The camera falls back into an over the shoulder position like before. I stand up straight, stretching momentarily, and returning to my farming. Let's see... I was testing if the way you call attacks has an effect on their power, wasn't I? I draw my arrow, take aim, and breathe in. Let's see if this works.

“Power shot!” I shout it this time to see if it changes anything.

The answer is a resounding yes. I release the arrow, and the ensuing boom kicks me in the chest so hard I stagger backward a number of steps before my flailing arms and tail help me rebuild my stance. I can't miss the monster literally exploding under the force of the shot either, shredded spikes flying away in every direction. It definitely takes some more stamina than before though.

By the time I come to a stop, I'm both surprised and delighted. I can put out some serious damage like this! That's when I notice the change in the monsters. Why are they all looking at me? Why are they all coming toward me?!

I stumble another step back on reflex. Did my shout draw aggro? It's not unheard of in VR, but still, not at all how I wanted this to go. Ok wait, not panicking yet. I swivel in place. The other players are gone, they must have left when I was lying on the ground resting, not paying attention. So it's just me out here now.

I was sticking to the outer edge of mobs in this area, but there are still a couple coming in from behind me. I blow away the closest one with another empowered shot, then one more, and use the gap that creates to rush past.

Good, out of the encirclement. I put some distance between me and the monsters to get them to give up, but... they don't. Right, longer than usual leash ranges, I remind myself. I keep backing up, but as I go further, I'm sure I should be far enough by now. But they just keep coming.

It's a group at least fifty strong, maybe more like seventy. Way more than you'd normally see in one place in games like this, and the aggro clearly chained from one mob to the next, across the entire group, so they're all coming after me. I couldn't say why, but that hardly matters now. There's no way I could knock them off one by one before running out of steam, so I go with plan B, and retreat. I run straight back to the city gate, but it's closed when I arrive.

Shit, they close the gates for invasions? I turn back to see the unrelenting monsters still dead set on me, their rapid hopping eating up ground faster than seems fair with bodies like that, but it isn't like I get to complain right now.

I pick off a few more, before I have to turn and run again. And I'm immediately panting as I go. Crap, that's right! My special shots use up the stamina I need to run away. As soon as I have some space, I slow down again, chest heaving. Low level as I am, I really don't have that much stamina, do I?

I look back, raising a hand and casting Dark Curse on its own. The spell doesn't have any travel time, it simply flashes a dark circle around the monster I aim at, and deals its damage.

There's a little drain from using it, but it takes mana instead of stamina. It wipes out the monster in one hit just like my arrows, so I cast a few more times until it feels like my mana is low too. I turn again and try to keep up a steady jog so I don't wear myself down so bad, circling the city walls to search for some way back into the safety of town and away from these monsters that don't know when to give up.

Why the hell would they do this? They didn't last time, so it can't just be broken leashing range all of a sudden. If there was any leash range at all, we would be long past it. So they must operate based on pure aggro right now, utterly ignoring the distance to their target.

If I had to take one guess, it would be my cursed Title. The thing made other players hostile toward me, so how bad would it be with monsters? Alternatively, it could have something to do with the invasion event? Does that change aggro rules?

So, there are a few possibilities, but it doesn't really matter in the end. All that matters is they won't stop chasing me.

I keep glancing over my shoulder as I run, trying to keep calm, not wanting to totally panic. As long as I can keep up a steady pace, things should be fine. How far to the next gate? I don't know, so I try to keep my spirits up and keep going.

And then I reach the next gate. It's locked up tight, just like the other. Is there any way to get back into town? Hands on the huge, closed doors as I pant, I look back at the monsters, then to the camera and ask, “Any advice?”

After a few more deep breaths to steady myself, I get an answer.

' Whatever you do, don't die.'

With that unnecessarily ominous and totally unhelpful show of support, I get back to running. I fire spells back at the monsters from time to time, but save the rest of my strength to maintain my pace the best I can. My mana recharges really slowly...

I keep on my way around the town. Based on the wall to my right and sun to my left, I should be heading north. I continue, hoping with each new gate that comes into sight, only to find them closed one after another. It's such a huge city though, I feel like I could keep running like this for an hour without going the whole way around.

I'm already flagging, I would never make it that far.

After a little while longer, something new comes into sight from beyond the town wall, endlessly curving away to circle the city. It's a huge portal. A swirling vortex of energy, wisps of purple and green at its edges, fading into a void of black in the center. Just like the one from the cutscene, an invasion portal from Hexos.

I only spot a few of the monsters pouring through the dark gate, the ones so huge I can see them even at this distance.

There are a couple tall towers as well, like the ones I saw in the game's opening scene. But they're off behind the giant portal. For a tower defense, I would have expected them to build somewhere between the portal and the city, so I'm not sure why they're there. Probably some high level strategy I'm not familiar with, not that it matters. I have my own problems to deal with.

By the time I get close enough to realize that isn't quite right, I'm running on fumes. The grassy ground I've been covering gives way to a short dropoff, ten or twenty feet down to a wide dirt path. There's a straight shot between the city gate and the portal, really no more than a stone's throw from the town.

I have to dig in my heels, gasping and drenched in sweat, to look down over the horde of monsters rushing straight from the portal, through the city gate, its enormous doors reduced to scattered rubble beneath the feet of the horde.

My path to safety is literally covered in a swarm of monsters far larger and more terrifying than the ones I'm running from. The hell do I do now?!

I spin back, bouncy spike bushes almost caught up because I can hardly move. Is this going to be my first death? I sigh, beginning to hang my head in resignation when the chat starts flashing like mad. I look up.

' Don't give up!'

' Keep going!'

' Run!'

' You can do it.'

I grin a little. Getting a little too into it, aren't they? Fine, I won't go down without doing everything I can! With my determination bringing a slight second wind, I set my feet and face the coming monsters, but then I the chat keeps flashing. I can't fight, I'll still just lose, they say. I have to try something else. Then I spot the suggestion, practically shouted in the chat from everyone watching, staff member or not.

Use the towers!

Breaking away from the town wall, I pump my arms and run for all I'm worth, along the cliff edge as the creeper bush things start swinging to follow. When I'm nearly out, pressed between the cliff and the swarm, I spin away on reflex to avoid the vines that lash out at me from the closest one as soon as it comes into range.

I feel my foot land on the edge, partway off the cliff. Loose rocks fall away. I almost slip until I throw my tail out for balance, spinning to complete the motion. I manage to keep from falling over the edge, but put myself into a messy, flailing roll, that barely brings me back up to my feet at the end. My arm stings where I took a few minor cuts, but I made it out ahead of the mob.

In the clear, I run as fast as I can, straight along the road to the portal, at this point just hoping none of the monsters below notice me and turn my way too.

“What do I do?” I gasp out, barely able to form words. I don't even know how towers work!

Up ahead, there are two of them past the portal. They're tall, but not quite as tall as the city wall, maybe fifty feet. The tower walls look to be made of white stone blocks, perfectly smooth up the surface with hardly a crack between them. At the top of the circular platforms, they hold massive crystals. The closer one on this side of the portal is dark green. The further off one, past the portal, brown.

I stare up between them, feet flying as I approach the partially transparent, shimmering green bubble around the first tower. At my panicked sprint, I'm actually gaining ground, putting the mob further behind me as I run, even with nearly nothing left to give.

I stumble through the transparent barrier, telling myself to keep moving. Just being inside doesn't help me – as far as I know anyway. The whole tower flashes, the green crystal's glow brightening above. I can feel the magical power wash over me as its field activates. At the same time, I see sections of the tower wall expand, jutting out to form platforms up overhead.

You have entered the influence of a Tower.

Great, I'm here, what now?

“How do I use towers?!”

The magic field extends quite a distance around the tower itself, so I keep pushing, covering ground further, until I reach the smooth wall stone wall. I plant my hands against it, legs fully giving out. If I could get to the elevated platforms on the tower I'm sure I'd be safe, but they're way too high for me to reach, even if I could still move properly.

I turn my bleary eyes on the chat as soon as the messages start rolling in.

' Those towers are brown for melee, green for ranged.'

' You need the commander to give you access.'

' Touch the tower and make the request.'

I'm already leaning my full body weight on the building. As soon as I read the message, I gasp out, “Please give me access. Request. Access. Tower access.” I have no idea what sort of phrase it's supposed to be looking for so I just ramble out everything that comes to mind.

I turn around, sitting against the hard surface. I'm still holding my bow, but I can hardly lift it. I think I spent everything I had and then some just to get here.

The swarm of monsters is passing through the edge of the field. I don't think I even whittled off a quarter of them during the chase. One more message comes in.

' Now... hope.'

Great.

I take a deep breath. At least I did everything I could. It just sucks that it's up to some unknown 'commander' person whether I get the tower buffs or not. Couldn't say why it even matters, I'm too tired to fight even with the buffs. With the horde on top of me, I'm ready to close my eyes, when there's a new surge of power.

You have joined the Guardian defense of Lenarlil. You have been soul bound to Ranged Tower 1.

There's a glowing flash beneath me, a small block of white stone forming out of nowhere. It sweeps up the side of the tower, lifting me up and away from danger, no more than a few seconds before the monsters get me. The stop is sudden, tossing me a little, before I slide down to lie on my back, head against the side of the tower.

“Safe...” I hiss out. That's when I feel the tower buffs hit, some of my fatigue evaporating. I'm still weary, but I don't feel like I'm about to pass out now. I even notice the dark green buff indicator that appears above me. My head flops back and I close my eyes for a bit.

I sit up, pushing my back against the tower for support and bring the camera around so I can address my viewers. “You guys are seriously awesome, thanks for the encouragement earlier.” I give a tired peace sign. “Didn't have to go through my first death thanks to you. And, umm, you too, commander guy,” I sort of look up and talk toward the sky, “if you can actually hear me or anything.”

When I look back down, there are a number of laughing people in the chat. And I'm kindly informed that the person running the entire city's tower defense can in fact not hear me speaking. I lie back again, giggling right along and grinning ear to ear.

As I lie down and relax, I feel my energy quickly making its return. I don't know what I'll do once I'm back in fighting shape. The horde of monsters is at the base of the tower. They somehow still haven't given up on fighting me. I roll over to look off the edge and fire a couple dark curses down at them. I'd say there are maybe fifty left, all clustered together like they are. It's hard to say.

If only I had some aoe attacks, but I'm an assassin... “Hey, any advice for taking out my relentless horde of fans?” I ask with a smirk.

' Area of effect would work best, can we see your skills?'

Oh, that's a new name... “Sure.” While my hands pass through the motions to open that up for them, I scan down the viewer list one more time. I have almost thirty people watching now. There are still like a dozen devs, but they don't make up the whole room anymore!

“Oh yeah, hi again Jengin,” I wave when I realize he's been watching. One of the earlier messages was from him, wasn't it? “Kirma too, glad to see you back. And everyone new, thanks for watching. Here are my Skills.”

I swoop the camera in on the list as I look it over.

Skills Stat Boost Defense Boost I: 1 Aura Boost V: 2 Melee Hammer I: 1 Ranged Bow I: 2 Sniper I: 2 Power Shooting I: 2 Magic Dark Curse Magic I: 2 Melee Spell Trigger I: 1 Ranged Spell Trigger I: 1 Piercing Exploit+ XI: 3 Healing Life Drain Magic I: 1 Self Healing I: 1 Support Party Defense Boost I: 1 Mobility Running Boost I: 3 Skill Points: 5

Within seconds, there are a bunch of laughing emoji coming in. Some legitimate advice slips in between.

' You still have 5 sp, you could get some aoe.'

Oh, that's right. I never actually distributed the last of those points. “That would be Splash type, wouldn't it?” I ask aloud as I swipe open that section of the skill menu. I remember reading through this before.

I have a number of options, between things that would let me have my attacks bounce between targets, create explosions, or even fire multiple arrows at nearby enemies.

“I'll take... Field.” After a long minute of consideration, I select the skill that will let me change my spells into area of effect fields. If my archery is good for high damage against single targets, I can use my magic for area of effect. I select the Skill, then take a minute to make a new spell with it.

I want to test something, so I try to connect the Drain Touch ability I haven't messed with until now to the Field modifier. It won't work though, they just won't slot together. I guess a touch attack can't be modified to get an area of effect, which I suppose isn't too surprising.

With that in mind, I attach it to Dark Curse instead, naming the new spell Curse Field. As soon as I do though, I get a message.

You have exceeded your Empower Point limit.

Your abilities have been limited.

All at once, I feel heavy and slow. Even my thoughts are like mud. Then I see the problem.

Empowered Attacks Power Shot - 10 Sneak Attack - 5 Assassinate - 30 Spells Dark Curse - 10 Curse Field - 30 Empower Points: 85/81

Oops, I spent too much EP. The line is bright red now and everything. Since I haven't been using it, I delete the Assassinate attack, and feel my condition recover immediately. I take another look at my new spell. The Field modifier costs 20 EP all on its own, so the spell is going to be really expensive to cast. It better be worth it...

“Alright guys, I've got my new spell. Let's see how it goes?” I lie down again since I'm like twenty feet in the air and carefully slide the upper part of my body to the edge of the platform so I can point my arm down at the crowd.

I don't know if it's strictly necessary, if the spell is aimed from my hands, or just my line of sight, or even thought. Not that it matters much right now. I try to target right around the center.

With a big breath, I shout, “Curse Field!” and fire the spell. There's a momentary expansion, a ring of darkness forming amid the jostling monsters. It solidifies with a faint crackling sound, maybe five feet across. It's not much, but still enough to hit a whole chunk of the mob. All of the monsters within the circle slump over dead, disintegrating soon after.

I wince when I feel the mana drain. After the press of enemies fills in the gap I created, I fire one more time, and feel my mana bottom out, taking a whole chunk of stamina with it when it does. As exhausted as I am, I nearly pass out on the spot. If I wasn't lying down, I definitely would have fallen down.

When I manage to peel my eyelids open again, I think to myself, that's good to know. Running out of mana is bad. I limply struggle to shimmy my upper body back onto the stone slab so I don't end up falling off, and roll onto my back.

“Well, it helps,” I pant into the camera, eyes drifting near-delirious as I try to stay awake. “Costs a lot though.”

' You could delete your other skills if you don't need them now, it would reduce the mana cost.'

I slowly read his message, then respond, “Good point, Jengin, I'll do that.” I also take some time to put some of my spare Ability Points into Field. I'm not sure if that will help increase the area it covers, but it's worth a shot. After another few minutes of rest, it's clear it'll take some time for my mana to replenish, so I heave myself back up to my feet.

I roll my shoulders, still exhausted, but not about to fall down. I should be able to fight. At least, when all I have to do is fire arrows down into a crowd. I don't have the stamina for special attacks, but there are still more than a hundred arrows left in my inventory, so I may as well make use of them.

The next few minutes are filled with the thrum of my bowstring as I flick one arrow from my quiver after another, aiming and firing down into the mob below. I can clearly see the difference in the power of my shots under the effect of the tower, the mobs go down after just a few arrows now. As long as I'm out of reach and they have no way of getting to me, this isn't too difficult. The hardest part is getting my shots to land through the sea of tangled barbs when firing from above.

By the time my mana has refilled enough for more spell casting, I've reduced the mob to just a few lonely stragglers. I finish it off with one final aoe spell, and find that 15 extra AP into the Ability did have a positive effect on the area it covers. It's noticeably larger now.

I sit down, legs hanging over the side of the tower platform. I pull my camera up in front again. “Looks like I'm still here.” I grin, and a wave of congratulations comes in from everyone. A couple people even say this is their new favorite stream. I can't stop smiling when I see that. Even if there aren't that many, I have some fans out there. They enjoy watching me play, and I'm loving it too. Ups and downs and all.