Volume 01: Start Again
Chapter 09: Survivors
Looking off into the distance I could see the burning red illumination of the darkened sky. This was the sign that a beast tide was near and also the reason this world was named Ashen Eclipse as the sun of this world would become blocked by an unknown object which would create an ashen illumination in the areas creeping with beast tides.
The largest amount of deaths in the early years of this world was all due to the defense of cities and towns. Protecting sieged areas attacked by large beast tides was almost impossible as most beast tide leaders were too high level for the current regular player, but this would change in a couple of years.
I remember quite clearly in my last life how several cities fell, and tens of thousands of players were killed becoming buried along with the cities and NPCs they fought to protect. The only thing left behind by the passing beast tides were the ashes of the fallen NPCs as players when killed would only have a level reset and drop a couple of pieces of armor. So compared to NPCs who are permanently destroyed to never be seen again is a grimmer end than losing all your levels and having your stats locked.
* "Arrival to Nil in five minutes all players aiding in support be ready to disembark the train. We will begin our assault from the southern town entrance leaving the train 1 kilometer outside the town." *
Hearing this over the intercom I felt someone tug at my arm as I stood in the seating area with the others. Feeling this, I turned to see the masked man looking at me motioning me to follow him.
Doing as he asked, I moved through the small crowd of players and made my way behind him until he guided me to the far corner of the small room, we were in. As soon as we made our way to the corner masked man spoke out to me, "Here put this on under your shirt. Also, I don't really have a large assortment of weapons besides a small rapier, some bronze knuckles, and a short sword so you will have to choose between these. You can choose as you see fit."
Not even hesitating I called out, "Bronze Knuckles." This was easily the weapon of my choice as I had grown accustomed to fighting in hand-to-hand combat from years of fighting in the arena as a barbarian where half the matches were against captured beasts and the other half players.
Taking the two bronze knuckles I slid them on over my boney knuckles. As they moved into place, I could feel the shape change to mold themselves to the thickness of my bones hugging them tightly. After equipping myself with the bronze knuckles I began to check over the equipment I was just given.
'Equipment.'
Calling out to the system a small screen popped up where a smaller version of myself stood in place. Attached to my body were several square slots that showed the amount of equipment I could have on my player. Seeing as only two of the slots were filled, I quickly opened up their stats.
[Chainmail Starter Armor | Level 1+ | Gold Armor]
[Pieces of basic metal fabric crafted together to protect its user from the unknown dangers of slashing swords and biting monsters standing firm to its last link.]
[Damage Mitigation:
-15% to Piercing Damage
-10% to all Physical forms of Damage (Stacks with piercing damage mitigation)]
Checking the armor first I was pretty happy with the amount of damage mitigation I was able to get due to it being a gold-tiered piece of armor. But saving the best for last I looked forward to what stats the bronze knuckles would have for me. Clicking over to them my thoughts froze over as I saw the name of the weapon.
[Survivors Knuckles | Level 1+ | Silver Weapon]
Seeing this name, I could not help but think back to my last life of all those years I spent in the arenas fighting to survive and after every grueling victory, I would return all alone back to my beaten down apartment. Battle after battle things changed as my armor was torn to shreds and my body battered to dust but the only thing that stayed the same was the weapon I used for every battle. 'Survivors Knuckles.'
I knew these could not be the same pair I had used in my last life as the pair I used was a cheaper version of these as those only laid at the iron tier of weapons, but nonetheless, it felt nice to have such a familiar weapon once again. Stopping my slight reminiscence of the past I brought my vision back to the stats of the weapon.
[Survivors Knuckles | Level 1+ | Silver Weapon]
[Dual knuckles pair made of the finest bronze harvested and smelted beneath the burning temperatures of the flaming beasts' nests. These knuckles serve to protect those who stand alone in the darkness to fight to see the light.]
[Damage: 6-9 Blunt Damage]
[Stats:
+1 Strength]
'Wow.' Seeing the remaining stats for the weapon I could not help but feel a bit happier as the attack damage and given stat were nice for a level-one weapon. This gave me a bit more confidence in fighting effectively within the beast tide at least to stay alive.
Stroking the ends of the bronze knuckles I let out a small smirk as I stared down at them. Closing out the equipment window I moved the chainmail armor in my hand getting ready to equip it.
"I have never seen someone so happy right before being pushed into a beast tide." The masked man spoke out as he watched all my actions after giving me the two items.
"I was just reminded that the past is the past and right now I have an opportunity." Responding to the masked man with a serious face.
* "Arrival at Nil Town in thirty seconds." *
Hearing these words over the intercom the masked man looked at me then nodded and began walking over to where the rest of the group was near the door to outside.
As I looked back over to the group, I noticed that most of them were watching me. 'I guess they probably have been watching us this entire time.' Not caring much, I removed my shirt, then placed it on the side on a small metal railing as I pulled the chainmail armor over my body setting it in place, I pulled my shirt back on over the top of it. Shifting my body around I quickly got used to the feeling of the armor then began moving back to join the group of players who were now averting their eyes to make it seem as if they had not been watching the entire time.
After a couple more seconds of waiting on the train, it began to significantly slow down until it finally came to a halt.
*TSHHH*
After the halting of the train, I could hear a couple of the players around me let out small sighs under their breaths as they must have been anxious about the incoming battle. Much like myself, I am sure most of the people here have yet to fight in a beast tide and only ever hunted in zones with a set team and objective. Thinking this I also began to rub my boney fingers against the bronze knuckles in an attempt to distract my mind from the impending chaos.
*SWOOSH*
The metal doors slid open allowing everyone in the small area around the door to look out at the ashen landscape. Seeing this sight, I watched as the players took a step back probably unconsciously, but everyone stood in place no one moving towards the exit as it seemed like the doorway to utter death. This continued to happen until the blue woman with the gold crest looked back toward the masked man who seemed to be the strongest out of everyone in the group.
Seeing the actions of the woman everyone else began to look back toward the man. Seeing this action, the only thing I could think to myself was, 'Good thing I have yet to show my crest, or they would have expected me to go first.' Looking at the entirety of the group I could not help but shake my head at their stares but nevertheless I knew that a scared group needed one person that could take the first step.
Drawing everyone's attention the masked man walked forward and hopped out of the train landing on the black grass outside.
After the man landed on the grass outside, I made sure to quicken my steps to join him as I knew that man was easily the strongest one here by far. Under the gazes of the others, I quickly moved through the crowd and hopped out the door not bothering to hesitate any longer.
'We kill as many creatures as possible to level quickly.' Landing on the grassy slope I had to quickly shift my body so I would not slide or tumble down to the bottom of the slope. If this happened, I am sure my accountability and trust would significantly decline within the rest of the group.
Gaining my balance, I looked back to watch as one by one the rest of the people near the doorway also began to hop out of the train, but their landings were all a bit smoother than my own as they all easily had more levels and stats then myself who started a couple of hours ago.
As everyone made their way off the train, we all met together at the bottom of the sloped hill and as a group watched people from the other train cars begin to hop out as well landing on the slope. A minute went by as not that many people from the general sections came out as the silver tier cut-off was rather high for most regular players.
For about a minute we stood in wait as everyone who was coming to aid the city joined our front group. As I watched the incoming players, I noticed that on average all the people joining were at the silver tier and only a very few were at the iron tier who must have been high leveled players to want to join.
"Everyone to our north approximately one kilometer away is the town of Nil. Approximately five minutes ago their relay station went silent, so I have deemed this mission a mission of recovery. We are no longer trying to retake the town but are trying to save as many survivors near the south gate as possible. Everyone will have one hour after entry to search the southern area of the town for survivors after the hour is up, we will meet back at the southern gate to retreat back to the train with the wounded. The time right now is 11:16 so make sure to not travel too far into the town as I will use a flare gun to mark 5 minutes till departure time. So, if anyone would like to turn back now you may go back to the train and return to your seat to the people who expected you to save others." The captain yelled out for everyone to hear.
Hearing these words everyone currently standing outside the train went silent. Looking around I noticed how several of the players began looking between the captain and train up the hill with eyes of hesitation.
Seeing this I knew that as soon as one person gave in to leave back to the train it would start an unstoppable reaction that would push the several players that were on edge to move back to safety with them.
Seeing that no one was moving I let out a soft breath of relief as it seemed the players here were more cowardly than I thought. They would rather go die than return back to the train and have the players left inside look at them with disgust for abandoning the players and NPCs of the town as not everyone saw NPCs as mere robots some even wanted to constitute them to the same level as players.
"Good. We will move towards the southern gate as one group but once we enter the town everyone should scatter so we can cover more ground around the area. If you see or hear anyone in trouble, make sure to help them out as I hope to see everyone return on my train." Shouting once more the captain turned around and began to run through the grassy field towards a distant hill that was blocking the sight of the town to our north.
Everyone too afraid to be seen as a coward began to run forward following the captain through the field and up the distant hill.
'Let's go see how the town is doing.' Thinking this to myself without looking at anyone else around me I joined the large crowd and also began running through the field. Looking forward I watched as one by one each of the charging players that were getting to the top of the hill began to halt in their tracks as they seemed to stare off into the distance. Seeing this I began to furrow my brows as I did not know why they were standing still, but as soon I looked over the hill at the distant town I understood.
*HOWWWWL*