Chapter 88: Party (4)

World: MSS - Loading...

 ***

We would meet at the docks in one week.

So I sat in my quarters (nothing more than one corner of the tent really) while Skaris and Kyrian slept.  Ignoring the lizard beastman’s snoring, I scribbled on the floor with a piece of soot I found.  Strangely, the moment made me laugh.  I had been the son of millionaires and then when my parents lost their business, I lived in a one-bedroom apartment with my dad.  I used to think that was rock bottom.

But no, living in this world’s equivalent of a garbage dump was rock bottom.

Smiling, I continued to scribble.

Aurora - Tank.

Kyrian - 4 Core Mage.

Stole - ???

Skaris - DPS

Me - DPS / Bruiser

As I looked at the list in front of me, I started to imagine formations and scenarios.  What if Aurora was injured? Who’d take point? If Kyrian was injured, who could take over for his versatility?

Our party was extremely focused on combat which was all you needed in the beginning level dungeons.

But as you got deeper into the game, you needed more utility.  Ropes to scale cliff faces, swimming ability to get past bodies of water, Darkvision and even telepathic communication spells to keep everyone in the party informed.  Then there were items to counter monster abilities, Special Fields…  The list of supplies and abilities needed to defeat the game was endless.

Back when I had been behind a computer screen, I rotated members as needed.

Here, I couldn’t do that.  First, I didn’t know enough people and two, there was no guarantee I could trust so many people.  Right there and then, I realized that I hadn’t just written down the party composition but the list of names that I trusted.  Maybe someday the list would grow and maybe it wouldn’t.  But for now, these four were whom I was taking with me into the Dungeon with the Church of Light, Flame and Shield.

By my estimation, the Dungeon would have monsters of grading 7 or 6.

“And if we came upon a Grade 5 monster, who’d be the most likely to die?”

The answer came to me immediately: Skaris.

I erased the names with the palm of my hand and began scribbling down a rough sketch of Skaris’ character sheet.

Beastman (Lizard tribe)

Evolution - Fire Path (Stage 2)

Core:

[Bool Dokkaebi] - Grade 8

[Inmyunho] - Grade 5

[Ifreet] - Grade 7.

In my opinion, when building a melee-based fighter in MSS, you needed to take into account a few things.  An ability to enhance your basic attack, which would be the skill you use the most.  Survivability was another and then a nuking skill, something to finish your opponent off in a pinch.  The Bool Dokkaebi gave Skaris the active ability [Playing with Fire], which was Skaris’ bread and butter till now, coating the tip of his spear with fire.

“The Imyunho gives him [Hand in Hand], a utility skill to basically double damage output.  Now he has [Burn! Burn! Burn!], from the Ifreet Core too.”

The Ifreet was a non-negotiable for Skaris, which is why we snatched it up in exchange for theTortured Kris.  It’s passive, Burn! Burn! Burn!, doubled the time of all burn status effects.  Plus, he had [Evolution] now.  Damage wasn’t the problem.  Survivability was.

We had a week.

“A week to whip the party into shape and maybe even get enough gold to get some new items…”  

Sighing, I erased all my notes and went to bed.

*** 

“I can’t believe the Church is letting him participate.  I thought they wanted to get rid of him?!”  Delas compained, walking down the small cavern.

They were in one of the bases managed by the [Player’s Guild].

Technically, it was a safehouse for the Scavenger Clan, which was a large clan headed by one of their own, a [Player].

The safehouse was built into the walls of the cliff and to even reach it, you had to get through the mob of monsters that crowded around the bottom.  You couldn’t scale the walls either, not unless your build was specialized for aerial combat.  Huge flying beasts circled the base like reapers, waiting for someone foolish enough to try and climb up the cliff face.  No, the only way you could enter the safehouse was by coming in through the entrance and traversing the network of maze-like tunnels, while avoiding the members of the Scavengers.

Having been here before, Delas had no trouble finding his way.

His partner was Astelion ‘James’ Giantler, a beastman from the Giantler Clan.  Like the Clan name implied, they were hulking beastman no doubt designed after a moose, standing over seven feet tall and twice the width of any normal close-ranged fighter.  His hair was long and black, hiding his cervidae eyes which unnerved people enough even without the giant proportions.

“Rumor is that the Akka Xaluds took care of it.  And as a favor, he is participating.”

“Bah.”  Delas spat to the side, palming a dagger and spinning it.  “I hate that guy.  You know boss invited him before? It was before my time.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.”  Delas made quotation marks in the air.  “‘First Grade-2 Mage among [Players]’ he said.  Chances are he’s going to hit Grade-1 too.”

“Even Coum is only Grade 5.”  Astelion murmured, his voice reminiscent of the deep throated bellow of a large herbivore animal.  His voice seemed to ripple throughout the air and Delas fought not to squint in displeasure, lest he hurt his friends feelings.

“Well, glad I wasn’t stuck in the body of a mage.  It’s not just about Cores you know.  You have to understand the whole thing.  Or you go nowhere.  In the games it was just answering multiple-choice questions in dialogue… Coum told me that he actually has to study.”

“Hence why he spends most of his time in that Tower of his.”  Astelion shook his head, his mane-like hair moving with him.

Delas crinkled his nose as the strong scent of musk filled the corridor.

“Apologies.”

“Bah, not your fault.”  Delas muttered.  “You got a good look at the other participants?”

“Turina Scions.  Most likely requested by the Church.”  said Astelion, continuing, “Most likely bastards.”

“Nah.  Only two of them are bastards.  Gurran Turian and Dorocian Kojisan, the one who got her ass handed to her by Lock.  The other three are legitimate Scions.”

Astelion was silent.

“The orc isn’t going to say anything.”  He finally muttered.

Delas crinkled his nose.  “Yeah.  But no way about it, Nathan wants answers.”

“This is cruel.”

“Has to be done.”  Delas sighed.  “How long you say you’ve been in this world again? 3 years?”

“2 and a half.”  said Astelion.  “Why?”

“I’ve been here for 8 years.  8.”  Delas answered, shaking his head.  “8 years and only a Grade 5 adventurer.  You have no idea how much shit I went through.  All the Cores are different from the modded version and the percentage drops are different too.  That’s why so many [Players] never make it.  I think this world is the original version of the game.”

“...I noticed that.”  Astelion agreed.  “What’s your point?”

“You think torturing that orc swordsman is bad? Think about it James.”  Delas used Astelion’s human name, garnering his full attention.  “I lived here 8 years… in this godforsaken place.  How many people do you think I killed? How many people do you think tried to stab me in the back?  How many do you think I had to stab in the back myself?”  

“That’s what this world does to you.  Someone annoys you, you kill them.  Someone has something you want, you kill them.  Someone looks at you funny, you kill them.  You think that’s the behavior of a normal human being?”  Delas shook his head, continuing.  “You know, I used to watch a guy stream.  I’d comment shit like ‘Why would you let that NPC live!’ or ‘Kill, Kill, Kill!.’”

“But it’s different here.  These NPCs… they’re living breathing beings.  People can type ‘kill that guy!’ easily because they’re just staring at a screen.  But once you’re in here… it’s different.”

“Get to your point.”  Astelion sighed.  Delas had a penchant for droning on and on.

“I’m saying… you can’t see these NPCs as people.  Just… pretend they’re animals or better yet, just data.  That this is all pretend.  We’re stuck here and if we want to survive and have the chance of getting out one day, you gotta see them as loot.”  Delas put a hand on Astelion’s shoulder, though he had to reach up considerably.  “Man.  I miss the days when I used to think of death as something not real you know.  As something… fake.  This world fucks you up if you get in the morality of things.”

Astelion didn’t answer the rest of the way.

At the end of their tunnel, there was a door and a dwarven woman standing in front of it.  She had her arms crossed mimed looking at a watch when the two came into view.  She stomped in front of them and looked at the two, scowling.

“Tanya.”  Astelion greeted.

“Heya Tanya.”

“You’re late.”  She growled.

Tanya had short auburn hair framing her round oval face with long lashes and full red lips.  If she wasn’t a dwarf, Delas was pretty sure she’d get a lot of looks.  As it was, she was only popular with dwarves.  Mounted over her head was a visor, a welding helmet.

“Relax.  We were at the Church.”

She calmed down a bit, though only for Astelion.  Her tone was still curt as she addressed Delas.  “How’d it go?”

“It was fine.  We saw that Mage guy… what’s his face… Arion.”

“Arione.”  Astelion amended.

“Right.  Him.  You remember him? Nathan talks about him once in awhile.”

The dwarven woman uncrossed her arms.  “Arione Popwindale?  The guy who writes those monster books?”

“Yeah! Him!”

“...What’s he doing here?”  Tanya put a hand on her hips.  “He was just there? Without his face hidden or anything?”

“His face was hidden.”  Delas tapped on his eyelid, winking at her.  “But yours truly saw right through him.”

“Right.”  Tanya brought out a piece of paper and pencil.  “Sketch his party members for me.  With your [Handicraft] stat, it should be pretty accurate right?”

Delas made his dagger disappear and began to scribble.  It didn’t take him long.

“A pink-haired Beastwoman… a red-haired Barbarian.  An red-haired elf, and an Akka Xalud?”

“Maria Biva Akka Xalud.  Jason’s younger sister.  You remember him, right?”  Out of habit, Delas made the pencil disappear into his pockets.  “We met him at that party in Turina.”

“I remember that asshole.”  Tanya didn’t notice the petty theft.

“Lock was also there.”  Astelion interjected.

Tanya sighed.  “Alright.  I’m going to go have to talk to Nathan about this.”

“What? Why?!”  Delas cried out.

“Because now there are two Parties being led by [Players],  One of them is Arione who openly despises us.  And the other is Lock, someone whom we’re investigating right now.  It’s too unpredictable.”

“Oh come on! Tanya please! I thought we were going to recruit Lock anyways!”

“...Not until we figure out what his relationship is with that Orc NPC.  Worst case scenario, he’s one of those NPC sympathizers.  We need to figure out the relationship and have a story ready.”  Tanya’s tone booked no room for argument.  “Remember Delas, he’s your best shot of learning [Aura].”

“And until the orc talks, we have time!”  Delas begged.  “C’mon! Don’t tell Nathan! He’s going to call the whole thing off!”

Astelion watched the two, sighing.

Tanya finally relented.  “Fine.  I’ll hold off, give  you time to get that Orc NPC to talk.  If he doesn’t talk before you guys leave on the mission, I’m going to tell Nathan.  Understand?”

“Got it!”  Delas held Tanya’s hand in both of his, shaking it up and down.  “Thanks, Tanya.”

“...We’ve been here 8 years now, Delas.  Stop acting like we’re 18.”

Ignoring her, Delas strode towards the door.  He took out an item from his Dimension Ring: a perfect replica of a horse head.  He tugged it over his head then opened the door.

There, inside the room was Arrosh.

He hung from the ceiling by a meathook, pierced through both of his wrist.

“Oh… I know I’m not 18 anymore.”

At Delas’ voice, Arrosh stirred, turning his milky eyes in the direction of the door.

The scent of rot, feces and wrongness washed over the corridor.

“Alright, I’m going to go check on my guys.”  Tanya, the Clan Master of the scavengers turned to walk away.  “Astelion, make sure Delas doesn’t kill him? Just in case, I stocked the room with fresh healing potions.”

Astelion turned to the room and saw that Delas had already started.

“I will.”

***

Stole sniffed the air.  “Lots of monsters here.”

I nodded.  “Good place to train.”

I turned, watching my party members getting ready.  Aurora strapped her huge tower shield and readied her colossal lance.  Kyrian spoke with Skaris softly, the red-scaled warrior strapping on his armor and listening intently.

“Is there a particular monster you want me to look for?”  Stole was dressed in her usual black-leather ensemble, plus a hood made of cloth.  Despite the scorching sun, she kept it over her head.

The Field was called the Skeleton Cliffs, a long stretch that reminded Lock of the Samak Desert.  On one side was a humongous cliff that stood out against the yellow-white sand.  Its reddish hues were layered with yellow and white sediment deposits, telling its history that was generations long.  Reptilian monsters patrolled the lower part of the cliffs and large avian monsters circled the air, so high up in the sky that their shadows were practically non-existent.

I stood on a vista, overlooking the field below.

Damn.  She was right.  There really were a lot of monsters.  It was a wonder they didn’t mass themselves into a Wave.

Still, the gamer part of me saw all this as EXP.

“I heard that the cliff is Clan territory.  As long as we don’t go near it, we should be fine.”

“So what monster?”  Stole urged.

I head Aurora’s metal greaves clanging on the rock behind me.  “I shared Mr. Lock’s expedition outline while he was inside the Guild Building, registering us as an official party.  You were there, Ms. Stole.”

I flinched at Aurora’s voice.  I had gone alone into the Guild Building to register our party because… I left Stole’s name out.  She knew of course and probably Skaris too if he bothered himself with such things.  I did it alone because I didn’t want Kyrian and Aurora to find out that Stole was underage.

“1 more year.  1 more year and it’ll be all ok.”  

“Outline?”

“...A list of objectives that we are attempting to achieve on this expedition.”  Aurora said calmly but as someone who’s spoken to Aurora multipel times before, I could sense the underlying tension beginning to grow.

“I obviously wasn’t listening.”  Stole rolled her eyes.

Aurora turned to me, her eyes saying ‘Are you really going to let this happen?’

I cleared my throat.  “Stole, as a Pioneer one of your primary responsibilities is to lead us to the right place and find the right monsters.  It’d be wise to listen next time.”

“Will do! But for now, would you mind repeating it?” 

The armor-clad Vetilian didn’t bat an eye.  “We are primarily hunting ‘Hwachas’, a Grade-7 monster.  In specific we are looking for their Brown Core; which Mr. Skaris has proclaimed interest in buying should it drop.  The rest of the monsters in this field are also Grade-7 and we will be hunting them from time to time.  But should we encounter a Grade-6 or higher, we will not be engaging.”

Stole nodded, her expression focused.

While the two spoke, I walked over to Kyrian and Skaris.  “Everything ok?”

“I am ready to test out my new Core and Evolution.”  Skaris was itching to go.

Even Kyrian had an excited look about him, ready to test his new spells.

Aurora and Stole walked over.  “She is ready.”

“Then let’s go.”  I muttered.

Our formation was simple.  Aurora in the front and Stole right behind, ready to duck behind Aurora’s shield as needed.  Then Kyrian so he could do the same.  Skaris and I brought up the rear.

From the vantage point, I leaped down onto the downsloping sand, sliding down on two feet.  The sound of metal scraping sand and Stole’s loud whoop of excitement told me that my team was following.  Despite the fact that we were willingly walking into danger, I smiled.

This was the first expedition where it was just us.  No other parties, no missions.  

It felt like an adventure.

“There! I see one!”

As soon as we got to the bottom, Stole pointed her finger at a humanoid figure running in the distance.

[Hwacha] - Grade 7

Seeing the monster, I took out the [Neung-uh’s Ocarina] to my lips and played a melody.  Abruptly, the figure changed directions like a greyhound and began running towards us.

The monster, Hwacha, had a beak-shaped snout lined with sharp fangs.  Even from this distance, I could see its chest heaving from its endless sprint.  The creature looked like a hairless cat running on two feet –pointed ears, pink-flaps of skin and reverse jointed legs that ended in huge paws with claws, striding across the dirt and sand.

The Hwacha didn’t have fur, instead as it moved sparks of flame popped in the air, sizzling with heat as they touched the sand.  Where its arms were supposed to be were stumps, attached to wooden shafts that ended in a long coffin with wheels, being dragged along by the creature.

It was time to see how well this party really fought.