Collide Gamer

Chapter 35 – Smalltalk, boss fight, big talk

“For the record: I still think this is a terrible idea!” John shouted as he blasted the face off a Ghost. With his boner gone, he had enough brainpower to question what they were doing all over again. Still, he was blasting the Lower Ghosts away as quickly as MP regeneration allowed.

“Stop being a baby, John.” Rave, enveloped by her Aura, kicked straight through another ghost. They had been killing Ghosts like madmen for the past four hours, in stark contrast to their relaxed attitude of the day prior. “It worked out, didn’t it?” A group of Ghosts got instantly annihilated by a cone of blinding light.

“You almost died,” John drily stated.

“Almost, exactly.” Rave sidestepped the attack of a Ghost’s claw as she regenerated her mana. “I have been thinking by the way.”

“About the fact that your dad is going to kill me if he finds out that I put you into dangerous situations?” He asked.

“I ain’t telling if ya don’t give me a reason.” Rave giggled and showed the ghost her pierced tongue in a playful gesture. Then she dodged again. “If it does happen, that’s so your problem.”

John took care of the ghost with two Mana Power Attacks. “That is so irresponsible of you!”

“Nu-uh, it’s your weird powers that made it spawn after all.” Rave burned away a new monster that peeled from the mist. “Also my dad wouldn’t kill you…”

“Well, that is nice to hea-“

“That would be way too easy, he will probably force you to do some worse stuff.” Rave made a horrifying expression. “You should see our basement, he has this collection of….”

John held his ears closed, “Lalala, I don’t want to hear that. Nothing bad is in the basement of your weirdo father, lalala.”

Rave softly knocked him over the head. “Don’t call daddy a weirdo.”

“You were fine when I called him insane,” John pointed out.

“There is a difference of magnitude here.” She explained between killing two Ghosts. Their evaporation was quickly followed by a “Wuhu, Level-Up!” which meant that Rave was now Level 19.

It took them another three hours to spawn the boss. The window popped up and once again darkness started to gather. It was way less impressive or spooky in the daylight. “This is just progress raiding all over again.” John mumbled as he waited.

“What was that?” Rave asked. 

“Well, have you ever played an MMO?”

“Tried Guild Wars for a bit, wasn’t for me though.”

“Well, in MMO’s there are raids with extremely strong bosses. The first time you kill a boss it is awesome but over time it kinda loses the flavour.” John watched as the cocoon of darkness started rippling as the boss inside started manifesting. “Like, the spawn animation is way less cool the second time.”

The scream of the Spectre filled the air as it fell to the ground. This time the two of them had already taken a position far away and immediately started showering the Spectre in attacks. The Spectre sluggishly turned towards them and started hovering over. They started running. “Same style as last time.” John said as he threw Mana Power Attacks without aiming much. He had enough mana right now.

The Spectre didn’t manage to dodge them all and took all of Rave’s attacks as well. John was confused. The boss seemed to be actively bothered by his attacks this time, what’s more it moved so slowly they could kite it in circles for hours and the only reason to blindside the Spectre would be to gather some breath. “It seems very sluggish.” Rave said in a disappointed tone. John nodded and looked upwards.

“Probably the sunlight. It seems really weak to the element, so it's probably debuffed during the day?” he theorized.

“Urgh, that makes this way less thrilling… might as well go punch it if it's so slow!” Rave suddenly turned and charged straight at the boss.

John had no opportunity to stop her. Leaves and pine needles flew in her wake. Aura igniting, she leapt and punched the pale green monster square in the face. “Not so tough now, are ya?” She ridiculed and quickly followed up with a roundhouse kick.

The Spectre tried to grab her but John was already on that. Using a Possessed branch not aflame this time, he first swung at the boss and then wrapped his temporary second body around the arm he connected with. Annoyed, but not overly hindered, the Spectre shed the clinging wood fairly easily.

A convenient time for a level. Letting go of the branch, John instead Possessed a small tree. Like a wooden tendril, the rooted plant wrapped around the Spectre’s other arm. Tighter and anchored to the floor, this one wasn’t as easily removed.

One arm tied almost literally behind its back, the Spectre tried to fend off Rave. Jumping left to right, the techno lover danced around its attacks and beat the unlife out of it. It still took ten minutes of engaging and disengaging, but they eventually saw to the boss monster’s demise all over again.

“Second boss kills really aren’t that exciting…” he sighed and reprimanded himself for being so overly worried earlier. Then again, he had the debuff and a well-placed tree to thank for the ease of this kill.

“It made a good punching bag though.” Rave said as she watched the being disintegrate.

 “So, are you feeling better?”

She nodded strongly. “A lot. I‘m hungry though. Do your thing and let’s head back.”

John agreed on both accounts. First, he checked his own EXP gain. He got another level earlier today and thanks to the massive amount of EXP the boss had just awarded him (although not as much as last time) he was only 140 points away from the next level. He put the points into Intellect immediately and his mana exploded.

‘Next milestone probably is at 75,’ he thought. ‘Should I chase that or get some other Stats up? Endurance and Charisma, maybe?’ A question to be answered when he next had Stat Points to distribute.

Second was the loot. The Spectre had left him with another stack of cash, only ten grand this time though, and two items, both of which he quickly Observed.

He equipped the gloves and stored the Ectoplasm and the money in his inventory.

“Your mana just did another massive jump.”

“Yeah, I crossed a threshold and it bumped up the scaling efficiency.” He waited for a moment, for her to inhale and then, perfectly matching her, said, “”Bullshit.””

Rave looked confounded for a moment. Then she laughed. “Don’t ya mock ma gag, ya jerk!” she slurred and threw her left arm around his shoulders in a chummy fashion. She really did seem all fine now, but only one way to make sure.

He barely suppressed a sigh. She was still angry. Should he act on that? Was it his place to pry in her business? In the past he would have said hell no and gone home to watch some nice VR porn. She was different. She was everything he had ever wanted and more. After she had pulled him out of his shell this past week, the least he owed her was some care. “Are you still angry about earlier?”

Rave’s smile froze and died down. “Ja.” She took a deep breath. “Urgh, I hate this.” She walked away from him, back turned towards him so he couldn’t see her face. “It’s been two years since he used that tent. Why am I bothered by something that happened two years ago?” There was a pause, but John sensed she wasn’t finished. “I never liked mom. She was always on trips, even more than dad. When she was around, she only ever asked about how I was performing or how I liked singing class. Okay, sometimes she didn’t ask stuff, she was berating me instead. Never a nice word on her lips.”

Rave put her hands behind her back. She kicked a rock down a nearby slope.

“I dunno if we were ever really a family. They both worked so much. When my mother left, dad was always sad. We were always moving. I only had my parents and my sis and we rarely ever saw each other. When they got divorced, I thought dad would finally be a little happier… but he still cares… and now he’s gone all the time too… I thought I was done with my mother, at least… then I see that she sold the ring and…. How am I supposed to feel knowing that I’m the daughter of such a bitch? Is that me in twenty years?” She turned back to him, her eyes wet, but no tears falling. “Answer me, ya useless moron,” she lightly jabbed him in the stomach, trying her best to smile.

“I don’t know,” he confessed. “I can only listen and be here for you.”

“Oh shaddup, corny bastard,” Rave mumbled and boxed him a second time. Still too weak to deal any damage. “Why am I even talking to you about this? I’ve known you for barely a week. Do you have an answer to that?”

“Well…” It seemed like a bad idea but he might as well come clean now. “It might be because I have raised my Charisma, or because Observe shows me what you currently think of me.”

“Oh, bull - shit!” This time the punch hit hard enough to make him stumble a step back. His foot got stuck on a root and he fell. She came down on him like a sledgehammer, grabbing both of his wrists and pinning them to the floor. “Fuck you, John,” she cursed at him. He did not struggle against her grasp. “Ya think I just like ya because ya tapped a button a few times? Or that you having a bit more insight than ya should have would make me swoon over every word that comes out of your mouth? Are you just a bunch of Stats and cliff notes? Ya think so low of me I’m just entertained by that little? Interested in that little?”

“Of course not!” John shouted back at her. The sudden outburst of anger had her startled enough that he could press against the iron grip of her slender fingers and sit up. “How could I think any of that about you? You saved my life, you’ve cared about me, you keep daring me to do things I didn’t know I could even attempt and each time you prove that it's worth it just to see you smile. You make the best out of every moment I shared with you, beautiful like… I don’t even know.” Hard, he beat his chest. “But what the hell am I? You only cared for me because I was new and interesting, so what changed? How could any of this be because I’m doing it? Why was I chosen for this power? Was it just randomness that gave me this chance? Why me? What significance do I have in all of this besides just existing? Would anyone else just have met you and ended in the exact same position anyway? Do you have an answer to th-?”

John’s eyes went wide when he felt her lips on his. All built-up doubts, all the emotions that he didn’t even know had been boiling under the surface, suddenly smothered by the warmth. The struggle of their arms ended and they found each other in embrace again. Two confused young adults, holding onto each other for warmth and purpose.

“Ya idiot,” she whispered, their lips distancing only a finger width. They sat forehead to forehead. “Just stop doubting yourself. You lived, you learned, so move on. It was you who figured out the Wall Shadow, you that kept saying all the right things to me, stammer or not, you that saved me even when you’re still weak and inexperienced. You were brave and you are here with me. No one else. Your powers don’t make you who you are and I’m… sorry if I ever made you feel that way.”

John swallowed, fighting back the tears just as much as she seemed to. “Your mom doesn’t define you either, Jane. You’re you and… I…” He was so close to saying it. He tried over and over again, but the nervousness tightened his vocal cords each time.

“Use that Observe thing on me again.” Rave broke the silence. John wasn’t sure why she would ask him to do that but he followed her instructions.

“What does it say?” she asked, quietly and calm.

“It- It says you love me.”

“That’s pretty unfair towards me, isn’t it? To just throw my feelings into your face without asking me if I was even ready for them.” Her lips curved in the saddest, most radiant smile ever.

“…Jane…would you, maybe, want to go on a date sometime? Not killing monsters, just something… normal.” John asked, his voice bumping around the sentence still unsure what he was supposed to say.

She snorted. “By Gaia you’re just such a… yeah, sure, we can do that… but first you gotta say four words. Four words and I’m yours.”

With a deep breath and a calm that forced itself over the tingle over his entire being, he readied himself. “I love you too.”