Their shallow breathing, synchronized with mine managed to remain steady… slow. Their right hand shakily clicked a button, popping the pendant open that grew into silence when a notification rang in my ear.
[The - - - - - reacts to The - - - - - -’s call.]
I could see a surge of energy wash over their figure, and they shifted their gaze upward northeast to a pile of silver hair starting to shake and my vision returned to me.
‘Aw, shit!’
[The - - - - - - reacts to you.]
“One of you better act quickly.” (Hotaru)
“I’m doing what I can on my end.” (Makoto)
“What the fuck is this?” (Hibiki)
[A friend’s ability resonates with another. A book has been expended!]
[You have access to Stealth [Lv.3] for 3 minutes!]
[The - - - - - - - - - reacts.]
[ Stealth Lv.3 for ‘3’ minutes!]
[You have successfully found hidden treasure!]
[1 x Superior Healing Potion]
[1 x Superior Antidote]
[2 x Unidentified Scrolls]
I couldn’t help but feel the pressure begin to sink in.
‘It’s now or never!’
M: (And you aren’t alone.) (Hisashi)
(Hisashi!)
M: (GO NOW, TALK LATER YOU, NINCOMPOOP!) (Hisashi)
(Right!)
B: [Mind’s Eye]
My mind became clearer, I could feel a large nest overhead and seamlessly kicked a stick into my hand, moved on closer in between trees before snapping the stick in half and hurling one end at the nest and the other at the wolf pile.
[You have provoked the convocation of Toxitail Eagles!]
[You have provoked the pack of Silver Wolves!]
[Stealth Lv.3]
[Exiting combat…]
[Successfully exited combat!]
Easing my vessel to have coordination nearer to my own was going to make this much less of a challenge even when I’ve assimilated myself to the lagging reaction with 50% synchrony, which is normally enough for a regular player but for people who push their bodies to the limit, the difference is immediately visible.
I was already familiar with the pressure on my mind to act quickly. I had to only use it in small intervals or else I may be forced to log out. With that, I bent my left knee and had my right leg behind me.
The wolf howled, waking his pack as four blue eagles with long spiky tail feathers and 7-foot wingspan screeched, diving like a bullet into the pile before they could even get up. Going from a pack of 12 to a pack of 8 in a matter of seconds.
The surprise attack enraged the wolves, and a red aura began to seep off of their bodies. Their [Pack Act] skill was definitely one to make this an interesting fight but, I had to act quickly.
With my accumulated aggro gone and with how vicious the beasts were going at each other, I activated [Dash] to try to make up for my movement being halved under stealth for the wolves’ tree. I couldn’t even peer at their levels the closer I got, they had to be at least over me by five levels.
*THUNK, THUNK, THUNK, THUNK*
The flurry of spiked feathers buried into the tree at a machine gun's pace, two of which just grazing my skin, tanked my health.
-35 DMG
-35 DMG
‘70?!’
That was enough to kill a level 1 player and then some! If it wasn’t for my mini stupa, I would’ve been 6 feet under and back near the village!
I could’ve praised the heavens, however, I had to get back to work before I was noticed. I turned back as a duo of wolves jumped and latched their fangs onto the wings of one of the eagles as it spiraled out of control.
‘THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME!’
M: (FOCUS!) (Hisashi)
(GAH! RIGHT!)
I looked over to see I had about 2 minutes left of stealth and without their eyes on me, I used [Dash] and jump over open a… hill.
‘Oh…, they looked up…’
It didn’t take long for my heroic moment to turn in a tumble, ass over tea kettle for 10 points of falling damage when I could’ve just run down normally in front of an elven figure with long matted black hair. If it wasn’t for the same chill coming over me, I’d be sure they were long gone.
A series of four intricate arrows lined their back; I was no medical professional.
“What are these arrows?” (Kohaku)
The only response I got sounded defeated, “Give them the antidote and then potion quickly.” (Hibiki)
“Huh?!” (Kohaku)
“You heard me.” (Hibiki)
“How?” (Kohaku)
“Can they drink it?” (Makoto)
“Uh…”
“Put the liquid in your mouth and give’em a kiss.” (Hibiki)
B: (GOT IT!) (Yasu)
The only problem with Mind’s Eye is that my body was more in my psyche’s control than mine.
“I” grabbed the pointed-ear person by their shirt as the antidote popped into my mouth. Watching the life begin to fade from their eyes, I was trying collect my thoughts, but a dying person was within my grasp.
‘Wait, the setting! THE SETTING! HVBDKQBKB!’
(WAIT!)
M: (THERE’S NO TIME!) (Hisashi)
(B- BUT!)
[No confirmation! The - - - - - has swapped you temporarily with The - - - - - -!]
*Smooch~*
My lips landed on a cold, flat boulder.
"BLEH!"
*Pa-too, Pa-too!*
B: (AHAHA!) (Yasu)
(Seriously! What was that?!)
M: (A more serious warning to get you to pay attention to the blinking icon to your right.)
(Huh?)
M: (I don’t even know how many times it’s been flashing; I take it as those from before not being too happy.)
“Oh…”
I clicked on a small circular icon and watch a wider panel of the chat come up.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[REDACTED]: HEY! WHICH ONE OF YOU IS IT?!
[REDACTED]: Who cares at this point, if he doesn’t consent then the elf might be okay.
[REDACTED]: OH! WAIT!
[REDACTED]: Do you have to speak in all caps…
[REDACTED]: I CAN STOP?! WAIT! … HOW DO YOU STOP? WHATEVER! I GOT THIS!
[No confirmation! The - - - - - has swapped you temporarily with The - - - - - -!]
- - - - - - - - - -
‘Uhh…’
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[Hiro]: What happened?
[REDACTED]: I found it!
[REDACTED:] Who is it this time?
[Hiro]: Kohaku?
[REDACTED]: YOU’RE RESPONDING NOW?! THIS IS HOTARU!
[REDACTED]: Makoto
[Hiro]: What happened?
[REDACTED]: You didn’t click the box to consent to the kiss.
[Hiro] How many things are going to pop out in my face?
[REDACTED]: …Please don’t say what I think you’re about to say…
[Hiro]: …What?
– - - - - - - - - - - - -
I kept looking around and saw that whoever was here actually found a gorgeous spot. I could hear the constant flow of water cascading into the crystal-clear spring. The area was highly forested with all sorts of plants and flowers making this a place I don’t want to forget.
‘Maybe they found this place or they’re another unique race.’
Being a hobgoblin, wasn’t something out of the ordinary. Some races had designated areas where they’d start. The population in Sirus was just made up of half-elves, humans, and then there were hobgoblins like me. I only saw one other though.
I mean it’s not the prettiest race, but I thought they looked cool…
We don’t have a specific area to our race because it may have been destroyed, lost, or maybe sealed, I don’t really know yet. It’s different for a lot of races.
It wasn’t long before I noticed a pile of novice clothing, there were only a couple of key differences first, the shirt was torn down the middle while the sleeves were cut off, it was like a torn-up vest and bigger than my own, I could only tell that the loss of sleeves was intentional by the clean cut, but the rest of the holes were clawed in.
They left behind their shoes, for just starting, they already looked worn out, their socks weren’t looking any better, but the briefs were short braies and but soft they were, I ended up checking just to be greeted by a loincloth.
I did a once over just to make sure nobody saw me, the place was pretty secluded and, in a blink, I was back in the forest.
‘... Oh no…’
I clicked on the chat icon flashing red.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
[REDACTED]: I’m done, can you just send me back?
[REDACTED]: Fine, just give me a second.
[REDACTED]: There! All done.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
My skin was opposing the look of color returning to the elf. They were still unconscious as I stood there for a solid 30 seconds, as white as a ghost.
‘I fucked up… big time.’
Cold sweat was running down my back. It was hard even trying to keep up with who was who with none of the icons indicating their classes or their names being visible.
None of my specters said anything, the chat vanished, and I was left with a single message scorched upon the dirt.
READ ALL YOUR POP-UPS! CHECK YOUR FUCKING MAIL! I SWEAR I’LL WRING OUT YOUR NECK MYSELF FOR THIS!
Each line was about 5 inches deep but with how cleanly it was carved, probably with a dagger, I decided to take that to heart. It saved me, a lot of pain later…
I still congratulate myself to this day. Getting a more thorough look at the elf, their shirt was taken off and they had bandage wound around their torso. The arrows were removed and thrown aside.
I made sure to collect the arrows and shirt before using [Dash] to run out of the hole when I couldn’t hear any more fighting.
There they stood, the last wolf and eagle stared each other down like there was nothing else in the world before both flopped over. Everywhere I looked were abject battles, one silver wolf looked like a pincushion; the numerous feathers on their collapsed body made them look like an entirely new species. Another Toxitail, the one I believed to be the one who had to crash land had lost one of its wings while tearing into the Silver Wolf with their talons.
‘Woah…’
Little did I know that while I was looking at the battleground before me, a white orb the size of a beach ball split into a rain of small globes and plunge into my dirt-caked mohawk.
[You have leveled up!]
[You’ve made a wonderful memory! 4 Skill points Acquired!]
I was already starting to put the message into practice, assigning a point to [Dash] and another to the new skill I gained from this.
[Your proficiency has improved. [Dash Lv.1-> Lv.2]]
[You’ve learned Stealth Lv.1]
[Your proficiency has improved. [Stealth Lv.1-> Lv.2]]
I save my last two for when I could look over everything once it was safer. Just when I was about to take off, I remembered that nest. I looted the bodies and climbed up the tree, after seeing that spring, all the pressure was relieved from my mind. It was something I planned to look into later.
Altogether, I managed to make the trip pretty worth it.
- - - - - -
[16x Silver Wolf Fangs]
[40x Stray Toxitail Feathers]
[3x Silver Wolf Pelts (F)]
[5x Silver Wolf Pelts (E)]
[9x Toxitail Plumages (F)]
[6x Toxitail Claws (F)]
-Toxitail Nest-
[3x Prayer Beads]
[1x Toxitail Egg]
[20x Copper Coins]
[3x Silver Coins]
- - - - - -
I was pretty happy with everything I managed to collect before once again, picking up the elf and tore open the scroll that had a silkier touch to it. Even if I couldn’t identify its grade, the appearance made all the difference.
‘And away we go!’
