hitbox17-blog

[hitbox17-blog]

-*Prologue*-

Two figures stood inside a crumbling cathedralesque building, weathered by years of untamed greenery growing over decaying cobblestone walls and pillars. Their heavy breath bounced off the walls, filling the building with its sound as they pressed their sweating backs against each other. The male wielded a large blade covered in a blue substance where his companion, a female, bore a staff that cast vibrant pulses of yellow light. The clicking of nails and chittering of the creatures could be heard from the shadows surrounding them.

"Get ready Meryl," the male said in between breathes as he raised his blade to his wide chest. Closing his eyes, he whispered something to the hilt of his weapon. At his words, the substance on the sword lit ablaze.

"I’ve got your back Oric," she said as she smiled, battered face covered in blood. Focusing, Meryl twirled her staff once in air in front of her, producing a small floating ball of light which further illuminated the area.

As the ball rose above them and slowly filled the room with light, it revealed to them an army of goblins swarming the building from every opening. Some were leaping nimbly from wall to wall, others creeping slowly across the ground with their crude weapons at the ready, but all were pressing closer in on the duo at the center of the room. Both figures stood their ground, battle ready, as the ball of light rose to the peak of the room. When it reached the top, there was a sudden screech from one of the goblins in the crowd as the enemies began rushing towards the two warriors as one sea of limbs and waving weapons.

"STAMPEDE SHIELD!!!” Oric yelled as he shot forward, a visceral shield of energy surrounding him as he blew through a group of their foes, forming a small opening in their ranks. Their mangled and crippled bodies soared through the air even still as he began swinging his blazing blue and silver sword. Meanwhile, his comrade guided her staff through the air in a sort of dance as energy shot from the weapon’s end, sending smaller bunches of goblins flying as they attempted to separate the two figures. Each opening they made was almost immediately filled with fresh enemies, hopping and climbing over their comrades’ corpses, forcing the two adventurers to return to a back to back position – trapped and surrounded by their enemies.

"There's too many!" Oric said, blocking arrows and blades as fast as he could. Though he was quick, a few arrows managed to get past him, one sliding into each of his shoulders at the same time that a thrown dagger found its way into his chest.

"Shit, shit! We have to run!" Meryl exclaimed, twirling her staff repeatedly as she spoke. The movement seemed to summon a powerful gust of wind, which cleared a narrow path of escape through the nasty creatures.

But it was too late.

Oric was in trouble.

As multiple blades began piercing his armor, biting deeper and deeper into his flesh, Oric gritted his teeth. "Run Meryl!!!” he bellowed. “You have to live!" And with this, he nudged her firmly down the path she had created. Even as he did so, he began coughing up blood. Though his vision was already swimming, he was determined to still put up a fight.

Blocking blows from the few goblins that managed to press through the barrier of wind that was fast beginning to fade, Meryl stepped back towards her companion. “NO!!!” she called out towards him. She could plainly see that he wasn’t going to make it out alone. “I can't do that, Oric!” she said as she moved within arms length of the man. “Now let's go!" she yelled, grabbing him by the collar of his armor.

But Oric had other plans.

Calmly, he removed her hand from his chest and pushed her again down the continuously narrowing path, his normally brown eyes suddenly glowing blue. "Go, Meryl,” he said firmly. “NOW!!!” he bellowed. The woman stumbled down the path she’d made, her eyes widening and her skin rapidly going pale as she realized what he was doing. “Don't make me regret this," he said with a stern look as he swept his blade through a particularly aggressive bunch of goblins.

Nodding slowly, Meryl turned to face the route to her escape. As she did, she started tearing up. "Fine...” she spoke gruffly, turning her head to look over her shoulder at her companion one last time. “I'll see you soon."

And with that, she started running. She swung her staff rhythmically at the goblins that jumped out at her as she continued down the long corridor that was similarly overrun with enemies, each turn yielding more and more. She could see the outline of the bridge coming closer with each step she took, every moment getting farther and farther away from her friend. Heavy at the thought, Meryl tried to focus on the task at hand – crossing the bridge and reaching the goal.

Meanwhile, Oric stood his ground. Surrounded and alone now,  he steadied his breathing as the light of the orb began to dim with each step Meryl took away from it. His eyes continued to glow an ever brighter blue, fully ablaze with vibrant sapphire light as the light flickered in and out, teetering on the edge of being extinguished. "It’s worth the sacrifice," he said, smiling as blades and arrows riddled his body. Triumphantly, he closed his eyes and drew his blade to his chest.

As Meryl finally crested the opposite end of the long bridge now standing between her and the building, the woman turned her gaze to the gaping hallway from which she had just escaped. Just when the light of her orb died, a massive explosion rattled the broken structure. Bracing herself against the sonic wave that came after, Meryl looked on as a blue flame roared through the pitch black hallway for a few moments before evaporating. She sighed and looked down defeated until a small beep was heard and a hologram popped up on her wrist.

"XP Gained" the notification read, as a green bar at the lower edge of her vision filled up 5 times. Once this had completed, an exclamation mark popped up where the notification had previously been. Meryl tapped it excitedly. She scanned the text that scrolled by quickly. An item was available for her. As she grinned and moved to open the box containing her item, a firm hand grabbed her shoulder, startling her momentarily.

"Hope you got that item," a familiar voice said. As she laughed, Meryl turned to her now fully healed comrade. Oric chuckled gently as she raised her gnarled staff, watching on with pride as it disappeared and reappeared as new weapon. This staff looked as if it had been carved by a professional rather than taken from the wild, and multiple sigils glowed red along its length "Of course!” Meryl said as she twirled the new staff in hand momentarily before stowing it across her back. Frowning and placing her hands on her hips, she pouted at Oric. “But you didn't need to sacrifice your experience for me! We could've handled that," she muttered as she punched him in the shoulder.

He winced playfully "Ow ow,  easy I'm still sore from the pain sensors,” he whined with a wink. “But hey, I did get to use supernova. Finally! I’d call that a win, even though I died," he grinned, posing heroically. "Next time my sword better drop, though! I swear, we have run this instance twenty times at least, now." He sighed heavily, looking far more deflated than when he’d begun.

Meryl patted his head gently. "It will, it will," she reassured him. As she spoke, both received another pop up notification. They looked at each other, each raising their brow in question.

"Interesting,” muttered Oric. “A new quest just appeared back inside the cathedral." Oric tilted his head in puzzlement at the screen on his wrist as Meryl scanned through the details.

"I don't remember picking up another quest in this area," she said questioningly as they both looked across the bridge at the now pitch black corridor.

"Let's check it out,” Oric said, determination filling his voice as he drew his sword from its sheath at his hip. “Maybe it's a special quest line," Oric posited. Meryl nodded in agreement as she closed her log and drew her new staff from behind her back.

Crossing the bridge quickly, they stepped back into the darkened hallway, the deadly area reeking of burned flesh and blood. As the darkness surrounded them fully, Meryl raised her staff. "Illumination," she muttered, and once more a small ball of light flickered to life before them. Tethering the light to the tip of her staff with a wave of her hand, Meryl stepped cautiously forward until the two stood in the middle of the giant room from which they had just fled. Releasing the light to allow them both to look around, Meryl frowned after a few moments of searching the room as Oric watched on, sword at the ready. "I don't see any quest markers,” the woman said cautiously.

“And there’s no enemies,” Oric added, scanning the area again even as he said so.

“This is weird," Meryl whispered as Oric pulled open the quest log.

"Maybe it's a bug,” he suggested calmly. “I'll report it now. After all, this is a beta," he added. But just as he was tapping through options and menus, a giant screech shattered the silence of the room.

Both players cried out in pain, covering their ears as a large creature fell from above, landing heavily in front of them both. Initially jumping back in fear, as the two warriors recovered they took up their weapons once more, readying themselves for battle.

"Holy shit, that thing is huge!" Oric exclaimed as the two fell back to a more advantageous distance. The massive creature was completely black with white eyes all over its body, its multitude of arms twisting and whipping around. It had blades for fingers, and tiny fissures of glowing red and blue magic streaking across its body.

"That looks bugged out, doesn't it?!" Meryl yelled back, her voice heavy with concern.

Oric shook his head "It’s just a boss we haven't seen before, keep calm!" he said as a gust of wind blew across his face, a harbinger of one of the creature’s spinning black arms. Oric barely managed to shield himself from the onslaught of it’s hand, each knived finger striking his defenses individually. He looked back at the creature as its attack ricocheted off his shield, its arm soaring in a strange arc before it retracted to its body.

As his shield lowered, Oric heard a small cry.

Turning, he took in Meryl, her body rigid and her eyes wide open in shock. With a sudden wave of disappointment, Oric realized what had happened. Five bladed fingers had severed the woman into pieces. She began drooling blood, her eyes slowly rising to her shocked companion’s face

"Oric, I’m...bleeding," she muttered, out of breath.

As Oric stood shocked, he combed his brain for comforting words. "Well yeah, the game’s rated mature for a reason...” he said shakily, but for some reason he couldn’t get rid of the dread filling him as he took in his companion’s bleeding body. “That thing’s fast, isn't it?” he said, his voice only slightly less shaky than before. Inhaling deeply, Oric’s grip on his blade tightened. “Re-spawn now, I'll try to hold it off until you get back," he said confidently, his racing thoughts slowly calming back down after the initial shock.

But even so, Oric knew something was off.

For one, Meryl’s body still wasn't fading away.

"Meryl?” he said softly, “Re-spaw–" he was cut off by a sudden "Player has left party" notification popping up where Meryl’s body had been standing moments before. Momentarily confused, Oric shrugged as he turned his focus back to the large creature that was standing strangely still in front of him. "Well, she may have rage quit...but I certainly love a challenge!" And with a smile, he began to charge the creature, sword glowing vibrantly in front of him. As it's arms came crashing down, he quickly dashed between its limbs. "STAMPEDE SHIELD!!!" he yelled, leaping into the air as the bright shield once again appeared in front of him.

But before he could reach the creature’s large head, he suddenly became frozen in place.

Caught off guard, Oric hung in the air helplessly as blades pierced his gut. "What the–" blood began to spew from his wound, causing the man to scream in pain. "THE FUCK!!!" he writhed in pain as the abomination ripped his body apart, sending his torso flying to the ground. His eyes wide open, Oric watched on with dimming vision. He saw his legs land far away from his body, other bloodied chunks raining down after them, most too destroyed to recognize. "This...isn't...real," he choked out, trying to tell his disjointed torso to reach for his blade.

Suddenly, the word “Disconnected” filled Oric’s vision, remaining there as his world went black.

As Oric’s eyes closed, the creature screeched and began to fade away from the level until not a trace of its glowing arms and body was left.

From behind a moss covered pillar at the far edge of the map, a shadowy figure slowly emerged. It’s dark robes billowed out behind it as it moved slowly towards the bloody spots that marked the place where the two heroes had fallen. Inhaling deeply, the figure nodded. “It seems that my beta is over..." it muttered, an evil smile barely visible from beneath its hood. Laughter filled the room as the map faded into darkness.

Logging Out...

© Copyright David Lara & R.E. Pouncey 2016-2017. All Rights Reserved.