Origin ARS (Origin A.R.S. Book 2) (28 page)

Scott watched them briefly then smirked. The next goblin that attacked him was met by a rude and deadly surprise. Scott allowed the attack, but just before it would connect he moved into its arc and slammed his hands forward to deliver a double palm strike to the murderer’s chest. The full-power attack hit with great force and easily shattered its rib cage.

“Dammit! Call an admin! Nerf, nerf!” cried one of the other goblins as he saw his guild mate go down in a single strike. What was with this cheat-like fighting capacity?

Scott whipped his body around and delivered a brutal spinning back fist to the screaming goblin player. His face caved in from the power of the blow and he fell back. He died before he ever hit the ground.

“Nerf that.” said Scott.

The last goblin jumped back and shook his head. “The hell man! You cheating bastard.”

Scott snorted at the player and started forward to finish things. However, life would not be so kind. Just as he reached his final, current, opponent his shoulder was struck by a powerful force. He was sent spinning to the ground.

“Wha...?” asked Scott. He felt his shoulder and realized that there was a crossbow bolt sticking out. He managed to get to his feet just in time to see the goblin smirk and jump to the side. An orc wielding a massive warhammer appeared in front of him running at full-speed.

The oncoming monster moved at a speed far too rapid for Scott to match. It seemed like everything happened in slow motion, but the encounter lasted only a brief few seconds.

Scott was unable to move his right arm due to the bolt in his shoulder. He tried desperately to block the oncoming attack with his good arm, as he had no time to dodge the monstrosity coming his way. The hammer swung forward in a horizontal arc and slammed into the hapless sorcerer with explosive force. A bright red number one hundred sixty-eight flared above his head and floated upward.

He was knocked back by the brutal blow and flew through the air to slam against an invisible barrier a few feet behind him. He bounced off of the barrier and hit the ground. His chest had been completely crushed and he could not move at all. Somehow he had survived, but the damage was extensive and he would not be long for this world if it were not for the regenerative ability that he had awakened by calling upon Ero’s power.

“Scott...” Rhea reached toward him feebly, before collapsing to the ground. She was conscious, but she was also completely unable to move. All she could do was stare helplessly at the man she loved while he lied on the ground in a pool of his rapidly spreading blood.

The sorcerer felt pain unlike anything that he had ever felt before. The power he had gained from Ero was both a blessing and a curse. It immediately healed status effects that popped up after that hit, and his health continued to regenerate. Every second that passed restored one point of health and one point of mana. It was a truly incredible rate of regeneration for someone of his level.

However, he had been instantly knocked into a severe critical state. He was not allowed to pass out and become unconscious, however. The power of Ero prevented that, but that also meant that he felt every bit of the pain. He had several severely broken bones. Mechanical issues such as a shattered sternum could be healed over time, but they would still prevent him from moving much for the moment.

“Feh, weak ass punk.” said Rode, the orc who had nearly one-shotted the annoying sorcerer.

“Alright, gather them up. Bring them here.” called out Aen.

The goblin walked over and snatched up Rhea, while Rode strolled over and grabbed Scott by his hair. He turned then casually walked back to the group leader while dragging Scott through the dirt. When they reached Aen, Rode pulled Scott up by the hair and showed him to the larger orc. “You wanted this thing?”

“Not really, he’s too small. I should throw him back and find something bigger that has a little more fight in it.” said Aen. The orcs, hobgoblin, and sole surviving goblin all laughed at the stupid joke.

Scott bit his tongue. He could do nothing at the moment but wait and regenerate. He tried calling out to Ero again, but the fairy girl still did not respond.

Aen gestured toward the house. “Take them out back. You know what that little shit Karsh wanted.”

“Feh, that stupid bastard lost to this guy.” said the surviving goblin.

Rode snorted at him. “So did your three buddies. Don’t act cocky. He’s a weak little fish to me, but compared to you he was a killer shark.”

The goblin player looked like he was about to comment on that but one look from Rode silenced him. He looked away to avoid the orc’s gaze.

“Yeah, too bad he’s human.” remarked Redfang.

The other’s agreed. If he were of a monster race they would have tried to recruit him on the spot.

“Ah well, that’s enough of that. Let’s get moving.” said Aen.

Erghe, the other orc, took Rhea from the goblin and slung her over his shoulder then walked off toward the back of the house. Rode simply dragged Scott toward their destination using his hair as a hand-grip.

Once they arrived in the back yard Scott was dragged to the porch. He tried to struggle when they put a rope around his neck, but his regeneration had not restored his limb motion yet. He was close, but not close enough.

“Feisty, not bad, but it won’t do you any good.” said Aen.

Rode tossed the free end of the rope over a porch beam then walked behind Scott. He pulled casually and the sorcerer was forced to a standing position. After a few more pulls he was forced onto the tips of his toes.

Rhea was taken to a spot directly across from him. Erghe sat down on the grass and placed her limp body in his lap. After getting her paralyzed body into position, he pulled her chin up and placed a dagger at her throat.

“It’s like this. You’re going to die here. She’s going to die here, too. The Corpse Rats don’t take kindly to people screwing with our business.” said Aen.

Aen gestured to Erghe. The orc slowly slid his dagger across Rhea’s throat. The slice was not too deep, but blood began to flow. A red number seven flared above her head.

Scott cried out. “Let her go you fucking asshole!”

The orc laughed then pointed at him with his dagger. “You should worry about yourself, asshole.”

Rode jerked back on the rope and Scott was taken off the ground. He struggled but that only made things worse. He started to regain motion in his left arm, but it would not come soon enough.

A red number one floated upward from Rhea, and then a few seconds later another one appeared above her head. She had been inflicted with the bleeding status. They were going to have her slowly bleed to death while Scott was forced to watch!

Scott gagged and choked due to the rope around his neck. He was in a similar position to Rhea. He was slowly losing health each second due to asphyxiation. The regenerative effect of Ero’s power overcame that issue to some extent, but it would run out soon. He would die here.

The sorcerer tried to swing his body back in an attempt to kick at Rode, but the orc simply swatted him back. He lost several points of health in the process and his vision started to go dark.

Scott and Rhea watched each other as they continued their slow march toward death. The sorcerer’s eyes moved toward Aen.

The orc noticed his look. “I bet you want to know why she’s involved.”

Scott tried to glare at the orc but he was having trouble doing even that.

“Well, I’ll tell you. When we reported to our guild that you seemed to have a cute little girlfriend, Karsh wanted you to suffer more. You cost him a lot of money, you know. It’s nothing personal on our end, but he’s the guild leader’s brother.”

Scott continued to look at Aen. The orc frowned at him. “You think we like doing this sort of shit?”

The sorcerer’s accusing gaze continued to bore into Aen and the orc’s face screwed into a hateful mask. “Cut that shit out.”

What Aen did not know was that Scott could no longer turn his head. He had no choice but to look at him. However, the Orc was annoyed by what he thought was an accusing look. Why should he care if this guy and his girl died like this? He was just some asshole who had screwed with the guild.

After a full minute of Scott’s supposedly accusing stare Aen called out, “Fuck it! Just kill the bitch and then do him.”

When Erghe did not make a move or say anything, Aen turned to him. “Erghe?”

The orc sat silently, Rhea still in his lap bleeding out. Aen stared at him for a moment and then took a step back in surprise. Erghe’s body fell backwards and hit the ground but his severed head continued to remain in position. It looked as though it was floating in mid-air!

“What the hell? Erghe!” called out Aen.

A beautiful scantily clad girl in red appeared suddenly. She was holding Erghe’s head casually by the hair..

“Who the hell are you? Why did you kill Erghe?” asked Aen.

“Oh, sorry. Did you need this guy for something?” asked the girl.

She raise the decapitated head up, looked at it for a moment then turned it toward Aen. She placed two fingers at the corners of the decapitated orc’s mouth and pulled his lips down into a frown. “Oops, my bad.”

A loud outcry from behind Scott caught Aen’s attention next. The sorcerer immediately hit the ground as Rode fell back. The orc had a large spike sticking up out of his eye. He was dead before he hit the ground.

The girl leaned down and pressed a few spots on Rhea’s body that her armor did not cover. Her bleeding effect stopped. Amazingly, she even started to regenerate.

“Shit!” cried Redfang as he saw several dark-clad figures appeared out of thin air.

“Not a bad shot, Gambol.” said Sharde in praise of her comrade’s throwing skills.

“Oh, I try.” replied the ninja master with a smirk.

A dozen high-level ninjas had risen up all around the remaining members of the Corpse Rat Guild.

“You... Shit!” snarled Aen. Why had this happened?

The ninja-girl took a step forward and then blurred out of sight before reappearing in front of Scott. She gently removed the rope from his neck and pressed a few spots on his body. His regeneration continued at an even more accelerated pace than before.

“Who the hell are you people!” snapped Aen.

“Sharde?” asked Scott while he looked up at his unlikely savior.

The girl smirked at him then pulled out a battle fan from her ample cleavage. She turned toward Aen then gestured toward Scott with the fan. “The ice cream pervert is correct. I am Sharde.”

“Do you understand now?” asked the ninja-girl before casually tossing aside Erghe’s severed head. She had not bothered to drop it until now.

“Sharde! You... Aren’t you the leader of Crimson Shadow?”

“Oh, you’ve heard of us? How nice. Our public relations campaigns must be working.” said Sharde.

She turned and called out to Gambol. “We should give the PR ninjas a bonus.”

“Sounds good.” he said while raising his thumb.

“Why are you involving yourselves in this? Did these people hire you?” asked Aen.

Sharde opened her fan and placed it in front of her face. She fanned the air delicately. “Why, whatever do you mean, dear sir? My happy little group was merely out for an evening stroll while enjoying fine company and the nice weather.”

“You lying...” began Redfang. He was cut off by the sudden impact of a spike that penetrated his temple, killing him instantly.

“Lady Sharde never lies, she merely speaks the opposite of the truth at times of her choosing.” stated Gambol seriously.

Sharde said, “Oh ho ho ho.” and fluttered her fan once more. She could always count on Gambol to make an interesting quip.

“Dammit!” said Aen. What could he do in this situation? He was severely outnumbered and even the weakest of her ninjas was easily higher in level than he was.

“Do you bastards think you’ll get away with this?” snapped Aen.

Sharde closed her fan then slapped it down into her free hand. “Yes.”

That was the signal. Gambol threw two spikes that slammed deeply into Aen’s thighs, easily penetrating his thick steel armor. The orc cried out in pain then discovered, to his horror; that he could not move. He was paralyzed while standing up! His legs had been locked in place by simultaneous pin-point nerve strikes.

A dozen ninjas raced into the yard and began to hurl throwing stars at Aen. The remaining goblin was killed off quickly, but Aen was cut apart by dozens of small thrown weapons that moved at speeds far too swift for him to avoid or deflect.

He tried to avoid them but only succeeded in falling backwards. Soon, he was a mass of bloody flesh wrapped in badly torn metal armor. Once he reached a critical state the assault ended.

Sharde casually walked over to the downed orc and placed her foot atop his chest. “I win. Please praise me.”

“Why?” gasped out Aen. What was the connection between these people and the sorcerer? Was he in their guild?

Sharde tilted her head to the side and offered him a wide, innocent, look. “Why?”

Aen wheezed then began to choke a little as her foot pressed down with casual, but powerful, pressure. The innocence of her expression faded when she smirked at him and said, “Why not?”