New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

*Bzzt*

*Crackle*

*Bzzt*

After naming the weapon, Galtion noticed the sparks started coursing along the shaft once more. But this time, they didn't harm him.

On the contrary, he could feel their energy coursing through him.

With a grin, Galtion lowered his stance, gripping his spear in both hands. Then he stepped forward.

*Flash* *Boom*

A flash of blue-ish white light erupted inside the room, followed by a zigzagging of lightning and a sonic boom. And in the trajectory of the lightning, every Elf hit was suddenly husks of black, their form carbonized in an instant.

Galtion, who had been in the center of the room, was now at the edge of it, his eyes wide. He looked down at the spear in his hands, still crackling with blue blots of lightning.

"What the fuck?! This is amazing!"

He had never moved this fast. And the acceleration!

It had been instantaneous!

Looking at the result of his single dash forward, he grinned even wider.

"Now we're talking! Let's go, StormFury!" he shouted.

The rest of the players in the room had to take a moment to realize what had just happened, as well. But they couldn't dawdle too long, as the corrupted Elves weren't mentally affected by the phenomenon.

Violette smiled at the turn of events. If these two were out, then the others wouldn't be long before they came out as well.

It was a good thing because the situation wasn't getting any better. With most of their resources spent on all four casters, and them being semi-burdens by now, the addition of fresh bodies in the battle was much needed.

If only their healer could come back next. Health levels were low all around, aside from the two new returners, and Peaceful Grove was using every bit of mana at her disposal to keep them standing.

'Come on, you two. How weren't you the first ones to come back?' Violette thought to herself.

***

Inside the red dragon's soul space, SharpTusk was dealing with an entirely different issue.

His quarry, the dragon he came here to help, was refusing any help he offered and actively hindering him from helping. Even though the corruption kept sending smaller shadows at SharpTusk, to prevent him from helping, SharpTusk couldn't even make it close to them.

Every time he took a step towards the red dragon, it either threatened him or actively attacked him. The shadows couldn't go beyond a certain point away from the main body and kept returning to it, restoring its power.

"Let me help, you dumb fucking dragon! Can't you see it weaken every time it sends shadows my way?! At least let me take some burden off your shoulders!"

But the dragon stood firm.

'No! Stay out of this conflict! It is mine to overcome, and mine alone!'

The dragon even spat a gout of fire in SharpTusk's direction, forcing the Half-Orc to take cover behind a dune, lest he become barbecued meat.

"You fucking stubborn lizard!" he barked, as he got back up from behind his cover.

The dragon was losing, and it was clear as day. Wounds seeping with black smoke were everywhere on its body, and blood was falling like rain under it, making the red sand under it a darker shade as it muddled up.

"Alright, fuck it. It wants to play like that? I'm done being nice," Tusk muttered.

His hands gripped the haft of his greataxe with force, the wood creaking a bit, and he dived forward.

"Rargh!" he roared.

Charging forward, SharpTusk let all his pent-up rage loose, having enough of this masquerade.

As he closed in, the cloud of corruption once again sent out the shadows to intercept him. Tusk dove at them, keeping an eye out for any attacks from his true foe, the red dragon.

It didn't take long once SharpTusk started hacking and slashing at the shadows before the dragon noticed his insolent return.

'I said stay out of this!' its thunderous voice screamed in Tusk's mind.

A tail swipe swooshed toward the Half-Orc, kicking sand up under it. But SharpTusk was not taking any more of his bullshit.

"No!" he shouted, as he slammed his axe into the tail, whacking it away.

The power behind the attack surprised the dragon briefly, but the next words out of SharpTusk's mouth only angered it further.

"You can fucking stay out of this! I've had enough of your fucking misplaced pride! Get in my way, and I will cut you down!"

With a gout of fire burning into the cloud of corruption, the dragon's voice slammed into SharpTusk's mind.

'YOU DARE THREATEN ME?! A MIGHTY DRAGON?!"

But SharpTusk didn't back down.

"FUCK YOU! YOU ATTACK ME, THEN YOU GET PAYBACK!"

Shouting this, he thundered his way through the horde of shadows attacking him, uncaring of the swipes they took at him, and jumped up to meet the dragon's eye level. And he slammed his axe in between its eyes.

The dragon's pride was hurt more than his body on this strike.

The fight rampaged on, with the sides becoming threefold, and erupted into an all-out brawl.

By the time it ended, only one side remained standing.

Falling onto his back, his health bar flashing red, with only a single digit number flashing under it, SharpTusk started laughing. It started low and weak until it crescendoed into one of pure ecstasy.

Of course, his laughter ended in a fit of coughing, given his body was so wounded, and his mouth filled with the blood of both the dragon and his, from all the attacks he dished out and received.

But in the end, he had prevailed.

Of course, the dragon wasn't dead. But it lay weakly to the side, panting, as its battered form refused to obey it anymore.

SharpTusk's red skin didn't look all that damaged, his blood matching his skin tone, but he was about as structurally complete as a sieve.

'You have shown much more pride than I *cough* are you sure you aren't of red dragon descent?' the dragon's voice weakly echoed in his head.

"Oh, fuck off. If I were a dragon, would you have accepted my help?" Tusk asked.

'Heh! Not a chance,' the dragon replied.

It weakly laughed, as did SharpTusk. In the end, even if they fought, they both wanted the same thing. And they had achieved it.

'You must go now. Your friends need you. I will give you a little something for the lesson you taught me this day. Do not waste its potential.'

"What? What are y—"

But before he could finish his question, he felt his body get sucked down into the ground, as he was thrown into a space so white his eyes hurt.

"Where am I? Why did I—"

"ARGH!"