Otherlife Dreams: The Selfless Hero Trilogy (29 page)

Thana whipped her head around to where she expected him to be if he’d continued running and let loose a cone of frost touched wind from the tip of her staff. Using this chance, Runner came at her with all the speed he could throw on. Closing the distance rapidly he was able sink his sword into her side. Ripping it free he attempted to chain it together with a Throat Strike with his open left hand. He met only air as Thana froze the ground beneath them and leapt backwards. Runner was locked in position, his boots covered in thick ice. Not willing to wait the few seconds it’d take for the Crowd Control spell to end he cast Fireblast at the ice. After a pause the ice shattered and cracked apart under the heat.

Smiling in victory Runner looked up to reengage Thana only to find a large sheet of discolored ice blocking his view. Unsure of why she’d dropped an Ice wall spell right there he could only assume she was playing for time. Giving her that would not be to his benefit.

Sprinting towards the cloudy six foot wall he went to clamber over it, only to find it was perhaps an inch thick at best. Perched atop it like a cat on a rickety fence he felt like a fool. Unbalanced the ice fell forward and shattered, Runner tumbling from the debris. The originally green health bar turned yellow, signifying Runner had lost fifty percent of his health points in total.

Berating himself for not thinking it through he spun in a quick circle to reacquire his target. Having Blinked thirty feet away, Thana was already working through another spell, her staff pointed straight at him. Drawing a throwing knife from his belt he tossed it in an under hand throw while launching a Fireblast through his sword a beat later.

Both connected and broke her concentration long enough to interrupt her spell altogether. Her hitpoints dipped to thirty percent and the health bar became an ugly orange.

Wrapping both hands around the hilt of his blade he pointed it to her and channeled Wave of Heat at her. It was one of the many abilities he’d picked up at the trainer and would serve as a way to keep her moving while he tried to close on her again. Rather than taking the expected course, through his own spell, he ran down the left of it. Straight into another wall of ice.

Bouncing off of it he was momentarily stunned before he could reorient himself. Making a snap decision he dove into his own dissipating Fire spell. It had been the right choice, as Thana let loose a torrent of Ice Rods through the opposite side of the wall, shattering it and sending ice chips along with the rods flying.

He’d put a little distance between him and the wall but even than he still took damage as the whole thing exploded. Taking the opportunity for what it was. He cast Silence at her, a low level Healer spell, to prevent her from Blinking away and charged her.

His health was in the red, just as hers was after the heat wave.

Lunging forward with her staff Thana caught Runner completely unaware as he came in range. The wooden head to her staff drove into his gut even as he swung his sword around from the side to connect with her arm. A low note was heard between them and his screen flashed a single word, “Victory”.

His health was blinking at three percent, her own at one percent.

“Damn me my Lady, that was incredibly well fought. You had some moves I wasn’t expecting there,” Runner expressed with a smile, genuinely surprised.

Glowering up at him through her eyelashes she thumped the butt of her stave into the dirt.

“Clearly it wasn’t enough. I hadn’t expected the Silence. I should have,” she growled out.

“Hey, for someone who has very little actual combat experience, and a whole lot of book learning, that was impressive. Beyond impressive. If I’d hung around that wall for another second rather than ducking into my own spell, I’d be the one who lost. In fact, I’m so impressed, I’ll honor the bet even though you lost. Still gotta cook though when my turn comes.”

Snorting she gave her head a light shake, her dark hair fluttering back and forth.

“Acceptable, I appreciate the graciousness of your victory. Clearly you had some expectations going into this though. Mind sharing what you strategized for those two? Maybe I can benefit from your planning.”

Thana gestured to Katarina and Hannah, changing the subject. She was obviously sore that she lost and had been expecting to win. To be fair she came darn right close. Closer than she had any right to be for how little experience she had in fighting thinking creatures.

Allowing the change in subject he sheathed his sword and leisurely withdrew two beetles from his inventory. Handing one over to Thana he ate his own while gesturing at Hannah with his left hand.

“For her, the exact approach you took with me. Assume she’ll sneak and immediately position behind me. I really only have to withstand a Backstab once and keep eyes on her. She can’t Stealth if I can see her after all. She might use Distract in the exact way I did on you but at that point I’d use AOE since she’d be coming straight for me. Figure if I get a little distance I’d throw spells till she reengages than go toe to toe. She’d try to out skirmish me, attack, retreat, dodge. Her health isn’t built for long drawn out fights. Take bites out of that health bar whenever I was able to. Utilize spells that don’t allow for dodging when she tries to withdraw to make sure I come out ahead in trades. Wash, rinse, repeat till she drops. She’s a Rogue after all, her tools are powerful but limited. To win she has to engage. She’d tear me apart if I tried to fight directly on her own merits.”

Being able to own the fact that Hanna was the superior Rogue didn’t hurt, he’d accepted it a long time ago. With a shrug he watched the two combatants in the center. Katarina was chasing Hannah around doggedly, pushing the Rogue back. Over and over Hannah danced away only to reengage for a second and slip out again. They were both near the fifty percent mark for health. The fight had ground to a halt and looked more like a dance. It’d probably come down to if Katarina could land a strike on Hannah more often than Hannah could land a critical.

Thana nodded at his side, a hand held in front of her mouth as she ate. When she finished with the bug she glanced up at him.

“That was pretty much exactly as Nadine described.”

Runner pulled out another beetle and handed it over to her. Lifting his hand again he indicated Katarina now.

“For Katarina, I dunno. I think she’d beat me to a pulp regardless of what I did. I’d try to mitigate her damage, keep her at bay, work her down. I’d end up having to heal myself. That almost feels like cheating but there it is. She’s built to take punishment and deal out a normal amount of damage. Nothing to write home about, but it adds up. Now include the fact that she takes a real delight in beating me. She’s motivated to win. If I do beat her, she’ll just get that much more worked up over the next contest. Win or lose, I lose.”

Thana’s eyes crinkled up in a hidden smile, her mouth behind her hand as she ate the second beetle. Letting her hand drop she bowed her head in acknowledgment.

“They were right about the second beetle taking on an almost acquired flavor. As to your thoughts, astute observations. I came to a nearly similar conclusion. I plan on challenging Katarina next. Go speak to Nadine about supplying the party, I think we’ll all benefit from your work.”

Thana dismissed him, waving her petite hand at him she started walking to Katarina and Hannah.

With a smile he let out a sigh. He could only agree since she was right. Watching her depart he found himself watching her hips a touch too closely. Shaking his head before he could let that wild thought continue he made his way over to Nadine who was systematically working her way through her supply of crossbow bolts.

Glancing up from her work at his approach Nadine finished loading the bolt. Pulling the butt to her shoulder she let the quarrel fly as soon as she’d lined her target. With a solid thunk it embedded itself within an inner circle, but not quite the bullseye. Definitely a better shot since she first started.

“Certainly doing great with that new crossbow, have you been able to see any skill increases in the log?”

That’d been one of the harder aspects of their world to explain than he’d care to remember. The idea that their every action was chronicled, logged to a social window. Their very death even, only to be ultimately deleted.

“Yes. Th-th-though not as m-much as I’d wish. It also feels strange t-to be here practicing when-n we know th-they’re out there searching for us. Shouldn’t we be m-m-m-making a plan?,” She hesitantly replied, lowering the crossbow.

Shrugging his shoulders he came to a stop next to her, regarding the target ring.

“Any gain is better than where you were, which means all gains are good. Therefore, good work. As to a plan, I’ve already put together some thoughts and a rough outline. We’ll see what we can do to get it moving this afternoon,” Runner admitted, tilting his head to look at her.

Nodding her head in acceptance she shifted her weight around. Deftly she clipped the cranequin into the belt hook on her left side. Drawing her long sword fluidly in her left hand she held it out in front of her.

“Would you be willing t-to help me with t-this? Swinging at the dumm-m-my doesn’t count-t. You’re a dum-my t-too but it’d count-t.”

He laughed deeply as he put his hands on his hips. Taking the time to truly enjoy that terrible joke he laughing heartily. Finally he drew his sword and gave it a little waggle at her.

“As you will. After fencing practice I need you to come with me to go shopping. I wasn’t kidding about seeing what we could do this afternoon. Things to do and all. Seize the fish, tempus flytrap, time waits for nomads,”

Smiling brightly Nadine swung her sword down at his head without another word, having apparently decided his jokes would end if she removed his head.

“Hey, hey, calm down now, one bad pun deserves another.”

They spent half an hour going back and forth, working on her form and ability activations. Though half of combat was automated, one could really eek out the last bits of power and technique by working at it. Another half an hour flew by on reading up on the skills she’d be receiving as she continued to level up. Discussing them and how they’d be used in conjunction with her current abilities.

Runner really wasn’t sure where the rules between NPCs and Players lay anymore. They were significantly blurred now and crisscrossed haphazardly.

If practice gave her an insight on how to use the skills though it’d be worth it. As was usually the case with Nadine she dedicated herself to the lesson. That brilliant and honest disposition helped the cause as she took everything he said seriously and without ill intent.

He’d meant to apologize to Hannah, Katarina, and Thana for having to postpone their duels, but they were still holding mock combats between themselves. Instead, he left them as they were and departed without a word, Nadine in tow. He figured Thana would be able to figure it out and thought no more of it.

Exiting the arena they strolled out into the sunshine. Directly across in an alley Runner caught a flash of movement. Turning to look down the street towards the merchant district another shimmer of movement darted down a side alley.

“Damn, I’m not sure who, but we’ve got a tail. Looks like we’ll be out for a bit longer than I anticipated, and that we’ll need to be leaving sooner than my original plans.”

“I see. N-n-nothing we can-n do about it. Let’s enjoy our walk at least.”

“Nadine, never change please,” Runner said, holding out his arm to her.

Linking her arm in his she started walking, giving him no chance to argue.

Taking their time they made a circulatory route to all the merchants. With no pressing need or a crunch for time they did their best to draw as little attention to themselves as possible while selling off the rest of the goods they’d earned through hunting and questing.

Offloading the last item the merchant handed the payment to Nadine. While Nadine thanked the shopkeeper Runner had left the building and stood beside the roadway in thought. They needed to figure out how to lose their tail and plan for escape.

He had a rudimentary plan to hopefully get out of the city without being noticed. Worst case they could get a few days head start. Maybe. If they could just break contact, lose their tail, remove themselves from the obvious places, and clear some ground it’d be ideal. They could probably lose everyone. Hopefully whoever tailed them now had just as little skill at tracking.

“T-t-that’s the last of it. Easy m-m-money,” Nadine said proudly, standing beside him.

Doing his best snooty noble impersonation he looked down his nose at Nadine, lidding his eyes.

“Book keeper, how much money do I have?” letting the joke go as she arched a brow at him. “No, no, sorry. In all seriousness, I have no idea what our actual finances are,” Runner admitted. Stepping into the road he oriented himself towards the wagon shop at the other end of the merchant quarter.

“Very well. With t-t-the sales of the daggers an-nd offloading t-the rest we’re sitting at n-mearly one hundred Gold.”

Runner couldn’t help but be impressed by that sum. It was already enough to purchase two mounts and enough left over to properly train up a crafting skill. Or maybe a cheap house.

“Solid work Nadine. You’re a real wizard with money. Please invest it all and conjure up more of that sexy merchant lady money magic. The wagon we can keep, so plan around that being in the equation. Set aside some money to purchase everyone a full set of armor up to their current level, as well as weaponry. Minus Kitten I suppose. Buy me sword parts for her instead. If you can find things that have multiple components for everyone else, the better. The more I can take it apart, the better I can make it. So if you found a sword with fractionally less damage but ten more parts, that’d be ideal.”