The love song I once sang only for you,
Echoes in emptiness then dissolves in the wind.
As I dissolve along, my love shines touching all the creation.
Chapter Twenty One – Meat, Fire, Life and Friends.
After the battle the company of knights keep their way, reaching the outside of the grave area, meeting now a area made of rock covered by snow a sort of valley . They stopped for a while and there were able to find some pine trees that allowed for a bonfire. they set a camp there to rest and them proceed further through the alternative road.
People cut the wood to make small benches to sit around the fire, shared food and put it altogether so everyone would have a good meal that evening.
They all deserved.
Annalot wasn’t so happy, she was unsure of herself. She was shaken as death came to her too many times in that short time. Was that the battlefield her dad told her so much stories about? Well, for here there were heroes and she herself had her time. But the sour taste in her mouth, the wounds that were made, the pain in her body, she was tired and her body was aching. The glory of the stories were, to that girl, nothing anymore. The only thing she had now was her life and she was glad she had been able to keep it.
“Life is something that’s easy to lose right? Hard to keep, but so easy to lose.” She said.
“Why you say this Ann? Something is in your head? you can talk about how you feel.” Enrich said as he came up to the trunks that were placed around the fire and sat down. “we’ve been into this together, every single one of us.” Said Enrich. Enrich was as tired as she was, and she was as anybody was. Even a experienced knight proven in battle so many times could not help but to feel like a greenhorn once the battle was over. The gamble was too high, with every danger avoided, every blow cast, you were not just sparing like back in the castle, you were betting everything. To the knights, everything really meant life. Should their blow were deflected in a unfavorable way, and they had not time to react, it would have been taken away from them without ceremony. A cold flash followed by a warm feeling and shocking pain, then they’re gone. Life would be gone, and with that everything. Anyone can understand that situation right?
“I-it is really bugging me Enrich” she said placing her head over her hands, with her arms upon her knees. “But the feeling of something, ah how do I explain this feeling? its empty, its calm, tranquil but its so cold, its feels like it has been swallowing all my feelings, I’m afraid of my own body, like my skin is now paper and my bones crystal, that my flesh is cotton and i can crumble at any time, I sort of want to cry…” She sighs, looking straight to the fire, fixing her eyes on the dancing flame in front of her. “But even if i try to, if i force myself to, i cant make myself drop anything. Part of me says that I am supposed to be dead. I think I’m happy? Because I am alive but I am not, I am not happy at all.”
“I guess then you should try shaking that feeling a little bit.” He said, sighing at the figure of that tired girl. “We are resting for a reason, back in the battlefield I’m glad you didn’t allowed yourself time to think about anything else but your own safety.” he said, pointing to his head as he spoke “You know, This is what win a fight Ann, its not about who gets to deal more wounds to the other or who strikes first. But the true trick behind winning a fight is not getting wounded. Ah… Hitting and dealing wounds they are parts of eventualities, if you are able to stand, and not get tired, avoiding getting hit and protect yourself against whatever comes around, there will be a time when a chance will come, and that chance is what could probably determine the outcome of that fight.” He said, throwing a few punches into the air.
“hm” – Ann let out a monotonous tone, still looking to the fire.
“But to do that you need your mind as calm and your body as rested as it can be. ” He said, looking to the rising smoke. ” Morale is our most important resource.” as he made whirl motions with his wrist, trying to mimic the dance of the smoke rising up in the air. “A motivated soldier, warrior, knight, even a normal person is capable of unimaginable things when his morale is high.” he gave her a smile, but to no response, then sighed. “morale Ann, makes our dreams, wishes, reasons and hope burn together with courage, giving us strength, power, even restores our energy a to its fullest.” then there was a pause.
“Are you even listening Annalot? ” He Frowned.
“Yes I am Enrich. Why you bother so much about me? I’m fine” She said, still monotonous
He threw her a stick, it hit her in the head.
“What was that for?” She asked, clearly angry now. then she rolled her eyes, another awkward silence stood there for a moment. she went back to watch the fire and Enrich was a bit nervous about the girl’s current mood. It was dangerous, should they need to react something, she wouldn’t make it.
“Dead, if it were a blow, you would be dead right now. Did you got the point yet? I said so much garbage for only one reason Ann.” He pauses and look to the distracted girl who is looking to the fire. “I want to tell you that you shouldn’t worry about anything really, they’re but noise and will make you more and more bugged. Somehow everything will work out just fine in the end.”
“uhum.” She said, absent minded.
“Have you eaten anything? Might help you to prove yourself you are alive, and also give you some motivation to keep on going. We cant fancy ourselves the same pleasures the noble but…” He let out a laugh.
“What are you laughing at? Did someone hit your head hard?”
“Then i would be laughing no stop at this point. No, its funny because sometimes, I think that the noble and the common create so much junk and trash, so much bullshitting because they never felt like they could end at any second without ceremony or warning. I saw friends die instantly with a arrow that came from behind at least six times in my life. They were there by my side helping me out, those guys… fought by my side, laughed with me at the parties, we trained so hard… we lived, got that? Until that moment… “His expression changed quick, Like he was revisiting nostalgic memories filled with melancholy. “I was lucky, the arrow didn’t got me. I don’t blame myself, but I miss these guys. Now imagine if a noble were to live through it? Nobles indulge themselves with pleasures and complex things to keep on going, to feel their own body, soul, flesh, to feel the rush inside their own body. Should those stop coming, they become a empty shell I guess, scared of the outside, vulnerable, you know where it’ll end.” he took a piece of a nice looking beef and offered to Annalot. “So… you know, you have already felt that you could have died and should be dead. Now prove yourself you are alive, prove that there are nice things to look forward little lady. Even a piece of meat could be this thing you’re looking for. We don’t need rewards all time because, soon, soon you will understand that being alive is our reward.”
“T-thank you… thank you Enrich.” She grabbed the meat, took a bite, as she chewed the meat slowly, feeling the taste of the meat, of the salt, the small amount of blood that had been dried by the heat of the fire, making the meat even a little bit crunchy overflowed through her mouth. Her eyes watered a bit, and a smile sprouted on her mouth full of food now.
“I feel better now. Thank you Enrich.”
There was once a archer.
And nothing else.
The archer was alone in nothingness, all around the archer null and void. endless nonexistence. The archer itself was yet to be even.
in what cannot be measured by moments, in this time that cannot be explained by the one who is telling this story, nor understood by everyone but a few. The archer moved itself from nowhere to another nowhere, and these movements were the first things to be, these movements are still happening and we see them around, as they manifest as a force, this force drives the magic all over the creation. The movements of the archer were like the ones of a dancer, executing a exquisite beautiful set of moves. Each one intricate, timed, specific, synchronized and swift, they were large and wide, the archer danced beautifully.
It then, pulled the bow, picked up a arrow, and still dancing, with its own eyes shut, placed the arrow nook in the string, lifted one of the legs, lifted its head in a way the nose was pointing up its shoulder, pulled the string gracefully, it did a pirouette and let the arrow fly. It flew and reached a distance and then created a cloud of golden and green glowing dust, that spread fast over the head of the archer.
it then, pirouetted again, pulled another arrow, placed the nook in the string and pulled the string strongly. stomped the void with one of its foot and a platform of grey was created, like stones and coal and sand and dirt and salt. It let the arrow fly and it did so swift that a white whirlwind was created as a track. the arrow vanished in the void but left behind a white track to the edges that forever grow.
the archer then tilted its head to what was his other shoulder and crossed the legs, slowly pulled another arrow, made the nook meet the string when both were upon its head, as it placed the bow in front of its face it pulled the string with the nook gracefully, it drawn the first breath in, then in the very moment it let the breath out, let the arrow fly. the arrow flew hit the void, and it bleed. the blue blood from the void poured endlessly and its said it still bleeds to this day.
the archer keep its dance, shoot the arrows to every direction, and as it shot things were created.
from shooting in a arc, the arrow hit the void, were the platform of stones was now, the fissure opened made red pour out high, and this red few upon the platform creating more stones and fire. mountains and all its cousins were born from that arrow and red blood from the ground.
another shot was fired upwards and upon passing by the glowing dust there was color, that changed from blue to black with a majestic hue of tones in between, once the arrow hit a certain height, it exploded, the center of this explosion is now the golden light that shines upon us and feed us with the energy of that time, it is the sun. from the sparkles, were born the stars, that can and could only be seen when the sky turned dark.
at the end of its dance, the archer struck a golden arrow in its own chest. It fell on the ground and from its flesh, bones and blood, all types of creatures came. At that time, each creature was not what it is today, as the creation is never done, even after the archer’s death. Upon creating death, it unleashed life, by finishing its dance The creator bounded us in the circle of life. It died, but it did not. as we are it, and it is us. But, the creator did never saw its own creation, as it never opened its own eyes.
Special thanks to Chriss @ondaparticula
dude was the one who told me to go ahead and try write about this.
User: Meikyaku
Passworld: ********
———–Loading~
Bathed in sunlight, white buildings in the best Gothic style, high houses with pointy rooftops, a majestic cathedral with ninety nine bell towers linked by corridors of the purest and masterfully worked white marble, a white marble that cast upon itself a soft sky blue shadow when the sun bathed the town with full glory. Houses, the houses were cast all over the town in confusing ways, creating a labyrinth of shops, inns, pubs and residences, all in their best own charming Dutch style, with a sublime woodwork employed always fully labored with carvings telling small stories or just to make a fine decoration. The Street floor was tiled with river pebbles, cut and polished as much in order to craft pretty diagrams and arabesques like patterns, always in a radial fashion, a spiral that turns to the left side.
The high cathedral overlooking the city with its ninety nine bell towers had its windows completely on the most colored motifs for stained glass that the builders of that wonder could think of. The markets were booming with people and the streets as lively as nowhere. Channels cut the town in 8 arms, the main Axis, North-South, The secondary Axis, East-West, The Axis of the king, Northwest to Southeast and the Axis of the Queen, Northeast to Southwest. In their intersection was a statue of a beast said to inhabit deep bellow the town. As a memento that things can go wrong at any moment.
This is the town of Mireena. Where most players come to hangout, chat and play with the auction house. All sorts of crafting stations are set around, plenty of stores for all sorts of basic equipment, trainers where people can learn new spells, a blacksmith to repair equipment, the central auction house, all sorts of necessary functional services a MMO has to offer are set there, and some secrets as well. Not to mention Easter eggs planted all over the city small quest lines, the type to keep any player as busy as it comes.
As soon as the presentation of the city finishes the girl sees her character in the screen. Her character is named Meeya, Meeya is a Frontliner, one of the many template jobs that a character can apply. Frontliners are offensive tanks, they wear heavy armor, have low mobility but are tough and can absorb quite the damage, Frontliners can specialize in defense, offense and control. Meeya is still in her mid levels so she does not have any kind of specialization yet.
Meeya was about 1,70m tall, wearing her armor in a Leaf green, leaf brown and leaf red color pattern, it had a very protective look to it. Her favored weapon was a spear, she liked to use it along with a shield, her forte were throwing skills, even tough her job was specialized in melee and close quarters combat, her best was in throwing skills. Meeya’s hair was short, with a very high ponytail on her head. Her spear was a straight line, ending on a cross at the end, the shaft was made of wood and the tip of the spear was a sharp cross made of a blueish metal. The armor designs resembled nothing very different than the armor that was mostly used in Europe around the 1200
As she goes around the market looking for better designs of armor to wear, she hears a beep, it was from the chat window, a whisper from a friend show up.
From < DeoDeo > Sup Meeya, how’s it going?
To < DeoDeo> Just woke up, nothing to do today, boring sunday. You?
From < DeoDeo > Been here for a while, had to work today, small stuff. I plan to go on chillin but who knows.
To < DeoDeo > I’m around Mireena, I was planning on finding some folks to try out the city dungeon.
To < DeoDeo > I heard its very challenging content, maybe I can survive the first levels. I liked the idea of this new instance; A progressive dungeon with levels, makes me think of some games.
From < DeoDeo > Like… diablo and others? Theres so many games with this type of dungeon I could spend a day listing.
To < DeoDeo > Yeah, anyway, you up?
From < DeoDeo > Its going to be a free day now, and I don’t have any plans… this weekend there are no guild business so well… why not.
To < DeoDeo > Great! Where do we meet up?
From < DeoDeo > Stay at Mireena and add me to a party i’ll get to you.
A few moments later DeoDeo meets up with Meeya at the Market Square. DeoDeo is a Frontliner too, Though he started his specialization in offense, His armor was all lighter version than Meeya’s. His colors were 3 shades of blue, Indigo, Denim and lines of Lapis, His favored weapon was a longsword, a Hollow Ground Longsword, his hair is short cut in layers, very shred.
“Hey Bushy boy. Are we going?”
“Right now? Wouldn’t It be better if we gathered more 3 people to help out?” DeoDeo weaved his hands in the air as if this was a huge mistake, looking very bothered.
“Nah we can get more people to help on the go, haven’t you heard? they made a somewhat public instance.” said Meeya with her eyes closed, as if it was just a minimal detail.
“Public Instance? How the hell does that even work Meeya? If its a instance its closed to the party, if its public then everyone can go inside.” he said, doubtful, this concept wasn’t really getting into his skull; “What really a public instance means?”
“Easy saying, it means that on a single instance many parties can join, its like a open world event but at the same time it is not. Like there is a instance of each map for different servers. There is also something else, Each party has a progression and their progression is saved, so all instances are made up of groups with the same level of progression.”
“I think I didn’t got it at all.”
“Urg, you’ll see once we start playing.”
“We off then?” Meeya started walking just before DeoDeo start saying it, she went straight in direction to the dungeon. DeoDeo following her shortly after.
After a quick walking through the city they reach the center of it, where a huge statue build in shape of a beast overlooked all. There was a story behind that statue but nobody knew about it. The developers didnt added that content to the game yet. So everything that people knew came from random NPC dialogs and speculations. The new dungeon that opened inside the city promised the whole story delivered, since it opened has been only a few days, nobody could finish it yet, it was said that many mechanics were obstructing the path, such as random key drops, puzzles, bosses and so, the developers said that some of the levels were necessary the conjunct effort of all the players present in that floor for the path to be opened, and even so, players could only descend to the half of the dungeon. The second half was still in the works, and promised to be even more gruesome and demanding. The developers said that this was probably going to be the hardest dungeon of the entire game, even if another dungeon were to be added, hardly any would surpass, this one was designed to be inconvenient, hard and time consuming. But, it was also designed to posses a high reward level, in many aspects, not only loot, but sense of achievement, experience, bonuses and the so speculated story of the City of Mireena.
“You know Meeya…”
“nn~?” ( Pronounced as “un”)
“Folks used to say that there was a tile in this statue that looked just like a door, but was too damaged to be made sure.” he points to the place where was the portal and walks up to it. “just here where is the portal now. Even the dataminers tried to make something out of that texture but nothing ever came out of it.” he smiles “Turns out the playerbase was right this time.”
“I followed that on reddit. I’ have started playing the game been 6 months now, People said it happens since launch.”
“It does. nobody knew much, The NPCs don’t help much with this the background of this city so, its a complete dark. The only thing we know is that this city has been build upon a ancient holy ground, But there is no signs of any marble or ruins of any kind anywhere near or around the city. its like it has never been here.”
“nn~…” she looked down to the ground,
“What’s up?”
“Its kind of unsettling…”
“Sort of, for starters I have no idea what we are going to see there.”
Meeya takes her spear and shield in hand, look straight to the portal, gazing at it.
“What sort of things did the devs prepared for us huh?” Marina says. She leans upon her chair, takes a deep breath, snaped all her fingers and went back in position, hands prepared to engage. Marina is Meeya’s real life identity, she is the owner of the Meikyaku account. She is only 18 years old and just starting at college. Short but very feminine hair, dark brown straight, about 1,70m high. her eyes are green, but in a so pale way they’re almost grey. “Lets go!” then she starts typing
“You ready Deo?”
“Are you?”
“Fucking ready.”
“Alright, off we go.”
Once the Loading screen is done, they see each other inside a small chamber with stairs, both simple walk it, downstairs lays another chamber bigger but not so much, enough to house about thirty people, a statue that has seen much better days, at its side, a big crack in the wall, a fissure if i may say, inside it a natural rampart made of rock, pitch black, it spirals down to a precipice that seems to have no end. The aspect of the place is chilling, on the roof and under the ramp there are stalactites, all of them sharp as the teeth of a deep sea fish, even sharper, some resemble sewing needles only tougher and certainly much more lethal, the floor is completely irregular and feels like its going to crack and fall at any moment in some sections, at others it seems to be sturdy enough. Some stalagmites lay around making some spots look like the mouth of a fearsome beast, add the lack of proper illumination and you get some spooky images from time to time, The colors of the cave, when they are possible to be seen vary from shade of dark brown dark grey and black;
Suddenly a chilling acute sound comes from one of the walls, it comes crumbling down, and from it some sort of rocky-sharp shaped humanoid being made of stalactites and stalagmites, it runs rabid directly into DeoDeo who takes the hit and is pushed quite far.
” AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH ” Marina screams, she is shaking a bit from the scare but holds as tight as she can with her right hand over her mouse not to lose composure and reacts fast commanding Meeya to rush attacking the target.
Swiftly the dance begins. Even trying to follow a defensive line of stats, the game discouraged taking damage and encouraged positioning, constant movement and the use of active dodging and blocking, both governed by player skill, not by table rolls. Meeya was trying to do just like that, every blow the Stalactite man tried to deliver was being out-ranged by Meeya who was always trying to use her spear range as advantage upon the adversary. He tried steeping to the right, She responded by steeping to the left, always trying to maintain him on check, with each charge he tried, she responded sticking the air with her spear in order to see if the hit would connect. Leaps from the Stalactite man were delivered back with fierce horizontal arcs of her spear in high angles. Still the battle was tight, there was not much space to be constantly moving and on the top of that one could fall, and whoever fell certainly would be dead. Was it then when the monster assumed a different stance, for a second or so the dance stopped, it charged, running, madly at Meeya, she couldnt react and was rammed on the wall, sustaining great damage then collapsing on the floor, the monster did not stop. It keep on ramming her with blows while she was under the Collapsed status. for two seconds it was a massacre to watch. DeoDeo finally joined back the battle and obliged the monster to switch aggro, saving her from further critical damage. Her hitpoints reserves were low.
” Quick, heal up, i can hold him alone for a while, just be quick! ”
” Alright! ” she activated her own healing spell. In this game, people were not dependent of healers, they could heal their own wounds using the many options of healing their class offered. ” Second Wind! ” the healing was completed and she was back to her almost full health. ” Deo, let me get the aggro, fall back! ”
Aggro. its how people call the Threat system in MMOs, Aggro are a way the AI have to find out who its going to aim their blows at.
So did Deo, Meeya came running and stuck her spear on the monster, it was fierce enough to make it shift attention, Deo then rushed in trying to land a horizontal slash on the monsters rear, but he failed as it dodged to the left, forcing meeya to dance to the right, she had now her back to the abyss. The monster entered that stance again. it rush.
This was a moment of reflex for Meeya’s player, Marina. She unconsciously activated ” Confident Stance ” a warrior’s skill that gives a buff of stability, making the user imune to crowd control each 3s and upon activation while the stance is active, and pulling the shield up.
Crowd Control effects are types of negative effects that focus on disrupting the flow rather than dealing damage. Such are knockbacks, knockdowns, delays on cooldowns, snares, stuns and so on.
Meeya manages to not get launched off the plataform thanks to the reaction, plus, the shield mitigated the major damage she would suffer. it was time for her to counter-attack. She quickly circled the monster as fast as she could in order to swap positions. Now it was It who had the backs to the precipice, she dodged twice back to get enough distance, as the next skill had 3 tiers of effects, all based on distance crossed. The skill was called ” Brave Charge. ” a charge with the shield up who, in tier 1, just dealt damage and knocked the enemy down, 2nd tier did a little more, knocked the enemy down and dealed area damage, Tier 3 dealed boosted area damage, area knockdown and launched the first unity hit a few metters away, Enough to launch the monster off the plataform. The only bad thing, should the user suffer damage during the run, the skill would be interrupted and the user would be knocked down, Should the target move out of the way, the charge would go on until its limit range has been reached.
there was not enough space for a safe stop for meeya, but she gambled anyway.
She rushed to the beast, who prepared a attack, his hand was already descending. There was a collision, meeya took damage, but her attack connected, launching the monster away, down the precipice.
The battle was over.
” What a gamble. ” Said DeoDeo looking down the platform, trying to guess how long would be that fall. ” Didnt you got scared of failing? Imagine if you did. Bam, we would be back to the entrance. ”
” I had no idea what I was doing, I went full reflex. Did my thinking but everything happened so fast I didn’t thought of the fall and failure. ” she said after a bow, apologizing for what she did.
” Well, it was amazing, but stupid. Try to be more conservative next time. ”
” Gee, im sorry. ”
” I know you are. and oh well, we better switch to voice communication, can you do that today? ”
” I dont need to worry about that anymore remember? I moved from the dorms, now I live alone. ”
” Nice, much better without that roommate right? ” he said laughing.
” Yeah. ”
after setting up the voice communications they keep on descending the dungeon until the rampart suddenly ended.
” This is it? I didn’t even saw anyone! ” said Meeya in disbelief.
” Oi, Meeya. I think it goes pretty deeper. ” He analyzed the place, some rocks were standing out, and seemed quite steep able. ” I think we can jump down those rocks. Can you do it girl? ”
” I can. ” She said and tried jumping first. ” Its not so hard. ”
” Try not to jump without thinking first, its pitch dark I can barely see what is in front of me. ” he jumped and keep on looking. ” See the next rock anywhere? ”
” Nowhere, is there a way to go back? ”
” oh boy, no, there isn’t any ”
Suddenly someone came rushing in with a party of five, they simply ignored and jumped into the darkness, down to abandon.
” The fuck!? ”
” we could just try that out, couldn’t we? ” Said DeoDeo.
” If they did that they probably didn’t die. So why not, lets give it a try. ” Meeya jumped alone. The dark was infact just a thin layer, a illusion, down there there was a field illuminated poorly by unknown source of light. the ground was mushy, made of dirt and light green grass in the most lit spots, dead trees could be seen around and only small bushes survived. ” Well, they must be way ahead. ”
” which direction? there’s no clear direction to go, we could go all around. ” Meeya said as she looked around for any hint of where they should go. ” there’s no corridor or sign, I’ve never seen a dungeon with so little orientation. ”
“I think that, maybe we should simple go anywhere, when there is really no direction to follow, lets just get lost right? ”
” I dont want to get lost. ”
” To find yourself, first you need to lose yourself. Ever heard that? ”
” Thats just stupid, no I didnt heard that. ”
” you’ll understand soon enough. ”
For a while it seemed just like a open field with poor Luminosity, but soon the sound of battle could be heard nearby, Meeya and DeoDeo made haste way following the sound, soon they found out one of the Bosses of the area. About 4 times bigger than the average character, it was a huge stag creature, with spikes coming from its legs, the tail was like a whip full of thorns.
There were two player fighting it. One was a Conduct. Conduct are the class your usual mage, but with a twist, conducts manipulate only the ethereal type of energy, similar to “arcane”. This class is the one who can take least hits than any other, its normal to see a Conduct in the back of formations, as their range tends to be able to cross great distances. But their real power shows when they are wielding the only melee weapon they can hold. Daggers. The amount of damage escalates dramatically to the skies, its a high risk, high reward way of playing. one hit and you might as well be killed. The other player was a Ranger, This class is specialized in surviving, Most of their specialization paths dwell in surviving the encounters somehow, just as the frontliner, they have access to most weapons in the game, but they have less armor, so their skills normally dwell in mobility. Because of that, its more common to see a ranger in the back row, rather than with the ones in melee range.
The Conduct’s name was Emerald, a Female taller than Meeya, but with less appeal. she had a heavy manteau, full of drawings of flowers and leaves in a dark color contrast, Midnight blue for the lines that draw the shapes and a deep indigo as the background color, a single thread of gold making sprinkles there and there. Apparently she wears something else bellow her manteau. but since its tight closed there is no way to see it. Her head was covered by a hood, so only beautiful golden thick drills coming out of her hood could be seen. Her eyes were emerald green, She used daggers, two trailing point edged daggers. Simple as they come.
The Ranger’s name was Cherry, her hair was a very intricate mahogany orange bun from the back of her head, Her clothing were a cherry wood brown trench coat with oak brown buttons distributed 4 each side of the coat, mounted on a line of cherry blossom pink that went along the edges of the coat. Her coat was open and under it there was a blouse skirted in cherry blossom color with vivid drawings of a cherry blossoms. under it she wore a medium frilly skirt dyed in pastel lime green. Her bow was a simple cream Recurve bow.
” Devidoro… ” said DeoDeo. ” Meeya i know this one, its a Devidoro, we’re dead.! ”
” No we are… ” She pulled her spear out, shield in hand. ” Not! ” And headed in, screaming. DeoDeo followed right behind her, the monster was already rabid at the other two in the area, Its hit points unscathed.
” How long have you two been against this thing? ” DeoDeo asked.
” I dont know, i’ve lost count, we even trying disengaging, its like, we cant, it follows you endlessly, doesn’t let go of the target. And if you try to run away after engaging, it will shift aggro to you. so even falling back to catch the breath can prove dangerous. ”
” I so fucking told you Meeya. ” DeoDeo slapped his own face ” Why did you had to charge in? ”
” You’re playing almost as much time as i do! ” she said ” Dont boss me around. ”
” I told you im a veteran! This is not my first character! ”
” How come you dont have good equipment and lots of money then? ”
” C-O-M-P-L-I-C-A-T-E-D ” He spelled, ” Its Complicated! I already told you that. ”
” Aarg! ” She screamed out raming her spear at the beast.
” You two know each other well? ”
” Yes, Been a while. ”
They rumble with everything they got. Every time Meeya rams her spear at the beast it staggers a bit but not enough to stop any of its attack animations, it hits fierce. ” I would probably be able to only block it 3 times before getting myself open. This thing hits very, very hard! Can you see the numbers? ” She says as she mixes attacks with blocks and dodges ” Deo, try to focus on its legs, i want to see if we can cripple it. ”
” Does this thing have sections? ” Deo’s player press the circle target button, and soon finds out that each member has its own life bar. ” It got four lifebars to each member, and six indicators in each horn, i think we can break those too! ”
” Roger that! ” Said Meeya trying to kite it away from them ” Everyone get to its rears and shower down the DPS, i can hold it, just remember to get the aggro once i start blocking. ”
To Kite is the action of leading the monster away from you or someone, keeping a steady distance while trying to not take any damage at all.
DPS stands for Damage Per Second. When someone says shower the DPS it is the same as saying drop all your bombs.
DeoDeo Rushed, sword in hands raised over his head, the very instance of a skill called Sever. Sever caused high damage and added a long time bleeding effect upon the target. ” Sever! ” he shout, hitting the left rear leg, damage was not enough to make the main hitpoints bar move, but the left rear leg got some damage, and was bleeding now, Meeya followed with a shield bash into the face of the monster, who staggered. Soon after the sever attack was launched Cherry used a skill called ” Chain Volley ” targeted to the left rear leg as well. Chain Volley consists of 10 fast shots with zero delay between each arrow, dealing a heavy amount of damage and reducing the armor of said target by three percent per consecutive hit. The monster felt it, his left rear leg was bellow the half hitpoints now but no signal of any damage to the main hitopoint bar. Meeya tried piercing the monster, twice she did, it evaded and countered with a head slam, right into her shield. ” I can only defend again, and if i do, I’ll probably either get launched away or stunned! “, Emerald took off her two daggers and said ” Leave it to me, fall back and build meter Meeya, i can handle him.”
” She will tank it for us? ” Asked Deo
” You would be surprised, its harder to hit her than it seems. She’s just too skilled. ” Said Cherry. ” But please focus, keep up the attack, we need that leg down, you’re out of cooldown yet? ”
” Not Sever, this one will take more 5 seconds until i can use it again, i got something else. Can you lock him? ”
” Sure! ” Cherry pulls a arrow as fierce as she can ” Pinning Shot! ” And lets if fly, Pinning shot is a simple shot for moderate damage, but it can pin the target in the place for 4 seconds. ” Your turn! ”
Deo runs in and activates Flurry, this skill delivers 15 consecutive attacks in a spam o 3 seconds, each attack has a increased chance of being a critical of 5% each ” Meeya, try to get some air! ” he shouts. ” Falling back! ” she says as she rolls to the side and takes distance. The monster Devidoro is snared so he cant deal damage to her, though he is just pinned, that doesn’t means he cant act back. And thats exactly what it does, the beast leaps in the same place and in the moment it touches the ground a shockwave is launched knocking Deodeo to the ground. Thats exactly when Emerald comes in.
She starts launching conduct basic attack, instead of using the daggers to inflict damage in melee range, it launches slices of light, causing damage in short range, she rushes in, now being on the left flank and activates her skill Shattering Light. It creates light screens that instantly shatter for damage and inflict burning damage granting her 3 charges of energy, so she can evade more often.
The Conduct mechanic is simple: The more active you are, the more spells become available for you to cast instantly. Normally a conduct has a cast time, but as it deals damage or support, it starts to generate circuit points, once enough points are generated, the Conduct get a Circuit Charge, the more charges the more spells you become able to instantly cast. The charges go down once the battle is over or the Conduct gets damaged. One hit is enough to lose a charge, the conduit has a total of 4 charges, and can enable a 5th through specialization.
After Shattering Light, Emerald uses a elemental skill: Ether Geyser. It causes a fissure to open in the desired area and burst a stream magic energy on the ground, similar to what would be a stream of sparkling dust, only in high pressure. Then she dodges twice back and casts a spell called Needle Rain, which is identical to a arrow rain, only that those are not arrows, but legitimate rays of light falling down from the sky, in a rapid fire fashion hitting randomly for low damage each ray, but in a very large amount. This made her access the maximum amount of Circuits Charges in a blink of an eye.
” Pay attention kids. This is the grand finale. ” She said as her character started to move its arms in a quick circular motion and them stretch both to the sky. ” SHARD OF MAGIC! ” She activated this skill, a ultimate spell, the best spell a profession has. Each profession has four of those spells. But due to their nature, they have long cooldowns. This spell, Shard of Magic causes a dark fissure to open in the sky, like a rip, and sends down a gigantic spear like crystal falling down from it right above the targeted area. The damage was gargantuan enough to bring all the leg lifebars to zero. This caused the beast to collapse down into a stun state.
” Hey, the lifebar! ” said DeoDeo
” Trash it! ” Cherry screamed already shooting
The four started to franticly burn all their cooldowns only leaving the ultimate abilities set for that battle untouched. The Devidoro wasnt that much of a beast, with that single burst of damage coming from four players his lifebar was taken to the half of it.
” Its starting to move again! Look out for the orange ring! ” as Meeya screamed everyone ran out of the ring to make sure they’d avoid damage, and successfully they did. But she wasnt so lucky, her last chance was her shield being able to absorb all the damage, and it did, unfortunately it would not absorb any other damage. She dodged outside the range of the monster as it tried to hit her, the dodge was successful.
She was targeted by the boss, only it was a furious pursue.
It trashed with the front paws at her directly, her only defense was re-positioning herself, the many utility skills she had to raise defense were led up, the front paw was sung swiftly in direction to her from the left, she ran bellow it, sticking her spear under its belly. Cherry was trying her best to steal the priority so Meeya could rest, it was useless, the monster was welcoming every arrow she shot at it, not giving a damn. All the damage done to the monster was passing right through its shield and into the main HP. Except for Meeya’s hits, they were useless as the girl tried to shove the monster off her, she wasnt seeing, she wasnt listening, she was lost, completely lost amidst her own panic. Each attack landed was a lucky shot for her, at this point her shield was already charged and could absorb some damage, she was conservating it for times of emergency. Then time came, the beast tilted its body vertically and shoved the two pawns right into her, she had no dodges, her cooldowns were down and rushing forward with her spear would have been useless, the rear legs were blocking her way. She lifted her shield it absorbed the damage it could, but the hit was too strong, she took the damage and half of her life was taken away, she was knocked back a far range and her character was rendered stunned for a long period.
The beast then charged mighty at her, it was a clear headbut attack, right at her, should it hit meeya would be killed.
” MEEYA! ” Deo screamed, he took his sword in hand and rushed to the front of the monster standing right between meeya and the beast. Withouth thinking he activated his ultimate. the Mountain Killer.
Mountain Killer simply deals a single 100% critical chance with 200% improved critical damage. Critical damage alone deals 1.5 times the usual damage dealt, but using mountain killer you also get extra 2.0 times the base damage added to it. Its a brutal final attack, it also hardly lands due to its very slow windup frame, but if it hits it really hurts.
He calculated the right time to start it, should it have been sooner he would miss, too late, both would die
There, when the monster was at perfect distance he activated the attack, animation started, slowly the character pulled the sword up, arced his back completely behind the sword tip was now touching the ground behind him, his head could be barely seen and his spine was probably making almost a perfect arc.
he felt time stop. his blood was rushing, heart beating like a crazy drum, adrenaline rushed and then at the right split second…
” MOUNTAIN… KILLER! ”
The entire arc was unmade with exceptional speed, the power could be felt from far, wind made passage to the blade upon making contact the beast fell, the ground shook and the shock wave that was part of the animation was simply gargantuan.
” Its dead! ” screamed Cherry.
” Knew our gang could deal with it, ti’s just like the old times. ” Emerald said as she commemorated it around running in circles ” want to proceed? ”
” I got work tomorrow, least we could log out in the next floor right? ” said deo
” Hey, deo. ” Meeya called him with a soft voice ” You know, thank you for being there for my hide, wouldnt have made it if it wasnt for you. ”
” Dont mind it kid. You were pivotal for our success. ” he helped her stand up. ” Come on, lets head to the door. ”
A announcement was made loud and clear, and could be read in yellow letters on the screen: ” The door to the next level has been unlocked, Heroes please proceed to the next floor within 30 minutes. ”
The whole gang ran as fast as they could, entering the door, after passing to the next level, the view was simple of a black room, no details to describle as it looked as a simple blackness.
” What is this? ” Asked Cherry.
” Dunno, but, Job tomorrow, i’ll have to log out. ” said Deo
” Well, we can pick up from here tomorrow. See you dude. ” Said Emerald
” Im going as well, lots of thing to solve tomorrow… ” Said Meeya.
” Well, if its this way we’re going then, i’ll log off too. See you guys tomorrow then? ” Answered back emerald as she sat down.
” Until tomorrow then. ” Said Cherry waving bye.
Meeya logged off the game, looked at the cieling and thought to herself: ” what a ride. ”
A child born from pain.
Sold as a item, and used ’till breaking point.
It did not broke.
Rose to the sky
Proved strong.
And fought for his world
Another Child.
Born from the sea, from the sky, from the stars.
Like a hunter, Withoug Sound, Shape, Shade,
End stalked, End Preyed.
But the child, Refused to end.
Born from the common. Rabble of the kingdom.
Daughter of the Brave, She had a dream.
She fought for it, it died before she could do anything.
She made a oath, to protect what is dear.
To find a place, where she could be herself.
Child of a king, heir to the throne.
Until a broken loyalty showed a plot.
Striped from his face, became no one.
The no one, who found the silent voices of ages past.
Child of magic, she lived among her own.
A million stars, to a single place.
Power beyond control, it twisted reality.
Child forever she is, But wise and powerful as the stars of her hair.
Child of faith, Born in a corpse.
Her scent of Lilacs, stronger than death’s stench.
She grew, raised in a rotting world.
Chosen by a planet in distress.
To be its savior, and to save all else.
Children,oh my children, dear children so brave and fair.
Sung, Unsung, and yet to be sang.
Let your tales rise to the sky as smoke from a fire.
And join the magnificence of firmament.
Let your tales, your efforts, your tears.
Your blood, Your pain, Your wounds,
Your woes, Your dreams, Your Joy,
Your cause, Yours battles, Your voice,
Your existance, Be remembered.
And watched, from far, from near, from no matter how far,
Be watched magnificient.
Simple and Beautiful.
As the light of a star.
Its been two nights since I wanted to write about this.
Its not been long since I started to listen to Sound Horizon, I’m quite late to the party as usual. This I assure will not be a long entry, just a quick one so I can get warmed up. I might try tackling on a week of small posts just to keep up with my mind busy. I feel less pain.
When I listen to sound horizon I forget all, as I let the sound take me to another place, and I watch many events unfold as the lyrics guide me through the scenes, its a great, really amazing work. Some other bands might have done this before but, Sound Horizon is where I started and, because of that, I’ll always will have a biased opinion towards them as ” its my shinny golden first band of storytellers “.
Just writing because, though I’m not a band, I make no musics that tell stories. instead I write them down, quite quickly and publish them unpolished and not worked as they should be. But thats why they should shine. They have endless potential.
And most of them link to each other in some way, its a huge web of stories that relate in some way. I didnt wrote any until the point they cross patches yet. But when that day comes. Get yourself ready, you have seen NOTHING.
Child Hear my Plea.
Protect me, oh my Child. For i am dying. Hear me my Child, for i have withstand for long now. Protect me for i have given you Power.
Absolute power. Power beyond imagination child. Power beyond comprehension child. Power to wreck both heart and mind, Power to decide what is and what is not. Hear me my child. Save me.
The answer of the Child
Mother of mine, One who sustains me, One who sustains us all. Dear Great God Mother, i have saw your suffering, the suffering of my sisters and brothers, but even this power beyond all is not to be used freely.
I am bind by myself. Mother, I will save us all.
I know the enemy, The feeble ones. The Fangless ones. The Lightsiders. The outsiders. The Children of Enlightenment. I will not kill, i wont draw blood a single time. I wont either wipe them from existence.
I will gather my brothers and sisters, bellow the chosen mountain of that day, that day old eons ago, where The First of Us was declared the most important one. The Rock shall float Mother, and within, you, And upon, Me and my sisters and brothers.
leaving only a dead rock behind. and a cursed kind to die.
A sack of dung pie.
It thought it was human
illusions lasts moments
im the wind.
a gentle breeze of spring.
i carry only the lightest of the burdens.
yet, i carry none.
i am the wind.
i am empty.
yet im the one who fills the void.
i am the wind.
i am always alone,
yet,
i never leave anyone alone.
i am the wind.
i belong to nobody.
yet, i belong to earth.
i am the wind
i cant speak.
yet, i whisper off all secrets
i am the wind.
yet
i am nothing.
You know… i am one of those lucky people that managed to live by a quiet and enjoyable life. The money i make comes from my job of course, but know you that i am by no means rich.
I live around the downtown of Shibuya, live here since i was a kid. My name is Yahiko, what should you know about me? Well, first i only went to high school, and its been two years since i graduated. Fuck no, im not going into college, thats too much of a hassle. I already got what i want, and i am loving it.
My man, if i were to tell you that im very found of weird stuff and all that shit, would that sound stupid? Hey! hold that BS ok? im not a weirdo, actually, all that weird, you know, paranormal shit is my deal, its also my business. But before we start i want to tell you one thing. Im not a investigator or private detective, i just happen to have some of that and know plenty shit that happen in Shibuya.
oh and what to say about Shibuya… dude, its a fucking weird place, you feel me? Its the part of the city where the people, actually not just the young people but all people have a spot and can like, through fashion or their own way pick up themselves and say, dude, this is me, simply put, its a place where people can affirm themselves as unique.
And thats pretty important, and its exactly what makes Shibuya so spectacular.
Shibuya is like a rainbow man, where all colors can be themselves, yet, part of a single beautiful thing.
And thats perfect for the “Odd” ones.
In Plain daylight you will see the weirdest stuff here, well, least its not disgusting as is akihabara. Lately through… i’ve seen a big amount of youngsters and even some salaryman going on about, you know, looking like they are high on something, now what the fuck im not gonna lie to you, the number of the salaryman into this is pretty high. Two things, it doesnt looks like they are on drugs, because Tokyo’s police been here searching the place and turning everything upside down like they… oh wait, they actually are authorities so they can act like they own the place… sometimes.
Well, thing is, after checking lots of youngsters, the biggest amount had no signals of having contact with actual any drug. Not to mention the others, if it is a drug, then it leaves no traces. Frankly, i’m yet to see a drug that leaves no traces at all. Specially when you are still under its effects.
But hey, you see. I got a lead, Last night i was taking a stroll trough, and by the Tamatsukuriinari Shrine, i saw a bunch of youngsters going outside, they had a lost look on their eyes, well… its Shibuya, and its ok we see some youngsters giving in to drugs its not so alarming, but, one of them was still smoking. And the smell was of rice powder. in other words, he was smoking rice.
Rice? i know rite, weird. But then again is Shibuya man, the weirdest of the weirdest happen here, just, why rice made they get high? i went in.
Well the first weird stuff was that i saw a dude wearing a Jōe well, lets just say he was wearing ceremonial shinto priest clothing. aside from the fact that he was alone, two other things were on the air. First too many cats, and second, The smell of incense was… intense. No problem well… i just had the knack for that.
Yes… but that called my attention, i went in, talked to the guy and asked him if i could get some. Went like:
” Good Evening jii-san, excuse me would you mind if i stayed here for a while? ”
man, i swear, he looked at me and i felt chills, he had quite a troubled look but said: ” Its ok, you are welcome to stay a bit. ”
” Oh thank you. ” i said back, and i did stayed for a while. The longer i remained there the more nervous he became, ill drop some extra details here: while i was there i noticed that some people passed by some at least passed there around three to four times and nobody went inside the shrine.
He remained there… getting more and more stressed until he went like, very very rude and said. ” dont you think its a bit late to be outside in the streets? ”
Well i said back. ” Nah, but i sure wish i had something to feel a little lighter you know what im sayin? ” yeah, i saw a glimmer in his eyes. He, looked all around twice, made a signal with his hand as if he wanted me to approach him, dude grabbed me one of those, said ” i think this might be your fancy. ”
Shit i got one, i smoke that thing, the other morning i was still feeling it. But yeah, no smells, no signal of me being druged, and a bad taste of burned rice.
But his eyes, i could not forget. Were the eyes of a cat. That dude, was definitely a Bakeneko. I went in the streets to know more about the effects of his drugs. I said to you before im one of those oddities, but im not a yokai or anything of that sorts, i happen to have been born with some abilities that people normally dont have, get that? Well, by the end of this day, i managed to talk with some people, they all said that the first one is always free. And that its enough to get you addicted.
Yeah… rice powder based blunts making people high enough to make’em addicts in just one go? HAHA you gotta be fucking with me. That guy was using something else to make people addict. I could bet on two things: one, he was fucking hypnotizing them, two, it was the incense. I heard stories of this happening before, so im not that skeptical.
im going to check it by myself tonight…
For real this time.
I put my midnight blue coat and cap with a golden thin stripe on it, just like the old police from the start of the Meiji era, and my heirloom the Tengai Genkai(天涯限界), Its a katana, the blade is about 3 meters, very long. my gun, yes its loaded, two extra magazines, i dont think im going to need it but you never know, there was that time i met a guy, and yakuza was involved, dudes poured in… wasnt pretty.
Its about 10’oclock. You see, its shibuya, nightlife is bustling here, place boils with people and its so bizarre sometimes that even Oni, and youkai go around like they should give no shit, and they are right, nobody believes in this kind of bullshit. Even when they are being rubbed in their plain faces. Off i go, weird as everyone else i take the train, directly to the very same temple. The smell of incense still burns… i wonder why…
i go inside, some youngsters are around, the monster looks at me, cloaked by the same illusion, and asks me
” Came here for your next one didnt you? ”
I swiftly say: ” Hey, jii-san, how old are those guys around. ” i look around, see their faces, they are young, wearing their uniforms, some arent even from nearby Shibuya.
” Ah, they are about to finish high school, some cant take the burden and responsibility, some are lost and dont know what to do next… i am here trying to help’em find a little bliss, thats all. ”
” By pushing them into drugs? ” i shake my head looking to the floor, avoiding his eyes.
” If you put it that way… … but im just a priest trying to take care of my communit… ”
” hey, jii-san, cut that crap. thats not how a shinto priest should act. ” i say looking directly at his eyes, they are sharp, yeah catlike, he is no doubt a bakeneko, thinking im just a normal human.
” What did you said? ” he takes it back and seems to be a little distressed.
” I said, jii-san, what the fuck are you doing? Why sell drugs? Why are you not supporting them the way the shinto do, working their spirits in the beliefs and trying to help’em find their way in life? ” i spit on the ground ” If you’re the head of this place, makes sense the heavy incense odor, i bet it stinks like a truck full of cat load. ” i let a smile slide on the side of my mouth, and look at him. ” You know what i mean? ”
Yeah, he got the bait. Got distressed for real, the illusion is breaking.
” YOOOOOOUUUU!!!! ” he stands, fuck hes tall. his fur is all stirred up, hes getting that intense feels, here he comes.
” Wanna a piece? ” but he doesnt comes at all, he just jumps inward to the inner shrine, his voice echoes
” Get him! ”
The youngsters attack me, he IS in control here man. They simply charge, not like zombies, but with all they got.
I dodge a punch by squatting and then i make a sweep around in a full circle, some are down to the ground now. The legs now bent i use the strength stored to launch myself in the air, pound my sheathe directly in one of their faces while rising and use the head of two as skipping stones, i make it inside the temple with ease.
Dude, the temple is a mess. looks like nobody’s been taking care of the place, and i finally get why the incense was so intense.
There is really nobody alive to take care of it. Thats right, The motherfucker simply killed the entire shrine, the corpse are hanging around all over the place, it smells terrible, im no specialist so i dont know for how long they’ve been here, but im sure its been for quite a time. Hell, i could throw my dinner out at any second. I need to get out of here, ASAP.
” Hey jii-san, quite a party you threw here yeah? Managed to beat everyone dead, sure you know how to make a party. ”
” Hehe, you wouldnt believe these guys, even thought they are dead… ”
wait a minute, hes a bakeneko. ” Oh shit. ” yeah, thats my face.
” They are still quite full of energy. ” The dead rise, fuck me, bakeneko can raise the dead, I should have expected that.
There is no other way around, its chopping time. I unsheathe my 3 meter long katana Tengai Genkai. ” Since they are dead, they wont mind if theres a few dismembering right? ”
I hold my katana with my right hand, and i run about, as the dead chase me around. For some dead guys who rose very slowly from the ground, they are quite quick, but only as a regular kid. I get myself cornered so i can unleash something cool.
The right side of my body becomes covered by a cloak of darkness, and my eye become blue, this is my power, the right side of my body channels Tsukuyomi. The Moon God. the dead come, in a single swarm, like a caterpillar, and with the easiness of killing one, i slash them in pieces, sliding effortlessly through them, the 3 meter katana becomes a 6 meter long one, and with the power of Tsukuyomi, i can use the shadows made by moonlight as a portal, and teleport to wherever i want, Only if i step with my right foot, otherwise it does not work.
The dead are now slashed, the bakeneko is by his own now.
” Time to put it to a end dont you think jii-san? ”
” What are you? ” his voice is trembling
” Just another weirdo from Shibuya, duh, you’re prurr-retty dull for a cat arent you? ” i say mocking. ” Dude you probably dont know shit about this ward do you? ”
no answer
” Jii-san? ” eeeh…
” Im amused, i’ll give you that. but i am also very… ” hes behind me isnt he? ” ANGRY! ”
Yes he is, MOTHERFUCKER! i perform a quick 720º horizontal arc trying to get him, he just jumps airborne, hes dead.
As he comes falling down time slows for me. My insides channel the power of the god of storms, Susanoo. I am the center of the storm, The eye of the cyclone. My left side starts to shine like the sun, Through the left side i channel the power of our great goddess mother to us all, Amaterasu.
I crouch, to prepare myself for a jump. After unleashing my strength and launching me airborne i hold Tengai Genkai with both hands and cut in a perfect arc upwards. This is what i call Tenchu(天誅): or simply Divine Punishment.
The Bakeneko is cut in a half by a crescent blade of light and fire. I land using my right foot, so i can avoid any shock.
” May the gods have mercy on you in the afterlife. ” i say as i sheathe my sword back again.
And then i head home. Just another night in the ever bustling district of Shibuya.
ここで「KOKO DE」 