บท 100: 12 waves (II)
The third wave was over. Most of the Players were out of energy, slumping on the floor tired. Only a handful were able to stand, who were more powerful than the rest, but even still, they could not contend with the best from the main guild players. At the rate that she saw it, they wouldn't last for long.
Snow didn't know when their small little break would be over. She wearily watched for any clues, but so far, nothing was giving. It was too quiet.
Ryan trudged over to Snow. A bit tired, but his eyes were shining brightly. He looked up to Snow with high regard at the thought of what she had done for them.
"Saintess," Ryan spoke with a loud voice. He slapped his fist onto his chest and straightened his back. Any straighter, Snow would have thought he would stay in such a position.
"Ryan, I presume?" Snow was leaning against one of the booths, cleaning out her claws that were filled with some kind of goo. She didn't think that the skeletal undead would have some gunk in their bones. She wondered if it was some kind of substance that she had heard about like the gelatin substance from a slime.
Such rare creatures weren't seen anymore. Even finding one was considered a treasure as they did not reproduce so quickly. The last known sighting of one was supposedly twenty years ago, making it a historical achievement. Many legendary creatures of the old were either extinct or in hiding, making hunting a lot more difficult for the Hunters of today.
Now that the dungeons appeared, such things of the old were thrown out of the window. Myths and Legends were coming back alive, the last news that Snow had read from the Dragon Express report was that Orcs were seen in one of the other dungeons around the world. Such chilling facts were bound to bring disaster as it was known that the Orcs were considered a national emergency, which could destroy a whole nation.
There had been cases in history where an Orc War had destroyed a nation - mostly because of their high birth rate and quick growth to adulthood which made them a formidable foe. That wasn't all, there had been sightings of wyverns not even a few states away. Such creatures were known to be similar to a dragonkin, even though they were only of the lowest species.
"Yes," Ryan spoke with such clarity that it snapped her out of her thoughts. "It's a great pleasure to have you here with us."
Snow crossed her arms, her demeanor shifting into a serious mode. She looked Ryan up and down, trying to suss out his power and status.
Ryan was a pretty man, and she presumed that many girls would flock to him in droves if he wasn't in such a predicament. Though, his excellent nature attitude made it that much more pleasing to many people. But his ability wasn't as athletic or strong as the guild leaders or considered the top of his guild members.
"Yes?" Ryan was flustered by her intense gaze. He had heard and felt Snow's power before, but being in front of her presence made him cringe. The usual look that she gave off would have made many feel uncomfortable. It was as if his soul was being scrutinized for all his misdeeds.
He shivered.
"How do you see this going?"
"The waves?" Ryan wasn't sure what she was asking for.
"Yes, how long do you think the others will last?"
Ryan raised his hand up to his head, rubbing his temple. His shoulder slumped as he spoke. The confidence that he had was gone, leaving behind a worried expression. "Less than six (rounds?), I believe we will lose half the people at the rate that we are going. I think another half of that when we probably hit close to the ninth round."
Snow nodded her head. If something didn't give, there was no help getting past this hurdle. They needed rest, but she knew that Gnome wouldn't give them such leisure. From her understanding, she got the feeling that he was bent on destroying all of them.
Could she hold on until the twelfth wave? She didn't know, but she needed to try. There was no going back.
"And I don't think many will make it to the twelfth round," Ryan said.
"We must." Snow gripped her hand into a fist. "We're going to need to rotate our turns to conserve energy. Though, every monster that you slay don't you level up or whatever you call it?" She recalled some facts from Dairen's explanation.
"Yes, but the lower level skeleton didn't give good enough experience points for me. The others probably did. I only level up a few times. Plus, the higher we get, the more experience points we need to accumulate to grow."
"Even with this many?" Snow thought they would have improved by leaps and bounds, but that wasn't the case. She didn't get how the levelling system worked.
"Yes. I've only been able to take down at most seven, the others probably five or less. But, the monsters are getting stronger. Hopefully, they would give us better points to grow." Ryan reassured her, which was a relief but a concern. She wondered if they were able to get stronger without dying.
"Let's hope the next few waves will be the same amount."
A loud clapping sound was heard as the Gnome came into view once again, sitting on top of the muscled head man. They both posed together for a moment, making Snow's cheeks twist. It wasn't like she enjoyed watching those two posing almost half nude as if it was some kind of Mister Olympian competition. It went on for a couple more seconds, which made the party cringe at their showmanship.
"Your time to rest is up," the Gnome said nonchalantly, waving his hand, telling them to get up. "The next batch shall begin."
A stream of black magic floated into the air and dove into the ground as the dead once again rose. They tore themselves out of the earth as they groaned and clattered their bones. This time, these skeletons weren't like before - they had two heads and thick armor. Some even had large hammers in their hands.
But the thing that Snow noticed the most was that their bones had some kind of green goo-like substance that lightly oozed out in between. It reminded her of cartilage. Compared to Dairen's creation, his skeleton used black magic to keep it moving, but the ones here were slightly different.
"This would get boring if you guys all die so quickly." The Gnome puffed out his chest, smugly looking at the group. "I'll give you guys a bit longer break in between every third wave."
Snow was so taken aback by the generosity that the Gnome had given them that she considered whether it was too good to be true. Was there more?
Like a thunderbolt, both the Gnome and his partner disappeared like smoke, leaving the Players behind with streams of skeletons that popped out from the ground.
The Players grouped up with their respective teams, luring and pushing back against the wave that was a lot more difficult than before. Their teamwork had become sharper, allowing most of them to breathe a little bit more.
Luckily, the rate of skeleton monsters that came at them was a lot less than before, but that didn't mean that they were any weaker. It was quite the opposite.
Snow had to dodge out of harm's way from a hammer that came pelting down from above. Its swing was too broad, and the skeleton hiccuped. With a lunge, Snow took the initiative and sliced the arm connecting the wrist. A splat of green substance hit her face as it unluckily got on her armor.
Smearing it away with disgust, she scowled. Still, she kept moving. Her sword danced dangerously close, taking out the skeleton head with an upward cut.
Snow sped around, taking out another. Her vision flashed red.
The next skeleton's reaction was slow and clumsy as the hammer seemed to tip the skeleton with every swing. Their bodies couldn't handle the weight as well as they liked, which caused a wide array of problems that many took advantage of.
The fifth wave had the same rate of increase in skeletons, but they were now mixed in with a few with swords.
Snow took the initiative in handling the ones with swords as they were a bit quicker on their feet. She noticed that some Players had a bit of difficulty taking out the sword-wielding skeletons compared to the one with a large hammer. From her understanding, it must have been because of its large openings that the monster has given, allowing them to move towards their goals a lot quicker.
Until finally, the sixth wave came while they still fought the fifth.
Farther back, skeletons with long poles poured into the area through the gap of the booth. The skeletons came streaming from the front where they entered.
"More incoming!" Ryan shouted, realizing that they were going to get swarmed. "Fall back into a defensive position!"
Everyone quickly shifted into gear as the Players with large shield stepped forward, and the weaker mage class Players stayed behind. They formed a tight circle with the other teams, allowing them to protect each other's back.
Snow was impressed at their quick thinking, realizing that Ryan wasn't as bad a captain as she thought.
The magician enchanted spells and threw them at the oncoming prey. While the Players who wielded only swords would dart in and out to hold off the extra swarms of skeletons they couldn't handle.
The battle soon swept Snow apart in the front group, carrying her to the opposite end of the pier. Snow didn't have time anymore to be concerned with the Players as she was in the midst of a large group of ten to twenty.
A spear thudded against Snow's side bouncing off as it bruised her stomach. She whirled around towards the thrower, and through her leg out to kick the large skeleton who was a good two heads taller than herself, but her kick had landed a bit short. Quickly correcting herself, she shifted.
The skeleton struggled to draw his dagger as her clawed hand pinned into its hip. She wasn't going to let it get the upper hand as there were more around her that she needed to deal with.
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