Chapter 18: The Sign of Things to Come

“The reason why you suck at this weapon is because you lack proper skills and techniques.” Miranda looked dejected. She lowered her head as I continued to hammer her with her weaknesses that had brought the rest of the party down. But I could not feel any pity for her. She chose to use bows as her weapon despite the availability of other weapons that might suit her better.

“Look, I’ll show you.” I took my own set of bows and arrows. Prior to the journey, I had armed myself with all type of weapons that one could wield. The last thing I needed was to be caught weaponless. If everything else failed, I still had my fist.

“The reason why you miss more than you hit was because you have a lousy sense of timing and spatial perception.” The rest of the party looked on as I drew my strings and aimed at Mature Toopie, a late level 30s monster that was resting on top of a rock about 300 feet away; the furthest range my bow could reach. “Elly and Alviss. Please tank for me as I shoot that squirrel, alright?” I then looked at Miranda. I wanted her to observe what I was doing. “For a stationary monster, it is easier.” I let loose of the arrow and it struck the monster cleanly on the head.

*Critical Headshot!*

And also instant kill, or 1HKO as we called it. The Mature Toopie lifeless body felled down from the rock as I cursed my attack.

“Ceh!” I bit my lips and shook my head a couple of times. “Sorry about that. Should not have missed it from this distance.” My confession took Miranda by surprised. So too did the rest of them. “Y-You call that a miss? A headshot was a miss?” Alviss was so surprised that his jaw just dropped. Sophia's eyes went unblinking.

“Yeah. I was aiming at the body, but somehow my hand slipped a little. Never mind, let’s try on the next one.” And soon, another Mature Toopie was sighted not too far away and this time, I shoot it exactly where I wanted it. The creature was angered and came rushing toward us.

“Now, watch this, Miranda.” I double strafed the poor squirrel yet again. And it fell lifelessly before it could even reach the halfway line. This was a technique that I used for machine-guns back in the war but I found it suitable to be used in NPO too. Those two months training back in the Practice Hall was well spent in a way.

“To hit an immovable object is quite easy, even at a distance. What makes using a bow or any other range weapon troublesome to use is when the enemy moves.” I pointed out to the second dead Mature Toopie. “The first time I shot it, it was stationary, right?” Miranda and the rest nodded. “Once attacked, it came at us at a speed, and that’s where the real battle lies.”

I kept my bow and instructed Miranda to equipped hers. Once she did that, I went around her back and corrected her posture; my hands guided hers as my legs parted her legs a little. I pushed her hips closer to mine and that made her yelped a little. But I continued on and then placed my hands on her chest and told her, “Keep your chest straight at all times. Now, draw your strings! Keep your focus on the target, not your arrow.” She nodded shyly. I knew I did touch her a little but it was for her own sake.

“Good, now that you had your proper stance as an archer. Remember this at all times!” I returned my hands to hers as I told her to pull the bow’s string harder. “A little more, Miranda.” Once she did that, I congratulated her.

“Good, now stay at that stance for half an hour. Never let the arrow loose unless you want to attract monsters here.” I now moved towards Alviss. “Your turn, pretty-boy. And next would be you, Sophia.”

We were camping for the night when the three of them came to me for lessons. I did not know who gave them the idea that I was a good fighter. I was reluctant to teach but after they persuaded to the point of crying, I finally caved-in. If I want to succeed in this mission, they could at least work with me. I still did not trust them yet, but my mission came first. Whatever I was teaching now was the basics of basic anyway.

For Alviss, I had Elly instructed him instead while I observed. For now, she was his best foe. I had taught her all the basics of fighting with sword and shield. But first, I instructed Alviss to strip all his armour and left him only with a small rounded shield and a short sword. He was bewildered initially but he knew better than to go against me.

“Don’t give him any quarter, Elly. Both of your dinners depends on how many strikes you can inflict on each other’s body.”

“B-But…” Alviss tried to speak but I interrupted him, “Don’t rely too much on your equips, pretty-boy. You need to learn when to block and when to strike.”

A large shield, though could block many attacks was pointless against one on one battle. The reason was simple. Not only it was cumbersome to wield, but it slowed the wielder’s movement down and it made for a clunky fight. It was only used to fight big monsters or to receive attacks from multiple directions. A small shield however made for a better movement. Despite what other majorities of players believe and did, they were absolutely wrong. Alviss was beaten badly by Elly earlier during our first mockup battle and after the rest, I trained Miranda for a while. Now, it was back to those two tankers and they were equipped as how I saw fit.

“Alviss, don’t let your foe swipe your legs freely. Don’t think your shield just as a mean of protection. Remember that!” Elly continued where I let off and explained to Alviss about the difference of stances he needed to make to tank better and the timing of his skill. “Don’t just rely on your shield all the time!” She quipped him again and again.

With the two now occupied, I looked at Sophia. I beckoned towards her and she immediately took her place in front of me.

“Strip!”

She could not believe her ears when she heard that. She was fidgeting around so much that it annoyed me. “Sophia, I said strip! If you don’t do what I’m telling you, I’ll not train you!”

She whimpered softly. Well, if she did not want to do this, it was up to her. I turned my back around and moved to Miranda. “You OK, girl?” I could see her hands were trembling and her knees were hitting each other. Holding this new but correct position might be a little too taxing for her now but she had to endure it nonetheless. Miranda bit her lips and nodded at me.

“Good! Once you are done, take some rest and I’ll train you on timing and spatial aware…” But before I could complete my words, I was tugged from behind. I turned my head and I could see that Sophia had taken off her robes.

And by the Gods, my jaw nearly dropped. Under those robes was a figure that I could never expect from a petite and demure girl like her. I had to close my eyes a few times and gave a couple of slaps to myself. NPO sure had some crazy-arse characters but it was in a good way.

“Ghost… is…is… this alright?” Sophia was now in a tight shirt and a mini-skirt. She looked at me shyly while trying to cover her voluptuous breast. Even Alviss had stopped momentarily in his track as he was swiped down by the relentless Elly. Miranda too was shocked that she let loose of the arrows I told her to keep it in position. And because of that, she received yet another 30 minutes.

“Good enough.” I composed myself and looked at her intently. The campfire light made me looked more like a chieftain of a tribe observing his bride closely before devouring her for the night. But I had my reasons why I wanted Sophia to strip. I had noticed that during our fights earlier in the day and during the FATE, she was on the slower side of things. Her movements were awkward, her hands flailed around and her shoulder slumped all the time. In one way or another, she looked like she wanted to fall down at any moment. That and also her skills rotations.

I went over and whispered into her ears, “Is this how you looked in real life?” Sophia was surprised and her cheeks blushed but she nodded shyly. Seemed I was right. She moved like something big was in the front of her body and she was very self-conscious about it. She was always in two minds about things. Only that one time did she snapped and was decisive about things; when she decided to join me instead of the other two back in the FATE.

“No worries, your secret is safe with me. I’ll not tell anyone.” She looked at me and shyly asked, “W-What about…” I cut her short, “If the other two asked, I’ll just tell them that I’m a pervert who can’t differentiate between a real-life person and a game avatar.” She buried her face in the palm of her hands immediately. Heh. What a kid. I needed to go easy on her though just a little.

“Well, let us begin Sophia.”

And the night continued on. They would log off from time to time but I decided to press on. For the sake of Popo and Mimi, I would forgo my rest this time. Since our levels differed greatly, during the time that the other three logged off, I would farm levels and items with Elly and Rose on the same map. The others players who were here decided to ignore us altogether or taunted us. But we paid no heed to them for now. Besides the difference in the levels and adjacent PK-Zone, our quest timer was the constant reminder how much we needed to focus on our quest rather than being irked and emotional about other taunts and goading.

I was now level 29, while Elly and Rose were at 35. The other three were all at level 49. Farming in an over-levelled map did not yield me much EXPs as I’d imagined and the monsters were harder to kill. Though I managed to gather some better items, at this point in time, levelling up could perhaps help me a little more to progress in this quest. We purposely avoided the PK-Zone and this time took a little detour into the hills and forest where there were not many other players around.

*****

12 hours real-time later, I had arrived at the place where the two Bunnians were last seen. In front of us were a battalion of knights, most likely reinforcement from the Royal Capital. They had made some sort of a camp and I could not see any further than that.

However, looking at the map, this looked like a clearing of sort surrounded by hills and forests and beyond were numerous old deserted mines in a valley of hills. I could assume that those were kobolds' lair and where Popo and Mimi could be taken into.

“Who are you?! This place is forbidden to civilians!” One of the knights came to us. Immediately, I replied, “I am Popo’s student. I had been sent here by one of the guards from City of Asgardia.”

“I’m sorry, but without the Captain’s permission, I could not let you enter.” The knight was right but his attitude was found unwanting. Not only he dismissed me coldly, but he kept waving his spears around as if I was the enemy. But I was not to be deterred.

“Tell your Captain, either he let me in or I would enter by myself!” I demanded from the knight.

“What is this all the commotions about?!” Suddenly, a large and pompous looking guy came over to our direction. The knight stood at attention and saluted him. “Captain! These people are civilians trying to trespass the area!” What a fucking liar. Feeling pissed off, I decided to correct that obnoxious knight.

“If you want to lie, you better compose your lies more intelligently, little knight. Do we look like mere civilians to you?” I snorted as the rest of the party gathered around me.

“He is right. I’m a Holy Knight Alviss and I demand that all of us should be given entry.” The Captain looked at us and sneered. “You, a Holy Knight? Don’t make me laugh. You looked more like a Holy Cow than a Knight.” He then laughed heartily and Alviss was enraged. I held him back as I quipped the so-called Captain immediately.

“All of you are not allowed to enter. We don’t need any more help. We are not weak to allow people like you to come, intrude in our mission and then steal our glory!” The Captain spoke with such absurdity that I wanted to spat on his face.

“What’s more, with a bunch of lowly peasant-looking people around you. You called yourself adventurers? Fighters? Knights? All of you are nothing more than maggots on a pile of horse-shit!”

I had it enough. I stared at him and spat to the ground. “For a Captain, your mouth sure stinks. Are sure you are here to rescue the people or wasting time?” I took a step forward and immediately the knight earlier pointed his spear at me.

Staring at him, I growled. “I would not do that if I were you.” Suddenly, numerous vine roots shot from underground and strangled him at the neck.

“What have we here, Captain Brutus?” Suddenly, another group of people came towards our way led by a scantily dressed woman. Judging from their attire, they must be at least level in the mid-70s. The woman scrutinized my party before she left out a soft chuckle. “Captain Brutus. Do let his party in. We could use more guys to become our fodder.”

The Captain, upon seeing what happened to one of his guys and a few words from that weird woman, decided to lay down. Not because he was scared, but to fight between would be allies was forbidden. If news were to spread that the Captain of the rescue team had a scuffle with those who tried to help, I was sure that his stock would plummet and that would jeopardize his career advancement. To people like him, his image mattered more than anything else. The choice of his words earlier was a dead giveaway.

“If you value your position and ultimately the success of this mission, I suggest that you give us entry to the place and tell us what had transpired here until our arrival.” The Captain snorted at me in disgust. I was openly challenging his authority in the presence of his subordinates. The fastest way to get into any leaders’ bad book was to undermine his authority in public. But I did not care; I have a quest to complete and friends of mine needed to be saved.

“Captain Brutus, come. Let’s not keep them waiting. They could do whatever they wanted, but no one could pass the entrance anyway.” The Captain, called Brutus with a Sir in front as he demanded it, took heed of the woman’s word.

“My men will brief you and that’s all you will receive from us!” I looked at him as he was trying to mock me further. “Better that than your useless battalion who can’t take down a bunch of kobolds!” I sneered at him, “For people who had been summoned by the Royal Capital, I’m sure as hell that they had some lousy bodyguards and rescuers. Calling you people as reinforcement was a joke.”

His face was red with embarrassment. His hands trembled and if both of us were alone, I was sure that he would gladly have my head in that instant. However, in the presence of his men and others, he held his sword. He then left with the other players, leaving us to our matters alone.

*****

“Ghost? Why are they so hostile to us?” Sophia came and asked me as we were led into a tent. She had been awfully close to me during these few days much to Rose and Elly’s initial bout of jealousy. And she would be always the first one to ask me questions if she did not understand something.

“Look around you. Injured soldiers, lack of food and low of morale.” I answered as I observed the surrounding. “Furthermore, I think they had been on the losing side and without a sight of victory, people would often behave in the weirdest of ways.”

What the Captain said about briefing was no more than dumping useless information into my face. I looked at the reports and was exasperated by it. These were no reports; these were just… blank papers and some childish scribbles.

Looking around, I could see that the rest of the battalions avoided our gaze and snickered behind our backs. So, this was how they wanted to show their cooperation. These were false information meant to further delay us and to make us fail our quest.

With 12 hours of real-time to go, I was not sure how long we needed to take to find them. There were too many unknown challenges waiting for us at the other end. “So, what do we do now?” Miranda asked. I looked at her and the rest of the party, “Well, perhaps we could do something where these useless knights had failed.”

“Which is…?” Alviss asked next.

I just smiled at him and led the rest of us further down towards the mines. Located outside the camps, there was a valley of hills that was full of mines. They were made like a bunch of holes plastered onto the walls of the hills, like bird nests. Scouring the whole place, I could now understand the reasons why these folks lost in the first place.

Littered with arrows, pebbles and rocks the size of a fist, without anyone saying anything else had made me realized what had happened here. Between the battle scenes and the mines was about a good 300 feet or more. Being exposed to enemies’ fire was the biggest problem they have had.

Not only they did not understand the enemies’ strengths and weaknesses or perhaps even looking down on them, the terrain was not helping either. Being surrounded by hills and forests; offering very little route to escape, the enemies used the mines not just as hideouts, but also as a means to coordinate their attacks. They were in unknown territories and their defeats upon defeats showed how much they lacked in preparation and experience. Their Captain was to be blamed.

Counting of the numbers within the encampment, there were about 200 soldiers and knights with at least 100 PCs. I was sure that they had the same quest as we did one way or another. The problem was, none of them had made it through the entrance.

And Elly asked the question that had been playing in my mind since I saw the scene. “So, what do we do now, Ghost?”

Good question. I had no idea either. I just stared blankly into the mines from a safe distance, worried that we might be attacked by projectile weapons. These were not good signs for us, but we must not give up just yet. I looked at the rest of the party and cracked a dry smile.

“Let’s sit down somewhere safe and think a little, shall we?”