Chapter 58 – Closing the Gap
Vishwas shot an awkward smile at them and said, “the bosses left already. So, I got you four of the best guys here.”
“What the fuck man?” said of the goons.
He turned back towards them and said, “sorry macha. Don’t worry. They aren’t here for points, just for the experience.”
Their eyes burned with ire. “Whatever. We kill them all the same,” said the goon.
Uruvi saw him step forward. Without a second thought, she rushed in.
“Bar…” The goon didn’t even complete his spell.
She thrust her club into his stomach with a charged attack, causing his jaw to drop and his eyes to turn white. His body slumped on the ground as he let out a low groan.
The others quickly backed away. She saw that they were only level 18 to 19.
“Is that all?” she asked.
“Yeah. They were the only ones left,” Vishwas said.
Uruvi leapt at them as they put their shield up. A golden light shot from behind her, slamming into the shield and shattering it.
“I think we will let you take care of this from here,” said Ashwin.
She brought her club down onto the first victim, planting his face into the wooden floor. She proceeded to chase after the others, who tried to put up a fight. But without any spells, they were powerless, letting her sweep them with a few easy hits.
By the time she was done, the four goons were on the ground unconscious.
“Wow. That was fast,” said Vishwas.
“No wonder they were getting slaughtered. They had nothing. No skills, spells,” said Uruvi.
“I am not sure. But I think the bosses deliberately stopped them from getting too high. Behram slaughtered a few who tried to upgrade their skills,” said Vishwas.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because they were going to be sacrificed for the points,” said Ashwin.
“Oh god!” said Rambha, who turned away in disgust.
“Can’t have them getting too strong,” Ashwin continued.
“So whoever is left here is basically going to die?” asked Vishwas.
“We can’t let them do that!” said Uruvi.
“Which is why we need to scatter them. The Pisacha. If we manage to set them off, that should force these people to flee,” said Ashwin.
“Won’t that just kill them?” she asked.
“I suspect the monsters will be low level. At least enough to not be a problem.”
“We could snipe out any Pisacha which overwhelms them,” said Rambha.
“Wait. What Pisacha?” asked Vishwas.
***
Uruvi swung open the wooden door, letting the light fill the dark void. The Pisachi let out a low growl, warning her not to enter.
“Wakey wakey, you bastards,” said Uruvi. ‘I hope this works.’
Her words drew a strong reaction from the mother, who began to scream out loud. The eggs around it began to crack open, and thin limbs crawled out of the shells.
‘It worked!’
Spell – Taunt. Increase agitation from the enemy. It also increases attack but lowers speed and defense.
She stepped back and towards the drain gate where the others waited. A flood of weak Pisacha erupted from the room.
“Barricade!” she shouted, putting up a shield in front of her. The pisacha immediately turned around and fled in the other direction. They were all only level 1 to 2. ‘Nice! It's working!’
Once the little ones cleared the room, and the mother crawled out of the room before turning to face Uruvi.
She eyed the monster’s head. Level 19. “Ugh! Only level 19?” She pulled her axe out and spun it a few times. “Let’s get this over with.”
***
They stood on the terrace of an adjacent building and watched as the chaos beneath them unfolded. The courtyard was swarmed by Pisacha, which forced the goons to flee from the building.
“Not going to lie. It is so satisfying to watch them run and scowl in fear,” said Rambha, who had a big smile on her face.
Uruvi, Ashwin, and Vishwas stood behind her and discussed the plan.
“Are you sure? Two spots?” asked Uruvi.
“Yeah. Not sure how they planned it all out. But I am certain that there are two places,” said Vishwas.
“In that case. I will head to the one in North and Vishwas, I can rely on you to take the other?” asked Ashwin.
“Definitely macha.”
Uruvi took in a deep breath. “And I will deal with Sashwat.” She looked at the time on her phone. About ten minutes to ten.
Rambha turned around and hugged her from behind. “Come back safe, babe.”
“We will try to come once we are done at our places,” said Ashwin. Vishwas nodded in agreement.
“It’s alright. This is my fight to win,” said Uruvi.
***
The long walk to Chandini Bar was cold and dreadful. Uruvi did her best not to overthink.
“Arya, let’s do our final upgrades, shall we?”
“Affirmative. You have 50 attribute points, 5 skill points, and 5 spell points.” The fight with the Pisachi gave a small boost, but her level stalled at 23.
She had already given them plenty of thought and chose to focus on healing and powering up a few existing skills and spells.
“Arya. Assign 10 points to strength, toughness, Renewal, and Serenity. Assign 5 points to Valor and Dynamism.”
“Affirmative. Your root chakra is now Level 4.”
She felt warmth at the root of her spine, which soothed her mind a little. “Oh yeah… Now then. For Skills. Level up Fleet Footing, kickback, adrenaline rush, counter, and third eye.”
“Affirmative. Your skill points have been assigned.”
“For spells. First, activate Suturing and assign it 1 extra point. Also, activate flush and temperament. Assign 1 point to Burning Fury.”
Suturing – Staunch bleeding and increase defense by 10 percent for five minutes.
Flush – Clear any negative statuses from the body. Negative statuses include poison, frost, and burns. Upgrade skill to clear stronger effects and more statuses.
Temperament – Decrease body heat and increase attack by 2 percent. This increase stays until the battle ends.
Decreasing body heat was a suggestion by Vishwas, who explained how heat drains the stamina.
“Affirmative. Your skills have been assigned.”
Uruvi fell silent and remained so until she reached the bar. She stood before the door and quietly contemplated her inner feelings. The only feeling she felt was dread. ‘This is it. My final battle. Arya. If I don’t make it out, just know that you were an awesome guide.’
There was a certain pause in Arya’s response. “Affirmative. Arya is an awesome guide.”
She noticed. The almost human-like pause. ‘I am just imagining it.’
She exhaled and stepped into the bar, which was drenched in darkness, except for the counter, which was lit by an array of colorful lights. Sashwat sat at the counter, holding an empty shot glass in his hand. He turned towards her, and a smile appeared on his face.
“Finally. I thought you had run away. Or at least not made in time,” he said.
Uruvi did not respond.
“Come on. Let’s have one drink before our battle to the death,” said Sashwat.