Chapter 142: Minion (3)
Thwack!
The arrow Almond fired landed perfectly on the enemy minion's head. Unlike actual LIL gameplay, there were no HP bars.
Thud.
Once they were hit on the head, they instantly died. Almond felt a thrilling sensation at the ends of his fingertips. It was a sense of reality he hadn't felt in a long while.
— Kya! As expected, first shot, headshot!
— It's been a while since we've seen such a clean shot. Come back to Battle Large now!
— Wait, it's story mode and there are bows? Why not just play Kingdom Age?!
— The most dangerous tool: Almond's arrows.
The viewers were excited too since it had been a while since they saw him do a headshot, but the children who ran together with Almond stared at him wide-eyed.
"...!"
"W-What the?"
"Did he... just shoot from our side?"
They were surprised to see him kill a minion so far away.
'Huh...?'
Meanwhile, Almond was interested in something else.
Wooong...!
As he killed an enemy minion, blue energy enveloped him.
'Mana?'
It was mana and the following text appeared before him.
[1 Mana obtained]
[A strange power can be felt.]
[You need more to perform something magical.]
Once minions were killed in this mode, they rewarded mana instead of gold. Judging from the explanation, he would grow stronger the more mana he gained. Once he had enough, he could also use magic.
Or turn into a champion.
'I think I can turn into a champion.'
Magic aside, he could become a champion if he earned enough mana. At least, that's what he felt like.
Not only did the other minions motivate themselves to kill the enemy by shouting their desire to turn into a champion, but Raina also charged in first and aspired to become one by killing as much as she could.
"O-Our archer is better!"
"Kill them!!"
"Run!!!"
"Kraaaaa!"
Whether it was because his arrow narrowly hit the minion through their helmet or the enemy arrow missed them, the allied minions were filled with morale even though he only killed one minion.
Tudududu...!
The children in row 8 started charging forward. The enemy minion ran as well. The countless children rumbled the land and collided in the center.
Slam!
Kang!
Thud!
They used their fists, pierced with their spears, and some even accidentally cut their allies with their swords. It was utter chaos. Allies and enemies mixed, rolling around all over the place.
"Arggh!"
"Keugh!"
"Kraaaa!'
The only way to tell them apart was the cape around their shoulders. The enemy was red and the allies wore blue, but even the capes were tearing apart. Regardless, Almond had to use them as a point of reference as he readied his bow. He readied four arrows in between his fingers.
As the first arrow was placed onto the bow, pang!
The air ripped as the arrow flew through.
Thwack!
"Kugh!"
The arrows flew by countless allies and pierced the enemy's head. Once again, he gained mana. Almond pulled his bowstring once more.
Thwack!
Again, another minion fell. And the next arrow and the arrow after that were fired as well.
Thwack! Thwack!
The minions fell as the arrow landed perfectly in their foreheads.
"Phew..."
Almond continued to rapidly fire his shots as if he were venting from his studio experience. The arrows swept the minions as if they were scripted.
"Wow..."
The other archer beside him stared at him in awe.
"W-Who are you? It's my first time seeing you."
Almond was focused on his shooting and gave a one-word answer, "Almond."
— Kya... simple dimple!
— "Bow."
— Boss! These people don't know what an almond is!
— What's that!
Despite his light answer, the archer's eyes were shining.
"Your name is Almond? Amazing..."
— Almond, your name is amazing!
— What an incredible name!
— Almond is an interesting name.
The archer didn't mean his name was amazing, but the viewers mocked him anyways.
"My name is Teo."
The archer introduced himself as Teo, but Almond couldn't hear him. His sole focus was on shooting the arrows. His bow furiously shook and his quiver started to empty. When his quiver was finally empty, no more minions were in sight.
[Current Mana: 20]
[It's still not enough to do anything.]
20 out of the 30 minions instantly died. He had incredible accuracy. The allies mumbled in shock.
"T-They're all dead?"
"One row is all dead...!"
Even during their celebration, Almond quietly picked up the fallen arrows. The next row of minions would come shortly if this was like a normal LIL game.
'There's not much.'
Out of the fallen arrows, there weren't many left available to use.
"Hey, you're Teo, right?"
"Huh... huh? R-Right. I'm Teo."
"Give me your arrows."
"What? But I don't have much... if I give you this..."
"You suck at shooting anyways. It's better if I use them."
— LOOOL
— You're so mean, hahaha
— But he's not wrong!
Teo thought momentarily and accepted the truth, handing over all his remaining arrows to Almond.
"Y-You have to do well."
Almond equipped the quiver without replying because the next round of minions was coming. He aimed his bow at the enemy minions again and his bowstring started flickering. The arrows in his quiver disappeared in an instant as did the enemy minions.
"Wow, wow..."
While Teo couldn't keep his mouth shut, a loud voice behind them struck him.
"Hey!!! You!!! You're incredible!!!"
Almond felt like he was being hit by the sound. He turned around and saw a huge body bigger than a normal person. Judging from the faint light surrounding them, it seemed like they were a champion. He recalled seeing them earlier.
"... A summoner?"
Thud.
This time, he was hit on his head by their hands instead of the sound.
"Haha! You're as cocky as your skills! It's Mr. Summoner for you! Mister!!"
"M-Mr. Summoner."
"Yes! Good job, minion. Now hit the turret!!! I'll attack as well!!!"
Slam!
The champion leaped ahead, turned into light, and slammed into the enemy turret.
Slam!!!
The skill was as rowdy as his voice.
— It's Bart!
— Iron Monster Bart!
— A true alpha male. He's the same here, LOL.
The champion that the summoner was using was Bart The Iron Monster.
"What are you doing!!! Charge! Hit the turret!!!"
As he commanded the minions, Bart was fighting the turret with all his might. In a normal game, the turret hit the minions. However, it was the opposite in this mode.
Bzzzzt!
The magic energy from the turret continued to shoot at Bart, but he seemed fine after using a certain skill.
"Let's go!"
"Fire!"
"Break it!"
Turrets were the natural nemesis of minions. How many countless allies died to those turrets? The allied minions charged forward while shouting.
Spears and knives pierced the turret. It was unrealistic that these weapons would shatter it. Still, the turret started to crumble since this was a video game.
Eventually, it made a loud noise as it crumbled down.
Rumble...!
"Incredible!!!" Bart shouted as he placed a flag where the turret was.
"Wowwww!!!"
All the minions shouted as if it was over.
"We're alive! We're alive!"
In normal gameplay, they would have to defeat another turret and destroy the enemy nexus to beat them. Still, the battle was over in this mode. It was more realistic this way.
"... Almond! Almond! Almond!"
Suddenly, a child started chanting his name. It was the kid from earlier who introduced himself.
"Almond?"
"What's that?"
As the other minions mumbled, the child spoke up again.
"It's this guy's name! He says it's Almond!"
Then the other minions joined him.
"This guy killed almost everyone using his bow!"
"Ah! That was you!"
"Wowww!"
"Almond! Almond! Almond!"
"Almond! Almond!"
.
The viewers filled the chat with their excitement as well.
— Almond! Almond! Almond!
— Those minions are the same as us, LOL
— Treevy minions.
— Mom, I want to be Almond when I grow up! Mom, I want to be Almond when I grow up! Mom, I want to be Almond when I grow up!
— The strongest nut in the universe: Almond.
After he received an embarrassing amount of praise from both sides, the first battle was over quickly.
[After some time.]
The scene quickly skipped, and Almond was back at the arsenal.
"Oh, what the. You're alive?"
He could hear Raina's voice. Raina was unsurprisingly alive despite being in the first row.
"Speak for yourself. How did you live? I saw you were in the first row."
"I went top, but you probably went mid since you were row 8."
It seemed like the rows went to different lanes depending on the order. As a result, he couldn't see Raina.
"But it's the same situation even though you went top, isn't it? How did you survive?"
"I just did."
— I guess she's still a child, after all.
— Watch your tone, young lady!
— Omg!
— Boss, I think she needs a spanking.
"Then how did you survive? You couldn’t even move a dead body by yourself."
"I just did."
Almond acted immaturely to Raina to match her. She was a child, but so was Almond. Acting his role was more entertaining to his viewers anyways.
— Hahahahaha
— Almond, the child actor!
— ??? Why are you acting childish?
— Waah! I'm baby Almond!
— Almond, when did you turn into a baby peanut?
“Pfft,”?Raina let out a slight smile.
"I don't even have to see. You didn't do anything in the backline, right?"
"You think that'll get me to tell you?"
"..."
Raina frowned because Almond didn't fall for it.
"You probably don't want to say anything since you just cowardly hid in the back."
"Still not telling you."
— LOOOL
— Almond's straight up a child now, LOL
— Almond! This is acting, right? I can't tell!
— 200% into his role.
— You look like you're at least a teenager! Why are you acting so young!
"This..."
Raina's cheeks turned red. He couldn't tell if it was because she was upset or if she knew his intentions.
"Whatever. I can just ask the others."
Raina quickly turned around and walked away.
She was going to ask the others? That was what he hoped for anyways because anyone from row 8 that Raina asked would say the same thing.
"Oh, Almond? He was the best archer I've ever seen..."
"Almond? He was basically Yuria today!"
"Almond? He was crazy today! He killed all two minion waves by himself!"
Raina's shoulder started shaking because she didn't hear the answer she wanted.
"L... Lies!"
Whether young or grown up, she asked questions and expected predetermined answers.
Raina turned around again, stomped towards Almond, and told him, "You! Stand in the same row with me tomorrow."
"Why?"
"We need to determine who's better."
She was persistent.
As he stood still, Raina pushed forward.
"It's a promise."
She put out her pinky to make a pinky promise. Almond thought this was unnecessary, but he made a pinky promise to her. Raina turned back around and walked away toward the fire.
— Is this how this normally happens?
— Maybe you have to be a better archer than Raina.
— Wow, crossing fingers with Raina... jealous!
This kind of development wasn't common. Almond felt he made a good promise because new routes and developments always made the broadcast more exciting.
'It'll be a success if I get three stars.'
The stream and story mode was going well. Now, all he needed to do was get three stars and it would be a perfect YouTube video. As he thought that…
[After some time.]
It cut to the next scene.
"Minion!!! Get them!!!"
The battle began again.
Almond, as promised, ran to the battlefield beside Raina. This time, he was in the first row with her and only a few enemy turrets remained.
How did Raina survive in the first row? What was Raina's reason? What was the purpose of this story mode?
He felt that all of his questions would soon be answered.
***
[Beginner’s Tip: In siege mode, the nexus can be destroyed for victory after all turrets have been destroyed.]?