Chapter 971 Camp Phoenix (2) - Judith



Poking at the monsters from behind a wall of spikes was terribly boring. There was no thrill, no challenge. Naturally, Judith had no plan to follow their terribly boring plan—falling back to the walls, as it always was.

Sure, it reduced the number of deaths. But dying hardly mattered. As long as you didn't go into the negative with your free attributes, everything was fine.

Take a few quests and pronto, you got your levels back. Thinking that only the most elite of players could hold. Most players couldn't complete B-Ranked quests and higher with any semblance of regularity. 

Besides, the free attributes gained from leveling were minuscule. At best, they could be used to push you over the edge to equip a slightly better weapon. There was no reason to hoard levels. 

Due to these reasons, Judith didn't stay in her assigned location. No, she charged out of the ditch, around the spikes, and into the horde. Greatsword flying. 

Behind her, twenty players followed—while others sighed. This happened each time a fight occurred. 

"Focus on supporting them!" Someone shouted from the walls, probably Zyviss or Nikki. 'No, Nikki wasn't in the camp, so maybeElizabeth.' Judith thought, a wicked grin on her face as she swung her sword. 

This, this right here was why she played. Letting loose. Letting everything go and just going crazy. It was so, so very fun. Like a true barbarian, she let herself be consumed in the battle. 

Dodge, strike, smile, block. 

Entering a trance, she woke covered in blood and in the middle of a bloody field of gore. A sight that would send normal people running or puking, she instead laughed. 

Completely ignoring the bleeding wounds covering her body—hidden by the blood of the monsters—she looked around and marveled at the carnage.

The sense of satisfaction of wiping out enemies far outnumbering you was immense. 

This satisfaction was typical of gamers. The only thing which made it weird to enjoy it in ANW was the realism.

The reak of blood filling the air, the smell of bile from the monster's stomachs, and the pain from the wound you received.  These normally kept players grounded. But not this time, not here. 

"Are you sure you haven't gone insane?" Zyviss asked Judith. Of the group who had followed her, only three out of the twenty had survived. They were all in a similar state to the barbarian roleplayer. 

"I'm perfectly sane, thank you." She replied. He couldn't accept her words at face value. After all, she was covered in blood, bleeding, and simply looked insane. That she was smiling only added to the latter. 

Granted, Zyviss knew she was 'normal' IRL. She acted reserved and like a proper lady. It was just here, in the game, that she went crazy like this. Kind of how people let themselves go when drinking or getting high. 

ANW was her high. 

"The orcs will arrive on the other side in about ten minutes. I'm sure you want to fight some more." Zyviss said. 

"Oh totally. But, like, can we let them through the mines?"

"No. If you want to face them unharmed, face them alone."

As crazy as Judith became while fighting, she knew her limits. Thousands of battles had thought her that. Shrugging, she said, "The Chieftain is mine."

"Sure, sure."

Moving to the other side of the camp, the players readied for the second battle. While the enemy's numbers were not even a tenth of the first attack, this one was far more dangerous. It was an elite force. 

In addition, their side hadn't come out unscathed. While Judith's charge had cost them the most deaths, there had been a dozen others. Leaving them with around a hundred and fifty players to defend against a hundred-ish orcs. 

Good odds, all things considered. 

Judith didn't even bother to clean up, she simply moved to the northeast—where the orcs were coming from. Carrying her greatsword on her shoulder as she went. 

What of her wounds? She didn't bother with them. Sure, she channeled a skill she had learned to start the healing process. But she didn't bother to get proper healing from Elizabeth, other priests, or any of the mages. 

No, she knew the Chieftain was only Tier 5. Sure, that was the same level as her. But she was confident. She wanted to level the playing field. 

—

"What do you think?" Zyviss asked Elizabeth. 

"Somethings not right. Not sure what..." Frowning, Elizabeth watched Judith charge into the orcs. Unlike the monsters, she couldn't slaughter them unabated. Yet, her sense of fear was completely missing. 

This was perhaps normal. Players couldn't die—excluding very specific circumstances. Most players didn't have a sense of fear as a result. But still, Judith was acting strange. And it had started when they created this camp. 

"Should we call Eldrian or Erik?" Elizabeth wondered. She felt this was more in Eldrian's line of expertise, but it might be a normal medical condition. It might be nothing too. Judith was still acting normal IRL. 

She might be taking her roleplaying too far, but that might be all it was. 

"Let her be. She's having fun... at least..." Zyviss had to pause to save the person in question. Quickly firing three arrows which slowed the attacks coming for her back. 

—

In the middle of the chaos, Judith spotted the Chieftain guarding the Shaman—who had been keeping most spells from making it to the group of orcs. Some still got through its barrier and did some damage, but not many. 

It was weird how easy it was to block magic. At least, Judith thought it was. A sword was much harder to stop. 

"Hey! You! I challenge you! Do you accept?" She shouted while blocking an attack from a random orc. Kicking it as hard as she could—it only stumbled a few feet back. 

Honestly, she was outmatched in strength against even the Orc Warriors. The Chieftain would be difficult to beat without relying on her equipment abilities. Which was the exact reason Judith had rushed to face it. 

Fighting while safe wouldn't allow her to grow stronger. This much she had learned from Eldrian. 

He was pushing himself so, so hard. And while Judith and the others didn't know his reasons, they knew something was wrong.

Taking all he had told them and what they were now reading on the forums, it seemed likely that the wrong 'things' were coming to Earth. 

As crazy as it sounded, Judith believed this. The others didn't quite accept her reasoning and they wanted to ask Eldrian. So far, they hadn't. Fearing the answer, they avoided bringing it up. 

Judith didn't bother pushing them. Her aim was simple. She needed to prepare, even if she was alone. 

For this reason, she had been going crazier and crazier in any and all fights. And, as a bonus, this aligned with her vision of a true barbarian. Which made her get perhaps a bit too 'into' her roleplaying. 

"You challenge me?" The orc asked. Obviously shocked by this proposal, but also suspected a trap. The minefield had thought it that these humans were cunning, like the Shaman. 

The damage the mines had done was minimal thanks to said Shaman. After the first few had exploded, it had warned everyone. They had backed off, and it had sent an earth spell to disable or activate all the mines. 

The results had been a burst of explosions, but no damage to the orcs. 

Knowing that the humans had such tricks, the Chieftain thought they might have more. Getting it to move away from the Shaman might be the first step. 

However, her method of this was too good. Declining a duel was disgraceful. Even if it came from an enemy. And especially if the one throwing the gauntlet (or axe, in orc culture) was weaker.