Chapter 14 - IMPROVISED ALLIANCE

“Kajo,” Anissa repeated, ”their army is still marching.”

“Right, the undead...” He seemed absent-minded.

“S-Sister,” Shir’tana ran to her, “I don’t know what happened earlier, I am ashamed of myself.”

“It’s not your fault, little men.” She patted him, then turned her attention elsewhere. “I found you something, Artemis.” Anissa tossed an item at her.

Artemis caught a round shield, constructed by metal and wood. Some of the metal parts were rusty. Regardless, the item emanated a cold aura.

Zaha's journey (Unique Shield)

+ 10 Charisma (Outers’ hero) - 20 life (Slave’s hunger) - 20 mana (Slave’s isolation) - 20 armor (Slave’s torture) 10% reduced damage taken if you’ve blocked recently (Afterlife’s resilience) 30% increased basic attack damage if you’ve blocked recently (Afterlife’s vengeance) Cannot be repaired Consumed by corrosion (‘Recently’ refers to the past 5 seconds) (An item consumed by ‘corrosion’ is losing its durability constantly, even when not used.)

Requirements: 25 Strength, 25 Endurance

Durability: 19/30

“Are we fighting?” Kajo asked.

“I wonder…” Anissa hesitated while looking at the closing enemies.

“Are you greeding for experience?” Pavel knew her well.

“It’s not like we took any real damage from the Death Knight,” Josh said.

“Someone else is running after the undead,” Kajo noticed.

“Ho, a chance...” Anissa murmured while staring between the gaps of skeletons.

“HO? You’re risking-”, Pavel couldn’t finish reasoning.

Artemis stepped forward and bumped him out of her way when their shoulders met. “She’s risking nothing.” Artemis now stood in front of everyone else.

“Sit down, mate...” Josh whistled at the incident and saw a chance to irritate his buddy. “I guess, you can log out if you’re concerned.”

Pavel ignored the provocation. His gestures demonstrated he’s not skipping the event. He checked at the party leader for confirmation.

“Democracy spoke out,” Anissa shrugged at him.

“How convenient...” Pavel sighed.

The skeletons were marching closing the group, faithful to their last command. The morale was not an issue for them, they were walking shells with no consciousness.

Anissa smirked while examining the eagerness of Artemis. ‘Zaha’s shield... Its corrupted fate has already been decided, yet what an interesting item to come across.’

Artemis was not satisfied to just stand on the frontline, she was looking to meet the enemies midway. She grinned at the 50 skeletons as her palm clenched the shield's handle. Artemis' right leg kicked the ground while her left knee raised high.

"Hmm?" The party members reacted.

“Where is she going?” Pavel asked.

“The tank is controlling the pace, you know how it goes,” Anissa made an innocent face and stepped forward herself. She was staring at Artemis’ back, hoping to see her blossom in Brave New World. To discover what she’s craving for, who she’s craving maybe. Anissa had great sympathy towards the young girl.

“I am flattered to fight by your side, my brave friends.” Kajo joined the sudden movement. He had immense respect for them for protecting the outers. Kajo was also disgusted by the undead, they have taken everything precious away from him. Therefore he was always eager to fight without a hint of hesitation.

Artemis was running forward, she left the group behind. “I am coming, David!”

She also desired to gain more experience. The first condition of the unique quest was to reach level 100.

“I have to block an attack...” Artemis whispered. She had the round shield in front like an open invitation. It was important to proc its passives. A low-rank skeleton launched a rusty old spear at her.

"Here we go…" she shouted.

*SLAAAM*

Zaha's journey durability has dropped to 18/30

10% reduced damage taken in the next 5 seconds 30% increased basic attack damage in the next 5 seconds

The system messages were what she awaited for. Artemis stepped heavily before the skeleton army, the momentum from the running she transferred into her right arm. The shield was already lowered down. On its place her right arm exploded, a sword slashed horizontally against the enemy.

*SLASH*

Lvl. 21 Skeleton has been eliminated!

Lvl. 20 Skeleton has been eliminated!

“Did she just one-shotted two?” Pavel was sitting back, aiming the sides to avoid friendly fire.

“Even if they are basic skeletons…” Josh was running next to Kajo, slightly behind Anissa.

“That’s my girl,” Anissa celebrated. “Let me see the real you, dear. The one hidden under the grief...”

The members of Redneck Gaming chased the skeletons. Their leader predicted that they might enter a favorable fight if another party is there to cooperate.

"One girl engaged in battle, Guildmastah!" Daisy had an ability to see further.

"That's it, just one?" He asked.

"Three others are running after her, there is also an archer in the back and a child next to him."

"5,5 people in total…" Billy counted.

“50 skeletons vs. 5 adults and a kid?” Eloise was skeptical of the odds.

Billy was still looking to cooperate with the group that killed the Death Knight Zaha.

"Ehhh!" Daisy exclaimed.

"What? Did she die?" Ted asked in return.

"She just killed two in a single swing."

A few rednecks had stupid expressions. Billy was curious instead.

"And how did you identify that, maybe the undead raised a white flag?” Someone joked.

“Nay, their skulls rolled over.”

Silence…

"Ahhhhh!”

“Now what, Daisy?” The crowd erupted together.

“A second player joined the battle and he's astonishing!” Daisy was impressed by a hooded dual-wielder who was running wild.

“The gamble might pay off...” Billy murmured.

The group was about to catch the backline of the undead. They had to focus on their own struggle.

“They engaged!” Pavel shouted.

‘They’re probably fighting the slowest, heaviest armored skeleton soldiers…’ Anissa assumed.

Everyone noticed the first layer of skeletons were lightly equipped. Anissa had already eliminated four of them. The enemies after that were higher level and better geared.

Artemis engaged first and had the same amount. Her initial aggressive approach was tunned down now. She acted as a bruiser/tank, peeling for Josh and Kajo, and keeping an eye on Anissa.

Zaha’s journey continued to lose its durability rapidly. Artemis was proccing the bonuses whenever possible. Her attacks were impactful even against the stronger enemies. However she remained !?!?!??! She was well taught - the tanking role was essential. It was her job to keep everyone safe. She shouldn't run wild once her party members are involved.

“Hold on Kajo!” Artemis charged like a bull an undead who was flanking the preoccupied Kajo.

*CLANK*

Metal clashed. The skeleton was thrown away, but before that managed to stab Artemis in the stomach. Even with the reduced damage taken thanks to Zaha’s shield, her HP quickly dropped below 50%.

“Miss Artemis, you shouldn’t be so reckless!” Kajo was inspired by these noble youngsters. He found more vigor, his attacks became sharper. Kajo had put to rest three mid-tier skeletons.

“Stand still, little Artemis!” Josh cast his healing incantation on her. This added to her active healing potion. So far Josh had eliminated only two, with one of them being on the strong side.

“Back to the healing business?” Pavel mocked him. He managed to take out four skeletons, mainly because he could annihilate the first row of weaker ones from distance early on. They were almost naked, that made every arrow deadly.

“I can’t see your arrows effectiveness anymore, you twat...” Josh murmured in anger, slamming his mace through another skeleton’s ribs. He knew very well how Pavel gained that lead, nonetheless, he was still trying to cope.

“Regroup!” Anissa shouted while stepping back.

“Half of them are down, but the stronger ones are still standing.” Kajo’s hatred did not blind his judgment.

Anissa, Kajo, and Josh began to back off. They couldn’t risk to get swarmed.

Artemis was aware of her duty, she had to ensure the party’s retreat. She was completely absorbed in ensuring everyone’s safety.

Meanwhile, the rednecks bumped into some of the toughest skeleton soldiers so they were afraid to aggro too many at once. But then a gap was created, the undead split in two. That was of course due to the tactical retreat of Empress’ party. Boost of confidence filled their minds as most of the skeletons kept chasing. Now they had to deal with several elite ones.

While the parties were maneuvering, one sneaky man was collecting bones and items. After a better look, one could conclude he was selecting them. Not every piece suited his taste, only certain ones. His face would brighten when such was discovered and he would add it to his inventory.

His face beamed once again, he crawled next to his finding and attempted to collect it.

“It’s stuck...” Force was required to pull a bone from a pile. He was careful to not attract undead’s attention. “Come on, eaasy...”

The bone was still attached to its owner, so he decided to chop it with a small axe. “One, two, three!”

It was not enough, he had to try harder.

“Once more… one, two, th-”

*CLATTER*

Jonathan was caught by a skeleton who was buried under the pile. “Scheiße!”

Many undead turned heads in his direction. He got noticed in the worst possible timing. His decoy was gone, the players who fought earlier were now bailing out.

“Let me go...” He was not getting away from the grip. ”Am I dropping items here? Dammit...”

Most items had a chance to drop on death. It was a lottery between dropping something precious or useless. A gamble not favored by most players. There was a moderate experience loss. Also, a timeout penalty was set when one experience in-game death.

From the parts collected Jonathan was consuming traces of the living. Many had left behind their mark of living in the past. Some were common people, others were nobles. Rulers and heroes immortalized by legends or lost in time.

The overtime consumption process was required to complete the Deadman’s understanding. This was a passive designed to summon undead minions.

Jonathan came to Dresan after the rumors of undead rising up. The current events made it a suitable place to achieve his goals.

While consuming the essence, he was suffering from side effects. Some of them cause to lose health, stamina, movement speed or else. Currently, his state was not optimal and he was under the influence of temporary curses.

Jonathan couldn’t simply ignore the essence sources for later. Traces of the living were vanishing quickly. He would consume them once the sources are added to his inventory.

Despite having high vitality, Jonathan was weakened by the effects. His quest chain was exciting, yet tricky. The early transition from a fighter to some sort of future summoner was rough. Deadman’s trial led him away from his comfort zone.

He was easily overpowered by 2 of the stronger skeletons and was about to die.

“At least I learned that my Spectre is useless against skeletons...” he sighed. That was one more reason for his downfall. The Spectre was useful against living creatures, even partly against ghouls. On the other hand, the skeletons had a little to no flesh force to drain.

“RIP me...” He lowered his head.

*CLANK*

“You are giving up rather easily,” a slender girl parried the skeletons attack with her daggers. Jonathan lifted his head to notice her tanned, gentle face under the hoodie. Her warm brown eyes quickly turned grumpy. “Don’t just stare at me, move on!”

“Yeah, I am getting up...” His German accent was noticeable. Brave New World was a global product designed for the vast multinational world. For that reason, the virtual world had a system for in-game translation. Even so, the original sounding and accent would remain.

It didn’t take long before a second girl appeared. She was dressed with simple armor plates, holding a rusty round shield and a long sword. Jonathan thought she seems even younger than the first one.

“You probably separated from your group,” the second girl said, “we were following your movement until the clash.” She was peeling the enemies from him.

“We have a plan for the leftovers,” Anissa shouted while running back. Her partner was securing her back.

Jonathan was shocked by the dual-wielder girl, nonetheless, the raw power of her partner was impressive too. “She’s strong and tanky it seems,” Jon murmured after Artemis received another hit.

The moment the attack connected, Anissa turned mad. “You will pay for hurting my little goddess...” Anissa was tempted to stop and devastate the attackers. Once Valentina nodded she’s fine, Anissa cooled off.

Jonathan had no time to explain himself, he was running as he was told to. In the distance he could see an archer shooting at the skeletons, near him was standing a child.

“Your friends are dealing with the stronger ones,” Anissa said, “but we are chased by the majority of them.”

Jonathan knew that two groups split their efforts against the skeletons. He was currently recognized as a member of the opposite one. There was nothing to lose for him, he could even live to collect more essence thanks to that misunderstanding.

The girls made him climb a small hill. There, the enemies opened visible gaps between each other. The hill slope was challenging for the heavy armored ones.

Then something magical happened, the little kid near the archer transformed into an adult. Jon could only express his amazement at scene of sudden growth.

“Magical transformation?”

“Ani, we are back for more!” After a short recovery, Josh and Kajo flanked from a giant rock. The high ground made the fight much easier for them. The skeletons were slower and predictable.

“Now I am paying you back,” Anissa was still pissed at the undead. She turned to Jon before engaging again. “We will join your group soon. Hold your ground until then.”

“This is our final attack,” the younger girl added, “we’ll end this here.”

The transformed kid, the flanking men, the girls, even the archer switched to melee. Everyone worked together.

Jonathan’s rough condition was obvious, nobody expected much from him. Little would they know it was all a backlash from the essence consumption.

Still, his pride didn’t allow him to just stand and watch. Jon fought to near exhaustion. From his blurred perspective a strange scene occurred, the hooded girl punched the air. At first, he thought she’s probably tired as well, that would explain the clumsy move. Later he noticed the knock-up effect, a few enemies were lifted for rather long. They were also unable to oppose for a while.

“Crowd control?” he whispered.

The younger girl was blocking once in a while, then she would launch ruthless attacks. The men trusted the hooded girl. Each word she spoke was recognized as an order. Executed without questions. She herself seemed the most powerful figure on the battlefield, both in command and in raw strength.

“A-Awesome...” Jonathan was in awe.

The small party wiped the hill clean, piles of bones were scattered across. There was no moment of victory and celebration. The hooded girl ordered to collaborate with the opposite party.

“We couldn’t do this alone, let’s give them a hand.” Anissa was breathing heavily, she checked on Jon.“ And bring you back.”