We were running. My lungs burning, and the gloves from the ruins now on my hands. My backpack continued to slap my back and my phone was secured in my pocket. We were being chased by a troll. Aldurin sprinted in front of me and turned around. Using a stance I hadn't seen him use yet. He pulled his sword from its sheathe as soon as I got behind him and stabbed it into the ground. His sword began to glow and the small crack he had created began to turn into a chasm that the troll leaped over. I took a step forward and swung a fist at the troll punching it as it landed just shy of the chasm. It swung at me and missed, so I swung again. I crit, dealing no damage, but forcing it back a little. I swing again, and again and it hits me and deals 15 damage. Lowering my HP to 0 and activating my Defiance Skill.
30 seconds till death:
I continued to swing at it, each one of its hits bouncing off of me.
12 seconds till death:
I was relentless, each hit knocked it further towards the edge.
5 seconds till death:
Until Aldurin, crit it. His crit made it tumble over the edge and down the chasm, and with each second that ticked I hoped it would die. My clock stopped at .2 seconds and my status window opened. Defiance showing as inactive now, I had gained half the damage I dealt in damage, and was left with 2 HP.
And a new message appeared.
Must wait 24 hours before claiming this vanquished.
"You should've been more careful," Aldurin warned. He took a deep breath and sheathed his sword. After a few seconds I grabbed some of the dirt from the ground and rolled it into a ball.
"Who was it that almost died?" I asked. Before I tossed the dirt ball into the air, and caught it. A devious smile growing on my face.
"No!" He shouted before running away from me. I smiled and sprinted after him. He was getting further away from me, but I didn't care. I almost died. I deserved this, and I would get to do it. I opened my status on my phone and leveled up my dexterity, and arcane stats. Spending all my Tears to increase my dexterity by 1 and my arcane by 3. The once hazy blue magic is now much easier to see. Though I cannot touch it, I can see it much easier.
My gloves feel much lighter and I rush forward after him. The one level isn't much, but It lets me move much faster. I peel back my arm and throw the dirt ball. It flies far and above before hitting Aldurin in the back of his foot, and getting dirt in his shoes.
"Oh come on! He replied before grabbing some dirt and throwing it back at me. I let it hit me, and started laughing. But as much as I wanted to have fun, We needed to find some sort of shelter, we needed a fire. We needed time. I was in the middle of thinking, when the moon began to show itself from behind the clouds. And the moon was the most calming part of this entire journey.
"Do you think we'll survive?" I asked Aldurin. He looked at me with a somber expression. He pulled out his phone and opened some kind of manual.
"Is that a manual?" I asked. Darting behind him and leaning over his shoulder. He let out a light chuckle and continued scrolling through the manual.
"How'd you get the manual?" I asked. He turned around and shrugged.
"I brought a dictionary with me, since I like learning new words and it fused with my phone." He continued to go through the app. And passed a word with an asterisk.
"What was that?" I pointed at the screen. Making him go back and showing the word. Rekindle*. I clicked on the word and a new window showed up on the phone. The definition and a video. I pressed the video and it showed someone stabbing a sword into the ground and mumbling the word. Then another video of someone doing the same thing with a metal pole. In both instances they started a fire and had their status updated.
"Want to try?" I asked Aldurin before he got bored of me staring at his phone. He shrugged at me and plunged his sword in the ground.
"Rekindle" He mumbled and we were enveloped in fire. The ground underneath us became charred and black. But Aldurin's fire began to change from orange to white. And then a message began to shape itself in the fire.
"Calculating Crimson Tears earned today. Overriding Troll Bounty lock. Counting achievements."
โ
Aldurin first troll kill achieved (Double contribution + Passive Skill unlocked)
Aeryn used Defiance (reload skill), survived with less than half HP for 12 hours (Passive Skill Unlocked).
"Today the player 'Aldurin' has earned 190 tears, and the "Troll Hunter" passive. Today the player 'Aeryn' has earned 158 tears, and the "Lesser Soul Prism" skill.
โ
As Aldurin looked at the notification a green glow was emitted from his body. A look of both surprise and anticipation was written on his face. Met with my own bewilderment.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and pressed the third and final button. Which made my stylus shoot out of my phone and into the air. Where it grew until it was roughly the size of a short sword. It fell from the air and hit the ground with a clang. So I grabbed it and stuck in in the ground next to the sword.
"Rekindle" I mumbled, and my flame was much different. Mine was a purple flame and a map appeared on the ground. With a message
โ
Choose a location:
โ
I walked around the map and placed my hand on the only spot with a marker. Then I reached out a hand to Aldurin. He grabbed it and My body began to break down into blocks before shooting into the sky, him following me into the sky. Within a few seconds We were back at the bridge at the back of the ruins.
With a smile I turned to Aldurin and reached out a hand.
"Your a knight, so use your second skill on me." I ordered.
"How?" He started
"You used your Final Stand, now use your second skill to bond us together." I ordered once again. This time he nodded and pulled out his sword.
"I, Aldurin create an Honor Bond with Aeryn. In the event that either of us attacks, or betrays the other they shall lose their skills until the end of the battle. Should one of us die, and this bond be intact, the other will follow them." He chanted. The white light that was emitted from his sword flowed into me and him. Before his sword began to glow again. But this time the glow was much more faint.
"Great now these ruins are gonna be our base," I smiled. Aldurin shook his head and sheathed his sword before we walked into the ruins.
"Just don't get us killed," He retorted. Before we finally started our adventure.