"So, did I tell you about that time when I was 22 and got involved with the Russian Mafia?"
"The only thing you got involved with at 22, was that girlfriend of yours in college, who was nothing but a major ball hog!" laughed the other man.
"Relaxed as ever I see," Shigure said, walking up behind the two guards on the reconstructed rampart outside the main outpost's walls.
"Lord Shigure! W-we're sorry we didn't mean to-" the man said, fumbling over his words until Shigure held his hand up.
"It's quite fine. That just goes to show what a good job Sir Bear is doing holding off the mountains of Monsters that seem to keep finding their way here. Is he still out?" he asked.
Before the man could answer a loud crash sounded in the forest beyond their vision, a large black cut the only thing visible above the treeline.
"That answers that…" Shigure laughed wearily.
"Yes, Sir Bear has been out there non-stop since the change in the quest, he's even managed to kill two Generals and many more Lieutenants," the other man replied a smile on his face as he looked out into the forest.
"That is very reassuring but I don't want him overdoing it. We only have a few more days until the King of these beasts comes out. I'll go fetch him, we have a wall for a reason and I wish he would realize that…" Shigure sighed, hopping off the wall and onto the ground, walking out in the direction of the crash they heard earlier.
A few minutes of brisk walking Shigure came upon a scene of carnage, the ground split in two, a great chasm in front of a daunting man holding a large Claymore in his one hand, Goblins covering the ground around him.
"Bear… working hard as ever," he voiced, taking in the scene his eyes stopping on a large Goblin bisected down the center a little further down the scar on the ground.
"Oh! Shigure! Good that you finally decided to come out, going to stay for a bit this time? The monsters are only getting stronger and we need to keep up if we want to protect the camp bro," Bjorn said smiling, the claymore moving to rest on his shoulder.
Shigure's face turned to a glower as he crossed his arms.
"You know very well I can't do that… If you are out here that means I have to be in there in case anything gets past you! That's why I'm here! You've been hogging all the monsters!"
Bjorn smiled knowingly, "Ah that's what this is about? So I take it you've seen the ladder then and you're getting worried then?"
Shigure fell back on one foot, "What? Of course not! I just don't wish to fall behind any more than I already have, and with this invasion it is the perfect time to level up," he said, fixing his obi.
"Lord Shigure," a female voice from behind him suddenly said, "You need not worry about someone so below you, even if he has risen through the levels, that is only because he was so low at the start. Remember, giving birth to a baby is easier than worrying about it."
Shigure sighed but the strange saying calmed him slightly.
"I suppose you are right Uta, I am putting the cart before the horse as they say. He may have begun catching up, but the levels are not the only difference between us I'm sure…"
[Top Level Leaderboard]
[Rank 1: Bear Level 26]
[Rank 2: Shigure Kenzo Level 23]
[Rank 3: Joker Level 20]
[Rank 4: Chris Springs Level 20]
[Rank 5: Super Megan Level 18]
[Rank 6: Ladden Hampert Level 18]
[Rank 7: Big Willy Level 18]
[Rank 8: VitaminD Level 18]
[Rank 9: xXxGunLover69xXx Level 17]
[Rank 10: Shot Level 17]
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"Miss Chelsea, this one must advise that we go hence from this place. Whether thy comrade dwells thitherward tis irrelevant. This place is filled to the gullet with Goblins, and…"
Theodore and Chelsea both looked down from their perch in a tree, both still concealed by Theodore's magic, but close enough to converse in whispers.
Theodore looked down at the disfigured gnarled Goblin bound in chains that stood at the front of a cave that had been boarded up and had a soft glow to it.
[Gruubrik Fuv Jeric Level 23]
Chelsea bit her bottom lip seeing the named Goblin standing in front of where they had tracked her group to. Her frustration built when she thought on how she was not strong enough to kill it herself, and her anger for being helpless, only able to watch as the army circled around the cave.
"But…They're waiting…" Chelsea murmured.
"What would the foul beasts be pausing their assault for? Shouldeth they not hast the strength to penetrate such a blockade?" Theodore whispered in confusion.
Chelsea shook her head although Theodore could not see it.
"No, we have. Had, four healer-based classes in our group including Megan, and Jacky. One of the other two, Julia turned into a protection specialist," Chelsea pointed out of habit to the white-hued glow the barricade gave, "That is one of her reinforcement spells. It's very powerful but only lasts so long… I don't know how long they've been at it but she will without a doubt run out of mana even with potions to help her regeneration. We need to do something soon."
Chelsea gripped her bow, the wood creaking ever so slightly under her grip.
"We mustn't do anything drastic. We are only meant to find the location and leave the rest to our Lord. We canst help them if thou is but a stiff body on the ground or worse," Theodore implored.
"I! I-i can't just sit here and watch or go back and wait though..! Are you asking me to abandon my friends when they are right there in front of us?" Chelsea said, her voice shaky.
"This one is only asking thou to take the best course of action, there art hundreds of those beasts thitherward. And General, of which we knoweth. What lurks in the shadows we hast not the faintest. My Lord would not forgive me, Harley would not forgive me if this one allowed you to put thouself in danger knowing it could have been avoided," Theodore entreated.
Both fell silent for a moment, the sound of the clatter of armor and weapons below them from the army of Goblins below, their armor clanking as they bumped into each other clamoring to get closer to the cave in which they had cornered their prey.
"I-..." Chelsea's lip quivered before she gripped her bow tightly once more, using the fine and familiar weapon to calm herself, "Let us hurry. There isn't a second to lose."
Both jumped from tree to tree, only the slightest of shakes to the branches as they moved past the army of goblins and the noise they made, both running at full speed back to the outpost.
Chelsea looked over her shoulder once more as the army faded from view.
Please stay safe. I'll return with help, I promise!
------------------------------------------------------
"Know your fucking place, Turner!" Chris shouted, his breath ragged as he used his gauntleted hand to smack the man to the floor, "This is your fucking fault! If only you had listened and not fallen back we could have made it to that outpost!" he screamed, looking to the makeshift barricade with unsteady eyes.
"But.. I would have died if we stayed any longer! Chris you can-" the man tried to reason with him, but was silenced again by the backhand of a gauntlet.
"Just shut the fuck up! We are in this mess because of you!" Chis shouted back, his eyes wildly moving from person to person in the cave.
Each one looked at him with fear and disgust.
"What are you looking at?! Keep that goddamn wall solid if you don't want to die! Those monsters can break in at any moment if Julia runs out of mana!" Chris commanded.
How did this happen..! Why! Why did this invasion have to get worse! It was going so well! I got rid of that pathetic annoying bitch Chelsea and her little posse, but then it all went to shit when the invasion came and we didn't have enough people! Fuck, fuck, fuck! He thought anxiously.
"Chris…" a voice said behind him.
"What?!" He roared turning around to see Megan, their most valuable healer.
Megan stood up to Chris's chest at around 5 feet, her blonde hair shimmering with the dim lighting of the torches in the cave.
"M-Megan… I'm sorry I'm just stressed.." he said quickly, fixing his tone and putting back on his facade.
"It's alright…I think everyone is stressed, but we'll get through it I'm sure. We've fallen on hard times before but we've always gotten through it. It's just, I'm just worried about Chels and the others, they never came back from their scouting before this all happened. Do you think they're alright?" Megan asked concerned.
Chris cringed internally, although his outward demeanor stayed soft.
This fucking dumb bitch is still on about those useless idiots? Maybe I should have made them die in view of her, at least then she wouldn't be bugging me about them every other hour.
"I'm sure they are fine. You know Chelsea, Megan. She's too strong to die to things like Goblins," Chris lied, giving her a starlight smile, "I'm sure she's coming back to us right now and going to come to our rescue like she always does yeah?"
God, it's like speaking to a child… Well, I suppose she might as well be after the state she was in when I found her. She was essentially broken as soon as the tutorial started, now she follows me around like a helpless puppy. She doesn't even question anything I do, no matter how obvious it is that I am in the wrong. Chris thought.
Megan took a moment, her gaze moving from Chris to the rest of the group behind him struggling to keep the barrier intact and functioning. Her eyes falling on the one struggling the most, Julia.
After a long moment of silence between the two, Megan broke it, speaking up as she moved to the front with everyone else.
"I'm going to see what I can do to help Julia, I can't have her doing everything on her own!"
Chris waved, a picturesque smile on his face as he did.
I swear if I survive this, I'm going to kill every last one of them, one way or another, and then make it out of this infernal tutorial. Damn it, why did everything have to change in the first place! The company was doing so well, and my father just handed me the coziest position I could have asked for! Fuck! Fuck this place, Fuck this tutorial! And fuck that stupid old man for taking so long to give it to me! If only he had croaked a few years sooner I could have just inherited the company and lived the good life like in college!
Chris ranted in his head as he looked at the struggling members of his 'party'. His only thought on self-preservation. Seeing them all as no more than ants, tools for him to use and discard when he pleased. That was how life always was. No one said no to him.
No one.