07 - Slashing The Wind

Gaming Center

Frozen Veritas, For Glory's most recent expansion, is something Sara forcibly put off her mind as soon she learned of it, though unfortunately, even after a week of carefully avoiding spoilers, she still doesn't have the time to play… Yet.

First, she has a prince to kill… Apparently.

Watching the beautiful, snow-covered landscape extending far into the horizon, Sara attempts in vain to stop her mouth from watering.

'I see you.'

'Is that the lake you mentioned?' Sara asks, staring at the large expansion of frozen water spreading almost the full extent of her screen and whistling softly.

'Yeah. I cleared most mobs, and I saw nobody else… Who plays this earlier in the morning, anyway?'

Instead of bothering to land, Sara simply commands SlashingWind to jump ship somewhat near the coordinates she was given.

And despite having done so literally thousands of times before, Sara still feels a smile spreading through her face as she freefalls SlashingWind toward the ground, watching it rapidly approaching as the wind whistles loudly into her ears.

'Show-off.'

Sara shrugs. Many players are able to reproduce the maneuver, but to get it right every time? Besides Avril (damn monster she is), many of her ex-teammates still die to it every once in a while. Or, at least, they still did a couple of months ago.

'Whoever dies first loses,' Sara sends as her character rolls over the frozen ice, standing to attention immediately. 'No rules.'

'You sure?'

Sara smiles. 'Do your best, I won't hold it against you.'

'If you say so. I'm ending the call. On ten?'

'We start on ten,' Sara agrees, 'From when the call ends. Make it interesting for me, okay?'

An eerie silence follows the game's message announcing PrinceHunter has left the call, and the sound of SlashingWind's boots crunching over the snow brings Sara's focus back into the game as she observes the lake and its surrounding forest of leafless trees.

She has seen no signs of him, either while flying over or after having landed, but perhaps, given his name, that's to be expected? From her place in the middle of the lake, the surrounding forest has thousands of hiding spots.

As she waits, Sara turns SlashingWind in a circle but doesn't find anything obvious across the vast emptiness.

Three…

Two…

One…

The wind whistles softly, immediately perceivable upon the lake's stillness, and Sara smiles as she rolls SlashingWind out of the way, then glances at where it stood previously to find several arrows sticking out of the ice.

Though she can already hear the next wave of incoming arrows, Sara doesn't panic. The nice thing about arrows? They tend to point the way.

Ugh… They tend to point the way? Really?

Red colors her screen's corners to indicate the first arrow actually about to hit her, but Sara is already moving, rolling SlashingWind backward, then dashing toward the line of trees pointed at by the arrows' shafts.

Immediately, several projectiles fly by, almost too close for comfort, but none close enough to cause Sara to hesitate, or her screen to glow red again.

The next arrow, Sara cuts directly from the air by pinpointing its approach and timing.

And the next one.

And the next one.

SlashingWind hardly slows down, even as it rolls diagonally to avoid a cluster of arrows, only to dash in the opposite direction immediately after.

Not bad, but far from enough.

In the span of a few seconds, SlashingWind cuts, rolls, and dashes several times, barely slowing down before the rain of arrows flying its way. Half the distance toward the forest has been covered by it when it becomes possible to distinguish a male figure dressed in white robes among the trees with a wooden long bow in its hand.

Sara smiles. She wonders if she'd have been able to see the fear in its eyes, was the character able to express or feel the emotion.

You have disturbed Yndroranth's sleep! Boss Giant Serpent Yndroranth has awakened!

Excuse me?

The what now?

Deep, rumbling sounds rise from underneath the ice, overwhelming all other noises being transmitted from the game. With her screen shaking, Sara barely manages to react in time to dodge a new wave of incoming arrows.

Almost immediately, fissures spreading faster than SlashingWind's maximum running speed rush by its sides, shooting jets of what Sara assumes can only be cold freezing water through the air.

And although she has no words to describe her incredulity, Sara immediately uses the extra movement speed of dashing to jump over one of the cracks without slowing down while having her sword block an approaching arrow, still mid-jump.

The thunderous sounds, however, continue to grow louder and louder as more and more cracks shoot throughout the ice, and Sara's forehead becomes covered in cold sweat as she runs SlashingWind madly under a new rain of arrows, her typing almost frantic.

PrinceHunter is clear in her vision now, mere seconds away. But Sara can already tell she won't make it in time, courtesy of the apocalyptic scene unfolding before her eyes as the previously peaceful ice lake breaks apart as if smitten by an angry god, shooting geysers of cold water which block her character's vision and cause Sara to lose sight of the archer, just as her screen becomes covered in splashes of blood and darkness.

Absently, Sara hears SlashingWind splashing against water and ice, barely containing an incredulous scream of rage as it grows in her gullet.

Left shoulder has suffered critical damage, becoming paralyzed until treated!

Freezing, movement speed reduced!

Drowning, 59 seconds of oxygen left!

Underwater, movement speed and attack severely reduced!

A monumental amount of self-control stops Sara from punching the dark screen in front of her. Well, that, and the fact her hand would simply fly through the hologram.

Her frozen fingers are quick to move once more, however, once the treads of light descending from newly created fissures above illuminate the dark lake enough to highlight a shadow rapidly swimming in her screen's direction.

Unfortunately, neither roll nor dash are available underwater, and Sara has no choice but to meet the creature's lunge with a well-timed block of her sword, though the move does little to stop SlashingWind from being violently shoved aside again.

Drowning, 49 seconds of oxygen left!

Containing her curses, as soon she regains control of SlashingWind's movements, Sara immediately ignores the creature and attempts to swim upwards, toward the light.

And for a fleeting moment, as she stares into the streaks of light breaking through the ice, Sara even dares to hope she might make it…

Though such hopes are quickly and utterly crushed when a sudden boom sound shakes the entirety of SlashingWind's world, briefly stunning it as it sends the character spiraling downwards once again.

Drowning, 39 seconds of oxygen left!

The stun is enough to allow for a second attack from the mysterious creature and Sara watches in hopeless, horrified rage as it coils itself around SlashingWind, attempting to drag the character even deeper into the lake.

SlashingWind's sword bounces off the creature's scaled body repeatedly, as if in slow motion, and each passing second has the light above growing more distant, as well as Sara's desire to smash her keyboard into pieces growing stronger... Until she spots something decidedly white near the corner of her screen.

Drowning, 29 seconds of oxygen left!

Promptly, an instinctive flick of Sara's wrist pinpoints the creature's eye, driving SlashingWind's sword through, and staining the surrounding water a satisfying shade of red as it frantically shakes its serpent-like body.

Sara nearly screams in triumph, though she wastes no time before commanding SlashingWind to swim toward the light once more.

Good. She still has enough time to-

As if on cue, a second boom shakes the lake waters, once more producing a brief stunning effect.

So much for that.

And as she spots more of the serpent-like creatures approaching from the lake's depth, Sara clenches her teeth.

Drowning, 19 seconds of oxygen left!

Given the delayed reaction time of SlashingWind in answering to her commands underwater, Sara knows she'll have a much harder time timing anything. Still, she has cleared underwater dungeons before. Dozens of them, in fact.

She'll have one shot at it.

And, as Sara watches the approaching underwater horrors drawing ever closer, she does not panic. Betting on the usual predictability of video game mobs, she instead takes her time to angle SlashingWind just right.

Now.

Drowning, 09 seconds of oxygen left!

SlashingWind blocks as the monster crashes against its sword, producing a muffled sound, and Sara watches with a grin as her character is hurled upward, out of reach of the monster's slower brethren.

Damn bastards, she'll come back one day.

But for now, Sara doesn't plan on giving the monsters a second chance, and she quickly leads SlashingWind to break the lake's surface, just in time to witness a third world-shaking crash rumbling through.

Giant Serpent Yndroranth, eh?

SlashingWind might as well have been a plastic toy in its giant bathtub, for all the resistance Sara was able to put up against it. Only a world boss has this sort of ridiculous strength, something balanced to fight against thousands of players at once… and win, more often than not.

Standing over one of the few remaining platforms of ice, Sara stares over the agitated lake and its surrounding forest, both now changed beyond recognition. It isn't hard to spot the culprit behind such destruction, not when its white, scaled body stands proudly against the sky, dozens, perhaps hundreds of times taller than a player character.

Yndroranth is impressive looking, all right.

Were they the first to find it? Across all servers? With the expansion only having been out for a week or so, it is possible, though Sara won't know for sure unless she asks around. A boss like this should've had many players waiting for it to respawn.

Speaking of which; The serpent abruptly opens its mouth wide, releasing a thunderous scream which causes the lake's water to churn and several red warnings to flash through her screen as Sara fights to maintain her character over the swaying ice platform.

One of its eyes, white against black, narrows dangerously in SlashingWind's direction, a brief warning regarding Yndroranth's aggro before it pulls its head back, then shoots across the lake's surface much faster than any creature its size has a right to be.

Sara is fairly sure snakes aren't supposed to make such sounds, but she is far too occupied jumping SlashingWind from platform to platform to question the game's design.

Oh man, whom is she kidding?

There's no way she'll make it anywhere.

After mere seconds, SlashingWind performs one last jump, narrowly avoiding the serpent's mouth as another platform of ice is erased from existence. However, instead of continuing the chase, Yndroranth suddenly rises, and rises, and rises, covering the sky in its glory.

Sara chuckles as she stares at the giant creature looming over her screen. Somehow, she doubts a parry will cut it this time.

Hey, at least she now knows where the stuns came from.

Yndroranth's head might as well have been a meteor, for all the chance it gave for a counter-attack. Stupid, overpowered NPC. So unfair.

Watching her screen grow into a confusion of dark colors and splashes of red after Yndroranth thunderous crash against the water, Sara nearly rage quits right there and then. Stupid narrator voice.

Ribs have suffered minor damage, diminishing movement speed.

Legs have suffered medium damage, diminishing movement speed and reaction time!

Main weapon has been lost!

Once her screen becomes clear again, Sara finds it pointing towards the cloudy sky. Loud clashes in the distance continue to happen, though it seems SlashingWind avoided death by pure luck.

As she commands her character to rise, Sara turns her camera in the sound's direction.

Water, ice, and fury, is the best way to describe the scene of the serpent as it continues to ravage the lake, seemingly having lost sight of Sara's character after the small tsunami it caused.

The view renders Sara speechless. If it weren't for the aftershock wave sending her character away, she is sure it would have died no matter what by now.

"How unbalanced..." Sara murmurs to herself, feeling a cold shiver down her spine, "Do they even intend on letting us kill it? What sort of boss…"

Shaking her head, Sara turns her character, preparing for a strategic retreat… and bumps right into the archer a couple of meters away, who has an arrow prepared in his longbow.

Red flashes, but Sara is far too surprised to react in time, and the point-blank shoot, which almost certainly would have killed her character, seems to miss its head by less than a centimeter, surging through the screen and disappearing from view.

Staring at the male figure on her screen as it slowly lowers its bow, previously elegant white robe now wet and dirty, Sara blinks.

'Okay. Color me impressed,' she sends over the game's open channel after a moment of shocked silence. 'Was that a display of mercy, oh my honorable opponent?'

'That, was my last damn arrow. I panicked when you turned all of a sudden.'

The archer throws his now useless bow on the ground, taking out a dagger from somewhere inside his robe as Sara's character does the same.

At the sound of crashing waves and screams of fury in the background, the characters start to walk around each other, waiting for someone to make the first move.

'The snake was a nice touch. My mom doesn't allow pets, though. She says I'm not responsible enough to take care of them.'

PrinceHunter laughs. 'I can't believe you survived that.'

'Yeah, I can't believe you threw a boss at me. I think I'll be calling you shameless prince from now on.'

'No rules, remember?'

'You know, now I'm curious about that secret plan of yours to save the world. Do you always play this dirty?'

'I'll become famous. I'll convince the public of my people's plight. Elysium's government will be forced to act.'

That's his secret plan? Seriously?

'You're joking,' Sara retorts incredulously. 'Please tell me you have a plan b.'

'This is not a joke, Sara. Not for me. The truth is, I don't have many options. But I know firsthand how powerful, and dangerous, a mob can be. And I'll have them on my side this time.'

It'd be easy to laugh at him for being naive, but something about the prince's voice tells Sara he's being serious. A familiar hint of despair, perhaps, reflected in the mirror every time she ends up spiraling about her own plans and delusions, tries and failures. The boy has no chance, and he should know as much.

Shit.

'Look…'

'It's okay. I know my chances are slim, even if Aston doesn't interfere.'

'Err… No, it's not that, it's just that I realized I never asked for your name.'

'I don't even know what to say. You're the weirdest girl I've ever met.'

'Thank you, Mr. Charming Prince.'

The boy laughs. 'Name's Uren, Uren Hoxha Juric. Now, how about we finish this?'

Sara bites her lip, then smiles. 'Sure. But I hope you have a will ready somewhere because, after Yndroranth, I have no intention of holding back.'

'I wouldn't have it any other way.'

…

Glaring at the female character covered in blood on his screen, Uren debates the pros and cons of stealing another glance toward the real person… No, he decides. Taking his eyes of the screen for a moment now would be more than enough time for Sara to kill his character.

Sara… He can't believe he told her so much. Oreo will have his skin if he ever finds out he jeopardized their mission for a pretty girl. But…

What is she waiting for, anyway?

Uren sighs. Feeling the weight of the headset around his head, he suddenly feels ridiculous. He has seen people pointing towards it as if it was the funniest thing they saw in their whole lives.

In this strange place, he can't possibly understand their way of thinking. Except he has to, if he's to ever convince them helping his country is the right thing to do.

The worst failure would be to never try.

'System… Connect.'

First, Uren notices silence; the headset which stopped working. But the silence only lasts for a brief second.

Screams, like a volcano erupting, accompany the splashing of water and ice in the distance which suddenly fills Uren's mind, causing goosebumps on his arms. Closer, the lake water crashes against its margin, and wind seems to furiously blow directly against his ear, aftereffects of the serpent's ravaging. Faintly, a sensation of cold seems to cover Uren's body…

"It feels… so real", Uren murmurs to himself in amazement.

However, running steps quickly approaching cut his wonder short, and Uren reacts just in time to parry the dagger slashing in his character's direction.

Red.

The daggers clash against each other on screen, each attack pinpointed and timed by Uren in desperation, rather than close-combat skill. If Sara's character weren't this battered…

Red.

Uren clenches his teeth, abruptly dashing PrinceHunter backward and rendering SlashingWind's kick a beat too slow.

Red.

Somehow, once more Uren manages to pinpoint Sara's dagger as it cuts the air in his direction, blocking it.

'Wow, no way! I thought you only knew how to shoot arrows!'

Uren winces over the unexpected invasive voice in his head, pleasant sounding as it may be, but he has no time to dwell on the sensation as his screen continues to flash in red, his hands reacting faster than his thoughts ever could against the combos intended on killing his character.

And so, as they dance across the muddy ice, Uren realizes PrinceHunter's death is only a matter of time. He simply isn't good enough to find an opening in Sara's combos. Eventually, she'll hit him.

But… Who said he has to play fair?

Abruptly, Uren steps PrinceHunter forward, meeting Sara's attack with his character's body as he immediately counter-attacks, and-

'What?! I dodged! This is such bullshit! Ugh, if I wasn't already so hurt there's no way that'd have hit me!'

For a moment, Uren can't believe his eyes. His heartbeat is loud against his ears, matching the trembling of his fingers against the mouse over the vision of PrinceHunter removing its dagger from its opponent's neck.

He… won? Just like that?

Uren's incredulity renders him almost insensible to the small explosion of cheers and boos at his back.

Almost.