+ Atk hit. +FIRE DMG. Igniz damaged varanus indicus for 2338.
+ Attack hit varanus indicus. +POISON DMG. varanus indicus has been poisoned. CRIT HIT. Dmg 352.
+ Attack hit varanus indicus. +POISON DMG. varanus indicus has been poisoned. CRIT HIT. Dmg 348.
+ Attack hit varanus indicus. +POISON DMG. varanus indicus has been poisoned. CRIT HIT. Dmg 356.
+ Attack hit varanus indicus. +POISON DMG. varanus indicus has been poisoned. CRIT HIT. Dmg 342.
+ Attack hit varanus indicus. +POISON DMG. varanus indicus has been poisoned. CRIT HIT. Dmg 352.
+ Attack hit varanus indicus. +POISON DMG. varanus indicus has been poisoned. CRIT HIT. Dmg 341.
+ Attack hit varanus indicus. +POISON DMG. varanus indicus has been poisoned. CRIT HIT. Dmg 355.
+ Attack hit varanus indicus. +POISON DMG. varanus indicus has been poisoned. CRIT HIT. Dmg 350.
It took them about 4 minutes to kill the two varanus indicus monsters. Just barely enough time when they saw that the rest of horde was starting to come out of the fourth firewall.
"Sierra. Let's go. It's time to run."
This time Sierra joined Smoke as they ran in the opposite direction of the varanus indicus horde.
Destination: Coatl City.
Smoke, Sierra, Adder, and Igniz escaped into the forest up ahead, leaving the horde of varanus indicus trapped behind the infused firewalls and mandragora smoke.
A pair of sinister yellow eyes with black slits came into view as Spyteria stood on top of the trees, watching her targets escape. She was afraid to report what had just happened but she had to do it.
Taking out her magical golden plate of communication, Spyteria called her master, ready to face the consequences of her failure.
"High General Lizardo, I've come to give my report."
"Don't tell me, you've failed to capture Smoke once more? Yes, I knew it from the moment I saw your abjected face. So, tell me what miraculous feat did this, Smoke, do this time? Did he perhaps, summon a dragon? Did he conjure an army of undead? What did he do that even my varanus indicus corps couldn't catch him?"
"Well, my lord, it seems that he has been hiding a very strong ally. His friend was a red WereBear. It appeared that she was waiting up ahead of us. There could have been more of them further ahead, so, I thought it wise to save the rest of your elite varanus indicus rather than send them out to Smoke's trap. I'm so sorry for failing you, High General. If you will for my head,. I shall have Colonel Varano deliver it to you."
"Spyteria, there is no need for such a drastic action. I've come to realize that Smoke must be blessed by the god of fortune, Tezcatl. I see no other explanation why we, the supreme race of Lizardites, would lose to such a mortal. For now, I want you to continue observing his movements. I shall consult with the great shaman Talino on how to properly deal with him."
Smoke and the rest of his companions ran without looking back. After about half an hour, Smoke decided to check if they were still being followed. He wished he had some scouting ability like Ichaival's shared vision with his falcon.
He only had his 'Cunning of the Dire Fox' to rely on, this ability did not sense any monsters within its 330 meter range. He called for everyone to stop. They needed to regain some of their strength quickly.
Convinced that they were relatively safe from the horde of varanus indicus. Smoke gave his signal to Adder and Igniz to make camp.
They had already mastered the way of setting up a campfire in under a minute. Sierra couldn't stop her saliva from drooling when she smelled the 'medicinal deer stew' being cooked.
She had been eating nothing but raw food for the past month. The fish from the river was the best tasting raw food available to her. This was the reason why she based her search for the Wysteria Witches following the Murray River’s path.
Smoke prepared a dish especially for Sierra, he hurriedly made a pseudo table out of branches and rocks that were in the forest floor.
"This is amazing! I didn't know you were such a great cook."
"Wow! I can't believe such a compliment coming from you Sierra. You're the best cook that I know. Well, we are in Zectas so I guess the taste does differ a little bit. But I bet when you gain the cooking ability you'll make dishes that surpasses the boundaries of this world's tastes."
Adder and Igniz looked at each other. They've never seen Smoke act like this before. He looked like some lost puppy that just found his master.
Smoke was saying things that didn't make any sense at all. They assumed that Sierra must be a very close friend, for him to be acting out this way.
"Oh, that's right, I was enjoying your dish so much that I completely forgot. I'm still mad at you Smoke. You said that you'd come to visit me at the Diner."
"But, I thought you said not to bother? I distinctly remember that you said you were busy with something else. Oh, you were busy with playing Zectas."
"See, I wanted to surprise you, that's why I didn't tell you that I was playing. If you could only see your surprised face right now, these past eight months were worth it."
"You've been looking for me? For these past eight months?"
"No, that's not what I meant, I just meant that these past few months has been enjoyable even without you. I mean ... I've fallen in love with Zectas just as much as you... have fallen in love with it."
"Oh, I think I get it now. Something has been bugging me for a while as well, now I don't mean to sound rude but why did you choose the race of a WereBear? I saw just how powerful that race was but I don't think that the WereBear race suits you very much. I think maybe a High Elf or just Human would've been great. Any race that shows your true face would have been a better choice in my opinion."
"Stop it, now you're just making fun of me. I happen to like my red fur and this immense defensive power. Being a strong WereBear more than makes up for its... shall we say... lack of finesse?"
"So, you just chose the WereBear race when you started the game? Like when the voice in the bright light said, what is your preferred race? You just went and said WereBear?"
Sierra launched her left paw aiming to punch Smoke, he felt the punch coming but decided to take it since he knew he had it coming. The punch threw him a good distance back. Damaging him for 3,000 points.
"Smoke? Smoke, are you alright? I'm so sorry. I told you to stop making fun of me,. I'm still new to this WereBear form."
Smoke got up and sat down. He just waited for the increased regeneration to refill his lifebar.
"You were right, I did choose the High Elf race. I've been traveling for these past few months in these forests. Searching for... this village called Repormatl. I was told by my NPC guide that I would obtain an immense power from that place. Well, I gotta hand it to Nenek, I truly did receive tremendous power. She just failed to mention that it would transform me into a WereBear."
"Did this, Nenek, person trick you?"
"No, I don't think so. You see, I got a series quest. You know the kind where after you complete one quest it automatically updates and increases the quest's difficulty? What was I thinking? Of course you know what a series quest is."
"Of course, a series quest. Yup, I've gotten one of those as well. Those quests are really time consuming. Mine got to umm... Level C. So what's the current level of your series quest?"
"It's at Level C and this is just its first upgrade of the series."
"Oh... I see, and what does the quest say to do next?"
"It's really vague. It just tells me to go and look for the Witches of Wysteria and wipe them out."
"Witches of Wysteria? I think I read something about them before. They were once convicted Witches in Coatl City and were sentenced to be trapped inside the Maneator's labyrinth. I guess they must have escaped if they were the ones to put that curse on you."
Listening in on their conversation, Adder added in what he knew about the Witches of Wysteria. Since it had been one of the scary stories that the virile guards told around Condortl, saying that there were thousands of scarier monsters out there, not just the virile lizards.
"I know something about those Witches. According to one of the virile lizard guards, who liked to scare little children. He said, these Wysteria Witches go around villages and kidnap children. They were supposed to take those children into a small remote village. There they would sacrifice those children as offerings to their demon lords. The way that damn virile lizard described how they sacrificed the children was too graphic for me to repeat it without throwing up."
Smoke and Sierra were looking at Adder and couldn't imagine just what kind of horrific things those evil Witches must have done.
Sierra then nodded at Smoke as if to point out that he hasn't introduced her to the rest of his entourage. It took Smoke a couple of seconds before he understood what the nod meant.
"Right, Sierra, this is, Adder, my trusted friend and the first member of my private army, and that energetic sprite is called, Igniz, he is my symbiote. Guys, I'd like you to meet Sierra. She is my... closest friend from back home."
They all gave their acknowledgment to each other. Igniz sped his way towards Sierra, and whizzed around her. Creating a dazzling dark purple light show.
"My, Igniz, sure is friendly."
Smoke asked Adder if the virile lizard guard had more information about the Witches. Maybe, their location, or perhaps their home town?
"Sorry, but that was all that guard said."
"Don't worry Sierra, I have a gut feeling that we will find some more information about these Witches in Coatl City."
"Umm, I can't go near any of the main cities, the sentry guards automatically attack me and the other players are even worse. They try to hunt me like I'm some sort of prize animal. Of course not many players can manage to harm me but if I'm up against a guild I doubt that I could do anything against them."
"No problem, I can follow up on this lead for you. I was planning to go there anyway. I just have some unfinished business here, with one of these monsters hiding inside these forests."
"Huh? A monster hunt? Nice! I'll come along. I don't know if you've heard but people around Chayotl Kingdom call me the 'Impenetrable Wall' I can play the role of a tanker."
"It doesn't really feel right, you know, having you play tanker. Isn't it suppose to be the other way around? The man takes the hits while you fire away from a safe distance?"
"That's just sexist. Nenek, my NPC guide has 3,000,000 HP and from my understanding she also plays the role of a tanker. It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman, all that matters is, if you can take out the damage that the enemies have to give."
"This is also the same for us Condortlians. As long as that person can manage the front lines it doesn't matter whether they are male or female."
"Argh! I didn't mean for it to sound like that. Of course I'm okay with you playing the role of our tanker."
"Smoke, relax, I know that's not what you meant, I was just teasing you."
It had been almost an hour since the group rested. But just to ease Smoke's paranoia, he checked their surroundings again with his 'Cunning of the Dire Fox' and felt no enemy presence.
Smoke charted a longer and safer route towards Nanahuatl Village. He told Sierra that they would now head to his home here in Zectas. He told her that it's a friendly village and that she had nothing to fear there.
As they started on their way, the two long lost friends started exchanging their experiences of the game. Secret discoveries were revealed as well as hidden game information. They knew that they could trust each other completely and that they didn't have any hidden agendas.
After catching up with their experiences in the game, they continued to talk about the situation in their real lives, about Smoke's brothers and grandma, and about Sierra's uncle and the Diner.
Quaint and serene, these were the words that came into Sierra's mind when she first caught a glimpse of Nanahuatl Village. In all the villages she had been to, this was the most peaceful and homey.
"Impressed? I know that its size cannot compete against that of a main city's but this place is the best place in all of Zectas."
Upon entering the village, the residents greeted them as if they were returning heroes. Of course this was mostly because Smoke was with them, but it was also a fact that the residents here don't judge your race or your alignment. Yes, everyone is welcomed in Nanahuatl Village, provided that you won't be starting any kind of trouble.
Smoke immediately brought Sierra to Darius. He wanted him to meet her. He knew that his two favorite persons in Zectas would hit it off.
