Birds with unrecognizable songs chirped in foreign frequencies as the two beating, blood-orange suns beamed down from overhead. The land itself hummed with mana, the energies whirring through my pores before I could rub the blurriness from my eyes. I felt multiple jagged stabs along my palms as I sat upward, looking down to find countless thin, fluorescent crystals scattering the deep blue foliage I've found myself on. Skinny, clearly dying trees filled every direction, their leaves actively flaking off from their dark, jagged branches. Fallen trunks and their dismembered limbs lay sprawled in piles, some already rotten with decay.
"Shit, I guess we're getting to the fancy stages now." I said aloud, popping up to my feet.
"It's the semi-finals of a Quarterly event, I'm sure the system is happy to flex on every poor soul involved." Korbin added, rising to his feet just a couple feet away.
"It smells damp, why is it always somewhere tropical?" Cassi asked as she helped Lonni to his feet while sniffing the air.
"You're complaining about humidity?! As in an increase in atmospheric moisture?!" Korbin angrily blurted to Cassi, earning an audible laugh from me. Being a fellow water affinity attuned fanatic, a little water in the air is no ocean, by any means. But it's much more preferable than the dry, unforgiving heat biomes like the deserts we've already traversed naturally had.
"It's really not that bad, you should've seen what our attackers had to sprint through to get to us the last 20-something rounds." I added between chuckles.
"Let me guess, raging thunderstorms with the occasional twister? Or periodic flash floods in 90 degree weather?" Cassi replied, crunching along the small, stick-like crystals underfoot with every step. I looked over to Korbin, his brow hiked toward his hairline as he listened intently.
"Oh, what about the meteor showers? That was fucking crazy." Lonni said while snapping his fingers, his eyes glued to the sky as he searched for his words.
"Okay okay, we GET it, you guys had a few bad runs. All the same, we should at least complain while we get a move on. I have a feeling this will quickly devolve into a deathmatch, and I want somewhere to bunker down." Korbin barked back, walking past Cassi and into the strange, alien forest as he finished. Lonni and Cassi both looked toward me concerned, as if I had any answer for Korbin's attitude.
"He's right, there's no time to delay with powerful enemies afoot!" Kota proclaimed with his colosseum-style short sword pointed to the bright yellow sky. I peered up having yet to notice the strange sky overhead, finding several moons of differing sizes scattered above. There were few clouds, and they weren't overhead and looked entirely too thick to be normal rain clouds. Seeing Kota chase after Korbin kicked the three of us into gear, as we all shuffled behind him into the strange, brittle forest foliage. As we followed behind Cass, a quiet high-pitched groan echoed somewhere in the distance. Knowing we were more than likely dropped into not only an alien planet, but a simulation of one, I shrugged off the strange sounds. Besides, I doubt these 'Hollow Verse' folks would immediately begin jamming ambient tunes with how disorienting these teleports are getting.
For several minutes, we hiked through the fluorescent, wet, decaying forest dieback. There weren't any beasts in sight, yet tweeting and chittering echoed across the forest.
"Hold up." Korbin whispered from the front of the group. He leaned around a withering tree, then whipped his head back around and beckoned us to get low with his open hand. We all dropped down, my curiosity immediately peaking at the notion of a fight as I crept up behind Korbin.
"What is it?" I whispered. He looked back at me and paused, then shrugged and stepped out of the way and gestured for me to fill his place. Happily obliging, I slowly leaned around the rotting bark at my back, my eyes fluttering trying to adjust to the orange rays beaming over the treeline. A moment's refocus revealed a vast clearing in this incredibly alien ghost forest, with only a few downed trees and stumps occupying an otherwise flat 30 meters give or take of short, thick, crystalline grass. At the very opposite side of us slowly strolled a squad of 5 figures, and the absurd amount of light making it easy to make out some rather concerning details.
While they clearly walked upright like humans, the narrow vents entrenched along their arms, torso, and neck pulsating with amber light indicated they might be something different entirely. All but one stood well below 6 feet at first glance, outside of the towering 7 foot monster whose hulking chest and torso was visibly vibrating at all times. He bore no notable armor, other than the leather covers strapped along his legs, arms, and sections of his neck, as well as a pair of dark boots. His helm however looked quite resilient, with sharp jutting metal protruding several inches out from the form fit headwear. His skin was a dull indigo-grey, with thick amber vein lines pulsating with every step. As the group slowly drew nearer, a low humming resonance subtly crescendo'd along the wind.
My body tensed at the sensation of a stiff impact at my shoulder, raising my blade to find Korbin with his hand clasped on tight. He glared at me with a look of sheer urgency, before flicking his eyes to the others and snaking past me deeper into the dead forest.
"Where's h-" Lonni began to ask. I slammed my index finger up against my lips and stared angrily into his eyes, trying my best to emulate the look I'd given Lonni the day I'd found him and Terra. He immediately stopped speaking, going so far as to remove his shield from his back and enter a readied stance. Cassi and Kota followed suit as I motioned for them to follow me, where I promptly ducked low and darted toward where I think Korbin went. He wasn't in sight by the time I looked back to find him, and the humming was getting louder rather quickly. We could just leap out now and catch them off guard, however I doubted a group of everything-but-sneaky warriors would utilize the element of surprise at a numbers disadvantage.
"Their song grows louder, a primitive rhythm." The tallest one growled, their booming voice like a small chorus both deep and sonically harmonious, like dozens of heavy metal slabs rubbing in perfect pitch. It was eery, I'd call it demonic if I hadn't already slain dozens of system-served demons. His neck sported several holes that writhed and contracted with every word, something that made my skin crawl upon noticing. The group scurried around the side of their path, my eyes glued on the strange new species of man strolling rather carelessly through the clearing. All the while still trying to find Korbin, who'd apparently disappeared behind a tree like a damn ghost.
"The simplest of chords often carry the most intricate of sequences, dear Maarus. Mind your piece, my love." The shortest one said, her angelic tone resembling the sweetest ballad I've never heard. Her double-toned voice was nothing short of extraordinary, I knew right away she had to be an amazing singer. Her light blue skin glimmered in the orange sunlight, though not quite as bright as her silvery-white hair had. She too adorned very little gear, mainly dark-grey cloth wraps strung around a thin set of leatherwork armor. She lacked any head gear, though she did have a small, golden-brown bag strapped to her hip that caught by eye. Though the both of them also lacked any weapons in hand, the other 3 clearly didn't share their assumed pugilistic or unarmed styles, all possessing weapons and heavier sets of gear alike.
Cassi slid past me as I peered over a fallen, rotten tree at the enemy faction, the rest of our team following tightly on her backside. Lonni's massive figure usually clanked audibly, though surprisingly enough he moved slow enough to keep his heavy armor creeks at a mini-
*THUNK*
Lonni's thick, protruding shoulder plate bounced off a tree to his side as he tried quietly stepping over it. The bigger one immediately whipped his head around, revealing the massive amber vein across their chest now glowing and visibly throbbing as the hum in the air's pitch plummeted to a bassy rumble. The short woman who'd originally consoled him took a deep breath before letting out a long, harmonic ululation of her own. A wisp of energy glistened and rippled from her lips as she belted a short run, spiraling around her and the towering man and leaving thin grey trails of dull light behind. Two other members dashed past them one after another, both clutching blades of their own respects.
The first one to emerge from behind the singer and her giant bodyguard was a hooded gentleman dashing straight past us into the forest, clutching a pair of curved short swords that resembled scimitars in size and initial eye test. Only the metal bent sharply to the side and down vertically rather than adopt the traditionally long and rounded blade. Their feet crunched off the crystalline foliage at a notable pace, creating a chime-like rhythm I couldn't help but notice. The second however proceeded much slower, twirling a long, needle-thin sword out in front of them as they shuffled into the forest with a bladed stance. His head was on a swivel, scanning constantly under a wireframed mask pulled over his face. Both of them stood just a few inches under six-foot, their lithe builds a stark contrast to their hulking tank of a team member.
Seeing as though the duelist was more than likely going to be who found us first, I decided to get a jump on the action since Korbin decided to wander off on his own adventure. I flashed Cassi a look over my shoulder as my fingers pressed into the sheath releases on my blades, and separated them at the hilt. In one fluid motion, I spread my blades wide allowing the chain connecting them to vibrate with lightning mana. Lurching out from cover, I began slapping my blades together aiming to rip a Lightning Bolt through the duelist's unsuspecting face. A slightly shorter woman seemingly glided beside him as I leapt up, her eyes snapping onto mine in an instant. Raising her hands, several golden bells raised around her shoulders shaking violently that created a loud, high-pitched harmony. The sheer volume made my eyes turn in my skull, though my attention was fully set on the bell-bearer after a single burst of light-grey energy dispersed from the hovering bells, deflecting my Lightning Bolt into a decaying tree stump behind them.
A rapid crescendo of crunches approached from the side, my head turning to meet the gaze of the initial hooded warrior. In that moment, I could see dozens of tiny holes through his neck and face, pulsing along his cerulean skin. His eyes glimmered a deep silver before changing to blue in a blink, the transition followed by a pulse of uncomfortability that sent my footwork into disarray as I attempted a Water Step to avoid him. Bracing to take damage, relief washed over me seeing Cassi's heavy heel smash into the assassin's jaw before he could pierce one of his strange curved-swords into my side, snapping his head back and throwing him off his feet. The spiked head of Lonni's flail smashed beside the attacker's skull after stretching several feet to reach, fragments of crystalline shards blasting against the curvy-bladed assassin's face.
Without missing a step, the assassin's head bounced off the ground, twirling his legs like a propeller creating a low humming in the air. Corkscrewing through the air, the nimble assassin landed in stride sprinting in a wide bend back toward the clearing. Before I could dash after my would-be attacker, the assumed duelist I saw dash past me earlier made his introduction, their sliding boots crunching the crystalline floor. The lithe, dark haired duelist grinned deviously, revealing holes at the corner of their azure cheeks while tapping the edge of his thin, silver rapier on the ground and flicking a crystal chunk up at my face. Turning my face to the side, my cowl sheathed the shard safely away as I ducked under the duelist lunging stab.
I'd barely reset my fighter's stance after evading before having to parry away 3 rapid slashes and stabs from the nimble duelist, who followed the combo with a series of spiraling feints. Finally, the flow in his back shoulder flared like a camera flash, indicating his next rotating stab would be the real deal. Confident in my read, Flow Inverse activated as I deflected away the cocky fighter's stab attempt, sending him spinning the opposite direction while readying my own counter-strike. As I raised my second blade to slash through the out of control duelist, his foot planted hard into the ground creating an audible click and crunch.
*BAM*
The back of the duelist's elbow bashed into the side of my skull, knocking me off balance more than causing any genuine harm. My eyes fluttered in surprise as the duelist followed the spinning strike with a flurry of strikes and feints from several angles his entire body bent unnaturally to achieve. He took a step back, only to twist his entire torso around and hunch over, expanding massive holes in his ribcage while stabbing toward my throat from under me. Leaning to the side, a spiked ball flew past my ear, whizzing past the pencil-thin rapier and blasting into the towering indigo-grey skinned tank's chest. Immediately, a wave of amber energy dispersed from the hulking warrior, my foot instinctively kicking off the duelist's shoulder mid-slash. The duelist's eyes shot wide open, his smile morphing into a grimace as the concussive wave blasted into his back.
Platforming off the duelist, the tank's energy dispersal made enough force to send me several feet through the air making for a longer, harsher landing than I anticipated. Rolling back to my feet, my blades igniting with lightning mana charging a Lightning Strike. A rush of urgency surged through my bloodstream seeing the duelist and assassin charging forth on either side of their tank. Cassi dashed behind them, her strikes being redirected at every turn by an invisible force protecting the women with bells floating all around her.
"COME HERE!" Lonni's deep, booming voice demanded, his heavily armored figure smashing into the tank's ribcage shoulder first with a loud metallic crack. The assassin closed in first, but before I could line up the rapidly billowing Lightning Strike, we locked eyes for only a moment. Instantly, the mana compiling in my shoulder and arm spiraled out of sync, shooting across my spine and down my leg. Realizing that skill was neutralized, Flow Inverse triggered as I kicked the ground and released the built up lightning mana in the process. My foot flew up from the floor, launching me into the air ankle-first before rolling back to one knee. The assassin lunged forward, whistling like a teapot on approach. Plunging my sword into the ground with a series of sickening crunches, my shin bone lifted and slammed into the side of the assassin's skull, narrowly avoiding the guard his raised curved swords provided.
The assassin grunted on impact, his head flying in the shuffling duelists path. His skull tapped the highly skilled swordsman's hip, once more wiping away his seemingly standard shit-eating grin. His crispy clean footwork suddenly stuttered, creating a discordant crunching on the ground. Seeing my moment, another rush of lightning mana surged through my shoulder blade to let loose a l-
"Aethra's Gusting Breath." A beautiful double-toned voice sang, her voice consuming the wind itself. Instantly, the assassin and I were blasted several feet high in separate directions. My head bashed against the sharp, brittle foliage before I could gather my footing. Looking up, the short silver-haired woman continued vocalising, her hums illuminating a bright cloud that spiraled into the backs of her surrounding squadmates. Cassi's figure flew back across the battlefield, this time retreating from the duelist who'd apparently bailed on attacking me to help the bell-caster. Seeing their attention occupied, I dashed toward the backside of the bell-caster preparing a Lightning Bolt. As my blades slapped together however, I caught a glimpse of their vocalising casters head snap toward me.
"Verba Aerisel!" The vocalist belted, her soft duel-tones oscillating the winds themselves to her pitch. A mass of energy spiraled around the bell-caster, who didn't even react to the sudden manifestation of a small tornado around her. Taking a beat and holding back the Lightning Bolts energies from escaping, I noticed the duelist had enjoyed the same spiraling protection, only they were pressing Cassi heavily with rapid strikes. Seeing no reason to risk having my bolt deflected into Cassi, I did what any rational human being would; I shot their singer. The bolt rippled through the air in a blink having been charged an extra half-second to adjust my aim before slapping my blades together. Its deep blue energy blew through her shoulder blade, cutting off her constant vocalising.
"Karella!" Their amber-vein'd tank gutturally bellowed. His eyes tracked back to mine just as Lonni's shield blasted into his skull. He followed it with a downward smash with his flail, bashing the tank's collarbone with a gruesome audible crack. A cloud of amber smoke puffed from the holes in the tank's body, immediately forming a glowing wall that appeared to breathe inward before blasting out, launching Lonni's massive body flying through a rotting tree. My eyes narrowed in on the tanks, repaying his hateful glare in kind and sprinting toward him. For a moment, his angry grimace flickered into the rat form of Lonni of day 1,834's face, only adding to the growing fire I felt rising in my gut. Before my blades could clash with the audacious beast of man's bare hands, a ball of water at the end of Cassi's bo staff smashed into the tank's skull as she slid past. My blinding rage immediately evaporated seeing the duelist dashing toward her backside with his rapier at the ready.
Without thinking, Water Step propelled me between Cassi and the Assassin, the water mana leaping from my heels knocking the curved swordsman off balance. I nearly ended the athletic rogue with a slash, only to have it deflected by a surge of mana launched from a ringing bell hovering beside the assassin. Realizing the caster on his backside won't let me land anything meaningful this close, Lightning mana surged between my blades chains while I glared straight toward the assassin. When the bell-bending mage raised her hands, Water Step launched me diagonally toward the strange caster. One of her bells immediately rang off, deflecting my initial stab attempt. But, a second didn't arrive in time to stop my chains wrapping around her throat as shuffled past her, swinging to take the back and sling her over my shoulder.
Before I could end the fight with a concentrated surge of lightning mana, several bells dinged blaringly loud in both of my ears a discordant screech, causing the muscles from head to toe to spasm out of control. With a constant ringing in my ears, my eyes barely focused in time to spot Kota slamming his shoulder into the assassin's chest, only to get kneed directly in the chin just after. Without breaking stride, Kota snagged the Assassin by the shin and leapt onto the ground head first, slamming his opponent on the crystalline floor in the process.
The assassin's body popped out of his grip on impact like wet soap however, leaping back into Lonni and deflecting off his shoulder. His figure flung off of Lonni like dead weight before crashing to the ground beside Lonni, who ignored him entirely in pursuit of their tank who was currently pressing Cassi. Frustration began to surface, when I noticed a round shadow began expanding under the center of the battlefield. Before I could look up, a massive fireball smashed down atop the tank, launching Cassi straight back into Lonni's chest. Then, a second ball of fire blasted between the bell-caster and the duelist, blowing them both several yards away from each other on impact.
"PUSH! PUSH! PRESSURE, NOW!" Korbin's voice echoed across the dying forest from the clearing behind the enemy, already charging another fireball at the end of his battleax. The Assassin, having quickly wormed his way from Kota, turned his attention on Korbin who was racing to pinch them in. Sprinting after the assassin, my eyes locked onto the duelist who'd strayed Cassi to give Korbin chase as well, leaving the bell-bender and their injured vocalist to support their tank. With little time to weigh things out, I diverted toward the Duelist since he was the closest foe to me, leaving Korbin to deal with the assassin himself. His eyes locked with mine, tapping his feet softly on the ground with every step as he shuffled to meet me halfway.
Our blades clashed, sending him into a barrage of strikes at two-times the speed he'd approached me with. With every parry, his movement slowly grew quicker and quicker, throwing attacks and increasingly unpredictable angles. What shocked me most was he used no more than four strikes, but his timing was absolutely impeccable. In fact, it was perfect to a fault, as I've quickly begun to notice patterns in his strikes. They're always in rhythm, always fluidly following another. Feeling myself lose focus on the fight, my eyes darted upward in time to evade his free-hands closed fist. The duelist stumbled forward, his legs wobbling as if they were giving out under his weight. Seeing opportunity over form, I kicked my leg up and bashed my heel into his nose as the duelist gathered his footing. Yet again the man nearly toppled over, the wriggling holes in his ribcage contracting out of sync creating a discordant chorus of humming on the wind.
*THUD*
The assassin's body ricocheted off the ground a few paces beside me, the hooded figure grunting angrily before sprinting back toward Korbin who was pelting the tank and his casters with fireballs. I felt compelled to help him out, until the duelist wildly leapt back into melee with me adorning a hateful sneer in place of his overconfident grin. Our blades clashed twice, his speed exponentially jumping with each clank before I shuffled back, avoiding his follow up slash and kicking the duelist in the chest to create distance. He flew irrationally far back, nearly flying off his feet from a kick meant to push more than cause that kind of impact. It's like the guys timing is the only thing keeping him on his f-
…oh, I see.
Stealing the strange human-like beings' smile, I lunged forward flashing a surge of lightning mana. Instead of letting him deflect the strike however, I pulled back the feint and stepped hard toward him. The duelist raised his rapier to deflect the feint, then stumbled back flailing the blade wildly in front of him. Seeing the pattern in real time, I began shuffling diagonally to the swordsman at random, showing several strikes while landing leg and chest kicks instead. The duelist tripped and stumbled, barely getting his blade up in time to block would-be slashes had I not intended to feign the attacks. Finally, seeing he'd the last strike would've landed if I'd followed through, I released a Lightning Strike toward the duelist, who was barely able to get his blade to tap my own. The moment we clashed, he dashed by trying to steal my tempo and get behind me, goring himself on my blade I had hidden along the length of my hip. My wrist just flicked it up, letting the antsy, rhythmic spitfire do the work for me without ever giving him a beat to bounce off of before slicing his head clean off with my second blade.
*ding*
One down, 4 to g-
"They got Cadrus! Leria ple-" the assassin begged frantically to the bell-caster, turning to run from Korbin whose entire body glowed bright orange with infernal fire. An orb of orange flames descended around them both, the assassin barely breaching through before several fiery chains wrapped around his legs and dragged him back into the hellish domain with Korbin.
"Aethra's Gusting Breath!" Their singing caster belted, her soft voice now sounding far more rushed and even a bit hoarse. A tornado fell down upon Korbin's fiery dome, penetrating and wrapping itself around the assassin. As he tried fleeing once more however, the flaming hooks latched back around his legs, wrapping several times more than the last. The tornado never ceased its path however, yanking the man's torso forward regardless. The opposing forces ripped the man in two with little visible issue, either accenting his incredibly low health pool, or the sheer power both mages possessed. Their raging tank slammed his fist on the ground, tanking multiple hits from Lonni as amber energy whirred from the pulsating veins stretching across his chest.
…okay, 3 to go.