Monster Tide: Prelude

"Mnnhh…" While still in the middle of his sleep, Valyr could not help but open his eyes, his consciousness still half-awake as he had been hearing the sounds of sirens for quite some time now. As his consciousness became more and more awake, he noticed how the sun's rays hadn't pierced through his window yet, which he took as a sign that meant he could still sleep in for a bit more. However…

Weeeennnnggg!!!

Just as his eyes were about to close once more, the sound of a blaring siren resounded throughout the room once more, forcing his eyes to widen as his consciousness fully woke up because of it. With a frown, he sat up on his bed, wondering where the siren sound had been coming from. Fortunately, the answer to his question was quickly obtained as multiple red screens filled with large text appeared before him, all saying the same thing.

Ding!

[The emergency quest 'Monster Tide' has been activated!]

[Head to the Astarto Village's walls as soon as possible!]

For a short while, Valyr looked at the words on the screens in silence, blinking in slight confusion. Though, not long after, realizing what the screens were trying to say, he closed all of the screens in front of him before quickly getting out of bed, hastily going through his morning routine before changing into a set of the village guards' uniform.

Once he had confirmed that he had tied the wooden spear to his back tightly, he then went ahead and dashed towards the village gates as fast as his AGI could take him, forgoing the notion of breakfast for now.

…

After leaving the barracks in posthaste, he noticed the sky was still a deep and dark red, which meant that there was still some time before sunrise. Recalling how he thought he could still sleep in a few minutes earlier because the sun hadn't fully risen yet, Valyr could not help but have the urge to slap himself, only to rein it in soon after.

Fortunately, it did not take long for him to arrive at the village gates thanks to the streets still being devoid of people at this hour. Once he was near, he noticed that there were already a few people waiting by the gates, their expressions either anxious or nervous.

"Glad to see you up, Valyr." By the time he arrived at the gates, Damian was the first one to greet him. In response, Valyr nodded, looking at the man before him as he had not seen him in this get-up before. Although Damian wore the village guards' uniform underneath, only a small bit of it poked out of the set of armor he wore, which gave him the feeling that he could battle with tens or hundreds of monsters and still leave unscathed.

"I presume you haven't eaten breakfast yet?" he asked soon after, to which Valyr also nodded in response. Pointing towards a certain direction, Damian told him, "Head in that direction and you'll be able to get some light snacks that'll fill you up. Make it quick, though. There's no telling when the monster tide is arrivi—"

Rumble…

Just as Damian was telling Valyr where to fill up his stomach, the ground started to rumble, making Damian mutter out a curse under his breath as he let out a light sigh soon after. Noticing that Valyr looked at him with slight confusion, Damian told him, "Go and grab something to eat for now. Most of the people here at the moment have ranged classes, so I'll be instructing them to head up the village walls very soon."

"For us, Valyr… our battlefield is outside the village." Damian gave a rare smirk. "Now go. Meet me once you've satiated your hunger somewhat."

With that, Valyr nodded before dashing in the direction Damian pointed in earlier. After a bit of running, he had arrived at a temporary camp, which was separated into two parts. One part of it was a section dedicated for cooking and serving meals to those that would participate in the defense against the monster tide. The other was an area solely made for those participating in the defense, allowing them to chow down on their food in silence. Surprisingly, once he was there, a lot of people had occupied the second part, with some deciding to eat their breakfast while standing up.

Knowing that time was of the essence at this moment, Valyr swiftly made his way to the first section and got himself a light meal, getting a tray of food sometime later before making his way to the second area. Coincidentally, while he was in the middle of searching for a spot to eat his food in silence, he noticed a familiar person wearing a set of leather armor, silently eating their breakfast amidst the somewhat somber atmosphere emanating throughout the area.

"Mind if I sit beside you?" Valyr asked the person, making the latter look at him for a bit in shock before eventually nodding. "So, got some good sleep, Tristan?"

"I wish," Tristan said in response, shaking his head as he urged Valyr to eat his breakfast. "I've been up for hours last night, preparing everything I was going to bring for the monster tide."

"Speaking of which, wear this." Rummaging under the table they sat in front of, Tristan brought out a simple iron chestplate, giving it to Valyr. "It may not be much, but it'll help out in the long run."

Receiving the chestplate, Valyr could not help but look at Tristan in shock, wondering why the latter would give him such a precious piece of equipment. Fortunately, it did not take long for him to understand why, eliciting a chuckle to come out of his mouth as he heard Tristan's next words.

"Of course, once this is over, you better return that to me, okay?"

"I will, I will." Nodding in response, Valyr went ahead and identified the chestplate before putting it on, continuing to devour his breakfast soon after.

Ding!

————

[Light Iron Chestplate] (Level 10)

Rarity: Common

Defense: 12-19

A simple iron chestplate made by an experienced blacksmith. Allows the user to mitigate some damage received from attacks on the chest.

Remarks: For some reason, it suits you.

————

A couple minutes later, Valyr finished his breakfast, prompting him to stand up and make his way outside the village. However, for some reason, Tristan stood up from his seat as well. Because of that, he could not help but ask, "Where are you heading, Tristan?"

"Outside the village, obviously," Tristan said as if it was a matter of fact. Noticing the slight confusion on Valyr's face, he explained, "My subclass leans more heavily towards close combat."

Although he wanted to ask more about Tristan's subclass, Valyr decided to place the matter at the back of his head for now as the two hastily made their way outside the village, noticing that a long line of defenders had already been made. As the two of them looked at the line of defenders in silence, Damian came up to them with a solemn expression on his face. "Valyr. Tristan."

With the two nodding in response to his words, Damian nodded back before continuing. "Valyr, head to the east section. You'll be accompanying one of the guard captains I stationed there as their deputy leader."

"As for you, Tristan, you'll be accompanying me at the center, where the brunt of the monster tide is," he added, looking at Tristan.

With a nod, Tristan accompanied Damian to the frontlines while Valyr hastily made his way to the east section. Once in their positions, Damian could not help but look beyond the horizon, his eyes instantly noticing a large wave of monsters rapidly heading their way.

"Men! It's time to show the village the reason why we've trained so hard! It's all for this behemoth in front of us!" Taking in a deep breath, Damian yelled out all of a sudden, prompting all of those in his vicinity to listen. "We've already gone through so many monster tides… are we going to let this one do us in?!"

"Sir, no, sir!" everyone in the vicinity exclaimed.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear!" Damian nodded in satisfaction.

"The first wave is coming at us, men. You know what that means, right?"

"It's time to let all hell loose!"

"Show no mercy!"