章 21: Dead
Cody found himself back in his Personal Space.
"What happened?" he asked, panting heavily, heart racing painfully.
"You died." Orb supplied. "You will be unable to leave your Personal Space for the next three hours. Would you like a playback of your last few minutes? Professional advice can be sought from Academy instructors for the appropriate fees."
"Notice: You have triggered the First Death Sales Event. Upgrade your equipment at the Shuttle Shoppe upon availability! Selected items up to 30% off!"
"Warning: You have triggered the First Death warning. Your settlement and guild will suffer the associated consequences. Every following death you suffer will result in increasingly heavy consequences, possibly including a reduction of grades, detention, being held back a grade, a fine of Academy credits, directed control of classes by teachers, or even expulsion and being blacklisted as someone expelled from the Academy."
"Warning: Your second death will incur a minimum penalty of a 100 credit fine, notification to your teacher in charge, notification to your parents/Guardians, along with standard reduction in settlement security, guild rating, and personal rating. Other penalties including minimum unpaid missions requirement daily and double priced compulsory classes may be imposed, and there is no upper limit to the severity of other death consequences."
Goodness. Was that why Riki was so harried all the time? How many death penalties could he be under at this point?
***
Actually, Riki had never felt so harried as he did now.
"RUN!!" Farmer Andrews gave up on the battle and fled with his wife. With their retreat, fully half their side were effectively out of the fight.
With what looked like a wide, toothy grin, the Mole Serpent charged!
"UWAAAAA!!" Riki, Melinda and Laila ran for their lives.
They scattered in moments. Melinda ran to the left. Laila ran to the right. Riki, depending entirely on his speed, ran straight ahead.
AUM! The Mole Serpent suddenly lunged like lightning, jaws closing down around Riki.
Riki vanished in a flicker.
***
Riki found himself back in his Personal Space.
"Not AGAIN!!" He wailed.
***
At that time, Melinda was scrambling as hard as she could, trying to get away from the Mole Serpent. She darted into an alley, dashing past people's houses as the hissing sounds drew closer and closer…
"Why me?!!" Melinda yelped, as she turned around the corner…
Only to find the Mole Serpent looming above her, jaws already open wide and lunging.
Everything turned black.
***
Melinda found herself back in her Personal Space.
"You died." Orb supplied helpfully.
"I died…?!" She stared in disbelief. "That can't be! I didn't do anything wrong! I didn't make any mistakes! How could I… how could I…"
"Sorry." Orb said, but the word provided little comfort.
"NOOOOOO!" Melinda shrieked.
***
Laila, on the other hand, was running for the village center. Surely, with more people around, she might be safer. Someone, somewhere, maybe Elder T or Crystal… somebody should be able to stop this creature!
There was a roar, and the Mole Serpent charged at her from the left, barreling right through somebody's laundry as it was hung to dry. The clotheslines barely slowed the Mole Serpent; the sheer weight and momentum of the creature snapped the clothesline poles like twigs. The creature closed in on Laila, clotheslines, laundry and all, even as she fled out into the village square.
"WHOA!" Na'Sar screeched as Laila and the pursuing Serpent appeared.
"What the-?!" Kalen had a brief moment of surprise and amazement before everything went black.
***
Kalen found himself back in his Personal Space.
"What… just… happened?" he stared in a daze.
"You died." Orb said helpfully.
Actually, that didn't help at all.
"That's not fair!" Kalen raged. "It wasn't my fault! It WASN'T MY FAULT!!"
***
Oren managed to slip out of the way of Laila and the Mole Serpent's initial charge, but as they passed, structures began to crumble. One particular wall fell on top of Oren. Everything turned black.
Then, Oren found himself back at his Personal Space.
"Eh? But… but…!" Oren protested.
"You died." Orb supplied dutifully.
Oren sat down wordlessly. It took a whole minute before he could say anything more.
And even then, all he said was; "Why…?"
***
Kenneth was lounging peacefully in the village square, taking a well-earned break in between busy missions when suddenly everything turned black.
The next thing he knew…
Kenneth found himself back at his Personal Space.
"What happened? What the freaking heck just happened?!" Kenneth was wild.
"You died." Orb explained.
"What? Why? How did I die?!" Kenneth protested. "I didn't do anything! I didn't even DO anything!"
***
Desperate to escape, Laila leapt into the lake behind the workshop!
But the Mole Serpent didn't even flinch. Without hesitation, it dove in after her!
Moments later, Laila found herself back in her Personal Space.
"You died." Orb summarized helpfully.
To that, Laila only let out a long, heartfelt groan.
***
After the Mole Serpent dove into the lake, there was quiet.
Carefully, Na'Sar peeked out from behind a pile of rubble. He glanced to the left. He glanced to the right.
"Looks like the coast is clear." Straightening, he adjusted his collar, drew up his dignity, and proudly walked on the street alone, the last survivor of his intake group…
AUM! Na'Sar was eaten before he even knew he was in danger.
Next thing he knew, he found himself back in his Personal Space.
"You died." Orb supplied.
***
With that, all eight new students were summarily wiped out in a matter of minutes by the very same Mole Serpent, who afterward stood on the village square hissing to the sky in triumph, feeling very proud of itself indeed.
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