Spiteful Healer

Chapter 91: A Light in the Darkness

“Leonard, Get. Us. OUT OF HERE!” Herilon shouted as he held his greatsword out in front, preparing for the incoming swarms of reapers as they closed in on the Airship from all directions. Aegis turned to see Leonard behind him frantically waving his fingers around while holding the helm, but the Airship wasn’t moving.

“I can’t, somethings wrong with the flight mechanisms. I mean, it’s pretty obvious what's wrong, there’s a GIANT HOLE IN MY AIRSHIP!” Leonard shouted as he looked around at the reapers in panic.

“Alright, alright. Aegis, you’re a crafter, aren’t you? You got that world notification?” Herilon looked to Aegis.

“Y-yeah.” Aegis nodded.

“You’ve got one minute to fix this ship before I’m dead and you guys get eaten alive.” Herilon said bluntly. Aegis didn’t even waste breath replying, he jumped down from the upper levels of the stern and once on the lower deck he could see through the giant hole in the side of the Airship. Stepping to the very edge of the hole, he spotted a place he could jump to, and did exactly that, landing on the lowest floor of the Airship. “Get below deck with the kids until we’re clear, I’m no protector.” Herilon ordered Leonard and he nodded, rushing down the stairs to leave Herilon alone on the deck of the Airship.

Aegis carefully analyzed the hole in the ship around him once he’d gotten his bearings on the lowest level. There was a clear crack in the stone that the hull was made out of but it was still intact. The port side of the ship had been hit from the lower angle, and the spear shot upward and pierced the upperdeck on the starboard side, which meant the lower level on the starboard side was still intact. Aegis frantically ran to the starboard side of the ship and looked at how it was constructed. His crafting skills did a lot of the heavy lifting, and he was able to see what the Airship was supposed to look like, then moved back to the port side and saw what parts were missing and needed to be repaired. A mechanism connecting the light energy from the Island Stone Hull to the wing sails were completely gone, but he saw what shape it needed to be rebuilt.

"Whirlwind!" Herilon shouted as he figured it out. He looked up and saw Herilon had 35 seconds left and was swinging his sword wildly, cutting down 10’s of reapers at a time as they began smashing into the ship. Luckily Herilon’s flashiness was drawing all of the reapers towards himself, but time was running out.

“Where does Tullan keep all the supplies?!” Aegis shouted.

“How the hell should I know?” Herilon shouted back at him down through the hole in the deck. Aegis jerked his head in all directions, seeing crates and barrels scattered about the belly of the ship, some of them broken to pieces from the attack. He started ripping them open frantically, finding useless materials for what he needed, mainly wine bottles, until finally he found a crate of rare Arallian planks, and started pulling it out alongside his woodcutting tools.

21 seconds left, Aegis slashed at the wood as quickly as possible to crudely fit its shape to match the mechanism on the starboard side, and ran to set it in on the port side. 10 seconds left, he settled it in and it made a clicking sound, shifting the wing sails outwards as they reconnected with the modified island stone hull of the Airship.

“It’s connected, the ship should be working again!” Aegis shouted up only to see Herilon barely holding off the reapers. Aegis saw a few of them digging their claws in around the hole in the ship, looking to start climbing in on the lower levels. He turned and ran up the stairs to the mid level of the Airship to see Clara poking her head out of a door with the children behind her.

“Keep the door shut, stay away from the windows!” Aegis said as he slammed the door on her. “Let's go!” Aegis shouted as he spotted Leonard ducking in the doorway that led back out on deck. Aegis put his shield up and rushed out in front of Leonard.

“Good luck, kid.” Herilon said with one final spinning strike, clearing out all of the reapers on the deck before he was forced to log out, his undying will expired and he was dead. Aegis took a deep breath, and tuned into his surroundings with everything he had.

“GET TO THE HELM!” Aegis shouted and Leonard nodded, running up the stairs to their left to get to the upper levels of the stern as the Reapers closed in around them from all sides. “Guard!” Aegis shouted, covering Leonard’s flank, then spinning and rotating around him, blocking attacks from reapers that came at them from all directions.

He’d missed a few, but Leonard had enough health that he could take a few hits from the reapers just as Aegis could.

“Healing wind, healing wind!” Aegis casted it on himself and Leonard.

“I got it, the ships working, one second! ONE SECOND!” Leonard panicked frantically as he swatted a reaper away as it bit into his shoulder, dealing 400 piercing damage.

“GUARD! GUARD! GUARD!” Aegis shouted, using it off cooldown as often as he could.

You take 231 Piercing damage.

You take 163 Piercing damage.

You take 189 Piercing damage.

You take 174 Piercing damage.

Level up!: Shield Mastery has reached level 31!

Level up!: Leather Armor Proficiency has reached level 31!

The numbers kept flowing over him, but he hadn’t any time to stop and land a proper heal. He had to rely on healing wind and the enchantments on his armor to keep him alive as long as possible.

“AIRBURST!” Leonard shouted, and just like that, a sudden thrusting force of wind shot into the sails of the Airship, launching it forward several hundred meters and speeding it out of the swarm of reapers, leaving them in the dust. The Airship quickly slowed back down to a normal speed, but its normal speed kept it steadily ahead of the reaper swarm. Aegis looked around, breathing heavily as the sound of the screeching faded behind them. Both Aegis and Leonard looked backwards to see them in the distance, with no sign of the red eyed black mist creature anywhere to be seen.

As the Airship continued to sail further and further away, the sun slowly began to creep up over the horizon. Soon, the only sound they could hear was the sound of Aegis and Leonard’s heavy breathing.

“Did we do it?” Leonard asked. “D-”

“KREEEEE!” A loud screech echoed out as a level 25 reaper clawed its way up from the back of the ship, it had its claws dug into the wood and had managed to hang on during the Airburst. Leonard stumbled backwards away from it as Aegis moved forward to block it’s lunging bite attack, but as he did, a second loud screech echoed out and Aegis turned to see another one clawing up on the right side of the ship, going after Leonard.

“GUARD!” Aegis shouted, making a shield to block it from hitting him as he braced the attack from the one in front.

You take 211 Piercing damage.

You take 173 Piercing damage.

“Can you kill these things?” Aegis shouted as he backed up, both he and Leonard jumped down from the upper level of the stern and onto the lower deck, standing on the stone circle whose magic runes had now been depleted.

“Y-yeah, maybe?” Leonard took a rapier out of his inventory and held it out in front of himself awkwardly as one of the two Reapers hopped down from the upper levels to land in front of Aegis, taking a swipe out at him.

You take 153 Piercing damage.

“Take this you disgusting fiend!” Leonard lunged forward with the rapier, poking into the reaper, dealing 16 damage, and in the process the Reaper clawed at the weapon and knocked it out of Leonard’s hand, sending it flying off the side of the Airship.

“Seriously?” Aegis watched it happen as the second reaper hopped down beside the first.

“What? I’m a lover not a fighter!” Leonard shouted at Aegis angrily. Aegis quickly fumbled into his inventory as he blocked two more attacks, the two of them slowly backing up towards the front of the ship. When Aegis equipped his sword, it appeared in a sheath buckled to his leather belt.

“Take my sword!” Aegis commanded Leonard.

“I don’t know how to use a short sword!” Leonard shouted back at him.

“Just take it, and don’t drop it off the side of the ship!” Aegis shouted.

“Why don’t you use it!?” Leonard shouted at him.

“You know why!” Aegis replied.

“Isn’t it a bit late to be worried about stuff like that? I’m about to lose my Airship!” Leonard said as two more strikes came in.

You take 161 Piercing damage.

You take 200 Piercing damage.

“Healing Wind!” Aegis casted it on himself, though his health was starting to get dangerously low. “Take it and just stab them with the pointy end!” Aegis yelled and Leonard groaned compliantly as he awkwardly yanked the sword out of Aegis’ sheath and held it as far from his body as he could. He took a broad swing at the nearest Reaper from above and the reaper simply smacked the sword away, knocking it behind itself back towards the entrance to the lower deck.

“Are you kidding me?” Aegis yelled in disbelief.

“It’s okay, I think I got it now, just give me another one.” Leonard motioned at Aegis expectantly.

“I don’t have another one.” Aegis shouted back as both of them looked between the legs of the reapers closing in on them, bearing their fangs and screeching. They were running out of room to back up.

You take 149 Piercing damage.

You take 153 Piercing damage.

Aegis looked over the heads of the reapers and saw a young boy now standing in the doorway, reaching down and lifting up Aegis’ sword. It was Elric, son of Erikson and Josephine.

“No, stop, Elric, stay below deck where it's safe!” Aegis shouted, but he saw it in Elric’s eyes that he wasn’t going to listen. Elric began walking bravely forward, holding Aegis’ sword awkwardly as he prepared to strike at the creatures back. Aegis was preparing himself to use guard to protect the boy if needed, but at that moment he realized that his stamina had gotten too low from protecting Leonard - if he used guard anymore he would drop dead.

“Little boy, stay back!” Leonard shouted at him worried, but Elric now had a look of determination. He swung the sword down at the tail of one of the reapers, dealing 68 damage. It shouldn’t have been enough to take aggro from Aegis, but the flash of the holy enchant exploded on the impact dealing additional damage, and aggravated the Reaper into turning around and screeching at Elric.

Elric stumbled backwards in fear after seeing the beast turn to face him, the weight of the sword being too much for him caused him to drop it and lose his footing.

“Damnit, focus on me you stupid bats!” Aegis shouted as he lunged forward, but before he could get to the reaper facing Elric, the second one took a wide swing out at Aegis and forced him to stand in place. It was only a second delay, but that was enough time for the reaper to pull it’s neck back and prepare to lunge down at Elric with its large fangs. Aegis felt as if he was watching it happen in slow motion - all his efforts to get to this point, to save them all, just to fall apart at the last second-

“SMITE!” Clara shouted from the doorway of the lower deck. “SMITE, SMITE, SMITE!” She alternated casting it, left hand, right hand, left hand, right hand, blasting holy energy out of the palm of her hands at the reapers. Her first blast of holy energy interrupted the lunging strike on Elric, the rest took the attention off of Aegis and Elric completely and had both reapers focused on her, but with each blast, they flinched from the holy damage, and by the time Clara had finished her repeated spell casts, both of the reapers were dead.

Aegis looked to see that now, standing above her head, stood [Priestess Clara(Elite) - 42]. Leonard and Aegis both looked at her in disbelief for a moment, breathing heavily due to his dangerously low stamina.

“Oh hey, she’s elite. Did you two, you know-” Leonard started to ask while forming an O shape with his left hand.

“No.” Aegis shut the question down quickly.

“Are there more?” Priestess Clara asked as she looked around the deck of the ship worriedly.

“I don’t think so. Let’s keep it that way.” Aegis motioned Leonard to return to the helm.

“Right, I'll Airburst again once it is off cooldown just to be extra safe.” Leonard nodded as he rushed to the helm of the ship to take over the controls. Clara went to check on Elric while Aegis did a sweep around the sides of the ship to make sure there weren’t any more reapers clinging to the sides. Once that was clear, he went below deck to double check there weren't any in any of the rooms before returning to the deck of the ship.

At the stern, he could still see the swarm of Reapers that were flying over what was once the island of Kriene far off in the distance, but it didn’t look like they were making any real effort to pursue them.

“I think we’re safe.” Aegis said to Leonard, followed by a moment of silence between the two.

“WOOHOO!” Leonard screamed with excitement. “That was absolutely delightful, by far the greatest adventure I’ve had yet. Lovely, darling. Be sure to invite me to the next ones.” Leonard shouted with joy as he suddenly pulled a bottle of champagne out of his inventory.

“Y-you’re not, you know, mad about the ship?”

“Oh, of course not darling.” Leonard waved him off. “Quinn already told me that you’d promise to pay for any repairs if they were needed. Right?” He smiled.

“Uh, uh huh. Quinn said that?” Aegis replied nervously as he looked back down at the gaping hole in the deck.

“Let’s not worry about that stuff yet!” Leonard said as he popped the cork on the champagne and started spraying it everywhere. “First we need to toast! Then, we need t-shirts that say,'"I survived Kriene’s downfall, and all I got was a lousy hole in my Airship.'" Leonard said, followed by a hard guffaw at his own joke. He promptly pulled two champagne glasses out of his inventory.

“You just have all that stuff in your inventory, at all times?” Aegis asked as he watched it materialize in his hands.

“Of course, you’ve got to always be ready to celebrate a victory. You don’t?” Leonard said with raised brows. “Here, this one’s for you.” He handed a glass to Aegis.

“Oh, I don’t drink.” Aegis tried to refuse.

“Oh nonsense, you’re going to tell me you don’t need a drink after all of that?” Leonard ignored his refusal and forced the glass into Aegis’ hand. Aegis didn’t have the willpower to refuse and just took it, watching as Leonard filled his own glass, and then Aegis’

“Cheers, to us. The Saviors of Arallia.” Leonard smiled, and Aegis awkwardly shrugged back.

“Cheers.” They clinked their glasses together before Leonard threw all of it into the back of his throat with a single gulp. It was only then that Aegis noticed, Leonard’s hands were trembling. And as he did, Aegis saw that his hands were trembling too. The adrenaline was leaving his real body, and in turn it was leaving his body in the simulation, and its after effects were extreme exhaustion.

As Aegis realized it, the symptoms worsened, and he wobbled over to the staircase leading to the lower portion of the deck and sat down without drinking anything, and saw Priestess Clara now looking out on the deck.

“The children are all tired, so I tucked them into the beds on the lower deck. I hope Leonard doesn’t mind.” Priestess Clara smiled at Aegis.

“Nah, it’s fine.” Aegis said as Priestess Clara moved to sit beside him.

“I… I’m afraid to ask, but.. Celestian-”

“He’s okay, he got out through the portal. He’s waiting for us back in Kalmoore.” Aegis replied and Priestess Clara let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Th-thank you. Thank you for coming back for us.” She said with a smile, and they went quiet for a bit, listening to the sound of the wind blowing into the sails, and the creaking of the broken wood. They watched the sun rise over the horizon in the distance as light slowly crept up over the vast ocean of black mist below them.

“The Great Prophet didn’t make it. That means I wasn’t able to tell him that I’d completed his task.” Aegis said to her and she looked down at her feet. “Do you know how the Great Prophets of Eirene are chosen?” He asked.

“They are chosen by Eirene herself. Those pure of heart and true in their belief of her may pray for her light to guide them. If their feelings reach her, she will choose them to become her Prophet, and carry her words to the priests and priestesses of the land, and guide them in her footsteps.” Priestess Clara explained. “I imagine it will be hard to reach her now, however. The Monastery of the Stars is gone, and with it the place of prayer closest to the stars in the entire world.” Priestess Clara said mournfully, as he could hear the sorrow building up in her voice. But Aegis took these words differently - he listened to every word Priestess Clara had said, and he knew exactly what he had to do to finally finish his intermediate class quest.

Aegis did his best to remain alert on the ship, patrolling around the edges to make sure nothing was approaching from any direction, but it was smooth sailing and uneventful. Priestess Clara handled the care of the children over the following day and evening, preparing food for Leonard and Aegis as they remained quiet for the most part, barely speaking to each other while deep in thought. Aegis kept playing out events from the past day in his head, occasionally getting random bursts of adrenaline for no reason, just from thinking about something he did, or almost did.

He recalled the blade of the juggernaut at his back, the reapers swooping down at him, the abysslings swarming around him, but most of all the black spear that shot through the ship, and the piercing red eyes that glared at him from the darkness. Anytime he’d thought about it, he felt himself looking down at the black mist below the ship, worriedly expecting it to pop up. Part of him thought there was a good chance it was still following them, whatever it was.

When the evening settled in, all Aegis wanted to do was get back on land, and he’d wondered if he’d ever leave an island in this game again. The more time he spent above the black mist, the more terrified and ominous it felt as he thought about what was living below it - the Avatars of Darkness and their minions. Truthfully though, Aegis was dead tired and exhausted, and desperately needed to sleep both in the game and in the real world.He’d half a mind to check his viewership numbers, but decided ultimately that he didn’t want to know.

When 24 hours had passed since the spear had hit the ship, in an instant and all at once, Quinn, Gregory, Tullan, Sapphire, Yuki, Trexon and Ren all logged back into the game world. And the moment that Aegis saw them, a wave of relief washed over him and Leonard that was so powerful, their Simbox’s sent them warnings.

“It’s ok, we’ll take it from here.” Quinn smiled at him and Leonard.

“Ok… great.” Aegis smiled as he wobbled a few steps towards the lower deck, nearly collapsing to the ground as the exhaustion hit him like a bag of bricks, but Sapphire caught him last second.

“Easy there, lil’ guy.” She helped him stumble over to one of the beds in a small room below deck where Aegis immediately fell asleep.

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