End Online: Volume 4 (18 page)

“Fen! I’m sorry, I didn’t
see you there.” I offer the disgruntled girl a helping hand up.

She stares at my hand,
almost unsure what to do, before getting up herself. A sharp intake of breath
and several smirks come from a few of the players nearby at the sight. I am
probably the only one that realizes that Fen most likely doesn’t understand the
meaning behind extending a hand to a fallen person. For her to not know common
courtesy…  Perhaps I should try to teach her after?

“I’m thinking of going up
north to collect more ‘Antril Horns’, are you interested?”

‘Hang on, why am I
asking her if she is interested. Aren’t companions NPC’s that simply follow the
player around?’

“If that is… where you
wish… to go.” Her indifferent response almost confirms my thoughts.

‘But then again,
there have been times when she has told me of things she wants. Can it be a
part of her programming?’

I immediately shake my
head to clear the off-topic thoughts and walk toward the room with the
quartermaster. Past all the notice boards, the burly quartermaster looks up and
addresses me as soon as I arrive in front of him.

“You died? WAHAHA!
PATHETIC! WEAK!” His voice reverberates in the enclosed room and countless
echoes of his voice linger.

A blood vessel in my
temple nearly bursts. I recall the toxic memory of the centurion from back in
Iceridge and my fury mixes with the bile in my stomach and threatens to erupt.

My body releases the
‘Dragon’s Bloodlust’, and a few people around take a couple of steps away. My
temper is so out of control I don’t even realize that the special skill seems
to affect nearby players below my level the same as it does enemies. All I do
is grit my teeth and force my next words out.

“I thought that you would
give me some compensation for my loss. Not mock me…”

“OF COURSE! Say, I know a
great training instructor that can help you become stronger! I will give you a
personal recommendation for him!”

‘Of course this
person knows that fool! By the way he speaks, I don’t doubt they are bloody
related!’

“I will pass. I would
prefer something helpful, if you would be so kind!”

“It would be helpful!
FINE! Have this ore, you will regret not taking the letter though!”

“I very much doubt that!”

The conversation ends with
us practically yelling at each other before I storm off, Fen following closely
behind me. My body is still seething with ‘Dragon’s Bloodlust’ and polluting
the air around me. Nevertheless, the wolf girl still occupies my space and
attaches herself to my arm. I notice she seems to have a calming effect on me,
as my anger vanishes by the time I leave the colosseum.

The quartermaster had
given me a piece of silver ore, which is more useful in crafting jewellery than
weapons. I don’t hold any strong interest over the crafting material at the
moment and leave it in my inventory for later.

Fen and I leave the city
and use our high speed to travel to the ravines in the north. I’m sure the area
has some name like ‘Antril’s Nest’, but I do not know what it is. The journey
only takes two hours. Along the way, I private message the rest of the party
who have been busy exploring the city and drinking in all of the inns. I ask
them if they are also interested in becoming gladiators and participating in
the battle colosseum. To my surprise, they are interested and I offer to
collect ‘Antril Horns’ for them, but they say there is no need as they can get
them themselves.

It is nearly dusk when I
enter the first ravine, with Fen following me into one of the closer caves to
start hunting ‘Antril Warriors’. The whole area above and below ground is much
more crowded than the last time we were here. Fortunately for me, there is
still plenty of room to comfortably hunt below ground without crossing anyone
else’s path.

An hour quickly passes by.
I collect a total of seventeen horns and am so engrossed in battle that I fail
to notice the number of players around me starting to dwindle. By the time I
turn and look around, there is not a single player to be seen.

‘Strange, where did
everybody go?’

Just as I was questioning
the emptiness of the tunnel, a few players appear from around the both sides of
the cave.  Something about the situation is odd and alarms are going off
in my head. I look but don’t see a single player-killer amongst them. However,
I recognize one person walking in the center of the small crowd.

His blonde hair stands up
like porcupine quills. It is hard to make out the build of the man considering
he is covered all the way up to his neck in a strange silver armor that seems to
be both smooth and coarse at the same time. Chronix; the guild leader of the
Swords of Light who I burned to death back in ‘Eldenweiss Forest’. He is
looking directly at me with cold eyes and a twisted grin.

The gathering players,
nearly twenty in total, gather around Fen and I to prevent our escape. Each and
every one of the players around us is brandishing sinister weapons with even
more imposing auras.

“What do you want?” I try
to say with confidence, but I’m not sure how much I succeed.

“You know, the last time I
tried to confront you, I was met with such violence. I seem to recall burning
to death from an attack by you.”

“You attacked me first!”

“I don’t believe things
happened like that. Don’t all of you agree?” Chronix looks around at the group
of thugs, who all chuckle and nod their heads.

“Fen, we need to break out
of here, you in particular. When I give the signal, follow my lead. Once you
are free of all these people, hide. If you are caught, please don’t fight them
and just do what they say. Stay alive and I will rescue you.” My heart is
pained with worry and I feel like everything around me is crumbling.

I also feel a strong
desire to not lose Fen, to not lose the presence that is somehow always with
me.

“Are you forgetting?”
Chronix begins, tapping his left ear with a finger. “I have supersonic hearing,
speaking your plans aloud only gives them away. Everybody-”

“Now, Fen! Dire Flame!” I
currently have enough mana to cast the fire spell three times before I run out,
and the first is used straight away.

I throw the condensed ball
of flame directly at Chronix and leave him no room to dodge. Before the attack
lands on him, another player steps in the way and takes the attack to the
chest.

Chronix whispers a few
things to the player, before he quietly leaves the battlefield and disappears
from sight.

“I already know all of
your moves 
Lost, 
you cannot win. Just accept your fate and
die.”

A red skull symbol
suddenly appears in my vision and I know I have just received player-killer
status.

‘That player I set on
fire died!? Already!?’

Chronix’s smirk only
widens once he sees the large red skull fluttering about on the back of my cloak.

“Dire Flame!” I throw
another flame at the leader, and yet another person intercepts it with their
body before leaving the cave.

As soon as as I throw
‘Dire Flame’, Fen creates large stalagmites of ice in the air which hurtle
toward the enemy players. At the same time, they are all trying to dodge the
ice attacks while closing what little distance there is between us.

I curse my bad luck, how
could both of those players who were hit by my ‘Dire Flame’ have died so
quickly?

I throw my third and final
‘Dire Flame’ not at Chronix, but at the group of players engaging Fen. Unlike
when I launch the attack at the leader, this time they hastily move out of the
way to dodge the fireball. The players must have been pre-warned about the
attack and how it cannot be extinguished. It actually can be quenched with the
right potion, but they are not aware of that.

An opening in the wall of
players blocking Fen presents itself, but she does not  take the
opportunity to escape like I told her to. She turns her head and looks at me
with sadness, trying to tell me she can’t leave me here. Knowing that this
chance will not happen again, I take an attack to the back as I rush over to
Fen.

My parents had once told
me how a woman must be treated with care, but this moment was not the time to
concern myself over it. I grab Fen’s wrist with one hand while the gripping her
thigh with the other. I use my momentum to twist my body and launch her through
the small opening in the players. It is far from my most graceful move, but it
works. Fen soars through the air and out of the encirclement, landing on her
feet thanks to her high agility.

“Run!” I shout at her in hopes
that this time she will listen.

“I… can’t,” Fen stands as
still as a statue, staring at me helplessly.

A couple of the players
break off from the group to pursue Fen and she finally begins to escape, if
still slightly hesitant.

“Such a shame, you won’t
get the chance to see her die as well,” Chronix smirks cruelly at me while
dragging his thumb across his neck to mime slicing it open.

“You will never catch her,
you will not live to,” I say surprisingly calmly, as I am seething with rage.
My eyes turn red as I glare at Chronix with hatred.

He chuckles at my piercing
stare while I use ‘Backstab’ to catch him unaware. Just as I appear behind his
back however, a large black zweihander swings at me from the side. I have no
means to dodge the attack so I make every effort to at least attack Chronix.

The large zweihander hits
its target before my daggers connect, resulting in my attack failing.
Additionally, I am dealt heavy critical damage and blown away from Chronix by
the two-handed sword.

I only have light armour
which is still far from optimized, so the attack nearly kills me. I find that
it is a struggle just to stand up again. Nevertheless, my fury forces me to
stand and raise my weapons at him once again.

My body sways slightly and
I know I am surely dead the moment another sword appears in front of my chest,
before being withdrawn as fast as it appeared. My anger is temporarily
suspended as disbelief and wonder overtake my emotions. I somehow survive with
my health bar so far depleted it appears to be empty; I can see my health
points are in the single digits.

“You are so used to
stabbing others in the back. Tell me, how does it feel to have a taste of your
own medicine?” Chronix roars with laughter. This entire time, he did not even
raise his sword once. Merely watching while all his cronies do the work for
him.  He walks over to my limp body and looks down on me.

“You must be wondering
about that player-killer status, so allow me enlighten you. The two players you
killed were only level 55, with already low health as well. How could they
possibly survive such an attack? A couple of the others are in a similar
situation, as I was not sure how many of those things you could fire off. All I
had to do was have you throw them at me, which they could then easily
intercept. I’m telling you this because there is something you need to
understand; I am smarter than you, and I always will be. The next time we meet,
I will remind you of that.”

I mumble out a few curses
at him, but he only reveals a satisfied smirk as he stabs his sword down into
my chest.

***************************************************

Rather than immediately
reviving, I log off and return to my locker. I am full of concern for Fen;
whether or not she managed to escape riddles me with anxiety. I sit on the sofa
in the locker for a full hour, each minute seeming longer than the previous.

A pair of slender arms
suddenly appear from behind and wrap themselves around me. The unexpectedness
causes me to jump in fright.

“You’re… alright. I am…
glad,” The crystalline voice enters my ear and entrances me.

“Of course I am you idiot.
You know I will just revive if I die, so you should not have stayed earlier,” I
say while letting out a dismayed sigh.

Raising one of my hands, I
gently touch my fingertips to one of the arms crossing over my chest, unsure of
what I should do next.

“I… couldn’t. I couldn’t…
leave you behind.”

“Next time, you must. Do
you understand me, Fen?”

I break her embrace and
turn around on the couch to look at her standing behind me. She was leaning
forward and leaning on the rear of the sofa to bring her arms around me so when
I turn, my face is barely an inch away from hers. I am close enough to clearly
view her slightly rosy complexion and her biting her lip nervously. Her clear
blue eyes stare directly into mine and a few strands of her hair tickle my nose
as I breath in.