Rory crossed to the next layer and we followed him after three seconds. As we crossed over, I heard a voice over the whoosh of a couple of fire bullets hurled our way.
"...killed my friends, dwarf!" The voice felt as if it was omnidirectional, but the magic bolts he'd launched at us had clearly indicated his position, so I took out my bow and tried to aim our aggressor.
Name: Ivor Berivskov
Race: Human
Class: Boge Shaman
Level: 24
The man was clad in animal furs and was holding a staff made entirely of antlers, with little chains that jingled from it as each bolt was shot from its tip. His face was hardened and held an incredible wrath.
"This isn't why we're here, Ivor," another voice shouted from the other end of the living room. "We're supposed to make the trade."
Name: James Petrou
Race: Human
Class: Hunter
Level: 19
"The hells with that shit!" the spellcaster shouted. "They'll pay with their lives and we'll take the book from their corpses."
We ran to take cover around a corner as soon as Louie joined us.
"Fuck it," the hunter replied, and I heard him knock on the bedroom door. "They're here. We're taking them down."
Before they had the chance to take formation, Rory tapped on my shoulder and whispered, "I'm gonna go round through the kitchen and attack them from that side as a distraction. Louie, heal me as I run so they'll see me and Alex can take on the shaman."
"Got it," Louie said,
I nodded.
With that, the dwarf sprinted loudly through the narrow corridor into the room that used to be the kitchen. Louie's magical light showered him just before he turned toward the corridor leading to the bedroom door and the other side of the living room.
"The dwarf is--" The voice, whoever it was, was cut off mid-sentence by a solid thump, followed by a disgusting guttural sound.
I peeked around the corner and saw the shaman looking behind him, back toward where his comrade had been attacked. I sprinted forward, swords in hand, and in one breath I unleashed my Mighty Slash skill on his back. The swords through carved his furs deeply enough to draw blood, but the blow didn't damage him as much as I had hoped it would. I'd never fought someone who had already upgraded their class and this was the worst time to find out how much stronger they'd be.
Fortunately, this was a spellcaster and he was a bigger risk to me from afar than now that I was at striking distance. He turned violently, trying to hit me with his antler-staff but I blocked the strike easily with my left sword and pierced his shoulder with the right.
The force of my blow pushed him back against the white wall behind him, leaving red smears on it as he tried to break free of my blade. Seeing how I now had a firm hold on him, he started to cast a spell. I twisted my blade to interrupt his incantation.
"Suka blyat!" he said, trying to kick me back.
There was no way I'd let him break my lock so easily. I stepped to the side to avoid his foot, and only when it was already too late did I realize that this was just a feint. His free hand came rushing in to meet my cheekbone, sending a flash of light across my eyes much brighter than the one cast by my own light.
I staggered backward, both swords in my hands--which meant the shaman was free to back away, or worse attack. That was exactly what he did. A small fireball struck my chest and pushed me even further away from him. The pain was excruciating. I could hear my flesh sizzling under the gaping hole in my leather armor. One spell from him had reduced my HP by a third.
I staggered forward, trying to eliminate the distance between us, but I knew I wouldn't be able to do so before he launched another spell. The moment a soft blue glow started to materialize on his staff, a very familiar gust of wind rustled my hair from behind.
Louie's wind spell hit the shaman's hand, making his wrist turn at an impossible angle with a loud crack. The light from his spell faded and before he was able to start casting a new one, both of my swords were in his gut.
"Pizdets," was the last word he uttered before I pulled my swords out at a slight angle, cutting him even deeper.
Louie's warm light healed me almost instantly, a sign that he'd used the quickened version of the spell. With my HP full again, my pain subsided, and my burned chest feeling as good as new, I rushed toward the sounds of combat coming from Rory's direction.
I glanced at his HP bar in the status screen and saw that he was down to just below half, so I decided to be careful rather than jumping straight in. I slowed down and poked my head around the corner of the corridor leading to the bedroom. The body of the ranger was sitting on the floor with his back pressed against the wall, and I would have thought he was just resting if it wasn't for a deep gash on his neck and his completely smashed jaw.
But the sounds of battle were still strong in there.
"Shoot from afar," I told Louie as I sheathed my swords and took out my bow.
We both stepped into the doorway to find Rory surrounded by four people in leather armor, carrying lances.
Name: Akaba Halim
Race: Human/???
Class: Battlelord
Level: 24
Name: Bilal Halim
Race: Human/???
Class: Battlelord
Level:
