Perfect.
I wanted to separate them, first Pixie then Lanette. They were too strong as a duo. Not only that, Lanette’s laser eye was a problem, shedding away more HP than expected.
“It’s not just any laser eye either. It isn’t magic…” I whispered to myself as the skin around her metal eye began to cover up her secret again. Lanette was the first fae I noticed who had cyber gear parts, which meant that she was a hybrid—half human, half fae…
Before I could step inside the ring with her again, I looked over my head and noticed Rufian flying over it. He crash landed a few yards behind me, leaving Lanette and Pixie on the offensive for yours truly. Knowing I couldn’t handle them both on my own, I dashed into the woods to regroup with Rufian, the girls already sprinting after me.
“Hey! Come back here and fight like a girl!”
Luckily Rufian fell in a soft ditch, and honestly, I was tempted to leave him in there after the shit he pulled earlier. “This is no time to catch a short break,” I said as I gave him a hand up.
“Well, well, well. Look who's still alive,” he said smugly as he dusted the dirt off his knees. “You owe me one, Silas."
I squared my eyes on him. “I don’t owe you shit, asshole!” I grunted. “You’re the one who ditched the mission!”
He shrugged playfully. “It’s not my fault you were above waiting.”
“I hope that piece of ass was worth me getting shot with a fucking laser eye!”
He snickered. “You don’t want me answering that.” Then Rufian winced, grabbing onto his shoulder. “Ahh, brawlers. A real pain in my backside.” He turned to me and plotted. “They are catching up, and fast. I say we swap foes.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “You mean you take the small fry and I take on the level 90 tank?”
He grinned. “Don’t think you can handle her? You have armor don’t you?”
“Yeah, my torso. Nothing is stopping her from crushing my head in her big fists. Been there, done that.” I sighed. “But don’t worry. I’ll take on Pixie. Based on our skillset, it makes more sense that you fight Lanette solo and I Pixie. I got Enrage by my side.”
“Correct. And if you can double your strength, you may surpass hers.”
“You good to fight?”
“Right after you pop my shoulder in place!”
I did, holding onto Rufian and adjusting his socket. He winced briefly, then I stood back for him to swing his arm, settling to its adjustment. “Ah, yes. Much better.”
“Come on. Let’s go.”
“FOUND YOU!” Pixie boomed, the rage in her voice directed toward Rufian, but I stepped in between her rock snake tunneling through the air, grabbing it by its jowls.
“That’s right, eat him up, big mama!” Lanette cheered, before Rufian spooked the girl by tossing a barrage of ice shards her way. Rufian was good at distancing her from me and Pixie as he fought, and I was doing my damn best from getting swallowed by this rock snake that continued to burn the soles of my shoes as it pushed me backward.
Damn, this thing got some momentum to it, don’t it?
“Haha, you must be suicidal to jump into the mouth of a beast!” Pixie taunted. “I will crush you!” She brought her hand up and balled her sprawled out fingers into a palm, ordering her giant rock snake to snap its mouth shut on me. But little did she know I had gotten a shaman orc’s blessing, and my strength was much higher than the standard for a level 30 opponent. I also had Enrage, the gift from the dungeon core herself for finding her first shield. So I tapped into my gift, my body savoring the boost in power. With one jerk of my arms, I lifted the makeshift beast and smashed it on the ground, leaving Pixie on the other end speechless.
Judging by that stark face of hers, she wasn’t expecting me to handle her snake so easily. I didn’t skip a beat, dashing toward her with all of my might and a battle cry that had Pixie bracing herself for impact.
“Come on, runt! I am not afraid of you!”
“You should be!” I cocked my hand back and she blocked her face with her two arms parallel to one another, the back of them piling on more armor from the shattered snake around us.
It wouldn’t matter, her efforts were pointless. I ate through that armor like it was nothing, hitting Pixie directly.
Muscles were torn, bones were cracked—a 240 base strength punch could do that to you. I followed up with a rib shot, shattering more of her armor and crippling Pixie instantly. When I revved up for another punch, she leaped back, using a rock saucer to flee.
She’d had enough. Better yet, it looked like she was retreating. I couldn’t blame her. Enrage came with another perk often times not talked about. I had a slice of invulnerability for my brawler attacks with my booster pie, making those blows painless for me. It was like an invisible shield over my attacks, and it was a good thing too, because I would have easily broken my bones without it. I had the power of an orc for every swing, and Pixie was expecting a wee ol’ fae brawler shot shy of any real damage.
“Big mama!” Lanette cried as she leaped on a tree limb to space herself out from Rufian’s ice tendrils. Without her in my way, I was able to subdue Pixie with two punches. And here I was afraid of fighting her head on earlier. But I couldn’t let my pride of shutting down a level 90 foe get to my head. I needed to finish her off.
“You bastard!” Pixie cried as she crouched over, hugging her arm. Blood ran down its course along her fragmented stone sleeve, her hand hanging in her grip lifelessly. I paced toward her, ready to deliver the final blow. Rufian was in the background barking at me to end her as well, but Lanette had an escape route…
“Flash bang!” she shouted, then clapped her hands together twice. All of a sudden the grove was swallowed in a film of blinding white light, forcing me to shut my eyes. I winced, backing myself away for safety. When I tried to open my eyes, I couldn’t see a damn thing, not even my hands right in front of me.
Another cyber attack, I was sure of it!
Luckily for us, the bleach effect didn’t last for longer than 10 seconds. I had a hunch that they were blinded too, because Rufian and I came out of the flash unharmed. However, the flash allowed them to flee, both Pixie and Lanette disappearing from the scene.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“You should have killed her,” Rufian scolded, picking up my halberd from the ground and handing it to me. I had no idea how it made its way here, but I was fortunate to have it back. I grabbed the hilt, Rufian not budging off of it yet. His eyes were cross yet sincere at the same time, which left me confused.
“I was aiming for that.”
“Were you?”
My eyes lit up. “Did you think I was going to spare her?”
“With you I can’t be quite sure.”
