Hell's Glitch (initial draft)

24 Sin and Punishment

Sam's adrenaline was pumping and his eyes and ears were as alert as ever. He knew that he stood out in this dark forest, thanks to his crimson Walker glow, that's why he moved quickly. His prey was probably somewhere nearby. He had stalked him all the way to King Herke's first Beacon Fire then lost him in the trees. Whatever the case, Sam got the feeling that maybe he was the one being hunted. Of course, he was right and he was nearly caught off guard from the player's vicious slash from his rear. Sam rolled out of the way to avoid damage and looked at his opponent.

The zombie-like revenant that Sam faced was named Roburn. Sam knew that his friend Robert typically played under that handle and when he stopped and did the rock and roll devil horns salute, Sam knew for a fact that it was him. Sam returned his gesture with a devil horns of his own. Robert looked to have gone with the Knight class at the start, or at least he found some of their charred dark gray armor. His character was tall like Sam's, though more intimidating in the armor set, and had some kind of huge tower shield in his offhand. It looked like one that Barrington sold at his shop for a small fortune. Sam wondered if the one Sedwin gave him was even better. Robert's face was mostly hidden behind his charred helm, but Sam could see that the character had dark hollows for eyes with the tiniest specks of flames in the center focusing on him. Some bits of Robert's armor exposed his rotting flesh and Sam wondered what unfortunate mishap had taken Robert's life and as a result, his human form. Maybe he had lost to the boss or to Caesar like Sam had.

Robert brandished his Broadsword and pointed it at Sam. Something dripped from it to the ground, blood most likely from Robert's solo escapades. Sam wasn't intimidated by his friend. On the contrary, he felt that his victory was assured. He had just defeated The Will of the Forest and cut a swathe through all of the other testers he faced in his invasions afterwards. The Bloody Tearstone that he was sure to collect from Robert would just be another trophy in his now overwhelming collection. He grinned at his friend and bowed. Robert followed suit. The two of them then circled around each other and closed in. Robert seemed to possess a high level of confidence since his character had more defenses than Sam's. Just by looking at him, Sam saw that he might have some trouble getting his attacks through Robert's huge tower shield, but he had a few ideas on just how to do it. As a test, he stepped forward and thrust his blade out quickly at Robert. Robert lifted his shield up in time and Sam's blow bounced right off, leaving him open for just a second. He saw Robert ready to pounce on his vulnerability, but he had made sure to keep space between him and his friend so he'd have the time he needed to recover. Robert wisely failed to take Sam's bait. Sam cursed missing the chance to get an easy Parry. Robert stood back shaking his head so Sam decided to speed up. He knew he was faster than Robert's armored avatar, so he used that advantage to circle around him since he was just (constantly defending behind a shield, like a turtle). Robert saw the writing on the wall once Sam got to his side and lowered his shield. He took a wide slash at Sam, barely missing then came forward with a downward strike, which Sam did not expect. Sam was cut already by the time he got his shield up and had lost a sixth of his health. That lack of added defense from the beginner rings had really come back to bite him. He also beganning to feel a little queasy as his poison gauge filled up over a third of the way.

"You douche! You're using poison?" he yelled.

He knew that Robert couldn't hear him, but the smile on Robert's face was enough for Sam to know that he got the message. Well, all was fair in an invasion and Sam still had a few dirty tricks of his own up his sleeves. He put his shield away and built up heat in his offhand and condensed it. He threw the ball of fire into Robert's face, but Robert blocked it with his tower shield, the Great Knight Shield Sam believed it was called. Robert still took some damage, but Sam wasn't done yet. He rolled forward and tossed another ball of fire at Robert's head. The ball exploded at the front side of his mask, doing triple the damage from before, which still wasn't much as Robert's HP still hovered just below his maximum. Robert blindly struck out at Sam with a heavy downward strike. Sam anticipated the blow and easily avoided it with a roll. He nailed Robert with a Backstab taking four-fifths of his maximum health. Robert fell to the ground with only a little health left and Sam made sure to strafe around him as he rose up, staying near his back. Sam could tell that Robert knew he was going for a chain Backstab. Sam waited as Robert recovered. Robert hastily swung at Sam with a light horizontal slash. Sam pushed his strike aside, sending Robert's sword hand airborne, and stabbed him right in his digital heart. Robert's health faded away instantly and Sam gave him his customary, "Are you not entertained," pose.