Races: Online

Darkness loomed over the land as night fell and only the glow of the pale moon began to light the world around him. The sound of large bells sounded over in the City of Gloria, the end of the day had finally arrived and they managed to survive what could have possibly been a catastrophe.

But focus.

He had to focus and not get sidetracked as the [ Wood Elf ] said, he had a mission and it wasn't getting completed despite all of them gathered now. And on top of that the pesky lightning bugs were zapping him. And just him. The other ones standing around weren't getting bitten or anything, "What's the situation? Did you get a mission like me?" Han wished he had something to hit them with—and a wind blasted some of the bugs away.

And Han remembered that Ellynn was there. His mind focused for a moment, if a [ Player ] made a child in this game then did that meant— 

The [ Wood Elf ] sighed and looked around the vicinity, "By gathering all around here, we made ourselves a target."

"A target for what?" The [ Light Elf ] asked with a small frown on her face. Unlike the others that were shadowed over and somewhat ignored by the lightning bugs, the woman, elf, had a light of her own. It was as if her hair glowed and shimmered along with her skin. "We've already attracted the attention of the city? I think we can get around it with illusions."

The [ Wood Elf ] sighed once more and glanced at Han, "And you didn't even stop them, ah, my faith in you was failing—that adds more problems, but it's fine. There's six of us. We can all handle a beast stalking in search to murder us with no problem."

Han blinked at the word, "What did you say?" 

Stalk.

Murder.

Them?

"I forgot how new you are, ah, well nothing to worry about." The [ Wood Elf ] dismissed him and motioned for the others to listen, although it wasn't necessary as everybody had already been silent from the start. "Let's strategize, the last time this happened, we faced something from the deep bottoms of this world. A creature, or rather an insect with a thousand legs, greatest of pincers and hardest of armors—it sunked the entire forest before we managed to chase it away. Let's hope that it isn't that, though from the state of the earth here, I doubt it."

Han pressed his lips together and looked at the already bothersome lightning bugs… if something of that magnitude came here, he was already a goner. And right now, despite the earlier arguments occuring, the [ Tiefling ] wasn't even making any unnecessary remarks or trying to go against what the [ Wood Elf ] was saying.

It was that serious.

"If a creature like that is summoned by all of us gathering around here, what if we separated now? Wouldn't it make it disappear?" Han asked, considering the world to his knowledge of more game mechanics. Most monsters would leave if the party got a good distance. If the members of that party were not around, the quest would cancel itself.

"No, it won't work like that." The [ Wood Elf ] shook their head, "It's already too late to try it, if anything, the creature that'll come would hunt each one of us one by one, we need to combine our strengths if we hope to deal with this. I suggest we trap it here in the forest when it comes, you guys will lure it here and wear it down if you can—I'll [ Ensnare ] it with all the available resources here and while it's down, everyone will bash it together." 

"What if that doesn't work?" The [ Tiefling ] frowned and crossed her arm, eyeing everyone in the huddle. Their eyes were blazing despite the darkness, "Wouldn't it be better to run if this kind of creature really makes someone of your experience shudder and get serious?"

"Hah, I didn't expect a coward to be in our group." The [ Wood Elf ] chuckled, "Are you afraid that your blows wouldn't make a dent to even its armor? That's understandable. And that's why we have to ensure that it works, not all of us here are high-leveled so if you want to survive this, then you can listen to me."

.. .

They were lucky that the fight didn't break out into the entire city, but regardless of outcomes, the people's morale had broken down and they were shaken. A certain [ Professor ] was doing her best to keep everyone around her alive as the [ Healers ] struggled around the [ Guards ] that were down by the gate.

Poison.

Its effects weren't combated by drinking a [ Healing Potion ], if anything, it would only get worse if they tried to use it. And so the [ Healers ] struggled, if she knew that this would be the case then she would have postponed herself from asking assistance from Eemis and used it for this situation. "Are you sure that you can't figure it now?" Her aura and the other skills they were using was slowing down the poison from spreading further. 

"We haven't encountered this type of poison before." The [ Healer ] apologized profusely as their gaze swept across the suffering [ Guards ]. Many of them couldn't even be brought to their clinics as they writhed and convulsed in pain. "If you can tell us what you've encountered then it might prove helpful, I'll order my men to search through the libraries."

The [ Professor ] paused for a moment, hesitation crossing her features. If she told them that it was a [ Shadow Elf ] that had attacked the city along with a [ Light Elf ] and a [ Tiefling ], even more chaos would spread. She had never seen one before but if the features she'd read before were correct then Races that were supposed to be on the other side of the Continent had bypassed the entire Army, the Endless Passes and wreaked havoc across the City.

Even she couldn't understand how it happened or why it happened.

Was there another looming war to occur? The Army was simply wishing to expand and venture more into the Endless Passes…

"Ma'am Orleans?" The [ Healer ] called her attention once more. His face was an expression of visible confusion as well as hers. 

Could she trust this man to not spread a word?

She looked away and glared at the ground, "You have to try and find a cure now. Somebody else has been abducted, I just can't stay here…" It only took her a moment to have a change of heart as she heard the cries. "B-But, if I were to recommend you a book to search, then maybe it'd be best to check a tome in regards to Elven Healing and Cures, perhaps they'd have something?"

But already, it was too late for some.

It was amazing that out of the multiple men and women that had arrived, only the two of them were left standing. Sweat sheened on her brow as she wiped it and gritted her teeth, if she knew—but where were the other people from the Academy? Why hadn't they sent reinforcements when she sent a message?

The sound of bells began to break throughout the city, telling of the hour that had already passed.

It rang.

And rang again.

...Until it rang and blared in terror as panic spread once more across the city. Today, there was no end to the madness.

.. .

The room drew to a silence as the [ Mage ] announced his reason for disturbing the [ Headmaster ] with a nervous drawl, everybody's eyes were on him for the important piece of news that he was supposed to say. He gulped as the old man gave him a look, "The [ High Commander ] is ordering that the City of Gloria activates its barrier to protect its inhabitants, a Colossal Winged Beast is heading its way here."

"What do you mean it's heading our way?" [ Battle Mage ] Carnus placed his cup of tea down. Its contents stirred for a moment as the man paled in his seat.

[ Professor ] Lavelda's eyes widened, "T-That's impossible!" She looked around the room for support but found none, she continued. "The Yegarian Army is supposed to be at the Endless Passes, so if they're heading this way then the speed must be—"

"The other villages and towns." [ Swordsman ] Uriel connected the dots. The man stood up and glared at the [ Mage ], "This isn't the only place that has been warned has it?" He asked the man before him with a sharp tone, his hands hovering the hilt of his blade. 

"Sit down," The [ High Mage ] Pierce remarked with a frown. Her displeasure appeared in her face as she eyed the messenger, "If they're heading this way then an evacuation is in order. Simply activating the barrier is cowardice, we must—"

The [ Mage ] was sweating but strict orders had been given to him, regardless of who he was talking to, the barrier must be activated. The pressure was on him to relay the news and see to it that it was to be met. "We're talking about a Colossal Beast ma'am, the inhabitants of this city is most—"

Somebody else stood up languidly and though he could have left without even saying a word, he had to give his respects to the elders as he began to saunter out of the door, "While you're all arguing, I think I can go by and check on Miss Orleans." [ Professor ] Owen began to bid the other [ Professors ] and [ Headmaster ] his goodbye.

Unfortunately a pressure surrounded him, holding him physically down. He struggled around it as the older man's sharp voice interjected, their gaze falling down on his back. "Where do you think you're going?"

A Colossal Beast was still far away. They haven't heard from one of their peers and the city was still in a mess. Of course he knew what he had to do first. "I had said it already [ Headmaster ], I have no contributions to this situation—I will take my leave." 

He gave a curt nod and walked out of the room.