The horned beast collided with Sakurai’s shield but her armored form was not pushed a single inch. She bashed it away and drove her spear into its neck. Meanwhile KKG and I rushed along its flanks. I left bleeding wounds in my wake with my daggers and the whirling projectiles of Rose Hurricane and my massive zombie ally stunned the beast with massive kicks or punches.
These monsters were a lot like the domestic cattle of earth but their hides were covered in glossy dark purple scales and they had four pupiless yellow eyes. In addition their feet were not the expected hooves but wickedly clawed paws the size of a small car.
Meanwhile five more of the creatures stampeded through the lilac colored grass toward us. Nomura stood behind and threw up a wall of screaming and furious crows made of pure force before the five new creatures. Lydia provided a description as I maneuvered around the creatures:
“Nightborne Bull Level 30
Tier F
Weakness: Piercing
Resistance: Void Magic
HP: 900
MP: Unknown
Special Ability
Gore Charge: The creature charges at a target at high speed. If this attack hits the target takes three times normal damage and gains a twenty second damage over time bleed effect.
Nightborne Cow Level 28
Tier F
Weakness: Piercing
Resistance: Void Magic
HP: 759
MP: Unknown
Special Ability
Rage Fuel: Every Nightborne Cow that perishes increases any nearby Nightborne Bull’s attack and damage by 1%.”
As the cows breached the screeching force avians KKG moved to gain their attention acrobatically avoiding their charges after he landed taunting punches on each. He led them toward Sakurai while I weaved among them leaving trails of deep bleeding wounds on each dodging under their towering bodies to avoid retalliatory strikes. When I could I tossed an Explosive Ward amidst them to further confuse and debuff the enraged creatures.
As the cows charged after KKG he flipped over Sakurai and continued on. She roared out a challenge and drove her foot into the ground along with her shield to meet them.
After throwing a spell at Sakurai that sent pulses of sickly dark energy through her armor Nomura summoned his giant four eyed force bird to harry the alien bovines as they charged the armored warrior.
With the monsters focused on Sakurai we went to work on them. Despite how much of an asshole he could be at times KKG was actually a pro, there was no disputing that.
Jumping onto one of the beast's backs I ran down its spine leaving deep wounds in its flanks. I shouted to everyone else, “Kill the cows first! I’ll bet a thousand gold if we kill the bull they’ll run and we’ll lose that experience.”
With that we worked as a team, trading off targets to burn all of the massive beasts down. In no time each of them was slathered in blood and stumbling through the muddy earth. One after the other the cows tumbled into the mire letting out bleats of anguish. Most were ended by methodical heavy punches or football kicks courtesy of KKG.
While I had no doubt that the cows would have run if we killed the bull first, the special ability identified by my Analyze skill was no joke. The massive beast roared in rage upon the last of them being struck down and swung its head at Sakurai. The collision sent her flying through the air, tumbling down a rocky scree and into the darkness.
The beast turned its attention on the nearest target; me. It lowered its head and charged blasting dark spittle from its sharpened jaws. Activating Evade I jumped into the air and landed on its head, my Rose Hurricane shards digging furrows in its scaled flesh. It squealed as I drove a Slice into one of its four eyes and deep into its skull.
It swung its head to dislodge me but I hooked my arm around one of its horns and used the momentum to spin around it before rolling off its head and into the mud next to one of the dead cows.
A series of spiraling and screeching force crows burst into its side exploding and causing the creature to scream. The last of them lanced into its stomach and it burst sending steaming viscera tumbling into the tall grass as it whined and tumbled to the ground.
“Hell yes bro. That was a monster shot,” KKG hooted and pointed at Nomura with a rictus grin.
Despite his sour attitude since rejoining the group the ghoul mage managed a small smile. Sakurai emerged from the slope to be met by Nomura’s Moonrise heal over time spell. She looked at him and they shared a long look before they rejoined us.
I checked the loot and was given an option to send the crafting materials and trash loot to each member of the party spreading it equally and I did so. There was a ring that to me seemed perfect for KKG’s brawler focus. Sending its information to everyone, I asked, “This seems good for KKG. Any disagreements?”
“Nightborne Knuckleduster
Made from the bony skull of a Nightborne Bull. Carries the weight of a full charge.
Type: Fist Weapon
Slot: Both Hands
Requirement: Level 25, Strength 40
Rarity: Epic
Tier: F
Strength +13, Vitality +9
3x/Day Strike with the force of a Nightborn Bull’s charge. Damage, Knockdown, and Stun based on Unarmed skill and Strength”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Sakurai and Nomura shook their heads and I threw the item over to the brawler. He hooted and equipped them. His fists now looked like he was wearing a pair of Nightborne skulls as gloves complete with small horns.
At that moment a raspy voice called out from the darkness of the hilltop, “Look at you out there havin fun. It’s been a long time since I seen other Remnants walking the Spiral.”
We turned to face the new arrival with our weapons and spells at the ready. A figure lumbered out of the shadowy moonlight. Each step carried with it the jingle and clatter of all manner of items. It was a slender husk of a humanoid with orange fire for eyes, two packs slung over their slender back on a strange towering lattice and other goods hanging from bandoleers on its chest and waist . What few parts of its body weren’t covered in pouches or freely hanging goods were covered in a tattered and stained black robe.
Eyeing the figure with concern I asked, “Who are you?”
“I am the Merchant, young Remnant,” they guffawed as they trudged toward me.
It gestured an arm, that appeared to be pierced with daggers along its length, toward the surrounding countryside, “This world would not find itself with vegetation that survives without the light of a sun without my wares. I trade with all and I do not discriminate.”
They paused and templed their savaged hands together before themself and said, “The only thing I do not trade is information. Would you be interested in trading with an old peddler?”
“I’ve heard the Haithan speak of you. I suppose it couldn’t hurt to trade,” I said as I made my way over to the towering creature.
Before long all of us were opening our menus and throwing all of the extra equipment and trash we had gathered throughout our journey into them. As I was tossing several hides and pieces of bone into the menu hovering before me I asked the strangely silent creature, “You are a Remnant as well?”
They turned their burning eyes on me and considered me for a long moment before saying, “As I have already purveyed that little tidbit, I will confirm that, yes I am.”
Shrugging, I smiled, “Are you open to haggling or am I stuck with what I see here?”
“Give me your best shot,” they chuckled and leaned toward me learing at me with swirling eyes made of fire.
I went through the goods I had gathered which included a lot of armor and weapons I could not equip, hides and other animal parts, and several vials of ichor from the creatures in Vertcollin Hamlet. I argued that the weapons and armor should surely be worth more given the constant conflict that seemed to envelop the Spiral and that the animal parts must see use amongst alchemists and other crafters in the cities. In the end I made very little headway with the merchant, whose skills seemed far superior to mine. I did see a few notifications flash in my periphery, so I relished in the likely skill ups. In the end I managed to haggle him into an extra three hundred gold coins which brought the grand total to eight thousand six hundred and forty two gold.
Winking at them, I smiled as I cycled through windows and considered what he had on offer. I was not disappointed. His inventory had an upgrade for my leather armor called Deep Sprinter armor. It was a deep blue, almost black hide with a strange texture that reminded me of certain larger sea creatures from earth, smooth in one direction and rough in the other. I chose not to replace my Cloak or Garb of the Heartrose. In the end I replaced my Swindler’s Gloves and Fenwalker’s Pants. Lydia provided a condensed description of the armor:
“Deep Sprinter Armor
Slot: Various
Total Armor Value: 70
Minimum Requirement: Agility 30
Rarity: Uncommon
Tier: F
Agility + 10, Vitality +8, Charm +5”
Amidst all the items they had on offer I found a pair of daggers that surpassed Left and Right by quite the fair margin.
“Sanguine Sisters
A pair of curved daggers made from the bones of a virtuous servant of flame.
Type: Dagger (Pair)
Slot: Both Hands
Requirement: Level 26, Agility 50
Rarity: Epic
Tier: F
Damage: 45 to 60
Agility +30, Charm +15, Spirit +10
Bleed effects caused by these weapons cause 20% more damage and last 10% longer.
With each successive strike the Sanguine Sisters cause 10% more damage.
When used to inflict a backstab the target is silenced for three seconds.”
When I replaced Left and Right I chose to keep them in my inventory rather than sell them. One of my requests required that I use the blades to kill Sevrin, and I intended to keep that promise. Perhaps I could even upgrade them, sometime in the future.
Checking out my comrades, I noted that their appearances had shifted considerably. Sakurai was now wearing a new set of plate mail armor. Her skeletal visage was no longer visible and one could only make out the pinpoints of light that represent her eyes behind the visor. The armor was a dull gray and decorated with gears and other moving parts. When she moved they hummed and spun as if driving her movement and adding weight to it. Her shield was azure steel and looked like the prow of a ship crashing through waves.
Nomura’s robes were much the same but he now carried a censor that emitted a constant stream of silvery smoke and wore a pewter necklace that looked like a crying beast whose tears pooled beneath it.
KKG now wore a leather vest with no sleeves and a pair of loose dark brown breeches traced with green thread. He was also now wearing three different toe rings. Two were simple silver and copper and the last was golden with a monstrous and roaring face.
Eyeing the merchant for a long moment I nodded, “I can only imagine we will encounter each other again.”
“If you live, perhaps. Safe travels, Remnants,” they cackled as they started off across the hill.
“So they are one of the original Remnants? The story sure seems to be leaning into their background. I’ve found all kinds of hints that they are based on the Alpha testers. I wonder who they were,” I said as we watched the figure depart into the mist.
KKG grumbled, “I usually just skip story stuff if I can. They start talking and I tune them out.”
Sakurai squared her shoulders, “I get the impression that this Heartrose person is young, or was when they tested I suppose.”
“Right now my focus is on dealing with Sevrin and…” I started to say, “and saving Valerie,” but cut myself off, lest KKG and Nomura be fed more fuel for their merciless ribbing.
Sakurai gave me a pointed look.
Sighing I continued, “but the real big bad is this Lady of Flame. From what I heard in the imprint of their spirits in Vertcollin she seemed close to him.”
Nomura shrugged and said, “I get the feeling like that chick is a raid boss or something.”
“Who is this Sevrin guy?,” KKG asked with an arched eyebrow.
I shared the story of the corruption of Braithe with him as we traveled. After I told him what the cult had done to the Braithan refugees on his departure from the city I saw something on the giant zombie man’s face I didn’t expect.
He was enraged. He growled through his onyx and gold teeth, “I don’t care how real your fucking game is. You don’t show a bunch of kids getting tortured. I’m going to shoot the dev time a complaint and you can count on me to help with this Sevrin guy.”
It was the first time I had heard the normally irreverent and crass young man so serious. I just nodded to him and we continued on.
The rest of our journey toward the mountain was relatively tame. We encountered several creatures but they were smaller groups or lone lower level challenges. While I scouted I paused when I could to gather more herbs to restore my stock. I would definitely have to craft more runes for the upcoming dungeon. When we neared the mountain we descended into the valley on a well worn track. Slopes rose up around us blotting out some of the distant lights of the Spiral.
“Eckendroch Facility
A secret facility constructed to develop special weapons to fight the Remnant menace. The facility has long since been abandoned by all but its most recent ‘tenants’.
Dungeon: Level 29-40”
Before long we neared a pitched slope down toward a dark metal gate. Within there were several buildings around what appeared to be the gated entrance to a mine. There were figures milling around the buildings shuffling slowly, pacing back and forth. I knelt and analyzed one of them, prompting a response from Lydia in my ear:
“Malformed Experiment Level 31
Tier F
Weakness: Fire
Resistance: Cold
HP: 990
MP: Unknown
Special Ability
Poisoned Blood: If the Essence of a Malformed Experiment enters the Essence stream of a target either by mouth or open wound they gain a 10 second poison counter that causes damage over time.”
