*SQUISH * *SQUISH*
Dylan's heavy footsteps in the mud were barely distinguishable from the sound of the torrential rain beating down on him and Connor.
"Aren't you excited?!" Connor asked, lugging a heavy wooden crate filled with red-colored potions, just like Dylan. He wore a smile so wide it irritated Dylan just looking at it.
"No," Dylan replied bluntly, harboring no small amount of resentment toward Connor for dragging him out to the battlefield. He had never fought a day in his life—he didn't even know how to properly grip the sword he had been handed at the infirmary tent before being ushered out.
Connor picked up on the underlying worry behind Dylan's annoyed glare and irritated tone. He understood the reason for Dylan's anger perfectly well, yet he wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to join a guild and gain a battle companion all in a single day—it was his golden opportunity. He had heard hundreds of similar tales within his family, and something told him this was his moment.
Dylan, naturally, did not share those sentiments. As they trudged through the heavy downpour that showed no signs of stopping, the screams of people fighting and strange, terrifying roars grew steadily louder, dampening his spirits even further.
"Come on, cheer up, my friend! After this battle, the two of us will celebrate with pig-man meat and the best fruit punch in the world—a direct recipe from my family's house!"
*SWISH* *BOOM*
A dark blur streaked between Dylan and Connor, instantly silencing Connor and slamming into the mud a few paces ahead of them.
Imbedded in the mire was a heavily wounded man, buried up to his torso. His face was swollen beyond recognition from repeated blows, and his arms were twisted at impossible, broken angles.
"Holy shit... I guess we're close," Connor commented, staring at the body without the slightest trace of fear or hesitation.
"...For the sake of my own sanity, I'm going to tell myself his legs are just stuck deep in the mud" Dylan said mournfully. However, the dark pool of blood staining the mud beneath the torso and the total absence of life in the man's eyes made it impossible to fool himself.
The two resumed their advance through the slippery mud toward the battlefield.
Before long, Dylan caught glimpses of multi-colored flashes streaking back and forth through the dark terrain. With every flash of light, massive, obese silhouettes materialized against the gloom.
"Get down!"
A voice roared overhead. In an instant, an older man clad in black leather armor and a long gray cloak dropped out of the sky, slamming into the mud beside them. He possessed a long black beard laced with gray. An adventurer.
The adventurer grabbed Dylan and Connor by the heads, forcing them down into the mud alongside him just in time to dodge a massive wooden log swinging through the air.
The sheer backdraft of the swinging log generated a forceful gale over the three of them. Dylan clung desperately to the mud, cursing his current predicament with every breath. Right at that moment, a colossal creature loomed over them.
The monster possessed a humanoid body with the grotesque features of a pig, covered head to toe in open wounds and severe burns.
The pig-man raised its arm, brandishing the massive log it used as a weapon while letting out a high-pitched squeal.
"Stay down!" the adventurer ordered, rising to his feet and stopping the momentum of the swinging log with a single hand.
Immediately after, he kicked the pig-man squarely in the chest, sending it crashing back into the mud. Grabbing Dylan and Connor by the collars of their shirts, he hauled them up with effortless ease, glaring at them with blatant disappointment and irritation.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?! You're completely unfocused—you could have died!" the adventurer shouted angrily.
"Potions, sir!" Dylan answered quickly, holding up the crate of potions, with Connor hastily following suit.
"Potions?" the adventurer repeated, his anger vanishing instantly as he snatched a bottle and tucked it inside his cloak. "Excellent timing. Head east—the lower ranks need these potions more than anyone. I'll clear a path for you, but don't stop running!" the adventurer commanded.
With a rapid nod, Dylan sprinted heavily through the mud, followed by Connor, who waved a cheerful farewell to the adventurer. Giving Dylan and Connor one last look as they ran in the direction he had indicated, the adventurer gave a brief snort, drew his sword, and shot forward at terrifying speed right between the two boys, carving a path straight through the mud toward the lower-ranked adventurers.
"What the hell is wrong with these people?!" Dylan yelled in astonishment. He hadn't been able to see the adventurer move in the slightest, only the sudden path carved out in front of him.
The notion that a human could move like that seemed impossible—he had only ever seen such feats in fiction.
Connor stared in awe and admiration at the path cleared between him and Dylan. He hadn't been able to visually track the adventurer either, but he had felt it—the sheer wind pressure passing by him at incredible speed.
(Someday...) Connor thought admiringly, a wide grin forming on his face.
Neither of them hesitated to follow the path carved by the adventurer, weaving past isolated skirmishes between adventurers and pig-men. Bodies—both human and beast—littered the terrain around them. Dylan could hear strange incantation words spoken by the adventurers right before they unleashed elemental spells.
They trudged through the mud for what felt like hours until they finally arrived at an area considerably calmer than the constant chaos of the frontline. Rising before them was a massive wall made of thick timber, where several adventurers formed a defensive line against the advancing pig-men.
However, despite the noticeably slower pace of combat here, it was far more brutal. The adventurers here seemed to be having an even harder time than those fighting hand-to-hand on the front lines.
"Potions?! Are those potions?!"
A woman's desperate voice called out to them. She looked haggard and exhausted, her body covered in wounds and her leather armor shredded.
Dylan could see the woman's eyes light up with sudden hope as she locked onto the crate in his arms, as if life had been breathed back into her.
"We need to get those to the adventurers holding the primary defense line, fast!" the girl urged frantically. "If they fall, a wave of pig-men will have a direct path to the—"
*CRACK* Get faster updates on g.com.
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
A few meters away, along the wooden barrier, adventurers were using their own bodies as braces to hold back the pig-men. Bit by bit, however, the timber structure began to buckle under the raw, collective strength of the beasts.
"Right away!" Connor shouted, charging toward the line of adventurers.
Dylan nodded in agreement and followed close behind, though not before tossing a potion bottle to the woman, who offered a hasty word of thanks.
The two ran toward the defensive line. Connor held a potion high in one hand as he sprinted, excitedly announcing their arrival. Dylan, trailing close behind, pulled out a potion bottle to hand off to an adventurer, but at that exact moment, everything ground to a halt.
*CRACK*
The sickening sound of splintering wood echoed across the entire sector, instantly silencing the surrounding adventurers. The veterans were used to hearing the timber groan, but this time was different—it was vastly louder than usual.
"That sound isn't good, is it?" Dylan asked nervously, his hands trembling in the sudden silence.
Even Connor took a few steps back, extending a hand behind him to push Dylan back alongside him.
"No..." Connor whispered. Dylan instantly picked up on the sudden panic in Connor's voice.
"retreat!..." an adventurer bracing the timber wall called out, closing his eyes in bitter resignation.
In a swift, frantic attempt, Connor spun around to grab Dylan and pull him away, but he didn't even manage to reach him.
*CRACK*
*BOOM*
The wooden wall collapsed with a deafening roar. A horde of pig-men surged through the breach, charging at full speed.
"Shit!" Dylan gasped, watching a massive pig-man charge straight toward Connor and himself.
"GHAK!" Connor grunted as the pig-man slammed directly into his back, sending him crashing heavily into Dylan.
Potion bottles shattered across the mud. The impact of the pig-man dragged them along for several meters before tossing them violently into the mire.
Dylan rolled aggressively through the mud alongside Connor, but the assault didn't stop there. The beast reached out, grabbing Dylan by the torso with one hand and snatching Connor by the head with the other.
(We're going to die!) Dylan thought instantly, pain and mounting terror painted across his face.
"Take this!" Connor roared, pulling a dagger from his belt and plunging it straight into the pig-man's eye.
The pig-man squealed in agony. Dylan reacted on pure instinct, clumsily drawing his sword and thrusting it straight into the open maw of the beast.
"Nice one!" Connor bellowed, grabbing hold of the pig-man's wrist and kicking the pommel of Dylan's sword, driving the blade deeper and killing the monster instantly.
The two fell heavily onto the mud. Dylan hastily checked his body for injuries before letting out a sigh of relief.
"HAHAHA!" Connor burst out laughing as he stood up, grabbing the hilt of the sword embedded in the pig-man and yanking it out with force. "Great idea stabbing it through the mouth—a sensitive spot on any creature!" Connor praised, holding the sword out toward Dylan.
Dylan stared at the blade for a few seconds before taking the hilt with a tired sigh, bringing a grin back to Connor's face.
"I wasn't even aiming..." Dylan muttered, using the sword to push himself up out of the mud.
They were surrounded. A fierce melee raged all around them between adventurers and pig-men, and they were trapped right in the thick of it.
The pig-men attacked with relentless ferocity; their ultimate objective was the city, but the adventurers stood firm in the mud, fighting tooth and nail to halt the monsters' advance.
"Are there no more potions?!"
"Weren't they supposed to bring more?!"
Desperate shouts echoed from the surrounding combatants.
"We have to distribute these potions immediately! If the adventurers fall, these monsters will march straight into the city!" Connor warned as he drew his own sword, locking his gaze on the scattered potion bottles lying in the mud nearby.
"Deliver them in the middle of a battle?!" Dylan asked, stunned.
"There's no other choice, Dylan! If we stand around doing nothing, we all die. By delivering potions, we at least give everyone a fighting chance!" Connor stated firmly.
Dylan felt a tight knot form in his throat as he surveyed the brutal combat surrounding them. He knew there really was no alternative; trying to run away would only increase his chances of running into an isolated pig-man.
With a long, weary sigh, Dylan nodded heavily. It was do or die.
Without wasting another second, Connor sprinted off toward the potions he had dropped. Dylan quickly followed suit.
Evading active clashes, Dylan slunk through the battlefield, snatching up potion bottles until his arms were full before running toward adventurers in dire need.
"Where are the potions?!" an adventurer bellowed desperately from the mud.
Pinned beneath a pig-man, the adventurer was being forced deeper into the mire. Sweat and blood ran down the man's frantic face, yet he didn't dare avert his eyes from the monster looming over him.
"I can't hold it off!" the adventurer gasped.
*SMACK*
A booted foot slammed into the pig-man's face, forcing it back, followed immediately by a sword slash that cut across one of the monster's eyes, sending it squealing in pain.
"Are you alright?!" Dylan asked, dropping to his knees beside the adventurer. "Here, take a potion!"
"Just in time!" the adventurer cheered, uncorking the bottle and chugging it down in a single gulp. "Gah! Blood flower... can't complain, though!"
The adventurer scrambled to his feet just in time to deflect a club swing from the pig-man, stepping in front of Dylan. He then grabbed the pig-man by its ears and drove his knee straight into its face.
"Good work, kid! Keep distributing those potions!" the adventurer commanded.
Before Dylan's eyes, he watched the adventurer regain his strength in an instant as his open wounds slowly began to knit closed.
(The potion takes effect instantly...) Dylan analyzed mentally.
With a nod, Dylan stood up and ran off in search of more adventurers. Repeating the same process, Dylan managed to save several adventurers from death, handing off or tossing potion bottles to anyone holding the line.
Over the next two hours, he delivered a total of 35 potions. Trudged back and forth through the thick mud in search of scattered bottles made the work exhausting. Panting heavily, his clothes drenched in sweat and caked in mud, Dylan looked down at the five remaining potions in his arms, noticing several cuts and bite marks left on his own body by the pig-men.
(I'm running out of potions, and there's no sign of Connor,) Dylan thought, surveying the endless war raging around him.
Having no other choice, he clutched the remaining bottles tightly against his chest and continued his task.
Hours dragged on, and exhaustion set in. It grew increasingly difficult to find adventurers who would accept a potion. Many turned him down, claiming they had already consumed two earlier—something Dylan didn't quite understand.
After all, why wouldn't you drink a third potion if you were severely injured?
As he navigated the muddy field, the rain and cold intensified. Dylan had no way of telling time, but something told him night was falling.
"Help!"
A desperate cry for help reached Dylan's ears. In the distance, beyond the main skirmish line, Dylan caught sight of a massive silhouette pinning another figure to the mud.
Without a second thought, Dylan drew his sword and tightly gripped his very last potion bottle, praying he could reach them in time.
As he closed the distance, Dylan spotted a woman with shredded clothing lying in the mud. A pig-man loomed over her, pinning her down to prevent her escape while its member pressed against her leg.
"Please, no!..." the woman pleaded.
The pig-man grabbed the woman by her legs, forcing them apart to expose her groin, preparing to force itself upon her.
Before either the adventurer or the pig-man could react, Dylan's sword swung down with full force, severing the pig-man's member clean off.
The monster shrieked in agony, clutching its bleeding crotch. With a rapid movement, the female adventurer snatched up her spear and thrust it clean through the pig-man's eye, killing it instantly.
"Are you okay?" Dylan asked, dropping to his knees beside her.
"Y-Yes... Thank you," the adventurer panted gratefully.
Dylan nodded before handing his final potion bottle to her, which she accepted with relief.
"Gah! Blood flower..." the adventurer winced after downing the liquid. "We need to get back to the main battle line. Staying out on the perimeter is too dangerous—there's no telling how many pig-men are lurking in the rain."
The two pushed themselves up, preparing to head back toward the main fight. Unfortunately, right at that moment, the girl's eyes widened in horror, followed by a sudden shout that Dylan recognized as Connor's.
After that, everything became a blur.
Dylan felt the world spin wildly around him before he crashed hard into the mud. Dropping into his field of vision was his sword, and lying right beside it was a severed, bloody arm—his arm.
Gradually, darkness encroached on his vision. The sound of rushing footsteps drew near, and through the haze, he managed to glimpse Connor running toward him right before everything went black.