World of Fantasy

Watch that maggot POP!

QUILL

Even before the chains had finished wrapping around Jane, Quill was throwing himself at the orc general. He aimed his mace at the orc's wrist with the intent to disrupt the magic.

Using the flat of his axe, the orc casually swatted him aside.

Quill tumbled backward almost three meters and landed on his back.

Hale reacted only a moment later. A double slash clanged off the orc's axe. He wove to the side and attacked again. "Let them go, fiend!"

The general effortlessly parried twice. Then, when the chains had finished securing Jane, he punched Hale, going right through the sword blocking him and slamming both knuckles and steel into the man's face.

Hale crumpled, not dead, but in serious pain.

Quill was already on his feet. He leapt up and brought the mace down on the orc's head.

Faster than Quill was going through the air, the orc spun sideways and chopped upward. He buried the blade of the axe in Quill's chest.

You Died

Resurrect?

[Y / N]

Becoming a ghost, Quill didn't hesitate because he knew every second counted. Hitting Yes, he respawned all the way back in Stormstadt. He jumped off the platform and ran out of the Grove, heading back to the battleground as fast as he could.

Unfortunately, strength determined movement speed. And he had a strength of one. It had been a problem ever since rolling. He could walk at a normal pace but barely run any faster than that. Much like the bodybuilder shuffling by earlier, he couldn't go nearly as fast as he wanted to.

"Come on... Come on!" He fought to keep his frustration in check and failed. It was a long way back. There was ample time to see that he'd dropped back down to level three.

By the time he arrived, he was pissed off and worried sick that Jane would already be gone and that he'd never get her back.

Luckily, sort of, Jane was still there. The orc general stood next to a pile of hostages, all female, all wrapped in black chains. Jane, the red samurai, a woman from Hale's party, and more all lay in the grass. Two wept. Jane looked half-scared and half-angry. The red samurai seemed resigned and perhaps relieved.

The orc general proudly walked in circles around the captives and jeered at the watching adventurers, those who had somehow survived and those who'd already respawned and made it back, several having passed Quill on his own journey. The orc called out, "Is that all? Nothing more from Stormstadt's best? Is this how far the mighty have fallen?"

Quill came to stand next to Hale.

The fighter looked furious. "He has Juniper. And your friend." He stared at the enemy with helplessness in his body language. "I don't know how to stop him."

The orc's mocking voice carried over the field. "Come, human weaklings. One last chance. Here, here. I will not even use my axes. I don't need them. All of you come at me once again, and I will crush your skulls with my bare hands."

A nearby ranger scowled. "He could. He's way too high level for us."

"What the freakin' piss is someone like that even doing here? This is the first region. So stupidly unfair."

"Those crappy devs, man. They're not going to give us a fair shot. Whole game's gonna be like this."

"Screw this. Let's just ditch. I mean, there's like half of us left. What could we possibly do?"