chapter 45-no need for speed

Tommy let go of the mirror shield, and we all ducked separate ways to the left and the right into the church pew chair rows, doing army crawls while countless lasers flew past our heads, slugs hitting the wooden chairs and breaking them apart. Splinters of wood fell above our heads.

Tommy was behind me while Max went off somewhere we had planned. Max's goal was to hide behind one of the pillars within the radius of his spell.

Creating a small shield, Tommy was stressed as we only had one chance, one split second for this to work.

The thing about fast, light-speed attacks was that the users themselves were the main weakness. The attacks became predictable, even though they were fast. The right timing for a counter-attack was simple - move while they move. You don't need to be faster; you've got to get the timing.

Tommy lifted the shield up in the air. A laser, with a burst of speed, flung the shield. At the same time Tommy lifted the shield, I used my hand and wrist to throw a dagger towards the direction where the beholder was.

Within mid-air, laser and dagger flew next to each other.

The beholder noticed it and tried to create another laser, yet the dagger swiftly impacted itself inside the eyeball, a sound of screaming sounded, bursting our ears.

Yet that didn't stop me. Tommy didn't need me to say anything as we darted over the rows of chairs towards the thing. It wasn't dead, but it was still a danger.

A pillar of light came from the other side of the room, aiding us in defenses. Our fear was gone; only resolve and faith were left. It was the only thing we needed, the only power we needed.

Dagger in hand, I leapt, using the chairs as steps to propel myself forward as I struck a second time. Tommy appeared behind, forming a broadsword. He stepped to the side of the thing and slashed downwards, causing a deep wound. He slashed again and again, while I kept repeatedly stabbing.

Green blood was the only thing left. It was still twitching as it even made a last counter. The green blood quickly started to glow and seemed to explode into a light explosive.

The blood which was on our bodies was quickly swished away by some white and gold energy.

Tommy quickly shielded me with his armor and shield, which was formed a split second before the explosive.

We were both rocked back by the force, breaking the armor and leaving it cracked. The explosive kept going over and over. I felt like this was never going to end.

We almost died. How did I not think of that? I was too arrogant, thinking we already got the kill and eased up. Most of the time, our plan was working, but my greed and need for the kill almost got us killed.

I quickly got to my feet, coughing blood, almost staggering to a fall, but I held myself together.

"You guys all right? Lucky, I blessed James with the spirit of Ruth. Which all it does is cleanse any filth or dirt. Never thought it would be this useful," Max said.

"Yeah, good," I said, looking down.

"Good plan, mate. Nothing's perfect in the world, like you always say - shit happens. And guess what? Shit really did happen, but we made it out alive," Tommy said, trying to cheer me up.

But then, words appeared before us:

[Slain beholder, gain 900 gold coins, split among the party 300 each member. Tommy, you have gained Eye of the Prismatic.]

We were shocked.

"Why is it like a game?"

"I used to play this game with my cousin Maddie all the time, and if the realm master , or whoever is playing at the table in our houses, has the chance to gain a special weapon card which corresponds to the creature slain. I knew the rules but never thought it would apply."

"Max, you know what's strange is when we killed those white zombies, it didn't show we had slain whatever you call it. Why does it do it now?"

"Simple answer is because this was a boss, or in other words, a higher class than the rest, probably the weakest in this class. They go from mini boss to giant boss. Or if you want the longer explanation, they're called the named the first class, the second class the titles, the third class the mythical, the fourth class the unknown. Beasts or creatures are different than pet animals, such as these being from a different realm, invading whatever realm we are in now."