Re: Intense Struggle Season 2! (Round 4: Deathball Championship)
01-24-2012, 09:23 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Drakenforge.
Karen let out a sigh of relief as the last corpse hit the floor, having just been cleaved in two by her sword. The corpse offered its loot to her, which she absent-mindedly had stored away somewhere in her inventory, which was fit to bursting point as it was. She had came this far to defeat a Hydra level boss that was proving difficult for a lot of the best groups on the server. She was, as usual, alone during this attempt, proving just how abnormal the levelling curve was in the game.
But as strong as she was it had proved too much for her, so she had backed off a level to wait until Coal logged on. It might have been early morning where he was in the world, so she had casually been dealing with the ceaselessly spawning monsters for quite some time. A few groups had passed her on the way up, but she had never seen them go back or pass her again as she waited. Karen never judged people by how much they play the game because she was, plain and simple, the longest running player the game had. While she had never bothered to check just how many hours she had logged herself other players would never cease to get in contact with her to either send their reactions, usually involving bad language that her filter was gladly taking care of, or to simply insult her play style. She rarely used her mail system anymore as a result, and people would have to track her down and speak (virtual) face to face with her.
Coal was the one exception, the only player on her 'friend list'. With that status his messages would reach her perfectly fine, and she would know exactly when he logged on. She double checked just how much room she had left and was unpleasantly surprised to find no open room left. Miscellaneous junk items, spare equipment, consumables and loot had taken up all the room. She was glad to have a small companion that was able to do running jobs during dungeons and summoned the small creature. It was a dark imp whose design was just slightly curving into cute territory. It responded to specific instructions, the weapons and armour she no longer needed would be stored away, the junk items sold, the loot kept for selling to players later and she gave it enough money to refill her dangerously low stock of healing and mana potions.
As she watched it perform the digging animation that would teleport it out of the dungeon when a small alert noise prompted in her inner ear, usually meaning someone had messaged her. She got about as far as reading that it was a “beta testers reward patch” when her body seized up, and her vision went completely blank.
Karen's inner self viewed the memory with pure empathy. The last moments before she was hoisted out of the game forcefully and thrown into the game of death. She was oddly secure with not being in control of her body. It was serene in her mind, in her opinion. She could drown out the noise of city life and ignore the gazes that people gave her. The only comfort to be had was the faint scent of air that the darkening skies brought with them, almost completely obscured by the city smog.
Her peace was interrupted when she was yanked back into reality, once again under the effects of the spell. Her path was blocked by a well executed blockade made up of vans, wooden fences and armed security personnel. They stood guard in front of a large stadium. It definitely seemed like the right place.
They whispered something as she walked up to the entrance, but they quickly braced themselves and tried to look as threatening as possible to someone with a four foot long sword on their back. Karen fought through the cloud that was veiling her cognitive prowess so that she could talk her way in. She didn't want to have to have the deathball staff against her else she would never gain entrance.
She stopped when they prompted her to and asked for her identification. Already hitting an obstacle Karen had no choice but to dodge the question.
“Where do I sign up. For Deathball.”
This seemed to puzzle the guard that posed the question, and he turned to look back at his colleagues, his eyes passing over their own surprised faces.
“You want to sign up?” he asked, turning back to her, “as in, of your own free will?”
She nodded in response. He rubbed the back of his head idly as he waved her past. Karen retreated to her inner mental sanctum as waves of wavers, instructions and a surprisingly basic list of rules. Of course they warned her of potential death, dismemberment or permanent injury, which she brushed up with a basic “That's fine.”
Eventually she ended up in the prep room for the few contestants that were not reluctant to take part, or who just preferred acting docile to being constantly bound. She found herself a corner of the dingy, half re-modelled locker room to sit and meditate.
Acting like that it was no wonder how fast someone tried to interrupt her.
“Hey girlie, I think you might be lost. This isn't a costume parade!” Taunted a gruff, possibly deranged man. He was lanky, probably a coward and looks a complete emotional wreck. A small part of Karen pitied him for losing his mind. That part of her was no longer controlling her body though. He was left completely ignored, not even getting to see her eyes hidden beneath the layers of hat and hair.
“Hey, don't you ignore m- ack!”
A large dark hand shoved him to the side violently, knocking the lost contestant off his feet. Karen had to really arc her head to take in all of the persons gigantic size. He didn't acknowledge her existence and strode towards the gate to the pitch, which from how the cheering had started was probably preparing for something. Karen checked the wall clock, noticing there was still a timely gap until the players needed to leave. Her eyes drifted back towards the large guy. He seemed to remind her of someone, but even though she felt that she absolutely should be able to pin it down, the concept of who escaped her. It wasn't until she heard the name that it all came flooding back.
“Go get 'em, Cole!”
The resemblance to the one person she had called her friend in over two years caused her stomach to knot, even with her mind in chains. She watched his massive back over the heads of the shorter contestants as he walked, alone, onto the stadium grounds. A chorus of cheers welcomed the arrival of who turned out to be the star player this season.
Karen tried to clear her mind again focusing once more on how best to kill Reudic. She wondered why she had gotten sidetracked like that in the first place. Fire was a good option, but she couldn't get careless. His toxins were potent even against her, and more likely than not she would not be able to cure herself in time to survive if she succumbed to them.
However, she would not be alone in the stadium. Not only did she have other people fighting for their lives, or for their teams, she would also have to be mindful of the audience. While they were generally protected, her abilities would prove too much for their defences. Using her sword was out of the question, she was not planning on murdering the other contestants. She could use the inner staff, though the weight of the un-enchanted sword would slow her down. Instead Karen chose to at that moment retrieve her katana from inside the staff. While the weapon was usually in two different swords, it had an effect to combine into a two handed katana, far longer and even came with a sheath. The men inside the locker room gawked as she seamlessly retrieved her sword out of what appeared to be a black hole like effect. Satisfied that the sheath would suffice as a blunt edge she sat back down with it across her knees. She had her non-lethal weapon, enough magic that could leave people alive, and a plan to gain revenge without dying. Things were finally looking up for Karen the Blade Witch, even if her inner self was unknowingly shaking with something... anxiety maybe.
Meanwhile, three separate groups of recruiters were on the move to retrieve new contestants before the next wave came. Two of them converged on Marcus which, unfortunately for him, meant Sarika was unknowingly telling her new co-workers what he was going to do before they attacked.
The last team had tracked down Reudic successfully, but had so far been unable to restrain the creature of vines. But it was running out of places to run or hide, and was growing increasingly desperate.
Its situation only proved to be more grim that anyone could have thought when it flew straight past Marcus' now sweating face, choosing to go down the one dead-end alley on the block. Marcus had to choose; boxing himself in with it could give him the chance he needed to kill it, but it would mean letting himself get stuck between a rock and a hard place with the recruiters hot on his trail. However it would quickly manage to escape if he hesitated.
“What the hell are you doing, Marcus?” He sighed to himself as he made his choice.
Karen let out a sigh of relief as the last corpse hit the floor, having just been cleaved in two by her sword. The corpse offered its loot to her, which she absent-mindedly had stored away somewhere in her inventory, which was fit to bursting point as it was. She had came this far to defeat a Hydra level boss that was proving difficult for a lot of the best groups on the server. She was, as usual, alone during this attempt, proving just how abnormal the levelling curve was in the game.
But as strong as she was it had proved too much for her, so she had backed off a level to wait until Coal logged on. It might have been early morning where he was in the world, so she had casually been dealing with the ceaselessly spawning monsters for quite some time. A few groups had passed her on the way up, but she had never seen them go back or pass her again as she waited. Karen never judged people by how much they play the game because she was, plain and simple, the longest running player the game had. While she had never bothered to check just how many hours she had logged herself other players would never cease to get in contact with her to either send their reactions, usually involving bad language that her filter was gladly taking care of, or to simply insult her play style. She rarely used her mail system anymore as a result, and people would have to track her down and speak (virtual) face to face with her.
Coal was the one exception, the only player on her 'friend list'. With that status his messages would reach her perfectly fine, and she would know exactly when he logged on. She double checked just how much room she had left and was unpleasantly surprised to find no open room left. Miscellaneous junk items, spare equipment, consumables and loot had taken up all the room. She was glad to have a small companion that was able to do running jobs during dungeons and summoned the small creature. It was a dark imp whose design was just slightly curving into cute territory. It responded to specific instructions, the weapons and armour she no longer needed would be stored away, the junk items sold, the loot kept for selling to players later and she gave it enough money to refill her dangerously low stock of healing and mana potions.
As she watched it perform the digging animation that would teleport it out of the dungeon when a small alert noise prompted in her inner ear, usually meaning someone had messaged her. She got about as far as reading that it was a “beta testers reward patch” when her body seized up, and her vision went completely blank.
Karen's inner self viewed the memory with pure empathy. The last moments before she was hoisted out of the game forcefully and thrown into the game of death. She was oddly secure with not being in control of her body. It was serene in her mind, in her opinion. She could drown out the noise of city life and ignore the gazes that people gave her. The only comfort to be had was the faint scent of air that the darkening skies brought with them, almost completely obscured by the city smog.
Her peace was interrupted when she was yanked back into reality, once again under the effects of the spell. Her path was blocked by a well executed blockade made up of vans, wooden fences and armed security personnel. They stood guard in front of a large stadium. It definitely seemed like the right place.
They whispered something as she walked up to the entrance, but they quickly braced themselves and tried to look as threatening as possible to someone with a four foot long sword on their back. Karen fought through the cloud that was veiling her cognitive prowess so that she could talk her way in. She didn't want to have to have the deathball staff against her else she would never gain entrance.
She stopped when they prompted her to and asked for her identification. Already hitting an obstacle Karen had no choice but to dodge the question.
“Where do I sign up. For Deathball.”
This seemed to puzzle the guard that posed the question, and he turned to look back at his colleagues, his eyes passing over their own surprised faces.
“You want to sign up?” he asked, turning back to her, “as in, of your own free will?”
She nodded in response. He rubbed the back of his head idly as he waved her past. Karen retreated to her inner mental sanctum as waves of wavers, instructions and a surprisingly basic list of rules. Of course they warned her of potential death, dismemberment or permanent injury, which she brushed up with a basic “That's fine.”
Eventually she ended up in the prep room for the few contestants that were not reluctant to take part, or who just preferred acting docile to being constantly bound. She found herself a corner of the dingy, half re-modelled locker room to sit and meditate.
Acting like that it was no wonder how fast someone tried to interrupt her.
“Hey girlie, I think you might be lost. This isn't a costume parade!” Taunted a gruff, possibly deranged man. He was lanky, probably a coward and looks a complete emotional wreck. A small part of Karen pitied him for losing his mind. That part of her was no longer controlling her body though. He was left completely ignored, not even getting to see her eyes hidden beneath the layers of hat and hair.
“Hey, don't you ignore m- ack!”
A large dark hand shoved him to the side violently, knocking the lost contestant off his feet. Karen had to really arc her head to take in all of the persons gigantic size. He didn't acknowledge her existence and strode towards the gate to the pitch, which from how the cheering had started was probably preparing for something. Karen checked the wall clock, noticing there was still a timely gap until the players needed to leave. Her eyes drifted back towards the large guy. He seemed to remind her of someone, but even though she felt that she absolutely should be able to pin it down, the concept of who escaped her. It wasn't until she heard the name that it all came flooding back.
“Go get 'em, Cole!”
The resemblance to the one person she had called her friend in over two years caused her stomach to knot, even with her mind in chains. She watched his massive back over the heads of the shorter contestants as he walked, alone, onto the stadium grounds. A chorus of cheers welcomed the arrival of who turned out to be the star player this season.
Karen tried to clear her mind again focusing once more on how best to kill Reudic. She wondered why she had gotten sidetracked like that in the first place. Fire was a good option, but she couldn't get careless. His toxins were potent even against her, and more likely than not she would not be able to cure herself in time to survive if she succumbed to them.
However, she would not be alone in the stadium. Not only did she have other people fighting for their lives, or for their teams, she would also have to be mindful of the audience. While they were generally protected, her abilities would prove too much for their defences. Using her sword was out of the question, she was not planning on murdering the other contestants. She could use the inner staff, though the weight of the un-enchanted sword would slow her down. Instead Karen chose to at that moment retrieve her katana from inside the staff. While the weapon was usually in two different swords, it had an effect to combine into a two handed katana, far longer and even came with a sheath. The men inside the locker room gawked as she seamlessly retrieved her sword out of what appeared to be a black hole like effect. Satisfied that the sheath would suffice as a blunt edge she sat back down with it across her knees. She had her non-lethal weapon, enough magic that could leave people alive, and a plan to gain revenge without dying. Things were finally looking up for Karen the Blade Witch, even if her inner self was unknowingly shaking with something... anxiety maybe.
Meanwhile, three separate groups of recruiters were on the move to retrieve new contestants before the next wave came. Two of them converged on Marcus which, unfortunately for him, meant Sarika was unknowingly telling her new co-workers what he was going to do before they attacked.
The last team had tracked down Reudic successfully, but had so far been unable to restrain the creature of vines. But it was running out of places to run or hide, and was growing increasingly desperate.
Its situation only proved to be more grim that anyone could have thought when it flew straight past Marcus' now sweating face, choosing to go down the one dead-end alley on the block. Marcus had to choose; boxing himself in with it could give him the chance he needed to kill it, but it would mean letting himself get stuck between a rock and a hard place with the recruiters hot on his trail. However it would quickly manage to escape if he hesitated.
“What the hell are you doing, Marcus?” He sighed to himself as he made his choice.