"Da champion be dead!"
Zander breathed a sigh of relief as he collapsed to the ground, those saving words finally giving him a chance to rest. His limbs hurt, sore to the bone, and every movement felt like his muscles were screaming at him in agony. He painfully placed his sword back in its scabbard, and pushed himself to his feet, or at least, to the one foot that could still support him, and slowly limped over towards the nearest wall, turning to meet the goblin king.
"I've won your game, goblin king! Give me my prize!" He shouted, straightening himself out through gritted teeth, doing his best to act like the pain wasn't bothering him as much as it truly was. He crossed his arms, a trickle of blood still flowing from his injured leg, which had a long, terrifying gash along its side. Luckily, it seemed that blood wasn't flowing very intensely, so he'd keep pushing on, hoping he'd find something for medical attention later.
"Bah! Hahaha!" The goblin king clapped with joy, rising to its feet to meet Zander. "We's true to our parts! Victory to da champion!" He said, raising his hand above his head, invoking a cheer, which sounded much more devilish than victorious. It reached around its side, pulling out a massive set of tiny, miniscule keys, hundreds of keys lining the rung of iron that had previously looped around its belt.
"To da victor go da spoils!" It said, tossing Zander the set of keys, who calmly caught them in his hand, his face beaming. He tossed them in the small pack he wore around his shoulder, before turning around towards the caves, trying to get to Sarah before anything bad could happen, but before he could move, the booming voice rung out once more.
"Wait right 'dere, ewman champion…" it muttered, the grin on its face widening. "we's be givin' yous da keys, as earned, but you forget one tiny 'fing" Zander's brows furrowed as he focused on the gigantic goblin's words, a small bead of sweat dripping down the side of his face. The king leaned towards him, their faces nearly pressed together, and Zander could smell the gross musk of sweat and pus along the monster's skin, causing him to almost throw up in his mouth, if not for the overwhelming feeling of danger he began to feel towards the goblins around him.
"We's neva said you coulds leave!"
At once, the massive horde of goblins descended upon Zander, shadowing him in a blanket of darkness as they blotted out all forms of light that had a chance of reaching his body. The echoing laughter of the goblin king rang out across the hall, pulsing in Zander's ears as he watched certain death descend upon him, closing in from all sides.
Shit! Zander pulled out his blade in an instant, having sensed the incoming danger just a second before they struck, slicing through the nearest two enemies around him, the powerful sword energy slicing through their corpses like scissors through paper. Notifications appeared in the corner of his vision for a brief second, before minimizing themselves, to be seen later as he continued his slaughter, cleaving through five enemies in a single second before one of them finally reached him.
He cried out as a finger dug into the new wound on his leg, causing him to stumble in place. As he fell, he noticed the whoosh of something cleaving through the air behind him, and after glancing back, a hobgoblin had struck right where his head was before. Whatever had grabbed his leg in an attempt to stagger him had ended up saving his life.
He pushed outward with all his might, activating his [Adrenaline] ability instantly, and feeling the pain dampen itself slightly. Still, his leg was rapidly becoming limp, yet he used his newfound energy to dash through a small hole in the surrounding blanket of bodies, and hobbled towards the caves, towards the slave pens, towards Sarah. All around him he continued to fight more and more enemies, cleaving down easily another ten before he reached the area where he'd freed the enslaved human, finding it completely devoid of life. He stumbled down the nearest tunnel, falling down the steep decline and tumbling along the ground as he lost his footing, sending a new series of bruises to appear down his body.
"Aargh!" A small wooden spike impaled his arm, just missing his vitals. He grunted, his [Adrenaline] kicking in to save him from passing out as he stood up, pulling the spike from the ground, the weapon still embedded in his arm.
As he continued his desperate march, he felt a pang of something hit him, something deep and unnerving, an unending rage. His vision blurred as he stumbled once more, barely avoiding another strike, acting more like a drunkard who barely managed to avoid their strikes. He slashed out to his right, taking the neck of surprised hobgoblin, and pushed over a few boxes as he ran by, blocking the path of the goblins for a few moments as they pushed them out of the way, their spilled contents raining across the floor.
Zander entered the cell block, his head snapping left and right as he looked for the familiar people who'd been imprisoned there, seeing their panicked expressions as they awoke with a stutter. Despite this, they were unable to move, their energy still hopelessly drained for what was probably months on end on unending torture and slave labor, and they could do nothing but watch as a horde of goblins ran in tow, some of the monsters sliding to the side.
The first man Zander had seen began to scream as a distracted goblin opened the door, slowly closing in on the helpless human, its sharpened, fang-like teeth glancing in the faint light, before it ripped into the man's palm, ripping off the first layer of skin, before moving onto another part of his body, and another. Zander did not know what fate awaited the man as he kept running, but he hoped his death was quick.
As he finally reached the end of the hallway, approaching Sarah's cell, his [Adrenaline] enveloped his very being, wrapping him in a cloak of rage, like a shadow of anger fell across his psyche. Thoughts of saving those he cared about threatened to fall away as his vision turned red, and instinctively he reached towards his chest, doing his best to beat it, as would a gorilla, or a thrall.
No! He had to get the keys to Sarah. He turned back around, his vision becoming blurrier as he moved. Finally, he slammed into the wall, and threw the keys into the cell, perfect balancing the throw so that it would land in her hands that now rested at her side. He tilted his head, slightly confused, before noticing a few more small cuts that lined her cheek. Those bastards… he thought, his vision pulsing again once more, his task finally fulfilled. He looked back at her, noticing she wasn't moving, only staring blankly at the wall, the life gone from her eyes as she barely even reacted to his presence.
"Sarah! I need you! You have the keys, get yourself out!" he half-shouted, half-shrieked, his voice cracking as he leveled his sword towards the wave of goblins that now sat within arms length. He slashed with wide, elongated arcs, his blade cleaving through the faces of a few of the monsters, occasionally catching on their skulls for a second, before the blue sword energy managed to carve its way through their bone.
Despite his efforts however, it was certainly not enough. Each time he cut one down, ten more seemed to take its place, and within a few seconds he was swarmed with bodies. He screamed as teeth dug into the side of his shoulder, and another smaller bite towards his arm. He fell to the ground as the monsters piled atop him, blocking his vision completely. He was helpless.
Please… it hurts! It hurts! The pain became unbearable, even through his [Adrenaline] as he finally gave into the seeping red that had threatened to overtake him before. His mind cleared as his focus tunneled towards a single goal. Kill the goblins…
He roared as he sent blow after blow into the swarm of goblins, yet none of his attacks seemed to have any effect, unless he got lucky and hit one of the bastards in the face. Still, he was barely a match for a few goblins without help, much less what seemed like hundreds, if not thousands that approached him. His vision began to dim as his body gave, his flesh becoming a punching bag for the horde as he accepted his fate.
That was before the glowing ethereal blade sliced past him, throwing the horde off of his body and cleaving them in two. Zander breathed with great difficulty as he watched the sword be joined by another, and then another, until seven swords joined the first, each one killing a dozen in an instant, cleaving through the massive army of goblins. His eyes caught Sarah as she stepped out of the cell, holding her wrists as she weaved her arms through the air, her eyes scrunched in concentration.
It was beautiful, the dance of death. Sarah whirled from enemy to enemy, wielding one of her shorter swords in her hand whilst the other covered her sides, slicing in and out of their necks, killing them instantly. He tired to cheer, scream, call for help, anything, but blood had seeped into his throat, causing him to cough as his consciousness swam once more.
Within minutes, the horde was gone, a massive pile of bodies layered upon themselves left in Sarah's wake. She coughed into her fist as she breathed in a massive cloud of dust and gore, before turning back to Zander, whose [Adrenaline] had finally run out. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was twisted in a grimace as the darkness began to take hold once more. He laid across the ground, unable to get up, lying in a pool of his own blood before Sarah reached him, turning him over so that he faced her.
"Zander…" her face was full of emotion as she looked at him, seeing the numerous cuts and slashes that lined his body. "I- Y-you're gonna be fine, don't worry" She choked a small sob as she tore off some cloth from a nearby loincloth, using it to bandage his wounds to her best ability. "I shouldn't have brought you here, you're a newly awakened, you can't handle things on the scale of a brute class thrall so soon…" Tears began to openly flow down her cheeks as her arms began to shake, still bandaging his wounds.
"It… hurts…" He grunted, his voice hoarse and not much more than a whisper. "It hurtsss…" He hissed as he flinched, causing even more pain to rack around his body. He violently shifted and flinched as waves of pain flew across his senses, causing his teeth to grind against one another as he desperately held back the urge to scream. Every inch of his body seemed to scream as the pain became truly unbearable.
Sarah trembled as she watched Zander's plight. Her mind raced with re-discovered energy, yet she felt as much as she could do, it would mean nothing. She'd watched as her soldiers died before her one by one. Her remaining squad was split… somewhere unknown, and there was no real chance they were even in the same realm, much less the same set of rooms.
She'd spent the past half week in chains, going in and out of torture and pain, living each day with the hope it would all end, one way or another. She'd thought she was alone, until Zander showed up. She knew it was helpless, but now she was free, and he was dying in her arms.
What do I do? Sarah asked herself, watching Zander as he slipped out of consciousness, his whimpering cries going silent as he rested along the stones. A few makeshift bandages would not save him, and he was certainly not off of his potion timer, so a healing potion would not save him. I have to get out of here… Reginald knew some basic first aid, so he could probably help with Zander's wounds, if she could get out of here fast enough, but still…
[Trial (Copper) Activated!]
[Objective Gained: Clear the fortress of monsters]
[Reward: ???]
They'd all received that notification once they'd entered the "trial," and it seemed the only real way to leave would be to clean out the monster that resided here, one way or another.
Getting to her feet, she turned back to Zander, who now slept in darkness along the floor. Her face hardened as she watched him twitch, blood still leaking slightly from his wounds. She leaned down, adjusting his bandages, before turning back to the hallway to the keep, the tunnels ahead already filled with more goblins, their bodies so tightly packed together it seemed they would explode outward.
She lifted her swords…
And began the slaughter
__
Zander didn't know what happened once he'd freed Sarah. His mind had flown in an out of consciousness for what felt like hours, flashes of gore and violence displaying through his mind. His ears were filled with the destruction of flesh, the impaling of goblins, and large streaks of light that followed Sarah's swords with every stroke.
He recalled her being beset by hobgoblins, whose immense speed and strength overpowered her instantly, yet somehow still, they were dead by the time Sarah hit the floor. More and more bodies began to fall to the ground, lifting upward another mound of corpses as the fighting continued, until finally he managed to open his eyes for good.
He sat upright as he awoke, his side still suffering intensely, yet he managed to prop himself up against the wall, his eyes widening as he finally took in the carnage. Laughter echoed through the tunnels as the goblin king finally emerged from the tunnels, his massive weapon arcing through the air, towards Sarah's smaller frame.
"We's goblins da strongest! We's no fail against a slave!" It screamed as it attacked Sarah ruthlessly, yet she didn't say a single word. She darted between its strikes, weaving in and out of the wild melee, her sword flashing as it pierced small holes in its immense body, as if gutting a pig. Each time the king tried to slam its weapon towards her, another sword flew out from the side, slicing the weapon into its arm, causing their attacks to veer wildly off course. Most of the time, this just led to further annihilation of the goblin army, which piled behind the king, yet this time, it would mean the monster's downfall.
Instead of flying back to cleave through the goblin horde, their massive, tree-trunk sized club slammed against the side of the cave wall, the awkward angle sending it flying out of its hands and skidding along the ground, far outside the reach of the fat monster. Panicked, its eyes widened as it took strike after strike from Sarah's vastly superior weaponry, its blood scattering across the floor as its exaggerated laughs became more akin to a hoarse scream, so loud it gave Zander a slight headache.
As Sarah fought the beast with her swords, Zander watched with wide eyes as he began to track the delicate movements of her weapon, of the intimate closeness of the fight, and the deadly expression that lined her face. He began to see her adjustments, the movements she exhibited to barely dodge out of the way of the giant monster king ahead of her, and he felt as if the opening she began to strike with started to become more prominent, as if they just screamed to the heavens .
[Your understanding has deepened]
[Ability: Sword Mastery (Copper) has evolved into Sword Mastery (Bronze)]
Zander gasped as understanding flew through his mind, his sword, his blade, his mind, fused for a brief moment, collecting into a primal consciousness that knew the entire fabric of their makeup. The sword knew him, as if a brother, and he knew the sword. A brief flash of opportunities flashed through his eyes as whispers of warfare whipped through his vision, openings seeming to present themselves to him more easily. It was as if something in his mind had clicked, as if he'd gotten new knowledge he'd already had, though he knew it wasn't something given to him by the system, it was something with his fundamental understanding of the blade. He was having an epiphany.
As he continued to process his new mental evolution, Sarah continued her onslaught, pressing the attack into the now weaponless goblin, who cowered away with the loss of its club, doing his best to retreat, yet the massive crowd of goblins pressed back again it, forming a wall of moving bodies that stopped him from running any further.
"IEEEEIE!" The goblin king shrieked as it watched Sarah's sword rapidly approaching its head, their ethereal forms slicing through its skin like paper, carving massive, red streaks through its body. It less than a few seconds, the goblin king went from the most imposing enemy in the fortress, to nothing more than a sniveling, groveling child. It fell over on its side, an arm falling off of his left shoulder, slamming to the ground with a thud. Streaks of blood fell across the pebbled pathway, splaying gore across the rocky halls.
"Waits! We's be da kinds goblins! Leave us! Lets us live! We's no have problems no more, please!" It began to beg, and Sarah slowly walked up towards the beast, who acted no longer as a civilized king, but a weakling. She placed her sword along the side of its neck, the king too exhausted to move, and the other six swords moved alongside the one in her hands, placing themselves around different angles of its neck, before slicing downward, cutting the head of the king off from seven different angles, leaving long streaks of cleaving scars through its neck.
"Ach~ Heee…" The words of the goblin king faded away as it fell still, dying on the spot. Sarah did not falter after the king died, turning to the horde of goblins before her, her swords already mid-flight to send the hundreds of goblins to their deaths, but before she could, a bright, overwhelming white light enveloped both her and Zander, plaguing their eyes and causing them to cry out in pain. The never left their eyes, not even when they closed them, until a full minute later, until Zander felt the cool comfort of the carpet below him once more,
[Trial (Copper) Cleared!]
[Accessing rewards…]
[Running Trial05R.sys]
[Reward: Core Upgrade Received!]
As Zander read the notifications, he began to cough, blood forming in his throat as he writhed over once more, screaming silently to himself. The adrenaline had begun to fade away, and as pain began to fully set in, it became unbearable once more. Sarah, who was stood above him, looking distantly into the yellow covered sky, dashed towards him, cradling him with her arms.
"Hold on Zander, I got you" She said, her words calming and soft. As she moved, a shout from across the hall interrupted their conversation, and Zander barely had enough strength left to look in the direction of the voice.
"Captain! Greenie!" The three other members of the scouting party, Carlos, Reginald, and Logham, stood together in a group, slowly walking their way over towards the injured Zander.
"Captain! We were looking for you in the trial, where were y'al- oh god" Logham interrupted himself as he spoke, his hand clasping his mouth as he saw Zander's tattered form. "What happened? We were stuck in a bunch of icy caves, but the entrance was blocked off, so we were stuck for a few days." He glanced once more at Zander's prone form. "I see y'all were busy…" His words came out as a whisper as the others repeated similar expressions.
Zander only coughed a response, finding it more and more difficult to speak. Sarah shushed him as she addressed the group, forcing a smile.
"The greenie got us out of here. Saved my life too. Still-" She looked around for her supply pack, but realization flashed through her mind as she remembered how it was taken by the goblins shortly before her capture. "I don't think Zander can use a potion here, we need to get him to a healer. How far away are we from The Garden?" She asked.
"Four complexes, Captain" replied Carlos. He looked a little confused, his expression tilted as he glanced at her. "Think he'll make it to camp?" he asked, lifting Zander onto his shoulder. He was surprisingly sturdy for being a scout, which made Zander curious, as he was lifted over Carlos' shoulder like a sack of potatoes without any visible effort.
"Let's move. Now. Damn the supplies, the greenie needs to live." Sarah said, already heading towards the exit to the complex. She slashed her sword into the nearby wall, carving a massive X into the structure. "We'll return later. Hopefully the lure being completed will make our journey relatively peaceful, but we'll need to move as fast as possible, so if you see something, communicate it, and then move on, got it?" She asked, getting a few nods in response from the rest of the group, who followed behind her with urgency.
They moved less like a unit, and more like a series of panicked shoppers, sprinting quickly throughout the dense, open complexes that sat between them and the comfort of their home. Once they finally reached the familiar, unusually long bridge that connected The Garden and the outside world, they slowed to a walk, being careful not to trip over themselves as they cross the wide, but still dangerous bridge. Despite the urgency of Zander's health, it was necessary, and they'd all seen the cost of being careless long ago.
As they approached the gate, Zander slowly began to slip in and out of consciousness once again, before his eyelids began to feel heavier and heavier, until eventually he passed out, this time, for a long while.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
During the Trial…
Logham stood atop the snowy mountaintop. After nearly half a week of being trapped in the caves, he finally managed to make his way to the top, to freedom. His long white hair flapped in the open air, the wind brushing his locks aside as he stared wide-eyed at the bright sun overhead, his mind filled with a bliss he thought he'd never see again. A small tear flew down the side of his cheek as memories began to flood back, thoughts of comfort, of home, of family. He remembered a time with his mother, a single moment, his head on her shoulder, as they sat together looking at the sun rise over the mountains, a moment of hope.
The minutes flew by like seconds as he took in the breathtaking view, the bright sunny sky filling the fields of snow and rock, all enraptured by the massive fortress that lay in the background. He glanced towards the direction of the fortress before turning around to see his compatriots emerge. Carlos was much more reactionary, already scanning the area for any signs of threats, thralls, or whatever creatures might lie within this trial, and Reginald didn't seem to care, his face downtrodden in despair.
It had been like this for days now. Reginald seemed to be trapped in a cycle of guilt. He'd scream in his sleep about Maia, and he described watching her body fly to the floor over and over again, endlessly taunting him in his dreams. He'd woken them all, one night. Screaming, immense screaming racked through their ears as Logham had shot up from his bedroll, Reginald's desperate cries echoing through his mind for the rest of the night.
The three of them seemed to have been placed in the caves, alone and trapped by an exit covered in rubble and trash. It seemed whoever had lived here was using this area as a trash heap, or were generally careless enough to allow for the cave entrance to reach such a state of disrepair. Despite their loneliness and lack of space, he'd kept an eye out for Zander and the Captain for the first few days, until it was clear they weren't in the caves.
As the three of them made their way across the snowy fields, Logham spotted something peculiar. A series of markings in the snow, which he identified to be treads from the bottom of a boot, and not only that but kind of boot associated with the craftsman at The Garden. Upon further inspection, the footprints had led towards the fortress that hung over the tip of the mountaintops, a clear sign of where the mysterious prompt was guiding them.
So, the three of them decided to head towards the fortress, slowly making their way to its stony entrance, only to find nothing at the gates. After hesitated decision making, the trio decided to investigate, but not too far. They wanted to see if anyone was nearby, or if there were any real signs of life. As they entered the compound, it was clear that there was nothing but the stench of death and rotting meat.
"What do we do?" Logham asked, getting a shrug from Carlos.
"Hell if I know. We're walking into a death trap, this thing already reeks of corpses and meat, it's certainly not something I'd be comfortable walking into without proper intelligence." He said, muttering to himself under his breath as he tried to get a vantage point into the keep. "Why don't we head back and try to see if we can find the greenie, or maybe the captain?" he asked, grunting.
"Well, one of them is clearly here. If one is, there might be the other." Logham said, and he glanced over towards Reginald, who shook his head, refusing to look at the two of them. He sniffed, glancing down the hallways, before speaking for the first time in a long while.
"We have to clear this place… no? If we want to leave, I mean" Reginald asked, and Logham shrugged, not truly knowing exactly what this trial meant.
"Let's wait for a bit, perhaps our enemies will come to us." He said. His hands shook as a powerful aura emanated from his body, with a small glowing red light appearing from Reginald's fists, before dying out, and his breathing calmed.
"I say we go in" said Logham, glancing towards the window, still not able to see anything inside the keep. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something rather peculiar… was that?
"Hold on-" He ran over towards the tree line, seeing a small pack of supplies lying in wait. Upon picking it up, he opened the bag, digging through its contents. A few rations, a bedroll, a whetstone… wait? A whetstone? He lifted the bag above his head, making sure to keep his voice down.
"It's Zander!" He exclaimed, pointing towards the whetstone in his hand, turning back towards the keep. "He's gotta be in here, a hundred percent!" He said, excitedly feeling energy return to his body.
"We go, then. If Zander's in there, we have to follow. Can't leave him behind" Said Carlos, getting a nod from Reginald. The trio regrouped and unsheathed their weapons, readied at any moment to plunge into the depths of whatever awaited the scouts. They were prepared to die if it meant finding their own. Logham took a deep breath, and stepped forward to plunge deep into the keep—when everything turned white.
When he awoke again, Logham was staring at the wounded form of Zander, who sat filled with bleeding holes, covered in a small, pathetic series of loincloths. He watched as the scout coughed pathetically, his sword lying by his side. Logham approached, but as he did, he noticed something interesting… a flash of sword energy flew across Zander's weapon, almost instinctively, coating the entire blade in a carpet of the deadly energy. Did he evolve his [Sword Mastery] already?! He asked himself, rather shocked. Thoughts flew throughout his mind as he greeted the pair, and they began to set off towards home, with Zander thrown over Carlos' shoulder.
He spent the next few hours after their arrival in his room, taking a shower. He couldn't help but stand there, letting the water wash over him whilst his failures passed through his head. Maia had fallen, Xavier had fallen. He'd fought alongside the two for nearly two years at this point, and the two of them had fought hand in hand with Logham against the rampaging horrors of the second layer, and to see them gone… it hurt so much more now that there was nothing to kill.
His heart hurt, as if he'd lost his mother again, as if that bright, beautiful sun was ripped away from him, just as the induction into the layers did, just as the Strollo Group did just after he'd arrived on the layer, and just as the damn system did, after taking him away from the first layer. He'd have much rather stayed on the first layer, after he killed the werewolf, over coming to this accursed second layer. It seemed that everything wished for the downfall of him and his loved ones.
Still… He knew he had to keep going. It was the promise he'd made to himself after the war, after everything was taken away from him. He needed to push it down, to move up so that those around him believed in him.
Cause he was never gonna let those bastards, no matter who they were, take anything or anyone away from him ever again