Avilien: Tutorial islands

The town of ice

Scrambling over debris, that was huge chunks of meringue, Luke, Cissy, and Nagori slipped into the town. Zeult had not relented and continued the complete destruction of the town, his sense of smell noting where his allies were. Nothing would stop him, not even Nook. His health regen negated all damage done to him from the few survivors.

Empty streets allowed the group to traverse without further issues and it wasn't long before they came to the back wall of Meringue. No players in sight and the candy cane portcullis raised meant they could push on. The winding road ahead led up the mountain and proved to be a long trek. No traffic and no players meant no one had to stop. Apart from looking down at the sheer carnage.

The closer the group got to the top the chillier the winds got as it blustered by threatening to sweep them off their feet. For Luke who wore little clothing, he could feel every inch of the cold chill. Yet his temper was fiery hot and burned ever stronger the closer he got to Damocles.

Less than five minutes passed since Meringue and now the town of Ice and its tall clear walls of ice loomed in the distance. Zeult had destroyed over half of Meringue and every red player except for one. Luke, too high up to tell wanted to know if Split was okay. He had left his friend in a bad predicament. He hoped Split would win and shaking his head he threw the idea out of his mind. No, Split would win. He was a strong guy with a strong sense of justice and skill.

"Luke, we need to get going. We don't have Zeult to help with the red players in the next town," said Cissy as she tried to snap Luke out of his trance. He had stood looking over the railing on the road to the land below.

"I was worried about nothing. Sorry, let's get this over with," replied Luke. Taking a deep breath he slapped his cheeks and got his game face on.

As the three of them reached the top of the road and the glistening clear walls the gate, also made from ice was down barring their passage. More than fifty red players lined the tops of the walls, all now aiming weapons at the group. Luke, front and centre stood with Crackling Thunder in hand. He looked up at the men, women, and teen players, none of them above level two, and yet they were all red.

"Cissy, defend Nagori. Nagori keep light heals on me," cried Luke as he vaulted into the air and towards the towering walls. Even with the giant leap mechanic, Luke couldn't clear the walls. He scarce made it halfway up.

Magic blasts of all elements and all sizes mixed with arrows and other abilities rained down on Luke as he started to free fall in the air. Using the blip mechanic Luke hurled Crackling Thunder at the wall of ice so it penetrated. Once in deep enough, he blipped towards it and then used the sword as a springboard to propel himself up the remainder of the wall.

Summoning sword back into his hand Luke landed on the walkway of the wall between dozens of startled players. In between benches, potted plants, and frost trees, Luke looked at his opponents. His opponents were not sure what to make of a lad that just cleared the wall. Never had they seen such a display of skill and it came from a level five. Within their disbelief, they stuttered and flinched so Luke struck first. Hard and fast.

Thunder Bounce charged into his boots, Luke disappeared before the enemies eyes. Through blurs, he struck the players over and over. In less than five seconds eight players lay on the floor with a message above them.

"Attack him!" screamed a level six paladin in silver armour as he came rushing down stone steps with a golden sword in hand.

Luke dashed through the crowd, dodging, weaving, hacking and slashing until his sword met with Lex the level six paladin. The lad towered over Luke and with his two hands on his holy sword he struggled to block Luke's frontal attack. Luke side-stepped right and conjured his sword to his left hand. Lex stumbled forward before Luke drove Crackling Thunder between the bulky steel breastplate joints. Lex took major damage and critical damage as the message Critical Strike appeared in the air.

Activating Holy Ground, Luke leapt back away from Lex. Landing next to two more red players he dodged their sword blows and dispatched them with a kick off the wall.

"Who in the blazes are you? You know who's town you are attacking?" cried a drip-white faced Lex. Half of his health had gone in a second, even as a tank.

"I'm here to save my friends. Feel free to stand down." Luke charged Thunder Bounce once more.

"Stand down... to you? Forget it.." Lex said no more and braced for Luke's attack.

Luke vanished from Lex's sight and the next he knew he was laying on the floor with one health and looking up at the clouds. He stayed there, unable to move anything but his eyes. Most players passed out but for Lex, he had to witness the swirling madness that was Luke's sword as he was like a whirlwind cutting through the entire enemy force. He made it look effortless.

"Finally!" stammered Nagori as she heaved deep breaths and hauled herself over the wall with Cissy.

"All of them?" exclaimed Cissy as she struggled to catch her breath. She looked at the carnage before her. Every player groaning in agony or unconscious due to Luke.

"They were weak. Besides, Damocles and his friends should be the only players to be a threat." Luke looked down at Lex as his finger hovered over the message board that floated above.

Worth twenty gold, Luke could either finish Lex or send him to the underworld prison. A quick tap on the underworld prison button saw Lex vanish. Luke now became worth gold. If he chose the delete option he would have claimed all Lex's gear, class, and items instantly with no need to loot the lads holo watch. Deleting a person was deemed bad karma and essentially made you a red player. Luke wasn't going to become like them.

"Err, there is a lot more of them down there," Nagori peered into the town where another fifty or so players had gathered.

"Nagori stay up here and heal both Cissy and I. Come on Cissy. Once we clean these guys up we should be free to push on to Damocles." Luke left no time for negotiations as he walked to the edge of the wall and hopped down to the street below.

The road from the gate led through the town and to the very town hall that was the main objective. A straight shot there with a mere fifty players blocking their path. Cissy joined Luke soon after and battle ensured. From high up Nagori was safe, she conjured healing circles on both Luke and Cissy before then infecting the enemy players with Fey poison. The poison rained down so heavy it started to become a mist, Nagori finding out a new way to use the ability.

None of the enemies had healers so no one could dispel or cleanse the poison making them cough and wheeze. It also took health away by the second. Their coughing and spluttering made them even easier pickings for a hungry Luke and Cissy. Cissy couldn't believe how weak her opponents were even with their mass numbers. And if they were that weak and a red player, it meant they had prayed on even weaker players.

"Duke!" screamed a familiar voice. The shrill voice cut through the battle and made it stop as the red players parted and backed away from Luke and Cissy.

Down the street with red puffy cheeks and sore eyes was Brit. She looked at Luke, then she saw Cissy and Nagori.

"Little sisters!" she screamed. A smile lit up on her face for a second and then it faded as she drew her sword Tenderiser.

Swordburning hot and flames bellowing high Brit charged at Luke with her Phase Rush ability. She made it look like a frontal strike, but instead, she came from Luke's right. Luke blocking the blow didn't budge an inch. He instead turned his head to look a furious Brit in the eyes. Their swords grinding against one another.