Nobody kills Nekos.
Nobody.
I have to protect them. Protect them all! They can't die. If they die, I can't save them! I have to remember that. I have to remember!
I was seized by an irrational need to carve the word into stone so I never forgot it.
Remember!
The car slid through a corner, wheels squealing in protest.
The motion of the vehicle frustrated me. I missed the more efficient quick travel methods provided to Neyteria. Being able to portal between towns and cities was so much better than the slow slog through traffic and then long winding roads which seemed to lead to nowhere.
Easier to just teleport close to where you needed to be.
I guessed it would take years before Earth had a similar network.
Something about that thought tickled my brain. But then we skidded around a tighter turn and my shoulder hit the door.
I didn't tell Tippy to slow down. I wasn't afraid of her crashing. I wasn't afraid of anything.
My mind was, strangely, clear for the first time in a long time. I couldn't remember being this clear since I'd kicked the Demon Lord's doors down.
All because I had a quest. A noble and righteous quest.
Avenge Skye. Protect my Nekos.
On Neyteria, I couldn't recall a time when I didn't have multiple quests. Quests gave you direction. They gave you purpose. They made your blood pump! They gave you a firm objective to focus on.
Really, life is so simple when you have no distractions and can just concentrate on the single most important thing in life. For me, it's protecting Nekos. And my quests let me do just that.
I had a feeling that lately I'd been letting myself forget that. Maybe it was the shock of being back on Earth. But I felt it now. That familiar feeling of being on a hunt. My mana seemed to thrum with excitement as though it too was looking forward to being used.
I checked my skills.
(Nekomancer) Transform to Neko: Permanently Transform Target into an obedient (and cute!) Neko. Protect her at all costs! 10 second cooldown.
(Nekomancer) Catcall: Increase Target Neko's Attack Power by x2 for 30 minutes.
(Nekomancer) Kitty Litter: Sprays the surrounding area with sharp stones to cause minor damage to up to 8 targets. 10 second cooldown.
(Nekomancer) Furball: Cast a ball of fury at Target. Counts as magical damage. 5 second cooldown.
(Nekomancer) Mark Territory: Allows caster to claim up to 5 unclaimed locations.
(Outworlder) Teleport: Teleport yourself up to 1km in any direction. Target location must be in Line of Sight. 60 second cooldown.
(Outworlder) Void Blast: Inflict minor void damage on target. Void damage cannot be blocked or reduced. 5 second cooldown.
(Outworlder) Phase: Gain immunity from all attacks for 5 seconds. 60 second cooldown.
(Outworlder) Void Blast: Inflict minor void damage on target. Void damage cannot be blocked or reduced. 5 second cooldown.
I was still only level 8, though.
Had he done more quests than I had? What was his level? That's always the big question when taking a vengeance quest. Some aren't meant to be done straight away. They're meant to inspire you to work towards something. I was leaping into it, though.
Like a noob. I hope I wasn't about to die like one.
I defended this decision based on the fact I had ten years more experience than he did. And with enemies a whole lot better than he was. There was no way he had their skills.
Even if mine weren't at a high enough level, I knew how to use them.
Was I being overconfident? Maybe. If he'd gone higher than level 15, there was a possibility he'd be able to wipe me out. But I couldn't see it. Why would the System give him more quests than it gave me?
It wouldn't. The System was fair. Wasn't it?
I felt an urge to chew on my fingernails as we rolled through another corner.
Tippy pounded the wheel, her frustration growing with every second. "Come on, you piece of shit! Go faster!"
In the back seat, Shadowpaw let out a whine of pain and cast her self heal spell again.
I glanced back at her. "How are you holding up?"
"Better," she hissed through her teeth. "I think I can breathe with both lungs now."
I nodded, knowing that wasn't a joke. "Keep it up."
"Will do." She slapped the back of Tippy's seat. "If you keep driving like this, bitch, you're gonna get some crazy driving skills."
Tippy glanced in the rearview mirror at her. "I'd better."
The engine roared as she planted her foot down a long straight. Hunching herself over the wheel, she growled along with it. Her white teeth glinted and I wondered if she planned to eat the cop alive.
Knowing Nekos, that wasn't an impossibility…
I closed my eyes, remembering ten years spent fighting on Neyteria. Countless quests had sent me into situations worse than this. Like my first dungeon quest.
That had left me shaking as I entered the ruined tower of a demented mage whose enchanted servants still skulked within the halls. I had Furball then, too. And Kitty Litter. These two spells got me through well enough. I'd blast groups with Kitty Litter and take out the stragglers with Furball.
I remember having about three Nekos with me back then. One was Jade. She'd danced among the servants, a heavy sword in hand. Her main skill, Whirlwind had been ridiculously overpowered thanks to Catcall.
I also had Kelsi with me. And Dusk.
Kelsi was a healer. Dusk a mage.
The tower had started hard, but by the time we made it to the peak to challenge the Chamberlain, we'd found our rhythm.
Jade lunged at the Chamberlain while Dusk began casting. It would take a few seconds for Dusk to gather her mana and cast Lightning Blast. Before that, I peppered him with Furball.
He had been an ogre before the mage had twisted him with dark magic. Dark magic had poisoned his blood and allowed him to unleash explosive waves of corrosive magic which had hurt. Jade took the full force of his first cast and had almost lost her life. Kelsi was quick to heal, though. She'd had enough practice to have at least two level 3 healing spells by then.
Dusk's lightning blast tore through his chest, punching a hole clean through.
I glanced at Shadowpaw as I remembered that. She was lucky to survive.
The Chamberlain hadn't.
The loot from the tower had given us the chance to catch a ship further up the coast where we ended up in a city called Lockport. I smiled, remembering that. It had been a small harbour town built on the trade of fish and scales harvested from farm-raised mermaids.
I didn't like slavery, so I'd burned the town down to rescue them.
They'd been immensely grateful, and the System had been very generous with bonus experience points.
Then there was the time I decided to follow a bounty quest myself. I hunted a druid who claimed he was from France. I don't know if he was telling the truth. The System forced me to speak Neyterian and he obviously had the same, so our language and accents were the same.
He'd been hard to track.
His skills let him live in the forest like a ghost. His powers gave him control over animals and plants. I remember him sending waves of wolves at us until it became clear he didn't have enough beasts at his call.
Eventually, we found his lair.
He was exhausted. He said he'd arrived on Neyteria only a few months before. He'd had to fight from the moment he arrived like I did.
But where I kept going, he had given up. He was the first to tell me the System was a virus. He said it was trying to eat his mind. He begged me to fight it.
Then told me there was a reason not everyone on Neyteria had it.
He told me a lot of things which gave me a headache.
Jade pinned him to a tree with a couple of swords while Dusk tested a few new spells on him before I slit his throat.
I don't know if he really believed what he'd been telling me, but I didn't trust him anyway. You can't trust the French, can you?
He'd said something, though. Something which had made me think it was important. I couldn't remember what. And when I tried to remember, everything felt fuzzy. Like that part of my memory had been burned out of my brain.
In fairness, it was about eight or nine years ago.
I'd done so much.
I couldn't remember every little conversation I'd had, could I? Maybe I just needed more Intelligence points.
Shadowpaw coughed as she sat up a little straighter. "It's just up ahead," she said, tapping Tippy's chair. "On the left."
"I see it."
We turned into a rough track winding through a thick wall of trees and brush. The uneven ground didn't slow Tippy by much. She kept her foot down and her chin almost touching the wheel as she leaned over it.
It made me think of Skye.
I could almost feel Skye's warmth in my hands again, as she bounced in my lap. I could hear the echo of her squeal as her body arched against mine.
The softness of her voice. The softness of her skin.
And now she was gone.
I squeezed my hands into tight fists. If I was level 50, I'd have my Resurrect Neko spell. But 50 was a long way off. On Earth, I just knew it would be slower to level for a while. Maybe in a few years I'd be able to grind like on Neyteria.
But, for now, I had to face the fact that Skye was gone. I'd failed her. I hadn't protected her like I should have. I'd become complacent. Lazy.
I couldn't let that happen again.
"Use your Icebolt," I told Tippy. I could feel the coldness in my voice, and she must have felt it too. "He'll have a resist spell he can cast, but it can only be tied to a single element. That's the bad part. He won't be able to cast it again for another half an hour, which is the good part. So, if we make him think you're only able to cast ice spells, he'll most likely choose ice as his resistance. When it triggers, it'll look like his body is covered in a bright yellow skin for about half a second. The yellow will flash before it disappears, but the resistance stays on him for the whole half an hour. That'll be when you switch to Firebolt."
She nodded. "Because Icebolt is still only level one, and Firebolt is two. So, I'll do more damage to him. And it'll add the burning effect."
"That's right. So, keep casting it whenever you can because your fire dots will stack a couple of times." I looked over at Shadowpaw. "You don't have any rogue combat spells yet. Have you got a knife? Or something pointy?"
"In my bag."
"Use it. Stealth behind him and see if you can stick it in his back." I scratched at my chin. "It'll do more than tickle him, if you're lucky. But if it doesn't, it should unlock something for you."
"If we live…"
"Eh." I shrugged. "Shit happens."
"After I've stabbed him?"
"You've got silver handgun skills. Use that. How many guns you got?"
"Four."
"Keep them all with you. Don't bother reloading. You won't get time. I'd suggest aiming for his head. You might get a Headshot skill. Archers get that. I figure you might, too." I wrinkled my nose. "I've been too lazy. I should have got you shooting targets with a rifle to unlock Marksmanship or something. Something to remember, I guess. When we get back, I'm going to have to plan you out a bit more."
"What about you?"
"I'll boost you both with Catcall." I looked at the dirt road in front of us. "And make do with Furball. If he gets too close, I'll Teleport. I'll try not to drag him out of your range. Worst case, I'll Phase. It should keep me alive."
"And him? What's he going to do?"
"Depends on his level. You already felt Holy Strike."
"And I'd rather not feel it again."
"Then stab him in the back and run. Don't stick around. Shoot him from distance." I chewed on my lip. "He'll have mostly defensive spells. Healing and shields. Don't be surprised if some bullets miss or deal no damage. Just keep shooting. It'll at least help wear his shield down so Tippy's spells do more damage. Also, if he's gone past level six, he'll have Redemption. That's like a Firebolt except it deals holy damage. A pain in the ass, but Nekos are neither infernal nor undead, so you won't get dotted with a burn effect afterwards. Still stings a lot, though. Kind of like being hit by a cold splash of lightning is the best way to describe it."
"Great."
"He won't be able to cast it often. Only once every twenty seconds." I grinned at her. "Unless he got to level eight. I mean, I don't think he's made it that high. I can't see him being six, to tell the truth. But if he is at eight, he'll be able to nova it every ten seconds."
"Nova?"
"It's like an explosive ring. Meaning it'll shoot out in all directions about waist-high and usually up to about three to four feet from his body." I sucked on my teeth as I remembered getting caught by more than my share of nova-type spells. "You won't get much warning, but he'll have to speak its name to cast. So, if you hear Redemption Nova, jump backwards as far as you can. Or drop to the ground, I guess. I've never seen a caster drop down with you when you do that, so there's a chance the blast will go over your head if you do."
"Oh." She shook her head. "That's crazy."
"It is what it is," I shrugged. "You just have to accept that paladins aren't going to be easy. More so at later levels. When they hit level fifty, they start getting really ridiculous. We fought one who was level eight-four, once. Took us three hours to put him down."
Tippy glanced at me, horrified. "Three hours?"
"Yeah." I shook my head. "The good thing was I had about fifty healers with me. So, we kind of balanced out. All we had to do was stop him escaping and embrace the concept of attrition."
"Three hours, though," she whistled through her teeth. "That's just… I can't imagine."
"I know." I sighed. "Paladins are annoying. I'll tell you what's worse, though."
"What?"
I gave her a sly grin. "Nekomancers."
***
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