FIFTEEN: THE FIGHT FOR ORBS
(ALEX KROSS)
We all met back at the Camp HQ as promised. Nolan and me had to carry Lee back to the camp. He was a complete wreck. We had to buy a shit-ton of Vials to repair his shattered bones, torn muscles and sliced tendons. Lee was perfectly fit by evening. Although he was terribly shaken mentally.
He told us all about his fight with this Speedster. How he got his ass handed to him and how the Speedster disappeared suddenly. It was all very suspicious. If only Lee had gotten a look at his face!
However on the positive front, Nolan had found Orb of the Sun. Jenny found Orb of the Mind. And I found Orb of the Zephyr. We all got the Orb Residual Detectors like Lee. So far only the Orb of the Flame was left to be found.
We basically had around 62% of the required Orbs on our team. We had scanned the whole of Warrenton but there was nothing left to be found. Our new addition to the team, Ilias Dimitri, was a cold and rude guy. He had seemed friendly at first, but he was quite rude. He didn't harm us or anything, but he spoke badly to everyone and just stayed to himself.
We didn't have a problem as long as we had Orb of the Shades with us. He also needed us to protect him so it was a good deal. However the absence of the final Orb was suspicious. Maybe the game was rigged. Maybe the System wanted us to fail and then they could eliminate us from the planet. I was already saved once, I wouldn't be so lucky to live a second time.
"... and then I had to Infect all the players surrounding onto the Orb of The Mind. Luckily, they still hadn't stored it in inventory. I knocked them out and grabbed the Orb, before giving them the Antidote and running away from there!"
Jenny finished her story and took a deep breath. We were killing time till some new window popped up. We couldn't get a single hit on our Detectors. Nolan and Jenny were telling us about how they had managed to get their Orbs. Somewhere in the distance, a clock struck twelve, indicating midnight.
DING!
DING!
DING!
Three notifications popped up instantly. The first one was notifying about how the last Orb had been found. And the second notification gave us some XP. However it was the third screen that was interesting. The black screen infront of me showed the Fourth Quest.
QUEST #4
Difficulty: D
Possible Rewards:
Evictor Class
+1 Transgate Disruptor
XP
Briefing: Go to Berkshaft and place the eight Orbs on the Haloed Rota to get further instructions.
Time Left: 4:59:46
Huh?! But no one found all the eight Orbs yet! Then it occurred to me. The third Quest told us to collect the Orbs. But didn't say that a particular team or person had to have all of them to proceed with the next Quest.
We looked outside our room from the broken window. There was a mad rush as all the players started venturing towards Berkshaft. A lot of the players were flying, riding some beast, or they themselves were the beasts. We didn't have a moment to waste.
Nolan picked up Jenny and Dimitri, by making them Weightless. Then he used MuscleBoost to enhance his legs and run as fast as he could. I used Sprint to dash through the mob towards Berkshaft. Lee flew.
Luckily Berkshaft was just the next town over and with my speed, I was the first one from our team to reach there. And damn, was that a sight! People were fighting each other as if in a battle royale game. No one knew who had which Orb. But apparently killing someone would make them drop inventory. Even little kids were helping adults to commit murder. It was a pathetic scene.
There were at least a dozen hundred people here. Even with my speed and power, I could have barely taken down forty at most. They all had overpowered Skills, and a lot of them seemed to be at a higher level than Lee. I had to wait for the others. Jenny could use her Plague Class boosts to use some people as the carriers for her Infection. But that would barely get down hundred or two, with luck. Nolan's carbines and strength were useful in knocking them out but not useful to take down many of them. Lee could use his Firestorm. But that would drain a lot of his mana.
Within a minute I was joined by my friends. I quickly described all I had observed so far. But that was kinda useless, because the my could see the battle unfurling itself in front of their eyes. Lee formulated a make shift plan.
"Remember, our goal here isn't to take down as many as we can. We just need to get the Orbs. Take down people only when needed. And try not to kill without reason.
"For now we should just wait for some time till the battle dies down a bit. Then, on my signal, Jenny knock out as many Players as you can. Alex take the other side and slice through the battle. I shall overlook and blast fire whenever someone from our side is in a tight spot. Nolan cover me. And you-" he looked at Dimitri who was listening closely but now looked away as he realised he would also be given a task.
"If you wanna stay here then you have to work. Use your powers to blast away anyone who tries to harm Jenny or Alex, got it?"
He grunted in response.
We took our positions and waited. We observed the battle from the roof of a building. Dimitri was supposed to be stationed there with Nolan. They would be on lookout. There were some truly strange Skills. Some people could transform into beasts, while others could transform other people into beasts. There were healing type Skill users too, as well as Players who could summon their own beasts.
Jenny gave us the Antidote to protect us from her Infection. Then we dispersed among the crowd. I started hacking and slashing anyone I could find. It was quite disturbing to kill so many innocent people. But the loot from their inventory generally cancelled out the guilt.
After a few more kills, I had got my hands on the Orb of the Leaf. So I quickly sent a message to the Team, giving them the all okay from my side to start the Infection. Jenny was infecting Players one at a time as Lee protected her and Nolan protected Lee. Every once in a while a Sonic Blast from Dimitri would save my ass.
After getting my signal, Lee burnt down all the Players around Jenny. He protected her with his Skill. There was the Orb of the Snow amongst the loot!
The other Players had realised about our teamwork by now. They were forming temporary alliances against us. But too late.
Nolan leapt into the battle and started to rampage through their ranks and threw away a couple of them as he smashed his way through the rest. Lee burning down more Players behind him. Jenny used Infection and the couple hundred Players left keeled over, wheezing. Nolan jumped in and broke their spines and necks. Dimitri blasting away people.
Then a chimaera beast charged at us. It rampaged over the dead and lunged at Nolan from behind. Nolan was pinned under the beast, which roared. I dashed to his help. I stabbed the Beast with my dagger and dashed at full speed with the dagger still in him with a loud RRIP!
The beast was split in two with blood splurting all over Nolan and Jenny, who had rushed in to help, like me. Only the last few stragglers. Lee burnt them down as they were weak after Jenny's powers and Dimitri was holding them back with me and Nolan.
THERE IT WAS! THE FINAL ORB!
Amongst the remains of the burnt Players, lay the Orb of The Flame. We all rushed to it and picked it up. We finally had all of the Orbs. The Haloed Rota was pretty easy to find. It was glowing brightly at the middle of the city. We rushed there.
It was a circular table made of pure gold. It had an Octagonal design on it with eight vacant places at the vertices. All the spaces were connected to each other by thin lines. At the centre was a closed shaft.
I took out my Orb of Zephyr and placed it at the space right in front of me. It glowed a bright gray color as all the lines from that space lit up white. Then Lee placed Orb of the Flames in the next space. It glowed orange this time as all the lines lit up red. Nolan followed him with his Orb of The Sun. It glowed bright yellow as the lines glowed gold. Jenny put in her Orb of the Mind causing it to glow bright pink and spreading out violet lines. I placed the Orb of The Leaf making new green lines to shoot from the space across the platform. The Orb of the Snow made baby blue lines while the Orb of Dewdrops gave bright blue.
We all looked at Dimitri. He hesitated for a while, with the final Orb in his hands. Shaking, he put it in the final space, completing the Rota and causing the last few lines to glow dark black. The shaft glowed brightly. With a click, it opened up, and shot a beam at the sky. The beam split in two. It arched down, making a shape of two doorways with the beam separating them.
DING!
[TO FINISH THE QUEST, EVICT AN ORB CARRIER AS A DROPPER THROUGH THE GATEWAY]
After reading the new instructions, we all looked at each other. Without saying a word, we all understood what we had to do. Dimitri realized it too. He turned and started running. It was a sorry sight. But it had to be done...
I dashed and caught him and brought him back. Nolan held him tight to prevent him from escaping. Dimitri blasted away at Nolan's feet, but he didn't let go. Jenny used her new Knives to stab Dimitri in his legs, to keep him from running. She gasped, as she did it, with tears in her eyes. Lee stepped forward, looking grim.
"I'm sorry Ilias, but this is the only way out." He grabbed Dimitri by the neck and started dragging him to the Gateway, with a grim look in his eyes. He dragged him to the left portal, which showed a futuristic city. It was a way better choice than the barren desert on the other door. At least Dimitri would have company here.
With a final grunt, where Jenny sobbed and Nolan clenched his teeth, Lee pushed him into the gateway, which closed instantly, severing our link with Dimitri forever.