The Two Lives Of Aaron Wade: The Gamer And The Heir 156 The Ocean City Of Atlantis Vii : Acheron

I had watched Raven Song's performance, and quite frankly the guy had battle instincts that could rival my own, not to mention he's been playing the game for a lot longer than I have, which meant he was more familiar with his skills and the effects they had, and also how to control a fight to go his way, playing to his strengths as opposed to me going wherever the wind blows me. I pulled the strings on Sky's how form, and released an arrow towards a guy with a s.h.i.+eld in his hands, he raised his s.h.i.+eld to block the arrow, but the impact from the arrow pushed him off his feet, sending him rolling down the slowly crumbling hill.
The next arrow went through the neck of a caster, followed quickly by another that hit said caster on the forehead, flipping his body upside down, as another arrow went right under his still airborne body to hit a bully orc like dude with an axe. There were two more players heading for the edge, but when I placed my hand into the quiver to pull back an arrow, it came up empty. I was so shocked by that, it gave them enough time to jump and zero in on my location, a spear and a great sword heading for my chest. I threw Sky into the air and placed my hands on the Kusanagi, with one foot placed behind the other and my body lowered.
(DIVINE WIND DRAW!)
*FWOOOOOSH* *CLICK*
In one smooth motion I had unsheathed and sheathed the sword, moving so fast that even to my eyes all I could see was a flash of steel and light coming off my blade. Two decapitated bodies fell besides me, their heads nowhere to be found. This skill was shocking, the cut around their neck was so smooth and the speed used was so much that I could feel abrasions on my palm. My current body was not yet strong or fast enough to properly handle and bring the full effect of that skill out, or rather it was going to take a little time for me to become familiar with the sword and it's skills.
I turned around and ran up the hill towards Raven Song and Persephone, they were trying to pull the cart holding the metal boxes up the hill, but that was just a waist of time. I swung the Katana at the larger box, destroying the lock on it just as Sky came down from her short flight, situating herself on my head in her helmet form. I pulled open the door to the box, and came face to face with the ma.s.sive head of a wind dragon, however this dragon wasn't as big as it should be, leading me to believe that it was just and adolescent.
There were a couple of chains binding the dragon down, a swing of the Katana destroyed them, leaving the dragon free to hastily crawl out of the box, however it crashed on the ground immediately after. It must have been stuck in that position for a very long time, and with how cramped hat box was, with no room for movement, it was possible the dragon's muscles were in a state of atrophy, or at last extreme weakness for not using it in a long time.
Raven Song took a play out of my book and smashed open the smaller box, he picked up the moon elf from within and made a rush for the top of the hill. I looked at the dragon who was still incapable of moving and gave a glance at Persephone who quickly s.h.i.+fted into her ma.s.sive blue and white dragon form, and then she carried the much smaller dragon by wrapping her limbs around it. And then she flew away, heading towards the sea, probably for the Acheron.

Which was a good idea seeing as without the chosen sacrifice, it was possible for the so called ritual to fail. I spread my wings and took to the air, following after Raven Song who quickly made it to the top of the hill, and just in time to as it's incline completely collapsed, now the hill was just a tall pillar of earth on all sides, with no way to come up or down except by flying or maybe falling to your death from a 100 meter tall cliff.
I guess I'm not the only one on the crew who has an appet.i.te for destruction, Raven Song had talent that was for sure, very scary talent if I do say so myself. He came to a stop at the entrance of the temple, the ongoing sounds of a battle still resounding from within, and Zareth's ferocious roars adding a more brutal feel to the atmosphere. I turned to the obviously frightened and weakened moon elf, and used the most gentle of voices I could muster.
"You don't have to be afraid anymore, Raven here will protect you and make sure nothing happens to you." I smiled at her and was about to move into the temple when I headed her whisper to me, but loud enough that both Raven Song and I could hear her.
"I'm a… … I'm a player… … …I'm a player too. Please help me, I'm stuck, I can't get out, please!"
The look of shock on my face was beyond anything I've ever faced, I was so shaken by her words that it finally dawned on me that he feeling other players get when they come across each other was coming from her, but then there was also the feeling gave of by the Game's AIs, almost as if she was stuck in between our world and theirs. I looked up at Raven Song and he looked back at me with as much surprise on my face as it as on his, then he said to me.
"It doesn't make any sense! Do you think it's a bug?" but I said nothing, the only answer I gave to him as an order.
"Keep her safe until Persephone gets here, then have her take the elf to the s.h.i.+p. We'll talk about this later."
Did I look confused? That's probably because I was, let's not even talk about how terrified the f would have been, or how much shock she currently was in at the moment. The bad publicity that imperium industries would get from this alone would be so large it could bury the company...what the h.e.l.l am I even talking about, who cares about the company, someone had been stuck in the game for quite a while from the look of things, and I didn't doubt that it was the truth, of all I've seen within the game, it was more than possible for such a thing to happen.
But at the moment I couldn't deal with such a reveal, not when the literal gates of h.e.l.l were about to be torn open, I could find a way to face and deal with it once all this trouble with h.e.l.ls and demons we're done and dusted with. I turned Way from Raven Song and the priestess and broke into a run through the entrance of the temple. There was a long hallway flanked on both sides by pristine white alabaster pillars, their edges were lined with gold and pristine golden symbols were all etched on their form. But apart from that, what came next was the intense feeling of heat in their air, obviously, Zareth had let loose on the players, but the fact that this entire place was not yet in shambles and cinders; spoke volumes of how powerful these crows of nine circles guild was. So apart from the fact that they had a c.r.a.ppy name(in my own opinion), they could actually put up a fight.
I went past the hallway and came up into an arena of sorts, right behind a small army of players 50 strong or maybe more. but that number wouldn't matter as with each second that pa.s.sed I could see them dropping like flies from not just Zareth's a.s.sault, but the a.s.sault of the 20-foot tall giant man decked head to toe in golden armor and swinging a ma.s.sive kite s.h.i.+eld with blades stretched out from its edges. It was a fearsome looking weapon, both a s.h.i.+eld and a sword, but part from that he was holding a Warhammer as tall as he was, with a very bloodied head and golden shaft. I only needed to take one look to notice that Zareth was actually facing off against the players in a bid to help the giant, which seemed quite obvious to me, to be the boss of this temple.
I was out of arrows, but I wasn't exactly defenseless. I s.h.i.+fted Sky back into her staff form, and face the group of players who quite, unfortunately, had no idea that I was right behind them. I raised the staff up and brought it down hard on the tiled floor. (STELLAR FLARE), they were completely caught off guard as the wave of blazing silver energy slammed into their back, since their casters were placed behind, they feel first. and most casters weren't really good with defense, not unless you were a hybrid cla.s.s, but none the less, of due fifty-plus players, still remaining, seven healers and nine mages all turned to motes of light immediately, the remaining three had their health in a red zone.
I shook my head, I expected the damage caused to be a lot more, but obviously, this group of players wasn't your normal kind. Apart from the casters the attackers were a little bit more buffed, heck four of them didn't even take any damage. None the less the attack had revealed that I was behind them, and that meant they were fighting on two fronts, but seeing as I was just a single-player, they would think I would be easier to handle. But nonetheless, I still presented a very real threat and one that could cost them their entire operation.
(MANA ARROW) The remaining three casters followed heir comrades in death as I s.h.i.+fted Sky into her helmet form. . pulled out the Kusanagi, since I was out of arrows I couldn't use her now form to cause a AOE attack that would s.h.i.+ft this fight more in our favor, but I could still fight, and work with Zareth and the golden giant to finish this fight. And that should make all the difference, I rushed forwards, hands on the Katana as a lightly armored elf with a silver spear matched towards me.
Since his spear was longer, it meant he had a longer reach than I did, he swung the spear over his, trying to build momentum before swinging it towards me with a single arm, letting it stretch towards me neck. I leaned backwards and used the sheath of the Katana as a s.h.i.+eld, pus.h.i.+ng the Spear upwards and using the (QUAKE) Skill. He was pushed off balance when I pushed off he ground and unsheathed the Katana halfway. The exposed part of the blade went slicing through his neck and in turn his entire head fell to the ground before slowly fading away, his blood being the only evidence of him ever being there.
His team didn't like that one bit, an arrow flew towards me, but one move of my armor covered wings and I was ale to sweep the projectile out of the air. Based on the spear wielding player I just killed, it was obvious that this group of players were not just very good at this game, but we're also trained fighters, and whether this training came from within the game or the real world, it only meant that I wouldn't be mowing down players like some ultimate swordsman, I would actually have to out in effort to kick their a.s.s.
*ROAAAAAARRRRRRR*
Zareth released a stream of flames at their formation, but the tanks at the front were more than prepared to defend against it, and since they've lost their main damage dealers in the mages I happily destroyed, they would have to rely on four of the six archers remaining with them, two of which now had their bows trained on me, ready to offer support to the ma.s.sive broad sword wielding orc running towards me.
Wielding a great sword was already a big problem, but this guy had two in his ma.s.sive hands, both swords were about two meters in length and half a meter wide, they touch me and they would leave me very hurt. I could rely on my armor to keep my self safe, but it would be stupid to underestimate the poser of that orc.
I spread my wings wide behind me and then crouched down a bit, right hand on the Kusanagi and left hand on it's sheath. Orc was already running towards me, picking up speed with each second, but I already had plans for him. Sunni towards me was a mistake (FIRE SCHOOL: LAVA POOL).
The next step he took brought his entire left foot into the small pool of lava that appeared out of thin air. The sudden appearance shocked him so much that he forgot where he was for a second, and that was all I needed, or at least all that I thought I needed. (STORM DANCE!)
My speed increased and I flashed towards him, leaving a ma.s.sive trail of wind and lightning behind me. I fully unsheathed the Kusanagi and swung it towards the orcs neck, but much to my surprise, he was about to pull his head backwards before dragging one of his ma.s.sive swords to his front to act like a s.h.i.+eld. Then he looked up at me with teeth filled grin, his tusk gleaming in response and said.
"Do you think you're thee only one that can move like that? You're dead!" and then he screamed.
*BRAaaaaayayyyyyyyyayayayaya*
I have no idea what sort of lungs this guy had, but it was powerful enough to lift me off my feet and send my flying through the air, until I smacked my back across on of the pillars in the hallway behind me. It was a little jarring, but as I slid down to the ground, my ears ringing, a hammer came flying through the hall and right into the face of the grinning orc. His head snapped back and a loud crack was heard as the Orc's head hung backwards in a very awkward manner. Seconds later his body turned into more of light, heading back to resp.a.w.n.
I looked to the left and Raven Song was there, and not just Raven Song, but also Zack, Mack, and Darke, each and every single one of them armed to the teeth and ready for war. I got back up to my feet and went to stand in front of them just as Zareth flew over the bead of the players and into the hallway and then landed behind us. I turned to look at my crew, three cloned elves, a tanky dark elf and a brooding dragon dwarf.
"Chaaaaaaarggggeeeeee!"
*Rooooooaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrr*