Chapter 4: Vol.1, Ch.1 - Act 2
Out on the lush fields and rolling hills of *Eden, one of Sanctuary's seven *servers, Iris and Annie were passing time as they waited for their third *party member, Tye, to log on. Annie had been just over the hill's horizon in the field below, while Iris was in the field above.
Sitting next to a babbling brook with water clear enough to see its pebble and kelp-covered floor, she'd been trying to craft a bounty of potions to take with them on their next round of *quests. Scavenging for ingredients and crafting the potion yourself was cheaper than purchasing them in any of the shops, granted the ingredients weren't in an area above your level's means. Sure, they may take more time to make, but when you're trying to grind, that has its benefits, too. And with Annie as the party's healer, and Iris being a *Symphonic, the potions were more of a safety precaution than anything else. One that they might actually need if they were going to start attempting tier 2 quests and venturing into areas with higher level monsters and /or players.
Meanwhile, while Annie was fiddling with her cauldron, Iris was taking down *Gnomes and *Pixies left and right – lower level monsters, but ones that offered a small amount of *gold and *experience, nonetheless. Not to mention a plethora of *drop items that they could sell. Maybe not for much, but in the interest of passing time, it was a decent payoff.
"SQUEE," a pixie wailed as it was pierced by one of Iris' dual blades, its form bursting and leaving behind a couple of drop items and gold before despawning a moment later.
Chidori (lvl 23) gained 300 Exp, 600 Gold.
Beta (lvl 20) gained 150 Exp, 300 Gold.
Tymeless (lvl 22) gained 150 Exp, 300 Gold.
"Shit." Annie scowled in frustration, her voice coming through on the coms their party shared. Another failed attempt at crafting an elixir. For a *Mage, she wasn't the best at memorization. Go figure.
"What'd you make this time?" Iris couldn't help but mock as she slashed through another mob.
Chidori (lvl 23) gained 300 Exp, 600 Gold.
Beta (lvl 20) gained 150 Exp, 300 Gold.
Tymeless (lvl 22) gained 150 Exp, 300 Gold.
"Shut the hell up," Annie snapped before Iris could pounce. "I didn't make anything. We need phoenix ashes for elixirs," she grimaced. "Not to mention I don't have a high enough brewing *skill. Son of a –"
"I thought it was just phoenix feathers and holy water?"
"Apparently that only makes the revival serum, which – this just in, I also can't make."
"And the difference is …"
"One brings you back with 50% of your stats, and the other brings you back in full."
"Oh, that's good enough, isn't it? I mean, it's not like we're going up against any one-hit bosses or anything. Why are you trying to make a full-blown elixir?"
"I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep up with you guys if we start going into tier 2 territory … I want to make sure we're prepared."
"You're forgetting that you're not the only one that can heal," Iris pointed out.
"Your rate isn't as high as mine, and you can't concentrate on fighting and healing Tye at the same time," Annie argued. "Don't you remember how hard fighting was when we were starting out in tier 1?"
"Yes, but I'm also aware of how much our stats and teamwork have improved. You gotta give us more credit, Annie. We're not leading ourselves to the slaughter."
"I give us credit, but there are also going to be a lot more players attacking in parties and guilds in higher level areas, and we're only three people. We didn't have to deal with that in tier 1. Mass multiplayer-parties don't really form that early, let alone guilds. But that's not going to be the case now."
"Eh …" Iris whined with a light shrug. She didn't have a good enough come back for the logic. Annie knew she was fired up to reach the next phase of the game, but what good would charging in do if you only continuously got your ass whooped?
"Look, I just want to –"
"Want to what?" Iris asked when hearing Annie suddenly stop short. A long pause. Standing back up from picking up the last of the drop items, Iris' brows furrowed. "Annie?"
Whipping around in the direction of what sounded like a shot, Iris' eyes widened at the sight of Annie's distress beam from the horizon of the hill's field. Turning to face it, she grimaced, eyes narrowing and hands clenching into fists before she took off running in its direction.
"Your defense isn't half bad for a Mage," came a heckle from the *Fighter that had crept up from behind Annie to attack, probably trying to steal the potions he thought she had just made. Annie winced as she shrunk backwards under the weight of the player's sword, which had clashed with her staff when she reacted to defend herself. "But your aim could use a little work, he mocked as he pushed forward, trying to break her guard without cocking back for another swing.
Beta (lvl 20) used spell *Vestibulum. Restored 10% HP.
Beta (lvl 20) HP – 92%
The Fighter smirked, shaking his head, unable to help but admire the stubbornness of his target.
"I admire the spunk, but if I were you, I'd just had over the potions, and make my life a little easier," he advised, making Annie frown as she fought to hold her ground against the Fighter's continuously pushing force. They both knew her guard was close to breaking, which was why she was trying to recover before it could. Trying to buy herself just a little more time, opting to stay off the coms in hopes of giving Iris the element of surprise.
Over on the other side of the clearing, leaning against one of the trees along its edge, the Fighter's teammate, a *Techie, was waiting nonchalantly, arms crossed as he watched his friend with a sigh. Such a waste of time … he thought with a grimace. It'd be better if we just – Eh? His eyes, hidden behind a pair of rectangular, thinly-framed glasses, flickered up, having caught a glint of something. What was that?
"You might be able to block long enough to heal for a while if it's just me. But we both know that if I call my friend over there in, this is going to get really bad for you, really fast," he sneered, grinning as her eyes narrowed, the grip on her staff beginning to falter. "Sad to say, but you picked a bad day to travel alone."
"Carter! Above you!" the Fighter's ally suddenly called out, disrupting his banter and immediately putting him on edge.
A moment later, Carter dashed backwards, landing a few feet away from Annie and just a few inches from a sword that had pierced the ground in front of him.
"The hell …" he mumbled, eying the sword before looking around while slightly crouched, his grip on his sword tightening. His wary eyes met Annie's smiling ones a moment later in bewilderment and mild irritation.
"Guess it's a good thing I'm not alone," Annie mocked with a smile. "Sucks for you, though."
Gritting his teeth with a scowl, Carter turned to his teammate, body tense and anger beginning to shine through. "Where are they?!" he roared, unable to find where the attacker was hiding.
But his teammate was having a hard time finding them as well, having only been able to see the glint of the sword as it was about to be thrown. Before either of them could calm down enough to find her, Iris was perched atop the guard of the sword that she had pierced the ground with, having jumped from atop the hill in the midst of the chaos, all while cloaked in *stealth mode. And just as she was coming out of it, she launched a kick straight into Carter's chest, sending him flying back into one of the trees near his teammate.
Armageddon (lvl 25) HP – 94%
The Techie's eyes widened as he looked over to him, watching him struggle to recover. Stealth mode? A *Rogue, he thought This isn't good. A Rogue and Mage – is she a *Cleric? A *Wizard? Damn, I can't tell by that one spell … he analyzed, thoughts racing to figure out the best course of action. Regardless, he thought as he drew his weapon from his inventory. This Fighter obviously has a sense of strategy, I need to go on the attack before they go back into stealth – !
His gaze was suddenly blocked by the second of Iris' dual blades stabbing the trunk of the tree behind him, just left of his face. Staggered from the shock, all he was able to do was return his gaze forward in time to see Iris in front of him, ready to strike a blow.
She's fast, he thought, teeth grit as his weapon despawned, knowing he didn't have time to use it. Can't shoot. Block! Raising his arms up to his left side, he grunted as Iris kicked at them, using her grip on the impaled sword to stabilize and strengthen her impact, and sending him stumbling and eventually falling into the babbling brook beside them.
Their defenses aren't that good, Iris thought as she watched the Techie land with a splash in the water. He blocked, but even still, I got him down by almost five percent without using a weapon. While the other … A direct hit, but still no weapon, and he fell by over five percent – granted I was in stealth mode. Looks like a *Brawler. Probably poured his stats into attack and stamina. Maybe *mana? If I can keep him flustered and out of *Frenzy mode …
Quantum (lvl 24) HP – 96%
"Why you …" Carter growled.
Hearing him approach, Iris looked over her shoulder, seeing him charge at her from behind. Turning around to react and counter, she grabbed her sword from the tree trunk, yanking it free and swinging it downwards in time to collide with his blade.
"I will end you," he seethed, pushing forward against her sword. But Iris grinned, her free hand opening and summoning her other sword, making Carter's eyes widen, not having realized that she was wielding dual blades, and not a single sword.
"Good luck," Iris scoffed as she stuck her foot out behind Carter's before slashing at him with her sword, throwing his balance and knocking him back onto the ground again.
Armageddon (lvl 25) HP – 82%
"Argh! Gene!" Carter bellowed to his teammate, who had finally drawn his weapon while resting on the edge of the brook, still in the water.
Looking over her shoulder in time to see the Techie take aim, Iris stood still, letting him fire, only to have his shot blocked and absorbed by a force field.
Beta (lvl 20) used spell, *Entum Lucas.
Gasping, Gene glared in Annie's direction, who had her tongue sticking out, only to gasp a moment later when Gene abruptly adjusted his aim. Iris' eyes widened, her body instinctively turning around and charging towards Gene, her hand cocking back to throw her sword. But before she could, a blast from above hit the surface of the water in front of him, sending it splashing up and blocking his line of sight before he could fire a shot.
Shocked, everyone became still, looking up a moment later in wonder. Smiles bloomed on both Annie and Iris' faces as they saw Tye enter the clearing in their aircraft, waving like she'd just shown up to the party of the century.
"Heeeeeeeeeyy!" Tye hollered as the ship slowly started to pass over the above them. Pulling a lever, Tye opened a hatch on the lower right side of the ship, unrolling a previously bundled rope ladder and allowing it to hang and sway in the passing current. "Come on!"
A second later both Annie and Iris were running towards the ladder, gladly accepting the invitation to board.
"Hey!" Carter shouted, his rage boiling over as he hurried to his feet.
Cupping her hands together, Iris signaled Annie towards her. Picking up her speed, Annie rushed towards her teammate, stepping into her palms with one foot and launching herself into the air to grab onto the ladder with Iris' help, immediately starting to climb a moment later.
"Get back here!" Iris heard Carter roar from behind her.
Turning around, she leaned back and to the right, dodging the poorly aimed swing of his sword, his momentum and missed target causing him to stumble forward and almost topple over. Iris took that opportunity to grab onto both of his shoulders, plant her foot between his shoulder blades, and use his back to kick off and launch herself into the air, grabbing onto the passing ladder and sending Carter face-first into the ground.
"Better luck next time," was Iris' farewell as she started to climb.
"See ya, boys!" Tye shouted as she waved, steering the ship away as her teammates ascended.
Meanwhile, Gene had finally gotten out of the water to rush over to Carter, who was picking himself off the ground for the third time.
"Not our proudest moment …" Gene offered, helping Carter the rest of the way to his feet. "What are we going to do about reaching quota now?" he asked, only to get no response. Carter's lowered head finally rose, making Gene's brows do the same when he saw the look in his eyes. One of fuming hatred, locked on the passing ship. "Carter?"
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