Ted was doing his best as best he could. Fjord watched his hands move with practiced ease. But he had seen enough people try something new in the art that they had already perfected to know that while this type of crafting was not new to Ted, this specific task was. His hands moved almost experimentally, swishing and twirling, his eyes darting in their eye sockets to ensure that he was making no mistake.
But Ted was the least of Fjord’s problems. Because when they fell from the sky, they fell like rain.
Melvet was the first to react to them. Her spear crossed the distance, traveling through an empty skyline. When it struck, however, it pierced something and brought a human to life. The man was small, waifish, and looked like he did not have enough food in his life to go around. When his trajectory was sent askew and he hit the ground, it was almost as if the very act summoned the chaos.
Rometo turned away from something, and Fjord’s eyes followed the action. His instincts kicked in and the first thing he had learned from Aiden as a wielder of the [Gambler] class took effect.
[You have used Class skill Unsure Odds]
He needed a quick and sure gamble. The lesser the odds and the more specific the gamble, the better.
[I will not be saved by Zen in this fight.]
With the amount of attention Zen paid to him and his own propensity to get lost in his own distractions, the chances of that happening were slim to none, especially if the chaos was what it looked like it might be.
Fuck, he thought again, thinking he should have gone with him saving Zen instead of Zen saving him in the fight.
[Odds calculated]
[Not Saved 4.28 vs Saved 1.42]
It wasn’t much, but it was something. Also, the numbers were something. He’d thought he’d have a higher chance of being saved by Zen. Maybe it was because he was the better fighter.
He ignored the rest of the notification. At quick decision moments like this, he was still learning to decide quickly and make more accurate decisions. He already knew that by the time whatever was about to happen was over, he would’ve thought of ten far better bets that would’ve granted him faster and more immediate results, like betting on who would be the first person to kill an opponent.
He almost slapped himself as the better gamble already came to mind. Fighting away the thoughts, he focused on the world around him. The present.
What’s happening? he panicked, knowing that they were currently being under attack. How would they survive without Lord Lacheart present? As powerful as the question was, in truth, Fjord was more concerned with how he would survive without Lord Lacheart present. One thing people did not understand about fighting alongside Lord Lacheart was that he was magnetic, attracting and repelling in equal forces.
If one paid attention, had the courage to pay attention during a fight, they would notice how the enemies liked to flock to Lord Lacheart en masse. And always, there would be a significant number that would realize that there was no strength in numbers when it came to Lord Lacheart, that while tiring him out was a strategy, they would most likely not live long to see the end of the strategy.
So, in a fight, if you were smart enough, you knew when to be far from Lord Lacheart to enjoy the pull of the enemy to him, and when to be close enough to enjoy the repulsion of the enemies from him.
Off to the side, Rometo dodged an attack as if out of nowhere and grabbed a man by the neck. Fjord had seen enough fights to know when Rometo broke the man’s neck. Done killing a man as if he was simply flipping the page of a book, Rometo turned and faced the skyline. Then, as if at his command, they appeared, over thirty men, falling from the sky like fired arrows.
Fjord’s jaw dropped at the sight and he was already scrambling to defend himself.
“Hold the line,” Ted said simply, yet there was something commanding in his voice. But it was much unlike Aiden. There was something about the brothers. When Aiden commanded, you obeyed because there was a chance that disobedience would come with consequences. When Ted commanded, you obeyed because you had no idea what would happen if you disobeyed.
With Aiden it was the fear of the known. Ted walked as a counterpoint to his brother, commanding with the fear of the unknown. Fjord was not sure which one was more terrifying as he dodged a swinging curved blade and dove to the side, rolling along the grass.
In the blink of an eye, the world was filled with the chaotic sparks of clashing swords and the unruly clangs of steel combat.
Valdan moved gracefully, never leaving his place at Ted’s side. He was the protector, keeping the onslaught of attackers from Ted. Telma barely looked bothered as she nocked arrow after arrow, letting them fly from her bow. But despite her lack of bother, their enemies did not fall to her arrows. They leapt and vaulted, twisted and turned, avoiding every attack and recuperating very quickly. Any arrow that they could not evade, they struck from the air with curved blades like people who had practiced for this very moment their whole lives.
A cry of pain rang out in the corner and Fjord turned in worry, leaping before thinking, to Zen’s aid. His friend had taken a blade to the arm, suffering a cut that looked very nasty. Fjord’s sword was already loose, his entire fiber ready for combat.
[You have used class skill Gambler’s Heart]
The effects did not feel so powerful, still, Fjord felt them as he moved. His muscles, even though still tight, felt freer now, as if they would obey him before he even commanded them. A ten percent increase in stat did not seem so powerful until one realized that it was an increase in all stats.
Crossing the distance, Fjord’s sword was already swinging by the time he got to Zen and his assailants. His first swing parried a blow aimed for Zen’s head, forcing Zen to move his attention from the attacking man to another. Having always been the best fighter of the both of them, Fjord moved with a greater grace than Zen, cutting at the enemy with a strong control of his panic.
The poachers he had spent most of his time with before meeting Lord Lacheart were to thank for it. Despite all their poor and horrid behaviors, working with them had taught Fjord grit and determination. They had taught him how to work under pressure.
With his heart beating so hard in his chest that he could hear it and feel the vibration through his body, Fjord ducked a swinging blow that came from behind him with enough force to take his head. He rolled to the side and came up on the second assailant, doing his best to keep both men in front of him while avoiding the potential of being attacked by some random opponent.
Each man teased him with their attacks, somehow darting in and out of the air as if slipping through portals. Fjord kept his feet moving beneath him. [Gambler’s Heart] only granted him a few minutes of grace, minutes that he needed to take advantage of as quickly as possible.
So, when a man darted out of thin air suddenly, Fjord focused all his strength into his feet and calves and propelled himself forward, crossing the distance in the blink of an eye. He saw when the man’s eyes widened in surprise, then deadened as his sword sheathed itself in his neck.
[You have dealt Slipper a fatal blow!]
[You have slain Slipper Lvl 32]
Fjord’s mind latched on to the alert. The class, the level. Still, he did not stop moving. He rounded the man in a single motion, pulling his sword with him so that it tore a length of skin and muscle and carved the man’s neck around the side and held the man up in front of him. The action was not for violence but for defense, placing the corpse between him and the second assailant who had already slipped from the air, cleaving at him with his curved blade only to tear a length of flesh diagonally down the torso of his former companion.
Rometo and Aiden liked to talk about always paying attention to your surroundings as well as your opponent.
A fight is as much a battle of psychology as it is a battle of fists and skills, they liked to say. And to win a battle of psychology, you had to learn how your opponent or opponents thought.
What Fjord learnt was how easily the man had cleaved through his teammate. It begged the question of if the man had already known that he was dead in that split second of slipping out of the air or if he had simply not cared about his teammate, choosing his goal over camaraderie.
The blood still pumping through his veins, heart beating in his own ears, Fjord moved. He turned the corpse aside, flinging it away and rushed at his new assailant. They clashed once, exchanging a blow of swords. Fjord’s perception heightened. He felt as it cut through the air right behind him and ducked to the side. His assailant was just as swift as he was. His sword shot out and swiped the flying arrow out of midair, shattering the massive thing. Ignoring Telma who stood far away with another arrow already nocked in place, the man rushed Fjord.
Three more exchanges let Fjord know one important thing; the man was stronger than he was.
I have to finish this fast.
With a shrug of will, Fjord reached into his spatial storage and summoned an item. He ducked another sword, parried another strike, found himself facing off against two opponents from two different sides and rolled away from them. His spatial storage summoning was complete, and he felt the weapon settle comfortably into his hand.
Here goes nothing, he thought, swiping his sword to slap another before it stabbed him in the face as if swatting away a fly, then he put all his strength into his legs and leapt back and away from both men channeling mana into the dagger.
Lost with the air blowing against his back and the wind roaring in his ears, his off hand shot out, throwing the dagger he’d summoned straight at his opponent. A sneak attack was not the most honorable of ways to fight but, like Aiden liked to say, honor is left in a duel between nobles. This was not a duel. And Fjord was no noble. So when the dagger cut through the air, he did not feel dishonorable. All he had to do was time it right.
It made a straight line for his opponent. The man raised his sword and batted the dagger aside. Fjord listened. The moment he heard the clang, he made his move.
[You have used item Blink Dagger]
Don’t fuck this up, he pleaded with himself as the world fell away, disappearing as if he was blinking.
The moment he felt the strong hilt of the dagger in his hand and the light returned to his eyes, he swung his sword with all the strength he could muster. He tear the man in the stomach and then stab him in the neck with the dagger.
[You have dealt Slipper a fatal blow!]
[You have slain Slipper Lvl 26]
[Congratulations! You have Leveled up!]
[You are now Level 32!]
[Level 31 > 32]
What the heck!
The thought was barely done registering in his mind when two things occurred to him. The first was that while he felt the dagger in his hand and the light in his eyes, he had not felt the solid ground beneath his feet. The second thing that occurred to him was the sight of his opponents head flying in the air, severed from his body.
Uncaring and without favorites, the world did not wait for him to finish figuring things out before his feet hit the ground. It delayed decisions and pushed him into hesitation. However, training with Rometo and against Zen had taught him how to adapt even in the face of surprise.
Where is he? Fjord thought, trying not to panic as he turned and made a quick decision. Left.
With the dagger still in his grasp, he lunged forward and buried it in the stomach of the second person. The man, standing next to Fjord, did not require crossing a distance to meet. So close, Fjord heard the hiss of sound as the blade of the dagger pierced through flesh and muscle to bury itself into something vital. He heard the man sigh, heard the man give up, and it took purchase of him in some part of his mind that he did not want to understand.
You can’t stop now, he told himself, releasing the dagger and knowing that it would sooner disappear.
He moved his sword, not necessarily deflecting any blow or parrying anything, but for the simple sake of protecting any vital part of his body that could be attacked while dissuading any should be attackers.
Move, he commanded himself. Move. Always move.
And he obeyed.
Rolling to the side, he came up and darted left. The action threw him into a body and sent the person staggering away. Fjord trying to focus on his sense. Rometo said that in time he would be able to differentiate friend from foe from neutral. In time he would be able to know who was who in his senses, but until he had enough skill and knowhow to do that, all he needed to focus in the chaos was differentiating familiar senses from unfamiliar senses.
The person he had slammed into was not a familiar sense, so Fjord turned, wrapped his legs around the person’s single leg and with a few maneuvers, tackled them to the ground. The world around him remained chaotic, filled with clashing blades and something sharp and strong in his nose that was not the smell of blood even as blood sprayed in countless directions.
Eyes fixed on the man he had brought down, Fjord moved to get on top of him and buried his sword in the man’s—woman, he realized belatedly—chest. Her eyes widened in horror before the life left them.
[You have dealt Slipper a fatal blow!]
[You have slain Slipper Lvl 23!]
The air grew stronger, the stain irritating his nostrils and scratching at his lungs. Fjord rolled away, refusing to allow it to disturb him as he charged at a new target. Just before he hit him, the man disappeared from sight. Fjord turned to his left, his weaker side on nothing but instinct and brought his longsword up to bear. The man appeared out of nowhere in the exact spot, curved blade swinging at Fjord.
Fjord had anticipated right but had not been perfect. While the man had appeared on his weaker side, he had not gone for his head or torso as Fjord had moved to protect. Instead, the man went for his leg. Pain roared in Fjord’s mind as the blade of the man’s sword tore a rough cut in his thigh.
[Health 68%]
Fjord balked at the notification. Had one strike done that to him? Even as the thought and fear echoed in his head, his knee dropped to the ground from the pain as the wounded leg failed to hold him up.
The man looked down at him and swung his sword to take his head. Fjord raised his own, blades met. The force of blow sent a jarring pain up his hand as he blocked it. But the man had more strength than he did. The blow sent Fjord’s defense aside, opening him up for another attack, and the man struck him in the face with his off-hand.
Fjord felt the blow like a battering ram.
[Health 62%]
Can’t die here, Fjord warned himself as the man brought his sword back up, prepared to stab him in the chest.
The sword never completed its trajectory as something slammed into the man’s next. In the next moment, Zen appeared squatting at the man’s neck, holding on to the hilt of the knife in the man’s neck. His weight was too much and his positioning off, so he and the man went toppling to the ground. Zen got up quickly, pulling the dagger from the man’s neck and threw it off in another direction.
[Class skill Unsure odds is concluded]
[Zen saving you has been established]
[Odds calculated: Not Saved 4.28 vs Saved 1.42]
[Zen has saved You]
[The odds are not in your favor]
[Your susceptibility to damage received has increased by 1%]
[Duration: 00:04:00]
The [Gambler] class was annoying to deal with, but it was what it was.
Fjord was already scrambling up as well, unwilling to let anyone die, he knew his leg would leave him at a disadvantage until it could heal up, so he activated another skill.
[You have used Class skill Loading Die]
The pink die, thirteen sided, appeared in his hand and he flung it at a nearby assailant. The woman moved, ducking to the side to dodge it. But Fjord had moved with the die. Her evasion put her face in the perfect spot for Fjord’s knee to ruin it perfectly. He felt her skull crack under the force of his driving knee and felt the warmth of her blood as he sent her flying black.
Blood spilled but so did something green and putrid.
[Poison Mountain’s Breath has dealt you a critical blow!]
As the woman was sent flying and tumbling over the ground, Fjord dropped to his knee and coughed up green blood.
[Health 32%]
He coughed up some more, realization dawning on him. The thing that he had been tasting in the air had been poison all along. It was only now that the effect had dealt him a critical blow that he was aware of it. It explained why when he’d finally been hit, his life had gone down by a significant amount.
Rising back up to his feet, he readied himself for the woman. The woman in question was already trying to get up when Rometo appeared behind her as if he had always been there. Raising his leg, he placed his foot on the side of her head, keeping her pinned to the ground.
Fjord considered her dead already and turned to fight his next opponent, loaded die still spinning off in the distance.
He took a step forward only for Zen to stop him with a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s over, Fjord,” Zen said, panting as if he had run from one kingdom to another without stop. “We won.”
Fjord turned, looked around. Zen was right. The whole place was littered with corpses. But his focus was more on Ted who remained kneeling on the ground. There was a large patch in the ground in front of him. Fjord guessed that whatever he had done had failed because the symbols were burned into the ground but Aiden was not around.
“He failed,” Rometo said matter-of-factly. “He could not return Lord Lacheart.”
Fjord and Zen turned to look at him. He still had his leg pinning the now struggling woman to the ground as if he was not even stepping on anything. The was a detached emptiness to him, as if he was simply talking to them as he spoke.
“We,” he finished, “will have to find another way to locate Lord Lacheart.”
Then he pressed his foot down and the girls head caved in, shattering like a broken vase, pieces of her brain spilling from the top of her ruined skull. Rometo walked over the corpse as if he had done nothing and headed for Ted.
Fjord swallowed visibly. Rometo had killed her by simply stepping on her head. That was all. It was all and it was terrifying. It gave a special kind of brevity to just how powerful the man was. Even though he was training them, he could kill them without wasting a single breath if he wanted.
It was a daunting realization. They had always known this, yes. But it was something to see evidence of it in plain sight.
“Wow.”
Every head turned at the word, not because of the word but because of the voice that had carried it.
Aiden in the spot burnt by Ted’s spell and runes with a bothered but intrigued yet impressed look on his face.
Ted rose to his feet immediately and hugged him. The hug lasted for a few seconds, certainly less than five, before he stood back, holding Aiden at arm’s length.
“How?” he asked in disbelief. “I’m sure I failed.”
Aiden’s attention focused on his brother. “You did,” he confirmed, “and we will have to talk about that at some point. But, more importantly, what happened—”
Pain shot up Fjord’s stomach and his lungs went dry. He felt as if he was withering from the inside, his stomach juices digesting the walls of his stomach. The pain made him cry out and everyone turned their attention to him as he hit the ground.
He felt the world darkening around him.
[Health 13%]
Realization dawned on him belatedly.
The poison was still killing him.
No, he refused, thinking bringing him nothing but pain.
[Health 08%]
A tear slipped from one of his eyes.
I don’t want to die.