• I


    “Ugh. I hate these noobs.” I mumbled to myself, “Never listen to the advice of superiors.”
    Ever since my lost cause of finding a quiet place to chill for the rest of his life, I've devoted myself to helping those who needed it. All of the new adventurers in Gaia died way too often without help. My quest for a peaceful area was bad mostly because of all of said adventurers. Barton Town was way too crowded for my liking, too many whiny noobs in the Village Greens and Bill's Ranch. Looting began in the Zen Gardens and exploded in Gold Beach. The animated in Bass'ken Lake were all very very loud, grinding blades, howling outlaw wolves, clanging trash cans, and that Wailing Windmill of Logan's wouldn't allow a moment's peace. Not to mention the Flying Giftboxes screaming “FILL THE BOX!” all day and night.
    My last hopes were the Old Aqueduct and Otami. Otami was filled with shrieking Tiny Terrors and the flapping of Feathered Coatls, which even carried up to the Cliffs high above. Not to mention the constant agonizing screams of adventurers meeting their end with the Giant Stone Coatl. Not that I hadn't died against it, I just never found much reason to express the agonizing pain, so long as I could get to the Null Chamber.
    I had high hopes for the Aqueduct, even when it was new it rarely had visitors, but no. Tiny Terrors were there too, and even when I found a nice little place on the mountains where their screams didn't carry, they always made their way up. I constructed barriers, but they were strong enough to tear them down. Once I finally got a strong enough barrier up, those high-tech badgers, the Predator Pups, showed up and blasted it away. Now Terror and Predator screams and explosions flooded up from below.
    That was it, nothing left. I didn't feel like going any further than I already had, so I just gave in. I began assisting those who needed it out of the goodness of my heart or some crap like that. I hung out at the Lake, Aqueduct, Beach, and Ruins, offering my services to those who needed them. Mostly with the tougher things, like the sawmill or that island that Jacques kept sending people to. It was annoying, but payed well, so I'm not complaining too much.
    Now I'm helping people in that Hive thing that they try to set their little high scores in. I always warn them, “I'm much stronger than you, the bugs know that, and they're going to send out bugs that can handle me. In other words, you'll die very quickly and accomplish very little.” But, no. They don't listen, and now they're all out.
    We sat around the portal, three unconscious and two, including myself, fully conscious and waiting for my Defibrillate ring to gather enough energy to be used. I never realized what they thought, not bringing a ring to revive the others or not just going to the Null Chamber. I thought about what hell I'd been through. My jeans were torn up, I had several deep and permanent scars from fighting the animated, and they ruined the tattoos I had. I kept a dagger made from a Groundshark tooth on my waist, and a necklace made of shells around my neck.
    A cold mist flowed from my right forearm, this was Frostbite. A weapon I had come across. I could make a sword, ax, or spear out of ice, but it had no use against the animated. It was a nice little conversation piece though.
    My Defibrillate ring began glowing. I aimed it at one of the corpses near me. Energy began leaving my body, gathering in the ring, and once it had enough, a green beam shot from the center. It hit the corpse and made a slight electrical sound. The corpse rose, thanked me, and waited for his friends to be revived as well.
    “Noobs.” I said with a sigh, “Divian, why on earth did you get yourself involved with noobs?”