Midsummer Feast

“THE ENEMY IS BREAKING THROUGH! FINISH THEM OFF!”

Merie found the news better than the one calling it, at least she thought so. She couldn’t tell how she’d survived, or if she’d succeeded in killing anyone. Falling back to avoid an incoming slash, following it with a couple of more steps further away.

The Knight; who had tried to cut her down, followed her without hesitation. Honestly staying warmer on her tail than Anlie used to do. “DON’T YOU’VE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO?!” Merie could see there would be many other players that he could bother instead of her, so why wasn’t he caring the slightest about them? Throwing herself to the side to dodge another asshole’s swing, rolling and getting up on her feet. “THE TANK HAVE ESCAPED!” And it wasn’t what Merie wanted to hear, which meant that she more or less was on her own. Sure, Opiom and Lart might be somewhere nearby, but she hadn’t seen much of them this far, so she was hesitant that she would see anything of them.

A tingling wave shot out from her waist, forcing her to move position again. She could see, in the corner of her eye, that her health almost was completely drained.  And it was probably only a matter of minutes before she would die, as she was hesitant she would have got the time to use the teleport-stone. As she moved, so did she pull out another bomb, throwing it and directly pulling out another one. As she probably wouldn’t be able to get away in one piece, so could she at least try to drag as many as she could with her. “KILL THAT BOTHER OF A BITCH!” The Knight, who was stuck to her ass, could’ve chosen a better word for her. And he should be unbelievably grateful that Merie was as kind as she was, otherwise so could a comment like that end in a rapport.

The players were attacking Merie harder, but not hard enough to control her. She could, and maybe should, have moved straight backwards. Instead, so did she made sure to remain in the masses, still throwing bombs and hoping to kill as many as possible. “WATCH OUT FOR HER BOMBS! AND KILL THOSE ASSES THREATENING HER!” Was there an ally in the middle of the mess willing to help her? Sure, she could suspect that it only was because she threw bombs around. But she didn’t care about the small details as long as her chances of survival were increased. “FIREBOMB!”

Fire erupted in front of her, soon evolving into a grand explosion. And as the flames enveloped her, her surroundings turned white. Honestly, as soon as the flames came her way, so had she started to think it would end like this. The attack might’ve been an attempt to help her, but had regulated killing her, most probably because she been short on health.

Dropping a sigh, opening her menu and watching the time. Noticing that she’d spent a few hours in the game already, but it wasn’t as if it was even close to giving up for the day. Satisfied, she opened the chat and then the private chat, “I heard you escaped, Anlie. But wasn’t it slightly mean to leave me for dead?” She was honestly not the slightest annoyed that Anlie had been able to escape. But it didn’t mean that she wouldn’t like her friend to do a little more to help her.

Bare seconds after getting revived, so could Merie hear players talking about the attack. Some argued that it was a fun idea, and some talked about just how dumb it was to oppose the developers’ decision. The latter player looking as if he honestly should shut it. A well-equipped Knight, looking like those asses who had made Merie’s and other PKs’ life hard. *Pling* Merie opened her menu again and found a message from Anlie, “I didn’t leave you for dead, Dear. I left you so you could get some submission beaten into you before I came back and picked you up. To spend all time and time with you until the end of time. But since you’re writing to me, so might you’ve either escaped it or died. So… Are you up for a second round?” Did Anlie even have to ask? “Direct teleport? Or should we try to break in elsewhere?” Merie could see good and bad settings with both options, so she found it easier to ask instead of making the decision herself. “Direct. And then we can try to break them and break into every place available.” Anlie didn’t seem to have any more plan than to create as much of a hell as possible. Not that Merie could say she’d any other idea, as she only wanted the chance to kill other players and enjoy it as much as possible. “But either way, Dear. So will I wait for you over there. See ya.”

The teleportation area was just as messy as where Merie had been fighting earlier. Players trying to kill each other in every corner, probably hoping it was an enemy they attacked. Which was impossible to tell since there were no ways to tell one party from another. “I SPY A GIRL!” Not surprisingly, some weirdos found their way there. An almost nude man, only wearing something like underwear and a bra. Now running toward her with a wooden club held high. Directly preparing herself for a fight, taking a low stand in case she would need to throw herself out of the way. She felt she didn’t want to get hit by that club, sure it could drain most of her health even though it was a weak weapon. And just because it was a weak weapon, so was she sure there was something wrong with it. Maybe it could be just like her paws, having slots which might be filled with some horrifying news. “HE’S RIGHT! A GIRL!” Other players, in the same outfit, joined the rush toward her. All of them wearing different, weak, weapons.

“CHARGE!” A large ball flew right into the players, throwing them in all different directions. Inviting Merie to burst into a sprint, taking the opportunity to recover some of the EXP she lost when she died. “Wind of a Goddess.” The more of them she succeeded in killing, the better would it be. And it seemed as if she hadn’t been the only one waiting for a chance like this. Other players were flying toward the defenceless men.

Knowing she would reach the men first, she pulled out a bomb. Even if she wouldn’t be able to kill her targets before the others arrived, so could she at least dump a gift which might spell their end. Or at the very least leave them crippled for a while. “GET THEM, DEAR!” “THE SAME GOES FOR YOU!” The result would surely get better if both of them were going after killing those players. Seeing how the first one hit the ground as she got closer, making a short jump and placing her balance on one foot. Aiming for the throat and praying that she wouldn’t fall over. Honestly, so hadn’t she tried that kind of attack yet, so she was uncertain how it would go.

She was surprised by how easily she’d been able to jump the throat, and how easy it was to regain her balance afterwards. The only thing she honestly didn’t like about the attack was the strange noise the player had made when she crushed the windpipe. It was one thing when the prey made strange sounds as they got attacked, which was more based on fear, but the sound of stomping his throat sounded more pained on many levels.

“HE WAS MINE, YOU WRENCHED BITCH!” Merie rapidly jumped to the side, avoiding an ugly stab. Only had the chance because she’d “Wind of a Goddess” active. Otherwise so might she have been screwed, as she’d been paying the first player too much attention. Only got a second to land before she moved in to slam her paws into his side, sure it wouldn’t kill him, but she might be able to stun him long enough for him to continue her attacks. The player turned and swung his sword toward her.

“TAKING HIM!” Anlie threw herself at his back, and Merie watched them fall. Taking the time to deliver a kick to his head, feeling it was far better than to stomp another player’s throat. And just to make sure the situation wouldn’t get any worse, so did she take a long watch at her surroundings. Knowing other players were attacking the group which was sent flying by Anlie.

With the player stunned, Anlie rapidly got up on her feet and took Merie’s hand, dragging her away. “Where would you love to go, Dear?” “Does it matter where we go, Anlie?” Thinking of it, so might it be for the best if they left the more intense area and found a calmer one. “Or, do you think there have an armoury? If they’ve, so might we be able to have some fun there?” One of the other groups had blown up the guard house, which might have crippled the NPCs in the city, so it could maybe cripple it even more if they found something else to blow up. “Nothing I heard about, Dear. But we might find something on the way.”

While they were running, so did Merie used her free hand to pull out one bomb after another, as the surrounding still were filled with enemies. Lobbying a bomb here and there, getting a glimpse of some groups not noticing the small bastards. But of course so was she saving the strongest in case they found a good place to blow up. And speaking of which, “How much do you think it’ll affect the city if we blow up the warehouses, where they keep the building material?” Merie could think that it might be a slight blow to the city itself if they got robbed of the majority of their material, which they would be in desperate need of to be able to rebuild the city after the attack. “I think that sounds like a good idea, and it’s better than to target the places they save their food. As the NPCs will be starved.” Anlie was along on the idea, so it only meant that they would need to find the place.

Merie let Anlie lead the way, as she didn’t have the slightest idea of where they should head, rapidly wasting the short amount of time she’d remaining of “Wind of a Goddess”. So Merie could only hope she could use it again by the time they needed to fight again. “Did you check the map before coming here, or do we need to go after my bad memory, Dear?” “I didn’t check anything before coming here.” Merie should honestly not have won anything by checking it before. She wasn’t playing that way, only diving into the mess and then trying to create as much of a hell as possible. “That sucks, and may be something you’ll need to think more about in the future.” Anlie shouldn’t say it like that. It was enough that one of them remembered the map, even if it wasn’t fully, and the one was Anlie herself

The closer they came to their target, the calmer it got. Almost giving Merie the feeling the defenders of the city weren’t expecting an attack like that. But it was only benefiting them. “Do you also want to make out in the alleyway before blowing the place up, Dear?” Anlie just wouldn’t give up those kinds of questions, would she? Hadn’t she understood that Merie couldn’t go along with those things, not even after all the times Merie had rejected her? “Is that even possible to get each other that close in the game?” Merie could only remember that she read that it wasn’t possible, not even for pairs where both agreed to it. “Probably not. But I’m willing to give it a shot if you want ” “Especially if you want to try it out in the real world.” As if Merie would go along with that idea when she didn’t go along with the first.