Thirstfall - Memory of a Returnee-Chapter 40: The Toll

My mind ticks through the tactical variables like a metronome.

Veric is holding the line, but he is red-lining. Triggering Azure Dividends repeatedly against an apex predator like the Reef Stalker has to be draining his OXI reservoir like a flushed valve.

I need to pull the pressure off him, or our gleaming meat shield is going to crack.

The enemy team makes their move.

The dual-blade dancer breaks formation, sprinting directly toward me. He positions himself perfectly, covering the sightlines to protect the vulnerable casters in his backline.

Smart, I think, dropping my center of gravity. But not smart enough. I don’t want your friends. I want you.

He closes the distance faster than I preview, launching a descending vertical strike with both swords, aiming straight for my vitals to end it in one clean motion.

I thumb the ignition on my hilt. Eventide flares to life, the condensed shadow intercepting his twin steel blades with a heavy, grinding CLANG.

The kinetic shock travels straight down my forearm. I wince, feeling a sharp ache in my wrist.

This guy isn’t a standard rookie; his physical attributes are completely outclassing my frail Rank-F Shell. I need to be careful. If I try to match his brute force, he’ll break my arms.

If I can’t out-muscle him, I have to out-think him.

Time for some psychological warfare.

"You need to be careful," I taunt, my voice dripping with bored cynicism as we lock blades. "Do you really think it was me or the shiny guy over there who blew up the ravine? Watch out for what comes from above."

The swordsman grunts, pushing his weight against my guard. His eyes flick upward for a fraction of a second.

That’s all I needed.

I step to the side, letting his momentum carry his blades past my chest.

I spin the hilt of Eventide between my fingers. The shadow-blade slices through the humid air, emitting a hungry, oscillating howl. It’s a chilling, freezing sound that screams pure danger.

I lash out with a dry, lateral cut. He reacts fast, blocking with his left sword while using his right to counter-attack, sweeping a lethal horizontal arc straight at my neck.

I duck under the whistling steel, instantly pivoting to counter from the exact same side, sweeping my blade low toward his legs.

He realizes the trap a fraction of a second too late. To avoid losing his knees, he does the only thing he can: he sidesteps explosively in the opposite direction to dodge.

It’s the only viable physical escape, but it’s a massive tactical blunder. The jump forces him completely out of his team’s protective line.

I step forward, filling the gap. I am now standing squarely between the swordsman and his two backline allies.

Exactly where I wanted to be.

The air behind me grows heavy, the humidity evaporating instantly as mana pools and OXI ignite. I don’t need to look to know what it is.

I catch a flicker of orange light in my peripheral vision—the fire mage is channeling a spell, aiming right for the exposed target on my back.

I just wait. Every nerve in my body screams at me to move, but I hold my ground, pretending I’m entirely focused on the swordsman.

Wait for it...

The air behind me crackles.

I drop into a desperate slide, throwing my body sideways just as the searing projectile leaves the caster’s hands.

The massive fireball roars past the spot where my spine was a millisecond ago. It blazes past the horrified blade dancer and sails straight across the shallow pool.

BOOM.

It hits the Reef Stalker squarely in the back.

The beast lets out an ear-splitting, furious hiss. The chromatophores across its thick, octopus-like skin vibrate violently, shifting into intense, burning colors of rage.

The Stalker immediately ignores Veric.

It drops its aggro on the Vanguard and turns its massive, bifurcated jaw toward the other side of the battlefield, locking its milky shark eyes onto the idiot who just set its back on fire.

I catch Veric’s eye over my shoulder. He’s battered, gasping, utterly confused about why the Stalker just abandoned him.

I don’t explain. He’ll figure it out.

The Stalker enters a total frenzy. It doesn’t care about team comps or who attacked what; it just wants to tear the closest threat to shreds.

It barrels toward the swordsman.

The blade dancer takes one look at the charging, three-hundred-pound apex predator and breaks into a dead sprint. He knows he’s no match for the beast.

I don’t stay to watch. I sprint toward the enemy backline, running in parallel with the fleeing blade dancer and the roaring Reef Stalker.

The plan is flawlessly grim: while the swordsman runs back to his allies begging for help against the monster, I am going to make their lives absolute hell.

I close the gap in seconds. The fire mage is frantically preparing a defensive skill, desperately trying to erect a wall of flame to separate his retreating swordsman from the charging beast.

But he never gets the chance to finish the incantation.

I launch myself into the air, hitting the shallow water and rolling forward to instantly close the final few feet. I spring up from the roll, igniting Eventide, and drive the howling shadow-blade straight through the center of the mage’s chest.

He gasps, his defensive spell fizzling out into useless sparks. He barely had time to raise his hands.

"Shit, you assholes!" the blade dancer screams, realizing his protective wall isn’t coming.

He doesn’t even finish the sentence. A massive, coral-plated paw swats him from the side as he runs. At the absolute last second, the swordsman manages to cross his blades and point them at the monster’s incoming limb.

The desperate block reduces the kinetic impact and bites deep into the beast’s paw, but it’s nowhere near enough to save him.

The sheer force of the blow launches his body through the air like a discarded ragdoll.

He flies directly toward me.

I smile.

I don’t even break my stride. I simply raise Eventide and casually slash the flying "doll" as it passes me by.

The blade dancer hits the water in a horrific, disfigured heap, completely lifeless. An instant later, a crimson beam erupts from his body as the weeping whale sings its sorrowful dirge.

Behind me, the Reef Stalker rips the twin swords out of its bleeding paw with its teeth. It sits back on its haunches, licking the wound with its bizarre, bifurcated mouth. Even apex predators take a moment to tend their injuries.

The sharp sound of shattering glass snaps my attention to the right.

There was no final stand. The enemy mage was already half-dead, and the support had seen enough. Without a word, they smashed their flask, vanishing in a flash of light toward the infirmary while their dignity stayed behind in the dirt.

The skirmish is over.

I deactivate Eventide and immediately check my HUD, waiting for the devastating toll of using the blade so recklessly.

[OXI: 831/1,200] 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

I stare at the number, my mind struggling to process it.

Eight hundred and thirty-one.

"This girl’s skill is absolutely insane," I whisper to myself.

She didn’t just mitigate the cost; she practically neutralized it. With her as a battery, I can fight like a true veteran without my Shell collapsing.

I turn around to look at Rhayne, ready to give the silent girl an actual compliment.

The words die in my throat.

Rhayne is still sitting on the flat rock where I left her. But she is hunched over, her small frame shuddering violently.

She is visibly agonizing.

Thick, dark blood is streaming from her nose. It leaks from the corners of her mouth, staining her chin, and tears of crimson are weeping from her storm-cloud gray eyes.

My stomach drops into an icy abyss.

I stare at her bleeding, trembling form, the grim reality of this world crashing down on me all over again.

Of course, I think, my fists clenching at my sides.

There is no free lunch in Thirstfall. The System always collects its toll.