End of an Era (Project Chrysalis Book 2) by John Gold (always you kirsty moseley .TXT) 📗

old just like us, though you don’t die when you’re killed on the field of battle. What could be worse for a parent than the death of a child? You grew up much faster than I expected, and you’ve already traversed a long path…so, you need to keep going. You can pick up new levels, work on your skills, see the world. We’ll be here on the island. We aren’t going anywhere. You have the rings, so you can always find us if anything happens.”

It’s a quiet evening, and the sky is sprinkled with stars. My parents come out to see us off. Mama is really worried, and I’m already starting to miss them. I spent so long looking for them, and now I’m leaving again. The wooden home, the pier, my parents with little Rosie in their arms, the smell of father’s tobacco, the glistening sea, the distant forest, it’s all a picture I will carry in my heart. I don’t need a screenshot to remember it.

We’re in the eastern part of the Ocean of Terror, so it takes us ten days running to get to Radaam.

Running across the water, we start down the River of Life, and then cross over onto the Sea of Madness, so called because of how crazy the monsters who live there are. For some reason, there’s an aura of death at the center. The aura isn’t constant, though it extends far out over the water, even including some neighboring regions. The monsters there attack everything that ventures into their waters when it clicks on. Even the villages on the eastern shore of Radaam aren’t safe. For the locals, it’s a different kind of monster hunting. They hide in forts and castles, killing the monsters using defensive armaments.

A gigantic hydra comes after us. The sea churns, I feel the aura of death, and large waves bracket us. Damn it! A storm is about to start!

Monster, Karai Sea Hydra, Level 1244

 

The only thing that comes to mind when I see an opponent that terrifying is quotes from the Bible. It has eleven heads and a body the size of a whale, with each head at least half as big as a frigate. If it found its way to the port in Sural, it would kill half the population.

“Sagie, distract it! I’ll chop a head off, though remember that their regeneration is ridiculous, and they have huge resistance to physical damage. Their skin is thick, they spit poison, and they shoot all kinds of other stuff.”

It took Fem less than five seconds to say this. By the sixth second, she was cutting a path around to the hydra’s left. She dove into the water, exchanging her sandals for her plate armor boots to get the armor’s set effect, and by the tenth second she was using a scroll to get back up on top of the water. We’ve prepared for fighting on water ever since we saw the strange whale over in the Sea of Calm. A waterproof scroll for walking on water is part of our strategy.

Her armor glows red. Femida is going in for a quick fight, an attack on two fronts. I’m there to distract; she’s there to kill.

“Go left. I have to get out of its field of vision.”

I have to move left as I shell the hydra with fire balls. The water is a good conductor, so I can’t use lightning. On the other hand, they almost always hit the target, especially if it’s as big as that hydra’s body. Two dozen lightning bolts later, all of the heads spit poison at me. Gaggles of sea snakes even come flying in my direction.

“Fem, when I tell you, jump. I need a full charge.”

“Got it.”

“Jump!”

In the three seconds Fem spends in the air, I’m able to hit the hydra’s body with three maximum charges. I have to jump, too - I could die from that much damage. The snakes are killed immediately. I get a river of experience and the hydra comes hurtling at me. A poisonous cloud seeps out of it along with some other, stronger bots.

Reptiles, Karai Newt, Level 244

 

The waves kick up even harder as the epicenter of the storm nears. I can already hear the thunder. A few twisters head in our direction from the north, where the front originated.

The hydra starts throwing water blades and water whips. They’re powerful spells, but my shield is equal to the task.

I’m down to just 10000 mana.

Fem uses her dissection ability and lops off three heads, taking the long necks off all the way down at the base. One of the other heads turns toward her, though every head that tries to do so gets hit by a several bolts of lightning.

“Jump. I’m going to throw everything I have at it.”

Fem leaps into the air, and two of the hydra’s heads take huge damage. It’s stunned, its regeneration speed drops, and Fem is able to take off yet another head.

It’s my turn to work on the bots, who have gotten to me in the meantime. Femida takes off another head and ducks under the swinging tail. Her armor is glowing a bright crimson. I need to heal her, though I have to be in contact for that. We’re going to kill the hydra or die trying.

Pain shoots through my leg. The little snakes and newts are too many, and they’ve broken through my shield. It’s just a good thing their level is so low. My clothes help, too. The water around me is boiling with them, everything writhing and twisting. Time to jump!

“Dragon breath! Maximum!”

I only have 2000 mana left, though I pull up two shields at the last moment and run off. There’s lots of experience coming my way, the water is boiling, and the bodies of the monsters are floating, belly-up.