Michael slid the shield far enough that I could meet his eyes. Linda stood beside him, and she looked furious. Her eyes were narrowed, and elongated canines made her appear more menacing than before.
“Why couldn’t you just fall in line?” she hissed at me. Despite her elongated fangs, her speech was clear.
With the little air I could muster, I snarled back, “What you and the rest of this town are doing is wrong, and you know it.”
“My father and I are just following orders,” she retorted, as if that were a valid excuse. Before I could ask her about who was giving the orders, she continued, “And while we cannot save everyone, we are both trying to save the few we can.”
I rolled my eyes at her copout. “And how does that matter to me?”
“Because I chose you as one of those I wanted to save.” She took a deep breath, her expression softened as she continued. “After the bond was finalized, it wouldn’t have mattered what race you were, you would be mine. A part of my family. To protect and to be protected.”
“That seems to be working so well for Lance,” I sneered back, unconvinced that she wasn’t completely unhinged.
Her glare turned icy as she snapped, “That damn wolf refuses to accept the bond. He won’t even drink my blood unless I pour it down his throat.”
So they were torturing the poor wolfman to get him to accept her. I met her gaze, making sure she understood I was serious. “I will never accept whatever this bond is that you keep talking about. Might as well string me up alongside Lance. Beat me up and force the blood down me as much as you want, but that fact will never change.”
“It doesn’t have to.” Her voice shifted from hard to saccharine sweet as she knelt down. “While forcing the blood down your throat is slow, it does work. Though, you may not like the resulting bond. It is more of a slave-master relationship than one of friends or family.” She reached out, gently rubbing my mana-formed ears.
The sensation was strange, almost soothing. I tried to jerk away, but a series of sharp points of pain stopped me. I shut my eyes and tried to stay still as she continued. “Then again, it might be nice to have you as a slave. Oh, the things I could do to you. Make you do to me.”
I could almost swear I heard her lick her lips. The sound, coupled with the feeling of fingers on my sensitive ears, sent a shiver of fear down my spine. The shiver brought with it the sudden need to either submit to her or demand that she get on with her plans. Somehow, I managed to stay still and silent. She must have sensed this, as she suddenly sighed. While the impulses didn’t vanish, they diminished to nearly nothing.
“He’s not going to cooperate,” Michael said from above me. “Do you want me to tie him up or kill him?”
“You can’t tie him up on your own. Just kill him. The rest of the team should be back by then. We can pick him up when he respawns.” Fuck. That was not good — or was it? She said they would have to pick me up after I respawned. That meant there was still a chance to get away. “Any idea where he might spawn?” Linda asked.
“Does he even know? With all the training and hiding he has been doing, I doubt he’s even died once.” Michael grumbled. “Hell, the boar was probably the closest he ever got.” He was wrong, but not by much. There was no way that he would have known about my other misadventures. Not that I would correct him.
“Isn’t a traveler''s respawn point typically the place they came to this world?” Hope blossomed in my chest as Linda said this. There was no way they would guess I had spawned in such a weird place.
“Unless they set it to a guild hall, yes. But I doubt he has even bothered to see about changing his respawn location.” Michael said with a bit of derision.
“So where do you think it is?”
“Top of the church tower.” His words were curt and cutting, killing what little hope I had managed to gain.
“Based on his reaction, your guess was spot on,” Linda chuckled darkly. “Kill him so we can get back to playing with our puppy.”
The weight that had been pressing on my back slightly lifted as he shifted. I didn’t bother to open my eyes, even when I felt a sharp point press into my side. “See you on the other side,” he whispered. Slowly, the pressure behind the tip of his blade increased as he pressed it into my dress. Surprisingly, my dress held up as Michael applied more and more force.
Without warning, the pressure vanished. All of his weight lifted off my back at the same moment. Not wanting to waste the chance, I popped up. Michael’s shield clanged and scraped across the stone floor as it fell off me. Expecting the worst, I turned, weapon in hand to find Michael dissipating into bubbles of light.
A sudden shrill scream, accompanied by an earth-shaking growl, filled the room. A glance toward the source of the scream led me directly to the nearest hole. At least a couple dozen people stood around the pit, watching something inside. Pushing through the crowd to check on the wolf revealed that Lance was no longer tied up.
The wolfman was practically frothing at the mouth as he slashed and attacked a badly burned Linda. “Why isn’t she fighting back?” I asked no one in particular.
“Because I used Purifying Light on her,” Lucas answered. “Those with demonic heritage tend to burn under the light of healing. It especially hurts those that directly feed off another race, temporarily weakening their abilities. But we really don’t have time to dally around here. We need to get going.”
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="102">
Quest:
</td>
<td width="522">
Race to Freedom
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="102">
Quest Type:
</td>
<td width="522">
Personal - Unranked
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="102">
Description:
</td>
<td width="522">
You managed to make it. While you were not the one to free everyone, all of the prisoners were freed from their cages. Help them escape the building and the town. Remember to follow the plan and use the South Gate lest you run into one of the teams distracting the guards.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="102">
Requirements:
</td>
<td width="522">
Escape the Pit and make it out of the city using the South Gate.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="102">
Reward:
</td>
<td width="522">
1000 XP
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="102">
Failure:
</td>
<td width="522">
Unknown
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Given the new quest pop-up, I debated looking to see what had changed. One glance around, though, gave me pause. The group of prisoners were wearing tattered clothing. They also ranged in age, though all of the working-aged people were missing. Every single one of them wore an expression of fear mixed with tentative hope. My stats could wait; these people needed me to be here and focused on our mutual goal.
Ignoring the sounds emanating from the pit, I followed Lucas as he moved toward the stairway. As we passed through the groups near the edge of the crowd, the creatures from the first pit slammed into Lucas. The guy stumbled. If not for the fact that he was laughing and that the little creatures were crying, I would have assumed they were attacking him.
A creature, twice the size of the little ones piled on Lucas, waddled toward me. It bowed as it spoke in a high-pitched, feminine voice, “My husband tells me that you are here to help.” Her voice went from soft and thankful to fierce as she continued, “While I trust him, I don’t know if I can ever trust a human again. It is only out of courtesy to my husband that I am giving you this one chance to convince me why I shouldn’t just shove you into a pit and leave you to die.”
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Something about how she held herself told me that she would do exactly that. Hell, she would probably do anything she could to protect their kids. Bowing my head in understanding, I spoke softly. “While I know this may not be all that convincing, I am here at the request of my teacher Barti as well as a few friends.”
Lifting my head up just enough to catch her face, I saw flickers of skepticism and fear before she finally settled on resignation. With a simple nod, she turned and joined her family as they resumed walking toward the exit. At least she was no longer looking at me with hate and disgust like most of the crowd.
A soft cough behind me caused me to nearly jump and cry out. Spinning around, I glared at the human behind me. Given that this place was supposed to be housing only non-humans, his presence confused me. He chuckled at my reaction, offering his hand as he spoke with a thick Russian accent. “Name’s Ytri.”
The thick accent and name were unexpected. Given that this city seemed to be region-specific, he had to either live near me or be traveling from town to town in-game. If I had to bet, I’d say he was traveling. No one had the money to move, even if there were jobs on the other side.
“Kyren,” I replied as we joined hands. He had a strong grip that made my bones creak and groan.
“Sorry,” he quickly said, “I didn’t realize you were a low-level human. Did you not use your SoulStone yet?”
The crowd in front of us bunched up as they started to enter the narrow stairwell. “Wait, you’re not human? Also, player or NPC?”
He chuckled. “Player, though my race is one of the oddest anyone has seen so far.” His arm seemed to melt before solidifying into the arm of some furred creature. A rather large set of claws formed on the end as he continued, “The system labels me as a slime variant.”
“That is cool, but if you could change shape, why didn’t you just escape?”
“I was stuck as a liquid thanks to a manacle, the same type of manacle they put on everyone here. Your friend broke the things with a laser-like spell. It’s also what he used to take care of the big guy before he could kill you.” So that was what happened. It must have been one hell of a spell to cut through him even after breaking his skills.
“If you were in a liquid form, why didn’t you just slither away from the thing?”
“The thing was like a vacuum,” he grumbled. “Sticking to me like glue as it drained me dry of mana.” I felt the guy shudder as he recalled his time down here. “But enough about me. Tell me what the plan is to get all of out of here.”
“Get up the stairs, take out the few guards still left, and make our way out of the south gate. Most of the guards should be spread thin across the rest of the city as they deal with whatever distractions everyone came up with.”
While I couldn’t see him, I was fairly sure he was looking at me through narrowed eyes. “That is your plan? That is a shit plan. Even if a sector of the city decided to up and explode, there would be enough guards upstairs to take us down. Plus, no offense, but I doubt you are strong enough to take a single one down.”
“Well, while I was told to not use the damn SoulStone until I had no choice, I am stronger than I look,” I shot back. There was no way for him to know just how long I had been playing and if I had been training or just drinking. Still, that fight with Michael was enough of a wake-up call. I wasn’t ready for combat at the level I was being thrown into. I needed to get stronger, faster, or find an edge.
“Even if someone tells you to do or not do something, it is up to you to decide.” He sighed. “But you might have made the right decision, with the backlash and all. Anyway, looks like we are getting close to the top.” Around us, people were slowing down. I pushed through, making my way to the front.
Lucas stood there, his ear to the door as he listened to the other side. Copying him, I found that I could hear the sounds of distant fighting and explosions. “Are we good to go?” I whispered. He simply nodded. Reaching forward, I grasped the handle and gave it a turn, but it refused to budge. The damn thing was locked, likely as a result of a security policy. Cursing, I tried to come up with some way to open the door.
Before I could come up with anything, a rough, leathery hand reached between Lucas and me. The palm of the hand rested against the door for a matter of moments before the muscles along the arm rippled.
That was the only warning I got before the door exploded into splinters. Sending shrapnel racing into the room and anyone still there. With its job done, the hand moved back to wherever it came from as Lucas and I sprinted through.
The room on the other side was a gruesome scene. Splinters were embedded deep into everything, including several guards. While a number were dead, four were rushing to get up. Grasping for their weapons as they did so.
Everything slowed as I pulled out my Chisa Katana. Moving to intercept the closest of the guards. He didn’t have enough time to grab his weapon before I slashed the reaching arm. It went limp as he cried out. A cry that was cut short as I slashed across his unprotected neck. The sight of the guard choking on his blood caused me to freeze in place.
I had known something like this was going to happen but knowing it and seeing it were two different things. Killing another person in a game was easy when it was on a screen. Hell, it wasn’t even so bad on most other virtual reality games. But those games didn’t include every other sense, only sight and sound.
I could feel some drops of blood that landed on my face. Gathering together before streaming down my face. That was fine though, I could imagine it was blood from a nosebleed or some cut on my face. The worst part was the smell and the taste that lingered in the air.
To my right, I heard a fist hit flesh as another guard cried out in pain. The cry pulled my attention from my drowning opponent. As I turned to look, I caught sight of the third guard as they threw a pair of short daggers across the room. One grazed my arm while the other missed my head. My heart pounded a fast, sharp staccato beat into my ears. Nearly deafening me to the sounds of the thud of the blade into something solid behind me.
Letting gravity do its job, I dropped to the ground. My eyes caught the glint of two more blades passing right where I had been standing. A shadow blurred over my prone form before the sound of metal on metal filled the room. The strikes sounded like someone was firing a machine gun on full auto. Peeking over the cabinet between me and where the knives came from, I found a snake beastman beating back the guard with his own knives.
Multiple times, the guard managed to strike out, only to have the snake twist its body so that the knife missed it. The snake then used the opening to strike at the guard. Not managing to deal a mortal wound, but slowly whittling the guard down.
As I stood up to help him, a ball of fire flew past me. Nearly hitting the snake as he dodged an attack. The guard''s hand took the hit for him. Turning away from the two fighters, I flared my mana out. Looking for the source of the magical attack. As the Mana Sense skill expanded, the world slowed down as it found another Fireball. This one was aimed at my chest.
My body would never move out of the way in time. I barely had the mana to even keep my Mana Sense activated. I didn’t have the mana to pour into any other skills. Especially into Body Enhancement. The spell was going to hit me and there was nothing I could do about it.
For some reason, the memory of what happened when Lucas was freed from his shackles played in my head. He had been out of mana yet somehow turned ambient light into mana, refilling his stores. He also said it took him a long time to figure out how to do it. If it could be learned, it implied that the process was possible for anyone. I had one chance to replicate what he did with a different element.
Going off instinct, I formed tiny runes of fire and pushed them out. Mana flared from me as whisps of blue flame coalesced. The light they gave off was ghostly as they hung in the air. Suspended as if someone had hung them on the air itself. The Fireball connected with one of them and froze in place. Blue flames expanded, coating the Fireball in a layer of blue before flaring and vanishing, taking the Fireball with it.
Out of the corner of my eyes, my mana bar dropped slightly. While I had managed to stop the spell, I hadn’t managed to use it to gather more mana. Another Fireball flew at me. It was stopped by yet another of the blue fires. Judging by how much mana vanished from my pool, I could stop another eight spells, maybe nine if I had enough time to recharge.
Seeing this and the speed at which the castor was throwing the spells, I had to take them down now. Scanning for my target, I found her on the other end of the room. The end of her wand glowed a violet-hued black color as she cast another spell. My stomach turned as I got a look at the color. Something told me it wasn’t a fire-based spell. It reminded me of the Mud Gobbler Assassin’s blade. Only this time, it wasn’t a thin sheen of the stuff. This was a bead of liquid that kept growing.
I vaulted over the desk blocking my path as I raced toward her. Still, she managed to cast it before I could get close enough to stop her. The bead dropped from the tip of her wand. Splashing as it hit the floor between us. Forming into a pool of shimmering and vibrant violet liquid.
Managing to adjust my trajectory at the last moment, I smashed into a pillar just shy of the stuff. Her face stretched into a malicious grin as the liquid started to move. Small spikes lifted, looking like feelers as they reached out for me. The sight reminded me of a ferrous liquid my science teacher had demonstrated in middle school. It looked so cool then, now, not so much.
Backing up in a rush, the liquid dropped back to the ground. Her grin grew wider as she started to cast a second spell. Low on mana, I kept an eye on her as I studied the liquid. Needing to find my way around the deadly substance.
Too bad for me she was standing in the corner of the building. I had no way to go around without breaking through a wall. If I had to bet on anything about the place, the walls were all thick and reinforced. After all, it wouldn’t do to have someone blow up the guard station to free the prisoners below.
Just as I was about to simply start lobbing things at her, I noticed the liquid moving. Not toward me, but toward her. The sides pulled in as it lengthened in her direction. She didn’t notice it. Not until it made its way up her shoes and touched her skin.
As soon as it did, a few things happened. Her face went pale as she looked down at her visitor. A snapping sound reverberated through the station as the puddle vanished. Forming into a sort of metallic band as it wrapped itself around her leg.
A bloodcurdling scream filled the room as she reached down to claw at the liquid. Fighting to get the stuff off. Her hands passed through it as it through water. Small spikes appeared around the top edge. Vanishing into her leg as the sleeve rolled upward. Climbing her leg. As it moved up, the skin it revealed was sickly grey in color. Even the pulsing veins were black.
Someone grabbed my shoulder and I spun. My sword swung at whoever it was. Ytri grabbed my sword hand, stopping the attack midswing. He gestured toward the door. People streamed out the stairwell and out the front door.
Nodding my thanks, I joined the group. Shooting a last glance back at the castor as I passed over the threshold. She was on the ground. The liquid was nowhere to be seen, but that didn’t matter. She was likely dead. Killed by her own spell.