"Wake up!"
Crash!
Arcum jolted upright from his bed, pulling his scarf off from over his eyes. His head snapped to the voice, his panic dissipating completely as he spots Stelle.
Stelle stood there, grinning.
"... why?" Arcum asked, looking near Stelle's foot to see the anvil he had made the night prior next to her. "... what did you just do?"
"I didn't have a gong or a bell, so I used this," Stelle admitted. "It's quite loud, and I like it. Can I keep it?"
"No."
"Aw," Stelle said, her head drooping. "Anyways, everyone is ready already."
"You didn't wake me up?" Arcum asked, rubbing his eyes and standing up from the bed. "I could have helped."
"Asta said she heard you up late last night," Stelle admitted. "So she said to let you get some rest and prepare ourselves."
"That's kind of her," Arcum complimented. "What did you prepare?"
"We got Mydei to cook us some meals for the road, Fugue told us to collect some extra wood and stone in case we needed it."
"I have the rest," Arcum said. "We can start going whenever then."
"Meet you outside!"
With that, Stelle ran out of Arcum's room, leaving him with the anvil.
Sighing, Arcum pulled out his pickaxe and broke the anvil, picking it up and walking out of his room.
Looking around the main room of the base, Arcum noted nobody inside.
"They must be outside."
Taking a small detour to place the anvil back next to the crafting table, Arcum headed over to the door and went outside.
Opening the door, the sun hit Arcum's eyes, making him squint slightly.
Hysilens, Fugue, and Stelle stood around near the cobblestone prison.
"Where's the others?" Arcum asked as he walked over. "I didn't see anyone inside."
"They went hunting," Fugue said, looking to Arcum as he came over. "We were low on food, but nothing else."
"Asta too?" Arcum asked, surprised.
"She said she had nothing to do," Fugue replied. "And she wanted to map out the land around us better."
"Got it," Arcum accepted. "Shall we go?"
The trio nodded, and Arcum went to the cobblestone box, mining open a 1x1 hole.
"Goons, still alive in there?"
Looking inside, Arcum could see the five goons still sitting in the cobblestone box, huddled together.
"We're cold," Goon 1 said.
"We're hungry," Goon 2 said.
"We're—" Goon 3 tried to say.
"I get it," Arcum interrupted as he opened the cobblestone box. "Well you lot get to be tired now, get out."
The goons grumbled, but all got out, still held together by the lead.
"Fugue, you can hold their leash," Arcum said, holding out the end point of the lead for her to hold. "It's like walking a dog."
"That's an odd comparison," Stelle said. "I like it."
"Of course you like it," Arcum said. "You're weird like that."
Fugue took the lead, nodding. "Alright. Then, let's go."
The goons started leading the way, at first grumbling.
"I don't actually have anything to keep them quiet," Arcum muttered in the back, apparently loud enough for Hysilens to hear.
"I can cut their tongue," Hysilens suggested.
"No—actually, maybe?" Arcum replied, first abhorred by the suggestion, only to rethink it.
"Wait, you're actually thinking about it?!" Stelle and Fugue said at the same time.
"You can't do that!!" The goons all said simultaneously.
"Then shut up," Arcum said with a tone that signified the end.
The walk was nice, illuminated by the sun above.
Hysilens, Fugue, and Stelle all talked, as if they were all long-time friends.
Arcum walked near the back, listening to their stories and conversations, not adding anything, but not actively shutting them out.
Instead of just looking in one direction and walking, Arcum made sure to pay attention to the coordinates.
They were walking decently far. At first it was 1,000 blocks, then 2,000 blocks.
"Pretty far," Arcum thought. "I wonder how these players managed to walk this far, get full iron, AND survive the overpowered mobs."
They weren't the strongest, at least. If they couldn't beat him, then Arcum wasn't sure on how they managed to survive the first night.
"Maybe they found a village," Arcum theorized. "If they found a village, the golem could protect them. If mobs are strong, golems should be strong, too."
The group soon crossed a river, placing blocks across it to enter a small forest.
As they crossed, Arcum made sure to fill up both of his water buckets. He never knew when he would need it.
Vwoop!
Arcum's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a familiar sound.
Everybody stopped moving on the shore, turning to slowly look towards what made the sound.
Standing in the tree lines, was a tall mob, 3 blocks tall. It was pitch black, long arms and legs at 2 blocks tall, with purple eyes.
"An enderman," Arcum said, looking at its torso. "Don't look at its eyes."
"Why not?" Stelle asked. "It looks friendly."
"Technically? It follows self-defense, where if you attack, it attacks back," Arcum corrected. "But just pass by it."
As the group attempted to walk past, the enderman suddenly screamed.
Arcum's head snapped over to the enderman as it screamed at the group.
"What?!"
Turning to look at his group, his eyes widened.
One of the goons had looked at the enderman, most likely in an attempt to cause enough of a distraction to get away.
"Take out your weapons!" Arcum yelled as his eyes went back to the enderman. "Jump into the water, it hates water!"
Vvoom!
The sound of the enderman teleporting caught Arcum off guard as it vanished from his view.
"AAAAH!"
Arcum heard as one of the goons screamed, his head snapping back to the group, pulling out his water bucket instead of his sword.
The enderman had teleported into the middle of the group.
"Take this!" Stelle cried out, swinging her bat to the enderman.
Stelle missed as the enderman teleported again, this time behind the goon that had looked at it.
Arcum, thinking quickly, threw water at the feet of the group, the flow of the water spreading and blocking off the enderman.
At the threat of water, the enderman vanished before the spreading water could touch its feet.
"Stay in the water," Arcum warned. "It can't do anything."
Fugue nodded, holding the lead on the goons tighter. Stelle spun her bat in her hand, looking around for the enderman. Hysilens was silent, looking around, her duel blades already in both hands.
Vvoom!
The sound of teleporting was heard yet again.
Arcum turned to face the sound, the enderman standing just out of reach from the water, holding a grass block in its hands.
"What is it..?"
Suddenly, the enderman teleported into the air, above where the water source was placed.
Crunch!
The sound of grass placing broke through the tense atmosphere, the water disappearing as the source was blocked off.
The enderman screamed, swinging its long arm toward Goon 4, who had looked at the enderman.
"Help! I'm sorry!" Goon 4 cried out, looking away. "Someone help!"
Hysilens blitzed toward the enderman in a split second, swinging her blades at it.
Vvoom!
Her blade swung, missing the enderman completely as it vanished.
Suddenly, the enderman reappeared in the exact same spot, swinging towards Hysilens.
Reacting quickly, she rose her blades in front of her, taking the hit from the enderman, sending her back over the river.
"Tch," Hysilens clicked her tongue, flipping mid-air and recovering on her feet.
Vvoom!
Arcum watched as the enderman teleported behind Hysilens.
Hearing the sound, Hysilens turned around, swinging her blade at the enderman yet again.
Vvoom!
"This damn enderman," Arcum thought. "It's worse than I thought. And it's this goon's fault..!"
Hysilens darted across the plains, open enough to battle the teleporting opponent.
Arcum watched as the enderman teleported around, comparable to the speed it would usually teleport if in the rain, trying to escape.
"What do we do?" Fugue asked, looking to Arcum. "How do we help?"
"..."
Arcum could only remain silent, deep in thought on ways to help.
[Hysilens's POV]
Hysilens watched as the enderman teleported around her, trying to find a blindspot.
Not wasting any time, she darted across the plains, the enderman following behind her, the sound of it teleporting always close.
Suddenly, the enderman teleported in front of her, swinging.
Hysilens rose her blade, parrying the swing with one blade and retaliating with her other.
Vvoom!
The enderman teleported, purple particles left behind in its wake.
"..!"
As it teleported, Hysilens noted the purple particles moving towards her direction.
Vvoom!
The sound of the enderman reappearing behind her confirmed her suspicions—when the enderman teleports, the particles it leaves behind drifts into the direction it's teleporting.
It meant focusing on all cardinal directions was no longer the case. She could focus on one direction only.
Turning around, she parried the swing of the enderman yet again, using her free blade to swing, missing as the enderman teleported yet again.
"... there!"
She darted in the direction that the particles drifted towards, gliding across the floor with ease.
The enderman reappeared in the middle of the field, believing itself to be a safe distance away to recuperate.
But Hysilens was immediately on the enderman as soon as it reappeared, swinging her blades and cutting the torso of the enderman.
The enderman screamed, teleporting away suddenly.
Hysilens didn't let up, darting towards the direction of the particles, following the enderman.
She wouldn't let it escape now.
[Arcum POV]
Arcum watched in awe as Hysilens darted across the plains across the river, finding where the enderman teleported each time, not letting up.
Slapping himself on the face, he shook his head.
"Stelle, come on!" Arcum called out, tossing her a bucket. "Fill this up with water, and let's help."
"How?" Stelle said, catching the bucket. "You just saw it got rid of the source."
"Just make a zone around the two!" Arcum shouted. "If we make a zone, it has less room to teleport—Hysilens can kill it faster!"
"Okay!"
"Fugue, stay here," Arcum said, pointing at Fugue. "Don't let our goons escape."
Stelle scooped water from the river as she ran across the dirt bridge that was used to cross the river, following behind Arcum.
Arcum's eyes were locked onto the battle.
The enderman had stopped trying to run, instead teleporting around Hysilens, swinging and teleporting away, swinging preemptively to guard against Hysilens's predictions on its teleports.
Hysilens continued to swing and attack, her attacks swift and fierce, her speed moving faster than Arcum's eyes could comprehend.
Digging a 2x2 hole into the ground, Arcum placed a water source in the top right corner. "Place the water into the bottom left!"
Stelle did as she was told, the water filling up the hole, creating an infinite water source.
"Pick up water and start zoning them!" Arcum commanded as he scooped water from the infinite source and ran to start making an enclosure around the two fighters.
Stelle ran one way, while Arcum ran the other.
Together, the two started to close off the enderman and Hysilens, the water spreading as it was placed, causing them to fight in a ring surrounded by water.
"Thank you."
Arcum heard Hysilens speak when he got close enough, placing the last water bucket to encircle the two.
The enderman teleported away from Hysilens yet again.
Taking the time that she was given, Hysilens equipped her swords in a way that someone would hold a violin.
"... In the abyss's revel, your cries rise," Hysilens said, pulling her sword down on her other sword, as if she were strumming notes on a violin.
From the water ring that Stelle and Arcum had placed, a huge whale made of water emerged.
"... what." Arcum gaped as he saw the whale. "She has abilities like Mydei and others?!"
The whale leapt through the air, falling down, aimed to crash into the circle and flood it.
The enderman reappeared on the opposite side of the water ring, looking up as the whale's shadow covered the sun.
Arcum could have sworn he saw the enderman's mouth gape and its eyes widen as the whale crashed down into the ring.
Boom!
The impact reverberated through the plains, the wind blowing strong from the impact, knocking Arcum down onto his rear.
Looking up again, Arcum saw the enderman, lying on the floor.
His head darted around, looking for Fugue and Stelle.
Fugue seemed to be just as shocked as Arcum, the goons still behind her, tied up.
Stelle was the only one who didn't seem surprised. Arcum suspected it must be because Stelle knew who Hysilens was before they entered this world.
Hysilens stood in the center of the water ring, her swords vanishing as she turned to look at Arcum.
"It is done," Hysilens said. "The battle ends for now."