The Dragon's Wrath: Ashes of the Fallen (17 page)

Without bothering to stand up, I raised both arms and initiated a [Chain Lightning] without a chanted verse. Even though the cast time was short, there was plenty of time for them to gather themselves.

Three men were getting back to their feet in front of me, cursing at me, muttering under their breaths, bitching and moaning that I had pulled a fast one.

"Chain lightning," I mumbled with a sinister grin appearing across my face.

Another flash, another crack, and the intertwined bolts of lightning cut through the air and rain only to impact, spread, and dissipate faster than I could exhale. The three struggled to move as their health had fallen to below half and the paralyzing after-effects kept them down, but I wasn't done.

Not yet, there was more to the magic show.

Gathering myself mentally, I focused on a spot behind the man with the claymore as he was the first to get up. With one knee still on the ground, all I had to do, was think of the next words,
Flash Step
.

An exhilarating feeling followed, one that left me holding my breath as if it would suck the air out of my lungs if I didn't. My body had dematerialized faster than I could register as I shot through the air, and by the time I realized where I was, my axe had been raised. My mind finally catching up to my body, I eyed the bastard-swordsman kneeling before me, as I hacked once into the base of his skull from behind.

The sound of a skull shattering was rather silent, but the feeling was real enough. Like hacking into a coconut, the thud could be felt through my hand and forearm, and once it broke through the hard outer shell, the mushy interior was reaved into two. His body limp, my axe stuck, I let go as I eyed the two spearmen next to me.

An arm outstretched, a connection between us was made.

Lightning fluctuated, ebbed and flowed, surged and waned.

In three seconds the man had ceased his movements as the other two had backed away, watching in horror. They weren't aware of my secret, they had no clue.

The truth was, that I was a bully.

They had brought this on themselves.

Bringing both palms together and taking a lowered stance, with legs spread shoulder-width apart, I bent at the knees and began to cast a [Lightning Bolt]. It was all I had left mana wise… two more [Lightning Bolts] and I would be empty, gassed of mana and with only my shield and bow left.

It was no matter though.

The two remaining stragglers regrouped, with the shield-bearer standing front and center, defiantly raising his circular wooden shield in an effort to deflect the spell that was about to be cast at them. It was an effective strategy against spells, one that I had yet to employ but would do in the same situation. They weren't entirely unskilled and even showed some semblance of small-unit tactics. Unfortunately, they couldn't block what was about to come.

Unbeknownst to them, in the midst of the rainstorm that had been falling throughout our fight, puddles had accumulated in the low spots. There wasn't enough rainfall to create deep puddles but with the off-and-on rain over the past few days, there were already small pools ready and waiting.

There was a funny thing, about electricity.

They would learn in short order.

"Through power, darkness turns to light, render all to ash," I droned on with monotony as the balled lightning continued to increase in power. They stood back, believing in their defenses, waiting for me to make the next move.

"Lightning Bolt!" I yelled out quickly to startle them, as I thrust both arms forth and aimed at the ground beneath their feet. As the lightning bolt cut through the air leaving a trail of electricity behind, it nearly instantly hit the puddle underneath them as the electricity discharged partially into the ground and the rest up through their legs.

They both convulsed in place for a second, buying me time to pick up my shield and draw my dagger as I rushed towards them. Using a [Shield Bash] of my own, both shields clashed as he met my charge. The shock of the impact sent us both reeling while he lost his footing and slipped backwards. The spearman took advantage and attempted a [Heavy Thrust] that managed to pierce through my side, causing pain to reverberate throughout my body. It was a deep wound to my torso, but nothing fatal.

He pulled back, as the shield-bearer regained his footing and squared up once more. They intended to draw the fight out, to poke and prod… to whittle me down over time.

I wasn't a fucking carving though.

A two versus one scenario, they held their ground as I thought of my next move. My mana was slowly regenerating, enough that I could use another [Flash Step] and possibly another [Lightning Bolt] as well. My health was at 74% while theirs was at 48% and 63% respectively. The only problem, was one good hit could send me to the graveyard. It didn't take more than one solid hit to the head, or a direct hit to the heart to kill a man. We were only mortal, after all.

[Discharge] had a long cooldown, otherwise I would use it again.

A [Flash Step] combo into [Discharge] would easily win me the fight, but I had another thirty seconds to wait. They seemed to catch on though, as I was pacing around them, biding my time just for that. I needed mana, and my cooldown period was long.

They decided to split, attempting to circle me once more.

I kept the shield-bearer in front of me, letting the spearman get behind me. He was the real threat, but I wanted him to grow confident, I needed him to make a mistake. The shield-bearer couldn’t kill me in a one versus one, his equipment and skillset betrayed him. But a single well-placed [Heavy Thrust] would end me.

They started to grow impatient as I watched their every move. They circled, as I continued to shift my feet one step at a time, maintaining an angle appropriate for a counter. I still had my shield and my knife, and they were afraid of the unknown.

"He can't use those abilities again," yelled the shield-bearer to his friend. "He would have used them already if he could do it more than once. Let's get him before he recovers, follow my lead!"

"Talking in the middle of a fight?" I asked jokingly. "You underestimate me."

"You just got lucky punk," claimed the spearman behind me. "Caught us by surprise, you ain't shit. Don't get cocky you son of a bitch."

"Ah, is that so," I mocked with a haughty laugh.

Now was the time.

Slowly turning my head and focusing on the spot behind the spearman, with my body still facing the shield-bearer, I thought of two specific words,
Flash Step
. Without the need to utter a word, my body was sucked instantly through a vortex of light, reappearing directly behind the spearman faster than I could understand. Instinctively throwing my shield out with a [Shield Bash], it connected with the back of the spearman as he tumbled down to the ground with barely a sound.

He hastily rolled onto his back to protect himself, but a spear was hardly usable on the ground as he waved it weakly in my general direction. Ignoring his futile attack I leapt forward and fell on top of the man with my knee in his chest and another leg out to the side to brace myself. Before he could react, I slipped the knife cleanly through his exposed throat and up beneath the chin, smooth and easy without any resistance.

Warm blood poured out onto my hand as the rain continued to fall, washing away what little trace there was. In an instant, another man had perished to my blade. The corpse beneath limp and harmless, there was only one obstacle remaining.

Sitting atop the dead body, I looked up and eyed the last of the bunch.

Rain continuing to fall, dripping down my face and off my chin… this was the scenario we were in. Only two of us were left, and only one would walk away. The ring leader that blocked the doorway, the one that decided to harass a girl in my presence, he was the only one left now. He figured he could get away with his brash attitude all because of numerical superiority… no, not when I was around.

If he sought mercy, he wouldn't find it here.

"You're fucking sick," he shouted in desperation.

"Maybe I am," I replied nonchalantly.

The scene certainly was gruesome, I had methodically ripped them apart, one by one. I didn't shy away from slitting a throat, from hacking into a skull, or from burning a man to death internally with my lightning.

Maybe I was sick, but it didn't matter to me.

This was a game, and only that.

They would have done the same to me, if given the chance.  

Without any further hesitation, I walked towards the man and dropped my shield on the ground, keeping only the bloody knife in my hand. With my arms relaxed and the knife dangling by my side, I closed the distance as the man readied his sword and raised his shield. He didn't back down, but he was anxious and nervous. He didn't know what to expect next, and I didn't blame him.

In truth, I wasn't skilled enough to kill him with my knife alone.

The knife was a bluff, meant to distract and nothing more.

I needed him to lower his shield or to attack.

As I closed the distance between us, the man grew impatient and angry with himself. He was angry that he had hesitated to fight me one versus one. That this lone man with a knife in the rain was keeping him standing still with shield raised. I could see it on his face. He was displeased, it didn't sit well with him.

"Does it bother you, that you're scared?" I antagonized.

He stood there in silence.

"Let me teach you something," I said as I slowed my pace slightly. "In this world of ours, there is always someone better, bigger, stronger, smarter, or worse, smaller, weaker, stupider… that's the nature of things. Someone will always come around and surprise you. Yet, you and your friends find yourselves above some others, and collectively as a group probably get away with your practices most of the time, too. Well, you just met someone better, and now I'm showing you what it's like to be on the other side of that fence."

Stopping a few feet away from him, he was clearly trying to contain his rage.

I only had to push a little more.

"It's not so fun being the weak one, is it?" I questioned, pitying him with my eyes.

He caught on, and his face nearly contorted as his anger boiled over and he roared at me, raising his sword into the air and charging at me with his shield held centerline. Three steps brought him into range as he swiped down at me, attempting to cut into my neck as I had no way to parry, but I had no intention of deflecting the blow as I tucked to my right and slid onto the ground. My right shoulder hitting the mud as I slipped and slid to the side, the man missed his swing as his back was exposed to me, shield pointed uselessly in the opposite direction.

I raised my left arm.

With my free hand, I opened it and channeled the most powerful individual spell that I had. [Arc Lightning] shot out and connected the two of us, as his exposed back became the focus of my attention. I only had enough mana for two seconds, and that wasn't enough to kill him, but it was enough to buy me some time.

Standing up with the channel still going, I walked closer to the man and as the [Arc Lightning] cut out due to my mana shortage, I plunged the knife that was in my right hand straight into the back of his spine, lodging it deeply between the vertebrae and severing it completely. A twist and a pull, and the man fell to the ground a corpse.

The fight was over.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I relaxed my shoulders as I stared at the carnage.

Four bodies lying on the ground, now released with their hosts in spirit form at the graveyard, waiting for the time penalty to fall off so they could resurrect. They deserved what happened, in my mind.

They were asking for it.

Yet, I wasn't really happy.

In fact, I felt like a murderer… the brutal nature of the fight left a lingering distaste in my mouth. It was too graphic, too personal, too real… really. Killing in PvP was expected to be harsh, that was the nature of virtual reality.

The fact that they strived for such an advanced realism is what set the game apart. Though, they had turned down the graphical gore so organs and such wouldn't be displayed, there was still the sensation of piercing through someone and the warmth and stickiness of their blood splattering across your face.

Really, it wasn't that much different from stabbing a wolf.

Maybe that was what bothered me… that there was no physical difference between cutting down a virtual beast and a virtual representation of another human being.

Desensitized… perhaps, I was.

The rain had picked up and was now a steady downpour, I was drenched from head to toe and covered in mud but I didn't really care. It washed the blood off, it cleansed my gear… a free bath, is all it was.

"Ah," I muttered to myself. "This is depressing."

Tilting my head back, I stared at the clouds that partially obscured the moon as I pondered how the future would turn out. I tried to get away from the fighting, with the constant struggle between other players and losing my temper. Now, I was right back in it. First, I killed the pugs that were talking shit, now… I killed four guys because they were rude and annoyed me.