“Holy Shitballs,” McKenna breathed as she stepped away from a Fighter Golem’s heavy mace strike. In the fields outside the City called BriarThorn, McKenna and the small group she’d been loosely working with had been fighting with these things since they arrived.

The Warrior in the group who was a few levels higher than McKenna, according to him, was dealing with two smaller Rogue Golem’s alone. Luckily, it seemed like his build was a reasonably balanced setup. His main attributes with Speed and Dexterity being a little higher. So, although McKenna wasn’t paying close attention, the Player named Rodman tended to avoid attacks instead of defending. Especially since the Rogue’s were keeping him too busy to do anything else.

There was a Light Mage in the group named Thera-flae that liked to make herself invisible and attempt to perform stealth attacks. This was thwarted by the light show that each magic ray and spell created. Her attacks seemed to have some effect, but their effectiveness was mitigated by the Golem’s metal bodies.

Then there were the Siblings that chose different subclasses but focused on what they called combo attacks. Gran Rae was the older brother, and he fought unarmed, marking him most likely as a Brawler/ Rogue. His younger Brother, Thore, fought with a single-handed hammer that sparked with some kind of enchantment. With his long blonde hair and winged helmet, he was obviously trying to rip off the Norse God from the Comic Books. He even modeled his avatar after the actor that played him. It was a little extra, but hey, to each their own.

The last member of the Party was a Gnome Player named Milma Maggins, and she was easily the most impressive in the group. She was keeping three of the group of Golems a good length away as she swung her human-sized sword, Milma called it a ninjatō. Her beige outer tunic clung to her form even as an open turquoise robe whipped around her as she moved.

Even crazier yet, the Gnome was a Warrior/ Rogue mix that was moving circles even around the Rogue Golems. Not only did she duck and dodge around them with ease, but she also leaped and flipped around their blows only to attack while still moving.

No matter what Milma said in protest, she looked almost like a leather-clad Yoda when she fought. Even spells were deflected but less perfectly than physical weapons.

“Rrrah,” McKenna roared as she sidestepped a sword made for something twice the size of a human. Twisting, she swung her Enchanted War Gaff’s hook end around and caught the sword handle in its curve. Triggering her Berserker’s Enrage Skill to boost her physical Attributes, McKenna twisted with her whole body.

The sword jerked out of the Golem’s grip, with McKenna screaming in her freshly created fury. With a single rotation of the unique polearm, she adjusted her grip and positioned herself like a spear thrower. She tossed the War Gaff, spike end first, into the Golem’s Body and drew out her shapeshifting Dagger.

Triggering its effects took only a thought, and the change itself only three seconds. The entire weapon seemed to liquefy and gain mass, becoming a massive Claymore that McKenna heaved behind her as she stepped forward.

But then she stopped, looked down at the weapon that she’d forced out of the Golem’s hand, and grinned. Her Berserker addled brain saw a good idea and went with it; her increased Attributes should be able to manage it. Since the Fighter Golem’s sword was still a little smaller than her Claymore, she switched it to her primary hand and picked up the shorter sword with her now free hand.

Now dual-wielding two massive swords, McKenna shifted properly into her Class’s default mode, Pure Aggression. Instead of attempting anything fancy, McKenna swung the Claymore, then swung the large longsword. She then repeated the procedure, one after the other in an easy pattern that she was keeping up with.

To the Golem’s credit, it did try to defend itself. Two of the plates on its forearms enlarged in a snap and practically became shields. It planted its feet and moved its shields against McKenna’s rhythm. Her left sword came, and its left shield moved to intercept it. The right blade came crashing down like a guillotine, it raised its left shield to defend. It did pretty well until McKenna’s weapons, combined with her boosted physical powers, sheared through the pop-out guards.

It still took her a few more moments to work through the shields, and the Fighter Golem’s Health ran out.

With a tired sigh, McKenna turned off the Enrage Skill and hurried over to her thrown War Gaff. Triggering its Stamina restoring effects and breathing in as the downside of Enrage had its edge removed.

Each team member she temporarily joined was still working through their own Golems, and she debated who to help for a moment before her choice was made up quickly.

Aiming a finger at one of the Rogue Golems fighting with Milma, McKenna fired a Coy Bullet at the repositioning Golem. It staggered back from the hit to its lower abdomen, and McKenna fired another one. This one hit higher on the Golem’s frame, and she didn’t have another need to fire again.

The Gnome player, Milma, flipped over the Golem as it recoiled from the second Coy Bullet, twisted in the air, and whipped her blade in a flashing strike. Her Ninjatō burst through the Golem’s head with a silver light as she cleaved it from the center of its brow to where a humanoid’s shin was. Twisting before she landed in a crouch, Milma sprang forward again, and, this time, she launched herself between the two of her remaining opponents. All while turning around twice in two three-hundred and sixty-degree slashing turns.

Both collapsed as her attacks finished the job that she had been working at since this attack began.

McKenna turned to the Brothers and found that they were down to one opponent between the two of them. No help was required, as both were practically timing their swings to hit it one after the other. McKenna knew it took practice and a lot of time to get that good with another person, whether they were brothers in real life or not. This wasn’t a fluke either; this was their fourth fight together since they started getting close to the City. They went out of their way to demonstrate these attacks.

“Nice!” Gran Rae, the older brother, said to Thore. The two high-fived and crowed for a moment before turning to the rest of the group. “So, how did we do?” he asked everyone.

Thera-Flae rubbed an ointment over her hands and moved up her bare arms where the rust-colored stuff started repairing the wounds. It was slower than potions but faster than healing pills. The one upside was that it was great at fixing anything that the substance could touch, like skin injuries. “Not too bad, that Earth Mage Golem liked to throw acid as well as rocks. Guess I should consider myself lucky that it couldn’t make magical poison sprays.”

Gran Rae turned to Milma, “and you?”

“Not too bad, I got nicked four times when I misjudged their Speed and strengths, but I think I am getting it. The battle before I got six minor wounds, so I am getting better,” Milma smirked as she wiped lime green fluid from her sword before sheathing it. “Won’t be long before I can take on half a dozen without issue.”

Rodman groaned as he walked to join the disjointed circle, drinking a vial of cherry red potion and sticking his tongue out at the taste. “You know, I would think they would make these Potions taste better, considering they could have coded it that way.”

“Quit whining,” Thore told him. “You say that every time you get in a fight and have to drink a potion. Why not let your injuries heal naturally, especially since it’ll heal faster out-of-combat?”

“Because it hurts, duh,” Rodman said, hocking up some phlegm and spitting it out behind him in disgust. “Besides, who knows how long until we’ll have to fight more of these Golems. It’ll be better to focus on being at full health, so we’re ready. Right, Regina? Hey, Regina, everything, okay?”

It took McKenna a moment to realize that her temporary group was trying to talk to her, “what?”

“You alright?” Milma asked, moving a little closer to McKenna. “You’ve been staring at those walls since we got close to them. Is there something you want to say?”

“I’m going inside the city,” McKenna told them, her gaze turning back towards the wall. Colin was somewhere in there unless that caller was very good at lying, and she doubted that he was. There was something in that man’s tone that just spoke of someone honest.

“I thought we agreed to stay outside the city for a few hours and just kill these Golems as they come out?” Thera-Flame asked. “We all could use the experience, especially you. I could be suicidal to head inside without a few more levels, given what we’ve seen so far. Not to mention that these things give decent experience, well, except for the Basic Golems.”

Everyone nodded in agreement except for McKenna, “you guys can do that if you want, I am going in.”

“Why does it matter if you go in or not?” Gran Rae asked. “We don’t have to worry about the Golems spreading farther than the fields around the City thanks to a few other groups and us. Soon, other, stronger groups or even whole Guilds will be here to stop this event from escalating into a full-blown Monster Fortress. We can afford to wait.”

“No,” McKenna told them all. “I’m going; you guys can do what you want.”

Milma hurried over in front of McKenna and crossed her arms. On a human with equal height, this stance with her stern expression would have been at least mildly intimidating. As a Gnome, McKenna just stared down and back.

“Just tell us why?” Milma told McKenna. “We traveled with you from Gentiana, and we all agreed to split the fee that got us here this fast; I don’t see why we don’t just keep sticking together,” she stated. “You may be a little lower level than us, but your combat skills speak for themselves.”

“Someone I know is in that city,” McKenna relented after a moment of thought. “I lost them in the real world, but I got a tip that says that he is here in BriarThorn and that he is still alive for the moment. I don’t care if you guys aren’t going in now, don’t try and stop me.”

The Party went silent for a moment as they thought, and McKenna was willing to wait a few minutes if there was even a chance that they would come with her. Annoyingly, they were overall right. McKenna was confident in her abilities and choices that allowed her to beat a tricky boss on her own and beat a Guild of Players in their own stronghold. That did not mean that she was delusional about her chances in a straight-up fight in the City full of Golems that she’d been fighting. If she had her Career, maybe she could do something about that but as of now…

“Well, that does explain why you’ve been impatient every time we had to stop and do... Well, pretty much anything besides come here,” Gran Rae said. “But it still would be better to be smart about this, Regina.”

“Yeah!” piped in Thore at his brother’s words.

“I will be fine; you guys play it safe,” McKenna told them with a smile. “I’ve mostly been a solo Player up till I met you guys anyway. I got this.”

“No,” Milma sighed, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. “I think I speak from the group when I say that we’ll go with you, at least for now. With the Warzone Conditions the way they are, none of us want to risk dying and losing this opportunity. Right?” she asked the rest of the Party.

All of them nodded.

“Good,” Milma said in agreement with her own words. “Besides, when we go inside, the experience will be much better than out here, right?!” she proclaimed happily.

“Oh, most likely,” McKenna agreed.

Nodding once with a large smile, Milma pointed to the wall, “Alright! Does anyone know how we can get inside!”

Thore raised one of his eyebrows at the enthusiastic Gnome Woman, “isn’t there a front door somewhere?” he asked Gran Rae.

His brother nodded, “I remember hearing that the City has your entrances. One at each cardinal compass point.”

“So, we just follow the wall, and we’ll eventually find one of the entrances?” Milma asked.

McKenna sighed and started walking as she followed the wall.

It wasn’t even a half-hour later when a group of screams broke through the mid-afternoon haze as they traveled. They had encountered another, larger group of Golems as they had followed the wall in search of the gate. Luckily, this wasn’t any harder to deal with than the last group due to Milma’s increasing proficiency in fighting these Golems.

Hell, this fight even leveled McKenna up.

Level up! You are now level 13 and have 5 attribute points to spend. You now have 271 /31,207 until level 14. Congratulations! Your skill, Unusual Weapon Proficiency (War Gaff) has advanced to Level 10. +1% additional strength application towards maneuvering your opponents, +1% damage, +1% attack speed. You can now craft techniques with your War Gaff. You may have only 2 techniques for use at this time. Would you like to go through the tutorial for technique crafting now?

She told the prompt no; she’d seen tutorials on the Rosengard Worldwide Forums that described how this worked. She didn’t need to worry about this right now anyway, so she dismissed the prompt and turned her attention to her Attribute points.

McKenna didn’t think for more than a moment, putting two of the five new Attribute points into Strength. She put two points into Speed and the last point in Charisma to help with the Femme Fatale Skill Spells. Afterward, her Attributes looked something like this;

Strength: 25, Dexterity: 16, Speed: 17, Build: 24(+5 Void Edict), Intellect: 17, Wisdom: 17, Charisma: 18, Luck: 17 (+5 Void Edict).

Since then, McKenna looked up the wall by reflex and saw something… wriggle and convulse.

“WTF?!” shouted Thore, pointing at part of the wall’s crenelations near where it looked like the gate was starting to come into view.

Surrounding the top of the wall was a layer of dull, unreflective metal that undulated and twisted as if alive. The

Surrounding the top of the wall above the gate, layer upon layer of what looked like bio-metallic veins and nodes. The mass of the, hopefully artificial, stuff moved and undulated as if moving in pace with something unseen. At the center of many of these masses of the writhing stuff were, what McKenna could best be described, thick oily black fluid pockets. While the mass only seemed to cover the top of the wall, it did occupy a space at the top of the wall around a hundred feet across.

Then McKenna saw it, holding a middle-aged man and elderly woman by their necks as they struggled, stood a white plated humanoid thing. It wasn’t a Golem in the strictest sense that she’d seen up to this point; it looked kind of like a Replicant mixed with a Necromorph, all twisted and ugly. Sharp points of the white metal that made up its exoskeleton jutted out from its shoulders, back, and forearms.

This Thing looked vicious, terrifying, and just plain wrong. The reasoning for that was simple, whatever this fleshy mass was, it was making her skin crawl at the mere sight of it. She couldn’t help but wonder what the two the Thing was holding in its hands were feeling as it held them by their necks.

McKenna could hear them wailing incoherently and struggling to break free against its grip as it carried the two humans towards a pair of large Fluid Pockets.

“Wait, is it….” Thore asked, his voice low as if he was afraid to raise it or bring this thing’s gaze towards them.

“What are you thinking?” Thera-Flame asked, looking at McKenna’s set face.

“Just debating,” she said, her eyes tracing along with the growths that were still undulating in that still perfect pattern. “And berating myself.”

“Whhyyyy?” Milma asked, drawing out the simple question.

Shrugging, McKenna hefted her new sword that she’d picked up from the Warrior Golem and tested the weight. “Mostly, I wish I had invested time in something more ranged than my Coy Bullet,” McKenna answered.

They all watched as the Golem stopped before the rust-red boil and thrust the old lady inside it. The woman’s scream lasted for a handful of seconds, even audible from their distance on the ground until it gave way to a horrid gurgling. Whatever it was keeping the fluid inside folded around the woman as she was forced through, resealing the pocket the second the Golem’s hand reemerged dripping with that viscous and slimy fluid.

As the thing was about to thrust the man into the same boil, McKenna growled as she reared back, took one deep breath, and threw the large sword that she looted.

It scythed through the air, spinning like a boomerang as it arced up the wall.

The Golem paused in its action and turned to gaze towards the whirring sound coming towards it a moment too late. The spinning blade slammed into the Fleshy Golem’s torso, causing the thing to stumble back with the impact and dropping the man it was holding in the process. The middle-aged man hurried to his feet and slipped away from the thing that had kept him captive.

“Whoa!” Thore shouted excitedly. “That was a great shot!”

“How did you pull that off? Do you have some weird throwing weapons skill?” Thera-Flame asked, looking at McKenna curiously.

“Nope, I just threw it,” McKenna stated, shrugging again. “I was hoping to sever its arm, but whatever works.”

“So, what’s the plan now?” Milma asked, still watching the Golem as it wrenched the large sword free from its chest.

Tendrils of the fleshy mass writhed up the sword in a wave, leaving traces of whatever the stuff was called all along the weapon, giving it an alien appearance. It turned its gaze towards the group that stood on the ground below the wall it was spreading its infestation on.

The thing upon the wall turned to face the five of them and stared down at them for a long moment. It kept looking down at them, and McKenna wondered what it was doing for a moment while wondering what they were going to do next. She looked down the way they walked from and gestured a thumb down there, asking, “anyone just want to go back and see if we can get away from this thing? I just wanted to save one of the guys it was killing.”

The whole group acknowledged her and took one step away before the Golem threw its arms out to its sides and reared its head. The scream it released was something between the sound of tearing, grinding metal layered with the squeals of dying… things. The sound triggered something with the flesh that was slowly spreading, and it stopped all of its previous spasms.

It somehow writhed in reverse, flowing like water towards the Golem they were staring at in frightening fascination. The viscera was collected within its frame without being visible on the outside, all that mass compounded inside. When the scream ended, there were patches of the flesh on the wall, but most had been absorbed.

Then it rushed towards the edge of the wall and leaped, its forward momentum carrying it several meters as it fell.

It then crashed into the hard-packed earth about fifteen meters before them, the landing bringing the Golem to its knees with the landing. Whatever the Golem was doing to itself, its size belied its actual mass. The crash to the earth caused vibrations that McKenna could feel through her boots.

When it rose, McKenna could almost see the wriggling corruption of whatever this thing was underneath the white armored plates of frame. McKenna stared at the Golem as something about it was tickling a memory in the game that she could not place. There were differences in this instance compared to what she thought she was being reminded of. Still, she remembered watching a creature made of twisted flesh and adapting hostility. The thing in her memory was killed by arcs of powerful electricity from twin turbines in an old Gnomish Facility.

But that was crazy; she’d never been in a-

Then her eyes widened as she recognized the color of the flesh along with the way it undulated, morphed, and shaped itself. McKenna swallowed hard as she went over everything she remembered seeing from that last trial Colin had endured to get his sword and become whatever Class he’d gotten.

This wasn’t a Columbine Mutator, that was for sure, but it was probably an offshoot of some kind.

The Golem hefted the large sword in its hand, moving it in front of its blank face without a word. It took a moment to consider the weapon before giving it a quick test swing while the fleshy tendrils adjusted on the large sword. Tense seconds passed as the weapon’s edge was completely revealed, and veins of the rust-red fluid started flowing through the weapon. It swung the weapon again and nodded once to itself, an oddly human action for the Golem.

While it was adjusting the weapon, Thore and Gran Rae circled around the Golem and were preparing for their attack. Thera-flae cloaked herself in her light magic and vanished from sight. At the same time, Rodman moved a few feet away from McKenna, giving him a few meters to work when the Golem attacked.

Milma Maggins, on the other hand, stayed right next to McKenna. She’d pulled the outer robe behind her sheathed sword to make it easy to draw and used her left hand to hold the weapon at a good angle. She pointed with her other arm at the Golem, “do you think it we can reason with it?” she asked.

McKenna shook her head in the negative and lowered her stance, activating her Divine Aura (Conflict), just as the Golem screamed.

Divine Aura (Conflict) is toggled. You are entering conflict with a Mutate Golem, a Unique Golem of increasing potential. While it isn’t a sort of boss monster yet, it is likely to get there in time. Your Build and Strength Attributes gain a moderate boost. Being the first Outworlder indirect ‘Conflict’ against this Unique Creature, you gain an extra boost, Divine Fortitude. Your body is cleansed of all negative and timed effects and gains a resistance to poisons and infections.

McKenna didn’t even get to enjoy the positive, glowing effect that Divine Fortitude had on her with that ear-piercing scream.

Extinguishing its scream, the Golem raised its leg up and stomped it down with incredible force. The biomass from its body exploding out and spreading like a pool of water. It spread like a wave of cement that darkened and matched what little of the fleshy mass that still sat upon the wall. It attempted to climb up the entire team’s legs, but everyone managed to dance out of the grasping tendrils before they hardened.

When it struck, it was faster than any of them had anticipated. It practically turned to face McKenna and rushed her with its acquired and corrupted sword swinging in a wide arc.

She was exceedingly glad that Milma had stayed where she was when the Golem finally attacked. Her ninjatō had flashed out as she spun around and attempted to deflect the weapon strike against Mckenna. Though the strike failed to stop it properly, it managed to partially knock the attack up and above McKenna’s head.

With the cooldown on the Enrage Skill long since over, McKenna activated it and thrust the pointed end of her Stell War Gaff towards the Golem’s elbow. With her extra Speed and Strength behind the attack, McKenna intended to wench the arm off at the elbow but missed due to its freaky Speed.

It took a step back and turned while leveling its large sword with its chest before thrusting it towards Milma. The Golem was fast, and its strike was as fast as a fencer’s foil, but Gnome was faster. She flipped over the Golem’s attack, struck at its outstretched arm and shoulder four times before landing behind it. Each attack only dealt a small amount of visible damage as the Golem twisted around and flicked its sword at McKenna. Its opponent was swinging the hook end of her War Gaff towards its feet.

A beam of yellow light lanced out from a space behind the Golem, impacting like a crossbow and knocking its weapon off its intended course. This time though, the weapon moved downwards towards McKenna’s right shoulder and sliced neatly into it, creating a sizable gash.

You have been struck by the Mutate Golem and have taken 67 points of damage. You now have 410 out of 477 Health remaining. You have avoided the Mutate’s infecting ‘Bio-forging Infection’ due to your Divine Aura.

“Shit!” McKenna growled; her Enrage Skill spurred her on without flagging. The hook end of the War Gaff caught on the Golem’s ankle, and she pulled with all her might. She felt the Golem fight against her to remain standing, which gave the Siblings a chance to attack.

Gran Rae threw the first blow at the Golem between them, his fist charged with the gold-orange power that she recognized as Ki. His right hook connected with the Golem’s head, turning its head away from McKenna with a twist of metal. As he went in for the next hook with his left fist, Thore came in from the other side with his hammer charged and sparking like an exposed wire. Both attacks struck simultaneously, each hitting at the Golem’s head.

Both men seemed disappointed when the head didn’t cave in, but neither were deterred by the non-effect. They both took a step back, nodded to each other, then Thore reared back and readied his hammer in a pose somehow reminiscent of a golfer. He pulled back, continuing the imitation, the swung it down and up while yelling, “Thore!”

The blow impacted the Golem in the torso, sparks traveling up the hammer and into the writhing flesh around the plates as it was knocked upwards. Gran Rae raised his left hand up in the air and closed one eye as he aimed. Then reared back his right fist as it shined with charging Ki. “Flying Ki Strike!” Gran Rae announced as he threw his fist towards the Golem at the apex of his flight.

A short beam of Ki hit the Golem, knocking it away from the majority of the group and into the rough direction of Rodman. The Warrior rushed into the path of the Golem as it fell, swinging his sword into the crashing form of the Golem as it sliced through one of its arms.

The Golem landed with a crash and quickly bounded to its feet. It looked down at the stump of an arm that it now had and cocked its head at the missing appendage as it leaked a red fluid that seemed to glow. All at once, it stopped the leak, and all the fluid flowed up in a stream towards the wound. Even the remaining quasi-blood from its severed arm flowed out and came towards its stump.

“Shit!” McKenna repeated. “It’s probably Mutating. We need to stop it!”

Milma was already rushing the Golem, practically a blur, as she spun around in a complete circle before striking. Sadly, this thing was faster than the Columbine Mutater that Colin had to fight. The fluid moved back into the stump and reforged the arm out of the same pulsing bio-metallic flesh as the floor they fought on. Its first move caught the blade with its new arm and lashed out with its other clawed hand.

It was thwarted a little by Milma deciding to release the ninjatō in its grasp, but unfortunately, she was still in range. Its attack caught her in the back and sent her tumbling several meters away. No one was close enough to stop it as it dropped the ninjatō and turned to face her, clenching its large sword in both hands.

Instead, it stopped and released the sword with its new hand. It turned the grey-red arm over in its vision as it seemed to think, the action seeming to be in awe of the new appendage.

“Master, is this what you meant? That I can change myself with this Mutated Flesh?” The Golem pondered as McKenna was sprinting towards it.

To McKenna’s right were Thore and Gran Rae, both sprinted more towards Milma. Rodman was already striking down in a leaping strike from behind it, an attack that brought his blade down with maximum effect. McKenna had no idea where Thera-Flame was but hoped she was getting ready to help.

“Empower and Triple Cast, Light Bindings!” the Light Mage screamed.

“Tearing Flesh!” the Mutated Golem screamed as it stabbed the sword into the wriggling, fleshy ground.

A dozen cords made out of pure light appeared from orbs of golden yellow light that her Thera-Flae’s spell conjured. A dozen cords bound around most areas of its body and pulled it down into the ground. The Golem struggled to rise but found no purchase against the spell that was holding it.

At the same time as the light started to hold it down, five tentacles made from the grey-red flesh erupted from the ground. It was impossible to determine a length given that they slithered back in and out of the fleshy earth as to strike with the sharpened bone blades that lined each appendage.

Rodman took the blow from the Golem’s summoned attack. Two of the tentacles got him from both sides and tore into his lightly armored frame, all while he was midair for his attack. Although he hadn’t taken any damage previous to the assault, the sharpened bones that surrounded the tentacles ripped him to shreds in mere seconds while everyone hurried to avoid a similar fate.

“That will only hold it for about ten seconds!” Thera-Flame shouted from near Milma.

“Got it!” McKenna shouted as the brothers defended against two of the tentacles that were attacking them individually.

Her Enrage was still powering her movements as McKenna ducked and skid past a tentacle that came for her. A number of the blades still managed to rake her, and McKenna could see how a Player higher leveled than herself could die so quickly.

You have been struck by the Tearing Flesh Tentacle and have taken 23 points of damage. You now have 387 out of 477 Health remaining. You have avoided the Mutate’s infecting ‘Bio-forging Infection’ due to your Divine Aura. You have been struck by the Tearing Flesh Tentacle and have taken 19 points of damage. You now have 368 out of 477 Health remaining. You have avoided the Mutate’s infecting ‘Bio-forging Infection’ due to your Divine Aura. You have been struck by the Tearing Flesh Tentacle and have taken 33 points of damage. You now have 335 out of 477 Health remaining. You have avoided the Mutate’s infecting ‘Bio-forging Infection’ due to your Divine Aura.

Just three of the blades had practically grazed her, and she’d taken seventy-five points of damage and had the Bio-forging Infection attempt to infect her. If she’d taken the full force of the two tentacles, McKenna feared what would happen.

Her thoughts turned to Colin for a moment; a half-second of real-time in the conflict made her see what she was terrified of. Somehow missing Colin and having to start her search to find him again. McKenna felt her heart drop in desperation at that thought.

Before scrambling to her feet, McKenna withdrew a recent addition to her arsenal from inside her shirt. The ink-black gem in a dark stained silver cage that clung almost perfectly to the mysterious item inside. She dropped the Steel War Gaff with wide eyes and drew her more easily replaceable item, the Shapechanging Dagger. She triggered its change into a Claymore before activating the Void Edict amulet’s only unlocked ability, Lesser Bane Edict.

The blade of the weapon shattered as the Edict took effect, the pieces remaining in their respective places by only a hair’s breadth. A vacuum of air whistled as the void energies channeled with the item formed around it and within it. Then the same solid white glow as the last time she activated it appeared, developing over the weapon like an opaque sleeve that seemed to try and draw in the light around it.

The effect took only a second to occur, and McKenna watched as one of the bone-thorned tentacles swung like a whip towards her. With a heavy and deliberate swing, McKenna swung the sword at the tentacle, the blow against it somehow making it stop in its place.

Lesser Bane Edict changed weapon’s bane to Mutate Bane. The weapon now deals Hellflare Damage.

True to the name, the blade of her sword lost that opaque white sleeve and became wreathed in infernal red and deep blue flames that looked positively spiteful as it hissed and popped in the bare air. The wound she’d inflicted on the tentacle burned and sputtered at the damage kept burning even as it recoiled away from McKenna.

Two more tentacles rushed her as the other retreated away, and McKenna’s Enraged mind only saw one thing, the target just past the tentacles.

Starting towards the Mutate Golem, McKenna moved from a walk to a jog to a full sprint as the HellFlare energy around her blade spat and hissed audibly.

One of the Tentacles was blasted by a ray of prismatic light that kept going until it diverted away from McKenna. The other was stopped by McKenna herself, the Claymore cutting into the creature with the dark flames that cauterized the wound as much as it somehow kept burning.

To McKenna’s wrath, the bindings that held the Golem in place broke and faded away as it’s stood from its crouched position. Seeing McKenna coming, the Golem threw out its hand, palm open, and screeched, “Flesh Reforging!” With the Mutate Golem’s pronouncement, its open hand closed except for the forefinger that now pointed at her.

She had no idea what the Golem did, but it didn’t matter; she needed to get to it and try to finish this off before she died herself.

That was when the effects of the Golem’s ability made itself clear by jumping in front of her. Though the flesh was twisted, swollen, and now covered in a layer of bio-metallic flesh that pulsed with rust-red veins, Rodman’s face was still clear to see. The body now stood at around seven feet tall, had dull grey claws that covered the entirety of both hands like gauntlets. Even worse was the horrible creaking and screeching that came from its joints every time it moved.

Still, McKenna didn’t stop.

Even as she got closer and reared back for the swing against the Mutate Rodman, a voice rang out. It was melodic but carried a smooth Scandinavian accent that carried a stern order with its simple words. “Pestilent filth, even you, oh desperate Mutate within the body of this man, release him from your bonds and allow this warrior to pass!”

Just before she struck, Rodman’s body froze and trembled, the entirety of the Mutation stuff on him quivering. Then as she chose to pass it, the body collapsed to the ground, and McKenna just kept sprinting.

“Scorching Blood,” the Golem screamed; geysers of the blood from the mutated flesh on the floor erupted and sprayed the area. A few drops landed on McKenna as she kept going.

You have been struck by Scorching Blood and have taken 53 points of damage. You now have 282 out of 477 Health remaining. You have been struck by Scorching Blood and have taken 52 points of damage. You now have 230 out of 477 Health remaining.

“Ardent Spring Aura!” shouted another voice that McKenna didn’t recognize. This one was feminine, accented as well, but it sounded Grecian this time.

McKenna stopped caring a moment later as her entire body began to glow with a vivid green glow, like light from behind a thin green leaf. This glow stopped the blood from coming down on her, and it even helped speed her towards the Golem.

In one moment, McKenna swept her HellFlare covered horizontally across the Golems body, the HellFlare slicing through the metal plates and Mutate encompassing its body alike. Spinning around, with her weapon’s weight, she quickly followed up with a second strike. Bringing the blade up for a diagonal slice and stepping with the blow to add as much power as possible.

Congratulations! You and your team have defeated the Unique Creature, The Mutate Golem, and have gained 7205 Experience. You now have 7,476 /31,207 until level 14. You Enrage Skill is now level 5. Stamina use for this skill is decreased by a small margin, and you gain an additional point to all physical Attributes as well as an additional subtraction to the Mental Attributes.

With that message, McKenna quickly turned off her Enrage skill and sucked in a deep breath as the tentacles wilted and deflated. Liquifying almost as quickly to sludge that was evaporating as well. A moment passed, and Thera-Flame dropped her invisibility spell, revealing herself and Milma, who was looking at McKenna with disbelief. The Brothers were still alive as well, but they were beyond the area that the Golem had designated with its Mutate. It looked like both had been knocked pretty far back with one tentacle, and both were waiting for an opening before rejoining the fight.

“I told you she could do it,” came that Scandinavian voice again, as smooth and cultured as before but not as demanding.

McKenna looked to find the source of the voice, only to see a human-looking man standing next to a red-haired goblin.

He stood maybe six feet tall, with golden blonde hair trimmed just below his ears and fair skin without noticeable blemish. His sharp features worked perfectly with his thin frame and the fitted leather armor that looked practical as well as unused. Around the armor, he wore a thick black cloak that was trimmed in rose gold cord.

The Goblin had short red hair that playfully curled around her pointed ears. She, and the gender was evident given the curves on her, wore a forest green toga-like dress with a slit up the front middle that showed off her dark leather pants. She wore open strapped sandals that stopped mid-thigh and framed them well. That was not at all what she expected of a Goblin. Even though she’d seen Nox through Colin’s stream before it died, she didn’t expect any others to look quite as clean.

“Only because we helped,” the Goblin said, gesturing towards McKenna. “Still, I will admit that it’s impressive. She still would have died if she flagged or slowed.”

“Agreed,” the man said, grinning widely as McKenna approached. “Oh, hello there.”

“Who,” McKenna panted. “Who are you?” She finished a moment later.

The Goblin spoke up first, “you can call me Kore.”

“And I am Loki, Son of Farbauti and Laufey. God of Mischief, Chaos, and guile,” the man calling himself Loki stated with a courtly bow, bending at the waist.

Looking over the man with curiosity, McKenna found herself a little disappointed. The game developers couldn’t have leaned into the Comic Book stereotype, that Loki was devilishly handsome. While this one was handsome, it was more of a pretty kind of handsome.

Internally shrugging, McKenna instead asked, “God? Really?”

“Oh yes, we- I mean, I am,” Loki said, stumbling over his words.

The Goblin looked up at Loki and glared. “You know, I hated you before now with everything you’ve done to your daughter. Now I hate you for personal reasons. Goodbye, Forsaker.”

“Wait, will you hold up your end of the wager?” Loki asked her, the smile never leaving his face.

Kore paused in her stride, “unfortunately, I will. But I expect you to never darken my path again, Trickster.”

“Fair enough,” Loki said, waving at the departing form of the Goblin woman.

McKenna had been wracking her brain for anything she knew about Goddesses from Earth with the name Kore. That slip of Loki’s couldn’t have been on accident. He was telling McKenna that the Goblin was a Goddess, but who-

“No fucking way,” McKenna said, looking at the retreating Goblin. “That’s Perseph-”

“No,” Loki said, using that same tone as before when he ordered the Mutate to leave Rodman. “Do not speak her name; it really makes her angry these days.”

“Why is she a Goblin?” McKenna asked, not understanding the logic.

“Oh, I have some ideas, but none that I will share,” the man said, ending that line of conversation.

It was then that Milma hurried over and asked, “why did you help us? You could have gotten yourselves killed as well.”

The God looked at the Gnome and gave her a wolf’s smile, “I doubt that. Even magical constructs understand the idea of predator and prey. I am always the predator; trust me on that equation.”

“But why,” McKenna repeated Milma’s question.

“I needed to get Kore to do something, and you find Outworlders gave me a good betting chance. For that, I thank you. For now, though, Good luck. I am a busy God, and apparently, everyone hates me, which makes my job harder,” Loki said, turning away and walking towards the City.

A few paces away, he flicked out his cloak and spun around, the mantle continuing the action. A second later, the God and the Cloak vanished, leaving McKenna even more unsure about this game than she had been previously. Gods other than the seven Rosengard Gods were running about? Why?

That was a question she planned to ask Not-Colin a little later. For now, it was time to get inside the City. Real Colin was waiting for her. He simply didn’t know it.