Barry continued to storm off after ascending the climb from the crater, dashing off above the trees, utilizing his new double jump ability provided from the boots he acquired. He practiced using them as he raced back to the village. Whenever he wanted to double jump, he would need to visualize in his mind, stepping off of something and when he did, he would then feel his feet pressing off of a solid surface even though there was nothing in midair for him to do so. Eventually, it would become muscle memory for him, and he would be able to do it without having to think too much about visualizing it.
The boots would surely help him travel much faster, allowing him to leap farther distances and position himself on surfaces more fluidly. Despite the rush he was in, he rather enjoyed the double jump feature very much. ‘These boots are going to be a huge help in my journey. They open up a lot of options in the form of movement.’
He was curious what sort of creatures he would face later when he arrived, stronger enemies would likely mean more experience points for him to acquire, equating to him getting stronger himself. But if they were too strong for him to handle, would he abandon the village for the sake of his own life? He shook his head, ‘I wouldn’t be able to leave the village even if I wanted too, because for whatever damn reason, my body wouldn’t allow it. I would truly like to know why.’
It would be about 2 hours until he would catch sight of the village in the distance, with his evolved skill “Eyes of the Scout”, he was able to spot villagers as clear as can be, still fixing up the village from the Kobold raid. He was impressed by how far he could see, spying on someone with his eyes would be so easy. And with its other features, tracking someone down would be like following breadcrumbs with ease.
When he neared the village, one of the people pointed him out with a smile, shouting for all to hear that their hero had arrived. “Everyone! Barry has returned!” They announced.
He came in sprinting, vaulting over the fences, shouting out loud. “Yeah, yeah, I’m back everyone. But, I have something important to share.” Barry announced as he made his way to the center of the village, his eyes looking around for Ned. He wanted to let the old man know that he had completed his quest so he could be rewarded through the system.
Ned would arrive outside from his home, approaching Barry with a smile, hoping to hear some good news. “Barry, I see that you have returned. How was-”
Barry didn’t care if people saw him magically pull out their stolen goods from his inventory. He opened his storage and dropped a few pouches worth of 2,000 gold, some jewelry, toys, and the Heroic orb that he painfully had to let go. “Here, this should everything that was stolen from you guys, right? Especially this magical snow globe, yeah?”
A notification opened up, informing him that his side quest had been completed and that he received the rewards as promised by the system, receiving another level up from the exp gained. But he quickly closed out the window, he would look at his rewards later when he wasn’t in a hurry.
“Y-Yes Barry, this all seems to be what was taken. But, could you explain how you were able to bring out our stolen-”
“Yeah, I know, pretty neat. Now listen, don’t panic, but your whole village is about to be invaded once again in less than an hour. Don’t ask me how I know, just trust me. I need you all to evacuate or something because I can’t promise I’ll be able to protect you all.” Barry wanted to cut to the chase immediately and have everyone get somewhere safe.
Ned was somewhat confused, while the rest of the people from the village were frightened by his warning. “Another attack!? We just started mending our village, what makes you say such a thing?” One of the people asked.
Barry gritted his teeth, he didn’t want to bother explaining something they wouldn’t understand. He then had an excuse that might convince them. “I know it's hard to believe, but I am capable of seeing somewhat into the future. Only about a day or less. Creatures from another world will arrive here soon and will bring ruin to you all. Please, trust me like you trusted me in retrieving your goods. There’s not a lot of time.” He wasn’t entirely lying to them, the quest did provide him some insight into when they would occur.
There was commotion from the people, wondering if abandoning the village would be the right thing to do, only going by Barry’s words alone with no other proof. Ned, however, would be deep in thought for a moment.
Barry hoped that Ned would accept what he told them, if Ned accepted his words then the whole village would likely follow him as well.
Ned picked up the luminous orb, watching the magical floating wisps of blue light swirling inside, then looked back at Barry before tapping his staff down a couple of times to get everyone's attention. “Everyone, we will do as he says and hide inside the bunkers until it is safe again! If these invaders do not arrive like Barry says they will, then it will be a false alarm and there is no harm in staying safe. Now everyone, hurry!”
The people followed Ned's orders, doing as he said, and made haste to these bunkers Ned was talking about. “Bunkers? You all had bunkers ready for what?” Barry asked Ned.
“They were originally made in case the orcs planned to raid our village. We've finished working on them about 7 or so months ago, we may now put them to use for this sudden occasion if what you say is true.” Ned explained, spinning the orb in his hand. “And this, I thank you for retrieving it back, Barry. I might be old, but I think I'll stand at your side to defend my village as a chief should.”
Barry was surprised to hear Ned offer help. “Wait, what? You can fight? How so- Hold on, you can use magic?” Barry figured since the mystical orb was his, he had to be a great mage of some kind.
Ned chuckled. “Why yes my boy, although my specialties don't lie in offensive capabilities much, and my body isn't what it used to be. I assure you that I'll be able to keep up with you, the spells I know are more for support such as this for example…”
Ned's hands illuminated with white light as he motioned them in the air as he chanted some sort of incantation before sending aiming his hands outwards towards Barry. Whose body radiated the same light.
Barry could feel warmth inside, his muscles relaxed and his stamina recovered. “Valor of Radiance buff applied! +25% Health Increase, +25% Stamina Increase, +50% Health Regeneration, +50% Stamina Regeneration and +200 Armor Rating.” He read a system window notifying him.
“This feels good, why didn't you tell me you were able to use magic, Ned?”
Ned grinned and replied. “Well, I considered myself a mage no longer after a terrible choice I had made in my past…however; I shouldn't let my guilt stop me from using my gifts when something as dire as you say is about to occur.”
Barry wondered what his story was that made him hide his talent. Then Ned added. “We all have secrets we wish to hide, and I know you weren't entirely honest as well when we first met, Barry.” The adventurer was startled a bit when he heard Ned doubt him. “It's alright, you may share later the truth if you want. But for now, we should get ready.”
Barry put aside Ned's suspicions of himself and nodded, they didn't have much time, so they got too it.
Ned began chanting more incantations, manifesting constructs of spirit animals to aid them. While Barry, quickly started making pikes embedded into the ground, tilted outwards as a form of defense. He wasn't able to cover the entire village, but did the best he could with the help of Ned's spirit animals.
Looking over his inventory one more time, he decided to use an Uncommon shield along with a Uncommon war hammer that he nabbed back at the treasure room. The shield had a unique effect that might come in handy later.
Their game plan was for Ned to be guarded around the center of the village with his companions, utilizing his arsenal of spells, while Barry fought off the creatures the best he could. It was a simple plan, but it was the best they could come up with, given they didn't have much time.
They waited for the last minute to time out for the supposed invasion to start. Barry, ever so curious what the enemy would look like, clutched his weapons tight, waiting for the fight to begin.
Another moment passed and that's when the two heard some eerie noise somewhere near the village, just outside the fences. Barry was on the roof of one of the houses, looking out, and saw something weird happening.
It was a rift, a tear in the world that had opened up, he saw a shimmering purple portal inside with twinkling stars. Another rift was torn open, then another. “There seems to be portals appearing from all around the village. It’s happening Ned!” He informed.
A minute elapsed until the first couple of foes would appear out of the rift. They were beast like creatures, similar to a sabertooth, with purple/bluish scales that walked on all fours. They had twin tails with stingers at the ends, and their eyes radiated a purple glow that seeped out violet wisps of energy of some kind. These were not the only kinds of creatures that came out from the strange portal, there were also bird like creatures that soared out with similar features, as well as a hybrid between a mantis and a reptile. There were all sorts of creatures that came out that made Barry wonder what type of place these things were coming from.
The strange birds were the first to make contact with the village, catching sight of Barry and immediately being the first to assault him and the village. Using their blade like wings in an attempt to cut up Barry. He evaded the attacks and retaliated at each one that tried to do harm, swinging his hammer at each one that zipped by. Knocking them out of the air for the spirit animals to handle.
One of the sabertooth tigers that came out of the portal had entered the village as well, stirring up mayhem all around until it looked upon Ned and darted towards him. Ned had taken notice of the sabertooth and chanted one of his spells at the right moment, creating a shield of light that repelled his foe back, sending it tumbling against the ground before aiming his staff at the beast, firing a ray of white light at it. The attack didn’t seem to do any harm at first glance, but when it got back up, it randomly started attacking everything that was around it. Almost like its sense were disoriented and was confused. The spirit animals would attack the sabertooth from behind while it was vulnerable.
“Barry.” Ned said, chanting the same spell and targeting another sabertooth, “I believe I know these types of creatures. They are called Eviscerators and are from the Null dimension, a place filled with creatures of madness of all kinds. I may not have faced these types of beings before, but I have read and seen pictures of them in my studies. You can believe me when I say that these creatures are not to be taken lightly. We have not seen the worst of their kind, yet.”
Barry acknowledged his advice, he wasn’t planning on taking it easy anyway. The birds had been defeated by Barry and the spirits, his boots making it easier for him to reach them up high. He then shifted his focus to the mantis like creatures that were cutting their way towards Ned, who was already occupied.
Leaping off the house he was on and jumping again, he used the momentum from his fall to increase his damage output with his skill “Kinetic Output”, bringing his hammer down upon one of his enemies from above as he twirled, while it was off guard. His weapon caved into the skull of the abomination, cracking the ground beneath them, ending the creature’s life in an instant.
Barry then shifted to his next couple of mantises. With his shield out, he blocked and shoved his enemies back, weaving in some hits of his own. Despite the savagery these creatures were showing, Barry was able to sustain the hits he was taking with his shield in front. Their scythe’s proving to be ineffective.
Suddenly, he would hear a loud eerie hum from a distance, likely from one of the portals, it had to be something huge that was making an appearance sometime soon. Quickly, he decided to get reckless and shoved away one of the mantis’s attacks with his shield before swapping it for an Uncommon short sword. Now dual wielding two weapons, he relied on his reflexes to evade each attack while he delivered his own.
He slashed and smashed with both weapons, hopping around to disorient his enemies with his agile movements which proved to be effective in finishing the fight, but had sustained some injuries from his enemies scythes due to his recklessness. Luckily, his wounds healed overtime with his buff from Ned, and he had received another level up, which was great.
He looked back at Ned, who was still doing alright, but was also aware of the noise they had heard. “One of their champions is coming, be ready Barry!” The mage warned.
Barry got to higher ground to find out what their new foe was, leaping back on top of a building and searching all around but didn’t take long because the new enemy was hard to miss. It was a tall 25 ft malevolent humanoid creature with the same features as the rest, except this one stood on two legs, with spider like appendages on it’s back that served as weapons or additional mobility. It had four arms, two of which were blades and the other two being claws. Furthermore, it had long pointed toothpick like teeth with a big singular eye that looked gave even Barry a disturbing feeling. “That is one ugly bastard.” He commented.
The creature then gazed at Barry from a distance as if it just heard him, shrinking its pupil down as it focused on its target. Its eye started glowing a purple light and that gave Barry a sign to take cover, instinctively moving off the building and taking cover. He had made the right move because just a few seconds later, a blast of purple energy was fired at the building, blowing off the roof and sending debris everywhere. “Fuck, that thing could hear me from all the way here?”
Another blast was fired at his direction as he had already taken cover from behind a building wall. “What the hell!?” Another beamed was shot, destroying his cover. ‘Okay, fine, I’ll shut the hell up.’ He wondered why the creature’s hearing was so good despite being a decent distance away from the village.
Ned and his spirit animals were wrapping up the rest of the Eviscerators that were still inside the village, when he heard buzzing in the air from outside the village. But not only that, he also heard clicking of some kind. “We have more guests arriving as well, cover me while I prepare an incantation! It may be our saving grace for this time of need.” Ned informed, gathering his essence of magic within, as he started conjuring a circle of runes around himself.
Barry returned to Ned’s side, believing Ned to be their only hope in surviving the onslaught that approached them. The quest didn’t provide him a time limit or anything for how long this invasion was going to last. He hoped this would be the final wave of creatures for them to fight, or he wasn’t sure what he would do.
The buzzing got closer until it was revealed to be wasp like creatures in the sky, zipping around studying them before diving to take a stab at Ned, only to be intervened by Barry who swapped back to his shield and hammer. Blocking and smashing any bugs that got close, after some time the bugs would coordinate together more efficiently, nicking Barry’s arm that wielded his hammer. He would then feel weak from after a bit, realizing that these wasps attacks had a debuff effect. “-10% Agility and Strength debuff applied! Duration: 120 Seconds”
He was grateful to not be paralyzed, at least. Regardless, the number of insects didn’t seem to dwindle. And unfortunately for him, the other guests had arrived. Gremlins like creatures of some kind, about the size of a Kobold with a stocky build and piranha like teeth, swarmed the village. The spirit animals doing all they could to fight back, but it looked like overtime these creatures would overwhelm the spirits with their numbers. They made clicking noises from all around, annoying the hell out of Barry as he defended Ned.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Things were looking grim, with having to divide his attention between the gremlins and wasp creatures, things became difficult. And he couldn’t forget about that creepy, spider, eyeball looking monster that was making it’s way over. “Anytime now, Ned! I don’t know how long I can defend you for.”
Ned continued to cast his invocation spell, the ring of light with runes illuminated around them brighter as he kept chanting. Barry hoped Ned would finish his spell fast, or else everything would spell doom for them. A mob of gremlins swarmed Barry at the worst moment, just when two wasps came charging at Ned. He had to use his shield’s special effect and triggered it at will. A flash of light emitted from it, blinding the enemies from all around briefly for about 3 seconds, giving him a sigh of relief. The wasps had missed their attack, and with the gremlins in a panic, he quickly dispatched the little munch kins swiftly. He would not be able to use the shield’s effect for another 5 minutes.
One of the roofs from a house was blown off, informing Barry that the bigger issue was approaching near. He could make out the sight of the abomination making it to the fences, blasting it apart and walking inside, taking its time. Barry would have to block it’s next ranged attack for Ned when it came to it.
He fended off a couple more enemies, when he noticed the creepy Eviscerator charging up another blast at him. Taking up his shield, he got in front of Ned and took his stance to uphold the attack. The same blast of energy surged out from its eye, speeding through the air till it impacted against Barry’s shield. He was not expecting the blast to be more powerful than he thought, his shield was nearly blown away from his grasp, neither were his arms feeling too good after, he could see his veins showing. ‘This guy’s energy blast is no joke. Please hurry Ned!’ He hoped.
The creature drew closer as it launched another blast at Barry, who was still being occupied by more gremlins and wasps. He blocked the shot barely in time, evaporating the enemies close to him, but also noticing his Stamina and shield durability below 30%. He was able to see the creature's mana, believing that it used it as a resource for these ranged attacks because every time it fired, a portion of its mana would deplete. Too bad it wouldn’t deplete by the time his shield durability and Stamina would be gone.
He braced himself for one more attack from the creature, taking another stance before blocking it again with his shield. Unfortunately, that would be his last. The impact from the blast would shatter his shield into pieces, as well as staggering him back. His arms were strained and exhausted, his Stamina was at a critical low, and still willed himself to defend Ned from more enemies by shoulder tackling and kicking them aside. ‘No! I will not die here! I will hold my ground!’ He was determined to do whatever it took to defend against the invasion.
Barry hadn’t noticed, but the big bad Eviscerator was only a couple of yards away from them, gazing upon them with a desire for destruction upon all in its wake. The spirit animals tried their turn to defend against this monstrosity, only to be met with rapid jabs from its spider like appendages, stabbing them till they dissipated back to essence. ‘I guess I’ll have to use that ‘thing’ in order to have a chance at halting this thing…I don’t have a choice, it seems.’
The creature's eye illuminated once more, letting him know that it was preparing its final attack that would vaporize him and Ned. ‘It’s now or-’
Suddenly a random spear from out of nowhere came soaring from above, landing directly into the creature's eye, plunging it but not too deep, still interrupting its charge up attack. This caused the Eviscerator to release a loud, eerie screech of pain and anger. “Error! Error! Unknown- Kobold Rider #1 has joined your party! Kobold Rider #2 has joined your party! Kobold Rider #3…” A notification window had appeared, informing him of a group of Kobolds randomly joining his party.
Barry was stunned, why were there Kobolds here, and how were they joining his party? He then read something that made him even more shocked. “Puck has joined your party!” His eyes widened, scanning around for sight of where the little guy was.
More showers of spears rained down upon his enemies, taking down a couple of wasps and gremlins before the same pack of Kobolds that joined his party arrived at the battle, riding wolves onto the scene attacking his foes. “Barry!” He could hear Puck’s voice from behind.
Looking back, he saw Puck riding on a wolf, stepping down and approaching Barry with haste. “Puck here with help! Puck was worried!”
Despite not wanting Puck to be where they were, he was glad to see Puck again and also reinforcements that he brought. “I really didn’t want you to come here, Puck, I told you it would be dangerous…but I am glad that you came with help. So thank you, little guy.” He smiled back at Puck.
Puck nodded, happy that he came at Barry’s moment of need. He then saw the boss Eviscerator’s eye start to glow. “Wow, look Barry! Big monster’s eye is glowing.” Puck commented, unaware of the destructive force that was about to be brought upon them.
Barry’s quickly grabbed Puck and placed him behind himself, planning to tank the entire shot in order to protect him, placing his arms in an X form. He awaited for the attack to hit him, hearing the impact of the attack hitting something, but not him.
When he lowered his arms, he saw a giant beast like hand rise from within the ring of light that intercepted the blast in time. A giant bull looking beast guardian clad in armored braces, hoof feet similar to a cow, and muscular figure overall, that rose from within the circle runes. Its size was bigger than the evil eye creature, maybe taller by 5ft. To Barry, it looked like a humanoid bull.
It let loose a bellowing roar before charging at the monster, the two contending against each other. The creature taking quick stabs at the guardian, while also slashing at it with its blades, but was overpowered by its might. The guardian swatted its appendages aside, staggering it and landing a punch to its chest, knocking it back. The Eviscerator then switched up its behavior and tactics, deciding to use its full mobility to outmaneuver the beast while firing it’s strange energy blasts.
With Ned finished with his incantation, he was now exhausted, it had taken almost everything he had to conjure up the giant spirit bear. “Sorry, I wasn’t fast enough to manifest our new friend, Barry…” He then looked around and saw Kobolds with wolves, aiding them in their fight. “Kobolds? But why and how-”
“Hello! Puck came with family to help Barry. Puck, sorry for family stealing your stuff.” Puck apologized for his kin.
Ned was speechless, then looked at Barry, who just said. “Shit happened over there, I’ll explain later, but for now, we still have a village that needs saving.”
Ned couldn’t help but laugh at his response. “Haha, you’re quite something, Barry. It might be fate that brought you here to save us indeed. I’ll need some time to recover, but I have just enough mana to provide you some healing and aid.” The mage then waved his hand towards Barry, infusing him with healing magic that recovered about ? of his HP and Stamina, while also refreshing his buff duration. Barry felt his body relax as his magic coursed through him, he hoped he would learn such a spell in the future for himself. Puck was also shocked to find someone else that knew mojo like him.
“Thanks, Ned, I'll do my best taking down that freaky looking thing with your summon.” Barry replied.
He looked around and saw his reinforcements doing battle with his enemies, it seemed almost even in terms of numbers, but he knew of what could help tilt the scales in their favor. ‘I've been waiting to use this for a while, here goes.’
Barry thought about the activation feature from ‘King's Commanding Presence’ and triggered the effect by thinking about it. He could feel his body stronger than before as a surge of a true king's confidence and bravery flowed within. The Kobolds in his party, along with Puck, all benefited from his skill's activation. The Kobolds and the wolves they rode on, were encouraged and pumped to take down these monsters with even more ferocity than before, increasing their physical capabilities.
Puck was exhilarated, wanting to get in on the action with Barry. “Puck go with you, Barry. We go and defeat big googly monster!”
Barry was unsure about bringing Puck, this was a deadly boss like fiend from an outside dimension that could obliterate Puck if he wasn't careful. “Puck, I don't think bringing you is a good call-”
A couple of wasps came buzzing towards them, catching Barry off guard, he readied his weapons in both hands to try and counter, but was not needed. Crimson flames spewed out from Puck's jaw towards the wasps, burning them to a crisp as they retreated, succumbing to the hell like fire eventually.
Barry looked back at Puck, lifting a brow, impressed by his potent flamethrower. “See! Puck burn enemies away, Puck useful!” The little firecracker told Barry, jumping with joy.
“Well damn, Puck, then yeah you can tag along but hold tight and stay focused.” Barry placed Puck on his back and dashed off to join up with the spirit guardian, who seemed to be having an issue keeping up with the creature, as it kept skittering backwards while firing its projectiles at the guardian.
A mob of enemies tried stopping the duo in their tracks, causing Barry to have to weave his way through with a flurry of attacks from his sword and hammer. And while Barry focused on his enemies that were in front of him, Puck, unleashed a heatwave of fire upon the rest that tried to attack Barry’s blind spot. The two were in sync with each other, a duo of fire and steel that laid waste to those that stood in their way, as they progressed towards the big bad.
Barry was beginning to feel a sort of thrill of excitement as they fought together, he had experienced this same feeling once before when he was fighting against the undead knights and king back on Earth. Only this time, it was with an ally that he could trust. ‘I suppose, fighting side by side with an ally that I trust is enjoyable to me. Or maybe it’s because I’m just a junkie for wanting violence now and then?’
Barry would eventually receive another level up once again, while also getting notifications saying that Puck and the rest of the Kobolds had leveled up as well. He was surprised to see this, he wondered how this was possible, believing that only his world was the only one being affected by “Lost Adventures” rules and such. He would remember the error screens that he received a while ago, believing something must have happened for the Kobolds to be affected by the game.
He set the thought aside, focusing back on the task at hand. Barry was nearing the showdown between the two giants, he then opened his inventory and planned to use the item he was about to consume from when his shield shattered. ‘I’m taking a gamble here, but fuck it. I want this thing exterminated!’
Barry would then consume a Rare potion called ‘Red Demon Blood’, ingesting it and immediately feeling the effects that it provided. His skin would turn a light red color, with his heart racing even faster than ever, he felt like a college student high on caffeine. “+25 Agility, Strength, and Endurance points temporarily applied! User will become lethargic after the duration.”
He was now zooming at a speed so fast that even Puck had to hold on tighter to stay on his back. “Barry, you duper superfast now!”
With his buff in effect, he was able to catch up with the giants outside the village on an open field, charging head on towards the Eviscerator seeing as he was faster than the guardian at the moment. The creature switched targets, firing at Barry who shifted side to side, evading each attack until he dashed further up to attack one of it’sits appendages with his weapons, busting up one of them out of commission. The creature let out a noise of irritation and jumped up, raining down more projectiles at him.
The guardian came to his aid, shielding him and Puck from the blasts. “Thank you, big cow.” Puck told it, to which it acknowledged Puck’s words with a hum.
Barry was curious if it actually understood what Puck just said. “You can understand what us?” He asked, the guardian nodded and flinched as it continued to tank more shots from the creature. “Cool, then I have an idea. I’ll distract the fucker by dancing around it and when you see an opportunity, I want you to grapple that googly spider looking freak in a lock. Think you can make it happen?”
The guardian gave a firm “yes” sound, agreeing with whatever plan Barry had in his mind. “Great, then let's get to it, big guy.” And so they began their course of action against their foe, with Barry taking the lead.
Again he ran across the field, avoiding the creature’s projectiles as he made his way until he came into contact with the sinister being screeching at him as it tried taking stabs with its appendages and two of its arms that were blades. Barry blocked as best as he could with his weapons, still having a sloppy fighting style, taking a few hits here and there.
Puck wanted to help in some way and tried spewing fire at the creature’s eye, but couldn’t reach it from below. “Conserve your magic Puck, I’ll handle it from here.” Barry ordered, he had to distract the creature long enough for the guardian to arrive and do their part.
Barry managed to get in a few licks of his own against the creature, injuring another one of it’s spider legs, and that was when the being decided to up its aggression. Charging its eye once more, but this time firing it as a beam, pulverizing the ground in front of Barry, blinding him with a dust cloud as the beam moved closer to him. Although his new vision could help him see through darkness, this wasn’t the case for cloud of dust, as it was a different type of obscurity. He was able to faintly see the bright purple beam from within as it tried to hit him.
He then emitted his scanning pulse to mark his foe, spotting a large red highlighted figure in the clouds, and made his way. Puck coughed as he inhaled some dust in his lungs, commenting how nasty it was.
With the creature unaware of his approach through the cloud, using it to his advantage, he drew all his might into his legs from behind the creature and propelled up high, double jumping once more till he was above the creature, swapping to a two-handed greatsword this time. Puck was clutched on tight, both afraid of letting go but also enjoying the ride. “Don’t let go Puck, and don’t puke.”
He then spun his body around as he descended below, launching a strike from above, aiming for the creature’s giant eye, utilizing the momentum he was gaining for increased damage and laceration combined with ‘Kinetic Output’. And when his weapon connected, it was beautiful. The creature screeched even louder than it had before, purple blood splattering across the air, his greatsword had managed to cut deep across the eye with more blood oozing out. Puck did, in fact, feel like puking after.
That was when the guardian appeared from out of the cloud of dust, arms stretched outwards for a warm, tight hug, succeeding and locking the creature into a hold like it promised. With the spider legs and arms now immobilized, and it’s eye injured, it looked as if it had no way of escaping.
Barry held onto the creature while it struggled to break free, biting and gnawing at the guardian’s arms that contained it, but the beast did not budge. “Burn this freak ablaze, Puck!”
Puck, stomaching his nauseousness, unleashed his mojo upon the creature, scorching the giant evil eye with everything he had, while Barry kept taking swings at its eye, creating even more grievous wounds.
With the creature seeing no other way to escape the lock it was in, unable to blast away Barry and Puck with its eye badly damaged, it began glowing its eye once more. Barry was curious at first why it was glowing for a short moment, but then realized its intention. “It's self-destructing!” Barry warned, getting the hell out of there as fast as he could, climbing down from the creature with Puck on his back.
But unfortunately, his body would freeze up suddenly, stopping mid-run and still nearby. The potion’s effect that he had consumed before had ended. Puck fell off his shoulder and tried lifting Barry up, dragging him away from the eldritch horror. “Barry, come on! Hurry!” Puck wasn’t able to drag his friend fast enough.
The guardian realized Barry’s collapse and gripped the creature even tighter, before running as far as it could, not wanting the duo to be within the creature’s blast radius. Puck watched as the guardian sprinted away with the monster, until eventually he witnessed the entire body of the creature emit a radiance of purple light till it exploded in a massive, destructive blow out. The guardian was taken out along with the Eviscerator, a rush of wind blew across the field that shook up the two. The essence from which created the spirit guardian dissipated into the morning sky as the sun rose up.
Puck was saddened by the loss of the big, friendly giant that helped them in their fight. The Kobold had taken notice of strange blue screens that appeared in front of him, not realizing that he had received them before informing him of the times he leveled up. “What this?” He was curious about these weird floating screens, placing his hand through them and unintentionally closing them. “Oh, they gone. That weird.”
His attention returned to Barry, who was still frozen and kept groaning. Despite not being able to move, he was still able to take notice of everything that occurred. He had also obtained a couple of levels from taking down the strong Eviscerator. “Barry? Are you okay? Make noise if you okay, make even louder noise if you not okay?”
Barry groaned even louder than before, responding to Puck. The Kobold panicked and lifted Barry the best he could while dragging him back to the village to seek the mage that healed Barry from before, believing him to be a mojo expert. “Don’t panic Barry, Puck take you to mojo expert.”
As Puck dragged Barry back to the village, thoughts ran through Barry’s head, he was curious if what Puck said was him being able to see the system’s features. ‘Is Puck now a part of the game now? Did he just see the system windows?’ This opened a couple more questions that he wanted to ask Ven later about if he got the chance.
He would then receive a notification informing him that he had completed the quest to defend the village, it was a success. Well, at least that’s what the system said, but from the looks of it, it didn’t seem like it.
The village was for sure in total ruins now from the invasion. ‘Oh well, at least we managed to defend the people at least.’ He told himself, trying to look at the positives as he continued to be dragged across the field.
And just when Puck had managed to reach past the fences of the village, he squinted his eyes at something in the distance. His reaction startled Barry as he noticed Puck’s face turn into a fearful expression. “A-ah! Barry, Puck see big scary brutes far away!”
Barry wondered what these brutes could be that would scare Puck, then remembered the reason why he accepted the villager’s request in the first place. He was pissed once again. ‘No, these can’t be the Orcs they were talking about! I was told they would show up a few days from now! WHAT THE FUCK!’
