Pieces of Sonder

A block of stone whistled past Freya’s head.

It shattered against the floor behind her, kicking up more dust.

Waiting for Strawberry Knight to grab its attention, the others fanned out.

The orc lord was at least the height of four people and wore armor from head to toe. He had a huge sword at his side but seemed to prefer hurling stones the size of wine barrels at them. Freya knew an unprotected hit would kill them.

Luckily the boss was slow at throwing. Guessing his aim was easy. Still, it made getting close to him difficult.

Strawberry Knight jumped out of the way to avoid a stone.

“Heilong get his attention so I can get closer,” Strawberry Knight shouted as he shielded himself from the rock spray.

Notching an arrow, Heilong climbed on top of a stone pile to get a better view. She released an arrow aimed at its head. 

Ting! 

The arrow bounced off the orc lord’s helmet. But the boss turned towards Heilong.

She aimed again.

This time her arrow pierced a gap between his shoulder and chest, revealed by him getting ready to throw.

As the stone hurled at her, Heilong jumped. Behind her, the stone pile she had stood on splintered apart from the impact.

Strawberry Knight ran in with his sword ready. The orc lord bent to pick up another stone, but then stood to draw his sword as the knight got closer. 

Once Strawberry Knight got in range the orc lord slammed his sword down on the knight’s shield.

Freya ran in to attack.

Heilong got another shot in, this time on the orc’s leg. A slight yellow haze grew and surrounded the orc lord. Above its head a text box blinked.

[Orc Lord]

[Lvl 18] [910/1,000]

[Marked]

[120s remaining]

Remembering Heilong’s explanation of her Marked Down skill, Freya prepared to punch using her most effective skill. Building up qi in her heart, she discharged it along with a strong straight punch.

Bam!

[Orc Lord]

[Lvl 18] [820/1,000]

[Marked]

[118s]

Despite hitting the orc lord’s armor Freya’s skill still worked well. Her hand hurt a bit though.

Strawberry Knight slashed with his sword and Infamous Biscuit came in close to hit with his staff.

Bellowing in anger as his hp dropped, the orc lord drew his sword back over his head and made a full swing strike at Strawberry Knight.

CLANG!

Freya winced at the sound.

Holding the sword off with his shield, the pink armored knight’s arm shook.

[Strawberry Knight]

[Lvl 17 Knight]

[100/900 HP] [50/50 MP]

“Heal!” Infamous Biscuit shouted.

Green healing light surrounded Strawberry Knight.

“I’m okay,” he said. “Take advantage of the mark.”

Freya nodded and resumed her attack. Strawberry Knight soon joined in as well. Then the yellow haze of the mark faded.

[Orc Lord]

[Lvl 18] [430/1,000]

“Everyone get back for a moment,” Strawberry Knight directed.

The knight moved to the right, bringing the orc back into the center of the room.

“Alright, get ready. I’m going to use my Rally Surge.”

“Wait, I’ll summon my vine-pine then,” Infamous Biscuit said.

Freya used the tiny bit of time to use her Self-Heal skill. Despite not getting hit, her hands hurt from hitting the orc’s metal armor.

Just after the vine-pine popped into existence, Strawberry Knight raised his sword to the sky and shouted, “Rally Surge!”

His sword burned bright green, then flashes of green light flickered to all the players. Freya noticed the sparkling green haze in the periphery of her vision. The sensation of the Rally Surge boost reminded Freya of leveling up. She immediately noticed the ease of her movements and the waiting power in her muscles.

Looking around at the others, she noticed the vine-pine had grown. Before, it was a small puppy size, but now it looked similar to the original vine-pines they faced in the event dungeon. It latched onto the orc lord’s leg and whipped its arms at the monster’s armor.

A plate of armor flew off.

Heilong immediately took advantage of the new weak spot.

Freya circled to the other side of the orc lord. She targeted a piece of armor that Strawberry Knight’s sword strike had already weakened. As soon as the orc was distracted by the arrow from Heilong, she attacked.

Pouring her qi into the punch, she felt the metal crumple under her fist.

Ignoring her blood, she kicked at the spot.

The orc stumbled.

Roar!

Freya ran. She couldn’t survive a strike like the one Strawberry Knight took.

Thankfully its attention didn’t shift. It took a short swing at Strawberry Knight and then tried to bat away the vine-pine’s vines. 

Freya wanted to get another attack in, but it looked like it wouldn’t be necessary.

[Orc Lord]

[Lvl 18] [0/1,000]

Poof!

[Orcs of Blackearth Dungeon cleared!]

[Reward: +750 exp]

…

“It was good working with you all.”

Freya frowned, “Do you really have your own team already?”

Strawberry Knight laughed, “Yes, they’re really good people. I just had some downtime since one of them is off visiting family and another is studying for exams.”

“I thought you didn’t like all the pink,” Heilong teased Freya.

Freya shrugged, “We worked together well; that’s all that matters.”

Standing outside the dungeon, the four of them had split up the rewards and were now ready to part ways. Freya wished she could say something to convince Strawberry Knight to stay. 

“It was good working together,” Infamous Biscuit said. “It’s going to be difficult to find another tank as good as you.”

“Eh, there’s a lot out there. I’m sure you’ll find someone.”

Strawberry Knight put his shield into his inventory then rested an arm on top of Heilong’s head.

“Take care of my little sister for me.”

Heilong shoved off his hand, “Come on, don’t you need to log out? Aren’t you meeting us for dinner in 30 minutes?”

“I don’t live that far away. Besides, mom always makes me come earlier than I need to. And hey, shouldn’t you be helping her make dinner?”

Heilong hmped, “I’m going to. I was just waiting for you to log out first.”

Strawberry Knight smirked and rolled his eyes, “Alright, alright. Then, see you guys.”

He waved and disappeared.

“Tch, he always has to hassle me,” Heilong complained. She hastily swiped through her game menu, getting ready to leave.

“He is a pretty good tank though,” Infamous Biscuit said, looking at the place he vanished.

“He’s been playing these types of games for years, so it’s not surprising.”

Infamous Biscuit frowned, “Well, he certainly knows what he’s doing. He makes a good tank, a good leader. Every team needs a good leader.”