself, opening his eyes again to see their situation. He gasped as he witnessed the collection of scouts, all placed along different heights of the wall, stuck on the edge of a sword, just the same as him. Sarah's expression was beginning to give away as exhaustion set in once more, the effects of the stamina potion finally beginning to wear away. Usually she'd be fine in combat but carrying that many people on a single sword alongside all of their gear put an intense pressure on her brain.
He spent a few minutes getting his bearings. He was placed far below the rest of the scouts, their forms tiny in the distance. It was clear that something happened that made it difficult to catch him, causing his extra descent.
He unsheathed his sword, coating it in his sword energy, before stabbing towards the wall, but it didn't budge, instead causing his blade to bounce off the wall, almost falling from his hands and into the void below. He smiled goofily at the thought of his concern in such a time, but he went back to standing on the blade, bopping his head to a sad tune as he joined his comrade's despairing actions. His eyes turned downward, trying to watch the layers of fog wriggle up, as if they were shadowy hands that grasped for a hold on him, as if begging him to embrace the sweet release of death.
Expecting to watch those hands until it eventually took hold of him, looked for their familiar shape, but something… new caught his eyes. Something he'd never really seen before. A glowing purple swirl of light, the dark purple mixing with the blackness of the void, sat directly below the scouts, churning like a hurricane. He squinted his eyes, making sure he'd seen everything correctly, but it was definitely there.
"Captain!" He shouted excitedly, getting her attention, her head snapping to his lone figure, far below her.
"What is it? Did you find something?" She shouted back, to which Zander eagerly nodded his head. "Hold on!" She exclaimed, strength flooding back into her words. "I've got just enough mana to get myself down there."
Her remaining two swords floated around her, aligning with her body once more as she unhesitatingly pushed herself off the edge of the sword that had kept her safe for most of the night. She fell quickly, but the sword remained perfectly below her, letting her fall nearly thirty stories, before gently nudging her momentum away and embedding itself back into the wall.
"What's going on? She asked, and Zander pointed to the swirling mass of magic
"Something about that screams portal to me" he said, showing her the anomaly. Her eyes widened as she looked at it, carefully studying whatever it was.
"I've never seen something like this before. It's just like the orb." She looked back at Zander, he hand placed upon her chin. "Screw it, I say we go for it. It's better than waiting here to die. If we fall, we fall." She called for the others, relaying the information.
"I don't have enough mana left to bring everyone down, so we're all going to have to jump for it!" She shouted, cupping her mouth with her hands. "It's centered around where we are, so aim for us!" She turned back towards Zander, patting his shoulder gently. "Sorry I brought you into this. For a training mission, we've found discoveries that could potentially revolutionize this layer. Even so, it shouldn't have come to this." Zander nodded as she spoke, not saying a word.
"Okay, jump on three!" She shouted at the top of her lungs.
"ONE!"
"TWO"
"THREE!"
Zander leapt forward into the void, aiming for the swirling mass he'd seen earlier. As he fell, he felt the air begin to shrivel and decay, and he slowly began to choke as he passed through the fog. He gasped and felt his throat tense as he heaved for air, but found nothing as he kept falling, finally reaching the border of the anomaly.
Then everything went dark.
[Trial (Copper) Discovered!]
[Entering Trial…]
[Error]
[Trial data not found]
[Generating trial data…]
[Data synchronized]
[Initiating Trial05.sys]
[Good Luck!]