“Ah, the old stereotypical Japanese middle name trick. I must say that I approve. We’re both pretty horrible people.”
“Speak for yourself. A tip for you though, before I go. If you have any Quintessence, use it to go human form whenever you can.”
“Any particular reason why? I know you get a health boost, but is there any other reason beyond that?” he asked.
“There’s more benefit to it than you’d know. I’ll just keep it at that.”
It was weird that she was helping him out all of a sudden, but he wasn’t going to turn down free help.
“That’s cheating you know. I’m sensing some favoritism here.”
“So are you going to cry about fair play now too? Just go and remember what I told you. Keep your eyes peeled and don’t play like a fool.”
She cut the communication, but Sam had one more thing to add.
“Doesn’t matter how I play, your game still has cheap bosses.”
He sat at the Soul Beacon looking at his items, reading more descriptions, and forming a strategy for the next time he’d face his favorite hippie tree dragon.
20 Big Mid-Boss
“Stim Plant, Ignition Powder, I have the Skyward Thrust in my free slot, all my rings are equipped, my sword is upgraded, my armor is upgraded, and I can fight the boss with a full Soul Fire container if I avoid all the enemies, so yeah ... I should be good.” Sam let out a breath as he thought out loud.
He lingered at the blacksmith’s camp Soul Beacon for a little longer, debating whether or not to use his Quintessence item to turn human again before the fight. He could use the human form health boost. He needed to avoid dying again though since his stock of Quintessence items was already low. He had much more loose Quintessence contained in his Death Mark in the boss area, so he didn’t want to waste his Quintessence items which were much more permanent.
“Fuck. I need that Quintessence.”
Sam contemplated playing without it, despite Alex’s warning, since he didn’t want to lose any more of it. He just knew that the cheap ass dragon would take many of his lives before he managed to beat it. As soon as he rose up from the Soul Beacon without turning back into human form, he got a call from Alex.
“Sam, what are you doing? Have you already forgotten what I told you?”
“Of course not. I’m using my brain and conserving my resources if you hadn’t noticed,” he snidely answered back.
“Listen, this is no time to play like that. Have you already forgotten the rules of that game you’re always mentioning?”
“Are you talking about The Death Planes?”
“I can’t say, Sam. But in whatever game you’re always talking about, what kind of bonus did you get for killing a lot enemies before the boss was defeated?”
“You got loose Quintessence added to your stats. It used to be the best way to farm it, well outside of destroying people in PVP (player versus player). I’m surprised I forgot that. It still doesn’t help me though, if the boss kills me. I’ll have to run to my Death Mark all over again to pick it up, which will be trapped on the other side of the Soul Barrier. See the problem with that? If it’s over there, that means I can’t use it to turn back to human form at the Soul Beacon. Big problem.”
“Just be smart about it, Sam. That’s all I wanted to tell you.”
She cut the line, ending their conversation on a somewhat solemn note. Sam wondered why she was so concerned with him staying in human form. Her voice had held a note of lingering gloom. He couldn’t help but feel more on edge thanks to her odd mood shifts and inconsistent intrusions. He thought that maybe she was trying to keep him safe due to some new issue with his pain receptors. Maybe they couldn’t actually fix them and perhaps his real body could actually be affected by his virtual injuries.
“Alex.”
When she didn’t answer, he yelled out to her.
“Alex! Where the hell are you?”
The line remained silent and the armored clad bear and his master stared at Sam with wide-eyed expressions.
“Ya see apprentice? Once these undead folk die more and more, they lose their damned minds. Ay crazy, move it along why don’ cha?” yelled Barrington.
Sedwin stood up on his four legs and bared his teeth at Sam.
“No, no, no. I’m fine guys. I’m only calling for a friend. Though, it seems like she’s ignoring me.”
Sedwin sat back down on his rump but continued to stare at Sam. A tiny text message popped up in front of Sam when tried to send a message to Alex via the Alpha Build menu.
Alex Madura, Designer: Unavailable
Why are you acting so damn strange, Alex? Why won’t you answer me?
Sam got up and moved on forward with the game. He left Barrington’s campsite and moved further north to the forest where the Stumpies were. Before he went too far, a brilliant idea hit him. He opened his inventory and equipped his Flexile Wooden Bow. He read its description and stats again when he couldn’t recall how strong it was.
Flexile Wooden Bow
A flexible bow often used by farmers chasing vermin. Its widespread popularity is due to its low cost, resilience, and reliability. It’s not rare to catch a thrifty adventurer using such a weapon.
ATK 55
Weapon Damage 15
S ATK E = 8
D ATK D = 32
M ATK F = 0
B ATK F = 0
F RAT 0
L RAT 0
D RAT 0
P RAT 0
B RAT 3
Weight: 1.6 lbs
Overall, it was less than stellar, but at least it gave him more offensive options. It appeared on his back as soon as he equipped it. He also equipped the Wooden Arrows he had bought from the merchant earlier. He had sixty of them in all. He looked up into the trees and found the evil coconut Stumpies that ambushed him before. He pulled out his bow and loaded his arrow. His dad had taught him the basics of archery when he was a kid. Getting into his square stance felt surprisingly natural even after so many years. He lifted his bow and nocked his wooden arrow. He aimed at the closest target and loosed his arrow. He missed miserably then cursed and did it over again.
He focused deeply on his next shot, mainly the distance between himself and the enemy, then he loosed another arrow. He missed again, but this time he fared much better. His arrow had flew only a little to the right of the target. He took aim again and this time considered the trajectory of the arrow. He now had a good feel for it, and so his next loosed arrow sailed right into the body of the closest Stumpy. The Stumpy fell down after being struck by the quiet arrow and landed on its tiny blue head. Sam heard a cracking sound and the creature lost nearly all of its health. Sam took its remaining health with another arrow shot and proceeded forward along the trail.
******
Sam ventured around and managed to kill twenty-nine more Stumpies with his bow before he began to get low on arrows. There were still a ton more Stumpies near the exit, so Sam opted to return to the Barrington to buy some more arrows. Each Stumpy he killed gave Sam two hundred souls. With five thousand eight hundred souls, he was able to buy the Soul Bound Refinement Kit for five thousand souls along with one-hundred and sixty Wooden Arrows from Barrington. Sedwin gave Sam a perplexed look as he patrolled around the camp.
“Going hunting, are we?” Sedwin asked.
“You can say that. I need to safely clear a path to the north,” Sam replied.
“Ahh, well sorry I can’t join you. I’d love to clear out some of those nasty forest beasts, but my place is here, at my master’s side, protecting him from all threats.”
“I understand Sedwin. It’s a shame though. I could use an ally against that dragon.”
“That giant forest beast?”
Sam nodded his head. Sedwin’s eyes widened cartoonishly.
“Ach, that’s a bad idea anyway you tear it. I wouldn’t go against that thing even if I were inclined to do so. It’s a beast beyond approach.”
“You wouldn?
??t understand Sedwin. I come from a different world. As a gamer, this is a fight I have to win.”
“Sounds like more of that undead babble to me. Try not to die anymore, lest you lose any more of your wits.”
Sam had a laugh at that and took his leave of the camp to kill the rest of the Stumpies. There weren’t many that remained around the middle of the trail, so he decided to skip them and went near the end of the trail to clear out the ones hanging there. He wanted to hold on to as many arrows as he could in case he died against the dragon again or maybe even the bear that waited for him up ahead. His whole purpose for clearing the Stumpies at the end of the trail was so that he could challenge the undead bear without any interruptions. He had seen some of its attack pattern when IMMORtAL_Kalika had dodged two of them before. He would need room to dodge its slashes.
He tested to see how fast he could switch from his bow to his sword and back. It took two seconds between each switch. It was slowed from The Death Planes where it used to switch almost instantly. Now he had his plan.
He took aim at the undead bear and shot an arrow. The arrow plunged into the bear’s eye and Sam could tell that he landed a critical hit from how quickly the red life bar above its head had fallen, though the damage itself was pitiful. The bear roared to life and rose to its hind legs, even at a distance Sam could see that the thing towered over him.
He shot another arrow that struck the bear’s upper body. It went to all fours after that and charged down the trail towards Sam. He had enough time and space to take one more shot, that he unfortunately missed, before he had to roll away into the part of the forest that he cleared.
The bear was right behind him by the time he recovered. Sam rolled away twice, back towards the trail. As soon as he recovered, he changed to his sword and shield, praying that he would swap over in time to defend himself from the charging bear. He put his shield up in time to block a wide swipe that drained much of his stamina gauge and tired him out. He had to roll away again or have his guard broken.
The bear continued to be unrelenting in its pursuit. Sam wasn’t even able to completely regain his stamina before his guard was nearly broken again. At this rate, he would definitely be hit by one of the bear’s attacks. He quickly rolled away one more time and ran as fast as he could back along the trail to the beginning of it where he cleared out the first few Stumpies.
He stopped right before his stamina had completely run out and consumed one of the Stim Plants from his Quick Select slot. His stamina quickly refilled itself. He managed to block a vicious claw slam from the bear as well as another claw swipe. The Stim Plant had worked wonders, now he could fight without having to worry about his guard being broken in only a few hits.
He rolled around the bear and peppered it with light stabs when he could. He got a few in before the bear lashed out with a wild backwards slash. Even with the Stim Plant active, the blow still nearly drained Sam of all his stamina. Sam could feel his heart beating swiftly as he moved away from the beast so that his stamina could regenerate. He knew that blocking another attack like that would leave him wide open.
“Phew. Okay, okay. Gotta finish this. He has an opening that I can exploit. I just have to time it right. If I keep going for the little attacks then I’ll bet that my Stim Plant will wear off before I kill it. I have to go big.”
Sam clutched his sword tightly and waited for the savage creature to approach. His heart was still pounding in his chest. He tried to calm his nerves before reengaging.
Sam jumped backwards when the bear swiped at him from its left. When it raised its right paw, Sam rolled to its right side as it launched its second attack. The burning feeling started from his toes then quickly engulfed his whole body in an instant. The power traveled into his Rapier as he thrust it three times, up into the beast’s upper body then released all his power with the final fourth blow of the Skyward Thrust.
The damage from the attack was enough to put the bear down to nearly half its health. Unfortunately, Sam’s Skyward Thrust lacked the power to push the bear away. It retaliated with a quick slash that Sam was barely able to block, then a nasty swipe that managed to break his guard.
“Crap!” he yelled, powerless to stop whatever would happen next. The bear raised both of its paws in the air for some kind of incoming attack. It came down with a forward claw lunge, but Sam’s stamina had recovered in enough time for him to avoid the charged blow.
He strafed and lowered his shield so that his stamina would recharge sooner. He stabbed the bear quickly and rolled away. The roll was needless and the bear was only now approaching to attack. It went into a fury with both of its claws.
Sam wanted to get around to its other side, but wasn’t sure how, so he just moved the hell out of the thing’s way and hurriedly equipped his throwing knives. He managed to plant two knives in the bear’s head which stopped its thrashing and made it recoil.
He quickly rolled to its back and charged a heavy thrust. His attack landed as the bear started to recover and did massive damage. It still wasn’t enough, but the bear had staggered again and Sam found another opening.
“That’s it! Just DIE!”
Sam built up the heat in his soul and delivered another rapid stab Skyward Thrust. The tip of his sword glowed red as the bear’s soul mist enveloped Sam’s body. He was rewarded with a single Quintessence item and fifteen hundred souls. Sam let out a sigh of relief as he watched the bear disappear.
“Damn you were tough! I’m gonna call you Big Mid-Boss from now on. At least you dropped something good.”
Sam patted himself on the back for managing not to get hit during that whole ordeal. His shield took a beating, but at least his HP was intact. He hoped that Alex was watching to see that he had indeed gotten a lot better at the game. He didn’t have much time to celebrate though. His next obstacle was still just up ahead.
******
Sam was as ready as he’d ever be to face this boss. He stood on the inside of the Soul Barrier and stared at his Death Mark right in front of him. It looked like a huge blood pool with a similar neon crimson glow as his Walker form whenever he encroached upon other Planes. As soon as he stepped out to pick it up, he knew he’d get destroyed just like he had before. He needed to be smart about it. He had concocted an idea of how to hurt the beast too, even though it seemed impossible before. Now, it was time to put all those plans into effect.
He dashed forward into the center of the battlefield and found himself engulfed in the dragon’s shadow again. He didn’t have time to look up, so he kept running until he heard it crash down behind him.
Its violent landing kicked dust, pebbles, and grass into the air, obscuring much of the battlefield. Sam ran around its legs to get back to the side where his Death Mark sat.
He couldn’t help but be awestruck by the dragon’s tremendous size. It seemed strange to call such a weird creature a dragon. He only assumed it was one, because that was what you fought here in the old game. This time, it really was like nothing he had ever seen. Like the forest come to life.
He ran to his Death Mark and its power was absorbed into him as soon as he got close enough to it. His loose Quintessence counter went back up along with the amount of souls in his possession, each added to what he gained from killing all the enemies in the forest moments ago.
Sam was surprised that he hadn’t been attacked yet. As a matter of fact, it seemed as if by avoiding the dragon’s surprise attack that he held an advantage. It moved very slowly and since Sam was at its side, it didn’t seem able to attack him, but it was a stalemate because Sam couldn’t reach any part of its body that wasn’t covered in thick bark.
He could use his bow, he thought, but he guessed it would make for a long fight, so he took his Rapier and struck out at one of the tree trunks that it called legs. The leg seemed to have its own HP value. Sam was able to whittle it down only a little at a time thanks to its high defensive values.
In the middle of his attacks, he cried out as his body was pi
erced by a sharp spike and he lost a fourth of his HP. The spike had come from the leg he was attacking, taking him completely by surprise. It looked similar to an attack performed by the Forest Barkers earlier. He watched carefully for the attack again as he continued to stab away at its leg. He soon learned the timing of it and was able to move out of the way before the thing even struck out at him.
He stabbed the leg down below a tenth of its health. After that, it shed the bark that was covering that particular limb and seemed to move a lot faster than before. It stomped down at him twice in succession, nearly hitting him on the second stomp.
He moved to the front leg of the creature and started stabbing away at that. He moved around a little more frequently to keep pace with the beast. The mobility of the rear leg had sped it up, but not enough to threaten him too much. He only damaged the front leg a little before returning to the rear one to finish it off. He didn’t want the creature to get even faster with two free legs.
He stabbed at the exposed reptilian looking limb and dodged its rapid stomps. He obliterated the leg with a Skyward Thrust and watched as the creature slowed back down to a crawl again. He laughed at his fortune and commended his genius strategy. Then something hit him from behind and knocked him to the ground.
What the hell was that, he thought in his confusion. He looked in the direction that the attack had come from and could see nothing. He’d nearly lost a half of his total health though. He quickly healed when he got to his feet and put his shield up. Whatever had attacked him had done so again, even with his shield up and he lost half of his health again.
“Come on! What the hell is that? I had my shield up!” Sam complained to no one but himself.
He got up and quickly healed again only to be knocked down again by the same invisible attack.
“Alex!”
This time when he got to his feet, he rolled away from the where he stood, hopefully away from whatever was attacking him.
“What is it, Sam?”
Yes! He was glad that she answered, but he didn’t have any time to talk just yet. He quickly healed with a swig of his Soul Fire. Then looked around for whatever was attacking him. There was nothing. It had to be some kind of glitch. He seemed to be relatively safe away from the creature’s limbs and its rear, where whatever it was, was attacking him.