Chapter 11
Through The Moaning Valley

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Hundreds of knights and fortune-seekers march through the Moaning Valley like a jagged blob of colors with a life of its own. I make to follow, but my movements seem to lag as if something was holding back.

"Don't do it!" a faint voice whisks past my ear.

I do a three-sixty, but don't see anything that could've uttered those words. Who was that just now?

Cassis grabs me and produces a panel about her head. "What's wrong?"

Brushing the matter aside, I shake my head, then point to the moving crowd to let her know I want to continue. Not wanting to take any risks, we decide to use the Incense Jaxx gave us. A white veil envelops as, its aroma repelling all monsters in the area.

"We have to hurry," Cassis says.

She grabs my arm and pulls me through the crowd, pushing past anyone who gets in the way. Outside our protective aura, monsters begin to spawn, ambushing people left and right. Sparks fly as swords and daggers clash with metal skin and foot-long fangs. The valley has been thrown into chaos in a matter of minutes. Those who survive battle press on, while others who overestimated their abilities soon fall and lie unconscious on the ground.

I jump to avoid stepping them, but realize there's no point; my feet just go right through them. Their bodies turn translucent and begin to fade.

"Those without a party will perish," Cassis says. "Even Asharia's Love can't save them now."

I tense up. That could've been me when we first arrived in Moaning.

"We have to stick together."

As the fallen vanish, the valley becomes less crowded. The Incense's aura starts to show signs of diminishing. Cassis and I pick up our pace, knowing that if we were to ever lose our protection, there's no telling if we'd survive. Just then, two knights rush towards us and cling to our sides. They're the same ones who were touting their prowess back in the village...

"Get out of the way!" Cassis says. "You're slowing us down."

"Hey, come on, there's room. Let us hang around you, pretty please!"

"Please, please, please! We're out of Potions. We won't survive another fight."

Even though they seem like jerks, I'd feel bad letting them die. One good deed a day, right?

Somehow, Cassis senses my intention and changes her tone. "Fine. But you'd better not slow us down, got it? The Incense won't last forever."

Its aura is already dimmer than it was. And if I remember correctly, the effect will only last until a little after we arrive at the cave.

"Thank you so much!"

"You're a goddess!"

The four of us press onward, wading through the falling and fallen folks. As more bodies fade away, I can't help but wonder what happens to them. Is it permanent? Or do they reincarnate or respawn as something else? The questions take my heart for a roller-coaster ride.

"We're almost there!"  I see Cassis say.

Up ahead, the mountain rises to view. A mass of people clogs the entrance, preventing us from moving any further. There's simply no way the cave can fit us all. We're in big trouble.

"This is bad," Cassis says. "What should we do?"

Before any of us can react, a powerful explosion goes off from inside the mountain. The ground trembles below our feet. A mess of panels surge above everyone's heads.

"What the heck was what?"

"Oh gosh, I shouldn't have come here."

"Someone must have cast Crush."

"I think you're right."

"Look! The crowd's moving. Go, go, go!"

The blob starts to squeeze into the cave. Around us, monsters pop up at every breath. We make a beeline towards the entrance, pushing past others caught in battle.

"Hurry!" Cassis cries.

In the real world, I'm a decent runner, but here, my legs can only carry my body at a constant speed. A speed that's not fast enough to make it.

The aura of the incense dissipates.

The world spins out of control.

* BATTLE START *

---

An ominous tune floods my ears.

Flying out of the bushes is a Two-Headed Serpent. It hisses, bearing its foot-long fangs, while bouncing up and down like a slinky toy. Suddenly, the monster snaps at the two knights.

One of them can't take it and falls unconscious, while the other is in critical condition.

"Shit!" the surviving knight shouts. Fury erupts in his eyes as he lunges towards the serpent. "You're dead!" His body freezes midair, his weapon pulsating a fiery red. "Sever!" he screams, swinging the Claymore at one of the disgusting heads.

The thing wriggles momentarily as its health panel drops by more than half.

So, each head has a life of its own.

The knight leaps back into position and shoots his eyes my way. "Heal me!"

But before I can do so, the serpent strikes again, this time targeting him and Cassis.

She recoils a few steps but holds her stance.

Our friend isn't as lucky. He joins the other guy, curled up and motionless on the ground.

"I didn't come all the way here to die!" Cassis shouts and prepares her special attack.

I channel my energy into my Mighty Staff and raise it high into the air. Its orb shimmers. Then, a flash of light emits from the sphere and strikes Cassis's body.

Seeing how fast the serpent is, I had to ensure she can unleash her attacks on time. I figure I can survive at least one hit from the monster, seeing that both heads never seem to target the same person. If we can eliminate one of the heads as quickly as possible, the battle will be more manageable.

The serpent heads open their mouths and out shoots two green blobs.

We raise our arms in an attempt to block it, but still suffer significant damage.

A red skull appears above each of our heads. We've been Poisoned! My entire body feels as if a million fire ants were snacking on it. Cassis appears to be unfazed.

"Double Slash!" She strikes the injured head with her special attack.

The effects of the poison kicks in as she repositions herself.

Her health is nearly half gone.

It's the serpent's turn, and it strikes at us again with its powerful heads.

I see my life bar drain to near black, leaving me with just 45 health points.

Cassis is also barely hanging on with 260 remaining.

I realize we won't survive another attack. There's the option of fleeing, but if we fail, we're goners. The best option is to take out one of the heads, which Cassis can hopefully do when it's her turn. As for the Poison, I can cast Sooth to remove the effect, but it could be a wasted turn. With one serpent head remaining, either Cassis or me will fall on the next strike if we don't do something about our health. We'll need a miracle to survive this.

Having considered all options, I use a Big Potion on Cassis, restoring 300 points to her health. A wave of heat flushes over me as the effects of the poison kicks in again.

I heave a sigh, relieved that my assumption was correct. In this game world, Poison never kills. It only brings the victim to the brink of death.

"We can do this!" Cassis shouts. She musters up all her energy and slashes at the weakened serpent head twice.

The head squeals as chunks of green flesh vaporize into the air.

One down.

She leaps back into position and flinches.

Right away, the other head swings over to Cassis and bites her.

I thank Asharia that it didn't attack me. Things are unfolding as I had hoped.

It's Cassis's turn again, and sensing my danger, she uses a Big Potion on me. The serpent targets me next, taking back the 300 health that the potion gave me.

I use my turn to make sure Cassis lasts as long as possible. There's no point in healing myself.

She realizes this and focuses on slaying the remaining head. With another Double Slash, she knocks the monster's life bar down by a quarter, then suffers a bit of damage by the Poison.

The serpent spits a blob of poison at her.

Cassis slices at it twice, the Mother's Memento she has equipped allowing her to launch special attack after special attack.

The monster strikes again, but misses.

I don't know how I'm still alive, but I use the opportunity to Heal Cassis. All our Potions are gone. It looks like I won't survive the battle, but with some more luck, she might just make it.

The serpent targets her with its bite, this time landing its attack.

Cassis returns the favour with a good slicing, but suffers a bit of damage again from the Poison.

Just one more hit and the serpent will be dead. But it's the monster's turn. She has 348 hit points left, and I have under a hundred.

I say my prayers, ready to take the next bite. What will happen to me? My thoughts don't get long to wander before a figure leaps into battle with us. It's the monk from a few days ago!

"You guys have a bigger death wish than I do," Oren says.

He strikes the serpent with Repel, doing a good deal of damage to it.

The wonderful thing about his technique, I just realize, is that it cancels out the enemy's attack.

It's now my turn. The tides have turned. For insurance, I cast Heal on myself to regain some health.

Cassis moves in for the kill with a regular attack.

With one last squeal, the mighty serpent explodes into chunks of flesh and fades into nothingness.

The ominous tune stops, replaced by a familiar cheery melody.

"Nothing to it!" Cassis shouts, swinging her sword around.

Too exhausted to do my victory pose, I just watch the EXP roll in.

I leveled up twice from that battle!

---

* BATTLE END *

The scene fades back into the Moaning Valley. While we fought, it seems that everyone else has gone into the cave.

"Are you alright?" Oren asks us.

"Yes," Cassis answers. "Thanks for lending a hand."

I cast Sooth on Cassis and myself to cure us of the Poison.

The monk eyes the two knights still unconscious on the ground. He shakes his head, then takes out two vials and proceeds to splash the contents onto their faces. Seconds later, their bodies buck, rising upwards once more as life seeps back into them.

"You're the monk we fought..." one of the knights say.

His friend's about to generate a text panel above his head, but Oren stops him.

"No time for chitchat," the monk says and lights an incense. "It's my last one. We have to get the hell out of here."

As expected, Cassis has her mind set. "I have to get my hands on the Zephyrion Sword...with or without your help."

After barely making it through that battle, I highly doubt we'd survive another one. Who knows if there aren't more powerful monsters around. However, my gamer instincts tell me we're clear for a while. The serpent could be considered a boss, and there's no way we'd be up against another one so soon.

And so I nod.

The other two knights agree.

"I knew I could count on you," Cassis says.

"You're flirting with death!" Oren groans and shakes his head. "I guess I have no choice but to stick around and keep an eye on you guys. Come on, let's go."

The aura from the Incense keeps the monsters at bay until we reach the cave. Inside, we follow the tail end of the crowd down one of the tunnels.

"I think we're safe in here," one of the knights say, and without warning, runs ahead to join the others.

His friend seems to agree and abandons us as well.

Cassis, Oren, and I take it easy through the cave. It doesn't take long before we reach the end of the tunnel. Instead of a dead end, a new area appears before us. The explosion we heard earlier must've opened up the passage way.
My eyes nearly fall out of my head when I see the room before my eyes.

~*~