Chapter 83: Burial Plot

Chapter 83: Burial Plot

[ForWire] slashed at an [Otter Pest] as it crawled out of the water, then used a [Hawk Slash] to weaken it. Seeing it lunge at his leg, he used a [Lunge] of his own, and roughly stabbed through the otter's head until it fell to the ground bleeding. He had taken a slight scratch to the knee in the process, but barely felt it. A [Slash] to the wounded otter was enough to kill it.

As he reached for another otter to the left, his Guildmate [Franciscus] impaled it with two quickfire arrows which were enough to kill the creature. He was still surprised at how much damage Franciscus' arrows dealt, and had tried to keep up by increasing his own Strength stat and buying an expensive, black-hilted [Ghost Voice Blade]. Though equipped with this light silver sword, which made a wailing sound as it swung through the air and sounded like a ghost, he was still far off the damage from his compatriot, and was not sure why. Typically, archers were not expected to hit so hard.

Due to Franciscus' reputation as one of the Guild's more powerful local members, he was regarded as an unofficial de facto leader by the few [MaxNexus] Guild members in the region. The Guild's leadership hadn't yet officially given Franciscus a position, but had made overtures in this direction by sending Franciscus some expensive, gold-lined light armour and a shirt with glittering silver shoulder-plates. Wearing these made Franciscus' higher position in the Guild hierarchy obvious to most players, and he was treated with the respect due to a leader. However, they also made him quite conspicious, and so while hunting he wore a dark green cloak over his other clothing to avoid alerting the animals.

ForWire, however, was mostly considered a regular member of the Guild, despite being one of the Guild's stronger players in the area. There was a slight sense of futility as he watched Franciscus effortlessly shoot through each wave of otters.

"They're getting tougher, I think," ForWire said, with a slight British accent.

"Are they?" Franciscus replied nonchalantly. "I guess, they're taking slightly less damage. But you don't kill them that quickly anyway. Look, just draw aggro so they gather near you, then I'll kill 'em. It's faster."

"Um, so just hit them to get aggro, but nothing else?"

"Yeah, how else are you going to get aggro? Anyway, your sword is quite long, you can just sweep it across the otters. Crouch down."

"If I crouch, then can't the otters attack me more easily?"

"Yeah, but look, it's faster. This pond has already taken too much of our time, and I'm getting tired of hearing them insects. Plus I have a date in Kaxil this evening, girl named Samantha, I don't want to spend hours around this stinking pond before that. Not a good look. So please don't waste time."

ForWire sighed slightly, then proceeded to crouch down and use a low [Slash] across the wave of otters emerging from the pool. As the otters piled towards his face, he saw his HP lurch dramatically downwards by 10% as the otters piled into his cheeks with their claws. Franciscus quickly killed off the nearby otters, but ForWire felt slightly nervous as he heard arrows whizzing quickly right next to him.

As ForWire reluctantly crouched down again to meet another wave of otters, he was startled by a loud, rustling noise from the trees to his right.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Oi, no distractions!" Franciscus replied.

"Nah, there's something there. I hear some footsteps."

Franciscus also picked up on a noise from the clump of trees to the East, and looked over in alarm. As he stared nervously, a group of players emerged from behind the bushes and leaves. Three Assassins, a warrior with a large shield, and a Mage. Two more players crept in from the South, blocking any attempt to escape in that direction.

Franciscus knew that fighting here would not be profitable, because as an archer he could easily be cornered and forced into melee combat where he would be easily overwhelmed.

"Run! Follow me!" he cried to ForWire, while bolting Eastwards on a faint, light-green path.

ForWire was worried, and followed quickly. Some of the players approaching had red names, and since their weapons were drawn he assumed that they were likely to attack.

"Who the hell are these guys?" he shouted to Franciscus, as they hurtled down the straight Eastwards path.

"You don't see anything? They're DeathGang, killers!" Franciscus shoted back impatiently.

ForWire swore. He had heard about DeathGang from the recent war. They had a fearsome reputation, and videos of the carnage North-East of Kruxol had spread liberally in Kaxil. These players also seemed to be high-level.

Grisier: Good catch, I'm not sure.

Starfighter: maybe a female

Akshel: strange. man in village described it as a male with stripes

Starfighter: might be more than one

Starfighter: tho idk why he wouldn't say so

DicingDevil: he said there was a panther group living far up north, but an injured male had turned maneater

DicingDevil: he didn't mention this one, but i checked its info and it's also a maneater

Grisier: Has it seen us?

Starfighter: i think it knows someone is nearby, but doesn't know how many of us

Starfighter: and it's limping slightly

Starfighter: it will probably circle the area and attack if it sees any of us

Starfighter: no sudden movements

Crucis: if we trap it in the pit, it might have difficulty escaping with the limp?

Starfighter: yea, if we're careful

Crucis: reckon we could use one of these players as bait?

DicingDevil: good call, if it was in the pit then we might be able to kill it or escape more easily

Starfighter: yea, go ahead

Starfighter: this one might be easier to kill, it's lower level + has an injured leg and eye. might as well try

"Let's use the warrior, he'd be stronger and harder to keep captive. He's the lucky one. We can keep the other guy as a punching bag," Crucis whispered to the party, just loud enough for the captives to hear. Franciscus squirmed uncomfortably.

Crucis grabbed ForWire, and drew out a dagger. Slashing across ForWire's face and chest, he drew blood from a myriad of deep cuts. After widening these cuts with [The Ripper] and loosening a muzzle, Crucis flung ForWire down into the pit, where the warrior rolled painfully to a stop against the edge of the pit and lay still due to the ropes. The fall had exacerbated the wounds.

The bleeding ForWire, whose screams were muffled but loud, soon attracted the attention of the panther. It leapt near him in a blur of motion, and as it landed he was shoved harshly towards the ground. As he lay flat, the creature began to pin him down by the scruff of his neck, then tear his neck and lower face painfully apart. In about half a minute, he was dead.

Crucis had used this time to take up a position at the edge of the pit, along with the rest of the party. The pit was soon surrounded by spears and swords, while two Mages prepared to help keep the panther from escaping.