33 – Ambush

Julian approached the two people, still mumbling and grumbling about having wasted so much time to get back here. He had pretty much processed most of the emotions he felt down at Mesa village, thanks to the almost full day spent walking back to where he left Bob and Cal, leaving only some residual complaining that was more for show than anything else. Venting, even to nobody in the middle of a forest, helped a bit. As Julian saw him Cal was sitting with his back towards him and warming his hands at the small fire they had going, below a great oak tree. Bob waved him in, and he approached.

“Okay,” he said quickly. “Let’s go. Cal?” But his friend didn’t move. “Cal!”

Before he could react, even though his brain was telling him that something was wrong, roots erupted from the ground. He was snared in them, thorns scraping at his skin and almost drawing blood as the vice-like grip tightened. He was dragged towards the fire and forced to sit beside Cal, who as soon as he saw him tried to struggle out of his bindings but only succeeded in bleeding more purple blood. It was the first time Julian had seen his friend bleed, and he felt rage building up, but then he also saw the blue bruises on Cal’s face and the rage boiled almost like an explosive, threatening to bust a vein.

He forced himself to calm down. He took a good look at his still full HP bar, then at the fire, and smirked. Not only had his resistances allowed him to resist the Bleed effect from the vines, but now he was out of any danger whatsoever. He raised his chin at Bob and stared at the elderly elf, a challenging expression on his face. As a response the barbed vines entangling him tightened even more but failed to do anything to him, and the elf soon quit trying to penetrate Julian’s skin. He did not lose composure, and in fact acted like he was perfectly in control of the situation as he began to speak.

“Your friend here told me of your strange power. To return from death at the 1^st floor of this tower.” He said slowly. “An interesting anomaly.”

Julian tried to shrug but couldn’t move. “None of your business, to be honest. My mistake doing it in front of you.”

“Indeed.” The elf said, almost like savoring the words. “A grave mistake.”

Julian tried to cut the conversation short. “So you want revenge. And you’re willing to doom your people to get it?”

“I didn’t desire revenge. Not at first. But then you left, and I saw an opportunity I couldn’t miss.” He said, then made a fist. “Fuck my people, I’m going back to the multiverse.”

Julian laughed. “Oh yes? And what’s your grand plan?”

“You’re going to give me the radio now.”

“Why?” Julian asked mockingly. “You don’t need it if you just want to take a good leave and go.”

Bob fumed. “Give it to me, young boy.”

“Or?”

“Or I kill your friend.” He said, and the vines coiling around Cal tightened. The tharlaxian struggled to breathe, and Julian had to concentrate as to not let that affect him.

“Do it.” He said deadpan.

“What?”

Bob was taken aback, Julian noticed. He had bought his performance. Now it was time to proceed to step two.

“Do it. See if I care. Then what? You kill me? Great idea.” He said. “Great fucking stupid idea.”

The veins in Bob’s face bulged with rage at the taunts, and the old elf moved with a speed and grace that was completely out of place with how frail he looked. In but a moment he was at Julian’s neck and gripped it with his large hands, suffocating his victim. However, Julian’s status didn’t change, even though he pretended to struggle for air.

“You insolent human. I am going to kill him, and then torture—”

His rant was cut short. “Tough luck.”

Something appeared out of thin air in the small space between Julian’s face and Bob’s. It was a round hollow shell of metal coming from one of the storage rings still on Julian’s fingers, filled to the brim with Gunpowder and crushed Crystal Cores. Another thing appeared inside of it soon after, an irregular shape of metal that triggered a chain reaction inside the small container. The explosion sent the elf flying backwards, and destroyed the vines holding Julian hostage. He brushed the dirt from his face, completely unscathed, as the elf stopped his momentum with fast-growing plants that sprouted from the arid ground.

The elf chief coughed. “How is that possible?”

Even thought he was high level, his face was battered and bruised, and his clothes torn by the explosion happening so close to him. His brows were singed, and he was missing a chunk of flesh in his lower lip.

“You don’t know all my secrets old man.” Julian growled.

He lunged at the elf and was upon him in a matter of seconds. His mace, Irradiated Star, descended from above with the strength of 25 stat points behind it, but soon it was stopped by the entangling plants. The green growth began to sizzle and smoke where it touched the radiation source, but it was resistant enough not to break. Julian immediately let go of the mace and jumped backwards, taking out two guns and shooting a barrage of enhanced projectiles at the small forest of roots and vines. They pierced through, and he kept shooting until the guns couldn’t take it anymore and were smoking red. Then he felt a tingle in his brain and he instinctively rolled on the ground just before it erupted in a quadruplet of thick green roots. They grabbed only air, the invincibility frames protecting him

There was a brief lull before Bob appeared again, this time behind Julian, in a swirl of leaves. He was holding a long blade in his hands, made of refined metal shaped like a long leaf, and he attacked before Julian could turn to intercept it. Since he couldn’t dodge, he decided to instead walk into it, letting the blade penetrate his flesh all the way to the hilt, and his face was a mask of sadistic pleasure when Bob struggled to extract his sword stuck inside Julian’s body, who was holding it firmly. Julian let go of the blade and with bloody, mangled hands punched his assailer in the face and twisted himself away from the sword. He materialized the contents of an HP potion inside his mouth and swallowed, watching his injuries heal at a rapid pace, and bracing for another attack. He had tried, while he was stuck with a blade in his stomach, to yank the sword from the elf’s hands but failed. This time, he had another plan of action.

Bob didn’t know Julian’s skills and was still confused by the strange masochistic tactic of his opponent, and so he just attacked again when he saw Julian distract himself with the potion. But this was all part of the plan, and Julian materialized his shield and Parried, sending the elf recoiling back. The mace that had been put away in the ring moments before, appeared in his hands and with a wide swing delivered a critical hit right into Bob’s chest. Julian heaved, and let his Stamina tick up.

Bob pushed himself back to his feet with the help of his plants, and his sword floated up to him on a bed of vines. He gripped it, and straightened himself from the bent position, ignoring all pain. He bit into something, and lunged at Julian.

“Fuck that.” Julian said, and another explosive materialized right in front of him. Bob saw it, but didn’t change trajectory and closed the gap in less than a second, pressing the explosive between himself and Julian.

“It won’t kill me!” Bob’s bloodshot eyes narrowed. “You won’t survive. And I will kill your friend.”

Julian smiled. “Are you sure?”

The explosive went off. Bob was sent flying away, and this time struggled to catch himself with his vines. He tumbled on the ground, battered but alive, and slowly pushed himself back up. He limped towards the fire, where Julian’s body had been flung by the explosion. He wasn’t moving.

Bob towered over him, and laughed. He only managed to cough, and keeled over in pain, immediately deciding to disregard the corpse and go kill Cal with what little strength he had left.

Cal saw him approach with unsteady steps, leaf sword in hand. Then his eyes darted to his dead friend, to the fire and back to Bob. Julian was invulnerable when sitting at a fire, but that invulnerability did not work after a fight had started, which meant that he had taken full damage from the second explosion. Not to count the fight, too. He was surely dead.

“You…” said Bob. “Deserve this… You… ruined…” he prepared to swing. Cal struggled, but couldn’t move against the bindings.

The sword moved as if time itself had stopped. A second, stretching itself to eternity. Then it all collapsed, and in his panic Cal was reminded of something: Julian’s body was still here. Didn’t he disappear in a cloud of smoke every time he died, leaving behind only a single piece of equipment?

That’s when Bob’s head exploded, covering Cal’s face in a shower of warm blood. The glowing green spikes of Julian’s rusted over mace hung dangerously close to his face, and for a second the dead body of the elf was stuck to the weapon until it dislodged itself in a wet squelch.

Julian cut the vines, and offered Cal a hand and a healing potion.

“He didn’t know…” Julian said after they had cleaned themselves up and were resting and healing at the fire. “I’m Tough To Kill.”

“Tough to kill?” His question killed the mood. Julian giggled at the edgelord act, and showed him the skill.

Tough to Kill lv.1: When below 50% HP, gain a shield that negates the next incoming hit

“Oh, wow.” Cal said.

“Yup. Very useful in a pinch.” He said. “Well, don’t know about you, but I got 75’000 Runes.”

“Yeah, me too. I’m glad you’re back.”

“I’m glad to be back.

***

Julian walked over Bob’s body, making a stack of the items he thought were going to be useful and throwing away the rest.

“You know,” he said, “I am still going to repair the asteroid. But not for you, for the people of the village who didn’t deserve this. In fact, I am doing this to spite you.”

Cal watched him from the other side of the fire, sitting on one of the oak tree’s roots.

“He didn’t think you’d do a suicide move because he still thought you’d never abandon me here. You would never have abandoned me, would you?”

“Of course not!” Julian said. “The only reason why I did the thing is because of the invulnerability from the skill!”

Cal didn’t buy it. “Is it?”

“Well, I would also have done it if he decided to torture me and I didn’t have protection, yeah.” Julian admitted.

“And leave me to die?”

Julian went back to sit, and looked at Cal in the eye. “Approach this rationally. If I let myself get tortured until I gave up the radio, what then? He kills you and sends me back to respawn.”

“And the alternative is to let me die first?”

Julian shook his head. “It’s not a trolley and lever problem, man. I would have counted on the fact that he would have tortured you, but also kept you alive for information or bait. But it’s a nonissue because not only did the event not happen, everything I say I would have done is completely false!” He paused. “Because in the heat of the moment I would probably do a completely different thing. In fact, do you think I would be capable of letting you die outside of purely speculative scenarios that didn’t happen? Think about it, and give yourself an answer. But don’t tell me. Its not for me, it’s for you.”

Cal smiled. “So you are a good person, after all.”

“I am not an unfeeling robot incapable of caring for others, if that’s your question. Now, let’s go grab the Renegade Core.”