=Centennial Eagle | First Impressions
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Also edited by aightaight2
"Let the Eagle's hammer fall!"
Arbalest enjoyed the benefits of a bow, particularly their ability to strike from afar without requiring long chants or heavy [Mana] use. He flew higher with Maha and Medley following. Maha circled him with her own short bow drawn, while Medley began playing the song magic
<Song of Striking>.
He drew several more arrows, before stopping well above the range of ALfheim's [Aim Assist] system for bows and spells. As he prepared each arrow with the enchantment <Blast Bolt>, he observed the sudden changes to the town below.
At the edge of [White Mesa] there now stood an unbelievably plain NPC town. Houses of white painted wood with basic roof tiles and cobblestone streets, like something found in the most cliche of fantasy settings. The designer should be fired for his lack of originality.
He focused his sight on the movements of a mass of mobs advancing towards the Imp and Cait Sith in his party, calculated where the enemies would move to, then let loose with his explosive shots.
~~~~~
Below the Cait Sith archer, a female Salamander with a large two handed sword as tall as she was slung on her back flew towards the battle front alongside the Cait Sith Dragoon, shielding the huddling players from the Mobs.
Between the sheer presence of the Cait Sith's Dragon and Arbalest's sudden attack from above, the Mobs were quickly driven away.
"Make your way to the Guild House!" shouted the Salamander girl, taking charge. She pointed to the large keep-like structure at the top tier of the town. "The [Centennial Eagle] will safeguard you while we figure out what's going on!"
The Cait Sith then called out in turn, "If you're hurt, come over here and I'll heal you! Everyone who isn't injured please help carry those who are! We will escort you all to the Guild House!" She then dismounted and started casting healing spells on her fellow players, before assisting the players who had the most severe wounds onto her tamed mount.
"This is way too real, Kuroko. Who would want to play a game like this?" The Cait Sith girl asked her friend.
"I don't know Yamamaya, but let's stay focused on the moment."
Luckily for Kuroko the Mobs that had been driven off had not returned to resume their attack. Presumably some sort of hidden intimidation or morale stat was simulating realistic threat recognition similar to how [Dagger Dogs] would not engage higher level players.
There were no hostile mobs nearby, but she kept watch since ALO had become something terrifying.
Joining Yamamaya in the air, the two took off, escorting the wounded players to the Guild House where they would be safe. Kuroko saw Yamamaya's dismayed face, and wondered whether the face she was making was similar. The scene around her made her uneasy, the blood, violence, and devastation seemed too realistic for the game they were playing just a few minutes before.
"This is too horrible. There's no way this could be ALO."
~~~~~
The attack by the flying Elf archer, followed by the advancing Dragon and another Elf landing at the border between the two settlements, was enough to drive the commoner gunners and their Mage Officer back.
The subsequent attacks from the flying elf's longbow, however, were far more devastating.
A second detachment of commoner gunners with three Mage Officers were advancing along the street. Having only just reached the front lines, they were unaware of the aerial elves. The first few arrows landed within their group, detonating in a series of loud explosions and obscuring their vision with smoke.
As the smoke cleared, the militia saw several commoner gunners sprawled on the ground with missing and broken limbs, while those more fortunate suffered burns of varying degrees.
Once the initial shock had passed, three mages, two Lines and a Dot, moved up to protect the gunners. Behind the safety of the mages' wind barriers, the gunners took aim, then fired upon the cowardly elves who were trying to strike at them from far above.
The next two arrows were stopped by the wind barriers, exploding with a loud boom well above the commoners' heads.
Musket balls and spells of various elements flew upwards toward the elf who was hovering roughly 200 mails above them. Between the distance to their target and the general inaccuracy of their smooth-bores, the majority of their shots went wide. The few shots that did hit sparked brilliant flashes from a spherical barrier that surrounded the elf.
After a brief pause, the mages noticed a bright light emanating from the elf's weapon. They prepared their defenses once more, readying their wind shields for another barrage.
A single arrow shot down, leaving behind a trail of light as it passed through the passive wind barrier into a Dot mage's throat.
The other Officers watched their fellow mage fall, choking on his own blood. Determined to avoid that fate, they focused more willpower into their own barriers to defend against the subsequent arrow, which struck the surface of the shield and detonated like the others before it.
The two remaining Mages continued to focus on defense, but the next two arrows were of the piercing type. They bypassed the strengthened wind barriers, leaving a pair of green trails in their wake as they struck their target. The first lodged firmly in the shoulder of one of the mages, while the second skewered his hand, causing him to drop his wand.
Two more arrows followed, targeting the other mage. Again they bypassed the wind barrier, one landing in the foot of the second Line mage while the last one struck him in the head, punching through his jaw bone.
The commoners watched on in horror as they witnessed the precise assassination of the mages who were supposed to grant them protection. A moment later they scattered in fear of the elf's continued aerial wrath.
~~~~~
Michael de Croismare heard a total of six loud explosions and five whip-like cracks as the hated enemy unleashed their heretical magics upon his town. From the sounds of suffering and panic, the heretics must be taking lives.
Having withdrawn from the advancing Dragon, his squad of commoner gunners had rallied in a wider street. He planned to join with the swordsmen and pike men who were mustering against the invaders, as well as the remnants of the other squad of gunners who had scattered to avoid annihilation from the flying elven archer.
He was determined to lead a counter charge to repel the elven invasion. As suicidal as it might be, each second that he could buy was another second for the townsfolk to escape.
"Men! Take aim at the heathens above!"
Recently promoted to a Triangle of Earth and Wind, Michael raised a barrier of wind around his squad, preparing himself to stop whatever devil-bolts the elf used.
The sounds of musket fire roared through the streets, and the mage watched on as the brilliant bubble surrounded the flying enemy once more before flickering away.
~~~~~
The sound of shattering glass followed by a musket shot denting the shoulder of his light armor cued Arbalest that his defensive barrier had been broken.
The loss of the defensive buff was quickly addressed by Maha, who was circling nearby keeping over-watch. She recast the seven word protective spell <Preventative Medicine>, reforming the radiant energy shield around Arbalest. <Preventative Medicine> is a defensive buff spell which creates a protective shell around a targeted player which blocks a set amount of damage. It was generally useless for tanking players, whose role requires them to weather multiple attacks, but it was extremely cost effective for players who avoided direct confrontation.
With a nod and word of appreciation, Arbalest scanned group of mobs who had just opened fire on him with primitive firearms.
The previous pack of Mobs that he had thinned out had included some support mobs, specialized Mobs that could cast AOE defensive buffs that were capable of nullifying his <Blast Bolts>. These support Mobs were a pain to deal with. The first group had outright blocked several of his <Blast Bolt> enchanted arrows, wasting [Mana] that he could have better used elsewhere.
The Mobs he was scanning were currently in their reload animation, except for one. A male humanoid mage Mob who appeared to be a reskin of the previously encountered support mobs, a common sign of an elite variation.
Arbalest's favorite bow spell was <Blast Bolt>, he also favored the debuff spell <Breaker Shot>. He had used <Breaker Shot> on the support Mobs in the previous group with great success.
<Breaker Shot> was a specialist bow spell that costs a great deal of mana, but only did as much damage as a regular attack from his long bow. Its main benefits came from its two unique properties. The first property was that the attack would bypass all magical defenses, while the second benefit was that it would dispel any defensive buffs that the target had, making them vulnerable to subsequent attacks.
From his observations during the engagement with the previous group of Mobs, he concluded that the defensive buff either could not be dispelled in this manner or the support Mob was able to immediately restore the defensive buff as fast as he could bring it down.
Arbalest didn't know how he knew, but a feeling at the back of his mind alerted him that his mana reserves were now below 60%. Between the constant use of mana and his depleting quiver, he couldn't keep this up for much longer. If [White Mesa] was no longer a [Safe Zone] as he assumed, then he couldn't risk depleting all of his mana.
Nevertheless, he prepared another <Breaker Shot>, aiming for the Mage-Type Mob's head for bonus critical damage. With the musical buff spell <Song of Striking> still in effect, he released the notched arrow.
~~~~~
Michael de Croismare had anticipated that the heathen would target him. It was, after all, a common tactic to fire on mages first. As the middle son of the Baron who held dominion over these lands, he was determined to live up to his Runic title - Michael the Stonewall.
He watched the arrow fly towards him at blinding speed. Shrouded by a green light, the attack was moving far too fast for him to redirect. His active wind barrier flared up, a miniature tornado erupting in front of the arrow, only for the arrow to suddenly emit a bright flash of green light.
Michael watched in horror as the well formed barrier yielded and unraveled before the elven spell. The arrow continued its course striking the passive barrier before unraveling it like a yarn sweater. He focused his efforts onto his wind barrier, repairing and restoring it as fast as the unholy magic took it apart.
It was enough as the arrow slowly lost its glow and Micheal watched the arrow drop to the ground without the terrifying speed and strength it had just a second ago.
"Such a devious spell, designed to kill mages..." he thought to himself.
The commoner gunners finished reloading their muskets once more and took aim, only to see a pair of armored juggernauts about to land right on top of them.
~~~~~
The Leprechaun brothers Argentium and Hydrargyrum flew over the cliched fantasy town that now bordered [White Mesa]. Despite wearing Leprechaun-exclusive heavy siege armor, the Mobs below didn't pay them any heed. Instead, they fled in multiple directions, presumably to avoid being targeted by Arbalest's AOE arrow attacks.
Eventually the Mobs began gathering in one of the wider streets, banding together with another group of Mobs armed with swords, shields and pikes, in preparation to advance on [White Mesa] again. Arbalest had just opened fire on the massing Mobs, drawing their aggro and giving the two Leprechauns the perfect opportunity to strike.
The brothers flew upwards, high above the congregating mobs. If ALO had indeed become a death game like SAO, then the chance that a second attack on other players was reason enough to stop them. At 70 meters they dove straight down before letting themselves go into free fall.
As they fell, the two brothers chanted the nine word spell <Heaven's Fall>. Even though Arbalest had ordered them not to use any high risk moves, they had complete confidence that their armor would protect them from harm during their descent.
In ALO there was a defensive buff spell known as <Feather Fall>. It was a unique spell that reduced the amount of collision damage that the caster received from the environment. Its purpose was to prevent new players from accidentally killing themselves while learning how to fly so it was seldom used. The special quest spell known as <Heaven's Fall> was the advanced form of that spell, unlocked by falling at terminal velocity for several hours and then completing a series of quests by a special NPC that would appear after completing the prerequisite.
The Mobs who had prepared to open fire on Arbalest noticed the two Leprechaun's dive as they adjusted their descent with their wings. The support mobs began waving their wands and staffs to cast spells, and the other humanoid mobs changed aggro towards the pair and opened fire with primitive guns. Sparks erupted on the Leprechauns' armor from a couple of the lucky snap shots, the pair landed on top of the group of mobs at terminal velocity. The AOE attack spell <Heaven's Fall> took the player's velocity and their total weight, and combined it into a non-elemental AOE attack with added knock back and stun debuff. The result was a pair of eruptions that scattered, flattened and tossed the mobs aside with realistic rag doll physics.
The Mobs that didn't get thrown about were now stunned, unable to move or react to the heavily armored Leprechaun fists thrown into their center of mass. The battle barely lasted another five seconds before the remaining Mobs fled from the border of [White Mesa].
As the brothers prepared to regroup to protect the other PCs, they paused.
"Brother look..."
The two brothers took a moment to look around, taking in the sight before them. The Mobs who moments ago were preparing to march into [White Mesa] now littered the streets, their bodies broken and bleeding. Many appeared to have concussions and broken bones, unable to even moan in pain. Some were limping or crawling away, while others were crying, screaming for the "Founder's" aid.
Neither brother was ignorant to these observations.
"They bleed..."
"Mob's don't bleed like this."
"Then they're not mobs."
"If they aren't mobs, then this isn't like SAO."
"If this isn't like SAO, then where are we?"
Their analysis of the situation gave way to the roars of dragons. The Leprechauns looked up, watching as four unarmored dragons flew overhead.
(and before anyone gets pissed off about it, I do like Mass Effect)
