It had taken weeks to grow a new staff, but finally they had one ready. The shaman felt exposed as it emerged from the newly dug tunnel into the open plains far from their normal den. They had used up much of the resources the clan had left to expand the domain of their god. It would prevent the interference of the other gods. Plus, should they be able to lure the champions, the monsters, of the other gods they would be able to not only kill them. But claim their flesh to feed the spawning pools.
Planting his staff in the ground he eyed the barren lands. They looked no different than anywhere else. But the shaman knew it slumbered there. They had dug around it and expanded their god's domain to it. Their god had spoken to them again and explained in greater detail the plan. The ancient monster would rise up and make itself known. It was too close to the stronghold of the other gods. They would send their monsters to battle it. In the chaos, they would attempt to trap some within their god's domain. If all went as planned their deaths would be attributed to the ancient monster.
The subterfuge made no sense to the shaman. Might was all they understood. But their god's commandments must be obeyed. They had rescued the tribe when they were near extinction. Had empowered the shaman. Provided them knowledge of the gods. Even its selfish primitive mind understood that there was more to gain by obeying. For now.
Channeling power into the staff the crystals began to grow and glow. It was the same attack they had planned to use against the monsters previously. Nervously they looked around as they channeled. It would take a while to charge up the magical bombardment. They had no divine barrier here to protect them. Also, the fact it had been breached before made it even more nervous. Yet, as the long seconds ticked away nothing showed itself. No enemies attacked. Fully charged it tilted the staff forward and the dozen gigantic metallic crystals glowing white hot launched into the sky.
They rained down, each falling crystal causing an enormous explosion that shook the very ground. When the dust cleared the Shaman saw what it was looking for. Unburied from the ground was a glossy black surface. It shone in the searing sunlight. After a few moments, the ground further began to tremble. All around them the ground cracked and bulged up. The shaman didn't wait but began scrambling away as the land for hundreds of meters in front of them started to shift. Something the size of a small city was pushing its way up out of the ground. Even as the shaman sprinted away in terror it was grinning at the same time. It had done it. Soon, everything would come to fruition.
Behind it, the ground erupted and a round smooth shell pushed up. It was covered in football field sized sections of shiny black glass.
**********
Clive eventually got the rushing crowd under control. It had been a bit of an effort. Both the tech and fantasy faction taverns had emptied out to come to see about this quest. Jake was a little shocked, there were a lot more people in the hub than he realized. Or maybe it was just the start of summer break. Most of the players looked to be school age. While glancing around he also spotted Killgore and his group of Uniques. Only then did he realize they probably hung around the tech faction's bar.
The quest was as stated to defend the hub from an attacking force. Jake had immediately thought of the Grims from before. Imaging them forming an invasion force. But it turned out to be a single enemy. A Gigatortoise. Jake like most people had chuckled at the name. The way things were named in the game was like that sometimes. Classes might just be the weapon they used. Or spells could be something odd like Bladenado. Gigatortoise sounded like something from a children's monster catching game.
Clive did not laugh. He explained what a Gigatortoise was as if reading the information off. The way his eyes moved perhaps he was.
"A gigatortoise is a city sized mega beast that has been augmented by advanced science. Its shell is a set of giant solar panels that allow it to gather energy. This energy is used to augment the biological energy it produces, similar to any other cored monster. It has only one attack but that is all it needs. It can breathe a beam of condensed energy. A single breath of it can wipe out the entire hub. Its shell will be impervious to anything you can do at the rank you are now. The flesh of the beast won't be much weaker." Clive looked at them all intently as the crowd got more serious.
"Then what are we supposed to do against it?" someone asked in the lull.
"You will simply need to kite it away. It is slow. So just get its attention and drag it away. Everyone who participates will receive two hundred thousand credits. But only if the thing gets dragged away and not led right back at us. Be careful though. I doubt any of you will survive a single attack from it." Clive swept his gaze across the group and then asked why they were all still there.
Nearly a hundred players left then. Some weren't even bothering to go after the quest. It sounded like a lot of trouble for the payout. Others wanted to go see the monster even if they didn't engage it. A few wanted to try and complete the quest. Jake and his group were amongst them. That was a lot of credits for them as a group. Especially right after they invested everything in a vehicle.
"We can set up Cass at the limit of her range opposite of the monster. Then use Aero's buff on her and have her just run away. It should be cake." Ella skipped along as she explained the simple plan.
"That sounds way too easy." Gadget countered. "If that was all there was the developers would never bother with such a quest."
"But we are going to try either way so might as well hope it is just that simple." Aero grinned.
Using Aero's travel spell it took hours before they saw the thing. Huge on the horizon, just a gigantic kaiju sized monster. Standing perfectly still. Even after spotting it they traveled for almost an hour more before getting close enough to really see it. Jake glanced around as they finally stopped. They had gone roughly in the direction of the Grims but long since passed them up. Yet for some reason he swore they were involved. Something about the area just reminded him of the lake bed they had fought in.
"Holy balls that thing is huge." Gadget was shielding her eyes as she looked it over. Sunlight reflected off those solar panel-like sections of the shell. The turtle was currently sitting facing sideways to them. Meaning it wasn't facing the hub at least.
Cass shared her scope with Jake letting him get a closer look. The tortoise head was sticking out of the shell. Huge and thick, its neck was veined with what looked like metallic circuits. With a beak big enough to swallow a house hole its mouth was partially open as it stretched towards the sun high overhead.
"Looks like it is sunbathing." Aero said with his ever present grin.
"Yeah kinda does. That thing really is impossibly big. You sure there isn't a weakness to it?" Jake glanced at Ella who was still teaching him the ways of the gamer. She had said all bosses have a weakness. She hadn't been able to point out the weaknesses of most of the bosses they had fought. When he brought it up she simply let him know she was the pretty one not the smart one.
"Something we can exploit to just win the fight. Why put an unwinnable fight in a game even for an event?" Jake continued.
"Maybe it is the start of the event. Lure it away and the players as a whole have to work towards defeating it. Farm special items to make a new weapon or something." Gadget said. Ella's eyes lit up.
"A Gigatortoise series of weapons that pierce defense. Man, that would be an awesome addition to the game. Maybe a way to craft more advanced gear without the stupidly rare crafting cores." She was now hopping from one foot to the other in excitement.
"It looks like it came out from the ground." Aero spoke, holding his hands up with his wind telescope. "Perhaps there are clues down there? Maybe even some sort of special loot?"
Everyone looked together. The ground beneath the tortoise was a huge open hole of darkness.
"Well, let us get started." Cass slung her oversized rifle back over her shoulder. The others nodded and were preparing to start the trek around the turtle when a narrow line of flame shot across the sky. It smacked into the side of the tortoise head and winked out. The ground began to shake as the tortoise started turning in their direction.
"Who the hell is the idiot that attacked it from this side?" Gadget shouted as they all turned.
Killgore and his group were a distance behind the group. The rail gunner guy standing up from prone after having fired on the tortoise.