Green = Gigante (for now) ]
Yellow/Golden = GoldenKing ]
Previously on their quest, Papa Gigante was witnessing GoldenKing soloing 5 boars at once. Not wanting to already have their journey end, Gigante decided he should help out. He ran over to the boars and started to throw out obscene gestures that were unsuitable for children in an attempt to taunt them. Thankfully, the boars noticed and charged at him instead. Instead of equipping the shield on his back, he merely put his second hand on his sword and swung. Thats when he realized he did minimal damage to only one boar. Gigante got smacked by one before he rolled through the others.
GoldenKing, seeing Gigante taunt the animals away from him, felt his heart swell with joy. Alas! I have found a man who is so eager to slay beasts, to gain glory, that he would even pull them away from my onslaught in order to gain glory for himself! Woe, my heart is filled with joy! GoldenKing thought to himself. He realized that his health was going down at a pace that one might refer to as "faster than gradual" -- A.K.A., he was losing health fast. Luckily, with Zealous Barrage, it would help his ability to damage the boars. Indeed, GoldenKing realized that these boars -- while not extraordinarily strong -- were able to dodge with finesse. Knowing this, GoldenKing had launched a risky, but powerful, maneuver when he went into the fight. By using Zealous Barrage, his attack speed was increased greatly for a short period of time, whilst the damage he took also increased (50% for each). This would allow him to dish out more damage to the boars, as he could send out more attacks. Whichever target that GoldenKing would decide to attack, he would slash his blade in front of their faces, as an unbelievably bright light would crack like lightning. This was a skill of the lightblade -- Blinding Light. It would stun the target for a short amount of time, also increasing the damage that could be dealt to these boars. These boars, due to their numbers, could certainly dish out a large amount of damage to GoldenKing... but GoldenKing wasn't built to take damage. No... he was built to be a weapon of massive and glorious destruction. The philosophy was this: I kill you all before you can kill me. Of course, if GoldenKing had a healer...
Magical things would happen.
Magical.
GoldenKing returned his attention to the boars, as he wildly laughed as he hacked and slashed.
"Come, beasts! See if you cannot defeat the GoldenKing! Nay... see if you can SURVIVE the GoldenKing!"
Papa Gigante saw the damage output GoldenKing was doing. Those moves he was doing were not just simple swings, but skills. Gigante looked into what skills he had given himself again to make sure, and found that he only gave himself a 100% dodge roll and a taunt. Essentially, Papa Gigante could hold the attention of an enemy and not get hit, but his damage output would be poor. Gigante observed GoldenKing while running from the boars, he knew that GoldenKing at the very least didn't have a shield, which would mean that he would be taking a lot of damage if he got hit. Well, neither did Gigante, but that was for style reasons, not class specific reasons.
That's when a light bulb flashed in his mind, as long as Gigante had their attention, who cares whether or not he was doing a lot of damage if GoldenKing attacked from behind. Gigante went and taunted them some more with more provocative gestures and swings with his sword when there were clear openings, rolling when things got hairy. He started to group the boars in a way that would allow GoldenKing to easily snipe out the boars one by one.
GoldenKing saw this initiative on Gigante's side. Gigante had put himself in harm's way so that GoldenKing could more easily strike down these beasts. With all of the boars off of him, he was no longer taking damage... and that meant that he could afford to lose some health.
One percent per second, perhaps?
"Prepare yourselves, fiends! ... Holy Martyr!" GoldenKing shouted, as his swings suddenly became harder, visibly causing more damage. Hack, slash, hack slash... but it was not enough! Surely these beasts would die, but that would put Gigante, his loyal compatriot, at risk.
"Keep their attention, brave Gigante... for here comes a hurricane of might!"
"Zealous Barrage! BLINDING LIGHT!"
From GoldenKing, golden light out poured. He had stunned one of the boars, and was currently doing -- due to the stun's special effect and Holy Martyr's ability -- 35% more damage. Not only that, but mixed with Zealous Barrage... he was attacking 50% faster. For every few slashes that he would inflict upon these boars, however, one would notice that his health was slowly being leeched away. It was gradually lowering... by one percent per second. GoldenKing, if he were to be attacked at this moment, would die if he were up against a boss, most likely. Due to the fact that he has only the most basic of armors right now, added up with the fact he was -- till Gigante came in -- soloing five monsters.
But who needs to worry about that, right?
'Cos GoldenKing? He was making bacon.
Hack! Slash! Hack! Slash! Hackslash! Hackslashhackslash!
GoldenKing did not stop his relentless onslaught. The boars were falling one by one, till the whole group of them lay fallen before his feet. GoldenKing's health was rather low now -- at about 40%. He had lost the majority of his health due to his recklessness in fighting these beasts. Indeed, he had lost most of his health... but he had started his bloodshed. Soon, the blood of dragons, demons, and even gods would be at his blade...
...But first...
"More boars, Gigante! WE NEED TO SLAY MORE BOARS!"
Papa Gigante was pleased with the results, he only suffered enough damage to bring him to about 60%. They could definitely go against another group or two if he grabbed the enemy's attention in the beginning. Hearing the words of GoldenKing, he knew they must go on to defeat even more enemies for glory and honor.
He ran and grabbed 3 boars' attention just as GoldenKing had. He ran towards a forth one before his eyes saw a more worthy opponent, goblins. There were only two, but they were enough to set fire into the eyes of Papa Gigante, fires as hot as Death Valley and more fierce than a raging bull in a china shop full of red dishes.
He ran grabbed them both with two sword swings to grab their aggro before running back towards GoldenKing, waving his arms around to try to tell him to get ready.
And ready he was.
GoldenKing knew that, the moment Gigante took a step forward, he was going to achieve glory. For, in the life of the hero, every step forward is a step towards glory. Noticing the direction Gigante was moving immediately, and that Gigante was essentially made to be a shieldwall, GoldenKing prepared himself. Normally, most players would've stopped to rest.
Most players would've healed.
Most played would've slowed down....
...but heroes don't slow down. Heroes do not relent! Nay, for they must always be the first ones to stride forth with their comrades into battle! They must always fight evil, even if they are weak from exhaustion! For a hero is not a profession! Being a hero is not a choice! Being a hero... is a LIFE!
Anyway, so GoldenKing twirled his weapon in his hand, preparing for Gigante to bring those creatures back to him.
"Hold their attention, Gigante... ZEALOUS MARTYR!"
"Zealous Martyr" was not a skill that GoldenKing had. Indeed, it was not a skill that any player in the game had... it was, instead, just a combination of the skills Zealous Barrage and Holy Martyr. In using these skills simultaneously (as opposed to separately), several things happen: ONE. It sounds more heroic and original than all the other players shouting the same skills. TWO. It reduced downtime between skills, as you don't need to shout each individual spell.
GoldenKing began to hack and slash at the boars and goblins, chuckling heartily.
"Blinding Light!"
GoldenKing stunned one of the Goblins, marauding it with his halberd.
"I have invented a way to combine skills, my friend! I hereby dub this art of combining skills... Golden Synergy! Of course, you can tell me what you think about the name after we slay these beasts, Gigante!"
Papa Gigante knew that every compliment should be given when they are at their freshest. Wasting no time, even in the heat of battle, Gigante flashed him a thumbs up. The thumb was fully erected up, with every muscle used in the thumbed strained to its fullest to convey how amazing of a discovery it was.
There were slightly more pressing matters at hand though. Gigante kept the attention of the unstunned creatures to him to allow GoldenKing to safe engage the goblin, continuously rolling away from their attacks as best he can. He floated like a butterfly and stung like a slighty angry butterfly, finishing off a boar and taking more damage in return from two enemies. Gigante was down to about 30% health by now, the enemies were low as well, but he didn't have any AoE, or any offensive skills for that matter to finish them off before he would die himself.
OH! Only if Gigante actually read his skills before choosing them!
"Gigante! Your bravery is commendable... allow me to help your valiant efforts!" GoldenKing shouted, as he began to attack whatever target Gigante was on. He would damage it just enough till it was nearly dead -- literally, one swing away from death -- before marauding the next one. The idea was incredibly simple: focus on one target with two swords, it dies faster. Gigante takes less damage. Now that Gigante most certainly had the attention of the beasts with his taunts, there was no need for Gigante to attack each and every one of them (seeing as GoldenKing did not have any area of effect spells either, at this time).
"Swing your blade, Gigante! Swing your blade like you have never swung it before, lest we fall to these beasts! Our journey... it cannot end here! Our journey must ride forth like a majestic stallion upon the wings of an angel! Our journey shall not falter, not slow -- NAY, IT SHALL ONLY GAIN MOMENTUM! GIGANTE, WE ARE THE FIRST FLAKES IN THE BALL OF SNOW THAT SHALL SOON TURN INTO AN AVALANCHE OF JUSTICE! So FIGHT, Gigante! For GLORY, AND FOR HONOR!"
GoldenKing's hacking and slashing didn't relent, although he was most certainly feeling weaker now. They had just defeated five monsters and are slaying another six..! That is something that is unheard of in this world so far! (To be fair, this world has only been around for a small bit. But, give them some credit -- they have zero heals. All their survivability is in their skills to remove the enemy's survivability).
GoldenKing's health was now at about 19%. He was critically low on health, but the thought of failure -- of death -- never occurred to him. Nay, for it was impossible. GoldenKing would not die here, after a battle against a mere eleven monsters. Nay... GoldenKing would not fall even against eleven thousand monsters! For the GoldenKing was a man with the will to strive to become more than a man! A hero who had the strength to strive to be more than a hero! A King... who would strive to be more than a king!
"Gigante! Slay these foes! For, never forget, this is naught but the start to our glorious journey... to transcend mortality, to become gods within the legends! FIGHT, GIGANTE!"
Gigante noticed that GoldenKing was leaving every monster with a sliver of health left. Papa Gigante was deeply moved, to be given the final strike for all these beasts, GoldenKing was truly a saint in disguise to share the kills!
Seeing his health compared to the enemies, he could most likely take them down before he dies himself. Gigante charged in with reckless abandon, any time he spent not swinging his sword to slay a beast was more time the bests had to swing at him. For every swung he threw he was assaulted with twice the amount. There was no time to wait however, who knew how fast these creatures would respond, the last thing they needed were for the boars they slew recently to come back with a vengeance. The boars fell much like flies fall to a fly swatter, the problem he faced was with the goblin.
Not being constrained by a group. the goblin now had much more room to dodge Papa Gigante's attacks. Swing after swing they traded blows, both dodging and being unable to hit each other. This creature was almost the same as Gigante, fast, tricky, and no shield. Papa Gigante finally looked at his health, it was around 20%. It was around time to end this dance.
Papa Gigante taunted the creature one final time with a simple beckoning, causing the creature to charge straight at him. Th creatures in this land were alike the players, they grew angry, they knew how to dodge. There was one difference that separated them, it was determination, the determination for survival, the determination for escape, and more importantly, the determination for victory. He took stance to swing his weapon at the one time the enemy couldn't dodge, during their attack. At the middle of the goblin's swing, Gigante himself swung. If this wasn't a video game, maybe it would have felt more climatic with people unsure of who got the strike.
However as they were in a game, both hits naturally occurred leaving Gigante with 15% health left and the goblin dead. Gigante wasn't a foolish enough man to have his life depend on an attack speed difference after all.
GoldenKing, having finished off his enemies, prepared to strike down the others as he jumped around...! Only to find Gigante had slain the goblin that GoldenKing was going to kill.
"Grand job, Gigante! We have slain all eleven of these enemies!" GoldenKing said, a wide grin on his face. He was clearly joyed by their victory over these beasts, although his wanderlust and wish for glory wasn't nearly sated.
"In fact, brave Gigante, we've slain enough enemies, I'd wager, that we can call ourselves rank three in terms of skill. But this is not enough, Gigante! Come now, we return to the wondrous town of Vilaka to acquire grand quests and armors!"
With one last glance over the carnage that Gigante and he had strewn, with his hands on his hips, he smiled.
"Onwards, to Vilaka!" GoldenKing shouted before heading towards the town.
Papa Gigante nodded in agreement and followed behind him towards the town. After such a fight, they needed to rest and possibly get better gear to slay even more efficiently. More importantly than that, was to grab some good looking clothes instead of wearing their cruddy standard staring attire.
After all, what kind of legend wore such plain clothing?
