“Ugh… Mental note to self: NEVER EVER trust the Kafra warp service EVER again! I paid 1200 zeny and got this kind of service… what a rip off… warp portals are supposed to appear on the ground… not in the air!” she grumbled while she continued to straighten herself up and pulled some grass out of her silver waist-length hair.
When she finished cleaning herself up, she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, savouring the cool mountain air. The lush green forest surrounding the city provided an ideal escape from the scorching heat in Prontera for Christine. There were many young children, all younger than she was running around barefoot in the mountain city of Payon, their laughter filling the air.
“Hmm… it’s unbelievably serene here…” she mused. She’d thought that the civilians would be cooped up at home, keeping themselves away from the imminent danger, but apparently that was not the case. The main reason Christine ended up in Payon was because of an incident earlier in Prontera…
--
“Hear ye! Hear ye! By the bane of His Royal Highness King Tristan of Rune-Midgard, I am here to deliver his proclamation!” A royal messenger bellowed so that everyone in the vicinity of the Fountain of Prontera could hear him. Everyone began to crowd around the fountain, eager to hear what the proclamation was about. Christine, who was on her way home after doing some grocery shopping for her mom, was curious as well, so she joined in the fray.
“I shall now read the proclamation,” the messenger paused to clear his throat, and then continued, “’to all brave warriors of the Kingdom of Rune-Midgard! I have grim news that the Payon Caves has been taken over by a large army of Soldier Skeletons and Archer Skeletons. I understand that these monsters may not be adequate for the more experienced ones to train with, but I hope that someone would step up to the challenge and eradicate these undead fiends before they break through the barrier protecting the entrance of Payon Caves and terrorize the good citizens of Payon. Those who do so would be rewarded handsomely – 100 Skeleton Bones for the price of 5000 zeny. To whomever that would gladly take up the challenge, I pray for your success.’ That is all.”
The messenger stepped down from the ledge of the fountain, and proceeded to pin the proclamation scroll up on the public viewing board, where some of the latecomers crowded around it to read the announcement. The place was promptly abuzz with excitement, and people began to chatter animatedly with their friends, planning their strategies and making decisions whether to go or not.
“Solider Skeletons and Archer Skeletons, eh? As tempting as the reward sounds, they’re not worth my time to kill,” said an auburn-haired Crusader who was standing next to Christine.
“Me neither,” his Hunter friend agreed, and they turned to leave.
Christine, however, was extremely excited at the prospect of training at a new place, and the zeny that she would receive as payment for the slaughter of the Skeleton Army. Seeing that she’d already completed the mission that Shurank gave her for the week, she decided to take up the challenge.
--
“Now… which way should I take to go to the Payon Caves again…?” she wondered. It was her first time in Payon, and to her, every part of the town looked similar. It doesn’t help that she didn’t have her map with her.
“Excuse me, may I help you?” a city guard appeared to have seen Christine spinning around in circles to decide which direction she should head to, and approached her.
“Yes… I’m kinda looking for the Payon Caves…” she said, still looking around hesitantly.
“Payon Caves? Are you sure? There’s an invasion by the Sol…”
“Yes, I’ve heard. That is precisely why I’m going there,” Christine was holding in the urge to roll her eyes at his ignorance, but decided it was rude, considering the fact that she needed help from him.
“Oh, thousand apologies. I didn’t realize that you were a warrior…” the guard blushed slightly after scanning Christine from top to toe, but quickly regained his composure. “Do you see that small lane right there?” he pointed towards their left, and Christine nodded. “Just follow that route, and you’ll eventually reach…”
Before he managed to finish his sentence, Christine was already sprinting towards the direction he just pointed out.
“… the Payon Archer Village.” The guard sighed.
“Oops! Where are my manners?” Christine suddenly remembered that she hadn’t thanked the helpful guard yet, and halted in her tracks. She looked over her shoulder and shouted “thank you!”, and the guard waved back, smiling.
--
The Payon Archer Village was bustling with activity, mainly crowded by the warriors of Rune-Midgard whom, like Christine, decided to give it a go and embark on a massive Soldier Skeleton and Archer Skeleton slaughter. Christine was rather awed by the fact that there were a lot of Acolytes gathered here – normally she’d rarely see any Acolytes around the place she trains at – but remembered that this was one of the best places for Acolytes to train at, as their skill Heal worked wonders against the Undead monsters.
“Guess I won’t have to worry about getting killed then!” Christine enthused.
Suddenly, she saw a boy getting dragged by the scruff of his shirt by a lady with copper hair. He was thrashing about, evident that he wanted to escape, but apparently her grip was too strong for him to shake off.
“Let me go you old hag!” the boy with jet-black hair and dressed in the Archer’s uniform yelped, and everyone turned to look at the odd pair with curiosity.
“Who’re you calling an old hag, you brat?! And besides, if I let you go, you’d definitely go hunt down those Skeletons, won’t you?” she fumed, as she continued to drag him across the open field back to the Archer’s Guild.
“So what?!” the boy continued to raise his voice.
“I told you, they’re way out of the league for you! You can’t even shoot an arrow without nearly injuring yourself and you want to hunt down monsters? If you have a death wish, I certainly won’t stop you.”
“Then why can SHE do it?!” the boy furiously jabbed a finger at Christine’s direction, much to her astonishment. “She’s definitely younger than I am, so why can she go in but I can’t?!”
The lady paused momentarily to see who the boy was talking about, and gave Christine a wry smile when she caught her eyes, giving her a silent apology as Christine smiled back. Then she replied him nonchalantly, “She could probably give you a nice whooping within a minute. Now quit complaining and get back to your training!” And the boy was promptly dragged by his heels back to the Archer’s Guild, arms crossed in front of his chest.
Christine sweat-dropped as the duo disappeared behind the gates, but shrugged it off and headed towards the grocery shop conveniently situated outside the caves to restock her supplies. However, she stopped dead in her tracks right outside the store, jaws open wide in horror at the number of people crammed inside the tiny shop.
“Oh man… this will take a while…” she massaged her nape gingerly.
--
Christine emerged from the store an hour later, bag filled with enough red potions to last her a while. But it also cost her a bomb – because as usual, the unscrupulous shopkeepers took the advantage of the incident at Payon Caves to hike up the price of the goods that were in higher demand.
“Limited number of stocks, my ass!” she was miffed at the reason that the shopkeeper gave her and the other customers for the price hike. She’d caught a glimpse of the store room as the door was slightly ajar – and saw cartons of the goods stocked up to the ceiling. Normally, Christine would’ve reprimanded them, if only she wasn’t desperate for the potions. After doing some final checks on her equipment and healing supplies, Christine unsheathed her sword, crossed the protective barrier, and cautiously stepped into the darkness of the Payon Caves.
--
The cave wasn’t as dark as Christine thought it would be, as several torches were hung up on the wall, illuminating the cave, if only a little. While she was taking in her surroundings, trying to get accustomed to the light intensity of the cave, a purple hand suddenly appeared at the corner of her eyes, swiping at her and nearly caught her ear. If Christine’s reflexes were any slower, she’d get the living daylights hit out of her already.
“Tch… should’ve known better than to drop my guard. What would Shurank say if he was here…” Christine mumbled while she avoided another swipe aimed at her head. She cursed as she ducked the attack and ran to a wider space nearby, swerving around sharply as she did so to take a good look at her attacker.
Staggering jerkily towards her was a Zombie; flies were hovering around it, trying to deposit their eggs onto its rotting flesh. The stench emanating from it was unbearable, and Christine scrunched her nose in annoyance.
“You sure are one hell of an ugly thing, aren’t you?” she sneered, swiftly resuming her battle stance.
“Give… me… your… flesh…” the Zombie let out something in between a growl and a moan, still heading towards her with outstretched arms.
“No way in hell,” Christine said, as she dashed towards it and swung her sword at its head with superb accuracy, killing it instantly. She brusquely whipped her sword in the air, getting rid of the mucus from the Zombie off the tip of her sword. Then she turned around to leave as the Zombie’s remains turned into ashes.
Oddly, there weren’t many monsters around the first level of the cave. Then again, the other people who passed by this route would probably have eliminated them already. Christine shrugged as she walked down the spiralling staircase towards the second level.
--
Her eyes widened when she saw the number of people crowding at the entrance of the second level of the Payon Caves. All of them were busy pushing back the battalion of Soldier Skeletons and Archer Skeletons who were trying to force their way to the first level of the caves, and move one step closer to taking over the mountain city of Payon.
“Wow, I never thought that the situation would be this bad,” Christine thought, eyes narrowed. A few more Acolytes pushed past her to join in the fight, all shouting “Heal!” after casting a wide array of supportive skills that Christine couldn’t quite catch on themselves. She hesitated for a moment, before deciding that she shouldn’t jump into the fray right here. It was obvious that her sword would be too long to be able to sustain a close-quarter combat here without injuring someone else apart from the skeletons – she could block the entire pathway by just holding out her sword across the narrow corridors of the Payon Caves with an outstretched hand.
“Well, I guess there’s only one way out of it…” Reluctantly, she fished out a Wing of Fly from her pocket, eyes rolling at the crazy thought she’d just had. Gulping, the silver-haired Swordsman closed her eyes and crushed the Wing in her right hand, hoping that everything would be over soon.
When she came to a standstill a couple of seconds later, she willed herself to open her eyes and prayed that she wouldn’t hurl. The motion sickness caused by the Wing of Fly could be really unbearable sometimes, as she had learned in the past – Christine was confined to the bed for the entire week after that first episode. She winced at the memory.
It was then that she heard something whizz past her ear, bounced off the wall behind her, and dropped with a clang on the floor. Christine’s eyes flew open in alarm, adrenaline immediately coursing through her veins in response. She raised her sword in defense as she scanned her surroundings carefully. Apart from an arrow on the floor, Christine found no one else – human or otherwise – except her in the area.
“Huh. It’s deserted. But letting my guard down for the second time today? Shurank’s going to maim me if he finds out! Focus, dammit, focus!” She mentally bashed herself for being so careless.
“Well, well. Look what do we ‘ave ‘ere,” a voice came from somewhere in the caves, sounding disinterested. Christine raised her guard and narrowed her eyes into slits, listening intently in case he said something again, trying to pinpoint his location. Damn these dark caves.
“That’s playing dirty Arkk! Her eyes were closed, dontcha’ know?! Wait, she’s not blind, is she?” another high-pitched, apparently overexcited voice chipped in.
“Shut up, Knarl. Since when do we ever play fair? And take a good look, idiot. Her eyes are open now so she’s not blind,” A third voice said, words dripping with aversion against the one called Knarl.
“Both of you, shut yer traps before I shove a Fire Arrow up yer throats. Shall we make our grand appearance then? It’s rude ta keep a lady waitin’,” the voice which belonged to the person called Arkk said again. With that, three Archer Skeletons walked into Christine’s view, each holding a bow and carrying an arrow quiver on their backs. Her knuckles tightened around the hilt of her sword, in case they decided to launch a sudden attack.
“Oooh, she’s scary! Can we kill her? Huh, huh?? Can we?! Please oh please oh please oh please??” Knarl jumped up and down like a hyperactive child, much too boisterous for someone who has nothing but bones left. Christine was getting particularly annoyed at him.
“If you don’t shut up right now, we’ll kill you first!” his two companions snapped at him at the same time, apparently sharing Christine’s feelings. That effectively made Knarl glue his mouth shut.
“Girl, what are you doing here?” Satisfied with the silence from his companion, Arkk turned around and demanded an answer from Christine.
She cocked an eyebrow at his question. Is he for real?
“Well? Spit it out, girl!”
“Oh nothing, I’m just here to take a stroll in the passageways of these beautiful caves, hoping to get some fresh air,” Christine said, voice thick with sarcasm, then rolled her eyes and suddenly yelled, “What the hell do you think I’m doing here?!”, catching the trio by surprise.
“Oooh, the girl has some anger issues…” Knarl nodded thoughtfully at his words, but was met by a smack to the back of his head from the unnamed Archer Skeleton. “Ow! Whatcha’ do that for?!”
Christine swore that one of her veins just popped, and her right eye faintly twitched. She only managed to let out an exasperated sigh.
It was either these Archer Skeletons weren’t with the army trying to stampede their way into the city of Payon, or they just don’t think before they speak. Then again, they probably don’t even have brains to begin with, considering their current state, Christine thought while giving them one glance from top to toe.
“What are you looking at?” the unnamed Archer Skeleton asked, arching his non-existent eyebrows.
“I was just wondering…” Christine lowered her sword by her side and looked up to the roof of the cave, making it appear as if she was racking her brains to find the right word to say.
“Wondering about?” Knarl cocked his head to the side.
“… just how long more the three of you want to stand there idly and blather away?!” she suddenly launched herself at the three Archer Skeletons, not even giving them the chance to process her words and actions. In a blink of an eye, she’d already cut Knarl through the middle of his supposed-to-be abdomen, leaving him in a mangled heap on the floor.
“First thing to remember in a battle against several opponents: take down the easiest target first,” Shurank’s words rang in Christine’s ear.
“Oh, I didn’t know you’re that annoyed at him,” Arkk mused when he saw what Christine did to his now-dead companion, not even sensing his imminent death. She really wanted to smack herself in the forehead.
God, they seriously are lacking in the intelligence department!
“Right. Now who’s next?” Swallowing her annoyance, Christine drew her sword again, glaring dangerously at the remaining two. They finally figured out what she was planning to do, and edged further away from her, picking out an arrow from their arrow quivers as they did so. Without wasting any time, she entered for the kill once more, this time slashing at Arkk’s head and aimed a kick at the unnamed Archer Skeleton’s spine at the same time, effectively killing them both.
“You could’ve finished me off earlier if you guys were smart enough to impale me with your arrows while I couldn’t see you, geniuses. So much for not playing fair,” Christine scowled at the remains of the Archer Skeletons, prodding them with the tip of her sword as they crumbled into ashes.
“But anyway, thanks for the Skeleton Bones!” she picked up the items from the floor and deposited them in her pouch that hung by her waist. “Three down, 97 more to go!” she chirruped.
Suddenly, Christine realized that there was a commotion not far from where she stood. “Huh. I must’ve been too preoccupied with these idiots to notice just now,” she huffed. Furrowing her eyebrows, she cocked her head to listen, trying to ascertain the direction of the incident. Picking up her sword, she slowly stood up and inched towards the source of the noise.
At one of the many bends of the tunneling caves, Christine saw quite a large group of Archer Skeletons and Soldier Skeletons crowded together, and they seemed like they were surrounding something – or someone. She immediately hid herself behind a large stone to scout the situation before deciding on her next move.
“Little Acolyte, I must commend you for killing 10 of my men all by yourself-” It appears that the leader of this group of Skeletal Army spoke up. “-but you do know that you can’t possibly take on all fifty of us here, don’t you? Look at you, all bloody and messed up already. What’s the matter? Why don’t you use your little skill that you’re oh-so-proud of to heal yourself? Or are you planning to give up already?” he taunted.
“I have no intention of bowing down to the likes of you, Soldier Skeleton. I will not let you get away with your plan of taking over Payon,” the Acolyte in question spat, but Christine couldn’t see her face as it was blocked from view by the large amount of Soldier Skeletons crowding around her.
The leader of the Skeletal Army gave a blood-curdling cackle at her answer. “Very well, I’ll make you bow down to me, then send you off to meet your maker!”
Sensing danger, Christine jumped out of her hiding place and swiftly took down the five Archer Skeletons who were standing at a distance away from the main group. The main group of Soldier Skeletons seemed to have heard the commotion coming from behind them, and they all turned around to see what was happening.
“What’s going on here?!” the leader of the group made his way to the spot where he’d placed the Archer Skeletons at, only to find Christine sneering at him, his men nowhere to be seen. “Ah, it seems that we have another guest.”
“I have a proposition for you,” she smiled. “Why don’t you take on somebody your own size?”
“Are you sure you’re not putting up a false bravado? After all, your size is certainly smaller than the Acolyte over there,” the Soldier Skeleton drummed his bony fingers against his chin thoughtfully, then continued, “but if that’s what you want… I can always afford a diversion. I’ll just kill you first then get the Acolyte,” he gave a slight nod, and the Skeletal Soldier army mercilessly rained their attacks down on Christine.
1 comment:
chyi, best2!
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