Josiah Li lives in a flooded world, where global warming has taken its toll and technology is intertwined in every aspect of daily life. To pass the time in between virtual classes, he finally takes the leap to sign up for a popular game, Starlia. H...
Aileen's body reinvigorates, gaining substance until whole again. She stands up, charging forward again to the archers. But they're too far away, and even with Olivia's agility ability there's not much hope to reach them.
The archers yell "Volley!" at the same time, sending pure dread into my bones. Rounds of arrows target each one of us, and I feel a light piercing sensation in my skin as a couple of them find me. I lose around fifty percent of my health. Because Aileen was closer, she took the brunt of the attack and now she drops dead again.
Cody curses. "I can only use revive once per hour."
If only we knew.... But there's not much we can do now. Mags sends a shower to the archers, but they all use strawman again and dodge most of the arrows. Their health only goes down by slivers. Olivia uses knivestorm and Nathan chooses his ultimate ability, erupt. The same thing happens, however. The Pass blows up with fragments of rock shooting everywhere. But the archers' timing with strawman is impeccable. They dodge most of everything, and it feels like they're cheating even though that's impossible for a game like Starlia.
It's my turn to do something, even though our situation is becoming hopeless. "Sing." I let out a string of notes, creating my own harmony in a major key.
One of the archers laughs with his full belly. "A low-leveled minstrel trying that trick with us? Can't relate."
He's annoying, but right. My ability has no effect on them. They must be too high-leveled, and my abilities are too weak to pierce through their resistance. A blush forms on my cheeks, and I'm thankful that it's dark here so they can't see my embarrassment. Nathan pats me on the back. "Don't worry about what they say."
His words strangely comfort me in a moment of certain death.
Olivia flashes closer to the archer. She raises her dagger, about to use her ultimate ability, I'm guessing.
But the archers react quicker. "Shower," each one of them says at once. A hoard of arrows fall from the sky, so many of them that my head feels dizzy. My heart almost stops for my ally. Aileen still sits as a ghost, and she shouts a cheer for Olivia even though she's close to being sent back to Oceano.
Olivia says "Evade," trying to dodge the onslaught. But the arrows are simply too much. Olivia gets hit by too many to count. Her health, even though she's a way higher level than Aileen, drops to zero. She falls to the ground as a ghost, expressionless. Like she was fully expecting to die.
The archers target me next. They use snipe, the long range ability that will lead to my downfall. "Reflect," Nathan says, putting a shield on me. "Protect," says Cody, also trying to come to my rescue.
But five enhanced arrows are too much for the abilities to block. I feel the arrows entering my chest, a light sort of discomfort that comes with a load of shame. I fall to the ground, in the same state as Aileen and Olivia.
Nathan, Cody, and Mags put up a good fight. Mags uses volley and snipe to try to peel damage from our opponents. She gets off a few hits, but at the same time the returning fire heavily injures her. Her bowstring even snaps off from one of the opposing arrows. Mags curses a string like a sailor. She trips while trying to avoid an arrow, falling to her death after losing the last few percent of her health.
All the items from our inventory are also on the ground in miniature forms. Since it's a PVP zone, the treasures we had are up for grabs. Even our pocket money in the form of gold.
"Pick up our stuff and make a run for it!" Mags shouts.
Nathan and Cody run to our bodies, trying to pick up our stuff, but our opponents shoot in that direction, blocking their paths.
"Thunderstorm," Nathan says. He summons a dark cloud over the heads of our enemies. Multiple bolts of lightning strike their heads, peeling away at least a dozen percent from each of them.
Cody supports our guild leader from behind. "Heal." He tops up Nathan's health whenever it lowers. "Freeze." He immobilizes one of the enemy archers, effectively saving Nathan some time to recover from the onslaught.
"Firearrow," Nathan says, and the string of fire cuts through the normal shower of arrows, flying into the chest of one archer. He shouts out, his HP dropping to below fifty percent. Without anyone to heal them, they are at some sort of disadvantage.
Cody shows off his PVP skills by keeping his leader alive. With poison, he manages to send a cloud of purple to the enemies and inflict them with an ailment that ticks off their HP by the second. It's amazing watching these two veterans fight, keeping each other alive and supporting each other's weaknesses.
"Windrush." Nathan moves with the force of a gale, dodging a flurry of arrows.
Cody supports with a shout of "Celestial!" which beckons an AOE attack characterized by blinding light. It looks like we're getting somewhere, even though it's two against five. The exchange goes on for a minute or two. The archers' HP slowly ticks down, while Cody keeps himself and Nathan alive. A mage and a priest—I'm starstruck at how well they fight together. I'm still embarrassed from dying so soon with nothing to contribute.
All five archers whisper "Ironarrow" under their breath.
"Ah shoot." Nathan's voice is small and unlike him—full of doubt.
"Snipe."
Five metal arrows lodge into Nathan's chest. They plummet his HP to zero, and soon he transforms into a ghost just like the rest of us. He sulks while his inventory lets out a good amount of items and gold. We practically released a hunting ground of random drops of varying values.
"Shit." Cody turns around without gathering our stuff. Without anyone to support, he's a sitting duck. And his attacks aren't strong enough to defeat the archers by himself.
"Shoot."
The archers' most basic attack is enough to defeat Mysteriously's most valuable priest. Cody trips on a rock after being impaled, becoming the last ghost to join our death crew.
"Thanks for the free gold and items," one of the members of Archero says, annoying us all with a wicked grin.
I sit while they collect all the items. My allotted time of being a ghost passes, and the game sends me back to town following Aileen and Olivia. Shame heats my blood. I stay quiet as I spawn back in Oceano, even though I want to scream. I was an absolute embarrassment out there. I shouldn't even be allowed inside a guild like Mysteriously. I'm a newb who deserves nothing in the game besides grinding on slimes and hogs.
Aileen gives me a forced grin as we gather in the city square. We regroup and don't say much, just sighing and scratching the back of our heads. That adventure did not go as planned. Nathan puts his arm around my shoulder, but even that doesn't make me feel better. Mags grimaces, probably reliving the last few minutes in the dark Mountain Pass. Olivia stands like a statue, quiet and poker-faced. Aileen tries to keep up her smile but fails miserably. Cody's silent, but the scrunch in his face is telling me all I need to know. I can practically hear his voice. It's a loud thorn in my brain.
Josiah, you were absolutely useless out there.
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Hello! Happy weekend! I always look forward to Saturdays and sharing a new Mysterious Minstrel chapter with all of you. What else do you look forward to on Saturday?
I always look forward to church on Saturday nights (although I have been going more on Sunday recently). I also just love sleeping in. But if I could play a game like Starlia, you bet I would be on that all Saturday!
