Trials of a VRMMO Healer

Chapter 6 - The Living Mountain

Splitcrag the Living Mountain was, in a word, big. The behemoth was built something like a rhino the size of a house. Bits of vegetation clung to its leathery gray hide and saplings had taken root on its back. As it approached us, it seemed to freeze. Slowly it tilted its head towards us and its eyes flickered with recognition. Splitclaw reared up in a way that seemed impossible for a creature of its size and dropped back down, shaking the earth. Kiira stumbled and I was knocked flat off my feet.

"Grasping Vines!" Devlin shouted and vines erupted from the ground and wrapped themselves around me, dragging me away from the charging Splitcrag in the nick of time. This spell was probably meant to restrain enemies, but Devlin's quick thinking had turned it around.

Having lost one target, the monster lowered its head and tried to gore Kiira with its massive 'v' shaped horns. She nimbly rolled away. Against a foe like Splitcrag, Kiira's lightly armored more mobile style was probably going to serve us well. Unfortunately, its massive size and thick hide meant that she was only chipping away at its health. We were avoiding its biggest attacks but every time it did that stomping attack we took some damage. It seemed that while some degree of pain was felt with most attacks, it wasn't always that simple in EO. I supposed this made sense, since I was pretty sure a strong sensation of pain might actually wake people up and disrupt the VR. Still, even though the damage wasn't great, in a war of attrition it was clear that my mana would run out before Splitcrag's HP.

"Meiana, I wanna try something. Can you keep me healed?" Kiira shouted.

I told her I could and she gave me a quick nod and tightened her grip on her greatsword. The change in her demeanor as soon as she activated her Berserker ability, [Fury], was immediate. She crouched low and took wild swings at Splitcrag. Rather than the her calm and quick but precise movements before, she charged forward at an incredible speed. While [Fury] was active, Kiira's HP steadily decreased. It seemed like a more powerful, but more limited version of my own [Mana Infusion]. In exchange for health, she gained strength and speed. Due to the nature of the ability it was unlikely she had fine control over it in the way I did, but the boost was incredible. If it were just her and Devlin, she could only use this for a little before her HP ran out and she was forced to deactivate it, but with a healer, she could keep up her [Fury] a lot longer.

Kiira's swipes at the beast's head and legs were digging in, but they were still basically scratches and my [Minor Heal] simply took too much time to cast for the amount of HP it restored. We were doing better but it still wasn't enough. I had been concentrating on healing Kiira but I had forgotten about Devlin. His Earthcaller class was specialized in controlling the battlefield. Normally against an opponent like Splitcrag, he'd be at a major disadvantage since the behemoth could just shrug off his control effects.

"[Earthen Wall]!" Devlin cried and a wall of earth erupted from the ground between Splitcrag's legs. It was far too small to stop the beast's movements, but that wasn't the plan. Kiira hopped onto the wall and took a swing at Splitcrag's exposed belly. Compared to the thick armor of its legs or bone of its head, this was a far more vulnerable spot and each swing left deep gashes. It reared and stomped, but the damage had been done. Splitcrag wasn't finished, but Kiira and Devlin's combo had gravely wounded it.

As Splitcrag trampled the wall, Kiira spun around, swinging her greatsword and struck at its leg. The blade sunk in... and got stuck. Kiira tugged at it and tried to dislodge it, but this situation gave me an idea. Asking Kiira to step back, I charged in and struck the sword with an infused sledgehammer strike. My hammer had been all but useless before but now the sword was wedge deep into Splitcrag's legs and it began to stumble and fall.

Kiira managed to pull her sword free and dodge, but I had to once again by saved by Devlin's [Grasping Vines]. Splitcrag was downed and struggling, but Kiira had been forced to deactivate her [Fury] and had very little health left. Even chain healing, I couldn't keep up with its HP drain. As she took swings at its exposed belly, I cursed that my hammer was useless in this situation. Then I realized... it wasn't.

We didn't have much time before Splitcrag got back up, so I quickly relayed my plan. It was an all-or-nothing gambit, but we could all sense that victory was close. I was betting it all on Devlin's wall. He could control the dimensions and placement of the wall, as long as it stayed within a limit of 30 meters cubed. This also meant that he could create a tall, thin spire. Normally this would be useless, especially because the low-rank [Earthen Wall] was made of soil, so it wouldn't be structurally sound. But it didn't have to be.

As Devlin created a spire beneath my feet, Kiira climbed onto Splitcrag and drove her greatsword into it like a spike. Even a sword that size wasn't enough to reach its heart, but that was okay. I had about a third of my mana left and I channeled the maximum amount into speed. Speed wasn't just about actual running speed, it slowed your perception of time and made you better able to react quickly. I only had one chance and I couldn't miss. I dove from the spire. Devlin wrapped the thrashing behemoth in vines to hold it still, just for a few seconds.

"[Starfall Strike]!"

Kiira's sword was smashed clean through Splitcrag's heart. Even with only a third of my mana, the combined damage multiplier between the dive and the critical strike to its heart was enough to take care of its remaining health. I crashed into the monster's belly and tumbled off, which took a chunk of my HP, but that was okay. Splitcrag began dissolving into light.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Kiira exclaimed as we sat on the ground recovering. Devlin was the only one who wasn't exhausted and that was just because he was a mage. It was the sort of tired you felt after taking a long test or maybe finishing a particularly tough level in a game. Probably exactly like that last one. In any case, Kiira spun an item window around to show us her loot. It was an oversized bracer that looked like it was made of jagged stone. The [Bracer of the Crags] has a sizable bonus to strength and HP, but it also functioned as a shield when worn, allowing the user to block attacks even while wielding a two-handed weapon. It was perfect for Kiira. Devlin, meanwhile got the [Aftershock Staff], which had a bonus to [Earth Magic] and the ability to create an earthquake in an area which damaged and unbalanced enemies once every 20 minutes.

I... got [Splitcrag's Horn]. Which, had no stats, it only said it was a crafting item.

"Hey, how does this game figure loot out, anyway?" I asked as I showed my party the horn.

"It seems to generate it based on your job class," Devlin explained. "But because you don't actually have one and your play style doesn't really match the skills you chose, it probably doesn't know what to do with you. It's a bit more work, but having an item crafted for you probably does make more sense than getting, I don't know, healer's robes."

"True..."

"Uh, speaking of which, what was that last attack?"

"Ah, uh, [Starfall Strike] is my unique ability. I got it when I killed the scorpion queen. Kind of in the same way as this. It drains my mana and does bonus damage based on how far I fall."

"A unique ability?! That's especially rare. No wonder the system didn't know what to do with you."

"I guess I can't complain, then!"

"No, you got pretty lucky. Even high level players don't all have one. They seem to be generated when the circumstances for the reward are particularly special. I am guessing that solo killing a boss while diving off a cliff counted."

I agreed. Now I was even more eager to make it to Illium and find a crafter who could make me something with this horn.