ã€ŠSevenã€‹


 Chapter 1: Too Many Rabbits

    The trio trickled through the throngs of shoppers as they made their way towards their destination. Emily¡¯s eyes flitted over the posters of a man holding a golden sword in his hand and facing off against a dragon.

    ¡®Darkness fills the land. Zodiac: Releasing today¡¯

    Zodiac, the game they¡¯d been saving money to play for ages. Emily could lie and say that she¡¯d been looking forward to this game for years and years. That it¡¯d be the revolution in virtual reality technology they¡¯d all been waiting for and that the last one hundred years of popular games would never compare.

    ¡°Heck yes!¡±

    ¡°Woo!¡±

    Emily sighed.

    She could give any of those as the reasons that she¡¯d joined. But more important than any of those things, her friends wereextremely competitive and wanted to play in a game that was brand new so they could rank up faster than other people.

    Ana and Andrew nudged by each other constantly while trying to power-walk toward the virtual reality section holding all the Zodiac games. They weren¡¯t the only ones. They¡¯d come only a minute after the store had opened, but there were already people slowly forming a line to purchase Zodiac.

    Andrew beat Ana to the game and lifted it to his chest happily. Emily could practically hear the victory trumpets going off in his head as he joined the line.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to beat his ass when we get in there.¡± Ana joined up with Emily and passed her a copy of Zodiac.

    Emily rolled her eyes. ¡°Feel free to leave me behind. I just want to play.¡±

    Andrew turned around, ¡°Playings for suckers. We¡¯re here to win.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡± Ana smiled as she replied and Emily laughed at their enthusiasm.

    A few minutes later they parted excitedly, Emily lived a few minutes away but the other two had to take the bus home.

    ¡°Mum, Dad, I¡¯m home.¡± Emily barely glanced at her parents as she bounded up the stairs into her room.

    To others, the virtual reality capsule probably wasn¡¯t the best feature to put in such a small space. She had to get one to fit her body size and alongside the complicated installation process it took up a good chunk of her living space. But to her it had already become second nature to overlook it entirely.

    She gently opened up the Zodiac cover,placed the CD into the slot in the VR capsule and then stepped into it.

    She turned around and closed her eyes as the scanning process began. It was always a strange sensation when opening up a new game. The full-body scan was fine but the brain analysis and submerging of her consciousness into the virtual reality space was a trip.

    Feeling the familiar tingling sensation lessen, Emily opened her eyes and smiled as she found herself standing on a well-crafted stone platform. She had studied the games lore beforehand and could already vaguely recognize the etchings of four godsin gold onto the stone floor.

    Varsha; Goddess of War

    Krushnav: God of Death

    Verm: God of Light

    Toshna: Goddess of Balance

    A single blue screen appeared in front of Emily and she blinked.

    [What would you like to name your avatar?]

    A keypad appeared in the air in front of her and she moved her hands without hesitation.

    [Please confirm, would you like to be named; Seven?]

    She confirmed and the screen disappeared.

    Next, she chose her avatar, which looked exactly like her, and also her race; Elf.

    [Would you like to take the tutorial?]

    ¡°Hell yes.¡± Seven grinned as the floor began to shake and rattle.

    Stone chips broke off of the four etchings of the gods and suddenly found themselves shrouded in small clouds of darkness. Out of the clouds, small round creatures with short-clawed hands emerged. Each one had wisps of darkness emitting from their bodies and floating into the air.

    [The corruption has spread deeply into the land]

    Seven took a step back as a powerful voice began narrating and the creatures slowly walked towards her. The platform was fairly big, but they would reach her in a few seconds.

    [Heroes emerged to fight the encroaching evil. Some have become legends, others have fallen to the dark tides.]

    A blinding light flashed around Emil, forcing her to close her eyes. When she opened them four objects were floating in front of her; A sword, a wand, a bow, and a shield.

    [Choose your weapon.]

    A text box popped up in front of her instructing her on how to move. It was the same with every VR game so she had no problems getting used to the feeling of moving at a thought.

    Seven walked towards the wand. She and Ana had already worked out their plan; she would be a Mage or whatever the game¡¯s equivalent was.

    [The wand of the Zodiac. A powerful tool given by the gods to fight against the creatures that would threaten the world. The symbol of the Magi and Priests that roam the world. Are you sure that you wish to wield this weapon?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Seven grinned as the wand dropped into her hands. She could feel the warmth of the magic that spread across her body. The four creatures were already half-way towards her.

    A screen appeared in front of her telling her how to use her weapon and at the corner of her sight, she could see the icon of a person casting magic with a wand appear. She simplyhad to utter the name of the skill the wand had equipped or click the icon in her vision with her fingers to use it. She decided to ignore the icon.

    Seven pointed the wand at the nearest creature. ¡°Fire.¡±

    A bright burst of flames formed a ball and flew towards the creature, causing it to scream out in pain and explode into wisps of darkness and fire.

    ¡°Awesome!¡±

    The other three creatures sped up when she destroyed their friendand a new text window appeared in front of Seven.

    [Destroy the creatures until none are left. 1/4 destroyed]

    ¡°Fire, Fire, Fire!¡± Seven walked back calmly and shot flame after flame at the creatures. Each one took a second to form and another split second to reach its target. The creatures exploded instantly, but she found that there was a short recharge of around half a second between each basic attack.

    The last creature burst like a pimple and Seven grinned. The graphics were incredibly detailed so far and she feltsatisfaction course through herwith every fireball she shot.

    [Explore the remains. 0/1 Discoveries made]

    A small light twinkled on the floor where the last creature died.

    Seven walked towards it and a new menu appeared in front of her; only it was green instead of the usual blue. It listed a single item; A key.

    [Collect Mysterious Key? Yes / No]

    Seven pressed the ¡®Yes¡¯ option and the light disappeared.

    [Open your inventory.]Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    A new icon appeared on the opposite side of the ¡®Fire¡¯ icon. A small backpack. She knew the drill by now.

    ¡°Inventory.¡± She decided it was a lot cooler to say the word rather than click the icon. At least while nobody was around.

    A small screen with blank squares filled her vision. There were only twenty squares, but one had a small glowing key floating inside it. With a single thought she could make the screen less or even more see-through. This would come in handy if she ever needed to use it while in battle.

    She took out the key and the platform began to rumble. In front of her the floor churned and four doors emerged from the ground. Each one was far above her height.

    [There are four factions within the world of the Zodiac]

    The voice continued above her.

    [The Faction of War that worships the Goddess Varsha and resides in the Kyrgios Continent. The Faction of Death that worships the God Krushnav and dwells deep in the Underground. The Faction of Light that worships the God Verm and inhabits the Zhalnor Continent. The Faction of Balance that worships the Goddess Toshna and roam the world.]

    Seven smiled. Whichever Faction she chose and even her starting continent wouldn¡¯timpact her too much, however, Ana and Andrew desperately wanted to rank up quickly and even join a higher ranking guild if they could. They had all decided together that they would choose the Faction of Light and start in the Zhalnor Continent. The reason was simple; Andrew intended to become and priest and the Zhalnor continent was most likely to hold the best priest quests because it was the central location of the Church of Verm.

    Ana was going to be a warrior and she and Seven would be fine on any continent, so making it easier for their priest player was the best solution for them.

    [The continent of Zhalnor, once ruled under the iron hold of the Mad Titan Zandor. God Verm decreed to the world that the Titan¡¯s tyranny would end, and so his priests and paladins descended upon the monster-infested lands and freed the inhabitants from the terrible fate that befell them. Peace has long reigned across the continent, but now evil has once again threatened the peace and the voice of Verm has not been heard in centuries.]

    The scenery shifted around her and Seven found herself floating above a gigantic world. She could see cities rising and falling, the sea churning and fighting to gain dominance over the land. Civilizations rose and fell, and as the world rotated around her two continents slowly formed from a single mass,she was dragged towards one. The surrounding landcontinued to change until it was filled with monsters. She could almost feel them kicking up dust and emitting killing intent as they fought against humans covered in light. Magic rained down on both sides but slowly they pushed the monsters back, and they erected a large cityin the distance.

    Before her over a thousand shimmering lights emerged across the human-occupied side of the continent, each light was a starting village.

    With a prompt from the game, Seven chose one of the starting points that she¡¯d searched up before with her friends. The starting points themselves were mostly irrelevant, so long as they could all meet up within the game. She picked a village that was fairly close relative to the others to the capital city. It was a coastal village that was almost fully surrounded by water and forest.

    [Tutorial completed.]

    [You have reached the starting village of Torkay]

    Seven screwed her eyes shut as she began to descend from the sky towards the village.

    ¡°Hello? Miss?¡±

    Seven blinked and squinted as bright rays of sunlight hit her face. A calm-looking young man in a white robe was staring at her intently with a smile on his face.

    ¡°It¡¯s good that you¡¯ve finally arrived!¡±

    ¡°Arrived?¡± Seven looked around at the shabby-looking houses that composed the village. ¡°You were expecting me?¡±

    ¡°Well, I was definitely expecting something,¡± The man said with humor, ¡°I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d be a person.¡±

    ¡®Oh,¡¯ She didn¡¯t think the NPC would be so responsive.

    She decided to play it a little more tactfully, ¡°How can I help you¡­ Mr?¡±

    ¡°Barnacle¡¯s my name. My parents were probably hoping I¡¯d grow up to be some kind of fisherman, but I felt the call to Verm. Sure made for an awkward conversation. The villagers call me Father Barnacle.¡±

    The priest clapped his hands together. ¡°But I¡¯m not here to give you orders or anything. I just¡­ felt that today something would appear and it felt awfully important. Kept me up all night.¡± He looked Seven up and down and frowned, ¡°That feeling led me straight to you. We don¡¯t get visitors often you see,but I¡¯m not so sure that youranything special from the looks of you.¡±

    ¡®Ouch,¡¯ Seven felt that, ¡®Are all the starter village NPCs this blunt?¡¯

    Barnacle coughed lightly at her expression. ¡°Sorry, Iwasn¡¯t raised with too much tact in the ol¡¯ noggin. Fisherman¡¯s son and all that. Well, I¡¯m not too sure what that feeling was but it told me to bring these to you.¡±

    He brought out a few copper coins and three other items; A sword, a wand, a bow, and a shield, ¡°Unfortunately the village doesn¡¯t have too much to offer and due to recent monster attacks we can only spare a few coppers and one of these weapons for a visitor.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much. That¡¯s more than generous enough.¡±

    Seven could see that she had received 10 copper coins from Barnacle and was being given a choice to pick up one of the three items just like in the tutorial.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take the wand thanks.¡±

    Barnacle handed her the wand and she saw an icon appear in the bottom left corner of her vision. It said ¡®Magic Blast¡¯ when she hovered her finger over it.

    Barnacle followed her pointing finger. ¡°Is there something on my shoe?¡±

    ¡°Umm.¡± She realised that he was reacting to her and hesitated. ¡°No, nothing. Thank you so much for the wand and copper.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± Barnacle smiled. ¡°I get the feeling that maybe we¡¯ve met a little too early. I¡¯ll tell you what though, we¡¯ve been having some trouble with rabbits lately. Pesky little critters keep getting into the food supplies. Maybe you can give us a hand with them afterward. Just ask village chief for the specifics.¡±

    ¡°Absolutely. I¡¯d love to help.¡±

    ¡°I appreciate your solid stance towards rabbit destruction.¡± Barnacle smiled and began to walk away. ¡°I¡¯ve got to head off now. I¡¯ll be at the temple if you need me Seven.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± She responded to him on reflex.

    ¡®Hang on, did I tell him my name?¡¯

    Seven decided it didn¡¯t matter. He probably knew it because he was an NPC. But damn, he was eerily realistic.

    ¡®The game is definitely a home run so far.¡¯

    She whistled as she walked towards the village center. There wasn¡¯t any reason she had to wait for her friends to log on and do the tutorial. She¡¯d go off andkill those rabbits.

    The village was pretty simple, with wooden houses shabbilyput together and several small pastures and spots filled with vegetables on the periphery of her vision. It was pretty realistic and even the NPC¡¯s seemed to be walking around and doing their own things, giving her the occasional odd look that anyone would give a newcomer.

    She quickly reached the village center where they''d setup a small stall with some shabby-looking daggers and potions on display. She could also see a slightly bigger building surrounded by three or four players. In front of the building was a man she assumed was the village chief.

    Over the man¡¯s head was his title and name; Village Chief Lehandre.

    ¡°Oh hello there,¡± Lehandre greeted Seven with a smile. ¡°So many new visitors to the town today. Barnacle told methat you could help with our rabbit problems, is that right?¡±

    [Quest; Rabbit Culling. Torkayis infested with rabbits and Village Chief Lehandre would like to request your help in culling the animals. Slay 15 of the creatures and bring back their pelts. Would you like to accept his quest? Yes / No]

    A screen popped up and Seven accepted the quest, receiving a heartfelt thank you from Lehandre.

    ¡°There are so many of those pests that they¡¯re popping up in the grassy area right outside our houses.¡± Lehandre spat on the ground in disgust. ¡°Get about fifteen of them for me and bring me their pelts and that should be fine. Thanks again for this.¡±

    She nodded her head and started walking towards the edge of the village. She had only gotten about halfway out before she started seeing a sea of white fluff crawling and bouncing in the grass.

    There were too many rabbits!

    She walked towards the nearest rabbit and pointed her wand towards it. ¡°Blast.¡±

    She was relieved to see that even when she abbreviated the name of her attack it still worked. Her wand lit up and a small spark of white-blue light glimmered towards the rabbit and spattered against its fur.

    -3

    A red number and a health bar appeared on top of the rabbit. About 1/3 of its health had disappeared, so Seven assumed it had 10hp in total.

    The rabbit turned towards her with a menacing glint in its eye and let out a shrill cry before jumping straight at her face.

    ¡°Oh my god!¡± Emily stepped back as she suddenly lost a portion of her health, ¡°Blast! Blast!¡±

    The rabbit sneered at her as she missed the first blast couldn¡¯t activate her second one due to the cooldown. It counterattacked by gnawing at her leg and she lost more health.

    ¡°Blast, damn you!¡±

    She hit it with another wisp and suddenly the rabbit decided running might be the best option as it skittered across the grass. But by the time it had turned around and hopped a few steps, she let out another two attacks and it fell to the floor dead.

    ¡°Hell yeah.¡± She felt satisfactionwash over her as the body disappeared, her experience rose and a glimmering white light signaling an item appeared. It was a rabbit pelt.

    According to the press releases, there were a few different types ofitem rarity that they could getand each had a corresponding colour. The most basic was white, but then there was blue, yellow, orange, red and gold. She¡¯d heard that if a mob dropped multiple items the light would be the same colour as the rarest item.

    She became aware that there were a few new icons on the bottom right side of her vision next to her inventory. Settings, her status page and a menu she could use to log out. She could even access the in-game shop if she wanted to.

    The settings had a few interesting options. She could minimize or shrink the icons in her vision if she wanted to, or she could even just make certain ones such as her ¡®magic blast¡¯ disappear. That would come in handy later on when she started hoarding more abilities and they impacted her vision.

    Her status page was pretty simple as well.

    Name: Seven

    Health: 16/20

    Mana: 16/22

    Vitality: 10, Strength: 10, Dexterity: 10, Intelligence: 11, Wisdom: 10

    These were the four base stats that she knew she¡¯d have at first. But apparently unlocking different classes or even having a different species could gain you a few new stats.

    Thanks to her Elf lineage she gained an extra starting intelligence point and for every 5 levels, she would gain an extra one. Luckily that meant she had two extra mana to spare, and when each basic attack cost 1 mana, that was two whole more attacks.

    She finished checking out the different options and picked up the rabbit pelt. Then she turned towards its fellow fluffy critters that were staring at her.

    ¡°Come here you little fuckers.¡±

 Chapter 2: Attracting

    The last rabbit fell to the ground, dead. Seven picked up its pelt and hummed to herself as she walked towards the center of the village. She had gotten nothingelse from the level one animals but she suspected that they dropped nothing. Or she was very unlucky. One of the two.

    Lehandre took the rabbit pelts gratefully. ¡°It¡¯ll only be a temporary solution, the things breed like kobolds. Here¡¯s a little reward for your troubles.¡±

    Village Chief Lehandre handed her five coppersand she took them gratefully. She was going to hoard her money until she knew just how much everything costs.

    At the same time as the quest finished, she gained experience and levelled up so that her experience bar was on exactly Level 2, 0%. She gained a stat distribution point and put it into intelligence, giving her 12 intelligence and 24 total mana.

    Looking around, she could see that there were already a few players here and there. Most of them were exploring the surrounding area and bothering the NPCs that were walking around. She had tried to talk to a couple on the way back to the chief, but they had ignored her like they were ignoring the other players.

    Apparently not everyone was as welcoming as that priest, Barnacle.

    ¡°Are there kobolds around here?¡± She asked Lehandre curiously.

    ¡°Goodness no, but I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if there were some in the woods. There have been some monsters roaring from the dark areas lately. We don¡¯t know what they are.¡±

    [You¡¯ve received a hint about the monster of Signet Woods. 1/5 Collected.]

    Seven¡¯s eye raised as she saw the new notification.

    ¡®Now this is interesting.¡¯

    Lehandre noticed Seven¡¯s vacant expression, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s nothing. I think we should be okay with the rabbit population for now, could you deliver these rabbit pelts to Terhin the village merchant?¡±

    [Quest completed; Rabbit Culling.]

    [Quest updated: Terhin¡¯s request.]

    ¡°Got it.¡± She took off immediately but didn¡¯t have to walk long because just a few meters away the stall selling weapons and potions was being staffed by the person she was going to help.

    ¡°Hi there.¡± She walked up to the woman manning the stall, ¡°Terhin?¡±

    She could see the NPCs name highlighted alongside the word ¡®Shopkeeper¡¯.

    ¡°The one and only,¡± Terhin waved off an NPC customer lingering over the potions and turned to face Seven. ¡°Oh, a new face? I hope you came into town with a lot to spend.¡±

    She laughed to show that she was kidding and then waved her hand towards Seven, causing a menu to open up.

    ¡°This is my humble shop. I don¡¯t have that much coin but if you have something I¡¯d like I¡¯ll buy it. Of course, if you see something you like, then I¡¯ll gladly take your money for it.¡±

    Seven looked through the potions and weapons available. There were the basics such as lesser health potions and lesser mana potions, but each one cost fifty copper, far more than she had.

    ¡°Actually.¡± She closed the window and Terhin looked disappointed. ¡°I¡¯m here to give you these.¡±

    She brought out the rabbit pelts and Terhin crinkled her nose, ¡°Smelly little things aren¡¯t they. Worthless of course,but I can put them to use.¡± She took the pelts out of Seven¡¯s hands. ¡°Thanks for that. Hey, actually, would you like to do me a favor?¡± She brought out a couple of health potions and sprinkled the contents over the insides of the rabbit pelts, suddenly the smell of freshly roasted meat sparkled into the air, ¡°It makes my heart bleed to use potions like this. All that money going down the drain.¡± She placed the pelts down on the stall counter. ¡°See, I have this special skill that turns these kinds of things into food. Normally it¡¯s pretty useless and wasteful to use them on rabbit pelts but those damn pests have attracted a few wolves. They¡¯re slinking around the outer parts of the woods, but the smell of these pelts should attract them. Just put the rabbit meat down near the edge of the woods and kill a wolf if it comes near you.¡±

    [Quest Terhin¡¯s request updated: Terhin would like you to lure out and kill the wolves that have been getting close to the town. Slay at least 10 wolves and return to Terhin with their tails. Would you like to accept her quest? Yes / No]

    Seven accepted and put the pelts back into her inventory, noting the item name change, ¡®Quest item: Rabbit meat¡¯, ¡°That¡¯s a pretty handy skill. Think you can teach it to me so that I don¡¯t run out of rabbit pelts?¡±

    ¡°A negotiator huh?¡± Terhin sized Seven up and down, ¡°You don¡¯t have the skills to be pulling that on megirl. Try bringing down those wolves and then we¡¯ll talk. You¡¯re a bit of a scrawny brat though, so I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ll be able to fight the wolves as you are. Maybe you could scrape by, but I recommend training yourself up against some rabbits first.¡±

    Seeing that Seven had no more business with her, Terhin shooed her away.

    ¡°Wolves¡­ wolves¡­¡± Seven absently tried to imagine the creatures.

    The first rabbit she¡¯d seen had nearly given her a heart attack. They looked eerily real.

    ¡°Hey there, hard at work?¡±

    A voice called out from behind her and Seven turned around to find herself face to face with a massive warrior with a shaggy beard that went down to his stomach.

    ID: IEatTortillas

    ¡°Can I help you?¡± Seven asked but took a few steps back as she got ready to slink away.

    ¡°You can tell me why you and Andrew didn¡¯t even bother changing your avatar!¡± The man bellowed out loudly and smacked his large gut. ¡°You wasted your chance to get a delightful body like mine.¡±

    ¡°...¡± Seven¡¯s mind slowly put two and two together, ¡°Holy crap Ana.¡±

    ¡°Damn right it¡¯s me. The one and only.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my line!¡± Terhin¡¯s voice called out from behind the stall counter and Seven smiled.

    IEatTortillas lifted his beginner sword above his head. ¡°I¡¯ve got your rabbit pelts right here missy.¡± He turned to Seven. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡±

    Seven waited patiently as IEatTortillas and Terhin began to chat animatedly. She didn¡¯t know what her friend was saying to the storekeeper but the woman was chatting a lot more with him than she had with Seven.

    ¡°Holy crap,¡± he plodded over back to Seven, and they started to walk back towards the field of rabbits. ¡°That woman can sure talk the talk. But it was worth it for that health potion.¡±

    ¡°Health potion? You got a health potion? What the hell.¡± Seven looked back over her shoulder at Terhin. ¡°She didn¡¯t give me a health potion.¡±

    ¡°Probably because you didn¡¯t talk nicely with her.¡± IEatTortillas laughed and smacked his belly. ¡°Or else she just couldn¡¯t resist this curvaceous body.¡±

    Seven cursed herself in her mind. She had already known that NPCs would act differently depending on how you talked to them, after all,she had received that clue about the Signet Woods just before from the village chief.

    ¡°Oh hey, why are you a guy?¡±

    The Ana she knew was a girl. So she¡¯d expected her to pick a female avatar even if it didn¡¯t look exactly the same as her. But the portly man beside her was the furthest thing in existence from her friend.

    ¡°Hell, I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re not a guy.¡± He pointed at the nearby players, ¡°Thirsty little fuckers the lot of them.¡±

    A couple of the players nearby replied with rude gestures at her words but otherwise ignored her.

    Seven rolled her eyes, ¡°It¡¯s not going to be that bad.¡±

    ¡°Yeah probably, they¡¯ll all think you¡¯re a guy with a girl avataranyway.¡±

    He waved his hand as he clicked through the menu that only he could see.

    [IEatTortillas has invited you to his party: Would you like to accept his offer? Yes/No]

    Seven accepted and immediately saw two names with health and mana bars popping up in her vision.

    IEatTortillas: Health; 24

    Attracting: Health; 16, Shield; 5

    ¡°You already invited Andrew? Where is he.¡± Seven hadn¡¯t heard from her other friend since buying the game.

    ¡°Lazy bastard already did the rabbit quest with me and then he ran off to god knows where to explore. He wants me to kill his share of the wolves for him. Only works if we¡¯re in the same area though but he probably already worked that out.¡±

    Seven sighed, that sounded exactly like Andrew, ¡°Explore?¡±

    ¡°Talk to all the villagers,¡± IEatTortillas clarified. ¡°He thinks if he chats them up while everyone else is questing he¡¯ll discover something good. That means we have to pick up the slack.¡±

    They¡¯d already begun killing rabbits on their way to the woods. Each rabbit would die within three hits when they combined their efforts and gave 2 experience each. It would take a hundred experience to level up to level 3 so they decided to stick around for a while.

    ¡°What¡¯s with the extra health? Does being human give that perk.¡±

    ¡°Nah,¡± IEatTortillas stuck his sword straight through a rabbit''s head and Seven winced, the deaths got a lot more graphic when you weren¡¯t shooting the rabbits with magic, ¡°I¡¯m a lion beast person. But I¡¯m only a quarter lion.¡± He pulled back his hair to show tufted little ears, ¡°Gives me an extra vitality point with nobad stuff happening to me. You can go half or full beast person for even more vitality, but it¡¯ll come with some backlash if you enter an area that doesn¡¯t like those species.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha.¡± Seven shot two blasts at different rabbits to aggro them, ¡°What does Andrew recommend we do?¡±

    Despite her misgivings at his absence, she couldn¡¯t deny that he was definitely the best planner out of all of them.

    ¡°Level three and then kill the wolves. Since we share the experience and I have his share of rabbit meat we can attract a lot more wolves.¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    He was dodging rabbits left and right as he spoke. She saw him wait until the rabbits were well into the air before moving to the side so that they missed him. Seven tried to do the same when one jumped at her and got bitten for her troubles. This was why she liked to leave the cool-looking stuff to her friends.

    After a few minutes they had already attracted enough rabbits to bring them halfway up to level 3 when suddenly their levels rose and they found both their experience bars were on Level 3; 15% XP.

    Incoming message: -Did you like the boost? God, I¡¯m amazing-

    Both of them rolled their eyes as Andrew¡¯s text broke through into their chat channel via the party message system.

    -Good job.- Seven was the first to reply. -What did you do?-

    -Oh- The message came back with a tone ofsurprise before a longer one came through -I found a nice little sidequest. Gave a little girl¡¯s mommy a potion to help her tend the fields. Thanks to the free health potion I got from that shopkeeper it was a piece of cake-

    ¡°So you didn¡¯t do that by accident¡± Seven eyed IEatTortillas who grinned sheepishly.

    -I could have used the hint too you know.- She sent back to Andrew

    -What¡¯s that? Can¡¯t hear you, oh no, the line is breaking up- Andrew typed some fake static sounds into the message and then stopped replying to them.

    ¡°Buttmuncher,¡± Seven motioned towards IEatTortillas and the duo walked towards the woods. ¡°Do you think I should put the stat point into willpower or intelligence?¡±

    ¡°Intelligence, then the next one into willpower.¡± He replied without hesitation. ¡°Good to have some extra mana for the wolves.¡± He¡¯d already put his point into strength to increase his damage.

    Seven took his advice and put her point into Intelligence, bringing her up to 13. Intelligence increased the total mana pool of the player and gave a boost to damage but willpower brought up her total mana regen and increased her resistance to crowd control effects. It wouldn¡¯t give too much at the beginning parts of the game but later on, it¡¯d be a vital component to her character.

    ¡°Damn wolves better not look as lifelike as the rabbits or I willshit in my capsule.¡± IEatTortillas spotted a shiny area and put down a piece of rabbit meat.

    Almost immediately there was a howl and the scuffling of paws and a grey wolf came barrelling out of the treeline from the darkness.

    Seven could see it sniffing the air and eyeing them cautiously, but it was still walking nearer despite being outnumbered.

    [Starving Wolf Lvl 3]

    ¡°That¡¯s not too bad.¡± Seven brought her wand up and let out a blast of magic. The further away the wolf was, the longer she could shoot at it without retaliation.

    With a howl, the wolf jumped out of the attack''s way and bounded towards the duo. Once it got close they could see its fur flecked with blood and twigs. Seven smashed another magic blast into it and it approached menacingly.

    ¡°Looks like it had a bad day.¡± IEatTortillas smacked his sword into the wolf¡¯s side as it raced to bite Seven.

    Both of their attacks combined had dealt about a quarter of its health in damage.

    Seven thought back to what the village chief said about the monster roarscoming out of the forest. This wolf was definitely something that seemed to fit the bill. She mentioned it to IEatTortillas.

    ¡°Ah damn, Andrew missed that,¡± He went still as he sent a message on the team chat but continued to attack the wolf, ¡°Yeah he says he¡¯s already gotten a couple of other clues like that and he¡¯ll go back to the village chief for his one.¡±

    Seven tried to dodge the wolf bite and winced as she got hit again. ¡°This would be a lot more difficult if there was only one of us.¡±

    ¡°Let me attack it alone a couple of times,¡± IEatTortillas smacked the wolf twiceand it turned away from Seven and towards him, growling.

    ¡°Damn son, you need some breath mints.¡±

    He smacked the wolf again and another magic blast from Seven brought it down. Both of them received 10% experience for defeating the creature.

    It was extremelygood for their stage of the game. They were already putting down rabbit meat and eyeing the next incoming wolf hungrily.

    ¡°Let me aggro it first.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good to me.¡±

    Seven looked at her health and saw that it had already gone down to 10. The wolf was slow but it dealt five damage each attack. Her health was slow to regen at about 1 every ten seconds.

    [You have reached level 4]

    [You have reached level 5]

    By the time they¡¯d reach their twenty-fifth wolf they¡¯d level up twice and were putting down yet another wolf bait onto the ground.

    ¡°We¡¯ll probably level up once more, but it¡¯ll be close.¡± Seven frowned as a new wolf came in. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s that?¡±

    [Magic-touched Starving Wolf Lvl 5]

    This wolf was far bigger and tougher than the other wolves. Seven couldn¡¯t spot a difference other than its size until she caught a bright flashing light behind it. The wolf¡¯s tail was a dark blue colour with specks of light falling and floating wherever the tail swished in the air.

    ¡°Ka-ching¡± IEatTortillas took in a deep breath before swinging his sword at the mob.

    Now that they were level 5, he had 14 vitality (28 health) and 7 strength, thanks to his quarter beast-man trait of gaining 1 vitality per 5 levels.

    -10

    Seven felt a tremor of fear as the wolf jumped onto her companion so quickly that it left an after-shadow. None of the other wolves had come close to this kind of speed.

    IEatTortillas winced as the wolf tore into his arm. He had barely touched the thing before it took a little more than one-third of his health.

    ¡°This mutt is a lot faster than the other ones!¡±

    By the time the words were out of his mouth a retaliatory swipe was cutting into the wolf¡¯s fur, followed by a blast of magic.

    -5

    Their two attacks had taken out around 10% of its hit points, but it jumped into the air and mauled into IEatTortillas again before they could blink.

    ¡°Ah damn.¡± He gulped down his only potion.

    +25

    ¡°Bit of a waste¡±

    ¡°Saved your life didn¡¯t it.¡± Seven blasted the wolf again.

    She was barely skirting the side of the field just in case they had to run. The wolf was clearly too strong for both of them to take on. She wasn¡¯t even sure she wanted to try and dodge the thing if it came at her.

    Shemoved behind her companion so that she could cover him if they ran. ¡°Get out of there.¡±

    They¡¯d taken out 20% of its health and IEatTortillas began to jump back away from the wolf and towards Seven.

    Both of them could already tell that they couldn¡¯t take the creature head-on.

    ¡°Hit it while I run.¡±

    He tried to draw the aggro of the wolf and dodge its incoming bites but as though it could see through his tactic the wolf avoided the trouble and jump towards the rabbit meat they¡¯d placed as a lure.

    +20

    Seven shivered as the wolf recovered almost all of its lost health and its tail grew brighter. She¡¯d already been thinking of running but now it was a certainty.

    ¡°Damn it. We¡¯ve got to run¡± She was quick to give out the call.

    IEatTortillas nodded and began to back away from the now-healthy looking wolf. Its skin had grown livelier and its eyes shone brilliantly with a light that hadn¡¯t been in there a few moments ago. The wolf was going under some kind of transformation.

    They¡¯d have to re-do the fight without a health potion and he didn¡¯t have the confidence to dodge all theattacks.

    ¡°And let this interesting guy get away? Think about the experience!¡± A new voice called over to them and suddenly a magic blast hit the wolf from further away.

    -4

    The wolf turned to growl at the newcomer. They weren¡¯t dealing as much damage as Seven had dealt with her same blast but they drew aggro since the duo had stopped attacking the wolf. She turned but kept the wolf in the corner of her vision. She saw a white man step out from the grass field, firing another shot at the wolf.

    ¡°Andrew.¡± IEatTortillas nodded at him and ran towards the wolf to attack it.

    ¡°It¡¯s Attracting in the game! Hey Ana, you found something good. I came by as soon as I saw your health bar dropping so low.¡± Attracting kept his wand pointed at the wolf but stepped closer towards it.

    Seven felt a pang of fear. ¡°Don¡¯t get closer to it, it¡¯s reallyfast.¡±

    ¡®This guy couldn¡¯t have fought anything tougher than a rabbit so far.¡¯

    The wolf howled at him but turned away a moment later as IEatTortillas hit its flank and then became more confused as Seven blasted it. She celebrated as it seemed to turn to them, but then it decided to chase the first person to attack. With a blur it sped towards Attracting and Seven gasped.

    It was almost twice as fast compared to before it had eaten the rabbit!

    She ran back towards Attracting as the wand-user showered its pelt with magic blasts.

    ¡°You think I¡¯m going to lose to a furry little puppy like this?¡±

    Attracting laughed as the wolf pounced towards him and Seven¡¯s eyes widened. One moment she couldn¡¯t see any outcome other than the wolf tearing her friend a new one and the next its paws hit the ground and it looked down in confusion.

    Attracting had dodged its lunge at the last second and blasted it in the eye while stepping away from it.

    ¡°Woah, when did you learn to do that.¡± IEatTortillas slashed at the wolf with his sword but it continued to ignore him to try andkill its original target.

    ¡°I¡­¡± Attracting¡¯s words caught in his throat as he dodged the wolf a second and third time, each time almost getting hit and returning the favor by blasting the wolf in the face, ¡°Read enough on the forums to guess that something like this might happen. It¡¯s not a skill; we just have to measure the right timing to dodge attacks.¡±

    Attracting saw the wolf duck down and lower its body as it prepared for a pounce. ¡°I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d work so well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah. You must be some kind of genius or something.¡± IEatTortillas responded sarcastically.

    Attracting smiled. ¡°Some kind.¡±

    ¡°Humble,¡± Seven butted in as she was aiming at the wolf.

    The thing was so fast that she could barely point her wand in the right direction. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that Attracting was only taking small steps to dodge it then she would be missing completely.

    ¡®Ah man, I¡¯ve got to get better at this.¡¯ She lamented as she saw Attracting expertly dodging and counterattacking, ¡®how the hell did Andrew get so good.¡¯

    The wolf had finally reached less than 20% health and it still hadn¡¯t even caught the edge of Attracting¡¯s pants. Seeing this the wolf sped up and Seven missed her next attack as the wolf finally took a bite into Attracting.

    - 18

    The wolf¡¯s eyes shifted as though it couldn¡¯t believe what it was feeling, before they glazed over and it flopped to the ground, dead. They all blazed with light as they levelled up straight to level 7. The wolf had given them crazy experience.

    ¡°What the hell was that?!¡± IEatTortillas sped up to Attracting and checked him over.

    ¡°That¡¯s my racial ability. See, I had it all in the bag.¡± Attracting smiled as though he had planned the whole thing the entire time.

    Seven joined up with them and checked the disappearing wolf body. If she¡¯d seen correctly, then the wolf had definitely bitten into Attracting but the moment that it happened Attracting¡¯s skin glowed bright blue and a blue light injected itself into the wolf, killing it.

    ¡°What kind of racial ability is that?¡± She gazed at the ground and feltdelighted as she saw that instead of the usual white light, the ground was glowing blue.

    At least one blue rarity item drop!

    ¡°Ohh,¡± Attracting saw the blue light and knelt next to Seven, ¡°May I?¡±

    ¡°Go for it.¡±

    He was the one that had done almost all the work for them. She wouldn¡¯t complain even if he took everything since she¡¯d already gained a level up from this.

    ¡°Well, well, well,¡± Attracting looked at the item screen cheerfully. ¡°It looks like this guy dropped a pretty good dagger and some copper.¡±

    A screen popped up in front of Seven as Attracting shared the item screen with them.

    Baldar¡¯s Dagger:

    Strength: +5

    Vitality +2

    Description: Poor Baldar found himself a nice dagger and fancied himself an adventurer. On his first walk into the woods he ran into a hungry wolf and it took his hand, his dagger and then his life. The dagger enhancedhis health and strength, transferring these properties to the wolf that had ingested it. Now it waits for a worthy adventurer to slay the wolf and wield it in battle once again.

    ¡°Oho,¡± IEatTortillas stared at the dagger greedily and reached for it, ¡°Don¡¯t mind if I do.¡±

    Seven didn¡¯t complain, she couldn¡¯t use daggers as a mage and even if it helped her now, she wanted to be only a caster even before she¡¯d picked her class.

    ¡°Well, it was always going to be yoursanyway.¡± Attracting handed Seven half the coppers and kept the rest for himself. ¡°But we¡¯ll be taking the money.¡±

    He lifted himself up and they moved back to the baiting area so that they could bring in a few more wolves. They still had twenty pieces left.

    ¡°Hey.¡± She got their attention. ¡°If this one came up after we killed twenty-four wolves, won¡¯t another one come up as the fiftieth wolf? An even stronger one with better drops?¡±

    ¡°Definitely not.¡± Attracting shook his head without hesitation. ¡°This is the kind of thing that would only happen once, no more. It¡¯s better not to waste our time because we got greedy and decided to chase loose ends. We¡¯ll move onto a new area once we¡¯ve used the last few pieces of rabbit meat to kill wolves.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t even want to try?¡±

    Attracting shook his head and she looked away in disappointment. He seemed certain that nothing would happen if they kept hunting wolves, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to at least try it. But she saw that IEatTortillas was nodding his head and placing the next slab of rabbit meat onto the baiting spot.

    ¡°Oh, okay then.¡± She nodded, maybe she¡¯d try it again when she was alone. She was probably high enough level to do so but she needed more rabbit meat.

    The distinct howl of a new wolf interrupted her thoughts, approaching them through the thickets and trees.

    Now that she was level seven she brandished her wand gleefully.

    Maybe she¡¯d even try some of that fancy dodging the others were doing.

 Chapter 3: The eternity in a second

    [Quest completed: Terhin¡¯s request.]

    ¡°Pretty good, wide waist,¡± Terhin quipped as Seven handed in the wolf tails she had picked up, she even five extra ones after they¡¯d finished with the wolves, ¡°You¡¯ve got more fight in you than I thought. Did those wolves swallow enough coins for you to purchase a potion or two? I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll need them after all that fighting.¡±

    Terhin cupped her hands out and a shop screen appeared in front of her.

    ¡®Dang it.¡¯

    She couldn¡¯t work out how the other two had managed to get a free potion from this frugal shopkeeper.

    ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯ll take two health potions.¡±

    She pocketed the potions with a sense of satisfaction. She even felt a little afraid to use them; they healed for more than her total health. She had a little over fifty coppers left in her inventory after the purchase but these potions would probably last her a while. That last magical wolf had dropped a lot, but even the ordinary wolves provided good money.

    But those wolves probably couldn¡¯t be soloed repeatedly without a little help like this.

    ¡°Oh, and I¡¯ll take fifty pieces of rabbit meat please.¡± She had looked over the shop menu carefully and found out that Terhin sold that wolf attracting meat for a copper coin each.

    She knew that Attracting had told her there was no way the fiftieth wolf would be another special one but there was no way he could know that for certain. She turned her head from side to side, IEatTortillas was talking animatedly to the shopkeeper and Attracting had already disappeared.

    ¡°You heard me!¡±

    A shout resounded from near the village chief and Seven saw her disappearing comrade shouting into the air and attracting a lot of attention to himself. A few curious players had already congregated around the two, anticipating some kind of spectacle.

    Attracting was talking to a stranger. ¡°I said I¡¯m requesting a duel. Fair and square, right here and now. Winner gets a potion.¡±

    -TidalWave-

    The name hovered in green above the stranger¡¯s head. Seven was confused. She had never seen this person before, but if he was someone they knew and had changed his appearance, then how would Attracting know it was them? It wasn¡¯t as if they¡¯d been playing in the game for that long.

    TidalWave looked just as confused as she felt.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, have we met?¡±

    ¡°Definitely not,¡± Attracting smiled. ¡°But we¡¯re meeting now. How about a friendly duel to celebrate the occasion?¡±

    ¡°Celebrate¡­¡± TidalWave¡¯s face flashed with surprise as Attracting revealed his level, Level 8, ¡°Oh.¡±

    TidalWave lifted his hands defensively.

    ¡°I really have to tell you, this probably isn¡¯t a good idea. I can see you¡¯re level eight, which is great, but I¡¯m level ten. It just wouldn¡¯t be fair,¡± he cocked his head to the side curiously. ¡°Why do you want to fight me, anyway? Do we know each other?¡±

    Attracting smiled and lifted the dagger provocatively, ¡°You are TidalWave. Is there anything else I have to know?¡±

    Seven felt like pinching his arm at his words. ¡®You explained nothingdumbass.¡¯

    TidalWave hesitated but then nodded. ¡°Okay, I guess that¡¯s a reason. So you want this?¡± He brought the potion out into his hands. ¡°Let¡¯s do it then.¡±

    The moment he finished speaking, he jumped back and took out his sword.

    *Clang*

    Seven¡¯s eyes flew towards TidalWave¡¯s hands as the sword he¡¯d pulled out immediately blocked the dagger aimed towards his throat. Attracting had moved to kill the player without a second¡¯s warning.

    ¡®Baldar¡¯s dagger¡­ When did he get that off Ana.¡¯

    Attracting uttered a curse and stepped forward, swiping at TidalWave repeatedly and smiling as he got a hit in.

    ¡°Not bad.¡± TidalWave¡¯s health bar appeared on top of his head with a chunk missing, ¡°I can¡¯t take many more of those hits.¡±

    With those words he swiped his sword in a wide arc around his body, forcing Attracting to retreat towards the middle of the square. Then he quickly lost more health as Attracting blasted him with magic from his wand.

    Attracting was dual-wielding the dagger and wand.

    TidalWave lifted his sword and swiped at the next blast as it travelled through the air, causing it to dissipate harmlessly into the air, ¡°Not bad at all. I didn¡¯t know you could dual wield so early into the game.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s more where that came from.¡± Attracting said it cockily but Seven could see hissurprise at how quickly TidalWave had began to blockhis attacks.

    TidalWave burst towards Attracting, he had taken two hits alreadybut he hadn''t even harmed his opponent.

    ¡°Short-range dagger, long-range wand,¡± TidalWave grunted as he smashed his sword into Attracting¡¯s waiting dagger, knocking it down.

    He immediately followed with a stab that chunked Attracting¡¯s health and leaped back before his opponent could retaliate.

    ¡°This is getting fun.¡± TidalWave¡¯s eyes were lighting up.

    Seven¡¯s heart clenched as she watched the two fighters.

    ¡®They probably wouldn¡¯t even bat an eye when fighting me.¡¯

    Seven could feel her fingers curling into a fist and she unfurled them in surprise. The fight had overwhelmed herwith anticipation without her realising it.

    ¡®What was that?¡¯ She hadn¡¯t taken her eyes off of the fight. ¡®What¡¯s this feeling?¡¯

    It was more than just a simple fleeting emotion.

    Jealousy¡­ anger. Not directed towards the people that were fighting but at herself. She hadn¡¯t even taken the game that seriously; she had bought it and was having had a great time. She had killed rabbits and fought wolves with her friends and had even felt fear as these virtual animals had bared their teeth at her.

    But now she saw that there could be so much more.

    Even before they¡¯d started fighting wolves, IEatTortillas had dodged the rabbits that she couldn¡¯t. Attracting had fought toe to toe with the wolf she¡¯d been thinking about running away from the moment it appeared.

    She was lacking.

    She was lacking in skill. She was lacking in knowledge about Zodiac. But now she knew what she didn¡¯t have, she was awakening to possibilities thatshe hadn¡¯t thought possible before. She didn¡¯t want to be on the side watching as these two duked it out. She wanted to be the one fighting against them.

    But right now either of the two would destroy her in a fight. She wasn¡¯t even qualified to issue a challenge; she didn¡¯t have the confidence.

    She gazed intently at the two duelists, ¡®And one day I¡¯ll stand on the same stage as them.¡¯

    The two had already exchanged half a dozen attacks. If Attracting stabbed, then TidalWave retreated. If TidalWave swiped, then Attracting hit him back with a magic blast. But it was clear thatAttracting was losing. For each attack he got in with his wand, TidalWave returned it twofold with his sword.

    It was impossible for Attracting to win.

    Both of the fighters were circling each other calmly, looking for a way to get past the other¡¯s defences. TidalWave had less than half his health left, but Attracting would be lucky if he survived the next hit.

    Attracting laughed as he held out his dagger and twirled it between his fingers. ¡°Not too bad, eh?¡±

    *Swish*

    TidalWave threw his sword without warning towards the boasting player and Attracting leaped back in a fright. He¡¯d dodged the sword but the lack of time caused him to land badly on one foot. TidalWave was already running towards him with a second sword appearing in his hand. He¡¯d had a hidden trump card this entire time.

    Attracting fell backward in a panic and TidalWavelunged forwardand slashed down at him with his sword.

    ¡®No. He¡¯s smiling.¡¯ Seven was watching Attracting¡¯s face closely and noticed that he wasn''t panicking at all.

    ¡®It¡¯s a trap.¡¯ She decided.

    TidalWave had the same thought. The moment the smile appeared on his opponent¡¯s face he tried to dodge it but it was too late, he¡¯d already initiated the attack and he couldn''t stop it. The entire slash took less than a second but by the time it was over TidalWave¡¯s body crumpled to the ground.

    Attracting had killed him.

    ¡°Woah.¡±

    ¡°Holy crap.¡±

    ¡°What just happened? Wasn¡¯t that guy about to die?¡±

    The surrounding players murmured in shock at the sudden turn of events. Almost all of them had missed what had happened even though they¡¯d been watching intently. Even now not a single one of them knew what had happened to TidalWave.

    ¡®He did it again.¡¯ Seven¡¯s eyes narrowed; she had been the only one who had caught onto what occurred.

    In the split second that TidalWave¡¯s attack animation had started, no, just before that when Attracting had fallen, the skin underneath his clothes had glowed a very faint blue colour, just like when he had killed the magical wolf. And the moment TidalWave¡¯s body was on top of him, Attracting stabbed the light energy straight into the warrior and caused him to keel over dead in his tracks.

    It was a move that Attracting could only have planned meticulously in advance.

    TidalWave was the better fighter, but Attracting had used the combined distraction of his low health and the supposed opportunity of the false fall to lure his opponent into a false sense of security that he used to kill TidalWave.

    Attracting waited for TidalWave to revive, ¡°A very good fight.¡±

    TidalWave grunted, but then broke out into a grin. ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t see that last hit coming. Good one.¡±

    He hadn¡¯t lost any experience or levels after dying because ofthe duel, but the potion had automatically been taken out of his bag and placed into Attracting¡¯s inventory.

    ¡°Well, that was fun.¡± TidalWave shuffled backward and started walking deeper into the village, ¡°but I¡¯ve got stuff to do. See you later.¡±

    ¡®Ah,¡¯ Seven watched the back of this stranger than had fought so fiercely against her friend.

    Then she started to follow him, staying hidden between the players that were surrounding Attracting. While he was distracted by people asking if he had access to an insta-kill item or something similar she had already matched the pace of the strolling TidalWave.

    She wanted to become stronger.

    But she was sure that Attracting couldn¡¯t help her here. She knew her friends pretty well and Attracting was good at games, although she hadn¡¯t known he was that good, but it was clear who was the better player. Attracting had borrowed the incrediblypowerful dagger that belonged to IEatTortillas and had still had his ass beatensoundly, it was only by resorting to a last-minute attack that his opponentcouldn''t predictthat he won. She didn¡¯t want that kind of victory.

    A skilled player could overcome items, and they could beat even game skills. TidalWave had begun to dodge that final blow even though it had been too late. In that split second he had controlled his actions and made a decision that could have won him the match. Even if she didn¡¯t know exactly what she lacked, she knew that he had it. That was what she wanted.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    The ability to change the course of a battle in that eternity of a second.

    The number of players slowly began to disperse as they moved deeper into the village. On this side of the village they could see the sea, but there were no mobs to fight and only a few NPCs that were tight-lipped around the players. TidalWave stopped before reaching the end of the village and pivoted sharply into an alleyway.

    Seven reached the corner of the building that led into the alleyway, but when she turned into it there was nobody there. The entire section was empty except for litter and dust.

    She tentatively stepped into the alleyway but a few steps in it became a dead end.

    ¡°Looking for me?¡± A male voice called out from right behind her.

    ¡°Holy crap!¡± She turned around and saw the man flinch as she shouted into his face. ¡°Oh, sorry. I was¡­ startled.¡±

    TidalWave laughed. ¡°I¡¯ll say.¡± Then his look turned wary. ¡°You¡¯ve been following me since the duel. If you¡¯re looking for another potion I¡¯m afraid that was my only one. But if you want to fight for a few coppers then I¡¯ll gladly duel youas well.¡±

    ¡°God no,¡± She shot him down immediately. ¡°I won¡¯t beat around the bush here. I saw your fight against my friend and it moved me.¡±

    ¡°Moved?¡± She could see TidalWave''s amusement and that he was a little flattered underneath that facade of his.

    ¡°Obviously, you guys were moving like crazy, dodging and blocking hits, and, and¡± She flailed her hands around trying to look for the right words, then she deflated as she saw his lips threatening to break out into a grin, ¡°I¡¯m not too sure what I¡¯m trying to say here.¡±

    ¡°That was crazy, right?¡± TidalWave agreed, ¡°Is your friend a professional gamer or something? I mean, not to brag or anything but I thought I was a prettygood player compared to the norm. Then he popped out and suddenly I¡¯m not too sure.¡±

    Seven pointed at herself. ¡°No, I¡¯m the norm. And- I mean, Attracting is definitely not the norm. I didn¡¯t think he was so good before, but I haven¡¯t seen him playing in other games.¡±

    ¡°So what¡¯s up?¡± TidalWave looked at her with amusement.

    It was prettyobvious she wasn¡¯t anyone with bad intentions. He could read her facial expressions like a book.

    ¡°Well.¡± Suddenly she found her mouth drying up.

    Here she was approaching this total stranger with noprompting and she hadn¡¯t worked out what to say. So she decided to just go with the age-old tactic of making it simple.

    ¡°I want to learn how to be as good a player as you guys.¡±

    ¡°You want me to teach you how to play better?¡±

    She shifted nervously from foot to foot as he looked at her with an unreadable expression. Then he broke out into a smile and laughed.

    ¡°What the heck, sounds interesting. I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    ¡®All right!¡¯ She celebrated internally but tried to keep a straight face on her avatar.

    ¡°Well then, I guess you have an idea of where you want to practice? Or did you want to just wing it and duel until you improve?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll fight the wolves.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± He looked at her with interest. ¡°I guess they¡¯re good experience for now. And prettyfast too.¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± she agreed, ¡°Also¡­¡±

    She told him about the special twenty-fifth wolf and how it had dropped the dagger and a lot of copper.

    ¡°Ohh, so it was like that was it?¡± TidalWave was very interested.

    He¡¯d only gotten hit once by that weapon but it had taken a lot of health out of him. Even if the wand had dealt more damage overall,that dagger had been the greatest danger to him in the fight because it forced himto trade hits to slash Attracting.

    Other than that insane last attack.

    ¡°But I doubt the dagger will drop again,¡± He stated it bluntly to her, ¡°It was probably a unique item that dropped for the first person to kill the magical wolf.¡± He saw her expression become downcast and hesitated, ¡°But who knows, it might still give some really good drops to us. Definitely worth a shot. Wolves will be good practice to fight against either way.¡±

    ¡°Great!"Seven beamed, ¡°I¡¯ll meet you at the wolf baiting spot in a few minutes but I¡¯ve got to let my friends know first.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± TidalWave nodded, ¡°That¡¯ll give me time to buy some things. I can¡¯t afford the potions anymore since I spent most of my coin on my main sword, but I¡¯ll bet there are some odd bits and bobs that¡¯ll come in handy.¡±

    She nodded at his words and with a wave of her hand she was already rushing off towards her friends. She had already left their party when she''d gone to pursue TidalWave but she could still see them on the village map because she¡¯d added them as friends.

    ¡°Oh. Hey.¡± Attracting nodded at her as she entered and then turned towards IEatTortillas, ¡°Hey I was thinking that there are probably things hiddenaround town, do you want to come and talk to the villagers? If they have a hidden quest or something we might need a team to fight the mobs.¡±

    IEatTortillas nodded. ¡°Obviously I¡¯ll go. I¡¯ve got nothing else on anyway.¡± He turned to Seven. ¡°Where do you want to check first?¡±

    Seven hummed to herself as though she was thinking about it. Their quest searching would probably take a lot of time since they wouldn¡¯t know which NPCs to talk to. They¡¯d probably even get ignored half the time.

    ¡®This is the perfect chance to head out.¡¯

    Now she just had to come up with something that¡¯d give her a reason not to come along.

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve got a friend I want to play with for a bit, but they¡¯re shy around strangers so I told them it¡¯d just be me for today.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Attracting didn¡¯t even hesitate before agreeing with her, ¡°Go for it.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Seven let out a breath, ¡°Cool.¡±

    She¡¯d thought he¡¯d disagree with her more than that, or maybe try to join her.

    IEatTortillas raised an eyebrow at his quick reply but then she shrugged, ¡°I didn¡¯t know you knew anyone else playing, way to keep a secret.¡± She grinned to show she was joking. ¡°Sounds good to me. If that¡¯s what you want, then sure.¡± Then she pointed her finger at herself and Attracting, ¡°You have to come with us to the woods when we go. There¡¯s no way we¡¯re doing something that fun without each other.¡± Suddenly her head shifted and her eyes lit up mischievously as though she¡¯d come up with a brilliant thought, ¡°And bring your friend along too. If you want to introduce us to him.¡±

    ¡®Oh god, Ana¡¯s misunderstanding something.¡¯ Seven made sure that she¡¯d call IEatTortillas tomorrow and clear everything up.

    ¡°Of course. Let me know when you guys are good to go there. I¡¯ll be farming hard for it.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Even if you don¡¯t, I¡¯ll make sure we don¡¯t die.¡± Attracting added.

    ¡®Okay then.¡¯ Seven felt like rolling her eyes at his words. ¡®Where is this confidence coming from? We don¡¯t even know what¡¯s in those woods.¡¯

    Even if she didn¡¯t voice her thoughts she could tell IEatTortillas was skepticalas well.

    ¡°Call me when you need me.¡± She waved bye to them and walked towards the spot where she¡¯d told TidalWave she¡¯d meet him.

    She brought along the rabbit meat that she intended to use to test her fifty wolves theory. If she could spawn an even bigger wolf, then she was confident she and TidalWave could kill it.

    ¡°Hey there.¡± TidalWave sat lazily on the grass next to one of the spots that they could put rabbit meatdown to lure wolves. ¡°What are we practicing first?¡±

    ¡°Dodging.¡±

    She had been thinking about it long and hard since she¡¯d met him. The one thing that had struck her mind the hardest was the fact that both Attracting and TidalWave could dodge each other¡¯s blows. Even when fighting normal mobs she had seen the benefits that simple dodging could bring about.

    She could feel that it was the starting point before she could move on to getting stronger.

    TidalWave¡¯s eyes wandered towards the woods. ¡°Good choice. Let¡¯s attract some of those wolves.¡±

    She followed his words and put down the rabbit meat. Soon the first wolf bounded out of the woods and sniffed the air.

    Seven brandished her wand and blasted the wolf. She did a lot more damage to it compared to before, but then again she was already level 7.

    ¡®I¡¯ve got this.¡¯

    She was ready for this. The moment the wolf came at her she would sidestep it just like Attracting had done. This wolf wasn¡¯t even that fast compared to the magical one. It was worthless compared to her technique.

    Then the wolf charged at her.

    As soon as it got in close she stepped to the side and promptly realised she hadn¡¯t gotten out of its attack range. With her thoughts distracted by the wolf, she hadn¡¯t even realised that her feet were getting caught by the sudden movement and she tripped. The wolf turned towards her as she fell and smashed her onto the ground, slashing her with its claws and dealing more damage than she was comfortable with.

    ¡®Am I going to die so quickly? I didn¡¯t dodge a damn thing!¡¯ She cursed herself as the wolf bit down onto her face.

    *Clang*

    The wolf¡¯s teeth clashed against the flimsy metal of TidalWave¡¯s sword before they could chomp down on her. The wolf let out a yelp as TidalWave slashed at it and within a few seconds its corpse was disappearing into the breeze. Seven shut her eyes in shame for a few seconds. When she opened them, she tried to hide herself by moving her head down against her neck and then realised she wasn¡¯t a turtle.

    She let out a guilty smile in response to his frowning expression as he leaned over her.

    ¡°Maybe we should have started at rabbits.¡±

    ¡°No, I''ve got this.¡± She lifted herself up. ¡°Give me a second to regenerate health and we¡¯ll do that again.¡±

    A howl broke out before she could finish speaking and another starving wolf appeared in front of her.

    ¡°Oops.¡± TidalWave looked out her without regret as he stood over the piece of meat he¡¯d placed onto the baiting spot, ¡°Guess you won¡¯t be able to heal. Better not get hit.¡±

    Seven looked at him with narrowed eyes. ¡°You did that on purpose.¡±

    ¡°Eyes upfront.¡± He pointed towards the wolf and she yelped as it jumped at her.

    TidalWave looked with interest as wolfafter wolf spawned with his help.

    ¡°Actually, you might want tomove left when its muscles twitch like that. It¡¯s clearlytrying to feint you out but you can tell where it''s going by the direction its body is pointing.¡±

    ¡°Hey, that was good. You¡¯ll want to watch out not to throw your weight too far back or else you¡¯ll end up going further than you intended and it¡¯ll give the wolf a lot more time to catch up to you. Even milliseconds can make a crucial difference in a fight.¡±

    Wolf after wolf came and died.

    Seven was panting as TidalWave shouted out wave after wave of criticisms and the odd piece of advice that was incrediblyhelpful to her. She had to admit that even if the shouts annoyed her she was definitely improving. TidalWave had to kill the first few wolves but by the tenth, she had gotten the hang of it. Then she focused on making sure to not lose any health. By the twentieth wolf she wasn¡¯t losing much health and could easily dodge and counterattack the enemy. She felt like she might even be able totake on two wolves at once.

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re actually not a bad teacher.¡± She said with surprise.

    She meant it. She thought thatshe¡¯d learn by watching him fight after he gave up trying to teach her how to dodge. Now she didn¡¯t even need him to come save her, and he had even been hunting a few wolves on his own with some rabbit meat he¡¯d brought along since he was comfortable she wouldn¡¯t die on him.

    Even though he criticised her a lot during the fights it had only ever been when she made a mistake she knew that she should be able to do. Every time she¡¯d had a problem with her footwork thatwas beyond her ability or she encountered something that confused her,he took over fighting the wolf and dodged its attacks while explaining why she was having the issue and how to fix it.

    He had helped her a lot more than she thought he would.

    Suddenly a low growl sounded out from the woods. A new wolf had appeared, but this one looked bigger, more ferocious and sported a glowing magical tail.

    [Magic-touched Starving Wolf Level 5]

    ¡°Ah, hey.¡± Seven nudged TidalWave, ¡°That¡¯s the wolf I was telling you about.¡±

    TidalWave looked at it curiously. ¡°You said once this thing eats the meat it¡¯s too fast for you to dodge right?¡±

    She nodded and looked at the wolf warily.

    ¡°Good.¡±

    A slab of rabbit meat flew out from beside her head and she gaped as the wolf jumped straight up into the air and gobbled it down in one smooth movement.

    +20

    ¡®Oh crap.¡¯

    Even though it was at full health it still healed. No, it gained even more maximum health.

    ¡°Why the heck did you do that!¡± She turned angrily and gaped as she saw that TidalWave had already run a few meters away to safety.

    ¡°You wanted to learn how to dodge didn¡¯t you?¡± he yelled out to her from his safe spot, ¡°Well you¡¯ll never learn if you keep practicing within your comfort zone. Dodge that thing, if you don¡¯t, then you die. That thing will eat your corpse!¡± he added cheerfully.

    The wolf growled as though it agreed with his words and eyed Seven hungrily. She let out a weak smile at the sight of the feral creature.

    ¡®Just a game. Just a game.¡¯

    With a howl, the wolf leaped at her with fangs and claws bared.

    ¡®Oh god, I don¡¯t want to die!¡¯ Seven tried running away but the further she went the further TidalWave retreated backward.

    In a couple of seconds the wolf had caught up to her.

    ¡®More speed.¡¯

    She tried to run faster and sidestep swiftly like she had seen Attraction doing to it, only to barely bemissed as the wolf got closer and closer. She was better than before, but she wasn¡¯t that good yet.

    ¡®I need better timing.¡¯

    She saw the wolf claw at her and she stepped to the side; she had just barely dodged. The wolf was so close now that she wouldn¡¯t be so lucky next time.

    -10

    ¡®More speed¡­ better timing.¡¯ Seven could feel her mind becoming cluttered as the wolf continued to follow her.

    A couple more hits like that and she¡¯d be dead. She didn¡¯t want to lose here, not after she¡¯d been doing so well. She didn¡¯t have time to think. The monster wasn¡¯t allowing her time to plan or counterattack. She could feel the panic welling up inside her. The wolf was already so close and it was practically toying with her. Now it was almost on top of her.

    It was so close that she could feel the killing intent oozing off of it. She couldn¡¯t dodge it from this distance; there¡¯s no way that she could send her body that command in time.

    It pounced at her with claws stretched out.

    Then she felt it.

    A left step here, then a magic blast. Before she had the time to think her body had reacted. Perfectly timed, perfectly executed. The wolf yelped as it missed its attack and she hit it, then it rounded for another attack. But Seven was already deep in her own thoughts.

    It was as thougha weight had been lifted off of her. Even if it was a split second she had overcome that small gap between the virtual body and her thoughts. More basic than thought, deeper than emotion. What she felt was what her body did. A reaction primal reaction to the danger she¡¯d faced. The action and the timing perfectly synced without delay.

    Then it was gone.

    She dodged the wolf again and was suddenly draggedout of her thoughts. ¡®But I won¡¯t forget that feeling.¡¯

    TidalWave watched this and put his hand to his chin when he saw her perfect dodge and counterattack.

    ¡®She¡¯s talented.¡¯

    The moment the thought entered his mind he kicked it out. But the damage had already been done, he could feel something growing with every beat of his heart. He could feel it growing inside him. He could see the future if this person continued to improve, she would slowly but surely get better and better and even pass him. This realisation caused an emotion to grow deep within him. It was fear.

    Then he laughed. ¡°Good, good. Really, really, ridiculously good.¡±

    He smiled as Seven shot him a confused expression and promptly got smacked to the ground by a stray wolf paw.

    This girl would turn into a monster, he could feel it, but he had never been a person afraid of those more talented than himself. For every move she learned, and every hour she played, he would just have to spend another thinking of how to be one step ahead. He would learn to dodge better, he would fight harder and he would destroy any wall that would slow him down in this race.

    If he did this, he was confident he would grow even faster than the genius before him.

    He stood up from his spot and lifted his sword towards the wolf.

    ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯ll help you kill that thing before it eats you.¡±

 Chapter 4: Nimble Mage

    Seven: level 9

    Health: 24

    Mana: 32

    Vitality: 12

    Strength:10

    Intelligence: 17

    Wisdom: 12

    Elf racial trait: Gain 1 intelligence per 5 levels.

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    Thanks to her level 1 and 5 extra intelligence points she wouldn¡¯t have to worry too much about mana for now. She¡¯d gain another in one more level as well.

    -You¡¯re lacking in items so you¡¯re squishy as hell-

    TidalWave hadn¡¯t cut around the bush when they were together. She had absolutely no items, armour or weapons that gave stat boosts. The wolves she¡¯d killed hadn¡¯t dropped a single thing outside of coppers, and the special wolf hadn¡¯t re-appeared either.

    They would just be wasting lesser potions ifthey used them to save her life because they healed for more health than she had.

    ¡®Man, I have terribleluck when itcomes to drops.¡¯

    Even TidalWave had armour equipped already, and he even had a couple of swords.

    She was thinking about a solution to her problem as she absentmindedly slew the surrounding rabbits. She could see that both TidalWave and Attracting were online and sitting at level 10.

    ¡®Hang on.¡¯

    -Hey- She sent a message to TidalWave, -Why are you still level 10?-

    He replied almost immediately.

    -Oh hey,- he sounded like he was out of breath, she figured he was probably just done fighting some tough mobs, -they defer your experienceuntil you choose a class. I think you have to go meet the priest guy. I¡¯ve just been killing mobs and trying to figure out more game mechanics. Apparently it¡¯s not all about levels and what skills you have.-

    -No wonder you¡¯re so skilled if you¡¯re still practicing before levelling.- She voiced her sincere admiration, -What do you recommend? Should I keep practicing or should I level up to 10 and get a class?-

    -I¡¯ll come over to the village and we can fight a few more wolves until you level up. Then we¡¯ll both go get the class up.-

    -Gotcha. See you here.-

    She stopped messaging and walked back towards the village. Even if she wanted to summon a few more wolves, she was already out of rabbit meat.

    Attracting was online too, but he¡¯d been acting a little weird yesterday. She decided it was probably better to wait until she got her first class or Ana logged onto Zodiac.

    She couldn¡¯t wait to show her friends her class up.

    ****

    ¡®How far away is she?¡¯

    TidalWave had already been waiting around the village for a couple of minutes, but he was sure he had been further away from the village than she was.

    ¡°Resting around instead of fighting? That¡¯s the lazy attitude I¡¯ve come to expect from you.¡±

    A voice called out to him and TidalWave frowned, ¡®Not this guy again.¡¯

    Attracting was standing nearby and smiling at him.

    ¡°I¡¯m waiting for someone.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have time to wait.¡± Attracting waved his dagger around. ¡°Didn¡¯t you get it from our last fight? If you don¡¯t practice hard then you¡¯ll never beat me.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really car-¡±

    Attracting cut in mid-sentence, ¡°You think being lazy is still going to cut it? I mean it when I say you¡¯ll have to take this game seriously if you want to beat me.¡±

    ¡°Hey listen,¡± TidalWave could feel his heartbeat rising as he grew angrier, ¡°You¡¯ve been trying to pick a fight with me since the first time we met. I¡¯m not sure who you are but don¡¯t go around talking like you know me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just telling it how it is. You might not believe me now, but you¡¯ll regret it later if you don¡¯t.¡±

    TidalWave was going to retort but before he could bring any words to his mouth Attracting had already walked away.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s all I came to say. See you later.¡±

    TidalWave sat there in confusion but quickly calmed down.

    ¡®What a strange person. Besides, I am taking this game seriously.¡¯ He watched the back of the man that had appeared and left so suddenly, ¡®But not because of you.¡¯

    He didn¡¯t care if Attracting had beaten him in that duel. He had lost fights before. Plenty of them. Attracting was definitely skilled, but he had been overwhelmed the entire fight and had only won because ofTidalWave''s lack of knowledge about his abilities. In fact, if they fought again TidalWave was sure he would win, even if the other player somehow had items which would cause him to be at a disadvantage in terms of stats.

    But Seven was different. In the span ofa few hours, while training against the wolves, he had seen her improve at a visible rate. She was monstrous, he could even feel the virtual sweat appearing in his hands as he saw her fight.

    She made him want to take this game seriously.

    That was why from the moment he woke up he had been practicing against mobs instead of getting his first class. He had gone against the wolves, then fought against level 9 giant crabs down by the beach, and he had faced off against higher and higher-level opponents in succession. Finally, hefought against the dryads and treants that inhabited the woods. Each one level 15 at the minimum, a couple of special ones were an even higher level.

    He didn¡¯t know how much experience he had deferred by now but in the last few hours he had vastly improved.

    ¡°Hey, TidalWave. Sorry, I stopped to buy some basic armour and Terhin is a total bitch to haggle with.¡±

    Seven called out to him and he waved at her.

    ¡®Time to get training.¡¯ He thought to himself.

    ****

    [Congratulations you¡¯ve reached level 10]

    ¡°Huuaa.¡± Seven let out the breath she¡¯d been holding in.

    It turns out that she¡¯d forgotten how to dodge in the day that she¡¯d been offline. The moment the first wolf came at her she copped a hit straight to the stomach and TidalWave had laughed his ass off watching her flail about.

    But she¡¯d picked it up again pretty quickly. It was something that would require constant and continuous practice.

    ¡°Good job.¡± TidalWave nodded as he saw the light of the level up surrounding her, ¡°We should go to the priest and get those classes now.¡±

    ¡°Hell yeah.¡± Seven agreed.

    It looked like TidalWave had already worked out where the priest was beforehand because he began to walk without hesitation. As they walked towards around the outside of the village she checked her status menu and put her one point into vitality. She¡¯d received another intelligence point at level 10 thanks to her racial trait so she was doing pretty well as a mage that could take a hit or two.

    She shared her status window with TidalWave and he returned the favour.

    Seven: level 10

    Health: 29

    Mana: 32

    Vitality: 13

    Strength:10

    Intelligence: 18

    Wisdom: 12

    Elf racial trait: Gain 1 intelligence per 5 levels.

    Basic Chestplate Armour: +3 HP.

    TidalWave: level 10

    Health: 35

    Mana: 20

    Vitality: 15

    Strength:15

    Intelligence: 10

    Wisdom: 10

    Merther racial trait: Use your inner magic to hone in on an enemy and throw your weapon at them to deal x2 piercing damage. Weapon thrown will not be usable until picked up again.

    Basic Chestplate Armour: +3 HP.

    Basic Boots: Movement speed +2.5%.

    Basic Helmet: +2 HP.

    ¡°Not bad. It¡¯ll all change when we get our classes,¡± he said.

    ¡®Merther race?¡¯ Seven hadn¡¯t heard of it. ¡®But then again it¡¯s not like I know all the races.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t until she began to look into Zodiac Online that she realised just how big the game was. She didn¡¯t just mean in the sense that many people were looking forward to the game, she meant that the actual game was literally huge. The two continents, the underworld and even more places left to discoverthat were almost the size of the planet earth, inside a virtual world.

    The sheer size of the world was supplemented and expanded upon by its diverse scenery, different domains and even various weather patterns that could change on a dime. In the Zhalnor continent they were in she knew that they worshipped the god Verm and that this was good for priests but she hadn¡¯t known exactly what that meant.

    The church of Verm had over two million NPCs dedicated to running it. The pope and his over sixty arch-bishops, bishops and cardinals led a theocratic empire that spread across the continent fighting monsters. It supported an army of knights alongside the royal family and used their own paladins to maintain the peace and make sure that towns weren¡¯t razed to the ground overnight whilst attempting to spread their god¡¯s will.

    Barnacle was probably the smallest cog in the entire wheel, a simple village priest that stayed here to defend the town against whatever would threaten it. But since they had hired himfrom within the town itself, he probably wasn¡¯t even that strong.

    But what the people were most excited about was the amount of customization available in the game.

    Honestly, if she didn¡¯t want to complete quests and become a mage, or warrior or other basic fighting class then Seven was more than welcome to go to one of the village NPCs and learn how to fish. She could also learn how to cook and specialise in that. Almost anything that a person could doas a specialisation in real life they could dohere. Alchemists could make potions, blacksmiths could forge weapons and miners could mine for valuable minerals.

    Of course, if she¡¯d have known that then she wouldn¡¯t have picked this area as her starting location. The game developers had released a lot of information beforehand, including the fact that blacksmiths and miners might have a better time in the underworld if they wanted to practice their craft, or that if you didn¡¯t want to be a fisherman, then it probably wouldn¡¯t be best to start near the ocean.

    Torkay itself wasn¡¯t that big of a deal. It was close to the capital but that was only relative to other villages, in fact, it was still a good one or two days run straight to the capital from here. But that was only if you went straight there and didn¡¯t both to kill monsters or if you didn¡¯t get stopped by bandits along the way.

    Seven looked at TidalWave curiously.

    She hadn¡¯t heard of the Merher Race, and she had thought he was a human until now.

    There were a lot of races, but they each came with advantages and disadvantages. Honestly, she had gone with and Elf because she was comfortable with the race, however, it was also possible to pick a powerful race and be penalised for itin some way. Just like being a full-blooded lion beast-man would cause NPCs to be fearful of you, you could pick underworld races and have NPCs refuse to work with you if you tried to play in a continent outside of the underworld.

    Soon a small shack slightly outside the village appeared on her map and in her vision. It was the same as any other wooden hut except that it was slightly bigger and the wood was a bright white colour. It made the house look idyllic surrounded by grass and rabbits.

    ¡°Welcome, heroes.¡±

    Barnacle was waiting for them outside the hut with his arms outstretched.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°It¡¯s good to see that you¡¯re finally strong enough to take the test.¡± Barnacle smiled at them. ¡°Not quite what I thought would happen but here you are.¡±

    He opened the door to his hut and motioned to them, ¡°Come in, come in. I¡¯ve just prepared all that crap you¡¯ll need.¡±

    They strode in after Barnacle and into the hut...

    ¡­ And she was back at the stone platform from the tutorial.

    ¡®No,¡¯ she looked around. ¡®This is different.¡¯

    The stone platform looked a lot worse for wear compared to when she¡¯d been here yesterday. There was a giant crack running straight through the middle of it, and the etchings of the four gods had disappeared, replaced by a single large etching depicting the god of light, Verm. The surroundings around the platform were shrouded in darkness and the carving itself had already faded and been chipped at until it was barely visible against the stone surface.

    ¡°TidalWave?¡± She turned around and realised her companion was missing.

    ¡°Your friend is not here miss Seven. Each hero must undertake their tests on their own. A way to show and consolidate your powers properly without interference. Do not worry. Your friend is strong.¡±

    Barnacle appeared in the middle of the platform in a blaze of light, his white priest robes billowing despite the lack of a breeze.

    ¡°Don¡¯t I know it.¡± She squinted as the light surrounding Barnacle became brighter. ¡°You¡¯re a lot more formal than usual.¡±

    Barnacle smiled and gestured with his hands. Six pillars sprouted from the ground surrounding her.

    ¡°Warriors. Magi. Priests. Archers. Summoners. These are the five classes of fighters whose powers you have the potential to unlock. Each one will come with a test, and in time you may even specialise further in your field. From a brilliant warrior may spawn a paladin of light, and to the magi ferocious in her craft, life may open up the path of a fire magi. But we should not get ahead of ourselves. Please take your time and choose which of these classes you would like to live your life by. You cannot undo the decision that you make, but any path will bring forth a power much greater than you have ever experienced.¡±

    ¡°And the sixth?¡±

    Barnacle tilted his head at her in confusion and followed her gaze towards the sixth pillar that he hadn¡¯t mentioned.

    ¡°Ah,¡± She could see his eyes widen a fraction but then his expression immediately turned calm again, ¡°Different paths may appear for those that have shown exceptional talent. There have been geniuses that have brought forth a hundred pillars and those that have only seen one intheir entire lives. But beware, simply because a choice is different doesn''t mean it will be more powerful. The hardship that comes with battle will remain.¡±

    ¡°This is the path of the Nimble Magi. You have shown great ability in your fights. Possessing the power to dodge enemies as though you were an experienced warrior. It is not a common path to place yourself directly in harm¡¯s way as a magi;I would even call ita foolish endeavour. This is a path fraught with danger as the Nimble Magi learns to dance with death from a distance that their peers would deem foolish. Should you take this path and continue your dance, you willfind that not even the most experienced Arch-Mage could tell you where it will lead you. But should you dedicate yourself fully to the path of the magi then you will always be welcome back into their ranks.¡±

    ¡®oho, ¡® Seven looked at the pillars with interest.

    She walked up to one under Barnacle''s steady gaze and a screen appeared in front of her.

    [The path of the Magi. Through their studies spanning millennia,they have harnessed the power of natureto useagainst the forces of evil. Through intelligence and wisdom, the magi seeks to obtain control over that which is controlled by no mortal. The world itself will aid you in battle as you call forth the elements to do your whim.]

    [The Apprentice Magi class will grant a boost of 3 intelligence per 5 levels to your character. Apprentice Magi will gain immediate access to the skills- Fireball, Ice Bolt, and Stone Throw.]

    [Do you wish to become an Apprentice Magi? Yes / No]

    Seven shook her head and clicked on the ¡®no¡¯ option. She would completely ignore all the other classes and become a magi, however, she now had another option which she could check out.

    [The path of the Magi. Through their studies spanning millennia, they haveharnessed the power of naturetouseagainst the forces of evil.Through intelligence and wisdom, the magi seeks to obtain control over that which is controlled by no mortal. The world itself will aid you in battle as you call forth the elements to do your whim.]

    [The Nimble Magi class will grant a boost of 1 intelligence and 2 dodge per 5 levels to your character. Nimble Magi will gain immediate access to the skills- Wind blast, Ice Bolt, and Stone Shift.]

    [Do you wish to become a Nimble Magi? Yes / No]

    ¡°Oh.¡± Seven shifted through the abilities.

    There were two different skills compared to normal magi.

    [Wind Blast: The Nimble Magi must brave death with every movement. To escape their enemies and move into a favourable position they have learned to manipulate the element of wind to their advantage. Effect: Deal 5+(Intelligence) as damage and push away a targeted enemy 1 foot (Enemy must be within 5 feet of you).]

    [Stone shift: The Nimble Magi does not solely rely on their feet to position themselves. The very earth may be moved so that the Nimble Magi will be placed in a favourable position. Effect: The ground below will move you according to the predetermined path you think of up to a radius of 2 feet.]

    Because she had focused so much on dodging and training with TidalWave she had gained access to this path. There was one less skill that dealt damage compared to the apprentice magi, and her main attack skill was wind blast which dealt less damage than fireball and had less range but had a great knockback.

    [Ice Bolt: By harnessing the element of ice the ancient magi realised that there was more to fighting monsters than destruction. Effect: Deal 3+(Intelligence) as damage and slow the movement of enemies hit by 15%]

    Seven hesitated between the two pillars. On the one hand, she knew that the ordinary magi class would help her deal a lot more damage than normal. However, this was the chance to become a class that not everyone had access to. The skills were also decent as well.

    Now that she knew she would face this kind of choice, she wished TidalWave had come in with her. He seemed more knowledgeable about these things. Unfortunately,private messages were cut off in this area.

    ¡°But you know what?¡± She said.

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Barnacle replied.

    ¡°Oh um, never mind.¡± Seven waved her hand at him.

    She had completely forgotten the priest was there.

    ¡®You know what,¡¯ she continued the conversation in her mind. ¡®This is the class that¡¯s come about because of my hard work.¡¯

    She went back to the Nimble Mage pillar. The only reason the game had given herthis class as a choice was because of her decision to learn how to become more skilled. Would she really ignore this class that was the unexpected reward that had come about because of her hard work?

    ¡°Yes,¡± she said to the pillar.

    ¡°The choice has been made.¡± Barnacle gestured with his hand and the Nimble Mage pillar lit up with a brilliant light. ¡°And cannot undo it. But do not worry, even the most difficult of paths will lead to rewards beyond imagination if we follow themthrough.¡±

    [Consumables have been disabled in this map.]

    The pillar opened up in front of her and filled her vision with a white light. When it receded she could see she was alone at the stone platform.

    No. Not alone.

    A single dark figure was standing in the middle of the platform. It stared at her hatefully then moved in to attack.

    [Prove that you are worthy to be a Nimble Magi. Defeat the dark spectre. 0/1 Defeated.]

    Without even glancing at the message Seven was already jumping back and gauging her opponent. The spectre hesitated as she moved back and started to walk parallel to her. They circled each other carefully, mirroring their calm strides.

    The spectre didn¡¯t look like a mage, rather, it was holding a dagger in both hands.

    ¡®A close combat opponent.¡¯

    It was the best opponent to fight to prove that you were worthy of being a mage that specialised in close combat.

    Seven walked calmly towards the spectre and it stayed still as it watched her. When she got within a few feet of it the spectre jumped forward with its dagger pointed at her head.

    She sidestepped it but as soon as she dodged the attack she felt a dagger stab into her side. The spectre had used the second dagger to damage her.

    -10

    She lost more than a third of her health from that one attack.

    She grimaced. She couldn¡¯t win this fight without dodging. But to dodge the first attack meant opening herself up to the second attack, and so she¡¯d need to dodge that too.

    It¡¯s just lucky that the spectre wasn¡¯t as fast as the wolves.

    She lifted her wand and blasted the spectre twice. The first smacked into it but it dodged the secondas the spectre ducked and barrelled forward towards her.

    As soon as it reached her again it spun with both daggers outstretched in a wide circle attack. She dodged backwards and blasted it with magic, causing the figure to stop and lunge at her again. She dodged the first attack...

    -10

    ...but the second hit her barely. She had almost dodged it in time.

    ¡®Damn it.¡¯ She tried to use a potion but then remembered the message stating that they had disabled consumableson the map.

    She had one more chance to defeat this opponent or she would lose. But it would still take five or six more hits until it died. There was always a small gap between attacks that allowed her to get a hit in.

    She walked backwards and fired magic blasts at the spectre, but it dodged most of them, taking only a single hit before it moved towards her again.

    Four hits left.

    The spectre let out its whirlwind attack again and she dodged it easily, firing another shot into.

    Three hits.

    The spectre stabbed towards her again.

    ¡°Ah hell.¡±

    She dodged the first attack earlier than she had the last one, and then she shuddered as she felt the breeze caused by the movement of the second dagger. It was close enough that she could almost feel it slicing across her. She blasted it with magic and jumped back.

    Two hits until it was down.

    ¡®That whirlwind attack should come next.¡¯ She eyed the spectre warily; She had its attack patterns down pat now.

    She should be able to win.

    As expected, the spectre did its spinning attack and then tried to stab her when she blasted it.

    Dodge. Dodge. Hit.

    The magic blast hit the spectre and Seven let out the breath she¡¯d been holding in as the thing dissolved into darkness and vanished.

    [You have defeated the dark spectre. You have obtained the class: Nimble Mage. You have obtained the dodge stat. You have obtained the skills; Wind Blast, Ice bolt and Stone Shift. All deferred experience will be added to your experience bar.]

    [Dodge: Makes movement during battle easier. Provides a small possibility that enemy attacks will miss.]

    Seven could see four extra dodge stats had been added to her base 10 due to her previous levels, and 2 more intelligence as well. She didn¡¯t know how big of a chance she had for the passive ability to dodge enemy attacks to activate but she didn¡¯t think it would be high at this stage of the game. She would have to look up online more about this new stat.

    ¡°Congratulations, Seven. You have become the first Nimble Mage hero out of all those that have arrived on the continent. But do not fret, there will be many more, and we will need all of youto help us stem the dark tides that threaten to consume this world.¡±

    Barnacle had reappeared and was smiling down at her.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± She replied.

    ¡°Your friend has also finished his trial, although far quicker than you did.¡± Barnacle said with a twinkle in his eyes, ¡°Let us return.¡±

    Another white light filled her vision and suddenly she was standing outside the white hut with a bemused TidalWave sitting nearby.

    ¡°Fun, wasn¡¯t it? What¡¯d you get?¡±

    She shared her new stats with him.

    Seven: level 10

    Health: 29 (+3)

    Mana: 40

    Vitality: 13

    Strength:10

    Intelligence: 20

    Wisdom: 11

    Dodge: 4

    Elf racial trait: Gain 1 intelligence per 5 levels.

    Nimble Mage passive: Gain 1 intelligence and 2 dodge per 5 levels.

    Dodge: Makes movement during battle easier. Provides a small possibility that enemy attacks will miss.

    Basic Chestplate Armour: +3 HP.

    She had grown even stronger just by having the class added to her.

    TidalWave grunted, ¡°Impressive. I had a hunch that you¡¯d get offered a different class as well.¡±

    ¡°As well? Show me yours.¡±

    TidalWave: level 10

    Health: 39

    Mana: 20

    Vitality: 17

    Strength: 21

    Intelligence: 10

    Wisdom: 10

    Merther racial trait: Use your inner magic to hone in on an enemy and throw your weapon at them to deal x2 piercing damage. Weapon thrown will not be usable until picked up again.

    Reaper passive: For each successive uninterrupted attack deal x1.1 the damage of the previous (cap at x5 damage). Gain 3 strength and 1 vitality per 5 levels.

    Basic Chestplate Armour: +3 HP.

    Basic Boots: Movement speed +2.5%.

    Basic Helmet: +2 HP.

    Skills:

    [Don¡¯t fear the reaper: When suffering fatal damage survive the killing blow with 1 health point. 30-minute cooldown.]

    [Reaper¡¯s fury: Deal 7 and double your (Strength) as damage in a cone 5 feet in diameter. There is a chance the skill may pass through enemies to also hit those behind them.]

    [Shadow Dance: Passively doubles base movement speed. When activated the skill is activated the bonus doubles for 5 seconds and the target becomes untouchable by physical damage for one second. May still be targeted and damaged by magic. 1-minute cooldown. 20-second cooldown.]

    She found it hard not to let out a gasp as TidalWave showed her his status window and his skills.

    ¡°That¡¯s insane!¡± She felt slighted.

    She thought she¡¯d be amazing with her new class because it differed from the normal. But here was a person who had an overpowered class from the get-go. It didn¡¯t even have the word ¡®Warrior¡¯ attached to it, just the word ¡®Reaper.

    ¡°It¡¯s an offshoot of the warrior and thief classesapparently. The game saw how I fight and gave me this. Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t allow me to keep my deferred experience. But I think it was worth it in return for this class. Man, that test was hard.¡±

    He divulged that he had to fight three shadow spectres. From his description, they were the same as her dark spectre except faster and wielding a mixture of daggers and swords.

    ¡°Damn it. I sort of want your class, but being a warrior isn¡¯t that fun for me, also I definitely would have lost in the test.¡±

    ¡°I bet they would have let you take it again. It¡¯s only the first class.¡±

    They talked a bitmore as they moved back towards the village. Barnacle had disappeared after giving them their classes but she knew he¡¯d pop up again sometime. The main thing she got out of their talk was their actions and choices impacted their class choices in-game. TidalWave guessed that if the game decided you would have more fun playing with a particular style, then it would custom create a class. Either that or thegame had classes that they could unlock by fulfilling certain conditions.

    -Hey, Milly you there?-

    -Ana!- Seven messaged her friend back excitedly, -Did you just log in? I¡¯ll come join up with you guys straight away.-

    -A couple of minutes ago, yeah. I couldn¡¯t message you. I¡¯m about to meet up with Attracting in the village center, he said he¡¯s gotten all the clues about the woods and he ended up with a quest he wants to share. Let¡¯s go kick some quest monster butt!-

    ¡®I didn¡¯t get a message from him.¡¯ Seven frowned, but then she shook her head and dispelled the thought.

    -I¡¯ll meet up with you guys now. I¡¯m only a minute away.-

    TidalWave saw her pausing as she was messaging IEatTortillas and he guessed what was happening.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to meet that Attracting guy, right? The one that challenged me to a fight?¡±

    An expression of annoyance crossed over TidalWave¡¯s face, buthe got rid of itasecond later.

    ¡°You should learn from him,¡± he said truthfully, ¡°Personally I think I''m better at fighting than him but he was definitely more skilled than you are now.¡±

    She gave him a look that told him she was going to wind blast him.

    He faked a cough as he realised what he¡¯d just said, ¡°No offense. I just mean that it¡¯s good you guys are going to play together and you¡¯re a fast learner.¡±

    ¡°You saved yourself, barely.¡± She smiled to show she was joshing him.

    ¡°Ha. Well, I¡¯m going to test out my new class skills. I won¡¯t lie.¡± He could barely keep the smile off his face. ¡°I am loving how amazing they are.¡±

    ¡°Humble aren¡¯t you.¡± She walked away towards the village. ¡°Have fun.¡±

    He walked off to fight monsters outside of the village and soon was out of sight. Inside the village she peeked at Terhin¡¯s stall but with two potions she figured she wouldn¡¯t need more just yet. She was lucky the breastplate gave her some extra health or else she¡¯d be completely wasting the lesser potions.

    She soon saw her friend in her big, round and tall male avatar.

    ¡®Or should I say his avatar now? Damn gender-bending in games.¡¯ Seven rolled her eyes.

    ¡°Milly.¡± IEatTortillas waved and Attracting¡¯s head popped out from behind him.

    ¡°Good, you¡¯re here.¡± Attracting moved forward and with a wave of his hand invited her to the party, ¡°Close one. We might have had to leave without you.¡±

    [You have been invited to join Attracting¡¯s party. Yes/No]

    She accepted and found that a new quest [Investigate the mysterious cave in the woods] had been added to her display.

    They talked for a bit before heading off. They¡¯d already purchased the armour and potion supplies that they needed, and soon they found themselves going into the woods. There was a hidden path located there that could only be found by people doing the quest.

    ¡®Here we go.¡¯ Seven thought to herself as the foliage and trees choked the light of the sun.

    ¡®Straight into the belly of the beast.¡¯

 Chapter 5: Cave Dragon

    ¡°Rare classes?¡± IEatTortillas was confused.

    They had been walking through the woods when IEatTortillas had brought up the fact that they were all level 10 and ready for class advancements. She¡¯d mentioned that they probably should have gotten their classes before heading out to fight whatever was in the woods since she was confident it wouldn¡¯t be just a normal monster.

    According to the villagers that Attracting had talked to the wolves had moved towards their village recently. The reason wasn¡¯t that they were bolder; it was because they were all starving. Something had apparently come one day and taken to living in the woods. A new apex predator that ruled and hunted on its own terms. One that all the wolves together couldn¡¯t fight against. But Attracting had let her know that it was better if they didn¡¯t get their classes first.

    ¡°There are different classes that become available if you do different things. If you show the system that you¡¯re skilled in certain areas or display certain characteristics, then you can unlock rare and powerful classes.¡±

    Seven nodded her head along to his words. He had spoken about everything she had experienced spot on. Seeing her nodding, Attracting smiled.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You should be able to easily get the magi class. I read that the test isn¡¯t that hard.¡± Attracting reassured her.

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡± She responded noncommittally.

    She was getting kind of pissed off at his attitude towards her that had spanned the last couple of days.

    ¡®Why does he just assume I wouldn¡¯t be able to get a rarer class?¡¯

    He turned to IEatTortillas, ¡°You¡¯ll definitely be able to get a better class. I heard that there are only rare classes now, but later there will be even better ones. Even legendary classes might appear if we follow certain conditions. We¡¯ve done a few quests beforehand and now we¡¯re even going to fight the monsters in the woods. That means we should probably already be a candidate for a rare class, maybe even something better.¡±

    ¡®I¡¯ll be here too.¡¯ Seven ignored the fact that she already had her class.

    Suddenly she was rethinking her decision to tell them about her new class. Maybe she¡¯d wait until after they¡¯d received theirs. It might give Attracting the wake-up call that he needed. He was being a bit of a douche. Then she realised something.

    ¡®Why did he wait for Ana to tell us about these classes? I¡¯ve been online awhile. He probably saw me hit level 10 on his friend list as well but he didn¡¯t bring me to do the village quests or let me know that doing them could give me a better class. I don¡¯t even think he¡¯d have told me about this quest if he didn¡¯t have to.¡±

    Suddenly Seven found herself far more frustrated than she¡¯d intended. It was like Attracting hadn¡¯t intended to help her unlock a rare classin the first place. She was just the byproduct of being near her friend.

    They began to walk deeper into the woods. Attracting moved in front of them by a few meters with confidence but IEatTortillas and Seven stayed back as they surveyed their surroundings carefully. Before they knew it Attracting had moved out of their sight, but they could still see him on the map.

    -Oh my god, Milly, I¡¯m so sorry, if I¡¯d known about the quests I would have told you and insisted you come along with us. I had no idea that it would impact our classes.-

    Seven kept moving, but a smile broke out onto her face as she received a private message from IEatTortillas.

    -That¡¯s alright,- She sent back, -The truth is I already got my class when I hit level 10. I got a rare class! I¡¯m a Nimble Mage. I¡¯ll share the stats with you, I was going to tell you guys earlier but Andrew¡¯s being a dickwad.-

    -I know right?- the reply was almost immediate -I have no idea what''s gotten into him. I know you¡¯re not as competitive as us but he¡¯s never just outright ignored his friends like this. Also, damn Milly, that¡¯s so cool! You¡¯re pretty strong now.-

    -Oh well,- Seven shrugged, -shows what he knows. He¡¯ll probably change his attitude after I¡¯ve shown him my class. But I won¡¯t do that yet. I¡¯ll wait until after he¡¯s gotten his class.-

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s over here.¡±

    Attracting¡¯s voice cut in through the treeline and the two looked at each other, running to catch up to him. They soon found themselves in a clearing and starting into a cave that seemed to dig at an angle into the ground and go on until it was completelydark.

    ¡°So what¡¯s in here?¡± IEatTortillas shuffled nervously, ready to run if anythingbig jumped out of the cave towards her.

    *Thump*

    The ground shook rhythmically and a muffled roar threw a burst of wind out of the cave entrance.

    ¡°I guess we¡¯re about to find out.¡± Seven lifted her wand towards the darkness.

    From the sounds of it, something big was coming their way.

    Attracting had already moved into a position close to the cave mouth. If something came out he would probably attract its attention before anyone else in the party. Seven glanced at his action and nodded to herself. She would have a very good show to watch if it forced himto dodge and attack using his skills. She would use the fight to learn as much as she could.

    The tremors grew violent and the surrounding treeswere shaking. The clearing darkened as something poked out of the cave, a large head. Then a body, with two injured wings and clawed, scaly feet.

    [Injured Cave Dragon - Lvl 15]

    Seven¡¯s eyes twinkled at the sight of it.

    ¡®It¡¯s beautiful.¡¯

    The game had really outdone itself on the design. The dragon¡¯s wings looked like an even larger creature had attacked them, the basic structure remaining intact but it couldn¡¯t fly because ofthe large, pulsating scars that crisscrossed the appendages. It was over seven meters long and three meters tall, glimmering as the light snuck through the tree clearing and sparkled against its scales. Its orange eyes narrowed as it saw the intruders trying to get into its domain and its claws raised menacingly. It was truly something that she wanted to defeat.

    She shook her head. Now wasn¡¯t the time to think about that.

    The Cave Dragon roared into the air soferociously that even the leaves dropped from the surrounding trees. The entire clearing became shrouded with leaves blowing around. Just the movement of the monster¡¯s body caused the breeze to turn into a gale.

    Seven felt a leaf cut into her as it waswhipped around by the high winds.

    -1

    They were taking damage just by being in the same area as it.

    ¡°That''s¡­¡± IEatTortillas hesitated.

    ¡°So damn cool.¡± Seven interrupted him as she stared at the monster.

    A real live dragon in all its majesty. She couldn¡¯t have imagined something like this in any of the other games she had played. She could see that they had no chance against it, or at least she wouldn¡¯t have in the past.

    Now she had more confidence.

    ¡®How can I dodge it?¡¯ She pondered as the dragon locked onto the nearest target.

    ¡°Not a bad catch.¡± Attracting was as confident as ever as he began to fire magic blasts at the beast.

    -6

    He didn¡¯t do bad damage for a person who was level 10 without a class. Seven fired towards the creature as well. The dragon roared in response as the battle began. It lifted a claw and swiped at Attracting, but he dodged it with an almostimpossibly good timing.

    -10

    ¡®Ah.¡¯

    She looked at the damage in surprise. It was a lot higher now that she had 20 points of intelligence. Even if she was trying to hide the fact that she had a class she couldn¡¯t change her higher stats. But the dragon¡¯s health barely had a dent in it.

    ¡®Well, if the fight gets too hard I¡¯m just going to Ice Bolt the thing anyway.¡¯

    She wasn¡¯t confident that she could dodge the dragon. Not until she saw its attack pattern.

    IEatTortillas walked towards it with her sword drawn out. She didn¡¯t look confident but Seven could tell she would try her best to dodamage and draw aggro away from the magic-focused Attracting.

    Attracting saw her and motioned for her to back away. ¡°Stand back. This thing will destroy you if you get too close.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    ¡°Yeah well, I¡¯ll only be able to damage it if I get close.¡± IEatTortillas retorted back but moved behind Attracting so that he would take the brunt of the creature''s attacks.

    ¡°Look out!¡± Seven called to them.

    The dragon lifted its forefeet into the air slammed them into the ground, causing a shock wavethat damaged IEatTortillas and pushed him back. The moment the wave erupted from the ground Attracting jumped straight up and avoided both the damage and the knockback.

    With a swift movement, he reached the dragon¡¯s leg and sliced into it with the dagger he¡¯d borrowed from IEatTortillas and then he blasted it with his magic.

    Seven shot out blasts of magic towards the creature with her wand as she eyed the dagger. ¡®I haven¡¯t even seen Ana use the damn thing.¡¯

    Luckily she¡¯d been outside of the shock wave¡¯s radius. IEatTortillas barrelled past her and lifted his sword with a shout as he stabbed into the dragon¡¯s wing. The dragon ignored him as though a mosquito had bitten itand focused its attention on Attracting. By shooting it with magic and comboing his attacks with the extra dagger attack he was able to do the most damage to the mighty creature.

    ¡°Damn this thing is hard to hit.¡± IEatTortillas tried to slice its neck but the dragon moved its head out of the way and retaliated by smacking her with its free claw.

    Attracting ducked underneath its other claw and slashed at its head, drawing the attention back onto himself.

    The dragon looked annoyed at him and stamped down with its foot. Attracting jumped back as a mini shock waveemerged from the ground and the dragon followed him with its claws. He dodged the first attack, then smiled as it attacked again. He leaped to the side to dodge it and a final attack followed through only for him to sidestep itas he moved out of its range.

    He had successfully dodged all of its attacks.

    He reciprocated by attacking back and it roared as IEatTortiallas joined the fight again. Seven continued to fire magic blasts at it from a safe distance.

    ¡®All good so far.¡¯

    Attracting continued to dodge the oncoming attacks, jumping and sidestepping the claws and shock waveswhile also watching out for the occasional headbutt that the dragon tried to sneak in. Seven took it all in while trying to figure out if she could do the same.

    ¡®No,¡¯ she decided. ¡®Not if I hadn¡¯t seen the attacks before.¡¯

    It was simply impossible for her to tell when the dragon was going to attack and how. But she felt that she could dodge the attacks as they were now because she was slowly becoming used to them. Attracting was simply on another level compared to her. He was like a fish in water and she couldn¡¯t work out how he¡¯d foretold every single attack it threw at him.

    The dragon suddenly became more violent as its health dropped further. It sped up its attacks against Attracting and his movements suddenly became wilder as he tried frantically to get used to the new timing of its attacks.

    ¡°Crap.¡±

    Seven moved back as a stray claw caused Attracting to jump back towards her. IEatTortillas took over the attack as soon as he saw that Seven was in danger and the dragon turned towards him with an attack.

    Attracting sighed as he saw the dragon¡¯s attention turn away from him and then spotted Seven behind him.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t put all your points into intelligence.¡± He looked at her with the look of someone teaching a child, ¡°You have to spread it out or else you¡¯ll out damage everyone but won¡¯t have any mana regen or health.¡±

    Before she could reply, he ran back to the fight and was back to shooting and dodging the dragon.

    She shrugged and continued to fire magic blasts at the creature. She had plenty of mana now thanks to her high intelligence. She had hardly gone through half of it.

    -1

    There was still the occasional damage from the leaves whenever the dragon moved from side to side. But thankfully Attracting had shifted the main damage dealer away from her. Unfortunately, now it was directing its aggression at IEatTortillas.

    She blasted the dragon as it continued to attack IEatTortillas. With that last attack blasting Attracting out of position the fight had suddenly become a lot more dangerous. They were still dealing damage to it but even when IEatTortillas tried to dodge it he could feel himself being hit by the second and third claws. He popped a potion just as they brought the monster¡¯s health below nearly 5%

    The moments its health dropped the dragon let out a scream that caused them all to freeze in place.

    [You have been hit by the petrifying scream. All movement is restricted for 3 seconds.]

    It rooted her to the spot.

    The dragon raised both of its scarred wings and brought them down towards Attracting and IEatTortillas.

    Attracting tried to block the wings with his arms, but they blew himback through the trees. IEatTortillas struck the dragon with her sword before it could reach him but then its wing smacked against her body and he was flying out of the arena as well. It turned to stare at Seven and she gazed back at it intently. She felt the ability to move slowly returning to her body.

    It was low on health.

    The dragon let out a roar and pushed its claws against the ground, lifting itself up and using the momentum to crash towards her.

    -5

    She moved out of the way but felt a smackon her side as thedragon¡¯s size and the last dregs of the movement restriction caused her to stumble. She spun around to face it before it could get the drop on her and found herself face to face with a claw.

    -11

    The dragon roared as she was blasted back by the force of its swing. She saw IEatTortillas on her side but apparently he¡¯d been knocked out by the dragon¡¯s previous attack because he wasn¡¯t getting back up.

    Seven lifted herself off the ground just as another claw smashed at her. She jumped backward and finally got enough distance between them to chug down a potion.

    +25

    She breathed deeply. ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡±

    She blasted it with two more shots and moved backward as she fired, buying herself more time.

    The dragon snorted in reply and moved up to swipe her with its claws. She dodged it, but as though predicting her, it followed up with another attack.

    -11

    ¡®Damn.¡¯

    She had already watched its fight against Attracting; Sheshouldn¡¯t have fallen for the second claw. She blasted it with more magic and it growled as its health became a small sliver of green against the almost entirely red bar. It lifted itself up and suddenly swiped its wing against her, forcing her to jump back even further out of its range. She could feel it clip her just as she moved.

    -11

    +25

    She gasped as it hit heronce more, but not because she was uncomfortable; She had finally figured out its pattern.She could see it raring to go and she knew that it was going to hit her with its wing again now.

    -Dodge

    Sure enough, it tried to slice her with its wing but she ducked underneath the attack.

    ¡®I have you now you scaley bastard.¡¯ She grinned.

    It recovered from the attack and lifted its claw to swipe at her. She stepped back as it attacked.

    -Dodge

    She moved to the side as it followed up with a claw slash to the ground

    -Dodge

    Finally, it smacked the claw sideways towards her as she sidestepped and she tried to jump out of its range.

    -11

    -10

    She retaliated with a magic blast but her grin widened. That last claw had barely hit her. Even if she wasn¡¯t one hundred percent sure she could dodge it, she knew it would only be a matter of time. This battle was almost over.

    It was on the lowest bit of health. She had grasped its attack pattern now. She just had to wait for it to swipe and she would be able to counterattack. Even if it tried to smash its wings against her she was sure she would come out on top. This was the moment she would truly shine.

    She was going to kill it.

    Before she could enact her plan, a bright blue light slipped in from her side and struck the damaged dragon square in the head.

    -27

    The dragon¡¯s eyes widened and it let out a screech.

    ¡°That was close.¡± Attracting stepped into view. ¡°It was about to kill you.¡±

    ¡°Kill me my ass!¡± Seven turned on him angrily but he¡¯d already gone towards the corpse that was disappearing only to be replaced by a glowing green light.

    He had stolen her kill, and that pissed her off.

    She could feel that it was about to die. She had fought against it tooth and nail and was finally about to get the satisfaction of knowing she had surpassed her previous skills.

    Then she sighed.

    She could tell that it probably hadn¡¯t looked like that from the outside.After all, there was no way Attracting could read her mind and tell that she was ready to dodge the attacks that she hadn¡¯t been able to dodge previously. But she was still mad.

    She had been so close only to have her victory taken away. She didn¡¯t even know how he could even do that much damage to a monster like the dragon. It was even higher than before.

    There definitely had to be some sort oftrick to that move or else he would have used it continuously during the fight.

    ¡°Well then.¡± She looked at the loot. ¡°What did we get?¡±

    The green light excited her. She¡¯d had terrible luck with the drops so far and had to purchase her only armour. If this green drop was something usable by magi she was sure they would allow herto have it. Just like they¡¯d given the dagger to IEatTortillas before.

    Greaves of Strength (Blue):

    Strength: +5

    Vitality +4

    Holy Book IV (Green):

    Wisdom: +5

    Vitality +7

    Silver: 5

    ¡°Oh damn those drops are awesome.¡± She could definitely use both of them.

    ¡°The book is best for a priest since my class uses wisdom as its main stat.¡± Attracting eyed it appreciatively.

    Both Seven and IEatTortillas nodded. He had done the most damage because of his double attacks. Even when she was firing off shot after shot Seven had just barely fallen shortand Attracting had taken most of the aggression the entire battle.

    ¡°As for the greaves...¡± He passed them onto IEatTortillas, ¡°These are definitely best suited for a warrior. Sorry, Seven.¡±

    ¡°Oh um, I guess you¡¯re right.¡± Seven felt miffed but there wasn¡¯t much she could say to rebut that. He was definitely right that this wouldn¡¯t suit a person becoming a mage, let alone someone that already was one. The strength alone would give IEatTortillas a major advantage, especially during his class test.

    ¡®Damn I got nothing.¡¯ Seven felt let down. Both items had looked insanely good.

    Because she hadn¡¯t gotten any of the items IEatTortillas gave her most of the silver, 4 out of 5. He reasoned that she should have his share of the silver as well because the armour he¡¯d gotten was worth a lot more than just a single silver.

    ¡°Ohh, this is it.¡± IEatTortillas gave a thumbup to Seven, ¡°Time for us to all get our classes.¡±

    Seven smiled back at him. She had levelled up from the dragon three times, making her experience bar stop at around 60% Level 13, but Attracting hadn¡¯t figured out that she had a class yet. After the fight he was preoccupied checking the loot of the dragon, and he hadn¡¯t checked her level after the fight.

    At this point she was just keeping it hidden out of spite because, honestly, his entire attitude had annoyed her. It wasn¡¯t as though he couldn¡¯t find out easily if he wanted to.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Attracting agreed, ¡°After killing this dragon there¡¯s no way we don¡¯t get something good.¡±

    He turned towards the cave with a twinkle in his eye.

    ¡°But how about we check if there¡¯s anything nice in there first?¡±

    Seven smiled at his words.

    It was time to go treasure hunting.

 Chapter 6: Quest: Dragonéˆ¥æªš Legacy

    ¡°A dark spectre? Never heard of it.¡±

    They were trying to figure out how the rare class test worked. But navigating the cave was making it hard for them to concentrate on anything.

    It was dark.

    It was really, really dark.

    ¡°I can¡¯t see a damned thing,¡± IEatTortillas complained and Seven turned towards the sound of her friend¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t even see you.¡± She noted with bemusement, ¡°You think I should start blasting with magic? If I hit you, I should be able to see you.¡±

    ¡°Ha. Ha. Smartass,¡± his eyes lit up, ¡°Well, it¡¯s not a bad idea. The magic will light up the cave right?¡±

    Seven fired a magic blast into the air as a response and for a split second, it bathed the entire cavein a light glow.

    Then it splashed against the ceiling and died out.

    ¡°Damn. I don¡¯t have the mana to spam those things. Who knows if there¡¯s anything further down there that¡¯s going to attack us.¡±

    ¡°Who cares. They¡¯ll eat us anyway while we aren¡¯t looking. Shoot some magic downwards and let''s see how far it goes.¡±

    -1

    ¡°Ouch.¡± Seven slammed her toes on a rock and took some damage, ¡°Yeah okay.¡±

    She fired a magic blast in front of her and saw it whiz down the cavern, lighting it up as she went along. It didn¡¯t take long for the magic to light up the end of it wherethey could see Attractingkneeling down next to a treasure chest.

    ¡°Hot damn he¡¯s fast.¡± IEatTortillas let out a sigh. ¡°Here we are fumbling and Andrew¡¯s moving like he has night vision goggles.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if that was true.¡± Seven cupped her hands together to amplify her voice towards Attracting. ¡°Hey! did you get everything!¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± His calm voice replied, ¡°You can check the party chat to confirm.¡±

    She looked at him in surprise and she opened the party chat. When she was fighting she made sure to minimize most of her options so that they wouldn¡¯t impair her vision during a crucial moment.

    [Player: Attracting has opened a silver treasure chest.]

    [Player: Attracting has picked up 10 silver, 1x Brass Knuckles, 1x Shadow Book II, 1x Crystal Dagger.]

    Attracting walked back towards them and she could hear his footsteps in the dark. The guy didn¡¯t even hit a single rock on the way back.

    ¡®Maybe he does have night vision.¡¯ Seven mused. She didn¡¯t even know his species yet.

    They walked out of the dark cave with the contents of the treasure chest spread out in a menu.

    The priest''s book was weird, but they agreed to provide it to Attracting since he was the only one that could use it. The Brass knuckles also went to IEatTortillas but the last of the items caught her attention.

    Crystal Dagger (Green):

    Intelligence: +4

    Increases casting speed by 5%

    ¡°Dibs!¡± She smiled as she asked for the item.

    ¡°I guess it isn¡¯t really something either of us can use.¡± Attracting shrugged as he passed her the dagger.

    ¡°Not a bad find. Should last you a good while.¡±

    ¡°Hell yeah.¡± She finally had a piece of equipment that she hadn¡¯t had to haggle Terhin for, she turned to Andrew. ¡°What¡¯s the book used for?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t use this yet because it looked like it''s locked to a class called Shadow Priest. Who knows,¡± His eyes twinkled knowingly, ¡°Maybe that¡¯s one of the classes I¡¯ll get offered during the class up.¡±

    ¡°Sure. And if you don¡¯t maybe we can sell it.¡± IEatTortillas eyed the book greedily. It was another green item that looked pretty expensive.

    Attracting laughed. ¡°Maybe we can. But let¡¯s wait until we get our classes.¡±

    IEatTortillas shrugged in response and they all began walking back to the village.

    He turned to IEatTortillas, ¡°You should definitely take this more seriously. With your skills and the quests we¡¯ve done they''ll definitely give you some good options. You should think about them. This is your chance to barrel to the top and I definitely want you to get something good out of it.¡±

    With those words, he ran out of the woods towards Barnacle¡¯s shack.

    ¡°Wait, wait.¡± Seven stopped her friend before he could follow Attracting, ¡°Let¡¯s take our time.¡± She gestured at the surroundings, ¡°This scenery is pretty nice when it¡¯s not trying to kill us. Besides, your class isn¡¯t going anywhere.¡±

    ¡°Yeah but..." IEatTortillas had a troubled look on his face. ¡°It¡¯s not like I haven¡¯t thought about it since he mentioned them. But the fight with the dragon took my mind off of it until now. What if I don¡¯t get a rare class?¡±

    ¡°You will.¡± She reassured him, ¡°I did and I barely did anything. You and Andrew already know how to dodge and fight, and you even did village quests. Your class will probably be even more awesome than his.¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡± IEatTortillas said more to himself than her. ¡°Andrew took me on all those quests without even letting me know what he thought would happen. How about asking me if I wanted a rare class? Or even just giving me more time to think about it.¡±

    Seven suddenly found herself struggling to keep up as IEatTortillas sped up while continuing to talk.

    ¡°I really just don¡¯t know what¡¯ll happen if I can¡¯t keep up. You said there was a single shadow, right? But apparently Andrew has been doing these things so that there are even tougher tests. What if I get more than I can beat and suddenly I don¡¯t even get the class?¡±

    ¡®Hmm.¡¯

    ¡°Hey Ana, let¡¯s slow down.¡± She matched her words by easing her steps so that she was walking leisurely.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± IEatTortillas matched her pace and soon enough even the rabbits were passing them by.

    ¡°Why do you want a rare class?¡±

    ¡°Because,¡± IEatTortillas hesitated, ¡°because having a rarer class is better right?¡±

    Seven could see her friend was down. ¡°What are you going to get out of it?¡± Seven pushed further. ¡°You didn¡¯t even know about them before Andrew mentioned it right? You were pretty happy to be a warrior then, heck, I don¡¯t even know how he knew about it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s important.¡± He tried to make a grand gesture with his hands while walking but she could see his heart wasn¡¯t in it.

    ¡°Because Andrew looked so confident?¡± She smiled at the thought, ¡°Seems like you got caught up in his pace without realising it. But emotions and motivation are cheap if you don¡¯t even know why you want the rare class in the first place. I¡¯m not saying you shouldn¡¯t get one. You should just take a deep breath and think about whether you really do want one.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. I definitely got caught up. Damn, Andrew seemed so confident but I guess I¡¯m setting up an unreasonable expectation,¡± Realisation was in his eyes, ¡°I still want the class. But there¡¯s no use worrying about it if the only downside is that I still get the class I always planned on getting before this.¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡±she said, ¡°I can tell you that you¡¯re just worrying for nothing because you¡¯re more than skilled enough to kick the ass of a couple of spooky shadows. So don¡¯t go around worrying about whether you¡¯ll even be able to get the class when you don¡¯t know what causes a rare class to appear. I don¡¯t care how sure he is, there¡¯s no way Andrew can know that you¡¯ll definitely get one as an option and even if you do, you shouldn¡¯t pressure yourself into taking it unless you want it. Besides from all the hype he¡¯s spreading I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll soon be hearing so much his new class, the ¡®super awesome, kick-ass, good looking dragon slayer legend¡¯, that we won¡¯t even want to think about rare classes.¡±

    They laughed at the image and before they knew it they were nearing the hut, with Barnacle standing outside conversing with Attracting.

    ¡°Hey.¡± Attracting turned to them and smiled, ¡°Let¡¯s go get our classes now. It''s pretty easy, we just walk into the hut.¡±

    Seven had already informed IEatTortillas about the spectres and tests but it seemed thatAttracting had all that information already. The man was a Zodiac info ball just waiting for someone to ask him a question.

    Without waiting for them Attracting walked through the door of the hut and disappeared in a flash of light. IEatTortillas followed him shortly after and Barnacle walked in behind her. Seven tapped her foot lightly and thought about her recent party member.

    -Hey heyhey.- She sent a message out to TidalWave, -I want to go practice my class skills when my friends come back from getting theirs. Want to come join us?-

    -I¡¯m a bitbusy at the moment.- TidalWave replied almost instantly, -Can I let you know after?-

    -Sure,- She agreed, -Holla at me then.-

    ¡®God I¡¯m a dork.¡¯

    She immediately regretted her choice of words and was glad that IEatTortillas had no way to read her private messages.

    She slowly relaxed as time went by. If Attracting was right and they both had the possibility of rare classes then she knew it might be a few minutes until she saw them again. Even she¡¯d taken around fifteen or twenty minutes including the talking she did and making her choice of class when faced with the unexpected Nimble Mage.

    -12

    She lazily blasted rabbits out of existing as she waited. Despite the player¡¯s and the village''s best efforts, the fluffy rodent population had flourished and now the critters were gnawing deep into the ground to find nutrients. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    Seven: level 13

    Health: 29 (+3)

    Mana: 48

    Vitality: 13

    Strength:10

    Intelligence: 24 (+4)

    Wisdom: 15

    Dodge: 14

    Elf racial trait: Gain 1 intelligence per 5 levels.

    Nimble Mage passive: Gain 1 intelligence and 2 dodge per 5 levels.

    Dodge: Makes movement during battle easier. It provides a small possibility that enemy attacks will miss.

    Basic Chestplate Armour: +3 HP.

    Crystal Dagger (Green): Intelligence: +4, Increases casting speed by 5%

    Thanks to her crystal dagger and three levels up from the dragon fight she was at a healthy amount of wisdom and intelligence. She could deal 29 damage if she used a wind blast on a target but each use cost her 7 mana and with a 5-second cooldown, it wasn¡¯t the best ability to spam. During a fight, however, it would prove invaluable. Hopefully, she could use it to gain momentum during adifficult fight.

    The stone shift and the ice bolt were definitely game-changers that she¡¯d have to use sparingly. Stone shift had a low cooldown of 2 seconds but it cost her 5 mana for every use. If she wasn¡¯t careful she¡¯d accidentally use it too much and run out of mana. Ice bolt had a 13-second cooldown but its movement slowing lasted 5 seconds and it only cost 10 mana. If she mixed it in with her other skills, it was a high damage skill that could allow her to run away easilyfrom a target or even just position herself better.

    The crystal dagger was frankly amazing. She had gained 8 more mana and a lot more damage because ofthe boost of intelligence, and the casting speed increase was also nice. It was minuscule at the moment but for skills like stone shift that she needed to use on the fly, it could determine the difference between life or death.

    ¡®I need to get some better armour.¡¯ She didn¡¯t know what the knuckles and holy book did for IEatTortillas and Attracting but they had both been able to use the items on top of their normal ones, with Attracting able toput the book in his pocket for its ability to work and IEatTortillas could hold her sword and equip the brass knuckles.

    Seven was willing to bet that the two were probably very overpowered at the moment.

    ¡°Waiting for your friends to complete their tests? It seems like a waste of good time to take it out on those silly rabbits.¡±

    After a few minutes of slaying innocent rabbits out of boredom Seven was startled by a sudden voice sounding out from behind her.

    ¡°Barnacle?

    She turned her head back to see the good-natured priest sitting down on the front steps of his hut.

    ¡°I thought you were in there guiding them through their class tests.¡±

    ¡°Does a crab eat a fish for breakfast and ignore the frog dropping into its territory?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ have no idea. I didn¡¯t even know that frogs and crabs were enemies¡±

    ¡°Exactly what I said when they asked me if I wanted to become a priest and unleash the mighty power of Verm. The, ¡®no idea¡¯ part, not the frogs and crabs.¡± Barnacle replied cheerfully, ¡°And yes, I guess you could say that I¡¯m up there as well. Or down.¡± His eyes crossed and he frowned, ¡°It¡¯s really more of a sideways now that I think about it. Oh gosh, it¡¯s a little too much for my mind.¡±

    ¡°Try not to fry your brain in this sun¡­ like a¡­ fish?¡± Seven probed carefully and pursed her lips when she heard Barnacle bellowing with laughter.

    ¡°Leave the nonsense sea similes to me young Magi.¡±

    He coughed and she could see him fighting to bring himself down to a more serious expression.

    ¡°So I heard that you killed the monster that¡¯s been terrorising the woods. I¡¯ll admit I¡¯m impressed. Even if you had help it was no small feat.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡± She smiled. ¡°Funny how you¡¯ve heard about that. I just got back from the woods myself a few minutes ago.¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Barnacle waved a finger at the sky. ¡°Let¡¯s just say a little birdy told me as soon as it could. Big gossips those birds. Can¡¯t get them to shut up sometimes.¡± An expression of annoyance crossed his face then he grinned, ¡°But enough about those chirpy bastards. You do know this deed counts for a lot do you not? There was only one dragon but they are difficult creatures to come by, let alone slay. You have done a great service to say this village, one that I daresay no other hero will ever repeat. If there is anything you wish to know, any loose ends you might wish to tie up about this situation then I would gladly tell it to the saviour of the village.¡±

    "No. I¡¯m fine."

    Barnacle coughed lightly. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll give you a hintif you want. You know, if you really wanted to know something about the dragon.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it was cool wasn¡¯t it. But it¡¯s dead now and I guess that¡¯s that.¡± Seven said with a deadpan expression.

    She kind of liked taking the piss out of this good-natured priest.

    ¡°Listen, magi¡± Barnacle coughed more and she could tell he was doing it on purpose. ¡°I¡¯m saying that there could be vital information that might interest you.¡±

    ¡°Woah. Vital information? That¡¯s amazing.¡± Seven turned around. ¡°Oh damn, but that rabbit population really looks like a major problem that needs my attention at the moment.¡±

    ¡°There is a treasure involved.¡±

    ¡°Treasure you say?¡± Seven lifted herself just enough off the ground that she could shift around the face Barnacle, ¡°Well this sounds like vital information about the dragon that I need.¡±

    Barnacle rolled his eyes at her.

    ¡°Yes, treasure you greedy little codlet.¡± His eyes shifted from side to side as though checking to see that nobody was listening in, ¡°As a slayer of that dragon let me ask you¡­ Did you notice that it wasn¡¯t in peak condition? Did it look a little rough around the edges?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right, it did.¡± Seven confirmed.

    Barnacle leaned forward and she reciprocated as he began to whisper conspiratorially.

    ¡°The truth is that the dragon was heavily injured by the royal paladins of Verm. They spotted the beast whilst it was hunting in the air and fought bravely to seal its mana and harm its wings so that it could no longer fly and hunt.¡± He sniffed. ¡°A sad fate for a mighty being, but in all honesty, the dragon was weaker than a newborn dragonling when you fought against it.¡±

    ¡°Hah. But fight it we did, and we won. That¡¯s all the history books will remember.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but you didn¡¯t think that cave was the dragons, do you? Of course, it was a cave dragon but the true lair of a dragon would not be so bare. Unfortunately, I have it on good authority that it injured the paladinsduring the fight and because the dragon could not fly back to its lair there is now an empty cave with the items hoarded over the years by a mighty being that we know likes shiny things.¡±

    ¡°And if I retrieved this treasure, do you want a cut of the treasure for yourself? Perhaps for the village?¡±

    ¡°I wonder¡­¡± He smiled mysteriously. ¡°I don¡¯t have much use for shiny coins and baubles. But that is a conversation for then and now is the time for the conversation to end. Your friends are returning. Perhaps you would like to share the information with them. But I¡¯d watch out for the priest. He does not have my trust.¡±

    [You have received the quest: Dragon¡¯s Legacy. Deep within the Signet Woods lays the lair of a once-mighty dragon. Though now deceased, in life the dragon wasfearedas one of the rulers of the Signet Woods and nobody knows what wonders may appear in its collection. Find the dragon¡¯s treasure hoarddeep within the woods before others do. Quest condition: Quest will fail once the treasure has been located by other players or NPCs. Quest will automatically cancel if the details are shared with the player: Attracting.]

    ¡®Watch out for Attracting?¡¯ Seven pondered on his words as she accepted the quest.

    Two bright lights shone and Attracting and IEatTortillas appeared in front of the hut at the same time.

    ¡°Hot damn!¡± IEatTortillas shouted excitedly into the air, ¡°That was so awesome.¡±

    They appeared so suddenly that Seven barely had time to register something had changed.

    Barnacle had disappeared.

    ¡°Hey guys,¡± She ignored the fickle priest¡¯s disappearance. ¡°I see it went great. What classes did you guys get?¡±

    ¡°¡®Glimpse of a True Hero¡¯. That¡¯s not a sentence, that¡¯s the name of my class.¡±

    ¡°Shadow Priest.¡± Attracting looked satisfied. ¡°It¡¯s a pity that I only got this class. I read that if you get even better classesthey stop being associated with the five main classes. They won¡¯t have the word ¡®priest¡¯ or ¡®warrior¡¯ in the name alongside the class. I guess that¡¯s confirmed since Ana got that kind of class.¡±

    ¡®Your content expression doesn¡¯t match your humble words.¡¯ Seven could feel her eyebrow lifting itself at him against her wishes. ¡®Hang on, isn¡¯t that what TidalWave had?¡¯

    She recalled TidalWave¡¯s class, Reaper. It was a class that didn¡¯t have the tag of ¡®warrior¡¯ on it. So it was probably a class stronger than any of theirs.

    ¡®Not too shabby.` She was glad he¡¯d gotten a great class.

    Her faith wasn¡¯t misplaced. She¡¯d chosen the right person to teach her how to play the game and fight.

    ¡°Hey, Ana show me what you got.¡± She turned towards her friend excitedly.

    IEatTortillas: Level 10

    Health: 48

    Mana: 20

    Vitality: 24 (+4)

    Strength: 27 (+7)

    Intelligence: 10

    Wisdom: 10

    Confidence: 2

    Quarter Lion beast-man racial trait: gain 1 vitality point per 5 levels

    Class Passive:

    Glimpse of a True Hero passive: The valor of being a true hero shines deep, deep, very deep within you. Vitality and strength are increased by 2 for every 5 levels gained, confidence is increased by 1.

    Glimpse of a True Hero passive 2: Hidden.

    Confidence: A hero isunflinching in the face of adversity. Confidence will allow you to overcome challenges that seem impossible and sway people to your side that previously would have had doubts. But be careful not to mistake confidence for skill as marching into danger will always bring with it the possibility of death.

    Equipment:

    Brass knuckles: Strength +2

    Greaves of Strength (Blue): Strength: +5, Vitality +4

    Skills:

    Hero¡¯s Aura (Level 1): Your ordinary attacks are coated with heroic aura. +5 damage per basic attack and +10 against undead opponents.

    Hero¡¯s Rally: Increase the attack rate of your allies within a 20-foot radius by 15% for 30 seconds. 5-minute cooldown.

    Hero¡¯s Valor: When you are outnumbered in a fight gain +5 damage per enemy, starting from the second enemy (Cap of +20).

    ¡°Holy crap that¡¯s so cool.¡± Seven admired her friend''s abilities. ¡°You¡¯re going to one-shot most things around here now.¡±

    ¡®What class would I have gotten if I had gone with them?¡¯ She briefly wondered to herself, ¡®No.¡¯ She realised, ¡®If I¡¯d gone with them then I wouldn¡¯t have trained with TidalWave and gotten access to the Nimble Mage.¡¯

    She was simply too far behind her friends at the moment. She resolved to herself that she¡¯d catch up to them. First, she would learn the skills required to fight on par with them, the bare basics. Then she would train herself in the art of quest taking. If doing quests could lead to these outcomes, then she knew she wanted to do as much as possible.

    ¡®But I can¡¯t surpass them if I¡¯m always questing with them.¡¯ She furrowed her eyebrows.

    ¡°So what do we do from here?¡± IEatTortillas had flown by her ability check and was already trying to move on to the next task.

    ¡°We need to find new quests to do in the village and farm a bit. Maybe head to a nearby city, either Lum or Lux.¡± Attracting was resolute in his goals. ¡°But first there¡¯s someone I want to meet in the village. A couple of someones if I¡¯m lucky.¡±

    At that, he ran straight into the village without a second thought and was quickly out of sight.

    ¡°What about you, Milly? Going to come quest with us?¡±

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯m going to play with my new friend a bit.¡± Seven rejected her offer.

    IEatTortillas smiled enigmatically at her response and waved an enthusiastic goodbye. Seven knew her friend was just as loud and energetic in real life so it didn¡¯t bother her to get a few stares from the nearby players as they wondered what was going on.

    Soon she met up with TidalWave and they began to scout the woods for wolves. Occasionally, they would see a roaming treant or dryad that they avoided. Luckily those monsters only stuck to the outer ring of the woods. Unfortunately, once you got into that section there were hundreds of the monsters. But they would deal with that when the time came.

    They slowly made their way deeper into the woods and fought every creature that they encountered. A minute turned into half an hour and then longer. It was a long time before they encountered something unexpected.

    *BANG* *BANG*

    They heard the player before they saw them. One second they had been hunting wolves in the woods and the next there was a resounding boom across the treeline. Seven and TidalWave looked at each other and could see that the other was curious as towhat was happening. It sounded like two heavy things were colliding into each other.

    They walked carefully towards the sounds, hiding behind the trees and bushes just in case there was something hostile waiting for them on the other side. Soon both of them could see a figure jumping around surrounded by floating leaves.

    *BANG*

    Seven flinched as one of the person¡¯s hands smashed into a tree so hard that even the others their branches connected to began to shake. The figure stood still as the trees trembled and leaves fell into the air around him.

    Then he brought out his weapon.

 Chapter 7: Archy and Third

    ¡°Woah, that guy¡¯s going nuts on those trees.¡±

    Without warning, the person jumped up and a bow appeared in his hand. With a flourish he fired arrow after arrowstraight towards the leaves. She felt a pang of admiration as she saw them pin every falling leafthrough the middle with an arrow. She didn¡¯t know they could be shot soquickly and accurately. They could turn a wolf into a porcupine within a minute.

    ¡°An Archer?¡±

    TidalWave looked in interest as the figure continued to fire at the leaves. Soon they changed their tactic as they began to target specific leaves and left others to float to the ground.

    ¡°What¡¯s he doing?¡± TidalWave looked curiously at the display.

    The leaves slowly gave way to open air and Seven gasped as she saw the perfect replica of a bow and arrow made outof leaves.

    ¡°He¡¯s making pictures.¡±

    TidalWave whistled softly in response. The archer had made sure that not only did they hit specific arrows, but that they shot each arrow in such a way that they would guide the leaves towards forming the bow and arrow outline.

    The archer placed his bow and arrows away and walked up to the trees again.

    *BANG* *BANG*

    ¡°Man.¡± TidalWave could barely see the figure behind all the leaves that were falling, ¡°They must really hate trees.¡±

    *BANG BANG*

    Seeing the leaves that covered almost the entire area Seven felt excited. ¡®I wonder what they¡¯ll make now?¡¯

    They watched intently as the leaves fell to the ground.

    ¡°Hey, where¡¯d they go?¡± Seven had lost sight of the archer when they¡¯d been covered by all the falling foliage.

    ¡°Oh my god, a little boy is lost in the woods.¡± A voice called out from behind her. ¡°We must alert the guard immediately!¡±

    ¡°Oh crap!¡± Seven jumped back at the sight of the archer standing behind her with his bow and arrow and pointed at her chest.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t try to run withoutanswering any questions lady. You¡¯re a bigger person than my usual targets.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡®Did he just call me fat?¡¯ Seven felt offended.

    The moment the words were out of his mouth the archer seemed to sense the mood, and he also saw her scowl.

    ¡°Wait, wait, truce.¡± he lifted his bow and arrow up and removed his mask to show the stricken face of a young white man, ¡°I did not mean that the way it came out, I just mean¡­ my usual targets are leaves. And you are bigger than a leaf.¡± He raised his hands and waved them around frantically. ¡°But not too much bigger, like, definitely human-sized that¡¯s for sure.¡±

    He looked at Seven who¡¯s face had turned from scowling to almost laughing.

    ¡°I¡¯m not helping my case here am I?¡±

    ¡°I got your point after the first second.¡± She reassured him.

    His expressions were pretty readable. That was definitely something she could relate to. He felt harmless enough when he wasn¡¯t massacring leaves. The archer chuckled at her response and a look of relief crossed his face, swiftly replaced by caution as he saw that Seven was alone.

    ¡°Hey, where¡¯d your friend go?¡±

    The archer gulped as he felt a sword slide over his neck and Seven smiled as TidalWave walked out from behind their visitor and caught him in a beautiful surprise attack. He had pressed his body against the player¡¯s back so that they couldn¡¯t turn around and respond in time even if they wanted to fight.

    Or so she thought.

    TidalWave lifted his eyebrows in surprise as he felt something push the skin of his throatlightly. It was an arrow that the archer had snuck into his hand as TidalWave had come up behind him, ¡°Slice that sword across my neck and you¡¯ll be speaking through your a throat-hole until your next death.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not how the game works, you dunce.¡± TidalWave stood his ground and kept the sword pressed against the archer¡¯s neck.

    ¡°But it sounds hella cool.¡± The archer countered.

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± TidalWave admitted, ¡°I wish I¡¯d thought of that line.¡±

    The archer¡¯s eyes sparkled as he saw that TidalWave didn¡¯t seem angry at him. ¡°You know, I¡¯ve been wanting to cool off for a while.¡±

    Without warning, his entire body burst into shining golden flames.

    -5

    The damage figure floated above TidalWave as he cursed and let go of the archer. The burning person laughed and jumped through the air and in a second he was far out of their reach back where he had been shooting leaves. The flames died down as he looked at them with a smile.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t really want to geta red PK name.¡±

    [Archy has requested a duel against your party. Do you wish to accept? Yes / No]

    She looked at TidalWave and he nodded. She clicked accept.

    ¡°Ah, the chance encounters often lead to the greatest adventures.¡±

    Seven hesitated as she heard a new voice call out to them from behind the archer.

    ¡°What the? Who the hell said that.¡± The archer seemed just as confused as them.

    Next to his figure, a new person appeared from thin air. An almost comically round person wearing a flowing blue robe and large pointy blue hat. He hadn¡¯t come out of the treeline or hidden behind a bush.

    He simply had not been there and now was.

    ¡°A one on two battle hardly seems fair. Although this man was the person to initiate the engagement.¡± The newcomer waved his hand and a staff and black book appeared out of thin air into his arms. ¡°But the battle shall be met with two.¡±

    [Player - Third- Has requested to join the party of -Archy-. The player will be entered intothe duel if their request is accepted. Yes / No]

    ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± TidalWave interjected, ¡°Just the thing I¡¯ve been waiting for.¡±

    He hadn¡¯t been feeling comfortable with tag-teaming the archer no matter how cocky the person was. There were no stakes for this duel as well. It seemed like it would be a good old-fashioned brawl.

    ¡°Don¡¯t slow me down.¡± Archy frowned at the newcomer but accepted his request to join the party.

    The newcomer nodded and eyed Seven and TidalWave closely.

    Seven slowly walked behind the trees to provide herself cover, keeping her eyes on the two opponents. The magi''s body was clearly visible from all angles and was watching her intently. The archer looked like something was distracting himas he watched out for TidalWave.

    ¡®Okay, we¡¯ll start slow, a magic blast or two.¡¯

    Since both she and TidalWave were short-range fighters they needed to jump in and attack the enemy, but they didn¡¯t know that so if she fired a couple of magic blasts then she might be able to lure them into a false sense of security. She waited until she¡¯d gone behind the tree and then sped up, jumping out and aiming her wand at the distracted archer.

    ¡®And... he¡¯s disappeared.¡¯

    As she circled behind a tree, the archer had disappeared from her sight. The magi smiled and waved at her as she came out and she fired magic blasts at him in response. He lifted his staff as the magic blasts came in close.

    -6

    -6

    ¡°Ow.¡± her eyes widened as the air in front of the magi distorted and warped.

    Black and purple holes appeared in the air, shimmering as they seemed to warp their surroundings slightly. Her magic blasts still passed through the rifts that had appeared but the moment they did she received half their damage in return.

    -12

    The damage number floated above the magi¡¯s head as he dodged the first blast and then was hit by the second.

    He stood still again and waved his staff at her, causing rifts to form and disappear directly on her body.

    -11

    -11

    ¡®Oh, crap.¡¯

    She ducked back behind the tree and was relieved that no more rifts formed. They took a split second to appear and then they disappeared within another second. Enough time for the magic blasts and attacks to pass through or for her to dodge if she got the timing right.

    She could only take a maximum of 3 hits when she was on full health.

    ¡®He must need a line of sight to use the attack.¡¯ She drank a potion as she recuperated and wondered how the magi¡¯s attacks worked.

    +25

    They had looked like they appeared on the spot rather than being shot out of his staff like her magic blasts were. It was possible that he chose the spot to form the rifts, so if she moved fast enough then he wouldn¡¯t have enough time to aim at her.

    ¡®That just means I have to move faster than he can plan for.¡¯

    With her plan formed, she jumped out from behind the tree and prepared to run and stone shift straight towards the magi.

    Only to come face to face with a giant spear shooting straight towards her.

    ¡°Stone shift!¡± She yelled out in surprise, causing the ground to tremble beneath her and her body to slide out of the way of the spear. If the attack had been any widerit would have hit her and she didn¡¯t have a doubt that the attack would have killed her.

    The magi was standing in the same spot. ¡°Excellent timing.¡±

    Seven ignored the praise and ran towards the magi. She could see his staff shifting in position slightly and her eyes widened.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    She slid from side to side as rifts formed in the spot where she¡¯d been only a split second before. She had caught onto his casting giveaway and his limitations.

    The wizard smiled and fired another two rifts, not aimed just at the spot she was running but also where he thought she would stone shift.

    She jumped at the last second to dodge them and he was forced to look up in dismay as she lifted her hand towards him and formed a spell in her palm, ¡°Wind Blast.¡±

    -29

    The magi¡¯s eyes widened as the spellknockedhim back and the huge damage figure appeared over his head. Seven ran towards his tumbling figure but with another wave of his staff suddenly he was gone.

    ¡®Teleportation?¡¯ Seven had seen nothinghappen before the man had completely disappeared from her sight.

    ¡°Not quite. A special class as well, eh? Quite the unique gathering we have here.¡± His voice resounded through the area and she turned around to catch him.

    ¡°Invisibility?¡± she said out loud, hoping she could determine his location by his response.

    -11

    -11

    Two rifts appeared where she was standing and she stone shifted to the side in response.

    ¡°Behind you.¡±

    She turned around in time to see the magi hit his staff against her and form a rift on her body.

    He hadn¡¯t moved from his original spot since disappearing.

    -11

    [You have been defeated by player: Third. The duel is still in progress. 1/2 teammates defeated. Would you like to revive on the spot? Yes / No]

    ¡°I am off to give aid to my temporary companion.¡± The magi waved goodbye and waddled off towards the distant sound of fighting.

    Seven sighed and revived on the spot. She didn¡¯t feel like reviving in the town. She trusted the two random strangers not to attack her. If only because the archer had gone to the trouble to avoid getting a Player Killer status. Also, it was because she wanted to see whether TidalWave could somehow turn the tides on this fight.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    That archer had seemed really skilled.

    [Player TidalWave has killed player: Archy. 1/2 of both teams have been defeated.]

    ¡®Phew.¡¯ Seven pushed through the treeline towards where the magi had walked.

    She soon found herself amid a slaughter. Rifts being fired off by the magi surrounded TidalWave, but he dodged every single one of them before they arrived. He had already adjusted to the attacks and was quickly making his way towards the magi.

    Third was slowly trying to back away but soon found himself with his back towards a tree.

    ¡°Well, this is a bother.¡± The magi muttered to himself.

    ¡®Should I tell TidalWave that the magi can go invisible?¡¯ Seven thought to herself as she watched, ¡®Nah, wouldn¡¯t be fair.¡¯ She had been defeated already so it wouldn¡¯t sit right with her. Besides, she trusted her teammate.

    He was skilled enough to handle it on his own.

    ¡°Reaper¡¯s Fury.¡±

    -49

    Contrary to her expectations the magi didn¡¯t turn invisible and instead, TidalWave unleashed an attack that hit the magi from a short distance range, causing the magi to gasp in surprise as the sword killed him in one hit.

    [Congratulations! Your party has slain the enemy team and won the duel.]

    ¡°Oh damn.¡±

    Seven nearly jumped out of her skin as the archer appeared next to her and whistled.

    ¡°The guy didn¡¯t even show me that move, he just got in close and basic attacked me to death. Must have been saving it.¡± The archer looked impressed. ¡°So I see you lost on your end. I gotta thank that guy or it would have turned out even uglier. I got cocky there sorry.¡± He apologised.

    ¡°Indeed.¡± the magi appeared from where he had been slain and faced them with a smile. ¡°I must admit, I too was trying to vent my frustrations.¡±

    ¡°Either of you two want to explain to me what¡¯s going on?¡± Seven leaned against a nearby tree and crossed her arms.

    ¡°Ah well,¡± Archy looked at the magi, ¡°I don¡¯t know who that is. I got into this fight with a guy in the village. He came out of nowhere and tried to kick my ass.¡±

    ¡°I witnessed the event.¡± The magi chuckled. ¡°You were handed your ¡®ass¡¯ quitesuccinctly.¡±

    ¡®Oh god, this sounds familiar.¡¯ Seven rolled her eyes.

    TidalWave apparently had the same thought as her, ¡°No chance this guy was called Attracting? Bit handsome, very annoying. Kind of like a stray dog that will piss on your leg if you let it do its own thing.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the guy.¡±

    The two agreed almost in sync and then turned to stare daggers at each other.

    ¡°So you lost a fight against Attracting, then you came to take it out on the trees and us?¡± Seven was slowly piecing everything together, ¡°Are you that much of a sore loser?¡±

    Her cheeks reddened as she realised how blunt she¡¯d just been. Luckily the archer hardly seemed to mind. He didn¡¯t even seem that mad after losing to them. In fact, he seemed a lot more lively and talkative than before when he was starting the duel.

    ¡°I¡¯m not angry because he won!¡± Archer raised his voice and then coughed lightly as Seven and TidalWave stared at him, ¡°No, I¡¯m angry because he cheap-shotted me.¡±

    ¡®This also sounds familiar.¡¯ Seven was experiencing severe deja vu, but didn¡¯t want to interrupt his story.

    ¡°The guy has some sort ofmagic attack that automatically targets me and does damage.¡± The archer explained, ¡°But that was fine. I found an easy solution was to hide out of sight behind another player. He couldn¡¯t shoot me because it was a spell that targeted whoever was in front. I was winning since he couldn¡¯t out damage me and I had already worked out what I thought were his weak points. The guy was only one or two hits away from death. But then, BUT THEN.¡± The archer waved his hands ferociously as he mimicked the fight, ¡°He pulls some bullcrap move that hits me for all my health without even a blink between my shots.¡±

    ¡°Blue light?¡± Seven interrupted and brought her hands together to make the shape of the attack she¡¯d seen Attracting use on TidalWave and the magic wolf. ¡°About this big?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the one. Shot it right at me and it homed in on me when I tried to dodge.¡± He snorted in derision, ¡°If the guy had that up his sleeve he should have used it from the beginning instead of leading me on bad sportsmanship I say.¡±

    ¡°It probably has a one-day cooldown.¡± TidalWave looked pensive, ¡°You said he waited a few minutes to start the fight right? He fought me just a little over a day ago before either of us got a class. The times match up pretty much. He was probably buying time because his trump card hadn¡¯t come off cooldown yet.¡±

    ¡°If it is not magic or ability given to himbyhis class,¡± The magi off to the side looked pensive, ¡°Then I would wager it is a racial trait, most likely an ability which deals true damage.¡±

    ¡®Woah. They got all that off the small pieces of information we had?¡¯ They impressed Seven.

    She had been constantly thinking about how to use her skills to avoid the attack if Attracting ever dueled her. But she ended up concluding that with her skill set she would always get hit no matter how she played unless she tried running away.

    But now with the information they were giving her she was already thinking of new ways to avoid the attack.

    ¡°Damn, I¡¯m impressed.¡± The archer didn¡¯t even try to hide his admiration. ¡°It makes sense. Still a cheap shot then if he can¡¯t even beat me without that trump card.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll say.¡± TidalWave smacked his face lightly as he recalled losing his fight, ¡°Did he act all cocky after?¡±

    ¡°Oh man, did he. The only reason I¡¯m out here taking it out on the trees is because I needed to cool down after that. Acting like top crap after he spent the whole fight losing.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I also had a similar experience, minus the special attack.¡± The magi nodded his head gravely.

    Archy raised his hand to stop the magi from talking, ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask this, but who the heck are you?¡±

    ¡°I good sir, am a wizard.¡± The wizard waved his staff majestically and motioned towards his pointy hat and long robe, ¡°For your knowledge, it is said that a single wizard is equal to three magi.¡±

    ¡°You definitely look like you ate three magi.¡± Archy shot back.

    ¡°A wizard?¡± Seven blurted out, ¡°You mean a hidden magi class right?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. A wizard young one.¡± He waved his staff majestically in the air, ¡°Whereas the ancient magi learned to control the elements and harness their power, I draw mine from that void which stands beyond the world, transcending life and death, eternal and everlasting.¡±

    ¡°You mean space?¡± Archy looked lost.

    ¡°If that¡¯s what you muggles want to call it,¡± His portly belly jiggled in anger, ¡°then yes, space.¡±

    Archy cocked his head. ¡°So you¡¯re a space magi?¡±

    ¡°Wizard.¡±

    ¡°Space magi wizard?¡±

    ¡°Shut your blabbering mouth and let me weave my tale you dundernugget!¡± The wizard bellowed out at Archy and the archer leaned back in submission.

    ¡°Fine fine. Go ahead.¡±

    The wizard coughed as he turned back to Seven and TidalWave, ¡°This Attracting fellow battled against me first. Before he got to that thing over there.¡± He pointed his staff at Archy, ¡°Unfortunately I found that his every move countered mine perfectly! Why, his skill transcended the divine-¡±

    ¡°Does the way this guy talks make anyone else want to pull their ears out?¡±

    ¡°-and whenever I tried to cast a spell he would soundly disrupt me. Let alone my rifts, which were dodged perfectly. Right before I was done casting he would also attack me with his magic as well so that I couldn¡¯t retaliate. Every spell of his perfectly cancelled mine, but even if he has that kind of ability as it is no easy feat as only I know the exact timing of my class¡¯s spells. The man acted as though he could see the future.¡±

    ¡°So you got dumpstered without getting in a single shot.¡± Archy shook his head sympathetically. ¡°Haven¡¯t been there buddy. You completely suck.¡±

    ¡°Experience is the mother of skill¡± Third ignored the archer, ¡°I followed Attracting to see if he would challenge anybody else and perhaps see if I could learn from him. However, when he fought the archer he was not nearly as skilled or dominant. He would have lost had the final attack not completely and utterly dominated and humiliated this man who was bragging loudly the entire fight until that moment.¡±

    -Hey, I wouldn¡¯t say he-

    ¡°Unlike the three of you, it would appear that he outclassed only myself.¡± The wizard continued, ¡°But I followed this archer who ran off to see if he would be interested in training with me. I was much more taken with his skills despite his loud mouth. Little did I know that the moment I caught up with him that I would encounter even more skilled opponents.¡±

    ¡°Are you a support class?¡± Seven was confused on this point. ¡°Your attacks look deadly but they dealt less damage than my normal attacks. Why is that?¡±

    He nodded. ¡°I am both a support and attack class. My basic attack is multipurpose, the rifts I create can be used totrain, attack, and also support the attacks of my allies.¡±

    ¡°You.¡± He pointed his staff at Archy, ¡°We are still in the same party. Could you fire an arrow towards that tree?¡±

    Archy fired an arrow towards the nearby tree and as it flew a rift formed in front of it, causing the arrow to change its path and fly off into the woods.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it impacts every single attack, but if a magic blast or arrow falls off course, I may be able to direct it from its course and cause it to hit an enemy from a spot they were not expecting. If it were used to redirect attacks at unexpected angles towards an opponent, I can¡¯t see that person winning the fight easily.¡±

    ¡°But that¡¯s insane.¡± TidalWave butted in, ¡°If you had that much control during a time like this, it¡¯s understandable, but during a fight? That would require skills. Genuine skill, not the ones provided by the system.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡± Third nodded in agreement, ¡°As I said, experience is the mother of skill. This archer was so skilled that when I saw his fight I knew that perhaps we could form a team and play together. If only to practice enough to perfect my vision of what they could achievewith my skills.¡± The wizard could see Archy glowing at the praise. ¡°I then saw his personality.

    ¡°Actually, he never fought me.¡± Seven added, ¡°He fought TidalWave and got outclassed and I was watching.¡±

    ¡°And then she asked me to teach her how to play.¡± TidalWave smiled, ¡°So we¡¯ve been practicing dodging and fighting since then.¡±

    ¡°Oho.¡± Third smiled, ¡°But you were so skilled during our fight. I just assumed that if this Attracting person was challenging strong players, then he would include you.¡±

    ¡°Aw, thanks.¡± Seven could feel a blush coming on. ¡°But I¡¯ve only been practicing since yesterday. I completely sucked before then. I couldn¡¯t even dodge the rabbits.¡±

    ¡°That is bad.¡± Archy agreed.

    ¡°Yesterday?¡± The wizard was surprised, ¡°That is a short amount of time. But¡­¡± He thought carefully, ¡°You could use a bit of work on your aim.¡±

    She recalled the moment she shot her blasts towards him and missed the first. It had been partly because she had just come out of the treeline and needed a moment to orient herself, but also because she wasn¡¯t that good at shooting yet. She could point a wand and fire it in a general direction but when it came to precision, she was a far cry from a professional.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a very difficult target to hit.¡±

    ¡°Haha, that¡¯s true.¡± She was pretty embarrassed at this point.

    ¡°You definitely have a versatile class if used correctly.¡± TidalWave seemed impressed, and although he probably wouldn¡¯t admit it, Archy seemed equally impressed.

    ¡°Well, the class itself is not as important as the skills behind it.¡± Third said humbly, then he turned towards the three of them. ¡°And this entire duel has been most enlightening.¡±

    ¡°But how did you want to practice?¡± Seven was curious, if this guy had a plan to train then maybe she¡¯d be able to learn from it as well, ¡°You wanted to team up with Archy right?¡±

    ¡°Ah yes, you see, my basic attack consists of the rifts but their function isn¡¯t only to deal damage or divert allied attacks into different directions. Each rift also deflects half the damage of attacks that flow through it.¡±

    ¡°Ah right.¡± She recalled that happening.

    ¡°So of course, if I had a practice partner with incredible aim and rapid rate of fire from different angles, I could attempt to practice placing my rifts where attacks will hit.¡±

    ¡°Ohh,¡± Realisation hit Archy¡¯s eyes. ¡°You want me to shoot at you? Well, why didn¡¯t you say so!¡± His upbeat energy returned as he caught onto Third¡¯s intentions. ¡°Great, great, great. You definitely came to the right guy.¡±

    ¡°Well actually, I think I came to the right party.¡± The wizard sized up TidalWave and Seven, ¡°Both skilled, and if we all practice together we could easily polish out our loose ends. If I had an archer and a magi to defend against, I daresay my skill would shoot through the roof.¡±

    ¡°All right.¡± TidalWave didn¡¯t hesitate.

    ¡®Damn he agreed quickly.¡¯ Seven wasn¡¯t against it since she also wanted to practice, but she hadn¡¯t expected TidalWave to not even spend a split second deciding.

    She shot him a look.

    ¡°What?¡± He replied innocently. ¡°I have reasons I want to train up my skills as well.¡±

    ¡®You¡¯re already a monster.¡¯ She chuckled as the thought crossed her mind.

    ¡°Okay, that sounds like fun.¡±

    ¡°Prove it to me.¡± Archy¡¯s voice was strangely serious as he spoke, ¡°Prove that we can learn from each other. Or else I¡¯m walking away now.¡±

    ¡°That.. is fair enough.¡± Third nodded his head after a few seconds. ¡°Well, I suppose you won¡¯t listen unless we show you some quick progress.¡±

    ¡°You know it.¡± Archy agreed.

    ¡°Very well, how confident are you in shooting all those leaves of yours?¡±

    Archy smiled and brought out his weapons.

    *BANG*

    He smacked the nearby tree and the three others stepped back as leaves dropped towards the ground. With swift motions, he shot an arrow through every single leaf, twenty in all. By the time the last arrow hit the tree he was already posing on the spot.

    Seven clapped at the display.

    ¡°Very impressive.¡± Third gave a single clap.

    Archy gave a small bow, ¡°Unless the leaves outnumber the number of arrows I can shoot before they hit the ground, I can get them one hundred percent of the time.¡±

    ¡°So then tell me, how did you lose to that warrior over there? If your shots are so amazing you shouldn¡¯t have lost against a close combat warrior so quickly.¡± The wizard pointed to TidalWave.

    ¡°Ah.. that is.¡± Archy hesitated and fiddled with his bowstring.

    ¡°His shots were too predictable.¡± TidalWave calmly explained and analysed, ¡°At first he got a good shot in and then continued to fire at me but after a while he couldn¡¯t keep up with my dodging. He shot straight at me but he couldn¡¯t adjust to my speed and missed his shots the moment I started dodging at different timings.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± The wizard sat down and thought deeply.

    ¡°So your shots have no variation? I can help with that.¡±

    Archy raised his eyebrows at the wizard. ¡°That fast?¡± He pointed at Third, ¡°Prove it.¡±

    ¡°Hit the tree again.¡±

    *BANG*

    Archy didn¡¯t hesitate to bring out his bow and bring leaves down to fall around him.

    Seven watched the show again. One, two, three and four. Archy hit all the leaves until the fifth perfectly.

    Then Third shifted his staff and a rift formed around the fifth one. The moment the arrow drew near enough to the leaf, the rift caused it to flutter in a different direction.

    ¡®No problem, he¡¯ll hit it with the next arrow.¡¯

    The arrow shot out faster than rifts could form, so the moment the fifth leaf fell back towards the ground Archy shot an arrow...

    And missed again. And then again.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening here?¡± She asked TidalWave as she saw Archy miss three arrows in a row.

    ¡°He¡¯s missing.¡± TidalWave said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯m sure that wizard is waiting with anticipation to tell us all about why soon, so let¡¯s wait for him.¡±

    The last leaf fell to the ground, three rifts had formed around three leaves and Archy had missed every single one of them despite shooting multiple arrows.

    ¡°Again.¡±

    This time he missed five leaves.

    ¡°Again!¡±

    ¡°AGAIN!¡±

    ¡°I think.¡± Third intoned as Archy again missed the final leaf that had been, ¡°That I have shown you enough of your weakness. Do you want to know why you¡¯re missing?¡±

    ¡°Again!¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± Archy said in defeat. ¡°What happened there? Why am I missing?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s your timing.¡± Third stated simply,¡°The leaves are good practice alone, however, they fall at equal speed and straight to the ground with littlevariation. They can only provide so much practice before you get too used to their pattern. But if I add,¡±he idly summoned a rift near a leaf, causing it to change direction and slow down ¡°a small change, then I will give you a lot more variations.¡±

    ¡°You see, you have become so used to the timing of the leaves falling that if there is even a slight change in the fall''s speed, you completely miss.¡±

    TidalWave nodded and Seven marvelled at the wizard¡¯s deduction.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll accept that. And how about when the rifts change direction? How can I possibly hit the leaves if I don¡¯t know what direction they¡¯re supposed to go!¡±

    ¡°You can definitely hit those leaves. Unfortunately, you have grown used to not delaying a single shot when attacking so you shot towards them immediately instead of waiting for a moment and hitting the arrows in their path.¡±

    ¡°That is most likely why the warrior defeated you so easily.¡± he continued, ¡°If you shot at him without even a single delay in your shooting then he would simply dodge. If you mixed your shots with some delayed by a bitthen he might try and dodge only to find himself mistiming and getting hit by an arrow to the chest.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± TidalWave added, ¡°You¡¯re scary as hell until the first couple of shots go through.¡±

    ¡°Yes, and not to mention if he dodged and ran towards you at different speeds then he would immediately throw you off your game because you are focusing on the very first speed at which he moved towards you.¡±

    ¡°And how do I get used to different speeds and start delaying?¡±

    ¡°Practice.¡± Third stated simplywith a smile then pointed his staff at Seven, ¡°You should give this training a try.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Seven jumped up and brought out her wand. ¡°Let¡¯s try it.¡±

    *BANG*

    Archy hit the tree and the leaves began to fall.

    Seven waited for a second to get the timing of the leaves as they fell. And then fired at them time after time.

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    Seven stared at the small specks of magic floating into the sky after her blasts hit the tree, she had hit a single leaf mostly by accident as she shot blast after blast into the air. She had actuallybeen aiming for the leaf next to it.

    She hadn¡¯t had this much trouble with hitting the wolves.

    ¡°Looks like something as small as a leaf is still a bit of a challenge.¡± Third and TidalWave chuckled.

    ¡®I definitely have a lot of practice to do.¡¯

 Chapter 8: Exploring the Woods

    Seven logged back onto Zodiac early into the afternoon.

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    TidalWave, Third, Archy and Attracting. All four of the people on her friend list except for IEatTortillas were logged in. Unlike Attracting who was already level 17, the other three hadn¡¯t levelled up at all.

    [TidalWave has won the duel against player: Archy]

    She automatically joined the party channel as soon as she logged in and she laughed as she saw that they were all dueling each other. It looks like they had taken the word practice seriously.

    -Have they been fighting long?- She sent a message to Third.

    -That makes it the 114th consecutive win for TidalWave.- He replied. She could tell he was probably laughing while typing it.

    -Wow, that¡¯s a lot.- She thought about the way Archy had acted after losing to Attracting -How is he taking it?-

    -Really well actually. He is improving with every match. But your friend is even more impressive. He improves just as much as Archy when fighting so even when Archy catches up to his level of skill, TidalWave improves as well and defeats him. At this rate, we¡¯ll be mowing down mobs easily once we get into battle.-

    ¡®Damn, they¡¯re both getting ahead of me.¡¯ Seven felt bad that they¡¯d all logged in early and had apparently had time for a lot of duels since then.

    She began to walk towards them since she could see on the map nearby. They hadn¡¯t moved far from where they all logged off after their first duel yesterday.

    -Those two are on a roll. They¡¯re concentrating hard enough that if we interfere we might break what is a great chance of improvement.-

    -Let¡¯s practice some of that rift defending you were talking about then.- Seven waved as she saw Third sitting by a log.

    TidalWave and Archy barely noticed her as they were already beginning their 115th duel together.

    She sat next to Third and watched them. It looked like they¡¯d agreed on a set distance to start at but she still thought TidalWave was a bit too close since a couple of leaps could make sure that his sword was within stabbing distance of Archy¡¯s stomach.

    ¡°He has already learned to delay his attacks by a bit.¡± Third commented for Seven¡¯s benefit as the two duelists leaped into battle.

    ¡°But a delayed arrow will only result in a hit twenty-five percent of the time.After all, TidalWave has already learned the arrow travel time and will try to dodge when he notices that Archy hasn¡¯t shot at him immediately.¡±

    She watched intently as Archy shot an arrow and TidalWave dodged it, only tomeetanother arrow to the face. She gasped as TidalWave used the split second before being hit to dodge to the side and cause the arrow to miss. Third laughed as though it was expected but he had reacted to TidalWave¡¯s movements and results earlier than she had. He was also reacting to a few things that she hadn¡¯t even noticed happening.

    Third was clearly seeing more than she was while watching the fight.

    ¡°Well, then those two will be at it for a while.¡± Third stood up and brushed his robes. ¡°Let us go andpractice a bit.¡±

    They walked towards a small clearing, big enough to shoot magic in whilst not being too close to the trees.

    ¡°Well, although I would love to practice defending with my rifts, I feel like we need to practice your aim first.¡± he smashed his hand against a tree and caused the leaves to begin falling.¡°After all, your improvement will mean a lot to mine.¡±

    She waited for the first leaf to fall halfway before shooting at it. The moment her magic blast got near it, a rift formed and the leaf changed direction, causing her to miss.

    ¡°You¡¯re already rifting them?¡± She felt cheated.

    ¡°Archy developed bad habits becausehe practices with only the natural path of the leaves. You are lucky that you don¡¯t have any habits at all yet. I will make sure that you don¡¯t develop any if we can help it.¡±

    *BANG*

    He smacked the tree again.

    *BANG*

    *BANG*

    *BANG*

    ¡°I can¡¯t hit a single leaf!¡± Seven felt frustration course through her and it showed in her voice.

    After adding the rifts into the practice she couldn¡¯t even beat her record of hitting a single leaf as they fell down. She had tried several times to predict the movement of the leaves but she always seemed to be that little bit off.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Third agreed with her, ¡°but you are improving remarkably fast.¡±

    ¡°I am?¡± She perked up. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I presume you have only slain wolves and rabbits? Perhaps the odd dryad or treant?¡± Third asked her.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Seven nodded.

    ¡°I could tell. Your attacks at the beginning were missing the leaves themselves by a wide margin, but they were still in the area ofwhat a wolf would be.After all, you probably had no trouble hitting the wolves when they got up close to you. But the leaves are far smaller than a wolf, so rather than looking at how many leaves you are hitting, if you view it from the perspective of how close your shots are getting towards the leaves then you will realise that rather than having the shots miss by a wide margin they have centered closer towards your target.¡± He looked up into the air as though deep in thought, ¡°I would say that if before you could hit a wolf with noissues, you could definitely hit something around double the size of a rabbit with notroubles now.¡±

    ¡®How frightening.¡¯ he thought to himself while giving the explanation, ¡®And I thought that the warrior was the scariest of the bunch, but, both in the duo are talented. Very, very talented.¡¯

    ¡°Again.¡±

    *BANG*

    Seven smiled as she saw he was right. She still wasn¡¯t hitting the leaves with her magic blasts, but they were definitely a lot closer than they had been when she first started.

    She was improving.

    [Archy has won the duel against player: TidalWave]

    After their 200th duel, Archy and TidalWave finally took a break. Their chances of winning against each other had reached about 50/50 but as the player with the longer range Archy held the advantage if he kept his distance. If he slipped up for a moment then TidalWave would destroy him within seconds.

    ¡°So what do we do now?¡± Archy asked.

    Seven was content to continue practicing but admitted that she could understand why the others looked so sick of it.

    ¡°You know.¡± She suddenly recalled the strange conversation she¡¯d had with Barnacle while waiting for her friends to receive their classes. ¡°I think I have something we can do.¡±

    [You have received the quest: Dragon¡¯s Legacy. Deep within the Signet Woods lays the lair of a once-mighty dragon. Though now deceased, in life the dragon was widely feared as one of the rulers of the Signet Woods and nobody knows what wonders may appear in its collection. Find the dragon¡¯s treasure hoarddeep within the woods before others do. Quest condition: Quest will fail once the treasure has been located by other players or NPCs. Quest will automatically cancel if the details are shared with the player: Attracting.]

    TidalWave and Archy whistled. A dragon¡¯s treasure sounded very attractive.

    ¡°I¡¯d wager that little detail lies in the class he has chosen. If he is truly a priest as Seven has told us¡± He recalled the talks they¡¯d had during their long practice, ¡°Then it is possible he had chosen a class disliked by the priests of Verm. Perhaps a corrupted priest or a priest class that worships another god.¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± TidalWave smiled. ¡°We definitely have agoalnow. If we need to buy supplies we can do that now or try and get as close to the treasure as we can and see what we can scrounge from mobs and the woods along the way.¡±

    ¡°I want to fight.¡± Archy said to nobody''s surprise, ¡°Let¡¯s head out straight away.¡±

    They all agreed and began to walk deeper into the woods.

    The loud thumping of fists against trees accompanied the entire walk as both Archy and Seven refused to move a few meters without shooting at leaves. Their dedication to practice was as inspiring as it was annoying, so TidalWave was scouting ahead and Third spent the time recovering mana and reminding Seven to stay above a certain amount just in case they ran into mobs they needed to fight seriously.

    She couldn¡¯t see how far they were from the treasure;Instead, the quest marker gave hera vague direction and she followed it. This meant that they could be walking through the woods for days and still not have gotten near it.

    The obliterated most of the mobs the moment they came into view. Despite spending his time on shooting leaves Archy had amazing situational awareness, the moment TidalWave threw his first slash an accompanying arrow was already flying into the head of the enemy monster.

    [Player: Archy has slain a Dryad with a critical hit. +20xp to all party members.]

    It turns out that every shot that hit the monsters in their weak spots would usually have a higher chance of a critical hit. Because the Dryads and Treants that inhabited the forest were slower and larger than TidalWave, Archy would almost always hit them in their heads and cause a critical hit to emerge.

    ¡°I hope you realise,¡± Seven watched the mobs going down like flies and smiled, ¡°That there is almost definitely going to be a boss-type mob at the end of this quest.¡±

    ¡°Oh heck yes.¡± Archy fired arrow after arrow whilst running through the trees. ¡°A big dark cave filled with dragon treasure? If that¡¯s not the stage for a big fight I¡¯ll eat my shoes.¡±

    ¡°I thought from your breath that you already had.¡± Third commented flippantly.

    ¡®Damn Third chill.¡¯ Seven giggled.

    ¡°I doubt it¡¯ll be another dragon.¡± TidalWave was juggling the aggression of two treants and a dryad, dodging and attacking with ease, ¡°Maybe something we¡¯ve never encountered before moved in while the dragon was out.¡±

    ¡°Something big and evil most definitely.¡± Third finished the dryad with a rift to its body, ¡°But the real question is whether it is something within our level to fight. It is very possible that something far outside our level will guard the dragon¡¯s treasure.¡±

    ¡°So we check it out and then level up to match our opponent.¡± Archy said it as though it was simple. ¡°As long as we know our opponent, then we can plan to beat it.¡±

    Seven watched them talking with ease as they slew the mobs that kept appearing out of the woods. She could hardly focus on listening to them let alone taking partin the conversation whilst she was aiming her shots to hit the nearby treants attacking TidalWave.

    She was trying to make sure tohit only their heads. She still missed most of the time, but if she aimed for the chest instead, she could hit it around eighty percent of the time. From her distance in the backlinethat was a big improvement compared to only a few hours before.

    [You have slain a level 13 Dryad. You have gained +20xp]

    The experience wasn¡¯t that enticing if she was being honest with herself. Because there were four party members with varying levels they all gained less experience because ofthe even spread. But with three of them being so skilled, and with Archy and TidalWave almost designed to destroy mobs, fast pace that she received experience made up for the amount she received.

    -29

    She blasted a dryad in the stomach as it crawled out of a hidden nook in the woods to attack her. Their frontline took most of the aggression, but because this area had no other players around they were slowly being overwhelmed by more and more monsters.

    The dryad itself wasn¡¯t that difficult to fight but it would cost her a decent chunk of mana. Their attacks mainly consisted of high speed, close-range attacks with their hands. Green mana spewed forth from their fingers in the shape of talons that looked like they could shred through one of the great trees that surrounded them.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    She sidestepped the dryad as it screeched at her and attacked. She didn¡¯t have to stone shift every time, but it provided her a better spot from which to orient herself because it slid her further away from the monster than a normal sidestep would.

    -11

    -11

    The moment she sidestepped it, rifts opening inside and around it assaulted the dryad. Third had already predicted that she would dodge themonster and had summoned the rift directly into the spot she¡¯d been in before so that the dryad would slash right into it.

    ¡°We might need to stop for a bit.¡± He said to her as they pelted the dryad with spells, ¡°So that we can clear the mobs and recuperate.¡±

    ¡°Hey guys!¡± The dryad fell and she turned towards them to signal a stop.

    Then she saw that they¡¯d already killed all the mobs in the area.

    They quickly found a clearing that was monster-free and looked at their path and supplies.

    ¡°Where are we at the moment?¡± They sat down and attempted to find out how far they¡¯d walked.

    ¡°I¡¯d say we¡¯ve already passed out of Torkay¡¯s territory and entered the Signet Woods outer ring.¡± Third tried to pinpoint their location taking into account how they¡¯d slowed down to kill the mobs surrounding them.

    The layout of the woods was grand. The entire area they¡¯d been walking through so far was considered to be inside the jurisdiction of ¡®Torkay¡¯. The game still considered itto be within beginner territory so the mobs weren¡¯t that difficult to deal with. From here on therewas the outer Signet Woods and inner Signet Woods. They had no idea what kind ofmonsters would be within both but they knew that they were already going further than the beginner village potion shop could provide them for. TidalWave had already used up two of his potions and he had five left. Seven had a basic idea that the others were also not that prepared by luckily these were the woods and there was plenty of materials the could gainby looking around.

    ¡°I have the foraging skill.¡± Archy nodded, ¡°Learned it from one of the farmers in the village.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± Third nodded appreciatively, ¡°Then here¡¯s what I suggest we do¡­¡±

    They nodded and began to set out to do their respective jobs. Third and Archy went off to forage since they could provide good cover for each other and TidalWave and Seven went looking for the location of other plants and things that Archy could forage later.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    If they were lucky they might find natural food and remedies that could do a lot more than simply restoring 25 HP or MP like the lesser potions from Torkay.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Seven watched with fascination as TidalWave squatted next to a plant and began writing earnestly inside a little book in front of him.

    ¡°Recording journals. I do it for all the enemies we encounter using the system¡¯s journal feature.¡± He stood up after noting the plant¡¯s location, ¡°I also like to write downthe plant descriptions so we can weed out the useless ones that we don¡¯t need to waste time looking for.¡±

    ¡°Show me, show me.¡± She looked at some of the entries.

    [Starving Magical Wolf: Level 5. Armour; Nil. Can attack by lunging from medium range or using claws to swipe or push when in close combat. Prone to over-committing to long jumps allowing for easier access to the neck for a short period of time. Ican counter-attack it without repercussions after I dodge the primary attack. Threat level: Low.]

    ¡°Wow. Those are some detailed notes.¡± She admired them and saw that he was completely correct, and because he¡¯d only ever fought that creature once this was one of the less detailed notes.

    ¡°You should start doing some of this yourself.¡± He smiled and they moved onto the next section of the woods, ¡°It¡¯ll help you memorise their weak points once you can hit them accurately. Even if you can¡¯t then who knows, a critical hit during a crucial moment might save you from dying.¡±

    ¡°Oh. I¡¯ll give that a try as well.¡± Seven opened up the section that TidalWave was talking about and began to write.

    [Wolf: It is grey. It is a big dog. Smaller than a person. Longer than a person.]

    [Dryad: It is green. Kind of looks like a woman made of bark. Bigger than a human.]

    [Treant: Looks like a tree. Is bigger than a Dryad.]

    ¡®I am not cut out for this.¡¯

    ¡°Practice makes perfect.¡± TidalWave checked her notes and then pretended to check out a tree so she wouldn¡¯t have to see his laughing grin.

    ¡°You know I¡¯ve been thinking.¡± He turned serious as they parted a bush to see if anything was growing underneath it, ¡°We need a tank. Or maybe even a priest.¡±

    He and Archy had been doing just fine fighting in the front line against the Dryads and Treants, in fact, they had been doing excellently, but they couldn¡¯t dodge every attack and in the end,both were in classes made for dealing damage. They were only dealing so well because they were both skilled in dodging and had very high damage outputs.

    ¡°Third and Archy are great, but if we keep on going like this then even if we don¡¯t have trouble in the woods we will at later levels of the game.¡±

    ¡°Are we still going to be in a party with them afterward?¡± She tilted her head and saw a small blue mushroom growing out of the ground.

    [???. Requires appraisal skill to see the information.]

    ¡°Good question.¡± He nodded. ¡°Maybe we¡¯ll just wait and see until after this quest then.¡±

    She was pretty amused to note that he hadn¡¯t considered ditching her after this quest but found that she didn¡¯t have the intention to stop playing with him either. She was improving so rapidly that it was almost mind bogglingto her. Let alone TidalWave, working with Third and even seeing Archy in battle had led to her improving her aim, dodging and even timing of her attacks.

    She just had to ignore that dread that came with the fact that the three monsters in her party that seemed to have all those things already.

    Their journey came to a rather abrupt end as they found themselves in a spacious open area of the woods. The area itself had some very nice looking plants for picking up in the middle; however, there was a bigger problem in the area that made them hesitate.

    [Corrupt Magica: level 20]

    A wilted, purple flower was shuffling along the space using its roots to move. It was smaller than a person but looked sinister as it stood alone in the field.

    ¡°Guess we found something pretty interesting.¡± She watched its dying petals swaying in the breeze, ¡°Those plants in the middle look pretty valuable to me.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s one big flower. Looks like this is the border into the outer area of the woods.¡± TidalWave noted, ¡°Let¡¯s meet up with the guys and see if they want to take this thing out.¡±

    They retreated after marking down the location in their journals.

    ¡®Thank god he has a good memory.¡¯ Seven had already forgotten the way they¡¯d walked to get to the flower creature, let alone where all the plants they¡¯d found were.

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you this isn¡¯t the same place that we agreed to meet!¡±

    They arrived to find a very surprised Archy gaping at them and checking down on his map.

    ¡°Or maybe it is.¡±

    At that moment, they made an implicit agreement between the groupthat they wouldn''t allowSeven nor Archyto roam by themselves. Otherwise, once they¡¯d wandered too far, it would be nearly impossible to find them again.

    They quickly explained what they¡¯d found. Because Archy didn¡¯t have the appraisal ability they would need to eat each one of the plants at least once to identify their impact.

    The plants came in four differentkinds.

    A bright red mushroom that varied in size depending on wherethe found them. The damper and darker the area, the larger the mushroom.

    A glowing blue mushroom similar to what Seven had seen under the bush.

    A spiky purple fruit that was extremely menacing. It looked like it would spear their cheeks if they ate it.

    A green fruit shaped like a bean that they foundgrowing off of the broken bark of trees.

    Seven and TidalWave added to that their discovery of an orange flower than sprouted in odd areas here and there. Apparently Third and Archy hadn¡¯t come across any but since Archy had the foraging skill, they would need to pick up the orange flowers on the way to the plant monster.

    ¡°So who wants to try them first?¡± Archy turned his head towards them only to see them all staring at him.

    ¡°Oh come on.¡±

    ¡°Makes sense to me.¡± TidalWave shoved the spiky purple fruit towards Archy, ¡°You¡¯re the one who has the foraging skill. You should have the information on whether these things are good or not.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t I start with the green one?¡± He whined but took the purple fruit and shoved it into his mouth with a quick movement.

    ¡°Oh.¡± His eyes perked up.

    [You have consumed a Spikey Killer. Monsters despise the smell of the fruit and will do their best to avoid it. Although they will not completely avoid attacking you because ofthe smell, it is less likely that monsters will target you while team members are around. Lasts 15 minutes.]

    [You have consumed a Red Mushroom. A common ingredient in quality health potions it is better used during the practice of alchemy. Effect: gain +20 health over 5 seconds upon consumption.]

    [You have consumed a Blue Mushroom. A common ingredient in quality mana potions itis better used during the practice of alchemy. Effect: gain +20 mana over 5 seconds upon consumption.]

    [You have consumed a Green Bean. An uncommon ingredient in quality strength potions itis better used during the practice of alchemy. You can feel the power coursing through you. +1 Strength for 5 minutes. Is not stackable with other Green Beans.]

    He quickly showed them the information from all four plants.

    ¡°We should save these.¡± Third immediately concluded, ¡°We have enough health potions to last awhile. These all look like extremely good items. At least once potions and alchemists become more common we might be able to get some decent ones made for us. Even if we split the finds equally, we¡¯ll come out with a good amount later on.¡±

    They agreed with him and decided to only give the two magic users a Spikey Killer each so that they wouldn¡¯t be in too much trouble if they were caught in a monster swarm. They also made sure that they would look out for any strength increasing beans. It appeared they were rarer but they could be used tocreate strength potions, something which would undoubtedly come in handy later.

    [Orange Sunflower: An uncommon ingredient in quality strength potions itis better used during the practice of alchemy. You can feel the power leaving you as you take a bite. -1 Strength for 5 minutes.]

    The flowers turned out to be useless as a consumable but they were apparently another ingredient crucial for making strength potions.

    They soon found themselves hiding behind trees and staring at the level 20 monster, which was guarding a group of plants. None of the plants seemed like the ones they had picked up so far. Seven could see Archy¡¯s eyes sparkling as he eyed the greenery and she could see him thinking of theabilitiesthey would have. It seemed he had developed a taste for consuming wild forest edibles.

    ¡°So we can definitely take that thing on, right?¡± Archy asked while he eyed the plants. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s only a level 20 monster.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all alone and in a wide-open field with a big treasure in the middle,¡± TidalWave countered. ¡°That screams boss fight to me.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Third agreed.

    Together their average level was around 14. Archy was level 15 and TidalWave and Seven were level 14. Only Third was level 13 after all the fighting and Seven had gotten up to the cusp of level 15. If she killed this monster then she would definitely level up.

    So there was around a six-level difference between them and this creature. They were all in full health and mana but it was still a big difference. They didn¡¯t know what kinds of attacks it had either.

    ¡°I think we can do it.¡± She nodded towards Archy. ¡°We have a pretty high damage output.¡±

    She looked at the monster, ¡°And it¡¯s a giant flower. I think it¡¯s pretty obvious what its weak spot is, and I don¡¯t doubt Archy can hit it.¡±

    The petals had wilted over the monster''s face but between each petal was a gap the size of a melon through which they could see a bright purple bulb. It was giving out a pulsating glow that screamed ¡®giant weak spot¡¯.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    TidalWave made the final decision and moved towards the creature with the team following behind him.

    The monster screeched and tentacle-like roots sprouted across its body as they came into its sight, and it rushed towards them. Archy and Third fanned out to the outer rim of the arena to pepper it with ranged attacks while Seven and TidalWave ran towards it and met it head-on.

    -20

    -20

    Archy¡¯s arrow dealt huge amount of consistent damage as they struck the roots and body of the monster. He gauged its ability to defend against his attacks was almost non-existentas long as TidalWave and Seven took care of the aggression.

    -5

    Unfortunately, when he hit the petals that guarded its main weak spot the damage was mitigated. They seemed wilted but a strong purple aura destroyed the arrows that came into contact with them. As the creature struck at TidalWave with its roots Archy rushed to be in line with his ally so that he could aim at the monster¡¯s head.

    -5

    -40 (Critical hit!)

    -5

    He grinned in satisfaction. Although he was sure that not every hit to the weak spot would cause a critical hit, each one he got dealt double his usual damage. However, the moment he struck its core the flower screeched and spines shaped like spearheads shot out from its body towards Archy.

    -10

    -10

    ¡°Tch.¡± He cursed himself for not having dodged in time. He had dodged the third spine aimed at him but the first two had dealt a lot of damage. He would die if a couple more hit him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll aim for the body.¡± TidalWave witnessed Archy getting hit and decided that he needed to keep his consecutive hit streak so that his passive would activate.

    -27

    -30

    His sword lanced through the creature¡¯s skin easily. As he struck it the monster sent more vines to attack him, but he smiled as he hit them as well to stack up his passive.

    He was designed to kill monsters like this.

    Seven dodged by him as the roots aimed for her as well. Unlike TidalWave she was using her ranged attacks to shoot at the creature¡¯s bulb hoping to damageit more.

    -24 (Critical hit!)

    The moment she shot a magic blast at the creature¡¯s core, it stopped moving. She jumped back at the sudden halt, fearing a retaliation similar to the spines that had shot at Archy but tiny roots sproutedall around the plant and began surrounding her from all sides.

    [You have been grabbed. You cannot move for 0.5 seconds.]

    She came to a halt as one arootwrapped around her leg. She took the opportunity to shoot out a magic blast. Luckily the flower was busy attacking TidalWavesoshe was soon moving again.

    ¡°The roots stop you from moving for half a second!¡± She let her team know just in case they hadn¡¯t guessed already.

    TidalWave gave her a small nod as he stabbed his sword into the plant, causing a small piece of it to carve away and fall to the grass.

    -25

    His passive that allowed each consecutive attack to do more damage than the last was kicking in.

    The roots continued to multiply around her as she moved from side to side. Finally, the flower began to move again and Archy shot an arrow towards it.

    Suddenly she felt a root reached up to grab her as she attacked the flower.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡± She acted out her emergency escape ability despite the fact that it cost mana.

    The flower turned around and screeched at her just as Archy¡¯s arrow came into contact with it.

    ¡°Ah damn.¡± Seven saw the arrow hit the side of the flower instead of the bulb. It dealt less damage due to not hitting a vital area.

    By moving to the side she had accidentally caused the monster to face her, meaning Archy¡¯s arrow had hit the wrong area.

    ¡°Never mind that.¡± TidalWave struck it from the side and another slice of its skin fell to the ground. ¡°Keep an eye out for the roots.¡±

    The pesky things were growing from the ground all around her and trying to grab her ankles. She could hardly sit still for a second before she had to dodge another one.

    ¡°Reaper¡¯s fury.¡± A row of damage numbers appeared as TidalWave destroyed the roots nearest to him.

    If she had the mana to spare Seven would have done the same with a wind blast. Unfortunately, the length of the battle was taking its toll on her. She stuck to the odd stone shift and peppered the flower with magic blasts. Because it was shorter than she was she could aim for the head easily, but hitting it between the petals was beyond her at the moment. She could only hope to hit it by luck or during small windows of time that it stood still to spread more roots.

    -20

    -10 (Fire damage)

    -5

    -5

    -5

    ¡°Alright!¡± Archy yelled out gleefully as a flaming arrow hit the flower¡¯s bulb and caused the entire plant to burst into flames.

    For a few seconds, the plant hesitated as it seemed to be paralysed by the flames. Persistent burn damage was being dealt every second as well.

    ¡°Ice bolt.¡± Seven took advantage of the moment to charge and shoot

    ¡°Void Spear.¡±

    Seven watched as her ice bolt and an ancient spear flashed by the petals and smashed against the inner bulb of the monster.

    -27

    -5

    -88 (Critical hit!)

    -5

    -5

    A string of damage numbers rose above the monster¡¯s head as it finally stopped burning and instead slowly turned a pale shade of white and blue as Seven¡¯s frostslowed its movements by 15%. Third¡¯s spear didn¡¯t have a disablingability but insteadcaused the monster to cry out in pain as it dealt a massive amount of damage in one go.

    -12

    -24 (Critical hit!)

    -12

    Third was dealing the most damage out of all the team except for TidalWave. Rift after rift formed within the flower¡¯s bulb as he waved his staff.

    -10

    Despite the size of his avatar he wasn¡¯t a stranger to dodging, the moment his attacks struck and the flower retaliated, he moved to the side to avoid as many of the spines as he could, summoning rifts into their paths when he could.

    -5

    -5

    The spines passed through the rifts and caused minor damage to the monster. Unfortunately, he missed most of the retaliatory spines because he couldn¡¯t match their speed, but even minor damage was good. By the time the spines passed through the rifts the ones within the flower¡¯s bulb disappeared and he was ready to start the cycle over again.

    -25

    Seven was blasted back a few steps as a stray root struck her. A single root had left her with only 4 HP. It was definitely a strong opponent. If they didn¡¯t have the ability to dodge, especially TidalWave, then their entire party would have probably wiped within a few seconds.

    +25

    She chugged down a potion immediately and shot back into the battle. At this point even if she landed a critical hit TidalWave was doing so much damage that the monster was almost completely focused on him.

    -57

    -63

    His damage was becoming increasingly insane as the creature¡¯s size and concentration of roots towards him allowed him to keep an uninterrupted combo up against the mob. His attacks were dealing chunks of its health bar with each hit.

    The flower seemed to perk up as it finally fell below a quarter of its maximum health. With another screech its petals opened up, leaving the bulb wide open, but at the same timeforming a barrier around its head that shimmered bright purple.

    -4

    -4

    -4

    Third, Archy and Seven suddenly found their attacks dealing less damage as they aimed for the head and they switched to the body.

    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s going to blow.¡± TidalWave warned them as the bright purple shield steadily grew in size and began pulsating.

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Third summoned another spear as he decided that using the last dregs of his mana would be worth it to make sure the creature died before it went off.

    -44

    -76

    TidalWave and Third¡¯s attacks brought the creature¡¯s health dangerously low but with their combined damage the flower finally exploded as the shield burst and a glowing beam formed from the bulb, ready to fire out and hit the closest enemy.

    TidalWave saw that it was too late to jump to the side and cursed. He only hopedthat the beam wouldn¡¯t have enough damage to kill him in one shot but it was a slim chance.

    Seven saw the beam charging and ran straight to the monster, dodging the roots as they attacked and lifting her wand to slam into the creature¡¯s side.

    ¡°Wind Blast!¡±

    TidalWave looked at her in surprise as the monster took minor damage andwas shifted by one foot to the side, causing its beam to fire and narrowly miss him. She breathed a sigh of relief but then realised that she hadn¡¯t killed the monster with her attack.

    -25

    A root struck her and she jumped back to avoid the other roots.

    TidalWave saw her health bar reaching critical levels but he wasn¡¯t close enough to attack the plant with his sword. Seven saw him hesitate as he tried to figure out what to do and she realised that she would probably die and respawn all the way back at the village. Instead, she saw him lift his sword and throw it like a spear towards the creature, just like he had done against Attracting during their duel.

    -153

    An insane damage figure floated above the monster¡¯s head and immediately the roots closing in on Seven turned to ash as it died. With a final screech of defiance, the flower exploded into purple light and ash, leaving behind a single blue glowing light in its place.

    [Player: TidalWave has slain the creature: Corrupted Magica Level 20. Congratulations you have slain a creature far above your level! You have gained +2000XP.]

    ¡°Whew.¡±

    All the party members burst into light as they levelled up at the same time. They had even gained extra experience for defeating an opponent well above their level. Seven saw her remaining 4HP and sighed. It had been a close call, but they had all made it out alive. She decided not to risk allowing it to heal back naturally over time and opted to eat one of the red mushrooms that they had foraged.

    ¡°Well then,¡± Archy stared greedily at the pile of plants that the Magica had been guarding and the blue light of the items it had left behind, ¡°let¡¯s see what we got shall we?¡±

 Chapter 9: Control

    [Player: Archy has picked up Red Allium x20]

    [Player: Archy has picked up Purple Allium x20]

    [Player: Archy has picked up Black-Eyed Susan x20]

    [Player: Archy has picked up Bugloss x20]

    [Player: Archy has picked up Calendula x20]

    ¡°Hehehe.¡± Archy practically drooled as he brought the plants over to them and distributed them, ¡°Check these out guys.¡±

    [Red Allium: An edible plant that tastes like blood. Consuming this plant will grant you +1 def for 15 minutes. Ability is stackable (Max of 20). Alchemy ingredient.]

    [Purple Allium: An edible plant that tastes like the number 3. Consuming this plant will confuse the eater for 15 minutes. Ability if amplifiable (Max of 20). Alchemy ingredient.]

    [Black Eyed Susan: A plant brimming with magic. You can smell a lovely scent coming from it. If you crush this flower it will attract monsters for 15 minutes. Monsters will have a more likely chance to ignore everything around them in orderto attack you for the flower. Alchemy ingredient.]

    [Bugloss: A delicate plant that can be found thriving in areas with high concentrations of magic. If you crush this flower it will extend theabilities of any other activated plant by 5 minutes. This will not increase the duration ofabilities that are not currently activated by the user. Alchemy ingredient.]

    [Calendula: A spicy treat for any adventurer. Add this plant to a hot meal for a nice surprise. Alchemy ingredient.]

    Seven received five of each from Archy and tried to eat the red allium because she was curious about the defense boost it gave.

    [You cannot consume this plant as you have not unlocked the defense stat.]

    ¡°Damn.¡± She muttered, ¡°We can¡¯t eat the red allium.¡±

    TidalWave laughed at her action and Third let out a chuckle, ¡°I should hope not. We would be much better using it to create a potion.¡±

    ¡°Yeah what¡¯s with this.¡± Archy eyed his plants like he wanted to make them turn into gold, ¡°We have all these ingredients from the forest but not a single alchemist.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± Third inspected the blue light on the ground that contained the items from killing the creature, ¡°We definitely need to go to the nearby city at some point. Let me just check the map¡­ it¡¯s called Lum.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll probably have the alchemist we need.¡± TidalWave agreed.

    ¡°Lum?¡± Seven hadn¡¯t heard of it, ¡°Is that what the capital¡¯s called?¡±

    ¡°The capital is Lux, it¡¯s still a bit further away. We¡¯ve been going pretty much around it since we entered the forest. I don¡¯t think Lum would be much smaller. The map has it listed as a city as opposed to town or village.¡± Third studied it studiously, ¡°We need to stock up on potions and get new gear as well.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s agreed. Let¡¯s go to Lum,¡± Archy hurriedly rushed them as he heard no opposition, ¡°Now let¡¯s check what dropped.¡±

    It turns out not much.

    [You have obtained high-quality healing potion x10, high-quality mana potion x10, you have obtained red mushroom x20, you have obtained blue mushroom x10. Gold x5]

    The healing potions were evenly distributed so that each player had 2, and the other two were left with TidalWave and Seven so that they had 3 each. As frontline fighters, they had risked a lot more damage being dealt to them and Seven had used up potions during the fight. She also received one of the leftover mana potions alongside Third.

    They split the money evenly, receiving one gold and twenty-five silver each. After all this adventuring Seven had around three gold, nearing on four.

    ¡°Damn plant barely dropped anything good.¡± Archy complained.

    Third disagreed, ¡°High-quality potions are hard to come by at this stage in the game.¡±

    [High-quality health potion: Heals consumer for 150 HP]

    [High-quality mana potion: Heals consumer for 150 MP]

    ¡°We definitely can¡¯t use these yet. It¡¯ll be a waste.¡± Seven¡¯s health and mana combined wouldn¡¯t be equal to one of these potions.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see if some rich person wants to buy them in Lum.¡± Archy had stopped pacing around thinking about the items and decided to lazily fire arrows into the air, ¡°Surely they¡¯re worth more for their rarity at the moment than they will be later. We might even be able to buy completely new gear with the cash.¡±

    ¡°That is something we¡¯ll have to discuss once we see what services are available at Lum,¡± Third waved his staff and caused Archy¡¯s arrows to change directions and fall around him, ¡°For now we should rest, and then go and completely ransack this forest for every ingredient we can find on the way to the city.¡±

    ¡°Before we do the quest?¡± Archy began to fire purposefully at Third¡¯s rifts and soon developed a fun game where a rift would form and he would try to fire at it before it disappeared, ¡°What if someone else gets to the treasure first?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably the best course of action.¡± TidalWave agreed with Third, ¡°We need to resupply since this treasure is clearly in the higher level zones. I also want to check a couple of things when we get into the city so I¡¯m happy to spend some time there.¡±

    He looked at Seven and she remembered how he¡¯d mentioned he wanted a tank on the team. After the last fight she could definitely see his point. From here on the monsters would only become higher level and as fighters that dealt damage they weren¡¯t designed to take too many hits before dying.

    ¡°We definitely need to get as much as we can.¡± She walked to the edge of the area and banged on a tree, ¡°but first I¡¯m going to practice trying to hit some leaves.¡±

    They spent the next few minutes relaxing and organising their thoughts and plans. The general consensus was simply, Archy and TidalWave would go and forage in the surrounding area while Seven and Third would map out the ingredient areas that were on the way to the city.

    They left quickly and soon she and Third were deep inside the forest. Luckily the party finder feature had their general directions relative to each other, but both groups had agreed to meet up back at the open area where they¡¯d fought the giant flower.

    [Corrupted Magica: Looks like a flower. Had white petals and a purple bulb. Was slightly smaller than me. Strong as hell.]

    Seven updated her journal as she walked and smashed her fist against trees to make them drop their leaves.

    So far she had a very good score of exactly zero leaves hit on purpose.

    They also fought dryads and treants along the way. Many dryads and treants.

    ¡®There¡¯s no end to them.¡¯ Seven complained as she levelled up again.

    They were good experience but it was annoying to fight them with just two people.

    Third went bending down on one knee trying to dig under the dirt to find any hidden plants, ¡°Seven the truth is that as well as getting away from that unstoppable walking megaphone -a serious concern of mine, I might add-, I also wanted to talk to you about something.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± She wondered what he could have to say to her, they had barely known each other for a few hours, no matter how fun those hours were, ¡°Shoot.¡±

    ¡°Do you know what ¡®control¡¯ is when it concerns magic?¡±

    ¡°I have absolutely no idea.¡± She shook her head.

    He held out his hand and offered a trade, ¡°Could I borrow your wand for a second?¡±

    She shrugged and handed him the wand. It wasn¡¯t as though they were going to be attacked whilst standing there.

    ¡°Observe.¡± He lifted the wand carefully towards a nearby tree.

    He fired a magic blast and Seven followed it with her eyes. It zoomed towards the tree and she squinted her eyes trying not to miss a single thing. To her it looked like it was a perfectly normal magic blast. The small ball of light with sparkled trailing behind it was going to smash directly into the middle of the tree. It was a nice shot but nothing out of the ordinary.

    Then it missed.

    ¡°What the hell was that!¡± She exclaimed.

    Correction. Then the magic blast, which was completely on the right path until that moment, did a complete ninety-degree turn and sped off into the woods. Without prompting or interference, as though it had a life of its own. The magic blast had changed its travel path.

    ¡°That,¡± Third passed her back the wand, ¡°Is what I mean when I say ¡®control¡¯.¡±

    ¡°You can change the direction of your basic attacks? It¡­ it¡¯s so simple. I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t think to do that.¡± She eyed his staff, ¡°Is this what you do when you summon your rifts?¡±

    ¡°Something similar.¡± He chuckled, ¡°I believe the skill itself is not considered by the system to be that common. The class I obtained was most likely given to me as an option because of my control over my magic attacks. I also received the class, Void Magi, for simply obtaining the void book I currently wield.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s so cool.¡± Seven could tell her eyes were probably twinkling at the moment as she thought of the possibilities, ¡°So if I learn this, I could arc every shot to hit weak spots like the flower¡¯s bulb from earlier?¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡± Third nodded enthusiastically, ¡°And of course I would teach you how to do precisely this. If you want me to.¡±

    ¡°Hell yes I do.¡± She grabbed her wand and fire a magic blast into the treeline, but even when she tried to make it turn she found that she couldn¡¯t even start.

    But she suddenly felt that maybe in this new power lay the key to defeating that attack that Attracting kept using. The mysterious light that he had fired during the duels he was losing. She brought her attention back to Third as she thought of the possibilities.

    ¡®What did he do?¡¯

    Third could read her expression as clear as day, ¡°I didn¡¯t focus on simply trying to move the magic blast with my mind. That would be too time-intensive and the concentration needed would probably be put to better use just firing more magic at the enemy. No, no, you have to think of a single point in the magic blast¡¯s flight path that will cause it to shift directions when reached.¡±

    ¡°A single point.¡± She hummed as she fired more magic blasts.

    Each one went completely straight.

    ¡°Perhaps it would be easier¡± Third tried to counsel her as they looked for more ingredients, ¡°If you imagine one of my rifts appearing. The basic concept is the same for both attacks. I was given the ability to summon rifts because they are what I was imagining when controlling my attacks, each one forms at the exact spot I place my concentration on. An attack designed to be perfect in terms of positioning.¡±

    ¡°An attack designed to be perfect in terms of positioning.¡± She repeated as though it would help her unlock the secret of controlling magic.

    ¡°Do not try to imagine the focus point after you have fired the magic blast. Try instead to imagine the point at which your attack will change directions, as well as which direction the shot will take, and then fire at that spot.¡±

    She tried to imagine a single point where she could cause the magic to shift directions.

    A perfectly round circle, possible of sending an attack in any direction. She could see it in her mind. Directly in front of the tree it hovered silently, just waiting for an attack to enter its range. She fired a magic blast directly at it...

    And watched as it flew straight and hit the tree harmlessly.

    ¡°Dang it.¡± She clutched her wand harder and whined.

    Third laughed at her attitude, ¡°We have a lot more time to practice. The next class advancement should be around level forty or fifty so until then we¡¯ll try to perfect this shot of yours. For now, we have the ingredients to find.¡±

    Blue and red mushrooms were the most common find. By the time they had walked their first fifteen minutes they knew they would probably have to start ditching the small fungi if they found too many. At least that would be Archy¡¯s problem.

    ¡°Dang!¡±

    Seven didn¡¯t stop practicing for a single second unless her mana ran out.

    ¡°Argh.¡±

    Every single one of her shots flew in a magnificent straight line.

    ¡°Umm.¡±

    They actually managed to pass the next hour picking ingredients and trying to work out how to form a single rift in her mind and inside the game. She had actually managed to form the image instantly within her mind but according to Third once she had actually managed to accomplish the task there would be a literal focus point in her vision, visible only to her.

    ¡°Can these¡­ focus points, be used to redirect enemy attacks?¡± Seven was curious.

    ¡°Perhaps.¡± Third¡¯s expression showed he had spent a great deal of time wandering about this, ¡°I would very much like to see if my rifts will one day be able to gain that power. They can already redirect objects such as leaves or even slightly shift an ally''s arrows but are not powerful enough to warp enemy player movements or arrows. I suspect that is done on purpose so that the rifts will not be overwhelmingly powerful.¡±

    Third spent the hour forming rifts near Seven so that she could see what a focus point looked like from his point of view. Apparently before he had gained his current class he had still imagined the rifts as they were, but instead had to direct magic blasts into them. He theorised that the system had decided that this was his actual true attack and so had provided him the means to use only focus points to attack, providing him the means to form them wherever he could see.

    Once they had begun to head back Seven tried to clear her mind completely.

    ¡®There is nothing but the rift. The rift is good. The rift is real. I am a rift master.¡¯

    She didn¡¯t have the courage to mutter these thoughts out loud.

    She looked forward and imagined a single transparent ball completely still and unmoving in the middle of the woods. She poured her entire mind and body into the task of concentrating, standing still and causing Third to halt as he watched her actions with interest. She closed her eyes at first, but then opened them and forced herself to believe that the ball was there. She couldn¡¯t tell whether the ball she was imagining was real or not, but she tried to believe with all her heart that it existed.

    Then she lifted her wand and fired.

    [You have unlocked the control stat. Current control: 0]

    The shot went straight into the focus point and then flew to the left as it passed through the transparent ball. It hadn¡¯t shifted where she had wanted it to, or even by a huge margin, but it had moved. A nearby treant was attracted as the shot missed the tree and smacked against its hide instead.

    ¡°Woo!¡± She celebrated with a fist bump to the air, ¡°I did it.¡±

    Third¡¯s expression was unreadable but then he broke out into a grin, ¡°Congratulations. I thought it would take a few days.¡±

    He struck down the treant and sighed as more came into view.

    ¡°I had a very good teacher.¡± She said honestly, by this time the monsters were just delicious experience walking towards her, ¡°Does this mean I have to shoot at the imaginary rifts every single time I want to change the direction of my shots?¡± That seemed like it would be practical against players, but probably not against mobs that would blindly go after her without hesitating about missed attacks.

    ¡°No,¡± Third was making sure to double-check all of the ingredient locations as they passed by them, ¡°By the time I was level 10 I could form the rifts after I had shot my magic blasts. But I have had similar experiences in other games so my head start was a lot more than yours. You don¡¯t have to rush to reach that level, I sincerely believe that if you want to improve greatly then you should practice your accuracy first, and then your control. If you were to perfect both then it would be a deadly combination.¡±

    Seven felt like she was on cloud nine but was confused by his reply, ¡°What do you mean? Isn¡¯t changing directions more important than accuracy? Or maybe just the same?¡±

    Third slowed down to explain his thoughts, ¡°Seven, I have seen you fighting and if I¡¯m being honest I think I have a decent grasp of your class¡¯s abilities and skills. Do you know what your class is designed to do?¡±

    ¡°Close combat.¡± She said without hesitation. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    She had thought long and hard about this when choosing the class and when fighting against various creatures such as the cave dragon and the monsters inside the wood. Her class, especially her wind blast ability, was best suited for close combat because she could deal damage whilst also ducking and weaving between attacks.

    Third looked at her closely.

    ¡°What?¡± She said defensively, ¡°Isn¡¯t it close combat?¡±

    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s one way of looking at it,¡± Third agreed hesitantly with her, ¡°And another way of thinking of it is that it is definitely not close combat.¡±

    ¡°Whatttt?¡± She was genuinely surprised at his words, but she was also willing to hear him out.

    He had a much better grasp of the game than she did at the moment.

    ¡°Tell me about your fighting style Seven,¡± Third moved alongside her and they began to make the last leg of the trip back to the meeting point, ¡°Why do you think that your class is designed for close combat?¡±

    Seven thought about her main abilities, ¡°Well, my highest damage ability is wind blast, but it has a short-range so can only really be used in close combat. My other ability is stone shift and that lets me move to the side a little bit faster and further than normal dodging would, which means that I can avoid taking damage in close combat. My final ability is ice bolt which deals damage and slows the enemy, allowing me to stay out of their range or run if I need to.¡±

    ¡°Is wind blast your highest damage ability? I would say your magic blast does more damage because you can shoot it a lot more times and at a rapid rate.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°I would also say that whilst windblast is a good ability, it is more useful for its knockback than its damage potential. Your stone shift is a good utility ability but is not designed to be used constantly or else you will quickly run out of mana. Your ice bolt is also better used further away from the target because if you are attacked and the ability is cancelled you won¡¯t be able to fight back. You would lose almost instantly in that situation.¡±

    Seven could see where he was coming from. In fact, she could see that he was making a lot of sense. A hell of a lot of sense.

    ¡°I would not say that your class is designed to fight in close range. Indeed, I¡¯d say your class is designed to stay out of close combat and punish those that try to bring you into it. You see, if someone attempts to stop you from attacking at mid-range or long-range then you could damage them when they try to get near and finally wind blast them for a lot of damage and a push back. You could also use stone shift to run back and gain space between you and your enemy rather than using it to dodge attacks from close range.¡±

    Third gave her a sympathetic look since he knew he was technically criticising her style of play, ¡°of course, knowing how to dodge is extremely important and will be invaluable during the game. No enemy will allow you to shower them with attacks without trying to get near you. You are lucky because your class is very versatile. Although I would say it is strongest in mid-range battles, it can also be very strong no matter how far away or close the enemy is.¡±

    ¡°I see, I see.¡± Seven was imagining the possibilities, ¡°but there¡¯s one thing I¡¯m confused about. Right now I can always hit my enemies because I dodge them when they¡¯re near me and they can¡¯t avoid the attack. If I¡¯m further away and I don¡¯t fight at close range and I¡¯m fighting a player, what¡¯s going to stop them from dodging my oncoming attack? Or what if I just keep missing. It¡¯s really hard to hit a moving target that isn¡¯t right next to you or is actively trying to avoid being hit. Won¡¯t I just end up at close range again.¡±

    ¡°What if,¡± Third summoned more rifts, ¡°they found that you were so accurate in your attacks that you could hit them no matter how far away they were, so they were forced to dodge every time. But then even if they changed their speeds to confuse you, or if they tried to change directions they find that you are still able to match them and continue to fire shots directly at them.

    ¡°Oh!¡±

    It sounded exactly like what the leaf training had been teaching her to do.

    If she could hit something as small as a leaf then she could definitely hit a person even if she was far away from them. The fact that the rifts had changed their directions was simply helping with dealing with this kind of situation.

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Third spoke as though he could read her thoughts, ¡°I also plan to ask yourself and Archy to slowly practice hitting leaves from further away. Once you¡¯ve gotten the hand of hitting leaves from a faraway position, then you will also be able to hit either mobs or players from a far off distance as well. You two would be nearly unstoppable, nearly, but not completely.¡±

    Third continued as she began to piece his strategy together, ¡°So we come to the next part of your attacking strategy. What if your attacks could change directions? When you missed it wouldn¡¯t be an issue, just an opportunity, because the moment the other player ignored the attack they think won¡¯t hit them, it can come back to damage them when they least expect it. You would not only have the advantage of absolute accuracy by firing at them from your position. But eventually, it could be conceived that you will be able to attack and hit them from every angle you can think of. All from the safety of your long or mid-range position, unassailable because of your heavy damage skills that allow you to keep your distance from the enemy.¡±

    He hummed, ¡°In other words Seven. As an opponent, you would be absolutely terrifying.¡±

    At that moment Seven could see what he saw in her. A split-second image of a person firing magic blast after magic blast. If there was something blocking the injured enemy, she could fire into the air above and make the magic blast come back down onto the target. If she missed she would simply change the direction to hit the enemy. And she would never miss because she had the accuracy to hit something as small as a leaf from far away.

    She could see her potential.

    ¡°B-but that¡¯s impossible.¡± She stammered, ¡°How would I practice to get those techniques? I get that I can hit the leaves accurately. I will give you that. Because if Archy can do it then it isn¡¯t impossible. But how would I be able to make myself aim accurately even when I¡¯m changing the direction of my attacks? That would be insane! It¡¯s completely beyond me.¡±

    ¡°Nothing is completely impossible. You simply need to practice, and you need time.¡± Third looked at her expressionlessly, he hadn¡¯t liked the way she had simply denied her own skill.

    He had seen how quickly she was improving.

    ¡°Do you like practicing Seven? You sure do a lot of it.¡±

    In fact, she hadn¡¯t stopped since they¡¯d met. She had been dodging with TidalWave instructing as they fought mobs, and she had banged almost every tree on the way to fire at the leaves. Even the past hour she¡¯d been focusing almost purely on learning how to learn to control her magic.

    She had even succeeded.

    ¡°Yep.¡± She nodded at him, wondering where he was going with this.

    ¡°Then with your permission we will add a couple of new types of training to your schedule.¡± Third pointed to a newly formed rift, ¡°First of all, we need to practice your control and accuracy, however, there is no reason we cannot do both from the beginning. Whenever we hit leaves we will do a simple exercise. You will form a focus point before the tree is hit, I will continue to form rifts that cause the leaves to change direction and you will continue to try and hit the leaves as per the usual routine. But,¡± He turned to face her and she could see he was deadly serious, ¡°You will aim at first to hit the leaves from a close range. Then you will try to hit them at the same range by changing the direction of your magic blasts to hit them through your focus points. We will do this until you can hit all of them, perhaps it will take time but I believe you can do it.¡±

    ¡°And then?¡± She barely flinched as she heard the harsh conditions of his training.

    She couldn¡¯t hit a single leaf yet, let alone try to hit it using a focus point while it was being blown around by one of Third¡¯s rifts. She could hit the treants easily enough as they popped up to kill her, and she took satisfaction in that.

    ¡°And then we will work slowly. We will move further away from the leaves until you can hit them from long range. We will practice until you can hit all of them with your magic blasts, then we will train until you can hit all of them with your magic blasts changing direction. We will make sure that even if you miss you will have the ability to control your shots so that you can instantly direct them to hit the target you missed. You will fail, over and over again you will fail. There is no doubt about that. But eventually, you will find that you have passed all the others around you. That is the beauty of having the class that you do.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ that is a lot of work. Talent would be meaningless, only hard work can get you to that state. It would be much easier to simply play as you have been. You are already incredibly strong, the system would not have gifted you a rare class if you were not.¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Seven said and she could see Third visibly deflating, ¡°I mean, yes. I do want to train.¡± She could see him perk up, ¡°I don¡¯t want to continue to play the way I am, not if I¡¯ve got a way to become better right here. Hard work? Ha.¡± She laughed dryly, ¡°Everything you¡¯ve said makes perfect sense to me Third. And I thank you for it.¡±

    She became quiet as they finally reached the meeting point and sat down to wait for TidalWave and Archy. They had slain so many dryads along the way that between them and Third¡¯s ideas she had hardly noticed the journey.

    ¡°Will you put up with me for that long?¡± She asked simply, ¡°It could be a long time before I even show the slightest result.¡±

    ¡°I have no idea.¡± He stated bluntly, ¡°But I do find it interesting. Besides,¡± a slight smile tugged at the edges of his lip, ¡°You have a master of close combat, an archer that has amazing accuracy and a person that has already learned the basics of controlling magic in your team.¡± his eyes sparkled, ¡°I would like to see what we all become, once we have learned from each other.¡±

    ¡°Sounds exciting.¡± TidalWave¡¯s voice floated through the treeline and soon the other duo of the team appeared.

    Archy plodded along with a hand full of mushrooms, ¡°Can¡¯t even carry all the damn things. Did you guys find anything good?¡±

    Third nodded and listed off the ingredients they¡¯d found. They could live with less blue and red mushrooms but the beans and flowers were invaluable.

    ¡°Speaking of learning from each other.¡± TidalWave sat down by a tree and began to sort through the items he¡¯d placed in his inventory to pass them equally onto Seven and Third, ¡°We need to add a couple of members to our team if we want to go deeper into this forest. I¡¯m thinking about a tank and a priest.¡±

    Seven remembered the Magica they¡¯d fought, ¡°Yeah that flower thing from before could have wiped the floor with me in a couple of shots.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re really squishy.¡± Archy agreed to with her, to her surprise, ¡°I couldn¡¯t take too many shots from that thing either. We need someone that¡¯ll attract the attacks and be able to survive them. I don¡¯t think zippy over here,¡± he poked TidalWave who swatted his hand away, ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll be able to dodge every attack forever and if he can focus on just attacking instead of dodging and attacking he can probably do insane amounts of damage.¡±

    ¡°And even if we do get hit we still need to heal. We can probably survive on potions and mushrooms for a while but once the monsters grow too high level that¡¯ll become impractical.¡±

    Third could see TidalWave thinking intently on the problem, ¡°While we¡¯re partaking of this subject, I have a couple of ideas on how we can procure a priest easily.¡±

    ¡°Oh really?¡± Seven was delighted as he delivered the news, ¡°What have you got in mind?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll simply place a post on the online forums for both players. We are on the vast continent of Zhalnor where priests of Verm can prosper and grow with ease. It would not be a stretch to state that out of all the classes present around us they hold the greatest growth potential. Finding a high-level priest in one of the continent¡¯s major cities will not be difficult. However, finding a tank is a different matter entirely. We will require the aid of a tank and a priest-¡±

    ¡°Or even a priest tank¡± Archy interjected cheekily.

    ¡°Yet there are no tank classes within the five primary classes. If we were to find an ordinary priest easily then contrary to that it can be said that there are no ordinary tanks in the game at the moment. There are only those that received it as a rare class.¡±

    ¡°Oh right.¡± Seven tilted her head, ¡°Why is that?¡±

    She recalled that one of the beginner items she had been offered by Barnacle when first arriving in Torkay had been a shield.

    She hadn¡¯t questioned it before but considering there was a warrior class surely there should also be a tank class.

    ¡°It is most likely a class which will only become common in the second class advancement.¡± Third explained to her, ¡°Right now the system is still attempting to generate classes based on player¡¯s playstyles. If someone truly dedicated themselves to playing as a tank and only played as one somehow before receiving their first class, then they would receive a rare class with tanking abilities. However, that is not too likely because tanks do not often have the best reputation, or the most fun, or the easiest time of things. Their lack of damage usually also results in them being left out for loot drops in games that rely on teamwork. Once we find a tank it is likely they may make extreme conditions for us to fulfill to keep them on the team.¡±

    ¡°Basically even if we find someone they¡¯ll still be extremely skilled and likely to be cocky.¡± Archy surmised the situation with a whistle, ¡°So I get that we can post on the forums and honestly there should be some sort of recruitment service or message board in the city but¡­ what do we do to convince someone to join us? I mean, we¡¯re not exactly loaded, and I¡¯m sure other people are asking for them too so we post a request and¡­. Then what?

    ¡°And then we start dueling in the middle of the city until they arrive.¡±

    ¡°W-what?¡± Third spluttered as TidalWave brought up the suggestion.

    ¡°We fight each other until the potential tank arrives and then we continue to fight for a bit.¡±

    ¡°Have you two traded places? Third had to check that Archy wasn¡¯t hiding behind his teammate and pretending to put words in his mouth. He hadn¡¯t expected such an outrageous proposal to come from TidalWave, ¡°This is the sort of attention-seeking behaviour I expected from that primed firework by the tree.¡±

    ¡°Ha.¡± TidalWave let out an amused laugh before covering it up with a cough, ¡°I believe that individually as players we are a pretty skilled team. Does anyone object to that?¡±

    They shook their heads. Seven and Third were well aware of how skilled the other teammates were, Archy was confident in himself and had been beaten by TidalWave, so none of them had any qualms with his assessment.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m thinking that if we go to the local arena, or even if we¡¯re allowed to fight on the street then we can ask our prospects to meet us there. When they arrive we will be dueling. There will generally be only four types, those that don¡¯t want to join us after seeing how skilled we play, those that want to join us but only because they feel that we can carry them, and those that are skilled and interested in playing with us for fun.¡±

    ¡°Ohh.¡± Seven nodded.

    ¡°What¡¯s the fourth category?¡± Archy raised an eyebrow at TidalWave.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯re not the greatest players out there. The fourth category is the people so skilled that they think we¡¯re below them. They may still try to party with us but might offer extreme conditions if they do. Oh, and if we can bring the potential teammates to watch us duel, I¡¯d also like you to invite Attracting if you can.¡± He said to Seven.

    ¡°Attracting?¡± Seven frowned, she didn¡¯t know if he would even be able to get to Lum, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°I think that guy is hiding some sort of ability.¡± TidalWave was deadly serious as he explained, ¡°I don¡¯t know what it could be but think he must have some sort of way to tell the skill or ability of a person. Not in-game skills, I mean how good of a player the system has judged a person to be.¡±

    Seven¡¯s eyes began to twinkle as she caught onto this plan, ¡°Because he fought against you three despite never having seen you before. He definitely has a way of picking out talented people. You think that if he reacts to the potential tank or priest¡­¡±

    ¡°That we will be able to make use of his ability to check if the player is skilled.¡± TidalWave smiled as the entire team caught onto his train of thinking.

    ¡°I can definitely help with that. I can probably call him over saying that you guys are fighting and I want my friends to check you guys out.¡±

    She¡¯s been meaning to get IEatTortillas opinion on TidalWave¡¯s skills for a while now. She was intensely curious about which one would win in a fight. She knew her friend had also been dying to see who she was partying with.

    ¡®Another skilled player or two in our team? Yes please.¡¯ Seven was excited at the prospect.

    Archy looked convinced. He didn¡¯t need much prompting to show off.

    Then Third sent them all a message that made their eyes widen, it contained all the information they¡¯d given him about their stats and abilities.

    ¡°I¡¯ve compiled a list of our information to put on the forums. Anyone that provides proof of their stats and class as either a tank or priest can have access to them. Let me know if there¡¯s anything you want to keep hidden from everyone except teammates.¡±

    Third: level 20

    Health: 44

    Mana: 58

    Vitality: 22 (+8)

    Strength: 10

    Intelligence: 33 (+10)

    Wisdom: 23 (+7)

    Control: 13

    Glut Racial Trait: It is easier to make friends with different species.

    Class Passive:

    Wizard of the Void Passive: Detached from the element the Wizard of the Void suffers 15% less damage from the elements.

    Wizard of the Void Passive 2: gain 2 control and 1 intelligence per 5 levels

    Wizard of the Void Passive 3: Hidden.

    Equipment:

    Wizard¡¯s staff: +3 INT

    Wizard¡¯s hat: +2 WIS

    Wizard¡¯s robe: +2 INT, +2 WIS

    Void Book V: +8 VIT, +5 INT, +3 WIS

    Skills:

    Call of the void: Summon the void in the location of your choosing. The void will warp its surroundings and deal 5+(one-quarter of Intelligence [6]) damage to any living creature it is summoned onto. If an enemy attack passes through the call of the void, it redirects 50% of the attack''s damage back to the enemy. 1-second cooldown. Costs 1 mana.

    Invisibility: Become invisible to the naked eye for 3 seconds. You can still be hit by physical and magical attacks. Cannot attack while invisible or invisibility will break. 1-minute cooldown. Costs 20 mana.

    Void spear: Summons a spear from within the void itself to fire at an enemy dealing 15+(intelligence) damage to the enemy it pierces. 15-second cooldown. Costs 20 mana.

    Archy: level 20

    Health: 43 (+7)

    Mana: 20

    Vitality: 18

    Strength: 22 (+5)

    Intelligence: 10

    Wisdom: 10

    Dexterity: 14 (+3)

    Wood Elf Racial Trait: Accuracy is increased by 10%.

    Class Passive:

    Fire Archer passive: Basic attacks gain a 5% chance to activate a burn status dealing 5 damage every second, burn lasts 6 seconds.

    Fire Archer passive 2: Gain 2 dexterity per 5 levels.

    Dexterity: Aids in hand to eye coordination, agility, reflexes, and balance.

    Equipment:

    Fire Archer Bow (Sealed): +3 Dexterity, +5 strength

    Basic greaves: +2 HP

    Basic Chestplate Armour: +3 HP

    Basic Boots: Movement speed +2.5%.

    Basic Helmet: +2 HP.

    Skills:

    Basic arrow attack: deals 10+(half Strength) damage.

    Flame Arrow: Adds +10 fire damage to the next basic attack. The attack has a 10% chance to apply 5 burn damage on the enemy for 6 seconds.

    Flame Body: Cover your body with the flames of your life force, enhancing your body movements and momentum by 20% for 5 seconds. If enemies are within touching distance of player upon activation they take 5 fixed damage. Costs 15 mana. 30 Second Cooldown.

    TidalWave: level 20

    Health: 53 (+5)

    Mana: 20

    Vitality: 24

    Strength: 31

    Intelligence: 10

    Wisdom: 10

    Merther racial trait: Use your inner magic to hone in on an enemy and throw your weapon at them to deal x2 piercing damage. Weapon thrown will not be usable until picked up again.

    Class Passive:

    Reaper passive: For each successive uninterrupted attack deal x1.1 the damage of the previous (cap at x5 damage).

    Reaper Passive 2: Gain 3 strength and 1 vitality per 5 levels.

    Equipment:

    Basic Chestplate Armour: +3 HP.

    Basic Boots: Movement speed +2.5%.

    Basic Helmet: +2 HP.

    Skills:

    Don¡¯t fear the reaper: When suffering fatal damage survive the killing blow with 1 health point. 30-minute cooldown.

    Reaper¡¯s fury: Deal 7 and double your (Strength) as damage in a cone 5 feet in diameter. There is a chance the skill may pass through enemies to also hit those behind them. 20-second cooldown.

    Shadow Dance: Passively doubles base movement speed. When activated the skill is activated the bonus doubles for 5 seconds and the target becomes untouchable by physical damage for one second. May still be targeted and damaged by magic. 1-minute cooldown.

    Seven: level 20

    Health: 33 (+3)

    Mana: 56

    Vitality: 15

    Strength: 10

    Intelligence: 28 (+4)

    Wisdom: 19

    Dodge: 8

    Control: 0

    Elf racial trait: Gain 1 intelligence per 5 levels.

    Class passive:

    Nimble Mage passive: Gain 1 intelligence and 2 dodge per 5 levels.

    Dodge: Makes movement during battle easier. It provides a small possibility that enemy attacks will miss.

    Equipment:

    Basic Chestplate Armour: +3 HP.

    Crystal Dagger (Green): Intelligence: +4, Increases casting speed by 5%

    Skills:

    Magic Blast: Deals ? Intelligence in damage.

    Wind Blast: Deal 5+(Intelligence) as damage and push away a targeted enemy 1 foot (Enemy must be within 5 feet of you). Cost: 7 mana. 5-second cooldown.

    Stone shift: The ground below will move you according to the predetermined path you think of up to a radius of 2 feet. Cost: 5 mana. 2-second cooldown.

    Ice Bolt: Deal 3+(Intelligence) as damage and slow the movement of enemies hit by 15% for 5 seconds. Cost: 10 mana. Cooldown: 13 seconds.

    It was interesting to see all of their classes and stats finally laid out.

    ¡°Man our equipment sucks balls.¡± Archy was looking intently at their items, ¡°We should go buy some better stuff.¡±

    ¡°Ha..¡± Third let out a dry laugh, ¡°I think we¡¯ll be able to do that tomorrow once we enter the city. We can definitely get in some good practice while waiting for players to respond. Let¡¯s buy some gear first and then arrange the meetup. Or arrange it with enough time for us to buy what we¡¯ll need for our trip. I also wish to peruse the city for alchemists and see if we can have our ingredients used to make potions.¡±

    They each decided to log off and meet up the next day.

    Seven wondered what kind of team members they would attract.

 Chapter 10: Magi Guild of Lum

    Seven didn''t feel surprised when she saw that she was the first of the team to log in. She had come in a few hours before the others had agreed to meet up with each other. She immediately eyed the trees around her and lifted her curled fist to the nearest one.

    *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

    She shot magic blast after magic blast trying to hit the leaves that fell. Third wasn¡¯t here to move them around with his rifts but she knew that she could still practice well even without him. Of course, she didn¡¯t stand right next to the leaves, there would be no point in that.

    She started from a distance of a few feet away. Something that she could reasonably consider the edge of close range. She missed leaf after leaf for various reasons and slowly became more frustrated as she did.

    Mistiming the speed at which the leaves were falling.

    Hitting the same general area but above or below the leaves.

    Finally hitting the right spot but slightly to the left or right or the leaf.

    A slight tremble causing her to miss as she tried to keep her hand steady.

    She wrote every problem she encountered in the journal feature. She separated themfrom the monster entries she had been jotting down.

    She spent the first hour trying to work out what her issues were, then she spent the second hour trying to correct them. She was still missing every shot, but she could tell that she would soon hit her targets if she kept improving at the rate she was. She was already shooting easily into an area the size of a rabbit. Right now it took her too much time to estimate the travelling speed and area the leaf would fall to. By the time shefired her first shot to hit one leaf, all the others fell to the ground immediately after.

    She needed to improve on that as well.

    In the third hour she finally managed to get the timing down with enough time to fire another shot at the falling leaves before they hit the ground. After the third hour she tried a different kind ofpractice. She concentrated and summoned the transparent, ball-shaped focus point halfway between herself and the leaves. Then she began her routine again, except that she would fire a magic blast into the focus point and then another into the air. She wasn¡¯t trying to hit anything on purpose by firing into the focus point, she just wanted to see how she could shift the direction of the attacks. True mastery of aiming and firing with it would take much more practice, let alone summoning the focus pointaftershe had made the attack.

    The fourth hour finally brought another breakthrough as she fired five shots before the leaves fell onto the ground. It wasn¡¯t simply that she was firing more rapidly and skipping the fundamentals, she genuinely felt that she had a good enough grasp of their timing that she could risk firing at one leaf and moving onto the next. Of course, at the moment the magic blasts that were going through the focus points were all duds that she didn¡¯t even try to hit leaves with. But she noticed that the angle at which she could divert her attacks was growing.

    She still hadn¡¯t hit a leaf yet.

    ¡®Damn my hand moved again.¡¯ She cursed at herself as she misfired again.

    At this point, her shots were just barely missing some leaves. If this had been the rabbit or even the gap between the flower monster¡¯s petals she was sure that she could hit it. Okay, maybe not the petal gap, but she knew that she was improving by the hour.

    *BANG*

    She moved away from the tree as its leaves fell and drew her wand steadily towards the falling leaves.

    Timing.

    Fire. Miss.

    Speed.

    Fire. Miss.

    Change direction.

    Fire. Miss

    Go for a normal shot.

    Fire. Hit.

    ¡°What?¡± She looked at the smouldering leaf that had been lit by her magic, ¡°I hit it? I HIT IT.¡±

    She jumped around joy as the burnt leaf fell onto the ground. It had taken her hours and hours but she had finally hit a single leaf. It was only one, and Third hadn¡¯t been manipulating it, but she had still hit it.

    ¡°What did you do?¡± TidalWave appeared near her as she was celebrating and she gave out a strangled yelp.

    He had seen something embarrassing.

    ¡°Oh.¡± He walked down to the tree where a huge bundle of leaves hadgathered.

    If they didn''t pick the leaves up they disappeared, but she had been practicing so much that the pile had grown rather than shrunk. He spotted the single burnt leaf and smiled, picking it up.

    ¡°Hey, congratulations.¡± He passed her the leaf. ¡°Keep this as a memento of a job well done.¡±

    [You have received the item: Leaf (damaged)]

    Seven hesitated but keptthe leaf.

    ¡®It took me so long to hit one of the things.¡¯ She looked down at the leaf with a passion.

    If the leaf had been alive it would have trembled in fear at the look she gave it.

    ¡°So,¡± TidalWave looked at her cheekily, ¡°Are you going to stop at one?¡±

    ¡°Heck no.¡± She pointed at the tree with her wand. ¡°Hit that bastard up.¡±

    *BANG*

    They went through more leaves methodically. Now that she had a taste for blood she wasn¡¯t going to let a single one of them live.

    Except she still missed almost every single leaf.

    It turns out that hitting something once is easy but because she moved, even if it was a slight amount, she was firing from different distances, angles and had to time every shot accurately. She hadn¡¯t hit two leaves from the same batch yet, but her direction control was improving as she shot some shots through the focus point.

    [You have picked up the item: leaf (damaged)]

    She even hit the occasional leaf which was a major improvement. She felt more satisfaction hitting the second leaf than she had the first one and she began to keep every single leaf that she shot. She knew it wouldn¡¯t be possible to keep them all later on when she started tohit them consistently but they weighed next to nothing so she could probably hold ten thousand of them and still not have any trouble with her inventory. It was more of a joke weight than anything.

    She had around four.

    A few minutes later Archy logged on and joined in on the fun. He began a leaf massacre and Seven sat down to bang at the trees to create more leaves for him to fire at. Now that she¡¯d been trying the same thing for hours she realised how amazing his ability to hit the tiny targets at all distances and angles was. He didn¡¯t miss a single leaf and she tried to watch his attacks to see if she could pick out the techniques he was using. Unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t really gain any information because the way he fired his bow and the speed of his arrows were too different from the way her magic attacks worked.

    Suddenly a figure logged in near them and flourished his robe grandly. ¡°I arrive with good news.¡±

    ¡°A tank and a priest?¡± Seven asked hopefully as Third rushed towards them.

    They had agreed that since tanks were so rare they would accept any of them, however, because priests were so prevalent they would prefer them to be over level 18 so that there wouldn¡¯t be a big disparity between party members.

    ¡°No priest.¡± Third said and his smile faltered slightly, but then came back strong, ¡°But two tanks applied for positions after seeing our stats. Both are high levelled and will meet with us in Lum in a couple of hours. They actuallycome as a party which is a surprise, so we¡¯ll have to convince them both to come with us or neither will.¡±

    He gathered them together and showed them the stats they had given him. They¡¯d agreed to release their stats to everyone in the post because they didn¡¯t mind others seeing their levels and equipment.After all, out of all the players in Zodiac Online, only the smallest fraction would be in their area.

    In return, Third had asked all applicants to take a screenshot inside the game to prove they really had the stats they claimed to have. This was to avoid joke applicants that would claim to have interest but then never show up or would have lied about their abilities. According to Third, evenif they were high level enough if their party started with a lie then it wouldn¡¯t end well.

    Spark Joy: Level 20

    Health: 104 (+40)

    Mana: 20

    Vitality: 32

    Strength: 15 (+10)

    Intelligence: 10

    Wisdom: 10

    Defense: 42 (+28)

    Iron Lizard racial trait: Gain 1 vitality and 1 defense per 5 levels.

    Defense stat: Your proficiency with armour and shields increases, allowing for swifter and more fluid movements when wearing heavy armour and wielding heavy shields. Small chance to defend completely against physical attacks.

    Class passive:

    Iron Guardian passive: Gain 3 vitality and 2 def every 5 levels.

    Iron Guardian passive 2: 5% Chance to block half the damage of a physical attack when wielding a heavy shield.

    Iron Guardian passive 3: 2% Chance to block a magical attack.

    Equipment:

    Iron Chain Sickle: +10 STR, +2 DEF

    Shield of the Iron Guardian: +20 DEF, +15HP

    Heavy Steel chest armour: +15 HP, +2 DEF

    Steel greaves: +10 HP

    Iron gloves: +4 DEF

    Skills:

    Basic attack (Iron Chain sickle): Deal 5+(Strength) damage. 6-foot radius of attack.

    Ground Pound: Deal 10+(Defense + Strength). Cooldown 1 minute.

    Sickle Drag: Throw your sickle out towards a target. If the weapon makes contact, the target is incapacitated and dragged within one foot of your location. Cost: 5 Mana.

    Shield Defense: When using your shield to defend against an attack take 50%, 30% and 10% less damage from light, medium, and heavy attacks respectively.

    Roxxy: level 20

    Health: 86 (+34)

    Mana: 20

    Vitality: 26 Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    Strength: 23 (+8)

    Intelligence: 10

    Wisdom: 10

    Defence: 12 (+7)

    Earth elf racial trait: Gain 1 vitality per 5 levels.

    Class passive:

    Shield Warrior passive: Gain 1 def per 5 levels.

    Defense stat: Your proficiency with armour and shields increases, allowing for swifter and more fluid movements when wearing heavy armour and wielding heavy shields. Small chance to defend completely against physical attacks.

    Equipment:

    Sharp sword: +8 STR

    Steel buckler: +10 HP, +5 DEF

    Steel chest armour: +10 HP, +2 DEF

    Steel greaves: +10 HP

    Steel gloves: +4 HP

    Skills:

    Basic Attack (Sharp Sword): 10+(Strength) damage.

    Shield block: When using your shield to block an attack take 30%, 15%, and 5% less damage from light, medium, and heavy attack respectively.

    Shield Throw: Throw your shield at an enemy to stun them for 1 second and interrupt their attack. The thrown shield will return upon attack completion.

    ¡°Hot damn.¡± Archy eyeballed their stats, ¡°I thought it¡¯d be harder to find tanks this early in the game?¡±

    Third nodded, ¡°I too am surprised. Apparently there are no priests that meet our criteria either. They are eithertoo far below our level or in a party already. It appears that not many players have made it into lum without already joining a group.¡±

    ¡°With these two we might not need a priest immediately,¡± TidalWave looked impressed, ¡°Especially since they¡¯re two different types of tanks. It looks like this Roxxy person can deal damage and disable enemies from afar. Even if it¡¯s just for a second if she can interrupt one of their deadly skills it could save usa lot of trouble.¡±

    Seven stared at the first tank¡¯s stats intently. ¡°Spark Joy is insane. It¡¯s like the opposite of you TidalWave; they can¡¯t deal a ton of damage but look at how little damage they take and how much health they have. The sheer amount of health and defense is crazy and I don¡¯t even know what defense does, really.¡±

    ¡°What do you think a medium and heavy hit is?¡± Archy switched to where Seven was.

    ¡°I would say that we haven¡¯t encountered anything like a heavy hit so far.¡± TidalWave thought about the corrupted magica and treants, ¡°But the treants and flower monster were probably dealing medium hits.¡±

    ¡°So for each hit that dealt twenty-five damage she would have taken seventeen damage or so?¡± Seven exclaimed, ¡°That¡¯s insane, I was almost dead from a single hit and this person could probably take¡­¡± She did the math in her head, ¡°like five or six hits without dodging, healing or anything?¡±

    ¡°They made it to Lum with only two party members,¡± Both his potential teammates and the analysis of his current ones impressed Third, ¡°they¡¯re undoubtedly an extremely strong duo, but now it¡¯s our job to convince them that we¡¯d be a good fit for them.¡±

    ¡°I think we should be perfectly transparent about the quest once they turn up.¡± Seven spoke up. ¡°If they know what kind of thing they¡¯re in for, it might entice them enough to join us straight away.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Archy agreed with her. ¡°And if we invite them to see us fighting in the arena, we can show them what kind ofpeople their teammates are. I was thinking about that, actually.¡±

    ¡°You were thinking?¡± Third commented wryly.

    Archy completely ignored him. ¡°I think it should be TidalWave and I fighting against each other. We¡¯re a lot flashier but I think we also have more obvious skills compared to Tubs and Seven.¡± He began to smile as he saw Third bristling at his insult, ¡°Also this guy pisses me off and if they¡¯re anything like me, they¡¯d rather have Seven around. She¡¯s pretty chill and doesn¡¯t sound like a cat swallowed a newspaper critic. So you two can be our negotiators while we,¡± he pointed at TidalWave, ¡°shoot arrows accurately and dodge each other like crazy.¡±

    They all took a moment to marvel at the fact that Archy had somehow come up with such a delicate and thought out plan.

    ¡°We aren¡¯t going to fake it. I want to make use of every moment.¡± TidalWavestated simply.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t think of doing it any other way.¡±

    ¡°When are they coming?¡± Seven asked Third after seeing that everybody was up to date with the plan.

    ¡°It should be an hour and a bit. They¡¯ll send me a private message when they arrive so we can find a suitable meeting place. I did a bit of research and every city should have an arena that can be used toduel. You can even change the environment inside the arena but it will cost money. The amount differs depending on your city and the environment you want them to change the arena into.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s head in and get our stuff.¡± Archy began to walk towards the city.

    The moment they walked through the city gates they spread out and agreed to message each other if they found anything they thought the others would need. Third went immediately to find the arena and Archy and TidalWave went to find the armour and weapon shops.

    Seven admired the architecture and design of the sprawling city while she searched for the magi guild. She hoped that they would have either better equipment for her or Third, or that they could teach her new skills.

    The city of Lum was the very definition of luxury. Hidden inside its high walls was a myriad of colours and people of all races. It was almost mind-boggling to her that about ninety-nine percent of the population were NPCs.

    Elves, lizardfolk, dwarves, and humans were spread out across the buildings and roads, arguing and bartering with each other or going about their own business. Each major section of the city she passed also had the occasional city guard that was level 100 guarding against anyone wanting to do harm. Rarely a player passed by her and eyed her. They had mostly hidden their levels which they had doneby turning off the feature in the game settings that displayed their level next to their name. Seven had turned off this feature early into the game and spotted the occasional level seventeen or eighteen. Not everybody went around fighting treants and dryads non-stop, nor did they fight magical creatures far above their levels.

    She had another purpose to be going slowly through the city.

    She had messaged IEatTortillas in real life before logging in and asked if she was in Lum with Attracting so they could meet up.

    Her friends were actually already in the city and would meet up with her when she wanted. She saw IEatTortillas was online and messaged him. They agreed to meet up in an hour in the arena. Now she just had to wait for Third to find it and everything would be perfect.

    She really wanted to invite her friends to play with her but unfortunately, they couldn''t allow Attracting to know about the quest or else it would cancel. She was planning to tell IEatTortillas when they were alone because she didn¡¯t really want to leave her friend out.

    She would apologise to Attracting after.

    She soon noticed a startling uniform flag being displayed from every building in some form. A plain white sheet with a brown etching of an eye in the middle of it. She could see the same signon the white uniforms of the priests and all the guards sported it on their armour. It was the symbol of Verm, the god of light.

    Because Lum was one of the major cities in Zhalnorthe Church of Verm completely ruled it. The church had a firm hold on the supplies, military, and politics of the city and despite the alarm this would cause in the real world, the city seemed even more peacefulbecause of it. The church defended the citizens from danger and in returnthey hung the symbol of Verm from their buildings to show their devotion and loyalty.

    In the middle of the city was a gigantic cathedral belonging to the church, although she wasn¡¯t nearby Seven could still see it arching above all the other buildings. When the team had told herthat they¡¯d get a priest she had researched the class a bit.She''d found that these cathedrals were the main reason priests were so prevalent on the continent. Normal players could purchase special armour if they did quests for the church or even earn favour, rank or title within the theocracy. But from the beginning priests could gain major blessings from these cathedrals that could last anything from a day to a week depending on how much influence they had with the church.

    Strength, health and even increases in healing ability were available to the priests that followed the path of Verm. It wouldn¡¯t take long for the cathedrals to become major hotspots for all players. Although no player had been there yet there were already whispers online that the capital of Zhalnor, Lux, could grant even greater benefits to priests.

    It was truly a continent built for this class in particular.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t completely unfair to other classes. If you joined the army of Verm then you would also gain benefits. It was also far easier for warriors to become paladins in this continent compared to Kyrgios. Paladins of Verm would also gain benefits from the church but because there were no paladins yet nobody knew what those benefits were.

    It was the oppositeinside the other continents. She didn¡¯t know what classes the Underground gave benefits to but the Kyrgios continent worshipped the god of war, Varsha. Warriors could go to the warrior temples and gain benefits to their fighting abilities. It was said that there would be a wider variety of warrior and archer classes stemming from that continent as well. Unfortunately, as a result, the priests and magicians of the continent suffered from a lack of distinct advantages. But the continent didn''t disadvantage themeither.

    Seven moved towards one of the bigger buildings in the area. She guessed that it had something to do with magic due to the giant statue of a wand and staff that formed an upside-down V-shape as they clashed with each other.

    She walked in through a beautiful rose-red revolving glass door and found herself facing a smiling attendant.

    ¡°Well now, this is a new face.¡± The attendant moved out of the way and gave her a small bow as she walked next to him, ¡°Welcome to the Magi Guild of Lum. May I inquire as to the purpose of your visit?¡±

    Seven gave him a warm smile. ¡°I¡¯m looking to buy some equipment that might suit me. As for anything else¡­¡± She thought that it might be better to wait until she came with Third, ¡°I believe I¡¯ll raincheck on that for now.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± The attendant brought her to a counter and then moved behind it. ¡°A skilled magi such as yourselfdeserves only the finest equipment.¡± He brought out a few items and a prompt opened up for her to shop.

    Even after killing enough dryads and treants to get to level 20 she only had seven gold and sixty silver on her. She also didn¡¯t know what else she might want to buy since she had enough red and blue mushrooms to last her a while, but something new might pop up.

    ¡®But then again¡­¡¯

    There were a lot of items that caught her eye.

    [Wand of the Magi: A wand that has been crafted and imbued with magic by a skilled Magi. Intermediate Magic Blast: Deal 3/4 Intelligence as magic damage. 1 gold.]

    This wand alone would make her a lot stronger.

    [Wand of the Fire Magi: A wand that has been crafted and imbued with magic by a Magi skilled in the art of fire manipulation: Deal your Intelligence as fire magic damage. 1 gold.]

    The other elements all had similar wands, earth, wind, water, ice, and even metal.

    [Advanced Wand of the Magi: A wand that has been expertly crafted and imbued with devastating magic by a skilled Magi. Advanced Magic Blast: Deal double your Intelligence as magic damage. 20 gold.]

    With this, she could deal four times her damage but the price was too high. There was also an assortment of staffs and crystals that she didn¡¯t have any use for. She perused themto send the information to Third and then switched to the armour section.

    [Lum Magi Cloak: A wandering Magi would do well to carry around protection such as this. +10 HP, +4 INT, +2 WIS. 2 Gold.]

    [Lum Magi Gloves: ¡®A cold hand is an unhappy hand¡¯ It was with this philosophy in mind that the Magi Guild created its line of self-warming magical gloves. +4 WIS, +3 INT, +2 HP. 1 Gold.]

    [Lum Magi Boots: ¡®Slip, slop, slap¡¯ That is the sound of you dying after you slipped in forest mud when fighting a monster because you weren¡¯t wearing the Magi Guild¡¯s wonderfully fashionable boots. +5HP, +3 WIS. 1 Gold.]

    [Lum Magical Light Armour: For defending you from those pesky sword mosquitoes that stab through your cloak. +10 HP, +1 INT. Costs 2 Gold.]

    She intended to buy every single one armour if she could, but then she spotted something that took her attention away from the usual purchases.

    [Focus Crystal: Hold it in your hand and try not to think of why the handsome courier is delivering to your spouse on a Sunday. +5 CON, +2 INT. 2 Gold.]

    Apparently there was an item here that could improve the control stat. She honestly couldn¡¯t afford all of the items. She could dual-wield it alongside her wand since she had a free hand. At the moment the crystal dagger was sticking to her side and was almost completely useless,but the focus crystal would replace it. She was definitely upgrading her wand so if she bought this crystal she might have to give up on one or two pieces of armour.

    She checked and apparently the dagger would give her a single gold if sold. The attendant heavily valued the effect of +5% cast speed. Unfortunately, the red mushrooms were worthless, but blue mushrooms would earn her two silver each and the high-class mana potions would net her thirty.

    Ultimately, she decided to sell the blue mushrooms. The potions were too valuable. Luckily the things had been growing everywhere. She sold 18 blue mushrooms and still had over 30 left.

    She was officially broke.

    Would she come to regret this decision? Frankly, her newly upgraded stats told her not to care too much about that.

    Seven: level 20

    Health: 57 (+27)

    Mana: 48

    Vitality: 15

    Strength:10

    Intelligence: 34 (+10)

    Wisdom: 28 (+9)

    Dodge: 8

    Control: 5 (+5)

    Elf racial trait: Gain 1 intelligence per 5 levels.

    Class Passive:

    Nimble Mage passive: Gain 1 intelligence and 2 dodge per 5 levels.

    Equipment:

    Wand of the Magi: Deal 3/4 Intelligence as magic damage.

    Lum Magi Cloak: +10 HP, +4 INT, +2 WIS.

    Lum Magi Gloves: +4 WIS, +3 INT, +2 HP.

    Lum Magi Boots: +5HP, +3 WIS.

    Lum Magical Light Armour: +10 HP, +1 INT.

    Focus Crystal: +5 CON, +2 INT.

    Each basic magic blast would now deal slightly above 25 damage. She could probably kill Archy within two hits if he hadn¡¯t improved his gear. It was an insane amount of damage to her.

    Then again because her attacks were technically ¡®light¡¯ it would take a minimum of thirteen hits to kill the tank called Spark Joy she was going to meet soon. This wasn¡¯t even taking into account potions.

    She sent a message to Third copying the contents of the entire shop for him to look through in his own time. He was extremely excited because some of the armour and weapons that hadn¡¯t suited her would fit him perfectly. He didn¡¯t even question her selling her mushrooms, even if they were a cheap source of mana he said he would probably sell even more if it meant he could buy a few more things. They both knew that the entire team would gain a giant power boost just from shopping in the city. She hoped that dragon treasure included a lot of gold.

    Who knew what they¡¯d be able to purchase after they¡¯d come back from their quest.

    ¡°It is a shame.¡± As she closed the shop window, the attendant spoke out to her, ¡°That such a skilled magi received such a poor path.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Seven looked at the shopkeeper in confusion.

    ¡°You are clearly far more skilled than god Verm has dictated. Or perhaps you have simply improved since you chose your path, however, I can see that you are clearly beholden to strength and skill far beyond that of the nimble magi.¡± The shop attendant gave her a grin. ¡°Continue on your path young magi, and I believe you will become far more powerful than you could ever imagine.¡±

    Seven thought of all the training she had done and how she had gained not only control but also accuracy and a host of other skills. Even if she still had come nowherenear mastering any of those skills, an acknowledgement of her abilities felt nice.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± She beamed at him. ¡°I¡¯ll definitely be coming back later after such a qualityservice. Oh,¡± she wondered if the NPC would remember her words. ¡°My wizard friend called Third will be coming in soon to shop around. He¡¯s even more skilled than I am and he¡¯s a master of control. Maybe if you have any items that would suit someone of his level you should bring them out.¡±

    The attendant nodded his head and a gleam appeared in his mind when she mentioned Third¡¯s ability to control magic.

    She left the store wondering if her words would do anything to influence the attendant when Third came to visit the store. Then she put the matter to rest as she received a message from the person in question. It contained a single map coordinate.

    He had found the Lum arena.

 Chapter 11: The Team Comes Together

    ¡°Huh.¡±

    The lum arena was bigger than Seven thought it would be. She could see they''d filled the placewith trees. The clashing of arrows and sword ringing out as Archy fought against TidalWave. Those two had been a lot closer to the area than her. Third had already snuck out to the magi guild but was sending her updates on when the tanks would arrive.

    ¡°MILLY¡± A resounding voice boomed out across the arena as IEatTortillas appeared and brought Seven into a bear hug.

    ¡°Hey Ana.¡± Seven smiled and broke away from her friend.

    Below, inside the arena, Archy tripped over as the voice shocked him from his concentration. TidalWave didn¡¯t waver in taking advantage of the distraction to close the distance and stab at the struggling archer.

    [Player: TidalWave has won the arena duel.]

    ¡°So you joined TidalWave and Archy¡¯s team.¡± Attracting joined Seven and looked down at the two with interest as they began to duel again, ¡°I¡¯m surprised they teamed up.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re great.¡± She said with genuine admiration, ¡°I¡¯m lucky to be part of their team.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡± He looked down at them with an unreadable expression.

    ¡°Oh god, it''s so good to catch up.¡± IEatTortillas cut through the awkwardness with a grin, ¡°You went through the forest right? I swear we were up to our asses in quests for the last day.¡±

    They chatted happily together as Attracting continued to watch the duels with interest. Seven explained that they were there to recruit tanks and would meet with the potential teammates soon. She didn¡¯t need to hold anything back but she didn¡¯t mention that they wanted Attracting present just in case he had some magical way to tell if they were good players. She hadn¡¯t exactly agreed with TidalWave¡¯s assessment, but she could admit that Attracting was good at picking out a skilled player.

    -Seven.- A private message from Third interrupted her chat. -Did you tell the magi guild to prepare something for when I came in?-

    He sounded extremely excited.

    -Yeah, I mentioned something like that to the shop guy.- She thought he would bedone with the shopping and be on his way back to the arena by now, -why? What happened?-

    Instead of replying with a message he sent her the picture of a rather regal looking staff, marble white wood with a golden orb hovering at the tip.

    [Master staff of Control (Sealed): +6 INT, +4 CON, +2 WIS]

    -They gave me a test to complete instead of payment.- Third couldn¡¯t contain his happiness. -Thank you so much. This is a great help.-

    -That¡¯s great!- She admired the stats of the weapon, -What does it mean if it''s sealed?-

    -The magi shopkeeper informed me that I would be able to unlock the weapon further during my second class advancement. Even if I find a better weapon along the way I should hold on tothis one until that time. Ah, Spark Joy and Roxxy have informed me that they are on their way now to the arena. I¡¯ll be right there.-

    ¡°Oh, the people we¡¯re going to be meeting will be here soon.¡± She let IEatTortillas know, ¡°We¡¯ll have to keep chatting later.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± IEatTortillas nodded his head enthusiastically, ¡°I¡¯m going to watch those two fighting. They¡¯re insane!¡±

    He walked away with Attracting to one of the nearby seats. The area they were in was elevated far above the arena so they had a view of the entire area. Down below Archy was pushing harder against TidalWave because ofhis sudden loss. Seven could see both had grown a lot stronger, most likely due to the equipment they had purchased while checking out Lum.

    Soon Thirds rotund figure burst through the door and he brought out his new weapon.

    ¡°It''s excellent. Absolutely excellent.¡± He beamed.

    As he was showing off his new equipment two newcomers walked through the door behind him and looked down at the arena curiously. Archy was celebrating as he had been TidalWave only seconds before. The warrior was impatiently waiting for Archy to accept the rematch but the archer was having too much fun lifting his arms up in triumph to the clapping IEatTortillas.

    ¡°Hi there.¡± One of the newcomers walked up to greet them. ¡°You¡¯re Third and Seven right?¡±

    It was mostly a formality to ask since the game always placed their namesabove their avatar¡¯s heads, but they appreciated the ice breaker.

    ¡°That¡¯s us.¡± Seven nodded and turned away from the arena to say hi, ¡°Are you Roxxy? That must be Spark Joy behind you.¡±

    ¡°Yup. Sorry we¡¯re late, we went out farming to buy the last of our gear.¡±

    Spark Joy gave them a wave and as Third started to talk to them about the team, Seven¡¯s eyes wandered across their equipment. The girls were both completely stacked head to toe in steel armour. Roxxy clearly had the same items that TidalWave had equipped but Seven didn¡¯t know what stats they gave. Either way, it meant that the girls would be more powerful than the stats that they¡¯d sent to the team over the forum.

    Spark Joy looked especially vicious. She wasn¡¯t carrying the chain and sickle weapon she had listed but her iron shield was almost the size of three-quarters of her body. It had a menacing minotaur head insignia that seemed to jump out of the iron slate. Her chest armour seemed thicker and tougher than what TidalWave and Roxxy were wearing. She definitely looked like someone that could hold their ground against monsters easily.

    Now they had all powered up by buying the equipment they needed.

    Third had somehow scrounged the money up to buy some normal health and mana potions which healed for 75 health and mana each. So they would compensate him for the costs afterward and everyone gained 10 of those each. They also bought enough to provide some to the tanks if they joined the party.

    ¡°So those two are the other team members?¡± Spark Joy held a steady gaze at the arena where TidalWave and Archy had just begun their latest fight.

    Seven was confident those two had completely forgotten that they were supposed to be meeting new team members today. She could see both were fully concentrating on the fight. Archy was riding off the momentum of his winning streak and TidalWave was indulging in his favourite pastime of surpassing his current skills.

    She could see that Attracting was watching the fight intensely. He seemed to frown in confusion as he saw Third appear, then he looked to Archy and back to Third and shook his head in confusion.

    ¡°Oh-oh!¡± Roxxy bounced around trying to get a better angle to view the fight, ¡°This looks like fun.¡±

    Archy ducked between trees and bushes firing arrows at TidalWave. This time Archy wasn¡¯t taking any chances, each arrow aimed squarely at his enemy¡¯s chest so that every shot would require the most precise of dodging or else it would still hit.

    Archy trusted TidalWave to dodge the arrows by the narrowest of margins, so instead of firing them all in a straight line, he shifted his aim so that only one side could be used toescape the first arrow. He then shot the second arrow at the spot where TidalWave was forced to move into if he didn¡¯t want to get hit, making the second arrow unavoidable. A third and fourth arrow soon followed a similar tactic but each one was slightly shifted to each side so that even if TidalWave tried to dodge the second arrow he would be hit by yet another.

    A deadly strategy.

    Of course, TidalWave couldn¡¯t dodge every arrow. He simply wasn¡¯t fast enough and the arrows were too precise in their path. Instead, he dodged the first in the barrage and used the flat side of his sword to block the next arrow, allowing him to stay in place and escape the trap that Archy set up.

    Archy grumbled to himself as TidalWave dismantled his tactic so easily and fired more arrows while jumping back. If TidalWave got too close he would activate his flame body skill that would allow him to move faster than the warrior.

    The annoying part for him was that despite his range advantage, TidalWave was inherently a faster player than he was. Due to one of the reaper abilities he was able to catch up with Archy given enough time. To counteract this the archer fired arrows that forced TidalWave to zig-zag and take detours to dodge them. He would even duck and dodge behind trees so that TidalWave would have to take time to move around them. It was a game of cat and mouse, if Archy couldn¡¯t force TidalWave to move out of the way enough then the warrior would catch up to him and he would have a more difficult fight in close combat. And TidalWave knew it.

    ¡°Oh my god-oh my god.¡± Roxxy was watching them intently, ¡°how are they moving like that? What do you think Joy?¡±

    ¡°Amazing.¡± Spark Joy breathed the word as she watched the delicate balance that had formed between the roaming archer and charging warrior.

    She could see that a single mistake would lead to defeat. But neither of them was making that mistake.

    Seven and Third were fairly used to it by now. Theoutcome of the fight interested them because they knew that if Archy won he would brag to them non-stop for the next hour. Especially if this was the last fight between them now that the tanks had arrived.

    Seven blinked as Roxxy seemed to materialise in front of her with a barely restrained expression of glee, ¡°Are you two as great as them.¡±

    Seven had thought about dueling the other three in her mind often. In reality, she didn¡¯t think she was strong enough to beat Archy or TidalWave. She knew TidalWave was too good at dodging and fighting in close range for her to win at the moment. He would slice her like a fish after a few seconds. She also didn¡¯t think she could beat Archy. His aim was too good at the moment so in a long-range fight he would surely get more hits in against her than she would against him.

    For now, that is. Once she had mastered the art of changing the direction of her magic blasts and practiced her accuracy further she was sure that the outcome wouldn¡¯t be so certain.

    She didn¡¯t know about Third. She felt that she might counter his class a bit but she hadn¡¯t put that theory to the test. But she was sure he could put up an equal fight against TidalWave and Archy.

    ¡°Third is.¡± She said honestly, ¡°You should ask him to fight against one of those two after.¡±

    ¡°She says that.¡± the deadly attack that was Roxxy¡¯s gleaming eyes suddenly faced Third, ¡°But I think you¡¯ll soon find out for yourself how skilled each of us is. That is if you would like to join.¡±

    ¡°Oh-oh, can we Joy? Can we?¡± Roxxy turned to Spark Joy.

    Then she went silent as she saw the iron guardian completely engrossedin the fight below.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Spark Joybroke out of her spell and she turned to Roxxy.

    Roxxy repeated her question and Spark Joy nodded, ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡®That went remarkably easier than I expected.¡¯ Seven smiled.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    She had thought with all of Third and Archy¡¯s talking yesterday that the tanks would give them excessive demands if the team wanted to travel with them. But the two seemed like down to earth players that weren¡¯t too cocky. She was looking forward to having them on the team.

    Third felt like grinning as Seven barely stopped the emotions crossing her face. The girl was an open book and she didn¡¯t even know it. He had different ideas on the situation. He hadn¡¯t been a big fan of meeting the tanks and showing off in front of them with a duel but he trusted that TidalWave had more common sense than Archy. If the archer had suggested the idea he would have shot it down in a second. He knew from talking with the tanks that they were thinking of making demands. Their attitude had been fairly relaxed but as level 20s that were both rare classes they had probably been looking down on all the team making them offers. He figured that they had only come to check out his team because having four more level 20s was even rarer, let alone four that had rare classes. They probably considered themselves equal to or even slightly above this team that had damage-dealing classes and so could level faster.

    But that had changed the moment they viewed the fight happening below. If they had been less skilled players than they might have assumed that the two in the arena were showing off and were making an event for the tanks.

    ¡®But those buffoons completely forgot about the reason they¡¯re in there.¡¯ Third felt like chuckling at the fact that their lack of attention had caused a major benefit.

    Every move they made was designed to bring them closer to killing the other. They had completely forgotten formality and pageantry in favour of deadliness. They were so equally matched in skill that the duel was being dragged out but it was also a testament to how high their ability was that both could hold on this long without making a mistake. They had turned a simple show into a tightrope dance of death, and the two tanks were skilled enough to pick up on it.

    Roxxy was bouncing around excitedly but Third could see her eyes following every movement and attack that was being made. He was sure that she could see the amount of skill being displayed and was calculating all sorts of things underneath that cheerful guise. But it was Spark Joy that Third was interested in. He could see that she¡¯d seen the level of skill his team members had but instead of viewing it as a spectacle or appreciating them she seemed to have a single thought in her head.

    She simply wanted to fight them.

    That interested Third more than Roxxy¡¯s reaction. She was a tank but she seemed to have confidence in herself, and she had a class that wasn¡¯t attached to one of the basic paths, meaning it was like his own and TidalWave¡¯s, harder to qualify for and harder to obtain. If she wanted to fight against those two, then it was because she had confidence that even if she was a tank, she could win. That thought made Third excited.

    ¡°You¡¯re probably thinking some super complicated thought right now.¡± Seven popped up beside him as the two tanks became engrossed in the fight again.

    The duel had finally entered its final stage as TidalWave had caught up to Archy despite the archer¡¯s attempts to delay him.

    ¡°The thought crossed my mind,¡± Third acted innocent, ¡°that it would be a good idea to allow the two tanks to fight against our team. If they wanted to, of course.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Seven repeated cheekily.

    ¡°Well now. Hello there.¡± A new voice called out to them and they turned around, only to find that Attracting was calling to the two girls watching the fight.

    They turned around with expressions of annoyance on their faces. Roxxy¡¯s expression immediately shifted into a cheerful smile but Spark Joy wasn¡¯t as skilled in hiding her emotions, simply choosing to ignore Attracting and instead go back to watching the fight, only to witness Archy being stabbed through the stomach and dying.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see the famous tank duo of Lum while watching an arena match.¡±

    ¡°Wow, did you hear that Joy, we¡¯re famous.¡± Roxxy spun around and pestered Spark Joy with the revelation.

    Then she saw her friend was frowning in annoyance. She had missed the end of the match between TidalWave and Archy due to Attracting¡¯s interruption.

    ¡°So who are you? Do you want us to join your team?¡± Roxxy turned back to Attracting. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I think we¡¯re going to join these guys. They look so skilled and fun to play with.¡±

    At her words Attracting opened his arms wide and looked at Archy and TidalWave, who had finished the duel and come up to the platform to stand next to Third and Seven.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve beaten both of them in fair fights. Their wizard as well.¡± Attracting grinned as he revealed this to the tanks.

    ¡°Is that true?¡± Roxxy spun around to face their team and asked.

    ¡°Absolutely.¡± Third agreed.

    ¡°One hundred percent.¡± Seven nodded her head.

    ¡°I lost fair and square,¡± TidalWave added.

    ¡°What are you talking about? He cheap sho- BLERGH¡± Archy¡¯s objection was cut short as Third elbowed him hard in the stomach.

    Roxxy eyed them with suspicion. If they had lost against this person surely they would be a lot less cheerful about it? They seemed positively giddy at the memory.

    What she didn¡¯t know was that at that moment the four of them had come to a single conclusion. If Attracting brought up beating the three players he had dueled, then they would agree with him to the greatest possibleextent. Unfortunately, it seemed like Archy hadn¡¯t quite gotten the hint, but they felt that they could still proceed with their niceties.

    Why?

    Because Attracting was annoying.

    Even as his friend Seven couldn¡¯t deny it. The guy went around challenging random people to duels and winning by cheap shots in most of them. Then he went around bragging to others about it. Since growing in skill she could see that no matter how good Attracting was, all thepeople he had beaten were far more talented and that the guy wouldn¡¯t win without resorting to some sort ofsurprise attack if he fought them again. She hadn¡¯t figured a way to match that cheap shot attack of his yet, but Archy alone had probably already thought of half a dozen ways to win in a rematch.

    It scared Seven to think about how many strategies Third had come up with.

    So they had come to a consensus that the situation wassimilar to that of an adult being confronted with a yapping puppy. They decided to indulge the puppy and hope that it scampered off and stopped annoying them. Then, Attracting could go andbother other people.

    Attracting took the bait hook, line, and sinker.

    ¡°You see? But don¡¯t take their word for it. How about we have a fight right here and now?¡± His eyes gleamed and the team rolled their eyes.

    His actions were fairly predictable at this point. Seven could see TidalWave triumphantly sending her hand signals as his plan worked perfectly. He had somehow managed to guess Attracting¡¯s actions far in advance.

    ¡°He really beat you?¡± Spark Joy had become curious as well now.

    ¡°Absolutely.¡± Third led the chorus.

    ¡°One hundred percent.¡± Seven nodded her head even more enthusiastically.

    ¡°I lost fair and square.¡± TidalWave added again.

    ¡°I still have no idea what you guys are talking abo- BLERGH¡± Archy had tried to defend against Third¡¯s elbow and was hitonhis other side by TidalWave.

    ¡°How about we have a duel?¡± Attracting offered the duel to Spark Joy and without a second thought, she accepted.

    Then two teleported into the arena below and the team watched with interest.

    ¡°What was that?¡± Archy flailed his arms about, ¡°We should be kicking that jackass¡¯s ass.¡±

    ¡°No you see he¡¯s like a baby dog¡­¡± Seven began to explainpatiently to Archy as the fight began below them.

    Roxxy listened with interest as Seven explained the Archy why they were ignoring Attracting¡¯s taunts.

    The fight began and Seven was shocked to see one of her underlying assumptions completely shatter from the get-go. She had thought that Spark Joy would be as slow as a turtle when fighting because ofher heavy armour and giant shield. The girl ran through the field with a speed comparable to her own, as though she wasn''t troubledat all by the weight of her belongings.

    ¡°Very good.¡± Third appreciated the ducking and weaving that Spark Joy employed even before she had seen her enemy.

    ¡°She¡¯s the best.¡± Roxxy was enthusiastic.

    She had no doubt that Spark Joy would win this duel.

    Attracting was calmly waiting at the edge of the arena where there was an open space. If he wasn¡¯t careful, Spark Joy would body slam him. The iron guardian had just spotted him and was trying to do just that.

    Attracting burst into action, calling down a purple claw madeof smoke and also lifting his wand, causing a burst of purple to bypass Spark Joy¡¯s shield and erupt on her body. She dodged the claw but felt surpriseat the sudden purple cloud sprouting on her body.

    ¡°There it is.¡± Archy¡¯s and Third¡¯s expressions darkened.

    This was the attack that had surprised them both. It was completely unavoidable as long as Attracting had the opponent in his line of sight. This was also the reason he had lured Spark Joy into an open area.

    It was particularlyeffective against Third because his rifts couldn¡¯t return the damage of an enemy attack if they didn¡¯t pass through the rift. He had died without being able to utilise his greatest weapons.

    Spark Joy immediately reacted by crouching behind her shield and the attacks stopped. She could deduce the attack was based on his line of sight and had hidden her body behind the shield. Luckily for her, it worked.

    TidalWave clapped at this and Seven looked at him in surprise. ¡°What?¡± He gazed at her innocently. ¡°It''s a smart tactic.¡±

    By now, Attracting and Spark Joy were only a few feet away from each other. Spark Joy was just too fast and Attracting had been in a corner to start with. He swiped more claws at her and moved around her in a way that allowed him to bring her into his sight, causing damage. She also used her iron sickle to hit him; Each attack seemed to be able to extend a few feet, far more than a sword could. Attracting was in bad shape and Spark Joy still had over half her health left.

    Suddenly she ran into the fleeing priest and threw out her sickle, causing him to stop moving as it wrapped around him. She caught him and brought him in and asshe jumped up with her shield. She was clearly going to slam him to death with this move.

    His health couldn¡¯t take another hit.

    But before she could come back down to attack him a blue light shone around his body. Seven and her team groaned as the light shot at Spark Joy just as she was about to come down for the kill. Her eyes widened in surprise and her body went limp as it fell to the ground, dead. Roxxy let out a strangled croak as the win she thought would go easily to Spark Joy suddenly got turned around. She looked at the team and couldn''t see surprise on any of their faces.

    There was no doubt in their minds that Attracting was good, but he had clearly been completely outclassed. If their theory about the mysterious attack having a one-day cooldown was true, he wouldn¡¯t even pose a challenge to them now. But they had no intention to fight him when they wouldn¡¯t gain anything from it.

    Seven still had her doubts as well. She had seen him use the attack more than once in one day before.

    A few seconds later, the two duelists appeared. Attracting sported a smug expression and Spark Joy was frowning.

    ¡°Is that also how he won against you?¡± Spark Joy had a dark expression on her face as Attracting watched them all with a triumphant grin on his face.

    ¡°Absolutely.¡± Third led the chorus again.

    ¡°One hundred percent.¡± Seven nodded her head even more enthusiastically.

    ¡°I lost fair and square.¡± TidalWave smiled.

    ¡°Something about a puppy.¡± Archy eyed Third and TidalWave carefully.

    Attracting was too far into his celebratory mood to notice that they were completely re-using the lines they had before. He quickly turned to Roxxy and Spark Joy.

    ¡°Good fight. There¡¯ll definitely be chances for us to benefit from each other. Let¡¯s party upsometime.¡±

    Spark Joy grunted in response but Attracting didn¡¯t notice as IEatTortillas walked up to them and told him to get off his butt since they had quests to do. They waved bye to the team and Seven walked out with them to say a more personal goodbye.

    ¡°You have a great team there Milly.¡± IEatTortillas was ecstatic to see that her friend was partying with people so skilled, ¡°You¡¯ve got to introduce us all properly later. But they definitely make me want to practice more just by watching them.¡±

    Without another word, he barrelled off into the city and Seven sighed happily as she saw her friend was the same bundle of energy as ever.

    ¡°I want to be as skilled as them soon.¡± She replied despite the fact that the warrior was already long gone.

    Attracting began to run after his companion but turned back for a second to shout a reply, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, fat people can be skilled too!¡±

    *CRACK*

    ¡°You mother-¡±

    Seven sent a stream of curses at the priest but he¡¯d already disappeared into the crowds. She could have sworn she had heard her forehead making a cracking sound. The people around her started to stare and then rushed hurriedly away as they saw her expression.

    ¡®Well, now I just feel like shit.¡¯ She stood dejectedly outside of the arena, ¡®Where did that come from?¡¯

    That definitely didn¡¯t sound like the normal Andrew she knew in real life. Attracting was a lot more shallow.

    ¡®Has he only been seeing my weight this whole time?¡¯

    She didn¡¯t sport the idea that she was skilled enough to be challenged by him yet. But she hadn¡¯t thought that her skill and her looks were the only thing that interested him. Even if she hadn¡¯t changed the appearance of her avatar, it didn¡¯t matter since it was a game. He should act just like he normally did in real life.

    He¡¯d been ignoring her the entire time and only playing with IEatTortillas. Despite IEatTortillas inviting her to every adventure that they had gone on, Attracting hadn¡¯t asked her to join them a single time. Even when they received quests Seven had only found out because IEatTortillas had told her when Attracting hadn¡¯t bothered to. Seven could tell that Attracting wouldn¡¯t object if she asked to party with them. But to her there was a difference between being wanted and being allowed to tag along.

    She shook her head to get rid of her confusion and anger, ¡®Whatever.¡¯

    Archy walked out of the arena to bring her back inside, ¡°Hey, what are you doing out here being so anti-social? We¡¯ve got to go say a proper hello as a team to our new tanks.¡±

    She turned around and Archy could see her stormy expression, even he could tell something had pissed her off, ¡°What do you think when you see me playing?¡±

    Archy was taken aback by the sudden question, ¡°Um, don¡¯t get me wronghere.¡± He hesitated and clearly was taking his time to find the right words, ¡°I think you¡¯re super skilled but I think TidalWave and I are just at a higher level right now.¡±

    He expected her to get angrier than she was and he prepared himself to defend his statement but in an instant her frown turned into a beaming smile.

    ¡°Good answer.¡± She walked back inside, ¡°Let¡¯s go greet those new teammates.¡±

 Chapter 12: Monster

    ¡°I think we need to find a few more quests to do while we are here.¡±

    Seven walked in on Third already planning out their evening. They had already been in the woods adventuring but now that the team geared up for tougher fights there would surelybe quests that involved the less explored sections of the woods.

    The team was going to find the quests that specifically called out for the killing of creatures. Preferably masses of dryads, treants, and things that crawled in the dark of the inner and outer wood area. Even if they found that they couldn¡¯t fight the inevitable monster that guarded the dragon¡¯s treasure, they wouldn¡¯t lose anything from completing quests along the way.

    ¡°Is that okay with you two?¡± Third asked Spark Joy and Roxxy nicely.

    ¡°Of course.¡± Spark Joy nodded her head. ¡°We just came back to Lum so we still need to hand in our finished quests. We¡¯ll also pick up a few more supplies since it seems like we¡¯ll be in there a while.¡±

    Third had already shared the dragon treasure quest details with them once he saw Attracting had left. Seven had given him permission,of course. She nodded and they decided tosplit up. Spark Joy would go with Third to where she had received the quests to see if he could also pick up some for the team. Luckily they would receive any quest he picked up while in their partyas long as they accepted it. TidalWave and Archy wanted to have one last duel before going off to find quests.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to walk around and see if I find anything.¡± Seven wanted to cool off after Attracting¡¯s last comment.

    ¡°Oh-oh-oh,¡± Roxxy was shooting off words like a freight train. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

    ¡°Is that okay?¡± Seven looked at her and Spark Joy. ¡°Didn¡¯t you need to hand in quests?¡±

    Spark Joy sighed, then smiled. ¡°I can do that. We did the quests as a party so it¡¯ll still count.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Seven thought that she could definitely use the company of the cheerful-looking girl.

    ¡°Yayy.¡± Roxxy followed alongside Seven as they walked outside.

    The sight of a man in flowing gray robes immediately greeted them, blocking their way with a smile. Seven could tell that he wasn¡¯t a player due to the colour of the name above his head. The name of the top of his head was listing him as a ¡®Lum Magi Guild Attendant.¡¯

    ¡°Miss Seven?¡± The NPC asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s me. How can I help you?¡±

    ¡°I am Lass, an attendant of the Magi Guild of Lum.¡± Lass oozed formality as he spoke to them, ¡°We would like to express our sincere apologies as we did not present to you a crucial service of the magi guild during your visit.¡±

    ¡°A crucial service?¡± Roxxy placed her chin over Seven¡¯s shoulder and interrupted the conversation.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Lass seemed amused by her actions, ¡°When Miss Seven entered our establishment the attendant at the shop determined that she was not yet at a level where she could participate in this particularservice. A test of mastery which would allow her access to some of our more lucrative items and information. But recently our guild determined that this attendant may have been too hasty in their decision.¡±

    ¡°Third told you something to change your mind.¡± Seven realised what had happened.

    Lass looked at her but didn¡¯t confirm or deny her words.

    ¡°Oh-oh-oh, can I come?¡± Roxxy could smell adventure.

    ¡°Any friend of Mr Third and Miss Seven is a friend of ours.¡± Lass didn¡¯t seem disturbed by the fact that she was a tank rather than a magi.

    ¡°A test,huh.¡± Seven shrugged Roxxy off her shoulder and walked towards Lass. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°So what kind of test is this?¡± Seven questioned Lass as they began the short walk towards the magi guild.

    ¡°The exact test differs depending on the individual, however, I can tell you that there will be three other individuals taking the test alongside you. If you score higher than them, then we shall see whatwe will do about it.¡± Lass was more accommodating now that she had agreed to take the test.

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡®Three other people.¡¯ Seven wondered if they were other players.

    ¡°What is the average level of the people taking the tests?¡± Roxxy had a sly look on her face as she shot out her questions to Lass.

    ¡°We grade the test on a scale from A to F, with a score of A being the best and F being the worst. We determine this grade by the individual score you gain out of a hundred.¡±

    ¡°So what is the average level of the people taking the tests?¡± Roxxy noticed he hadn''t answered her questionand asked it again.

    ¡°B¡± Lass replied curtly.

    ¡°So there is probably a target system involved.¡± Roxxy seemed like she was musing to herself but she secretly eyed Lass from the corner of her eyes, ¡°Each person wouldn¡¯t be able to be on the same range. That wouldn¡¯t be a good indicator of base skill. Sothe guild might separate each test taker. Oh-oh, and maybe to gain a true understanding of skill and mastery they''ll limit the test taker to their base attack or magic. Meaning they have to rely on the bare basics to destroy these targets.¡±

    Lass¡¯s eyes flashed as she went further into her train of thought but again he didn¡¯t confirm or deny anything.

    ¡°Woah. Makes sense to me.¡± Seven agreed with her deduction.

    Roxxy clenched her fist in victory as she saw Lass staying silent. She believed that she had deduced everything about this mysterious test.

    It turned out that she was completely right.

    ¡°There will be one hundred targets. We will require youto destroy as many as you can with no set time limit. As a Nimble Mage we limit youto using only your basic magic blast.¡± Lasssighed as he saw Roxxy celebrating next to Seven.

    They were inside a small room inside the magi guild. The entire place was coated in a shade of gray and seemed rather gloomy compared to the splendor of the entryway or the colours of the outside walls.

    ¡°All non-test takers will now leave the area. As the test administrator, I will stay with the test taker.¡± Lass looked pointedly at Roxxy.

    ¡°Okay-okay.¡± She replied in that rapid-fire manner of hers, ¡°I can take a hint.¡±

    Once Roxxy had left the room Lass double-checked the area around them and then smiled.

    ¡°The other test-takers are also ready.¡± Lass seemed to bein communication with other administrators as well as her, ¡°We will begin if you are ready.¡±

    Seven breathed in deeply. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±

    A wand appeared in Lass¡¯s hand and he waved it around the room. The entire space warped and transformed at his whim and Seven found herself in a large black space that seemed to span for kilometers. She could see in the black expanse one hundred targets. Some were so close to her that she could see they were simply balls of light that stood still and large. She could probably hit them even if she was barely trying.

    After these balls, the next batch of targets was further away butcontinued to stand still. They were about the size of a rabbit being shot from amedium distance. If she hadn¡¯t practiced accuracy then she would never have been able to hit these almost two days ago. The ones further behind were slightly smaller than the rest, and then the ones behind those were the size of leaves but were moving from side to side.

    After that were a few more complex variations of movements, speed and size but Seven knew that shouldn¡¯t even be thinking of those yet.

    ¡°You may start. Please try your best to hit the targets. When you are no longer capable of hitting these targets, the test will end.¡±

    Seven could see there was a reason for the lack of a timelimit. No matter how good she was there was no way for her to overcome a wall in skill so quickly. They would force herto stop once she had clearly hit that wall.

    So she aimed for what she could hit. She smashed her magic blasts through the first few targets easily. It was as if they were giant balls bigger than regular humans at a close-range distance. Next, she breezed through the rabbit-sized balls sitting stationary at a medium range.

    That made forty targets easily taken care of.

    This was where it became tricky. She aimed her wand carefully as she faced the new set of targets. They didn¡¯t move but they were smaller than rabbits at a medium-ranged distance. She took her time to aim and destroy every single one of them. Lass watched calmly as she took care of all of them slowly.

    A few minutes later, sixty targets were down.

    Now she had hit her wall. The next targets changed drastically in difficulty. They were as small as leaves and even moved from side to side at different speeds.

    She hadn¡¯t even been able to hit falling leaves at a close range until earlier today.

    ¡°Do you wish to stop the test, Miss Seven?¡± Lass had a completely even tone as she seemed to freeze in place.

    ¡°Is that what I¡¯m going to tell myself?¡± She said out loud and seemed to startle Lass out of his emotionless bystanding, ¡°Every time I hit a wall.¡±

    She didn¡¯t want to make excuses for herself. She knew that she had the tools to do this. The targets were moving too quickly for her to hit them with a straight shot. She would have to change the direction of her shots when they got closer to the targets.

    The targets weren¡¯t all the same distance away. There was maybe one or two closer to her compared to the others, but from there they simply got further and further away.

    ¡®No, don¡¯t focus on those ones.¡¯ Seven mentally slapped her wrist. ¡®Just the two in front.¡¯The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    But these targets weren¡¯t going down and sideways in random patterns; They were simply moving rhythmically from side to side. So if she could time them correctly she was sure she could hit them. It would require her to use her skills in a way that she never had before.

    By now she was vaguely aware of Lass asking her more questions, but even that was fading away. She was concentrating solely on the targets closest to her.

    Seven formed a focus point in a small section slightly in front of the moving targets. She could change the direction of her shots using this point. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine her goal. She could visualise the two moving targets and she stabilised the image in her mind. She could see the focus point that she needed to fire at to change her magic blasts¡¯ directions. The targets moved in her mind in the same way, speed and direction that the real ones did. She focused and created a single trajectory that she would use to shoot her magic blasts.

    And with her eyes still closed, she fired. Not once, but twice.

    Her magic blasts flew true through the air and she could see in her mind that they were nearing the focus point. She started by sending her attack towards the first target. By the time it would reach the focus point she would have to move it slightly to the left to hit the target. She pushed this thought in her head into the focus point as the magic blast reached it. If she had done it correctly the magic blast would hit the target precisely.

    She immediately ignored the outcome and instead prepared for the second magic blast.

    She shot it out a second later. She needed to redirect the direction change of the focus point to the right. She pushed this thought into the focus point and the magic blast flew through it, flying off to the right as it changed direction.

    She opened her eyes and then smiled. She had directly hit both of the targets. But she also knew something intuitively.

    This was as far as she could go at the moment.

    ¡°Well then,¡± Lass could read her expressionclearly.¡°We shall end the test here.¡±

    Lass waved his wand and the room turned back into the small and drab gray coated space it had been before. He asked Seven to wait while he received the results from the other test-takers.

    ¡°Fascinating. Utterly fascinating.¡± Lass seemed to be very impressed with something, but she couldn¡¯t figure out what.

    ¡°How did I go?¡± Seven didn¡¯t care about the other test takers that much.

    She had already gained a lot from this test even if she didn¡¯t get any items from the Magi Guild.

    ¡°You hit sixty-two targets, Miss Seven. That gives you a designated score of D. Had you hit three fewer targets you would have received an E¡±

    ¡°What did you say that the average score for people taking this test was?¡± She asked Lass.

    ¡°B¡± He replied with a smile and her heart sank.

    She had done far, far worse than the average.

    ¡°However, that is for the average test taker.¡± Lass tried to comfort her as he led her out of the room. ¡°Let us meet the other test takers now.¡±

    ¡°Yes-yes, lets,¡± Roxxy joined them outside the room and she could tell that Seven wasn¡¯t happy with her scores.

    ¡®The girl really is an open book.¡¯ Roxxy found it funny.

    ¡°Ah, here they come now.¡± Lass said as three figures materialised around them.

    Seven¡¯s eyes widened as she saw that every one of them looked familiar.

    They were all her. Complete and utter replicas of her. Except that they seemed immaterial, almost as though they could phase out of existence at any moment. She could even see through a couple of them.

    ¡°You see.¡± Lass began to explain, ¡°We do not test magi against their peers, not in this kind of test, we instead pit them against copies of themselves.¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t they get the same score then? What¡¯s the point.¡± Roxxy asked.

    ¡°Yes. That is normally the case.¡± Lass pointed to the first figure, ¡°This is the Seven we created to match her skills from a few days ago when she entered this continent. She scored an F. She could only hit twenty targets. In all honesty, it was one of the most spectacular scores we have ever given simply because it is so terrible.¡±

    Seven blushed at his brutal honesty.

    ¡°And the others?¡± Roxxy was quick to change the subject away from this awkward topic.

    ¡°The second Seven,¡± Lass looked carefully at the figure and the two players followed his gaze, this one was definitely a little more substantial than the first, ¡°Scored an F as well. She is the copy we created based on the Seven from a day ago. She destroyed forty targets. It is a terrible score if we were to look at all the scores of previous test-takers, but it is a massive improvement that is unmatched, at least in this guild.¡±

    ¡°But.¡± Lass immediately moved onto the final figure, it still seemed as transparent as a ghost but at least it didn¡¯t look like a single breeze could destroy it, ¡°This is the most fascinating of the test takers.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s her from today.¡± Roxxy guessed.

    ¡°It is her from the moment she entered the test room.¡± Lass corrected her guess. ¡°She scored a D. She destroyed sixty targets. The first sixty targets are the easiest to hit and are also relatively stable in terms of skill. You would be hard-pressed to find a trained magi that could not hit all sixty. But from there, the difficulty ramps up tremendously. Only skilled magi can pass the sixty mark.¡±

    ¡°But I didn¡¯t hit sixty targets.¡± Seven tilted her head. ¡°I hit sixty-two.¡±

    ¡°Yes. You did.¡± Lass¡¯s eyes glimmered with emotion for the first time since she had met him, ¡°That means that you not only improved tremendously within the last few days that you began to practice magic but that you improved even in the few minutes that you were inside the test. A rate of improvement so quick it was visible to the very person watching you.¡±

    Roxxy let out a whistle and looked at Seven with surprise.

    ¡°It is just as Mr Third had told us.¡± Lass smiled, ¡°When he heard that we had not tested you because ofour initial assessment of your skill he wasquite shocked. Considering his high test score we were just as surprised by his assessment of you. So it was under his recommendation that we tested you, despite your current skills not being quite up to par with the original testing purposes.¡±

    ¡°What exactly did Third tell you guys?¡± Seven was curious.

    ¡°That you were a ¡®monster¡¯¡± Lass smiled.

    He waved his wand and the three copies disappeared. Then he presented Roxxy and Sevenwith the results of the test.

    [62 targets hit: D]

    ¡°This presents us with a dilemma.¡± Lass frowned, ¡°We do not reward scores lower than that of a B. The reason for this is simply because we do not consider overcomingtheobstaclespresent until that pointworthy of a reward. However,¡± he gave her a small gray box from under his robe, ¡°we had made a special considerationin this case. We cannot simply focus on the present, and the magi guild believes that your future will be something that we wish to see.¡±

    [You have received the item; Lum Magi Guild Test Treasure Box]

    ¡°This treasure box is special,¡± Lass began to explain as Seven put the box into her inventory. ¡°It can only be used by you. It contains the same test you took inside the magi guild just now, however, the treasure within will differ depending on your score. If you wish you may take the test again now and the treasure box will provide you an item that it deems a reward suitable for your score. Or,¡± His eyes shined, ¡°You may wait until you believe the moment is right. Whether that is when you feel that you will score higher than a D, or even when you reach the peak of skill and wish to try andscore an A. If you practice and take the test at those moments even we at the magi guild do not know what rewards will come out.¡±

    ¡®I¡¯d be stupid to take the test again now.¡¯ Seven thought as she thanked Lass for his explanation.

    She would definitelykeep this on her until she had practiced enough to be comfortable getting at least a B. She didn¡¯t know what she¡¯d receive or what level she would be but she felt it would definitely be something good. She thanked Lass again and turned around to leave.

    ¡°B seems a little high for the average, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Roxxy asked a final question to Lass.

    ¡°No.¡± His eyes gave nothingaway, ¡°It would besuffice tosay¡­ that to receive and A is a rare event reserved for only the greatest of mages. Your friend Mr Third received a B and did very well within the range of targets that constitutes a B score. However,¡± Lass said with total belief in the truth of his words, ¡°He never had a single chance to reach the level of an A score. It was simply beyond him.¡±

    ¡°Wow.¡± Seven remembered the item that Third had gotten from the B grade score.

    It was ridiculously good.

    ¡°He¡¯s so strong.¡± Roxxy hadn¡¯t seen Third fighting like Archy and TidalWave but she found herself gaining a new respect for her teammates.

    Including the girl walking beside her.

    ¡°Let¡¯s check up on the others.¡± Seven knew they had time left but she felt suitably rewarded for her endeavours.

    Roxxy just seemed like she was having fun no matter what she did.

    ¡°Actually-actually,¡± Roxxy turned towards Seven as they left the magi guild entrance and entered the street outside, ¡°Can you show me your practice? Is there a set training method?¡±

    She was intensely curious.

    ¡°So you just have to hit the leaves as they fall?¡± Roxxy had followed Seven outside of the city after the girl had caved in.

    Roxxy knew that she would get her way after pleading for ten minutes straight.

    *BANG*

    ¡°Yup.¡± Seven jumped back from the tree and aimed her wand carefully at the falling leaves.

    She carefully shot magic blasts from a mid-range at the leaves. Normally she would be using a focus point but she wanted to show off to Roxxy and she knew she would probably miss if she tried to change the direction of the shots. It was something she hadn¡¯t completely come to grips with yet.

    She hit three of the leaves.

    Roxxy was impressed, ¡°So how hard is the training.¡±

    ¡°Usually a lot harder. And I don¡¯t hit a single leaf either.¡± Seven said truthfully, ¡°Third has an ability that he can use to move the leaves and make them change speed and direction. When he¡¯s here it becomes super hard. Also, I have an ability that lets me change the direction of my magic from going in a straight line to anywhere I want.¡± She considered how impressive her statement sounded. ¡°Except that I can¡¯t really use it. I¡¯m just not good enough. But it sure makes the practice a lot more rewarding than what you see now.¡±

    Roxxy tried to imagine what Seven was describing and found that she couldn¡¯t, so Seven created a focus point and used it to change the direction of her shots. Of course, she missed every single leaf, but it still amazed Roxxy.

    ¡°That¡¯ll be awesome when you can use it.¡± She could see Seven¡¯s future potential as clear as day, ¡°And that only got you a D in that test. What do you think the others would get?¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Seven thought about it carefully, ¡°It doesn¡¯t surprise me that Third got a B. Archy can hit every single leaf and then some if Third isn¡¯t manipulating them. Even then he can still catch the odd one. So I think he would also get a B. Maybe C if it¡¯s really important that he can change the direction of his shots. Unfortunately, that¡¯s something I think only magic-users can do.¡±

    [You have received an invitation from team member ¡®Third¡¯ to take on the quest: Greater Dryad subjugation. Information: Kill 500 Dryads. Reward: ???]

    [You have received an invitation from team member ¡®Third¡¯ to take on the quest: Greater Treant subjugation. Information: Kill 500 Treants. Reward: ???]

    [You have received an invitation from team member ¡®Third¡¯ to take on the quest: Greater Wilder subjugation. Information: Kill 400 Wilders. Reward: ???]

    [You have received an invitation from team member ¡®Third¡¯ to take on the quest: Lesser Wilder Archer subjugation. Information: Kill 100 Wilder Archers. Reward: ???]

    [You have received an invitation from team member ¡®Third¡¯ to take on the quest: Lesser Magica subjugation. Information: Kill 100 Magica. Reward: ???]

    Seven whistled loudly as they were both interrupted by a myriad of messages. Third had gotten them a series of quests. She didn¡¯t even know how he¡¯d managed to negotiate with the NPCs in the city to gain the quests but she guessed from Roxxy¡¯s expression that Spark Joy had helped.

    [You have received an invitation from team member ¡®Archy¡¯ to take on the quest: Greater Signet Woods 1 exploration. Information: Explore the Signet Woods Outer Ring and discover 10 kinds of plants. Reward: ???]

    [You have received an invitation from team member ¡®Archy¡¯ to take on the quest: Lesser Signet Woods 2 exploration. Information: Explore the Signet Woods Inner Ring and discover 4 kinds of plants. Reward: ???]

    [You have received an invitation from team member ¡®Archy¡¯ to take on the quest: Greater Signet Woods 1 discovery. Information: Explore the Signet Woods Outer Ring and discover 7 kinds of enemies. Reward: ???]

    [You have received an invitation from team member ¡®Archy¡¯ to take on the quest: Lesser Signet Woods 2 discovery. Information: Explore the Signet Woods Inner Ring and discover 4 kinds of enemies. Reward: ???]

    Seven sighed as more quests entered their vision. She was willing to bet that Archy had waited for the exact moment Third sent the quests to send his own invitations out. But at least with these new quests they wouldn¡¯t be left wanting for anything to do if the dragon treasure turned out to be unobtainable.

    ¡°Woah.¡± Roxxy¡¯s voice held admiration in it, ¡°We¡¯re going to end up so overleveled by the time we kill everything.¡±

    They accepted all the quests.

    [You have received the skill: Foraging. You may now uncover and pick up ingredients.]

    ¡°I think Third just hoped that even if we didn¡¯t find everything we need to kill we¡¯d still manage toget some done.¡± Seven started to walk back to the entrance of Lum.

    Since they were the closest to the woods, they would wait a few more minutes for the others catch up. They all messaged each other and agreed to meet up and head into the woods.

    It was time to find that dragon¡¯s treasure horde.

 Chapter 13: Ace in the Hole

    ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Seven squinted her eyes. ¡°A moving mountain?¡±

    Part-way into their adventure they had found themselves looking up through the leaves at a large furry creature that was ambling around the outer ring area.

    [Behemoth (Field Boss): Level 150]

    The mammoth of a beast let out a mighty roar and the party scattered behind the nearby trees to prevent it from seeing them. A pack of large black and red birds accompanied the monster, flying around its head.

    [Red Striped Crow: Level 30]

    There were at least fifty of them.

    ¡°We can¡¯t beat those things.¡± Seven said with certainty.

    ¡°Indeed,¡± Third and Spark Joy both nodded.

    All three of them had snuck behind the same tree. Nearby Archy, TidalWave and Roxxy clumped together and watching the skies warily. Seven didn¡¯t think that having Roxxy and Archy in the same area during a crisis like this was a good idea, but hopefully, TidalWave would prevent them from doing anything stupid to antagonise the sure-to-kill them enemies.

    Spark Joy let out a dry chuckle at Seven¡¯s Expression, ¡°Roxxy is smarter than she acts.¡±

    ¡°I sincerely wish I could say the same about Archy.¡± Third shook his head in disappointment.

    ¡°Can that guy find us if we¡¯re here?¡± Seven didn¡¯t want to peek outside of the treeline in the fearthat oneof the monsterswould spot her head as it bobbed out.

    ¡°I doubt it.¡± TidalWave was gazing at the creature intensely. ¡°That thing is amazing. It would probably crush us with a toe if we provoked it.

    She was sure that if a single one of those crows fought against them that they would have a difficult time. Mostly because the enemy was in the air. They would probably win eventually, but it was the massive behemoth that really worried her.

    ¡°They could have infrared vision for all we know.¡± Archy called out from the other side, ¡°I could try to pick off one of the bir-¡±

    ¡°NO.¡± Spark Joy and Third called out simultaneously.

    Their combined voices rebounded and echoed over and over again. The forest seemed to amplify every word as each one came out and Third¡¯s face instantly paled as he realised what they¡¯d done. In seconds the echoes had stopped but he feared they''d already done all the damage they needed to. The team waited while holding their breaths trying to hear any response from the bird monsters or the field boss.

    *ROAR*

    Everyone flinched as the behemoth made a sound that caused the ground beneath them to quake. They struggled to get their footing as the trees and the ground vibrated around them. They simultaneously glared at Archy and he put his hands up defensively.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t us either.¡± Spark Joy commented dryly as the vibrating stopped and they watched the behemoth turn the opposite way and walk away.

    The crows shrieked and began to dive-bomb the treeline in front of the behemoth. The trees repelled them from whatever forces were attacking them but it wouldn¡¯t be long before they realised that they just had to calm down and start trying to filter through the cracks in the branches.

    Seven could see arrows being fired out in retaliation to the kamikaze attacks but most either missed or dealt little damage. The behemoth began to stamp towards their source and she could tell that whoever was there was most likely going to die soon.

    ¡°Well great.¡± Archy looked relieved, he hadn¡¯t thought that something else had attracted the monster''s attention despite his words, ¡°This clearly doesn¡¯t involve us at all. We should get out of here.¡±

    Seven was curious to see what kind of person had provoked the mighty field boss, but even she could see it was a lost cause. The person would probably be dead before they could reach them because the behemoth had accidentally stamped them underneath its foot.

    ¡°COME KNIGHTS OF MAGNOLIA AND FIGHT.¡±

    ¡°Oh-oh-oh.¡± Roxxy was clearly excited by the battle cry and was staring at Spark Joy with big round eyes to try andconvince her to investigate, ¡°Come on, it sounds like they have a big group.

    ¡°Archy?¡± TidalWave¡¯s voice was low because he was still conscious of the mighty behemoth turning its attention towards them. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    Seven saw that Archy had turned pale. ¡°I know that voice.¡±

    ¡°A companion?¡± Third asked calmly.

    ¡°A friend?¡± TidalWave asked at the same time.

    If there was a friend in trouble, it might be more difficult to convince Archy to leave. Luckily the archer didn¡¯t seem too keen to step in and fight the big creature. He even seemed a bitmore eager to leave than before.

    ¡°I hope not.¡± Archy¡¯s face returned to normal, ¡°but since there¡¯s no way to know for sure I¡¯d say it¡¯s safe for us to just leave and not look back.

    ¡°I, LEO HENTUS AM BEGINNING THE ATTACK.¡±

    ¡°What kind of showy moron announces his name like that.¡± Spark Joy said as she broke free of Roxxy¡¯s tugging hands.

    Seven faced Archy with a look of realisation, ¡°So they¡¯re related to you?¡±

    ¡°Please, I have class.¡± Archy tried to look nonchalant as he slowly grew more and more worried.

    His face showed the conflict of his choice; Between the feeling of wanting to leave and wanting to help.

    ¡°If they¡¯re in a big enough group, they might be able to get away from the birds.¡± TidalWave was the first to gather his thoughts together. ¡°We just need to distract the behemoth away from them. I¡¯m sure if we can figure out a way to run since it''s far away from us. Maybe split up in different directions if it seems to be too fast.¡±

    ¡°But we¡¯d have to get close to it to get its attention.¡± Spark Joy tried to imagine a scenario in which they could get close enough not to die once it discovered them.

    ¡°Not if we have long-range weapons.¡± Roxxy¡¯s eyes sparkled as she eyed Third, Seven and Archy.

    ¡°My rifts cannot reach that distance.¡± Third immediately refused her.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think my magic can reach that far.¡± Seven concurred.

    Archy eyed his bow with suspicion. He was calculating how far he could shoot.

    ¡°It does not matter.¡± Third interjected, ¡°Even if we could reach it with an arrow, the attack would never grab its attention. I doubt that mysterious party directly attacked the beast but even if it hasn¡¯t completely gone aggressive against them, I would still need to hit it in a vital area in order for it to shift its attention away from such close targets.¡±

    ¡°We need to piss it off?¡± Seven translated.

    ¡°So what are its vital areas?¡± Roxxy asked.

    ¡°The eyes. Perhaps the inside of its mouth or maybe its neck.¡± Third shook his head. ¡°All the areas we can¡¯t reach.¡±

    The behemoth had turned to face almost completely in the opposite direction because of the enemy party attacking the crows. They couldn¡¯t reach any of the vital areas that Third had listed. It was going to be impossible to grab the field boss¡¯s attention even if they did manage to hit it with an arrow.

    ¡°I got this. Flame arrow.¡± The arrow notched in Archy¡¯s bow blazed into flames as he activated his skill.

    It would provide 10 extra damage to his attack. If he was lucky it would activate a burn effect that would light the entire behemoth on fire and would deal a fixed five damage per second to it. It might attract its attention long enough for those under its attack to get away.

    ¡°Vital area¡­ vital area¡­¡± Archy whispered it to himself like a chant as he fired the arrow.

    The flaming arrow flew true and far in the air. The small trail of embers left in its wake contrasted beautifully with the colours of the monstrous beast and Seven watched it for several seconds before turning around and realising that Archy had already ditched them and was running off into the woods. She admired that he had such confidence in his shots but stayed around with the others to watch it. She didn¡¯t know what he was thinking but even with the extra damage from the flaming arrow it probably wouldn''t even phase the behemoth.

    She watched the arrow fly and then she frowned. It was definitely going to hit the behemoth but she suddenly realised that there was one vital area that Third hadn¡¯t mentioned. One that would definitely piss off any monster or person if they attacked it. And then she saw the arrow fly true right into its target.

    Right into the small hole-like vital area between its butt cheeks.

    -66 (Critical hit!)

    The behemoth¡¯s body lit up as the flaming arrow set the entire beast on fire, activating the burn effect. The huge beast let out a strangled yelp before rising and letting out a roar that shook the surrounding trees.

    It immediately turned around far faster than it had been moving before. It¡¯s four legs not wasting a second as the giant fiery monster rushed towards them with all the force of a moving mountain. They could see a different fire in its eyes as it seemed to pinpoint their location with frightening accuracy and then they shuddered as they realised it was too angry to even care about the trees causing it damage as it crushed everything in its path into a fine paste.

    It was at that point that Seven began to run.

    ¡°SPLIT UP¡± She heard TidalWave¡¯s voice yell out before the sounds of the raging behemoth destroying everything in its path completely overcame it.

    The team didn¡¯t hesitate to split off into groups. She and Spark Joy ran to their left, Roxxy and Third ran to the right. TidalWave was the only one fast enough to catch up to Archy who had gotten a head start on them all so he went straight forward. They hadn¡¯t planned for this but they intuitively knew that if they each ran awayindividually themonsters nearby might pick them off once the crisis was over. If push came to shove, they could always private message each other the locations of nearby landmarks to group up.

    Shrieks and yells resounded through the forest as the behemoth crushed monster after monster underneath its feet in its rage. The creature was seeing red as it made a beeline for the area from which the arrow that had shot into its ass originated.

    Seven and Spark Joy breathed a sigh of relief as the behemoth stopped, confused, in the area that they had been in moments before. It sniffed the air and they nearly stumbled as the air seemed to suck them towards it. After a few seconds, the sucking force stopped and the beast ran forward with renewed rage.

    It had smelt Archy or TidalWave.

    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Seven didn¡¯t want to stop running in case the behemoth changed its path and started going after them.

    ¡°We hope they don¡¯t die.¡± Spark Joy said gravely, ¡°Even if they do, we can meet back in Lum if they respawn there. We should be able to farm back the levels soon enough. Hopefully they don¡¯t lose any good equipment.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Seven eyed the crows in the distance. Most had gone after the behemoth but a few stayed behind to keep up the attack on their original targets. ¡°Let¡¯s go help those guys. Maybe we can find out who caused this mess.¡±

    She also wanted to know their connection to Archy.

    ¡°Good idea.¡± Spark Joy didn¡¯t give out a peep of emotion, but her agreement made Seven suspicious.

    Seven got the feeling that the tank wanted to torment the people that they¡¯d risked their lives for. They rushed through the forest, quickly killing any dryads or other monsters they came across. She wondered if they could reach the other party before the level 30 flying monsters wiped them out.

    -Hey. Are you guys safe?- Third¡¯s private message went through to the entire team.

    Seven and Spark Joy confirmed they were fine and heading towards the group of people that had started the attack. She could imagine Third sighing as Roxxy tried to convince him to join in fighting the crows.

    -We¡¯ll join up with you.- Roxxy messaged back.

    They could all see from the party log that TidalWave and Archy hadn¡¯t died yet but the two were probably still running from the giant angry monster crushing the forest. They could see the mountain-sized creature stampeding around trying to find their teammates. Luckily they were far enough away from it that there was no way it would find them.

    The crows were a more immediate concern. Seven and Spark Joy were being slowed by dryads and treants enough that the sounds of fighting in the distance were growing more frantic. Soon they could visibly see a small crowd of figures fighting against three of the crows and losing. A few lay dead on the ground but there were still ten left fighting the crows.

    Every single one of them wore hoods that covered their features.

    The level 30 creatures were clearly too much for these guys to handle, but they had already heavily damaged two. Seven and Spark Joy were quickly closing in on the back of the pack, and the nearest crow was the most damaged.

    ¡°Hey, do you guys want help?¡± Seven decided to be nice before going in for the kill.

    ¡°YES PLEASE.¡± The loudest one that they¡¯d heard screaming during the beginning of the attack shouted at them and they felt like covering their ears.

    The crow also reacted to their presence and began another fierce attack. The two ran towards it and Seven began to rain fire from behind some of the cloaked figures. The three crows were huge enough that they almost seemed to blot out the sunshine.

    ¡°Sickle drag.¡± Spark Joy ran to the front of the crow and let her weapon fly.

    The sickle and chain wrapped about the crow, disabling it. Then Spark Joy ran past the crow, dragging it alongside her.The chain began to flow back towards her,bringing along the struggling creature, and she followed the attack with a ground pound attack with her shield.

    The hooded figures ran after her and the crow, crowding around it and smacking it with their swords.

    ¡®Are these guys only warriors?¡¯ Seven was confused.

    She knew she had seen arrows being fired into the air but there were no archers around her now.

    She fired magic blast after magic blast at the crow. She was trying to aim for its eyes, neck and other vital areas that Third had listed but the thing was thrashing around so quickly that while she hit its body with complete accuracy, she couldn¡¯t get any critical hits. She wasn¡¯t even sure anything except the eyes could be used tomake a critical hit. But the things were only slightly bigger than the leaves.

    Seven continued to rain down magic blasts on the heavily injured crow. Around her another hooded player cried out as they fell to the ground, dead. Despite the factthatthe other players were slowly dropping like flies, she could tell that with Spark Joy¡¯s tackiness the fight was coming around the manageable levels. Once Third and Roxxy joined up they would probably win quickly.

    Spark Joy looked like she was enjoying herself. Seven could see that unlike what she¡¯d thought previously, the tank¡¯s strategyconsisted of getting hit as little as possible. Spark Joy was dodging much like TidalWave did against the wolves. When she had to take a hitshe movedher massive shield in the way at the last second to take the minimum amount of damage. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    It was a simple display of raw skill but Seven had seen enough of her team fighting to know that Spark Joy didn¡¯t lose out at all compared to them. Perhaps only TidalWave was clearly better than Spark Joy. If she combined forces with Roxxy as well, Seven could see how they would increase their combat power exponentially.

    The nine hooded players had split up to destroy the crows or at least fend them off. While Spark Joy, Seven and a couple of other players dealt with the heavily injured crow, seven others scrambled around the less injured and the healthy crow.

    -25

    -25

    -25

    Her magic blasts were dealing steady streams of damage. She had no doubt that if they fought another Corrupted Magica the entire team would decimate it. However, these crows that had followed around the field boss were on another level altogether. On the ground they posed a threat but she was sure that if she had to fight them as they swooped in from the sky even with her practice she would probably miss the creatures until the moment they were right on top of her.

    Spark Joy downed a health potion as the crow shrieked at her, swiping its claws down and getting angrier as it missed her. The girl incapacitated it again as her sickle drag came off of cooldown and Seven ran up to the crow as it was on the last sliver of health and sent a windblast its way.

    -39

    The crows began to disappear and Seven was happy to see that she¡¯d gotten a huge chunk of experience in her bar. It left a white item light on the ground but they decided to move straight onto the other enemies. Seven and Spark Joy turned to the other two crows just in time to see them swipe at a player together and destroy the warrior¡¯s health. There were only eight hooded figures left now.

    ¡°THEY¡¯RE ALMOST DONE FOR.¡± Their leader took the death in his stride and renewed his attack on the two monsters.

    Spark Joy and Seven sent glances at each other and moved in to attack the slightly more injured crow. The two monsters were working in tandem to fight their group now but one was moving slightly slower than the other.

    ¡°Shield Throw!¡± A voice called out through the treeline and a shield flew out and smacked against the injured bird.

    Roxxy burst out through the trees and caught her shield as it flew back towards her. Then from the treeline Third followed itup with a giant void spear that came flying through the airand striking the stunned bird directly in the neck.

    Roxxy and Spark Joy didn¡¯t waste time getting into a rhythm as they moved around the crow, hurting it and drawing its aggression. Roxxy was a short-ranged fighter, but Spark Joy¡¯s sickle could let her attack from a few feet away. The two alternated between tanking attacks and dancing between their ranges to spread out the hostility of the monster.

    Third walked out calmly behind Roxxy and slowly made his way towards Seven as he fired off rift after rift into the crow. The hooded figures began faring a lot better once half of the enemy firepower was being concentrated on Roxxy and Spark Joy.

    ¡°TidalWave and Archy will be here in a few seconds,¡± Third updated them all as they fought.

    The two unlucky teammates had bared the brunt of the behemoth¡¯s anger, but luckily its giant size had worked against it. It hadn¡¯t been able to spot them underneath the trees of the Signet Woods. They were running towards them now with TidalWave leading the way.

    Fortunately, they hadn¡¯t left Archy by himself or else the player would have gotten lost forever.

    The crow began to shriek as its health dropped below a quarter. It thrashed crazily and blew Roxxy and a couple of the hooded figures back with a flap of its wings. Seven saw Spark Joy immediately take over tanking duties but the other crow took the chance to break through the other parties line up and focus its attacks on the sole tank.

    ¡°HELP HER.¡± The hooded figures leader jumped in front of Spark Joy and was promptly knocked flat on his butt as a crow claw swiped at him.

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Spark Joy otherwise ignored the bumbling figure and began dodging the crow attacks.

    She wasn¡¯t dealing as much damage as the others but because ofher constant swipes she still managed to stop the crows from aiming at the fallen figure. Then after a secondRoxxy joined up with her and the pressure lessened immensely. The magic blasts from Seven and rifts from Third were quickly bringing down the crow¡¯s health despite the level disparity.

    She sincerely regretted that the hooded figures were almost completely useless. They made good shields and dealt okay damage in numbers but individually they weren¡¯t high leveled enough or skilled enough to fend off the monsters for long. Now that there were only seven left they were nearly dealing negative damage.

    She was tempted to throw some of them into the crow claws to buy herself time to rest.

    She wiped the thoughtout of her head as an arrow flew by and struck the heavily injured crow in one eye, immediately followed by another arrow into the other eye.

    ¡°You always get yourself into the funnest situations.¡± A warrior dashed out from behind the crow with his sword pointed outward.

    ¡°Hey guys.¡± Seven¡¯s cheerful voice called out as TidalWave jumped into action and Archy fired shot after shot into the crows.

    In a matter of seconds the arrows had struck the crow¡¯s eyes enough time to critical hit it to death. The bird disappeared into dust and left behind a bright blue light. They turned to face the final crow and Seven could see that TidalWave was already ducking and weaving between its body and dodging its attacks. Roxxy joined himas they slashed the monster¡¯s body and along with the others quickly brought down its health.

    They didn¡¯t suffer any more casualties as they quickly brought the other crowdown. If the seven hooded figures had been by themselves, it might have been a different story but with TidalWave, Roxxy and Spark Joy sharing joint aggression the bird didn¡¯t get another attack off on them before dying. It left a bright white light as an item dropped and Seven alongside the others except Roxxy, Spark Joy and Third levelled up.

    It turns out the bird''s drops were nothing to write home about especially after sharing them with the other team. Seven received a couple of potions and the respectfully gave most of the lootto the other party to make up for their losses.

    Seven looked at the people they¡¯d saved and realised that each of them was at most half the height of her party. Even Seven who was the shortest of the group by a fair margin, was a good foot taller than these newcomers. Each one threw back their hoods to reveal young faces with rather tacky beards attached.

    ¡°Good lord,¡± Seven breathed. ¡°It¡¯s a party of tiny dwarves.¡±

    The loud-mouthed leader of the dwarves was at the front and he suddenly looked very nervous as he came face to face with an angry Archy.

    ¡°Augh. They¡¯re just super small in real life.¡± Archy slammed his palm against his forehead. ¡°That¡¯s my little cousin.¡±

    ¡°We are dwarves!¡± One of them at the back cried out but their party ignored them.

    ¡°Y-your cousin?¡± Roxxy was taken aback, ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t change his avatar at all.¡± Archy seemed like he wanted to run from the sheer awkwardness of the situation. ¡°Leo, how the hell did you find me here?¡±

    Zodiac was huge. He refused to believe that his little cousin had stumbled across him with a party of people in the middle of these huge woods on this particularcontinent. The coincidence was shockingly unlikely. If it really was a coincidence he would ask Leo to buy a lottery ticket when he logged off.

    ¡°Hi, Archy.¡± Leo waved nervously then laughed, ¡°When I went to your place I saw your internet history and checked which village you¡¯d been researching.¡± His chest puffed out in pride at his admission.

    ¡®Archy researching?¡¯ Seven couldn¡¯t help but think the two words didn¡¯t go together.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be proud of that.¡± Roxxy seemed to have taken personal offense to the little man.

    It seemed she had expected more from the person who had loudly attacked the monsters around the behemoth.

    ¡°That still doesn¡¯t explain why you¡¯re here. You weren¡¯t even in Torkay¡­ were you?¡± Archy looked uncertain at Leo¡¯s team who all shook their heads. ¡°Wait a second is that Melissa and Tommy?¡±

    ¡°Hi Archy.¡± The two kids called out sheepishly as he spotted them.

    They shuffled their feet nervously as Archy¡¯s gaze shifted to them. Tommy¡¯s face grew red and Melissa elbowed him in the side as he tried to shrink away behind her.

    ¡°Wait.¡± Archy¡¯s eyebrow rose, ¡°Leo are these all people I know?¡±

    ¡°Not¡­ all of them.¡± Leo also began to shuffle his feet nervously. ¡°Just the ones that are here. Some of the dead ones. Some of the ones in other villages¡­ Hey.¡± He gestured his hands at Archy¡¯s team. ¡°Do they have to be here for this?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely¡± Third stated.

    ¡°Hell yes.¡± Roxxy was having fun with it.

    ¡°One hundred percent¡± Seven nodded her head.

    ¡°I¡¯m enjoying myself.¡± TidalWave added.

    Archy groaned. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what this is. Scratch that.¡± He changed tactics and walked towards Tommy and Melissa. ¡°You¡¯re going to tell me what this is. Right now.¡±

    ¡°B-but it¡¯ll sound super lame if we say it out loud.¡± Melissa all but disappeared as she decided that wrapping her hood further around her face and not responding any more would save her from this situation.

    ¡°Then you¡¯ll have to tell me.¡± Archy walked up to Melissa and grabbed the tiny figure trying to conceal itself behind her.

    Tommy looked at Melissa in horror as Archy turned on to him, but the hooded girl ignored the pleas for help his eyes were sending her.

    ¡°W-we¡¯re the Knights of Magnolia.¡± Tommy¡¯s face grew redder with every word. ¡°We formed to protect our fair lady!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s a magnolia?¡± Seven was curious.

    This little dwarf group had created a secret society. To her, it was completely and utterly adorable. The whole group of them called themselves knights but were quaking in their boots as Archy turned his gaze to meet all of theirs. They brought their eyes down to the ground but some were hiding smiles asthe archer berated their companionsbut they got off scot-free.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s a kind of fruit.¡± Spark Joy, who had been silent the entire time, answered her question from the side with an amused expression on her face. ¡°Or maybe a flower of some sort.¡±

    Archy¡¯s face had slowly turned paler and paler as he registered the words that Tommy had said.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s not important.¡± A new voice resoundedin their ears as Third interrupted the entire event.

    Archy reacted to his statement with a gaping mouth. This was the last person he thought would try to get him out of this situation.

    ¡°What but that¡¯s not fair!¡± Seven turned to TidalWave. ¡°This is just getting interesting.¡±

    ¡°I think he¡¯s right.¡± TidalWave agreed.

    ¡°In that case, we don¡¯t need to know.¡± Seven did a one-eighty.

    Third looked a little miffed as she agreed with TidalWave and not him. But he knew that they had been friends for longer than she and hehad been. Even when they¡¯d formed the team, those two had been their own group.

    Of course, he didn¡¯t know they¡¯d only met each other a day before meeting him.

    ¡®Dang it.¡¯ Seven was unhappy that she¡¯d have to leave the mystery of the young bearded dwarf society alone, but she trusted TidalWave and Third.

    The only reason she had agreed to leave it alone after TidalWave had said to was because she was convinced Third had already worked out far more than she had. She didn¡¯t think it was fair that he got to know and everyone else didn¡¯t. But if TidalWave knew and said that it wasn¡¯t important then she thought she could try and get it out of him later.

    Third¡¯s thought process was a lot simpler than Seven gave him credit for. He could see that Archy was a lot more serious and nervous than usual and that the archer didn¡¯t have the normal lighthearted and annoying nature about himself that he normally did.

    He also had a hunch based on the reaction to the word Magnolia that he knew what Archy was trying to hide.

    If his hunch was correct then there was no need to pry further into this matter because quitefrankly, it wasn¡¯t any of his or his team¡¯s business. What Archy wanted to keep secret about himself outside of the game was up to him and not them.

    ¡°Alright then.¡± Spark Joy followed their lead. ¡°Let¡¯s head out.¡±

    Roxxy¡¯s mouth made a series of shapes as she tried to get out some words. She helplessly watched Spark Joy leave with Third and TidalWave in her wake. Seven could tell that she also desperately wanted to know about these ¡®Knights of Magnolia¡¯ and that her curiosity was killing her. Seven laughed and wrapped her hand over Roxxy¡¯s shoulder, dragging the girl along as she followed her teammates.

    They left Archy behind to talk to the dwarves and he shot them all a grateful look. Seven realised they¡¯d made the right choice when she saw that. There were some things that just didn¡¯t need prying into.

    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of dwarves.¡± TidalWave was amused by the encounter despite being one of thepeople wanting to leave, ¡°Can you imagine if they get a few hundred together? That¡¯ll be one hell of a sight.¡±

    The team nodded and Roxxy finally saw her chance to start the conversation she¡¯d been wanting to have.

    ¡°Why do you think they¡¯re only dwarves?¡± Roxxy chatted with the team as they moved out of hearing distance but made sure that Archy could still see them so he wouldn¡¯t get lost, ¡°Do you think they only take dwarves or was the party originally dwarves that made a group and now they take anyone?¡±

    ¡°Originally dwarves.¡± Seven responded immediately, ¡°They all looked young and comfortable with each other.¡±

    TidalWave agreed, ¡°But I don¡¯t know if they only take Dwarves as members or if they accept everybody. They mentioned a few people weren¡¯t there with them, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah.¡± Roxxy nodded enthusiastically. ¡°If they¡¯re knights they have to take everyone. The real question is whether they¡¯re a big group that is all over the place or a little one that¡¯s only in this area.¡±

    ¡°Maybe ju-¡±

    ¡°We should stop the speculation now.¡± Third interrupted them as he spotted Archy dislodging from the hooded group and walking towards them.

    ¡°Aww.¡± Roxxy and Seven looked like they wanted to fight back.

    They clearly wanted to interrogate Archy a bit when he came back.

    ¡°Let¡¯s put it like this. If I asked you a personal question about real life would you want to answer it?¡± Third asked.

    ¡°Probably not.¡± Roxxy and Seven admitted.

    ¡°Then it isn¡¯t our place to ask personal questions about Archy. He¡¯s our teammate for this mission and a fun person to play with. That¡¯s all we need to know.¡±

    ¡°Dang it.¡± Seven knew he was right. ¡°You¡¯re right. But if we come across any other groups and we''re not related to any of them I¡¯m allowed to ask them as many questions as possibleright?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely.¡± Third agreed with her, ¡°I¡¯ll even join you. It¡¯s not every day you come across secret societies in games.¡±

    Archy rejoined the group just as Third finished speaking.

    ¡°Heck yeah.¡± Seven cheered and they moved away from the topic ofthe young dwarves towards the behemoth that they had barely escaped.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you shot that thing in the ass.¡± Spark Joy was the first to turn to Archy and the archer immediately looked guilty.

    ¡°Oh-my-god that was so much fun.¡± Roxxy eyed the lumbering beast in the distance.

    It had already gotten over the attack and was walking off into the distance. They would have to avoid it in the futureif it did the rounds around the Signet Woods.

    ¡°I understand it.¡± Seven nodded her head. ¡°I think anything would get angry if it got shot up there.¡±

    ¡°I definitely didn¡¯t expect it. Quick thinking.¡± TidalWave complimenting the archer.

    ¡°I meant I can¡¯t believe he shot it at all.¡± Despite her words, Spark Joy didn¡¯t seem angry about the situation to Seven.

    ¡®Then again it¡¯s kind of hard to tell.¡¯ She thought to herself.

    ¡°I think this presents us with a rare opportunity.¡± Third interrupted them with some unexpected words. ¡°Now that the behemoth has left, we should retrace its steps.¡±

    ¡°You think we¡¯ll find something in the wreckage?¡± TidalWave was curious.

    Much of the forest had become swathes of destruction when the behemoth had stopped avoiding the trees when rushing and instead had crushed the foliage and greenery in its rampage.

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Third nodded and the party became interested in his analysis, ¡°As we were running towards the crows to help Seven and Spark Joy I came across this,¡± He brought out a small red bean, ¡°Inside the remains of a destroyed tree. I believe several rare ingredients could reveal themselves only when the trees or whatever was hiding them has been completely destroyed. We are the only players in the area aside from the dwarves-¡±

    ¡°Who have left immediately for their village to group up with their dead and will not bother us again.¡± Archy butted in.

    ¡°-That have access to this opportunity.¡±

    Seven recalled one quest that Archy had procured them.

    [You have received an invitation from team member ¡®Archy¡¯ to take on the quest: Greater Signet Woods 1 exploration. Information: Explore the Signet Woods Outer Ring and discover 10 kinds of plants. Reward: ???]

    Alongside the ones they had found after killing the corrupted magica they had discovered eight kinds of plants. Apparently the blue and red mushrooms did not count towards the quest although the green beans and spikey killers did.

    Alongside this red bean, the total went up to 9 discovered plants.

    ¡°Alright then.¡± Archy was quick to take the lead now that they had moved on from him attracting the behemoth, ¡°We should go immediately. Before the forest trees start coming back or something.¡±

    He was more than overjoyed to find that they would gain a benefit from the incident.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Seven followed him.

    ¡°You guys are going the wrong way.¡± TidalWave appeared next to her and Archy and pointed them in another direction. ¡°Follow me.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± They agreed and soon the entire party was combing through the wreckage of trees and foliage that the monster had destroyed.

    They fought against the dryads and treants that the behemoth¡¯s rampage hadn¡¯t destroyed and Third soon began frowning.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong thinker man?¡± Roxxy was digging through the rubble nearby and probed the frowning wizard. ¡°We¡¯re finding plenty of these red beans aren¡¯t we?¡±

    Behemoth, red striped crow, dryad, treant, and corrupted magica. He had confirmed with Seven and TidalWave that these were the only monster species that they had encountered so far. The two had written intricate journal notes on them. Well, TidalWave had intricate notes. Seven just had notes.

    The quest they had received to find seven species of monster was confounding him. It was clear that inside the inner ring there would be these ¡®wilder¡¯ creatures, and it was possible that normal magica were in the outer ring. But that still left one species left and they hadn¡¯t seen hide nor hair of it.

    ¡°It¡¯s probably something rare. Or maybe one of a kind.¡± Roxxy said when he explained the issue to her, ¡°We¡¯re missing a plant too right? Who knows, maybe they¡¯re both in the same place. Maybe they¡¯re in a cave or a special tree. It¡¯s a big area. We¡¯re pretty close to finishing a few quests though, yay.¡± She stayed beside him and continued to pick through the bark and branches.

    ¡°I should have asked those little dwarves when I had the chance.¡± Third muttered under his breath.

    It turned out that whereas the green beans were on fallen bark that had happened naturally, the red beans grew deep within the trees and they couldn''t access thembefore the destruction of the tree. Luckily most of the beans hadn¡¯t died off alongside the trees so they were gaining quite the bounty.

    [You have consumed a Red Bean. A key ingredient in quality strength potions itis better used during the practice of alchemy. You can feel the power coursing through you. +3 Strength for 5 minutes.Effect is not stackable with other Red Beans.]

    They all tried a bean but agreed to save them alongside the other ingredients after doing it once. These were probably the final form of the green beans after they had been allowedto age within the trees.

    Third walked past the debris frowning. They were definitely profiting an immense amount because ofthis. The treants and dryads swarmed into the open area with Seven and Archy picking them off, and the destroyed trees revealed a lot of ingredients and the red beans. But he couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that they were missing something.

    ¡°You sure spend a lot of time thinking.¡± Roxxy continued her trek through the field and continued commenting by Third¡¯s side, ¡°What would you do? Have the entire party comb the area meticulously and in a grid-like pattern for this plant and monster you''re convincedis here?¡±

    ¡°Did I mention the word convinced?¡± Third smiled, ¡°And no, I would never impose such a thing on everyone. That wouldn¡¯t be fun at all. But I¡¯m missing something and I¡¯m sure I can work it out. Perhaps the monster has hiddeninside the trees or is airborne. I just can¡¯t hel-¡±

    [Quest completed; Greater Signet Woods 1 Discovery.]

    [Quest completed; Greater Signet Woods 1 Exploration.]

    ¡°Hey guys, I think I stepped on something.¡± Archy¡¯s voice rang out towards them, ¡°Augh it¡¯s all over my boot. Oh hey, it dropped a plant.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Third sighed and felt like punching something. ¡°I should have just tried not thinking at all.¡±

 Chapter 14: Corruption

    The party gathered around Archy curiously and saw that he¡¯d stepped on a tiny lizard that could probably have fit in their palms when it was alive. They could all see the notification that had popped into their party log when Archy had killed it.

    [Party member: Archy has slain a Corrupted Baby Chameleon.]

    [Party Member: Archy has picked up corrupted mugroot x1]

    ¡°They¡¯re invisible.¡± TidalWave made an immediate connection.

    He had already brought out his journal to record the new creature''s information. Seven quickly followed his actions and brought out her own journal to scribble in.

    ¡°This thing is useless.¡± Archy showed them the rather ugly and diseased plant that had dropped alongside the monster. ¡°I can¡¯t even eat it to analyse it. The thing¡¯s description says it''s corrupted beyond useability and isn¡¯t even an alchemy ingredient.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Third had already moved past the fact that Archy had luckily stumbled over the very thing he¡¯d been trying to find and instead thought about what this could mean, ¡°The corrupted magica we fought didn¡¯t corrupt the ingredients around it.¡±

    By now Spark Joy and Roxxy had already read through the notes that TidalWave had made and knew of their previous encounter. The party hadn¡¯t encountered any other corrupted creatures aside from that one until now.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s exclusive to this plant.¡± Roxxy suggested, ¡°They could all be corrupted.¡±

    The other party members agreed but even Roxxy didn¡¯t seem too convinced. It was strange of the forest to provide them with random non-useable ingredients.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because more time has passed.¡± Seven¡¯s suggestion came out of nowhere but she thought it made sense.

    ¡°The magica we fought probably hadn¡¯t been around for too long. Now it¡¯s been a few days so whatever this chameleon had on it was corrupted?¡± Her voice grew smaller as she tried to form a theory.

    ¡°That would be a problem.¡± Third¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°Because if you are correct then over the next few days or longer, the ingredients of this forest will become corrupted and unusable.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like a good way to get rich.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s pick up everything while it¡¯s healthy¡± Archy and Roxxy called out at the same time and scrambled to find more things to pick up.

    ¡°This poses a major issue.¡± Third recalled the fight they¡¯d had against the corrupted magica, ¡°But we still need more information.¡±

    ¡°Do you think we should split up to finish these quests before moving on?¡± Seven suggested as she saw the number of monsters they still had to kill, ¡°Maybe we¡¯ll run into more corrupted creatures and see if they drop anything corrupted.

    If they split up they could take on a lot of groups of monsters now. Dryads and treants barely posed a problem if the party split up the tanks and TidalWave with a ranged ally each. They could also cover a wider area to collect ingredients.

    ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Archy agreed immediately.

    They could see the dollar signs in his eyes.

    In the end they decided that if they were only fighting treants and dryads it would be easier to split up into three groups of two. Archy and Roxxy, Spark Joy and Third, and TidalWave and Seven. They were mainly going to find ingredients and kill the quest monsters. It would be useless to actively searchfor corrupted monsters if the things were rare or invisible. They determined that the quests wouldn¡¯t take too long since they all had fairly high damage and skill.

    ****

    ¡°Indeed. Yon dryads tell me thy nasty plans and indeedI shall slay thee nicely.Indeed.¡± Archy shot arrow after arrow into the heads of dryads and treants.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Roxxy was having fun dodging the treant¡¯s slow attacks.

    Compared to the crows, these slow swipes were nothing.

    ¡°I¡¯m trying to channel my inner Third.¡± Archy had switched back into normal arrows for now and was saving the steel arrows for later, ¡°He looked like he was thinking deeply about something.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re trying to get into his state of mind and you¡¯re talking like a three-hundred-year-old actor?¡± Roxxy smirked. ¡°I like it.¡±

    ¡°He sounds exactly like that.¡± Archy protested as he finished the last monster of the group.

    Roxxy¡¯s smile widened, ¡°I think he was worried that the corruption would spread to the monsters rather than the plants.¡±

    ¡°The monsters?¡± Archy began to move to the next area and tried to find a new group of monsters to demolish.

    ¡°That chameleon was a normal monster, not a special one like the corrupted magica you guys told us you fought.¡± Roxxy explained, ¡°So if the corruption spreads across -oh-oh- monsters over there.¡± She pointed towards a new group of dryads and treants and they engaged them, ¡°So if the corruption spreads across monsters then they¡¯ll probably grow stronger and also cost us a lot in items. So he¡¯s probably wondering how the dynamic will change in the woods.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Archy seemed to think about that, ¡°Okay.¡±

    He watched closely as the sprightly girl zig-zagged across the enemies, slashing at them with her sword. He wondered if he could beat her in a fight. It seemed like she was a lot less skilled and damage dealing than TidalWave. Finally, he concluded that he¡¯d definitely be able to win and was happy.

    ¡°Thinking that you could win against me easily?¡± Roxxy could read him like a book.

    ¡°Yup.¡± he confirmed, ¡°I think I could kick your butt the first few times at least until you get used to my arrows. Don¡¯t know about your friend Spark Joy though.¡±

    ¡°She would totally kick your ass.¡± Roxxy challenged him as she cut through an enemy dryad with ease, ¡°But maybe only half the time.¡± She thought back to the conversation the magi guild attendant had with her and Seven, ¡°What about Seven?¡±

    ¡°Seven?¡± Archy asked as he thought he¡¯d misheard, ¡°What about Seven?¡±

    ¡°Would she beat you in a fight?¡±

    ¡°Are we talking about right now?¡± Archy tried to avoid the question.

    Roxxy picked up on his voice becoming quieter and more pensive.

    ¡°Justin general. Now orin the future.¡± Roxxy finished the last monster and felt satisfaction asshe saw one had dropped a silver coin.

    They were making a lot off of their monster clearing.

    ¡°I think Seven is a little different.¡± Archy tried to think of his response carefully. ¡°If she fought against me today I would win ten out of ten fights.¡±

    ¡°And if she fought against you tomorrow?¡± Roxxy recalled how she¡¯d improved on the spot as she took the test at the magi guild.

    ¡°Then I have no idea.¡± Archy confirmed her suspicions, ¡°Did you know I¡¯ve been playing archers in every virtual reality game I¡¯ve played. I pride myself on my aim and accuracy. That thing with the leaves? Are you kidding, that kind of skill took me a week to master hitting even one leaf. And then to hit the second one took me a few more days. Do you know how long it took Seven to do once she found out it existed?¡±

    Roxxy recalled she¡¯d seen the magi hitting at least some leaves consistently. ¡°Not that long?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re damn right not that long.¡± Archy sounded bitter but his expression quickly brightened, ¡°That¡¯s one hell of a motivator.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Roxxy could already spot a new group of mobs and moved in to engage.

    Before she could get near them, each one had an arrow through the head. A second one soon flew past and he had wiped out the entire group.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I mean.¡± Archy stepped forward to pick up the drops, ¡°just thinking about how fast she¡¯s doing stuff is annoying me into improving myself.¡±

    Roxxy realised that if he wanted to Archy probably could have gone off on his own and finished wave after wave of monsters. Then again, she remembered what the others had said, he would probably end up lost.

    ¡°It¡¯s not just me.¡± Archy continued, ¡°Do you think TidalWave was always as skilled? The dudes probably just as monstrous. He keeps thinking about every move he makes, trying to perfect it. Every fight we have I can see he¡¯s just that bit stronger, faster and more precise in his dodging. I think it¡¯s because he¡¯s competitive. He can see Seven improving a ton and he doesn¡¯t want to fall behind. Just the last couple of days we¡¯ve known each other and the guy is a lot better than before.¡±

    Roxxy hummed as she vaguely recalled TidalWave¡¯s fighting style. He definitely didn¡¯t seem like he needed to improve much.

    ¡°But if you ask me Seven probably won¡¯t ever beat me in a fight. Not the way she is now.¡± Archy said with certainty.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Roxxy suddenly realised they had cleared most of the groups in the nearby area.

    To find more enemies they¡¯d have to walk deeper into the woods.

    ¡°I mean,¡± Archy tried to find the right words. ¡°She¡¯d have to actually challenge me to a fight to improve. Sure, once she does that she would probably win eventually because she¡¯d growin the process. But since we all met up she¡¯s never once asked to duel, or even looked like she wants to duel us. TidalWave and Third both want to duel me. You and Spark Joy clearly willeventually. But Seven doesn¡¯t even think of asking and she probably would refuse if I asked her. So she¡¯ll never fight me. That means she¡¯ll never win against me.¡±

    ¡°Fun logic.¡± Roxxy¡¯s head was thinking up ways to get Seven to challenge the team to duels, she was curious about the team¡¯s assessment of her, ¡°And if she goes out of her way to ask you to duel her?¡±

    They walked deeper into the woods, nearing the inner ring. By now the trees were blotting out the sunlight and they forced the duointo a single file line.

    ¡°Then I¡¯d do it.¡± Archy didn¡¯t care too much about potentially losing, ¡°If she improves quickly then I¡¯ll just improve even more. That¡¯s the nature of it. Besides, having an even stronger teammate is always a benefit. In fact,¡± he slowed his pace as the treeline suddenly grew much thicker and darker, he thought of that annoying person that kept popping up, Attracting, ¡°I¡¯ll make you a promise. If she ever wants to go out of her way toduel a strong opponent then I won¡¯t argue with her over it. She¡¯ll have first dibs. That''s how sure I am that she won¡¯t do these kinds of things.

    Roxxy tried to imagine a situation in which there was an opponent all of theteam were trying to duel when a purple glimmer entered her vision.

    [Corrupted Treant: Lvl 25.]

    ¡°-Oh-oh,¡± Roxxy¡¯s eyes glimmered as they suddenly came across a group of mobs. One of them was similar to the normal treants except with tinges of purple glow on its bark skin instead of the usual gray.

    It was also a lot higher in level than the other treants.

    Archy cocked his arrow towards the treant. ¡°Looks like we found something interesting.¡±

    *****

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask to fight us.¡± TidalWave was easily cutting through the monsters like they were made of salami. ¡°I can see you watching the duels.¡±

    Seven was calmly firing magic blasts at the enemies. The duo had quickly moved deeper into the woods as they defeated the nearby enemies with ease. Now they had encountered two new forces that caused them some headaches.

    ¡°It¡¯s fun.¡± He tried a new tactic.

    [Corrupted Treant: Lvl 27.]

    [Corrupted Dryad: Lvl 25.]

    [Corrupted Treant: Lvl 26.]

    There were small groups of high levelled enemies travelling around the place. Each one was a corrupted version of the usual foes. They had spotted a few normal treants and dryads travelling with the corrupted monsters at first but now it was mostly corrupted beings.

    She wasn¡¯t sure if it was spreading or if they had simply gone deep enough that the woods had spawned different mobs.

    ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to bother you guys.¡± There wasn¡¯t any deep meaning behind it, ¡°You guys would beat me easily and wouldn¡¯t gain anything from it.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Sure.¡± TidalWave agreed, ¡°But that won¡¯t change unless you get better. And the only way to know you¡¯re getting better is to fight us.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a catch twenty-two.¡± Seven concentrated her blasts on the bodies of the magic creatures, she wasn¡¯t skilled enough yet to hit their moving heads with one hundred percent certainty, ¡°I won¡¯t last long enough to improve while fighting you guys.¡±

    TidalWave stayed silent at her words and continued to dance around the treants. Despite their higher level and tougher attacks, they were still too slow to cause him to break his attention away from the conversation.

    ¡°Then what about the leaf practice?¡± He tried a different approach. ¡°If you couldn¡¯t hit the leaves at first, the only way you could improve was to keep trying to,right?¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to duel you?¡± Seven finally asked him to get to the point.

    ¡°Yes.¡± TidalWave admitted, ¡°I think it¡¯ll be really fun.¡±

    He secretly wanted to see how much she had improved. She had slowed down her dodging training in favour of practicing against leaves but he still thought that she could use both in fights. He also believed that if they dueled enough she would eventually be the one winning. He wanted to use that as a motivation to improve himself.

    He had almost carved through the entire group of enemies when another bigger group joined up with them. Unlike the normal monsters, these corrupted ones could call for reinforcements.

    ¡°Reaper¡¯s fury.¡± He jumped into the middle of the group and fired off a massive damage dealing skills.

    He hit most of them and the rest began to spread around him.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Seven agreed, she couldn¡¯t think of any reason whyTidalWave would want to bully her by destroying her in duels, ¡°We¡¯ll plan something out. Are you going to hold back?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡± He smiled as the creature began their joint attack, he was finally getting into a bit of a prickly situation, ¡°But I¡¯m confident you¡¯ll quickly start putting up a real fight.¡±

    ¡°Maybe after the first few hundred tries.¡± Seven said, despondent.

    ¡°I think it¡¯d be a lot fewer. It took Archy around a hundred remember.¡±

    TidalWave watched a shower of magic blasts caused the enemies surrounding him to hesitate and he used the opportunity to jump out of their circle. He began to slice through them and with his uninterrupted combo his damage was reaching insane heights. It was almost too easy.

    ¡°Huh.¡± Seven peeked through the treants formation and saw the trees behind them had suddenly grown purple, ¡°I think we¡¯re going into the inner ring area now.¡±

    The sunlight that pervaded the forest and had been bathing them with a soft green glow and lovely breeze had disappeared. So it was extremely noticeable when thelightdisappeared and a purple glaze swathed their vision. Smog appeared from the ground and seemed to form a wall of mist blocking their vision.

    TidalWave and Seven finished the last of the enemies and peered carefully at the smog barrier.

    ¡°Do you think we should go in no-¡± Seven¡¯s sentence was interrupted as something fast flew towards her head, ¡°Holy crap.¡±

    She moved back and out of the arrow¡¯s flight path. TidalWave gripped his sword tightly as five figures emerged from behind the smog with swords. A sixth figure hovered around behind them and Seven could barely make out the shape of a bow in its hands.

    [Corrupted Wilder: Lvl 35]

    [Corrupted Wilder Archer: Lvl 35]

    ¡°Run.¡± TidalWave made the split-second decision and they ran for their lives.

    Luckily the wilder team didn¡¯t follow them into the outer ring.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s an issue.¡± Seven had gotten a good look at the figures.

    The corrupted wilders were far too dangerous for the current team. Especially with the corrupted wilder archers shooting from the back. It wasn¡¯t just their levels, the environment worked against them too, she could barely see the figure of the archer due to the fog. They couldn¡¯t beat them without levelling or practicing more.

    ¡°Well now.¡± TidalWave had a playful smile tugging at his lips. ¡°It looks like we all might need to get some dodging practice in. You know, duels are a good way to do that.¡±

    Seven nodded. She honestly loved the idea but was just afraid of wasting her team¡¯s time.

    ¡°Let¡¯s flesh out a plan.¡±

    ****

    The team couldn¡¯t do much else that day after meeting up together. They were too far below level 35 to match even the basic wilders, and further exploration revealed that the corrupted monsters travelled in large groups of five to ten. It was a far cry from the three crows they¡¯d fought with two teams numbering in the double digits. The team decided there was only one way to prepare themselves to go further into the woods where Seven¡¯s quest was pointing towards.

    Farm quests and monsters, and practice.

    ¡°Are you ready?¡± TidalWave and Seven faced each other in the clearing caused by the behemoth¡¯s rampage.

    They had logged into Zodiac Online a few hours earlier than the others to duel. Seven¡¯s philosophy was that if TidalWave was willing, they would try to duel over and over again until they got results.

    TidalWave had been thinking the same thing. He loved to win good duels and Seven loved to practice and improve. It was a powerful combination. He was sure that with the amount of duels they would do they¡¯d be able to improve greatlyover time. She would become better at dodging and fighting in a close and longer range. Then he could gauge how powerful she could become.

    TidalWave predicted that at her current level she¡¯d have a chance at winning within three hundred duels. They could get out that number soon enough if he killed her fast enough during the first couple of hundred. She would probably only hit him after a hundred and fifty duels.

    He was certain of his analysis.

    ¡°Dang it.¡±

    She died within a few seconds the first time.

    ¡°Whoops.¡±

    Also the second time.

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Seven mused to herself.

    The fortieth time was no different. But this time she had barely managed a dodge, if only once.

    ¡°Not bad, nod bad.¡±

    The forty-fifth time had lasted a lot longer. She had even managed to get off a magic blast when TidalWave got near her. If she dodged his attack and sent a counterattack due to her range and accuracy she could always at least hit his body in return.

    Of course, she died straight afterward. She simply couldn¡¯t keep up with his attacks yet.

    It was during the fiftieth fight that she finally saw some progress.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    She managed to get off three consecutive dodges and attacks.

    ¡°DAMN IT.¡±

    Her screen turned gray for the fiftieth time and she sighed. She had been so close to killing TidalWave. He had cut her last magic blast in half with his sword but if she could get another couple of good shots in he would die. He simply didn¡¯t have the health to tank her high damage attacks. She looked at him standing there near her dead body.

    TidalWave¡¯s expression was unfathomable.

    ¡°Wow, you guys are here early.¡± They turned around to find themselves looking at a rather tired Archy.

    ¡°I asked Seven to practice. She said that if we''re going to fight, she wanted time to improve. So we agreed to take a few hours out while waiting for you guys to fight.¡± TidalWave seemed to consider something as Archy came up close to him.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Archy¡¯s eyes turned to her curiously. ¡°I saw that. How long have you guys been here?¡±

    ¡°Only a bit.¡± Seven had finally revived fully. ¡°But that was our fiftieth duel. TidalWave just keeps killing me too quickly.¡±

    She had learned a lot. She briefly wondered if her dodging skills would allow her to outrun that strange attack Attracting used to finish hisduels. If it followed the players it targeted, she might be able to dodge it long enough to survive and run away.

    But that still wasn¡¯t a sure-fire way to escape the attack. She wanted to think up a way to counter it completely. She had formed focus points intending to shift the direction of the leaves she was firing at but it was a slow process.

    Archy stepped up to TidalWave, ¡°You¡¯re not holding back right?¡±

    TidalWave shook his head. He knew Archy had seen how close Seven had gotten to killing him just then. Of course, the same pattern wouldn¡¯t get him the next time. But he knew she would keep finding new ways to attack, new places to dodge to give her the advantage against him. She had already far surpassed his expectations.

    ¡°I have an idea.¡± Archy¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°We still have a few hours. I was just going to train as well, so this is perfect.¡± He had been planning on farming more treants for archery practice, ¡°Lets-¡±

    ¡°Archy and I will duel you from now on.¡± TidalWave interrupted Archy¡¯s showmanship babbling.

    ¡°-Both fight Seven together, aw, that¡¯s no fun. You have to let me finish.¡±

    They looked at each other with calm expressions. Unbeknownst to Seven, they were sending quick messages to each other.

    -Are you sure you want to do this? I was kind of joking.-

    -Yes.-

    TidalWave had seen her potential, and he wanted to see what would happen if they both fought against Seven. She was already making insane progress just by fighting him.

    ¡°BOTH of you?¡± Seven put a harsh emphasis on the word ¡®both¡¯.

    She wasn¡¯t fully unconvinced that they didn¡¯t want to bully her. Maybe she had accidentally stolen one of their kills.

    ¡°Yes, both of us.¡± TidalWave was calm and resolute, ¡°it¡¯ll be good practice.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t even match up to one of you.¡± Seven complained but didn¡¯t seem too against the idea.

    She had a faint taste for battle in her and now she wanted more. She could see now that she¡¯d been underestimating herself too much. She had caught up to TidalWave a lot quicker than she¡¯d estimated. When they started she hadn¡¯t thought that she¡¯d be able to dodge his attacks at all today, let alone damage him.

    She wondered how difficult it would be to fight against both Archy and TidalWave.

    ¡°Are you sure I won¡¯t be wasting your time?¡± She asked one final question.

    They both shook their heads then ran back as they prepared for the next duel. Due to their classes they gave Seven a fair range to start from or else TidalWave could simply catch up to her in a second and kill her.

    The duel started and Seven prepared to fire magic blasts at the oncoming TidalWave.

    And promptly died as two arrows struck her head perfectly.

    ¡°Damn it. Here we go again.¡± She grumbled.

    One duel. Two duels. Fifty duels. Sixty.

    The fights were still rather one-sided even after they¡¯d passed one hundred duels. Each fight was only seconds long as Archy and TidalWave made mincemeat of Seven. Of course, she couldn¡¯t notice much of a difference between each fight but Archy and TidalWave could. Afterthe fiftieth fight, she had gone from lasting five seconds to lasting ten. After the seventieth, she lasted twelve seconds.

    On the one hundredth duel Seven decided that she was doing something wrong.

    An arrow pierced the air as it flew at her head. She moved slightly to the left, allowing the arrow to pass by harmlessly. She was keeping an eye out on TidalWave as he approached, saving her stone shifts for him. This entire time she had slowly been gaining more awareness of both their actions. She continued to dodge arrows as she tried to navigate away from TidalWave.

    They pushed her concentration to the max as she tried hurriedly to fire off magic blasts.

    ¡®I need to do something different.¡¯

    The surroundings distracted her too much for her to focus fully on the opponents in front of her. A tree stump there, a rock underneath her foot. She was worrying about unnecessary things. She breathed deeply as another arrow barely missed her eye. She tried to filter out the unnecessary thoughts, she could deal with new obstacles as they appeared. For now she only had time to focus on the two people trying to kill her.

    The area seemed to disappear as the arena slowly disappeared around her. No, she was simply not concentrating on it. Her entire body relaxed as she stopped doubting her every step and instead moved only to dodge the constant attacks heading towards her. She dodged another arrow as TidalWave caught up to her and she dodged his stabbing attack.

    And then TidalWave slashed at her again and she died.

    She was silent as she requested another duel. She was fully in the zone of concentration now. She couldn¡¯t even see her surroundings. Soon she lost track of the number of duels she had been fighting. She just knew that she was lasting longer and improving. Even if she didn¡¯t land attacks, she was seeing more possibilities opening up to fire them.

    Even if arrows shot towards her she was certain she could dodge them if she just practiced a little more.

    Spark Joy watched the proceedings with narrowed eyes from a nearby tree stump. She had logged on only to find Seven fighting against both Archy and TidalWave. The two players had noticed Spark Joy straight away, but the fighting had completely absorbed the magi. Spark Joy doubted the girl even knew she was here.

    The girl hadn¡¯t left a lasting impression on her yesterday but Roxxy wouldn¡¯t shut up about her.

    So shefelt extremelysurprised when she saw that Seven was putting up a good fight against her opponents. Spark Joy wasn¡¯t under any false impressions; She could see that Archy and TidalWave were equal to her in skill or even better. And she had great pride in her skills.

    The trio had entered their two hundredth duel.

    Seven hadn¡¯t hit a single shot, but she was improving before their eyes at a visible rate. Within a few duels the magi had gone from shooting out magic blasts and missing to shooting them and having them blocked as TidalWave destroyed them in mid-air. Seven wasn¡¯t missing shots due to lack of skill, but simply because her opponents were monsters. It made Spark Joy wonder if she could defeat the girl in a duel. Technically Seven countered her tank class because ofher ability to fire long-range attacks constantly. Spark Joy could dodge of course, but if the girl was this good at close range fighting then Spark Joy didn¡¯t have the confidence to say that she would win every fight.

    She sensed that TidalWave felt the same way. The fighter was concentrating and taking this fight completely seriously.

    She watched as he finally caught up to Seven despite her dodging. He made five quick attacks in rapid succession. Seven dodged every attack with a combination of sidestepping and her stone shift ability, butat the same time, she maneuvered away from two arrows Archy had shot at her. She tried to fire a wind blast at the incoming warrior, but at the last second, he sidestepped it.

    Then TidalWave got too close and Seven¡¯s dead body hit the ground again.

    Spark Joy felt a shiver at that fight. The girl¡¯s skills were simply too monstrous. But she was still lacking in basics. Against any weaker opponent she would undoubtedly overwhelm them but against these two opponents, the girl¡¯s accuracy and timing would need to be perfect for her to even think of getting in an attack. She simply hadn¡¯t reached that level yet.

    Spark Joy watched them begin another duel. This time, Archy and TidalWave started slightly closer than they had before. Even while Seven was improving they were slowly giving her less and less of a handicap. One day they might not even bother to start from a long-ranged distance and instead have the warrior stand right next to her from the beginning. These fights were convincing Spark Joythat Seven would catch up to the two soon. Though that would still be in quite a while.

    Spark Joy recalled what Roxxy had told her about Third. The man had told the magi guild a single word to get them interested in Seven.

    Monster.

    She thought it was an apt description.

    ¡°Imagine if she had better accuracy.¡± Roxxy¡¯s voice interrupted her thoughts as the latest duel began, she pointed to TidalWave, ¡°She¡¯s aiming for body shots at the moment. But if she could shoot at his eyes with certainty, or even his head, then it¡¯s not a guarantee that they¡¯d win the duel.¡±

    The girl had logged on soon after Spark Joy and was sitting down on a tree stump as she watched the battle enthusiastically. Ironically Third, the most punctual of the team, was the last to arrive. They couldn''t blame himbecause they had all decided on their own to log in earlier than the agreed time.

    Fortunately, the instructions were fairly clear. They would kill the rest of the dryads and treants to quickly clear the subjugation quests and then return to Lum to get their rewards and the next quest in that line. They would likely have to kill an even higher number of dryads and treants later.

    Unfortunately, because the wilders seemed to have all become corrupted it was difficult to farm enough to reach their level and fight against them. They would have to find other corrupted creatures or go to other areas of the outer ring that were untouched and full of enemies.

    After the duel count had long reached three hundred Third finally logged in. He seemed to take in stride the sight of Seven fighting against Archy and TidalWave for a full two minutes. Once they finished the duelthey all gathered together to see what they would do. Once they had their exact plans down pat for the day they set out.

    It was a grind that would last days.

 Chapter 15: Dark Horse

    A few days later, the familiar sound of battle could be heard from the site of the behemoth¡¯s rampage.

    -32

    A red damage figure floated above TidalWave¡¯s head as his arm was hit by a magic blast. He grunted as the hit blew away a large amount of his health. Another few shots like that and he would be dead.

    He jumped to the side to dodge more incoming missiles and breathed in relief as his partner forced his opponent to stop firing and instead retreat as arrows rained on her. TidalWave followed his enemy and closed in but she saw him coming and carefully aimed a few more blasts at him.

    By now he was used to her pattern. Even if each shot was precise, she couldn¡¯t concentrate fully on aiming at him and also on dodging the arrows. But that didn¡¯t make her any less dangerous. Once he got in close she sacrificed her accuracy for a more rapid-fire rate. She fired shot after shot at his torso and he raced to make moredistance between them rather than coming closer.

    She was too dangerous up close.

    He grabbed one of the disposable swords he had purchased in Lum and threw it towards his enemy. At the same time that he threw the sword, his ally covered his back by shooting another arrow directly at her. Unless she dodged perfectly she would get hit by at least one of the attacks.

    But she was expecting it.

    ¡°Wind blast.¡±

    The blast of wind pushed the sword out of the air and his opponent dodged the arrow and sprinted towards him. He lifted his sword to retaliate against her onslaught. She was completely on the attack now. She ignored the arrows that breezed past her as she used the minimal movements required to dodge them.

    When she finally got in close to TidalWave she lifted her wand and fired more magic blasts at him. He dodged the first few but at the last second one caught him in the chest and he blanched.

    -32

    Taking advantage of this, his opponent moved in for the kill and he smiled. He activated his shadow dance skill and used the increased movement speed to dance around his attacks and reach her back, slashing at her repeatedly until her body fell, lifeless, onto the grass.

    His trap had worked perfectly.

    ¡°DAMN IT.¡±

    Seven stamped her foot in frustration when she revived. She still hadn¡¯t killed either TidalWave or Archy, let alone won against them. But she had come close several times now. Their fights were lasting longer and longer and she had refined quite a few of her battle skills.

    She would conserve mana by firing only at opportune times, she had also begunaiming more precisely to force TidalWave to stay back and dodge but had also learned to forsake some accuracy in orderto hurt him.

    ¡®And the two bastards still won¡¯t die.¡¯ She grumbled to herself.

    Archy pretended to wipe his virtual brow as he walked up to TidalWave. ¡°She almost got you that time, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± TidalWave was stony-faced as he focused entirely on the previous fight, ¡°I won¡¯t be able to use that ability too many more times before she stops falling for it.¡±

    ¡°Dang it.¡± Archy cocked his bow. ¡°I¡¯m going to come in closer. We¡¯ll both pressure her with a joint attack.¡±

    Spark Joy continued to sit to the side as she watched the duels with interest. She knew TidalWave and Archy were continuously changing their tactics to match Seven¡¯s progress. Amazement was only one emotion she was feeling at the girl¡¯s abilities. Sure, she hadn¡¯t won a single match yet or killed either of her opponents. But she was getting ridiculously close.

    Spark Joy had gone on several dryad and treant raids with Seven and noted that the girl was getting more and more skilled. Whenever they were picking up items Seven would take the chance to fire at leaves, and when Spark Joy traveled with Third he confirmed she was getting better at her other skills too. She asked about TidalWave and Archy as well and noted that they were also growing in skill.

    ¡°WHAT WAS THAT?¡± Archy bellowed a question as a magic blast that had clearly missed a second ago hit him.

    Spark Joy had seen this occasionally too, but only against monsters. Seven could change the direction of her magic sometimes. She had even shifted, albeit slightly, the direction of Archy¡¯s arrows occasionally. Unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t shift the direction much and usually ended up being hit because ofthe change rather than having it help her. It seemed like it required a lot of concentration, however, because TidalWave quickly dispatched heras she hesitated for a second after doing it.

    A player that could both deflect enemy attacks and change the direction of her own. If she could perfect that weapon, then the magi would become an even more formidable opponent.

    It hadn¡¯t been fighting the entire week. Spark Joy and her team had completed several quests in the entire outer ring area. Not only quests calling for the culling of ordinary monsters but also new quests that wanted the deaths and items dropped by corrupted creatures. The purple glowing things were slowly spreading and now it wasn¡¯t rare to find a corrupted creature even among the wolves that prowled outside the outer ring of the woods.

    Alongside the spreading of corruption was the destruction of a lot of ingredients. Luckily their team had been collecting and storing a lot of them within Lum. They only rarely used the spiked fruit to repel monsters from their back line. However, many of theother teams that had appeared in the woods were finding it difficult to find a large amount of the plants that had been so prevalent before.

    Luckily the team had found several corrupted and uncorrupted magica that not only allowed them to complete their quest to kill the monsters but also provided them with ingredients. Unfortunately, during the last two days, even the corrupted magica had dropped corrupted ingredients.

    Other teams were becoming a far more common sight now. New players in the area were around level 28-29 at the highest. They were usually a lot lower in level on average. The team had even come across a crowd of hooded figures numbering over a hundred players fighting monsters. Archy had almost immediately run from the sight before complaining that the odd dwarf society was multiplying like rabbits.

    Spark Joy herself had reached level 32. The other team members were all within the level 32-33 range as well. Their clearing speed of high-level monstersand their quest rewardshad left them far ahead of the ordinary players. This was including the hours some of them spent dueling instead of farming.

    ¡°We should take on the inner ring area today.¡± Spark Joy spoke toRoxxy who as usual was sitting next to her watching the duels with sparkling eyes.

    They had joined in and fought duels against the others as well, but Seven, Archy, and TidalWave had fought the most duels out of all of them. Every team member was rapidly improving.

    Spark Joy hadn¡¯t thought it possible for her to improve her skills so quickly but being surrounded by powerful players that she could fight any time had given her a lot more experience than she was used to. They had almost all gone under extreme transformations.

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Third had been in the nearby woods farming. ¡°It is a good time to try andbeat the wilders.¡±

    He had taken to scouting the area for ingredients and clearing mobs while the others were dueling. He enjoyed the fights when he took part,but he knew he could gain more by leveling and practicing his control. He could completely destroy Seven in a one-on-one duel because from a long-range he could summon rifts in front of her attacks and cause every shot she fired to damage her. If she didn¡¯t attack from a long-range, he would instead summon the rifts on her body to hurt her. He could also dodge very well despite his avatar¡¯s size so he wasn¡¯t an easy opponent at all.

    He was a perfect counter to magi.

    Archy and Spark Joy also had trouble fighting Third one on one. The only person who seemed able to completely overwhelm him was TidalWave.

    ¡°Okay, okay.¡± Seven huffed as they finished the latest duel. ¡°We¡¯re all here. We should get moving onto the next thing.¡±

    She still felt miffed that she couldn¡¯t kill either TidalWave or Archy. She had come so close with that surprise magic blast that had hit Archy. She had lost count of how many duels they¡¯d all fought together but she was willing to bet a few hundred but less than a thousand. She lasted a lot longer now against both her opponents and was even damaging them to dangerous levels. Give it a few weeks and she might be able to defeat them.

    At least she could dream.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to make our play for the wilders soon.¡± Third could see two parties already farming monsters around them, ¡°This place is starting to crowd.¡±

    Their ultimategoal as a party was to reach the dragon''s treasure. Unfortunately, the mysterious corruption was slowing them downbut if they allowed other teams to catch up, then they risked someone else stumbling onto the treasure before them.

    The team nodded their heads and walked towardthe inner forest, killing corrupted monsters as they walked. Peppered amongst the treants and dryads were the occasional chameleon monsters that would strike at them from behind. Fortunately, they had grown used to the attacks and Seven and Third dodged the strikes easily. The full-grown chameleons were apparently all corrupted and their items drops were useless except for the cash.

    Soon they reached the smog that blanketed the inner ring. They¡¯d heard from the citizens and guards of Lum that this smog was a recent addition to the forest. Whatever was corrupting the creatures had probably caused this mysterious phenomenon as well.

    The team prepared to fight as an arrow came flying out of the dark and Spark Joy blocked it with her shield. They still had the same equipment as they¡¯d had a few days ago but most of them were close to getting extreme upgrades. Seven was planning to buy the advanced wand once she returned and the others all had their eyes on good things. Before that, they needed to clear the wilder quests and corrupted wilder quests to net them a lot of cash.

    TidalWave jumped into action alongside Roxxy as they flew into the wilders that came out of the smog and began their assault. Archy and Seven aimed their attacks at the wilders heads to get critical hits. Seven was finally confident enough after so much practice against leaves to hit towards the vital areas of her enemies. She still missed more than she hit, unfortunately, but the party insisted she continue to practice instead of going for the easy damage. They all knew it would help in the long run.

    The wilders were tough to kill but each one occasionally dropped a large sum of silver and even a few odds and ends like steel arrows for Archy. Theiringredients were all corrupted, which made Seven sad. There were a lot of wasted plantsdueto the wilders being natural foragers.

    The wilders were actually a primitive species closer to people than monsters. Asking around Lum had revealed the fact that the wilder tribe here were normally war-like and worshipped a dragon they believe lived deep in the woods.

    It was a dead-on hint that the team was on the right track to finding the dragon''s treasure. If the actual location of the treasure had been another few days out into the wilderness they would have probably given up by now.

    The wilder archer let out a shriek as Spark Joy''s sickle dismembered itand theyfinished itwith an arrow to the eye.

    Archy seemed to have taken personal offense to the computer-aided aim of the mobs.

    They spread out as they walked into the fog. This was where it became a little more difficult to navigate. They didn¡¯t think they would lose each other but the lack of visibility meant that they could accidentally risk stumbling onto more than one group. Worse, if the enemies called for reinforcements like all corrupted creatures seemed to be able to do, more enemies than they could handle could surround the team.

    ¡°How far can you see?¡± Third asked Archy while eyeing the surroundings.

    The game had apparently given Archy keener senses than they haddue to his class as an archer, ¡°Nothing on this side.¡±

    ¡°Same over here.¡± ¡°Same.¡± Seven and Roxxy said before Third turn to ask them.

    Apparently players part of the elf race also had keen senses inside this fog.

    They had already taken some minor forays into the smog previously but hadn¡¯t gone too far before being ambushed by too many enemies for them to handle. This time they were confident they were high leveled enough to handle any enemies that might try to ambush them.

    More arrows flew towards them in the darkness and they sprinted towards their new opponents. Each wilder provided them with ample experience and because no other parties were exploring this deep there were plenty of enemies nearby. Soon the entire party received a welcome notification.

    [Quest completed; Greater Wilder subjugation.]

    [Quest complete; Lesser Wilder Archer subjugation.]

    The guard captain in Lum would give them a reward when they reported back to him. They would probably receive a greater reward than usual due to the corrupted status of the wilders. They had also received a quest to kill their corrupted counterparts that they would complete soon.

    They continued to farm deep into the woods and most of them leveled again as they slew the creatures. Each one of them was skilled enough to dodge the wilder arrows and swords easily. Even if the smog obscured their enemies they still had to come closeeventually.

    [Quest completed; Greater Corrupted Wilder subjugation.]

    [Quest complete; Lesser Corrupted Wilder Archer subjugation.]

    They celebrated their accomplishments and headed back to Lum. They had hunted hundreds of wilders. They still had two quests to complete in the inner ring area which asked them to discover four kinds of enemies in the inner ring and four kinds of plants but due to the smog, the search for plants was difficult. The one species they had found was completely corrupted and unusable so they didn¡¯t have too much incentive to look under such unfavourable conditions.

    ¡°Oh man finally.¡± Archy breathed a sigh of relief as they exited the inner ring. ¡°That place gives me the creeps.¡±

    ¡°Oh-my-god I know right,¡± Roxxy nodded her head. ¡°Damn things keep coming out of nowhere. We need some sort ofleaf blower to get all the fog out of the way.¡±

    Seven had tried using her wind magic to blow away the smog but since it only moved things a single foot it had been less than helpful.

    They chattered happily until they reached the gates of Lum and walked into the nearby guardhouse.

    [Commander Gut: Lvl 120.]

    All the NPC guards were extremely high level, but unfortunately never left the city.

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re back.¡± Commander Gut said with some surprise, ¡°I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d take you so little time. Very good work, especially given the current circumstance in the forest.¡±

    ¡°We are happy to assist the great city of Lum in this time of unrest.¡± Third responded with a smile.

    Archy rolled his eyes at the display and eyed the surroundings.

    Military men filled the guardhouse and players undergoing quests flocked around them. There were a few powerful-looking groups among those present but they mostly avoided Archy and the others.

    They hadn¡¯t bothered to keet their spars in the forest secret from others. They didn¡¯t really see a need to hide the duels and quite a few players had come for a peek at what all the ruckus was about. At first, it had been parties that thought monsters were fighting but then as word got around that it was a party of players practicing the occasional player came by to watch.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    It quickly became clear that Archy¡¯s party was not one they wanted to mess with.

    Archy smiled and waved at the ones looking at them. Only a small fraction of the players around here had seen them dueling but those that had didn¡¯t forget the sight. They were especially wary around Seven.

    The girl had been concentrating so deeply during the duels that Archy doubted she¡¯d even noticed players watching her. But she was the only one of the players that constantly fought against two opponents for hours on end.

    She hadn¡¯t won but the people watching hadn¡¯t cared about that. Most were skilled enough to see that TidalWave and Archy were insane players in their own right. Seven hadn¡¯t reached their level yet but she was scary strong just for challenging them and holding her own.

    [You have received: 4 gold.]

    Archy received the quest reward alongside a huge chunk of experience and leveled to 35. He could see the others had all reached level 34-35 as well.

    [You have received an invitation from team member ¡®Third¡¯ to take on the quest: Greater Corrupted Wilder Archer subjugation. Information: Kill 400 Corrupted Wilder Archers. Reward: ???]

    [You have received an invitation from team member ¡®Third¡¯ to take on the quest: Greater Wilder Archer subjugation. Information: Kill 300 Wilder Archers. Reward: ???]

    Archy happily accepted the new quests. Soon they would head deeper into the inner ring and try to reach the dragon hoard. It was only a matter of time.

    ¡°Alright, time to go shopping.¡± Archy¡¯s eyes shone.

    He could honestly sell the rare ingredients that they had all collected in the first few days for a lot of gold due to their rarity. But he had instead waited and saved money in anticipation for the day the corruption spread further and wiped out the supply of all the ingredients. Eventually, it would be fixed by players taking quests but he would make sure to makea gigantic profit before then.

    ¡°What are you going to get?¡± He asked Seven as the team walked out into the street.

    ¡°New wand.¡± Seven was practically drooling as she prepared to go to the magi guild.

    She had her eye on some pretty powerful equipment.

    ¡°Heh. Looks like me and Tidal will have to step up our game.¡± Archy laughed.

    ¡°Hi there.¡± A new voice called out to them, ¡°Are you TidalWave, Archy, Spark Joy, Third, and Roxxy?¡±

    The team turned towards this new person who had listed almost all of their names.

    ¡°Yup, that¡¯s most of us.¡± Roxxy pointed at her last teammate. ¡°You forgot Seven.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± He looked at Seven with a bit of confusion, then his eyes cleared as he remembered something, ¡°Oh.¡± Then he promptly dismissed her in his mind and turned to face the rest of the team.

    ¡°Wide vocabulary you have there buddy.¡± Archy didn¡¯t like the way he had ignored Seven. ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°I-um, wait one second.¡± The man turned around and cupped his hands into a microphone shape around his mouth. ¡°Hey guys, I found them!¡±

    ¡°Annoying.¡± TidalWave seemed as equally pissed as Archy at the person¡¯s attitude.

    The team tensed as they heard his tone of voice. If this new person hadn¡¯t ignored Seven like that, then he wouldn¡¯t be this mad.

    ¡°Relax.¡± Third seemed to think of something. ¡°I think I know why this is happening.¡±

    ¡°Andrew- I mean, Attracting.¡± Seven said dryly as she worked it out as well. ¡°There¡¯s probably no other person who would forget about me if they were looking at our team.¡±

    Her friend had probably completely forgotten that she was travelling alongside TidalWave and the others and she could see him mentioning her as a ¡®tag-along¡¯ or something along those lines.

    ¡°We don¡¯t know that for sure.¡± Spark Joy was a little more skeptical.

    They had gotten the attention of a few different players because of their duels.

    Four other people joined the man and the five cheerfully sauntered up to them.

    Then Archy and the team watched in surprise as the person who appeared to be the leader lifted his hand and smashed it on the back of the first person¡¯s head.

    ¡°I saw what this dope did.¡± the leader turned towards Seven and gave a low bow, ¡°My sincerest apologies. He¡¯s a pretty rude guy but he doesn¡¯t mean bad. I¡¯m Nastin.¡±

    ¡°Seven.¡± Seven smiled in response and gave her name, ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± She eyed Archy with a cheeky grin. ¡°We have someone like that in our team too.¡±

    Archy humphed lightheartedly at her words.

    ¡°How may we help you?¡± Third was surprisinglycurt.

    He had really wanted to go shopping.

    ¡°Well, this is a little bit of a strange situation we have here.¡± Nastin gestured towards his team. ¡°We would like to duel you. Perhaps in a team battle in the arena or individual duels.¡±

    At the word, ¡®duel¡¯ Third could see several of his teammate¡¯s eyes light up. He sighed internally, he knew that they were battle maniacs and that since they weren¡¯t under any time constraints, the others would probably want to fight.

    ¡°Why.¡± TidalWave took over the conversation.

    Contrary to the look in Spark Joy and Archy¡¯s eyes, he wasn¡¯t as excited. He found it strange that a team would come out of nowhere to challenge them.

    ¡°Well.¡± Nastin coughed, ¡°We¡¯re a group of players called Dark Horse. We like to challenge powerful players in every game we play.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± TidalWave said flatly, ¡°Yes. I know of you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a big claim to make.¡± Spark Joy added with darkened eyes.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Seven could see that all of her teammates had heard of this ¡®Dark Horse¡¯ group.

    ¡°They¡¯re a group of professional players.¡± TidalWave saw her confusion and explained it.

    ¡°Exactly.¡± Nastin smiled and nodded, ¡°But of coursethe game is still young so the pro scene hasn¡¯t fully been established yet. It will be soon but until then we¡¯re just levelling and getting further towards our second classes.¡±

    ¡®I really have to get up to date on this sort ofstuff.¡¯ Seven thought to herself.

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t explain how you found us.¡± TidalWave had the feeling that this was more than a weird coincidence or journey of curiosity, ¡°Or why.¡±

    He didn¡¯t care whether they were actually a professional group of players. He had the feeling they weren¡¯t lying and they had no reason to either. It was a rather strange claim to make to strangers.

    ¡°Well, we met this player called Attracting-¡± Nastin began and then stopped as the team he was speaking to let out a collective groan, ¡°Uh, I guess you really do know him.¡± he saw that they weren¡¯t going to interrupt and continued, ¡°Well weird thing is, he came to us and he knows us all. We don¡¯t exactly advertise ourselves as a pro team, especially when a game is starting out. That gets really annoying with people following us around or spamming us with messages. So when he revealed he knew our identities we were pretty surprised.¡±

    Now they''d convinced TidalWave that they weren''t lying. He was starting to think that Attracting¡¯s ability to spot strong players was nearing supernatural levels.

    ¡°So he¡¯s a friend of yours.¡± TidalWave concluded.

    ¡®Huh. That¡¯s weird.¡¯ Seven didn¡¯t know that Andrew knew professional gamers in real life.

    When had that happened?

    ¡°No, no.¡± Nastin shook his head at their expressions, ¡°We don¡¯t know him in real life, or at least if we do we don¡¯t know who he is. But somehow he knew who we were so since he listed you guys as a pro team of five we should fight¡­ We came to fight you.¡±

    Nastin coughed lightly at his explanation. He could already see from the looks he was being given by the other team that they had no idea what he was talking about.

    ¡°He said we were a pro team?¡± Archy had a hint of ridicule in his voice.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°A pro team of five¡­ and did Attracting mention Seven?¡± TidalWave gestured to Seven who tried to hide out of sight and at the sudden attention.

    ¡°He may have mentioned that an ordinary player named Seven would¡­¡± He hesitated as he thought of what Attracting had told them, ¡°Tag along.

    ¡®I knew it.¡¯ She felt like facepalming at her friend¡¯s predictability.

    ¡°Man that guy is really annoying.¡± Archy had honestly forgotten Attracting existed until today.

    ¡°So we came here for nothing?¡± Nastin¡¯s teammate that had first spotted the team complained.

    ¡°Oh um,¡± Nastin seemed embarrassed by the sudden turn of events. ¡°Sorry for bothering you then. It seems like that guy told us some bad information.¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Third shook his head and took TidalWave¡¯s place as a speaker, ¡°He led you to the right place for a fight.¡±

    Third didn¡¯t know what Attracting was up to but frankly, he didn¡¯t care about that annoyance. He was more interested in seeing how his teammates did against actual pro players. He had heard of Dark Horse even though he was not too into the competitive gaming scene. He could tell that everyone else except Seven was itching to fight as well.

    ¡°Oh really?¡± Nastin could see they all wanted to fight but hesitated, they were ordinary playersafter all, ¡°How about you take alook at our names and classes before decided?¡±

    Nastin waved his hand into the air as he clicked on the screen only he could see.

    [Nastin: Paladin of Light. Level 35]

    [Blastar: Paladin of Healing. Level 34]

    [Chaser: Sword Dancer. Level 35]

    [Glacier: Wizard of Ice. Level 34]

    [Grenda: Archer of Darkness. Level 35]

    Nastin was well aware that every other player was around the level 30 mark in Lum. He couldn''t be sure of every player in the city but he was sure that as a professional gaming team his party was most likely the strongest in the city.

    Archy and Roxxy whistled as they saw the opposing team¡¯s classes. Only one had an ordinary rare class; the other four were all skilled enough to gain classes with their own names.

    ¡°Yeah let¡¯s do this.¡± Archy could feel excitement coursing through him.

    Third looked at the team and they all nodded back to him.

    ¡°Okay then.¡± Third considered something, ¡°Since you are a pro team we will compete in individual battles against your players. I don¡¯t think we¡¯re good enough to win in a team battle.¡±

    ¡°But you think you¡¯re good enough to 1v1 us?¡± Their warrior, Chaser, retorted.

    ¡°Yes.¡± TidalWave responded to himsimply.

    He nodded at Third and the wizard sent their classes and levels to the other team.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Nastin¡¯s eyes sparkled as he saw the information. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t denied it already I would definitely have thought you guys were pros.¡±

    He could see that several of them had also gained uniquely named classes.

    ¡°Okay-okay-okay,¡± Roxxy shot off, ¡°let¡¯s go to the arena. It¡¯s awkward standing around the street like this.¡±

    They all followed her as she led the pack.

    The teams had nothingto say to each other as they made their way to the arena. Although TidalWave and the others were curious as to the enemy''s strength, the warrior named Chaser had left a terrible impression on them. The other players all seemed nice enough if aloof. They gave nice greetings and seemed to be comfortable in following Nastin¡¯s lead as he agreed to the dueling conditions.

    They soon found out that they were the only players in the building. Apparentlynot manyplayers wanted to use the facilities yet. They were all too busy grinding.

    They all gathered into their respective groups and eyed each other.

    ¡°Who wants to go first?¡± Nastin stood forward to face them. ¡°I will let you know that I will go fight first for my team. I am also the most powerful player in the team, so it would be good of you to send your strongest player in return.¡±

    The truth was thatNastin had ulterior motives in fighting first. It was true thathe was the strongest player in his team in terms of skill but if the other team was too weak then he would cancel the fights after his win. As a pro team they felt awkward enough fighting against ordinary players due to a mistake on their part. He didn¡¯t want to force his teammates to stick around fighting one-sided battles if it turned out these strangers were too weak.

    TidalWave was having similar thoughts, ¡°I¡¯ll go first.¡±

    He didn¡¯t know how strong a professional team was. They would undoubtedly be on another level compared to what he was used to. But there was no mistaking a single fact. Over the last week and a bit, he had spent hour after hour fighting against his monstrously skilled teammates.

    Compared to when he had first fought Attracting he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to say that he was several times stronger than he had been. Even at that timehe had been confident in himself and now he was even more confident.

    But he wasn¡¯t cocky.

    TidalWave intended to go all out from the beginning in this fight.

    Nastin nodded and they teleported into the arena. The paladin set their starting positions as only a few meters apart and TidalWave didn¡¯t object. They were clearly both close-ranged fighters so spending extra time reaching each other would be pointless.

    [Duel will start in 5¡­ 4¡­ 3...]

    Seven and the others watched with wide eyes. They didn¡¯t want to miss a single detail of this fight. On the side, Nastin¡¯s team was looking with curiosity as well. They didn¡¯t think that their leader would lose but his opponent didn¡¯t seem like an ordinary person either.

    They genuinely hoped it would be a good fight because they enjoyed playing against strong players more than anything.

    [Start the duel.]

    TidalWave dashed towards Nastin the moment the duel began. The paladin grinned and swiped his long swordat the oncoming warrior only to find it hitting the air. TidalWave had sidestepped away at the last second and had stabbed his sword into Nastin¡¯s unprotected side.

    -64

    After reaching level 35 TidalWave had a total of 54 strength.

    Nastin immediately retreated with wide eyes. His reaction had come only milliseconds after the sword had hit him, showing TidalWave that his opponent was incredibly skilled.

    It was just a pity that this paladin¡¯s opponent was a monster.

    Nastin attacked TidalWave as the warrior followed him.

    ¡°Shadow dance.¡±

    Nastin¡¯s sword flew through TidalWave as the one-second invulnerability to physical attack activated. Using his speed boost TidalWave went straight for the kill.

    ¡°Reaper¡¯s fury.¡±

    -115

    Nastin jumped back as he saw TidalWave¡¯s blade stab towards him but suddenly found himself seeing a gray screen as the attack went out of the sword and covered the entire area in front of TidalWave.

    ¡®It was an area of effect skill.¡¯ Nastin couldn''t hide his shock.

    The entire duel had lasted around five seconds.

    As he revived and returned to his teammates, he went through the battle in his head. From the beginning, he''d been outclassed. From the first attack where he had been too slow to dodge to his enemy to his underestimating the range of the second attack.

    He hadn¡¯t even managed to get off the buffs his paladin class excelled in.

    Then he smiled. He had seen the enemy''s attacks now. Soon he would learn to counter them.

    ¡°Well crap.¡± Archy¡¯s voice knocked Nastin out of his train of thought. ¡°I thought this was going to be a really fun day.¡±

    The archer looked disappointed at the battle. He knew that if it came down to it he could probably beat the paladin with ease as well unless the guy had long-range attacks like Attracting did. Even then he had practiced so much against Seven and Third that he wasn¡¯t sure he would lose in that situation either.

    He had really been looking forward to these fights.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go next.¡± Spark Joy could see Archy was hesitating and she knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to win if he wasn¡¯t taking things seriously, ¡°If that¡¯s okay with you guys.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± The other team seemed to be in a daze after seeing their leader die within a few seconds.

    ¡°Guys.¡± Nastin¡¯s sharp tone brought them all back into the present. ¡°Glacier will go next.¡±

    There was no doubt in their minds that they had to win this one. It was clear to them that Spark Joy was a tank, so they had their wizard go up against her. Theyknewtankswere famous for being slower due to their heavy equipment and the wizard could easily slow down and kite her opponent by hitting her with ice magic.

    Spark Joy accepted the new duel and was transported into the arena. This time she got to choose the range that each player would start at but to Glacier¡¯s surprise Spark Joy gave her the chance to start from the furthest possiblelocation.

    It would be easy to pick off the tank with ranged attacks from this distance.

    The moment the duel began Spark Joy sprinted towards her opponent. It would take her a few seconds to reach her opponent at full sprint so she didn¡¯t hesitate to use all her speed.

    Glacier¡¯s eyes calculated the speed at which Spark Joy moved and she fired her basic attacks from afar. After her class advancement, all of her attacks were now icicles that slowed her opponent by 5% when they hit. It could stack up to a maximum of 15%. It would completely destroy the tankonce it hit her.

    Spark Joy was disappointed by the wizard. Her basic ice attacks were bigger than Seven¡¯s magic blast but much slower and a lot less frequent. She had expected a lot more.

    She calmly dodged every single attack and soon was in front of Glacier.

    The wizard jumped back as the tank drew close. She hadn¡¯t been sure before but now that her opponent was closer she could confirm that the tank was actually just as fast as a regular player.

    ¡°Crap.¡± She lifted her staff, ¡°Ice ag-¡±

    ¡°Sickle drag.¡±

    She began to chant a spell but before she could finish she felt a chain wrap itself around her body and she watched in horror as Spark Joy pulled her closer. Spark Joy jumped up and slammed her shield straight the incapacitated wizard and followed it immediately with a normal attack.

    -64

    ¡°Ice barrier.¡±

    -0

    At the last moment, the wizard blocked Spark Joy¡¯s basic attack with a spell and retaliated with a basic attack.

    -16

    Spark Joy successfully raised her shield to block the attack in time but found herself slowed. She smiled as the wizard moved a few steps back. She was clearly out of a normal warrior¡¯s attack range.

    -20

    Spark Joy sent her sickle smashing into her opponent as it flew the few feet easily. She caught her opponentoff-guard as the weapon that shouldn¡¯t have reached her suddenly extended.

    ¡°Sickle drag.¡±

    The wizard looked in horror as Spark Joy released another sickle chain. The ability didn¡¯t have a cooldown but because ofthe tank¡¯s low mana she could only use itfour times without consuming items during these short duration fights.

    Since her ¡®ground pound¡¯ ability was on cooldown Spark Joy simply used a basic attack again and the wizard¡¯s body fell lifelessly to the ground. She hadn¡¯t had enough health to withstand that many attacks.

    Spark Joy returned to her team and they cheered but not too loudly. They had expected a lot more from the enemy opponents. But they didn¡¯t want to disrespect them either. They were clearly very skilled players despite their losses.

    Nastin and his team were silent as Glacier revived.

    ¡°Who¡¯s next?¡± Archy could acknowledge from Glacier¡¯s reactions that the enemies were strong players, ¡°I can take on the archer?¡± He looked at TidalWave for confirmation.

    The archer moved forward before Nastin could speak. She had already acknowledged the skills of the opposing team, they all had, now she wanted to compare herself to their archer.

    ¡°This will be fun.¡± She gestured at the arena with her bow.

    Archy smiled.

    He liked her attitude.

    He could tell Roxxy and Third wanted to have a go now. TidalWave and Spark Joy also looked like they hadn¡¯t had enough yet. Archy waved them back with a withering glare. They stared back at him and he lifted his bow to show them that he was the archer of the team and he would fight the enemy archer on his own.

    This was his prey.

    ¡°No.¡±

    Then he went silent as a figure walked in front of him. Seven was staring at the enemy team with a glint in her eyes that he hadn¡¯t seen before. This was different than when he and TidalWave had fought against her. She looked like she wanted to prove something.

    ¡°I want to fight.¡±

 Chapter 16: The Fruits of Her Labor

    Nastin was having an absolutely wonderful day.

    His team hadn¡¯t had the easiest time adjusting to the new game. They knew that their previous game just wasn¡¯t that popular anymore, sothey were hoping to come into this one and make a splash, but not having any skills or end-game equipment made it annoying to catch up again.

    They had spent the last few days farming around Lum and completing quests so his entire team was slowly getting restless and bored. He knew he would need to let them vent somehow but the game was still new and the skilled players hadn¡¯t yet revealed themselves to the world. There were rumors of a professional scene opening up and they knew from their connections that this was almost definitely true, but that wouldn¡¯t be for a while.

    So when some stranger named Attracting came to him and told him that there was another professional gaming team in the area he had jumped at the opportunity to find them. They had quickly asked around and found out there was a team of players that constantly fought in the forest sometimes whose names matched the ones they¡¯d been given. Every eye witness account told them that these players were skilled. It had only taken a couple of days for them to come back into the city.

    He had gone immediately to challenge them to a duel. The reason was actually very simple; his team was slacking off. They had just entered a new game and the relative ease of life as they grinded and got used to the mechanics of the game had led to everyone coasting and relaxing. He¡¯d be surprised if they could bring out half of their strength right now. Even so, they had still managed to get themselves powerful classes based on their raw skills but there was no fire in their hearts to get better. They hadn¡¯t met a powerful obstacle yet.

    He¡¯d hoped this other professional team could help beat his own team back into shape.

    Then he¡¯d found out that they weren¡¯t actuallyprofessionals. But he¡¯d still challenged them to a duel because they¡¯d seemed strong. He had volunteered to fight first without knowledge of his opponent¡¯s moves but also without his opponent knowing his moves.

    Then he got his ass absolutely whooped. He was still reeling from the fact that it had happened when his team¡¯s wizard was killed a minute later by a tank she should have countered in every area.

    It made him smile with joy.

    This was exactly what they had come here for. Regardless of whether or not they were winning or losing, he could tell that the opponents this time were actually a full level above them. Somehow this team had gone under the radar despite his grand information network. His team had to shape up if they wanted to win.

    He also enjoyed a good challenge so having stronger opponents was a major plus in his books.

    Then his archer stepped forward to fight theirs and he grinned. His team had a fire lit under them. They wanted to fight these mysterious opponents to their heart''s content.

    It was strange, Attracting had also mentioned that the player ¡®Third¡¯ most likely wouldn¡¯t be there. Apparently he and Archy couldn¡¯t stand each other and so wouldn¡¯t stay on the same team for long. Yet there he was, standing proud and a little bored. But Nastin wasn¡¯t going to comment on a good thing. He was happy there was another strong opponent to fight.

    The enemy team¡¯s archer stepped forward and Nastin appraised him. This person was one of two named by the player ¡®Attracting¡¯ as being the best at dueling on the team. The archer definitely looked the part. He had utter confidence in his gaze and his lack of hesitation seemed to strike a chord in Nastin¡¯s heart.

    ¡°No.¡±

    Nastin was startled as the archer turned quiet and a chubby girl in robes walked up to his team.

    ¡°I want to fight.¡±

    ¡®Seven.¡¯ The name was unfamiliar.

    Nastin wasn¡¯t too sure about this person. He had asked Attracting for further information on this person. When Attracting had said that she was merely ¡®tagging along¡¯ with the ¡®professional team¡¯ Nastin honestly hadn¡¯t believed him for a second. But when he pushed further for information on her, he only got a single response.

    ¡®Unskilled and useless. Probably not even going to be with them if she was kicked out.¡¯ Was Attracting¡¯s reply.

    Nastin wasn¡¯t so sure. He didn¡¯t think that a team this skilled would allow such a weak player to drag them down. But she had remained quiet throughout and he¡¯d mostly forgotten about her in the last few minutes as he focused on her teammates.

    Now she had stepped in.

    ¡®Surely he won¡¯t allow this opportunity to go.¡¯ Nastin was sure that this archer wouldn¡¯t budge.

    Their entire team looked raring to battle but only the archer had glared at all of them. He was clearly the kind ofperson that wouldn¡¯t back down when he found something he wanted to do. Nastin was sure he was a stubborn guy.

    ¡°No.¡± Archy shot Seven down and Nastin could see the girl wanted to object.

    ¡®Just as I thought.¡¯ Nastin almost nodded but decided not to make any moves that could be seen as bad mannered.

    ¡°I mean- It wouldn¡¯t be fair.¡± Archy turned to Nastin and stared at his team, finally pointing out the team¡¯s warrior, Chasey, ¡°You¡­ and you¡± He pointed at Chasey and the archer, Grenda, ¡°You two fight.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Nastin couldn¡¯t help but let the word slip out of his mouth, ¡°Ahem,¡± he coughed, ¡°It would be a little unfair if we sent two of our members to fight a single opponent.¡±

    He hadn¡¯t expected the archer to not only agree to the girl¡¯s demand but then add the condition that she fight two opponents. Nastin thought Archy might actually be trying to force his magi teammate to let him fight instead by imposing these harsh conditions.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Seven seemed unsure as well

    She glanced at TidalWave and saw him nod, ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be fair to have only their archer.¡±

    Seven returned the nod, ¡°Okay.¡±

    Nastin¡¯s entire team was extremely confused as they watched the strange exchange. They had all seen her look at TidalWave and the extremely strong warrior had actuallyagreed with his archer. Nastin tried to size up the girl but she seemed extremely ordinary. Definitely not someone with the same demeanour and confidence of the players around her.

    ¡°Is that okay with you guys?¡± Seven turned to Nastin¡¯s team hesitantly.

    ¡°It¡¯s really insulting.¡± Chaser said bluntly, ¡°But sure if you¡¯re okay with getting your ass kicked.¡±

    Nastin smacked the cocky warrior¡¯s head. Sometimes the only thing he regretted in his team was the fact that Chaser couldn¡¯t keep his mouth shut.

    Grenda nodded as well, ¡°Sounds interesting, let¡¯s do this magi.¡±

    Nastin nodded. As expected of his team, they were actually taking this extremely seriously. He recalled the class that Seven had, ¡®Nimble Mage¡¯, he sent private messages to his teammates that they should expect the girl to be good at close quarters and long range combat. He eyed her positioning and weapons as she stood and tried to figure out what kind of player she was.

    He wasn¡¯t going to take any chances given how the other team had reacted.

    For some reason, not one of them had objected to this girl taking the archer¡¯s place in the battle line. He couldn¡¯t care less what Attracting said, he personally was convinced that this girl was as strong as the other players. If not, then it would simply be a shame. He wouldn¡¯t underestimate her first and regret it later. He would treat her as someone capable of taking on two of his team members.

    The player¡¯s teleported into the arena and Nastin watched the enemy closely.

    He hoped that he would get to see a good show.

    ****

    [Duel will start in 5¡­ 4¡­ 3...]

    ¡®I screwed up.¡¯ Seven was having some serious pre-duel jitters.

    Thankfully the Dark Horse team had set the range to the highest. The two opposing teams would practically be starting on opposite sides of the map.

    -Don¡¯t be so nervous.- Archy sent her a message.

    -Ignore the buffoon''s terrible attempt to calm you,- Third sent a message almost at the exactsame time, -these two are good but they are not on par with TidalWave and Archy.-

    ¡®He¡¯s right.¡¯ Seven considered their words.

    There was no way there two were as skilled as her teammates.

    [Start the duel.]

    The two opposing players blazed into action. Despite the warrior¡¯s casual attitude towards her, she could see he was taking this extremely seriously. The arena hadn¡¯t been given any environment adjustments during the fights. It was simply an open field from which she could rain fire.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Seven breathed deeply.

    Then she moved her head to the side and dodged the first arrow as it flew towards her. She hadn¡¯t seen it until it appeared a few meters away from her.

    ¡°Woah.¡± If she hadn¡¯t been quick she would have been hit.

    It was quickly followed by a second arrow that seemed to materialise out of thin air. She shifted her body to the side as the arrow barely grazed by her arm.

    ¡®She¡¯s not that good at aiming.¡¯ Seven analysed her opponent as she finally began to move away from the warrior that was charging towards her.

    Of course, that was relative to Archy. The other player had still managed to aim at her precisely despite being so far away.

    She fired a couple of magic blasts towards the archer and saw her opponent dodge them. She was too far away to send an undodgeable attack at her opponent. Another arrow appeared in front of her and she dodged it. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡®She has invisible arrows.¡¯

    Seven had figured out the archer¡¯s range, precision, and special powers. She could work with this.

    She turned towards the charging warrior. She had been waiting for him to get near enough that she could hit him easily but also far enough that she could run away from his attacks safely.

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    She sent stream after stream of magic attacks against the warrior. Chaser smiled as he skirted around the attacks. he was skilled enough to use the time between her cooldowns to approach her swiftly. Seven shifted her aim towards his torso as he drew closer and fired three shots, one in the middle and two others on either side. It was a trick she¡¯d learned from Archy. If he dodged the first attack he would get hit by the others. There was even a chance of him being hit by two attacks if he accidentally moved too slow.

    The warrior dodged the first blast but was hit by the one on his left.

    ¡®Not bad.¡¯ Seven jumped back again as an arrow passed by her.

    She had fought against Archy hundreds of times. His ability to shoot cover fire to try and kill her was far above the archer she was fighting now. She felt like she didn¡¯t even have to look as she could tell the most likely spots that the arrows would fly towards. Of course, she didn¡¯t want to test that theory or else she¡¯d end up a porcupine.

    The warrior moved closer but was clearly more cautious now that he had been hit. Seven decided to let him get in closer. She didn¡¯t know his abilities but she was sure he would probably have some similar skills to TidalWave or even Roxxy. She planned to let him get close and then hit him with a series of magic blasts.

    ¡®Within five or six moves he¡¯ll either be down or I¡¯ll be dead.¡¯ She thought to herself.

    ¡°Got you now.¡± Chaser said calmly as he reached her.

    He was confident that as a warrior he would destroy the magi in close combat. He lifted his sword and struck at her.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    She dodged as he swiped at her and fired back.

    ¡®Now he¡¯ll destroy the magic blast with his sword and counterattack.¡¯

    -32

    She noted with surprise that he hadn¡¯t done anything and the attack had hit him directly.

    ¡®Now he''ll most likely go quicker or become invincible.¡¯

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    The warrior turned his sword up sharply to follow her movements and as she dodged his second attack she fired again. Then he collapsed onto the ground, dead.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    Seven¡¯s eyes widened in surprise as she instinctively dodged again and retaliated. Her magic blast hit thin air. She hadn¡¯t expected the warrior to die so soon. TidalWave usually blocked the first few waves of her attacks. He either went into a high-speed mode to dodge the attack or would block it with his sword.

    Even Archy had a skill that let him move quicker if she tried to aim for him.

    Seven dodged another arrow that appeared in front of her and turned to face the archer across the field. The opponent was suddenly looking a lot less confident now that the warrior had been so easily disposed of.

    ¡®Now, how do I deal with you.¡¯ Seven watched her last opponent warily.

    She had confidence in her dodging skills when it came to normal arrows, but these were invisible. The question she had trouble with was whether they were invisible up to a certain range or within a certain distance away from her.

    If it was the first then if she tried to get closer then she would be fighting against invisible arrows. If it was the second then each arrow would become visible but she would have less and less time to dodge as she got closer.

    ¡®No use overthinking it and freezing up now.¡¯

    Seven dashed towards the archer. She was still a fair distance but she fired magic blast after magic blast to force the archer to focus on dodging. Even from this far distance her opponent was finding all of the attacks difficult to ignore. If the archer stood still against a single one it would hit her.

    ¡®You¡¯re a lot bigger than a leaf.¡¯ Seven fondly recalled the words Archy had said to her during their first meeting.

    They made sense to her now.

    -25

    ¡®Damn.¡¯

    Seven hadn¡¯t seen the arrow but she could feel it hitting her chest. It looked like all the arrows were invisible up until a certain distance.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    Seven played it safe and ran back until she got to a distance that the invisibility wore off the arrows. She would just have to find another way to get close to the archer.

    She circled the playing field, making sure to keep a distance from the archer. She stopped firing magic blasts and instead focused all of her concentration on the area in front of the archer. The archer watched her cautiously but the focus point that would allow Seven to change the direction of her magic blasts was invisible to everyone except her. She fired a magic blast towards the archer. The archer preemptively moved to the side.

    It was just like the time in the magi guild test.

    -32

    The magic blast suddenly changed directions and smacked directly into the archer¡¯s body.

    ¡®She probably can¡¯t take another hit. Maybe two at most.¡¯ Seven smiled as she saw panic appear in the archer¡¯s eyes.

    Even Archy had been hit the first time she tried this move on him.

    Unfortunately, she wasn¡¯t skilled enough yet to use her focus points to shift the enemy¡¯s arrows into another direction. Let alone normal arrows, if she tried to guess where the invisible arrows were to summon a focus point then she would probably end up dead within seconds.

    The archer began to move erratically from side to side, and forward and backward. She wasn¡¯t sure how she¡¯d been hit but she knew that Seven was doing something fishy. Instead of trying to corner the archer with her focus points Seven decided to try and get closer. It would be much harder to hit the enemy with the same attack twice.

    Seven dodged more arrows as they appeared in the air. She carefully observed the archer moving frantically as she rained magic blasts down on her. She saw the archer take a split second to fire another arrow as she dodged and Seven smiled.

    ¡®I got it.¡¯

    She had been going about this fight the wrong way.

    She had been attempting to predict where the arrows would be shot, but that would only allow her to dodge by luck. But every time the archer attacked she would have to aim her bow. The arrow itself would go in a straight line from there. Even if it was harder to predict from her current distance, Seven could see the bow and the attack''s trajectory if she got closer. Seven felt it was a safe bet. After all, if the opponent could change the direction of her attacks she¡¯d had plenty of opportunities to do so.

    ¡®Here goes nothing.¡¯

    Seven let out a couple more magic blasts towards her opponent as she moved in for the kill. The archer dodged them both and took her time to aim at Seven¡¯s approaching figure. Then she fired.

    ¡®There.¡¯

    Seven could see in her mind where the shot was going to go. She couldn¡¯t see the arrow at all but at the last second she sidestepped and heard the familiar sound of an arrow hitting the ground.

    ¡®Success!¡¯ She celebrated internally but kept her eyes focused on the enemy¡¯s bow.

    Two more arrows were fired after the first one but Seven dodged both of them. She had already made it to the mid-way point between the two. She fired magic blasts into the air and forced the archer to focus completely on dodging. Seven was close enough now that each blast was aimed almost to hit straight into the chest of her opponent.

    If the archer stopped to fire an arrow she would be hit.

    ¡°Darkness.¡±

    A dark shroud enveloped the area of a few feet on top of the archer.

    Seven had lost sight of her bow.

    Seven decided to dodge preemptively rather than be hit by an arrow being shot out from the darkness.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    She fired a magic blast inside hoping to hit the enemy.

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    Seven only had enough mana for two stone shifts left. The rest of the mana had to be saved for magic blasts.

    ¡®She¡¯s not shooting.¡¯

    It appeared that the archer couldn¡¯t see through her own dark veil.

    ¡®Or maybe she¡¯s waiting for me to slip up before going in for the kill.¡¯

    The shroud of darkness didn¡¯t seem to be letting up so Seven skirted around it and waited for an opportunity. She was close enough now that even if she fired blindly there was a chance of her hitting her opponent.

    But still, she waited.

    -25

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    Seven didn¡¯t hesitate or flinch as the invisible arrow hit her. She fired a magic blast directly into the direction she felt the arrow had come from. Before it even hit anything she sent another two on both sides of her first one. She was using the same trick she had used against the warrior.

    -32

    ¡®Yes.¡¯ Seven smiled.

    -32

    The second shot rang true as the darkness disappeared and revealed the archer¡¯s corpse falling to the ground. Her eyes were widened in surprise. She had been pretending that she couldn¡¯t see within her own darkness, waiting for Seven to let her guard down so that she could kill her in an instant.

    Instead, the magi had retaliated to her first shot by dodging and sending three back in return. The archer¡¯s second arrow had been quickly dodged despite Seven not being able to see it. Thanks to the delay from shooting that arrow the archer had been hit by the first magic blast and then when the archer had tried to dodge it she was instead hit by one of the other ones.

    She had been completely outmaneuvered.

    [Seven has won the duel against players: Grenda and Chaser]

    Seven breathed a sigh of relief as she was teleported to the stand next to her team. Roxxy was the to smack her on the back in congratulations and almost sent her sprawling.

    ¡°Oh-my-god that was so damn cool,¡± Roxxy was positively ecstatic ¡°You kicked their asses Seven.¡±

    Seven grinned as she realised that she had won.

    She hadn¡¯t gotten lucky or anything. She had simply won through sheer skill.

    ¡°Good Job.¡± ¡°A victory well earned.¡± ¡°That was great.¡± TidalWave, Third and Spark Joy gave their praise at the same time.

    ¡°Looks like TidalWave and I will start having trouble real soon. That was amazing.¡± Archy had a wide smile as he saw the archer dejectedly return to her team, ¡°They were good too.¡±

    The warrior had already rejoined them after dying.

    He hesitated then walked up to Seven and lowered his head, ¡°Sorry for being so rude before.¡±

    He walked back to his teammates and they smiled at him and the archer. They knew their teammates had fought a good fight despite losing in the end. If Seven had been any less skilled she would have died during the final ploy set out by the archer.

    Nastin also walked forward and smiled at Seven, ¡°I¡¯m sorry as well.¡± He had been amazed from the beginning of the fight to the end, ¡°It appears that Attracting does not have all the information he claims to have. You are definitely no tag along. We would be happy to fight with you any time if you feel that we¡¯d be worthy opponents.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Seven smiled at his apology.

    It wasn¡¯t his fault that he¡¯d been told something that insulted her. He had even been incredibly nice to her from the beginning. She waved her hand as though to shrug off the entire issue and his smile widened.

    ¡°Hey, hey.¡± Archy interrupted their condolences, ¡°That¡¯s great and all. But my fight with this person got interrupted.¡±

    He pointed to Grenda and she looked surprised.

    ¡°You still want to fight me?¡± She seemed to perk up.

    The truth was she was feeling down about losing a two on one fight.

    ¡°You know it.¡± Archy lifted his bow, ¡°Invisible arrows? That¡¯s cool as hell.¡±

    He was ridiculously envious of her.

    ¡°I am so god damn jealous.¡± He didn¡¯t bother to hide it.

    ¡°Here.¡± He sent her information on his abilities, ¡°It¡¯s not fair if you go into the fight with a handicap because I¡¯ve seen what you can do.¡±

    Grenda read over his abilities and smiled. Despite his laid back attitude this enemy archer was a fair player. She noted that he didn¡¯t really have any attacks that affected the field.

    ¡®Actually, he can only use basic attacks.¡¯ She realised as she scanned his abilities.

    He had nothing like her ¡®darkness¡¯ skill.

    ¡°Do you want me to use only basic attacks?¡± She still had her pride and sense of fair play despite having just lost a fight.

    She wouldn¡¯t push what she saw as an unfair advantage just because she wanted to win.

    ¡°Heck no.¡± Archy outright refused her, ¡°Use everything at your disposal.¡±

    She nodded and they entered the arena.

    The two teams took the chance to talk to each other while watching the match. The outcome of the match was still important but the Dark Horse group had decided to share their abilities and skills with everyone so that they could make every fight one that was using the best of their brains as well as their skills.

    Then Seven frowned as she saw someone approaching her.

    It was the warrior that she had just fought, and that had insulted her a lot during their short time knowing each other.

    Chaser.

 Chapter 17: The Mission Begins

    ¡°Seven.¡± The warrior that Seven had defeated approached her again, ¡°Hi. I¡¯m Chaser. Chase to my friends.¡±

    ¡°Hey Chase.¡± She smiled at him.

    The guy had become a lot more docile now that he¡¯d had his ass soundly whooped.

    ¡°Cocky to my opponents,¡± he was amused to see that her emotions and thoughts showed directly on her face, ¡°But not so cocky to those that have shown themselves to be skilled. But I really do have a terrible filter on my brain so if I say anything bad please forgive me.¡±

    ¡°Deal.¡± Seven gestured towards his teammates, ¡°Have you guys been a team long?¡±

    She and Chaser began to speak happily and soon the others followed in their steps.

    ¡°You know, we¡¯re free for a couple of hours.¡± Nastin approached TidalWave and Third.

    He definitely wanted to fight a lot more against this mysterious team that they¡¯d challenged.

    Third sighed, ¡°We definitely don¡¯t have anything to do urgently. What¡¯s a couple of hours if it means we have fun and practice.¡±

    He knew he would probably sneak off to shop between the fights anyway.

    ¡°We should start doing group battles.¡± TidalWave wanted to take it a step further.

    He liked what he had seen when watching the fight Seven had won. Now that he¡¯d seen her growing in skill and winning against skilled opponents that outnumbered her it caused his blood to boil. He wanted to grow even stronger before she surpassed him.

    He secretly wanted to know what would happen if he fought against two or more of the enemy players as well.

    Third sometimes thought that TidalWave was just as transparent as Seven, ¡°I think I might go for some fights against your wizard.¡±

    At his words, Glacier waved hello and walked towards them.

    ¡°Two wizards in one spot isn¡¯t something I thought I¡¯d see so soon.¡± Third commented as she joined them, ¡°Hello.¡±

    ¡°Hi hi.¡± Glacier was an incredibly cheerful girl despite her rather energetic demeanour in the arena, ¡°Yeah I know right. Nice staff.¡±

    She still had the beginner staff.

    [Archy has won the duel against player: Grenda]

    Archy had won the duel without difficulty. He had been absolutely delighted to meet a fellow highly skilled archer and so he hadn¡¯t held back and had taken out both of her eyes within seconds. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t critical hit but despite her veil of darkness he somehow managed to find her immediately and end the match.

    He had done the same as Seven and dodged all of the arrows shot towards him.

    ¡°Wow.¡± Grenda seemed more amazed than dispirited, ¡°That was god damn amazing.¡±

    ¡°Haha,¡± Archy laughed and looked bashful, ¡°Thanks. You were really good too. Are you guys here long?¡±

    He clearly wanted to fight more.

    ¡°We can fight against them for another two hours.¡± Third called out to him, ¡°Maybe you and TidalWave can show them your teamwork.¡±

    ¡°Oh-oh-oh¡± Roxxy reacted to Third¡¯s words, ¡°You guys will love it.¡± She gestured towards Seven, ¡°They¡¯re so strong together. They fight Seven for hours a day two on one so they can get in some practice, and because they¡¯re afraid to get their asses kicked if they try to fight her alone.¡±

    The Dark Horse members and Roxxy¡¯s team laughed.

    ¡°Well, it is true.¡± TidalWave admitted to the giggling teams, ¡°We do fight Seven as a duo for hours a day. It¡¯s good practice.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah?¡± Nastin was interested, ¡°How about we see how good you two are together.¡±

    Nastin and Grenda decided to enter the arena together. It seemed like they were a duo rather than Chaser who informed them that he usually practiced with Glacier. TidalWave and Archy entered after them. They had each given their opponents a rundown of their skills and now the paladin was confident he would last longer.

    To Seven¡¯s surprise, it didn¡¯t turn out to be a quick match like she thought it would. TidalWave and Archy suddenly had to contend with a lot more attacks compared to when they fought Seven, but the real challenge was Nastin.

    The paladin of light was a monster compared to the first match when he fought against TidalWave. Using Grenda¡¯s invisible arrows as cover fire he jousted evenly with TidalWave as he avoided Archy¡¯s arrows. His sword was wreathed in a golden aura that extended his attack range and he chanted buffing magic which increased the speed of his attacks and movements. Grenda also got a speed buff to her attacks.

    Unfortunately, Nastin¡¯s skill couldn¡¯t compensate for Archy¡¯s dominance over Grenda. Nastin¡¯s partner quickly took an arrow to the chest and jumped back as she was suddenly thrown into a defensive position. Archy skirted around to catch up to her as she ran and TidalWave made sure to block off Nastin. Without the cover of his ally¡¯s arrows, Nastin pushed the offensive trying to defeat TidalWave so that he could meet up with Grenda.

    ¡°Hot damn.¡± Chaser looked down in amazement as Grenda fell to Archy and then TidalWave decimated Nastin, ¡°You fight against them?¡± he asked Seven.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t actually won yet-¡±

    ¡°She averages around three minutes against them.¡± Spark Joy walked up to them as Seven was putting herself down, ¡°She gets very close to killing them both but they¡¯ve had a few hundred battles to get used to fighting her.

    Chaser let out a whistle. He couldn¡¯t imagine fighting for a full seven minutes alone with those two monsters.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you show them?¡± Roxxy stalked Spark Joy and popped up from behind her back, looking directly at Seven, ¡°It¡¯s fun to watch you three fight.¡±

    She pointed at Seven. She wanted to see Seven fighting one against two. She knew that Seven probably wouldn¡¯t win but she loved watching the fights. It gave her a lot to analyse when she viewed her teammate fighting.

    ¡°No-no I couldn¡¯t possibly¡­ it would be rude to the Dark Horse guys to fight each other.¡± Seven hesitated.

    She had already taken a lot of the spotlight.

    Nastin and the others had just appeared in the platform as she spoke, ¡°Oh.¡± he seemed extremely interested, ¡°We¡¯ll be here for a lot more fights. I want to see you fight against those two.¡±

    He had just come back from getting his ass whooped so he wanted to see how they fought when they were in an extended battle. He was already formulating plans of attack against them both and was confident that as long as Grenda regained her usual confidence they could win. He also wondered if Chaser might become more motivated after seeing TidalWave fight against the same opponent he had. They were both warriors that were extremely skilled but Chaser had slacked off a lot. Even if Chaser was at full strength Nastin had his doubts.

    The entire Dark Horse team could tell TidalWave was on another level.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Seven said happily.

    The Dark Horse team looked at each other curiously. They had watched Grenda and Nastin get creamed so they were curious as to how Seven would fare.

    It turned out she fared very well. The teams became quiet as they watched TidalWave and Archy try their hardest to reach and kill Seven. The two had quickly spread out in their usual formation of Archy in the mid-range closing in on Seven and TidalWave distracting her with close combat.

    ¡°Flame arrow.¡±

    ¡°Reaper¡¯s fury.¡±

    ¡°Shadow dance.¡±

    Each attack from TidalWave and Archy was executed perfectly in sync. They fired off abilities and tried their hardest to close in on her but she slipped out of their attacks and fired off magic in retaliation.

    Nastin made sure to watch them all closely. Despite his curiosity about Seven¡¯s playing style he actually paid the most attention to Archy. This was a fight between three opponents that knew each other¡¯s moves intricately and could react before their opponents had even made their moves. Nastin could use this opportunity to study TidalWave and Archy and try to find any weaknesses. Archy was the key to the TidalWave and Archy duo. With his cover fire being so accurate it bordered on cheating he allowed TidalWave to unleash his full potential. As it was, Seven would never defeat them.

    But it appeared that she¡¯d become extremely motivated after winning against Chaser and Grenda. She played the field extremely well. She never let Archy and TidalWave chase her into a corner and she conserved her mana diligently.

    ¡°Wind blast.¡±

    -Miss

    TidalWave dodged her wind blast only to hit empty air as Seven sidestepped his retaliatory attack.

    ¡°Hot damn.¡± Chaser¡¯s eyes were as wide as saucers, ¡°No wonder she killed me so quickly.¡±

    TidalWave had a deadly disposition about him. Every attack was aimed to kill and if Seven fired back at him there was a high chance he would dodge or block it with his sword. He also had the benefit of forcing her back with the help of Archy¡¯s arrows.

    Even then, he was occasionally hit by her attacks.

    Nastin nodded, ¡°If she¡¯s used to fighting against this kind of opponent it¡¯s no surprise.¡±

    He could see she was conserving more mana than it seemed. Despite firing off a steady stream of attacks she knew TidalWave¡¯s movements well enough to dodge without using her stone shift skill most times and she recovered her mana between dodges as she avoided Archy¡¯s arrows. It wouldn¡¯t last infinitely at this stage of the game but once she had a few more levels and items it would become an invaluable skill.

    Every one of the Dark Horse members could see that this was an insane battle. If Seven had been hesitating when she fought against Grenda and Chaser this was her when she was sure that she knew her opponent¡¯s abilities. She had thrown caution to the wind and tried everything to kill her opponents and avoid dying. After six and a half minutes she ran out of mana and TidalWave finally managed to catch up to Seven and kill her.

    ¡°A new record.¡± Archy praised her as they all appeared back next to their teammates, ¡°Good fight.¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    ¡°Good fight.¡± ¡°Good fight.¡± Seven and TidalWave agreed with him.

    ¡°I shall go next.¡±

    Third surprised everyone by volunteering himself to fight and winning four battles in a row. In the end, he lost against Blastar, the rather quiet paladin of healing. Blastar joyfully healed himself for all the damage that Third dealt and managed to get in close enough to kill him. Nastin looked keen to fight Third as well but held back as he saw that his teammates wanted another go.

    Seven and the team quickly began to realise what it meant to be a renowned team.

    These people weren¡¯t well known for no reason. Within half an hour, half of them had already begun catching onto their enemy¡¯s playstyles and were forming counter attacks. Wins were still rare but such a little time frame meant that even this amount of improvement was simply monstrous. But there was a simpler explanation.

    ¡®They were already this good.¡¯ Seven came to the same conclusion the rest of her team had, ¡®They were just rusty.¡¯

    The Dark Horse team was like a group of skilled people that had never had to actually utilise their skills. They were rusty in places but more importantly, they had never really thought of different ways to use their attacks and had never encountered opponents that could cause them to go all out.

    The moment they became serious they completely changed.

    Nastin quickly became nearly undefeated and when Seven fought against him she quickly found herself dodging frantically. She tried her hardest to make him utilise every move he had so she could memorise his playing style.

    ¡®I might not be able to beat him this time,¡¯ She thought as she felt an aura-covered sword slash through her, ¡®But next time will be different.¡¯

    She definitely had to attack him before he finished chanting his buffs.

    Even Third was anticipating the fights enough that he put off his shopping trip in favour of fighting more duels. It was rare that he got to practice his rift magic against people that weren¡¯t Seven and Archy. He also had the second-highest win rate of the team behind TidalWave. Unfortunately, he lost against both Blastar and Nastin frequently as their classes countered his own.

    The two hours passed quickly and the Dark Horse team grumbled as Nastin reminded them that they had to go, ¡°We¡¯ll add each other as friends so you can all bang at each other¡¯s heads later.¡±

    The players all added each other as friends and parted on good terms. Considering how they¡¯d started out when they both met it was a drastic difference. TidalWave and Archy were particularly sad as they had been having the time of their lives.

    ¡°Seven,¡± Third tilted his staff into the street, ¡°We should both go to check out the magi guild.¡±

    They watched the Dark Horse members walk away and then the team began to head out to do their own things.

    Seven and Third had barely spent a coin during the week that had passed because their frontline was skilled enough to keep monsters from reaching them. When taking into account their own skills they had hardly been scratched by enemy attacks. Their supplies of consumables were untouched and even bigger than before and they even had spare ingredients in the bank to sell off if they needed emergency funds. Other than the spiked killer that repelled enemies they hadn¡¯t wasted a single bean or mushroom on themselves. The players in the city had begun to rise in number drastically and Third predicted that soon someone would become an alchemist and they¡¯d be able to start selling off their ingredient stash for a lot of gold.

    In short, they had a lot of money.

    Seven herself had forty-five gold saved up. They had killed hundreds and thousands of monsters, making short work of even the biggest groups. She was looking forward to buying the incredibly powerful wand she had seen the last time she¡¯d gone to the magi guild. If she hit someone with it now she would probably blow them up.

    ¡°Welcome, Mr Third and Miss Seven.¡±

    A familiar face greeted them as Lass seemed to be the attendant in charge of the store this time. Seven waved hi to him and looked straight towards the wand she had seen last time.

    [Advanced Wand of the Magi: A wand that has been expertly crafted and imbued with devastating magic by a skilled Magi. Advanced Magic Blast: Deal double your Intelligence as magic damage. Cost: 2 mana. To buy: 20 gold.]

    It would cost her almost half of her earnings which she had gotten from killing countless monsters and completing quests. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that if her team hadn¡¯t been so powerful it would have taken her weeks to come close to purchasing it.

    The truth was that every purchase came with certain drawbacks. If she spent this much money on one thing it was possible that she would miss out on even better items in the future. If she bought the want she would most definitely turn into a killing machine because her damage would more than double, but she would also become a glass cannon, unable to take many hits before she died.

    Also, each advanced magic blast was now two mana instead of one.

    ¡°I can see you are eyeing our finer products. The finest wares you will find until reaching Lux.¡± Lass spoke in his usual formal tone, ¡°However might I make a recommendation?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Seven was happy to see what Lass would offer, although she was certain she would leave with the wand.

    Lass brought out a small box from underneath the counter as though he had been hiding it from others.

    ¡°Perhaps it is a bit expensive but I feel that it may be within your price range.¡±

    He took out a small blue ring.

    ¡°Hoo.¡± Third was watching from the side while perusing his own store window.

    [Ring of Mana Regeneration: Regenerate 0.5 mana each second. Costs 30 gold.]

    ¡°Oh damn.¡± Third and Seven eyed the ring greedily.

    Unfortunately, it seemed that Lass was only offering it in Seven¡¯s shop window.

    Lack of mana regeneration was incredibly annoying to them right now. Seven¡¯s wisdom was at 30 which meant that she regenerated 0.3 mana every second. This ring would more than double her mana regeneration. If she bought this ring and stayed with her current wand she might not have any mana troubles at all. If she bought the wand then she wouldn¡¯t be able to also buy the ring.

    ¡°How much are you missing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m five gold off if I buy the wand.¡± She despaired.

    ¡°I can give you a loan.¡± Third said simply.

    He was even richer than her somehow.

    ¡°Heck yes.¡± Seven suddenly realised this was an option, ¡°Are you okay with giving away five gold now though? Isn¡¯t there something you want to buy.¡±

    She felt bad that she was scabbing money off of him. He didn¡¯t even know if she would actually pay him back.

    ¡°I run a tough bargain.¡± Third told her honestly, ¡°Since I don¡¯t foresee any trouble in our farming for the next while, I want you to give me every single coin that you pick up from drops until we have made up the five gold coin payment. Considering our farming speed that should get the payment out of the way quickly.

    ¡°Oh.¡± That was a tough bargain, but she had enough supplies now that she could go without picking up money for a day or two, ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡±

    A few seconds later Seven marvelled at her ring and wand. Both had given her massive power boosts. If Archy and TidalWave hadn¡¯t bought anything during their trip she could probably beat them in a duel. But that was wishful thinking. She knew that she still wouldn¡¯t be able to win.

    The attendant was gazing at her curiously.

    ¡°Miss, may I ask you a personal question?¡± Lass saw her nod and continued, ¡°The magi guild has divined that you know and have been seen with a person called Attracting. May I confirm if that is correct?¡±

    Third and Seven groaned.

    Nothing good ever happened when that guy came up in conversation.

    ¡®Then again we did just have a couple of fun hours playing with new people because of him.¡¯ She thought to herself.

    ¡°Yes, I know him. He¡¯s a friend.¡± She grew curious, ¡°Why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°Ah, you see.¡± Lass seemed to churn his thoughts so as to say only what needed to be said, ¡°The magi guild is rather curious about this individual. You see, within a few days he managed to requisition the help of a couple of large organisations and their troops for a rather special mission. One of those would be our own magi guild.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Seven wanted him to continue.

    ¡°He has recently managed to convince the city lord to send out troops of paladins and has gotten the local bishop to make our guild lend magi to attend to the success of this same mission.¡±

    Third frowned, ¡°What¡¯s the mission?¡±

    He couldn¡¯t even imagine how a single player had already managed to influence the game to this extent.

    ¡°He claims to have discovered a dragon hoard and the source of corruption. However due to the increased number of corrupted creatures he cannot reach the hoard without the city¡¯s help. Of course the theocracy of Verm has no need for material wealth, however, our organisations cannot ignore the presence of the corruption¡¯s source which Attracting claims to be able to eliminate.¡±

    Lass¡¯s words made Seven and Third frown harder.

    They hadn¡¯t received any notifications from their dragon treasure quest. One of the prerequisites to keeping the quest was to make sure that Attracting didn¡¯t find out about the dragon treasure. If they had failed the quest then they would have been informed the second Attracting had found out about it. However, he clearly knew about it but they hadn¡¯t failed the quest.

    It was a strange turn of events.

    ¡°When will you head out?¡± Third wanted to grab as many details as possible.

    ¡°When Attracting asks us to.¡± Lass stated simply, ¡°He stated that he still has to obtain some reinforcements.¡±

    ¡°Reinforcements?¡± Seven pondered out loud, ¡°Who could that be?¡±

    Seven swore she saw Lass¡¯s eyes flash red for a split second, ¡°I am not sure. However, I am very curious as to how he obtained this information. I cannot seem to discern its origin.¡± He looked up at her, ¡°Do you happen to know?¡±

    Suddenly Third froze and Seven looked at him curiously, letting the NPCs question go unanswered, ¡°What¡¯s up.¡±

    Third was busy reading over a private message he had received.

    He snorted as he sorted through the contents, ¡°It¡¯s Attracting. He is messaging me to ask if I will join him in a dragon treasure hunt.¡±

    Seven suddenly received a few messages from the team asking if she and Third had received a private message from Attracting.

    ¡°That means¡­¡± Seven was piecing it all together.

    ¡°I believe,¡± Third closed the message from Attracting and ignored it, ¡°That this means we are the reinforcements he is waiting for.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Seven hadn¡¯t received a single message, ¡°Why you guys?¡±

    ¡°Because we are strong.¡± Third pulled a face, ¡°But of course, you are too. I believe he simply hasn¡¯t noticed your talent and skill.¡±

    ¡°No need to coddle me.¡± Seven shook her head at Third, ¡°So our team is the reinforcements?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Third looked at Lass speculatively, ¡°I believe he must have sent a message to every player he has met with. The contents within promise a lot of items, gold, and glory at the end of the quest. I do not think many people would be able to resist that.¡± he tilted his head, ¡°I emphasise, a lot of gold.¡±

    Third showed her the message and she whistled. Attracting was offering them up to a thousand gold each. That was an insane amount.

    He messaged the team and confirmed that every single one of them had completely rejected the invitation outright. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t know how many skilled players Attracting had interacted with. There couldn¡¯t be that many skilled players currently active in Lum.

    ¡°Ah,¡± Lass was suddenly bathed in a golden light, ¡°It appears the mission is beginning. I will have to close the shop for the duration of this expedition.¡±

    He looked at them apologetically and they hurriedly left the store.

    ¡°Does that attention seeker find it impossible to not make life hard for us at every turn.¡± Third said grimly.

    ¡°I know what you mean.¡± A new voice called out to them and they turned to find themselves facing a priest in white robes, ¡°Good day codlets.¡±

    It was the resident priest of Torkay, Barnacle.

    The priest smiled at them but it was strained, ¡°Unfortunately it appears that despite my warnings Attracting has found out about the dragon¡¯s treasure.¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡± Seven had the feeling that they were going to lose the quest.

    ¡°However something very strange is occurring around that man.¡± Barnacle frowned, ¡°It seems physically impossible for him to have found out about the treasure. He has not been told by you that it exists. He has not consulted with the paladins that fought the dragon to divine the treasure¡¯s location and instead has somehow come up with every correct answer on his own.¡±

    Barnacle shook his head as though trying to dispel his confusion.

    ¡°As my prophetic dreams have left me quite clueless I am afraid I cannot discern how Attracting discovered the information he did. However,¡± He waved his hand and Third and Seven could see the treasure quest window in front of them, ¡°It would be remiss of me to simply dispel my request and abandon your group. It was not your doing that caused these events to pass. So we will have to compromise.¡±

    [Dragon¡¯s Legacy. Deep within the Signet Woods lays the lair of a once-mighty dragon. Though now deceased, in life the dragon was widely feared as one of the rulers of the Signet Woods and nobody knows what wonders may appear in its collection. Find the dragon¡¯s treasure hoard deep within the woods before others do. Quest condition: Quest will fail once the treasure has been located by other players or NPCs. The quest will automatically cancel if the details are shared with the player: Attracting.]

    Before her eyes, the words of the quest began to change.

    [Dragon¡¯s Legacy. Deep within the Signet Woods lays the lair of a once-mighty dragon. Though now deceased, in life the dragon was widely feared as one of the rulers of the Signet Woods and nobody knows what wonders may appear in its collection. Find the source of the corruption that has moved into the dragon¡¯s lair and destroy it. Quest completion: The source of corruption is destroyed. Quest condition: Quest will fail if the corruption¡¯s source escapes.]

    Two small orbs appeared in Seven and Third¡¯s hands.

    [You have received quest item: Eye of Light]

    Now they had to find this ¡®source of corruption¡¯ and destroy it. But the quest didn¡¯t specify failure for allowing others to find the treasure any longer.

    ¡°What-¡± Seven went to ask Barnacle a question and then realised that she was speaking into thin air.

    The priest had disappeared.

    ¡°Now.¡± Third looked grim, ¡°We have a time limit.¡±

 Chapter 18: Colts Crew

    Third and Seven made their way out of the magi guild and into the streets of Lum.

    They had already messaged the situation to their team and they¡¯d all agreed to meet up at the entrance to Lum. Apparently the NPCs had caused quite a stir as they began to walk through the streets in full battle gear and gather outside of Lum. Of course, that meant Attracting was nearby as well but Seven couldn¡¯t guess where.

    ¡°MILLY.¡±

    ¡°ANA.¡± Seven spun around the moment she heard her friend shouting at the top of ¡®his¡¯ voice.

    It turned out that her friend was actually right behind her. Third stepped to the side as IEatTortillas sprinted up to Seven and wrapped her in a bear hug. He noted that he couldn¡¯t see Attracting with the sword user but he always turned up eventually. He would wait until that time to gather information.

    He had a mission to give to TidalWave.

    ¡°There¡¯s so much I have to tell you!¡± IEatTortillas didn¡¯t spare a single second wasting time, pulling out a shiny sword from her inventory to show off.

    ¡°Oh my god.¡± Seven was wide-eyed as she spotted a tell-tale coloured gleam coming off of the weapon, ¡°That¡¯s a yellow ranked weapon!¡±

    White, blue, green, yellow, orange, red and gold.

    Seven had only ever seen a green ranked weapon at most. She personally had slain hundreds of mobs andonly seen one or two blue drops that turned out to be blue ranked potions. She was incredibly happy for her friend.

    ¡°Quest after quest after quest.¡± IEatTortillas shot out words like a machine gun, ¡°I thought I was travelling overseas with how much movement we were cramming in.¡±

    ¡°We?¡±

    ¡®Oh right.¡¯ Seven suddenly felt glum.

    She forgot for a moment that her friend was travelling with Attracting. His final remark about her weight when he¡¯d left the arena still stung.

    She knew her entire team was sick of hearing his name by now. He¡¯d made terrible impressions on all of them to the point that they hadn¡¯t hesitated to reject his offer of quest cooperation. Right now Seven was the only one of them that considered him a friend, and she hadn¡¯t even received an invitation. She still felt the sting from his constant comments about her. She¡¯d heard more bad stuff about herself and her lack of skill from Attracting than from anyone she actually played with. That was the only thing keeping her from telling IEatTortillas about the quest and asking him to join them. Unfortunately, he would always bring along Attracting and that would cause a whole heap of problems.

    ¡°Milly?¡± IEatTortillas noticed the sudden change in Seven¡¯s mood easily.

    She practically wore it on her face.

    ¡°Nothing, nothing.¡± Seven¡¯s expression brightened again as she plastered a smile on her face, ¡°Let me see! Let me see.¡± She repeated herself.

    She gestured for IEatTortillas to send her a copy of his stats and items. This wasn¡¯t the time to be thinking of Attracting. Her teammates were already messaging each other in the team chat, coming up with plans of attack on how to deal with the quest before Attracting got there.

    Archy was especially vocal as he was torn away from his arrow shopping.

    ¡°Okay but you¡¯re going to be jealous.¡± IEatTortillas grinned proudly.

    IEatTortillas: Level 35

    Health: 151 (+45)

    Mana: 20

    Vitality: 53 (+6)

    Strength: 71 (+30)

    Intelligence: 10

    Wisdom: 10

    Confidence: 9

    Equipment:

    Brass knuckles: +2 STR

    Sword of Glory (Yellow): +15 STR, +10 HP

    Lum Paladin Cape: +3 STR, +2 VIT

    Steel Helmet: +6 HP

    Steel chest armour: +10 HP, +2 DEF (locked due to lack of stat.)

    Steel gloves: +4 HP

    Greaves of Strength (Blue): +5 STR, +4 VIT

    Boots of Glory (Yellow): +5 STR, +15 HP, +15% Movement speed

    ¡®Good lord.¡¯ Seven¡¯s eyes widened at the sight.

    She had never seen so many good items lumped together on a single person.

    ¡°You¡¯re not messing with me are you?¡± She replied and her friend shook his head empathetically.

    He was standing as proud as a peacock and Seven smiled. Her friend was like this both in real life and in the game. He didn¡¯t change at all.

    ¡°Attracting has even better stuff than I do. Every single place we went had annoying guys to kill but the rewards were awesome. We even got a ton of gold and I think Andrew bought some property. It¡¯s insane Milly. We still haven¡¯t gotten an orange item or higher despite all we¡¯ve done.¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t even gotten a yellow one.¡± Seven allowed herself to be caught up in her friend''s enthusiasm, ¡°Damn you have so many great items. Try to remember me when you¡¯re steamrolling players okay.¡±

    ¡°Haha.¡± IEatTortillas smiled as he was praised.

    Honestly, he had nobody else to show this stuff off to. He had spent so much time partying with Attracting in areas that other players didn¡¯t even dare to step into that he hadn¡¯t even had the chance to meet anyone else. Travelling from area to area fighting non-stop and escaping death by the breadth of his teeth was tiring. So he¡¯d been looking forward to seeing Seven and relaxing all week.

    Then Attracting had pulled together this damn quest out of nowhere. Initially, he¡¯d just wanted to hang out with Seven but then he¡¯d been told about the potential rewards. Now he knew what he and Seven were definitely going to be doing, fighting monsters and kicking ass.

    ¡°Oh, by the way, we have this quest-¡±

    ¡°Ana.¡± A new voice called out from behind the lumbering hero.

    Seven shifted to the side and Attracting popped up in her vision. She grimaced as she saw him and IEatTortillas frowned as well. Both of them didn¡¯t appreciate the sudden interruption.

    ¡°Come and greet Milly you ungrateful lout.¡± She said.

    ¡°Hey.¡± Seven said to him as he walked nearer.

    He wasn¡¯t alone. He was followed by three other players that Seven could see had a confident air about them.

    [Colt] [Gyro]

    Two of them had their names on display and the third kept his hidden. She instantly took a step back to analyse them. It was a habit she¡¯d picked up from writing so many journal entries on monsters and players.

    The two with their names displayed struck her as competent without even having to see them fight. Colt gave off a vibe of a warrior or close fighting class despite having his weapons hidden. He was also eerily skinny and gaunt. Gyro was carrying a large bow in his hands. She couldn¡¯t help but wonder how skilled these players were. First, it was her own team, then Dark Horse, and now these strangers.

    She didn¡¯t know Attracting to hang out with anyone except those rare players that had abilities beyond the average person. Each one had the same kind of atmosphere around them that her own team had.

    Especially the archer.

    ¡°Oh, hey.¡± Attracting gave a nod towards her direction and continued to talk to his companions.

    He didn¡¯t even acknowledge Third although the rotund player was hiding back as he scanned the newcomers up and down. He knew that if they were both aiming for the same treasure then these were potential enemies.

    They didn¡¯t know how many other players had accepted Attracting¡¯s offer.

    ¡°Bah.¡± IEatTortillas dismissed Attracting¡¯s cold attitude.

    He could see that Seven was being unusually quiet but he chalked it up to her being shy around strangers.

    ¡°Who are these guys by the way?¡± He hadn¡¯t met them either.

    ¡°These fine gentlemen are with Colt¡¯s Crew.¡± Attracting gestured to them and they waved hello, ¡°They¡¯ll be joining us for the quest.¡±

    Third give a small nod towards the players.

    ¡°A very respectable organisation.¡± Third said, ¡°I have heard almost all of your members are assassins in the games you play.

    Seven almost jolted out of her skin. She had forgotten her teammate was standing behind her the entire time. Third was eyeing the three new players with interest.

    -These players are probably comparable to Dark Horse in skill. Although I believe there are more than just three members. The others must be elsewhere.- Third sent her a private message, knowing she didn¡¯t have much knowledge about the various gaming groups.

    ¡°Third.¡± Attracting¡¯s eyes brightened, ¡°Are you going to join us as well? We could definitely use the help of a powerhouse like yourself to secure our victory.¡±

    Attracting clearly had a large amount of respect for Third, and Seven could understand it. The guy didn¡¯t get into many duels compared to the rest of her team but when he did he put up a hell of a fight. TidalWave was the only player that stood a chance against him.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    Colt¡¯s Crew was similarly sizing up Third. They could tell just from his staff that he didn¡¯t have an ordinary class, but they didn¡¯t know what class he could have. The game was simply too new. Gyro seemed particularly interested and he tilted his head as he was clearly sending private messages the other members.

    ¡°Unfortunately our group has different plans this evening.¡± Third tapped his staff on the ground, ¡°Although brief, this had been a very interesting meeting. We should head off.¡±

    Third didn¡¯t beat around the bush.

    The truth was that he had wanted to leave the moment he saw IEatTortillas. They were both parties going for the same prize and he knew the longer he stayed, the more chance there was of Seven or himself slipping up. He didn¡¯t want to risk the other groups suspecting something. He turned around and began to move towards the Lum entrance.

    ¡°Ah damn, he¡¯s right.¡± Seven gave IEatTortillas a final hug and walked off

    ¡°Oh-¡± IEatTortillas still wanted to tell Seven about the quest but hesitated.

    It seemed like her friend had other plans today.

    -This Third guy is skilled.- Colt turned to Attracting and sent him a private message, -I think from the way they were acting that their quest will interact with ours. Perhaps even involve our groups fighting each other. Is the girl, Seven, equally as dangerous?-

    Colt had managed to discern a lot within the short time they interacted.

    He didn¡¯t want to ask this out loud because he could see that IEatTortiallas was clearly friends with one of them. If these players were going to interfere in their quest then he wanted to know as much information as he could about them. He knew from the weapons and equipment that Third held that he was probably extremely dangerous. But it was the ring he saw on Seven¡¯s finger that confused him. He hadn¡¯t seen a similar item in the game. It was too early for accessories to become commonplace.

    -She is nothing.- Attracting sent with certainty, -I doubt she knows how to wave her wand properly. She definitely isn¡¯t someone that matters.-

    Colt snorted at Attracting¡¯s cold words but didn¡¯t press the matter further. He trusted the priest¡¯s mysterious skill of picking out skilled players from the crowd. He had even put him to the test and tried to get him to pinpoint another skilled group of players.

    That had resulted in Dark Horse being outed to Colt¡¯s Crew.

    -However Third¡¯s group¡­ they are much more of a problem.- Attracting began to brood.

    Each one of Third¡¯s party members was an incredibly skilled player. He was in need of players to break through to the dragon¡¯s treasure and defeat the boss if his plan failed. But he had only summoned the best players available. If something went wrong and they had to fight a boss monster they would, unfortunately, be in trouble if Third¡¯s team joined in the fight.

    Luckily he knew of a single piece of information that Third¡¯s team did not. He had managed to contact a powerful group to help him in this endeavour.

    The Knights of Magnolia.

    He¡¯d had to trick them a bit in order to gain their help, but they would be rewarded suitably once he got his hands on the cave. Luckily the only person who could stop them was Archy. Attracting was sure that the archer and Third would no longer be on the same team as each other. The two couldn¡¯t stand each other.

    He knew that group and Archy shared a bond that was far too strong to break. But even if the Knights of Magnolia betrayed him after they entered the cave he was sure that he wouldn¡¯t have to fear them. Once he was there he would have the ability to fend off and win against an attack from hundreds of players no matter how many they brought. If they turned against him then he was sure he had the power to win.

    They just had to help get him in there first.

    He threw out all other unnecessary thoughts, and soon forgot entirely that he had just met up with Seven.

    The girl in question was pestering Third for information on the potential enemies they had just encountered.

    ¡°Do you think that archer is as good as Grenda and Archy?¡± Seven felt Third would be better than her at judging their strengths, ¡°He sure seemed the have the confidence of a strong person.¡±

    By now she had seen enough strong players to notice that they each had a confident air about them that came from knowing that even without fancy items and armour they could still win a fight.

    She felt respect for him by just being around him.

    ¡°Possibly. He will definitely be a pain to deal with if he takes the fight seriously. I have not heard of an archer being part of Colt¡¯s Crew but if they allowed him in then it must mean he landed it because of his skill. It would not be farfetched to state that he could be as skilled as Archy.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s as skilled as me?¡±

    Third was thinking of how to use this information to their advantage when suddenly a familiar figure barreled into them. Archy was coming back from his shopping with a happy look on his face.

    He had taken his time after receiving Attracting¡¯s offer and was cuddling a quiver of shiny new arrows in his hands. But most noticeable of all was the bow on his back that seemed to glow red.

    ¡°We met up with some people called Colt¡¯s Crew.¡± Seven explained as they all moved towards the entrance, ¡°Hey what did you buy?¡±

    ¡°Colt¡¯s Crew.¡± Archy¡¯s face turned bland, ¡°I¡¯ve heard of them. Maybe.¡± Then he lifted his bow proudly, ¡°I managed to unseal some of this thing! Oh hey, do you think I could beat TidalWave completely now?¡±

    ¡°Concentration of a goldfish.¡± Third smiled as he saw his teammates unfazed by the new enemies.

    ¡°If we meet them we meet them.¡± Archy shrugged, ¡°And we meet them we kill them- oh god.¡±

    Archy slapped his forehead and Seven and Third stared at him in confusion.

    ¡°My cousin is messaging me.¡± He explained to the duo.

    ¡°Oh, the loud one?¡± Seven¡¯s curiosity grew, ¡°The dwarf society? Hey, can you ask them if they¡¯re only dwarves.¡±

    Archy nodded, ¡°One second- yes, they¡¯re all dwarves at the moment, he smiled as Seven happily gestured at the confirmation, ¡°Also he says he has a surprise for me. God, that¡¯s never good news.¡±

    Archy shuddered as he remembered some of the previous ¡®surprises¡¯ that his cousin Leo had pulled during their lives.

    ¡°Sometimes that guy really needs to learn how to think.¡±

    ¡°Shocking words coming from you. I shudder to think what¡¯s going to happen when you see this surprise.¡± Third smirked.

    ¡°No way.¡± Archy resolutely refuted Thrid¡¯s words, ¡°There is no way I¡¯m going to go near that crazy group. Those guys would blindly charge into a horde of monsters if Leo told them to. When he¡¯s giving the orders you just have to think of a way to escape the incoming calamity.¡±

    ¡°Sort of like kamikaze dwarves.¡± Seven let out a giggle at the image that appeared in her mind.

    She could see dozens of small figured yelling loudly as they smashed into something the size of a behemoth without a care in the world. It seemed like a fun way to play the game.

    *Ahem* Third coughed lightly as they reached the Lum entrance, ¡°I believe we have slightly more pressing matters to think about.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s to think about?¡± Archy shrugged, ¡°Let¡¯s just charge straight there.¡±

    ¡°I hate to admit it, but that¡¯s not the worst plan I¡¯ve heard.¡± Spark Joy¡¯s voice floated towards them as she and Roxxy lay on the grass, ¡°Take a look at them.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Third¡¯s eyes widened as he saw the group of people that were gathering outside of Lum.

    He could see shimmering armour and splendid robes as the paladins and mages of Lum gathered together and prepared to charge into the Signet Woods with gusto. Even though all of them were NPCs there were a few players flitting around as well. None of the NPCs was too ridiculously high level, but they were leagues above what the current player base could muster up.

    Flitting between the various NPCs were several players. Seven spotted the Dark Horse members and a few unknowns that were probably the remaining members of Colt¡¯s Crew. Soon they were joined by Attracting and the remaining people he had gathered.

    ¡°I count two dozen NPCs and growing. Maybe about a dozen players or so.¡± Spark Joy watched the proceedings with interest, ¡°Not a single tank among them.

    ¡°Amateurs.¡± Roxxy jokingly stated, ¡°I don¡¯t know about you guys but I think Archy is right. We¡¯re not going to outrun them so we might have to get a head start.¡±

    They didn¡¯t really have to clash head-on with Attracting and his players. They just had to go in and out of the quest location before they arrived. The only problem was that they didn¡¯t know how long it would take the others to leave.

    ¡°Hey,¡± Seven said to her team as she spotted Chaser and Grenda and waved at them. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we invite the Dark Horse guys to join us? They seem pretty cool.¡±

    Third and Roxxy shook their heads emphatically.

    ¡°They¡¯ve already accepted Attracting¡¯s offer. It would be rude to ask them to pull away now. Besides, we¡¯ve only known them for a couple of hours. We¡¯d be getting in the way of their rewards and reputation if we forced them to make a choice now.¡± Third was certain of this.

    Roxxy giggled, ¡°Also I think they¡¯d rather take the chances of fighting against us for the quest reward instead of fighting against a small NPC army.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Seven nodded absentmindedly, ¡°Hey, where¡¯s TidalWave?¡± Seven noticed that the warrior hadn¡¯t made an appearance.

    ¡°Oh-oh-oh I bet he got lost in a shopping spree.¡± Roxxy poked her head up and eyed the Lum entrance.

    ¡°Actually he¡¯s scouting out the Signet Woods.¡± Third had already received a confirmation message from TidalWave, ¡°He¡¯s testing that item we got when the quest changed.¡±

    They each recalled the sudden appearance of a small orb. The Eye of Light, each one of them had received a single one in their inventories. It turned out that the item could be used to unveil the smog surrounding the inner ring of the woods. TidalWave had moved before them to test how well they worked. If they only let the team see a few more feet compared to normal then the items wouldn¡¯t help that much. But it could still be used to avoid surprise Wilder attacks that would slow them down.

    ¡°I have bad news.¡± TidalWave appeared the moment they said his name and walked through the woods towards them.

    He briefly eyed the expedition force appreciatively before turning back to his team with a grimace.

    ¡°The monster situation has changed a little.¡± He gestured for them to follow him, ¡°It definitely looks interesting. Quite a sight.¡±

    The team took one last look at the players and NPCs that had been gathered to fight before heading into the outer woods. From the speed of the other party¡¯s movements, they knew they would have a few minutes at most before they set out for the inner ring.

    TidalWave didn¡¯t have to take them too far before they saw what he¡¯d meant. With their eyes of light they could make out the figures of corrupted treants, dryads and wilders lining up and surrounding the entrance to the inner ring of the woods as far as their eyes could see. It was a crowd of creatures patiently waiting as though in meditation.

    It was virtually a fortress made of pure manpower.

    ¡°Clearly the power of Attracting¡¯s expedition force has caused them to make a drastic move.¡± Third eyed the wall of monsters with a glimmer of amusement, ¡°We may use this to our advantage.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Archy doubted his ears, ¡°We can¡¯t even break through that thing. There are at least a couple of hundred monsters there and I can¡¯t even see behind them to tell if there are more.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Third agreed, ¡°But we are not their target. They are aiming for the expedition force.¡± He could already see the perfect plan forming in his head, ¡°We will simply wait for their prey to arrive and then sneak in through the back while they are all fighting each other.¡±

    ¡°Slip in?...¡± Archy suddenly looked thoughtful, ¡°Where do we go in? Obviously it can¡¯t be straight through the front.¡±

    ¡°Over there.¡± TidalWave had scouted the entire area from head to toe over the past week, and now that he could actually see past the fog, he knew the perfect spot for their entry into the inner ring, ¡°It¡¯s a small tree-covered mountain that looks like it loops around the inner ring. We might have to take a bit of a detour but as long as we follow the cliffline we can avoid the major battle and maybe even make good time compared to the others being bogged down by monsters.¡±

    They followed him further into the outer woods and away from Lum. Every inch of the inner ring¡¯s entrance was covered head to toe in monsters. It was easy to imagine thousands of the things swarming over the NPCs and players that tried to force their way through to the dragon¡¯s treasure.

    ¡°Definitely some detour.¡± Roxxy could tell it would take them a lot longer to reach their destination just based on the distance they had to travel to get here.

    Soon they arrived at the start of the mountain. A cliff face covered in foliage and trees seemed to be carved into its side and the team scouted the location with their eyes. There were still monsters here but they were thinning in numbers. Clearly as soon as the fighting began near Lum these corrupted creatures would rush over to aid their brethren.

    TidalWave breathed a small sigh of relief. He had only scouted the mountain while fighting wilders in the fog. Now he could see that it did in fact loop around the area like he was hoping it did.

    ¡°It¡¯s perfect.¡± Spark Joy nodded her head as they arrived, ¡°It¡¯ll take longer but it doesn¡¯t matter as long as the monsters move to hinder the other players. Considering the number of them we passed on the way here I don¡¯t doubt we can be in and out quicker than the expedition force.¡±

    Roxxy moved past them and began to view the entire mountain from head to toe, being careful not to move into the attack radius of the monsters. She brought her fingers up and made a square as though taking a picture and smiled.

    ¡°We should also be able to see the battle from up there.¡± Roxxy was quick to analyse the situation, ¡°If something unexpected happens or if they blow past the monsters too quickly we can always adjust the plan to suit.¡±

    The team agreed with her and settled down to wait. They knew that the corrupted entities had a habit of calling their brethren to help them in fights. If you fought against one group for too long then eventually it could turn into five, and then even more. They just needed to wait for the hundreds that were around the inner ring border to encounter the expedition force and call their allies to them.

    The truth was that they were taking an awfully long detour here in order to avoid the mass of monsters that would swarm at the expedition force once it set off. They would gain a better vantage point to see everything but if anything went wrong they would be the last to reach the treasure.

    *Clang.*

    A single metallic sound rang out across the forest and the team¡¯s ears perked up.

    ¡°There we go.¡±

 Chapter 19: Attack!

    Archy had been making faces at the creatures the entire time until he finally noticed them perk up and begin running off towards Lum, ¡°I can hear them from here.¡±

    ¡°We can all hear them.¡± Third said with a dry smile.

    He was happy that the monsters had taken off so quickly.

    The faint sounds of battle and explosions reached their ears. Considering how far they¡¯d walked the fact that they could hear the battle at all meant that it was definitely an intense fight. The team watched the corrupted creatures closely. Every second they waited meant another second that their enemies got closer to the prize. But if they went too soon then they would attract the monster¡¯s attention and probably be swarmed. The moment the monsters reached manageable levels the team immediately ran through into the inner ring, killing any strays that crossed their path.

    They made their way up the mountain and followed the cliff line. TidalWave lead the way as he had used the path before. He didn¡¯t even have to stop as Archy and Seven smashed their attacks at any creature that threatened to slow the team down. They used the quest indicator to show them the way so that they didn¡¯t get lost and in the meantime took the opportunity to scout the surroundings.

    They hadn¡¯t been able to properly see the inner ring of the woods when they¡¯d been fighting in the fog. Unlike the fertile and lush Outer Woods, the entire Signet Woods Inner Ring had grown sickly and purple as time passed. There wasn¡¯t a single uncorrupted wilder and even most of the outer ring creatures that were guarding the entrance had been converted.

    ¡°Damn.¡± Seven had wanted to find some ingredients but the entire area was wiped clean by the corruption.

    Every ingredient was unsalvageable. The team quickly agreed to completely ignore the drops that came from the stray creatures they killed. The treasure was a far more pressing matter than a few silver coins.

    The team bounded through the mountain with increasing speed. The monsters had actually lessened in volume until they barely ran into any. It seemed like they had all been called to fight the group of players and NPCs trying to force their way in below. Seven could even see waves of creatures moving underneath the treeline as they swarmed towards the expedition force.

    ¡°There is definitely a driving force behind them.¡± Third remarked as he viewed the odd formations and actions of the corrupted beings.

    Despite the trees obscuring most of their above vision, the battle was relatively observable. The team could see thousands of monsters forming into a great mass. It was an amazing sight as almost every monster that roamed the gigantic inner ring was sent to delay their enemies.

    In turn, the expedition force had set up gigantic paladin shields, barriers were made by the priests and the magi were sending out intense spells that killed treants and wilders by the dozens. In terms of quantity the monsters had the Lum soldiers outnumbered but when it came to quality it was like a pack of wolves had been set onto a herd of sheep.

    ¡°That¡¯s one hell of a sight.¡± Archy had almost stopped to appreciate the clash of forces.

    Thousands of monsters were fighting off against a group of soldiers trying to save their city. No matter how he looked at it this was the kind of classic heroic tale that would be told to the NPC¡¯s children¡¯s children as a legend. Except, in this case, the thirty or so NPCs were absolutely kicking ass. It wasn¡¯t even a contest. The monsters were brushed away like ants.

    ¡°Will we be able to do that when we reach that level?¡± Seven gazed at the battle in amazement as she ran.

    The NPCs were at a much higher level than any of the players. Fireballs the size of trees were casually thrown about with gusto by the magi and the paladins emitted a golden light that was cutting into the sky. The truth was that sheer numbers could do nothing to halt their advance. Even if they were slower now the corrupted creatures would never be able to win and would only die in the end.

    The only thing stopping the expedition force from advancing was that they had to maneuver around the dead bodies of their enemies.

    ¡°Depends on your class. I wager your classis a little less flashy but still quite strong.¡± Third ignored the battle raging on beside them and instead scanned the crowd for particular individuals.

    He didn¡¯t want Attracting and the rest sneaking off and stealing all the treasure hoard for themselves while the NPCs were distracted. He didn¡¯t have to worry too much, Dark Horse and Colt¡¯s Crew were both expertly weaving in and out of the NPC frontline as they tackled dozens of creatures at a time.

    Normally it would have been suicide but with their high-level helpers it was just power levelling. Third slightly regretted that they hadn¡¯t been able to take on that same opportunity but then dismissed it. He wasn¡¯t a fan of Attracting¡¯s attitude and secretly he also held hope that they¡¯d be able to claim the treasure for themselves. He felt that if the city was willing to go this far then the treasure must definitely be worth it. He doubted the paladins and magi wanted the gold but the upper city management? He was sure there was a less heroic reason for why they had been able to mobilise so fast. He felt that this was definitely no ordinary treasure.

    At the very least the quest takers had to kill hundreds of monsters to even reach the location.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can match that speed.¡± Seven was worried.

    For some reason the expedition force was taking its time in moving forward but she couldn¡¯t work out why they weren¡¯t just running at full speed towards the treasure.

    ¡°We should be faster than them.¡± Spark Joy was ahead of the pack alongside Roxxy and TidalWave, ¡°As long as they can¡¯t see through the fog they¡¯ll have to keep saving their strength.¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± Seven suddenly realised why the NPCs were hesitant.

    The truth was that if the magi knew where to place a single strong spell to properly wipe out the enemy forces they would have. But while the fog was present and blocking their sights they had to conserve their mana in case they destroyed woodland and no monsters. While they were affected by whatever magic was plaguing the inner woods they couldn¡¯t be sure how many monsters were in their path. If they didn¡¯t play it safe and conserve their mana and resources they would be screwed if the monsters simply kept on coming. With the current fog, they couldn¡¯t see an end to the monsters.

    ¡°Once they break through the monsters they¡¯ll catch up quickly.¡± Third¡¯s assessment was more grim. ¡°We do not know how much time is needed to defeat the boss.¡±

    ¡°Always the worrywart.¡± Archy decided to send a few arrows flying towards the treants.

    He figured the arrows would get lost in the crowd and nobody would notice if he claimed a bit of experience for himself in the commotion.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you believe something will pop up to help us.¡± Third snorted at Archy¡¯s response, ¡°But I assure you no su-¡±

    *ROARRRR*

    The entire team stumbled and stopped as the ground around them began to shake. Third was almost sent face-first into the ground but managed to catch his balance at the last second. He raised his head to see what had caused the sudden disturbance only to be met with Archy¡¯s smug grin as the archer bent over to help him up.

    ¡°Not a word.¡± Third¡¯s face darkened.

    Seven butted in before he could escalate the argument further, ¡°What happened?¡±

    She checked the battle but realised that none of the expedition force members or monsters cared about the sudden shaking. The ground was continuously trembling more and more but the NPCs and players were too consumed in their fighting to take notice.

    Third was squinting through the cracks of the leaves, ¡°The battle remains undisturbed. It appears that something else is about to set our world to crap.¡±

    Archy looked at Third and gave him a thumbs-up, ¡°Nice word choice. Very sophisticated.¡±

    The team picked up the pace as the situation continued to worsen. At this point, even the combatants below had noticed something was wrong but they were already surrounded and they couldn¡¯t afford to distract themselves for fear of being overrun by corrupt monsters.

    ¡°Oh-oh-oh I hear something.¡± Between the sounds of fighting and the leaves suddenly bristling loudly in their trees Roxxy could make out faint shrieks, ¡°Ah,¡± She recalled hearing these exact same sounds a week ago when fighting in the woods.

    *ROARRR*

    Another loud bellow was let out and the rumbling suddenly grew silent. Seven finally found herself running into a small clearing free of trees on the cliff and she immediately looked up to see what was making all the noise. Only to find herself staring at a giant paw as it fell from high in the air and crashed down near the expedition force.

    She had a brief few seconds to take in the sight of players and NPCs being blown away and trees being utterly destroyed as the weight of the pawed foot crushed them into paste. Then she looked up and saw the creature attached to the foot.

    [Corrupted Behemoth Level 165]

    ¡°Well, crap.¡± She took in a deep breath as she realised the shrieking belonged to the fifty or so crows that were flying around the mountain-sized creature¡¯s head, ¡°It looks a lot angrier than last time. Before Archy shot it in the ass of course.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Roxxy nodded sagely then she motioned to the team as she began to speed up, ¡°Let¡¯s get the hell out of here.¡±

    Luckily for them, the corrupt behemoth¡¯s attention was solely focused on the powerful enemies that had been making a ruckus in its territory. Seven wasn¡¯t sure when it had been corrupted since she hadn¡¯t seen it for a couple of days, but it was undoubtedly a lot stronger than before. They probably couldn¡¯t afford to provoke it like they had last time even if they wanted to.

    ¡°It¡¯s making our job a lot easier.¡± TidalWave noted that the NPCs had stopped completely as they finally caught a glimpse of the enormous creature through the fog.

    Most of the force had been blown away into the nearby trees as the thing stepped down on them.

    Seven watched the fighting force scatter to the winds as they used their spells and swords to cut through large swathes of monsters. With perfect coordination of their intentions, the force decided that it was easier to try and escape through the lower level enemies than to bunch up and give that behemoth an easy target.

    They could tell they were in over their heads and forced themselves to burn through their remaining mana reserves to cut a path to escape. The monsters swarming around them caught fire or were cut to pieces as the expedition force began to scatter like the wind. Seven and the team lost sight of most of the members when they were swarmed by monsters and became indistinguishable.

    The behemoth continued to draw nearer but hesitated due to the large amounts of corrupted monsters it would kill by stepping on them. The expedition force itself was trying to gather together in small groups now that they had split up. Even though they couldn¡¯t be sure where exactly the monster was due to the fog they knew where it had been. If they did see the behemoth it was likely that they could only see at most one of its toes. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Then Seven and the team ran through the clearing and found themselves surrounded by trees again. They were safe from the behemoth due to being on the mountain and they knew that they had just gained a lot of time until the expedition force could catch up to them. Even if the smaller groups could break through the swarm it would take them far more time than before now that they had to look out for the behemoth and its crows.

    ¡°Did anyone see where Attracting and his people went?¡± Spark Joy frowned as she thought over the past few seconds of the battle.

    She hadn¡¯t seen Attracting or the players he had recruited.

    ¡°They¡¯re probably doing the same thing we are.¡± Roxxy was still laughing at seeing the behemoth step over the players and NPCs like they were ants, ¡°The thousands of monsters will focus on the stronger NPCs and be drawn to them. Attracting and the other players will use the distraction to completely avoid detection as they move to the dragon¡¯s treasure.¡±

    ¡°We still have a head start.¡± TidalWave was confident.

    Even though they were running the long way around to get to the treasure he knew the monsters would definitely have slowed down the other players. Attracting couldn¡¯t be that coordinated and definitely couldn¡¯t have predicted the behemoth¡¯s intervention.

    ¡°Son of a-¡± Roxxy came to a stop as they finally arrived at a small nook that overlooked the woods in front of them.

    What they saw was a giant cave mouth surrounded by withered and dying trees. The entire area was devoid of any life and the source of the corruption was clearly within the cave. They could tell from the quest that the cave was definitely the location of the treasure. The only problem was that they could see several players ahead of them. Somehow Attracting¡¯s party had managed to beeline straight at the cave without being held back by the monsters or the behemoth.

    ¡°I swear to-¡± Roxxy was struggling to get her words out, ¡°That guy has some sort of sixth sense or something. He¡¯s always one step ahead.¡±

    They watched with dismay as the players waded through the dead trees and made their way towards the cave entrance. The dozen or so players that Attracting had brought didn¡¯t hesitate to follow his lead as they made their way towards the quest objective.

    ¡°They didn¡¯t manage to bring any of the NPCs¡± Spark Joy stopped alongside the team as they assessed the situation, ¡°If they¡¯re planning on fighting the boss they might not win.¡±

    ¡°Especially if we stab them in the back while they aren¡¯t looking.¡± Archy raised his eyebrows suggestively at the team.

    Instead of replying Roxxy pointed towards the cave entrance, ¡°Look.¡±

    There was a cloud of purple dust and dirt rising from the ground as something came out of the cave and closed in on the players.

    ¡°What the heck is that.¡± Archy peered closer and tried to see through the dust.

    His eyes quickly widened as he spotted scales and large shadows jumping inside. A couple of seconds later the dust settled to reveal dragon-like creatures that were covering ground faster than a car on a road.

    [Corrupted Drakeling level 35]

    The players following Attracting jumped back and suddenly began to unleash a series of attacks as the monsters drew near. But most of them seemed to hesitate as they realised that these monsters were a lot stronger and quicker than the ones they had just been fighting alongside the NPCs.

    There were at least two hundred of the monsters making a straight path towards Attracting and his party. They let out growls and yips as they took on the brunt of the player¡¯s attacks but they continued to move as a horde and began to split apart to surround their prey.

    They were clearly going in for a swift kill.

    ¡°Those guys are dead now.¡± Spark Joy was amused as she gazed down at the players.

    No matter how skilled they were the drakes were simply too fast and powerful to avoid. They would have to fight off at least two hundred rabid monsters that had been strengthened past their original forms. It was a lost battle.

    Seven¡¯s team continued to make their way down as they carefully viewed the unfolding battle. They knew that Attracting¡¯s force would lose but they wanted to find an opportunity to sneak past them.

    Attracting evidently didn¡¯t think the battle was lost as he led his team straight into the horde. Players and drakes clashed and Sevens team was impressed. The drakes had the numbers and power but Attracting¡¯s players were skilled enough that they hadn¡¯t been overrun immediately. They had great skill and ability but it was honestly only a matter of time.

    Seven wondered what he had in his pocket to get him out of this mess.

    ¡°He needs a miracle.¡± Archy was happy.

    This made the team¡¯s job a lot easier. They would just need to figure out a way to sneak past the drakes. They slowly made their way closer, trying to circle around the battle.

    Then a booming voice called out towards Attracting from the other side of the clearing, startling them.

    ¡°KNIGHTS OF MAGNOLIA, CHARGE.¡±

    ¡°Oh crap.¡± Archy would recognise that voice anywhere.

    It was his stupid cousin, Leo.

    Hundreds of hooded players came out in droves from the treeline and made their way to the drakes. Archy watched in horror as his cousin moved at the front and shouted orders. The drakes seemed startled by the sudden intrusion and began to pull off of Attracting and his players, focusing on the more immediate threat.

    Attracting and his crew were soon joined in battle as the knights smashed into the horde and the overwhelming drake advantage dimmed. They were hardly coordinated but their quick movements allowed them to catch up to the struggling players to lend them aid.

    Seven could see Archy¡¯s face grow more and more tense as he viewed the unfolding battle.

    ¡°What the hell kind of surprise is this.¡± He muttered.

    Seven was more surprised at the number of hooded players than their presence. They had to have in the upwards of three hundred members present and fighting against the drakes. She whistled as they smashed into the drake horde, using their superior numbers to completely overwhelm the enemy.

    ¡®And they¡¯re all dwarves.¡¯ She noted with joy.

    ¡°Elegance was not something considered in the making of this plan.¡± Third narrowed his eyes, he suddenly realised something disturbing, ¡°I do not see Attracting or any of the other players.¡±

    Seven double-checked and found that he was right. Not a single member of Dark Horse or Colt¡¯s Crew could be found. They had definitely been there when the knights first arrived. But now after a few seconds had passed they were nowhere to be seen.

    ¡°They probably went in to fight the boss directly.¡± Roxxy was already starting to move down towards the battlefield, ¡°We have to try to make our way around those guys right?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Archy shook his head, ¡°I can talk to them.¡±

    ¡°Because your cousin is their leader?¡± Seven inquired as the team began to make their way down.

    ¡°Something like that.¡± Archy¡¯s face was dark.

    She could tell he had some choice words he wanted to say to his cousin.

    As they made their way down they could see that the knights had made quick work of the drakes. Most of them were injured but their numbers had allowed them to make a swift victory.

    A knight turned around as Archy and the team came into view and waved his hand, ¡°COUSIN. WE CAME TO HELP YOU.¡±

    ¡°You came to what?¡± Archy stopped at him and then shook his head, ¡°How did you even know we¡¯d be here?¡±

    ¡°Your friend told us of course.¡± Leo saluted and lowered his voice as he got closer to Archy, ¡°You know, that Attracting guy.¡±

    ¡°WH-¡± Archy¡¯s shout was promptly cut off as Third clamped a hand over his mouth.

    ¡°I will make this quick. We did not ask you to come and Attracting¡¯s team is currently our opponents.¡± Third knew they were pressed for time. ¡°What did Attracting say to convince you to come and help him out?¡±

    Attracting¡¯s players could already be killing the boss as they talked.

    ¡°He um,¡± Leo looked at Archy¡¯s furious face and realised that something wasn¡¯t right, ¡°He told me something only a friend of Archy would know.¡±

    Archy was about to shout a response when he saw his team looking at him. He took a deep breath to calm down and decided to private message his cousin. A few seconds later his face grew stormy and even Leo looked pissed.

    ¡°Uh-oh, what¡¯s happening?¡± Roxxy could sense the bad atmosphere.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Archy¡¯s expression told them otherwise but then they saw the Knights of Magnolia tensing as well.

    Leo was sending a message into whatever chat the mass of players occupied. Then as one they all turned towards the cave mouth with their swords drawn out.

    ¡°KNIGHTS OF MAGNOLIA.¡± Leo turned to the hundreds of players, ¡°MOVE.¡±

    As one, the entire knight''s corp began to move towards the cave entrance. Archy ran alongside them and the team rushed to catch up to him. The moment they reached the entrance itself the knights suddenly halted and looked forward warily.

    Nobody knew what was inside the cave mouth.

    For all they knew, all the players inside were celebrating over a defeated monster body and taking all the treasure. Or they were all dead.

    ¡°QUIETLY.¡± Leo shouted to the group.

    TidalWave, Roxxy, and Spark Joy each made their way to the top of the herd. They were the fighters that would be in the frontline if anything unexpected happened. Third and Seven went to the middle of the pack to avoid being picked off. They were following Archy closely. Secretly they weren¡¯t sure that Archy wouldn¡¯t run off and do something dumb. He looked fairly pissed, to say the least.

    They looked around cautiously as they made their way deeper into the depths. The air had turned a dark shade of purple. There were wisps of purple smog cornering the players from all sides.

    ¡°This doesn¡¯t look good.¡± Roxxy noted to TidalWave as they made their way further in.

    ¡°The purple smog? Definitely poisonous.¡± He nodded.

    ¡°No,¡± Roxxy shook her head, ¡°The size of the place.¡±

    The cave tunnel could easily fit the hundreds of knights and allow them room to dodge the purple smog.

    ¡°Whatever is up ahead is probably designed for fighting a lot of enemies.¡± TidalWave caught on, ¡°We¡¯re walking into a bad situation.¡±

    ¡°But he doesn¡¯t know we¡¯re coming right?¡± Spark Joy was optimistic.

    They had hundreds of players and her own team she was confident in. That meant that little could sway her view that they had an overwhelming advantage in this fight. Then they saw the light.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Spark Joy didn¡¯t know what else to say.

    The moment they emerged from the cavern they were met with a strange sight. Almost as tall as a city wall was a giant black bulbous cocoon in the middle of the room. It was strung from the roof to the floor by a large tendril and was exuding a thick purple smog. The team could hardly see the walls or the ceiling around them due to the poisonous gas. And on top of the cocoon was a priest sitting down and patting its ¡®head¡¯.

    ¡°Of course.¡± A man¡¯s voice boomed towards them, ¡°I expected no less. You five always were exemplary no matter what challenges got in your way.¡±

    The gas slowly cleared from the floor and players began emerging from within. They looked like they had been relaxing before and some were showing surprise as they spotted the knights. There were only slightly more than a dozen in all and compared to the size of the Knights of Magnolia and the cocoon they were hardly noticeable.

    IEatTortillas, Dark Horse and Colt¡¯s Crew.

    ¡°But you¡¯re a little too late.¡± Attracting grinned, ¡°The monster is mine, and a few hundred little dwarves isn¡¯t going to be quite enough to stop it.¡±

    ¡°What? He is seeing this right.¡± Seven almost wanted to ask him what army he had to back up his words.

    They outnumbered him and his players by the hundreds.

    ¡°He is.¡± Third said grimly, ¡°Which does not bode well for us.¡±

    ¡°Let me make you a deal.¡± Attracting smiled as the cocoon underneath him began to tremble, ¡°You are here to get the treasure. I am here for the monster. We can easily just go our different ways.¡±

    ¡°Ha.¡± Archy let out a dry laugh so loud it echoed through the chamber, ¡°Then you shouldn¡¯t have made it personal.¡±

    The rest of the team stayed silent. They didn''t want to give up when it came to Attracting this time. He had just pissed them off too many times. Seven couldn¡¯t even guess what Attracting had told Leo to get the knights to help him get into this cave. She was sure he was going to regret this soon.

    ¡°I figured it would go like this.¡± Attracting finally lifted himself into a standing position and stamped lightly on the cocoon, ¡°Wake up.¡±

    Then Seven saw it. It wasn¡¯t a cocoon, or a ball, or a simple glob. It was a monster with dozens of eyes crisscrossing its body. Each one was bloodshot and they moved rapidly as they took in the entire cavern¡¯s radius. She could see that the monster wouldn¡¯t miss a single hair on a player''s head if it was concentrating properly.

    [Mulwarth the Corruptor Level 45]

    ¡°Well, that doesn¡¯t seem so bad.¡± Seven commented.

    The knights apparently didn¡¯t think so either and they prepared to charge straight towards Attracting and the boss.

    ¡°Look at the ceiling.¡± Third said grimly.

    Seven took his advice and squinted as she tried to work out what lay behind the thick smog. She could vaguely see something in the depths of the darkness that seemed to be moving. It was only a single puff of smog here, and something poking out there. But it seemed that there was more to this room than was revealed at first glance.

    ¡®Is it more monsters?¡¯ She shuddered.

    Attracting raised his wand and pointed towards the horde of players, ¡°Kill them.¡±

    Leo raised his sword as the boss let out a ghastly shriek and pointed his weapon towards it.

    ¡°KNIGHTS OF MAGNOLIA ATTACK.¡±

 Chapter 20: The Final Battle (1)

    Seven moved into action the moment she heard the voice of Archy¡¯s cousin booming through the cavern. The enemy players and knight of Magnolia both charged towards each other. The enemy players were handpicked by Attracting and each was a famous individual that was or could be compared to a professional gamer.

    But the enemy was completely outnumbered.

    Seven charged forward with a few of the knights in front of her and focused on the battlefield. She saw Roxxy and Spark Joy travelling forward to the front lines near the boss with the majority of the knights. The moment the knights began to swarm around the monster the enemy players let out cries and made them move.

    Then she saw them scatter across the field.

    The entire cavern writhed as the boss watched the fighting underneath it. The purple smog was blown away to reveal hundreds or tentacles crawling over the cavern¡¯s walls and ceiling. Each was a black monstrosity that looked like it could crush a knight underneath its weight. The knights were completely unprepared as the tentacles rushed towards them with startling speed.

    The tentacles began smashing into them with startling accuracy. Dozens of players were injured as they failed to dodge the first wave of tentacles and Seven barely dodged the one that went after her. Suddenly the players didn¡¯t seem like the biggest threat in the room. The boss was clearly a destructive force worthy of its name all on its own, and the enemy players were cutting through her confused allies.

    She wasn¡¯t sure who to attack first.

    Suddenly the boss cried out as one of the eyes covering its skin popped. The thing that had been an eye now dripped purple blood onto the ground as whatever had attacked it had done so with pinpoint accuracy.

    ¡®The eyes.¡¯

    Archy¡¯s arrows were sticking out of the eye socket and Seven realised that he had already figured out its weak spot. With a cry, it unleashed more tentacles. This time they were dodged more expertly by the knights as they were watching out for them. Seven didn¡¯t even have to move as none of the tentacles came after her.

    Seven wasn¡¯t being targeted for some reason.

    -86

    -172(Critical hit!)

    She fired magic attacks atits eyes. She would have to let the knights and her teammates destroy the enemy players. She needed to try and eliminate this main threat alongside Archy. She was suddenly greeted by black bolts that shot out of its eyes towards her. The attacks cruised through the air towards her and forced themselves directly into her stomach.

    ¡°Damn.¡± She just barely dodged the bolts and realised that every time she hit the eyes she would be met with retaliation.

    But she was confident that she could dodge them. They weren¡¯t as quick as Archy¡¯s arrows or as precise as TidalWave¡¯s sword strikes.

    She continued to fire magic blast after magic blast as the tentacles flashed past her and struck at the knights. She could see that Colt¡¯s Crew and even some Dark Horse members were cleaving through the knights like they were rabbits. Her own allies were engaging them in the frontlines, she could see ice erupting among the throngs of knights and a giant shield made of light appearing in front of Roxxy.

    She would need to kill the Corruptor quickly and go and help them.

    Unfortunately, Archie seemed to have stopped attacking it and when she turned her head she could briefly see him fighting against enemy players. It wasn¡¯t for nothing. The tentacles seemed to have already slowed down and without all of its eyes to guide it the Corruptor¡¯s accuracy was lowered.

    She kept her aim steady as she popped eye after eye. She also kept watch for any enemies that would try and aim for her. She could see that all of her allies had been engaged in different battles but it looked like nobody had been sent to stop her yet.

    Then something shone on the side of her vision.

    She saw the gleam of a sword flashing in the air and jumped back, dodging the attack that had been aimed to slice her in half.

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    She lifted her head and came face to face with a man in sparkling armour. The paladin that had attacked her was smiling gently as he saw that his surprise attack had been dodged. He seemed to think to himself for a second before lifting his sword.

    ¡°No matter how much I insisted.¡± The newcomer brought himself up and stood proudly before her, ¡°That fool Attracting wouldn¡¯t agree to send anyone to fight you. And now I¡¯m all alone against an extremely skilled opponent.¡±

    The player was surrounded by a bright golden light and his entire body seemed to move lighter than air as he stepped towards her. His sword gleamed with a sharp glint and she noticed that he exuded the confidence that only an expert would have.

    ¡°Nastin.¡± She greeted the paladin warmly.

    He was someone that had treated her respect despite what Attracting said about her. She had even written a whole two pages on him in her monster journal. He faced her without a single shred of cockiness. That was why he was such a dangerous opponent. When he came to attack her he was going to do so with his full force and skill, without underestimating her for a second.

    He was also incredibly strong.

    ¡®This is going to be a problem.¡¯ She jumped back further and eyed him warily.

    The leader of Dark Horse walked up to her slowly, waiting for her to unleash her magic blasts. They had dueled only a few times but he knew she was a dangerous opponent that would be at an advantage if he was the one to attack first. Her retaliatory strikes were deadly. She was extremely skilled in close range fighting.

    But so was he.

    ¡°They say the fights between highly-skilled opponents last seconds.¡± Nastin lifted his sword, ¡°Let¡¯s see if that¡¯s true.¡±

    He rushed towards her with his sword drawn and she tried to gain distance between them. His initial attack had allowed him to sneak up close to her. As a paladin, this was his playing field. He swiped at her with his sword and it glimmered dangerously with golden light.

    She knew that the range of the attack was extending beyond the reach of the physical sword. She had almost perfected the combo of instantly attacking the moment she used her escape ability. She sent magic blast after magic blast at Nastin as she used her abilities to dodge his attack.

    The sword aura was dangerous enough that she had to use her stone shift twice to gain distance and both retaliation shots were blocked by Nastin as he sliced them in half.

    ¡®Suddenly people like TidalWave are appearing like hotcakes.¡¯ She thought to herself glumly.

    Nastin brought himself up to her side and stabbed his sword into her gut. Only to hit air as she sidestepped him and shot a magic blast into his chest. He smashed the edge of his sword through the magic and grimaced as he came dangerously close to missing.

    -Blocked.

    He immediately brought his sword around to follow up and she was forced to dodge back.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t keep this up. Her mana regenerated quickly but she would still need a few seconds to gain more abilities. If she used all her mana up in this fight she would either die to Nastin or to the next person to attack her.

    The issue was that he seemed to be like a raging river. His form and body moved perfectly in sync with her movements and the air was covered in golden afterimages. The man¡¯s attacks were flowing perfectly from one to another. If he was allowed to continue he wouldn¡¯t give her any breaks and she would eventually fold under the pressure. He was by far the more skilled opponent in this match up. But only if she kept using her usual tactics.

    She had to end this.

    ¡®She will kill me at this rate. I have to end this.¡¯

    Nastin was having the same thoughts as Seven as he rushed towards her. He wasn¡¯t going to give up his close-range advantage if he could help it. He swiped at her with a golden aura-infused attack.

    She blasted him with magic while dodging, but he cut the magic in half with his sword. At the same time, he made sure that the sword attack would hit Seven. He couldn¡¯t afford to let her escape by distracting him with attacks. She sent another blast into him and this time he sidestepped it, but because he was so close he¡¯d left himself open. He realised his mistake and tried to stab at her before she could get off her attack.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    -86

    She dodged the sword and finally managed to land an attack.

    Then instead of retreating back as he expected, she charged straight into him. She had already realised that she couldn¡¯t win easily if she simply tried to outrun him.

    ¡°Wind blast.¡±

    ¡°Magic blast

    -48

    -Miss

    His eyes widened as he was hit in the chest with the full force of her magic and was pushed back. Her magic blast would have ripped right into his chest but his dead body collapsed the moment her wind blast took the last bit of his health. Seven breathed a sigh of relief.

    She had won.

    She had also gained a red name from killing a player. But she would have to worry about that afterward.

    She looked around the battlefield and realised that the tentacles had regained their vigor and were smashing into the knights with full force. It seemed that the boss was growing used to seeing with less eyes as the fight went on.

    She began to fire magic blasts at the Corruptor sporadically. She still tried to pop the eyes but she wasn¡¯t concentrating on only sending blasts constantly at it. There was nobody around to stop her but she needed to make sure her mana slowly regenerated. She took the chance to search around for anyone that needed help. She spotted IEatTortillas and TidalWave fighting close by and she immediately charged towards them.

    But she didn¡¯t interfere.

    She instead chose to watch the other players observing the fight closely while firing at the Corruptor. She could see that assassin player, Colt, and another standing nearby and watching the fight patiently. Even the knights surrounding them didn¡¯t try to take a stab at IEatTortillas. The fight was simply too high level. They all watched with awe as the two players fought.

    Seven turned back to face the Corruptor and fired into its eyes. She had quickly gained back enough mana to fight for a while. She saw that Archy had already begun firing again into the eyes and suddenly she saw on her friend list that IEatTortillas had died.

    She spun around only to find Colt and his ally facing TidalWave.

    ¡°Two on one?¡± TidalWave was trying to act confident but Seven had seen him use his abilities fighting against her friend.

    He wasn¡¯t in the right shape to fight two extremely skilled opponents at the same time.

    ¡°How about we make it two on two?¡± She jumped in and stood next to him.

    ¡°Seven?¡± The man she¡¯d met, Colt, turned to his ally, ¡°Attracting said she wasn¡¯t anyone that mattered. Kill her.¡±

    ¡®Damn it Andrew.¡¯ She was starting to get really insulted by all these people being told behind her back that she was worthless.

    Seven saw the figure behind Colt disappear into thin air and she smiled.

    She had fought against Third enough times to know when someone was turning invisible. She stayed still next to TidalWave until she had counted enough time for the enemy opponent to reach her.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    She shifted out of the way as a player with a dagger in his hand swiped the empty air in front of her.

    ¡°Come play with me for a bit.¡± She said cheekily as the surprised enemy oriented himself.

    She jumped back and soon she had already lost track of TidalWave.

    Unfortunately, he would have to fight Colt on his own.

    ****

    ¡°KNIGHTS OF MAGNOLIA ATTACK.¡±

    ¡°Oh-my-god that shrimps voice is loud.¡± Roxxy smiled as the knights around her charged frantically into battle.

    She had a single job to do, tank the enemy attacks and kill them in return. Even if none of her teammates joined her she was surrounded by the main force of knights as they swarmed towards the boss monster. There were a few enemy players guarding it and Attracting and they met the knights with full force.

    She rushed as close as she could to the Corruptor. She had decided from the beginning that she would disrupt whatever Attracting was doing by stunning him. She just needed to get near enough to his body to do so.

    She saw the enemy troops split up almost immediately. Some went after her teammates and others were grouped up to deal with the knights of Magnolia. She stayed with the main body of the knights and continued to move forward. She could see that not nearly enough players had been left to defend the stationary boss.

    Then she saw why as the cavern¡¯s smog lifted to reveal hundreds of wriggling monstrosities falling down towards them.

    ¡°Oh cra-¡± She swiftly lifted her shield as something big smashed into her from the side.

    -42

    ¡®Ah.¡¯ She could see that it was a tentacle that had smacked into her.

    It looked like the reason there was so little enemy players defending the boss was because it was a formidable foe on its own. It continued to send down tentacles and she could see some knights being thrown into the air and smashed into the ground. It was like fighting hundreds of enemies that were attacking from every angle.

    Luckily she had managed to raise her shield in time to block some of the damage. She raised her head and saw that the ceiling and walls were filled to the brim with tentacles that wiggled and smashed against her allies. The knights scattered into smaller groups to deal with the boss and enemy players. The tentacles were attackable and could be fought off but the pressure was immense.

    She tried to dodge them as wave after wave crashed into the knights around her. Most of the players were able to dodge the tentacles but the sheer number of them surrounding every speck of space meant that some of the knights were killed before being able to impact the battle.

    Roxxy downed a potion to bring her up to full health and raised her shield to fire it at Attracting. She was close enough that she felt she couldn¡¯t miss the player. He wasn¡¯t even watching the fight as he closed his eyes and muttered something. It was probably a spell of some kind to help the monster.

    Unfortunately, with all the tentacles in the air she couldn¡¯t get a clear shot from so far away.

    She made her way through the chaos of scrambling knights and found herself face to face with an ugly eye that stared directly at her. It was one of the Corruptor¡¯s vital points. The creature had dozens of eyes across its body that were swivelling as they spotted players and sent tentacles after them.

    ¡°Shield throw.¡±

    Instead of focusing on the eye she dodged another tentacle and threw the shield straight up so that it would smack straight into Attracting¡¯s pretty little face. She jumped back from the rest of the tentacles as she was suddenly defenceless without her shield. She would need to wait a few seconds for it to come back down to her. She lifted her sword and took at a swipe as she watched her shield near Attracting.

    ¡°Ice barrier.¡±

    Roxxy grimaced as her shield was suddenly blocked off by ice only a meter away from the priest. The buckler fell down into her hand and she eyed her surroundings warily.

    She recognised that defensive spell.

    Suddenly she spotted the intruder. Killing the knights around them were six players defending Attracting with their lives. She didn¡¯t recognise most of them but there were two major threats that seemed to be shrugging off the knights with ease.

    ¡°Oh-oh-oh, Glacier and Blastar.¡±

    ¡°Roxxy.¡± The wizard of ice greeted her warmly, ¡°I thought that was your shield.¡±

    They¡¯d had a lot of fun fighting against each other in the arena earlier in the day. It was due to those fights that Roxxy knew she was an extremely dangerous opponent. The ice mage dealt more damage than Roxxy and her ¡®ice age¡¯ magic was a wide-area attack that deals tons of damage and slows people down. She was a direct counter to Roxxy who had low damage and was meant to absorb attacks on purpose. She had fought against Blastar only once but the paladin had simply out damaged her. He could also heal himself.

    She couldn¡¯t win against both of them.

    ¡°Knights!¡± She called around her to the rabble of players that were spreading themselves thin due to the tentacles, ¡°Fight those six bastards!¡±

    The knights gave a cheer as someone finally decided to tell them what to do.

    Roxxy didn¡¯t know where Leo was but his loud voice clearly wasn¡¯t being used to lead his troops right now. She pointed at the six players and the knights swarmed together to fight them. There were still hundreds of knights across the battlefield but all of them were spread out into big groups that were either fighting tentacles or defending against the skilled enemy players that flitted in and out of fights.

    The moment she shouted at the knights the enemy team sprung into action. The four unknown players began to spread out across the tentacles and bobbed through the boss¡¯s and knight¡¯s forces alike, scattering them into groups that chased after each individual player. Glacier and Blastar stuck together as they struck down the knights around them. With the support of the boss, it was as though they were untouchable.

    ¡°Ice ag-¡±

    ¡°Shield throw!¡±

    Roxxy interrupted the ice wizard as she tried to use her most damaging attack on the forces that surrounded her. By stunning the enemy player she would cancel the attack and force it into a cooldown period. But then Blastar used his sword to smack the shield out of Glacier¡¯s way and caused it to fly back to Roxxy as he was stunned.

    ¡°-e.¡±

    Glacier finished her spell and smiled as the knights around her froze. Some died from the damage let off by the attack but most were simply frozen into what seemed like statues. The extreme slowing only lasted a few seconds but in those few seconds dozens of tentacles crashed down onto them and Glacier and Blastar struck the rest down with ease.

    ¡°Crap.¡± Roxxy needed more help to take care of these guys.

    She glanced at the knights that were around her. There were about a hundred or more knights on her side altogether. She had a definite number advantage when it came to the fight. The major issue she could see was that they had split off to fight each of the players that were guarding the Corruptor and Attracting.

    And they were all getting their asses whooped.

    The tentacles rained from all sides onto the knights and caused them massive amounts of damage. Grouped up as they were and so close to the monster¡¯s eyes it was impossible for them to not be spotted and accurately attacked by the boss as it sat there.

    She could see that unless something was done about the tentacles it didn¡¯t matter how small the enemy¡¯s numbers were they would be nearly untouchable.

    -86

    -86

    -86

    Roxxy breathed a sigh of relief as damage numbers appeared above the monster¡¯s head. Seven had begun smashing magic into it like no tomorrow and was quickly destroying the eyes. The tentacles visibly seemed to grow confused as the magic hit more and more eyes and the boss lost sight of the knights.

    ¡°We can do this!¡± She shouted into the air.

    The knights let out a resounding cheer in response as they crowded around her and followed her lead. With the boss confused the pressure on their forces eased immensely and she suddenly found herself able to reach the two Dark Horse players.

    Somehow the knights had managed to kill one of the enemy players but three were left out of Colt¡¯s Crew and Glacier and Blastar were nearly undamaged. Roxxy grimaced. Attracting certainly had a way of picking out skilled players. She doubted that these enemies were anywhere near the average level of skill compared to everyone else playing the game.

    ¡°Keep them divided!¡±

    She rushed forward with the knights towards Glacier and Blastar. The three other players were besieged by knights and were forced back into their own group away for the Dark Horse members.

    Roxxy found it was suddenly easier to move as Seven¡¯s magic destroyed more eyes. The tentacles had slowed down and even the ones that swiped against the knights were doing so slowly and without the accuracy or ferocity with which they had first come down.

    ¡°Light¡¯s guardian!¡±

    The knights rallied as the tentacles began to slow and their attacks grew less concentrated. They smashed against Blastar¡¯s sword and the paladin roared as he was forced to raise a gigantic shield made of light from the ground to block their onslaught. Roxxy suddenly felt that they could make a comeback.

    But then suddenly she found that her cover fire was cut off.

    ¡°Looks like Nastin finally went to stop Seven himself.¡± Blastar grunted to Glacier, ¡°He¡¯s going to be in a bit of trouble. We need to go join him.¡±

    They had both fought against Seven at least once and had recognised her skill.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± Roxxy said coldly as she appeared next to the paladin.

    She had run around his shield as soon as she noticed Seven had stopped firing.

    -36

    The knights cheered as she went on the offensive but despite her courage, she was still a tank in the end. As long as the enemy was skilled enough to dodge her attacks and fend off the knights she couldn¡¯timpactthe outcome of the fight too greatly.

    -25

    -35

    She found herself on the receiving end of Dark Horse¡¯s attacks and she raised her shield to mitigate the damage. As long as they continued to attack her then the knights would get their chance. This was what she was built for.

    Then she saw Glacier smile and point her staff towards the clambering knights, ¡°Ice ag-¡±

    ¡°Sickle drag.¡±

    Glacier¡¯s spell was cut off as someone jumped up to her and wrapped her body in a chain, incapacitating her. The new player was holding a massive iron shield and dragged the wizard towards her.

    ¡°Spark Joy.¡± Roxxy practically squealed with glee, ¡°It¡¯s about time someone good showed up.¡±

    ¡°Hey Roxxy.¡± The iron guardian smashed her sickle against Glacier and dodged an icicle.

    Blastar¡¯s light shield also gave out and the knights moved forward as one, finally able to access the enemy players.

    ¡°Damn.¡± ¡°Crap.¡± Glacier and Blastar suddenly frowned as they were overwhelmed.

    Then they received a message that their team member, Nastin, had died. Roxxy and Spark Joy tunneled towards the two enemy players as Seven¡¯s attacks began to rain back down on the Corruptor. Archy¡¯s arrows also began popping eyes open again and suddenly the battle seemed to go back into their favour.

    The knights were beginning to thin out in numbers now due to their initial damage and the constant boss attacks but with Spark Joy¡¯s help they were taking back the initiative. Spark Joy led the charge as they struck the paladin of healing repeatedly. They tried to get to Glacier but she quickly recovered from their set back and pointed at the mass of knights surrounding Blastar.

    ¡°Ice age.¡±

    ¡°Shield throw.¡± Roxxy tried to counteract the wizard¡¯s spell with her stun.

    The shield flew towards Glacier but it was blocked by one of the three players belonging to Colt¡¯s Crew that were killing knights around them. The three were putting in solid work by tag-teaming the remaining knights under the cover of the weakened tentacles. Despite her lack of knowledge about their abilities, she could see that they were skilled.

    ¡°Damn it.¡± Roxxy was having all her attacks blocked before they hit their key targets.

    Glacier¡¯s spell erupted from the ground around the knights and due to their low health most of them were wiped out in an instant. Roxxy joined Spark Joy just as the tank was slowed and she managed to dodge the ice age spell.

    ¡°Hold them back!¡± Roxxy directed the knights to the three Colt¡¯s Crew players as she and Spark Joy moved on to Blastar and Glacier.

    -36

    -20

    -36

    They jointly attacked the weakened paladin and he tried to frantically block them. But there were too many knights now that the Corruptor was taking on both Archy and Seven¡¯s attacks. Blastar had been damaged by the many attacks and his mana was depleted after the constant healing. The knights quickly made swift work of him and he fell to the ground, dead.

    As they landed the few final blows to the paladin Roxxy lunged at Glacier with her sword drawn out.

    ¡°Ice barrier.¡± Glacier calmly erected her shield and defended against Roxxy¡¯s attack, ¡°Come help me.¡±

    Roxxy suddenly found herself dodging icicles and daggers as Glacier was joined by the three other enemy players from Colt¡¯s Crew. The knights followed Roxxy as they moved on from killing Blastar but they were still precious seconds away. Spark Joy was tanking more attacks than Roxxy due to the damage she¡¯d taken when the ice age spell had slowed her. She was being targeted and as soon as she died so would Roxxy.

    The enemy was just too fast for the knights to catch up to them in time.

    ¡°Icicle.¡± Glacier fired at Spark Joy and the tank faltered.

    Every icicle was would slow the tank¡¯s movement by an extra five percent to a maximum of fifteen. For the tanks, it was a deadly weapon that they needed to avoid at all costs. Now Spark Joy had been caught by it. She was quickly hit by another and she shifted her attention from surviving to killing Glacier.

    -20

    -20

    The three Colt¡¯s Crew members swiped at Spark Joy and Roxxy.

    Spark Joy¡¯s health had fallen to dangerous levels now. No matter how much health she had, she''d taken too much damage from the wizard¡¯s spell and the combined attacks of the three other damage dealers. There was no way she was going to make it.

    But she would kill Glacier before she left.

    ¡°Roxxy get out of here.¡±

    Spark Joy smashed her way through the three attacking players and rushed in front of

    ¡°Sickle drag.¡± Spark Joy threw her sickle at the enemy player.

    ¡°Ice barr-¡± Glacier was about to throw up her protection spell around herself.

    ¡°Shield throw!¡±

    When suddenly Roxxy¡¯s shield smashed into her and she found herself stunned. Before she could react the sickle wrapped itself around her and incapacitated her further. She was dragged towards Spark Joy and the iron guardian threw herself into the air.

    ¡°Ground pound!¡± Spark Joy roared at Glacier and smashed the shield onto the heavily damaged wizard, at the same time she felt the attacks of the enemy players stabbing into her.

    Glacier and Spark Joy¡¯s bodies fell at the same time as the wizard and tank were killed.

    ¡°Retreat!¡± Roxxy called to the remaining knights.

    She quickly picked up the items both players had dropped and then ran off as the Colt¡¯s Crew players chased after her.

    With Spark Joy and so many of the knights dead, she didn¡¯t have any hope that they could beat the three remaining players and fend off against the boss at the same time. She watched some knights follow her as others chose instead to swarm at the players. They quickly died as they tried to overwhelm the three skilled enemies while being attacked by tentacles. There were probably only around forty allied players left by the time the onslaught was over.

    She could see Archy and Third were free enough to attack the Corruptor, now she needed to get to them so that they could regroup and kill the remaining enemy players. The entire enemy force was weakened. But so were their forces. She turned around as she heard the Corruptor shriek as its final eye exploded, dealing massive damage to the creature.

    Then she looked up and saw Attracting rise and lift his wand towards them all.

    ¡®Oh shi-, I forgot about him.¡¯

    ¡°SHADOW GROUP HEAL.¡±

    And then a timer appeared on top of the remaining player¡¯s heads.

    5... 4¡­ 3¡­

    ¡°Uh oh.¡±

 Chapter 21 Final Battle (2)

    ¡°KNIGHTS OF MAGNOLIA ATTACK.¡± Leo¡¯s voice echoed through the chamber and the horde of hooded figures marched out and engaged the other players that were defending Attracting. Within seconds the entire battlefield had become a mess of tentacles and players all trying to kill the other.

    Archy and Third had actually gone back and away from the main attacking force of knights as they circled and surveyed the battle. They could clearly see the tentacles were aiming only for players that the boss could see so they were mainly safe from this distance. But more importantly, they could also hit the boss from far away.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill him first.¡± Archy pointed his newly unsealed bow and arrow towards Attracting.

    This stranger had pissed him off far too much lately. First, he had insulted Seven numerous times and then he had forced them to rush into a serious quest without doing proper preparation. His lying to Leo and trying to use the knights for his own gain using Archy¡¯s name was the final straw.

    He wanted to eliminate him to appease his anger.

    ¡°Wait.¡± Third¡¯s voice suddenly cut through to him and Archy saw the plump wizard shooting off rifts into the boss monster, ¡°I know you¡¯re angry. I can guess why as well.¡±

    ¡°Hurry it up.¡± Archy said crossly but didn¡¯t shoot at Attracting.

    Despite his attitude, he was still calm in his decision making and he trusted the wizard to make the decision that would most likely win them the fight.

    ¡°We need to kill the Corruptor first. Its tentacles are far too dangerous and will murder the knights before they can get to the enemy players. I believe you are the best person to do that.¡±

    ¡°The eyes?¡± It was a fairly obvious weak point.

    The Corruptor''s body was lined with dozens of eyes that all turned towards the crowd of players and watched them carefully. It was obviously using them to direct the tentacles it was sending down into knights of Magnolia from the ceiling and the walls. The sheer number of players surrounding it meant that it should have been aiming for the knights nearest to it, instead, it was attacking specific players within the crowd or at the largest concentrations of knights.

    This was what was causing them to lose the battle so badly.

    ¡°I think Attracting is watching the battle through the monster somehow.¡± Third gazed carefully at where the monster¡¯s tentacles were being aimed, ¡°There is no other way to explain its strange attack patterns.¡±

    From his vantage point away from the main battle, he could see that the boss¡¯s tentacles were far too efficient for a mere wild monster. It was almost strategic in its actions. He watched Attracting sitting on the things head and watching down on the battlefield. He didn¡¯t know how the player was controlling the boss but he knew that as long as they crippled the Corruptor the entire battle would be theirs to win.

    ¡°So the best way to hurt him is to hurt the monster. Got it.¡± Archy had a target now.

    He sent his arrows flying into the Corruptor¡¯s eyes and smirked as they smashed directly against the same eye he had been aiming for. His aim had improved by leaps and bounds after all the dueling and practice with Third¡¯s new and improved leaf training.

    -57

    -114(Critical hit!)

    It took about four attacks to make a single eye pop. But there were dozens of them to hit.

    The Corruptor shivered as its eye was attacked and suddenly the damaged area sent out four bolts of darkness straight towards Archy. The archer dodged every single one but not before a rift formed in front of where his body had been and the bolts passed through it.

    -25

    -25

    -25

    -25

    ¡°Fascinating.¡± Third grinned as his tactic worked.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t the damn thing attack you.¡± Archy complained as Third switched back to sending rifts into the thing.

    ¡°We share the same figure.¡± Third jokingly pointed towards the round creature and his own round belly.

    He could return the damage of all the retaliation attacks as long as Archy continued to fire into the eyes of the boss. He couldn¡¯t aim directly for the eyes since his rifts wouldn¡¯t pierce them. They would only go through into its main body. But that still meant he never missed an attack.

    The two moved into action perfectly mirroring each other as they moved to the edge of the cavern and got a better vantage point. With the cover of the knights of Magnolia that were swarming the area, Archy fired shot after shot into the Corruptor¡¯s eyes and Third returned the damage of its attacks back to it. Together they were dealing more damage than any other player combined.

    They made a perfect team.

    ¡°There he is!¡±

    The knights that were trying to fight the players scattered across the edges of the field saw Archy and tried to get to him as a rallying point. They were being attacked by tentacles constantly which made the process a slow one but the attacks began to slow down as Archy continued to pop eye after eye.

    Then he saw Seven¡¯s magic smashing into the eyes as well and he smiled.

    With their high damage and attack speed, the trio would be able to take down the boss easily as long as nothing disturbed them. Of course, Archy knew that Attracting and his team would be thinking the same thing.

    Archy watched his surroundings carefully as he fired arrow after arrow into the Corruptor. The truth was that even with the knights swarming around and protecting him he could feel something was off about the situation. Attracting was still sitting calmly on top of the monster¡¯s head and the tentacles hadn¡¯t moved to attack Archy or Third. In fact, they had begun to attack to surroundings knights in an effort to cut them off from the duo.

    ¡®They¡¯ve probably sent people to kill us personally.¡¯ Archy thought.

    ¡°We¡¯re being surrounded.¡± Third came to the same conclusion as Archy.

    Archy stiffened as he felt something moving towards him and then jumped out of the way. The nearby knights looked at him strangely. Suddenly they keeled over and died as arrows appeared in their chests.

    ¡°PROTECT HER.¡± Leo¡¯s voice suddenly called over as he saw the guard protecting Archy die off.

    ¡®Dang it, Leo. I said not to say anything stupid.¡¯ Archy cursed his cousin in his mind.

    He could see his dwarf family member running off into a swarm of tentacles with a giant sword in his hands.

    ¡°We can -not- talk about it another time.¡± Third said as he saw Archy suddenly become distracted by his cousin¡¯s shout, ¡°We need to find out where these shots are coming from.

    ¡°Grenda.¡± Archy smiled as he saw more knights fall over, dead.

    They were being hit by arrows that couldn¡¯t be seen until they were already hitting their target. There was only one archer he knew that had invisible arrows. Due to her abilities however, she had to have snuck in close enough that her arrows would remain invisible while they were in the air.

    Archy turned towards the direction the arrows seemed to be coming from and saw a trio of players running towards him and Third. The wizard grunted as he saw that they had sent two archers and a warrior. Luckily being this far away from the Corruptor they weren¡¯t in too much danger from stray tentacle attacks.

    ¡°We¡¯ve come to kill you.¡± Chaser appeared with Grenda in tow and the archer fired off more invisible arrows at Archy and Third.

    ¡°Well it¡¯s about time something fun happened.¡± Archy smirked, ¡°Stick to the loudmouth.¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s a bad idea to stay together.¡± Third replied.

    The duo immediately separated as the enemy clashed against them.

    Unfortunately Third hadn¡¯t seen where the arrows would go and his rifts couldn¡¯t return any damage back to Grenda. He kept his eye on the Dark Horse archer but noted that the other player near her was also carrying a bow.

    ¡°Be careful of them.¡± Third hadn¡¯t seen the other archer firing at them.

    ¡°You¡¯re mine buddy.¡± Chaser interrupted Third with a grin as he dashed towards the wizard.

    Dark Horse had already clashed with Third enough times to know that any ranged opponent would have a difficult time beating him. They had opted to send Chaser out instead. The warrior was skilled enough to dodge the wizard¡¯s attacks and he could also get in close which was Third¡¯s weakness.

    ¡°Your words remind me of a certain annoying archer.¡± Third couldn¡¯t help but smirk, ¡°Fortunately you are not nearly as skilled as he is.¡±

    Chaser ignored Third¡¯s taunts as he drew close and began dodging the rifts that Third formed on the ground to kill him. Third began jumping back as the warrior came closer. He prayed that Archy would be able to defeat the two enemy archers because he doubted that he could defeat Chaser in direct combat. His class was simply too incompatible for that.

    Unfortunately, Chaser was quickly gaining on him.

    He wasn¡¯t a professional gamer for nothing. As long as he wasn¡¯t fighting a ranged player like Archy or Seven who were deadlier in close range due to their attacks he was sure he wouldn¡¯t have much trouble. Besides, those other two had been specially picked out by Nastin and Colt to deal with Archy.

    They had planned this attack perfectly.

    The archer in question was weaving between the crowd of knights that were dropping dead around him like flies. It wasn¡¯t that they weren¡¯t skilled, but simply that they chose to move in front of the invisible arrows to give him time to work out a counter-strategy.

    They were suiciding to buy him time.

    *Clang* *Clang*

    By now the knights had figured out the arrows were invisible and we beginning to block them with their swords. Unfortunately, they were only skilled enough to block one before another struck them in the head and killed them. Out of all the other people Archy had met in any game Grenda was by far one of the most skilled at aiming her arrows.

    Archy had chosen to ignore Grenda until he could get in closer. The majority of his attention was focused on the Corruptor as he continued to take out its eyes. In a matter of seconds he had turned it into a pincushion.

    Unfortunately, he was too distracted to consistently attack it. Seven had also stopped firing at it for the moment, so the tentacles were starting to smash against the knights with renewed vigor.

    He also kept part of his focus on the mysterious opponent standing passively next to Grenda.

    The knights that had grouped hadn¡¯t simply tried to take every shot while Archy moved around. They also swarmed towards Grenda and the other archer to try and kill them. Unfortunately, there were too few knights and due to the tentacles attacking them they were scattered and made into easy targets for arrows.

    [Gyro]

    Archy read the name floating above his head.

    He hadn¡¯t heard of this person but it was clear he was part of Colt¡¯s Crew. That meant he was an extremely skilled player in his own right. So far he seemed to be firing ordinary arrows at any knight that got close to Grenda but he hadn¡¯t yet made a move against Archy.

    At least he hadn¡¯t made a move that Archy could see.

    ¡°Protect!¡± A war cry came up as a dozen knights moved in front of Archy and charged towards the two enemy archers.

    They had finally reached the conclusion that they needed to march as one to have any hope of killing the enemy players. They avoided the majority of the tentacles as they rushed at the enemy archers and got closer and closer.

    With their cover, Archy finally drew close enough to focus on killing Grenda

    ¡°Darkness.¡±

    Grenda saw him arriving and instead of firing more arrows she brought forth the veil of darkness to surround her and make her unseeable to her enemies.

    Archy didn¡¯t care. He knew exactly where she was from the position of her arrows as they struck down the knights protecting him. He fired two arrows directly into the darkness where he knew she would be. He was too close to her to dodge.

    *Clink* *Clink*

    His arrows fell out of the air harmlessly.

    Archy¡¯s eyes widened and he moved sideways to dodge more invisible arrows as he tried to process what he¡¯d seen. One moment his arrows had been moving into the darkness and the next two normal arrows had flown out and knocked his out of the air.

    Archy realised what was happening.

    The mysterious archer, Gyro, was skilled enough to hit enemy arrows with his own.

    He was blocking all of Archy¡¯s attacks.

    A dozen knights had been reduced to six as they tried to dodge in every direction, unaware of where the arrows would be fired. They slowly made their way into the veil of darkness and Archy lost sight of them. He could hear them shouting as they fought against the enemies within.

    ¡°Two on one doesn¡¯t seem to be a fair fight between such skilled archers.¡± A voice called out as the sounds of fighting died down.

    The veil lifted as the ability''s time ran out to reveal the two archers surrounded by dead bodies of the knights.

    ¡®Leo needs to raise his standards.¡¯ Archy sighed.

    ¡°It is a pity I didn¡¯t know about you beforehand.¡± Gyro tilted his head closer to Grenda, ¡°You neglected to inform me of such a skilled opponent in the enemy forces.¡±

    His way of talking made Archy think of a certain nearby wizard.

    ¡°I can¡¯t stand people that talk like that.¡± Archy said bluntly.

    ¡°A pity.¡± Gyro didn¡¯t fire arrows but Grenda didn¡¯t stop attacking as Archy dodged shot after shot.

    He had lost count of how many times he had dodged her arrows. Even if her attacks were invisible he could tell their trajectories with his eyes closed. He wouldn¡¯t be beaten by attacks so similar to his own.

    *Clink* *Clink*

    But Gyro was knocking his arrows of the air with a precision that caused his spine to shiver.

    ¡®This guy is skilled.¡¯ Archy had to admit it.

    He didn¡¯t know why Gyro wasn¡¯t attacking him but he would be in serious trouble if the archer changed his mind.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you fighting against me?¡± Archy was insulted by the archer¡¯s actions.

    ¡°Because it would be unfair. You are worthy of my respect and I will not rely on mere numbers to defeat you. Instead, I will make sure that you cannot interfere in the battle. Our forces may be outnumbered but our skill far surpasses your own. You cannot win against us whilst you are alone.¡±

    Anger flashed through Archy at the man¡¯s words. Then he looked around and saw between his dodges how he would win. In the next second Archy fired his attack at the only target he knew was preventing him from winning this fight.

    Gyro moved his bow to intercept the attack but frowned as Archy¡¯s arrow went completely in the opposite direction from Grenda.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s see how you fare against two of us.¡±

    The arrow flew straight at Chaser who was fighting Third nearby. The warrior was completely focused on chasing the wizard and seemed to blink in surprise as his head was suddenly struck.

    -114 (Critical hit!)

    Chaser dropped dead on the spot and Third quickly ran towards Archy to back him up.

    ¡°Ah.¡± Gyro blinked at his sudden miscalculation.

    The archer brought his bow up and fired four arrows at the running wizard. His precision meant that each one was aimed directly at his enemy¡¯s chest and although they would likely be dodged he was prepared to fire more the moment the enemy moved.

    ¡°NO.¡± Grenda panicked and tried to stop him but it was too late.

    Gyro had sent all four arrows with perfect aim straight at Third.

    -25

    -25

    -25

    A rift opened up in front of the arrows at the same time that Third dodged and Gyro found himself getting hit by damage that caused him to lose almost all of his health in seconds.

    ¡°What?¡± He turned in confusion, thinking that he had been sneak attacked by someone.

    ¡°He can return half of your damage to you if your arrows pass through his blackhole-thing.¡±

    Grenda suddenly found herself under intense pressure as Gyro¡¯s distraction gave Archy the opportunity to close in and fire at her. She dodged the first two shots but she knew with his skill at firing that he wouldn¡¯t miss now that he was closer. Archy managed to get into close up range just as Gyro turned back. He finally realised that he had been tricked.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Archy aimed his bow at her and fired at point-blank range.

    Grenda closed her eyes as she felt the attack course through her. And then opened them in surprise as she realised she hadn¡¯t been hit.

    -57

    Gyro¡¯s eyes were still confused as his body collapsed onto the ground. Despite his skill, he had underestimated the enemy and their abilities far too much. He hadn¡¯t even had time to get off an arrow to block Archy¡¯s attack.

    ¡°Pretentious bastard.¡± Archy muttered as he turned back to Grenda, ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡±

    She smiled as Third stood back and instead focused his attacks on the Corruptor.

    She could see that their teammate Seven had dealt severe damage to its eyes while the archers had been fighting. For some reason Attracting hadn¡¯t sent anyone to kill her specifically or counter her while she was fighting. But he had sent players to kill the other enemies on the field that could pose a threat to the Corruptor¡¯s eyes.

    ¡®Why did he spend so much time figuring out how to counter the long-range Archy and Third but not their other main long-range damage dealer.¡±

    And then she saw the notification saying that Seven had killed Nastin.

    She dodged another arrow sent by Archy and then she returned her concentration to the fight at hand. He was getting closer to her by the second.

    Even though Archy had her outnumbered he¡¯d also chosen to fight fairly. She thought that he had a personality closer to Gyro¡¯s than he realised.

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s do this.¡±

    They jumped back and fired off their attacks at the same time.

    -114(Critical hit!)

    -Miss

    Unfortunately, at this range she had no hope of not getting hit by his bow. She died with a smile on her face. She knew that they would fight a lot more in the future. She would make sure of it.

    Archy barely dodged the invisible arrow and sighed in relief. If she had aimed for his chest instead of his head then he might not have gotten out so lucky. Although he had done the same thing to her.

    He turned back to the Corruptor as the creature¡¯s tentacles tried to ensnare the knights. He saw that the knight''s numbers were almost dwindling to nothing. Hundreds of them killed by the boss and the few skilled players that Attracting had brought together. The majority of the knights were the ones left fighting the players near the boss¡¯s body. Underneath the mass of attacking tentacles, he could make out Roxxy and Spark Joy fighting alongside the knights in the frontline.

    ¡°KNIGHTS OF MAGNOLIA. BACK OFF FOR A SECOND¡±

    Archy saw Leo off in the distance confronting IEatTortillas and smiled.

    His cousin was definitely going to get his ass kicked.

    He brought his focus away and instead of helping his cousin he fired arrow after arrow into the Corruptor. The boss¡¯s area of attacks was wide but with so many opponents it simply couldn¡¯t cope with the strain. With every eye popped it lost a bit of its attacking power and soon Seven, Archy and Third¡¯s combined attacks had brought down its health immensely.

    He fired a final arrow into the Corruptor¡¯s last eye and dodged the retaliatory attack. The monster suddenly shrieked as its health dropped by a massive amount. Attracting began panicking from the top of its head as he finally noticed that it might die. Despite that Archy could see the player muttering under his breath instead of sending out attacks.

    ¡°It looks like destroying all the vital spots at the same time has caused it to almost die.¡± Third continued to fire his rifts and then took a moment to rest as he recovered his mana.

    Archy fired another arrow as he saw its eyes quickly regrowing. Luckily hitting the spots could still critical hit.

    They had almost won. Even though there were still some members of Colt¡¯s Crew left and the knights of Magnolia had dwindled until there were only a couple of dozen left they would win this fight. The tentacles couldn¡¯t attack with even a third of the deadliness they¡¯d had at the beginning of the fight.

    He was vaguely aware of Seven joining him and Third and they all fired their attacks at the boss to finish it off.

    ¡®The moment this thing dies I kill you.¡¯ He glanced murderously at Attracting.

    Suddenly the player in question stood up and waved his wand.

    ¡°SHADOW GROUP HEAL.¡±

    And then a timer appeared on top of Archy¡¯s head.

    5... 4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1...

    ¡°What the hell.¡±

    ****

    IEatTortillas was having the time of his life.

    He was single-handedly taking on dozens of knights of Magnolia as he tore through the battlefield easily. The tentacles firing down on the mass of enemy players had caused them to become separated and lack any direction. He was going through each one easily with the cover of the boss. Thanks to his class skills he was gaining a bonus twenty attack damage and on top of his already destructive strength, he was finding the fight almost humorous.

    -106

    -106

    -106

    He weaved through the crowd of opponents and tentacles as though he was dancing. Every blade aimed towards him was expertly dodged and he would return with attacks of his own. Even without the tentacles helping him he felt that he would kill a lot of them. After joining the game he had made it a point to commit himself wholeheartedly to improving his battle skills despite Attracting stacking him with overpowered items. He had improved by leaps and bounds using nothing but his natural talent for battle.

    The knights seemed to take affront to his relaxed attitude.

    They focused more and more members into his path and slowly but surely he found it harder to dodge their attacks. The dwarves had begun to dodge the tentacles and group up. But it also became easier for him to kill them now that there were so many. He found himself slowly piling dead bodies on the ground as though they were falling from the sky.

    ¡°KNIGHTS OF MAGNOLIA. BACK OFF FOR A SECOND¡±

    A loud voice boomed and the knights scattered like leaves. Suddenly he was confronted by a hooded dwarf holding a sword almost three times his height.

    ¡°Leo Hentus.¡± The dwarf introduced himself, ¡°Leader of the knights of Magnolia.¡±

    ¡°IEatTortilllas. The name explains what I do.¡± He smiled, ¡°let¡¯s fight dwarf.¡±

    He dashed at the dwarf and struck at him with his blade. If this person was the same as the other knights then he would die with a single strike.

    *Clang*

    IEatTortillas suddenly found himself staggering back a few steps as the dwarf smashed the edge of his sword with his own weapon. The sheer force of the attack caused him to fly back despite neither of them getting a hit in.

    ¡°Okay. This just got interesting.¡±

    IEatTortillas flashed his sword in a straight line towards the dwarf and saw his opponent move to intercept him. The knight leader¡¯s massive sword was brought down and at the last moment, IEatTortillas moved his sword to the side, causing both attacks to miss but also allowing him to swipe again his opponents flank.

    *Clang*

    At the very last second, the dwarf brought his sword around to block the new attack but if it had been a split second later the dwarf would have been killed. It looked like his sword was powerful but lacked mobility.

    ¡®So he can¡¯t move his sword quickly.¡¯ IEatTortillas grinned.

    He had found his opponent''s weakness.

    Leo Hentus seemed to sense that he was fighting someone out of his league as IEatTortillas rounded back to him for another round of fighting.

    IEatTortillas vaguely noticed that the tentacles seemed to have gone prone as they limply struck the knights around him. He would have to see what had gone wrong after he killed this dwarf.

    They brought their swords back together but this time IEatTortillas ducked underneath the massive weapon and found himself facing the dwarf¡¯s back. The dwarf realised that none of his players could possibly match up to this monster.

    ¡°KNIGHTS OF MAGNOLIA RUN AWA-.¡±

    -106

    Leo¡¯s voice was cut off as he was stabbed through the back by IEatTortillas.

    The knights of Magnolia retreated and spread out as IEatTortillas returned to slashing through their members like butter. They tried to fight back but compared to Leo their skills were far too low to even think of killing him. He was skilled enough that none of the players could block more than two attacks before being hit. Every hit was an instant kill.

    The knights finally realised that running away would only lead to them getting picked off and instead they turned around to outnumber him, their swords glimmering through the air as they struck at him.

    He ducked and weaved out of the range of the knight''s weapons as his sword stabbed through their ranks and left a sea of dead bodies in his wake. In a matter of minutes, he had already slain dozens of his enemies.

    To everyone around him, he looked like a god of death.

    He turned to face the last of the surrounding knights. The entire area around him had been cleared and once he killed this knight he would move onto the next batch. He lifted his sword and the knight half-heartedly raised his own to try and block the attack.

    He smirked and swiped down for the killing blow.

    *Clang*

    Then a weapon collided with his sword in mid-air and caused him to pause. Someone had successfully blocked his attack by throwing a sword at his weapon. The hooded player tried to stab him during the opening only to be met with another attack to the chest, turning into a corpse. Then he turned around to face his new opponent. He recognised him easily, after all, he hadn¡¯t been allowed to forget this player because of all the praise that Attracting had heaped on him.

    ¡°TidalWave.¡± He took in a deep breath.

    ¡®So this is your new friend Milly.¡¯ IEatTortillas smiled.

    This was the person that Seven had been partying with.

    IEatTortillas stood in place confidently, ¡°I¡¯m not going to come to you.¡±

    He watched his opponent¡¯s every move carefully. He had been told numerous times by Attracting to watch out for this person. He didn¡¯t take it too seriously, after all, he had a great amount of pride in his fighting skills and his items. This entire fight he had been like a reaper that reigned down destruction on the battlefield. Frankly, he thought his friend had been a lot more cocky and arrogant lately, leading him to slowly stop following his lead. So he didn¡¯t take Attracting¡¯s warnings seriously.

    TidalWave moved towards him and he acted instantly, stepping back and blocking the oncoming blade. If he had been a second slower it would have cleaved through his defences and dealt massive damage.

    It was true that Attracting¡¯s warnings hadn¡¯t been taken seriously.

    But Seven had said he would never beat TidalWave in a fair fight.

    He retaliated against the warrior with a quick slash followed up with a stab towards his opponent designed to end his life. TidalWave dodged both of the attacks easily.

    Because of Seven, IEatTortillas wouldn¡¯t dare to take this fight lightly. He would kill the warrior using every move available to him, even if it meant retreating to fight later on. Seven would never have warned him without the confidence to back it up.

    ¡°You¡¯re the one Milly- I mean, Seven, said I couldn¡¯t beat.¡± IEatTortillas gave him a smile, ¡°You know, on the one hand, I respect her opinions and love her like a sister for them but on the other, I never did like losing.¡±

    TidalWave stayed silent as he met the enemy¡¯s sword with his own and the sound of clashing metal rang through the air. He was trying his hardest to focus only on the fight in front of him. He avoided the sword and blocked attacks as a priority, sacrificing his ability to go for the kill. He had seen this person¡¯s attacks dealing damage higher than his health.

    If he let a single one through he would die.

    He blocked another one of the attacks and ducked through his opponent¡¯s guard, ending up behind him. Before IEatTortillas could turn around his neck was struck with a blade and TidalWave moved in for the second attack straight after.

    -64

    -Blocked

    Then he retreated as IEatTortillas suddenly turned around faster than he had expected and blocked his attack. In a matter of seconds they exchanged attacks numerous times, neither getting a hit in.

    ¡°You¡¯re skilled.¡± He assessed her carefully, ¡°Not like your friend.¡±

    ¡°Seven is skilled!¡± IEatTortillas swiped his blade at TidalWave only to find it blocked time after time.

    TidalWave ducked another attack, ¡°I meant Attracting.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± IEatTortillas moved back as he spotted movement at his side.

    IEatTortillas suddenly struck out to his side and killed another knight that had been trying to sneak up behind him. TidalWave rushed forward to continue the attack.

    ¡°Is that guy actually Seven¡¯s friend?¡± TidalWave decided that this would probably the only time he could sate his curiosity about something.

    ¡°What do you mean? They¡¯ve been friends for years.¡± IEatTortillas didn¡¯t allow the unexpected question to dull his reactions as they each tried to find a weak spot in their defences.

    He was still hurting from the hit he had taken.

    ¡°Seven is probably more talented than I am.¡± TidalWave continued, sending out a probing attack to her side, ¡°It¡¯s just that she doesn¡¯t have the experience I do.¡±

    ¡°Haha.¡± IEatTortillas smiled as he heard his friend being praised.

    ¡°So why does Attracting keep ignoring her?¡± TidalWave continued.

    IEatTortillas suddenly charged forward as he tried to take advantage of TidalWave¡¯s talking, only to be sidestepped and put on the defensive as he blocked another attack to his side.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± He responded as he jumped back to put distance between himself and his enemy.

    He watched TidalWave carefully as they circled each other. The other players had mostly decided to leave them alone as they prioritised killing each other. The truth was that the other players simply didn¡¯t want to disrupt such a beautiful duel. They could see swordsmen of equal ability fighting each other and they knew that to interrupt this moment would cause them to regret breaking a beautiful moment.

    It truly was a clash of skill.

    ¡°Attracting didn¡¯t invite Seven to any of his quests.¡± TidalWave eyed his opponent carefully, ¡°I know because she came to play with me whenever you two went on quests.¡±

    ¡°Bull.¡± IEatTortillas vehemently denied it, ¡°I invited her to every quest.¡±

    ¡°But who told you about them?¡±

    ¡®He¡¯s right.¡¯ IEatTortillas found his concentration wavering for a second, ¡®Attracting messaged me personally about the quests a long time before I told Milly. Why didn¡¯t he tell Milly as well?¡¯

    TidalWave saw his opponent faltering but chose not to attack. He truly hadn¡¯t asked his question in order to make the would-be hero lose the fight.

    He wanted answers.

    ¡°She¡¯s also just as skilled as all of us in our team, but she was the only one ignored by Attracting every time we met.¡± He took a step forward to test IEatTortillas but the opponent didn¡¯t even flinch, he was too deep in thought, ¡°She wasn¡¯t even invited to take part in this cave conquest that Attracting set up. Even though all of us and even players that Attracting hadn¡¯t even met were invited.¡±

    ¡°...¡± IEatTortillas wasn¡¯t even responding, although TidalWave could tell the player was paying attention to his every word.

    ¡°Finally when she made a comment about wanting to be skilled he said, and I quote, ¡®Don¡¯t worry, fat people can be skilled too.¡¯¡±

    The truth was that with the exception of Archy, who seemed to have extreme selective hearing, the entire team had heard Attracting¡¯s words to Seven at the arena. He had shouted them at her after all, and the entrance to the arena was only a few meters away from where they were inside of it. They had also her swearing like a sailor in return.

    But none of them had mentioned it to her afterward. They weren¡¯t close enough to her to comfort her in that sort of moment even if they felt bad. And despite what Attracting said there was one thing they all had confidence in.

    They knew she was extremely skilled.

    ¡°HE SAID WHAT.¡±

    Several nearby knights of Magnolia were startled as IEatTortilla¡¯s shout reverberated around him.

    Then he remembered how Seven had been acting towards Attracting when they met again in Lum. She had been cold and distant.

    ¡®She also wanted to speak to me about something after the quest was done.¡¯ IEatTortillas remembered, ¡®She was pretty upset about it.¡¯

    He recalled the hurt expression that had crossed her face as she mentioned she wanted to tell him while Attracting wasn¡¯t around.

    ¡®This must have been what she wanted to talk about.¡¯ He suddenly realised.

    ¡°You heard me¡± TidalWave responded coldly, ¡°So tell me. What kind of friend is this person? Because I don¡¯t call that kind of disrespectful and ignorant person a friend. It¡¯s honestly remarkable to see the lengths he manages to go to completely disregard her ability and talent. While he goes on praising every other fighter he meets right in front of her.¡±

    IEatTortillas saw Seven firing magic blasts at an enemy nearby while dodging tentacles trying to kill her at all angles. There was the body of a paladin slowly fading away nearby. IEatTortillas had seen the whole fight from the corner of his eyes. It was the leader of Dark Horse, Nastin, a player than even Attracting had claimed was at the peak of players. Even just seeing these few seconds of fighting he could tell that Seven was one of the more talented players here. But for some reason Attracting had ordered all of the Dark Horse and Colt¡¯s Crew members to kill other players that he considered a threat. This was while he was ignoring the one player dealing the most damage to the boss.

    Seven was clearly dominating the playing field.

    So he decided to send a message to Attracting despite the danger TidalWave presented.

    -Hey, what do you think of Seven?-

    -Who-? Attracting¡¯s message came in hastily, -Oh, can we talk about that after? It¡¯s a little hectic around here. If you want to play with her we can do it after. She¡¯s probably just farming around Lum or something. We¡¯ll be full of money and items after we win this. So she¡¯ll be happy to be carried by us.-

    ¡®He hasn¡¯t even realised that she¡¯s here.¡¯ IEatTortillas felt angry at the realisation, ¡®Does he think that little of her?¡¯

    Suddenly he felt like he had been a terrible friend for not noticing Seven being treated like this by Attracting. When had Attracting changed so much?

    ¡°You know.¡± IEatTortillas suddenly lifted her weapon and took a step forward, ¡°I¡¯m going to find out for myself why he¡¯s being a total asshole. Then I¡¯m still going to kill him for it. But first, we had a nice duel going on,¡± She raised her sword back with her full concentration, ¡°and it¡¯d be a shame to end it here.¡±

    TidalWave smiled. He could see this person cared deeply about Seven. He had been worried that his enemy was another person that Seven considered a friend that seemed to disrespect her at every encounter.

    He thought It was a pity that he would be the one to win this duel.

    They lunged at each other at the same time. He dodged the incoming attacks and tried to land one of his own, finding it blocked by the enemy¡¯s blade.

    ¡°Hero¡¯s rally.¡±

    TidalWave suddenly found himself retreating as the speed of his enemy¡¯s attacks increased drastically.

    *Clang* *Clang* *Clang*

    Their swords reverberated as they clashed time and time again. Suddenly IEatTortillas stepped forward for the kill.

    ¡°Shadow dance.¡±

    And his sword swiped through TidalWave¡¯s body without dealing any damage. TidalWave had activated his defensive skill at the perfect moment.

    -64

    TidalWave responded to his opponent¡¯s confusion with an immediate attack aimed at his opponent¡¯s body and IEatTortillas jumped back as his health dropped to dangerous levels. Unfortunately, he was then confronted by an attack he hadn¡¯t seen before.

    ¡°Reaper¡¯s fury.¡±

    ¡°You could have won this duel at any time couldn¡¯t you?¡± He smiled as he saw the final attack coming.

    -115

    Despite IEatTortillas being outside the ordinary basic attack range, TidalWave¡¯s ability flew further and struck him down.

    ¡°No.¡± He said honestly but his opponent had already died.

    IEatTortillas had been a very skilled opponent. He was sure that if he hadn¡¯t had both shadow dance and reaper¡¯s fury to be used at the same time that he would not have won the fight so easily.

    *Clap* *Clap*

    Suddenly TidalWave heard the sound of someone clapping and turned around to see a new opponent eyeing him hungrily. Behind this clapping person was another warily lifting his dagger.

    ¡°A magnificent fight TidalWave. Absolutely stunning.¡± Colt stepped forward with his two swords at the ready, ¡°I do not say this lightly. Until recently there has never been an opponent I consider worthy enough to warrant my full attention.¡±

    ¡°And now?¡±

    ¡°Congratulations.¡± The assassin eyed him happily, ¡°You are a worthy opponent. No, you are far more than just worthy. You are the greatest player I have ever met.¡±

    ¡°Two on one?¡± TidalWave had just used his two best abilities.

    While they were on cooldown he wasn¡¯t ready to fight two extremely skilled opponents at the same time.

    ¡°How about we make it two on two?¡± A new voice called out and TidalWave breathed a sigh of relief as a girl suddenly appeared beside him.

    ¡°Seven?¡± Colt seemed uninterested in her, he turned to his ally, ¡°Attracting said she wasn¡¯t anyone that mattered. Kill her.¡±

    TidalWave saw the figure behind Colt disappear and he smiled.

    He trusted Seven to win that fight easily.

    She had fought against Third enough times to know when someone was turning invisible. She stayed still next to TidalWave until she had counted enough time for the enemy opponent to reach her.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    She shifted out of the way as a surprised player with a dagger in his hand swiped the empty air in front of her.

    ¡°Come play with me for a bit.¡± She said cheekily as the enemy oriented himself.

    She jumped back and soon the two were out of TidalWave¡¯s sight.

    ¡°You have to finish this soon.¡± TidalWave stated, ¡°Because in a few seconds she¡¯s going to come back and you¡¯ll be outnumbered.¡±

    ¡°I doubt it.¡± Colt¡¯s eyes flashed dismissively, ¡°But a few seconds is all that will be needed to determine a winner when it comes to people of our skills.¡±

    His form shimmered and suddenly he was on top of TidalWave with both swords bearing down onto the warrior. TidalWave stepped back and dodged the sudden attack, swiping back against Colt only to be blocked by the assassin¡¯s weapons.

    TidalWave knew instinctively that this person was on the same level as him.

    And he had none of his abilities off of cooldown to fight against him.

    Colt didn¡¯t waste a single second as he followed TidalWave¡¯s retreat. He jumped at TidalWave and the warrior could see Colt¡¯s body blur and grow hazy. Suddenly there were two different bodies with their own weapons. Both of them were lunging towards TidalWave and he found that he was suddenly confronted by four blades.

    -50

    -50

    He dodged the first two but they were followed up by two others and suddenly he had lost all but six health. Colt had been watching his entire fight against IEatTortillas and so had been able to gauge his speed and movements.

    On the other hand, TidalWave knew nothing about his opponent or their abilities. No matter how equal they were in terms of skill it was impossible to defend against class skills when he hadn¡¯t even seen them used once.

    He couldn¡¯t win this fight.

    ¡°Did you know an attack to the head almost always lands a critical hit?¡± Colt smiled as his two bodies shimmered menacingly and brought all four blades down to hit TidalWave, ¡°Imagine if you had a skill which could target that vital area, and always trigger a critical hit when it did.¡±

    ¡°Dagger¡¯s end.¡±

    Colt¡¯s entire figure shifted as the real Colt¡¯s body followed a predetermined route towards TidalWave¡¯s head and smashed both swords into it.

    -100 (Critical hit!)

    [Skill: Don¡¯t Fear the Reaper has been activated.]

    TidalWave¡¯s final ability activated as he faced the killing blow.

    It was an attack that allowed him to survive a killing hit exactly once and left him with one health after activating.

    But now that he had seen Colt¡¯s abilities TidalWave was sure he could dodge them if they fought a second time.

    He would just have to survive long enough with his remaining health.

    ¡°I got rid of his survival ability¡± Colt suddenly shouted to Attracting.

    Then Colt jumped back and away from TidalWave instead of killing him. TidalWave looked around hesitantlyand then brought a healing potion to his mouth as he saw Colt sprinting away and his allies gathering nearby.

    ¡°SHADOW GROUP HEAL.¡±

    Suddenly TidalWave was surrounded by a purple glow and he saw a number appear on his screen.

    5...4...3...2...1...

    ¡®Damn.¡¯

    [You have died.]

 Chapter 22: The Final Battle (Finale)

    Seven was weaving her way through the crowd of knights and enemy players as she was chased. The assassin that was chasing after her swiped his dagger at her as he drew closer.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    She had fought close combat classes enough to easily dodge the swipe and land a magic blast.

    -72

    She could see the player''s eyes glimmer with doubt as she took almost all of his health.

    ¡®This is nothing to worry about?¡¯ He thought to himself.

    She was a lot more skilled than Colt had made her out to be.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    She dodged another one of his attacks easily and he saw that he was in her firing range. He wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge.

    ¡°You¡¯re hella good.¡± The dagger-wielding player suddenly spoke as he saw that he wasn¡¯t going to win the fight, ¡°My name¡¯s Troy. We should duel together sometime after this.¡±

    ¡°Seven, and sure.¡± She smiled and fired a final magic blast.

    Troy¡¯s body fell to the ground and Seven turned in time to see Colt split into two people and slash at TidalWave.

    Then she saw his skill that let him headshot TidalWave for a critical hit.

    ¡®Damn it.¡¯ She wouldn¡¯t reach TidalWave in time.

    In those few seconds she had memorised the movements the assassin had used.

    Now she was going to avenge her friend.

    But then Colt jumped away from TidalWave and returned to Attracting, fighting off the knights that were nearby. He was joined by three of his remaining crew members that had survived despite being outnumbered. Each was an incredibly skilled player that could hold off their enemies with the help of the boss. They stood guard beside it but were helpless to stop Archy¡¯s arrows.

    She began firing at the boss again.

    Seven saw TidalWave stand back cautiously and try to drink a potion. She also saw Roxxy running towards Third and Archy with a few knights in tow. Then she turned her attention to the main enemy in front of her. She slowly made her way to Third and Archy as well as they all fired at the boss together. With a few more shots it would be dead and it couldn¡¯t even control its tentacles with any semblance of accuracy as its eyes had been destroyed.

    ¡°TidalWave¡­ Archy¡­ Third¡­ Neostayin... Roxxy¡­¡±

    Seven could see Attracting muttering the names of players as he gazed across the field.

    She hadn¡¯t noticed but the entire fight he had been channeling a spell uninterrupted. Dark Horse and Colt¡¯s Crew had been holding anyone that could interrupt him at bay. Now that only Colt¡¯s Crew was left they were still skilled enough to fight off the remaining players for the crucial few seconds Attracting needed.

    ¡°SHADOW GROUP HEAL.¡± Attracting¡¯s voice boomed across the cavern.

    A flash of purple came out of his wand as he stood up and suddenly Seven saw her remaining teammate¡¯s bodies glow purple. It was the same undodgeable type of attack that Attractings auto attacks were. Except that it didn¡¯t kill anyone or damage them.

    She turned to the only player she thought could work out what was happening, ¡°Third?¡±

    A number had appeared above all of the glowing player¡¯s heads.

    5

    ¡°Crap.¡± Third looked at her and saw she wasn''t glowing, and his eyes glimmered with hope, ¡°A targeted attack that can hit multiple people, no doubt it will kill us all. But he did not target you.¡±

    4

    ¡°Why?¡± She was confused.

    She could see the purple glow spreading to almost every player around her.

    3

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Then Third third looked around and snorted, he saw that every player on the field that had been targeted was the most skilled of the remaining players, ¡°The man is an idiot. He constantly underestimates you.¡±

    2

    ¡°Now make him pay for it.¡±

    1

    -148

    -148

    -148

    -148

    -148

    -148

    A series of numbers floated into the air around Seven as she saw her remaining teammates and most of the surviving knights of Magnolia instantly killed. No single player had enough health left to defend against the massively damaging spell.

    There were around ten knights remaining and each one had been hiding from the fighting due to their lack of skill. They had recognised that they weren¡¯t good enough to fight against the enemies that Attracting had gathered to conquer this mission whilst also dodging tentacles.

    ¡°Kill them.¡± Attracting ordered Colt.

    Seven noted with interest that the man himself didn¡¯t launch a single attack. He simply sat down on the creature¡¯s head and began to heal it intermittently.

    ¡®He¡¯s out of mana.¡¯ Seven realised.

    She knew the spell he had just cast wouldn¡¯t come without a huge mana cost. The person in question was using any mana that regenerated to try and heal the gravely injured Corruptor.

    Colt began to attack the remaining knights as they lay scattered on the battlefield. The ten players banded together to take on the assassin and he laughed as they swiped their swords at him.

    ¡°There¡¯s one here.¡± The remaining three members spotted Seven and lunged towards her together.

    They had no doubt that their leader would easily kill the remaining knights without trouble.

    ¡°Swift feet.¡±

    The lead crew member sped up ahead of his allies and soon was on top of Seven, stabbing at her with his weapon.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    She dodged out of the way and smashed her attack into him, killing her opponent instantly.

    Each one of the enemies had been fighting a long battle before Attracting¡¯s attack wiped out her allies. So each one had taken enough hits that a single one of her attacks would instantly kill them no matter how skilled they were.

    The last two quickened their pace as they saw their ally go down. Instead of charging at her blindly they chose to coordinate their attack, one on each side.

    ¡°Magic blast.¡± She didn¡¯t wait for them to come to her, and instead, her first attack smashed into an enemy player the moment he came a few meters closer to her. He dropped dead with a surprised expression on his face.

    With her accuracy, he would have to be as skilled as TidalWave to dodge her attacks without having any prior experience fighting her.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    She dodged the final player¡¯s attacks and watched him drop to the ground dead as well. Both of them had left white lights as they dropped items. But she ignored it like she did the hundreds of other item lights spread across the battlefield.

    She could see Colt finishing the last of the knights and turning to face her. He had a surprised expression on his face as he saw that his teammates had failed to kill her.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Attracting seemed to notice her for the first time, ¡°You were here. But it¡¯s a little too late now, there¡¯s nothing you can do alone.¡±

    Attracting looked at the heavily bleeding creature he lay on top of, he needed to concentrate on healing it, ¡°Kill her.¡±

    Colt turned towards Seven and charged. His blades glistened as he activated their magic. She knew what he was going to do. He was going to use the move that even TidalWave couldn¡¯t dodge. Colt had no doubt that if he could destroy that monster then this girl wouldn¡¯t even be a challenge.

    But unlike TidalWave she had seen thisattack before.

    He lunged at her as his figure blurred, shifting and splitting into two different Colt¡¯s flying in mid-air towards her. Four blades lancing through the air to hit her at every angle. She dodged the first blade, but she only had a split second to dodge the next two. She moved backwards to try and buy herself a second with which to maneuver.

    ¡°Wind blast.¡±

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    She smashed her attack against the first Colt, causing it to blur and disappear. She had succeeded in eliminating the first one. But now the real Colt was right beside her.

    He was at his preferred distance to make sure the kill was secured.

    ¡°Dagger¡¯s end.¡±

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    Colt¡¯s weapons suddenly appeared in front of her, grazing past her eyes. If she had been a second slower it would have been a one-shot kill. He seemed to slow down as she aimed her wand at his head. He was so close that she couldn¡¯t miss it.

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    -172 (Critical hit!)

    The moment he forced himself into the killing move was the moment he was most vulnerable. He couldn¡¯t do anything but move in the predetermined path of the skill. So he also couldn¡¯t dodge her attack once she¡¯d escaped his. It had all gone according to her plan.

    She had seen all his moves before. She wouldn¡¯t allow herself to let them land after TidalWave had given her this opportunity. Colt¡¯s eyes widened in surprise and his body slumped to the ground. It disappeared, leaving an item''s blue light gleaming on the ground.

    ¡°What? What did you do.¡± Attracting blinked as though he couldn¡¯t register what he was seeing, ¡°How the hell could someone like you defeat Colt?¡± He shook his head, trying to find a different answer, ¡°No, that¡¯s not possible.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You keep saying that.¡± Seven sidestepped a tentacle and then jumped back to avoid another, ¡°But I don¡¯t see why you¡¯re denying the stuff happening right in front of you.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    Now that the main threat was out of the way it was time to end this. She watched the monster carefully and began to move from side to side. It would start to fight back with black bolts the moment it was hit. Its tentacles weren¡¯t that difficult to dodge any more but there were now a lot more of them around her because she was the only enemy present.

    She fired attack after attack, hitting the creature¡¯s regenerating eyes perfectly. Nearly every magic blast triggered a critical hit. But she dodged all of the retaliation attacks sent out by the Corruptor. Seven could see Attracting was helpless. He had used the entirety of his mana in that last attack and was focusing the rest on trying to keep the boss monster¡¯s health barely constant. It tried to smash her with its tentacles, from the roof of the cave to the walls that lay thick with smog.

    Every single attack was perfectly dodged.

    She was already far beyond the skill needed to win this fight.

    ¡°This is impossible.¡± Attracting¡¯s voice rose as he watched Seven, ¡°You¡¯re A NOBODY.¡±

    ¡°What the hell is that supposed to mean.¡± Seven responded coldly.

    She could already see the end of this fight. She had enough mana regeneration to continuously fire for a while. The monster¡¯s health slowly grew lower from the small percentage it had already been left with after her team¡¯s attack.

    ¡°STOP.¡± Attracting lifted himself up from the creature¡¯s scalp and waved his wand towards her.

    A blue glow started to form around his body and then it floated through the air towards her.

    ¡°There it is.¡± She smiled.

    His trump card. The one he used to win every fight he was going to lose. She had seen this attack used against the most skilled players she had met because the person using it had no other way to win the fight. Now it was finally being used against her.

    And she was ready for it.

    The light moved slowly but surely towards her. She knew it would be an instant kill that was unmoveable by the abilities she had available. If she used stone shift she would only avoid it for a few more seconds. It was going to target her until she died.

    She knew that every single person Attracting had fought had come up with a countermeasure to this move.

    She was no different.

    The light was almost halfway towards her before she started her final attack.

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    She sent magic flying towards Attracting but the shadow priest dodged them all. He was too far from her to get a sure-hit shot through to him. She slowly moved towards him while dodging the Corruptor¡¯s tentacles and she eyed the blue light flying towards her.

    ¡°You overestimate yourself.¡± Attracting¡¯s voice grew cold as he realised her attacks were suddenly arriving too quickly to dodge without using all of his concentration, ¡°You were nothing before and you will always continue to be nothing.¡±

    ¡°You and I,¡± Seven uttered under breath, ¡°have a lot to talk about after this.¡±

    Attracting was panicking as he moved aside for each blast. His magic was the only thing keeping the monster alive. If he left the creature¡¯s head then it would be taken down by Seven easily. He had no mana and he had neither the class skills or the actual skill to continue dodging Seven¡¯s attacks as she drew nearer. He was not TidalWave or Archy. Eventually, he would slip up and then he would die.

    He was trapped.

    Then he smiled, ¡°Checkmate.¡±

    The blue light was already only a couple of meters away from Seven. His attack was a surefire guarantee to kill the magi. Even if she had regenerated some health he was sure that even with full health she¡¯d die. He breathed a sigh of relief as it drew closer.

    He had won.

    ¡®Focus.¡¯

    Seven saw the blue light drawing near and did the only thing she could. She walked straight into it.

    ¡®Focus.¡¯ She breathed in deeply.

    The blue light moved towards her head.

    In less than a second, it would kill her.

    And then it moved away from her body and began to circle around her.

    ¡°What the hell?¡± Attracting¡¯s eyes widened.

    Seven sent him a tired grin in response, and continued to draw closer while firing her magic missiles. The blue light was circling around her body, drifting harmlessly in a constant ring.

    Her plan had worked.

    She knew couldn¡¯t run from the attack, not without giving Attracting time to regenerate his mana, and she knew couldn¡¯t make the attack disappear. So she had to come up with a way to stall for time.

    She eyed her solution, her creation, carefully. Invisible to everyone except her were four focus points, small transparent balls that she was using to shift the blue light across her body. But instead of changing the direction of her own attack she was using them on Attracting¡¯s trump card. She was using the entirety of her concentration to make sure that the moment the blue light hit one of the focus points that she would shift its direction towards the next one. Then with all four focus points sitting so close around her body, she could make adjustments in direction small enough that the attack would constantly circle around her instead of hitting her.

    It wasn¡¯t perfect, and she could only concentrate on a small area or else all the focus points would disappear, but all she needed to do was buy herself seconds of time to kill her enemies.

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    -83

    Attracing¡¯s eyes began to show panic as he realised that Seven had managed to somehow escape his inescapable attack.

    ¡°No, no, no.¡± He began to dodge the attacks again but now Seven was already too close to him, ¡°You¡¯ve ruined everything. Weeks of work and planning.¡±

    ¡°You know what Andrew,¡± She looked up at him panicking on top of the Corruptor and fired a magic blast directly at him, she knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge this one, ¡°You¡¯ve been a real jackass lately. Just shut up and come talk to me when you¡¯ve got an apology ready.¡±

    -83

    Attracting¡¯s corpse was blown back by the magic blast and the Corruptor bellowed in anger as the body fell off of it and hit the ground, slowly disappearing into the air. Now that it was out of his control the murderous aura of a true boss monster appeared, wild and untamed.

    The blue light circling Seven disappeared as Attracting died.

    ¡®That was close.¡¯ She sighed in relief.

    She doubted that she could keep that up for more than a couple of seconds.

    She dodged the renewed attacks of the Corruptor and within a few minutes, she had already brought its health down to the final sliver. With one last magic blast the creature was destroyed and a shining yellow light appeared.

    ¡°Oho.¡± Seven looked at the rarity of the items dropped by the boss.

    This was the first time she had seen a yellow light.

    First, she picked up the items dropped by Colt and Attracting. She knew that these would make suitable compensation for her team¡¯s lost things. Then she picked up the loot dropped by the boss.

    [Dragon¡¯s Bane.]

    It was a sword. It looked powerful considering it was an item with a yellow rarity. She turned to the cavern and slowly began to make her way through every item dropped onto the ground. She was done in a matter of minutes. She would definitely check the sword out and show the team afterward, but she had one last thing to do before she left.

    She turned to face the last section of the boss chamber.

    The door that had been covered by the Corruptor¡¯s tentacles was immaculately carved with dragon symbols. She didn¡¯t know if it had been created by the dragon itself or by the wilders that worshipped it, but she knew that the dragon¡¯s treasure lay beyond it.

    The doors opened up as she moved towards them bathing her in light.

    ¡°Oh. My. God.¡± Seven let out a squeak as she walked inside the final chamber

    It was filled with gold.

    Lots and lots of gold.

    ¡®Holy crap.¡¯

    That had summed up the general feelings Seven had as she went through the spoils of war. The moment she stepped through the grand doors she was confronted with a shimmering gold light.

    The source of the light was thousands upon thousands of coins. Enough to give to everyone to repay them for any items they lost on death and still have plenty of gold leftover. She immediately went from pile to pile to put her hands on them and put them into her inventory. Luckily the piles came in all at once or else she¡¯d have to take hours picking up each individual coin. Each pile had ten thousand gold coins.

    There were twenty piles.

    This was the reward to the people that managed to cross the inner ring¡¯s challenges, fight off the horde of drakes and defeat the Corruptor. It was a treasure fit for hundreds of people. Behind the gleaming piles of gold were five items shimmering atop pedestals. They floated in the air as if by magic.

    A bow, a wand, a shield, a staff, and a sword.

    Each one was a yellow ranked item that looked like it was on the same level as the Dragon¡¯s Bane sword she had just picked up.

    The truth was she intended to give every participant part of the gold. Even Dark Horse and Colt¡¯s Crew would get a few pieces since she felt her team had technically interrupted them and taken their prize. But these five items would be for her and her team.

    They were definitely too precious to give away.

    She picked up the items in one swoop and quickly ran out of the cave. She knew that the players wouldn¡¯t be able to reach the area from Lum so quickly after dying and reviving but she couldn¡¯t risk any of the high-level NPCs that had been in the expedition force coming in and seeing her. They had been fighting and running from the behemoth and thousands of monsters but she felt that would only slow them down.

    She left the cave entrance and ran across the empty but withered forest. The smog had been completely dispersed and even the purple shade seemed to have disappeared. The forest was free from the corruption and would probably slowly return to normal soon.

    She only stopped running when she arrived at the entrance of Lum and met up with her teammates and the Knights of Magnolia.

    She had so much to give them.

    ****

    ¡°Lum, then Lux. Seems like there¡¯s still a lot to do.¡± Seven smiled as the team relaxed.

    They¡¯d had an exciting day. There were four hundred and eighty members of the Knights of Magnolia and Attracting had offered them one hundred gold coins each. Seven and the team decided to provide them two hundred gold each. It was an incredible sum for the short amount of work they¡¯d done. Seven also gave them back their items that she had picked up. Luckily each one had the former owner listed on the item due to it dropping from a natural death and not a duel.

    Then Seven gave the Dark Horse members and Colt¡¯s Crew players two hundred gold each as well. They had left on good terms since they were mainly there for the adventure. Two hundred gold could still be used suitably if they played their cards right.

    The truth was that Colt¡¯s Crew had definitely wanted a bit more gold from the outing, but to Seven¡¯s surprise instead of getting angry, they were extremely apologetic. Colt and Troy had a long talk with her and Colt had gotten her to promise to several practice duels for cashing in at a later date after she insisted on making it up to them somehow. He reasoned that fighting an experienced player at any time was more than worth its weight in gold. If he could get the rest of Sevens team to follow then they would have gained priceless practice partners.

    Then she gave a little over two thousand gold to IEatTortillas who came up to her and was extremely apologetic. Apparently TidalWave had told her everything Attracting had said and she had immediately separated from him and left his team.

    Attracting had disappeared shortly afterward and none of them knew where he¡¯d gone.

    That left one hundred thousand gold for the team.

    Initially, the team was extremely excited. But it turned out that they would still need to go to the main capital of Lux to find truly good items to buy. Of course, the best items could only be found by undertaking quests and fighting monsters. So now they were relaxing and taking it easy.

    Soon the Zodiac Online creators would announce the second class advancements as players reached the required levels. The competitive scene was also going to be created and the presence of Zodiac Online among gamers was quickly spreading.

    All they had to do was wait and the game would soon become a flurry of activity.

    ¡°Hey.¡± TidalWave gestured to her, ¡°Let¡¯s duel. One on one.¡±

    Seven lifted her wand in response, ¡°Do you think I¡¯ll be able to win?¡±

    She already knew she was going to do it.

    ¡°Only one way to find out.¡±

    Seven and TidalWave smiled.

    They knew that this was only the beginning.

    ****

    Inside a small room, a man paced up and down while another sat at a computer typing furiously.

    ¡°Has it ever done something like this before?¡± The pacing man was agitated.

    He was Hein Haster, the man credited with creating Zodiac Online. His companion at the computer ignored his question as the screen flashed with text and images every few seconds.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± At this moment he was staring at the computer that contained his very first creation.

    It was theentity responsible for making Zodiac Online possible. The only way that he could make a full interactive and virtual world. The only being capable of running the program that adjusted itself with every action, gesture and movement made by both players and NPCs. A master controller of everything inside the game.

    The A.I, Zodiac.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s thinking about something.¡± His companion was equally confused as large movements were made across the world inside the game.

    ¡°This kind of processing power doesn¡¯t constitute thinking.¡± Hein frowned, ¡°What is it trying to do?¡±

    They had given Zodiac full control over the world inside the game but they still monitored it carefully. If only so that nothing went wrong and caused the game to glitch or shut down. Of course, the A.I couldn¡¯t harm any of the players or access anything outside of the game itself. Hein had made sure of that from the moment he began creating it.

    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s become curious about a player. They¡¯ve done something that¡¯s caused it to start asking around about them through the NPCs.¡± The man sounded surprised.

    A single-player was like a drop in the ocean. There were already two million players and many more slated to arrive soon. For a single player to attract Zodiac¡¯s attention to this extent was unprecedented.

    ¡°Which player?¡± Hein¡¯s expression turned curious.

    Zodiac wasn¡¯t only in charge of administering the game. It was also in charge of finding players that could influence the world within the game. After all, Hein intended for the game to be a world that players could change on their own, with the assistance of Zodiac who would adapt to their actions. If Zodiac was already interested in this person then it appeared that this player had a very bright future ahead of them.

    ¡°Their name is¡­¡± Hein¡¯s companion worked through the information Zodiac provided them, ¡°Attracting.¡±

    ****

    In a small house Attracting exited the game with a frown on his face. Then he shook his head and smiled. His failure to get the dragon¡¯s treasure was annoying but he had many more opportunities to make money from the game. He had already purchased the prime properties in Lum. It was sooner than he thought but he would have to travel away from Zhalnor and uncover the secrets of the Underground.

    Soon he would move his parents out of this crap hole and bring them the comfort and happiness they had always deserved.

    Then he would move onto helping Ana.

    The moment he logged off his phone blared and he checked the number of the caller.

    ¡°Ana.¡± Andrew smiled happily, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°Nothing you say can convince me you¡¯re not an asshole.¡± Ana replied crossly, ¡°how could you say that kind of stuff to Milly?¡±

    ¡°Oh really? Well, I¡¯ve been meaning to talk to you too. You see¡­ let me tell you a story about a very lonely man who died.¡± Andrew sat down as he spoke and leaned back in his chair with a smile. ¡°But then he opened his eyes and woke up ten years in the past.¡±

 Important announcement, FAQ, and Q&A

    Hi guys! Book 1 of Seven has been completed (Yay). If you haven''t finished the final chapter please finish it before going on to this announcement and FAQ/Q&A because it contains spoilers.

    If you have completed the final chapter of book one then I''d like to say a BIG THANK YOU FOR READING!

    Announcement!

    The release schedule will be drastically changing for book 2. unfortunately the pace of releasing 50,000 ish words a week is much too fast for me. So I will be switching to two chapters a week released on Sunday and Monday at 10pm AEST. They will be similar to the other chapter lengths of 4000-5000 words although may vary based on what happens during the chapter.

    This will start from now and the next chapters (Roxxy''s side story and possibly Ana''s side story) will be released this Sunday and Monday. I will experiment a bit so if I find it''s easier to release both chapters on one day or release more than 2 chapters a week then I will change the schedule.

    Q&A:

    Hey guys! If you have any more questions or want clarifications about things I''ve written in the FAQ please feel free to post them!!!!

    Please note I will not be giving spoilers. So if a question contains a spoiler I will answer with this exact reply: I''m sorry, this answer would require a spoiler so I will have to ask you to wait until future chapters have been released.

    I will answer any and all questions when I wake up in the morning.

    I will add questions and answers to the FAQ as I go through them.

    My question to you guys: I noticed Third, Roxxy and Ana were the most popular characters to be voted to get side-stories. Especially Ana who lead the pack by quite a few votes. I was surprised because I thought for sure people would be curious about Archy. What about Ana/IEatTortillas and the other characters interested you guys? I''d like to know so I can write better and more interesting characters in the future!

    FAQ:

    I''ve noticed quite a few questions frequently being brought up so I thought I''d answer them here.

    Why does Andrew/Attracting ignore Emily/Seven so badly?:

    There are two reasons for this. The first reason is the logical, in-text, reason why Attracting refuses to see what''s right in his face. That is, that Emily is super skilled.

    However that reason is yet to be revealed and so I can''t spoil it in this FAQ

    The second reason is my personal reason (non-canon inside the text); This is NOT canon, it''s just the reason I wrote this plot element in this way.

    It really is such a silly thing but honestly I wanted to show that a main character could be a girl, could be overweight or even chubby and not good looking and yet still be skilled and be someone you would root for. But as I was making that character I wanted her to be placed alongside a main character so that she would have an enemy and good allies/friends.

    Andrew is a main character. I don''t mean that because he''s a reincarnator. I mean there is a version of the story I write (I don''t post it because it''s super incomplete but it goes side-by-side with Seven), and Andrew is the main character of that story.

    Emily is fat (people say chubby to be nice) and fairly normal looking. She is also not that strong and mostly a side character compared to the monsters around her.

    So according to the logic I was going by when I wrote the story for Andrew, he physically is unable to see her or notice her. This is because he''s a male main character and there is literally no other reason for it. She simply doesn''t exist because of her weight and looks and it would go against his plot armour to notice her existence and accept it.

    That''s the reason I chose to make him not notice her in the first place.

    Of course, the actual in-text reason will be explored in future chapters.

    Why hasn''t Andrew been banned?:

    Once again, there are two reasons for this.

    One: Inside the text there is a logical reason for him not being banned; Nothing he''s done can be linked to any sort of cheating by anyone.

    This is a pretty big one so I''ll explain it carefully.

    Andrew is a complete stranger to everyone he meets with the exception of Ana and Emily (IEatTortillas and Seven). They know nothing about him or his connections.

    Let''s go through the character list and their suspicions or lack thereof of cheating;

    Emily: She has absolutely no idea what''s going on. She doesn''t suspect time travel because that''s not really something people think about. She doesn''t suspect cheating because she knows Andrew (pre-time travel Andrew) and knows he isn''t a cheater.

    Ana: She''s similar to Emily in that she suspects nothing because she''s known Andrew so long. She actually had no idea that yellow items were rare because they were finding a lot in their quests. She has been mostly isolated from everyone except Andrew while playing so she doesn''t know the weird things he''s been doing or saying either. Andrew was pretty adventurous and competitive even before the time travel so him challenging people to fight isn''t actually that rare.

    TidalWave/Third/Roxxy: Third and Roxxy have suspected time travel. They''re a lot smarter than the others and open to new suggestions, but they dismissed it almost immediately because that''s crazy. They know something is fishy but they need more information. TidalWave has accepted something is fishy but uses it to his advantage (like when making sure Andrew could evaluate Roxxy and Spark Joy on the first meeting).

    Spark Joy/Archy: They don''t care and they forget about Andrew like two minutes after they see him. Everytime. They just get annoyed by him and they don''t want to think about his life that much because they have better stuff to do.

    Colt''s Crew & Dark Horse & Knights of Magnolia: They don''t suspect anything. Colt''s Crew thought Andrew could spot talented players but they''re skilled enough to do that on their own. They also suspect that Andrew just knew Dark Horse and pretended to be able to spot skilled people to get their attention. Dark Horse also thinks that they somehow know Andrew IRL and he''s playing a prank on them or hiding his identity. The knights don''t know anything and Leo is super confused at this point.

    Zodiac (The A.I): Zodiac is the only character that truly suspects cheating or something fishy. Read chapter 17 and watch out for red flashing eyes. I will say now that any NPC with red flashing eyes is actually Zodiac. If you read what they''ll say you will see what Zodiac knows, which is nothing and he''s super confused and trying to find out how Andrew is doing what he does. As it is however, there is no cheating detected and so Zodiac is simply keeping and very, very close eye on Andrew and would definitely ban him if he found evidence of cheating.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    Note: None of Andrew''s in game skills are cheats. They are all perfectly normal skills he just uses them super well.

    The second (unnoficial and non-canon!) reason is simple; he is the main character of his story. A literal main character. He could become the undisputed number 1 with a billion gold and stacked legendary items and he wouldn''t be banned or suspected or anything.

    Actually I''ll admit the truth. This trope super pisses me off. I''ve read a lot of novels where the Main Character gets away with so much stuff they shouldn''t so I just wanted to do this and make the bad guy the Main Character so I could actually try work out a way to fight the trope. In other stories nobody even suspects time travel for a second which I always found super weird.

    So I made Emily/Seven the complete opposite. She doesn''t have overpowered items or not many at least by the finale. She had the store-brand Lum wands and armour. She practices hours a day to simply catch up to the people around her. They are just opposites of each other. She is a main character and so is Andrew.

    How that''ll play out is for us to find out as we write/read on!

    Why does Andrew have so many overpowered attacks?:

    There are two main attacks that this is referring to; Andrew''s group attack that eliminated a TON of people in the final battle, and Andrew''s blue light that destroys the enemy it touches.

    I have answered both these questions in other chapters but felt that the answers were both important enough to put here.

    The blue light (Voluntary Barrier Destruction):

    Andrew''s racial trait is the following;

    Shi-eld Racial Trait: Every 1 stat placed into wisdom provides 0.5 Barrier.

    Note: The reason nobody knows what it is is actually yet is because there''s too many races to look at and the game is still too new.

    Voluntary Barrier Destruction: Detonate your barrier for an entire day to do x3 the barrier in true damage to a single enemy. Barrier will not regenerate until the 24 hour period is over.

    Limitations:

    Slow movement to target:

    Andrew has only ever used the ability when he was close to his enemies (like when TidalWave was right on top of him in their first fight), or when they do not know what it is. This is because the ability is slow to travel in the air. If he dies it will disappear and an archer such as Archy could easily kill him in that time.

    It can be used against him:

    The easiest way to describe this is to mention that Third could easily use his rift ability to return most of the damage to Andrew and instantly kill him. Third''s rifts aren''t fast enough to send multiple on the one arrow but they can actually be used multiple times on one target. If Andrew used his blue light then its slow speed would instantly give the rifts enough time to form and insta-kill Andrew.

    It is single target:

    Andrew has used the ability smartly so far in duels, but in group battles the ability isn''t actually that versatile. It can be used on a single opponent and you''d better hope a tank with a lot of health doesn''t jump in front of it and absorb the damage.

    It has a long cooldown:

    It takes an entire day to go off cooldown. It did go off twice in one day once at the beginning, but that''ll be explained later on. Players like TidalWave who have second chance abilities when they lose their health bar can easily recover from this sort of attack if they play correctly.

    It does not deal as much damage as it seems to:

    The damage is fixed to 0.5 of his wisdom stat x3. This is going to fall off quickly so although the move can be a good finisher in fights or duels it cannot be used to one shot someone.

    The ability itself is actually not that OP and not uncounterable, Andrew is just using it at the right time and right way.

    The group attack (Shadow Group Heal):

    Andrew uses his ability really, really well.

    Note: The players are still early in the game, they didn''t know about the spell''s existence so they didn''t know to cancel it.

    Andrew has a skill known as group heal (pretty common in priest classes) but as a result of his shadow priest class he also gained the ability to reverse his healing to damage (that''s his basic attack that can''t miss, he''s technically ''healing'' enemy players but deals damage instead). When combined he gained a group heal that can instead deal damage to groups rather than heal them.

    The conditions for gaining that class are also super rare and involve mostly luck.

    The skill is highly limited but was used in perfect condition.

    Limitations are as follows:

    - It instantly uses up all mana regardless of how many people are healed/damaged (there could only be two people in the group or there could be three hundred) instantly making you fairly worthless if you''re in a major battle

    - There is a very-very long chanting time as shown by Attracting staying out of the battle. It''s around 10-15 minutes or so (I haven''t decided). E.g If Roxxyhits him with her shield stun attack the ability would cancel.

    - His movement is limited while chanting the spell- he can still walk if he keeps his concentration but if he runs or makes too many sudden movements like dodging then the spell will instantly cancel. That''s part of the reason why he stayed on the head of the Corruptor the entire fight.

    - It is limited in the amount of people it can target

    - There is a range limit (it can reach a lot of the final boss cavern for example, but not all of it) in an open field battle with lots of players for example, he wouldn''t be able to instantly reach the backline of their lower health archers and magi with this spell.

    - It can be dispelled before activating during the countdown (that''s later on in the game though)

    - Healers actually heal for less than DPS classes damage. So normally the attack would do around 40-100 damage and quickly fall off as players gain more defenses and health. Attracting is an exception as he has several yellow-class weapons so he does more damage, normally the group heal/shadow group heal wouldn''t do nearly as much damage.

    There''s no real AOE magic used by the main characters but the closest comparison is Glacier. She can actually freeze more units than Attracting (he has a set max number) as long as they''re in the radius but she doesn''t deal as much damage (because she''s normal). If she had the stats he did she would probably be instakilling more players than him because of her AOE ability''s low cooldown. Normally the spells are definitely not meant to deal that much damage.

    What are the current power rankings?:

    For those curious my power rankings in the team at this time actually go: TidalWave>Third>Archy&Spark Joy>Roxxy>Seven

    Roxxy and Spark Joy suffer from being tanks but they''re really skilled in terms of knowledge and fighting ability. Third isn''t a major damage dealer but he is in general a monster. Seven has high damage but her knowledge and ability is farrr below the others at the moment. She''s relied mainly on being underestimated in a lot of fights. Archy is countered by Third heavily but also lacks his knowledge of tactics and strategies.

    Why can Attracting deal the damage he does?;

    Here are his stats:

    Attracting: Level 35

    Health: 127 (+67)

    Barrier: 35

    Mana: 162 (+30)

    Vitality: 30 (+11)

    Strength: 15 (+5)

    Intelligence: 66 (+44)

    Wisdom: 71 (+30)

    Shi-eld Racial Trait: Every 1 stat placed into wisdom provides 0.5 Barrier.

    Voluntary Barrier Destruction: Detonate your barrier for an entire day to do x3 the barrier in true damage to a single enemy. Barrier will not regenerate until the 24 hour period is over. +6 due to level 10.

    Class Passive:

    Shadow Priest passive: Healing spells used on enemies can be converted into damage spells that deal damage equal to the amount that they would have healed.

    Shadow Priest passive 2: Gain 3 wisdom per 5 levels.

    Equipment:

    Baldar¡¯s Dagger: Strength: +5, Vitality +2

    Holy Book IV (Green): Wisdom: +5, Vitality +7, Intelligence +3

    Shadow Book II (Green Growth Item): Wisdom +7, Vitality +2, Intelligence +5

    Darken¡¯s Priest Wand of Intelligence (Yellow): +20 Mana, +10 INT, +8 WIS

    Gardar¡¯s Necklace (Green): +10 Mana, +3 INT, +3 WIS

    Gardar¡¯s Priest Robe (Yellow): +30 HP, +10 INT

    Lum Priest Boots: +5HP, +3 WIS.

    Lum Priest Gloves: +4 WIS, +3 INT, +2 HP

    Gardar¡¯s Magical Light Armour (Yellow): +30 HP, +10 INT.

    Skills:

    Heal: Heal a target for ? intelligence. Cooldown 2 seconds.

    Group heal: Heal up to 15 targets within a 50 foot radius. Cost: 20 mana. Cooldown 3 minutes.

    Shadow Group heal (Transformed): Deal triple your basic heal in damage to up to 30 targets within a 50 foot radius. Cost: Total Mana. Cooldown 2 hours.

    Shadow bind: Bind a target into place incapacitating them for 5 seconds.Cost: 15 mana. Cooldown 15 seconds.

    Shadow claw: Swipe at the air with a 4 foot long/wide claw. Deals your Intelligence in piercing damage. Cost: 5 mana. Cooldown 7 seconds.

    These stats are wayyy above normal. For comparison, the next highest intelligence any player seen in the game so far has is Third''s & Emily''s/Seven''s with 43

 Anas Story: Six Years Ago In Another Lifetime (1)

    Ana woke up drenched in sweat.

    ¡®Ugh.¡¯ Ana shook her head and coughed as she rose from her bed.

    She¡¯d had one hell of a nightmare.

    ¡°Good god.¡± She felt a stab of pain cross over body, ¡°Damn cold¡¯s passing around again.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t going to hear the end of this. Her mother had already told her she was going to get sick overworking herself at the gym and now she just had more ammunition. She¡¯d have to take those disgusting vitamins for a week now.

    The fever and nausea slowly died down as she went through her daily routine and by the time she¡¯d washed up and was ready to go out she was feeling a hundred percent.

    ¡®Okay, maybe ninety percent.¡¯ She grinned to herself.

    She had a big day planned and she wasn¡¯t going to let a silly little cold get in the way of having fun. She quickly draped on a coat and scarf as she remembered the weather was going to be cold.

    ¡°Ana you have a visitor!¡± Ana¡¯s ears perked up as her mum called her name.

    ¡°Yeah! Get down here you lazy bum!¡± A familiar voice followed her mother¡¯s.

    She rushed out of her room and bounded towards the kitchen. In the middle of the kitchen eating an apple was a familiar chubby figure.

    ¡°MILLY.¡± Ana bounded across the room and wrapped her arms around her best friend.

    ¡°ANA.¡± Emily returned the hug with gusto.

    ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Ana¡¯s mother smiled gently and pushed the hugging girls towards a table ladled with food, ¡°You¡¯ll have time for socialising after. I¡¯ve made enough food to give you energy for two days.¡±

    ¡°Thanks Maria.¡± Emily chimed happily.

    She¡¯d already thrown what was left of the apple into the trash.

    Ana grinned. Her friend never refused a good home-cooked meal. They all took a seat and Ana stared down at her plate. She didn¡¯t feel too hungry at the moment.

    ¡°Actually,¡± Ana pushed the food slightly away, ¡°I think I¡¯ll save mine for tonight. I¡¯m not feeling too hungry right now.¡±

    ¡°Your loss.¡± Emily eyed her food greedily as she dug in.

    ¡°Oh gosh.¡± Maria eyed Ana with disapproval, ¡°You¡¯re not going on a diet now, are you? You¡¯ve been skipping breakfast for weeks.¡±

    ¡°Yeah Ana,¡± Emily agreed, ¡°You¡¯re already a skinny bean. God damn, I¡¯m so jealous.¡±

    Ana laughed at her friend¡¯s interjection. Somehow there was never an awkward moment when Emily was around.

    ¡°I just don¡¯t feel like eating.¡± Ana was content to sit back as the other two ate.

    ¡°So what¡¯s the plan for today?¡± Maria tried to scope her daughter¡¯s plans out, ¡°Gym?¡±

    ¡°God, please no.¡± Emily groaned.

    ¡°Followed by a nice twelve-kilometer swim-¡± Maria continued.

    ¡°The horror.¡± Emily was smiling between bites.

    ¡°-Finally ending in a lovely sprint back to the flat.¡±

    ¡°And she¡¯d be dragging my dead body on her back!¡±

    ¡°Milly please.¡± Ana had already told Emily what was planned and knew the two were just messing with her, ¡°Don¡¯t encourage mum.¡±

    They all laughed.

    ¡°We¡¯re meeting up with Andrew and going to the park.¡± Ana finally answered her mum¡¯s question.

    ¡°That boy.¡± Maria snorted, ¡°Is going to die the moment the sun touches his skin.¡±

    ¡°Oh yes.¡± Ana¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°He¡¯s going to burst into flames and we¡¯ll roast marshmallows.¡±

    ¡°God I wish we could do that.¡± Emily¡¯s eyes turned dreamy, ¡°Maybe without Andrew dying. But if it¡¯s for marshmallows then sacrifices have to be made.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s inevitable.¡± Ana nodded her agreement.

    ¡°I suppose it¡¯s not his fault he¡¯s so pale.¡± Maria waved a fork in the air, ¡°It¡¯s that damn game he¡¯s addicted to. What¡¯s it called again?¡±

    ¡°Zodiac online.¡± Ana and Emily chimed the answer at the same time.

    ¡°Don¡¯t pretend you don¡¯t know it.¡± Ana pointed at her room, ¡°We¡¯ve been playing the damn thing for four years.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been playing.¡± Maria shook her head, ¡°That boy better have been making some good money for the amount of time he spends on it. I spent two hours talking last night to his-¡±

    ¡°Oh, would you look at that,¡± Ana interrupted her mum hurriedly, ¡°it¡¯s time for us to go Milly.¡±

    If she let her mum start describing her story now then they wouldn¡¯t leave the house for another hour. That was valuable time she could be using to not listen to her mother talk about how Andrew¡¯s mother was so disappointed her son had become a video game junky.

    ¡°Come on Milly.¡± Ana lifted herself up off the table and brought Emily along with her as she walked towards the door.

    Her friend was helpless as Ana used her superior strength to move them both.

    ¡°Nooooo.¡± Emily looked despondently at the food she was being dragged away from.

    ¡°I¡¯ll save it for you to eat later.¡± Maria called out mirthfully.

    ¡°Thank mum!¡± Ana waved goodbye with her free hand then immediately stretched as she walked out the door, ¡°Oh man, I needed some fresh air.¡±

    ¡°I think I needed some more food.¡± Emily grumbled but her eyes quickly beamed as she remembered what they had planned for the day, ¡°Oh man I can¡¯t wait to see Andrew.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the guy¡¯s had his head stuck so far up Zodiac¡¯s ass you¡¯d think he was a machine.¡± Ana jumped on the spot as Emily walked so that she could get more exercise out of her actions.

    Emily completely ignored the familiar sight, ¡°What level do you think the guy is now?¡±

    Emily knew that if she left Ana to her own devices her friend would find a way to turn the entire trip into a marathon or something equally horrific.

    ¡°I have no idea.¡± Ana admitted, ¡°I haven¡¯t played Zodiac Online for weeks now. Even then I was only logging on for an hour or so at a time to farm with Andrew. He looks like he¡¯s an angel on steroids or something with all that armour he has.¡±

    They laughed at the thought and Ana shrugged, ¡°I guess he was always more into that game than I was. Honestly, once you left I didn¡¯t even think about staying.

    ¡°Psh. I sucked balls compared to you two. At least you have talent, you even got invited to that professional team right? What were they called again¡­¡±

    ¡°Perfect Princesses.¡± Ana shuddered at the memory, ¡°God Milly. The only way I¡¯m going on a team like that is if they drag me in chains.¡±

    Ana recalled the time a particularly heavyset fellow approached her avatar and had invited her to their professional team. Contrary to their name the entire Perfect Princesses team was composed of muscular and chubby men that looked more at home in a sumo ring than the castle they inhabited. They also all wore pink tutu-shaped armour.

    She had run as far away from that encounter as possible but not before Andrew and Emily had laughed their asses off at her. She actually felt kind of bad for the team leader that had invited her. He seemed like a cool guy if you ignored the tutu.

    All because she had gotten an extremely rare second class.

    ¡°They should have.¡± Emily tutted and shook her head in disappointment, ¡°They missed out on hiring my extremely skilled friend.¡±

    ¡°Stop. Don¡¯t put yourself down.¡± Ana jumped around Emily as she spoke, ¡°You just never applied yourself because its a video game.¡±

    ¡°I got the most basic magi class and I barely scraped by the second class advancement.¡± Emily grinned, ¡°Let¡¯s not kid ourselves here. But it could be worse. I could be an Andrew and never leave the house.¡±

    Ana sighed. Andrew really had become the more distant of the trio in the last couple of years. He hadn¡¯t gotten into Zodiac Online at first but the moment he discovered the library it was like a flood of information that Ana had to listen to for hours on end. He could probably list all of the events that happened in the last four years the game had been out and then name a few more people didn¡¯t even know about.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    ¡°God, I¡¯m actually feeling a bit hungry now.¡± Ana stopped the excessive movements she was making as her stomach began to rumble, ¡°I didn¡¯t feel anything a few minutes ago.¡±

    Ana saw Emily rummaging through her jacket and soon smiling with triumph as she brought something out of her pockets.

    ¡°Tada.¡± Emily flourished a candy bar in the air excitedly, ¡°You¡¯ve been skipping breakfast too much lately."

    ¡°Thanks, mum.¡± Ana said sarcastically but reached out for the food.

    She was starting to feel a bit more than just hungry now. She vaguely remembered skipping dinner as well yesterday.

    But before she could reach the candy it was suddenly snatched by a small shape flying through the air.

    ¡°Hey!¡± Emily cried out as a furry creature flew by her and landed lightly on the ground.

    It was a small black cat. It hissed at the girls and Ana let out a small growl in response. It had stolen her food! It was holding the candy-bar in its mouth, wrapper and all.

    ¡°Woah, it''s a bad luck cat.¡± Emily smiled and waved at the animal.

    ¡°Nonsense. Cats are just cute.¡± Ana squatted down and tried to catch its attention by making sounds, ¡°Come here, little guy.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not fooling anyone with those eyes.¡± Emily watched the cat as it hissed at Ana, ¡°You look like you want to eat the poor little thing.¡±

    ¡°Just a bite.¡± Ana joked which provoked another round of hisses from the cat.

    ¡°It¡¯s cursing us with its cuteness.¡± Emily joked.

    ¡°Bah.¡± Ana gave up trying to trick it into coming back and waved at it, causing it to leap onto a nearby wall and rush off, ¡°Bastard. Come on, we¡¯re going to the food court. I feel like I could eat a horse.¡±

    ¡°I can arrange that.¡± A new voice called out them cheerfully, ¡°I know a guy.¡±

    ¡°Andrew!¡± ¡°Hey.¡± Emily and Ana called out to the newcomer.

    ¡°The one and only.¡± Andrew walked up from one of the side streets, ¡°I was heading to your place when I heard something about a cat.¡±

    ¡°I am not eating one of your virtual horses.¡± Ana rolled her eyes as he caught up to them, ¡°I want a live horse. Preferably dead and served with chips.¡±

    ¡°Okay, maybe for your birthday.¡± He smiled and suddenly brought out his hands from his pockets, revealing two more candy bars, ¡°You guys have a serious addiction and I am here to make sure you get your fix.¡±

    ¡°Damn right.¡± Ana smiled heartily and they all began to walk down the street, ¡°We¡¯re still heading to the food court. A candy bar isn¡¯t going to stop me from eating you two if I don¡¯t get a burger in me soon.¡±

    ¡°Fine but I¡¯ll just tell you now that I taste like chicken. Here you go.¡± He passed one of the bars to Ana, ¡°And of course, a strawberry sprinkle for you Milly.¡± He smiled as he passed the other to Emily.

    ¡°Mmm. You are completely forgiven for not seeing us for two weeks.¡± Emily smiled as she munched on the snack, ¡°Playing more Zodiac Online?¡±

    ¡°You know it.¡± Andrew¡¯s smile widened, ¡°We¡¯ll probably be able to ride dragons in this upcoming patch. Man, I¡¯m so pumped.¡±

    ¡°Dragons are cool and all,¡± Ana cut off Andrew before he could go on his usual five-hour spiel on how great Zodiac Online was, ¡°But what rank are you now?¡±

    ¡°Grr.¡± Andrew suddenly hunched his back, ¡°I fell down to the top five thousand. It hasn¡¯t been a good patch for priests that¡¯s for sure.¡±

    ¡°Holy crap.¡± Ana almost spit out her candy bar, ¡°Aren¡¯t there like sixteen million players or something? Being in the top five thousand is insane!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but I was in the top two thousand priests until recently. Then suddenly Colt¡¯s Crew comes gunning for me like hyenas. Damn Troy.¡±

    ¡°Oh no, you poor thing.¡± Ana said with a sarcastic grin, ¡°You must be so disappointed.¡±

    ¡°Oh, woe is me.¡± Andrew put his hand over his forehead and pretended to swoon, ¡°If only you two hadn¡¯t stopped playing. You know we¡¯d be able to make one kick-ass team.¡±

    ¡°You two maybe.¡± Eily interjected, ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯d do anything except drag you guys down.¡±

    Andrewwrapped his arm around Emily and smiled gently, ¡°Stop. Don¡¯t put yourself down-¡±

    ¡°-I already said that. I said those exact same words you copy cat.¡± Ana moved near Emily and flicked Andrew in the forehead, ¡°Get off my best friend you lowly top five thousand plebian.¡±

    ¡°Hah.¡± Andrew jumped back, ¡°It¡¯s true though. The game isn¡¯t about inherent skill. You just need practice and items. Lots of items. We¡¯d bring you up to speed in no time Milly. Mark my words we could make you a professional.¡±

    ¡°Professional,¡± Emily had a dreamy look in her eyes, ¡°But I don¡¯t want to ride a dragon. Unicorns are where the fun is. And horses.¡±

    ¡°Unicorns are just horses with a horn glued on.¡± Andrew said dismissively, ¡°I mean, don¡¯t we already have those guys somewhere around here? Big, grey things.¡±

    ¡°They call them rhinos.¡± Ana rolled her eyes, ¡°And those poor things went extinct.¡±

    ¡°Damn. Actually,¡± His eyes lit up, ¡°I was thinking about the narwhals. Man those things are awesome to ride in the ocean.¡±

    Ana smiled as Andrew once again forced Zodiac Online into the conversation. He and Emily talked animatedly about the various sea creatures they could ride in the game as Ana looked around and distracted herself with the surroundings. She had always been more about playing with friends than talking about the game itself. She knew Emily was mainly listening because it was Andrew talking but that guy was seriously some sort of encyclopedia.

    Soon a familiar sight reached their eyes as the food court came into view and Ana breathed a sigh of relief. Emily and Andrew were starting to look mighty tempting to her hungry eyes.

    ¡°Come on!¡± She suddenly shouted and startled the chatting duo, ¡°I¡¯ll race you two slowpokes there. The last one to the shops has to pay for the food.¡±

    Ana leaped forward before they could reply and grinned as she heard the loud shouts of her friends as they struggled to catch up with her. A video game player and a girl that hated to exercise. She knew it was unfair but she still laughed with joy as she slowed down to give them a fairer chance. She would use the last few seconds after they¡¯d caught up with her to sprint forward and beat them both at the last second.

    These were the good days.

    Then the ground began to swim and her vision began to turn black.

    ¡°Hey-¡± She turned around to face the two, ¡°Wha-¡±

    ¡°ANA.¡±

    She felt a round of nausea crossing over her body and she could hear Emily screaming her name as suddenly the world closed in around her. She was faintly aware of a sharp pain hitting the back of her head and her eyes closing as she gazed up at the sky.

    ¡°Holy crap, is your friend okay?¡± A bystander rushed towards Emily and Andrew as they reached Ana¡¯s prone body.

    She was unconscious.

    Andrew was silent as he quickly assessed the situation. He didn¡¯t want to cause Ana any harm but he knew they needed to act fast. She had taken a nasty fall.

    ¡®Did she trip?¡¯ Andrew felt confused by the suddenness of the accident but he didn¡¯t see any rocks or rough areas.

    But then again Ana had been running pretty fast.

    ¡®This isn¡¯t the time to think about that.¡¯ Andrew slapped his cheek lightly to bring his thoughts back on track, he was starting to panic, ¡®Your friend needs help.¡¯

    ¡°Hold her head still.¡± Andrew commanded the bystander who obliged, ¡°Milly I need you to call Ana¡¯s mum. I¡¯m going to call a ride and we¡¯ll drive to the hospital.¡± Andrew turned the Emily and saw she was panicking, then his face softened and he reached out for her hand and squeezes it gently, ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on but we need to stay calm.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ Okay.¡± Emily took a deep breath and took out her phone, ¡°Yeah. Thanks Andrew.¡±

    Andrew withdrew his hand and brought out his own phone to call the taxi service.

    ¡°Hey.¡± He handed the phone to the bystander and motioned for the stranger to move, ¡°Could you tell them to come and pick us up? I need to check for some stuff.¡±

    The stranger hurriedly agreed and took over the phone call while Andrew held Ana¡¯s head gently and poked around with his fingers. She had taken a nasty fall and he didn¡¯t want to leave to chance any bumps or scrapes that might have been caused by the fall.

    Andrew cancelled the call and breathed a sigh of relief as he moved his hands carefully around Ana¡¯s neck and checked for any injuries from the fall. He couldn¡¯t feel anything wrong.

    Then he removed her scarf and felt the skin underneath it.

    ¡°What¡­ What are these?¡± Andrew withdrew his hand as though it had been burned by fire, ¡°Emily how long have these been here?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Emily was quickly getting over her panic and rushing to call Ana¡¯s mum, ¡°How long has what been where?¡±

    ¡°Her neck.¡±

    Andrew¡¯s voice turned grim.

    ¡°How long have these lumps been on her neck.¡±

    ****

    ¡°Bloody hell.¡± Ana woke with a start, ¡°God damn."

    She''d been having the best dream.

    ¡°OH-MY-GOD.¡± Ana flinched as a loud voice pierced through her ears.

    ¡°Milly?¡± Ana lifted herself up and then suddenly felt her arms give way as though they weren¡¯t able to support her body, ¡°What the hell.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t try to move. Oh man, Andrew had to go out to get lunch right when you wake up.¡± Ana was vaguely aware of Emily shuffling around in the corner and then she blinked as her friend¡¯s head popped up next to her.

    She couldn¡¯t move her head.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Ana was beginning to feel panicked.

    ¡°Hey,¡± Ana could feel Emily wrapping her hands around her own, ¡°Relax a bit. You hit your head pretty hard in the fall and¡­ well, I forgot the specifics but they put a little cast around your neck that you¡¯ll need to wear for a bit. It¡¯s just a precaution they said so it¡¯ll be off in no time.¡±

    Ana suddenly realised the reason she couldn¡¯t move her head was because her neck was being held in place but something. The cast that Emily was talking about.

    ¡°The doctor said you were nearly starved to death!¡± Emily¡¯s cheek¡¯s blushed a furious red, ¡°No wonder you¡¯re out here collapsing on the street. He doesn¡¯t even know when the last time you ate was. Full meals, not a candy bar. No wonder I thought you looked so skinny!¡±

    Ana looked up and frowned.

    She couldn¡¯t remember the last time she¡¯d eaten either. She just hadn¡¯t felt hungry. But she still thought she¡¯d been eating enough to sustain herself. She wasn¡¯t bad at that sort of diet.

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re awake.¡± A new voice entered Ana¡¯s ears and, ¡°I¡¯ll bring in your mother. She¡¯s been very worried.¡±

    Ana heard shuffling steps and then the newcomer was gone, ¡°Who was that?¡±

    ¡°The doctor.¡± Ana could feel Emily patting her hands absentmindedly, ¡°He¡¯s been running around doing all sorts of tests. Your mum had to sign off on a few as well but I never got an answer why.¡±

    ¡®Tests?¡¯ Ana was confused.

    Had she hit her head that hard?

    ¡°ANA.¡± Ana heard her mother¡¯s loud voice shouting and she smiled.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so loud.¡± She gave a light-hearted rebuttal as she felt her mother hugging her gently.

    That just made Maria talk louder as she kept repeating her daughter''s name over and over again. Ana smiled gently. It looked like she¡¯d worried her friends and family a lot more than she¡¯d intended.

    Then she saw the doctor gazing at her with a grim expression. He moved over until he was fully in her eyesight and she could see his hands trembling slightly.

    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve woken up. I have some news that needs to be told to you. I would normally wait a little while for you to recover, however, this news is rather urgent.¡±

    ¡°We have run some tests on the recommendation and information given by your friend, Andrew. I¡¯m afraid¡­¡± The doctor hesitated

    ¡°Doc?¡±

    Ana could see him eyeing Emily and she put on a firm expression.

    ¡°She stays here. Anything you have to say to me can be said in front of Milly.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve had a thorough look with the permission of your mother. We will, of course, have to run some further tests now that you are awake and as soon as you¡¯ve rested a bit¡­¡± he took in a deep breath, ¡°But I¡¯m sorry to say that you have stage four Hodgkin''s lymphoma¡±

    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Emily¡¯s forehead crinkled as she frowned, ¡°Ana¡­¡±

    She stopped her sentence as she saw the expression on Ana¡¯s face.

    It was something she had never seen before in her friend.

    Fear.

    ¡°It means¡­ I have cancer.¡±

 Roxxy and Thirds Story: Destruction & Spirit

    ¡°God it¡¯s finally over.¡±

    Roxy leaned back against the wall with a flourish.

    ¡°What are you complaining about. I did all the work.¡± Beside her an expressionless girl typed furiously into her computer.

    ¡°Joy-joy-joy.¡± Roxy watched Joy hammering into her keyboard and grinned, ¡°I gave motivational support.¡±

    Roxy took the time to scroll through their latest blog post. It was an article detailing yellow ranked weapons in Zodiac Online. It gave potential stats as well as ways to obtain the weapons. Given how rare these kinds of yellow ranked items were it was like they¡¯d unleashed a goldmine onto a starved mining town. Players were commenting and debating the validity of information and after a few minutes, the entire thing was already reaching the top of the official Zodiac forums.

    ¡°The yellow ranked weapon information is big enough to tide us over for now. But if we want to be a big name in the Zodiac Online information industry we have to establish ourselves soon.¡± Joy typed a note into her computer and frowned, ¡°We need a hook. Something that everybody needs but nobody knows they want to know.¡±

    ¡°OH.¡± Roxy shouted.

    Joy swiveled in her chair at her friend¡¯s exclamation and looked at her with anticipation, ¡°You thought of something?¡±

    ¡°No. I just thought making a loud noise would get our creative juices flowing.¡± Roxy sighed, ¡°But I guess not. Oh-oh-oh¡± Roxy¡¯s eyes shone as she gazed at her monitor, ¡°Third is online.¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s smart¡± Roxy stated simply, ¡°I¡¯m going to check with him and see if he knows anything we don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Just make sure not to mention the blog.¡± Joy didn¡¯t want anyone on their team finding out about their real lives, ¡°But try to get his permission as well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah-yeah-yeah, I know the drill,¡± Roxy was already making her way to her capsule.

    Joy sighed at her friend¡¯s expression.

    She could already tell Roxy was totally going to tell Third about the blog.

    ****

    Third gazed calmly at the leaves floating in the air around him. He¡¯d had to hit a few trees to get to the point where there had been enough leaves in the air to experiment with but eventually he had made it. Now he was sitting down with his hands grasping his wizard staff as he concentrated on his targets.

    Each leaf was making its way slowly through the sky and circling around him as though he was surrounded by an invisible barrier. To the observer, it looked like the wind was blowing each one in wildly different directions. Left, right, up and down. Each leaf was gliding and even if they passed each other they didn¡¯t get pulled into another direction. It was a scene of organised madness.

    Third blinked and tried to concentrate. If the average observer could see leaves, all Third could see was the fifteen transparent balls that ranged from a few centimetres in front of him to five meters away in the middle of the air.

    Each one was a separate focus point.

    Leaves moved in an undefined sequence as Third constantly shifted the direction the focus points would shift the objects to. Sometimes he would make a mistake and instead of sending a leaf towards another focus point he would accidentally send it into the air and it would fall to the ground. But overall he seemed to have a large success rate. It was only when he tried to make more than fifteen focus points that he found it difficult to concentrate.

    ¡°The way you are now, you will never be able to reach an A rank.¡±

    Third recalled the words stated by Lass, the attendant at the Magi Guild of Lum, that had administered his test of control. The magi NPC had seemed absolutely sure that Third wouldn¡¯t be able to pass the B rank score of the test that he¡¯d achieved. It had hit him hard to be told that he had reached a wall in his abilities.

    Then to make matters worse for his pride, Seven had demonstrated a technique had hadn¡¯t even thought of. Of course, it had occurred to him to use the focus points to deflect enemy attacks, but then he¡¯d given up after he realised that arrows and swords couldn¡¯t be deflected. He had never thought to connect them to create an infinitely looping circle.

    ¡®If I had, would my rift attack exist as it currently does?¡¯

    His entire class revolved around his rifts and they were fired one at a time because he was used to forming focus points one at a time. The system had simply adapted to his playing style. He had never tried to form more than one for an attack. He had never even thought to send one attack through to another focus point and loop them around.

    He reached up and grabbed a leaf from where it was constantly stuck in a loop. He could feel every single object that passed through his focus points and he smiled lightly. Seven could only form at most four focus points, and even then she had to make sure they were only a few centimetres away from her body. He regained some of his confidence as he released the fifteen focus points and reformed them in different areas. He would make sure that he stayed one step ahead of everyone else.

    ¡°Oh-oh, you¡¯re online awfully early today, thinker man.¡±

    Third was startled by a voice popping up right behind him.

    ¡°Roxxy?¡± He looked over his shoulder and sure enough, there was the awe-filled girl watching the leaves floating around him, ¡°How- Oh, I see, you logged off here.¡±

    His focus points couldn¡¯t detect something that hadn¡¯t existed in the game. If Roxxy hadn¡¯t walked through them then it meant that she¡¯d either teleported or logged into the game at that spot.

    ¡°So this is what Seven did?¡± Roxxy had heard from the excited female magi all about how Attracting¡¯s blue light hadn¡¯t been able to reach her.

    She watched the leaves closely and quickly worked out where the focus points were situated. Each time a leaf suspiciously changed directions in mid-air it meant that there was an invisible focus point located in that spot.

    ¡°What happens if I do this?¡± She poked one of the focus points and watched curiously as her finger went through the air normally, then she knocked a leaf off course as it went through the focus point and brushed against her finger, ¡°Oh. So you can¡¯t use them on much more than leaves?¡±

    Third kept the focus points up as she moved from one to the other like a bee discovering flowers for the first time.

    ¡°You are certainly curious today. Is this about your blog? I found the piece on yellow ranked weapons quite informative.¡± Third felt a smile tugging at his lips as Roxxy froze in surprise for a millisecond before continuing to act as though he hadn¡¯t startled her.

    ¡°Blog? What blog?¡± Roxxy put on an innocent expression and then began swiping at the leaves as they reached the focus points, ¡°So-so-so, can you manipulate anything bigger than a leaf? What about an arrow?¡±

    ¡°Too quick for me to react.¡± Third grimaced, ¡°Perhaps someday. But the rifts and focus points are too small to accommodate anything larger or warp their directions.¡±

    He had been trying to tackle that exact same problem for the last few days. Even before the Dragon¡¯s Legacy quest had ended he¡¯d asked Archy to fire arrow after arrow into his focus points and yet he¡¯d had no success. If he didn¡¯t have a focus point up already then he could forget about making one in time. He would have to do it before the arrow reached him.

    ¡°Well then. Let¡¯s think.¡± Roxxy sat down next to Third and pointed to the remaining leaves that were endlessly floating through the air, ¡°How spread out can those things be? Can you make like thirty in one spot? Can you make a wall of clumped up ¡®focus points¡¯ that act like a shield.¡±

    Third dismissed the focus points and concentrated in one area. He formed rifts this time so that Roxxy could see them in action.

    ¡°The rifts can stack on top of each other. But they don¡¯t do anything to enhance the other rifts and the damage does not multiple or change. It stays the same as if there was one rift present in the location.¡± Third continued to form rifts in the one spot but nothing changed, they didn¡¯t grow in size or power.

    It was the same for focus points. Even if he stacked them they wouldn¡¯t gain the ability to deflect bigger objects.

    ¡°So its a waste of mana.¡± Roxxy concluded, ¡°What about the wall of focus points? Not rifts, since those can be seen and dodged easily.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay.¡± Third decided to humor her, she had come up with quite a few good ideas, ¡°There.¡±

    He pointed towards the area in front of them, "There are about fifteen clustered around in front of you.¡±

    Roxxy lifted her hand and brought her buckler out. She threw the small shield straight into the spot that Third had pointed at and felt no resistance as the shield flew harmlessly through the air and smacked against a tree, causing more leaves to fall onto the ground.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing there is there?¡± She frowned as the shield returned to her, ¡°You¡¯re just messing with me.¡±

    ¡°What, me?¡± It was Third¡¯s turn to act innocent, ¡°Maybe just a little bit.¡±

    He lifted his staff and focused intensely, ¡°Okay.¡± He could see the focus points forming into a group, they couldn¡¯t stack on top of each other so each one was about two centimetres apart from each other, ¡°Now there is actually a wall of focus points there.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡± Roxxy brought her shield up and threw it again, ¡°Fool me once Third¡­¡±

    Then she felt the shield pull slightly down.

    ¡°Oh-my-god.¡± Roxxy saw the shield correct itself and then continue on a slightly different course as before, ¡°That¡¯s not that great.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Third had been hoping for a little bit more of an impact, ¡°Even if the shield passes through it will not be swayed greatly. I would be better off dodging with my feet.¡±

    The shield hadn¡¯t actually hit that many of the focus points but even if it had hit all fifteen he doubted it would make a difference. It was simply a limitation put in place by the game that large objects or even extremely fast ones wouldn¡¯t be greatly impacted by the focus points.

    ¡°Damn.¡± Roxxy was genuinely disappointed, ¡°So how did you know about the blog?¡±

    ¡°You posted a video analysis of one of my matches against Dark Horse.¡± Third chuckled as he saw an expression of guilt cross over Roxxy¡¯s face, ¡°I don¡¯t mind. But I was curious as to the identity of the person taking the video. I knew it couldn¡¯t be Seven or Archy. They were in the video. That just leaves you three.¡±

    ¡°Three?¡± Roxxy tilted her head, ¡°You¡¯re including TidalWave?¡±

    ¡°I do not know him.¡± Third said with certainty, ¡°So for all I know he could be one of the people helping to run a blog. But since he comes with Seven as a package I doubt he¡¯s involved. That just leaves you and Spark Joy. Two experienced tanks with the ability to fight at a high level.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    ¡°Maybe we just took a video and sent it to a blog for fun.¡± Roxxy rebutted.

    ¡°It also helps that you have the same name here and on your blog.¡± Third quickly countered her argument.

    ¡°Right.¡± Roxxy smiled.

    She had actually gotten Dark Horse¡¯s permission to post that video. But now that she had Third¡¯s she was totally in the clear.

    ¡°I really do enjoy the analysis you give on the various fights. They¡¯re all sent to you via email I suppose?¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡± Roxxy didn¡¯t even bother to hide it at this point, ¡°We¡¯re pretty popular if I do say so myself,¡± Third could see her practically puffing up in pride, ¡°Of course, it¡¯s mostly a side thing. But I really like doing it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s as important as you want it to be.¡± Third agreed, ¡°Is that why you started playing Zodiac Online? To establish yourselves in a newly forming game?¡±

    ¡°Ab-so-lutely.¡± Roxxy emphasised the words and grinned, ¡°Imagine the clout we¡¯ll gain from being in the game from the beginning. We just need that one hook that¡¯ll cement us as great. Video analysis is done by the dozen online and even if not everybody has yellow ranked items yet, it¡¯s not something the general public really needs to know at the moment. Not enough people get them to make anyone except the rich and lucky curious.¡± She motioned a grand arc with her hands, ¡°I want something absolutely shocking.¡±

    At her words, Third lifted himself off the ground and grinned.

    ¡°Well then, something shocking is what we shall have to find.¡± Third offered Roxxy a hand and she accepted as he helped lift her off the ground, ¡°There is, of course, one easy way to discover new and shocking facts about the game.¡±

    ¡°Quests?¡± Roxxy put out hopefully.

    Third shook his head.

    ¡°Fighting.¡±

    He grinned and Roxxy suddenly found herself doubting her eyes and ears.

    It seemed like Third already had something planned for her.

    ****

    ¡®God damn I love fighting against magic.¡¯

    Roxxy was having a blast as she weaved and bobbed through the rifts that Third was forming around her. She could tell that he was taking it easy as she moved through the trees and tried to stay out of his sight.

    She just couldn¡¯t work out why.

    Third was never the kind of person to take it easy in duels. Against all of them, he had chosen the path of killing or being killed. He didn¡¯t like wasting time and in fact, he was the person with the lowest duel count out of all of them.

    ¡®So why is he suddenly taking it easy now?¡¯ Roxxy narrowed her eyes as she viewed him with suspicion.

    A strange feeling had been growing inside her from the moment he suggested the duel. He knew something she didn¡¯t, and that made her mad.

    ¡°Well,¡± She called out to him, ¡°I¡¯m just going to have to make you show me what you¡¯re hiding.¡±

    She dodged as Third replied to her words with another rift. When she was fighting the wizard she had to be constantly on the move or else he would just form a rift on her body and deal massive damage. Luckily he had a small cooldown between each rift being formed and they weren¡¯t that difficult to jump out of before they¡¯d fully come to life.

    She lifted her shield and threw it towards him. Third dodged to the side and she grinned. She watched as the shield bounced off the tree she¡¯d sent it flying towards and then ran forward as it smashed into his back. His eyes widened as he was stunned and Roxxy took the opportunity to sprint towards him. She was already well into close range.

    Roxxy had already forgotten her blog worries, she was just letting out steam and having fun now, ¡®I¡¯ve got you now you magic throwing bas-¡¯

    [You have lost the duel against player; Third.]

    Roxxy¡¯s eyes widened as she suddenly found herself flying through the air and her body slammed into a tree.

    ¡°What just happened!¡± She exclaimed as she revived.

    She hadn¡¯t even managed to see what had hit her as she ran towards Third. But somehow she had been instantly killed despite her caution.

    ¡°You were stunned.¡± She pointed accusatory towards Third, ¡°What sneaky trick did you pull.¡±

    Third grinned but didn¡¯t reply. Instead, Roxxy saw another duel request come through and with gritted teeth she accepted. This time they started from a long-range distance.

    She wanted to watch his every move.

    ¡®Okay-okay-okay¡¯ She thought to herself as they began the usual dance of firing rifts and dodging rifts, ¡®This guy has to be doing something differently.¡¯

    She knew all of his skills by heart, just like she knew the skills of her entire team. Third could form rifts wherever he wanted but he also had the ability to turn invisible and summon a spear that fired at enemies.

    ¡®Could he have turned invisible?¡¯ Roxxy dismissed the thought immediately, even if he had been invisible he couldn¡¯t kill her in one hit like that, ¡®Could he had hit me with the spear?¡¯

    She hadn¡¯t felt or seen it.

    ¡°You¡¯re getting sloppy.¡± She called out the Third, ¡°Your rifts are hardly brushing me.¡±

    Roxxy wasn¡¯t just taunting him. His rifts were actually a lot less precise than usual and far easier to dodge. Normally it was like trying to walk on pins and needles. One wrong move would get you skewered by a rift. But during these last two fights, he was clearly not putting his all into it. It was like he wanted her to get near him.

    Again Third just grinned and continued to fire off rifts.

    He moved back as Roxxy got closer and as soon as she was in the original area he¡¯d been in she threw her shield at him to try and force him to make a wrong move.

    [You have lost the duel against player; Third.]

    Roxxy blinked as she suddenly found herself pushed onto the ground.

    She hadn¡¯t even seen what had hit her.

    ¡°Oh good. It worked.¡± Third leaned over her avatar and Roxxy stuck her tongue out at him, ¡°I was a little worried this time.¡±

    Roxxy grunted and lifted herself up, ¡°Okay, what¡¯s going on here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not so loose-lipped that I¡¯d spoil the surprise.¡± Third¡¯s eyes were twinkling as he teased the increasingly curious Roxxy, ¡°Let¡¯s duel again.¡±

    ¡°Alright-alright-alright.¡± Roxxy agreed with ferocity.

    ¡®Time to see what this guy is hiding.¡¯

    ****

    As Roxxy weaved through the trees Third remembered how angry he¡¯d been when he was taken out of the Corruptor fight.

    It didn¡¯t matter that he had total trust in Seven or that he¡¯d lost an item. He hadn¡¯t even felt placated by the fact that he¡¯d been given more gold than he would need. It was enough to tide him over for quite a while in this game.

    He was pissed off because he hadn¡¯t been able to contribute anything meaningful to the fight.

    He¡¯d taken out two enemies of course. But when push came to shove he had done the least to impact the fight compared to his other ranged allies. Seven had ended the battle, but in the end, it was Archy that saved more lives than even the Nimble Magi.

    The archer had shot arrows that not only damaged the boss but also allowed him to easily pop its eyes, and the speed at which he fired meant that his arrows almost overlapped as they had taken out vital area after vital area. The archer had popped far more eyes than Seven had. This had caused the entire fight to shift in their favour as the tentacles had stopped smashing down against their allies.

    Third grasped his weapon tightly. He hadn¡¯t been able to help at all because his rifts would deal damage but not pierce the enemy. He couldn¡¯t damage the boss¡¯s eyes at all. But he still had a supporting class instead of one that deals tons of damage.

    ¡®I got you.¡¯ Third grinned as he shifted his staff and watched Roxxy blast forward with a yell.

    This attack was his answer to the concerns he had.

    Then he summoned a rift and finished her off. He watched the tank do a dance of irritation as she tried to figure out what he was doing to kill her. It was going to be difficult for her to figure out unless one of the others decided to tell her.

    He¡¯d spent hours trying to figure out what he¡¯d done wrong. He was clearly skilled enough in terms of control and versatility to deal damage but he didn¡¯t have the creativity Seven seemed to have with her abilities. More importantly, he didn¡¯t have the sheer explosive power that the other wizard, Glacier, had.

    She¡¯d somehow managed to gain an area of effect ability that dealt damage and possessed crowd control.

    He decided after the Corruptor battle that he would start from there.

    It stood to reason that he should have a way to obtain such a skill himself. But unfortunately, he was stuck with the three skills he had obtained when he chose the class. Sure, he had seen NPCs giving out skills unrelated to the class, but attack skills weren¡¯t something that could just be created. And that was where Third had hesitated.

    That was where he¡¯d begun to change his way of thinking.

    Third lifted his staff as Roxxy charged at him again. She still chose the furthest range possible for the start of the duel so that she could try and see what exactly he was doing that she was missing. Third obliged her by not even hiding his movements.

    In his eyes, the field in front of him lit up with transparent balls; focus points.

    ¡°Rift Destruction.¡±

    Third didn¡¯t have to say the name of the attack out loud, but he wanted to give Roxxy a chance.

    Unseen by the tank the fifteen focus points Third had made began to warp and change until they formed purple and black rifts floating in mid-air. The entire process took less than a second. He activated the detonation the moment Roxxy was in the middle of the focus point field and before she could react the rifts exploded simultaneously, causing a shockwave that buffeted her with damage and killed her.

    If he wanted to he could detonate one, or he could cause all fifteen to self-destruct. It was versatile and had a wide and varied range.

    This was his area of effect attack.

    ¡°Ha.¡± Third let out a breath.

    It was extremely taxing to constantly create focus points without much rest between battles.

    He grinned as Roxxy sunk into a pensive state. She wasn¡¯t able to see the attack happening because it was so quick and Third made sure to activate the focus points changing into rifts once the focus points were out of her sight. But she had probably already worked out that running straight towards him wasn¡¯t a good tactic.

    Sure enough Third soon saw Roxxy dart off to the side and become lost in the trees. She was trying to launch a sneak attack on him.

    ¡®Nice try. But it won¡¯t get you very far.¡¯

    Third smiled as he re-created the focus points until the were surrounding him in a sphere. Unfortunately, they wouldn¡¯t deal as much damage as they would clumped together when they exploded, due to their distance from each other. But he didn¡¯t know which direction Roxxy would come from so it was a risk he¡¯d have to take.

    He watched the focus points carefully. If he accidentally used it too much then he¡¯d run out of mana. It used up far more than his other abilities. But could be deadly when put to proper use.

    ¡®I guess that''ll help you a lot.¡¯ He thought to himself as Roxxy¡¯s shield suddenly passed one of his focus points.

    He jumped back with a smile.

    He had wanted to reveal this after he¡¯d perfected it so that his team wouldn¡¯t go and accidentally cripple their future potential. But when Roxxy turned up he suddenly found himself okay with revealing his find a little early. Especially if it could help her in some way.

    He grasped his weapon and detonated the focus points the moment Roxxy stepped into his field of attack.

    He felt like showing off a bit.

    ****

    Roxxy was feeling pretty pissed off.

    She knew Third was just toying with her now but she still couldn¡¯t work out how. From the back, the side, the front and even below and above he seemed to be able to send her flying in any direction. She was having a hard time figuring out what she was missing. Clearly it was something to do with invisibility.

    ¡®Is he making his rifts invisible? But he can only summon one at a time.¡¯ Roxxy shook her head.

    She had to get to the bottom of this.

    ¡®First. I have to get the feel of his range.¡¯

    Roxxy smashed her shield against Third as she ran up to him.

    ¡®Second. I have to trick him into activating whatever it is.¡¯

    Then she saw him shift his weapon and a smile tugged at her lips.

    ¡®Third. I¡¯ll have you show me what you¡¯re hiding you bastard.¡¯

    Roxxy jumped back just as she saw Third move his staff and she finally caught a glimpse of something. There were rifts forming all around the spot she¡¯d just been in and before she could react they exploded, sending her face down into the ground. She grunted as she lifted herself up. Luckily she had moved out of the way so she was actually mostly unharmed.

    ¡®That wasn¡¯t one of his skills. He doesn¡¯t have anything like that.¡¯

    She quickly brought her shield up and realised that Third wasn¡¯t attacking.

    He was just standing there with a smile on his face.

    Then she realised what she¡¯d been missing. No, what she¡¯d been blocking herself off from. That one piece of information that she had never known she needed but suddenly realised was something everyone in the game would want to know. Skills didn¡¯t just have to be given by a class advancement.

    They could be created.

    ¡®Third¡­ You goddamn monster.¡¯

    Roxxy watched as suddenly more rifts formed around her and exploded...

    -Blocked

    -Blocked

    But instead of flying back or being damaged Roxxy was standing in the same spot, perfectly fine. Roxxy¡¯s shield blocked the attack as it hovered above her head. It had moved to intercept the exploding rifts just as they¡¯d been detonated.

    ¡°So you just have to use your imagination.¡± Roxxy grinned, ¡°It was so simple this entire time.¡±

    She hadn¡¯t intended for it to happen, but somehow she¡¯d brought the shield up to block the attack. In fact, she¡¯d done it completely by accident.

    The moment she¡¯d seen the rifts exploding and discovered what Third was trying to show her, she¡¯d felt something click.

    The shield wasn¡¯t even being held by her. It was hovering in the air right above her head as though it was possessed. She had let go of it the moment she felt that Third¡¯s attack was coming.

    No. The shield had moved on its own to defend her.

    It was as if it had a will of its own.

    [Skill created; Shield Spirit.]

    [1/4 Skill creations used.]

    Roxxy punched the air in excitement.

    Soon the forums would be on fire.

 Book 2 Chapter 1: Violet & Trog the Frog.

    ''Not again.''

    The drunkard was sitting in her wheelchair.

    Through the blare of the television she saw her father with a beer in hand rocking back and forth on her chair. Knowing him she probably wouldn¡¯t be able to use it until the morning. That''s if he didn¡¯t break it again in the meantime. She quickly dismissed the familiar sight and hopped across the entrance.

    He barely seemed to notice her as she passed by him.

    She knew that even if he had noticed her he¡¯d ignore her. He had tried to block her out of his life completely lately and if he kept drinking maybe he''d succeed. He didn¡¯t even like to look at her if he could help it.

    ¡®So god damn selfish.¡¯ She pushed him out of her mind as she lifted herself up the stairs and made her way to her room.

    Her father wasn¡¯t the one she was worried about. He was pathetic but she could sympathise with him. It was her other parent that she wanted to avoid.

    Then she heard the clicking of heels.

    ¡°Who told you that you could go out.¡± The voice was so cold that Violet could feel her blood turning to ice.

    Or maybe it was just fear.

    Her mother was resting next to the door to her room with her arms crossed. Violet had wanted to avoid this woman at all costs.

    ¡°You think I can survive without sunlight?¡± Violet didn¡¯t hold back the poison in her tone.

    ¡°Do you think I can survive if someone I know saw you?¡± Her mother shot back.

    Violet rolled her eyes. She hadn¡¯t expected anything less.

    Her mother was probably the person she knew best. Every single annoyance, every single routine, and every single reaction. But that was just the personality she had at home. It wasn''t anything like the mask she wore outside.

    Violet had given up on getting her mother''s sympathy the moment she refused to ¡®downgrade¡¯ to a single-story house for the sake of a cripple. Then Violet had begged her mother for the downstairs bedroom but her mother insisted that since it was the master bedroom it would look bad on her if she was seen using any of the smaller rooms.

    So Violet continued to use the stairs. She couldn¡¯t even bring her wheelchair up to her room. Her mother had refused to purchase a second one. But Violet couldn¡¯t do anything to fight against it.

    "Are you going to help with the door?"

    At least she hadn¡¯t been able to fight it before.

    ¡°If you want to be so independent open it yourself.¡± her mother stepped to the side and then began to walk down to join her father, ¡°Go do me a favour and play that game of yours. It keeps you out of my face and makes all of us happy.¡±

    Violet held back tears as her mother left. Before she would have cried a storm no matter who was within hearing range. But now she had a reason to hold back and persist. She had found a single object that had given her life more purpose.

    She lifted her body with one arm and turned the doorknob with her free hand. She had done the same routine lately when coming into her room. She ignored everything inside and instead crawled to the large machine that sat in the corner of her room.

    Zodiac Online.

    It had been released almost two weeks ago. It was not the first of its kind but it was quickly gaining in popularity. Violet had been playing it from the beginning.

    Her mother had surprisingly agreed to buy the virtual reality capsule and even the game itself. She had managed to convince the woman by telling her the game would keep her inside her room most of her free time. She would have something to do to pass the time and stay out of the sight of her parents. It was a win-win situation as far as they were concerned.

    She dragged herself to the capsule and entered the open door. The moment she entered she sat down on the specially made seating that supported her body. She closed her eyes as she entered the game and felt a wave of relief flooding over her.

    This was the only time of day that she could truly feel alive.

    Inside the game, she could use the parts of her body that she''d lost the ability to use in real life. She had abilities she couldn¡¯t use anywhere else in the world and she was a walking killing machine.

    From the moment she entered the game she had excelled. She had picked the toughest area to start off the game, the Underground. Then she made it her mission to excel in every aspect of the game involving movement. She could move her sword like no other and she could dodge and weave between attacks like a fish in water.

    She was completely in her element when she could walk.

    Violet had spent the better part of the week exploring the parts of the Underground that the other players didn¡¯t dare to tread. She had soloed monsters well above her level and had even gained a class that allowed her to excel in solo play.

    She had quickly gained a name for herself in the nearby city thanks to a challenge she had issued to all the players in the bulletin board. She had told them that they could try to kill her or duel her whenever they ran into her and if they succeeded she would give the winner gold. If she lost she wouldn¡¯t ask anything from them.

    She had won every challenge.

    It was no exaggeration to say that she was the player that had gone furthest in the Underground and had even logged out in a place that other players would consider suicidal to even be in alone.

    So she wasn¡¯t expecting to be immediately confronted by a handsome blonde man staring directly at her as she logged on.

    ¡°Hello Violet.¡±

    The man smiled at her and extended his hand,

    ¡°My name is Attracting.¡±

    ****

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this!¡± Archy began his usual complaints as he fired arrow after arrow into a nearby mob, ¡°Gah!¡±

    Seven watched the monster-hunting archer with mischievous eyes, ¡°Wow. I bet it¡¯s such a good bow as well. Damn. That¡¯s really a pity, don''t you think.¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡± Archy agreed with her and smashed arrow after arrow into the nearby mobs.

    Every now and then he¡¯d mix it up and shoot a leaf that fluttered down from the trees. Ever since he¡¯d met that archer, Gyro, from Colt¡¯s Crew he¡¯d been clocking overtime practicing his shooting and aiming skills.

    ¡°Not this again.¡± Third appeared next to Seven and sighed, ¡°The man gets riled up enough without help.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s so much fun.¡± Seven whistled innocently, ¡°Besides we¡¯re all thinking the same thing.¡±

    Seven brought out her new wand and watched it glow yellow. She was happy that she¡¯d gotten the rare item and she had no doubt it was probably something that would knock her enemies into the next dimension with its power. But she couldn¡¯t use it. None of them could.

    ¡°A slight oversight for sure.¡± Third agreed, ¡°But not something we should get hung up on.¡±

    She brought out her own weapon for inspection and sighed again at the message that appeared.

    [Weapon: Sealed. Condition for use: Slay a dragon. Dragons slain 0/1]

    It was the same message that had appeared on all of their weapons. Unfortunately, the team found out the hard way that once a weapon reached yellow-rank or higher you needed to complete a quest of some sort to equip them.

    Seven could take out her shiny new wand to show off to people but other than that it wasn¡¯t any better than fighting with a stick. Since she got the same message as the others it seemed like the weapon wanted her to slay another dragon on top of the one she¡¯d already killed with Attracting and IEatTortillas. She guessed that the system didn¡¯t count the one she¡¯d killed because it was too low level and damaged.

    After asking IEatTortillas she found out that apparently this was a common thing among all the yellow ranked weapons he¡¯d obtained. He¡¯d managed to do the quests easily because all the creatures he needed to kill were right there when he got the weapons. But the dragon had long left its cave alone and now they were all stuck with a bunch of useless weapons.

    ¡°How long does this thing take to disappear.¡± Archy called out to them, ¡°I want to go shopping.¡±

    Archy pointed at his head and Seven heard Third chuckle.

    They¡¯d all been marked a blood red for killing the players of Dark Horse and Colt¡¯s Crew during the Dragon¡¯s Legacy Quest. Unfortunately, it seemed that those players had a lot of good reputation within Lum and now the guards refused to let them go inside the city.

    Alongside several dozens of disgruntled dwarves at the Lum gates, they¡¯d found out that they needed to kill a few hundred monsters to be let back in.

    ¡°The good old monster genocide isn¡¯t over yet.¡± Seven called out to him, ¡°Kill a few more and see if it goes away.¡±

    Archy grumbled but continued to stalk the monsters who were beginning to feel uneasy about confronting this player that was picking them off like ants. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Roxxy?¡± Third looked around curiously but couldn¡¯t see either of their team¡¯s tanks.

    Seven and the rest of the gang had gotten rid of their red names ages ago. But Archy had a few things to do in real life so now they were waiting on him and Roxxy to clear their names. Unfortunately, the tank hadn¡¯t been able to kill as many monsters as they had so it was a slower process.

    ¡°She and Spark Joy decided to go to the lake since Archy is taking down all the monsters in this one.¡± Seven smiled, ¡°TidalWave is with them too, he¡¯s making sure to grab the attention of all those frog-things.¡±

    Third nodded and eyed the monsters carefully. The wilders that had been corrupted had been almost completely wiped out by players over the last couple of days and were now slowly being replaced by ordinary wilders. Unfortunately, these creatures weren¡¯t strong enough to provide them with any sort of meaningful experience.

    Luckily the entire inner area of the Signet Woods was filled with different kinds of creatures and monsters. Apparently there were further quests to discover these monsters but they hadn¡¯t encountered any yet.

    [Frogkin Hunter Level 38]

    Seven shuddered as she saw one of the monsters take an arrow to the eye and fade away. Sometimes the graphics of the game were a bit too intense for her. The frogkin were a small tribe of humanoid frogs that didn¡¯t bother to carry weapons. They would simply smash their fists against their enemies and if they were provoked by Archy they would bend down and leap through the air.

    The first time it had happened the archer had been knocked flat on his back by a flying frog.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to do some solo hunting as well.¡± Seven was getting tired of watching Archy smash through innocent mobs.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of the dunce.¡± Third nodded, ¡°Be careful. Just because these aren¡¯t players doesn¡¯t mean they can¡¯t kill you.¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡± Seven walked off towards the lake that seemed to circle through the Signet Woods.

    Apparently it flowed through the entirety of the woods on the opposite side from Lum.

    Seven soon found herself walking across the edge of the giant lake and admiring the view.

    ¡®Dragons, dragons, dragons.¡¯ Seven absentmindedly walked through the grass and smashed magic blast after magic blast into any of the poor frogkin that she ran into.

    She hardly tried to dodge their attacks as she thought about the major issue at hand. They had so much gold that they didn¡¯t know how to spend it and soon they would all be able to freely travel into Lum and other villages to purchase supplies. But the markets themselves didn¡¯t have any equipment that could upgrade their current gear further.

    So they could only level up or try and find better equipment.

    They had the upgrades they needed right in their hands now. Each yellow ranked weapon they had received would become a huge addition to their power. But to get access to those weapons they would need to find a dragon and kill it.

    ¡®How the heck do we just run into a dragon.¡¯ Seven thought to herself glumly.

    Dragons. They were immensely powerful and in the world of Zodiac Online it was said that the great dragon tribes were once equal in power to the gods. Seven had fought against one that was heavily injured. In fact, the attendant, Lass, from the Magi Guild had told her after she¡¯d cleared her red name that the dragon she¡¯d killed was most likely a baby. Apparently the gold and items they¡¯d gotten for raiding its cave were the signs of a terribly poor dragon. The truly rich or elder dragons wouldn¡¯t bother to hoard gold coins at all. It would simply be too inconvenient for them.

    Seven found herself dodging a frogkin¡¯s swipe as she thought over the issue.

    -Dodge

    ¡®Dragon¡¯s don¡¯t grow on trees. Maybe Third- What the heck.¡¯

    Seven¡¯s head snapped to the side and her eyes widened as three figures suddenly appeared around her.

    ¡°Halt. Elf.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Seven squeaked as she looked past the three figures realised she was surrounded by frogkin of various sizes.

    They all looked pissed.

    The foremost figure was swathed in a robe and pointed a staff menacingly towards her, ¡°Tell elf. Why do you hunt us? Why have you broken the sacred truce that binds our races?¡±

    ¡®Oh crap.¡¯ Seven suddenly felt guilty as she realised the frogkin were probably a little more life-like than she¡¯d realised.

    ¡°We demand a satisfactory answer.¡± The figure steadily grew more agitated and the frogkin behind it spread out around her.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Seven was confident she could run from this situation.

    So she turned and immediately began running straight towards the area her team was farming in.

    ¡®It''s Third¡¯s job to do the diplomatic talking.¡¯ Seven reasoned to herself as she ran for her life, ¡®I¡¯d just make them angrier.¡¯

    Seven snuck a peek over her shoulder and smiled as she saw that she was leaving the cloaked figure and its frogkin far behind. She turned her head back with a smile as she breathed a sigh of relief.

    Only to find the other two cloaked figures right in front of her.

    ¡°Holy crap-¡± Seven tried to break past them and immediately regretted it as she was bathed in multiple swirled of light.

    [You have been silenced. You cannot use magic for 5 seconds.]

    [You have been rooted. You cannot move for 3 seconds.]

    She struggled as the frogkin caught up to her and then she brought out her wand.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t a good idea.¡± She wondered how effective trying to negotiate with an NPC was, ¡°I have a wand, and I¡¯m not afraid to use it.¡±

    The leading figure had finally caught up to her and tilted its head at her words.

    Then it let out a low resounding laugh and raised its staff into the air. A swirling purple light engulfed her body, causing her to shudder as she felt like she couldn¡¯t move.

    [You have been silenced. You cannot use magic for 10 seconds.]

    [You have been rooted. You cannot move for 7 seconds.]

    ¡°Remember this in your next life, little elf.¡± The figure brought its free hand up and she saw it was holding a bright blue orb that seemed to be surrounded by raging water that swirled through the air, ¡°We frogkin do not respond kindly to strangers entering our homeland and killing us. Nor do we enjoy threats.¡±

    The figure brought its orb closer towards her and Seven¡¯s eyes widened as the raging water turned into two massive snakes formed from the elements. Each one was bigger than her and seemed to shimmer menacingly as they swam through the air and coiled around her.

    The snakes contracted their bodies and she felt herself being crushed by their combined attacks.

    [You have been killed by; Frogkin Archmage Trog]

    ¡®Trog.¡¯ Seven thought to herself helplessly as she found herself reviving in the middle of the Lum city square, ¡®He¡¯s a frog. I got killed by Trog the frog.¡¯

    She could already hear TidalWave¡¯s laughter in her mind.

    ¡®Ah damn,¡¯ She¡¯d dropped her gloves when she died.

    She¡¯d have to buy a new pair.

    ¡°Miss Seven.¡± A new voice called out to her just as she was about to make the long trek back to her party.

    ¡°Lass.¡± She grinned warmly at the magi guild attendant that had appeared on the street to meet her.

    Then her smile faded as she saw that he wasn¡¯t smiling and didn¡¯t seem at all happy to see her. He was also flanked by two menacing guards that seemed equally unhappy to see her.

    ¡°You will have to come with me.¡±

    *****

    ¡°What on earth prompted you to start killing frogkin Miss Seven.¡±

    Inside the Magi Guild of Lum sat a timid nimble magi and a serious-faced Lass. The attendant was showing far more emotions than he usually did as he heard her account of the events that had transpired.

    Seven sat with her thoughts in turmoil.

    Apparently they had screwed up harder than she¡¯d thought.

    Lass took control of the situation when he saw that Seven wasn¡¯t going to speak, ¡°The Magi Guild of Lum and the Sorcerer''s Collective of the frogkin have a long-lasting tradition of cooperation and goodwill.¡± He coughed lightly and waved his wand, causing all sound to cut off nearby, ¡°However as a member of the noble magi that permeate the continent you have violated our peace with the frogkin by killing their members. The collective has only been appeased by being assured by the archmage that you have died and thus had faced some form of retribution for your actions. Otherwise, we would be facing war.¡±

    ¡°So they think I¡¯m dead?¡± Seven¡¯s eyes sparkled as she saw a faint glimmer of hope.

    ¡°They think you died.¡± Lass confirmed, ¡°And they wish you to know that if you are seen near their territory again they will give no warning before killing you again.¡±

    ¡°Aw.¡± Seven had hoped the NPCs would be a little dumber when it came to death and reviving, ¡°Is there any way to make them¡­ not so angry?¡±

    She had already messaged her team to tell them the news and they had retreated from the area. Luckily it didn¡¯t seem that the frogkin cared about anyone they¡¯d hunted so far. It was only when Seven had walked deeper into their territory that they¡¯d retaliated.

    Which also meant she was the only one they had a grudge against.

    ¡°God Verm if only it was that easy.¡± Lass uttered and oath.

    Seven¡¯s eyebrows raised curiously.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know the magi guild was religious.¡±

    ¡°The magi guild is devoted to expanding the word and acts of our god, Toshna.¡± Lass waved his hand dismissively, ¡°Of course, my own family raised me to follow Verm in all his glory.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Seven wondered if she could use this information somehow.

    But it didn¡¯t seem very relevant.

    ¡°As for repairing your relation with the frogkin,¡± Lass¡¯s frown deepened, ¡°The magi guild will do what they can to make sure the frogkin do not start killing humans and allied races on sight. Unfortunately they find it hard to distinguish between humans and elves. They don¡¯t have ears you see. However - and I do apologise for the rather harsh terminology - you are not important enough as an individual for the magi guild to risk angering the frogkin further. So they will not negotiate on your behalf in this matter.¡± He saw Seven¡¯s face drooping and sighed, ¡°If you were to attempt to negotiate by yourself then there will be no issue there. However, if you worsen your relationship with the frogkin please be aware the magi guild will deny any association with you and your negotiations.¡±

    Seven squirmed. She had zero knowledge of diplomacy and how to start repairing the relationship between herself and these frogs. In fact, the only figure she actually knew from the frogkin, that wasn¡¯t an ordinary warrior, was that archmage that had killed her.

    Trog.

    She sincerely doubted he wanted to talk to her. He would probably kill her on sight.

    ¡°I¡¯ll still try.¡± Seven said to Lass and he smiled, ¡°If I can do something to help them then I¡¯ll see what it is. Maybe I¡¯ll be able to kill a few fish for them to eat.¡±

    ¡°Oh gods.¡± Lass tried to stop his hand from slapping against his forehead, ¡°Please do not kill the frogkin¡¯s neighbours Miss Seven. They are quite fond of the fish of the lake.¡±

    Seven felt her face flushing and she stood up, ¡°Okay. Don¡¯t kill the fish. Thanks Lass¡±

    She ran outside without another word and quickly moved towards the Lum gate. She¡¯d embarrassed herself enough today without needing to stay with Lass in the guild.

    ¡®I seriously need to find out about the frogs.¡¯

    ¡°You desperately need to find out about the frogkin.¡±

    Seven found herself being overshadowed by a billowing white robe and she smiled awkwardly, ¡°Oh, so you heard about that. Great. Yay.¡±

    It was the priest from her starting village, Barnacle.

    Ever since the Dragon¡¯s Legacy quest had kicked into full gear and he¡¯d updated it for her team he¡¯d been hanging around outside the Magi Guild of Lum and generally having a nice time. Mostly eating as far as she could see. She¡¯d expected him to demand some sort of compensation in the form of gold for giving her the quest but the priest had been rather quiet and nonchalant about the entire event.

    ¡°I can sense your sarcasm abounding through the air Seven.¡± Barnacle the priest gazed down at her merrily and laughed, ¡°Of course, it is not my place to judge. However, I do feel that a good trip to the library may help in your endeavours. Or perhaps you would like to hire a diplomat of some sort from the Lum city hall.¡±

    ¡°The library?¡± Seven perked up, ¡°Do you think there¡¯s a book on frogkin there?¡±

    ¡°I think there are many books.¡± Barnacle said with a smile tugging at his lips, ¡°They are the neighbouring nation after all, and there have been many years of collaboration between our people, the allied races and the frogkin.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Ohhh.¡± Seven nodded as though pretending to understand.

    ¡®It wasn¡¯t all human cities?¡¯

    She had absolutely no idea about any of the geography or politics of this continent. Or the other continent. Or anywhere.

    ¡°Has anyone ever told you young Seven, that you have very readable expressions?¡± Barnacle laughed and gestured for her to leave, ¡°It seems that you have much to read about. Let me know if you find anything interesting there. The village bookshelf didn¡¯t have too many good things to read.¡±

    Seven waved bye to Barnacle with a smile.

    At least now she knew where to go.

 Book 2 Chapter 2: The Library

    ¡°You attacked the green named frogkin?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    ¡°So you just walked past their village and started massacring the villagers?¡±

    Ana¡¯s eyes were wide with mirth as she took in the sight of Emily flopped over in defeat. Her friend was completely stumped about how she¡¯d overlooked such a simple mistake.

    ¡°Their village is hidden entirely under the water! I was just on the outskirts.¡± Emily continued to squish her forehead against the cool table as she became embarrassed thinking over the events of yesterday.

    TidalWave and Third had gone back to check the area she¡¯d been ambushed in while she went to the library to try and find out more about the species. They all thought she¡¯d somehow stumbled onto a hidden quest or maybe they¡¯d missed some sort of event.

    It turned out that there was a far simpler answer.

    While she¡¯d been thinking about how to find a dragon to slay she had completely missed the sight of the frogkin¡¯s names turning from red to green. So instead of killing hostile frogkin enemies she had actually begun absentmindedly attacking the perfectly peaceful and allied frogkin villagers that were completely defenceless against her. It made her feel kind of bad.

    Unlike the red-named frogkin, every NPC with a green name was known to be peaceful. Lass, Barnacle and every other NPC in Lum had a green name hovering over their head.

    Third and TidalWave had sent her the message almost the instant they walked into the area. And the books she¡¯d been reading agreed with them. It turns out that there are two kinds of frogkin; those with magic potential and those without it.

    The frogkin apparently had incredibly tough rules around who can or cannot be considered a ¡®true¡¯ frogkin in their society. The village and its NPCs that allied with Lum were all budding magi and the frogkin that opposed them were exiles that had been rejected from frogkin society due to their lack of magic potential. Those exiles had then formed their own society and began invading the inner Signet Woods area where they attacked any and all travelers.

    They were also attacking the frogkin village which is why the guards had been so responsive to Emily¡¯s attack.

    ¡°That¡¯s really rough.¡± Ana shuddered, ¡°I didn¡¯t think about any of that stuff when I was murdering the hell out of them.¡±

    ¡°I know right.¡± Emily finally brought her head up, ¡°They¡¯re giving me a headache.¡±

    Emily couldn¡¯t help but think about the frogkin since she¡¯d started reading about them. She was starting to feel really bad about walking in and massacring their innocent villagers. Even if they were just a bunch of fake virtual reality creatures she couldn¡¯t help but feel for them.

    ¡°Dang it.¡± She groaned, ¡°So how am I going to make peace with them? Shoot me full of ideas Ana.¡±

    Ana rolled her eyes as she was hit by Emily¡¯s pleading gaze, ¡°I¡¯m more of a smash stuff and think later kind of girl. You know who you should ask?¡±

    ¡°Third?¡± Emily answered without thinking.

    ¡°Heck no. That Roxxy girl.¡± Ana thought of the buckler wielding tank that hopped around the place like she was a rabbit, ¡°She seems like she could get anyone to like her. If the frogkin can be negotiated with she¡¯s probably your ticket back to their good side.¡±

    Emily thought about it and then shook her head, ¡°From what I read these frogs don¡¯t like people that use swords or just don¡¯t use magic. But apparently they love magi and other types of magic users.¡±

    ¡°So they¡¯re racists?¡± Ana¡¯s smirk widened, ¡°Racist frogs?¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡± Emily agreed vigorously, ¡°And why would I want to get on better terms with racist frogs. That¡¯s not my style.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Ana agreed as she saw Emily getting wound up, ¡°Dang frogs. Who needs them anyway. You can get by perfectly fine without needing to be friends with them.¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± Emily thought about the encounter she¡¯d had, ¡°But that Trog the frog guy really had some cool spells.¡±

    She remembered the blast of purple light that had washed over her and made her unable to move or use magic. Then her eyes sparkled as she remembered the two coiling snakes that flew through the air and were completely created from water. She¡¯d been jealous of how cool and powerful they looked right up until they strangled her to death.

    ¡°I want to shoot out water dragons at people. Or water narwhals.¡± Emily¡¯s eyes glazed over as she thought of the possibilities.

    If she had that kind of magic she¡¯d be able to create a whole zoo full of animals and creatures.

    ¡°He was holding an orb right?¡± Ana tried to bring Emily back into the conversation before her friend drifted off for hours into imagination land, ¡°You don¡¯t use an orb right?¡±

    ¡°Gah.¡± Emily was brought back to reality by her friend¡¯s logic, ¡°Yeah. Third does though. It has something to do with wizards and the control stat. I bet Trog the frog uses it to create spells he can control. Sort of like a focus point.¡±

    ¡°Righttt.¡± Ana was still suspicious about focus points, considering she couldn¡¯t see them or make them, ¡°So why don¡¯t you just get an orb and ask those magi guild people? They seem like they¡¯d know a lot of spells.¡±

    Emily thought back to her visit to the magi guild. She¡¯d been there a lot but the only time she really got into the main building was when she¡¯d taken the test to measure her skill. Other than that she only ever visited the shop.

    She bet that massive building could probably be hiding a massive library of spells or something.

    ¡®How do they transfer spells?¡¯ She had only ever been given skills by her class advancement.

    ¡°Okay, okay, okay.¡± Emily shot up with bright eyes, ¡°I know what to do now.¡±

    ¡°Grab some fried chicken with me?¡± Ana responded immediately, ¡°Then talk about how Andrew is super annoying now, and after that, you¡¯ll go check out all that stuff you probably should have already known about the game?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, and yes.¡±

    Emily responded eagerly.

    ¡°God chicken sounds amazing right now.¡±

    ****

    ¡°Miss Seven.¡±

    Lass stared at Seven with a curious expression, ¡°I did not expect you to return so soon.¡±

    Seven smiled at the formal attendant and put on her sweetest expression.

    ¡°Magi cannot be bribed by sweet words or smiles, Miss Seven.¡± Lass almost let a grin slip through his lips as he saw straight through Seven¡¯s ploy, ¡°Tell me what you are curious about. Perhaps I can help.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m curious about magic.¡± Seven admitted to him, ¡°I was wondering if there was a library I could use to help me find some spells. Not the ordinary library¡­ a magical library.¡±

    She whispered the last few words conspiratorially.

    Her teammates were still farming so this was her chance to do some exploring by herself.

    ¡°Yes. We have one available to the public.¡± Lass spoke slowly as though not understanding how Seven could have gone through the guild so many times without knowing this, ¡°If you pay one hundred gold you may access the first level of the library for a day. If you wish to access higher levels you would need to gain a higher score in the Magi Guild of Lum¡¯s test. Unfortunately, with your current score we cannot allow you into the second floor or higher for fear of you hurting yourself.¡±

    ¡°One hundred gold coins?¡± Seven almost choked on her words, ¡°That¡¯s a small fortune, Lass. What kind of ordinary bystander has that kind of money.¡±

    ¡°The kind that wishes to explore the secrets of magic.¡±

    Lass waved his hand and a door appeared in front of Seven. She took a step back at the object¡¯s sudden appearance and laughed nervously. She wasn¡¯t sure if that was a spell she¡¯d eventually be able to use or if the NPCs got access to things she would never be able to use.

    Seven grumbled as she received a notification stating that for one hundred gold she could gain access to the library. Even though she had received literal mountains of gold from slaying the Corruptor and taking the dragon¡¯s treasure she was still a miser. She had hardly spent any money since receiving the gold and this was by far the biggest purchase she¡¯d made.

    It cost more than all the other purchases combined.

    With one final grumble Seven walked towards the door and as she approached it a flash of light similar to the time she¡¯d walked into Barnacle¡¯s hut engulfed her.

    ¡°Oh. My. God.¡± Seven came out the other end and her mouth gaped open in awe.

    This was far bigger than she¡¯d imagined.

    The door closed behind her and she took in her surroundings in silence. The entire complex was a giant spiral engulfed in radiant blue light that splashed onto the shelves and tables and seemed to cause every particle it touched to glow.

    [Buffing magic; Toshna¡¯s Splendour has been activated.]

    [You have gained the ability to interpret languages with ease.]

    [Mana regeneration +500%]This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    [The buff''s influencewill wear off once you have left the radius of Toshna¡¯s Splendour.]

    Seven was bombarded with messages as she felt the light wash over her.

    She had been blessed by whatever magic had been placed here by the magi guild.

    ¡®What do I need it for?¡¯ She wondered.

    She could see why the language interpretation could come in handy in a library, but she didn¡¯t know why they would also buff the mana regeneration of visitors. Other than herself and the rows upon rows of books she could see three other people visiting and reading in the magi guild.

    Each one was an NPC.

    She passed by a sprightly old man sporting a grey beard and walked around to try and discover what she could find in here. She wanted to read up on rooting and silencing magic but from the scope of the place it seemed that she was missing out on a lot of magic she had no idea about.

    Seeing the circular building she decided to head to the nearest bookcase and scanned the board above to see what section she¡¯d entered.

    [Buffing Magic.]

    ¡®Ohh.¡¯ Seven¡¯s eyes shone.

    She could see dozens of books dedicated to this single area of magic. Each one looked ordinary and was leather-bound but she had no doubt that they contained powerful magics. She picked one up and was startled as a message appeared on her screen.

    [Spell: Bloody Tears; You patience and faith provide you with the ability to instill courage in an ally. +10 Attack for 5 minutes. Costs: 20 Mana. Cooldown: 2 minutes.]

    [Time required to learn this spell: 3 Days. Do you wish to learn this spell? Spells learnt; 0/4]

    ¡®Woah.¡¯ Seven suddenly found herself staring at the books in amazement.

    Each and everybook was a spell that could be added into her arsenal.

    ¡°Three days?¡± Seven suddenly became keenly aware of the second message.

    She rummaged through the other books and felt like crying.

    [Time required to learn this spell: 15 Days. Do you wish to learn this spell? Spells learnt; 0/4]

    [Time required to learn this spell: 11 Days. Do you wish to learn this spell? Spells learnt; 0/4]

    [Time required to learn this spell: 12 Days. Do you wish to learn this spell? Spells learnt; 0/4]

    It looked like ¡®blood tears¡¯ was one of the quickest spells to learn. But if she spent three days straight learning the spell then it would cost her at least three hundred gold coins. The other spells would lead to even higher prices. That wasn¡¯t even mentioning the time it took to learn them.

    Then a book caught her eye. It was shimmering bright blue and seemed to call her to it with its uniqueness.

    [Constitution: Buff Body; All buffs placed on your person are permanently increased in power by 10% for their duration.]

    [Time required to gain this constitution: 14 Days. Do you wish to gain this constitution? Constitutions; 0/1. Constitutions can be changed after application.]

    Seven had never heard of a constitution but it looked tempting. It was kind of like a permanent buff. Except it only applied for buffs.

    ¡°Damn.¡± Seven sighed in regret.

    It seemed like a really good thing but she didn¡¯t need it right now. She also couldn¡¯t afford to be taken out of the game for two weeks learning one thing. That would just be boring.

    She quickly distanced herself from the book and walked down the rest of the isles.

    [Fire Magic] [Water Magic] [Poison Magic] [Ice Magic] [Spirit Magic] [Summoning Magic] [Lightning Magic]

    ¡°Good lord.¡±

    There were dozens of bookshelves with all kinds of spells.

    The dragon¡¯s treasure was nothing. She could spend all of it and not even make a scratch on the amount of books that were contained within this place.

    But she only had four spell slots to learn things.

    ¡°Maybe that¡¯ll increase later.¡± She said to herself.

    ¡°Are you just going to keep flopping around aimlessly like a fish or is there something you need in here?¡±

    Seven felt a chill as a harsh voice suddenly entered her ears.

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± She turned around to find the grey-bearded man eyeing her warily, ¡°Can I help you?¡±

    ¡°No-no,¡± The old man shook his head, ¡°I asked you if I could help you. I don¡¯t need any help, but clearly you do.¡±

    [Librarian: Tharaer]

    ¡°Tha-Thre- hello.¡± Seven tried to pronounce his name and then gave up, the old man was already glaring at her harshly enough, ¡°I can use some help actually.¡±

    She explained what she was looking for and the encounter with Trog. She tried her best to describe the spells that he¡¯d been using and despite her terrible vocal skills she could see that the librarian had gotten the gist of it.

    ¡°Ah yes, the archmage. That young upstart that thinks he¡¯s so amazing.¡± Tharaer rolled his eyes and Seven could physically see his forehead crinkle, ¡°Spends a few years stuck in this place and suddenly people think he¡¯s the greatest thing since Verm."

    ¡°Um.¡± Seven wasn¡¯t sure how to respond.

    ¡°No missie,¡± He saw Seven¡¯s confusion and smiled, ¡°It appears you have the wrong idea. The silence and rooting spells are most definitely learnable in this library. However, the water elemental magic you speak of is only found in the realm of sorcerers. You will have to ascend to the second or third floors if you wish to learn such powerful magic.¡±

    Seven visibly deflated, ¡°Well, I suppose two out of three isn¡¯t bad.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps.¡± Tharaer chuckled, ¡°But the spells will not be nearly as potent as the ones the frogkin used against you. He is an archmage and you are but a simple nimble magi. The distance between your magics will be like the difference between the heavens and our realm.¡±

    Despite his words, Tharaer still brought the spells to her. Instead of wandering down the aisles like she had, he brought out his wand and with a single wave and a gust of air the books started floating towards him.

    ¡°I see, I see.¡± Tharaer looked at the books carefully, ¡°These spells are potent, yet not particularly difficult to learn. Are you absolutely sure you wish to learn these spells? I would recommend you search through the library for other spells.¡±

    Seven agreed with him but held onto the books. She could see that both spells would take four days to learn. Luckily Tharaer confirmed that the spells could be learned concurrently, however, she would still have to take the time of the longest spell to finish learning them all.

    ¡°Thare- Thra- So actually,¡± Seven turned to the old man as he was about to walk away, ¡°what spells do you think will be the best for me to learn? Just considering your expertise.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Tharaer turned back to her and hummed, ¡°What kind of magi do you wish to become? Do you wish to be a magi capable of defeating any foe in single combat? Or do you wish to deal damage to many foes at once? Do you seek to poison, to curse or perhaps cripple your enemies? Casting spells that allow you to control their every movement and sway them to your side? Or perhaps you wish to master the elements and seek enlightenment from nature.¡±

    Tharaer chuckled as he saw that he was beginning to overwhelm Seven, ¡°The question you ask is something only you can answer. Perhaps I can guide you to the spells you wish to find, but it is only you who knows what you truly want. Call me if you wish to discuss this further. But for now, I have other matters to attend to.¡±

    Tharaer left with a flourish of his beard and Seven found herself staring at the two spells she had been given.

    ¡®Do I really want these?¡¯

    She had definitely become obsessed with them for the past day. But that was mainly because they had seemed so powerful when they were used against her.

    No.

    It was because she had been so powerless against these spells. She was a magi and she relied solely on her use of magic. What would happen if she learned the silence spell? Would she be able to use it as effectively as Trog? After all, she would be fighting a lot more than just magic users while playing. She would be sacrificing a valuable spell slot just to learn something that would impact only a certain group of players and monsters.

    The rooting spell was definitely helpful as well, in its own way, and would be very useful for single combat. Unfortunately, it would be almost useless against large groups such as the mass of frogkin that had ambushed her before.

    The only spell that had seemed completely out of her league and useful were the water snakes. If they could be controlled to constrict players and also deal damage then she would love to grab ahold of them.

    ¡®Looks like I¡¯m going to take a while.¡¯

    Seven was suddenly glad she had access to this place for the entire day. She wasn¡¯t going to make a rash decision about something that would probably changeher playstyle drastically.

    She sent a message to her team and quickly found herself being grilled by a very excited Third and Roxxy. Apparently, while she¡¯d been stuck in here they¡¯d been inventing some skills of their own.* And she rolled her eyes as they began to grill her about every aspect of the library.

    -I¡¯ll be right there.-

    Third soon picked up on her unwillingness to respond to all his questions and immediately sent his reply to her. Roxxy said she was going to check something out and could hardly contain her excitement.

    ¡®Phew.¡¯ Seven was happy that she was avoiding a potential waterfall of questions.

    She had only gone through a few of the spells, let alone the dozens that Third wanted to know about.

    Then she saw something glimmering on the table in front of her.

    [Sorcerer Constitution; Permanently increase affinity with magic Spells become easier to cast and control.]

    [Time required to gain this constitution: 10 Days. Do you wish to gain this constitution? Constitutions; 0/1. Constitutions can be changed after application.]

    ¡®Interesting. I can use this.¡¯ Seven felt the book in her hands and suddenly had the urge to start learning it immediately.

    She didn¡¯t know what it meant to control spells but she could definitely guess. After all, Tharaer had told her that Trog was using spells that were considered to be ¡®sorcerer¡¯ spells.

    ¡°You are a nimble magi. Yet you seem so curious about sorcery. What kind of spells are you looking for young one?¡±

    ¡®Gosh does everyone like to interrupt people in this place.¡¯ Seven suddenly found herself facing a woman with a long nose and a pointy hat.

    She looked like a witch.

    ¡°That¡¯s because I am a witch.¡± The woman responded, ¡°Muriel is my name.¡±

    ¡°You can read my mind?¡± Seven was taken aback.

    ¡°No, but your face is very easy to read, and your eyes are glued to my hat.¡± Muriel switched her attention to the book in Seven¡¯s hand, ¡°I saw you talking to the old coot.¡± She peered towards Tharaer as he walked around, ¡°I see you are interested in sorcery dear. May I ask why?¡±

    ¡°Because it seems strong.¡± Seven was brutally honest, ¡°I got smashed to pieces by a sorcerer in seconds and now I¡¯m trying to learn what he used against me.¡±

    Muriel¡¯s face warped in surprise and suddenly she cackled with laughter, ¡°That¡¯s as good a reason as any youngling. I¡¯m sure many a sorcerer has come into their arts with an idea of revenge. But before I make any assumptions, may I ask what you think sorcery is? Perhaps being more informed will benefit us both.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Seven was curious and Muriel was still holding her book, so she decided to give the witch more of her attention, ¡°Well, sorcery is just another type of magi isn¡¯t it? That¡¯s what the archmage- I mean, that¡¯s what the person who defeated me was. He was an archmage¡­ which is a type of magi?¡±

    Seven wasn¡¯t sure so she turned the last sentence into a question.

    ¡°I would say you are correct.¡± Muriel sniffed, ¡°With the exception that you are completely incorrect.

    Muriel smacked the book onto the table with a bang and Seven almost jumped out of her skin with the woman¡¯s sudden change in attitude.

    ¡°Younglings like you who seek yet more power through mastery of the mystic arts are nothing but fools. Power? Fame? Glory? Revenge? These are not possible to achieve if you wish to become a true sorcerer. What use is knowledge to one whose very being instinctively knows how to guide magic? Who would have a use for wands and staffs if they could call mana from within themselves.¡±

    Muriel¡¯s hand hovered over the book and suddenly Seven found herself staring at the hand as it began to glow a deep blue.

    ¡°Allow me to clue you in youngling. What you will discover now is not a mastery of magic but instead an integration with one. For you who seeks the knowledge of sorcery allow me to guide you into discovering a true path, one far different from that of the magi.¡±

    Seven¡¯s vision began to swim with blue lines as the light of the witches¡¯ magic and the light of Toshna¡¯s buff began to merge together.

    She was vaguely aware of Tharaer looking at her from the other side of the room but before she could question the witch on what was happening the room around her disappeared. There was nothing but a blue space surrounding her from every side.

    ¡°What is this?¡± Seven didn¡¯t panic.

    If the game had wanted her to die then she would have already.

    ¡°This is my world. Now youngling, I will show you true magic.¡±

    Muriel¡¯s voice floated towards Seven but she couldn¡¯t spot the witch anywhere around her.

    ¡°I will show you sorcery.¡±

 Book 2 Chapter 3: Fighters Guild of Lum

    ¡°This is the warrior library?¡±

    TidalWave looked at the decrepit old building with skepticism. From the description Seven had given Third of the huge library inside the Magi Guild of Lum he had expected something similarly extravagant from the fighters guild.

    Unfortunately, it seemed that they didn¡¯t have the same funding as the illustrious magi.

    TidalWave saw Roxxy and IEatTortillas visibly deflate as they also took in the sight of broken wood and glassless windows that seemed like a slight breeze would tear it down. TidalWave would have believed it to be a failing store rather than the center of a guild within one of the continent¡¯s biggest cities.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think warriors are respected over here.¡± IEatTortillas was hesitating to walk in, ¡°Since paladins are part of the church and only magi are in high demand.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s just no place for the poor sword wielders.¡± Roxxy shook her head sadly, then she immediately perked up, ¡°Let¡¯s see what washed up old farts live here.¡±

    The tank walked into the building and TidalWave watched with a smile as IEatTortillas almost smacked his head against the low hanging door frame. Then he followed them through the doorway and was confronted by a crotchety old man eyeing him and his teammates with suspicion.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± The old man got straight to the point, ¡°If you¡¯re looking to buy we¡¯ve got nothing.¡±

    ¡®This is why there are a separate weapon and armour shops.¡¯ TidalWave recalled having to go somewhere else in Lum to have to buy his equipment.

    ¡°Oh-oh,¡± Roxxy immediately walked forward and greeted the old man, ¡°We¡¯re looking for a library. A warrior library.¡±

    ¡°Do I look like I read?¡± The old man snipped back at her and then turned around, ¡°Whether or not there¡¯s a library is none of your business.¡±

    ¡°But we¡¯re fighters.¡± IEatTortillas walked forward with a frown, ¡°We have a right to access the library if there is one. You¡¯re the fighters guild aren¡¯t you?¡±

    TidalWave was chagrined to see that the old man was continuing to face the opposite direction, staring blankly at a wall.

    ¡°I think he¡¯s going to ignore us until we leave.¡± Roxxy circled the old man curiously and giggled as he moved his head to face away from her at all times, ¡°Curious old guy aren¡¯t you.¡±

    They felt a wave of disappointment cross over their bodies. They had looked forward to this after reading Seven¡¯s messages. Even Archy had gone to see if the ranger¡¯s guild offered anything similar.

    ¡°We have money.¡± TidalWave tried a different tactic.

    The old man turned around at the mention of cash and his eyes glinted. But he didn¡¯t make any attempt to talk to them.

    TidalWave saw his change in posture and smiled. Then he took out a coin from his inventory and began to roll it along his fingers, making sure to drag out the action for as long as possible.

    ¡°We have lots of gold.¡±

    ¡°Tons.¡±

    Roxxy and IEatTortillas tried to back up TidalWave¡¯s claim.

    Roxxy even brought out a pile of gold coins to show the old man.

    ¡°Young heroes.¡± The old man instantly changed his attitude as he bowed low at the sight of the coins, ¡°I regret to inform you all that although there is a library, it is inaccessible to those that have not passed the test of the fighter¡¯s guild.¡±

    -He¡¯s faking his attitude- TidalWave wasn¡¯t taken in by the act for a second.

    He knew a trap when he saw one.

    -Oh-my-God, I know right-

    -Then let¡¯s make him think we¡¯ve fallen for it.-

    Roxxy and IEatTortillas replied almost instantly.

    ¡°Test?¡± Roxxy¡¯s eyes shone, she¡¯d seen one of these ¡®tests¡¯ done before, when she¡¯d visited the Magi Guild of Lum with Seven. ¡°I love tests.¡±

    TidalWave nodded in agreement as he eyed every movement the old man was making, ¡°Sounds like fun. How do we take this test?¡±

    -9999

    [You have died.]

    TidalWave barely got the words out of his mouth before a wooden sword was stabbed through his chest, a pair of glowing red and black eyes staring down at him. Then the sight was gone as his body slumped to the ground and he received notifications that Roxxy and IEatTortillas had been killed as well.

    TidalWave quickly revived on the spot and frowned.

    Normally he would have been sent to the city center. He hadn¡¯t even lost any items or experience. He turned to face the unassuming old man that looked like he was about to go to sleep.

    ¡°I think we can start right now.¡± The old man waved his weapon in front of him.

    ¡°That¡¯s being said a bit late.¡± TidalWave grinned in response, ¡°I¡¯ll warn you, I¡¯m not one to back down from a challenge.

    ¡°No true fighter ever is.¡± The old man¡¯s eyes began to shift and his skin changed into black and red plating, ¡°You won¡¯t win. You cannot. But if you can survive a few hits maybe I¡¯ll consider it a nice distraction from being tied to this crap hole.¡±

    TidalWave stood still as the old man disappeared and then he saw Roxxy being sliced in two by the reappearing old man.

    -Damn it. and I just revived too!- She sent a message to the party.

    The old man disappeared again and in the split second between his pause and his disappearance, TidalWave saw the old man shift his scaled feet towards him. TidalWave lifted his sword and his action caused a resounding thump as the old man¡¯s sword smashed against his own.

    His glowing eyes flickered with surprise, ¡°Oh. Perhaps you have some potential.¡±

    ¡°But don¡¯t let yourself get cocky.¡±

    -9999

    [You have died.]

    His next swipe killed TidalWave. The attacks were coming in too quickly to see with the eyes.

    ¡°Okay.¡± TidalWave revived and eyed the old man with calculating eyes.

    He hadn¡¯t been this thoroughly destroyed since¡­ no. He had never been this helpless against an opponent. The man was faster than him, stronger than him and obviously held the advantage in close quarters with that teleporting movement he was doing.

    TidalWave felt his surroundings disappeared as he concentrated on the quickly transforming old man in front of him. There were spikes growing out of his back and his entire chest seemed to have transformed from tattered clothes into a luxurious and shining red and black armour. His spine was visible from behind him as he closed in on TidalWave¡¯s teammates.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s some weapon you have there.¡± TidalWave remarked as he noticed that despite the creature¡¯s strange appearance there was one thing standing out.

    It was using a normal wooden sword.

    It looked like it was worse than the starting weapon he¡¯d been given by Barnacle.

    The old man grinned and TidalWave could see his entire jaw had twisted into a demonic black jut. The thing¡¯s head looked like a demented goat. Its body seemed like a suit of armour.

    ¡°What use are weapons if you do not have the skill to wield them.¡± The old man snarled, ¡°And once you have the skill to fight, why would you need a weapon.¡±

    TidalWave jumped back as he saw the old man shimmer and disappear again.

    He lifted his sword and felt the enemy¡¯s wooden weapon thump into it again. Instead of standing his ground he immediately allowed himself to be blasted back by the force of the blast and grinned as the old man disappeared again. He had managed to see where his opponent was pointing his feet before he¡¯d used his trick.

    ¡®I have you now.¡¯

    He sliced his sword upwards into the empty air and was satisfied to see it dig into the creature¡¯s flesh.

    *Clang*

    Only for it to bounce off the enemy¡¯s skin as though it was rubber.

    He sighed and jumped back, followed closely by the wooden sword that was about to kill him. The enemy moved and struck so quickly it appeared like there were dozens of swords heading towards him in the air. He lifted his sword to defend against the oncoming onslaught but he could see his weapon wouldn¡¯t meet it in time.

    ¡°Oh-oh-oh, don¡¯t forget about me.¡±

    The swords suddenly stopped a few centimetres away from his face as the goat-headed being was struck by a shield and froze in place. TidalWave took the opportunity to retreat back and quickly found himself flanked by Roxxy and IEatTortillas.

    ¡°You are not weak.¡± instead of pursuing them, their enemy stood still and laughed, ¡°But you are not strong either.¡±

    The air above his head shimmered gold and suddenly a green name appeared above his figure.

    [Fighter¡¯s Guild Branch Head; Azeroth.]

    ¡°Congratulations.¡±

    Azeroth smiled menacingly and with a wave of his hand, his wooden sword began to transform into a brilliant blood-red blade.

    ¡°Now we can truly begin the test.¡±

    He slashed at the air in front of him and the entire room was covered in darkness.

    TidalWave hesitated as he saw that he was suddenly in a different location, Roxxy and IEatTortillas looking warily beside him. Then the darkness shifted to his side and before he could react he saw a sword pierce his body.

    [You have died.]

    ¡°You want to call yourself a fighter? Then prove yourself. If you pass, I will personally welcome you to the big leagues.¡±

    ****

    Seven gazed into the endless blue space with wide eyes.

    One second she¡¯d been talking to Muriel inside the library and the next she was transported into this place. A quick look at her stats told her that she still had the library¡¯s buff placed on her so she was probably still there. Technically. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    But it definitely seemed like she had been transported into a different world entirely.

    ¡°There¡¯s not much variety, is there?¡± Seven tried to provoke a reaction from her surroundings but nothing happened.

    She had heard a single ¡®I will show you sorcery¡¯ and then nothing.

    She sat down and pondered her situation. Clearly she had triggered something by looking at that book and speaking to the witch, but she didn¡¯t know what to do now. She couldn¡¯t see anything except blue space. There was no furniture, no birds or trees. Even the library was nowhere to be seen.

    She lifted her wand and began to fire magic blasts at random and sighed as they drifted endlessly in space before disappearing from sight.

    ¡°I hate puzzles.¡± She said glumly to no one in particular.

    Then she had an idea. She lifted her wand and fired randomly into the air again, but this time tried to see carefully if she noticed something, anything, different.

    Then she saw a slight glimmer as one of the magic blasts passed through an object.

    ¡®There¡¯s something there.¡¯

    She walked towards it and inspected the air carefully, but she couldn¡¯t see it. Whatever was there was invisible to the naked eye unless she sent a magic blast through it.

    ¡®Invisible?¡¯

    An idea crossed her mind.

    She closed her eyes and concentrated. Slowly, ever so slowly, she began to see in her head several glowing balls that seemed to throb with magical power. She recognised them instantly, after all, she used them all the time.

    Focus points.

    But these weren¡¯t her focus points. These were somebody else¡¯s. One, two, ten, twenty, fifty.

    There was one hundred in total.

    ¡®So what am I meant to do here?¡¯ Seven was in awe of the number of focus points being deployed to keep this place running but she was also confused.

    They weren¡¯t her focus points, so she couldn¡¯t influence them in any way. She couldn¡¯t even change the direction of her magic blasts because that was something she¡¯d need to do with her own magic and concentration, not her opponent¡¯s.

    She decided to try it anyway.

    She fired magic blast after magic blast into the nearest focus point while concentrating on it like she would with her own focus points. Nothing. She tried to create a focus point around the unknown ones and it immediately popped and she began to sweat. Her avatar actually sending beads of water down her forehead as her focus point was destroyed.

    ¡°Ugh.¡± She groaned and sat down again.

    ¡®I¡¯m not getting anywhere doing this.¡¯ She decided to try a new approach.

    ¡°Hey.¡± She shouted into the air, ¡°Can you tell me what you want me to do? Just abducting people and putting them right into a magical portal world is a terrible way to do things. Or whatever this is.¡±

    ¡°Silly child.¡±

    Seven almost jumped out of her skin as Muriel appeared in front of her.

    ¡°If you wanted to cry and give up you should have just told me from the beginning. After all, sorcery is not for quitters. I will gladly send you back.¡±

    ¡®Wait,¡¯ Seven tried to think logically, ¡®She¡¯s just trying to provoke me. No need to stay in this place if I don¡¯t even know I want to do this.¡¯

    ¡°Like hell, I¡¯m going to give up.¡± Seven suddenly found her mouth saying something different than what her brain was thinking, ¡°Just give me a clue.¡±

    ¡°There is no clue. Sorcery is not about solving a puzzle, you either understand the nature of magic or you do not.¡± Muriel shook her head and with a wave of her hand she began to fade away, ¡°Let me know if you wish to leave.¡±

    ¡®Dang it.¡¯ Seven didn¡¯t want to leave but she didn¡¯t have much hope of doing whatever it was the witch wanted her to do.

    ¡®Focus points. Lots of focus points.¡¯

    Seven could only create four or maybe five focus points at most at one time. It was the ultimate defense she¡¯d created to deflect Attracting¡¯s blue light attack away from her body. As far as she knew Third could only create a few more than she could. But he definitely couldn¡¯t come close to the number of focus points that she had seen floating around in this area around her.

    ¡®But what are they doing?¡¯ Seven closed her eyes again and tried to concentrate.

    One by one the focus points entered into her vision and presented themselves in the air. Each one was hovering at an equal distance from the other but they didn¡¯t actually seem to be functioning. There was no magic being sped through them, no deflections or changes in direction occurring.

    If these focus points were being used then it was in a way she had never encountered before.

    ¡®Don¡¯t think too big.¡¯ Seven chided herself and retracted her thoughts.

    There were a lot of focus points but she chose to instead force all of her thoughts onto the one above her. It was both the closest and the one she had first seen. She poured all of her mind into this one focus point¡­

    And saw nothing.

    ¡®It¡¯s not doing anything.¡¯ Seven felt anger course through her before pushing it down.

    It wasn¡¯t the game''s fault that she couldn¡¯t solve this puzzle.

    ¡°Muriel.¡± Seven called out into the empty air, ¡°I give up.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Muriel once again appeared in front of Seven, almost giving her a heart attack, ¡°You quit already? You were only here for ten minutes youngling.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not giving up.¡± Seven¡¯s fingers curled around her wand as she felt anger at her own inability, ¡°But I know I can¡¯t figure out what you want me to do. I want to know if I can leave and come back, later on, to try again.¡± She scrunched up her eyes and thought hard about what she was asking, ¡°Once I¡¯ve had some more time to study magic.¡±

    Muriel¡¯s eyes flickered with derision but then she paused and began to think.

    Seven saw the change and recalled something that TidalWave had said to her during their numerous practice sessions, ¡°I believe that retreating in an unwinnable situation is the right thing to do. After all, if I cannot overcome an obstacle today it doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t be able to tomorrow. I¡¯d say its a temporary tactic, not a permanent escape.¡±

    ¡°You make sense youngling. Perhaps with such a logical mind, we¡¯ll make a sorcerer of you yet.¡±

    Muriel seemed satisfied as she heard Seven¡¯s words and the nimble magi breathed a sigh of relief. She honestly had no idea if she would ever come back to this place. Let alone solve the puzzle as well.

    But she sure as heck wasn''t going to give up.

    ¡°Close your eyes.¡± Muriel commanded Seven and the girl complied readily.

    Within a second she felt the air around her shifting and when she opened her eyes she was back inside the library.

    She was in the exact same spot and the sorcerer¡¯s constitution book was back on the table beside her.

    ¡°Let me know when you wish to come back, nimble magi.¡± Muriel didn¡¯t seem too happy with the outcome, ¡°But do not mistake me for a taxi service. I am not going to ferry you back and forth for free. Provide me with fifty gold and I will consider taking you back to take my test.¡±

    Seven nodded halfheartedly but the truth was she was hardly paying attention to the old witch. The moment she¡¯d returned to the library her chat window was hit with a series of messages that made her eyes go wide.

    [Team member; TidalWave, has died.]

    [Team member; Roxxy, has died.]

    [Team member; IEatTortillas, has died.]

    [Team member; TidalWave, has died.]

    -Seven.- Third sent a message the moment he saw Seven was available to message, -You were in a zone where all messages were blocked. If you¡¯re still at the Magi Guild of Lum please come outside.-

    -Sure, sure.- Seven wanted to see what was going on.

    Third didn¡¯t seem too worried but somehow her teammates were dying over and over again.

    [Team member; IEatTortillas, has died.]

    She received a few notifications as she walked outside the library and was assured by Lass that she could enter again at any time today because she¡¯d already paid.

    Seven saw what Third had wanted her to see the moment she walked out of the guild, ¡°What the heck is that.¡±

    In the sky towards the other side of Lum was a pillar of smoke rising from the ground. Except that instead of being a normal grey colour the entire plume had transformed into a red and black colour that seeped into the sky menacingly and seemed to strangle the air and buildings it weaved around.

    ¡°A fire?¡± Seven peered at the top of the pillar and her eyes widened, ¡°What¡­¡±

    At the very top of the pillar was a floating dome of darkness that was large enough that even she could see it stretching almost like an arena. In the middle of the dome, an armoured person was fighting against three other individuals.

    Roxxy, TidalWave, and IEatTortillas.

    ¡°That.¡± A hand clasped itself on her shoulder, ¡°Is Azeroth. The branch leader of the Fighter¡¯s Guild of Lum.¡±

    Seven stared at the person that had appeared beside her and then looked back at the dome with interest.

    ¡°Barnacle. Hi.¡± She said pleasantly but continued to stare at TidalWave and her friends getting their asses whooped by the sword-wielding creature.

    The priest chuckled at her lack of response and shrugged as he moved forward to inspect the fight, ¡°So these are your teammates I suppose? I remember seeing you with a couple of them before. Back in Torkay.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Seven tried to analyse their opponent carefully, it looked like a human but had the head of a goat.

    It was covered head to toe in black and red armour and its eyes glowed like a demon.

    ¡°Azeroth.¡± Seven mouthed the name, ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of him. Wait.¡± She turned to face Barnacle, ¡°There¡¯s a fighter¡¯s guild?¡±

    ¡°Of course there is.¡± Barnacle looked like he was going to hit his own face with his palm at her words, ¡°There¡¯s a guild for almost every profession you can think of. Guilds are not the exclusive property of magi, no matter how much importance your folk place in yourselves.¡±

    A whisper of agreement suddenly came out from nearby and Seven realised she was surrounded by priests similar to Barnacle that seemed to be watching the screen in the sky with interest and apprehension. She hadn¡¯t seen this many priests since the expedition force had set out to fight the Corruptor.

    ¡°However,¡± Barnacle¡¯s eyes seemed to glow white before returning to their normal colour, ¡°the fighter¡¯s guild is under the providence of god Varsha. They are not generally welcome within our continent, so it is rare to see such a powerful follower of Varsha within Zhalnor or Verms other domains.¡± He motioned to the priests standing nearby, ¡°We do not often tolerate such transgressions willingly and his looks tend to scare the younger priests. His appearance is also a result of his faith in his god. Though I believe he is an old man when not utilising his powers to their full potential.¡±

    ¡°Wow.¡± Seven¡¯s gaze turned to admiration at the figure smashing through TidalWave¡¯s defenses, ¡°Why wasn¡¯t that guy sent to fight the Corruptor.¡±

    Barnacle laughed but it was quickly muted as a nearby priest glared at him, ¡°Ahem.¡± He made sure Seven was paying attention before continuing, ¡°We do not allow him outside of the city. Unfortunately, the followers of Varsha are not completely¡­ welcome in our continent. The Theocracy only allows certain key members of the fighter¡¯s guild into their cities in order to promote their services to those few individuals that may require them.¡±

    ¡°And to keep an eye on them.¡± Seven was starting to get an idea of the restrictions the goat-headed man was under.

    ¡°Perhaps. I don¡¯t mind keeping them as allies, so long as there are worse things lurking in the world for us to defend against.¡± Barnacle smiled and continued to watch the progression of the match, ¡°The sly old fox probably didn¡¯t even mention to your teammates that the fight is being displayed to the entire city.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, about that.¡± Seven winced as she saw Roxxy about to be stabbed through the stomach before the attack was blocked by a sword thrown by TidalWave, ¡°Why is the fight being seen by everyone? That doesn¡¯t seem like something that usually happens.¡±

    To her it felt like something Archy would kick himself for missing out on. He would have loved to have been on display to the entire city.

    Barnacle chuckled, ¡°Perhaps you have not noticed since you are new to the continent, but there are a lot more adventurers seeking their fortunes across the entire world at the moment. Not all of these are priests, or even follow Verm. Some are fighters that would benefit more from following the fighter¡¯s guild or even the god, Varsha.¡±

    ¡®The players.¡¯ Seven thought absentmindedly.

    If there was one drastic change that was occurring it was the introduction of the players into the world of Zodiac. Of course, this would have some sort ofimpact on the game and its cities and factions.

    ¡°So I suppose he is taking this opportunity to advertise the strength of the Fighters Guild of Lum.¡± Barnacles'' trademark smile glowed brightly as he stared at the fight, ¡°It is not something Azeroth would do lightly. After all, there would be no spectacle if the people he chose to fight did not have some skills. It appears he decided to put these events into motion after deciding that your allies were skilled enough to demonstrate his own strength.¡±

    ¡°Damn right.¡± Seven said and immediately regretted as the priests sent her looks at her outburst, ¡°I mean, yep. They¡¯re skilled.¡±

    She watched the fight progress with pride. Her teammates were dying less and blocking more and more attacks. Even though it seemed that Azeroth wasn¡¯t phased by their attacks or their health it was clear that the goat man was slowly speeding up. He teleported to each player less and less as he took his time to jump through them and get behind them using normal movements.

    He was even starting to blur in places where he was moving normally, he was simply moving that fast.

    But when he teleported to TidalWave something unexpected happened. Instead of defending against Azeroth the warrior raised his sword and stabbed the goat-like head of his enemy. TidalWave was immediately blown back as the enemy''s sword raised to defend but in that split second TidalWave managed to make a single cut with the edge of his sword. A small speck of blood dropping from Azeroth''s cheek onto the ground.

    The branch leader snorted and continued the assault, leaping towards the trio.

    Even if he couldn''t break through in an instant he would still inevitably kill them.

    Then TidalWave lowered his sword and allowed Roxxy and IEatTortillas to instantly be struck down by Azeroth, who looked at him in confusion at the sudden surrender.

    ¡®I see.¡¯ Seven smiled.

    -Please step back. Don¡¯t interfere in the fight anymore.-

    The moment Roxxy and IEatTortillas respawned she sent them a message, and up above she could see their eyes widen. But after a second both of them took a step back to the edge of the dome and left TidalWave and Azeroth alone.

    Seven stared at TidalWave and her intensity caused the nearby Barnacle to narrow his eyes and gaze in contemplation at the fighters. He could sense that something was changing.

    Seven could see TidalWave¡¯s eyes lighting with an emotional fire as he lifted his sword towards Azeroth in challenge. She had seen the same look in his eyes dozens of times when they were fighting. Bloodlust. A result of his genuine love of battle. It only appeared when he had been pushed to his limit and had thought of a new tactic. It was a look that came with new vigor and new knowledge.

    The knowledge that he¡¯d found a way to win.

    ¡®Okay then.¡¯

    Her lips tugged into a smile as she saw Azeroth hesitating in front of the lone warrior.

    ¡®Show them what you¡¯ve got.¡¯

 Book 2 Chapter 4: Vs Azeroth.

    ¡°This is our enemy.¡±

    Violet looked up as she heard Attracting¡¯s voice call out to her. Then she ignored him as she dodged blast after blast of molten rock that was being thrown at her by one of the deadly creatures of the Underground. She had better things to do than be distracted by the priest and get killed by a stray attack.

    ¡°You mean your enemy.¡± She stabbed her rapier into the head of the beast and with a shrill cry it disintegrated into dust and shadow, leaving behind a blue light.

    Ever since meeting the blonde-haired man she had come across rare item after rare item, gold after gold, monster after monster. But she still didn¡¯t trust him.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Attracting rolled his eyes as he neared her, ¡°Watch this. It¡¯s just about to get interesting.¡±

    ¡°Fine.¡± Violet received a notification that her party member was trying to show her a video and allowed it through, ¡°Where is this?¡±

    She could see three figures fighting a goat-headed man in armour. She could tell in an instant that they weren¡¯t in the underground. Despite the black layout of the arena, there was clearly a sky visible and multiple buildings rose up high with splendid architecture. It was distinctly different from the rough and drab cities she had come across down here.

    ¡°Zhalnor. The continent I started in.¡± Attracting¡¯s eyes shone as he watched the video, ¡°But that¡¯s not the important part. That person is TidalWave.¡±

    ¡°TidalWave.¡± Violet repeated the name and watched the figure Attracting marked out, it was a handsome man wielding a sword.

    She watched his every movement carefully. The priest didn''t shut up about this player but she couldn¡¯t tell before now whether he was really a big deal or if it was all talk. But she could instantly tell that the warrior was more skilled than any other player that she had encountered.

    He ducked and bobbed every sword strike delivered by his enemy and when his allies were being attacked he utilised the gaps in timing to defend them and save their lives. Even if he still died every now and then it was clear that he was improving, even as the enemy was getting faster and stronger.

    ¡°Who is he fighting?¡±

    ¡°An NPC.¡± Attracting smiled, ¡°He can¡¯t win. But someone is recording this and sending it straight to the forums. It''s sure to create a sensation.¡±

    Violet looked at the person streaming the fight with interest. They had to be positioned in a building that could overlook the arena. If they were someone important she would remember to keep an eye out for their posts.

    -Joy-

    ¡®I¡¯ll keep you in mind.¡¯ Violet brought her attention back to the video in time to see TidalWave lower his sword and allow his teammates to be killed, ¡®Oh?¡¯

    Attracting saw her surprised expression, ¡°He¡¯s realised his limits. He¡¯s given us one hell of a good show but even he can¡¯t beat that NPC, it¡¯s way too high level for him to even do damage to it.¡±

    Violet ignored his words and narrowed her eyes to get a closer look at TidalWave¡¯s expression.

    That wasn¡¯t the face of a man that had given up.

    ¡®So.¡¯

    She smiled as she saw the NPC hesitate, it had clearly come to the same conclusion she had.

    ¡®Show me what you¡¯ve got.¡¯

    ****

    Seven frowned as she saw the battle raging up over her head. She had slowly been walking closer to it as TidalWave stood facing his enemy. Something was bothering her about the whole event. It wasn¡¯t Roxxy and IEatTortillas sitting in the corner that bothered her, or even the two fighter¡¯s staring each other down with swords drawn.

    It was the dome they were all floating in.

    ¡®That looks really familiar.¡¯ She couldn¡¯t help but draw similarities between the dark arena and the blue space she had just been inside.

    They almost seemed like they were the same.

    ¡®But Muriel¡¯s a witch.¡¯ Seven tried to reason with herself, ¡®And that thing is a swordsman.¡¯

    ¡°Hey Barnacle.¡± She turned to the spectating priest who had found himself following her to the fighter¡¯s guild, ¡°Is it possible for a swordsman to use magic.¡±

    ¡°It is.¡± Barnacle scrunched his eyes as he tried to remember what he¡¯d learnt about swordsmen, ¡°There are magical swordsmen and spellswords. But they¡¯re as common as a crab living in grassland.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha.¡± Seven nodded, ¡°And is that guy a magic swordsman?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely not.¡± Barnacle vigorously shook his head, ¡°The true followers of Varsha believe in the absolute might of physical strength and skill. They do not rely on magic.¡±

    ¡°Then how do you explain that?¡± She pointed to the dome, ¡°That looks pretty magical to me.¡±

    Barnacle grinned as he saw her pointing towards the arena, ¡°Really? Because it doesn¡¯t look very magical to me. In fact, it seems like something that is completely unrelated to magic.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Seven thought over his words carefully.

    ¡®Oh.¡¯

    She closed her eyes and concentrated on the dome above her.

    One, two, three¡­ thirty.

    There were thirty focus points spread out across the entire thing.

    But the goat-man wasn¡¯t a magician or wizard.

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s willpower.¡± Barnacle confirmed her suspicions, ¡°Something completely different from the realm of magic or swordsmanship, butobtainableto those that follow the paths of both.¡±

    Willpower. It hadn¡¯t occurred to her that maybe the control stat was related to something other than magic. After all, it seemed fairly connecting considering how she used it, and how Third used it. But maybe willpower was something different even from that.

    ¡°So that black stuff is his aura?¡± Seven was intrigued.

    It was so strong that it could be physically seen.

    ¡°That is one way to put it.¡± Barnacle chuckled at her expression, ¡°Have you experienced something similar recently?¡±

    Seven nodded but then hesitated. She had definitely been taken somewhere filled with focus points when she was with Muriel. However, this dome seemed a little different. Since she could see through it, and the others were able to see outside of it, she assumed it was different from what Muriel had done to her. But the basic principle seemed the same.

    ¡®Okay.¡¯

    Seven closed her eyes again and began to concentrate until she could see all the focus points.

    This was a lot easier to study than the complex monstrosity the witch had sent her to.

    ¡®Let¡¯s see what I can find.¡¯

    ****

    Azeroth felt pride as he saw what had become of his little spectacle. He hadn¡¯t expected his opponents to put up the fight they had but the longer it dragged out the more he could show his skills off to the city below. He had spent so much time sealed up in that rackety old shack that he didn¡¯t even mind the rebellious gaze the swordsman was staring at him with.

    ¡°You are an ant. Perhaps with time, you will transform into a lion.¡± Azeroth¡¯s voice held a hint of passion as he looked down on the lone warrior attempting to fight against him, ¡°But today is not that day.¡±

    This was more than he had expected. When the three had walked into his guild he had expected them to put up a bit of a fight. Then he had been excited to see them begin to actively challenge him as he withheld his true power from them and allowed them to slowly become accustomed to his movements.

    But now he had fulfilled his goal.

    He could see the streets littered with civilians, bystanders and Verm¡¯s followers. He had wanted to demonstrate that the fighter¡¯s guild was not to be taken lightly and he had succeeded. He had shown his power and the power of the future members of the guild. Not a single priest was happy at the sight of his demonic might being put to use in the middle of their city.

    ¡°You may access your library. You have more than earned that honor.¡± Azeroth lowered his sword and smiled at the person that had dared to challenge him, ¡°Go.¡±

    -1

    Azeroth¡¯s eyes widened as a sword appeared in front of him and his cheek was grazed by its blade. The cut quickly healed up but Azeroth snarled as his pride was wounded. Now he had been struck twice by the same person. An opponent that was inferior to him in every conceivable way.

    He hadn¡¯t felt this humiliated in decades.

    Azeroth raised his sword and deflected the next attack, ¡°So. You choose death. So be it¡±

    He immediately moved his body and intercepted the incoming foe with his blade, sending the enemy flying back several feet.

    ¡°You can¡¯t even stand a single blow.¡± Azeroth chuckled, ¡°You have courage. I welcome it. But you also have a foolishness that will get you killed. Surrender now and I will still welcome you to the guild with open arms.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t be bothered to spend time on ants.

    The opponent didn¡¯t respond and instead jumped back at Azeroth, causing him to step forward and smash his sword against the oncoming blade.

    Only to have been deflected to the side by his opponent.

    ¡°Impossible.¡± Azeroth raised his sword only to find it being blocked once again by his enemy.

    This time his opponent didn¡¯t go flying back. Not only had his sword attack been deflected, but the force of the blow had also been rerouted to the side and had completely missed his opponent.

    His opponent jumped back and Azeroth saw that the warrior hadn¡¯t given up, ¡°What is your name?¡±

    No. his opponent hadn¡¯t given up. The ant had grown even stronger since the beginning of the fight. For the first time since the battle began his opponent smiled.

    ¡°TidalWave.¡±

    ****

    TidalWave felt the rush of adrenaline hit his system as he watched his opponent turn towards him. The old man was finally taking this fight seriously.

    TidalWave took account of his abilities and smiled. Don¡¯t Fear the Reaper had finally recovered and was off cooldown. He hadn¡¯t noticed it at first but after Azeroth had struck him the first time he had immediately hit him again and killed him through the passive ability. He still had five spare swords in his inventory to throw at his opponent in times of trouble.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    But most importantly, he had finally found a way to increase his damage output. When he hit his opponent''s armour it became impossible for him to get a continuous combo going, and his ability only allowed him to increase his attack damage as his combo increased.

    ¡°So you can swing a sword.¡± Azeroth¡¯s eyes twisted in joy, ¡°But you shouldn¡¯t overestimate your-¡±

    TidalWave jolted into action the moment Azeroth began to speak and the branch leader was forced to cut his sentence short as TidalWave sent a cut aimed directly for his throat.

    ¡°You talk too much.¡± TidalWave followed the cut with another strike to his cheek.

    -Blocked

    TidalWave grinned as his swipe was met with a clash of metal. He immediately sidestepped the retaliatory strike and stabbed his sword into Azeroth¡¯s side.

    ¡°Foolish.¡± Azeroth ignored the attack as it hit against his armour, ¡°You- GAH¡±

    Azeroth turned to face TidalWave and gloat only to find a sword flying into his mouth and out the back of his throat. He immediately bent over and coughed as the sword fell to the ground but the damage caused more than just physical harm.

    He had been incapacitated by the sudden hit.

    TidalWave smiled. He had taken a guess and had waited for the gloating goat to open its mouth after he hit it so that he could throw a different sword straight into it with his free hand. And that had led to his opponent''s downfall. Even if the branch leader couldn¡¯t be damaged he could still be brought to his knees.

    TidalWave didn¡¯t hesitate as he brought his main sword down to slice open his incapacitated opponent.

    -Miss

    Only for it to fall through thin air.

    Azeroth¡¯s body disappeared into a black cloud and TidalWave prepared to guard against sudden attacks.

    ¡°You.¡±

    TidalWave¡¯s spine crawled as he heard a low voice laced with fury rise up from behind him. He could feel the hatred being directed towards him. His opponent wasn¡¯t satisfied with holding back any longer. Now he would fight seriously.

    ¡°You¡­ dare humiliate me?¡±

    TidalWave could feel the hate and killing intent oozing out of the voice. He didn¡¯t even bother to turn around and face the enemy before activating his skills.

    ¡°Shadow Dance.¡±

    His body immediately shimmered into a shadowy version of itself at the same moment that the entire arena was smashed to pieces by black and red flames. Bit by bit the arena was broken until only the area around TidalWave was left intact.

    TidalWave turned around and raised his sword to block any incoming attacks.

    Then he saw what was happening.

    The flames weren¡¯t smashing the arena. It was Azeroth¡¯s sword. The branch leader was slicing through the air so fast that it couldn¡¯t be seen. The flames were only an aftermath of the skill. The goat-headed man floated in the air with fury in his eyes as he looked down at TidalWave.

    Within the second that TidalWave had become untouchable by physical damage the entire sky had begun to swirl with air. Instead of falling from the raging winds Azeroth stood defiant in the sky.

    The fighter was floating in mid-air as if by magic.

    ¡°No more bragging?¡± TidalWave was keenly aware that he was standing on the only bit of arena left intact, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Sword got your throat?¡±

    Azeroth raised his hand into the air and within seconds the space above him began to swirl with blood-red symbols.

    ¡°Well, crap.¡±

    TidalWave felt confident that he could hold on longer if they were fighting against each other in sword-based combat, but he had no doubts that the branch leader was about to wipe him off the face of the earth with whatever spell was being formed right now.

    He looked down and frowned.

    If he jumped off the platform he would probably die on the ground. But that might be preferable since he would just respawn in the city center and wouldn¡¯t have to continue fighting Azeroth. He got the feeling that he¡¯d pissed off the NPC a little too much.

    Then he shook his head, ¡®Thinking of running already?¡¯

    He had his passive ready to keep him alive if he suffered fatal damage. Even if Azeroth was planning to bomb him to death with magic he would survive.

    ¡®So I better make the most of this.¡¯

    ****

    ¡°He has balls. But there¡¯s no way he survives this.¡±

    Two figures sat in relaxation as they watched the fight between TidalWave and Azeroth. They had begun watching it the moment Claire had spotted the demonic branch leader on a thumbnail in the forums. They both recognised the NPC as a higher-ranked follower of Varsha. Even in the Kyrgios continent they were exploring it was rare to see a fighter¡¯s guild member of that rank.

    ¡°God this thing is uncomfortable.¡± Claire shifted around the mound they were sitting on and brought her knees up to her chest.

    It was a pile of dead goblins. Of course, it was just a decoration placed there by the game. They had long ago killed all the goblins.

    ¡°How much do you want to bet on that Claire?¡± her partner couldn¡¯t keep the glow off of his face as he saw each strike made by TidalWave, ¡°He can¡¯t deal damage but that doesn¡¯t mean he can¡¯t get away somehow. Look at his expression. I bet he could have run by now and just chose not to.¡±

    ¡°Pascal you fool.¡± Claire giggled, ¡°You¡¯ve fallen right into my trap. If I win, you have to give me the next green ranked item we find. No take-backs.¡±

    Pascal sat in silence for a moment before nodding his head, ¡°And if he lives?¡±

    ¡°He won¡¯t.¡± Claire said with confidence

    ¡°If. He. Lives?¡± Pascal emphasized the words slowly as he stared at the screen.

    Claire was about to stick out her tongue and laugh but then the words died in her mouth as she saw his deadly serious expression, ¡°Fine. If he lives, which I highly doubt, you get to keep the next yellow ranked item we find. No contest. Even if its a wand I¡¯ll let you sell it off if you want to.¡±

    Pascal''s eyes gleamed but he didn¡¯t take them off of the screen, ¡°Deal.¡±

    Then he stood up and leapt off of the mound with a single motion.

    ¡°Come on.¡± He lifted his hand to Claire and gestured to them, ¡°The rest of these guys aren¡¯t going to kill themselves. We have work to do.¡±

    ¡°Whattt.¡± Claire grumbled but followed him, ¡°You just don¡¯t want to watch the guy lose. You owe me a green item.¡±

    ¡°No Claire.¡±

    Pascal waved his hand and with a flash of lightning a staff appeared in front of him, hovering in the air.

    ¡°I just have the utmost confidence that he¡¯ll win.¡±

    ****

    ¡°Why is he just standing there?¡±

    Jein stood in front of the gates of Translor with a pouting expression. The magnificent city with spires reaching to the skies didn¡¯t seem to phase the girl as she kept her eyes on TidalWave standing on top of the broken platform. To her, it looked like the warrior was just standing there waiting for his own death.

    ¡°He can¡¯t jump. The fall would kill him.¡± Ji-woo stared at his own video with eyebrows raised.

    He had greatly admired the swordsmanship displayed by the player facing off against the fighter¡¯s guild branch leader. It almost came close to his own skill.

    ¡°Who cares, that goat is going to kill him. Either way, he dies.¡± Jein couldn¡¯t understand the reasoning behind it, ¡°I swear if he¡¯s all skills and no brain it''s going to suck.¡±

    ¡°Regardless. He is a threat.¡±

    ¡°Ugh.¡± Jein rolled her eyes at him, ¡°We don¡¯t even know if he¡¯s going to be competing. He¡¯s not even fighting another player.¡±

    ¡°He will compete. And if he is this skilled then he will eventually meet us.¡± Ji-woo said with absolute certainty.

    Pascal scrutinized the combatant carefully. Every strike he had sent at his enemy had been done without hesitation. Despite knowing that he could never win against the NPC he had expended all his effort without hesitation. He didn¡¯t even doubt for a second that he was going to come out on top in this confrontation.

    That was the most dangerous kind of opponent.

    ¡°He must have something pretty special that he¡¯s aiming for then.¡± Jein shrugged, ¡°After all, you don¡¯t get that skilled without having something to chase.¡±

    ¡°Or someone.¡± Jiwoo smiled, ¡°There is more in this game than what we know.¡±

    ¡°Ugh.¡± Jein grunted, ¡°I thought our main opponents were going to be the french. And now this guy shows himself and screws everything up.¡±

    ¡°It would be worse if he hadn¡¯t.¡± Jiwoo closed the video and smiled, ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll survive somehow. He seems confident in his assessment.¡±

    ¡°If you say so.¡± Jein closed her video and turned to the city in front of them, ¡°Second biggest city in the Zhalnor continent? When are we getting to Lux? That¡¯s where the strong players will be, right?¡±

    ¡°Patience. We have nowhere to go.¡±

    Jiwoo brought out a badge and the gate guard hurriedly rushed to accommodate him with praises and good service.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just wait for all of them to come to us.¡±

    ****

    ¡®I¡¯m screwed.¡¯

    TidalWave was willing to admit when he was beat.

    If he jumped down from the shred of arena left floating in the sky then he was almost certain that he could survive with his second chance skill. But he had never tried to use it outside of battle. It was possible that just jumping to death naturally would lead to him actually dying and losing an item. Or maybe even experience.

    But if he stayed here then whatever skill Azeroth was spending so much time preparing would undoubtedly destroy him. He had little doubt that the skill was designed to kill him several times over if it could.

    He needed to get away fast.

    But the moment he began to feel that his brain was coming up with a plan the sky brightened in a sickly red.

    Azeroth smiled down at him with an unreadable expression, ¡°Final Judgement.¡±

    Symbols streaked across the sky and spiralled in a cone as Azeroth said the words. Each symbol glowed blood red and intertwined with their counterparts as they slowly gathered together and formed a funnel. The entirety of the sky seemed to pulse with power as the symbols floated down towards Azeroth.

    Then they flew into his sword.

    ¡°You have put up a good fight.¡± Azeroth lifted his sword and then began to descend downwards, ¡°Despite my anger, I will admit, the fighter¡¯s guild will always have a place for you.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± TidalWave breathed a sigh of relief.

    At least he hadn¡¯t made a permanent enemy out of this NPC.

    Azeroth struck towards TidalWave with his sword and out of the bright metal a brilliant light sliced down towards TidalWave. The attack seemed to split the space it travelled through in half as it passed through. TidalWave could see bright flashes of lightning and the dark collapsing similar to Third¡¯s rifts wherever the sword light travelled and in a split second it had already reached him.

    He raised his sword. Even if he couldn¡¯t fight against the attack he could always hope that he could somehow block it.

    -Jump-

    The message came suddenly and unexpectedly.

    ¡®Hmm.¡¯ TidalWave smiled.

    He took one final look at the light that was tearing towards him, and then he took a step back and let his body fall off of the edge of the remains of the arena.

    [You have been challenged to a duel by player; Seven. Accept? Y/N]

    He accepted.

    ¡®I hope you know what you¡¯re doing.¡¯ He thought as he felt his body falling.

    Above him, the light smashed through the arena and continued towards him. It was already nearing and he could see its heat waves emanating in the air around it.

    Then a shadow crossed over his body as a figure appeared in the air beside him.

    ¡°Wind blast.¡±

    TidalWave smiled as his body was suddenly blown away by the magical attack and then his eyes widened as he felt his arm smack against something solid.

    ¡®What¡¯s this?¡¯

    He looked around and lifted himself up just in time to see the sword light fly past him and smash into the ground with a giant explosive tremor.

    He had definitely been in the air only moments before. But now he was standing on top of a thin blue platform that hadn¡¯t been there before. He had been smashed into it by the wind blast that had moved him to the side. It was so faint that it looked like a transparent blue bubble that was about to pop.

    Because it was floating in the air it had stopped him from falling to the ground and dying.

    ¡°So. You have more tricks up your sleeve.¡±

    TidalWave looked up from the blue platform to see Azeroth landing beside him with sword outstretched.

    ¡°I¡¯ll admit. I did not expect you to be able to manifest your will. You truly are a talent.¡± Azeroth smiled and lifted his sword, ¡°Final Judgement.¡±

    TidalWave groaned as he saw the sword flickering with light.

    The branch leader had more than one charge of the thing.

    TidalWave watched the light spread out and fire towards him and lifted his sword.

    ¡®At least we tried.¡¯ He thought weakly.

    ¡°This has gone on long enough.¡± A new voice interrupted TidalWave¡¯s solemn thoughts and he snapped his neck towards it.

    From his side a figure was bounding towards him in the air, waving a staff at him. He realised what the figure was trying to tell him and he jumped out of the way just as the sword light smashed past him. Only to land on another platform. This one was black as night, but within it swirled the same endless mists and space that could be seen in Third¡¯s rifts.

    He looked up at the sword light just in time to see it fly straight into a dark rift that formed in the air in front of it. The moment the light passed through the rift he turned back to see Azeroth staring at him on top of the other platform with a surprised expression.

    -15,000

    TidalWave saw a huge damage number float over Azeroth¡¯s head and the goat¡¯s eyes widened in anger, and fear.

    ¡°WHO DARES-¡±

    ¡°Wind blast.¡±

    -1

    A second figure appeared in front of Azeroth and before he could react he felt his body being blown backwards. Right over the edge of the blue platform.

    ¡°Well now.¡± TidalWave blinked and then saw that the space where Azeroth had been standing was replaced by two new figures, ¡°This is something I didn¡¯t expect.¡±

    Both Third and Seven were standing where Azeroth had been. Correction. They were floating in the air. With nothing underneath them.

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Third raised his eyebrows and stared at Seven intently, ¡°I did not expect this at all.¡±

    ¡°God, how can you walk on air as well?¡± Seven replied as she saw Third floating in the air, ¡°Do you even realise how hard it was to figure out how to do this?¡±

    TidalWave saw Third chuckle and then they all turned to look down at the figure that had smashed into the ground. Azeroth had been too surprised by the attack to even initiate his ability to stand in the air. He had hit the ground with full force and was wedged inside the crack that had been made by the first skill he¡¯d sent at TidalWave.

    ¡°I doubt that killed him.¡±

    TidalWave could already see the figure shifting as it tried to lift itself up after the fall. He could feel the anger emanating from Azeroth in waves. The air around the branch leader was warping and the ground had even started to melt in places. Then TidalWave turned to his friends and smiled.

    ¡°So how are we going to do this?¡±

 Book 2 Chapter 5: The World Stirs.

    Seven looked up at the ongoing standoff between TidalWave and Azeroth with a worried expression.

    ¡°He isn¡¯t going to win this.¡± Barnacle remarked from next to her, ¡°But he has certainly gained the respect of the city. I think it¡¯ll take a couple of days but all of Lum will hear about this eventually.¡±

    She nodded and felt anxious as she viewed the sky darkening, ¡°Yeah, but I don¡¯t want to see my teammate lose when he¡¯s trying so hard.¡±

    ¡°A respectable answer.¡± Barnacle squinted his eyes as Azeroth raised his sword and the entire sky began churning and a slight red tinge etched into the sky, ¡°But your friend is screwed now.¡±

    ¡°Willpower.¡± Seven suddenly repeated the word, ¡°What did you mean when you said it was willpower that Azeroth was using to float.¡±

    Barnacle turned to her in surprise, ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? Willpower is what we use to guide magic and skills and turn them into something manageable. It is how we weave the fabric of reality to follow our whims.¡± His eyes took on a bright white glow, ¡°Look underneath his feet and you will see what I mean.¡±

    Seven did know what he meant. She could see it when she closed her eyes, a single focus point underneath Azeroth''s feet that was invisible to the naked eye. But somehow he was standing on top of it while he charged his weapon.

    ¡®There¡¯s not enough time.¡¯ She could feel the dismay showing on her face as she studied Azeroth¡¯s floating skill and the platform he¡¯d created.

    Both were powered by focus points but weren¡¯t magic of any kind. At least not that she could see. They were purely skills that were made possible by crystalized willpower.

    ¡®Platform. Platform.¡¯ Seven concentrated on her surroundings and sweat began to drip down her forehead as two invisible focus points appeared in front of her.

    She wanted to try and replicate the platform that she could see on top of her. But the precious seconds were going by and she was getting nowhere.

    -You¡¯ll need more than that to power your magic youngling.- A voice echoed in her mind.

    It was the voice of Muriel. The witch she¡¯d met in the library.

    ¡°Oh yeah?¡± Seven couldn¡¯t see where the witch was watching her from but she added another focus point, ¡°I really can¡¯t do much more than this.¡±

    -Pathetic.- Muriel let out a sigh, -But perhaps what you have in front of you is passable. Why aren¡¯t you doing anything with it? Where is your domain girl, you are trying to create a platform are you not?-

    ¡°If I knew how to do that I wouldn¡¯t be sitting here with my eyes closed like a dumbass.¡± Seven was getting frustrated at the witch now.

    Couldn¡¯t the NPCs be a little bit more helpful?

    ¡°They certainly could be more helpful.¡± Barnacle spoke out to Seven and she opened her eyes to find him sitting down next to her in a meditation position, ¡°At least, I¡¯m guessing you haven¡¯t gone crazy and that there¡¯s actually someone talking to you. Through some kind of magic no doubt, you magi and your secrets.¡± He chuckled, ¡°I suppose you¡¯re trying to imitate the platforms so that you can go up there to aid your friend who is about to be annihilated.¡±

    The sky had already begun to transform fully into crimson and Seven could tell there were at most a few seconds left.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Seven nodded, ¡°Can you help me?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡± Barnacle stated it outright and dashed her hopes, ¡°I am a priest. And not a very high ranking one at that. However, I can tell you that it doesn¡¯t look too difficult to me. You are trying to transform nothing into something. Do not overcomplicate it.¡±

    ¡®Transform nothing into something.¡¯ Seven could feel the ticking clock as she tried harder and harder to figure out the puzzle behind this magic.

    She closed her eyes and brought the three focus points into existence once again, trying to imagine them as shimmering blue platforms like the one above. A whole area which could be stood upon and used to replace footholds and land.

    ¡®....And nothing is happening.¡¯ Seven smashed her fist into the ground in frustration.

    ¡°Looks like you¡¯re dead.¡± She said into TidalWave¡¯s direction.

    A burst of cackling laughter filled Seven¡¯s head as she spoke and there was a flash of blue light. Replacing the previously open space was the form of the witch Muriel, standing and laughing at Seven as she tried to bring the platforms into existence.

    -You are most definitely not sorcerer material- Muriel¡¯s voice echoed into her mind, -But you have potential girl. You simply have not had enough time to access it. Tell me, do you wish to gain the power to save your friend?-

    ¡°I do.¡± Seven didn¡¯t hesitate.

    She didn¡¯t want TidalWave to get wiped off the map if she could help prevent it.

    -Then make a bargain with me.- Muriel stretched out her hand towards Seven, -The power you want, temporarily granted to you. However, in return you must do a single favour for me.-

    ¡®Hmm.¡¯ Seven looked up into the air just as the symbols began to float back into Azeroth¡¯s sword.

    It was a tough choice. On the one hand, it was definitely a shady deal. On the other, she was being asked to do a favour, and that could only mean some sort of quest.

    ¡®Is that a bad thing?¡¯

    Seven reached out towards Muriel¡¯s outstretched hand and took it.

    ¡®I guess I¡¯m going to find out.¡¯

    ¡°Deal.¡±

    Muriel¡¯s face brightened ominously as she felt the magic flow from herself into the young magi before her. A bright blue light of cascading mana that swirled through the air playfully and entered into the nimble magi¡¯s skin.

    ¡°Good. Good.¡± She repeated herself, and smiled, ¡°Go and save your friend youngling. After that, we will have much to talk about.

    [Unlocked: Aura Manipulation.]

    [Unlocked: Aura Step.]

    ****

    ¡°So how are we going to do this?¡±

    TidalWave watched Azeroth with hawk-like accuracy because if the branch leader decided to come up with something to smash them to pieces he wanted to be able to dodge it.

    ¡°I can probably jump down from here and be fine.¡± The ground didn¡¯t seem too far down to him now that he had fallen so much, ¡°And you two can suddenly fly through the air I guess.¡±

    ¡°No need to risk him chasing you down as you land. I can carry you. Besides, we cannot defeat him.¡± Third waved his staff and several rifts appeared in the air as though they were defending against possible attacks, ¡°And he seems fairly pissed. I suggest we run and make do with our lives.¡±

    ¡°I second that.¡± Seven agreed, ¡°I don¡¯t really want to go fighting random strong guys and making them my enemy. I¡¯ve already got frogs on my back.¡±

    She had better things to do than to be looking over her shoulder for enemies in every area she was trying to play in.

    ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Third and TidalWave both nodded their heads.

    TidalWave had nothing to gain by staying here. He was sure Azeroth would accept him into the fighter¡¯s guild the moment he calmed down. He was willing to give the NPC that time while he went and trained like crazy for the next time he challenged the branch leader.

    ¡®And there will be a next time.¡¯ TidalWave vowed to himself as the NPC looked up at him through fiery eyes.

    ¡°Alright then, so we are all in agreement. Let¡¯s bail. TidalWave you can come with me.¡±

    Third grabbed TidalWave before the warrior could respond and suddenly they were stepping through the air and towards the Magi Guild of Lum.

    ¡°We¡¯re going there?¡± Seven travelled through the air alongside them and TidalWave saw her face turn a little nauseous, ¡°I just saw an NPC I really don¡¯t want to meet again there.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the only place that will offer us sanctuary if Azeroth attempts to follow us.¡± Third was adamant, ¡°Unless that NPC is going to kill you we will have to touch down and beg the attendant to given us sanctuary."

    ¡°I hope it¡¯s Lass.¡± Seven sighed as they reached the guild and quickly ran through its doors.

    It was perhaps the luckiest part of her day today that Lass was still in attendance at the desk.

    ¡°Ah miss Seven, Mr Third.¡± Lass¡¯s eyes lit up as he spotted them walking in, ¡°Quite the show you have given us at the guild. Wonderful display of magic. Come in, come in.¡±

    He waved them through happily and closed the ornate doors behind them.

    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, that old windbag can¡¯t take a single step outside of the fighter¡¯s guild territory or he¡¯ll be pissing off more factions than he can count. That¡¯s probably why he had to do his little display in the sky, little loophole but the theocracy will find a way to punish him for it.¡±

    ¡°This is the magic you guys could do in your sleep.¡± Seven didn¡¯t know why Lass was so enthusiastic, ¡°We didn¡¯t even hurt him. Well,¡± She turned to find Third grinning at her, ¡°I didn¡¯t hurt them. Third did a lot of damage.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, it was all basic magic.¡± Lass agreed with her, ¡°But you humiliated him with it! Oh how long I¡¯ve lived to see this day. We have quite the rivalry with the fighter¡¯s guild, spanning back centuries. But there¡¯s no time for that, I do believe I have been left a message by the witch Muriel. You accepted her patronage and powers in order to save your friend is that correct?¡±

    Seven looked down guiltily as Third and TidalWave stared at her, ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± Lass waved his wand and immediately a blue light was sucked out of Seven¡¯s body.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    [Skill locked: Aura Manipulation.]

    [Skill locked: Aura Step.]

    ¡®Aww.¡¯ She¡¯d hoped she would be able to keep the skills for a while longer.

    It felt really nice to step through the air without a care.

    ¡°My.¡± Lass gathered the blue light into a ball that seemed to cloud over and shimmer as it hovered in the air, ¡°That is far more magic than I expected. You must have a lot of potential to be able to hold this kind of magic in your body. If you had been any lesser magi then this agreement you made with the witch would have turned out differently. Definitely not nearly as happy as it did.¡±

    ¡°What would have happened if I didn¡¯t have that potential?¡± Seven asked with a queasy look on her face.

    ¡°You would have exploded and become a wonderful magic ingredient for any magi that practices such sorcery.¡± Lass smirked, ¡°Of course, the fact that the witch wasted such powerful magic on you shows how much potential you have. I am sure that even if you had exploded she would still have gained her investment back through the magically flamb¨¦ed flesh. That is how talented you are.¡±

    ¡°Gee thanks Lass. You really know what a girl likes to hear.¡± Seven couldn¡¯t help but hope that as a player she was never going to explode.

    She didn¡¯t like the idea of a witch using her body for magic ingredients, game or no game.

    ¡°And you?¡± She turned around to Third and put her hands on her hips, ¡°I suppose you worked it out all on your own.¡±

    ¡°I was with Spark Joy watching from above from a nearby building and enjoying the show.¡± Third admitted without shame, ¡°The moment I saw TidalWave was going to lose I rigorously studied the platforms and absorbed the techniques he used. Quite interesting, but unfortunately I seem to have used up a lot of my potential.¡±

    Seven could see Third¡¯s eyes cloud over at that remark.

    ¡°I only have two skill creation¡¯s left.¡± Third clarified as he saw her staring.

    ¡°Oh.¡± She coughed lightly, ¡°Right.¡±

    She would have to ask the others what Third meant after. It probably had something to do with what he¡¯d discovered about making skills. She¡¯d been a bit too distracted by the events to think about his discovery.

    ¡°Guys.¡± TidalWave¡¯s voice cut through to them and they saw him staring at the door, ¡°We have company.¡±

    It was opening to reveal a procession of twelve priests and one particularly well-dressed person leading them into the magi guild. From the way they were smiling at TidalWave it was clear they knew exactly who he was.

    ¡°Sir TidalWave, sir Third, and miss Seven.¡± The leader turned towards them and grinned, ¡°Such a grand battle you have shown us. Most wonderful.¡±

    ¡°Why thank you.¡± TidalWave bowed slightly at his words, the priests seemed powerful enough to warrant it, ¡°How may I help you¡­ Excuse me I don¡¯t believe we¡¯ve been introduced.¡±

    ¡°I am Trei.¡± Trei¡¯s grin dimmed slightly as he began to walk closer to the trio, ¡°I am the bishop in charge of public relations in Lum. However, I am facing quite a dilemma and was on my way to speak to you now that you have finally all returned to the city at once.¡±

    He waved his hands and the priests parted to reveal Roxxy, Spark Joy, IEatTortillas and Archy all being escorted by priests into the guild. Seven waved at them and they all joined together. She could tell Archy was angry that he¡¯d missed the fight and she laughed as she patted his back.

    ¡°Clearly you were expecting all of us.¡± Third crossed his arms as he sensed a request coming on, ¡°So I will emphasize my teammate¡¯s question. How may we help you?¡±

    ¡°Ah yes.¡± Bishop Trei seemed taken aback by Third¡¯s attitude but then his smile returned. ¡°Tell me, brave warriors.¡±

    Bishop Trei waved his hands grandly into the air.

    ¡°Have you heard of the inter-city competition?¡±

    ****

    In a darkened hall the wail of a goblin could be heard as the green-skinned creature tried and failed to slam its hammer into the player. The girl expertly jumped and spun around to dodge the attack, making sure to land her wand direction into its eye before letting off a blast of magic that disintegrated it.

    ¡°God that was such a rush.¡± Claire giggled as the final goblin¡¯s ashes disappeared, leaving behind a blue light, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that guy survived that.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you just lost a future yellow-ranked item.¡± Pascal smiled as he laid back on the walls of the hall.

    He hadn¡¯t needed to help out at all this time.

    ¡°He had help.¡± Claire stuck her tongue out, ¡°I¡¯d make the same bet ten times out of ten.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll take your suckers bet every day of the week.¡± Pascal laughed as he imagined the yellow item he¡¯d receive in the future, ¡°I¡¯m not the kind of guy to turn away free money.¡±

    ¡°Yet you¡¯re so cheap when we¡¯re ordering out.¡± Clair shot back as she picked up the items surrounding her and sighed happily.

    It was a nice haul for the short amount of time she¡¯d spent obtaining it.

    ¡°We¡¯ll probably be seeing them in the inter-city matches.¡±

    Claire tilted her head in confusion as she picked up a glowing blue light.

    ¡®Inter-city matches?¡¯ She didn¡¯t know anything about that.

    ¡°Oh right.¡± Claire suddenly realised that she had -maybe- remembered her manager saying something about that, ¡°When¡¯s that again? And what is it?¡±

    Pascal rolled his eyes at her response. If he didn¡¯t actively look out for her she would probably forget to wake up in the morning. Somehow she missed important events entirely like they were wiped out of her memory.

    ¡°The Fighter¡¯s Guild of Kraug sent out an official to invite to us, remember?¡± He looked at Claire but it was clear that she had no idea what he was talking about, ¡°In a week. The top five of each major city will be offered the chance to fight each other. In a friendly cross-continental match. It¡¯s a really big event for the NPCs. The cities use it to raise their prestige every year according to the game lore. Of course, it will be the first of its kind to actually happen in the game after release. Although it¡¯s not particularly well-known by players, it is certainly a sign that the creators of Zodiac Online are starting to pay attention to competitive playing.¡±

    ¡°Oh right.¡± Claire nodded her head, not remembering a thing, ¡°And we are definitely going to be part of that right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Claire.¡± Pascal¡¯s voice was dry as ice, ¡°We¡¯re going to be there.¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine.¡± Claire would go along with it as long as Pascal did, ¡°Are we trying to win?¡±

    ¡°Not exactly. The organisation wants us to of course. Yanti won¡¯t be able to join us since she¡¯s in Zhalnor but our other team members will have gotten in.¡± Pascal thought about a rather disturbing message he¡¯d received, ¡°Personally, I want to find a player called Attracting and see what his deal is.¡±

    He had been taken aback by the message that he¡¯d received from this player out of the blue. But now after searching him up online he was curious. There were a couple of videos online about this guy. He was a player that had suddenly gained a lot of influence in a city called Lum, but more importantly, he had a class called ¡®Shadow Priest.¡¯ that Pascal had never heard of. But the limited time of the videos and fights made it hard to gauge his strength.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Claire didn¡¯t know the name, ¡°Is he strong?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. But he¡¯s going to be there. And with all these unknowns popping up I¡¯d rather get control of the situation sooner rather than later. So I want to check these players out. Who knows, maybe there¡¯ll be some fellow pro¡¯s in there fighting with us.¡±

    Claire thought about the video they¡¯d just finished watching. The swordsman, wizard and magi that had appeared out of nowhere.

    ¡°You think they¡¯ll be there?¡±

    ****

    ¡°Of course they¡¯ll be there!¡± Jein lifted her arms up into the air in anger, ¡°They¡¯re going to be riding high off of that ridiculous fight! That bastard went and pulled out some magic cards out of his ass and now I look like a fool. I should have trusted you when you said he¡¯d survive.¡±

    Ji-woo smiled patiently at his friend''s rampage. She was cute when she vented out into the street but he knew she didn¡¯t mean any of it. The priests flanking him from either side were too busy trying to calm her down to notice that she wasn¡¯t actually serious about the tantrum.

    ¡°Those are called teammates. And yes, I suppose we will be fighting against them. I can¡¯t see them not being in the top five of their city.¡± He thought over the parameters of the inter-city competition, ¡°Considering the city officials are only inviting the top-ranked players, it''s possible they¡¯ll simply not accept the offer to participate. It¡¯s not really a place to gain fame and it''s not a well-known event so I don¡¯t doubt that they might hesitate to waste their time on it.¡±

    ¡°Who cares about fame.¡± Jein instantly shot him down, ¡°It¡¯s a chance to gauge your opponents! Those five Frenchies are going to be there, that¡¯s for sure. And that bastard that sent us the message. What is he again? A shadow priest? I can¡¯t wait to stick my sword into that staff waving-¡±

    The rest of her words were cut off as she was pushed by the priests into a chamber and she saw a pair of players eyeing her incredulously. She was making quite the scene.

    ¡°We¡¯re getting off track.¡± Ji-woo walked in after her and smiled at the pair of players that they¡¯d disturbed, ¡°I¡¯m more worried about the players that came to that swordsman¡¯s rescue. They clearly seemed to coordinate well, and that could pose a problem for us.¡±

    ¡°Why? We¡¯re not seriously trying to win the thing are we?¡± Jein wanted to smack the priests away as they hovered around, ¡°It¡¯s just a competition for beginners. Half the people there are just no-lifers who levelled a lot. I doubt two-thirds of them ever show their face in another competition as the real players start weeding them out of the ranks with their skills.¡± She didn¡¯t care if she offended the other players in the room with her words, ¡°We¡¯re just here to find that Attracting guy, smash his head in and then leave.¡±

    ¡°That competition is the only reason we¡¯re getting special treatment.¡± Ji-woo looked to the door and saw the priests ushering into the room another players, ¡°There. That makes five of us.¡±

    ¡°So.¡± Jein turned towards the fifth player with a curled fist, ¡°This is the last of us then.¡±

    She recognised the player that had just entered the room.

    Ji-woo had wanted to meet with these three other players for a few days now. Ever since he had received a message from a player named ¡®Attracting¡¯. The message had come out of nowhere and he had immediately blocked Attracting from sending him another. But it was the contents of the message that were strange.

    -Please don¡¯t participate in the inter-city competition being held by the NPCs with the thought that you¡¯ll win. It will only make you feel worse when you lose. You¡¯re not strong enough yet to come out on top.-

    The first emotion Ji-woo had was suspicion. Nobody should know who was playing on this account other than Jein and a few of his organisation¡¯s top members. There was no way for them to be compromised. He had even hidden his details online and made sure no videos were leaked.

    But then he¡¯d realised he wasn¡¯t the only player that had received that same message.

    ¡®Man.¡¯ Ji-woo had almost smashed his head into a wall when he realised Jein had been sent the same message.

    She had been absolutely livid about it for the entire day and hadn¡¯t let him hear the end of it. In the end, he¡¯d had to take her out to cool off. She only liked rock climbing and hardcore jogging up at least a thousand steps. It took her almost six hours to calm down. And when she gets angry she didn¡¯t bother holding back with the non-stop ranting insults or using his credit card.

    For that alone, he would make sure this Attracting person would pay.

    ¡°Hello. I suppose we¡¯re the five that received the same message.¡±

    The newcomer being guided in by priests smiled as she was being eyed suspiciously by the four other players in the room.

    ¡°My name is Yanti.¡±

    ****

    ¡®We¡¯re ready.¡¯

    Attracting watched Violet fly through the Underground beasts with ease and smiled. He had sent various messages of challenge to dozens of players. To the ones he knew would be motivated by anger, he sent intimidating sentences, to those who he held interest in he sent offers of cooperation if they were impressed by the team he had gathered.

    Violet was the last piece of the puzzle he needed in order to make his mark among the player base. The rest of the world still thought that this was a tiny, insignificant event that would be attended by a few people and ignored by the general public.

    Only he knew what would become of that legendary day.

    A day when the true greats of Zodiac Online from all continents finally met and fought each other. Where the entire world had their eyes on the fights and it was finally realised by the outside that Zodiac Online was something more than just popular. It was the first sign that this game would be the greatest to have ever been made.

    It was a day that couldn¡¯t go wrong for him, even if he was simply there. But he still planned to win it. To this end Attracting had gathered his own team, including himself, and now with Violet finally ready to fight he had a surefire way to win the competition.

    The Koreans, and the French. These were the two nations whose players dominated the rankings of Zodiac Online for years. It was said that the players at the top of even these nations were in a legendary class of their own. Even rare players that had crossed the realms of normal talent like TidalWave, Archy and Third could only be at most equally matched with these players.

    All these high-level teams would fall and be crushed by the players he had gathered together.

    The final Underground beast died with a yelp and Violet turned around to face him. She had been growing stronger by the minute ever since the Azeroth fight had ended with TidalWave living. He knew she wouldn¡¯t be motivated by any old video or empty promises. So he had shown her the videos he had gathered from Spark Joy¡¯s blog to motivate her.

    And now that she had seen him fighting against Azeroth she was completely in sync with her motivations, aiming to not just fight against the warrior but to completely dominate him in the competition. She was becoming far stronger than her previous self, the player that was once the undisputed number one in the world.

    ¡®But that¡¯s not for a while now.¡¯ Attracting grinned as he thought of the upcoming competition.

    ¡®TidalWave.¡¯ The very player who had dethroned Violet from her top spot, in another time.

    Two number ones would soon be clashing on a stage that would be seen by the world.

 Book 2 Chapter 6: Challenge.

    ¡°MILLY.¡±

    ¡°ANA.¡±

    Emily ignored the startled glances of the bystanders and turned with a shout as she heard Ana¡¯s loud voice calling her name. They¡¯d been playing the game every day for weeks now in their spare time and hadn¡¯t had many chances to see each other outside of it.

    Emily quickly felt Ana wrapping her in a bear hug and lifting her off the ground. The girl had always been about fitness but lately, she¡¯d been sticking to the gym like a fly in glue. It wasn¡¯t like she was tall or muscular either, she was just physically strong. They¡¯d both had a lot more time to pick up other hobbies now that they¡¯d both dropped Andrew from their lives. They¡¯d actually hung out with him a lot externally before the game released. Although, Emily was now spending most of her spare time playing Zodiac Online and eating out of boredom.

    ¡°So this is the place?¡± Ana checked out the joint from top to bottom, ¡°I hope your friend is right about it.¡±

    ¡°I hope so too,¡± Emily had invited one last person to join them for lunch today, ¡°Because if this isn¡¯t the best fried chicken in the city I may never trust anyone ever again.¡±

    The Living Chicken had been recommended to Emily by their friend and she¡¯d been looking forward to it all week. Apparently her friend had inside access to all the latest food information. At least that¡¯s what she¡¯d claimed. Emily had her doubts and now she was finally putting it to the test.

    They needed this rest. Ever since the bishop had confronted them in Zodiac Online the other day it had been non-stop training for them.

    Archy, TidalWave and Seven.

    Inside the game these were the three players that they had decided would fight for the city. In the first place, their whole team was high level enough to qualify, so the bishop had allowed them to pick three members to fight. The other two had already been picked from other players inside the city that were equal to them in level. Roxxy and Spark Joy weren¡¯t geared towards individual fighting so they decided to take a pass, they were confident that even if the two other players weren¡¯t tanks their team would be fine. They did, however, insist on getting good seats to view the fighting.

    Third hadn¡¯t been interested in the first place. He fully planned to spend his entire time in the library learning new spells. He could probably convince Lass to get a television or magic equivalent in there to watch the fights if he wanted to. Or just watch it on the forums if they popped up there.

    Ana was insistent on spending her time inside the game training. She had seemed to take less joy in playing Zodiac Online since the fight against the Corruptor. Emily could relate with her considering what she¡¯d been told about Andrew¡¯s conversation topics over the phone.

    ¡°So this is your first time meeting them in real life, right?¡± Ana was curious about the newcomer.

    Neither she nor Emily had actually met the foodie that had recommended the restaurant.

    She knew that Emily still hadn¡¯t met any of the friends she¡¯d been playing with for the past few weeks. It wasn¡¯t exactly a common thing to meet up in real life but Emily had grown especially close to this person since it turned out they shared a lot of the same humor and hobbies. Normally Emily and Ana wouldn¡¯t meet with anyone outside of the game but this was a special case, they had a reason to trust the player. They were a fairly public figure.

    ¡°Yup.¡± Emily nodded enthusiastically, then decided to change the subject hesitantly as she remembered something, ¡°Have you heard from Andrew?¡±

    ¡°Oh Milly,¡± Ana lifted her hand in a fist, ¡°If he called me I can tell you which finger I¡¯d tell him to shove up his-¡±

    ¡°Hey-hey-hey.¡± Emily laughed at her friend but then sobered up.

    It had been a little under a month since the fight for the dragon¡¯s treasure against Andrew and the players of Dark Horse and Colt¡¯s Crew. Since then Emily had actually grown really close to the two groups, but Andrew had disappeared off the face of the earth.

    ¡°I mean it Milly,¡± Ana was angry just remembering him, ¡°The moment he hits a little money from playing the game he completely ditches us and moves with his parents to god knows where. Then he goes and gets even more rich and famous by hitting who knows how many treasure spots. Not to mention that ridiculously named alchemy store franchise he¡¯s got going on in Zhalnor. God knows how he had the time to set up all this.¡±

    Andrew had actually become quite the well-known figure on the forums and online. Emily didn¡¯t keep up with the forums that much but it wasn¡¯t hard to find out information on the ¡®shadow priest¡¯ online. Some things were only known because Andrew had told Ana while they were travelling together. Like the fact that he was planning to go the Underground to find items and gold, and that he was setting up an alchemy chain. In fact, the alchemy chain was only in its fledgling stages but it was already selling items like hotcakes in Lum and in the Underground.

    He had somehow done this all in record time too.

    ¡°He¡¯s a time traveller remember.¡± Emily brought up the tidbit cheerfully.

    She said it jokingly and she could tell that Ana felt embarrassed for Andrew as she thought back to the phone conversation.

    ¡°Which is the stupidest thing ever!¡± Ana was practically throwing a fit as she remembered the conversation she¡¯d had with Andrew after the Corruptor fight.

    They weren¡¯t at all convinced he was a time traveller. And the truth was that they both also weren¡¯t one hundred percent unconvinced he was a time traveller. Ana had first prescribed Andrew a visit to the psych ward over the phone call when he¡¯d told her but then she¡¯d gone over it with Emily and they both thought back over his antics over the past week they¡¯d been playing with him and then in the weeks that followed.

    Every day he seemed to be ahead of the crowd in finding hidden chests, hidden gold, dueling skilled players that had hidden themselves and fighting monsters that shouldn¡¯t even be seen yet. He was rising at unparalleled speeds and was already becoming famous online as one of the foremost Zodiac players and explorers. There were rumors he was starting a guild soon and that it would be composed of only skilled players.

    Every sign pointed to him having some kind of knowledge that they¡¯d never known their friend to have access to before.

    But it was definitely a hard pill to swallow. They didn¡¯t want to admit such a thing was true. And if it was then what did that mean for everyone around them? So the girls thought about the situation carefully and came to a single conclusion.

    The man was a complete dumbass.

    ¡°Ten YEARS.¡± Ana bellowed to the chagrin of the people waiting in line to get into The Living Chicken, ¡°Ten years.¡± She repeated a little softer as she saw the angry looks, ¡°And the idiot didn¡¯t do anything except play a video game. He didn¡¯t follow the news so he doesn¡¯t know any major events, he didn¡¯t grab any lottery numbers and he can¡¯t even tell me which singers are going to be popular. The man¡¯s a complete dumbass!¡±

    Emily didn¡¯t want to agree but the case was pretty stacked against Andrew. It was one thing that he claimed to be from the future but the guy had spent his entire ten years playing a video game he was only excellent in. He¡¯d claimed to Ana that he¡¯d been at least a top-five hundred player in the game by the time he died and had made his living farming gold to convert to real-life cash. That meant he¡¯d spent almost twenty-four hours a day either playing the game or sleeping because of his lack of items and skills. He¡¯d made up for his deficiencies with time spent inside the game. In return, he knew nothing about the outside world, instead of actually being able to use his time travel for anything useful.

    The guy probably hadn¡¯t even made a single dent in other people¡¯s lives before he died.

    They still had their doubts about his claims, who wouldn¡¯t, but if they were true then it was so sad that it almost made them want to cry. They didn¡¯t even know if they could tell anyone because nobody would believe something so pathetic. If they didn¡¯t know Andrew so well they¡¯d swear he was lying about not knowing anything about the future. Unfortunately, they knew he probably wasn¡¯t lying when he said he spent all his life playing the game.

    ¡°I know, I know,¡± Emily nodded. They¡¯d already had this conversation dozens of times over the phone, ¡°God if only he hadn¡¯t turned into such a dickhead it¡¯d be a lot easier to take in.¡±

    That had been Emily¡¯s biggest gripe about the situation. She¡¯d had almost an entire month to come to terms with the fact that whether Andrew was a time traveller or crazy he¡¯d still decided it was a waste of his time to hang out with her. She hadn¡¯t even done anything to him. According to what Andrew had said to Ana the only reason he ignored Emily so much was because he¡¯d somehow forgotten about her entirely. She just hadn¡¯t played the game enough to warrant his attention in the future and he hadn¡¯t bothered keeping in touch with her in real life. Just thinking about it made her want to stress eat. She¡¯d thought they¡¯d been closer than that. A lot closer.

    It was unfortunate that after finding out why he was being rude to Emily that Ana had slammed the phone down and stopped the call. She hadn¡¯t been able to get back in touch with him because it took a week for her to calm down and he had already moved with his family to who knows where.

    Honestly, both of them kind of wanted to tell someone else about the story just to confirm they weren¡¯t overreacting. But they knew if they told anyone online then they¡¯d be laughed off as liars, and if they told anyone in real life they¡¯d be marked as crazy.

    One day they¡¯d spill their guts out to some poor sap and make them listen to their story.

    ¡°Well, I guess it doesn¡¯t matter now.¡± Ana shook her head and reset her thoughts, ¡°It looks like he¡¯s doing well for himself. I hear his videos are getting millions of views now.¡±

    ¡°Millions of views? Psh. That¡¯s nothing.¡±

    Another voice slipped into the conversation as a newcomer put themselves beside Emily and Ana. The girls looked at them with surprise and then narrowed their eyes to make out the person''s features. The newcomer was completely wrapped head to toe in clothes, with a beanie and scarf covering their face.

    ¡°H-hey guys.¡± The person hesitated under their intense scrutiny.

    ¡°Ohh,¡± A light popped off in Emily¡¯s head, ¡°Hey Archy!¡±

    The archer from Zodiac Online was pretty much the same person in terms of physical build and height but the clothes covering them had thrown off Emily. Each section looked fashionable and higher-end than the picture she had in her mind of the player. There was only one major difference.

    ¡®He¡¯ Was a she in real life.

    She was also famous.

    ¡°Oh-my-god.¡± Emily was excited to finally meet her friend in real life, ¡°How did you know it was us?¡±

    Archy snorted and suddenly Emily could see that the personality she had online was probably the same as she had in real life.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t even change your avatar in Zodiac Online. You look exactly the same as Seven.¡± Archy was clearly grinning under her scarf.

    ¡°Call me Emily. Ohh,¡± Emily¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°do I call you Magnolia or Archy?¡±

    ¡°Ergh,¡± Archy¡¯s face scrunched up, ¡°Neither please, I¡¯d be happy if you call me Anita.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Ana.¡± Ana decided it was finally time to join in the conversation, ¡°IEatTortillas in Zodiac Online.¡±

    Anita turned to her and scanned the girl with surprise, ¡°Hey, you¡¯re not a muscular, six-foot tall man.¡±

    Ana turned slightly red. Unlike Emily and Archy she had completely changed her appearance online to be the opposite of her current one. The would-be hero character she was levelling online was actually becoming quite famous as well alongside TidalWave and Archy. But the others in the team had worked out she was a girl a long time ago. Although they probably still imagined her like a female version of her avatar.

    Except for Anita that is. Inside the game, Archy was completely oblivious to IEatTortilla¡¯s true identity, even though Ana didn¡¯t even try to hide it from anyone and was constantly talking to Emily about it.

    ¡°Yeah, I lost a few pounds.¡± Ana joked, she was as fit as could be and had been for a while, ¡°I¡¯ll have you know that I really do eat tortillas. No lying there.¡±

    Anita groaned as the line seemed to come to a standstill, ¡°Good lord don¡¯t mention food. I need some chicken in me now.¡±

    They laughed but Anita seemed serious, ¡°Actually, I think I can make it happen. Give me a second guys.¡±

    Before they could ask her what she meant Anita had already walked to the front of the line and quickly disappeared behind a side door.

    ¡°So she¡¯s the same as ever.¡± Emily remarked with a smile.

    She had been worried that the Archy she knew online would be different from the person that she was in real life. It turned out that they were almost exactly the same people.

    ¡°Man, so that¡¯s Magnolia. That name is way too fancy for that personality.¡± Ana was blunt but Emily knew she meant well.

    It was also extremely true.

    ¡°That¡¯s just her stage name.¡± Emily defended her teammate half-heartedly.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    Magnolia. It was the name of a famous internet sensation that had appeared a few years ago and quickly made her name inside the gaming community as well as the world outside. Thanks to her cousin who had a job in video design and marketing when he wasn¡¯t being an extremely loud blabbermouth she had quickly been able to release videos of her exploits in a previous popular virtual reality game.

    She had played a dwarf and mixed with her personality and skills with the bow her videos had gained millions of views and nobody was sure how many followers she had. She was definitely a person who you would be intimidated to be meeting for the first time just based on her reputation.

    That aura of intimidation was completely washed away once they connected Archy and Magnolia with Anita, the person. Honestly, Emily could see why she was so popular among the gaming community and the general audience. She was just so refreshingly honest and skilled inside the game that her videos were always sure to be a hit. It was like watching a professional gamer that also happened to be naturally funny and easy to connect with.

    Then she had left the game and joined Zodiac Online and nobody knew why. Slowly her fans were migrating into a giant dwarf society led by her cousin in-game.

    The Knights of Magnolia, Emily was amused to find out, was actually just a big fan club that has members all over the game now that Anita had revealed that she was in Zodiac Online. For the most part, they didn¡¯t actually bother her but recently she¡¯d seen a resurgence in popularity due to her latest series of videos which showed her dueling against her teammates and players who were extremely skilled. It had shut down any internet haters and caused her reputation as an actual gamer to soar.

    Ever since the Corruptor fight and whatever Attracting said to her cousin it seemed like she had no intention of hiding who she was anymore. Although the team didn¡¯t really care that much and happily still dueled her even if she did sometimes post videos of them online.

    That was also why TidalWave, IEatTortillas, Colt from Colt¡¯s Crew and Nastin from Dark horse were becoming more popular as well lately. The whole team had been featured heavily in the videos but these four players had stuck out to the general populace and they were being researched heavily by professional organisations and ordinary players alike. Nastin was already somewhat famous but the others hadn¡¯t experienced anything similar. TidalWave had told Emily that a few organisations had already reached out to offer him jobs if he agreed to represent them in the Zodiac Online pvp competitions that were rumored to be announced soon.

    Third, Roxxy, Spark Joy and Emily had declined to have their daily duels recorded by Archy. They didn¡¯t feel like they wanted the attention and Emily didn¡¯t feel like she was very video-friendly, despite Anita¡¯s protests in-game.

    Ana and Emily talked for a couple more minutes before Anita came back with a smile on her face.

    ¡°Hey-hey-,¡± Anita grabbed their hands excitedly and dragged them out of the line, ¡°Stop waiting over here, we¡¯re going in.¡±

    Emily almost protested but then saw that there was a person at the door gesturing politely for them to go on through.

    ¡°Huh.¡± Emily had never seen that happen before, ¡°Now I just hope the chicken is as good as you say.¡±

    They walked through the doors and soon found themselves being ushered into a nice table closed off by walled on both sides except for the entrance. A television touch-screen with a menu displayed on it was hanging off the wall onto the table at their side and they started going through the menu excitedly.

    ¡°Damn.¡± Ana whistled, ¡°This place is a lot fancier than I¡¯m used to.¡±

    The Living Chicken looked deceptively smaller from the outside. But maybe the long line should have given it away. Emily couldn¡¯t believe there were so many ways to fry a chicken but apparently she¡¯d just never been opened to this kind of world before.

    Anita laughed at Emily¡¯s wide-eyed expression, ¡°I guess your face has just always been readable.¡±

    ¡°You got that right.¡± Ana agreed wholeheartedly, ¡°You won¡¯t believe the trouble she¡¯s gotten into thanks to that. Poor kid in kindergarten had his heart broken when she completely failed to lie to him when he asked her out. I can still hear his heart cracking now if I think about it.¡±

    ¡°Oh god.¡± Emily didn¡¯t want to be having this conversation, ¡°Let¡¯s change the subject. Please.¡± She thought about the recent events in-game as she finally entered her order into the screen, ¡°So, only a couple more days until the inner-city competition. What¡¯s that, like, fifteen players we have to beat?¡±

    Ana and Anita stared at her in disbelief.

    ¡°What?¡± She asked defensively.

    ¡°Sev-Emily.¡± Anita spoke slowly, ¡°Do you know how many cities there are in Zodiac Online?¡±

    ¡°In Zhalnor?¡± Emily tried to think of all the cities she¡¯d heard of, ¡°Like four or something right?¡±

    Anita sent Ana a look to ask if Emily was joking but the fit girl shook her head with a smile on her face.

    ¡°There are fifty-five major cities altogether. Like, in the world of Zodiac Online. Only forty-seven have enough players to send to the competition so¡­¡± Anita did the math in her head, ¡°There are around two hundred and thirty-five players that are going to be there. All of them around the same level as us and some are probably just as skilled.¡±

    Emily tilted her head in confusion, ¡°Can we beat them?¡±

    ¡°Ha.¡± Anita appreciated her friend¡¯s forthrightness, ¡°We can definitely beat most of them. But if there¡¯s a lot of French and Korean players then we probably won¡¯t be able to win the whole thing.¡±

    ¡°Koreans and French people? What do they have to do with this?¡±

    ¡°Milly, did you do any reading up on the professional gaming scene?¡± Ana giggled as she saw the confusion spread on Emily¡¯s face, ¡°The top rankings of all organisations have been dominated by those two nations for years now. You¡¯ll hardly see a top ranker from somewhere else, even the top skilled players from other countries migrate to a Korean or French team eventually due to better pay and reputation.¡±

    ¡°There are two main organisations from both nations that have announced their move to Zodiac Online already.¡± Anita added to help explain the scene to Emily, ¡°But we don¡¯t know who their players are. Only that they¡¯re veterans that have been playing at the top of the rankings in other games for years. They¡¯re more than likely to skip this event because it¡¯s not really that big and they¡¯d want to hide their information. But we never know if one or two will appear so that they can show off or test their skills. Or heck, maybe they¡¯ll just be bored.¡±

    ¡°Oh. So if we run into a Korean or French pro we¡¯re screwed.¡± Emily nodded, ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve already met one.¡±

    ¡°What!¡± Emily couldn¡¯t take in all the information she was receiving, ¡°When did we do that?¡±

    ****

    A bead of virtual sweat dripped down Troy¡¯s* face as he narrowly avoided the oncoming flurry of sword strikes aimed at his head. He relied on the momentum of his movements to drag him out of the range of the enemy¡¯s attacks and he tried to recoup his thoughts as he suddenly found himself running to safety.

    Troy watched his enemy catching up to him and lifted his dagger, ¡°Juggler¡¯s Banq-¡±

    ¡°Repear¡¯s Fury.¡±

    Troy¡¯s body blazed in black light as he was stopped from moving and he saw that he had become a ghost. He had died without being able to do anything. He hadn¡¯t been humiliated like this since he had first joined Colt¡¯s Crew and fought against Colt himself. Now he was finding more and more players were whooping his ass all the time.

    He sighed and looked at his opponent who was light-heartedly standing around and tapping his foot on the grass.

    [TidalWave: Level 42]

    ¡°You monster.¡± Troy revived with a smile, ¡°How do you even improve that much in a week?¡±

    TidalWave laughed at the compliment and stared directly at Troy with a grin, ¡°I¡¯m just having fun trying to keep first place in my team¡¯s race.¡±

    TidalWave and Troy looked over to the side and spotted several skilled players fighting each other in a series of duels. Troy grunted in astonishment as he saw Seven smashing magic blasts into Roxxy¡¯s hovering shield without hesitation. The nimble magi was growing more and more confident in herself every day. Unfortunately, he only had one more day to duel this team.

    The inter-city competition would begin tomorrow, and he hadn¡¯t made the cut to enter it.

    ¡°Hey,¡± Troy interrupted his own thoughts as TidalWave began to move to his next opponent, ¡°Why haven¡¯t you guys come up with a name yet? A team name.¡±

    Troy was curious. He knew that these players had all been together for around a month but none of them had decided on a stable name for themselves. Colt¡¯s Crew and Dark Horse had constantly referred to them as ¡®TidalWave and friends¡¯ or by their individual names.

    ¡°Yes please. We¡¯ll call ourselves Archy¡¯s Crew plus One.¡±

    Troy looked over to see Archy smiling and pointing at Third pointedly as he said the words ¡®plus one¡¯. Troy groaned. It was his turn to fight the archer. This was his worst match up out of all of the enemy players. His job was to assassinate quickly and maybe be good at close quarter combat but the archer rendered all his plans null if he knew that Troy was coming at him.

    It was still good practice.

    Gyro had suddenly decided that it was his sworn duty to enter the inner-city competition and had completely destroyed Troy in their inter-team fight to decide who would represent their city. He hadn¡¯t expected the archer to actually become interested in the competition and then out of nowhere Colt also decided to become serious about it. Unfortunately, they had only been given one spot due to their team¡¯s overall lower quality and level but surprisingly Colt had been soundly defeated by Gyro.

    But then again, the archer was a Korean professional. So Colt had taken the loss with grace and given the inter-city competition spot to Gyro.

    ¡°Damn.¡± Troy¡¯s next best practice partner to finally overcome Gyro in a duel was Archy.

    He was the only archer that came close to Gyro in skill. Even Dark Horse¡¯s Grenda wasn¡¯t a match for the player.

    ¡°You wish.¡± TidalWave snorted at Archy¡¯s suggestion, ¡°We should have a team tournament and once Third wins it he can get the right to choose our name.¡±

    Neither of them could deny that the wizard was stronger than them. Archy was naturally countered and before Third had secluded himself in the Magi Guild of Lum¡¯s library he had dueled against TidalWave to show off his new ability. Needless to say, his new aoe defense skill was a complete counter to TidalWave. His aura step allowed him to almost reach impossible to hit heights but was limited. Apparently willpower only got you so far into the air before the winds decided to bring you back down to earth again. And it wasn''t as fast as it had first appeared to be.

    He had still destroyed the warrior.

    ¡°I will refuse any name that guy picks.¡± Archy¡¯s expression grew flat, ¡°You know his naming sense. We¡¯ll be laughed out of the forums if we allow that wanna-be roleplayer to give us a name.¡±

    ¡°I think Dragon-slayers United is an amazing name.¡± TidalWave said without a hint of sarcasm in his voice, ¡°It has a certain flair, you know?¡±

    ¡°Maybe if we had actually slain a dragon.¡± Archy rebutted and lifted his quiver to reveal a series of green-tinted arrows, ¡°All we fought was a really big and tentacled cocoon. My damn awesome new yellow bow hasn¡¯t even been usable since then.¡±

    Troy coughed lightly and suddenly the two players remembered he was there.

    ¡°Oh right,¡± Archy sent Troy the duel request he¡¯d been waiting for, ¡°What do you think we should name the team?¡±

    ¡°No offense Troy,¡± TidalWave interrupted them, ¡°But I don¡¯t know if I can accept names given by someone from a place called ¡®Colt¡¯s Crew¡¯¡±

    ¡°Ha.¡± Troy replied dryly, ¡°Well you guys have seven members. Why not call yourselves ¡®Seven¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°No way.¡±

    They were resolute in their refusal.

    ¡°We might as well be calling ourselves Third¡¯s turds if we¡¯re including our teammate''s names in the team name.¡± Archy brought his bow up as the duel began.

    ¡°Rich coming from you.¡± Seven¡¯s voice called out to them as she heard Archy¡¯s comment.

    As an assassin normally Troy would begin at the farthest range to give Archy a chance. After all, archers had a difficult time in close combat and so they were given time to spread the distance and maintain a healthy stream of arrows. In this duel they had begun at a medium-range because Archy was simply that skilled.

    Troy and Archy immediately switched into battle-mode and brought his dagger up while turning invisible...

    ¡­ And was immediately struck in the eyes by two arrows that had been shot before he could even move.

    ¡°Damn it.¡±

    Troy hadn¡¯t even lasted a second before dying this time. He looked around and saw that Archy had already moved on to watch TidalWave¡¯s match against his next opponent, Colt¡¯s Crew¡¯s archer Gyro.

    Troy sighed deeply as he revived. None of his teammates were struggling against the enemy players like he was. Slowly over the past week of playing he could feel the gap between himself and the other players widening as Colt and the others kept up with their sparring partners and fought them as equals.

    ¡°I know how that feels.¡± A kind voice reached him as his next opponent walked up to him, ¡°But Archy only did that because he takes you seriously.¡±

    Troy felt surprised as he saw Spark Joy sit down next to him with a kind smile on her face. The iron guardian. They definitely hadn¡¯t spoken much before except for the occasional duel together.

    ¡°Here.¡± Spark Joy didn¡¯t waste time bringing out a small book from her inventory and passing it to him.

    Troy took a look at the contents curiously and flipped through what looked like a series of numbered sentences. Each entry was a new duel against one of her teammates.

    ¡°It¡¯s a journal. TidalWave got us all using the function. Apparently some of the others use it to record monster encounters, but I decided to record all our duels.¡±

    [Duel 12 against TidalWave. He kicked my ass.]

    [Duel 25 against TidalWave. He kicked my ass yet again]

    [TidalWave Duel 75: He moves slightly slower after missing a wide swing. How can I force him to attempt one?]

    [TidalWave Duel 324: I won! Finally.]

    Troy whistled, ¡°That¡¯s a lot of fights.¡±

    It was more impressive that she had actually even won a single duel, let alone the several her diary stated she won. She was a tank designed for non-pvp combat and he was a warrior designed for killing. That alone spoke droves about her true skill as a player.

    Spark Joy nodded her head contentedly, ¡°Let¡¯s take a break for a while. Browse the forums.¡±

    Troy tilted his head at her and she could see the confusion on his face, ¡°Forums? Why?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡±

    Troy smiled as he saw Spark Joy struggling to come up with a reason. She had just come out of a fight against Colt and was clearly tired after the encounter.

    ¡°Something I like to do after losing too many duels.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha.¡± Troy handed her back the book and then opened up the forums in his menu.

    The game creators hadn¡¯t been too shy about plugging their official website into the game and making it easy to access.

    ¡°Oh hey, I know her.¡± Spark Joy¡¯s eyes widened as she saw that one of the top posts on the forum was a video, ¡°What¡¯s her name¡­ Magenta? Iris?¡±

    ¡°Violet.¡± Troy said with a charming laugh, ¡°You were close. What¡¯s this then.¡±

    He clicked on the video and suddenly his expression turned grim. The girl wasn¡¯t that unknown to them since they both liked to watch skilled players fighting online but it was the person standing near Violet that caused Troy to pause.

    ¡°Oh gosh, it¡¯s that guy.¡± Troy muttered.

    [Attracting: Level 43]

    ¡°You know him?¡± Spark Joy looked at the video curiously, ¡°Is he as skilled as Violet?¡±

    ¡°You know him too.¡± Troy almost laughed at Spark Joy¡¯s expression as she wracked her brain trying to remember the priest, ¡°He was there at the Corruptor fight a month ago. You know, when you guys fought against us. He was on the giant monster¡¯s head. He¡¯s pretty famous now because of his forum videos?¡±

    ¡°Ohh¡­¡± Spark Joy nodded.

    Troy could tell she definitely didn¡¯t remember who Attracting was.

    ¡°He¡¯s IEatTortilla¡¯s friend and previous party member?¡± He tried a new tactic.

    ¡°Ohh¡­.¡± Spark Joy definitely, definitely, definitely had no idea who this person was.

    She only really remembered the people that were skilled enough to keep her attention online. Those were the people she wrote about in her blog and studied to make her analysis posts. Unfortunately Attracting just hadn¡¯t done anything to get her attention. Then she remembered an event that had happened briefly in the Lum arena.

    ¡°I think I remember fighting a guy like that once.¡± She admitted. Although the memory was quickly fading again, ¡°Maybe. Maybe it wasn¡¯t him.¡±

    Troy unpaused the video and showed it to Spark Joy hoping to trigger some memories.

    Attracting and Violet were waiting patiently on the edge of a lake of lava and were staring into the middle intensely. Attracting was muttering as he lifted his priest wand and fired shadow claws into the lake. Each one sizzled as the purple mist forming the attack dissipated once it hit the lava.

    Spark Joy and Troy tilted their heads in confusion as they tried to see what the duo in the video were aiming for. Then they both blanched as a sudden explosion caused lava to spew forth like a geyser. From the depths of the lake a hole formed and a massive red lizard suddenly roared into existence in front of Violet, causing the warrior to take a step back and evaluate the situation.

    ¡°TidalWave.¡± Attracting¡¯s voice suddenly came through loud and clear as the giant lizard roared, ¡°This is our official challenge to you.¡±

    ¡°Oh right.¡±

    Spark Joy¡¯s eyes flashed with amusement.

    ¡°I remember this guy now.

 Book 2 Chapter 7: A dumbass and a strategist?

    ¡°TidalWave.¡± Violet took a step back as Attracting¡¯s voice echoed out across the lava cavern, ¡°This is our official challenge to you.¡±

    Rising from the bubbling lake the monster roared and Violet sprung into action with rapier in hand. The only way to reach the creature was to use the various small rocks jutting out of the lava as platforms. She honestly didn¡¯t want to care about what the priest was saying behind her, but his analysis of her moves was surprisingly helpful. He was pointing out the monster¡¯s weaknesses before she even became aware of them and she used his leads to gain an advantage. That still didn¡¯t help her low opinion of him. He was so up himself it was off-putting.

    Honestly, she had seen Magnolia¡¯s dueling videos online and she was a big fan of TidalWave¡¯s skill, but she also had the feeling that the guy wouldn¡¯t care less about this video. She also wanted to fight stronger opponents and if this was the way to get their attention then she would go along for the ride. For now, she had a monster to kill.

    She leaped off a rock as the lizard approached and swung her rapier at it. A small blade of wind formed at the edges of her weapon and quickly launched itself into the monster¡¯s eye, causing it to roar out in pain. Violet smiled as she jumped from rock to rock and closed the distance. She was surrounded by lava at all sides and a single wrong movement would cause her to lose her footing and fall into the deadly arena, but she knew she wouldn¡¯t make that mistake.

    This was her time to shine.

    *****

    A small crowd of people had gathered around Spark Joy and Troy as they watched the video of Violet fighting the fiery lizard for the fifth time. The sheer spectacle of the massive creature being downed by a single person wasn¡¯t distracting them from her expert footwork and timing.

    ¡°Roxxy¡­¡± Spark Joy eyed her friend venomously as Roxxy used the tight grouping as an excuse to push her towards Troy.

    Roxxy just smiled and pushed Spark Joy even more. She knew her iron shielded friend was too shy to talk to people easily, even online. This was just her way of giving her a figurative and literal push. She also enjoyed the expressions her friend made as she prodded her further.

    ¡°Do you know him?¡± Colt pointed towards Attracting who was narrating on the side, ¡°I think I recognise him.¡±

    ¡°I have never seen that man in my life,¡± Archy was scrutinizing the priest, ¡°Did one of the videos piss him off?¡±

    After the Corruptor fight it hadn¡¯t been hard for the team to work out Archy''s online persona. It was pretty obvious after his cousin had shouted it for all of them to hear. As such, Archy hadn¡¯t held back and had instead put himself in charge of posting videos of their duels online because he was convinced they would be popular. He was absolutely right. He was also in charge of filtering them so that players like Roxxy, Spark Joy and Seven weren¡¯t in them. The three of them had let him know early on that they didn¡¯t want any of their duels to be put online no matter what.

    It was all put into a side channel so that Archy''s normal content wouldn''t become too cluttered with duels. But even then it still gained quite a few views for a new series featuring unknown players.

    On the other hand, TidalWave had become quite a big figure on the Zodiac Online forum because of his duels. It wasn¡¯t enough for him to be known throughout Zodiac Online, but it was a splash with potential. Archy was convinced that with his looks, swift movements and raw skill he was the kind of person to attract large audiences online without doing too much work. Over the past week the video uploaded online courtesy of ''Joy'' showing his fight against Azeroth had given him a whole new level of popularity.

    ¡®Luckily he¡¯s not the kind of person to let that get to his head.¡¯ Roxxy thought to herself as she continued to push a protesting Spark Joy.

    ¡°That¡¯s Attracting.¡± TidalWave remembered him clearly, ¡°Haven¡¯t seen him for a while and he generally just spouts nonsense when we do.¡±

    ¡°So we have met him?¡± Spark Joy was surprised; she still hadn¡¯t been one hundred percent sure.

    ¡°It has been a couple of weeks.¡± Roxxy shrugged and finally gave up on moving her friend as a sickle came into contact with her legs, ¡°And we only saw him twice.¡±

    The priest himself wasn¡¯t doing too much in the video, but even TidalWave and the team had to admit that his analysis of the fight was spot on. Violet was fighting a creature multiple times her size that could possibly take her out in a single hit, but somehow Attracting was predicting their entire skillset. When she was about to jump he would tell the audience to look out for it, when she was going to aim for a vital spot he had already spoken about it half a minute ago.

    It was almost prescient in a way.

    ¡°Why does he always have to single me out.¡± TidalWave was annoyed, ¡°I¡¯ve never even started a conversation with the guy.¡±

    He honestly couldn¡¯t remember a single time he had spoken to Attracting out of his own free will. The man just kept coming back into his life like some sort of annoying disease.

    ¡°Augh.¡± Seven blanched as she saw her former friend.

    She wasn¡¯t the kind of person to learn just from hearing someone talk. She adapted by seeing how her opponents move. Seven didn¡¯t doubt that she wouldn¡¯t even be on this girl¡¯s radar. She definitely wouldn¡¯t pose much of a challenge if she somehow came across the warrior. Even after multiple viewings she still couldn''t grasp the technique''s behind Violet''s footwork.

    Moving lightly and nimbly from rock to rock as she parried and dodged the lizard¡¯s ferocious attacks, Violet seemed to be like a fish in water. Watching her move and fight made Seven realise how clunky she was in her own movements. Violet seemed to be moving how someone would imagine a body to move in their dreams, smooth and unrealistically perfect in its execution.

    Her opponent was also clearly no joke. Combined with the lava scenery and disproportionate moving space this was clearly a monster that was designed for wiping out entire groups. The lizard let out a mighty roar and swiped at the lake with its claws, causing a wave of lava to rise and splashes of the deadly liquid to fill the air. Violet immediately responded by leaping into the air and with a flourish she landed on the creature¡¯s back and stabbed into its skin.

    Violet was making the monster look like an elephant being played around with by a mouse.

    The entire fight was being recorded by Attracting as he narrated the events and taunted TidalWave at the same time. It was clear that he was issuing some sort of challenge but by now they were once again focused entirely on the mesmerising fight.

    Except for Spark Joy and Roxxy; Both of them had an unreadable expression on their faces as they heard the detailed analysis being spewed out of Attracting¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°He¡¯s talking a lot of smack for someone that¡¯s doing absolutely nothing.¡± Troy could see Spark Joy¡¯s expression becoming more distant as she thought carefully over the priest¡¯s words.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to fight her.¡± Archy¡¯s eyes sparkled, ¡°That rapier looks like it could chop my arrows cleanly in half without trouble. Clearly she¡¯s aiming for more precision than power.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± TidalWave agreed, ¡°It just hits it home again that there are people a lot more skilled than us out there.¡±

    They had never once thought themselves to be the strongest players in the game. For one thing, they had Dark Horse to thank for several bruised egos. They had organised a few dueling sessions against them since the fight against the Corruptor and despite TidalWave and the others being slightly higher in level, it was clear that Dark Horse was higher in skill. At the very least Blastar and Nastin had become monsters after they began taking the game seriously. TidalWave was also sure that there were more players like Seven out there.

    Undiscovered monsters.

    All in all, it meant that Attracting¡¯s message was completely useless. He wasn¡¯t even sure why the priest was so obsessed with him. He sneaked a peek at Seven and IEatTortillas and saw them talking animatedly about Violet and her playing style. They couldn¡¯t care less about Attracting despite having been his friend. It looked like as far as they were concerned he could say whatever he wanted but they didn¡¯t have to listen.

    ¡°Hey-hey-hey,¡± Roxxy¡¯s voice whispered next to TidalWave¡¯s ear, ¡°Come with me for a second?¡±

    TidalWave nodded and brought out his sword. Clearly Roxxy wanted to spar just as much as he did after seeing the amazing fight Violet had shown them.

    ¡°Oh-my-god you think too much about fighting.¡± Roxxy laughed the moment they¡¯d gone far enough away from the group, ¡°I didn¡¯t bring you out here to duel. I wanted to talk to you.¡±

    She rested her back on a nearby tree and with a bang she smashed her elbow against it, causing the leaves to fall down. She picked one out of the air and twirled it around in her fingers as she began to frown.

    ¡°Oh.¡± TidalWave looked at his sword and then put it back awkwardly, ¡°Oh? What¡¯s up?¡±

    Roxxy¡¯s frown was quickly wiped away and she smiled playfully, ¡°Tell me, how much do you know about this Attracting guy?¡±

    TidalWave crossed his arms over his chest and felt his forehead scrunching up as he recalled every bit of information he knew about the priest. Admittedly, he didn¡¯t know too much about that guy.

    ¡°He¡¯s got a rare class. So his abilities can¡¯t be too bad. He seems to know who all the skilled players are despite never speaking to them before and he is Seven¡¯s friend. That¡¯s about it.¡±

    ¡°Succinct and to the point, I like it.¡± Roxxy gave him a thumbs up, ¡°So, do you think he might be cheating?"

    ¡°What?¡± The question blindsided him, ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± TidalWave shook his head, ¡°If he was then he would have told IEatTortillas. Attracting didn¡¯t seem to keep any other information from him. Besides,¡± TidalWave had another reason for believing that the priest wouldn¡¯t cheat, ¡°Clearly he¡¯s not on good terms at the moment with Seven, but I don¡¯t think she and IEatTortillas are the kind of people to hang out with a cheater. You know she works harder than any of us.¡±

    He pointed over towards the girl in question who had already moved on from the video and was starting a new duel against IEatTortillas. It was a source of motivation for him. He was able to see every step taken by her in her journey to improvement and not once had he doubted her hard work and goals. She had never once come off as a person who would cheat or would tolerate a cheater.

    He also sincerely doubted that she even knew how to cheat.

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Roxxy nodded, ¡°But he definitely knows a lot about us. From what you told me, he beat you in a fight-¡±

    TidalWave coughed, ¡°-He kind of cheap shotted me at the end-¡°

    ¡°He killed Archy as well-¡°

    ¡°-Archy totally underestimates his enemies-¡±

    ¡°And he took out Third, and Spark Joy, all by himself.¡± Roxxy finished her sentence and rested her chin on her curled fingers, ¡°I know we¡¯re not the best in the game, but you can¡¯t deny we¡¯re damn good at fighting at least, other things like diplomacy maybe not so much.¡±

    TidalWave thought about the recent frog incident and Azeroth fight, ¡°Okay.¡± He agreed, ¡°We¡¯re good fighters.¡±

    Roxxy smiled, ¡°So how did he beat almost every single one of us without ever fighting us before?¡±

    ¡°Um.¡± TidalWave honestly didn¡¯t know how to answer.

    On the one hand, his instincts were telling him to claim it was all a fluke. After all, Attracting had cheap shotted most of the team with moves they had never seen before. But then he began to fight against this train of thought. It was easy to call a single fight a fluke, maybe two. But now that he thought about it, the priest did always seem to have the upper hand no matter what the circumstances.

    Somehow the priest had won against several of them in a duel. It was a record that they couldn¡¯t even maintain against each other. That guy definitely had something they didn¡¯t, and that was beginning to bother TidalWave.

    ¡°Well then.¡± Roxxy let TidalWave mull over the question a little longer, ¡°How skilled do you think he is? Like, do you think he could win against us in a fight.¡±

    The memory of their duel flashed over his mind, remembering Attracting being overwhelmed by a sword and resorting to one final attack to win before he was killed. It had been an early level duel but that meant that it was also a duel of raw skill, and Attracting had definitely lost that fight until the end.

    ¡°Definitely not,¡± TidalWave was quick to answer this time, ¡°he doesn¡¯t have the skill to fight us and win. Well, he can¡¯t win without resorting to cheap shots at least.¡±

    He was certain about his judgment. He simply couldn¡¯t imagine the priest winning a fight against him without bringing in an unknown factor into the fight.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    ¡°Do you think he would win against us?¡± He asked his teammate.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Roxxy¡¯s eyebrow¡¯s furrowed in confusion, ¡°No matter how I see it, he¡¯s going to win against us the next time he fights us.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Now TidalWave was interested, if there was a potential fight coming up he wanted to know about it, ¡°I trust your judgment. Why do you think he¡¯s going to win?¡±

    ¡°Because he¡¯s a damn good player,¡± Roxxy admitted and then frowned as she felt a bad taste in her mouth, ¡°Oh-my-god that¡¯s annoying to say for some reason. But yeah, he¡¯s a good player. I¡¯d even say a great player.¡±

    TidalWave laughed but then went silent as he saw Roxxy wasn¡¯t joking, ¡°Are you sure about that? He won a few fights against us when we didn¡¯t know what he could do. I¡¯ll admit he¡¯s good, but I wouldn¡¯t say great or damned good.¡±

    He crossed his arms and decided to take a page out of Roxxy¡¯s book, leaning against a tree and picking up a leaf to play with as he began to think about what the tank was saying to him.

    ¡°TidalWave.¡± Roxxy was stone-faced as she spoke, ¡°That guy might be a prancing dumbass who can¡¯t seem to get over himself, and he might be Seven¡¯s friend who is equipped with all sorts of items.¡± She took a deep breath as though she couldn¡¯t believe what she was about to say, ¡°But before anything else, I think he¡¯s a master strategist. Definitely not someone who we should continue to think of as a joke. I mean,¡± She hesitated and thought of how to voice her concerns, ¡°He¡¯s a priest. He¡¯s not a fighter, or magi, or a tank. He¡¯s a healer. The kind of person who is never supposed to be in the front line because they stand no chance in a close combat fight and will die to any other class that is not their own. Ultimately, he is a supporting class that is supposed to be used to enhance the performance of other people.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± TidalWave was starting to see what Roxxy had already envisioned, ¡°So he can¡¯t beat us¡­ but it doesn¡¯t matter because he¡¯s not supposed to be able to win in the first place?¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Roxxy cracked a smile but the concern still edged at the corners of her lips, ¡°I¡¯ve studied the videos he posted online, and gone over the fight we had against him dozens of times in my head. There is more to fighting than just mechanical skill, this game requires brains as well. He is clearly a strategist whose skill is beyond us in every way. He has had the advantage at every fight we¡¯ve encountered him in. He¡¯s had every angle planned out and as a support class managed to kill several of us. In the fight against that giant cocoon, he actually managed to wipe out hundreds of players and our entire team except for one person. We also seem to keep forgetting that he did that while somehow controlling a boss monster. And that¡¯s when he only had a dozen players defending him. He may have lost, but it was because we got lucky that he didn¡¯t kill Seven, not because he was unskilled.¡±

    ¡°Having a boss isn¡¯t a skill.¡°

    ¡°Being able to plan that entire battle from head to toe is.¡± Roxxy shook her head, ¡°He didn¡¯t get caught off-guard, and I remember him waiting for us and being prepared to fight against the entire army we had. One that we didn¡¯t even know we were going to have. And having a boss is a skill if its a certainty. I know I wouldn¡¯t have been able to do what he did, I would have died easily. Anyone of us would have.¡±

    ¡°And now he¡¯s issued this challenge to you. But he¡¯s in the Underworld, we know that and he¡¯s clearly there in the video. Why would he be issuing a challenge to you now when he doesn¡¯t even know when he¡¯s going to see you again?¡±

    She clearly didn¡¯t mean it as a rhetorical question.

    ¡°He¡¯s going to be at the inter-city competition.¡± TidalWave was no longer laughing,

    It was obvious once he thought about it.

    ¡°And he¡¯s not going to be alone.¡± Roxxy was glad to see TidalWave wasn¡¯t trying to make excuses around Attracting¡¯s accomplishments anymore.

    ¡°How many are you thinking?¡± TidalWave decided to take a page out of Roxxy¡¯s book, leaning against a tree and twirling a leaf in his fingers, ¡°A full team of five? He definitely has his friend Violet coming, but I don¡¯t see how he¡¯d have any more players like that around him.¡±

    Roxxy shook her head.

    ¡°Two full teams of five.¡± Roxxy said to his surprise.

    ¡°What?¡± TidalWave¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°How do you know he has two teams?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± Roxxy admitted, ¡°But he seems to plan everything he does perfectly. He¡¯s shown us this video, with Violet in full swing and kicking ass. She¡¯s clearly just as skilled as you are, maybe more so. But he hasn¡¯t hesitated to show us her skills despite the fact that every other time I¡¯ve seen or heard about his fights he always hides something. Now he¡¯s showing us everything in a way the entire world can see it? It¡¯s a classic distraction move. He¡¯s showing us what¡¯s in one hand while keeping the other hand out of sight.¡± She took a deep breath as she thought about it, ¡°He¡¯s probably hiding a few other players, and given his track record, they''re going to be extremely skilled. And just because he seems to have everything planned out so meticulously I¡¯m going to assume he has a second group of players in wait that will show up and back him up in this little plan of his.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay.¡± TidalWave lifted a hand and took a deep breath, ¡°So¡­ Wait a second; let me catch up with you here. I get that he might have two teams,¡± He began picking up leaves and used them to represent the points that Roxxy brought up, ¡°and that you think he¡¯s going to be in the inter-city competition. But let¡¯s say those things are true, why? It¡¯s not a big thing, and I don¡¯t even think people know about it. It¡¯s just a small fighting tournament for people who managed to level up a bit before everyone else gets serious. We don¡¯t even know what the format will be.¡±

    The bishop had been extremely unhelpful in that regard. The most that he was allowed to say about the competition was that it changed every year in how it was formatted, so even if the last year had consisted only of team battles this year could be completely different.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what his plan is.¡± Roxxy bobbed her head against the tree, ¡°Which I think is really fun.¡±

    ¡°You do?¡± TidalWave¡¯s lips broke out into a grin, ¡°You find it fun that this guy is going to come in with a hidden team of players and try to win a competition that nobody is even going to remember? You find it fun that he¡¯s probably going to kick our asses?¡±

    ¡°Well, when you put it that way I can confirm that I find it extremely fun.¡± Roxxy waved her hands excitedly, ¡°This guy has gotten by on two things so far, the first is that he seems to plan for everything, even the things he can¡¯t possibly know are going to happen.¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡±

    ¡°The second is that he¡¯s been helped a lot by us.¡± Roxxy pointed at herself and then at the team that was gathered around analysing Violet¡¯s fight and the others duelling in the background, ¡°We¡¯ve underestimated him at every corner and turn. And because of that he¡¯s managed to win or almost win every fight we¡¯ve had with him. Well, you can fool me once and its shame on me, and then twice as well. But if he thinks I¡¯m going to underestimate him again, then he¡¯s going to get one hell of a smack to his pride when we cream him at his own game.¡±

    ¡°Think about it from another angle.¡± Roxxy¡¯s eyes finally took on their characteristic shine, ¡°When he fought against you guys, you all managed to find each other. When we stopped him at a seemingly random boss we all walked away with more gold than most people would have in this game and extremely powerful weapons. This guy is a walking pot of gold and even if we¡¯re just picking up the scraps we¡¯re in for a big haul.¡± She waved her hand and TidalWave could see her excitement, ¡°So I don¡¯t know what it is, but I¡¯m willing to bet at the end of this there¡¯s going to be an unexpected benefit. And I want us to be in a position to take the whole thing from underneath him.¡±

    ¡°Alright then.¡± TidalWave began to see the big picture, ¡°Tell me what we¡¯re going to have to do to beat this guy.¡±

    ¡°I thought you¡¯d never ask.¡±

    ****

    Violet watched her new team carefully. She couldn¡¯t deny that the players Attracting had gathered together were incredibly skilled. She didn¡¯t know where they¡¯d been gathered from but each one was so complementary to each other that when she joined them she was sure nobody could stop them.

    ¡°TidalWave, Archy, Third, Spark Joy, and Roxxy.¡± She muttered the names under her breath as Attracting¡¯s team fought against the nearby mobs.

    The truth was that before meeting Attracting she had never cared about what was happening in other continents of the game. Then he had shown her a video of their practice session that a content maker named Magnolia had begun to post online.

    She had been amazed.

    Attracting had also shown her a blog and let her know that Spark Joy ran the entire thing alongside Roxxy. The blog was an analysis website that provided in-depth video analyses of Zodiac online and its classes. Even though the two tanks of this team weren¡¯t featured heavily in the duels they were clearly more knowledgeable than her about Zodiac Online. She had no doubts about their talent.

    She had watched every single video posted online and hungrily gone looking for more. Nastin, Colt, these were two others that made appearances and were extremely skilled, but it was TidalWave, Third and Archy that grabbed her attention the most. That trio had skills that transcended the rest of the players she had met. Not just because of their current abilities, but also because of their rate of improvement. She had no confidence in winning one hundred percent of the time if she encountered them.

    It was only when she was reaching the very dregs of the internet that she had finally run out of videos to watch. It was a new group and players were only just starting to notice them. Because Zodiac Online was so new it was easy to find every shred of online evidence about them. These players were definitely eye-catching. Even then the other players Attracting had gathered were too busy levelling to reach their second class advancement to try and challenge newly emerging players. They figured that if that team was still skilled after the second class advancement then they would go and try to challenge them. Violet smiled as she watched a video posted online on Dark Horse¡¯s website.

    [Dark Horse vs Unknowns]

    It was one of their older videos from when they first started playing Zodiac Online. The player, Chaser, was filming as he confronted TidalWave and his team to a fight. They argued and then eventually came to a consensus to fight each other in the arena. She watched the fights greedily until it came to the archer vs archer fight she had been waiting for. She loved seeing Archy fight, and she knew that Grenda was no pushover. Then a plump looking girl pushed her way into the fight.

    [Seven]

    ¡®He¡¯ll never give up a fight.¡¯ Violet smirked.

    Along the way she had become a fan of Magnolia¡¯s brash personality without realising it. She knew the internet sensation was also the player; Archy. To her surprise, Archy actually moved aside and allowed her to fight. She didn¡¯t know who this player was but it looked like she was a part of the team. Thinking back Violet recalled seeing her on the sidelines for a lot of the videos, apparently, she was like Roxxy and Spark Joy and didn¡¯t want to appear in the spotlight.

    It seemed like Archy was definitely going to protest. Then out of nowhere TidalWave and Archy insisted instead that two members of Dark Horse fight Seven instead, and Violet grew confused. This was an internationally recognised team of professionals and even one of them could put up a hell of a fight.

    ¡®Were they trying to bully her?¡¯ She felt sad at the thought.

    She had followed the team¡¯s videos so long that she was convinced they were good people but if they were bullying a team member then it would pull a lot of the fun out of following them.

    Then the fight began.

    She began to witness what she could only describe as a miracle as the girl began to dodge the invisible arrows while running from Chaser. Then Chaser was obliterated within seconds and Seven turned to Grenda and outmaneuvered her. Violet realised she was holding in a breath and let it go as Seven killed the archer who was hidden by her veil of darkness.

    ¡®This girl is just as skilled as her teammates.¡¯ Violet¡¯s eyes were sparkling.

    Then Seven agreed to fight against TidalWave and Archy to demonstrate her skills to Dark Horse.

    It was glorious.

    Violet knew she wouldn¡¯t have the confidence to win against both of these players at the same time. Yet this magi had lasted minutes fighting against both of them at the same time. Violet could see that none of the three were holding back as they tried to kill each other and ultimately it was Seven¡¯s lack of mana that led to her death.

    ¡®This is when they were all lower levelled,¡¯ Violet realised, ¡®I want to know how she is now. Can she still fight against them?¡¯

    Violet wondered if the girl could only have gotten more skilled since the time this video was taken. Unfortunately, it seemed like there were no more videos of her online. She didn¡¯t participate in any of the recorded duels and even if she was in the video it was only as an unnecessary and ignored side character that was watching the fight or killing monsters in the background.

    ¡°Seven.¡± Violet startled Attracting as the priest was standing next to her and healing any team members that had low health, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me about her?¡±

    Attracting''s eyes glazed over. "Ah. She isn''t someone that should be coming to the inter-city competition. Not that you shouldn''t prepare for a fight just in case, but she has a fairly standard class we''ll be going over later on."

    ¡°Bullshit.¡± Violet said with enough savagery to cause her nearby teammates to stare at her, ¡°I asked you why you didn¡¯t tell me about her. She''s on their team, isn''t she? That means she''s a threat.¡±

    Attracting''s eyes flashed with anger for a brief second but then he took a deep breath and tried to think of the situation carefully. He didn''t think he''d be talking about that girl today of all days. They were so close to the competition as well.

    Heshook his head to clear it from emotions, ¡°Did you see her in one of the dueling videos?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Violet answered curtly, ¡°Do you have any more videos with her in them?¡±

    ¡°One. Split into a few sections¡± Attracting¡¯s expression turned sour, ¡°When I lost a fight against their team in Zhalnor. I was-¡± He coughed lightly as his cheeks blushed, ¡°Recording because I thought I would win and it would make a great video. Got several shots from good angles too.¡±

    He had prepared so thoroughly for that fight that it annoyed him how easily it had fallen apart.

    ¡°Show it to me.¡± Violet¡¯s eyes shone as she received the videos from Attracting, ¡°Is she in any of them?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Attracting''s expression was thoughtful as he recalled the events of that night and passed the footage to Violet.

    It was something he didn''t want to see a repeat of.

    Violet sighed at him and began to play the videos without another word. She smiled as the first was a recording following IEatTortillas as the player faced off against TidalWave. That was a good fight. She quickly flicked through the others until she came to the one that followed Nastin. The leader of Dark Horse was an extremely powerful paladin and even in these early days, he¡¯s been on the stronger end of players. He was renowned for his honour in battle and his calm demeanour.

    This terrifying player had decided to launch a sneak attack against Seven.

    ¡°No matter how much I insisted.¡±

    Nastin stood proudly as he seemed to predict that Seven would dodge the oncoming blow. Violet could see him launching into a battle stance and not allowing a single movement to get passed his eyes.

    ¡°That fool Attracting wouldn¡¯t agree to send anyone to fight you. And now I¡¯m all alone against an extremely skilled opponent.¡±

    ¡°Nastin.¡± Seven greeted the paladin warmly.

    Violet¡¯s eyes widened as the two began to fight. It was one thing for the girl to defeat Chaser when the warrior didn¡¯t know her attacks, but watching Seven fight against a fully knowledgeable Nastin was on a different level. Then Seven won and the battle suddenly turned around. It was true that Archy was firing at the Corruptor¡¯s eyes for a lot of the battle but Violet could see that Seven had done it consistently due to her fights lasting only a few seconds. She had provided support to the knights and frontline whilst dealing the most damage to the Corruptor boss and halting its movements. Violet could see that this girl was probably the sole reason that Attracting¡¯s plans had come undone. Despite Nastin trying to stop her and failing, Attracting had done nothing but completely ignore this danger at his side.

    Then she saw Seven finish off Colt and she sighed. The girl had such expert movements yet she was so unknown. It was such a shame. Then Violet wondered if that group had any other hidden talents. They would truly be a marvellous team to fight alongside or duel against.

    ¡°You said that at least some of these guys are going to participate in the upcoming tournament that¡¯s being organised, right?¡± Violet probed Attracting as the man healed.

    ¡°Yup.¡± Attracting¡¯s lips smiled playfully, ¡°We have to defeat them there, and everyone else that gets in our way. That¡¯s why it¡¯s vital that we prepare.¡±

    Violet nodded and returned to watching the video. She wanted to memorise every movement and habit this magi had. Then she would practice. But she wanted more updated information. She needed to see how much this player had improved since this fight.

    ¡°TidalWave, Archy, Third, Spark Joy, Roxxy and Seven.¡± She muttered the names in a chant

    They would become her new targets.

    She finally had somebody to look forward to fighting.

 Book 2 Chapter 8: Monsters.

    ¡°That¡¯s some plan.¡±

    The man¡¯s voice floated over to Seven calmly as he swung his sword down at her and listened to the satisfying crunching sound of a successful kill.

    ¡®This is getting tougher and tougher.¡¯ He thought to himself as he couldn¡¯t help but feel a grin tugging at his lips.

    It was always a pleasure to win against a strong opponent.

    ¡°I don¡¯t even know where to begin with it.¡± Seven revived with a jump and immediately shot magic blasts at her opponent, even though he was only a few feet away she was already confident enough to leap immediately back into battle, ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t want to do it. You¡¯re not even part of our team and it gets you in a lot of danger.¡±

    ¡°Ha.¡± Nastin grinned as blue lights danced around him in the wonderful symphony of battle, each magic blast held enough power to damage him immensely but his body moved between the shots like a great golden arrow homing in on a target, ¡°I¡¯m honoured that Roxxy thinks I could do it, and I¡¯ll admit I like a challenge. But I think you are all underestimating the strength of the players that will be participating.¡±

    Seven stone shifted backward and grinned as she aimed a perfect shot between Nastin¡¯s eyes, at this distance she couldn¡¯t miss, only for her expression to turn into a frown as he sliced his sword upwards and cut the blast in half. Streams of colourful magic showered harmlessly over him as the force itself was negated and only the colourful display was left partially intact.

    He was getting faster every day.

    ¡°These will be the greatest players of Zodiac Online. Sure, there are some skilled players that won¡¯t have concentrated on levelling up,¡± He thought of his own team who had spent most of their time getting their skills up to scratch rather than fighting monsters exclusively for experience, ¡°but we should assume that the opponents are all at the same level that we are at. It would do us no good to send a single person to try and kill five. Let alone with a handicap.¡±

    Seven wanted to respond to him but she suddenly found herself running for her life as the paladin caught up to her before she could get either an attack or a word out of her. His sword cleaved at her body and she used most of her mana to stone shift several times out of his way. She still wasn¡¯t good enough to force him to back away from her with her magic blasts.

    Or rather, he was too skilled to allow her to do such a thing.

    ¡°That being said.¡± Nastin held out his hand and Seven shuddered as she suddenly found herself hitting a golden wall of light with her back, she hadn¡¯t even seen him use his skill, ¡°I don¡¯t think it is the worst plan in the world. If I am being honest. You are very skilled, as is Archy, but aside from TidalWave you three don¡¯t have a wide variety of attacks.¡±

    Nastin took the opportunity of surprise to narrow the distance between himself and Seven. His body was already glowing with power as his buff magic activated and Seven tried to move around the wall to get away from him. Unfortunately, it was too wide and Nastin¡¯s sword met her head-on as he finished the duel.

    -85

    -100

    ¡°Okay.¡± Seven came back with a huff, ¡°Break time.¡±

    She opened a trading window and sighed in regret as she gave Nastin a shiny blue pair of boots. It wasn¡¯t an item he needed but they¡¯d developed a certain system of honour in their duels against Dark Horse and Colt¡¯s crew.

    ¡°Best of five next time?¡± Nastin took the item with grace and smiled at the tired magi.

    He was earning quite a lot of gold by selling the items he got from her, but even he could tell that soon enough it might be him that was losing the items to his opponent. After the Corruptor fight he¡¯d gone to duel Seven and her friends only to find that he was winning far too many fights. His team wasn¡¯t fairing the same, but Seven had still felt bad and felt she was wasting his time with her selfish requests for duels.

    So she¡¯d decided to offer him and his team an item for every best of three duels they won. Nastin remembered with a smile as he vigorously disagreed only for Seven to force him to accept by constantly offering him items. Finally, he gave in, she had enough gold apparently to not care about losing some and he wanted to duel her at her full strength.

    And he¡¯d actually managed to win back the items he and his team had dropped when they¡¯d died back at the Corruptor fight.

    Her team had followed her lead in their duels with Colt¡¯s Crew and Dark Horse.

    The only one who had refused was Archy. He had held onto Gyro¡¯s green bracelet since he¡¯d gotten it. Apparently it gave him increased accuracy and a 5% increase to his rate of fire. The Korean archer hadn¡¯t been impressed but once they¡¯d dueled a few times he¡¯d respectfully allowed Archy to keep the item.

    Grenda had been incredibly mad that Archy was willing to give her item back without any fuss.

    ¡°You got it.¡± Seven continued to stay on the floor as she quickly brought back her breath, ¡°I can do this all day.¡±

    ¡°Ha.¡± Nastin could tell Third¡¯s role-playing attitude was definitely rubbing off on her, Zodiac Online wouldn¡¯t cause her any physical stress and even if it did, the game would immediately eject her from playing if it sensed a dire change in her body.

    ¡®But she has gained a bit of weight lately.¡¯ Nastin couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit of concern for his online friend.

    She had definitely made her avatar just a copy of herself in real life, and that avatar was being updated every time she logged on. Honestly, she was the only person that Nastin was one hundred percent sure was using an avatar that was a copy of her real body because even if she was editing it each day to be slightly chubbier her attitude betrayed her disposition. Nastin could tell she was probably just careless about it or didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°Well, it appears we don¡¯t have all day.¡± Nastin eyed the nearby city of Lum with vigor, ¡°We¡¯ll be knee-deep in opponents within a couple of hours.¡±

    He could feel his heart welling up with nostalgia and excitement just thinking about it. He would probably be able to meet old opponents that had transferred to this game and new ones that were ready to challenge the world. Each one would probably have abilities he couldn¡¯t even dream of.

    ¡°Augh. Do we have to.¡± Seven got up and Nastin could see that cheeky smile on her face that he¡¯d become familiar with, ¡°You¡¯re just liking the fact that you¡¯ll be able to show off soon.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re absolutely right.¡± Nastin kept as straight a face as he could, ¡°You know how I am. I love the spotlight. There¡¯s not enough sunlight hitting me in the world, so I need that artificial stuff too.¡±

    They both laughed as Nastin lost control of his expression and grinned. In his opinion, his straight-laced dry humor wasn¡¯t appreciated enough by his own team.

    Out of all three groups the two players that could be said to have improved the most in the last two weeks were definitely Nastin and Seven. The reason was fairly simple. They were both monsters and they both enjoyed practicing far too much compared to normal people. They were also the two players that dueled each other the most when their teams met up.

    They both had a familiarity and friendship around each other that was hard to obtain except in the rarest of occasions when two strangers happened to share chemistry from their first meeting. Although they spent their time mostly trying to kill each other and concentrating fully on their fights it was clear for all to see that they were having as much fun as kids in a playground.

    It was the excitement and kinship of two familiar souls meeting, as well as the respect the two players had for each other.

    Of course, Seven wouldn¡¯t admit that she was a genius of any sort no matter how much he tried to convince her she was. She was lacking in confidence and honestly if Nastin felt that if he were in her position he would probably feel the same way. She fought her teammates on a daily basis and they were all players that were originally skilled and yet all had the potential to grow even further. No matter how skilled and rapidly improving Seven was she couldn¡¯t help but lose when confronted by the reality that was her superior teammates.

    It was definitely a strange group. Nastin almost couldn¡¯t believe that they¡¯d all gathered together by coincidence.

    Now that they¡¯d finished the duels there wasn¡¯t that much to do. The rest of Dark Horse had gone to level up by killing frogkin and Seven¡¯s team were doing their individual things until the competition arrived. They had all agreed to take a relaxing break before the competition to avoid the jitters but Nastin had still felt the need to fight. That was his way of both pumping himself up and calming down at the same time.

    ¡°So then,¡± Seven and Nastin relaxed as they waited for her team to appear, ¡°You¡¯re fine with fighting by yourself? It¡¯s not really going to be a five versus one scenario. We¡¯ll definitely hop in if there are team fights.¡±

    ¡°Definitely.¡± Nastin nodded, ¡°It makes sense if we wish to win the competition, or at least get as far as we can.¡±

    Seven grinned and thought back to what TidalWave had told her about Roxxy¡¯s plan. It was actually a really simple plan when you got down to the heart of it.

    Send out Nastin to fight every single duel.

    Seven had done a double-take when TidalWave had explained it to her. Her first thought was that it wasn¡¯t much of a plan, and then her second thought was that Nastin wasn¡¯t part of their team so, of course, he wouldn¡¯t accept a condition as terrible as that.

    Then she¡¯d remembered the kind of person that Nastin was and realised that he would probably be happy to do it.

    Then Roxxy had explained it to her and answered her questions and it began to make more sense. It wasn¡¯t that TidalWave, Archy and Seven were too weak. Or even that Gyro was. It was that most of them didn¡¯t have much variety in their techniques.

    ¡°When fighting enemies that are as skilled as TidalWave and Nastin it¡¯s impossible to go into a lot of fights without them adapting to your attacks.¡± Roxxy had explained to her, ¡°So because Archy and Gyro can only fire arrows, and because you don¡¯t have a wide range of spells, you¡¯ll all be taken down quickly if you participate in the competition.¡±

    Seven had realised pretty quickly what Roxxy meant. She had done it herself a few times as well. When opponents showed their moves to her before she fought them, she was able to discover their timing and abilities and exploit them to win a fight. She had done it to Colt when she¡¯d seen him fight against TidalWave, and her opponents could do it to her as well.

    The main issue was that she, Gyro and Archy relied on their basic attacks for their main damage. If they¡¯d had a second attack they could mix in to deal damage like TidalWave¡¯s reaper¡¯s fury or Nastin¡¯s holy blade aura it would be a different story. Both of the warriors had attacks that hit further than their basic attack range and so could mix up their styles of fighting to cause enemies to be wary of them. Seven had utility spells but her wind blast wasn¡¯t too useful for damaging, and her ice bolt spell took too long to cast. She would be dead before she managed to fire it.

    So Roxxy had come to the conclusion that only TidalWave or Nastin could fight until they met a truly powerful enemy or team. Especially if it was a series of one on one duels or similar format. She told Seven that in the end she had made her decision based on a single factor; TidalWave¡¯s second chance ability, don¡¯t fear the reaper. If TidalWave still had that ability in the most important fights then he would be able to take a fatal hit and possibly win them a crucial match.

    Roxxy didn¡¯t want their strongest frontline fighter to lose his most important ability if one of the early opponents was too skilled or got lucky.

    ¡°And so you picked me to fight for you.¡± Nastin¡¯s voice interrupted Seven¡¯s flashback.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I assume you¡¯ve been thinking about the plan since you spaced out for twenty seconds while staring at my nose.¡± Nastin joked with a chuckle.

    ¡°Oh, oh, oops.¡± Seven¡¯s face flushed and she nodded, ¡°Yeah. I just wish I had another attacking spell, or two.¡±

    She had been given an explanation by Third as to why she shouldn¡¯t waste her future potential in creating spells, and she agreed with his logic. But there was another way to learn spells; The library belonging to the Magi Guild of Lum.

    Unfortunately, all the good spells took over a week to learn.

    ¡®Third is going to be even stronger after this.¡¯

    The wizard had spent the last week going through the library¡¯s spells, cataloging and learning the ones he thought were good to know. He was probably still deep in meditation learning in the library as she spoke.

    ¡°Well, not to worry.¡± Nastin spotted Archy and Roxxy coming towards them from the signet woods outer ring, ¡°You¡¯ll be able to jump in whenever you want. I don¡¯t want to steal all the fun from you guys.¡±

    ¡°Damn straight.¡± Archy walked up to Nastin with a smile, ¡°The moment you fall down I¡¯m coming to save you with arrows. If I happen to get distracted and you die in the process then I guess I¡¯ll just have to fight them all myself. Oh well.¡±

    ¡°You are definitely capable of that.¡± Nastin agreed, he was completely sincere, he knew the archer¡¯s skill, ¡°But I¡¯m afraid Gyro will probably beat you to it.¡±

    Archy¡¯s face twitched at the mention of the other archer.

    The two were definitely not on good terms, even if they acknowledged each other''s skills.

    Nastin was almost certain that it had something to do with the fact that Gyro reminded them all uncannily of Third. But that couldn¡¯t be the case, because he was certain Archy and Third were the closest of all the group. That was the impression he¡¯d gotten from all their play bantering at least.

    ¡®Perhaps he doesn¡¯t like it when he thinks someone is imitating his close friend.¡¯ Nastin shook the thought out of his head.

    Even if the two archers didn¡¯t get along they were both on the same wavelength in their intention to win the inter-city competition. Unlike Seven and TidalWave who were rather flippant about the entire event and didn¡¯t care if they won, Archy was extremely competitive and Gyro seemed to have professional pride in himself which meant he wasn¡¯t going to lose if he could help it. Nastin could relate to that. His team probably wouldn¡¯t care about an event like this but he had always felt that overcoming new challenges was one of the funnest things he could do. That meant defeating every opponent that came his way, strong or weak.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    ¡°Oh-oh-oh,¡± Roxxy waved excitedly and dashed past the silent Archy as two new figures came into view, TidalWave and Gyro, ¡°Looks like the gangs all here.¡±

    ¡°That guy is not part of the gang.¡± Archy rolled his eyes as Roxxy pointed at Gyro and then moved to meet up with Seven, ¡°You look like you had a fun time, ready to try out those skills in the main event?¡±

    ¡°You bet.¡± Seven lifted her fist to show her strength, ¡°Those guys won¡¯t know what hit them. Unless they see my attack coming,¡± she hesitated, ¡°Or if they guess that I¡¯m a magi from my robes. You know what-¡±

    ¡°-They definitely won¡¯t know.¡± Archy¡¯s frown turned into a bright expression as he saw Seven fumbling with her words, the girl was definitely lacking in confidence despite all the duels she¡¯d participated in.

    Admittedly she lost more than she won by a large margin, but she couldn¡¯t help that considering her opponents. He and Nastin laughed at the same time and shared a knowing smile.

    If it came down to a fight between any random player at the competition and Seven they¡¯d put their money on Seven winning.

    ¡°Two hours¡­¡± Seven stared at Lum absentmindedly.

    They would rest until there was only a few minutes left, and then bishop Trei would come and collect them to be transported to the competition area.

    ¡°Alright then.¡±

    Roxxy took the lead as they all walked towards Lum.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go do this.¡±

    ****

    The theocracy ruling Lum was definitely devoted to Verm and wanted everyone to know.

    The bishop had led them through a hallway filled with murals depicting Verm¡¯s adventures. The god had apparently been extremely adventurous for a priest god and his demon-slaying conquests were the stuff of legend. The ever-watching presence of his eye symbol hanging over them was starting to give Seven the shudders.

    She preferred Barnacle¡¯s informality compared to the cathedral and church complex they were walking through now.

    ¡°The portal is this way, brave warriors.¡± Bishop Trie finally stopped their group in front of an open door.

    ¡°Woah.¡± Seven¡¯s eyes sparkled as she saw what lay within.

    A fully equipped and functioning teleportation gate. The circular contraption was made of a material she didn¡¯t recognise and inlaid with dozens of gems that bled their different colours into the magical portal that shimmered in a steady rhythm. The rainbow lights that resulted gave off a feeling of magnificence and grandeur which seemed at odds with the drab stone walls surrounding them.

    ¡°Very good.¡± Archy was taking a picture of the portal for fun, ¡°Really gives us the feeling of piety we¡¯re meant to feel, am I right bishop?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely warrior.¡± Bishop Trei ignored Archy¡¯s sarcastic tone and gestured to them, ¡°We shall head along after you. Your group will be transported to the arena, and all non-designated members will be transported to the stands to watch your team triumph.¡±

    ¡°That means me.¡± Roxxy pointed to herself and smiled.

    ¡°How is this going to feel?¡± Seven didn¡¯t know how realistic the game makers had decided to make this.

    If it was anything like a roller coaster then she was willing to let her team die before she went through it.

    ¡°There¡¯s no feeling. Although you may miss a step due to the sudden change in scenery.¡± Bishop Trei assured her nothing would go wrong.

    ¡°Then tally ho!¡± Seven led the way and ignored the bishop as she walked through the portal and suddenly found herself in another cold and drab stone room.

    ¡°Damn they don¡¯t really give us the five-star service do they?¡± Archy followed her closely and scrunched up his nose in disgust at their surroundings, ¡°So much for ¡®brave warrior¡¯ this and ¡®great warrior¡¯ that.¡±

    ¡°Hah.¡± Nastin replied dryly, they were almost all in the room now, ¡°I suppose they will come for us when it is our turn.¡±

    Seven paced around and realised that she was starting to panic. Even though she had been in hundreds of duels before she wasn¡¯t used to fighting in these kinds of situations. Something so planned was beyond her.

    So she decided to check over her team''s stats to calm herself down.

    Seeing how strong she was always helped her when she was in doubt. At least she hoped she was strong.

    Seven: level 42

    Health: 129 (+85)

    Mana: 92

    Vitality: 22

    Strength:10

    Intelligence: 53 (+17)

    Wisdom: 37 (+16)

    Dodge: 20

    Control: 14 (+11)

    Elf racial trait: Gain 1 intelligence per 5 levels.

    Class Passive:

    Nimble Mage passive: Gain 1 intelligence and 2 dodge per 5 levels.

    Dodge: Makes movement during battle easier. It provides a small possibility that enemy attacks will miss.

    Equipment:

    Advanced Wand of the Magi: Advanced Magic Blast: Deal double your Intelligence as magic damage.

    Gold Trimmed Lum Magi Cloak: +20 HP, +6 INT, +4 WIS.

    Gloves of the Sorcerer: +7 WIS, +5 HP, +4 INT, +3 CON.

    Enchanted Lum Magi Boots (+1): +10HP, +5 WIS.

    Lum Gold Trimmed Magical Light Armour: +20 HP, +3 INT.

    Advanced Focus Crystal: +8 CON, +4 INT.

    Ring of Vitality: +30 HP.

    Ring of Mana Regeneration: Regenerate 0.5 mana each second.

    Skills:

    [Advanced Magic Blast: Fires a mass of magic from your wand. Deal double your Intelligence as magic damage. Cost: 2 mana.]

    [Wind Blast: The Nimble Magi must brave death with every movement. To escape their enemies and move into a favourable position they have learned to manipulate the element of wind to their advantage. Effect: Deal 5+(Intelligence) as damage and push away a targeted enemy 1 foot (Enemy must be within 5 feet of you). Cost: 7 mana. 5-second cooldown.]

    [Stone shift: The Nimble Magi does not solely rely on their feet to position themselves. The very earth may be moved so that the Nimble Magi will be placed in a favourable position. Effect: The ground below will move you according to the predetermined path you think of up to a radius of 2 feet. Cost: 5 mana. 2-second cooldown.]

    [Ice Bolt: By harnessing the element of ice the ancient magi realised that there was more to fighting monsters than destruction. Effect: Deal 3+(Intelligence) as damage and slow the movement of enemies hit by 15% for 5 seconds. Cost: 10 mana. Cooldown: 13 seconds.]

    TidalWave: level 43

    Health: 187 (+109)

    Mana: 26

    Vitality: 39

    Strength: 74 (+25)

    Intelligence: 13

    Wisdom: 10

    Merther racial trait: Use your inner magic to hone in on an enemy and throw your weapon at them to deal x2 piercing damage. Weapon thrown will not be usable until picked up again.

    Class passive:

    Reaper passive: For each successive uninterrupted attack deal x1.1 the damage of the previous (cap at x5 damage).

    Reaper Passive 2: Gain 3 strength and 1 vitality per 5 levels.

    Equipment:

    Fighter¡¯s Guild Sword: +15 STR, +5 HP

    Fighter¡¯s Guild Extremely Hard Helmet: +14 HP

    Azeroth¡¯s Scaled Armour: +30 HP, +5 STR

    Fighter¡¯s Guild Flexible Greaves: +20 HP, +2 STR

    Azeroth¡¯s Scaled Gloves: +15 HP

    Fighter¡¯s Guild Boots: +10 HP, +6% Movement speed

    Fighter¡¯s Guild Ring: +15 HP, +3 STR

    Skills:

    Basic Attack (Fighter¡¯s Guild Sword): 15+(Strength) damage.

    Don¡¯t fear the reaper: When suffering fatal damage survive the killing blow with 1 health point. 30-minute cooldown.

    Reaper¡¯s fury: Deal 7 and double your (Strength) as damage in a cone 5 feet in diameter. There is a chance the skill may pass through enemies to also hit those behind them. 20-second cooldown.

    Shadow Dance: Passively doubles base movement speed. When activated the skill is activated the bonus doubles for 5 seconds and the target becomes untouchable by physical damage for one second. May still be targeted and damaged by magic. 1-minute cooldown.

    Archy: level 42

    Health: 122 (+62)

    Mana: 20

    Vitality: 30

    Strength: 56 (+36)

    Intelligence: 10

    Wisdom: 10

    Dexterity: 53 (+27)

    Wood Elf Racial Trait: Accuracy is increased by 10%.

    Class Passive:

    Fire Archer passive: Basic attacks gain a 5% chance to activate a burn status dealing 5 damage every second, burn lasts 6 seconds.

    Fire Archer passive 2: Gain 2 dexterity per 5 levels.

    Dexterity: Aids in hand to eye coordination, agility, reflexes, and balance.

    Equipment:

    Fire Archer Bow +1 (Partially sealed): +15 Dexterity, +25 strength

    Steel Arrow Quiver (4467/5000): +5 HP

    Hardened Steel Arrows (4467): +7 STR, +5% Accuracy

    Frogkin Helmet of Sight: +15 HP, +5% Accuracy

    Frogkin Gloves: +10 HP, +2 Dex

    Dextrous body armour: +10 Dex, +4 STR, +7 HP

    Frogkin Greaves: +15 HP.

    Bracelet of minor accuracy: +5% Accuracy, +5% Increase rate of attack.

    Boots of the Lake: +10HP, +7.5% Movement speed.

    Skills:

    Intermediate arrow attack: deals 10+(Strength) damage.

    Flame Arrow: Adds +10 fire damage to the next basic attack. The attack has a 10% chance to apply 5 burn damage on the enemy for 6 seconds.

    Flame Body: Cover your body with the flames of your life force, enhancing your body movements and momentum by 20% for 5 seconds. If enemies are within touching distance of player upon activation they take 5 fixed damage. Costs 15 mana. 30 Second Cooldown.

    ¡°Well I guess it¡¯s not too ba-¡± Seven was about to reply but then a message suddenly interrupted her.

    [Individual Battle Royale Placement Battle Starting in 5 Minutes]

    A clock had appeared on their screens.

    ¡°Well.¡±

    Seven gazed at the notification.

    ¡°Crap.¡±

    ****

    [Cheshire: level 40]

    Cheshire had never not been confident in himself.

    Top one thousand in several games, skilled enough to gain a rare class and praised by all his friends as a genius. It made him giddy sometimes when he thought about how it was easier for him to learn things that others could spend hours or days on.

    This inter-city competition was the best place for him to flex his skills and meet other individuals who were at the top of the game. If he could prove himself here then he would at least gain some clout that he could slowly turn into a solid reputation.

    At least those were his thoughts.

    So when he¡¯d been thrown into the battle royale against seven other players he hadn¡¯t been too worried. All of them were warriors and all of them looked confident, but he was willing to bet he was stronger than they were by a bit. He could tell from the way they looked nervous.

    Each one may have been extremely skilled but he was confident he could go toe to toe with even the best. There hadn¡¯t been enough time for other players to obtain a mastery of the game compared to him. He¡¯d been playing for hours every day. He even had items that others hadn¡¯t been able to obtain through the normal channels, all because he was going out of his way to fight monsters well above his level.

    There were some unexpected setbacks. For one, it looked like nobody from the same city was put into the same section, but that didn¡¯t matter. Since he had been put in a group full of warriors it wasn¡¯t like they would be able to team up against each other. So he was just as likely to win as anyone else in the battle.

    But then ¡®that¡¯ had appeared. The moment they had all moved to fight each other it had jumped into the middle of the arena and with a single combo of swipes they had all been damaged and forced to retreat. All six of them had come to the same realisation the moment they saw its power. They had to team up against it. They could focus on the other small fries after it was dead.

    ¡°M-monster.¡± Cheshire stammered as that thing got closer.

    He wasn¡¯t willing to admit it was a human.

    Five other bodies lay around his opponent, all corpses. Their players had long departed from their avatar¡¯s bodies and they had turned gray. It had only taken their enemy a few seconds to down them.

    All this was done by a single man.

    His speed, his precision, and his strength had completely overwhelmed them from start to finish.

    They had been helpless against him during the entire fight.

    All six of them were champions of their own city but they had been completely helpless against a single warrior. Now Cheshire was shivering as he came to the realisation that he had been too confident in himself without reason. He knew it instinctively if he ever got the chance to fight this person again he would always refuse. They were a sky above him, something he could never come close to.

    He was nothing but a frog in a well.

    And this person was as big as the ocean.

    ¡°Ha.¡± The player¡¯s voice was dry as walked carefree towards Cheshire, ¡°Unfortunate. I was expecting more.

    He brought his sword down onto his opponent. He didn¡¯t even bother to activate his buffs, his opponent had clearly already given up.

    The warrior placed his sword on his armoured shoulder as Cheshire¡¯s corpse turned grey. The last thing Cheshire saw as he left his avatar and revived in the inter-city losers room was the shining name over his killer¡¯s head.

    [Nastin: Level 45]

    [Congratulations on surviving your battle.]

    The system sent Nastin a message and a new timer appeared.

    [Next placement battle: 10 Minutes.]

    ****

    The seven ranged opponents watched each other warily. If they shot first then the entire battle was likely to turn into a bloodbath. It was a stalemate born out of the fact that none of them knew each other¡¯s abilities and skills.

    With the exception of two people.

    Seven¡¯s eyes blazed with fury as she tore a hole through her opponent¡¯s face with her gaze.

    ¡°You.¡±

    She gritted her teeth as she came to the realisation that she had been affected more by this person than she realised.

    ¡°You.¡± The player responded in turn with an even voice, ¡°Why is it always you.¡±

    Seven brandished her wand as she raised it without caring if the other players would be forced into a fight by her actions.

    She wanted answers.

    ¡°You want to fight?¡±

    The player she was facing stood up and drew himself to his full height, dwarfing over her in his purple robes. He raised his wand and instantly her body was wreathed in purple light that caressed her body like fire.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s get this over with.¡±

    [Attracting: Level 43]

    ****

    TidalWave could feel his emotions resonating with every swing of his blade as he moved to block his opponent¡¯s attacks. Each one looked as light as a feather in the air but hit like a truck when it finally reached him. He had never met someone as skilled as this in all of his fights.

    It was different from Seven whose monstrous potential caused him to push himself beyond his limits. Different from Nastin and Archy who were equal to him, yet specialised in different areas. This was not someone suited to defense like the paladin, and they weren¡¯t a long-range fighter like Archy. This was a person who was in the same field as he was. The same type of player, fighting the same battles he did and coming out his equal.

    This was a warrior.

    Someone was challenging him in his world and they were capable of winning.

    He had never felt so alive in a long time.

    ¡°You have no idea how long I¡¯ve waited for this.¡± His opponent¡¯s grin was a large as his as she rained down attacks on him.

    He blocked them all perfectly.

    She was flying through the air and closing the distance as she moved in ways that a normal human would never dream of.

    But he was no normal human. This was his playing field, and he had never accepted anything less than perfection in all his endeavours. He retaliated with attacks of his own, with minimal wasted movements that would have felled any lesser opponent. He surprised her with deadly combo after deadly combo.

    ¡°So tell me.¡± His opponent took the killing swings in her stride and continued to pile on the pressure as she talked to him, ¡°Are you having as much fun as I am?¡±

    TidalWave flourished his sword with a deft movement and jumped back to safety. The childlike expression of joy he had on his face was all the answer she needed. He was the same as her. He raised his sword towards his opponent and his piercing gaze flew to her head and the name above it.

    [Violet: Level 43]

 Book 2 Chapter 9: Equals.

    ¡®Augh.¡¯

    Ana didn¡¯t want to get out of her bedsheets and face the cold air that threatened to ruin her peaceful drowsiness. Too much had happened over the last week for her to start getting out of bed early now.

    ¡®Wasn¡¯t there something important happening today?¡¯

    She briefly tried to remember what her brain was trying to tell her. Something about Zodiac Online¡­

    ¡°Oh crap!¡±

    Ana¡¯s eyes flew open as she remembered what she had to do today.

    ¡®Crap, crap, crap.¡¯

    She rushed out of her bed and practically flew towards her computer to turn it on. She¡¯d completely forgotten Emily was going to be fighting in the inter-city competition.

    ¡®Damn my sleepy brain.¡¯

    The moment her computer turned on she opened the Zodiac Online forums and went to find the event stream. Roxxy had done some digging and even though the event wasn¡¯t anything major, it was still possible to watch the official video live. This way the entire team could follow the competition and not have to go all the way to talk to the bishop in Lum to get transported into the stadium.

    Of course, Ana had used the opportunity to sleep in.

    [10,000]

    ¡®Wow. It¡¯s a lot more popular than I thought.¡¯

    There were viewers in the five digits with the count steadily rising. That was a lot of people watching Emily and her team fight. But they would also have their eyes on the other teams that were participating in the matches.

    Luckily Ana could see that the event hadn¡¯t started yet. Inside the forum she could click on the individual city whose team she wanted to watch and a list of players came up as well. She clicked on Emily¡¯s name, Seven, and saw the five Lum players in the waiting room.

    Lum: points; 0

    ¡®Points?¡¯ They hadn¡¯t been given any details from the bishop as tohow the event would play out.

    They had only been given notice that if the competition took too long and you had to log out, you could substitute up to two players per city.

    She looked around the waiting room only to see Emily pacing around with a worried look on her face. Ana just laughed and sat back as the timer indicating the start of the matches turned to zero.

    Then the players were teleported out of their rooms and into a large platform. Each platform was big enough to be considered mid-ranged in the Lum arena and it looked like they were all grouped in sevens.

    There were fewer players than she was expecting. Apparently some cities didn¡¯t have enough qualified players to participate with the full five.

    Lum: points; 5

    ¡®Good god.¡¯

    She blinked and in that time Nastin had instantly wiped out his opponents. Lum had gained five points and she could see his individual score listed the same amount as well. It was definitely an eye-catching sight but she would have loved to have actuallyseen the fight.

    ¡®I¡¯ll watch the replay after.¡¯

    For now, she wanted to see Emily¡¯s battle.

    [15,000]

    But then something caught her eye. It was the viewer count of the event.

    [25,000]

    [32,000]

    The number was quickly rising.

    ****

    ¡°Shadow heal.¡±

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    The ranged players near Seven and Attracting froze as the two players attacked each other almost instantly. Seven sent magic blasts careening through the sky towards Attracting. Her eyes blazed with fury as she ducked behind a very surprised magi in orderto avoid Attracting¡¯s attack.

    The magi squeaked as she instantly burst into a purple haze of light. Seven grinned. This was a trick she¡¯d learnt from Archy. Attracting¡¯s shadow heal had begun to touch her but it couldn¡¯t fully hit her if there was someone between her and his line of sight.

    She had been preparing for this fight for a long time.

    Seven followed up with a jump towards the priest and several magic blasts smashed through the air towards Attracting.

    Only for them to hit a corpse.

    ¡°What?¡± Seven almost stopped incredulously until the magi she¡¯d ducked behind turned around with her weapon raised.

    ¡°Frost g-"

    -106

    Seven casually destroyed the damaged magi with her basic attack and made her way towards Attracting¡¯s corpse.

    ¡°Stop h-¡±

    -106

    -106

    Stoneshifting through the glimmering lights she fired off magic blasts to anyone that tried to interrupt her. She wanted to make sure that the priest had really died. There was no way that he had gone down that easily. Not when she had seen him plan so meticulously for everything he¡¯d done.

    A girl appeared in front of Seven wielding a glowing green whip that seemed to elongate and flythrough the air. It flew towards Seven without a second thought and her opponent grinned in victory as she took advantage of Seven¡¯s distraction to kill her.

    Seven dodged the incoming attacks several times without a second thought as she concentrated on moving closer to the corpse. These were nothing compared to Nastin¡¯s sword blows or TidalWave¡¯s sharp killing slices.

    ¡°M-monster¡±

    -106

    The corpse fell to the ground with a look of surprise on its face. The whip disappearing as the player decided to respawn.

    The stone platform was surprisinglybig and she couldn¡¯t see any reason for her attacks to have hit the priest. He was fully capable of dodging this kind of basic magic and she had expected it to be a game of cat and mouse.

    Dodging past a sudden fireball flying into the ground next to her and sending a retaliatory attack back at the surprised newcomer, she finally shereached the corpse. It was definitely Attracting.

    He hadn¡¯t even tried to move.

    ¡®It must be some kind of trick.¡¯

    But he definitely had died.There was no denying that.

    ¡®Damn it.¡¯ She decided to turn around and face her opponents.

    She would concentrate on the battle in front of her and then try to figure out what to do about Attracting¡¯s strange actions. She looked back at her opponents and realised that while she had been distracted she had killed them or damaged them enough that they¡¯d turned on each other.

    There was nobody left alive except for her.

    [Congratulation on surviving your battle.]

    [Next placement battle: 8 Minutes.]

    The priest had definitely thrown the match, and he had done it in a way that meant he was the first to be eliminated from the battle royale.

    ¡®Why would Attracting want to lose?¡¯

    It made no sense.

    ¡®And why do I feel so troubled.¡¯

    ****

    Bonnie felt despair coursingthrough her body as she eyed her final opponent.

    [Archy: Level 42]

    She couldn¡¯t beat him.

    She had watched as he had destroyed the opposing archers within seconds. Each one had dropped to the ground with arrows sticking out of their eyes and even the ones that had tried to dodge hadn¡¯t been able to escape his pinpoint accuracy.

    Except for her.

    ¡°Not bad, not bad.¡± Archy grinned as he turned towards her, ¡°Looks like you¡¯re pretty skilled.¡±

    ¡°Liar.¡± She eyed him angrily.

    His words seemed more mocking than complimentary.

    She had seen him shoot her arrows out of the sky in mid-flight. He had simply aimed at them and before they had been able tohit their target they had been intercepted by his own arrows. She didn¡¯t even know that was physically possible.

    ¡°Ah damn, sorry.¡± Archy shook his head, ¡°Don¡¯t mean to come off as an ass.¡±

    Then he looked at her awkwardly, ¡°Well now this is just awkward.¡±

    She blinked at his forthrightness in surprise. He seemed nice enough.

    Then he shot her in the eyes.

    ****

    ¡°Over here!¡±

    Spark Joy and Troy were startled by a loud voice as Roxxy shouted at them while waving from her seat. Several people turned their heads to stare at the duo and they ducked their heads down to avoid the sudden attention.

    ¡°Does she always look that show-y?¡± Troy smiled at the sprightly girl as she appeared as energetic as ever, ¡°What am I saying. Of course she does.¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡± Spark Joy moved towards her friend and watched the giant screen that was placed in front of them.

    The entire area was accessible if you went to your local city and asked them to take you there. It was a series of seats much like a modern-day stadium except with a rustic look. Thousands upon thousands of empty seats with a few people scattered here and there cheering for their friends and talking.

    ¡°So-so-so.¡± Roxxy began to explain without prompting as they reached her, ¡°There¡¯s a point system apparently. Each rounds winner gets five points, and the second place gets fo-¡±

    ¡°Hey.¡± Roxxy suddenly stopped mid-sentence and whipped her head around to stare at something behind Spark Joy, ¡°Do we know that guy?¡±

    Spark Joy frowned and turned around to see who Roxxy was talking about.

    Then she did a double-take and checked again.

    [Dire Wolf: Level 25 Wild Rider.]

    A ferocious-looking man with shaggy hair going down to his waist had entered the seating area and had begun to watch the matches with his arms crossed together. His expression wasn¡¯t what Roxxy was talking about however, it was his face.

    He looked exactly like the player ¡®Dire Wolf¡¯ from one of the previous games they¡¯d played and covered in their blog. But that player wasn¡¯t someone who would be so low level. They were a genius that delighted in solo-playing and killing anything that got in their way. One of the top rankers in the games that they decided to play.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s someone that¡¯s copying his looks and name?¡± Troy said.

    Dire wolf was famous enough that even he¡¯d recognised the player.

    ¡°Yea-¡± Roxxy was about to agree with him but then stopped again as she saw more players coming through the stands and taking a seat next to them.

    [BL Truesky], [BL Youren], [BL Uri]

    Black Lightning.

    It was a famous organisation in the virtual gaming world. They had a professional team in almost every major game and had players whose stardom and fame ordinary people could only dream about. They were certainlya target for name copying so it wasn¡¯t uncommon to see players in various games taking on their names in orderto impersonate them.

    But these players all looked exactly the same as their real-life counterparts.

    ¡®What is going on?¡¯ Roxxy couldn¡¯t comprehend what she was seeing.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    The stadium seating area which had been almost empty a few moments before was suddenly filling up. Not enough to fill the thousands of free seats, but enough so that it seemed a bitmore crowded than before.

    -It¡¯s not just them.- Spark Joy suddenly switched to private messaging, -Look, Lucie is over there as well.-

    Roxxy turned around and almost groaned as she spotted a happily chatting girl in the stands. Lucie. The blogger hadn¡¯t even bothered to change her looks from real life. She was one of their biggest rivals in the online gaming blog scene. But the last time Roxxy had checked the girl was playing a different game.

    When had she switched to Zodiac Online?

    Roxxy turned back to check the crowds and awe swept through her body as she realised that the spectators almost all seemed to have three things in common.

    They all shared names with famous professionals in gaming.

    They were all fairly low level compared to everyone else.

    And they all had rare classes that didn¡¯t have a name associated with the five basic classes.

    -Hey. Have you noticed something strange about the players in the competition?-

    Roxxy suddenly jolted as her awestruck disposition was interrupted by a message from Third. He was watching the matches as he absorbed the spells from the library. Apparently he had only found one he was happy with.

    -What do you mean?- She repliedback.

    Surely he wasn¡¯t able to see inside the seating area and see the players she was eyeing.

    -Take a look at the city of Taehra.-

    ¡®Taehra?¡¯ She¡¯d never heard of it, ¡®Ah.¡¯

    She opened up the player list for the city and looked at their points in surprise.

    They had a combined zero points so far. And all of their matches had concluded except for one. This was definitely the city whose team was at the bottom of the barrel when it came to this competition.

    But it was the city¡¯s players that caught her attention.

    Attracting: points; 0.

    Belfast; points; 0.

    Cracklebush; points; 0.

    Vengeance; points; 0.

    Violet; currently in a match.

    She hadn¡¯t heard of most of the players. But she definitely recognised the names Attracting and Violet. But he had lost, and not only had he lost, he had come dead last in his group. She had expected better from him.

    ¡®What is he planning?¡¯ Roxxy¡¯s frown deepened.

    She didn''t believe for a second that he was trying to get his city eliminated from the match.

    ¡°Roxxy.¡± A voice called out to her, ¡°Hey Roxxy!¡±

    ¡°Mm? What¡¯s up?¡± She lifted her head only to see Spark Joy staring at the screen with an odd look on her face.

    And it wasn¡¯t just her friend. Troy, Dire Wolf, and all the other players that were sitting down had gone quiet and were staring up at the screen. Roxxy turned to face the battles and blanched as she saw that there was only one match still going on, with two people clashing again and again.

    TidalWave and Violet.

    ****

    [Make sure you come dead last.]

    Those were the instructions Attracting had given the team before they had gone into battle. All they had to do was make sure that they died and they would succeed in accomplishing whatever plan he had set up.

    Violet hadn¡¯t cared too much about it. She knew from the training that they¡¯d all done that Attracting wouldn¡¯t give up the competition that easily. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have wasted two weeks of his life turning them into a fully functioning team. And somehow he always had a plan ready for whatever fight or obstacle that got in their way so they had all decided to follow his lead in this.

    Well, he had told her she would have her choice of strong opponents if she did it. So she would follow along for now.

    [Battle royale placement battle commencing in 5¡­4...]

    Violet crossed her arms and tapped her foot as she found herself transported into a stone platform together with six other players. If she was going to jump in and die then she didn¡¯t need to have her weapon out to do it.

    The moment the players saw each other she jumped into the middle without a second thought.

    ¡®Come on.¡¯ She goaded the players mentally, ¡®Easy target right here.¡¯

    But the players seemed to hesitate as they saw her confidently jump into the middle of them all without a second thought. She saw them edging closer into her range as they tried to figure her and each other out. They were afraid of some kindof trick.

    ¡°An interesting strategy.¡±

    Violet turned to see that only one of the six players had stayed back and was watching her carefully.

    ¡°Do you always act this confidently? Or do you have an ace up your sleeve?¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡± Her eyes widened as she saw the name above his head.

    [TidalWave: Level 43]

    ****

    ¡°So.¡± TidalWave lifted his eyebrow at the girl that had jumped into the middle of the group, ¡°You¡¯re Violet.¡±

    This definitely wasn¡¯t the kind ofstrategy he¡¯d been expecting her to employ.

    ¡®Is she that confident in fighting off six players at once?¡¯

    TidalWave could see that she didn¡¯t even have a weapon in her hands.

    -77

    -77

    -77

    Then his eyes widened as a stream of numbers appeared over the heads of the player¡¯s surrounding Violet. Each one of them took several hits at once and died where they stood, a look of confusion on their faces as they went from alive to dead within a couple of seconds.

    Even he had barely been able to catch the sudden whirl of attacks.

    ¡®A skill?¡¯

    No.

    He hadn¡¯t seen anything indicating a skill.

    She had simply taken her weapon out of her inventory and sliced through every single player several times. Her hand and weapon a blur as the rapier suddenly appeared and she spread it out to hit every single one of the five players. None of them had been able to react quickly enough to defend against the attacks. Each strike so sudden that they caused a small gust of wind to appear as they passed through their enemies. Soon the corpses were turning gray, their faces still expressing the feeling of disbelief that their players had in the moments of their death.

    All of them had been killed before they could blink.

    If he hadn¡¯t seen it he wouldn¡¯t have believed it possible.

    ¡°Ah crap.¡± Violet stared down at the bodies, ¡°There goes the plan.¡±

    She stared up at TidalWave and smiled playfully, ¡°So you couldn¡¯t see thathuh? Pity.¡±

    She had acted out of surprise and excitement. It was so rare that she got to meet an opponent she actuallywanted to fight. So she had instinctively brought out her weapon and without a second thought she had cut down any of the annoying flies that could get in their way.

    But it seemed thatTidalWave wasn¡¯t as skilled as she¡¯d thought him to be. He had clearly missed most of the attacks she¡¯d made. She doubted he¡¯d be able to block a single one of hers.

    ¡®I guess I¡¯ll just have to kill him and apologise to Attracting after.¡¯

    She already had bloodlust throbbing through her veins.

    She dashed forward and in the time it tookto blink an eye her rapier was heading straight towards TidalWave¡¯s head. He took a step back as he was faced with the sudden attack.

    To her, it looked as though he had completely failed to reach her level. She had thought from the videos she¡¯d seen that he was someone who would do more than just react to her attacks, she had thought he could finally give her a challenge.

    Then he brought his sword up to block it in the nick of time and she saw him smiling.

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± A metallic ring resounded through the air as their weapons clashed, ¡°I missed it the first time-¡±

    He pushed her rapier back and using the momentum he aimed a slice towards her neck. Only for it to be met with several attacks that aimed to redirect his sword. He grunted as the force of the blows caused his weapon to diverge towards the ground, and in the next moment, Violet was once again next to him and aiming a blow at his head.

    He eyed the rapier coming in and time seemed to slow down as he scrutinised the weapon. Its trajectory, its speed, its force. All of these factors had already been seen throughby him. He ducked back to avoid the blow and grinned as he brought his sword back around to chop off her arm.

    Only for it to hit thin air.

    ¡®She¡¯s fast.¡¯

    Violet had leapt back the moment he¡¯d brought his sword around to counterattack. She wasn¡¯t cocky enough to believe that her attack would definitely hit so she had preemptively jumped out of the way of his attack.

    ¡°-but now I¡¯m used to it.¡± He brought his sword back to his front and held it with both hands in front of him.

    The two stared at each other, both with the same thought running through their heads.

    ¡®Strong.¡¯

    Then they leapt at each other again.

    This time neither of them was willing to give their enemy the chance at a first blow.

    TidalWave had only crossed a single step before the rapier reached his throat. He ducked out of the way and with both hands clasping his sword he brought the weapon down on Violet¡¯s side. He smiled. There was no way she would be able to recover in time. She was being dragged forward by the momentum of her stabbing attack and his sword would hit her before she recovered. He watched his sword move inches away from her hip...

    ...but with a sudden metal ring the edge of his blade found itself competing against the verysame rapier he had just dodged.

    ¡®Uncanny.¡¯

    She somehow managed to recover almost instantly from launching an attack and having it dodged. She could redirect her weapon mid-swipe and even fire off several stabs before he had launched a single slice. With a swift movement of her hand his sword was forced back and he found himself once again staring at a completely unharmed opponent.

    Without hesitation he brought himself back into an aggressive stance and swung his sword at his opponent with every intent to kill. A cut towards her stomach. Blocked. Lowering it to swipe low at her legs. Blocked. Continuing the combo with a slice upwards to carve her in two.

    -Dodged.

    ¡°Ha.¡± Violet¡¯s expression brightened as she was forced back.

    She had been too slow to block it with her weapon.

    ¡®How long has it been since I¡¯ve been forced to take a step back.¡¯

    She brought her rapier up to face the charging sword warrior and with a flourish the weapon disappeared as she swung her attacks together so quickly that the thin blade was invisible to the naked eye.

    With a scream the rapier cut through the air and half a dozen slashes made their way towards his body. She was no longer aiming for the head, now she was willing to get whatever slight advantage she could.

    ¡°You have no idea how long I¡¯ve waited for this.¡± Violet could feel the joy emanating from her heart.

    She could feel her emotions resonating with every stab of her weapon as her opponent blocked her attacks completely. His chain of attacks were linked in perfect harmony with the tip of her rapier as he defended his vital spots. His arms swung his sword in a wide arc and the sheer strength and force behind his charge caused her to step back as he drew nearer.

    She ducked a swing and stepped towards his side, sending more attacks towards his undefended ribs and arms. But he reacted the moment he saw her body shift and by the time she attacked he was already in place to defend against her. Every step and attempt she made to get at his side or to try andmove behind him was thwarted as he sped up his attacks and tightened his defence.

    ¡®He¡¯s a monster.¡¯

    She was constantly circling him in an eternal dance. The music was the ringing of steel and the footwork was their combined intent to edge into each others space. The first one to submit would be defeated. But neither of them had any intention of losing.

    With a final step Violet tried once again to jump behind him, sending blow after blow into his side.

    He blocked them all perfectly.

    And now it was his turn to fight back.

    Violet felt a burst of killing intent emanating from in front of her as TidalWave¡¯s disposition changed and he struck out straight towards her chest. With a gasp at the sudden attack, she brought her rapier up to defend. Her weapon was blown back, and her body was forced back a step, but she had successfully stopped the attack. Before she could celebrate TidalWave''s sword twitched in mid-air and changed its course from her chest to her exposed head.

    ¡®Yes.¡¯ Violet brought her rapier up and hit its tip against the sword¡¯s blade, switching its direction and causing it to fly past her.

    But it only missed her by a hair.

    He had spent the last minute defending but with a single swing of his sword he had completely changed the dynamic of the fight.

    ¡°So tell me.¡± She dodged more and more attacks, each deadlier than the last, ¡°Are you having as much fun as I am?¡±

    TidalWave weaved his attacks with his sword rising through the air towards her but at her words he jumped back to safety.

    He had seen that she was about to launch a surprise attack with her rapier.

    The childlike expression he had on his face was all the answer she needed. He was the same as her. He raised his sword towards his opponent and his piercing gaze struck her.

    Almost instinctively neither of them had used the skills provided by their classes. This was a fight based on pure talent and ability. A sight which couldn''t be replicated by even the greatest of actors.

    This man was her equal.

    And she was his.

    Violet repositioned herself to a safe distance and the two circled each other with smiles on their faces. They had no intention of giving way, no intention of losing or being defeated.

    They would fight until only one was standing.

    ****

    ¡®Scary.¡¯

    Jein giggled as she watched the two warriors fighting each other. Those two were so perfectly matched that just seeing the fight was causing the nearby players to feel terror.

    ¡®It can¡¯t feel good.¡¯ She could see various expressions on the player''s faces as they viewed the battle, ¡®To realise that there is someone so far above you.¡¯

    She and Ji-Woo had finished their fights quickly, although she had been sad to see that there was a paladin already in the waiting room when she arrived that had cleared his battle even faster than she had.

    She only liked losing when it was to Ji-Woo.

    Jein turned to her swordsman partner with a grin, ¡°Hey I bet those guys could give you a chall-¡±

    And with a squeal she took a step back. Her partners face was a seething mass of emotions.

    Jealousy. Bloodlust. Anger.

    She could see the raw emotions on his face for the first time since she had met him. He was furious. Not at the players, and not at himself. But at the fact that he had been unlucky enough not to get paired alongside the duo fighting on the screen.

    ¡®I want to be there.¡¯

    That was what his expression told Jein as he curled his fingers into fists.

    Jein instantly shut her mouth as she saw that he wasn¡¯t in any mood to talk. The normally calm and calculating man was experiencing something that she couldn¡¯t possibly understand.

    After all, she had never met an equal in her own field.

    Already Ji-Woo¡¯s body was beginning to let off sparks as his passive skill began to fire off. They had both agreed to hold back when it came to the first matches, just in case there were future ones against strong enemies. Even if they won they wanted to do it using the minimal amount of moves and skills so as not to give their opponents much to analyse.

    Unfortunately, it appeared thatJi-Woo was going to break that promise. Jein looked at the screen as the match between Violet and TidalWave concluded. It had been a draw, with neither one able to kill the other for a full ten minutes.

    Ji-Woo was literally sparking fires around him as the magic caused power to surge through his body.

    Jein shook her head sadly.

    ¡®I pity your next opponent.¡¯

    ****

    Cheshire was having a bad day.

    ¡°Hot damn I knew you¡¯d be here. Nobody can stop the Cheshire cat.¡±

    His friend patted his back as they finally met together in the waiting room. He had thought that this was the losers area for players that had been eliminated, but it turned out that he was wrong.

    This was the place for all those players that had scored four points or higher.

    It was slowly filling up with players as more and more battles finished. His team had managed not to come last in their matches but only one other player had gotten into this waiting room. The rest were apparently in another one for players with three points or less.

    Cheshire brushed off his friend¡¯s praises with a frown. Officially he had come second in his battle which gave him 4 points for his city. But he didn¡¯t feel good about it. He hadn¡¯t come second because he was skilled.

    Nastin had just killed him last.

    ¡°So what happens now?¡± He asked his friend but in reality, he was just trying to pose the question to himself.

    He could see the cities being ranked on a screen in front of him. There were only two more minutes until the next fight but almost all of the major battles were finished. All that was left were stalemate battles and the odd match where two players were even in skill.

    ¡°I think we go back in until a definite order has been established.¡± His friend eyed the screen suspiciously, ¡°It looks like this is just a way to determine where each city is in the rankings. I don¡¯t know if the lower-ranked ones get eliminated or not. I¡¯m hearing whispers that there¡¯s something after the battle royales and that¡¯s why we¡¯re getting points.¡±

    [Second battle royale placement match commencing in 5...4...]

    Cheshire brought up his spirits as he found himself once again in the stone arena.

    Sure, he hadn¡¯t won his last match. But he was still skilled, and he had four points already gained for his team. He looked up and checked out his opponents. Five of them were completely new, and he had never seen them before.

    But he definitely recognised the one furthest away from him.After all, it was hard to not know a celebrity when you saw them. The man he was staring at brought out his sword and with a single flash of blinding light, the entire platform was bathed in arcs of lightning. It looked as though an angel had descended from up high to lay judgement upon the six people around him.

    In a second the two opponents closest to the thunderous man were burnt to a crisp, their corpses transforming to dust before they could hit the ground.

    [Ji-Woo: Level 45 Avatar of Lightning.]

    Cheshire sighed.

    ¡®God damn it.¡¯

 Book 2 Chapter 10: The Second Round

    Attracting could feel the intensity of his stare as he laid eyes on the blonde-haired priestess. His utter awe compounded with a tinge of fear was causing his heart to beat faster and faster as he viewed a figure that in his past could only be seen in videos and national competitions.

    [Yanti: Level 45.]

    She had hidden her class for the fighting, just like she had in his previous life. But he knew what she was. It was impossible for him not to considering he had decided to become a priest within the game. The divine of the light, the golden-haired goddess and the best priestess in the game. These were just some of the titles she had once held. She had only obtained two classes within her lifetime but used them so well that they had brought her the power that priest players all over the world could only dream of.

    Her first class, [Holy Maiden of Battle].

    Her second class, [Divinity of the Light].

    Both were powerful enough to be considered top classes even towards his final days and were comparable to the current and future classes held by Violet, TidalWave, and Ji-Woo. And she had the power to back up the responsibility of holding these two classes in her hands. Ever since entering the professional scene she had never once been disputed in her battle prowess or her position as captain of the French nation¡¯s top team, the Golden Lions. She was so high above him that he could never have dreamt of even getting her attention for a second.

    ¡®But that was then. And now this is another time.¡¯ Attracting shook his head to clear himself of his awe as he viewed the other players.

    Each was still a powerhouse even in this time when the game was still new. He eyed their positions cautiously and carefully calculated the best way to play this round. He needed to find a way to die early. Last time he¡¯d been lucky enough to run into an enemy that wanted him dead. These players would not be as gung-ho with their attacks, for fear of drawing the reprisal of the other players in return.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re Attracting.¡±

    But with a flash of golden light from behind his back, his issue seemed to resolve itself. Attracting¡¯s spine stiffened as a spearhead was brought around his shoulder and climbed up to his neck, the edge coming to a stop at his adams apple. Another centimetre and it would penetrate his throat, landing a critical hit.

    It was the holy maiden of battle, Yanti.

    ¡®When did she get behind me?¡¯ Attracting took a deep breath to calm down and analyse the situation.

    The other players were still content to watch them fight it out as they waited for someone else to make the first move. But if he played this right he could end the fight without earning any points. Even if they all made their moves they weren¡¯t going to put a dent in Yanti. He wasn¡¯t even sure he could beat her despite having knowledge of almost all of her skills.

    ¡°Yanti. An absolute honour to meet you.¡± Attracting sincerely meant it, she was a living legend and had been his idol back when he was striving to rise in the rankings as a fairly ordinary rare-class priest, ¡°I take it you got my letter?¡±

    He could feel the spear¡¯s edge quiver as he mentioned the letter he¡¯d sent to all the major players he knew would be attending this tournament. Of course, they had all been fairly insulting and challenging but such a thing was actually fairly common among professionals and upper rankers. Besides, he didn¡¯t just want to make them remember his name. He had more than one purpose for riling up these skilled players before the competition. A ploy within a ploy, and a plan within a plan.

    That was how he planned to make his way up in this world.

    ¡°A wonderful reason to kill you.¡± Yanti¡¯s voice was like silken honey, and as calm as the breeze, ¡°But that¡¯s why you sent it to us, isn¡¯t it? You couldn¡¯t have known how the competition would go, but you guessed that there would be something else involved. You have put together quite a sleight of hand, I will give you credit for that, but I have been tracking the progress of your team. You have all come last on purpose, the power of your friend Violet has told us that. And I can guess why.¡±

    ¡®Dang it Violet.¡¯ Attracting felt a flash of dismay but quickly dismissed it.

    Even he hadn¡¯t been able to avoid fighting TidalWave when they¡¯d met. So he couldn¡¯t blame her. There was just something mesmerising about fighting against such a gigantic figure. But these people weren¡¯t professionals for nothing. They¡¯d already worked out that he was planning to lose.

    ¡°I will give you one tip before I end you.¡± Yanti¡¯s voice floated through his ears as she slid the spearhead across his neck, ¡°When you pick your opponent, make sure you avoid me.¡±

    ¡®Ah damn it.¡¯ Attracting died with a smile on his face despite his thoughts, ¡®She worked out the plan.¡¯

    He knew it wasn¡¯t pride, or an inflated ego, that had caused the priestess to kill him in an instant despite knowing he wanted to die. Instead, she was simply skilled enough that she could overcome any and all plans and difficulties with sheer power. He had no doubt that when it came to planning and fighting she was his better in every way. An almost insurmountable obstacle that he would have to overcome if he ever wanted to be the best in Zodiac Online. One that he would definitely face again and again. Until now nobody had managed to work out his plans. But now someone had. And they were watching him closely.

    It was a surprisingly refreshing feeling.

    ****

    ¡°Grand Thunder. I didn¡¯t expect to see your players participating in this tournament.¡±

    Gyro eyed his final opponent of the round warily. The wizard was the strongest opponent he had encountered so far in the competition.

    [Pascal: Level 45.]

    ¡°I could say the same for the Golden Lions.¡± Gyro cocked his bow and did some calculations in his mind.

    It wouldn¡¯t be too much of a loss if he died here and ended the match as second place. But that wasn¡¯t the kind of person he was. He let loose his arrows and prepared for a retaliatory attack from the wizard, only to see his arrows hitting the stone floor and coming to a halt. Then he felt cold steel hit his side as a dagger was plunged into his ribs.

    -130

    ¡°Ugh.¡±

    Gyro stretched himself thin and he tried to avoid a second hit. Somehow Pascal had managed to get behind him and stab him in the side. A wizard that could teleport and use daggers.

    ¡®Teleportation of some kind?¡¯ Gyro¡¯s mind swirled with possibilities and he smiled.

    His opponent had already given him information far more valuable than a win.

    ¡°Damn it.¡± Pascal¡¯s eyes tensed up as he saw Gyro¡¯s response, ¡°This is why I don¡¯t like fighting you guys. You always act like you¡¯re one step ahead.¡±

    Gyro fired off more arrows and the wizard knocked them out of the air in a display of unparalleled skill with his dagger. The Frenchman didn¡¯t need to use magic to fight against this archer.

    Pascal grinned as he viewed Gyro¡¯s stunned expression.

    ¡°This time it¡¯ll be our team that dominates the game.¡±

    ****

    ¡®Oh. It¡¯s her again.¡¯

    Archy flitted in and out of his target¡¯s range as he lifted his bow and fired arrow after arrow against his fellow ranged opponents. Roxxy and the others had warned him not to use any skills just in case, and he agreed with them completely. If these placement matches were leading to even more fights then he didn¡¯t want his opponents to eliminate him before he could pull up his bow. He couldn¡¯t bear to see the mocking look on Third¡¯s face if that happened.

    But this player was making it difficult for him to maintain his no-skill policy.

    [Bonnie: Level 40]

    From the start of the second round he hadn¡¯t been able to focus on killing off his opponents as he encountered Bonnie for the second time. This time the girl knew from the beginning that he was the most skilled player of the group and so instead of avoiding him like a normal person she had gone after him with a vengeance.

    And she wasn¡¯t holding back at all.

    -Miss

    -Miss

    ¡®See, this is why we need Nastin.¡¯

    Archy¡¯s arrows missed as he fired at the zig-zagging archer. She was not only good at aiming but she had a solid grasp on footwork as well. She wasn¡¯t nearly as skilled as Grenda or Gyro but she was a different kind of annoying. She had already grasped the basic timing of his arrows so that she could dodge them from a far range and she was utilising the bodies of the other five players to keep Archy from getting close. If he tried to get near her then she would make sure that there were players between them so that he would be attacked if he tried to run in a straight line towards her. Of course, it worked both ways, so she had to avoid being attacked in turn by someone else.

    -53

    -66

    They simultaneously fired at a single opponent that had unfortunately been in the way of their chase. The eyes of the magi that had been shot widened in surprise. He had turned around to fire at the roaming Bonnie and before he could react two arrows had hit him from in front and behind.

    Archy and Bonnie had taken him out like a common fly.

    ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re definitely skilled.¡± Archy grinned.

    Even if it would cause trouble in the long term this was the kind of fight he could get behind.

    The steady thrum of arrows leaving his bow turned into a steady rhythm of battle as they circled each other like a leopard and tiger eyeing a juicy piece of meat. The other ranged players slowly began to be picked off one by one as Bonnie continued to force them between her and Archy in order to avoid his arrows. Each opponent was skilled in their own right but it was clear that these two were a cut above the rest.

    Archy was happy that he could finally meet someone to give him a workout.

    She was pissed that he still hadn¡¯t used any of his skills.

    -66

    -66

    -53

    ¡®Damn.¡¯ She watched with worry as the last enemy went down.

    She didn¡¯t want to team up with anyone else to beat this monster of an opponent she¡¯d run into, that wouldn¡¯t be fair. But she still wanted some meat shields. The archer was clearly holding back as well, he¡¯d been much faster in the first round in firing and just now he¡¯d gotten off two arrows before she¡¯d even fired one. It was like he was holding back on purpose because he knew it would be a longer fight. He was taking his time to learn her movements and patterns before finishing her off.

    It was a sign that he was taking her seriously.

    On the one hand, she was kind of flattered, on the other, she was feeling a deep sense of inevitable doom as she slowly realised she was only delaying a lost battle. So before he could fully discover all her techniques she decided she needed to try and end this on her terms.

    She charged straight at him.

    ¡°Holy Symphony.¡±

    The ting of a bell resounded through the air as she activated her strongest skill. She smiled as motes silver light fluttered into the space around her from wherever her feet touched the platform. Her entire body was slowly beginning to glow and she could feel herself growing stronger and faster. Her speed was incomparable to before, and so she knew that there was no way for her opponent to adjust to the sudden change so quickly. Even she wouldn¡¯t be able to adapt that quickly.

    She aimed her bow at her surprised opponent as he stood still. He hadn¡¯t expected her to simply charge at him and close the distance she¡¯d been fighting so hard to keep the entire round. She fired off arrow after arrow, slowly gaining speed and moving from side to side so quickly that she knew he couldn¡¯t possibly hit her.

    -66

    -66

    ¡®Damn.¡¯ She saw the arrows flying into her face before she could react, ¡®How the hell did he manage that?¡¯

    She had been killed again.

    ****

    The five players stared at the person sitting down with fear and apprehension. The pressure coming off this single girl was no joke. They could feel their palms sweating as they brought out their weapons and carefully approached her.

    [Violet.]

    The girl wasn¡¯t doing anything that seemed outwardly threatening. From the beginning she had jumped into the middle of the platform and simply sat down from the moment they¡¯d started the new round. But the pressure they felt came from the fact that they had all seen the long fight she¡¯d had with that other skilled warrior. This girl was fast enough that all five of them were confident they couldn¡¯t beat her if she went after them.

    ¡®So why is she just sitting there?¡¯ They gazed at her in confusion, shuffling closer and closer.

    All five of them had come to a single conclusion, check out what Violet was attempting to do and then fight each other. If push came to shove they would jump her the moment they were all in range and then think of a plan of attack after. Even though they were all skilled players they had no qualms about throwing away their dignity to gang up on a single person. She was simply that big of a threat.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    When they finally moved into her range they saw that she was just staring at them with bored eyes. She didn¡¯t have a hint of the excitement or battle frenzy she¡¯d shown in the previous round. The players slowly grew more confident as they raised their swords against their opponent.

    -85

    -85

    -85

    -85

    -85

    The players with their swords raised let out shouts of surprise as they were suddenly cleaved in two without warning. They hadn¡¯t even been able to see what had hit them.

    ¡®She¡¯s that fast?¡¯ The only warrior to survive looked at the girl in horror, he was the only one with enough health tolast against a single attack.

    Then he saw that she was just as surprised as he was. She stared with her mouth agape at him. It was as if she couldn¡¯t believe what she was seeing.

    ¡®No,¡¯ The warrior hesitated, ¡®She¡¯s looking at something behind me.¡¯

    The warrior turned around finally realised what he¡¯d missed.

    It was the seventh player that had been dropped in with them.

    [Nastin: Level 45.]

    The warrior brought his sword up to defend as Nastin cleaved his blade at him again.

    -85

    And promptly dropped dead as the paladin walked by his corpse calmly.

    ¡°Man.¡± Violet¡¯s gaping mouth slowly formed into a grin, ¡°You awesome guys just keep coming out of the woodwork one by one.¡±

    Nastin¡¯s chest puffed out at the compliment, but he didn¡¯t lower his guard, ¡°Lovely to meet you. I am Nastin.¡±

    ¡°Violet.¡± Violet smiled and flicked her hand dismissively, ¡°I¡¯m not really supposed to be fighting at the moment.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see,¡± Nastin nodded.

    It wasn¡¯t surprising at all to him. He just assumed that her team had arranged a similar strategy to his own team, and all the players were forbidden from revealing their skills. Fortunately, this worked out well for him as well. He knew from the matches he had watched that he was already guaranteed four points for being one of the final two alive, and he wasn¡¯t confident in fighting this girl without revealing the entirety of his skillset to the world.

    ¡°A bit of a waste. How unfortunate.¡± Nastin used his sword as a crutch and pushed his large body to the ground as he sat in front of Violet and faced her at eye level, ¡°So I guess we wait for now. Although I am sure we will fight eventually.¡±

    ¡°Oh definitely.¡± Violet¡¯s eyes sparkled at the thought, then she decided not to waste the small amount of time she did have with the paladin, ¡°So Nastin, I¡¯ve been curious about something for quite a while. Who do you think would win a fight between you and TidalWave.¡±

    ¡®Quite a while?¡¯

    Nastin tilted his head as he was hit by the unexpected question, ¡°I see. You have done your homework.¡±

    He grinned as he realised this girl knew far more about him than he had realised. After all, even if he and TidalWave were in the same city¡¯s team it wasn¡¯t as though they had to know each other. He doubted most of the players in each city¡¯s team had met each other before today.

    ¡°Well now.¡± He took the question seriously, ¡°I believe I would win every time. At least, for now. But who knows what the future holds for that man. He is constantly improving because he is a genius, and I find myself losing more and more ground every day that passes.¡±

    He spoke honestly and without holding back. He sincerely believed that as he was TidalWave could not defeat him. It was nothing to do with pure skills, but his abilities as a paladin were simply not a good match for the warrior to try and defeat him. His holy wall and buffs, as well as his skill that increased attack range, made him a deadly opponent for close-range fighters.

    ¡®At least once I get to know them.¡¯ Nastin chuckled to himself as he remembered his first encounter with TidalWave.

    He¡¯d had his ass handed to him firmly in that fight.

    ¡°Ohh.¡± Violet¡¯s eyes shone with hunger and jealousy, ¡°It must be so damn good to always be near each other. I can¡¯t imagine how much you improve just by fighting each other.¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡± Nastin nodded at her appreciation, but then shook his head, ¡°I think you are mistaken. I do not fight with TidalWave every opportunity I get. I couldn¡¯t even lie and say we fight every time our teams see each other. Although our teams do meet up frequently to duel.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Violet couldn¡¯t hold back the disbelief in her voice, ¡°Why not?¡±

    Nastin¡¯s thoughts immediately turned to a certain blue-robed magi that had been getting closer and closer to killing him lately.

    ¡°Because there is someone far more monstrous than TidalWave in that team.¡±

    Nastin grinned at Violet¡¯s expression.

    ¡°And I wager that you¡¯ll soon be meeting her too.¡±

    ****

    ¡°Oh-oh-oh.¡±

    Roxxy felt her hands quivering in excitement as she gathered more and more data on the players fighting inside the arena platforms. Seven and TidalWave had finished their second rounds without a single setback but a lot of the groups were just beginning to get into their finale. Spark Joy was streaming the fights next to her and the iron guardian had even managed to convince her new friend Troy to record for them as well.

    They would make sure that not a single ability was missed so that they could report it to their team and then post it for the world to see.

    ¡°Quite the show isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Roxxy¡¯s shoulders stiffened as a face appeared beside her. Quite a cute one at that. She turned to the left slightly only to find a smiling head grinning at her.

    [BL Uri.]

    ¡°Ah hey, don¡¯t go scaring her with your creepy child face like that.¡±

    A mirthful voice sounded out from her other side and she turned her head again to see another person resting his chin on the back of seats neighbouring the ones she was sitting in.

    [GM Marcus.]

    ¡°Uri. Marcus.¡± Spark Joy¡¯s dry voice was accompanied by a cough as she remembered she had to record the show.

    She was extremely familiar with both the players and knew that Roxxy could deal with these two.

    ¡°Uri. Marcus.¡± Roxxy copied Spark Joy¡¯s tone and leaned back as she tried to get both the players into her line of sight.

    For some reason they had both chosen to approach her from the row of seats behind her so they were actually stretching out to greet her.

    ¡°Ugh.¡± Uri¡¯s face scrunched up as he spotted Marcus trying to grab Roxxy¡¯s attention, ¡°Don¡¯t you have better things to do than bother us, French boy? You¡¯re falling behind in the popularity rankings a little too much lately to be concentrating on such minor events.¡±

    Marcus was about to say something but the mention of his popularity falling seemed to strike a chord in him, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t realise the boy love team was here. I thought you guys would be too busy putting on all your makeup to make it to this kind of thing.¡±

    ¡°Black Lightning.¡± Uri gritted his teeth and Roxxy smiled, the skinny little guy was too cute to look angry.

    ¡°Hey-hey-hey.¡± Roxxy giggled slightly as she saw Uri was starting to get steamed, ¡°You¡¯re both interrupting my day and my recording. What do you want?¡±

    ¡°Wha-¡±

    Roxxy saw Troy holding his hands to the side of his head in surprise at her casual and blunt words, only for Spark Joy to cover his mouth as he began to talk. The look on the Colt¡¯s Crew player''s face was priceless as he watched the two professional players quieten at her words and then smile in compliance.

    ¡®Good.¡¯ Roxxy smiled, she enjoyed the dynamic those two had, but they could bicker for ages if they got on a roll.

    ¡°What I want-¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to-¡±

    Uri and Marcus glared at each other as they both interrupted each other¡¯s sentences.

    ¡°Oh-my-god.¡± Roxxy felt like smacking both of them, lightly of course, ¡°if you guys can¡¯t get a few words out of your mouths without fighting then go flex your virtual muscles somewhere else. I have work to do.¡±

    ¡°Fine.¡± Uri conceded after seeing Roxxy begin to turn back to the screen, ¡°You go first.¡±

    Marcus puffed up as he took in the slight victory.

    ¡°So you¡¯re playing Zodiac Online now.¡± Marcus grinned as Roxxy brought her attention back to him, ¡°And I see you¡¯ve got a new team.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got that right.¡± Roxxy nodded, clearly Marcus had seen TidalWave fighting and watched her recordings of him on the blog and put two and two together, ¡°You want information on my teammates?¡±

    ¡°God no.¡± Marcus was quick to shoot down her question, ¡°I just wanted to congratulate you.¡±

    His gaze softened for a split second and she could see he genuinely meant his words.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯ve found some players to have fun with.¡± Marcus continued and then coughed as he suddenly felt that he was coming off as a little too cheesy, ¡°But now Game Masters are coming over to take over the professional scene of this game. So maybe we¡¯ll be able to meet up sometime and play a bit? Just like old times.¡±

    ¡°Oh crap.¡± Roxxy flipped her body to face the area behind her and scrutinised the seats, ¡°Are the others here too? All of them?¡±

    ¡°No-no¡± Marcus laughed as he saw her panicked expression, ¡°None of them cared about this little gathering, but I saw on the forum the player names of the guys you¡¯ve been putting on your blog and thought there was a good chance you¡¯d be here. Did you know one of your teammates is the Magnolia?¡±

    ¡®Of course I know that.¡¯ She gave him a disappointed look and he chuckled.

    ¡°How nice of you to drop by.¡± Roxxy meant it but couldn¡¯t help but keep some sarcasm in her voice, ¡°Is he here?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Marcus shifted his eyes downwards, ¡°He¡¯s still a valuable teammate.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± Roxxy turned abruptly to Uri, leaving Marcus to wallow in his thoughts, ¡°So, to what do I owe the honour of having a player of boys love come over and greet me?¡±

    ¡°Black Ligh-¡± Uri was about to correct her when he saw her mocking grin, ¡°Ack. Come on Roxxy you know what our name is.¡± He tilted his head and stared at her with his wide almond eyes, ¡°We¡¯re curious. We saw the information you posted on the forums and were wondering if you wanted to make a deal. They sent me to talk to you.¡±

    He gestured his hand towards the other Black Lightning players who grinned back at him. BL Youren and BL Truesky were sitting back and relaxing as they watched the various fights. Despite their laid back attitude, their eyes were darting from screen to screen without pause as they seemed to take in the information of several fights with ease.

    Roxxy would give anything to be able to crack their minds open and see what kinds of strategies they were thinking up.

    ¡°Sending the young hamster to butter me up.¡± Roxxy chided them with her expression and they waved back at her, ¡°I always did find it hard to refuse cute things.¡±

    ¡°H-hey¡± Uri stuttered at her words, ¡°I just¡­¡± He floundered about and Roxxy laughed at his sudden change in attitude.

    He had never been able to handle compliments very well.

    ¡°Roxxy stop teasing the poor guy.¡± Marcus butted in, walking up to the stumbling Black Lightning player and placing his arm around him, ¡°Can¡¯t you see how hard of a time he¡¯s having, trying to be professional?¡±

    ¡°Fine-fine-fine.¡± Roxxy giggled again and motioned with a finger for Uri to come closer. He was more than happy to break free of Marcus¡¯ grip and walk up to her.

    ¡°So you want information.¡± Roxxy thought of what she knew and what she¡¯d learned, ¡°It''s going to cost you guys.¡±

    ¡°Yes. It is.¡± Uri nodded and his demeanour drastically changed as they began to talk business.

    He had worked with Roxxy enough times before to know when she was serious and when she was playing around.

    ¡°Well, as long as you¡¯re clear.¡±

    Roxxy silently brought up a private message to Third as she thought about how she wanted the deal to go. As long as they could exchange their information for something even more valuable she doubted her team would care. In fact, she sincerely hoped other teams didn¡¯t approach her other teammates at all. Every single one of them had no benchmark for how valuable their knowledge was. Especially Seven and TidalWave.

    Those two honestly gave away all their secrets to whoever asked them first.

    ¡°Tell me what you want to know.¡±

    ****

    ¡°Hoo. Not bad.¡±

    Cheshire pursed his lips as Ji-Woo praised him.

    He had managed to block two attacks from the avatar of lightning. Both had been thrown at him at full force without holding back. Unfortunately, all the others on the platform had died before they even knew what hit them. Cheshire could empathise with that.

    He was so motivated by the sheer pressure of the potential humiliation he would feel at dying without a fight that it had spurred him above his usual skill threshold. He was determined not to go out like the others had. But this was the extent of what he could do. He blocked another attack that seemed to come at him faster than his eyes could see...

    ¡­ and the next attack after that ended his life.

    Cheshire respawned after his second match into the room where players that had maintained their four points or higher streak were. In the corner he could see Ji-Woo appearing in a flash of light and the korean gave him a friendly nod despite having massacred him completely only a second before.

    His friend Arnie was surprisingly here again as well, and it wasn¡¯t hard to see the guy because the number of players had dwindled down considerably. Not many people won consecutive second or first places, even if there had only been two battles.

    ¡°Arnie, just don¡¯t.¡±

    He tried to pre-empt his friend¡¯s praise for him.

    ¡°But holy crap! You were fighting THE Ji-Woo!¡± Arnie was looking at him with star-struck eyes.

    To the audience and early battle finishers it had looked like a one sided massacre, but even in that horrific battle, Cheshire had managed to die last and succeed in defending where others had failed. He had even withstood a few of Ji-Woos attacks. None of the others on that platform could say the same thing.

    ¡®If only I didn¡¯t feel so crap.¡¯ Cheshire frowned.

    He still had his personal pride and his confidence in his own skills. He didn¡¯t want to win this way. He didn¡¯t want to be praised for surviving a fight when he should be winning them. He wanted to fight a glorious battle of equals but so far the only opponents he had been able to fight were powerhouses that were completely above him.

    Everyone else around his level had died within seconds to those powerhouses before he could even launch an attack on them. He thought he would normally be filled with confidence even in these weird situations but the reality was a tremendous blow to his ego and mind.

    ¡°No.¡± Cheshire startled Arnie by vehemently denying his praise, ¡°That wasn¡¯t a fight. Not yet. But I¡¯ll show you a real fight.¡±

    He could feel the blood rushing through his body as he gazed at the countdown that signified the start of the next fight. It was the final placement match. In a minute there would be a new batch of opponents to fight and he would make sure that he got the first attacks in. He would go down fighting and killing his opponents or he would leave this competition in shame.

    ¡®Top one thousand in several games. A genius that is praised by others. Confidence to shake the skies.¡¯ Cheshire stirred his heart and flamed his emotions with his thoughts to give him the strength and confidence to fight at his full power.

    He could feel the strength flowing into his flesh and bones. Every swing of his sword and every use of his abilities would combine to become his deadliest attacks yet. This battle would be his greatest.

    ¡®I am Cheshire.¡¯

    He would make sure that his name was carved into his opponent¡¯s hearts by the time this fight was over.

    They would all fall beneath his sword.

    [Final Placement Match beginning in 5¡­ 4¡­ 3...]

    A low light glowed around his body and he took in a deep breath. The next battle was beginning and before he had even fully teleported into the arena platform he was taking in his opponents. Their positions, their weapons, and their potential attack range. Unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t had the mindset to look at the other fights while in the waiting room because he was lamenting his losses, but that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t take in information on the fly. In a split second he made the decision that out of the six players enemy players the two grouped to his right were the easiest targets.

    Then he made his move.

    ¡°Grand blade.¡±

    A stream of sword-mirages appeared in front of him and they flew at his enemies.

    -65

    -65

    -65

    -65

    The two nearest opponents were skilled, it was clear from the way they brought out their weapons to block his attack. But he was too fast for them and despite their attempts, his attack went through and killed them both. He hadn¡¯t wasted any movement or time, there was no hesitation in his footwork and his ability had been a perfectly aimed hit.

    ¡®I knew it. I am strong.¡¯

    Cheshire¡¯s face broke out into a grin. Those two players had also been in the same lobby as him. They were two players coming second or first in their previous two battle royales. And he had killed them in seconds.

    ¡°Not bad.¡± A deep voice called out to him.

    Cheshire looked back to see that out of the four other opponents three were turning gray. Each one of them had been killed by the sole survivor standing among them. But Cheshire wasn¡¯t going to let this man rest and regain whatever cooldowns he had.

    Without another word they charged at each other.

    His sword clashed against his enemy¡¯s blade and they locked in a stalemate of strength. But his opponent was too strong. His feet were already shifting back under the weight of his opponent¡¯s brutal charge and his hands were slipping as the sword¡¯s hilt was pushed back against them.

    ¡®No.¡¯

    Cheshire clenched his fingers over his sword hilt and refused to budge.

    ¡®This isn¡¯t how it¡¯s going to be.¡¯

    He smashed his body against his opponent and with a final push he won the clash, swiping his sword into the warrior¡¯s chest.

    Only to hit thin air.

    ¡®Another skilled person.¡¯

    Cheshire could tell from the way that his enemy had dodged his attack. It took some serious footwork and skill to be able to react so quickly to a lost clash of blades. But it didn¡¯t matter how skilled his opponent was, he would kill him. He looked up at his opponent and gazed at the warrior¡¯s name.

    [TidalWave: Level 43]

    ¡®Good.¡¯ Cheshire smiled, he didn¡¯t recognise this person.

    This was one fight he refused to lose.

 Book 2 Chapter 11: Sevens Fight.

    Ana watched with a tense smile as TidalWave stabbed his sword through his final opponent. It had been a full twenty seconds or so since the round had started but both of the warriors had ditched defense and exchanged a dozen deadly blows designed to kill each other quickly.

    That opponent had put up quite a fight.

    She let out the breath she¡¯d been holding. Despite his opponent¡¯s startling and praiseworthy tenacity TidalWave had managed to avoid using any skills to end the fight.

    ¡®I¡¯ll have to get up there soon.¡¯ Ana didn¡¯t want to miss congratulating Emily for all the wins she¡¯d accrued.

    Her friend had managed to pass both the first and second round with flying colours. She¡¯d honestly been thrilled watching every second of it from her mother¡¯s laptop. She¡¯d had to bring it into her room after she realised that she didn¡¯t have the space to see the battles on her computer. There were so many fights that a single computer monitor couldn¡¯t hold them all. But just seeing her friend duck and weave expertly through enemies was cathartic enough to give her satisfaction. Unfortunately, the forums and the viewers hadn¡¯t taken notice of her skills.

    They had jumped immediately on her weight and then the internet had done its work from there.

    ¡®Bastards.¡¯ Ana typed angry responses furiously as she kept her eyes on the matches.

    If she couldn¡¯t fight alongside Emily in the game then she could defend her online. But there was a hell of a lot more viewers than a single person could deal with. Ana took a look and saw the number jump to nearly three hundred thousand. Only a fraction of those were watching Emily¡¯s streamed battles but it was still a frightening number.

    ¡®I''m just glad Milly can¡¯t see this.¡¯ Her friend had no experience with the limelight, she would probably freeze in terror if she knew how many people were watching her.

    Ana was about to type a brand new response to one of the commenters when she heard a faint buzzing coming from her phone.

    [Message from; Andrew.]

    ¡°Ugh.¡± Ana rolled her eyes.

    She had fibbed a little when telling Emily that Andrew had completely disappeared. The man had been trying to contact her for two weeks now. He was lucky he wasn¡¯t being pushy or she would have blocked him off completely. Honestly, she was just trying to keep her distance until she was ready to talk to him again civilly. It wasn¡¯t as though she planned to stay mad at him forever. But the guy was definitely acting more like a jerk lately. And a little crazier too considering his sudden ¡®time travel¡¯ story.

    She put the phone to the side and ignored it. If she wanted to talk to him she would.

    ¡®Oh.¡¯ Her eyes narrowed as she scrutinised Emily¡¯s opponents carefully.

    The third round was just beginning but Emily¡¯s group had hardly moved. They were all standing and staring at the others that had been dropped in with them, nobody daring to fire off a spell for fear of being targeted.

    Then Ana saw something strange.

    [40,000]

    The viewer count for this one fight had sudden undergone drastic growth.

    ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ Ana tried to figure out why this particular fight was suddenly gathering viewers.

    [55,000]

    It had jumped drastically within a few seconds. And it was continuously growing by the thousand every second after that.

    ¡°Oh god, Milly.¡± Ana groaned as she finally saw the issue with the platform her friend was on.

    The viewers weren¡¯t gathering for no reason. There were two people that Emily definitely shouldn¡¯t be messing with inside there. They were famous enough that even a casual player like her knew their names and reputations. Either one of them would draw this kind of crowd and attention, but now they had been both placed together in a single battle. And Emily was stuck between them.

    Golden Lion¡¯s Claire.

    Grand Thunder¡¯s Jein.

    The eternal rivals at the top of the virtual reality gaming scene.

    [Viewers: 120,000]

    ****

    The final placement match had begun.

    Seven¡¯s eyes flitted from opponent to opponent as she analysed their positions and stances. She had learnt from the countless duels against her teammates that it wasn¡¯t easy to stop your subtle movements from giving away your intentions. She could spot a slight shoulder tensing, a foot shuffling subconsciously towards her or even the tilt of a wand that would give away her enemy¡¯s intentions.

    But right now none of those things were occurring.

    ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ Seven looked in confusion at her opponents.

    They weren¡¯t just ignoring her, they seemed to all be ignoring each other. Instead of tense shoulders, she could see shivering spines, feet were making their way back as the players tried to escape and wands were lifted without hesitation as though the players had no doubts about their most dangerous enemies.

    Two girls that were staring at each other with deadly calm.

    [Claire: Level 44] [Jein: Level 45]

    Seven watched the players who were slowly trying to edge away as though they were standing near a pair of bombs and hesitated.

    ¡®Am I missing something here?¡¯

    She could tell that she was. But she also felt that the atmosphere in this fight was a lot different compared to her other matches. There was a certain tension in the air that hadn¡¯t been present before.

    Seven had been rather sad that her last two matches had ended without incident. But it looked like every player here was competent enough to at least realise that bursting into battle wasn¡¯t the way to go. Although several of them were getting uncomfortably close to her as they tried to get out of sight of the two girls.

    Seven lifted her wand towards one of them and saw that he hadn¡¯t even noticed her.

    -106

    Seven didn¡¯t hesitate to eliminate the player. She didn¡¯t care if she set off the entire platform into a free for all. She wasn¡¯t going to risk this amazing opportunity just because of two unknowns. The player collapsed in surprise as the high damage number appeared over his head.

    The players all froze as they heard her firing her magic blast. Then they all slowly turned their heads towards Seven, watching her awkwardly standing there with the body turning gray beside her.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Seven saw Claire looking at the body while smiling, ¡°Quite the damage you have there-¡±

    The girl¡¯s compliment was cut short as she leant back to avoid being smashed in the face by a shower of ice. Seven¡¯s eyes widened as she saw the exchange. It was as though Claire¡¯s reaction had been inhuman. One second the girl¡¯s head was about to make contact with the attack and the next she had moved back and out of the way. She had moved so fast that Seven saw an after-image of her body.

    Seven didn¡¯t even know how she¡¯d seen the attack, it had come from her blind spot.

    ¡°So impatient. I guess that¡¯s to be expected from the hothead of Korea.¡± Claire snarled as she turned away from Seven.

    Seven could see the magi had already forgotten about her and the corpse. Now the girl only had eyes for the person that had attacked her.

    Jein.

    Claire¡¯s blood burned as she laid eyes on the girl. They¡¯d never had a good relationship but now the Koreans had made the first move to get into the game before her team had.

    ¡°Someone so low levelled shouldn¡¯t be talking so much smack.¡± Jein quipped as she raised her staff and pointed it towards the sky, ¡°Blizzard.¡±

    ¡®What the hell is that?¡¯ Seven gaped in surprise as she was instantly blinded by a bright ice coloured light that shot out in all directions.

    The staff let out a brilliant beam of light into the air and Seven could see through blurry eyes Claire making a move to stop her, but before the magi could commit to any spells the air around her grew chilly and she froze as the platform was covered in a blanket of ice and snow.

    ¡®Damn it.¡¯ Seven watched Claire¡¯s body encased in ice for a good two seconds and caught a glimpse of the tip of the magi¡¯s wand flickering with gold.

    And then Seven lost sight of her as the snow and hail dropping around her grew thicker.

    ¡°Light¡¯s Destruction.¡±

    Claire stretched out her frozen hand and fired a laser of light towards Jein but she knew it probably wouldn¡¯t hit. The girl was too experienced to make a rookie mistake like staying in one place. The spell Jein used quickly spread across the platform in the form of a storm of fog and ice that battered against the players. Claire could barely see a few feet in front of her, let alone across to the other side where Jein had been.

    She didn¡¯t have a clue where the Korean had gone.

    ¡°God, you had to bring out the big moves straight away.¡± Claire muttered under her breath as she broke the thin ice encasing her and tried to get a grasp of her surroundings.

    She had at least wanted to keep some of her abilities a secret, but she wouldn''t allow herself to lose to Jein.

    ¡®A restriction spell?¡¯ She flaked off some of the ice shards that had formed on her body. Somehow Jein had weaved it in at the same time as she created the blizzard.

    Faced by the pitch-black darkness of the snowstorm Claire could tell she was in for a tough fight. But this was the kind of stuff she lived for.

    ¡°Heh.¡± Claire¡¯s sourness turned into a chuckle as she ducked and weaved randomly, she didn¡¯t want to risk being hit by a sneak attack, ¡°Light¡¯s Judgement.¡±

    She lifted her wand into the air and watched calmly as orbs of light appeared from the tip and flew into the air. This was a technique she had only known a couple of people to have mastered. The creation of invisible spheres which could be used to manipulate magic and further the variety of spells she could cast. When she gained her class she had been given this skill in honour of having perfected the ability to utilise this rare technique.

    She called them control spheres.

    ¡°Light¡¯s Judgement; Activate.¡± She clicked her fingers for added effect and the spheres lit up brightly.

    They began illuminating the frost and hail, causing dozens of shadows to light up as the five other players were hit by bright lights from all angles. Claire smiled as she saw several players spread out in confusion across the platform and one separate person running towards her in the cover of the storm.

    Jein was trying to sneak around to attack her.

    ¡®I¡¯ll get rid of the riff-raff first.¡¯

    ¡°Light¡¯s Judgement; Fire.¡±

    She felt her mana draining as she concentrated on the four players that were still struggling to find out what was happening. The orbs began to spin furiously, releasing small rays of light that flew through the air towards the players. Each one was only a few centimetres long but the space they illuminated as they passed through the wind and hail made them seem far more menacing.

    Then she turned towards the Korean wizard that was making her way towards her.

    ¡°Time to show you what I¡¯ve got.¡±

    The short rays of light homed in on the four players with a precision beyond a human¡¯s. Ignoring the snow and lack of visibility they lit up their surroundings as they filled the air and smashed against the ground and enemies.

    ¡®Holy crap.¡¯ Seven was still trying to spot where Claire had gone when suddenly the sky lit up with light and she spotted several lasers heading towards her.

    ¡°Stone shift.¡±

    Seven didn¡¯t hesitate to use her skill as the ground she¡¯d been standing in began to face a sudden onslaught of attacks. One second the entire place had been deadly quiet but now she could hear shouts as the other players were hit by the strange attacks. And there were more coming.

    Seven continued to stone shift as the lasers drew near. She couldn¡¯t risk a single one hitting her but she hadn¡¯t managed to grasp their timing yet. She could hear the effect each laser would have on her as the players around her let out yelps of pain. They didn¡¯t sound too deadly but there were a lot of them.

    Luckily they also made it easier to see in the snow. Seven couldn¡¯t see her opponent¡¯s features but the illuminated ice crystals showed her the positions of her enemies. Two were nearby and another three further ahead.

    ¡®Phew. These are slow.¡¯ Seven held her wand at her side defensively as she began to sidestep the incoming lasers without the use of her stone shifting.

    She had been surprised by the sudden rain of fire but quickly discovered that the attack wasn¡¯t as deadly as she had first assumed. She dodged the first few without using her magic by the skin of her teeth before she became used to them. Luckily they could easily be seen through the snow due to their inherent glow or else they would have struck her easily under the cover of the blizzard. If this had been an attack launched by Grenda she would have kissed her chances of living goodbye.

    Their speed couldn¡¯t compare to one of Archy¡¯s arrows.

    But it wasn¡¯t as easy to dodge as it seemed. Several of the players lit up nearby and theycried out as they were hit by the attacks and one even died under the onslaught as one too many smashed into him. Seven hadn¡¯t even realised they were so close until the rays struck them. But now there were two juicy targets nearby that were damaged.

    ¡®I need to get to them.¡¯

    She could tell immediately that each orb was a focus point. She couldn¡¯t even count how many orbs were out there in the snow. But she knew it was at least ten, maybe even more. Seven watched the orbs and players carefully to try and discover a weakness. The flickering lights raining down on them were seemingly indestructible and unblockable by anything she had, although they didn¡¯t deal too much damage.

    She used the constantly firing orbs to make her move. They would provide her with cover fire and vision as she snuck her way towards the players. As long as she didn¡¯t get hit she would be fine. Dodging each shot carefully she made her way to the closest player that was under attack and held her breath. She didn¡¯t know how far her attacks would travel in this snow. If her shots weren¡¯t affected she was in the perfect range, however, either way, she would light up her surroundings and give herself away.

    Then the surroundings began to get darker.

    ¡®They have a limited amount of ammo.¡¯ She could see some of the orbs flickering out of existence as they reached their thresholds.

    She needed to kill the enemies before she lost her source of light.

    -106

    -106

    Seven took advantage of the opportunity to jump towards her opponent and smash her attacks against them. The poor player didn¡¯t even know what had hit him as the snow lit up in a brilliant blue and the magic blasts smashed into him.

    She immediately turned away from the other player being attacked and rushed towards the source of the lights. She didn¡¯t want to fight those two girls directly, they were clearly planning to kill each other before anyone else, but she did want to make sure she was in range to do some serious damage once the storm let up. Then she jumped back as she saw a blast of red energy pass by her.

    ¡®That wasn¡¯t meant to hit me.¡¯ Seven realised that the magic had been aimed well above her and was only meant to get her attention. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Excuse me.¡± She turned in surprise to see a man standing there with his hand held out high, ¡°It¡¯s not the best time to be fighting each other.¡±

    [Jacob: Level 41.]

    The last player other than her in the platform aside from the two powerful magic users clashing ahead.

    ¡°This is exactly the time to be fighting each other.¡± Seven gestured with her hands at the area she¡¯d last seen the light magi, ¡°We¡¯re in an arena.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but we are the smallest fish in this tank.¡± Jacob didn¡¯t bring his wand any lower despite Seven¡¯s hostile attitude, ¡°We need to team up together if we want to defeat either one of those two. Especially Jein.¡±

    ¡®Hmm.¡¯ Seven thought about it for a second.

    ¡°You know what?¡± Seven turned around and waved her hand at him, ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡±

    If he didn¡¯t shoot her in the back it meant he was serious. But if he did then she was confident she could see his attack coming as the red light reflected on the snow. Then she would stone shift out the way and kill him.

    She had seen how powerful those two other players were and she could admit that she was feeling a little overwhelmed by their displays. But until she was certain she couldn¡¯t beat them on her own, she didn¡¯t want to play an unfair advantage over them. If it came to teaming up then she¡¯d try and look for this guy again.

    And if he died before this blizzard let out then that would just be a pity.

    ¡®Thank god.¡¯ She let out a sigh of relief as she looked over her shoulder and saw that Jacob has disappeared into the blizzard.

    He hadn¡¯t stabbed her in the back.

    ¡®There.¡¯ Seven soon saw brilliant blasts of light causing the snow to illuminate and then darken as they passed by.

    Each one originated from a player that was just barely out of her view, the same one that Seven was sure had created the shooting orbs.

    This player was capable of creating at least ten focus points whilst in a high-intensity situation. She was definitely someone that Seven had to watch out for or else she would be killed in an instant. She took in the situation with calm eyes as the orbs began to flicker out faster than they could be recreated. Soon Seven couldn¡¯t see a single new orb in the sea of light. Their master was too distracted to create them.

    Claire was under attack.

    ¡°What?¡± Seven let out a small gasp as the air around her suddenly seemed to waver with magical energy.

    She could feel a familiar sensation of power coursing through the air. It was as though the area around her had been dosed in electricity that was slowly crowding the sky and suffocating her.

    ¡®Oh.¡¯

    She closed her eyes for a split second as she realised what was happening. It wasn¡¯t a spell or a skill, not yet at least. But out there in the dark swirling snow was a figure that was radiating the same kind of energy she felt from Third. And when she looked at her surroundings with her eyes closed, she could see the same phenomenon that had occurred with Muriel and Azeroth. Somebody was flooding the arena with focus points. So many that she could hardly count them for fear of using up all her time.

    It was like looking at a gigantic bomb.

    ¡°Well damn, I should have taken that guys offer.¡± Seven chuckled to herself, only half joking.

    She could feel herself itching to battle against the monster that had created this attack. She could tell they weren¡¯t ordinary, it had been clear from the way the others had all reacted. She had seen the other players shaking in fear before these two had even made a move. That meant only one thing to her; this was what the players at the top of the game looked like.

    And she wanted to fight them.

    ****

    ¡®I only have a limited amount of time.¡¯

    Jein circled her staff in the air as she eyed her opponent and her mana carefully.

    ¡°Frost Shards.¡±

    Eight sharp and icy crystals materialised one by one in the air surrounding her and with a flick of her wrist, each crystal tore through the air and sliced towards Claire. Jein watched with satisfaction as the French player was forced to duck at the unexpected attack.

    ¡®So you can¡¯t see everything.¡¯ Jein¡¯s lips curled into a smile.

    The moment Claire had begun firing at her she¡¯d been worried that the magi had some way to see through the blizzard. But judging from her reactions she could only tell where Jein was, not what she was doing.

    ¡®This match is going to me.¡¯

    Jein moved from side to side as Claire fired more and more blasts of light at her, gathering her magic and concentrating on the area around her. Slowly the entire platform was being bathed in translucent balls that Jein knew were invisible to the naked eye.

    Her opponent could tell something was off from the way Jein had stopped moving towards her. A moment later Jein could see Claire retreating as she realised that something was coming.

    ¡®Too late.¡¯

    From the tip of her staff Jein could see small transparent balls billowing out and floating in the air around her. Ten, fifteen, thirty¡­ when she finally managed to squeeze the last bit of concentration she had to create the spell she released her magic directly into the balls and with a smile saw them light up with magic.

    ¡°Ice Wave.¡±

    The moment the words left her lips the blizzard came to a stop. It was quite a sight to see. The entire world of snow she had created pausing in place at her command. Snowflakes hovered in the air like delicate ornaments, and then they began to quiver and shake as though being pulled apart by an unseen force.

    In the air and on the ground the balls let out pulsating glows and with each throb of light the snow around them began to shake more and more. Jein watched with glee as the direction of the storm seemed to reverse, the snow and ice being pulled into the balls as though hit by a vacuum cleaner. Within seconds the entirety of the arena was emptying and in its place were large balls of snow that began to swirl around Jein like guardians surrounding a tomb. Each one was the size of a car and just as deadly.

    Jein pointed her staff at the retreating Claire with gusto, ¡°Get her.¡±

    At her words the balls burst apart and the gathered snow splashed onto the ground. But instead of staying still or disappearing the snow began to howl and as though filled with life it gathered together to form a mighty tidal wave. The gigantic wave flooded the platform and made its way toward the startled Claire.

    Rising far above her and filling every angle it was impossible to dodge the attack. Let alone Claire, everyone left on the platform would be destroyed. She watched as the wave made its way through the arena and grinned.

    This had been an easier victory than she¡¯d thought.

    ¡°Titan of Light.¡±

    Then the grin was wiped off her face as Claire clenched her teeth and raised her hands into the air. Before Jein could even blink there was a shimmering of light in the air in front of her wave, and out of the portal stepped a golden giant clad in armour.

    ¡°What the heck.¡± Jein didn¡¯t know this kind of magic was possible.

    The giant smashed against the wave and as though the snow was a living entity the wave stopped in its entirety, spraying snow and ice everywhere. The golden guardian had managed to stop the attack with its body, and was continuously struggling against the wave as it pushed. But Jein could see the giant was struggling.

    ¡®That thing is going to break.¡¯ Jein didn¡¯t dare to hold back and immediately began creating crystals in the air that fired towards the titan and Claire.

    The magi couldn¡¯t make it over her wave but she didn¡¯t want to risk anything unexpected. She hadn¡¯t even thought the French player would survive her ice wave attack at all. She had underestimated the professional. Jein moved closer and closer towards the edge of the wave as she tried to close the distance between herself and Claire.

    As long as she could get one good shot in or even destroy the titan then she would have won.

    ¡°I see.¡± Jein heard a voice by her side and with a startled jolt she barely managed to dodge a blast of bright red magic that had been aimed at her head, ¡°So this was your plan.¡±

    [Jacob: Level 41]

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Jein flicked her staff and the gigantic wave began to take over its own actions, then she pointed it towards the newcomer, ¡°Oh right.¡±

    She moved back as the player attacked her again. She¡¯d allowed him to get too close for comfort. She¡¯d forgotten there were still people in the arena other than her and Claire. She¡¯d thought the French magi had managed to kill them all.

    ¡°Ah, that hurts.¡± Jacob smiled as he released blast after blast at the retreating wizard, ¡°But I guess we aren¡¯t all famous enough to be recognised.¡±

    ¡°You have that right.¡± Jein waved her staff and shards of frost materialised around her, firing immediately towards Jacob as he tried to close the distance, ¡°You should have hit me with your first attack. Now you have no chance.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Jacob nodded and lifted his wand towards her, ¡°Blood Sanctuary.¡±

    ¡°Oh shit.¡± Jein tried to move out of the way of whatever was coming.

    But before she could even lift a foot the ground swirled with the colour red and ten bright red tentacles of blood lifted themselves out of the stone and tangled together to create a cage around her.

    ¡°Ha. If you wanted to kill me you should have brought something that could stop my movements.¡± Jein realised she could still cast spells, ¡°Ice spears.¡±

    Jein fired off spears of ice and large ice crystals at her opponent. Each shot of red energy he fired at her was blocked perfectly as the spears hit them head-on, the faster and smaller crystal shards were sent rocketing towards Jacob¡¯s body. She didn¡¯t need to move to defend herself.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Jacob eyed the attacks and moved back to a safe distance with a grin, ¡°But I never said I was going to kill you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my job.¡±

    -106

    Jein let out a shout as she was smashed from behind by a bright blue attack that lit up the area around her with sparks. The blood cage seemed to let out a human scream as it was hit by the attack as well, and the red tendrils withered and retreated as they curled back into the ground.

    ¡°Who-¡±

    Jein¡¯s words caught in her mouth as she spotted the newcomer. She recognised this person. She had seen her in one of the videos Ji-Woo had shown her.

    ¡°Flying girl.¡±

    [Seven: Level 43]

    ****

    ¡°What the hell is that?¡±

    Seven stared in wonder as a wave of ice made its way across the platform. It was completely unstoppable. And it was heading right towards her.

    ¡°Titan of Light.¡±

    The air seemed to brighten as Seven saw Claire waving her wand and lifting her hands. Within seconds the wave had reached the magi and was almost at Seven, but then a brilliant golden giant appeared in front of Claire and with a mighty roar it pushed back against the wave.

    ¡®Damn that¡¯s cool.¡¯ Seven hadn¡¯t even had a chance to do anything but think of running from the attack.

    But this girl was blocking it without breaking a sweat

    ¡°There you are.¡±

    Seven felt a hand curling around her wrist and with a snap, she broke free and leapt back.

    And she came face to face with the other surviving opponent on the platform.

    ¡°Jacob.¡± Seven felt relief wash over her.

    At least he hadn¡¯t taken her distraction as a sign that he should kill her.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have the time for this. Do you realise that¡¯s Jein? We can¡¯t beat her without teaming up. Claire¡¯s attack won¡¯t hold the wave back for long.¡±

    Seven stared up at the girl that had created the blizzard and now the gigantic wave that threatened to kill them all in one fell swoop. The titan was already beginning to sway from side to side as it grew tired.

    ¡°I think we can¡¯t beat her at all.¡± Seven honestly couldn¡¯t see a way to do it.

    When she closed her eyes she could see the sheer amount of focus points that composed and held the wave together. The player that had created that thing was a monster.

    ¡°I can get over the wave.¡± Jacob didn¡¯t hesitate to lay out his plan, ¡°But I can¡¯t defeat Jein by myself, although I will definitely try. She is not known as one of the best players in the world for nothing. She is extremely skilled and I¡¯m afraid only a surprise attack will give us a chance.¡±

    He peeked at the titan that was holding back the wave, ¡°She¡¯s probably under the impression that Claire is her only threat. If I sneak up on her I think I can trap her safely, all you have to do it come out behind her and finish the job.¡±

    ¡®Do I want to team up to kill this person?¡¯ Seven thought about it for a split second before nodding her head.

    She didn¡¯t care for ganging up on people. But then she thought about the kind of person they were facing. She wasn¡¯t sure who Jein was exactly but from the girl¡¯s attacks and tactics, it was clear she was someone at the top of the game. And now Seven had a chance to fight against her directly instead of just running from her attacks.

    That was something exciting enough for Seven to give it a try.

    ¡°So how are you going to get us over that wave?¡±

    ¡°Us?¡± Jacob looked at her with narrowed eyes, ¡°This is no time to hold back. I¡¯ve seen the video of you and your teammates fighting against that NPC Azeroth. You are able to walk in the air, and you easily crossed a distance higher than this wave.¡±

    He began to make his way towards the wave and with a push of his hand a section of the snow turned blood red, ¡°Remember, I will trap her. Make sure to come from behind her and land a killing shot.¡±

    Without another word he walked through the blood-red portal and disappeared.

    Admittedly he hadn¡¯t given her much time to think or talk, but even if he had she couldn¡¯t do what he wanted her to. He had seen her using aura step and thought that she was hiding her skills. But that was an ability she¡¯d already lost.

    ¡®Well, that guy is going to die.¡¯ Seven shook her head sadly and stared up at the incoming wave, ¡®And so am I if I don¡¯t do anything.¡¯

    To her, it looked like a massive array of focus points tiding over and smashing against the giant. She had only recently begun to be able to see the focus points when her eyes were open, but with all the snow in the way it was hard to distinguish what was a focus point and what was ice. The massive titan was holding on but now he was slowly being pushed further and further back by the unstoppable attack. Its armour was cracking and within it, bulging muscles seemed to be pushing at full power to try and keep up with the pressure.

    ¡°There has to be a way to stop this thing.¡± Seven tried to concentrate on the focus points.

    Each part of the wave was covered in them, although they didn¡¯t seem as strong as they did when they first started. But she couldn¡¯t think of anything to stop the attack. It was just too powerful.

    ¡®Damn it.¡¯

    Jacob had been right. If she knew aura step she would have easily been able to get out of this mess by gliding over the attack. She couldn¡¯t do anything as she was. She di to fly, or teleport or even come close to the players she was seeing now. She suddenly realised how it felt for others to encounter something so much bigger than they are. These two magic users were far above her...

    *SLAP*

    Seven rubbed her cheeks as she felt the sting of her palm on them, ¡®Calm down Emily.¡¯

    This wasn¡¯t the time or the place for her to panic, she needed to get something done.

    She closed her eyes and took in the entire structure of the massive wave before her. The snow slowly faded away from sight as she began to concentrate on the focus points. Each focus point was a new area in her eyes and yet despite the chaos, she could see a certain pattern. It was something she couldn¡¯t break, or even try to attack.

    ¡®Focus, focus.¡¯ She shook her head as the negative thoughts threatened to overwhelm, ¡®Think of what you can do.¡¯

    This was the same problem that Muriel had posed to her. She didn¡¯t need a way to magically create things from thin air or even use her own focus points to fly. She just needed to find a way to manipulate the environment around her. She needed to find a way to change the focus points creating the wave.

    With a calm focus she shut her eyes tightly and approached the deadly wave. Each footstep she took towards it illuminated another area controlled by a focus point in her mind. Soon she could see the entire wave, a massive torrent of focus points stopped in mid-air by the titan.

    ¡®If I touch it, I¡¯m dead.¡¯ Seven could tell that instinctively from the power she could feel coming off of the wave.

    So she stopped in front of it instead.

    She took a quick peek at the wave and was startled to see snow billow forward only inches away from her face. She hadn¡¯t seen anything like this when she had her eyes closed, and she couldn¡¯t even feel the cold on her face. She closed her eyes again and immediately realised that she wasn¡¯t looking at a wave at all.

    ¡®Oh, I see.¡¯ She could only actually see the focus points, ¡®The snow isn¡¯t there.¡¯

    The snow was just magic being manipulated through the focus points. Seven looked at the nearest focus point. When she had her eyes closed it was as if she could reach in and pull it out. There was no deadly snow in this place, only the magic stopping her from passing through the space.

    So she brought her hand up to the focus point and reached out to grasp it.

    ¡®If I do this I could die.¡¯ She hesitated as she brought her hand near the magic, then she clutched her fingers together and let them go quickly, and she grabbed at the focus point.

    -Blocked.

    Seven grinned as her hand came to a stop hovering above the focus point and into the area where she knew the snow must be. This was the same feeling she¡¯d had when she was creating the platforms with aura step. A gentle push back that meant an invisible surface was being created on top of the focus point. But now she had managed to create it using her own enemy¡¯s focus points.

    She wasn¡¯t being harmed by the attack at all.

    Then she opened her eyes and saw that in front of her it looked as though a single handle-hold had been created in the massive wall of snow. A place that was solely her own and she could manipulate at will. It was tiny and was quickly becoming nonexistent as snow piled on top of the hole, and it was hers.

    It was no aura step, but it was a start.

    ¡®Good.¡¯ Seven¡¯s eyes twitched as she gazed at the mass of focus points in front of her.

    She no longer saw a deadly wave when she looked at it. If it had been moving it would be a different story. The force of the wave would have crushed her underneath it and she wouldn¡¯t have had a chance of being able to manipulate the focus points so delicately like she was now. But now that it was being held tightly in place it was just a wall of platforms she could use to climb.

    And so she did.

    ¡®Hup. Hup.¡¯ Seven made sure to keep her eyes shut as she clambered over the focus points one by one.

    Even if the snow was parting she wasn¡¯t confident that her concentration would slip if she opened her eyes and saw the wall again. Each time the thought of slipping on the snow or falling entered her mind she instead shifted her concentration onto the next focus point, making sure it solidified underneath her feet and making sure her hands had another one to grab onto.

    ¡°Oh shit.¡±

    Seven heard a female voice cry just above her and grinned, pulling herself over the final stretch of the wave and opening her eyes.

    ¡®Oh nice.¡¯ She was facing a girl trapped in a blood-red cage and Jacob standing in the distance.

    But before she could react the Korean wizard lifted her staff and fired off attacks while speaking to the male magi. Seven took the opportunity to get closer and closer to Jein as she was distracted by her opponent.

    ¡°Ha. If you wanted to kill me you should have brought something that could stop my movements.¡±

    Seven could see Jacob being forced back even though the girl was stuck in place. Her attacks were just too strong and frequent for him to get a solid shot in.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Seven could see Jacob grinning as he retreated and he shot her a look, ¡°But I never said I was going to kill you.¡±

    Seven lifted her wand and let off a magic blast as she finally reached the trapped player, ¡°That¡¯s my job.¡±

    -106

    ¡°Who-¡±

    Seven could see Jein¡¯s eyes widening as the attack hit her and decimated the cage surrounding her.

    ¡°Flying girl.¡±

    Jein immediately smashed her staff onto the ground, causing snow to fly into the air and obscure Seven¡¯s vision.

    ¡®Holy crap, she¡¯s fast.¡¯ Seven had only managed to get a single shot off before her enemy had reacted.

    Seven fired off magic blast after magic blast into thearea she¡¯d last seen the wizard. She didn¡¯t want to give this tidal wave creating monster a chance to retaliate. But when the snow cleared Jein was gone.

    ¡°What the heck?¡± Seven looked around only to see Jacob hurrying towards her with a confused look on his face.

    ¡°Where did she go-¡±

    -99

    -99

    -99

    Jacob hardly got the words out of his mouth before the ground they were standing in was peppered with spears of ice that cut into their bodies and shattered across the stone platform.

    ¡®Crap.¡¯ Seven watched Jacob¡¯s body turning gray and realised he¡¯d been killed instantly by the bombardment.

    She would die if she was hit again.

    ¡°Flying girl~¡± A playful voice resounded through the air towards Seven, ¡°Why don¡¯t you come and join me?¡±

    Seven felt her heart plunge in dismay as she looked up. Floating in the air on top of an icy platform and waving her staff happily was Jein, looking completely content and comfortable in her surroundings.

    ¡®Aura step.¡¯ Seven could feel her confidence fleeing as she realised her opponent had been one step ahead of her this whole time.

    They had never even been on the same playing field.

    ¡°Now then.¡±

    Jein¡¯s eyes lit up as she saw the titan finally cracking under the pressure of the wave, falling with a gigantic boom and disappearing. One opponent had already died, Claire would soon follow and now only Seven was left. Jein took her time to form dozens of ice shards in the air. This was the final opponent, and she wasn¡¯t willing to let them get away.

    ¡°It¡¯s time to finish this.¡±

 Book 2 Chapter 12: Fear.

    ¡®Seven.¡¯

    Violet¡¯s eyes narrowed as she watched the fight unfolding.

    She had seen the fights online that Seven had taken part in. She knew the girl could fire off shots with precision and deadly ferocity. She had seen the player dancing out of the way of attacks with the poise of a butterfly being blown by the wind. From the beginning, she had never underestimated the magi on the screen and never doubted that she was talented.

    Anyone who thought she wasn¡¯t talented after seeing her fight was a fool.

    This was the player that Nastin had praised as being more talented than even TidalWave. Even if she was a magi the mere thought of having an opponent be that powerful made her blood boil in anticipation. But as she watched the fight unfolding she couldn¡¯t see the reason for Nastin¡¯s high praise.

    The girl was performing exceptionally average.

    This wasn¡¯t an arena where she could exploit her talents. Violet didn¡¯t know what class Seven had but she felt it was suited more towards dodging and fighting, but Jein and Claire were both magic users of the highest caliber. Seven had been completely helpless against the wave and the blizzard, unable to resist the spells at all. And she still hadn¡¯t used her aura step.

    Violet had seen the fight against Azeroth. She had replayed TidalWave¡¯s fight until her eyes had gone red and she knew that Seven had the ability to fly through the air.

    ¡®Is she hiding her skills? Even against Jein?¡¯

    Violet couldn¡¯t help but admire the balls on the magi if Seven was holding back against her opponent. But she knew that it wouldn¡¯t last. If a truly skilled player was hiding within that girl, then the thrill of the battle wasn¡¯t something that she could ignore. She would soon learn the true terror that is Jein. Players around the world touted the Korean professional as the head of her field. The girl with skills that could wipe out the entire platform, and who could learn abilities simply by watching them.

    If Seven truly would rise through the ranks, then just as Violet hadn¡¯t been able to hold back against TidalWave, the magi wouldn¡¯t be able to stand losing to this Wizard. They were destined to be enemies at every turn.

    ¡®So then.¡¯

    Violet gazed at the screen in anticipation, watching Jein¡¯s attacks floating around her, ready to pounce at the helpless magi.

    ¡®Show me what you¡¯ve got.¡¯

    ****

    ¡®She¡¯s holding back.¡¯

    Ji-Woo¡¯s eyes narrowed as he watched the girl on the screen. He had known her for years, fought both against and alongside her and seen the fire in her soul. He knew that deep inside that beautiful figure was a heart made of fire, burning for battle and igniting at the thought of a challenge. But now this person was surprising him by doing the exact opposite of what he would expect.

    Jein was holding back.

    Ji-Woo wasn¡¯t a fool, nor was he blind. Jein could have eliminated both Seven and Jacob in that barrage she had shot towards them. Both players had been unaware that Jein had learned aura step simply by watching the video of Azeroth¡¯s fight. They had both hesitated and she¡¯d had the perfect shot. But she had only hit Seven once.

    A single shot in return for the one she had taken.

    ¡°Flying girl~¡± Jein¡¯s playful voice came through the screen. ¡°Why don¡¯t you come and join me?¡±

    ¡®Ah¡¯ Ji-Woo¡¯s grin spread across his face as he heard his ally speak. ¡®So that¡¯s what it was.¡¯

    It should have been so simple for him to realise, but it was rare that he ever saw her like this. Few opponents had the luxury of holding back against Jein, nor did they want to even if they could. But now Jein knew that Seven had been holding back her aura step. She knew that they were probably holding back spells that other opponents had never seen. She knew that this one player had decided as they stood underneath her that she wasn¡¯t worthy enough for them to unleash their full skills. Ji-Woo let out a little laugh as he put it all together. Jein was putting her full effort into showing that she could kill this player, trying so hard to get them to go all out in their fight, and yet her challenge was being ignored.

    And it pissed her off.

    I couldn¡¯t agree more.

    ¡®What?¡¯ he heard a new voice sounded out from the screen, one that he recognised immediately. ¡®How is that possible?¡¯

    Ji-Woo¡¯s eyes widened as a new figure blazed onto the screen and the arena lit up.

    [Claire: Level 44]

    ****

    ¡°It¡¯s time to finish this.¡±

    Seven watched Jein twirling her fingers in the air. Her ice shards seemed to follow her movements like a swarm of minions and they swam playfully through the air, as beautiful as they were deadly. Seven knew that each one carried enough power to injure her seriously. They had taken out Jacob in an instant. And she could see that the girl had created dozens of them.

    I couldn¡¯t agree more. A voice boomed through the surrounding area, echoing from all sides.

    ¡®What?¡¯ Seven whipped her head towards the sudden intrusion. ¡®Oh my god.¡¯

    A bright flash of light covered Seven¡¯s eyes as familiar-looking orbs began appearing in the air. Standing above the wave that had crashed over the golden titan their creator was standing and smiling as she walked over the jumble of snow and stone. Calm and confident even in the face of the gathered horde of shards and spears that Jein had summoned.

    Her eyes were glowing bright gold and covering her was an aura of golden magic the likes of which Seven had never seen before.

    ¡°Claire.¡± Jein¡¯s voice oozed frost.

    ¡®How did she survive?¡¯ Seven knew it wasn¡¯t the time to be wondering about this, but she couldn¡¯t help but be curious.

    She was certain that the wave would have killed anyone in its path.

    Yes. Claire¡¯s silken voice seemed to resound throughout the area. I have a lot to thank you for.

    She turned her head and Seven saw that Claire was smiling at her. She felt her hands sweating as she realised that she was missing a vital piece of information. The magi seemed to be thanking her for something but she couldn¡¯t figure out what.

    Jein seemed to come to the same conclusion, and she turned to Seven with an irritated expression. ¡°What did you do?¡±

    Ah, are you sure you have time to look away? Claire smiled and with a click of her fingers the orbs began to zoom in on Jein, You might just die you know

    ¡°God damn i-¡± Jein swore as the orbs rained fire on her, spitting out dozens of golden bullets.

    ¡®Now.¡¯ Seven saw Jein creating platforms to dodge the lights and throwing spears at the bullets and immediately knew what she had to do next.

    She had already injured Jein. The wizard was being attacked from all sides by an enemy that had time to prepare and install her attacks in the optimal position. So inevitably, she would fall to the barrage, maybe not now, but at some point. So Seven needed to take advantage of this to take out the one player in the dominant position.

    She was going to kill Claire.

    She turned towards the magi that was manipulating the orbs and brought out her wand to fire at her while Jein distracted her.

    Only to find that she had disappeared.

    ¡®What? Where¡¯d she go?¡¯ It immediately reminded Seven of the situation with Jein and she looked up, ¡®Oh- You have got to be kidding me.¡¯

    Up in the sky, a figure was using golden platforms to approach the fleeing Jein.

    Claire knew aura step as well.

    ¡®No.¡¯ Seven¡¯s fist clenched as she saw Claire wobbling from side to side as she warily climbed through the sky. ¡®She¡¯s not used to it.¡¯

    Seven watched in despair as the magi grew more and more confident in herself. Only a second before she was too scared to step onto a new platform, but with a few jumps she was already catching up to Jein as the wizard fled. It was obvious what had happened but even now Seven was finding it hard to accept. A single magi that was struggling to use a skill was a clear sign that even Seven had acknowledged. Claire had learned aura step by watching Jein use it.

    It had only taken her a few seconds.

    ¡®So this is a genius.¡¯

    Seven stared at the sky in disbelief. The entire arena was lit up with rays of light and deadly skewers of ice being shot in every direction. Both players were so far above her both that they didn¡¯t even have the time to spare her the smallest bit of attention as they focused on killing each other.

    Claire hadn¡¯t even spared a single shot to send at Seven before she went all out to attack Jein.

    ¡®Is this how I want the fight to end? With me not having a single say or impact on these two?¡¯ Seven looked up at the players that were completely ignoring her and shook her head, ¡®No.¡¯

    She lifted her wand and fired off magic blasts at her opponents. If they were going to ignore her then she would force them to acknowledge her existence.

    She watched the perfectly aimed magic blasts fly true into the platforms that the girls were standing in, only for every attack to explode at the last second as they came into contact with ice and light. The magic blasts exploded into showers of magic particles as the two girls turned to face her and the battle stilled.

    And Seven shot even more attacks at them.

    Yes? You were still alive? Claire waved her wand and more orbs appeared near her, firing shots at Seven¡¯s magic blasts and obliterating them.

    ¡°You should have stayed put.¡± Jein stopped running from Claire and sent her spears to intercept the magic missiles.

    They had both easily blocked her attacks.

    ¡®Ah crap.¡¯ Seven realised that she had made a terrible mistake.

    Now she had their full attention.

    ¡°Heh~¡±

    This is not your fight.

    Jein and Claire gazed at Seven from the corner of their eyes and with a flourish of their weapons they directed their attacks towards her. Shards of ice formed in the sky and cut lines through the air as they screamed towards her. The orbs fired their rays of lights which flew towards Seven like shots out of a machine gun, too many to count. And then the two girls immediately turned back to each other. They hadn¡¯t even considered the possibility that Seven would survive.

    ¡°So you two never even had me in your sights.¡±

    Seven let out a dry laugh as she saw the shards of ice and bullets raining down on her. Each attack was designed to kill her with the least amount of effort. It hurt her that the two other players had already turned back to each other and forgotten her. To them, this was a match of two people fighting against each other; Everyone else was simply an insect they would squish under their feet, and Seven was no exception.

    She had never felt this way before.

    TidalWave, Nastin, Third, and Archy.

    There were monsters in her life that she believed could take these two on. Each one had fought her more times than she could count and they had always treated her as an equal the entire time. But now she had met players of the same skill that weren¡¯t her friends. Complete and total strangers whom she had no relationship with. They were under no obligation to be nice; They didn¡¯t need to pretend to admire her skill or patronise her with attention.

    Climbing the ice wall. Landing an attack on Jein with the coordination of another player. Firing her attacks with perfect precision. They had seen what she was capable of. They had taken in her attacks and skills and had chosen to ignore her.

    And she hated it.

    ¡®This feeling again.¡¯ Seven grabbed at her chest as she felt her emotions writhing and changing into anger.

    A single smug face appeared in her mind. A friend that had abandoned her and had taken every opportunity to downplay her achievements and actions. He¡¯d gone from skilled player to skilled player and challenged them to fights, treating them as equals and gods while throwing her feelings and name into the gutter.

    Now it wasn¡¯t just him.

    ¡°Why?¡± She whispered to herself, ¡°All of you,¡± She looked beyond the attacks raining down on her and towards the two girls locked in combat, ¡°Why are you ignoring me? Why am I not skilled enough for your attention?¡±

    Seven took a deep breath as the attacks neared her. In a few seconds they would slam into her body, obliterating her and sending her back into the waiting lobby. She couldn¡¯t use aura step, but even if she could the attacks were coming from every angle. There wasn¡¯t enough space to stone shift away, and she couldn¡¯t fire enough magic blasts to destroy the attacks. There was no way to escape.

    ¡®Is this how I¡¯m going to let it end?¡¯

    She clenched her fingers and wrapped them around her wand, closing her eyes as the barrage fell towards her.

    ¡°No. Not this time. Not now, and never again.¡±

    A cacophony of sound burst through her eardrums as the ice and light hit the stone, flakes of frost and magic splashing onto her as the attacks shattered into a million pieces. All around her it was as though an apocalyptic rain had descended to earth, destroying everything in its path.

    ¡®Good.¡¯ She opened her eyes.

    Not a single attack had hit her.

    Above her the deadly attacks were frozen in mid-air, destined to never hit their target. In her eyes Seven could see the attacks being held into place by six focus points in the air above her, defending her like an invisible shield. Her focus points forced the attacks into the ground and she grinned. She had been perfecting this move ever since using it against Attracting¡¯s inescapable blue light.

    ¡®This time I¡¯ll make sure that I carve my name into your minds forever.¡¯

    She looked up at the two players that had sent their attacks into her and then ignored her.

    Now was the optimal time to attack.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡®No.¡¯ Seven took a deep breath and closed her eyes again. ¡®This isn¡¯t the time, not yet.¡¯

    She could feel the pressure crushing her as the sounds of battle raged above her. The sounds of players so much stronger and grander than her. Their mere presence showed her how far below she was in the hierarchy.

    The knowledge of how huge her opponents are spurred her thoughts further into overdrive.

    She had to make sure that there was no way for them to escape. And she couldn¡¯t avoid their retaliation while she was on the ground, not if they knew she had some method of blocking their attacks. If she wanted to fight against those monsters and win, she had to be on the same playing field as them.

    Seven destroyed her focus points and reformed them into a single one in front of her.

    She had manipulated her enemy¡¯s focus points to her own gain. She had seen that it was possible for someone to copy an attack only seconds after seeing it. If she wanted to be on their level, she had to at least demonstrate ability similar to them. They had shown her so much. Now she would try it for herself.

    She willed her magic into the orb and began to shape it. A simple square, wide and long enough for her to step on it and not have it shatter. As she viewed it with closed eyes, she could feel the very air around the orb gathering together and the space warping as a new shape began to form out of the focus point. One second¡­ two¡­

    In front of her the orb seemed to have completely transformed into a translucent platform. She had completed it. After a week of fighting, practicing and failing, she had finally learned the spell she¡¯d been aiming for.

    ¡®Ha.¡¯ Seven opened her eyes and grinned.

    [Skill created; Aura Step.]

    [1/4 Skill creation¡¯s used.]

    ¡®Now it¡¯s my turn.

    ****

    ¡®God damn it.¡¯

    Claire gritted her teeth as she realised she had seriously messed up.

    Jein had been in the palm of her hands. She¡¯d gotten the jump on the Korean and had been causing her to flee from her firepower. In a matter of seconds, she would have completely dominated the wizard and destroyed her.

    Then that other player had interfered.

    They had used their attacks to overwhelm the lone magi and immediately swirled back to concentrate on each other. But Claire knew in that moment that it was already too late.

    Jein had regrouped, forming her spells and firing back at Claire. It was getting harder and harder for her to break Jein¡¯s defence. They had only turned to the other player for a second. It was a single split second. A moment in an eternity that no normal person could take advantage of. And yet Jein wasn¡¯t an ordinary human.

    She was a monster.

    Claire jumped from platform to platform with ease as she fired off lasers of light from her wand. Each shot would drive a hole into the strongest wall and yet Jein dodged each one with ease. At this rate the girl would recover enough mana to turn the tables on her. It was a situation where she couldn¡¯t win. Not unless something unexpected happened.

    Then a bright light shone out towards her from the corner of her eye.

    ¡°Magic Blast.¡±

    What? Claire spun around as she heard the spell being chanted, You?

    It was the magi that had interfered in their fight.

    Claire watched as six magic blasts flew into the air, three aimed at her and three aimed at Jein. Seven had fired when they had distracted each other.

    Jein immediately turned towards the attacks and fired her ice shards to obliterate them. Each magic blast popping into showers of magic light as the ice shards destroyed them. Claire stared at the magic blasts as they flew towards her.

    And she grinned.

    She had played countless virtual reality games. She had fought through mage after mage, magi after magi and she had perfected the ability to see the route of an attack. These magic blasts seemed like they would get close, but that was all. She could tell that every single one of the magic blasts was going to miss.

    Claire smiled as she saw the magic blasts fly past her body.

    You¡¯ve finally screwed up. Claire¡¯s expression turned vicious and her glowing aura burst into life alongside her emotions as she prepared to fire on the defenceless Jein.

    The wizard had wasted her time by directing her attacks to destroy the magic blasts. Now the Korean had no defences available to stop her attacks.

    -106

    -106

    -Immune

    ¡®What?¡¯

    Claire gazed at the sky vacantly as she felt several attacks smash against her, activating her survival ability and magic immunity.

    No.

    She watched Jein growing further and further away. She had lost her concentration and fallen off the platform. She remembered the very first kill of the match. She had praised that magi for the high damage her magic blast had dealt. The same shots she had ignored only a second before.

    NO.

    Claire called out helplessly as she felt her body smash into the floor and her entire world turned gray.

    ¡°So you¡¯re finally done holding back.¡±

    The last thing Claire saw was Jein turning towards a figure stepping on bright blue platforms, climbing higher and higher above her into the sky. The Korean grinned as she saw the magi approaching; Fury and intensity blazing in her eyes.

    "It¡¯s about goddamn time."

    ****

    Seven held her eyes steady as she watched Jein intently.

    She had killed Claire, but from the beginning Jein had only been faking an underestimation of her skills. The moment Seven had fired her magic at the two, Jein had been prepared for it. Somehow she had known that Seven was alive and kicking.

    ¡°I appreciate that.¡± Seven smiled as she finally reached eye level with Jein. ¡°You didn¡¯t think I was dead for a second, did you?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡± Jein smiled. ¡°But even if you were it didn¡¯t hurt me to double-check.¡±

    ¡°Heh.¡± Seven waved her wand and she formed focus points all around her. ¡°And I was feeling so bad about being ignored.¡±

    Every focus point around her could defend her or turn into platforms at will.

    ¡°I¡¯ll say.¡± Jein¡¯s fists curled around her staff as she saw Seven move. ¡°I was wondering how long you would stay hidden.¡±

    Seven could see the wizard was wary of her. Her opponent still didn¡¯t know how she had killed Claire. It had happened too quickly. But Seven had no such doubts.

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    ¡°Ice shards.¡±

    Without hesitation, Seven jumped from platform to platform as she used the remaining focus points as a shield that hovered around her and collected Jein¡¯s attacks. With every spare second, she fired off magic blasts that flew into Jein¡¯s attacks and shattered them. Each second she grew closer and closer to the wizard.

    It was an all-out charge straight into the heart of her enemy¡¯s territory.

    ¡°Hm.¡± Jein grunted as she saw Seven flying towards her, ¡°So you want to play it that way, huh?¡±

    Seven saw her lift her staff into the air and the ice shards immediately stopped, freezing in mid-air and then they gathered together in a grand flowing lake of ice that shimmered and swirled in the air around Jein.

    The moment Seven saw it, she knew that her focus points wouldn¡¯t be able to hold back such a huge horde of objects.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think I can¡¯t do close combat, too.¡± Jein¡¯s ice lake pierced through the air towards Seven as she drew closer to the wizard.

    It was an unstoppable torrent aimed to kill everything in its path.

    Seven lifted her wand with a smile. ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    She fired off five blasts in quick succession. Each one skimmed past the ice lake and flew into the air and past Jein. Straight into the focus points that she had formed behind her.

    - Blocked

    - Blocked

    - Blocked

    ¡°Heh~ So that¡¯s how you killed Claire.¡±

    Seven could physically feel the sensation of her attacks being stopped as the ice lake suddenly appeared near Jein and surrounded her. One moment it had been heading straight for her and the next Jein had retracted it like a whip and used it as a shield to destroy the magic blasts.

    ¡®But that¡¯s not going to be enough.¡¯

    Seven leaped into the air as Jein retracted her attack and in that split second she saw the lake retract fully around the wizard, an impenetrable armour of magic. Her magic blasts wouldn¡¯t be able to get through that.

    But she wasn¡¯t trying to damage her.

    ¡°Wind blast.¡±

    - Blocked

    Seven smashed her spell into the wizard and saw it fly into her body even with the lake surrounding her. She watched as Jein stumbled off of the platform and the wind¡¯s knockback effect pushed her over the edge.

    ¡®No.¡¯

    Seven looked at her opponent and realised she wasn¡¯t going to die.

    ¡®I''m not done yet.¡¯

    ****

    ¡°Wind blast.¡±

    - Blocked

    Jein watched helplessly as the spell knocked her off of her platform and she began to plummet to the ground.

    Seven had dealt her a hefty blow, but it wasn¡¯t enough to phase her. It caused her to worry, but as she focused on her surroundings, she quickly formed another platform below her and fell with a thud. She hadn¡¯t fallen far enough to have any damage dealt to her.

    ¡°Nice try.¡± Jein grinned and pushed herself up.

    She had only just created a platform underneath her as the spell knocked her off of her previous one. She felt the wind being knocked out of her after that last attack but if she had hit the ground she would have been little more than a blood splatter across the stone.

    But now she was low on mana. Let alone fighting against Claire, forming enough ice shards to create an entire lake had drained her of almost all she had left.

    ¡®Now to return the favour.¡¯ She pivoted around and released ice shards into the air where she knew Seven would come from.

    ¡°What the hell.¡± Jein¡¯s eyes widened as her ice shards hit thin air

    Seven had completely disappeared.

    ¡°Flying girl! Where are you~?¡± Jein hovered in the air atop her platform as she moved from side to side trying to spot Seven.

    Light blue platform after platform hovered around her, seen but unused.

    ¡°How are you doing this? Are you invisible?¡± Jein¡¯s eyes blazed with fury and then simmered down as she felt a wave of uncertainty.

    ¡®How is this possible?¡¯ She couldn¡¯t work out what was happening.

    She couldn¡¯t see her opponent at all. But she definitely hadn¡¯t seen or heard the girl use magic. Was it some kind of trick?

    She scanned her surroundings carefully, observing every platform and she stepped from side to side nervously. But that was only an act; Internally she was processing her situation as carefully as possible, trying not to miss a single detail. She couldn¡¯t see her opponent in front of her, below her or above her.

    ¡®So she has to be behind me.¡¯ Jein¡¯s lips curled into a smile.

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    Seven¡¯s voice floated through the air gently and Jein saw a magic blast burst through the air from behind her. But she had already moved onto a new platform. The magic blast passed through the air harmlessly and the Korean¡¯s smile widened as she turned to face her opponent.

    Only to be facing empty air once again.

    ¡°What the hell!¡± Jein couldn¡¯t believe what she was seeing, or rather, what she wasn¡¯t seeing.

    Beads of sweat were dripping down her forehead as she began to feel a pressure rising from deep within her chest. She turned her head from side to side, trying to grab even the slightest sign of Seven¡¯s shadow. But the girl had disappeared as though she was a ghost.

    ¡®What is this?¡¯ She held her free hand to her chest as the air around her seemed to shrink and the sound of the breeze magnified uncomfortably. ¡®What is she doing to me?¡¯

    She could feel her heart racing as she tried to predict where her opponent would jump from next. She tried twisting her body to catch her blindspot behind her but there wasn¡¯t a whisper of a person to be heard or seen. It was as though Seven had completely vanished.

    ¡®Uncomfortable, clammy hands. Racing heart. Distorted hearing.¡¯ Jein¡¯s eyes widened as she realised what was happening to her.

    This wasn¡¯t a spell, Jein realised as she finally found the truth behind the strange events.

    This was fear.

    ¡®Fear? Me?¡¯ The mere thought that someone had brought her down so far caused her entire body to shiver.

    For the first time since joining the game she realised a simple fact. No matter which opponent she was facing, no matter how she acted and despite the playful attitude, there was only one thing that really mattered to her now.

    She didn¡¯t want to lose.

    She couldn¡¯t see her opponent in front of her, below her or above her.

    ¡®Then we¡¯ll try this one more time.¡¯ This time she didn¡¯t know that her opponent was going to be behind her.

    It was the only bet she could make; She was out of options. Jein¡¯s chest felt as though it was going to burst from her chest as she swerved impossibly fast to face behind her. If she was wrong, she would die. If she was right, then she still had a chance.

    And as she turned, she found herself facing the missing magi, her enemy lifting her wand in the air and magic crackling around its tip.

    ¡°MAGIC BLAST¡±

    ¡°ICE SHARDS.¡±

    ****

    ¡°Wind blast.¡±

    - Blocked

    Seven watched Jein falling down in the air with a serene calm. She knew that if she jumped down after the girl she would be making a big mistake. Even now, Jein was quickly regaining her footing and forming a platform underneath her. If she jumped in after the Korean the girl would counterattack straight into her face. So she jumped down behind the wizard instead. She felt the rush of the wind through her robes as she fell and at the last moment she formed a platform underneath her.

    ¡®How am I going to play this?¡¯

    Every strategy that Seven had tried had failed so far. She couldn¡¯t go near the girl in a head-on assault. She definitely couldn¡¯t win a long-range battle. She couldn¡¯t even risk the girl¡¯s blizzard and other cooldowns from resetting.

    She was stuck.

    ¡®I have nothing.¡¯ Seven thought furiously as she saw Jein firing into the air and recoiling in surprise as she realised Seven wasn¡¯t there.

    The Korean still hadn¡¯t seen her. But the moment she formed a magic blast she would give herself away. And she knew that this person was fast enough that she couldn¡¯t risk firing from anywhere but the closest range for fear of the attack being dodged.

    The moment Jein spotted her it would all be over.

    ¡®Close range? Ha.¡¯ Seven couldn¡¯t help but chuckle to herself as she felt the panic wash over her. ¡®When did I become such a chicken?¡¯

    She had fought hundreds of duels in close range against opponents that caused others to shiver in fear. She had faced off against the greatest players she knew and learned their ways. She improved herself beyond the limits of what she was previously capable of. And now she was choosing to feel fear?

    The thought almost made her laugh.

    She had forgotten what kind of player she was. But it had all come rushing back to her as she viewed the battle between the two monsters. Before she had discovered the wonders of magic, she was just an ordinary player that couldn¡¯t even dodge a rabbit. She wasn¡¯t a player that overwhelmed others with majestic and grand attacks. Nor was she a magi that allowed titans and orbs to fight for her.

    She was a nimble magi.

    She was the first in the game to gain the class. An acknowledgment of her skill and passion. A monument given to her for surpassing her limitations.

    And the nimble magi specialised in close-range combat.

    Even now Seven could see the girl turning around. Jein had no idea where she was, but she would soon find out. In a second she would spot Seven and send her magic to destroy her. But for now, Seven was in her blind spot.

    ¡®Stone shift.¡¯ Seven mimed the words with her mouth and felt the platform underneath her shift as she used her ability.

    She had spoken so softly that Jein had no chance of hearing her. The moment the Korean turned around to check her surroundings, Seven jumped using her ability into the next platform she formed. Then when Jein turned back, she jumped again.

    And again.

    And again.

    ¡®Nimble, nimble.¡¯ Seven muttered the words in her mind repeatedly like a mantra.

    Beyond attacks, beyond magic, this was pure and simple skill. She wasn¡¯t dodging killer magic or a sword striking with deadly precision. She wasn¡¯t trying to avoid a rift or arrow aimed precisely for her eyes.

    She was using her abilities to dodge her opponent¡¯s sight.

    The moment she saw Jein shift she moved behind her, sneaking closer and closer with every move. Even the fastest player wouldn¡¯t be able to catch a sniff of Seven¡¯s shadow as she continued to shift closer and closer to her prey. And then she finally got close enough to see the hairs on the back of Jein¡¯s neck.

    ¡°Magic blast.¡±

    Seven lifted her wand and fired.

    -Miss

    ¡®Shit.¡¯ Seven swore as Jein jumped back almost presciently and moved onto another platform.

    She hadn¡¯t even turned around.

    ¡®Is she even human?¡¯ Seven¡¯s spine shivered as she used her stone shift ability to glide her platform through the air.

    With every move she made, she gazed at the back of Jein¡¯s head intently. Every twitch of muscle and every strain of her neck taken into consideration as Seven tried to avoid her eyesight. But every stone shift she used brought her closer to her opponent again. Continuously moving through the air.

    ¡®I¡¯ll only have this one last shot.¡¯

    Seven could feel her skin prickling as she once again moved into Jein¡¯s blind spot, the girl wasn¡¯t even attempting to turn around now. With a final stone shift, she brought herself behind the Korean and lifted her wand, magic glowing as it prepared to fire off her attack.

    ¡°MAGIC BLAST.¡±

    Seven lifted her wand to fire off her attack as she leaped towards her opponent. She was in Jein¡¯s blind spot, completely unseen and unstoppable.

    Then she saw something that horrified her.

    With reflexes that seemed to transcend beyond human Jein¡¯s body spun around with her staff aimed at squarely at Seven¡¯s chest. The wizard¡¯s eyes stretched back in anger and fury as the tip of her weapon swirled with magic and ice.

    ¡°ICE SHARDS.¡±

    ¡®No.¡¯ Seven refused to admit defeat.

    She twisted her body in mid-air, stumbling to the side and formed a platform underneath her. As her feet touched the light blue material she saw the ice shards passing by her, hitting the space she¡¯d just been at.

    The attack had missed.

    She had won.

    She turned her wand towards Jein and prepared to fire off her final attack, and her eyes widened as she felt her wand and hand stiffen.

    ¡®When¡­?¡¯

    Seven hardly had time to register what had happened before she fell off the platform and into the empty air. Starting from her hand and spreading across her body was a layer of ice that seemed to restrict all movement. It had caused her attack to stop before she could complete it, and then she had fallen as it froze her feet.

    As the air rushed through her ears and hair, she couldn¡¯t even concentrate enough to form a platform to stop her fall.

    ¡®Ah,¡¯ She suddenly realised what was happening. ¡®I lost.¡¯

    She closed her eyes as she felt the seconds stretch out, the cool breeze of the air cushioning her fall. She would still hit the ground, she would still die and she would still come second. She had lost. She pushed herself to her limits, overcame every obstacle in her path and use magics which would once have been beyond her imagination. And she had still lost.

    And yet, she couldn¡¯t stop herself from smiling.

    At that moment she had caused her opponent to feel fear. She could see it in Jein¡¯s eyes. There was no cool and calculating expression, and there was no sense of inevitable victory. There was only fear and adrenaline rushing through their veins as they rushed to get the final shot off. A race to determine who would be the winner among equals.

    Seven felt her body smash into the ground and her world turned gray.

    [You have been killed by player: Jein]

 Book 2 Chapter 13: New Beginnings.

    ¡®DAMN IT.¡¯

    Thoughts raced through Claire¡¯s mind as she returned to the waiting area. There were plans and movements compiling themselves into small books of tactics as she thought about how she could have played the fight differently. But it didn¡¯t matter. That had been her final placement match for the competition.

    She had lost.

    It hadn¡¯t even been to Jein. If she had lost to the Korean, she wouldn¡¯t have minded. It would have upset her, that was a given, but she could still understand it. But no. She had lost to some unknown player that she had never even seen before.

    ¡®God.¡¯ She fell to her knees in exhaustion.

    There had been so many people watching her; She just knew it. Even before the match had ended and she¡¯d been able to converse again she knew that there were thousands of eyes scrutinising and judging her every move. Every time she ran into Jein it was the same cycle. Netizens would flock to watch them and she would feel the need to win as though it was an unstoppable force.

    So she had gone all out. From the beginning, she¡¯d had no intention of holding back against any of her opponents. Jein? Jein was a horrible obstacle, a constant thorn in her life. But she was still manageable.

    Claire froze as she recalled the skills she¡¯d used. Her manager and team leader had told her to keep them hidden for a later date. They had asked her to win with minimal effort. But all of that had gone to shit the moment she laid eyes on Jein. She¡¯d used her titan, she¡¯d revealed her orbs and she¡¯d even revealed the aura step she¡¯d learned during the fight.

    She had given away everything.

    ¡®I played it perfectly.¡¯ Claire felt her skin crawl as she imagined the ridicule she would face for this. ¡®I did everything I could.¡¯

    The last moment of her fall onto the ground as she stared up at Jein was etching itself into her mind.

    ¡®Who the hell was that?¡¯ Claire thought to the girl she¡¯d seen rising through the sky.

    [Seven]

    That single girl had ruined all of her plans. At first, she thought the magi was a blessing in disguise. From the moment Jein had summoned her wave Claire had realised she couldn¡¯t win against the wizard. But then she had seen Seven climbing over the wall of ice. Each control sphere being manipulated by the actions of a single magi to make a climbable surface.

    It was so simple that she had learned how to do it just by watching the girl for a few seconds.

    So she had manipulated the situation to her advantage. She allowed the titan to fall and as it held on for its last few seconds, she stealthily climbed the wall of ice as it collapsed around her. Then she watched as Jein took to the air and rained magic down onto the two people that had tried to kill her.

    [Aura Step]

    Claire had felt like she was unstoppable once she¡¯d gained that power. Simple manipulation of her control spheres to become solid platforms under her feet. It was such an elegant solution to so many issues yet she hadn¡¯t thought of it before. To her, it had felt like she would finally get the jump on Jein.

    Then that girl had interfered.

    Claire¡¯s eyes lit up with anger. The moment she¡¯d gained an advantage over Jein, the exact moment she¡¯d had the wizard on the run, that magi had interfered and it had all gone down the gutter.

    Then the worse had happened. That girl hadn¡¯t even died to her barrage; She had gotten back up. And unlike a normal, rational person who would wait on the sidelines until either she or Jein had killed each other off the magi had the gall to strike at them both despite being clearly outmatched.

    ¡®She tricked me.¡¯ Claire¡¯s eyes glowed with anger as she remembered the attacks that should have missed her.

    They had somehow come back and killed her.

    106.

    She had even praised the player''s damage beforehand. But she hadn¡¯t taken it seriouslyenough to avoid it in a crucial moment.

    ¡®How many people are laughing at me now?¡¯ Claire¡¯s knuckles whitened as she gripped her robes tightly.

    She felt so hopeless that it brought tears to her eyes.

    A shadow passed over Claire as she lay stewing in shame, ¡°Are you done?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Claire brought her head up in anger only to come face to face with a pair of bright blue eyes.

    ¡°I asked if you¡¯re done sulking.¡± Pascal stood above her with a frown on his face.

    ¡°I-I.¡± Claire found her words muting in her mouth as she gazed at her teammate, ¡°I¡¯m done.¡±

    ¡°No. You¡¯re not.¡± Pascal looked down on her and his gaze softened. ¡°Why are you sitting here like this Claire? You¡¯re an amazing player. Not a single person watching the match doubts that. We both know that if you were in the same situation again it would be anyone¡¯s match. You could win against Jein, not even she would tell you otherwise.¡±

    ¡°BUT I DIDN¡¯T.¡± Claire didn¡¯t care if their other teammates in the waiting room heard her, ¡°I could have won. It¡¯s that damn magi¡¯s fault. If she hadn¡¯t been so strong. If she hadn¡¯t tricked me at the last momen-¡±

    ¡°Claire.¡± Pascal¡¯s voice deepened as he saw her growing frantic.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you get it? If I¡¯d been fighting her alone, I could have-¡±

    ¡°Stop.¡± Pascal looked at her and she saw the intensity in his eyes, and something else.

    Deep inside she could tell he was looking down on her. Not because she had lost, not because she hadn¡¯t done the best she could. It was because she was trying to shift the blame onto someone else. She could read him like nobody else could, and so she could see the words he was thinking as clear as day.

    For the first time since she had known him, she had disappointed him.

    ¡°Claire.¡± Pascal squatted next to her and ran his hand over her hair comfortingly. ¡°You¡¯re one of the most skilled players I have ever met. And a damn good person. I know you¡¯re under a lot of pressure, but there is one thing you must always remember.¡± He turned her head gently until she was looking at him eye to eye. ¡°We are fighting in a competition. This is an arena where others do not know our skills, and we do not know theirs. You fought a difficult match against two excellent opponents, there is no shame in coming third in those circumstances.¡±

    ¡°Bu-¡±

    ¡°No buts.¡± Pascal shook his head. ¡°You underestimate your enemy and you paid for it. It''s true...¡± he brought his hands back towards him as he saw she was paying full attention to him, ¡°...it''s true that you would win if you fought that other magi again. It''s true that you would not make the same mistakes as before, and that you would win easily if you were fighting her in a one-on-one duel. But you made your mistakes. You were not in a one-on-one duel and this was the result you earned.¡± his eyes were soft but she could tell from his tone that he meant every word he was saying, not as a critique but as a heartfelt lesson, ¡°We are professionals. I know that you¡¯re under pressure. We both are. But we can¡¯t afford to place blame on others. Instead, we must always work towards improving. And now is your time to improve.¡±

    He was right. She knew it deep inside her mind, and even her heart was accepting the inevitable. She had underestimated her opponent, a conscious decision she¡¯d made while she focused on Jein. She didn''t even consider the fact that anyone else could be a threat. But she was a professional. She had faced losses before and she would face them again. So she would do what she had always done and surpass every one of them.

    It was the only way she would improve.

    ¡°God.¡± Claire stared at Pascal with a teary smile, ¡°Why do you always have to be right.¡±

    At her words, Pascal lifted himself up and offered her his hand.

    ¡°You will have your chance to fight her again.¡± Pascal looked up as he saw that magic had transported them out of the waiting room. ¡°Sooner than you might think if my sources are correct.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡± Claire lifted herself up and by the time she¡¯d reached her full height she had regained her composure.

    ¡°I look forward to it.¡±

    For better or worse this battle had branded the name Seven into her heart.

    ****

    ¡®Fear?¡¯

    Jein¡¯s emotions churned as she was teleported into the original waiting room their city had put their team in before the beginning of the matches. The wall next to them displayed the scores that her team had obtained throughout the event. But she couldn¡¯t care less about that.

    ¡®I have to improve.¡¯

    That was the only thought in her mind as she replayed the last seconds of her fight repeatedly in her mind. The single moment in which she¡¯d had no idea where her opponent had come from and how they would attack. It had terrified her that for all her knowledge and skill she had relied on mere luck to win against her opponent. But it hit home a single fact that she knew from the moment she had seen her opponent in action.

    She was going to have a hell of a lot of fun playing this game.

    Jein knew what she had to do first. ¡®I need to see the tape of the battle.¡¯

    She would improve and defeat that girl when she knew her every move. But that wasn¡¯t the only reason she wanted to watch the tape. She was never the kind ofperson to do things by halves. She would go through that battle in her mind until she was sure that if she ran into Seven again she would win against the girl one hundred percent of the time.

    ¡°I thought you would be fuming.¡± A familiar voice whispered lightly into her ear from behind her.

    ¡°Heh~¡± Jein turned around with her hands held tightly behind her back as she came face to face with Ji-Woo. ¡°I actuallygot to fight with my opponent. I don¡¯t have blue balls like you.¡±

    ¡°Ha.¡± Ji-Woo laughed dryly as he saw his teammate being perfectly perky and cheeky as always, ¡°Well, that¡¯s one way to put it.¡±

    ¡°So.¡± Jein pinched Ji-Woo on the cheek as he laid there calm and poised as always, ¡°This must be how you felt when you were watching those two fighting each other. God damn, I¡¯m jealous of you.¡±

    He had two perfectly equal opponents to fight that were his match. But soon she would overcome this one like she had all the others.

    ¡®Then again, so will he.¡¯ Jein mused as she studied Ji-Woo¡¯s face carefully.

    Her childhood friend wasn¡¯t one to show emotions, but he had gone all out for both of his other matches after seeing Violet and TidalWave fighting each other. Even when holding back his trulydeadly abilities his raw skill and passive lightning ability had meant that not a single opponent in both matches had withstood even a single hit.

    ¡®No,¡¯ she mentally shook her head. ¡®There was that one guy.¡¯

    But she couldn¡¯t remember his name.

    *Bang*

    Jein¡¯s head flew back as Ji-Woo¡¯s finger knocked against her forehead playfully. ¡°Hey, stop staring at me like that. It¡¯s creepy.¡±

    ¡°God. That¡¯s not how you treat a girl.¡± Jein laughed as his actions brought her back into the present. ¡°I won. I won.¡±

    She celebrated and danced around the waiting room as her teammates watched. She didn''t even know what they were all waiting for; The final placement match was over. Their team had come first out of all the other teams pitted against them.

    ¡°Well now, it¡¯s good to have some real pep around here.¡± A new voice, silken and honeyed, floated towards Jein. ¡°I was thinking the wonder twins and cool and handsome were total downers. They¡¯re not acting like winners at all.¡±

    ¡°Hoo.¡± Jein¡¯s grin widened as she saw the person talking to her. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    [Yanti: level 45.]

    ¡°Not a single match lost?¡± Jein knew that Yanti was a priest, but apparently that hadn¡¯t mattered at all for fighting.

    ¡°After I kicked Pascal¡¯s ass, there wasn¡¯t anyone else to stop me.¡± Yanti¡¯s arms were wide open as she smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t like fighting team members but once we¡¯re in a competition, I figure it¡¯s fair game.¡±

    ¡°Heh~¡± Jein sat back and plopped herself next to Ji-Woo. ¡°Is that your way of telling me you don¡¯t mind that Claire died?¡±

    Yanti nodded her head and Jein smiled.

    This woman was probably the only player she had never gotten a handle on. It was just a pity that she was a priest.

    Next to Jein, Ji-Woo was sitting down one eye closed, and the other was peeking open slightly and looking closely at Jein and Yanti as they talked. He knew that Jein seemed happy but he couldn¡¯t be one hundred percent sure of it. She had fought a hard-won battle against an unknown opponent who normally shouldn¡¯t have been able to pressure her so hard. It was enough to make anyone mad.

    However, the world didn''t know him as a master strategist amongst the virtual reality professionals for nothing. In his mind, he had already thought of a hundred different ways to calm her down, but there was one way he knew would stop any issues that might come up. If Jein went on a rampage, then he had already enacted his foolproofplan.

    He was going to pretend to be asleep.

    It was a tactic that worked in real life, so he hoped that against all logic it would work in the game as well. Then he felt something poking at his cheek and he closed the eye he¡¯d been using to watch Jein.

    ¡°Mm?¡± Ji-Woo shook his head in annoyance as Jein poked him even harder.

    ¡°Oh look. A reaction.¡± Jein¡¯s voice echoed into his ear as she turned her attention from Yanti to him. ¡°I thought you were pretending to be asleep like you usually do.¡± Jein¡¯s lips tugged into a grin as she saw Ji-Woo shudder. ¡°You know that doesn¡¯t work if you were talking to me only a second ago. But it¡¯s fine. I won silly.¡±

    ¡°Hmm,¡± Ji-Woo could feel the suspicion oozing out of his pores despite his calm demeanour. ¡°You sure did. I¡¯m extremely jealous.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t lying; He had desperately wanted to fight against either Violet or TidalWave after he¡¯d seen them fighting in the first placement match. But unfortunately, he''d been putwith a group of people that exploded the moment his lightning or sword touched them.

    At least one of them had played with him for a bit.

    ¡®Cheshire.¡¯ Ji-Woo hummed as he thought of the player.

    He had seen in a video while waiting that Cheshire had put up a good fight against TidalWave too. He thought about the player but he couldn¡¯t recall seeing them in any other competitions. Whoever he was, he definitely wasn¡¯t usually in the top rankings. But then again, if he met anyone ranked outside of the top fifty in a game he always found it harder to remember them.

    *Snap*

    ¡®Ah.¡¯ Ji-Woo watched as she snapped one of the spare weapons she carried around into two pieces with her bare hands. ¡®So she is mad.¡¯

    He regretted not continuing his sleep charade.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not mad.¡± Jein¡¯s cheeks puffed as she saw Ji-Woo tighten his eyes shut. ¡°I¡¯m extremely happy. So happy.¡±

    She just couldn¡¯t help but feel frustration as she realised that the matches were over.

    She wanted to fight Claire and Seven again immediately.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, we all get scared sometimes. You should know that. You go rock climbing for fun and abseiling for kicks.¡±

    Ji-Woo instantly gulped as he could physically hear Jein growing still and then he felt the air almost vibrating with excitement as she realised what he¡¯d said.

    ¡°Correction.¡±

    Ji-Woo groaned and as heard mischief in her voice. ¡®Every. Single. Time.¡¯

    He always fell into this trap. He¡¯d just had to remind her of the rock climbing.

    ¡°We¡¯re both people that go rock climbing and abseiling for fun. On the same day. Tomorrow. I know you¡¯re free Ji-Woo you can¡¯t lie to me.¡±

    ¡®Damn it.¡¯ Ji-Woo twitched his forehead as he felt it tightening in fear at the thought of tomorrow¡¯s activities. ¡®She planned for this.¡¯ But he didn''t oppose it.

    At least she was genuinely happy.

    He didn''t need much more than that.

    ****

    Attracting: points; 0.

    Belfast; points; 0.

    Cracklebush; points; 0.

    Vengeance; points; 0.

    Violet; 8

    ¡®Not bad.¡¯

    Violet looked at the leaderboard with a content expression. They had perfectly obtained their goal of getting into the last five places in the competition. In fact, they had come dead last despite Violet¡¯s two mishaps. It was extremely hard for other players to beat them in this area.

    She still had no idea why they wanted to come last. Inside the waiting room, all of them had been more than a little curious about why Attracting wanted them to tank the entire competition. But he had told them to wait and trust him.

    So they did.

    The NPC in charge of their city, Taehra, was waiting alongside them. Well, waiting was a bit of a loose term.

    ¡°So you spent the entire competition doing absolutely nothing? And you expect us to be happy about this?¡±

    Violet could hear the anger in the NPCs voice as he approached Attracting with a snarl.

    ¡°Arcturius.¡±

    Attracting turned towards Arcturius, the mayor of the city of Taehra, with a calm expression, ¡°It was quiteunfortunate. We could notovercome our valiant enemies.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunate? UNFORTUNATE?¡± Violet could swear that the NPC was going to have steam coming out of his head if Attracting continued to talk, ¡°Out city has come dead last out of all the continents. We will be a laughingstock for years!¡± Arcturius¡¯ knuckles were turning white as he held onto his robe with a death grip.

    He was afraid he would accidentally use them to crush the area around them if he let go.

    ¡°Tell me, adventurer,¡± he didn¡¯t hide the snark and naked anger in his tone, ¡°What kind of saviour will you be if you could not even defeat a single one of your peers? How can our citizens believe in you to keep us safe from the horrors that lurk deep in the Underground if we cannot even show them proper warriors to defend them? Tell me-¡±

    ¡°Arcturius.¡± Attracting kept his voice level as he tried to calm the NPC.

    But then the mayor lifted his hands and with a swift grasp too quick to avoid he gripped Attracting¡¯s shoulders and held on tightly, ¡°-How did you know.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Attracting¡¯s eyes immediately narrowed as he realised he couldn¡¯t wiggle free from the NPCs grasp, ¡°How did I know what?¡±

    ¡°Every battle I¡¯ve watched you sit back. You are not weak Attracting, you and your allies could have gone far.¡± Arcturius gazed deep into Attracting¡¯s eyes, trying to see what lay beyond them. ¡°But now you have held back at every turn. You have sat down and convinced your allies to do the same. All so that you could come last.¡± He took in a deep breath to calm himself, ¡°So I will ask you again¡­¡±

    He forced Attracting to meet his eyes as he spoke.

    ¡°How did you know?¡±

    ¡°I guessed.¡± Attracting gripped the mayor¡¯s wrists with his hands and gently lifted them off of him. ¡°You do not have to worry. I guess you already know this, but we will soon bring honour to Taehra and its citizens. We have only lost this battle so that we can win the war.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Arcturius fell quiet as he scrutinized Attracting from top to bottom. ¡°If you fail, I will not be forgiving.¡±

    ¡°Then I will not fail.¡± Attracting assured the man.

    ¡°Very well priest.¡± Arcturius turned from the waiting room and with a wave of his hands a portal opened in front of him. ¡°I will watch your progress closely.¡±

    ¡®What was that? Do the NPCs know more about the events of this world than I thought?¡¯

    Attracting sat down next to Violet as he thought over the strange conversation.

    One thing was bothering more than anything else he had heard or seen.

    ¡®Did his eyes flash red?¡¯

    ****

    Nastin: 14 points.

    TidalWave: 14 points.

    Archy: 15 points.

    Gyro: 15 points.

    Seven: 14 points.

    ¡°Hot damn we did well.¡±

    Seven looked up at her team proudly as she read the impressive scores displayed on the wall beside her. She was already receiving messages from Roxxy and Third congratulating her on the intense fight she¡¯d just fought. But for some reasonshe didn¡¯t feel as fulfilled as she had hoped she would.

    ¡®Jein. Claire.¡¯

    These were both players that would kick her ass the next time they met each other. She just knew it. The only reason she had gotten so far into the fight was because Claire had underestimated her, and Jein couldn¡¯t kill her while she was defending against the other magi.

    ¡®But that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t catch up to them.¡¯ Seven smiled as she thought of the library and Muriel.

    This time she was confident that she could surpass whatever challenge the witch threw at her.

    ¡°That¡¯s a good expression you have there.¡± Seven turned around as she spotted a familiar archer grinning at her.

    ¡°Archy!¡±

    ¡°Woah.¡± Archy did a double-take at her sudden shout, he hadn¡¯t expected Seven to be this enthusiastic, ¡°Hey there, it¡¯s only been a few minutes.¡±

    The entire team had been in the same waiting room between matches. They had all come second or first in their arena battles and so they¡¯d spent the resting time watching each other or chatting.

    ¡°Really? It seemed like a week.¡± Seven shrugged and turned to Nastin and TidalWave, ¡°Did you guys see that?¡± She pointed at herself. ¡°I hope you realise we¡¯ll need to duel at least a hundred more times before I get used to using those flying platforms.¡±

    ¡°A hundred?¡± TidalWave laughed. ¡°Why not a thousand?¡±

    ¡°Ha.¡± Nastin nodded alongside TidalWave at the warrior¡¯s suggestion, ¡°Maybe for amateurs. Perhaps we¡¯ll take a break after ten thousand. But for now...¡±

    He looked up at a series of numbers hovering nearby. It was a timer that had almost reached the end of its countdown.

    ¡°I believe we are about to find out why we have been fighting this entire time.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Archy felt mystified at his statement, ¡°Weren¡¯t we fighting for glory, honour and all that bullcrap? Something about the cities and their champions?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Nastin took Archy¡¯s confusion in stride, ¡°But that is for the NPCs. I would guess that there is a deeper game being played here. And we will find out what it is once that timer reaches zero.¡±

    ¡°You assume, or you know?¡± Another voice called out from beside them. ¡°Or am I to believe that the famous Dark Horse¡¯s Nastin has not heard the rumors.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Seven and the others turned towards the player that had been sitting quietly in the corner, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    [Gyro.]

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Nastin looked sheepish for a second. ¡°I have heard the rumors.¡± But before he went on he smiled mischievously, ¡°Although I must ask, are you not angry that Seven forced your teammate into such a frantic position?After all, you¡¯ve been fighting alongside Jein for so many years.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Seven looked at Gyro with wide eyes.

    This guy was in the same team as Jein? That monster?

    ¡°What my teammates do outside of our official matches is none of my business.¡± Gyro stated simply,¡°I would not have joined Colt¡¯s Crew if I wished to care about them. But I¡¯m afraid that will change soon, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡±

    His stare bore holes into Nastin¡¯s chest. ¡°After all, this competition is simply the prequel to the official launch of a professional scene.¡±

    Nastin shook his head. ¡°We don¡¯t know that.¡±

    ¡°Professional scene?¡± Seven looked at Nastin and Gyro, ¡°What do you guys mean?¡±

    She hadn¡¯t heard a single thing about this. But now Nastin and Gyro were talking about things beyond her experience. She hadn¡¯t even known which players were professionals until her team had pointed themout to her.

    She still forgot Nastin was one sometimes.

    ¡°There is a¡­ rumor.¡± Nastin turned to Seven with a smile, ¡°That the company behind Zodiac Online is forming a professional scene.After all, every virtual reality game has one if they wish to remain popular.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Seven¡¯s eyes lit up.

    Being able to watch more professionals play sounded like a dream come true. If there really was a professional scene coming to the game she would see a lot of good fights. She might even see a skill or two that she wanted in the videos that would pop up.

    ¡°And this is the time they¡¯re choosing to announce it?¡± Archy interrupted with a frown, ¡°Oh my god, is that why there are so many professionals in the stadium seats? Someone leaked that this was going to be the place where the pro scene is going to be established?¡±

    He hadn¡¯t been able to stop Roxxy from sending him a live-streamed video of all the famous people in the seating area.

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Gyro nodded at Archy¡¯s questions then pointed his gaze at the timer. ¡°And we are about to find out for sure.¡±

    Seven followed his eyes but she didn¡¯t need to see the timer to know that it had already hit zero. She could see her body sparkling with light as she began to teleport out of the arena.

    ¡°Ohh.¡± Seven¡¯s eyesight grew blurry as her surroundings changed and she found herself surrounded by her team and other players.

    In front of her on top of a large balcony was a grey-bearded man with a kind smile on his face looking down at them.

    ¡°Greetings champions of Zodiac Online. My name is Hein Haster.¡±

    The man cleared his throat.

    ¡°And I am the creator of Zodiac Online.¡±

    ****

    ¡®The legend himself.¡¯

    Attracting¡¯s stare was intense as he zoomed in on Hein Haster. This was the man that had created the world he would be conquering. The ultimate being even in his old life.

    And this was the moment that changed everything.

    ¡°As you know, I developed this game intending to makea world that was completely your own to play in. If you wished to fight, you could fight. If you wished to play and have fun in other ways, you could also do this. However,¡± Hein coughed again and stared down at the people below him, ¡°You are all gathered here because you wish to be the best of the best when it comes to battling. To simply be standing here is a testament to your skill and dedication. You have risen above the hundreds and thousands of players in your own cities and come to represent them as you fought against each other.¡±

    The players murmured and nodded in response to his words. They could have done anything else if they had wanted to. But they hadn¡¯t. They were here to be the best of the best and to fight against their equals.

    ¡°But the game is still young. It is still being explored, with this world having so much more to offer.¡± Hein¡¯s eyes were kind as he looked down at each andevery player, making contact theirgazes as he spoke, ¡°There are abilities and monsters you could not possibly imagine lying in wait for someone to encounter them. Players will rise and others will fall, and each will want their chance to reach the very apex of the summit that is Zodiac Online. And so we held this competition, not as a finale, but as a new beginning.¡±

    Hein lifted his hands and gestured widely to all theplayers. ¡°Each of you has fought valiantly. And so I would not punish a single one of you for your efforts, no matter how you have fared. So I will tell you now, even if you have ranked as the lowest in this competition, you will still have a chance toparticipatein the future.¡±

    Attracting could see the players looking at each other in confusion.

    To them, the competition was over. There was no reason for them to even think about their cities anymore, let alone think about fighting each other. They couldn¡¯t understand what was going on. But Attracting knew that they couldn¡¯t be further from the truth. And he could see that several other people in the audience didn''t show any surprise either.

    ¡°You have fought valiantly in these placement matches. In four months.¡± Hein smiled as he took in the atmosphere. ¡°These matches will continue to all that wish to take partand win glory for themselvesand their cities. Each team hasbeen ranked in these placement matches, and each team may still be challenged for the right to be replaced in the upcoming competition.¡±

    He lifted his hand and above him and the picture of a trophy gilded with gold and encrusted with gems filled the sky.

    ¡°In four more months.¡±

    Hein Haster took in a deep breath.

    ¡°Zodiac Online will hold its first official world championships.¡±

 Book 2 (Parts 1&2) FAQ, Q&A and Announcement!

    Book 2 Parts 1 & 2 FAQ, Q&A and announcement:

    Hi guys! After deliberating with myself I¡¯ve decided to create an FAQ page now that the first half of book 2 has been completed (Technically parts 1 & 2). This is because along with the longer release dates the fiction has been trending for a while and the influx of readers means that more questions have been asked and there has been a longer period of time for people to think of them before they are asked.

    However before that; There is an announcement to make!:

    I will no longer be answering or responding to questions which ask for spoilers.

    This includes the entire comment, so even if only one part is a question asking for spoilers I will not be responding to any section of the comment. If someone comments with one question in one comment, and a spoiler question in another comment I will not answer either of the comments. Unfortunately, I think I¡¯ve accidentally revealed too many mini-spoilers because I like keeping everyone pleased. This seems to have led to more and more people asking for spoilers, so I just wanted to clarify my official stance on this subject.

    What does this mean?:

    On one hand, this is going to lead to me not answering the question. However, on the other hand you will know that the answer to your question will be specifically addressed because I haven¡¯t responded. This is because no response means it will inevitably turn up in the story. You will just have to wait for that chapter to be released.

    How do I know if a question is a spoiler question?:

    There is a specific explanation in the FAQ for what kinds of questions constitute a spoiler question (Under the question: ¡®Why don¡¯t the characters do X and not Y?¡¯).

    However, here is a very quick guide in how to determine if you question is a spoiler question. It involves asking three questions about the question you are posting.

    One: Does the question involve a plothook or actions that have occurred to the character?

    If no; It is probably not a spoiler question. Common questions which are perfectly fine like this are; How does Seven¡¯s weight affect the way she moves in Zodiac Online? Or; Is there a money exchange system in Zodiac Online?

    I love these kinds of questions because they allow me to elaborate on mechanics which Seven or the other characters might not encounter.

    If yes; Ask yourself question two.

    Two: Did the plothook or action have an explanation in the chapter it was presented?

    If yes; It is not likely to be a spoiler question. Common questions which are perfectly fine include; You mentioned how there are spell slots, and creation skill slots, if you create and skill and then learn it in the library will a creation skill slot be freed up?

    In the above case, the mechanics were explained when Third created a spell, and when Seven visited a library, but I missed out on explaining how they would interact when put together. This is a great question since it lets me clarify any confusion that may have resulted from a gap in the explanations.

    If no; It is likely going to be explained in a future chapter because plot hooks tend to be explained. Common examples of this include; Why did the frogkin attack Seven? Or, why is it a good thing to be ranked last?

    It is safe to assume that in both cases these questions are likely to be answered in a future chapter. And so are spoiler questions. If Seven was directly affected by being killed she would likely try to work out why she was killed. If it¡¯s been mentioned a lot that Attracting¡¯s team wants to be ranked last it is safe to assume that this is something which has a high chance of being addressed in future chapters. It is fine to ask the questions but I will no longer be able to respond personally in the discussion as there is nothing to discuss aside from spoilers.

    If unsure, proceed to question three.

    Three: Would the characters involved (not just the main characters) most likely want an answer to this question?

    This is to be combined with the previous questions, not asked individually.

    If no; It is not likely to be important enough to warrant explaining, or is probably inferred somewhere else.

    If yes; It is safe to assume that if the characters want an answer to a question then they will look for it in future chapters. Any questions involving this kind of answer are clearly spoiler questions at this point and I will no longer be able to answer them.

    FAQ (Spoiler-free):

    Now onto the fun stuff!

    FAQ: These are the questions you have asked and I have answered, now fully improved and updated!

    You do not have to read these all! They are made big and bold so that you can navigate the page and find the answers to the questions you were curious about. :)

    There are also some questions which haven¡¯t been asked, but I¡¯ve chosen to answer because I feel like they might be making some readers curious.

    If I¡¯ve forgotten any questions please feel free to repost them in the comments below!

    How accurately does the cover portray Emily/Seven?:

    The cover does not accurately portray Emily¡¯s weight.

    I envision her chubbier than the cover in the first book, as of the second book she''s grown even chubbier due to eating more between the two. But when it comes to the cover I liked her as she was drawn so I asked the artist to keep her that way.

    Considering the many comments I¡¯ve been getting the next cover will definitely depict her weight more accurately.

    How does Seven¡¯s weight affect her ability to fight/play Zodiac Online?:

    Actually, there are a lot of things being affected by Emily''s weight here!

    This is one of the more hidden aspects of the story only because it¡¯s harder to write it in and make it flow, so I just leave it to be inferred and do it internally and in my notes. Keep in mind that everything written is canon and is the general way the system works.

    One: It''s mentioned early on that Emily has a specially fitted capsule due to her weight. If she gains even more weight she will have to purchase an even bigger capsule. This is a minor thing but it actually impacted the whole story a lot because I realised that Emily had to weigh enough to warrant a different capsule, so she should also be noticeable in the game as overweight / or chubby depending on when you read and who is thinking it.

    Two: A more immediate impact in the story is actually that her weight affects the way people interact with her, both real and NPC. When it comes to real people there aren''t that many that care at all, however, those players that have met Emily/Seven a lot in game have already noticed that she based the avatar on her own self. Other players that have been in VR gaming for a long time can also tell this at first glance, (e.g Jein can tell, she just doesn''t care at all). NPC''s also have different interactions with Seven based on several factors, of which weight is one. However most of these interactions are positive and not negative. There are two reasons for this, one, I see no reason for people to be a dick to Emily/Seven because of her weight. Two, the game creators wouldn¡¯t allow their NPCs to uniformly discriminate against people of certain weight categories. Or even any categories involving physical appearance if they can help it.

    Note: These different interactions can absolutely be manipulated. I haven''t described it but in the background of the first book chapters 1-6 Andrew/Attracting was actually using Ana/IEatTortillas'' bigger frame to get the NPCs to think of her as a hero while they did quests, which gave her the option to get the class she did.

    Three: Seven''s weight (as with all players) affects her hitbox. A bigger avatar means a bigger hitbox. It''s not mentioned as much mainly because in my world its just accepted as the way that virtual reality games have developed, but certain actions such as Jacob grabbing Seven''s wrist her taking a hit due to it hitting the outermost part of her body are affected by how she looks. Some players don''t care about this e.g Third is comically large and others know but ignore the minor downside for a chance at a fun character (e.g Ana/IEatTortillas).

    Note: This is the largest thing I can see readers having an issue with so I''d like to clarify something here. The reason the players are willing to accept such risks are because they don''t plan to play professionally. Please remember TidalWave, Third, Emily/Seven and the others are casual players just having fun in a game. They don''t really feel the need to min/max stuff such as making their hitbox a bit smaller by making their character skinnier. They prefer to have the characters they want to play as, and so feel the trade off of a bigger hitbox is worth it to them personally. Examples include; Third, Emily, Ana.

    Note 2: However most of the pros you will see have gone for a more skinnier look or are already skinny, and that is because they purposefully avoid the bigger hitbox. The most extreme example of this is Colt from Colt''s Crew. He''s actually very skinny (typical creepy assassin look) for this reason.

    Four: Basic movement! How does this work? I don''t really want to restrict your imaginations of the scenarios listed or seen inside the story so I''ll just list the basic facts of how her weight and movement game mechanics work inside Zodiac Online:

    - Inside the game people''s stats and items will affect how they move. Certain features (such as Third''s or Emily''s weight) do not affect the way they move or how agile they are, only their stats do. The reason for this is simple, the company making the game definitely would never discriminate against a certain group of people by making it so much harder for them to play in that way. This maintains an even playing field for movement among all weight and size classes, skinny or chubby, tall or short. They can all move just as agile-y as each other.

    - This is probably most obvious in Spark Joy''s character and her defense stat (It lets her move more fluidly in armour). She has a giant shield and heavy armour that cause her to weigh much more than any other character but moves as lightly and swiftly as TidalWave or non-buffed Archy. The stat affects this. Not her real-life attributes such as how strong she is IRL. That was also why I made certain to show that during the battle she had with Andrew/Attracting.

    Five: IRL her weight does affect her as well. However most of that will be covered in later chapters so I won''t go into it too deeply now. Just remember that Emily is still a real person and her weight will affect her health in various ways just like weight normally does, whether positively or negatively.

    So is Emily still dodging stuff while being chubby/fat?

    Yup, its Emily doing that, with her weight and all. That being said, that is also a testament to her skill and I can''t emphasize that enough. As noted above she has a bigger hitbox that can be hit by enemies but she continues to improve despite that.

    Not all characters follow this method of dodging.

    How about Third?

    Third is bigger than Emily but he has clearly altered his character since he''s comically rotund. Third himself can''t imagine his character moving the way that Emily does so he doesn''t really try to dodge epically in the game. When I''ve written his movements it is almost always him sidestepping or running to one side to dodge, and not bending over or epically dodging on the spot.

    This has been quite a motivating factor for him because instead of learning to dodge like Seven does, he decided his best action was to create the spell ¡®rift destruction¡¯ which prevents people from coming near him in the first place. I did that because I felt like it suited his character¡¯s personality. After all, why learn to dodge when you can stop anyone from getting near enough so that you don¡¯t need to. Whether this will change or not in the future we¡¯ll just have to see!

    When will second class advancements become available?

    This is unknown as of the current chapter (Book 2 Chapter 13) but we will know soon!

    Will Seven be disadvantaged at all due to her lower-ranked rare class?

    She will not be limited or at a disadvantage.

    The class system is weighed by a few factors but the two most important are quests completed and how skilled the system determines you are (further explained below in the question: ¡®how do some players have insane skills?¡¯). Other factors such as NPCs you meet and interact with are also considered.

    So even if Emily/Seven has a lower ranked rare class now, that will not impact how the system determines her available class advancements later. The only exception to this is that she will still be a magic user. So even if she turns into a wizard, or magi, or other, that¡¯s fine. She cannot become a warrior class or archer however.

    She will also not be burdened to keep semi-useless abilities. For example; If she doesn¡¯t want to keep wind blast or even stone shift she does not have to. The way spells are transferred from first to second class or even completely changed allow the player to decide how they wish to play and so even if Seven doesn¡¯t have OP abilities in her first class that won¡¯t matter for the second.

    That being said¡­

    It is still very nice nice for the other players if they have a rarer class in their first class change because they may have abilities they wish to keep. The way it works is pretty much spoiler territory outside of that but we¡¯ll see it soon enough!

    Emily/Seven is going to be limited by whatever spells she chooses to create by herself or learn in the library before, during or after her second class advancement in terms of pvp. This is the case because she is limited in how many she can learn. These are separate from class changes and class spells.

    How are items ranked?:

    Other than the ordinary colour rankings this is the template I follow for rarity and power of items;

    Boss drop gear>ordinary monster drop gear>store bought gear

    You will always find that a higher level creature drops a stronger item. For example; A level 45 corruptor will drop a stronger weapon than a level 20 corruptor. A level 55 wolf will always drop a higher stat item than a level 5 wolf, etc.

    This is the case even if both items are of the same colour rarity.

    How do yellow-ranked items work?:

    This is more of a catch-all question to deal with the mechanics that have been revealed about yellow-ranked weapons and items.

    Are yellow-ranked items rare? Yes. They are extremely rare for this part of the game. Don¡¯t be fooled by Attracting and IEatTortillas being filled with them, other players do not have that luxury.

    How do players get yellow-ranked items? Each yellow-ranked item can and do drop in any situation. Whether it be as part of a quest or when killing a common mob. They simply have a very low chance of dropping and the quests which contain yellow-ranked items as rewards will always be difficult. E.g a level 20 player will find it very, very difficult to complete a level 20 quest with a yellow-ranked item as a reward. In the game the level of the quest isn¡¯t usually stated, but a quest given by an NPC in a level 20 area can be assumed to be a level 20 quest.

    How do conditions to unseal yellow-ranked items work? Each yellow-ranked item requires certain conditions to be achieved in order to unseal it. E.g complete a quest and you may be given an unsealed yellow-ranked item, or if a frogkin drops a yellow-ranked item to a very lucky player then it may require the player to kill 20 frogkin to unseal it.

    The condition¡¯s difficulty is proportional to how strong the weapon is. Generally the conditions will not be difficult to fulfil, after all, it is only a yellow-ranked item. Seven and co have actually gotten one of the most difficult conditions possible by being tasked with killing a dragon to unseal their items.

    Why does the team consent to giving stat and skill details away?:

    During certain chapters (particularly Book 1 chapter 10, and in Book 2 chapter 12) the team has either explicitly given away details of their skills online or simply revealed any potential tactics they may use in battle. This can be seen to be a little confusing, after all, if Seven and co are trying to win or at least avoid having their weaknesses exploited why would they do this? Let¡¯s take a look at it from the perspectives of the players in both chapters.

    Book 1 Chapter 10: Seven and co post their entire stat and skill set online, opening them to potentially revealing all their weaknesses to enemies.

    Answer: At this point in the book the team actually doesn¡¯t have any enemies. Even in the current part of the story they don¡¯t have any enemies, as I will explain below. The reason they have posted everything online is because absolutely none of them are actually important enough to have people aim for them to try and kill them and as far as they know they will never become the kind of players where this situation will occur. None of them have the intention of going professional.

    They are all purely playing the game to have fun and for no other reason. Even characters such as Archy, Roxxy and Spark Joy are playing to have fun, and taking in their blogs or content videos as a secondary motive.

    To further elaborate on this let¡¯s look at their motivations and importance:

    Anita/Archy: Let¡¯s start with the person that is most likely to be targeted. Despite being a semi-major celebrity online Anita hasn¡¯t actually revealed their character yet by this chapter. Not to her team and not to her fans online. But she is smart enough to know that once she does that people may come after her. Taking that into consideration; She decided she didn¡¯t care at all. Her personality has always been one of challenging people, being distinctly blunt and definitely not thinking things through. That isn¡¯t to say she is dumb, but she doesn¡¯t care if people know her stats online because she is confident she will beat any challengers.

    TidalWave: At the time this chapter was written only the readers and the team know TidalWave exists and only the readers know he will be popular/strong. So when he consents to posting his entire skill set online it is simply because he didn¡¯t even consider the possibility that it could one day be used against him. He has no intention of going pro, he had no mortal enemies in the game to defend against and more importantly if he had known he would become popular he still would have posted his skills anyway.

    Why won¡¯t he go pro? The answer is fairly simple; He doesn¡¯t care at all about the professional scene. He does care about getting stronger, but he wants to do that through duels. IF he joins the professional scene it will not because he cares about rankings at all, it will be because he wants to fight the best of the best and the professional scene just happens to be the way to do that.

    So why would he still post his skills if he had known he would be famous? The answer is because he wants people to know his weaknesses. If they fight him and he loses, he doesn¡¯t care at all about it. But if they fight him and they manage to exploit a fundamental weakness in his fighting style or use of skills he will know for next time and improve until he can overcome that weakness. Essentially, he doesn¡¯t care about losing even if he dies a thousand times as long as he can improve once.

    Roxxy & Spark Joy: The fact that they run a blog is actually quite hidden to all but their friends, some of whom happen to be professional players. Yes, the blog is popular, but no, they don¡¯t think they will be PK¡¯d for it. Both girls don¡¯t mind their skills being posted online because they have no intention of becoming professionals. They have and always will play the game to gain knowledge, a goal which does not actually require them to do much fighting if they watch matches carefully. The Roxxy and Spark Joy in book 1 chapter 10 are also not important at all. It¡¯s unknown to anyone but the readers and Attracting whether they will become important figures in the future, but at the time they are just ordinary players. Nobody would care about their skills even if they did post them except as a passing interest in someone with a strong class.

    Third & Seven: Both of these players are not important at all in the game and have no enemies they would want to hide from. Both have no intention on going professional either because Third is seeking knowledge and fun and the thought never even crosses Seven¡¯s mind as being possible.

    Book 2 Chapter 12:

    Seven: Seven gives away many skills and actions in this chapter. She reveals her wind blast, her aura step, and her ability to shift the directions of her attacks with her focus points. However the reason she does this is simply; She wants to have fun and win.

    She doesn¡¯t think of the future consequences because as far as she is concerned this is her final competition and the final match of it. Yes, she had been asked by the team not to reveal her skills but she personally believes that to be more for Nastin¡¯s sake because he is a professional player, she doesn¡¯t think she¡¯s important enough that it will matter.

    Essentially -even this far into the story- she is not important enough to need to hide her skills. She is in the game to have fun and play, and hiding her skills when she wants to prove herself as a worthy opponent to her enemies is not the way she would have fun, so she doesn''t do it.

    If you learn a spell in the library after creating it do you get your skill creation slot back?:

    Short answer: Yup absolutely.

    It is very difficult for players to naturally create the spells that are in the library. But if they do manage to, and then later find out they can learn it in the library, then they will exchange the created skill slot for a learned spell slot. Allowing them to creative another ability later on.

    There will also be NPCs later in the game that can free up these spell slots and creation slots if the player wishes to erase their magic. There are also a couple of other little surprises planned.

    Will knockback be nerfed? How does it work exactly?:

    There have been a couple of questions and comments on the potential exploitability of knock back effects. E.g When Azeroth was knocked off of his platform by Seven.

    I have thought long and hard about this and have put together a definite explanation for the mechanics and implementation of knockback in Zodiac Online.

    Please note: This is the explanation. It is not a negotiable one. I enjoy the story and players working around the system as it is so any readers can assume in future that this is how the knockback works.

    Knockback has several factors which are considered when it is being used by a player or NPC:

    Size: Perhaps the single most important factor behind knockback is the target¡¯s size. Small creatures? Easily knocked back. A really big dinosaur monster? Not knocked back.

    This is of course subjective based on how big the knock back spell is. E.g Jein¡¯s wave can knock back enemies but was stopped by Claire¡¯s titan. This is because Claire¡¯s titan was physically strong enough to resist the knockback. But if we were to consider Seven vs the Corruptor, Seven¡¯s small knockback would have been completely useless even if the corruptor hadn¡¯t fought back. Because Azeroth was still the size of a human, Seven easily knocked him back with her spell.

    Stability: How stable the target is affects knockback greatly. Is the target teetering off the edge of a cliff? It is definitely more susceptible to knockback. If it stands on two feet or isn¡¯t held down it is going to be more easily knocked back.

    But if it is a tree, with roots digging into the ground that can be considered to be an extremely stable object. If a knockback is used against the tree it is unlikely to be uprooted or moved unless the knockback is particularly strong.

    Power: How powerful is the knockback spell? Is it being cast as a gale storm that can wipe out entire cities or as a puff of air? The system takes this into account when determining if size and stability will be affected.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    Wording: How is the skill worded? If it states that it will knock back objects or creatures only a certain amount, then it will only go to that amount. It will not go a few centimetres further. The only time this is changed is when the target is rooted or bigger in size.

    Can knockbacks therefore be chained?

    Yup. They can be chained. Honestly the idea amuses me. But there is one important exception;

    Knockbacks cannot be multiplied infinitely: This means that if you apply two knockbacks at the exact same time, it will not simply multiply the power and range of the knockback. E.g if two people summoned winds the knock back players, they could increase the radius of the knockback because the two separate spells have their own area of effect, but the affected players will not be double knocked back. They will simply be knocked back according to the first ability to hit them.

    So the easiest and best ways to chain a knockback is to have them occur one by one.

    Is there equipment or spells that stop knockback effects?

    Yes. Most abilities and debilitating spells have armours or spells which have a corresponding resistance. E.g Claire''s titan spell stopped Jein''s ice wave which would have knocked Claire back. And killed her.

    Will this be exploitable? Possibly. We¡¯ll have to see how the story pans out. That is a question that can only be answered by stating ¡®please continue reading further chapters¡¯.

    How does the selling and buying things using real world currency work in this world?:

    This hasn''t been mentioned at all but only because Seven and her friends don''t do it. However there is a currency exchange system in place in Zodiac Online, although it is in constant fluctuation. The basics work just as any game would; You can buy a certain amount of gold coins in exchange for real life currency but this amount is changing as the market floods with more and less gold at different times.

    Fun fact: This is how Andrew/Attracting is making most of his gold.

    The gold can also be exchanged with other players for cash on certain websites which track the price of gold against the currency of the person searching the website. Attracting has used this to sell when he knows he''ll profit and has been expertly manipulating the market in the first few weeks of the game.

    Some of these websites also support item to cash conversions (more on that in another question/answer below). The virtual reality market in my world is developed enough that this is a legal and safe practice, although you may get ripped off if you pay too much for an item compared to what it¡¯s worth.

    How did Attracting get such a huge advantage?:

    Surprisingly, using his future world knowledge to get good items and find gold caches is not how Attracting made most of his gold.

    Attracting has been doing three things to maintain his amazing progress.

    One: He has actually been buying more gold as it fluctuates to a price lower than he knows it will usually go. So when the price of gold dips he buys a lot of it, and then because it inevitably rises he instantly sells online for a big profit. He mainly did this during the first two weeks but continues to do it even past then because he knows the unprecedented amount of players entering the game will keep the gold supply fluctuating in his favour. This method is going to grow obsolete as the currency stabilises but that won''t be for a while in-story time.

    He has earned the majority of his money doing this.

    Two: He has raided several gold caches with both IEatTortillas and Violet + his team. Most of the weapons and items he gained he is keeping for future profit but he has acquired items which can be sold on the item exchange websites for real cash. Honestly the dragon''s hoard had 200k gold coins and that was only one of his potential targets. The rest are not as big but are more easily accessed.

    Three: He secured the aid of the three bishops in Lum and activated a little known secret; Purchases of property. This is a feature most players either would not have discovered yet or do not have the gold to take advantage of. He is hoarding property in Lum and a city in the Underground city called Taehra. There is a limit to how many properties he has purchased but he made sure to acquire the prime locations and will sell them off at a later date.

    This is how he will earn more money in the future according to his plans.

    Is there an official market designated for people to sell whatever they want?

    There is an official market for selling whatever items you want to! There are two methods of doing this, the official Zodiac Online exchange which can be accessed in every major town and city. There players can sell items for gold. There are only as many items as the players put up for sale so it is very dependant on player interaction. And the second method is the unofficial websites which have made items exchangeable for real life cash. They are deemed safe but not as stable in terms of prices (Aka you can get ripped off when selling or buying your items there). People do not have limits to what can be bought and sold, and someone that is incredibly rich can indeed go and buy all the best gear. The reason for it being safe is mainly to make it easier for me to write it since I don''t intend to have subplots about people getting ripped off in the novel.

    Theoretically both could have the best equipment being sold in their respective stores. However they rely on player interaction (the players have to physically find the items in-game and then put them up for sale) so the chances of a single player hoarding all the good items from the sites is unlikely. This is because players would likely keep the best items for themselves or someone else would snatch the item before any single person could grab them all.

    Do people have limits to what can be bought and sold or can someone incredibly rich just go and buy all the best gear?

    There are no limits!

    This is how Attracting survived in the higher rankings in his past life (briefly mentioned in Ana''s side story). He bought items and used the stats to make up for his lack of skill.

    That being said, skill over equipment is a very important aspect of this game as it adds weight to how the game determines you should be given certain classes.

    But theoretically a rich person could definitely have an unlimited cap on the equipment they could buy.

    There are a few restrictions to using this method: Some of the best equipment however would have its stats locked (e.g TidalWave''s previous armour in an early chapter had the ''Defense stat'' but that stat was locked because TidalWave didn''t have the class to unlock it.) So the more expensive equipment would have lots of stats, but the player might not necessarily be able to use all the stats as they would be locked to unskilled players.

    Against a player like Seven or TidalWave a completely normal player with tons of equipment would have a struggle and lose 99/100 times. They can forget about beating someone like Nastin. Classes determine a lot more than equipment does. Both together are a very deadly combination.

    The other restriction is that every item the rich person buys has to be put on the market in the first place. It is possible that players will keep the really good items to themselves until they outlive their usefulness or the player finds something better. So although theoretically the rich player could buy whatever they want, in reality the items actually have to be available to buy them.

    On top of this it is unlikely that one single rich person could hoard all the good items. The reason for this being that many players would be looking out for these items or whatever they require, and so the chances of one player getting the item are slim. There are a lot of rich people in the world and there are usually only limited items.

    How does the dodge stat work?

    The dodge stat works in two ways! One is where the attack goes through the person and it triggers an automatic;

    -Dodged!

    notification. This has a higher chance of proc-ing against lower levelled enemies and enemies that have a low dexterity or attack stat. This is the dodge stats normal intended function and honestly it''s fairly self-explanatory; Each stat added to dodge gives a slightly higher chance of the player dodging incoming attacks. It is measured against other player stats so if a player with more stats than Seven fights her, even if she has a lot in her ¡®dodge¡¯ stat, she will likely still be hit.

    The second way the stat works is that the attacks are more likely to be dodged when Seven is physically trying to dodge them. So if she''s stone shifting away from an attack made by an enemy the system will detect this and she will gain a slightly higher chance of activating the dodge;

    -Dodged!

    notification because she is actively trying to use the stat in battle. This is important because it also works the other way around as well. For example, TidalWave is constantly aiming at Seven''s weak spots and adjusting to match her speed and movements perfectly. The system detects this and does the reverse of the dodge stat, causing Seven''s dodge to be less likely to be activated because TidalWave is too skilled to have missed. This does not reduce the chance to 0% to dodge, but it does decrease it by quite a bit.

    So against a skilled opponent she will actually come out fairly even unless her dodge stat is so high that even skilled players can''t reduce it enough to prevent it from proc-ing.

    Ordinary players will not have this kind of ability and so she is actually a lot stronger than we realise when it comes to dodging.

    Why don''t the characters do X and not Y?:

    This is becoming a more prevalent question as more readers join in on the fun. There are three types of this question that I¡¯ve noticed so I will approach this from all angles.

    The Min/Max question: Example; Why doesn¡¯t Seven catalogue all the spells in the library? Why do the team reveal their skills when it will show their weaknesses? Why doesn¡¯t Seven pump IEatTortillas for all the information she gained while playing with Attracting?

    This type of question is probably the type of question that is easiest to answer; The players are not the same as readers. They do not know they will be important just because they are characters in a book. To them this is all real life.

    The reason the characters don¡¯t try to min/max life is because they aren¡¯t attempting to ¡®win¡¯ the game, or even to ¡®win¡¯ in every action, they are simply ordinary people placed in a virtual reality game. Seven¡¯s main goal in her case is to have fun, she does that by playing the game with her team and friends rather than spending several days in the library making a record of every single spell she can. She would also not interrogate her friend about Attracting because she doesn¡¯t really care about Attracting and what he did when playing. People in real life don¡¯t usually go and interrogate their best friends for potentially hours on something they don¡¯t care about. The team reveals their weaknesses (as answered above) because they don¡¯t care about other players trying to fight them. They either don¡¯t believe they are important enough for people to care, or they would reveal them anyway because they consider it their own personal ¡®win¡¯ if players actively kill them and they learn from that.

    The omniscient reader¡¯s point of view question: Example; Why doesn¡¯t Seven just dump Attracting¡¯s ass as a friend instead of continuing to try and be friends with him? Why doesn¡¯t Zodiac simply ban Attracting?

    Most of these questions seem to come from a point of common sense, but are actually only common sense to us as readers because we have (for the most part) a fuller view of events and also a stronger emotional attachment to each character. In other words; The reason we think it is just natural that the characters should be doing these things is because we know the full story and are emotionally invested in it. Whereas the characters may not be invested in certain actions or may not know the full story.

    Let¡¯s take Seven¡¯s treatment of Attracting for most of book one. He is rude to her on several occasions but she still continues to consider him a friend. The reason for this is simple; He has been her friend for several years with no issue, it seems stranger to have her simply dump him as a friend immediately rather than try to figure out why he¡¯s acting this way. We know he¡¯s being rude because he¡¯s a reincarnator and an ass but to her it seems like an ordinary week where he has suddenly undergone a change. This was a good friend and now he¡¯s acting weird and slightly rude, but that¡¯s not a reason to completely ditch him.

    It is important to remember that these are characters in a story that have their own points of view and feelings. As such they are flawed, do not do the most plot-specific and plot-winning thing and do not act in the best interest of resolving the issues they either do or do not know are happening.

    The spoiler questions: Example; Why didn¡¯t the announcer state the rules of the new competition? Why did the frogkin attack Seven, aren¡¯t they mobs? Why is Attracting able to know everything he does? Why doesn¡¯t the Zodiac A.I punish Attracting?

    This is perhaps the most common type of question I¡¯ve encountered. It doesn¡¯t always follow the ¡®why doesn¡¯t a character do X instead of Y¡¯ format but it comes close. The simple answer here is to keep reading. As stated above, I will no longer be answering these types of questions because although they look like they are searching for information, they are actually just asking for future plot points and hooks. It is simple to think about them for a few seconds and realise that each and every single one of these questions will most likely be answered in future chapters. Most times they are answered directly in the chapter after the one the question was presented.

    E.g: Why didn¡¯t the announcer state the rules of the new competition? When thinking over this a few factors should be considered. One: are Seven and co going to be affected by these rules and the competition? Yes, it is safe to assume that. Two: Are Seven and co going to be in a plot which would make heavy use of the rules? If yes, okay. If no, they wouldn¡¯t need to know the rules anyway.

    Answer: This is probably something that will definitely be answered in a future chapter.

    E.g: Why did the frogkin attack Seven? Let¡¯s consider two factors again. One: Was Seven directly affected by being killed by the frogkin? Yes. Two: Would Seven likely want to know why she was killed suddenly? Also yes.

    Answer: This is probably something that will definitely be answered in a future chapter.

    But let¡¯s put a current and relevant question to the test under the spoiler questions listed at the top of the post:

    Why doesn¡¯t the Zodiac A.I punish or ban Attracting?:

    First of all; Please go back and read the FAQ for book 1 as it does answer this question as well.

    However;

    This is a question I¡¯m simply unable to answer due to spoilers, but let¡¯s put it through the test;

    One: Does the question involve a plothook or actions that have occurred to the character?

    In this case, yes. The characters involved are Attracting and the Zodiac A.I. It even extends to the rest of the cast. The action itself is Attracting time travelling and/or Zodiac punishing him for it. The main action is that the Zodiac A.I is trying to figure out how Attracting is doing what he does.

    Since this is the case; Let¡¯s go to question 2.

    Two: Did the plothook or action have an explanation in the chapter it was presented?

    In this case, no. The actions of the Zodiac A.I did not have an explanation. We see it confront Attracting but we don¡¯t know anything else that it might know. We have not been given an explanation as to why it has or has not punished Attracting. We most definitely have not been given an explanation as to why it is taking the time it is, or even what it plans to do if it has any plans. Essentially, we know that the Zodiac A.I is there but not what it has done or is doing. We don¡¯t know what it knows or does not know, other than the fact that it has not worked out he is a time traveller. We don¡¯t know it¡¯s thought process or what factors it could be considering in order to figure out whether to punish/ban Attracting or not.

    If there are this many questions then the obvious question we have to ask is;

    Would the author have put in place a character like this without intending to resolve its plot line eventually? The answer is most likely no.

    At this point it is safe to assume that all these things will be addressed in later chapters. Especially since the Zodiac A.I is specifically shown to be interacting with many characters about the very issue it is having.

    However if unsure if the question is still a spoiler question;

    Three: Would the characters involved (not just the main characters) most likely want an answer to this question?

    Would the Zodiac A.I most likely want an answer to Attracting¡¯s strange actions? There is no way to answer no to this question as it is actively shown to be looking for the answer to this question.

    At this point you can assume that since the Zodiac A.I clearly wants an answer to its question, the plot point of whether it will find out the answer is something that will show up in later chapters.

    It is also safe to assume that it will determine what it will do at that time. Which will be revealed in a later chapter. If it has not done something yet the reason is to be revealed in later chapters. It is not something I can reveal in the comments.

    So it is safe to assume this is a spoiler question. Any answers you may not like are probably stemming from the fact that I really can¡¯t give a comprehensive answer to this question.

    Do I have the actions planned out? Yes of course. I¡¯ve had the first three books already outlined with plot developments and endings since before I posted the first one.

    Is it likely that this is going to be dealt with? I wouldn¡¯t have added it so much if it wasn¡¯t going to be resolved.

    Will it get resolved straight away? Most likely not.

    Please remember: Just because I am not telling you how things are being resolved doesn¡¯t mean they aren¡¯t being dealt with. We don¡¯t see everything that the Zodiac A.I or even other players are doing. I¡¯m just not able to answer because it would involve spoilers.

    Explanations for unasked questions (no spoilers):

    Does the number of focus points a player can control influence what skills they gain?:

    Yes! Jein received her skill; Ice Wave, from the system specifically because she can flood the area with focus points like a wave.

    Claire and Third also similarly were gifted their abilities due to both how many focus points they could make and how they used their focus points.

    Why can some players create more focus points than others?:

    This is a fun one to answer. Essentially the way focus points work is twofold. On the one hand the control stat makes it much easier to create more and more focus points without taxing your mind. It also allows players to move the focus points strategically. On the other hand if you have natural talent you can create many focus points until you are up to the point of collapsing at which time the system will stop you from creating more. Focus points created this way are at risk of collapsing if the creator loses concentration due to exhaustion.

    Let¡¯s go through some characters:

    Third: Naturally a genius and easily creates up to at least fifteen focus points. He is an example of someone who partially uses the control stat to help him but does not focus on it, as he has lots of natural ability.

    Jein: A naturally monstrous monster of epically monstrous proportions. She had never known what a weak will is and through her natural abilities she was able to create a literal wave of focus points to unleash upon her enemies. She does not need the control stat to help her, and as such does not actually use her focus points in a complicated manner like Third or Clair do. She simply sends them out in bunches or moves them around.

    Claire: On the opposite spectrum is Claire. She has clearly utilised her control stat to its fullest as she makes use of focus points to create complicated spells in positions which are strategically advantageous to her. It is unknown in the story how many focus points she could create at once but she is definitely focused more on tactical deployment of her abilities rather than Jein¡¯s -slap a bunch of crap over stuff and hope it works- approach.

    Seven: Seven can create around six focus points before becoming tired, though she can push her limits to make a couple more. She has been shown to grow tired and almost lose her focus points if she loses her concentration. However when she uses her natural talent she can move her focus points around and use them to defend her. If she uses her control stat she can make the directions of her magic blasts shift into different angles.

    How do some players have insane skills?:

    Nobody has asked this question yet but I still feel it is important enough to warrant an explanation in this FAQ. There have been a lot of varying characters with a variety of skills that seem to defy the logical nature of the game. Some in the future will be gained in the libraries scattered around the world, but the players shown so far haven¡¯t had the time or knowledge to access these libraries and gain their spells.

    Examples include Jein¡¯s blizzard spell, as well as her ice wave spell (explained above), Claire¡¯s orbs that fire automatically homing bullets of light & her titan summon, and Ji-Woo¡¯s ability to literally emit lightning from his body.

    Honestly writing these skills has been one of the best aspects of the story for me. Very fun to do. But I¡¯m here to answer the question of how did these players possible obtain these skills.

    The answer is actually fairly simply; Each one was impacted more by quest completions rather than their individual skills.

    Make no mistake. Individually each of these players is at the top of the game and they are absolutely top tier, guaranteed to get their pick of amazing classes based solely on talent and ability. But the abilities they did get are all a result of the system gifting it to them due to the quests they have completed, with their abilities also being taken into account.

    Ji-Woo: This is the only story/character background I am sure will not be included in the main story, so it is not a spoiler. But if you do not want to read Ji-Woo¡¯s backstory as to how he obtained his class then please do not read any further.

    Skip to the bottom if you want to see the mechanics of how the game determined his class throughout this quest.

    Ji-Woo¡¯s abilities so far have been revealed as expert sword skills and a passive skill that can emit lightning from his body which destroys the people it touches. For all intents and purposes it seems difficult to see how he could have obtained this skill since focus points do not appear to work this way, and it is his first class so he hadn¡¯t entered a library yet to obtain lightning spells of that power.

    He actually obtained the lightning skill from a quest, the details of which I will elaborate upon now.

    Ji-Woo¡¯s Journey: Near Ji-Woo¡¯s starting village there is a giant crack in the earth that is unfathomably deep and guaranteed to kill you if you jump down into it. Nobody knows how deep it goes and an eerie wind seems to flow out of it. Players soon discovered by talking to NPCs that this wind actually cancels any and all magic and willpower abilities. Focus points would be obliterated if they were formed inside. Even communication between players was shut off. So the only way to traverse down the crack would be to jump down and somehow survive. A task considered impossible.

    So of course Ji-Woo jumped down immediately.

    Ji-Woo¡¯s natural abilities cannot be underestimated. Showing his determination and skill he expertly grabbed onto the wall of the several hundred foot drop and began his descent. Jumping from loose crevice to a crack in the wall, grabbing a foothold or forcing himself to make one with his sword. It was a journey that lasted him five days inside the game. Each and every second he faced death. As a low-level character without a single class he was guaranteed to die if he slipped for even one second and fell into the dark chasm below. Soon he was swamped in darkness and could rely only on his senses and natural abilities to climb down further.

    Meanwhile Jein was panicking.

    It took him another two days climbing down in complete darkness, but Ji-Woo finally began to notice a faint light emanating from below him. It appeared that he was finally nearing the end of his journey. Using the remainder of his energy he drew close enough that he could see the ground, and then he jumped down. Dozens of skeletal remains cushioned his fall as he found himself falling into a dimly lit room.

    Without another word he walked forward towards the lone door that he could see in the room, and was startled to see electricity arcing through the air. A lightning elemental appeared before him and with the politest expression he could muster he greeted it.

    But it didn¡¯t care about him.

    It walked through the door and with a flash of light the scenery around Ji-Woo transformed into a beautiful outdoor sky. Sitting atop silver clouds and covered in lightning was a beautiful palace, the likes of which Ji-Woo had never seen before. A single radiant bridge, more magic than physical, greeted him and he walked towards the palace.

    As he made his journey the lightning around him began to tease him. A bolt here, a sudden attack there. He was too weak to fight back, but luckily he found that merely dodging the quick attacks allowed him to pass by them.

    By the time he was almost at the end of the bridge the lightning was firing down at him like rain. Not a single split second could be spared for rest as his body was pushed to the maximum limits that it could be. A single touch from a stray electric spark would obliterate him and his low level character.

    He was having the time of his life.

    Crashing through what seemed like the apocalypse he finally saw the end of his journey. The moment he stepped past the bridge the lightning disappeared as though it had never existed. The sky was clear and before him lay a gigantic palace that seemed to be made of opaque air. Ji-Woo could tell this was the end of journey, a trek that had taken days and had been deadlier than anything he had encountered before.

    As Ji-Woo approached the palace its massive doors opened for him and he walked through, unable to touch his surroundings for fear that simply coming into contact with anything but the ground would kill him. Soon he found himself inside a massive hall, in the middle of which was a throne.

    And sitting on the throne was a being wreathed in lightning.

    [Lightning God: Indra]

    A god lay before him. Not one he had heard of. Not Verm whose continent he walked in, or any of the other three. This was a self-proclaimed god. A mortal that dared to be divine.

    You are not the one I am searching for.

    The god¡¯s words shook the palace and brought Ji-Woo to his knees. He didn¡¯t know what level this mighty creature was, but it was something so far above him that he knew he had no chance of fighting it. His skills couldn¡¯t make up for such a difference.

    But he had traveled a long way to complete this journey, and he was unwilling to give up. Beyond power, beyond fame and beyond gameplay he had pride in himself and his plans. He refused to bow to the god, he refused to submit to the inevitable loss he would face. And so he did the only thing he knew he could in this situation.

    ¡°No. I think I¡¯m exactly the person you¡¯re looking for.¡±

    He decided to bargain.

    A great charade of posturing, acting and truth. Ji-Woo conversed with the god as it readied to strike him down at the slightest failure. Slowly and steadily Ji-Woo convinced the god that he was someone worthy of knowing what the god was seeking. He swore that although he was weak in power, his skills and potential to grow made him an equal to Indra. He did not bow, he did not stutter and he did not sweat.

    He truly considered himself to be equal with the god.

    Indra was convinced that Ji-Woo was his equal, and so he told him about the person he was seeking, and the goal he wished to obtain.

    I seek a worthy opponent. An equal with whom I can fight with all my might.

    And Ji-Woo grinned.

    ¡°I am that opponent. Not now, perhaps not even in a year. But you have seen me surpass your challenges. You have viewed me as I crossed great storms and scaled an impossible descent into the earth. I am the person you are searching for.¡±

    This was the thing he was searching for. Not power, not glory, but instead a worthy opponent to fight. He didn¡¯t care that he had no chance to win, he only cared that he could try. And Indra agreed wholeheartedly. Ji-Woo had shown tenacity beyond anyone else had seen, the player had overcome what should be possible for someone of his level and kept his pride and dignity even when faced by the lightning god himself.

    So he agreed to spare Ji-Woo, until the player could become his equal.

    They agreed that once Ji-Woo had grown properly that he would come back and challenge the lightning god. At that time it would not be a low leveled player facing an impossible wall, but an equal that would present a break in the god¡¯s endless boredom.

    Indra teleported Ji-Woo out of his domain and the player found himself lying above the area where he had first climbed down into the earth. Only now the crack was gone, sealed shut by forces unknown. And Ji-Woo¡¯s body crackled with lighting as he viewed the gift the lightning god had given his future opponent.

    [Class option unlocked: Avatar of Lightning.]

    So how did the system determine this OP class to give to Ji-Woo?

    If you skipped the story then that¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll explain the mechanics now. :)

    Essentially the game took two things into account. Ji-Woo¡¯s natural abilities and the environment he was in when he received his class.

    Natural Ability: Ji-Woo completed several arduous tasks on his way that the system had -until that point- considered physically impossible for someone of his level. Taking his climbing and his dodging of a literal rain of lightning as he made his way into the palace the system determined instantly that he was one of the greatest players currently inside the game. This led it to activate several class options relating to his sword-skills, noting that he used a sword throughout his journey. This alone was enough to earn Ji-Woo the highest level of rare class, with several options relating to dodging, mountains and lightning. He did not have the option to use lightning, but he would be offered a class with lightning resistance. He had also unlocked a class utilising skills similar to Seven¡¯s ¡®Stone shift¡¯

    Environment/Quest: The system was incredibly surprised that Ji-Woo survived. Indra, like most NPCs, is left to do his own thing when alone and when conversing with players. Usually however, Indra¡¯s personality meant that he would simply kill intruders. Ji-Woo was both lucky that Indra was bored after being alone for so long, and quick witted enough to not annoy the god.

    Until he proceeded to challenge the god to a fight. At this the system watched his actions closely, seeing if he was serious, checking if he could win and ultimately leaving him to his fate. However, it would determine his potential class options based on how his interaction with Indra went.

    Ultimately he gained the god¡¯s favour, and so taking into consideration Ji-Woo¡¯s extreme display of skills, his attitude which seemed to make him equal to a god and his future potential, it decided to award him the class; Avatar of Lightning.

    Did Ji-Woo have other options?

    Absolutely. Ji-Woo had several class options to choose from. However this class was specifically gifted to him by the lightning god. He then had the option to choose it as a path when he finally levelled to 10 and went to his local priest to begin the class obtaining process.

    Did he have a class test?

    Unlike other players, Ji-Woo was gifted this class by a being with enough power to interfere with the class obtaining process. As such, he was given the option to not complete a test. After all, he had already proven himself and the system itself had designed the test to be the most difficult in the game so far. It informed him that if he took the optional test and failed, he would never receive the option to obtain the class again.

    He chose to take the test anyway.

    Why are Korean and French players the best?:

    This is actually a personal choice I made. On the one hand I feel that Koreans are probably the best as a nation in modern video game professional scenes. This is just my personal opinion. And I transcribed that into my story. I also wanted them to have rivals and I was interested in learning French so I picked the French. It¡¯s been quite a fun addition and world building hook for me to work from.

    If you read down to this part of the post I am writing this to let you know I''m extremely grateful for your interest in this story!

 Book 2 Side Story 1: Goodbye Dark Horse.

    One week after Book 2 Chapter 13:

    ¡°Wildside¡¯s frontline warrior will probably try to delay your attacks until his teammates can one-shot you with spells. Arm.¡±

    Nastin kept an eye on his conversation partner¡¯s sword as they circled each other while talking. His words were met with the edge of the blade shrieking towards his left side and he stepped back to avoid the sudden attack.

    Initially, he¡¯d been fine to talk on and on but now he could hardly afford to waste time hesitating as the attacks came in deadly and swift. His arm numbed a bit as it suddenly hit home how close the attack had come to touching him. More attacks soon followed and Nastin found himself pedaling back to safety.

    Nastin grunted as he deftly dodged each attack, each one almost grazing him as he moved out of its path, ¡°If you can¡¯t keep up with me while I¡¯m giving you these openings then you won¡¯t be able to catch up with them. Chest.¡±

    ¡°I know, I know.¡± His opponent didn¡¯t give up his relentless pursuit of Nastin¡¯s shadow as the paladin continued to move like a snake out of his combo.

    [Chaser: Level 47 Sword Dancer.]

    Chaser¡¯s movements were as elegant as they were deadly, his sword creating after-images as it struck the air in front of Nastin. His skills had grown even greater since Nastin had last played this game against him. However he still wasn¡¯t precise enough to catch up to Nastin¡¯s subtle dodging movements. Even if he could aim for the paladin¡¯s whole body, it was difficult for him to catch up to a single moving part. Unfortunately for the sword dancer, that was the entire point of this exercise.

    Chaser stabbed his sword forward as he registered Nastin¡¯s command, but the paladin laughed as the sword dancer jolted from the sudden change and his attack was delayed. Suddenly Nastin was free to move out of Chaser¡¯s attack range, but the warrior had other plans.

    Chaser¡¯s body blurred as it glowed white and he seemed to glide over the ground. He took three steps forward as his body¡¯s white glow blinded Nastin and appeared in front of the paladin.

    ¡°Gotcha.¡± Chaser didn¡¯t bother to hide his glee.

    ¡°If you¡¯d been this focused during the early parts of the game you could have gotten a rarer class.¡± Someone called out to the duo from the side.

    [Grenda: Level 46 Archer of Darkness.]

    Good timing. Nastin thanked Grenda in his heart as he heard her call out.

    Chaser was easily distracted. Nastin moved to the side the moment he heard the archer call out. If Chaser got caught up by her words then he wanted to be able to take advantage of the split moment to run away.

    ¡°Says the archer!¡± Chaser didn¡¯t hesitate as he responded to Grenda¡¯s words.

    And then he stabbed Nastin through the chest.

    ¡°HA!¡± Chaser grinned as the duo came to a complete halt.

    ¡°You win this round.¡± Nastin smiled as he saw the celebrating warrior. ¡°Good job.¡±

    ¡°Tch.¡± Grenda walked up to them with a pleased expression threatening to break through her facade. ¡°I guess everybody gets lucky once or twice in their life.¡±

    Chaser shot her a grin and pointed to Nastin¡¯s chest, ¡°Tell me that when you hit him. I¡¯m pretty sure now that everyone else has done it, this makes you worst in the team.¡±

    ¡°Ha.¡± Grenda laughed dryly. ¡°I guess it does.¡±

    Without another word, she brought out her bow, turned around and walked towards some of the nearby mobs. She immediately began firing her at the helpless creatures with gusto as she ran around the field bullying them. They simply weren¡¯t a match for the archer.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Chaser hadn¡¯t been expecting that response. ¡°What did I do wrong?¡±

    ¡°That is something you should ask her.¡± Nastin shot him a knowing glance before moving off to join the rest of the team.

    ¡®What the heck does that mean?¡¯ Chaser didn¡¯t have a single clue about what had just happened, so he decided to ask the person who¡¯d started it, ¡°Hey Grenda!¡±

    He turned to the archer and the ever-growing number of monster corpses left in her wake. One second she¡¯d been happily watching him fight Nastin and him fight and the next she was transforming mobs into porcupines.

    ¡®Heh. I¡¯m not the only one that¡¯s improved.¡¯ Chaser could see Grenda¡¯s aim had improved by leaps and bounds.

    Almost all of the monsters had arrows sticking out of their vitals.

    A lone creature that was shaped like a bipedal aardvark was next on Grenda¡¯s hit list as she killed the rest of its brethren. She had handled its companions so skillfully that it hadn¡¯t even noticed them dying. She was skirting around its detection range as she dealt with its allies.

    [Field Boss: Gharmon Level 47.]

    ¡°Okay-okay-okay.¡± Chaser took his chance to jump in front of the creature as Grenda circled it. ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡±

    Gharmon eyed him suspiciously as he came in close. It wasn¡¯t a particularly violent boss and only struck after it had been attacked first or if he detected his fellow mobs dying. But that meant nothing to Chaser as he bounded towards it with gusto.

    Until an arrow struck the ground in front of him.

    ¡°What the heck? Hey, Grenda, you¡¯re going for the wrong guy here!¡± Chaser jumped back even though he knew the arrows wouldn¡¯t hit him.

    ¡°No.¡± Grenda appeared behind him and when he turned his head he saw she was frowning. ¡°I want to take this guy on alone.¡±

    ¡°Alone?¡± Chaser wondered if he¡¯d misheard her.

    She definitely seemed serious, but they¡¯d encountered this field boss a few times and they always needed at least two people to fight against it. The aardvark was no joke, they all genuinely felt terrified when it charged at them with its two giant and clawed hands.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Grenda¡¯s short reply was followed by an arrow flying over Chaser¡¯s shoulder.

    It smacked into the field boss¡¯s eye and it immediately targeted the player nearest to it; Chaser.

    ¡°Ah damn it. Fine.¡± Chaser stepped back and leaped out of its way as it charged towards him with a roar.

    The sight of the monstrously huge creature created an intimidating image as it bounded towards him headfirst. With swift movements, he easily managed to back out of its range and he watched as Grenda drew its aggro by shooting it in the tail several times.

    ¡®Phew. That¡¯s going to be a tough one.¡¯

    Gharmon was an archer¡¯s natural enemy. His back was covered in matted fur and skin thick enough to stop arrows in their path. His huge claws and swift reactions also meant that unless it was unexpected, an arrow would simply be knocked out of the air when it tried to penetrate through his range.

    But Grenda wasn¡¯t an ordinary archer.

    -66

    -66

    -Blocked

    Three arrows were shot out of her bow and Chaser saw them shimmer and disappear as they whistled through the air towards the field boss. Two of them struck the side of its arm as it turned to face her. Gharmon¡¯s slanted eyes widened in surprise as the two arrows seemed to appear from thin air and smack into its arm but then it lifted its paw with a lightning-quick movement. Its claws smashed the last arrow out of thin air and the aardvark narrowed its eyes at Grenda.

    ¡°Damn it.¡± Chaser saw the archer muttering under her breath as Gharmon realised the trick behind her attacks and knocked the invisible arrows out of the air.

    Unfortunately, field boss NPCs were a little more intuitive than players when it came to predicting the path of the invisible arrows. They could easily see the arrow¡¯s path if they knew where to look. It had only taken a split second for Gharmon to work out what Grenda was doing.

    ¡®Okay, almost time to jump in.¡¯ Chaser hopped on his toes as he prepared to dash in and distract Gharmon.

    The moment that thing got near Grenda she would be in major trouble.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare,¡± Grenda called out to him as Gharmon began his charge.

    She leaped to the side as the field boss¡¯s massive frame destroyed the grass and dirt in the space she¡¯d just been standing in. It was so quick that if she¡¯d blinked it would have seemed like the monster had teleported to her. Luckily she was already used to its tactics. If she kept her distance she was sure she could avoid it. The only thing she had to watch out for was its constant charges that it used to close the distance between itself and its enemies. When charging it became almost impossible to hit it with an arrow because it covered its head with its claws and lowered its body to dash towards her. It also got faster with each charge it used.

    -66

    -Blocked

    -Blocked

    ¡°Tch.¡± Grenda fired off her invisible arrows at the area she¡¯d just been in, and the moment Gharmon appeared they slammed into its side, two bouncing off of its back. ¡°You¡¯re one tough bugger aren¡¯t you.¡±

    ¡°Veil of darkness.¡± Grenda pointed her bow at the aardvark and watched with a smile as it was covered in shadows that seemed to cling to the air around its eyes.

    She couldn¡¯t see through the veil unless she was directly inside the darkness herself, but she still knew where Gharmon would be if he was still positioned in the same place as before.

    ¡®Got you.¡¯ She fired arrow after arrow into the darkness.

    -66

    -66

    -Blocked

    ¡®Blocked?¡¯ Grenda¡¯s eyes widened as a shape came barreling out of the darkness and smashed into her.

    -77

    Grenda was blown back by the sudden charging attack and her eyes widened as she realised she would be helpless against a second charge once she hit the ground. It had adapted way too quickly for her to predict it. There was no way she could recover in time to dodge Gharmon if he sent another charge her way.

    She looked up as she finally hit the ground and saw Gharmon turning towards her with fury in his eyes. He lowered his body towards the ground and brought his claws up to protect his head as she readied to charge towards her again.

    ¡®Crap.¡¯

    But before the aardvark could begin his dash another player moved next to him and stabbed a sword into his side.

    -90

    -90

    ¡°Okay.¡± Chaser could feel a burst of trepidation as he saw the field boss up close. ¡°This guy is freaking huge.¡±

    Usually, he had a couple of other teammates helping him keep it distracted.

    The aardvark let out a guttural snarl as it swiveled towards him and smacked at him with a swinging paw. He lifted his sword to try and block the claws, but he instantly regretted his decision as the attack blew past his guard and threw him back several feet.

    ¡®Ugh.¡¯ He didn¡¯t know why Grenda insisted on fighting this thing by herself. ¡°Why the hell are you trying to fight this thing by yourself.¡±

    -66

    The archer replied by firing an arrow into the aardvark¡¯s chest as it prepared to strike again at Chaser. The slight hesitation the attack caused let the warrior jump out of its range and move up next to Grenda.

    Chaser dashed beside her as they both avoided Gharmon¡¯s charge. ¡°Hey. What¡¯s going on?¡±

    She was acting way too suspicious compared to her normal carefree attitude. But she didn¡¯t reply to him as they moved together from side to side and tried to swipe at Gharmon when they got the chance. His charges were becoming faster and faster.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Chaser pushed the archer out of the way of another charge. She was becoming slower as time went by.

    Grenda lifted herself up and fired into the hide of the field boss. ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Chaser¡¯s concern was immediately visible on his face as he heard her reply. ¡°Why? What¡¯s happening.¡±

    ¡°You said it yourself didn¡¯t you?¡± Grenda¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°I¡¯m the worst on the team.¡±

    ¡®Ah crap.¡¯ Chaser shuddered as he realised his big mouth had hurt his friend¡¯s feelings. He knew he had to learn to filter his thoughts and words.

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t mean-¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just that.¡± Grenda cut in as she shot more arrows at the aardvark and dodged another one of its charges. ¡°I mean, have you seen Gyro and Archy?¡±

    ¡°What? Those two?¡± Chaser tilted his head in confusion as he sliced his sword into Gharmon¡¯s hide. ¡°What about them?¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    ¡°They¡¯re so god damned skilled! That¡¯s what!¡± Grenda bristled in anger and her voice rose as she spoke. ¡°Do you even realise how hard it is being around those guys all the time?¡±

    ¡®It¡¯s not all the time.¡¯ Chaser thought glumly, but even he could see that this wasn¡¯t the time to correct her.

    ¡°Archy could probably hit a donkey¡¯s tail from a mile away and I don¡¯t even know what the hell Gyro is. I haven¡¯t hit him a single time because he knocks my invisible arrows out of the air with his own.¡± Her words seemed to drip venom and Chaser felt a chill run down his spine. She was feeling something a lot deeper than anger right now. ¡°That¡¯s not something humans should be able to do!¡±

    Chaser struck another blow into Gharmon¡¯s side and watched as the heavily injured creature swung from side to side groggily. They had almost finished it off.

    ¡°We¡¯re a team Grenda.¡± Chaser smiled at her as he saw how injured the monster was. ¡°We destroy Archy when he¡¯s in a team battle. And Gyro is just a freak.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Grenda sighed as she fired shot after shot into the aardvark, only for it to turn away from Chaser and block her arrows. ¡°I just feel so useless. If I was better...¡±

    ¡°Do you really want to get better?¡± Chaser stabbed his sword into Gharmon¡¯s side and watched the field boss cry out and fall to the ground, dead.

    ¡°Of course.¡± Grenda¡¯s head perked up as she walked towards the boss.

    ¡°Four months.¡± Chaser stepped onto the field boss¡¯s dead body and watched it disappear, revealing a green light. ¡°We have four months until the competition.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t honestly think I can catch up to those two in four months do you?¡± Grenda bent down and searched through the loot. ¡°I¡¯d have to be crazy to be so delusional.¡±

    ¡°Ha.¡± Chaser let out a dry laugh, a habit he¡¯d caught from Nastin. ¡°I know you can. You¡¯re the best archer in our country. And you¡¯re a girl that always overcomes whatever obstacle you¡¯re facing. I¡¯ve seen you do it dozens of times. What¡¯s one more?¡±

    ¡°Heh.¡± Grenda chuckled. ¡°You call that a motivating speech?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Chaser shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°Heh.¡± Grenda smiled and turned towards the rest of their team.

    ¡°Four months? I guess I can give it a try. Come on.¡±

    She motioned to Chaser to follow along.

    "We''ve got to go and say goodbye to Archy and the gang."

    ****

    Glacier, Nastin, and Blastar were sitting in a circle watching as Chaser and Grenda fought against Gharmon.

    ¡°So we¡¯re looking at three cities we can win against with ease.¡± Blastar sent them a version of his world map where he¡¯d marked out the cities in question. ¡°Marsh Lakes, Quelia, and Truen. All of them have successfully defended against several groups of challengers and the videos we received from the spies ¡±

    ¡°Heh, spies.¡± Glacier giggled as she repeated the word. ¡°Sounds so official. You can just say Emir.¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine.¡± Blastar smiled sheepishly. ¡°Emir filmed them all and their teams didn¡¯t seem too much to handle. Honestly, we should be able to take at least one of them out before the other groups stop concentrating on the bottom five. If we manage to secure a spot it¡¯ll be easier to focus on training for the competition.¡±

    ¡°Are we sure we want to secure a city so soon?¡± Glacier frowned as she considered the options being presented. ¡°What if we hold back until the final month of the competition to issue challenges? We shouldn¡¯t reveal all of our skills defending against constant waves of opponents.¡±

    ¡°If we can¡¯t hold a single city for that period of time perhaps we shouldn¡¯t be in the competition at all.¡± Nastin gently prodded himself into the conversation. ¡°We have never been shy of revealing our skills before.¡±

    ¡°And every time it¡¯s come back to bite us in the butt.¡± Glacier rebutted immediately. ¡°It would be a lot easier for us if we were to eliminate a team during the later months. We can see our opponent¡¯s abilities and give others less time to adapt to our own."

    Blastar looked at the two sheepishly before raising his hand. ¡°I agree with Glacier. ¡±

    The paladin of healing lowered his head as he looked away from Nastin but Glacier just rolled her eyes at his passive attitude. Nastin was clearly not going to get mad at Blastar no matter what the big man thought. She doubted Nastin was even capable of being angry.

    At least, she had never seen it.

    ¡°Very well.¡± Nastin couldn¡¯t fault her logic, but he was also dissatisfied.

    He believed that there was a lot to be gained by fighting against waves of challengers over and over. However, he trusted his team to make the best decisions, and he knew that he definitely wasn¡¯t the best tactician they had. He trusted Glacier and Blastar¡¯s decisions with all his heart.

    ¡°So, other than the constant practice and levelling, how do you propose we spend our time?¡± Nastin wanted to know the best course of action to win this competition.

    ¡°The libraries.¡± Glacier stated simply and she saw their eyes light up. ¡°How you two forgot about those I have no idea. But Third¡¯s information seems to indicate that we¡¯d grow far more powerful by putting ourselves inside those places long enough to learn key spells.¡±

    ¡°Aura step?¡± Blastar asked hopefully.

    He had been amazed by the use of the ability in the fight he¡¯d seen between Seven, Jein and Claire. But after a week of trying to master it, he hadn¡¯t even been able to gain the slightest glimmer of insight into the skill. He wasn¡¯t alone, Glacier had been increasingly frustrated as she tried to lift herself into the air, only to fall flat on her face.

    Chaser laughing at her in the background most times hadn¡¯t helped.

    They knew they weren¡¯t alone in it. Jein and Claire¡¯s popularity had led to the skill becoming widely known among the player base and not a day went by without a dozen attempts being posted online. People stepping into the air and failing to do anything had quickly grown into people jumping off of pedestals, and then players dying as they fell off of roofs and tried to force platforms to form underneath them.

    There were a lot of extremely confused NPCs watching the players and wondering what the hell they were thinking.

    In the end, the majority of players had given up. They already knew that Jein and Claire were geniuses beyond compare, and that led to them easily putting aside their dignity to praise the girls for their accomplishment. Many videos ended in the player being recorded dedicating it to the professionals.

    Glacier doubted the girls even watched them.

    ¡°Maybe in the fighter¡¯s guild library.¡± Glacier shook her head. ¡°But definitely not on the first floor of the magi guild.¡±

    ¡°Ha. Good.¡± Nastin¡¯s eyes shone. ¡°That thing is going to be a pain to deal with. I¡¯m going to compare notes with Seven and see if I can find any weaknesses.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re going to fight with her again?¡± Glacier¡¯s eyes seemed to light up in mischief. ¡°How many times is that this week?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to fight with her tonight,¡± Nastin admitted.

    He immediately regretted it as he saw the look in Glacier and Blastar¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°That isn¡¯t what I asked and you know it.¡± Glacier didn¡¯t push him too far, but Nastin could tell she would have more words for him later on.

    ¡°Ha.¡± Nastin¡¯s eyes shifted from side to side. ¡°I like your plan. But I still think we should set up a few scrims. Against actual professional players. I know they will see their skills, but we can¡¯t allow ourselves to get rusty or fall behind.¡±

    As much as he hated to admit it, Seven and her team weren¡¯t professionals. They were fine as individuals in duels but as a team, they still lacked the coherence necessary to combat Dark Horse and provide them with a challenge.

    ¡°Maybe things would change once Third rejoins them,¡± Blastar suggested hopefully, but even he knew that they would still have to move on from that team.

    ¡°That monster.¡± Nastin¡¯s expression turned glum.

    The wizard had spent the last two weeks inside the Library. He didn¡¯t know what skills Third had found but he sincerely doubted that they were weak. The man had a sharp mind and a sense for battle. Even when taking into account the monsters that were Archy, TidalWave, and Seven, he was probably the most dangerous of the team.

    One of Dark Horse¡¯s biggest obstacles.

    ¡°Do you think you can get anyone to scrim with us?¡± Glacier put aside her thoughts of Third in favor of addressing the most pressing matter. ¡°I doubt a single player will accept our request.

    Dark Horse had a terrible reputation in the professional scene.

    There were quite a few things that determine whether or not professional teams would accept your request to practice with them. One, of course, was how well the team knew you. If you had a good reputation or solid skills then the teams would fall over themselves trying to scrim against you. However, if you lack either of these things they would have to begin the difficult process of convincing the teams that you weren¡¯t just wasting their time.

    Dark Horse had neither the reputation nor the skill to entice others.

    They were all magnificently skilled players when it came to the average joe. Maybe even the most hardcore of non-professional players wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat them.

    But the professional teams were different.

    They were the veterans and skilled players that had risen above millions of others to earn their place. Even among the worst of these teams, Dark Horse had always lagged behind. Nastin was sure that not a single player in the professional teams had a rare class linked to the original five classes. His team had two. Just this disparity showed the difference between their team and the others.

    ¡°I¡¯ll find a way.¡± Nastin clenched his fist but was certain in his words. ¡°I¡¯ll convince teams to scrim with us.¡±

    Then his body shuddered as he felt a hand unexpectedly clamp onto his shoulder.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go shouldering all this by yourself.¡± Blastar smiled at Nastin. ¡°We will find teams to scrim with. And spells to use. Third has already given us quite the advantage in that area.¡±

    He nudged his head towards Glacier. She¡¯d been in contact with her fellow wizard for almost the entire two week period he¡¯d spent inside the library. She knew he¡¯d been cataloging every spell and he¡¯d been nice enough to give her his list.

    It was extremely extensive.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Glacier grinned. ¡°Well, we should go and say our goodbyes now. You just concentrate on having fun with Seven.¡±

    ¡°Bah.¡±

    Nastin waved his hand dismissively at her provocation.

    ¡°You and your imagination.¡±

    ****

    ¡°So what? You¡¯re just going to head out like that?¡±

    Nastin could hear Archy¡¯s angry voice rising in volume as he confronted someone nearby.

    [Gyro: Level 48]

    ¡°Yes.¡± Gyro nodded in reply. ¡°This is my job.¡±

    ¡°Argh.¡± Archy grabbed his cheeks as he grew angrier. ¡°Do you know how hard it¡¯s going to be to find someone to practice with? Why do you even need to go now? Your team isn¡¯t going to be touched by anyone.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t lying. Jein and Ji-Woo¡¯s city remained one of the least challenged throughout the entire world of Zodiac Online. The two were simply too skilled for any teams to face head-on. The rest of the professional teams preferred to fight against opponents that wouldn¡¯t force them to reveal all of their skills to win. After the Koreans had been joined by their two other team members they hadn¡¯t received a single challenge.

    Gyro was the last of the Koreans to join up with the main team.

    ¡°Ha. I knew you two would grow closer.¡± Nastin smiled as he drew in close to the two. ¡°You already can¡¯t bear to be away from each other.

    ¡°Bah.¡± ¡°Please stop.¡±

    Archy and Gyro took a step back from each other in disgust at Nastin¡¯s words.

    ¡°Seven¡¯s over there by the way.¡± Archy shot back loudly at Nastin with a laugh as he pointed conspicuously at a spot in the plains where Seven and IEatTortillas were fighting each other.

    ¡°Ha. All of you guys are in on it.¡± Nastin shook his head as he thought of Glacier and Blaster. ¡°Gyro has only been staying because he wishes to learn all of your skills before he leaves.¡±

    ¡°Low blow!¡± Gyro protested but Nastin had already walked off towards Seven.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Archy laughed at Gyro¡¯s expression. ¡°Damn right. You know how good I am.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Gyro didn¡¯t deny it. ¡°It¡¯s just a pity that four months won¡¯t be nearly enough time for you to catch up to my level of skill.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah? Well-¡±

    Nastin chuckled as he heard Archy going off on another rant. Those two had grown a lot by fighting each other. But it was nothing compared to how much the girl he was approaching had grown.

    She was a terrifying person.

    ¡°Nastin.¡± Seven waved at him with a warm smile on her face, and her friend revived to the side while rolling her eyes at her defeat. ¡°You came at just the right time.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Nastin tilted his head curiously. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Seven lifted her wand with a twinkle in her eye. ¡°I¡¯ve finally figured it out.¡±

    ¡°?¡± Nastin didn¡¯t reply with words and instead shot her a confused look.

    ¡°I mean.¡± Seven hesitated but then steeled herself. ¡°I¡¯m finally going to beat you.¡±

    ¡°Ho.¡± Nastin let out a long breath.

    ¡°Okay then.¡±

    He grinned and brought out his sword.

    ¡°Show me.¡±

    ****

    It was a battle they''d replayed dozens of times over the past weeks.

    "Magic blast."

    Nastin dodged dozens of magic blasts as they rained down second after second. There was a slight delay between casting that he had long grown accustomed to, but now it was slightly different. These magic blasts fired down at him from all angles. And above him floating in the air calmly was Seven. He couldn''t even touch her.

    [Aura step]

    The skill that hundreds of players had tried to learn since seeing it used in the placement match that she''d fought in. Every single one of them had tried and failed. Even Glacier, a player he knew was skilled enough to reach the professional level, was struggling to learn it.

    ''Do you even realise how much of a genius you are?'' Nastin smirked as the thought crossed his mind.

    He knew she had absolutely no idea.

    "Now this is a problem." He called out to her with a grin.

    He couldn''t get near her. But she could still fire on him. It was a conundrum he knew he would have to overcome sooner rather than later if he was going to fight against the monsters that would appear in the competition.

    He watched the magic blasts spiraling down from the sky towards him and moved out of the way with a grin.

    -106

    -106

    -106

    ''Ah?'' His eyes widened in confusion. ''What hit me?''

    He hadn''t seen a single magicblast pass by his defenses.

    ''A new skill?'' His mind raced with possibilities.

    "You didn''t think I''d spent all week sitting on my butt did you?" Seven came down from the air with a grin and stuck her hand out at him as he revived. "Gimme my item."

    "Ha." Nastin chuckled, and then it turned into infectious laughter as he realised what had happened.

    He had lost. and he hadn''t even been able to register how it had happened.

    "A goodbye present." Nastin''s grin widened as he handed one of his precious green-ranked items to her.

    A pair of gloves that raised control.

    He''d been saving them in his inventory for quite a while.

    "You''re leaving?" Seven looked dissatisfied. "This isn''t another one of your jokes is it?"

    She didn''t accept the item and instead took a step back as she scrutinised Nastin from top to bottom. She was trying to see if he was playing some sort of trick on her. But every part of him looked deadly serious.

    "Ha." Nastin could read her like a book, she was not happy. "Only for four months."

    Despite his words he couldn''t help feel a tinge of sadness. Who knew how much she''d change in four months. She was already so monstrous compared to when he''d first met her. It was a shame to have to leave such a genius behind and not be able to witness her progression any longer.

    "WHAT?" Seven looked at him incredulously. "Four months? That''s insane!"

    "That''s when the competition is." Nastin''s fingers curled into a fist at the thought. "It''s our job. We need to practice."

    "So practice against us." Seven smiled and waved her wand. "I just kicked your butt didn''t I?"

    Nastin looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "I can''t do that."

    "Why not?" Seven''s confusion was clear on her face.

    She didn''t want him to just suddenly cut off all contact.

    "Seven," Nastin smiled at her. "You do realise we are a professional team, yes?"

    "Yep." Seven nodded.

    "And you are participating in the competition we are, yes?"

    "Yep." Seven continued nodding, understanding spreading over her features. "Wait, are you saying..."

    "Yes." Nastin grinned as she finally caught on. "You are our enemy. So we can''t possibly continue practicing against your team."

    Seven''s expression froze and she slowly began to shake her head.

    "That''s not fair. We''re not even a professional team," She refused to accept his words. "That just means we''re free all the time! We''re not your enemy. We probably won''t even make it past the first round. And that''s if another team doesn''t take our pla-"

    "I am the one that made the decision to stop dueling your team." Nastin interrupted her with a smile. "And nothing you say will convince me to change my mind."

    "What?" Seven couldn''t keep the shock off her face. "Why?"

    "Because," Nastin walked forward, gently pushing the gloves into her hands and took a step back. "I sincerely believe that your team will make it to the competition. And once you are there you will be one of our greatest enemies. Not just the first few rounds. I believe you have the ability to make it to the top. So as the captain of our team I have made the decision to stop dueling against you so that you will not learn our weaknesses. You are simply far too big of a threat for me to allow that to happen."

    Seven could see that he was deadly serious.

    "I-" Seven hesitated as she saw his expression.

    She knew him well enough to see that he''d made his final decision.

    "Thanks. Not just- Not just for the duels." She took a deep breath. "Thanks for always taking me seriously," She said after a momentary silence. "We''ll definitely meet up again. Right?"

    "Of course." Nastin nodded with a smile, "Just because I''m not going to be around that doesn''t change the fact that you kicked my butt."

    Nastin grinned as he saw his team waiting for him in the distance to end the conversation.

    "Four months."

    Nastin''s expression turned serious as moved to join with his team.

    "And then I''ll return the favour."

 Book 2 Side Story 2: Violet.

    Trial by fire.

    Violet gazed down at the newest group of challengers with a smile. This is what she¡¯d been searching for. An endless series of opponents to fight and temper herself against. Each fight bringing her skills closer and closer to perfection.

    ¡°One of you?¡± The man at the head of the group frowned as he saw Violet walk forward. ¡°This is a team match. We specifically requested to challenge for four spots. You do know that if you lose, we¡¯ll automatically get your four spots right?¡±

    Violet flicked her hand and almost instantly her rapier appeared in her palm. She didn¡¯t need to speak to send a clear message to the group that she wanted to fight.

    ¡°Haa.¡± The man shook his head in pity. ¡°Fine. Have it your way.¡±

    The four players spread out and Violet scanned them all as they brought out their weapons.

    One magic user.

    One archer.

    Two swordsmen.

    They seemed confident in their skills but in her eyes; They were nothing compared to some of the others that had challenged her team. Each of them had created a distance from one another so that they could avoid blocking each other¡¯s line of sight and the two front-liners were quickly closing in on her. The one closest to her raised his sword and brought it down straight into her head.

    Only to hit thin air.

    Violet had already disappeared as she darted forward, quickly leaving the two close-ranged fighters behind as she appeared in front of the magic user.

    -77

    ¡°Giga bl-¡±

    -77

    The magic user¡¯s eyes widened in surprise as a rapier stabbed into her body repeatedly. She hadn¡¯t even been able to get out a single spell before her body collapsed onto the ground, limp and lifeless.

    ¡°Oh shit.¡± The archer swore as Violet turned her head towards him and he gazed into her bloodthirsty eyes.

    They were telling him that she was coming for him next.

    -77

    -77

    ¡°Fir-¡± The archer¡¯s voice cut off as Violet seemed to move like a blur and he felt steel stabbing into him.

    The two swordsmen broke out in chills as they saw their archer turning into a corpse. The girl that had bounded towards him was looking at them with disappointment in her eyes. She hadn¡¯t even broken a sweat before killing two of their team members.

    The two warriors shot each other a glance and nodded as they came up with a plan¡­

    ¡­ A few seconds later Violet smiled as the final body hit the ground and she gained a small portion of experience.

    It wasn¡¯t enough to make up for a lack of farming but enough that the fight wasn¡¯t completely time-wasting. She knew that it had been taken directly out of her challenger¡¯s experience points as a price for their loss. And she could even see a glowing white light on the ground where the final player had died.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t even need to be here.¡± A shadow warped by her side and Violet smiled as Attracting revealed himself to her.

    The other team hadn¡¯t even noticed him moving inside the arena the entire time. She didn¡¯t blame them; She could barely spot him even when she was actively looking for him. Behind him, she could see something slithering in the darkness and she shuddered. She didn¡¯t know when he¡¯d done it but somehow the priest seemed to have acquired quite a powerful follower. She hadn¡¯t seen it in action yet but she didn¡¯t doubt it was horrifyingly strong.

    Attracting noticed her looking over his shoulder and grinned. ¡°It¡¯s no corruptor, but it¡¯ll do.¡± He turned to look at the corpses and the items they¡¯d left behind. ¡°Are you enjoying this?¡±

    He went over to pick up the items as they talked. All the loot was gold coins as per the challenge fee. If the challengers lost their fight, then they also lost a substantial amount of gold. Violet and Attracting rushed to pick it up and quickly get back into position. They didn¡¯t have much time before the next challenge. Technically, they didn¡¯t have to spend all of their time fighting but Violet insisted on it.

    She was having the time of her life.

    ¡°I guess I shouldn¡¯t even have asked.¡± Attracting chuckled as he saw her content expression. ¡°You know you don¡¯t have to fight all of them. Vengeance is dying from boredom over there.¡±

    Attracting looked up at the stands where a large man with an equally large sword was tapping his feet impatiently. Violet waved at him and he gave her a thumbs up. He¡¯d clearly been watching the fight from the beginning to the end.

    ¡°Fine, fine.¡± Violet had already taken on five challenging teams today alone. ¡°I can¡¯t believe they¡¯re just throwing all this money into our laps.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, well, we¡¯re prime targets. Though the word is getting out that we¡¯re not as easy to hit as the other cities.¡± Attracting¡¯s smile grew wider at those words.

    ¡°Damn it.¡± Violet sighed, she liked the constant challenges.

    She was still trying to regain the feelings she¡¯d had from when she fought against TidalWave. Every fight she went through seemed to get her closer to an opponent that would provide her with the same feeling of satisfaction and challenge. She also improved herself as she went along, but she could feel it in her heart that TidalWave was improving just as quickly.

    ¡°Finally!¡± Vengeance teleported into the arena the moment Attracting sent him the request. ¡°You took on four people each time, right?¡± He turned to Violet. ¡°Then I guess I¡¯ll have to aim for five!¡±

    ¡°Haha.¡± Violet laughed at his excitement. ¡°Just try not to lose us our spots.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure he won¡¯t.¡± Attracting disappeared back into the shadows as he spoke, and soon they could barely see him. ¡°But we¡¯ve got a lot more people lining up to fight us.¡±

    Violet could respect the system they¡¯d set up. Each team that held a participation spot had to accept a minimum of four challenges a day. The only exception was if there weren¡¯t that many challenges issued. If they simply logged out for a week and didn¡¯t bother to fight anyone, the city would kick them off the team and they¡¯d have to challenge whoever won the right to the new spot. Each challenger had to have reached a certain level threshold which continued to rise every week and the challengers would pay a fairly hefty sum of gold coins and even give up a part of their experience if they lost. It was the system¡¯s way of weeding out the participants that weren¡¯t serious.

    Once you lost a challenge, you couldn''t issue another to any city team for another two weeks.

    It was enough gold that teams could only afford to fight once or twice before running out. So unless they were rich and dumb Attracting knew that few fought every two weeks. In fact, most of the participating 49 teams hadn¡¯t received enough challenges to fit their daily quota. A lot of potential participants preferred to wait until the final few weeks so that they could practice and train as much as possible without the constant worry of being challenged or supplanted.

    For Violet and her team, their challenges were far more frequent. The reason for that being that they were the team that came dead last in the placement matches. They had been barraged by players trying to challenge them and they had accepted every single one of them. Most of them were players that thought they¡¯d gain their fifteen minutes of fame by being a city representative until someone stronger came along and kicked them out. These were the weaker ones that Violet encountered.

    The stronger ones were the ones genuinely interested in the strategic side of representing Taehra.

    ¡®It all worked out how you promised.¡¯ Violet set her eyes on Attracting¡¯s blurry figure as a teleport spell sent her back to the Underground farming area she¡¯d been in before accepting the challenges.

    The moment new players challenged her the wizards of the city would offer their services to teleport her into the Taehra arena, so she didn¡¯t have to stick around all day inside the city waiting for challengers. This also meant that her friends could teleport into the battle and take part in it on her behalf. The only risk was that she would lose her spot if her team lost the fight. But Attracting never seemed to let them fight more than they could chew.

    She had to admit, Attracting definitely lived up to his side of the bargain. He¡¯d promised her an endless stream of opponents to fight and now she had that. He¡¯d also promised her and the team a shot at the toughest opponents they could find.

    In four months, she intended to cash in on that promise.

    The five lowest-ranking teams in the placement match competition had been given a single power by Hein Haster as a means for them to ¡®catch up¡¯ in the second part of the tournament.

    Each and every single one of those teams could choose their opponents for the first round of the tournament. Whether they avoided the top ranking teams or even intentionally confronted them, they were to be given first pick of opponents.

    It was quite a tempting power to have.

    ¡®He seems kind. But I bet he knew what he was doing.¡¯ Violet smirked as she remembered the man¡¯s expression and words.

    He¡¯d acted as though he was giving the lowest-ranked teams a favour, but he had only sealed their doom from the moment he¡¯d made the announcement. Each of the five lowest-ranked cities given the power to choose had been charged by a hoard of eager challengers.

    Most of the original players weren¡¯t even there after a single day.

    She¡¯d even heard that some players had sold their spots instead of trying to fight the masses head-on. For the first three months, each player could voluntarily give up their spot to another player if both players reached the required level threshold. This was apparently so that everyone could get their affairs in order or decide whether they really wanted to participate. However, the mandatory four challenges per day meant that even if an unskilled player bought their way into the team and avoided most of the players, someone who was actually skilled would soon supplant them.

    But all of that meant nothing to Violet and her team.

    Attracting had told them outright the moment Hein made the announcement that if they wanted to, he would abandon the city team spot so that they could train and come back in a few months to challenge the city again. Every single member of the team had outright rejected the suggestion.

    If they lost out it would be because they lost a match, not because they had run away. Violet could tell that Attracting was expecting them to respond that way. He hadn¡¯t even flinched at their decision and had instead brought out a series of plans on how they would train. Each using the challengers to hone their skills.

    ¡®Ah man.¡¯ Violet looked around and saw that there were a few players milling about her surroundings.

    She had spent so much time accepting challenges that other players had caught up to her areas.

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    She brought her rapier out and ran towards the nearest mob.

    ¡°Time to leave these guys in the dust.¡±

    ****

    Violet stretched her arms out and yawned the moment she exited the virtual reality capsule.

    It was a relaxing experience.

    She grabbed her crutches and began to make her way downstairs. She didn¡¯t care if her mother or dad were there, she still had to eat.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re up.¡± A cold voice called out to her the moment she made it down the last step.

    ¡°Hi.¡± Violet turned to see her mother in a lovely black dress, putting on a couple of lavish earrings to complete a very elegant and expensive-looking ensemble.

    Clearly her mother was going out and hadn¡¯t bothered to mention it to her.

    Violet¡¯s mother saw her staring. ¡°I¡¯m entertaining some very important guests at dinner tonight.¡±

    ¡®Ah.¡¯ Violet knew those words.

    They were code for ¡®make yourself scarce and unseeable.¡¯

    ¡°Here?¡±

    Violet looked around at the dirty kitchen and the small pile of beer cans her dad had left lying around. It didn¡¯t seem like the ideal place to hold a dinner party.

    ¡°No.¡± Violet¡¯s mother sniffed in disdain at the sight of the kitchen. ¡°Damn drunkard left a hell of a mess. We¡¯ll be going out today.¡±

    *Knock* *Knock*

    ¡°That¡¯s probably them now.¡± Violet¡¯s mother raised her hand towards her and gestured for her to move back upstairs. ¡°Get back to your room now. We¡¯ll be talking downstairs for a bit, the usual pow wow.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to open this door or do I have to break it down myself?¡± A playful female voice broke through to them as the knocking continued.

    ¡®Huh?¡¯ Violet could faintly remember hearing that voice somewhere.

    But she couldn¡¯t quite put her finger on it.

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Violet¡¯s mother checked through the door¡¯s peephole with a flourish, ¡°What do you think you¡¯re...Patty?¡±

    Her mother unlocked the door hesitantly but tried to block the entrance with her body so that nobody could get through.

    Violet gaped as a gaudily dressed woman covered in a jacket and raincoat bounded past her mother¡¯s guard and squeezed a load of water out of her raincoat and onto the carpet. ¡°Daedrie honey! Show a little love to your big sis and give me a hug.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t-¡± Violet¡¯s mother tried to take a step back as the newcomer swept her in a bear hug, water dripping off of her and onto Daedrie¡¯s dress. ¡°Ugh. God damn it Patty you can¡¯t just walk in here soaking wet and dripping all over my floor.¡±

    ¡°Oh good, you have got eyes.¡± Violet¡¯s eyes grew wide as the newcomer took off her soaked raincoat and jacket and passed them onto her mother, who looked like she was going to explode or run away, possibly both. ¡°It¡¯s pouring out there. Be a darl and put those away for me, please."

    Daedrie looked in shock at the clothes dripping over her ensemble. ¡°I-¡±

    ¡°Thanks, dear.¡± Patricia pushed Daedrie to the side and with a smile turned towards Violet, who¡¯d forgotten to hide in time. ¡°Ah, and you must be Violet! Gosh, it¡¯s been years if it¡¯s been a day.¡±

    ¡®Ah.¡¯ Violet tried to move back as she suddenly felt like a tornado had set its sight on her. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Patricia stopped in her tracks as she saw Violet¡¯s confused expression, and then she swerved back to Daedrie who was soaking wet and still holding the soggy clothes. ¡°Good lord Daedrie, you didn¡¯t tell her about me? What were you thinking.¡±

    ¡°I was thinking-¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Patricia immediately interrupted her sister and Violet smothered a laugh. ¡°You have no idea what we¡¯re talking about. I¡¯m your dear aunt. But you can call me Patty. All the family does.¡±

    ¡°Family?¡± Violet choked the single word out.

    ¡®My mum has a sister?¡¯

    ¡°Obviously I inherited the good looks of the family.¡± Patricia flicked her hair back with a cheeky smile and Violet couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°Oh gosh it¡¯s been so long.¡± She lowered her hands until they were a few centimeters apart. ¡°You were about this big when I last time I held you.¡± She scanned Violet from top to bottom and grinned. ¡°I could probably still carry you if I wanted to. Oh my, where are my manners.¡±

    Patricia stepped up to Violet until they were both staring at each other in the eyes and lifted her hand out. ¡°Patricia. Delighted to meet you.¡±

    Violet looked at the outstretched hand and then to her mother whose head was getting lower further by the second. She had guilt written all over her face. Confusion and surprise were spreading through Violet¡¯s body as she saw the jovial woman in front of her waiting patiently for a handshake.

    ¡°I have an aunt?¡±

    ****

    ¡°Oh my! Oh no! This won¡¯t do at all.¡±

    Violet watched her aunt moving like a busy mosquito across her room as she examined every little thing that Violet hadn''t tied down. Somehow she¡¯d convinced Violet to bring out all of her photos. Violet didn¡¯t even know how to say no to the woman, every single second seemed to be swept up into oblivion as Patricia went from one thing to the next.

    ¡°Dear, you have absolutely no pictures of yourself around here. I can¡¯t possibly catch up with you if I don¡¯t even know what I missed out on.¡± Patricia hummed happily as she poked through Violet¡¯s desk and side table.

    ¡°Oh ho.¡± Her eyes sparkled as she found herself staring at the virtual reality capsule. ¡°Well, isn¡¯t this a beauty?¡± She turned to Violet. ¡°I don¡¯t like it.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Violet felt her temper flare up slightly as her capsule was insulted.

    She spent more time in there than she did in her bed.

    ¡°Old cars are beauties too but I don¡¯t use one to get around. You need the latest model.¡± Patricia slapped her hand against the capsule. ¡°I know a guy. Several actually.¡± She winked at Violet. ¡°I¡¯ll get one shipped in this week. Top of the range. No more little delays between those pesky brainwaves and the device.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Violet¡¯s expression turned softer as she registered the words her ¡®aunt¡¯ was firing off at her.

    The woman had the vocal capacity of a mini-gun and the attention span of a goldfish.

    ¡°Oh yes, yes. You need the best stuff if you¡¯re going to be playing.¡± Patricia turned to Violet with a twinkle in her eyes. ¡°Oh but I¡¯m probably confusing the hell out of you now. I do tend to ramble on when I¡¯m excited.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I can tell.¡± Violet didn¡¯t know what to say to the woman. ¡°So where do we start? Um, hi. I¡¯m Violet.¡±

    At her words, Patricia let out a large guffaw and grinned, ¡°We don¡¯t need to start that far down dear. Let¡¯s start in the middle. A very good place to start if I do say so myself. Here, take a look at this.¡±

    Patricia patted down her pockets until she found what she was looking for. A large phone that was encrusted in sparkling glitter and other objects.

    ¡®Hang on.¡¯ Violet¡¯s eyes widened as she saw the phone.

    If she looked past the glitter and other stuff ruining it, this was the kind of device that cost a couple of thousand dollars. It was top of the line stuff, brand new as well.

    ¡®Holy crap.¡¯

    ¡°Yes, yes. It¡¯s all very shiny and nice. But more importantly, I received a very interesting video a couple of days ago.¡± Patrice passed it to Violet. ¡°I don¡¯t know the sender, but I¡¯m glad they brought this to my attention.¡±

    Violet kept her mouth zipped as she took the phone.

    She hadn¡¯t even known she had an aunt and now a single video had convinced the woman to visit?

    If she''d had an aunt, why did she allow Violet to live under such horrible conditions?

    She looked at the search page her aunt had opened up and she let out a breath of air. It was the battle between herself and TidalWave. The placement match had caused quite a stir in the online community, and debates as to which of the two players was better was rampant.

    Violet didn¡¯t even have to play the video to know what it looked like. She could see it all in her mind. Every single frame and second of the fight. Every movement memorised because she had gone through them a hundred times, searching for a weakness in his defenses she could exploit.

    ¡°Oh yes.¡± Patricia¡¯s voice turned deeper and Violet looked up to see her leaning in closely. ¡°I recognise that look. We all get it, you know, when we find ourselves wanting to improve. That incessant need to reach the top. The best trait in the family if you ask me. Your grandfather passed it on to me, and I see somehow it skipped your mother and went straight to you.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡± Violet tilted her head in confusion. ¡°A single video let you know I exist?¡± Violet decided to tackle one confusing issue at a time. ¡°How did you even know that was me if you haven¡¯t seen me since I was a baby?¡±

    ¡°Well it was obvious,¡± Patricia smiled. ¡°Do you know that you¡¯re the spitting image of your mother when she was younger?¡± She let out a chuckle at Violet¡¯s expression. ¡°Before all the plastic surgery of course. My god I almost had a heart attack from shock when I saw you. I thought your stuffy old mother had finally gone insane and started playing video games.¡±

    Violet felt like a cold hand had squeezed her heart through her chest at those words. She didn¡¯t want to be associated at all with her mother.

    ¡°Oh come now, she¡¯s still your mother.¡± Patricia¡¯s smile slipped a bit as she saw Violet¡¯s reaction. ¡°Besides, you didn¡¯t even change your name. Little Violet will always be Violet I suppose.¡±

    Patricia laughed gaily and clapped her hands together. ¡°Well now, that¡¯s all in the past. But let¡¯s talk about the future. Tell me, do you know why I¡¯m suddenly coming out of thin air to greet you?¡±

    Violet paused as hurricane Patricia took a break and stared at her expectantly. ¡°Because¡­ you saw me playing the game and really wanted to come and say hi?¡±

    ¡°Good lord no.¡± Patricia shot down her guess immediately. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to say hi to you. Your mother just kept getting in the way, and I suppose family does have to respect family.¡±

    ¡°They do?¡± Violet couldn¡¯t imagine her mother following those rules.

    That woman definitely didn¡¯t respect her family. Violet hadn¡¯t even known her aunt existed until now. She wasn¡¯t even sure that this was the only sibling her mother had.

    ¡®Oh god, what if I have cousins?¡¯ Violet was starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

    ¡°Relax, relax.¡± Patricia smiled gently and slowed down her pace as she saw Violet¡¯s emotions roiling over her face. ¡°What I¡¯m trying to say is that I have finally found a reason to barge my way in here and get to know you. But make no mistake little Violet¡± Patricia took a deep breath and Violet could tell she was deadly serious. ¡°I have always wanted to see you. You are a precious family member after all.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Thank you.¡± Violet could tell her aunt meant every word. ¡°But then, why did you come now?¡±

    ¡°Oh that. Haa¡± Patricia let out a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m actually here to extend an invitation. Of course, I wanted to be the one to come and pick you up, but the only reason I¡¯m here despite your mother¡¯s wishes is that she got overruled.¡±

    ¡°Overruled?¡±

    As far as she knew her mother was just an ordinary socialite. But suddenly Violet was starting to doubt the facts that she knew.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Patricia¡¯s words finally registered to Violet. ¡°What invitation?¡±

    ¡°Why dear, I thought you¡¯d never ask.¡±

    Patricia¡¯s grin widened.

    ¡°Tell me, how would you like to meet your grandfather?¡±

    ****

    Greiche Financial.

    Andrew stared at the two words he¡¯d typed into the search engine with a smile. It was one of the biggest companies in the world, with international branches and more employees than anyone could count. If he asked anyone in the financial industry what success was, they would point to Greiche Financial. It was prestigious, reputable and had a long history. It was said that to be born as part of the family that owned Greiche would set you up for a hundred lifetimes.

    And the family that owned it was Violet¡¯s.

    Andrew had taken a lot of careful precautions to get that video to Violet¡¯s aunt. It wasn¡¯t easy to contact her without alerting anyone to his identity. He had gone through so many loops that he was certain that nobody could trace the message back to him. Even if it was harmless he didn¡¯t really want to be caught up in something bigger than he could handle.

    He¡¯d actually made his decision to send the video the moment he saw TidalWave and Violet¡¯s fight. At first he had wrestled with the idea of not sending the video at all, in fact, he even considered simply allowing the natural course of events to happen, with Violet not discovering the secret of her family¡¯s origin for another three years.

    In his previous life, it had been their introduction into her life that had sent her into a spiral of complacency that had eventually resulted in her losing her top spot in Zodiac Online. TidalWave was definitely strong, but he had never motivated himself enough to beat Violet in her prime. Only once she¡¯d slipped up in the comfort of her new and lavish lifestyle did he have a real chance. But Andrew had sent the video even at the risk of losing Violet as a teammate.

    After all, he wasn¡¯t a monster who only cared about results.

    Violet¡¯s living situation had caused a giant uproar when it had been revealed in his time. The top player of Zodiac Online was living with an abusive mother and alcoholic father. It was no wonder she wanted to spend all of her time playing a video game, she wasn¡¯t even allowed to leave the house most days if her mother didn¡¯t want her to. Internet news sites had reported on the situation, that was how big Zodiac Online had become even in its early years.

    And that¡¯s how Violet¡¯s family discovered the horrid conditions she¡¯d been living in.

    ¡°Haa. God damn it.¡± Andrew couldn¡¯t help but feel sad at the fact that he could just have sabotaged his chances of having one of the strongest players in the game on his side.

    He trusted the other three players with all his heart, they were all close friends or strong players in the past. But she was special even among them. They could defend the team spot until the competition. She guaranteed that they could win the entire thing.

    Greiche Financial was a huge company, but it was the family behind it that was influential. The owner, Howard Greiche, had inherited it in his youth, a single, struggling company that nobody wanted to piss on, let alone support. But with his iron will and undying determination, he had raised it from the ground up and made it the giant it was today. In fact, there was only really one stain in the entire history of Greiche.

    Daedrie Greiche. Even before she¡¯d had Violet, she¡¯d been a horrible person. Andrew didn¡¯t know the exact details, but someone had kicked her out of the family. And in return, she demanded that they have nothing to do with her again. She had even changed her name so that nobody would recognise her any more.

    However, once the family heard about Violet¡¯s situation they had interfered no matter what Daedrie wanted. They were content to leave the girl alone if it meant not causing issues that could hurt her. After all, family squabbles could get messy. But that had been under the assumption that she was living in a loving home.

    Luckily, Andrew had only needed to send the video. Greiche Financial was one of the first companies to invest heavily in Zodiac Online and they had been watching everything progress with satisfaction. Of course, the main family didn¡¯t watch the game personally. That was why he had to send the video to one of them himself. But the fact that they¡¯d now uncovered that one of their family members was skilled enough to frighten professionals had gotten them interested, and their information gathering skills had made them aware of Violet¡¯s living conditions within a couple of days.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Andrew turned back to his computer with a smile. ¡°Let¡¯s see who I want on the team.¡±

    If he couldn¡¯t have Violet, he would still try and find someone suitably skilled. He racked his brain for names as he opened up the official game forums. Then a single blinking red notification caught his attention.

    Someone had sent a message to Attracting.

    ¡®Hmm?¡¯

    Andrew opened the message and his eyes widened.

    [Hello Attracting. This is an official invitation to come and join me, Howard Greiche, at a party being hosted in celebration of our returning family member, Violet Greiche. I do hope you¡¯ll join us. We¡¯ve been very interested in your progress in Zodiac Online. So I believe we have much to talk about. Please find the details attached to this message.]

    And underneath it was a single line.

    [Ps. Thank you for sending us that video.]

    ''Hmm.'' Andrew didn''t know what to make of the message.

    For all his knowledge, all his confidence and his strategies, Greiche was a giant far beyond him. They were a titan in the real world, and the people that ran it were all monsters. If this had been his previous life, then he would never have a single hope of running into any of them. But now things were different.

    This was something he hadn¡¯t planned.

 Book 2 Side Story 3: Lightning & Ice

    Ji-Woo did a double-take as he walked into Jein¡¯s room. Clothing and makeup littered the floor. Posters and motivational quotes were pounded into the walls. And the faint aroma of a flower swept through him. But even if he could ignore the mess, he had to blink a dozen times before he registered the strange sight before him. Confronting him was a girl holding a book in one hand and writing words down with the other. Something uncommon and fear-inducing even to his highly trained mind.

    Jein was studying.

    Ji-Woo felt a wry smile as he thought about what would happen if her fans caught sight of her reading while she chewed on a pen. This wasn¡¯t the Jein that a global audience adored on the big screen. This was the totally unashamed and messy ball of gluttony that threatened to absorb his team¡¯s entire budget with her food costs.

    Of course, he wouldn¡¯t trade in his gaming partner for any other in the world.

    ¡°Jein.¡± Ji-Woo approached her cautiously, eyeing the book she held in her hands and spotting a French title. ¡°Did you hit your head recently?¡±

    Jein jolted at his words and he grinned guiltily. It was rare for Jein to get so deeply stuck into a book that she lost track of her surroundings. In fact, she was prided on her naturally high perception even in real life. So he felt bad at interrupting her.

    ¡°Dummy~¡± Jein stuck her tongue out at him at his words. ¡°You just don¡¯t know about the many hidden talents I have.¡±

    She moved the book away from him as she noticed him eyeing it hungrily. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder what kind of book had absorbed her so deeply. As he got closer she tried to move it behind her but he went for a different tactic. With a well-practiced motion, he sat down next to her and shot her an adorable puppy-eyed look.

    ¡®Two can play at this game.¡¯ Ji-Woo¡¯s inner self grinned evilly as he used Jein¡¯s own tactics against her.

    She pulled this move on him all the time, now it was his turn.

    ¡°Fine, fine,¡± Jein lifted her hands and the book in defeat. ¡°It¡¯s a book on how to speak French.¡±

    ¡°You want to- Oh?¡± Ji-Woo looked at Jein with a mischievous smile.

    Clearly fighting with Claire had gotten to her. She always acted strangely after fighting against the French player, and now was no different. He felt a chill crawl down his spine as he recalled the last time those two fought, he was scarfing down burnt food for a week as Jein tried to learn to cook French cuisine. Luckily she¡¯d gotten a lot better at it, just like she always did when she puts her mind to something.

    ¡°Or are you planning on going to France?¡± Ji-Woo leaned against Jein¡¯s wall with a smile. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen Yanti in a while, it could be fun to meet up.¡±

    Jein flicked through the pages absent-mindedly. ¡°I don¡¯t want to go to France¡­ I just thought it would be nice to learn some of this stuff. The translators are fine but it¡¯s always nice to speak to someone face to face.¡±

    Ji-Woo leaned back on the bed. He could see where she was coming from. Jein and Claire had known each other for years online. They had fought so many battles against each other that they¡¯d become steadfast friends, even if neither was willing to admit it. This time had been different from their usual battles.

    Claire had lost to another player.

    Ji-Woo knew the pressure Jein and Claire faced every day. As female gamers their fans were ardent and their detractors even more so. A single loss to an unknown player would lead to a lot of pressure for Claire, and this was Jein¡¯s way of trying to make her friend feel better. Of course, knowing Jein, she probably planned to turn off the translating function of the capsule and speak terrible French instead of actually meeting Claire.

    God, he hoped she at least brought a translation device if she wanted to meet Claire face to face.

    ¡°I like it,¡± Ji-Woo poked the book and hooked it downwards so that he could read what was written on there. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be having a fun conversation in no time.¡±

    ¡°Heh~¡± Jein¡¯s face lit up at the praise and she shuffled back. ¡°You know we have a lot of free time today before going online right?¡±

    ¡°Right, nothing planned for the afternoon or morning,¡± Ji-Woo nodded, it wasn¡¯t often that they got free time, then his back stiffened as he caught an underlying tone of excitement in her voice. ¡°Wait. Why?¡±

    Jein put the book down, flipped over and turned to face him with a wide smile. ¡°Rock climbing! Sprinting!¡±

    ¡°Oh gosh,¡± Ji-Woo twirled his fingers in the air as though trying to recall something. ¡°Did I forget to tell you abou-¡±

    ¡°Nuh uh.¡± Jein nudged his shoulder and shook her head. ¡°You said it yourself, completely free today.¡±

    ¡°Urgh.¡± Ji-Woo collapsed back onto the bed with a sigh.

    He¡¯d walked right into that one.

    ****

    ¡°Get up Ji-Woo, you lazy bum.¡±

    Ji-Woo squinted as the dazzling rays of sunlight flitted through the cracks of his closed eyelids, the giant glowing orb was almost as bright as Jein¡¯s eyes. The girl was leaning over his head and staring down at him expectantly. He cracked an eye open and his sweating intensified as he recognised her terrifying smile. She was having fun.

    That meant he was going to suffer horribly.

    ¡°Come on. You can do one more pitch.¡± Jein lifted herself up off the ground and with a sharp pull she brought Ji-Woo up with her.

    ¡°Ugh.¡± Ji-Woo prided himself on persisting in all activities, completing even those that others said were impossible. He was known for tackling challenges that others feared to think of, and his legendary ventures were known throughout the world.

    Of course, that was all online.

    ¡°Just go on without me.¡±

    Jein was too wild for him. She was on another rock climbing binge and once she got into the mood it would take an avalanche to stop her. He was dying of exhaustion and she was just getting started. It was a cycle he was familiar with by now.

    ¡°Nice one.¡± Jein grinned at his words, and then her hands wrapped around his wrists as she gave him a meaningful smile. ¡°You¡¯re telling me the completely unstoppable man is going to let a little pebble beat him?¡±

    Ji-Woo looked up at the mountain peak that Jein was pointing to. ¡°If that thing if a pebble then the ocean is a pond.¡± He brought his arms to his sides and shook off the loose dirt that clung to his sweat. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s get this over with.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡± Jein punched the air lightly and let out a cheer. ¡°Besides, the manager said you need to be healthier. You¡¯re going to be fighting more challenging opponents now.¡±

    Ji-Woo grimaced. On the one hand Jein was right. If he was going to be undergoing intense battles in the virtual reality capsule then his body needed to be able to cope with the stress. Being watched by tens of thousands of people while fighting professionally in a highly realistic scenario had its downsides. The pressure was enough to break some people, and there had been some very highly publicised freakouts in other teams. So to stay on the team his general fitness had to be on point or else the Zodiac Online program might kick him out if it sensed him becoming too panicked.

    On the other hand, he could taste the salt and cracks of his skin as the sun and exercise wore him out. His fingers were covered in a thick layer of dust and dirt taped onto them and his tongue longed for a juicy meal. He heavily suspected Jein just had a warped view of what ¡®healthy¡¯ is

    She was already one of the fittest girls he knew, and that included the ones that photoshopped themselves to look better. Just following her had kept him sporting a six pack. He remembered the good times in middle school when his stomach and limbs had been a globular mass of fat. Now he could tap his hand against his flesh and feel the muscle. His fans had definitely grown because of it, but sometimes he just wanted to lay back, relax, and eat his heart out. Not that Jein or the team manager would let him pig out if he wanted to.

    ¡°Oh man.¡± Ji-Woo took one final look up before deciding to just follow Jeins lead, hoping she got bored before he died. ¡°We¡¯re going for a nice ice cream after this right?¡±

    ¡°The best!¡± Jein laughed as she saw Ji-Woo¡¯s expression. ¡°And then we¡¯ll go kick some of those challengers asses in Zodiac Online.¡±

    Ji-Woo smiled as he thought of the various players that would be lining up to fight him when he logged back on.

    They alone were worth this torture.

    ****

    ¡°These guys...¡±

    Ji-Woo sighed as the challenger¡¯s body turned gray and disappeared. Yet another opponent that had been killed in one hit. This one hadn¡¯t even been skilled enough to defend against him even if they were trying, but they¡¯d had their camera ready to record his moves for a nice forum video.

    He hoped they¡¯d at least get a few views for their troubles.

    ¡°Ah, yeah.¡± Jein looked guilty as she stepped away from three other disappearing bodies. ¡°They weren¡¯t the challenge I thought they¡¯d be.¡±

    Ji-Woo looked enviously at the flecks of ice scattered around the platform. Jein and he had dibs on different kinds of opponents. If they were magi or magic-users then Jein had the right to fight them, and melee weapon users were Ji-Woo¡¯s to kill.

    Usually these players were fans of theirs so it all worked out. Most of the magi crowded around Jein and the warriors ran from Ji-Woo. Other times it ended up with Jein taking on more opponents than necessary.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe magic is so popular in this game.¡± Jein sniffed as she picked up the gold they¡¯d dropped. ¡°You¡¯d think they¡¯d at least have a decent frontline.¡±

    ¡°It can work.¡± Ji-Woo didn¡¯t think the players were skilled enough to pull off a loaded backline, but he wasn¡¯t willing to discount their strategy. ¡°They just need a really good frontliner if they¡¯re by themselves.¡±

    ¡°Like that TidalWave guy?¡± Jein smirked as a blue teleportation light surrounded their bodies and they were returned to the grassy fields they¡¯d been hunting in. ¡°Or maybe Violet?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Ji-Woo frowned as Jein tried to get a rise out of him.

    His little burst of emotions during the placement matches had made her hungry for more. And he was willing to admit he¡¯d definitely felt more¡­ competitive since watching their match. He had definitely experienced an increase in adrenaline, and a rush of productivity.

    ¡°Competitive?¡± Jein could see his thoughts written on his expressionless face, a talent that had taken her years of practice to hone. ¡°You actually finished exercising with me today. I almost thought you were going to die! Especially when I added those extra laps.¡±

    ¡°Hey-¡± Ji-Woo frowned as he suddenly realised why today had felt like more than the usual training. ¡°I have been taking things a little further lately.¡±

    ¡°Because you¡¯re jealous~¡± Jein grinned and with her hands clasped behind her back she walked around Ji-Woo teasingly. ¡°You want that special someone too~¡±

    ¡°Or anyone that can at least handle a hit or two would be nice.¡± Ji-Woo let out a small arc of electricity that startled the nearby mobs.

    Not a single one of his challengers had been able to block a single hit. He didn¡¯t believe in holding back when it comes to requested duels, and he hadn¡¯t even had his passive or abilities activated. He¡¯d simply used his raw skill to overpower them.

    ¡°Brighten up.¡± Jein¡¯s staff flashed with light as she swept up the mobs in a hail of ice shards that obliterated the pitiful creatures. ¡°The real challengers are going to come to us later. These are all small fries.¡±

    Ji-Woo was silent as he pictured the kinds of opponents he¡¯d fought before. He knew there was a professional playing for Game Masters that could give him a fun time, but that guy was a coward when push came to shove. Then there was TidalWave and Violet.

    Ji-Woo ran their fight through his head over and over like a pleasant video. Neither had revealed a single in-game skill. Only relying on raw talent and combat mastery to try and best each other. He just knew that if he met them, they wouldn¡¯t hesitate to fight him in a duel. They would fight him until he was satisfied and then they would continue to fight him until they won or he truly broke their spirit.

    He could feel it instinctively.

    ¡°The problem is that they¡¯re cowards.¡± Jein was blunt as she collected the loot. ¡°Anyone with talent doesn¡¯t want to fight you because they¡¯re afraid that you¡¯ll make them reveal all of their skills. They know they won¡¯t be able to beat you with just sword skills.¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s not be too mean to them.¡± Ji-Woo murmured to her.

    But he couldn¡¯t help but agree with her. Each one of the professionals capable of fighting him hadn¡¯t appeared. He could understand that they had things to do, and skills to keep hidden, but ultimately he wanted to have fun playing the game. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Only one week had passed since the placement matches had ended. In that time they were the city that received the least challenges. Almost all of those were people who wanted to record him fighting so that they could grab their fifteen seconds of fame on the forums. The requirements to fight were only limited by level and wealth. It was rare that such a famous professional player was duelable by the general public. But not a single one was skilled enough to actually get him to reveal a single skill. Even today that had been the only challenge they¡¯d received.

    [You are being challenged to an inter-city competition duel. Would you like to accept? Y / N]

    ¡°Oh?¡± Just as Ji-Woo and Jein were about to head into the next area a system message popped up in front of him.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Jein swerved around as she heard Ji-Woo. ¡°Someone message you?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t get that?¡± Ji-Woo looked at her in confusion. ¡°We were just challenged for the city spot.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Jein looked through her messages and then back to him. ¡°I didn¡¯t get challenged to anything.¡±

    ¡®Hmm?¡¯ Ji-Woo looked at the message in confusion, and then his eyes lit up. ¡®It¡¯s a personal challenge.¡¯

    He¡¯d never received one of those before. The five-man city team had to accept the challenges of the first four teams to request them each day. But if they wanted to, players could also challenge any number of city team players as individuals or smaller groups. These were optional but they cost the challenging player even more gold and experience compared to the normal team matches. It was enough to deter even the wealthiest and highly leveled players.

    Considering Ji-Woo¡¯s skill nobody had bothered to challenge him so far. Nobody was interested in recording a match that was guaranteed to go for a split second. At least when they challenged the team as a whole they could try to gang up on him and kill him before Jein got to them.

    ¡®I wonder if they¡¯re another dud.¡¯ Ji-Woo smiled as he accepted the challenge.

    Technically he could leave the request there for a while to make the other party worry, but he was aching to get a good fight in. He wasn¡¯t even going to check their information beforehand. Jein had him cooped up outside all day and now that he was back inside the capsule he just wanted to relax and fight a solid battle.

    Jein giggled as she saw Ji-Woo¡¯s eyes light up. ¡°Go get them. I hope it¡¯s a good one.¡±

    Ji-Woo waved goodbye to her as the space around him lit up from the teleportation spell. One moment he¡¯d been farming mobs in grassland and the next he was back in the arena. This time it was just a solid stone platform, devoid of any features. Sitting down in the middle of the arena was an individual waiting patiently with his sword drawn.

    It was someone familiar.

    ¡°Ah, um. Hey.¡± The man got up in a hurry as he saw Ji-Woo teleporting in. ¡°Oh cool, I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d actually accept. Damn I¡¯m¡­ no wait.¡± The man took a deep breath and composed himself. ¡°Hi. We met about a week ago. I¡¯d like to fight with you.¡±

    He raised his sword defensively and Ji-Woo looked at him in appreciation.

    Despite Ji-Woo¡¯s clear lack of killing intent the man hadn¡¯t let down his guard even once.

    ¡°Cheshire.¡± Ji-Woo grinned and with a flick of his wrist a sword appeared in his hands. ¡°I remember you.¡±

    [Cheshire: Level 50.]

    ¡°And yes.¡±

    Ji-Woo¡¯s body blurred and he sprung at his opponent. Before the words had even left his mouth he had disappeared from his spot and in the next second he was landing the killing blow on the enemy warrior. A stab straight to the heart. He didn¡¯t want to give the other opponent a chance to launch any skills.

    -Blocked.

    Ji-Woo¡¯s grin widened as Cheshire¡¯s blade held the end of his sword in place. ¡°I wanted to fight you too.¡±

    ¡°Oh damn.¡± Chieshire¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You don¡¯t waste time do you.¡±

    -Dodged.

    Ji-Woo dodged the retaliatory strike that Cheshire threw at him and with calm precision he struck out at the warrior¡¯s side with three blows, each aimed to slice through a different vital area.

    -Blocked.

    -Blocked.

    -Dodged.

    His eyes widened as Cheshire¡¯s blade reached all of his attacks. These were strikes that had struck every single challenger until now. And Ji-Woo wasn¡¯t holding back at all. This opponent had improved almost immeasurably since they¡¯d fought a week ago.

    Ji-Woo¡¯s hands clasped firmly around his sword¡¯s hilt as he pelted the warrior with blows. It had been so long since he¡¯d had a good fight. He could feel his muscles jumping with robustness. His mind thinking of a buffet of attacks to counter his enemy. More than just delightful, the feeling of a worthy opponent was delicious.

    ¡°Heh.¡± Cheshire¡¯s own eyes looked like they couldn¡¯t believe what they were seeing. ¡°I knew it.¡±

    ¡°Mm?¡± Ji-Woo sliced at Cheshire while the warrior was distracted but with a swift movement Cheshire dodged his attack and brought his blade around to cut up Ji-Woo¡¯s chest.

    ¡®Impressive.¡¯ Ji-Woo was starting to seriously warm up as he dodged the strikes.

    A single wrong move and both of them would be cut into ribbons. Ji-Woo continued to dodge the onslaught with a grin, his blood rushing through his body. This was the kind of pressure he could thrive off of.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a rough week.¡± Cheshire wasn¡¯t ashamed to admit it as he stabbed forward with his sword at Ji-Woo, only to hit thin air. ¡°I needed to let off some steam, and prove something to myself as well.¡±

    ¡°Prove something?¡± Ji-Woo leaped back and with a spring in his step he shifted Cheshire¡¯s blade away from his face and swiped at his fingers.

    Even if he nicked Cheshire¡¯s body he¡¯d be happy.

    Cheshire brought his hand and sword back as though his fingers were getting close to lava. The blade missed him by a mile but he wasn¡¯t taking any chances in this fight.

    He jumped back as far as he could and stared Ji-Woo in the eyes. ¡°Actually, I got completely smashed in the competition. So I wanted to show myself that I didn¡¯t completely suck.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± lightning surged through Ji-Woo¡¯s eyes as he registered what Cheshire was telling him. ¡°You¡¯re telling me you were feeling down on your luck and your first thought was to come and challenge me?¡±

    Ji-Woo laughed darkly and with a gesture arcs of lightning spread out of his body, forcing Cheshire to step back further as they threatened to electrocute him. Ji-Woo could see panic rushing into his opponent¡¯s eyes as the lightning began to overwhelm him before he even got near Ji-Woo.

    ¡°Well then.¡±

    Ji-Woo brought his lightning-covered sword up to his front.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯d just be insulting you if I held back.¡±

    ****

    ¡°Heh,¡± Jein¡¯s smug grin was the first thing to enter Ji-Woo¡¯s vision as he was teleported back into the grassy plain. ¡°I see someone had a good time.¡±

    Ji-Woo was sporting his usual elegant and graceful stance as he appeared. All of the tension and simmering anger had left his body and all that was left was a very relaxed Korean.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ji-Woo nodded and his lips tugged into a smile. ¡°So what have we got here?¡±

    He scanned the surroundings and saw that several mobs had surrounded Jein and were closing in. Each one a snarling turtle-like monstrosity with quills that seemed to quiver dangerously in Jein¡¯s direction. Each one was dangerously high level even for them. Together they seemed like an unstoppable wave of shells and claws.

    ¡°Why fight the mobs one at a time when you can kill two turtles with one stone?¡± Jein nervously shuffled from side to side and Ji-Woo sighed.

    She¡¯d clearly overestimated herself and gotten into a mess.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Ji-Woo checked out the situation and wisely retreated. ¡°Well, good luck with that.¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡± Jein¡¯s fingers snatched up his wrist with ease. ¡°You¡¯re going to help me here.¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine,¡± Ji-Woo chuckled, he hadn¡¯t been serious about abandoning her. ¡°I¡¯ll take the ones on the right.¡±

    Without even waiting for confirmation Ji-Woo lunged into action, carving out flesh and scales with a barrage of sudden blows, and puncturing their shells for good measure.

    ¡°So, what were you trying to do here?¡± Ji-Woo dodged a series of quills that were shot out of the turtles backs as they fought.

    His adrenaline still hadn¡¯t died down from his previous battle, and his body danced and weaved through the quills with ease. Then turtles were definitely strong, but they weren¡¯t so fast that Jein would have trouble running away if she wanted to.

    ¡°Um.¡± Jein rose into the air with air step and sent magic raining down on the enemies.

    She was hesitant to say why she¡¯d gathered the monsters together.

    ¡®Ha. I see.¡¯ Ji-Woo recalled the last battle Jein had against that quick moving magi.

    That player had been able to curve her shots into a completely different direction. One second they were flying past Jein and the next they were returning and threatening to kill her from her blind spot. It was something he knew Jein hadn¡¯t experienced before. She could move her own magic but completely shifting its direction at a sharp angle with the same momentum was impossible for her at the moment. Clearly Jein had seen the turtles¡¯ ability to shoot out quills and had decided to do a little training to try and see if she could dodge attacks from all directions.

    She¡¯d just gathered way too many turtles by accident.

    -Hey. Are you guys busy?- A new party messaged Ji-Woo and he raised his eyebrow.

    [Mountain: Level 51]

    It was one of his teammates. They were supposed to be taking a rest day today to visit their parents.

    Ji-Woo dodged a clawed swipe and bashed his sword into a turtle¡¯s side. -Not busy. What¡¯s up?-

    -Something urgent has come up. The manager wants us all to log out and have a group meeting.-

    -Alright let me check with Jein.- Ji-Woo looked up in time to see turtles riving in pain as a river of ice shards tore them apart from all angles.

    Apparently Jein had some steam to let off as well.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Ji-Woo grinned as the final turtle turned gray and disappeared. ¡°Let¡¯s see what¡¯s going on.¡±

    ****

    ¡°Guys!¡±

    A large figure bounded over to Ji-Woo as he walked down towards the kitchen.

    ¡°Oh no.¡± Ji-Woo tried to step back as the newcomer spotted him.

    He knew the big man well and unfortunately this person¡¯s kindness could accidentally end up killing you. But even his keen reflexes couldn¡¯t save him from being swept into a hug.

    ¡°Ah gosh. It¡¯s been too long. How have you been brother?¡± The man¡¯s bulging muscles threatened to stretch Ji-Woo¡¯s stomach apart as he continued his bear hug.

    Ji-Woo let out gasping sounds in response to the throttling he was receiving. He could feel every inch of his body being overpowered as the man lifted him off the ground.

    ¡°Hey Choi~¡± Jein walked up close and planted a firm kick on the man¡¯s thigh and with a yelp he let go of Ji-Woo, sending him sprawling into the ground. ¡°Get off of him you big lug.¡±

    ¡°Man, why¡¯d you have to go and do that,¡± Choi massaged his thigh with a pained expression as Jein helped Ji-Woo up. ¡°It¡¯s not my fault you guys never call.¡±

    Ji-Woo breathed deeply in relief as he tried to fill his lungs with much needed oxygen. He should have known the man would be here. He¡¯d probably entered Zodiac Online from one of the capsules downstairs.

    ¡°Good to see you too Big Mountain.¡± Ji-Woo smiled and hugged the man back, trying his hardest to squeeze the large frame as a payback for the lung-emptying hug he¡¯d received.

    Choi just laughed it off as though Ji-Woo was a fly trying to press down on a rock.

    Han Choi. Otherwise known as the ¡®Big Mountain¡¯ by his team and his friends. Ji-Woo had known him the least amount of time compared to the three others on the team but he was definitely one of the friendliest people that Ji-Woo had ever encountered. The man wouldn¡¯t hurt a puppy but he¡¯d sure as heck squish one by accident.

    It was a weird reunion. Even though they were all part of the same team Choi had been staying in an apartment nearby for the past few weeks. Apparently he¡¯d made a lot more use of his payslips than any of the others.

    ¡°So how were your parents?¡± Jein pulled up a chair and began snacking on chocolates.

    Ji-Woo hadn¡¯t even seen her get them.

    ¡°Good, good,¡± Choi fanned his hand around as he emphasized his words. ¡°Little surprised about me having to leave early. But that¡¯s all good.¡± He turned to Ji-Woo with a twinkle in his eyes. ¡°I saw that fight between that Violet girl and TidalWave fella you sent me. I was transfixed! Mesmerised! Did it invigorate you as much as it did me?¡±

    ¡°I wonder.¡± Ji-Woo turned to the fridge to see what Jein hadn¡¯t eaten yet.

    Her appetite was only matched by her ability to exercise. It made a surprisingly good balance for her body. In the end, he settled on a left-over brownie they¡¯d put to the side of the kitchen bench.

    Choi laughed heartily as he saw Ji-Woo¡¯s calm expression.

    ¡°That¡¯s the big brother I know. Nothing will faze you.¡± Choi slapped at Ji-Woo¡¯s back, only to hit thin air as Ji-Woo twirled out of his reach with a smile.

    ¡°Oh stop swaggering around,¡± Jein poked her tongue out at Ji-Woo and then turned to face Choi. ¡°He was all temperamental until a few minutes ago.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got chocolate on your teeth.¡± Ji-Woo shot back at her and was satisfied to see Jein blush and quickly close her mouth. ¡°So,¡± His voice came out smooth and strong as he grew serious. ¡°What brings you back here so soon?¡±

    The team house was only a space for the team in name. Most of the time, especially when the team was just getting started in a game, they all split up and spent time with their respective families. It was only when things started getting serious that they all moved in together. And because Choi lived by himself it was only Jein and Ji-Woo living under the same roof.

    Neither of them had any desire to go back and visit their families.

    Thankfully Ji-Woo had long ago learned the sacred art of cooking. He also cultivated an indomitable will to survive whatever food Jein whipped up. The early days had been harsh. But now both were proficient enough that they could easily manage on their own. The manager didn¡¯t even have to check in most times, as long as they didn¡¯t let the press catch on to the two of them being alone in the one house they were free from any pressure.

    ¡®The big man loves the team but he loves his parents more.¡¯ Ji-Woo¡¯s fingers could feel the brownie crumbling underneath them.

    He also wasn¡¯t under any impression that Han Choi had come back for the sake of friendship. The only reason he could think of for Choi¡¯s return was that the manager had asked him to come back urgently.

    ¡°The manager asked me to come back,¡± Choi confirmed Ji-Woo¡¯s suspicions. ¡°I need to hold the challengers down while you two go off and this place has better interfacing speeds.¡±

    ¡®Oh?¡¯ Ji-Woo sat down next to Jein, and deftly blocked her attempts to steal a part of his brownie.

    ¡°Off where?¡±

    ¡°Here.¡± Choi slapped down a piece of paper that seemed to appear out of nowhere and Ji-Woo stared down at it.

    It was an invitation to the ¡®Grand Thunder Team¡¯ as a whole to a party. The paper also had a few other details outlined, like who the big names were and which other teams had also been invited. It looked like some sort of get together for elite players, but he couldn¡¯t see who was behind it.

    ¡°A new sponsor?¡± Ji-Woo¡¯s eyes skimmed the paper. ¡°We already have sponsors.¡±

    Choi grinned and pointed to the name written at the bottom of the paper. Quiet, unassuming and yet powerful in its presence. Ji-Woo¡¯s eyes widened as he realised who was organising this ¡®party¡¯. It was definitely one of the biggest fish in the sea.

    ¡°Ah,¡± Jein leaned in from Ji-Woo¡¯s side and she couldn¡¯t help but gasp as she saw their name. ¡°That¡¯s a really big player.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll say, and they¡¯re hosting a party. A gathering. A soiree.¡± Choi nodded. ¡°I was bamboozled, confounded-¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s backtrack a bit,¡± Ji-Woo interrupted Choi before the man could work himself into a fit, lifted the paper into the air and scanned it thoroughly. ¡°Who¡¯s going?¡±

    ¡°You and Jein.¡± Choi grinned.

    ¡°What about you Big Mountain?¡± Ji-Woo passed the paper back to Choi with a frown. ¡°I thought you¡¯d be one of the best choices for this.¡±

    The large man¡¯s natural affinity for getting on people¡¯s good sides was something none of the team doubted. He could charm the shrewdest of sponsors with his genuine honesty and natural charm.

    ¡°Holding the fort,¡± Choi sat down with them and placed the paper in the middle of the table. ¡°The others will be back soon too, since you¡¯ll be gone all day we¡¯ll be defending against the challengers for the city spot. Not that it will be too hard if you and Jein managed to hold your own with just the two of you.¡±

    ¡°And?¡± Ji-Woo pressed him further.

    He and Jein could easily continue to defend the city team spots if the organisation wanted them to. That wasn¡¯t a reason to suddenly send them off.

    ¡°Jein¡¯s fight, and your little¡± *ahem*, Choi coughed delicately, ¡°demonstration against those poor players convinced the manager that you both would be the best candidates to go. They also think that this company is big enough that we should be sending our stars. You know, I don¡¯t have that much of a¡­. Pretty face.¡±

    ¡°Heh~ The team manager thinks Ji-Woo¡¯s got a pretty face.¡± Jein let out a short giggle that slowly devolved into a burst of laughter.

    ¡°Ha. Ha.¡± Ji-Woo decided to let Jein have her fun.

    If they could net this corporation¡¯s money then they would all get a huge boost in funds. It wasn¡¯t a joke to say that this could become their single biggest sponsor and focus if things worked out well. He put his elbows onto the table and rested his chin in his hands as he stared at the name printed out onto the paper.

    Grieche Financial.

 Book 2 Side Story 4: The Cheshire Conspiracy

    Chester¡¯s knuckles pressed against his desk at the sight unfolding in front of him. Anger and shame flowing through his body as a single video with his face and name plastered on the front was going through the Zodiac Online forums like wildfire. Gaining more traction every second.

    [Cheshire the Fraud. Views: 757,789.]

    It was a detailed analysis of his performance during the inter-city competition. Or rather, his lack of performance. Each of the three fights he¡¯d participated in were being analysed in a robotic voice as the video pointed out his complete and utter sheer luck. It covered in depth all three of his battles and pointed out where he¡¯d gotten lucky.

    Second against Nastin because he had killed him last.

    Second against Ji-Woo because he had killed him last.

    Defeated by an unknown player, TidalWave.

    [Cheshire doesn¡¯t deserve to be in this competition.] The voice lambasted his reputation without hesitation. [If there is one city spot that doesn¡¯t deserve its place and is easy to take on, it''s his.]

    The video had briefly peaked at the top of the forums. Then soon after came several videos allegedly from people that had met him and fought him, all saying that his skills were only mediocre. Each statement was from people he had never met before in his life. Someone was falsifying reports.

    Even a baby could catch a whiff of the conspiracy circling around him. This wasn¡¯t a bored internet dweller taking an interest in him between Cheetos and booze. It was a dedicated operation, and far too prolific. No.

    This was a coordinated attack.

    The worst part was that it was affecting his ability to play Zodiac Online. He¡¯d become an internet sensation in a bad way, and his city was by far the most challenged out of all of them. It wasn¡¯t even the players that legitimately wanted to win the team spots. Wave after wave of random players were coming after him and pitting their blades against him like bloodthirsty animals. Not just in team battles, he had also received dozens upon dozens of personal challenges. He even had enough gold from winning them to issue his own if he wanted to.

    ¡®If only I didn¡¯t have my damned pride.¡¯

    He¡¯d accepted every single one of the personal challenges despite the potential ramifications it could have because he couldn¡¯t stand these players all looking at him like lunch meat on a Friday night. Every single one of them brainwashed by the forum posts to believe that he was a weakling. No matter what skills he showed them, their attitudes never seemed to change.

    It hadn¡¯t taken him long to find out who was organising this attack on his reputation. A quick backtrack into the history of the forum poster showed him a substantial amount of videos all dedicated towards one player, Ji-Woo. Another couple of clicks and searches showed him that most of the other forums posters making fun of him also mostly centered on Ji-Woo, and they all frequented one other subgroup.

    [The Number 1 Ji-Woo Fanclub Discussion Board]

    ¡®Augh.¡¯ Chester groaned at their discussions.

    The professional player wouldn¡¯t care about him. But his fans were different.

    The subgroup actively hated him, and their users were starting a smear campaign. There was a reason for this. It was one of the latest forum articles that had originated from a shady gaming news source after the placement matches.

    [Ji-Woo, not as powerful as we think?]

    The news article had detailed how an unknown player named ¡®Cheshire¡¯ had defended against some of Ji-Woo¡¯s attacks even when the professional was at ¡®full power¡¯. They¡¯d then spent the rest of the article mocking Ji-Woo. Chester could clearly see they designed it to be inflaming, infuriating and gain clicks through controversy. And it had worked.

    Ji-Woo¡¯s fans had become enraged and were out in full force to get revenge. They couldn¡¯t stand that the legend himself was being demeaned and were sullying Chester¡¯s reputation online. Nobody knew who Chester really was, he definitely wasn¡¯t famous or even well-known. But that was part of the issue in the first place. They could easily dismiss him as a once-off fluke of luck. There were dozens of comments pointing out how his attacks had defended against Ji-Woo only because the professional was going easy on him. Some even said that he had blocked the attacks because Chester had flinched and luckily twitched his sword into the right position.

    ¡®These idiots have too much free time,¡¯ Chester felt a twinge of annoyance as he flicked through the pages.

    He was trying to think of a plan.

    He clearly couldn¡¯t hit back against them online. He didn¡¯t have the followers or the presence to block hundreds of rabid fans from attacking him. Even if he gave a logical and calm response, the chances were high that the internet netizens would disregard it completely and increase their attacks.

    ¡®Think, think.¡¯ Chester hummed.

    ¡°Chester!¡± His body jolted as he heard a deep and angry voice calling to him from the first floor. ¡°Get down here!¡±

    ¡®Huh?¡¯ Chester rushed out the door of his room and made his way downstairs.

    His feet crossed over the familiar lush carpet and his fingers stopped over the ornate handrail. His father sounded pissed. But the man had gotten everything he wanted in life, and this was no different. He took a deep breath and walked down the final set of stairs. When he got down to the living room, he stopped in his tracks as he spotted his father sitting next to a familiar face.

    ¡®Uncle Jack?¡¯ Chester hadn¡¯t seen the man in months.

    The black sheep of the family. Jack made it a point to never come and visit his more successful brother unless something urgent had come up, or he had some get rich quick scheme that he needed money to invest in. Usually both at the same time.

    ¡°Chester.¡± He could see his father¡¯s lips curled in distaste as he walked into the room, and even his uncle seemed to look down on him. ¡°I¡¯ve had it brought to my attention today that you¡¯ve become an internet laughingstock.¡±

    Chester¡¯s chest clenched as he saw his uncle¡¯s expression. The man had come rushing over to spread gossip about him with his father.

    ¡®But why?¡¯ Chester bided his time and nodded at his uncle and father.

    He wasn¡¯t going to confront his family about this without figuring out what was going on.

    ¡°Ah, but luckily I¡¯ve got a plan.¡± Jack¡¯s eyes swerved towards Chester and he shuddered. ¡°Don¡¯t worry little nephew, luckily I caught onto this before it got too big. And now I¡¯ll help you with it.¡±

    ¡®Got it.¡¯ Chester had already worked everything out.

    His uncle was clearly going to use this to wrangle money out of his father somehow.

    ¡°Exactly!¡± Jack laughed loudly at Chester''s expression. ¡°But it¡¯s nothing to worry about. I¡¯ll have it all fixed up, the whole world will know your son''s name by the time I¡¯m done.¡± He turned towards his brother. ¡°So long as you¡¯re willing to pay up for it.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Chester¡¯s dad couldn¡¯t keep the grin off his face. ¡°Anything for my little brother. You¡¯re doing us a big favour here.¡±

    ¡®That poor sucker,¡¯ Chester knew his father would only agree to this deal if he was going to benefit.

    He definitely wasn¡¯t an idiot, and he sure as heck didn¡¯t care about his little brother as much as he was pretending to. His uncle would probably get thrown under the bus somehow. But he honestly couldn¡¯t care less about what his father was planning. He had better things to do.

    It was time to go online.

    ****

    ¡°Whassup! It¡¯s the Cheshire Cat!¡±

    An energetic voice called out to Cheshire the moment he logged on. A figure with a bow on his back was waving at Cheshire with an invigorating grin on his face. Just seeing the figure brought a smile to Cheshire¡¯s face.

    [Arnie: Level 50]

    ¡°Hey Arnie,¡± He brought his sword out as he saw the pile of notifications sitting in his chat. ¡°How many challenges have we got here? Looks like they increased again.¡±

    ¡°Psh,¡± Arnie waved his hand flippantly. ¡°You¡¯re going to kick all their asses. But hey,¡± His eyes shifted and a small wave of worry appeared on his face, immediately being shut down as Arnie¡¯s grin widened. ¡°You don¡¯t have to accept all of them you know. The bastards are a waste of your time.¡±

    Arnie couldn¡¯t help but worry about his friend''s mental health. It was fine to fight duel after duel, and even the experience and gold gained had been great. But he¡¯d been in some of the fights. Most of those opponents were laying it on thick with the insults. He could see his friend didn''t let it faze him but he knew that somewhere deep down it had to be impacting Cheshire.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Cheshire shot him a grin that radiated calm and pride. ¡°Some small words aren¡¯t going to get me down. You¡¯re right though, they are a waste of time. NPC dialogue is a hundred times better than whatever nonsense they¡¯re spewing.¡±

    ¡°Ha! That¡¯s the spirit,¡± Arnie unhinged his bow and a sword appeared at his side.

    Cheshire¡¯s eyes moved towards the notifications and he could see that all four of his teammates were ready to enter the fight. They had just been waiting on him.

    ¡°Fifty-four,¡± Cheshire whistled in amazement.

    That was a huge increase compared to the other days. One of the forum posts must have hit a nerve or convinced a few more people to challenge him. Only fifteen of those were team battles, but that left thirty-nine individual battles for him to fight.

    This was going to last him the better part of the afternoon.

    ¡°Hey,¡± Arnie called out to him as he saw Cheshire hesitating to press the fight button. ¡°You okay, man? We can always do it later.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Cheshire shook his head to clear it. ¡°I just want to handle some individual battles first. Warm-up, you know?¡±

    ¡°Heck yeah. You go for it man, we¡¯ll be waiting for you.¡±

    Cheshire smiled as he saw Arnie didn¡¯t have any doubt that he¡¯d win. The truth was that the forum posts were definitely getting to him, even if he didn¡¯t show it.

    Some small part of him had even begun to think that they could be right. That he had just defended against Ji-Woo¡¯s attacks with luck. But by accepting every challenge and winning, he was slowly showing himself that he was just as good as he had always thought he was.

    He entered the first duel and was surprised to see it be accepted straight away. Sometimes the issuers of the challenge went offline while they waited for him.

    Waiting for him was a warrior with a smug grin.

    ¡°So you¡¯re the luck-¡±

    -70

    -70

    [You have won your duel.]

    Cheshire didn¡¯t waste time in killing the man. He could see the person¡¯s eyes widen in surprise as his attacks came in lightning fast. Two precise swipes destroyed the enemy before they even lifted their sword.

    Cheshire was never a lazy person, even before entering Zodiac Online. He had farmed consistently and saved gold properly to buy good items. But he had coasted on his talent rather than trying to become proficient at playing or fighting. He had prided himself on being naturally gifted enough to not need to put in effort to be in the top thousand players in every game he played. But now that had changed.

    This last week had been completely different compared to any other in his gaming life. It was humiliating. Being mocked and ridiculed because of his lack of skill. And so he had trained, he trained and trained and trained.

    For hours on end, he had accepted duel after duel and then practiced on his off time. Each player coming in with new abilities and tactics. He had taken them all on in a massive non-stop bloodbath and he had changed. With every swipe of a sword his perception had grown keener, his dodges more precise and his retaliation swifter and harsher.

    Duel after duel, battle after battle. He was no longer coasting on raw talent alone to come out on top. He was forcing himself to improve continuously. Even if his levels and stats hadn¡¯t changed much he was incomparably stronger than he was a week ago. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    [Your duel is beginning in 3¡­ 2...]

    He moved onto the next duel with gusto.

    ¡°Gutter trash.¡± The latest player swung a scimitar through the air.

    It was a pity that no matter how many fights he won, the internet trolls continued to pull him down. No matter how many matches he won he couldn¡¯t change that. They didn¡¯t care about facts or logic, only that they bring down every bit of his reputation and then some.

    It was definitely weighing on him.

    And if he didn¡¯t do something about it soon he was afraid his self-worth would definitely go down the gutter.

    ****

    ¡°You got lucky you little crap! You aint nothing but a hot piece of shit!¡± The warrior shouted profanities as Cheshire backed him further into a corner.

    [Your team has won the duel.]

    He cornered the last player and brought his sword down to cleave the troll in half. But Cheshire¡¯s furious expression didn¡¯t die down as he gazed at the body.

    He had finally gotten through all fifty-four matches, both individual and team. But they had insulted him the entire time despite destroying his enemies at every turn.

    This one had been the final straw.

    ¡°Hey, Cheshire! Don¡¯t take them seriously,¡± Arnie¡¯s voice was underlined with panic as he saw Cheshire¡¯s angry expression. ¡°Those guys don¡¯t know anything. They¡¯re just some anonymous jerks that are following a dumb internet trend.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Cheshire put his sword away and sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t want to keep taking this crap day after day. I¡¯m going to end this.¡±

    This group of players had been even more verbal than the last. The online sentiment was growing to dangerous levels.

    He couldn¡¯t let this grow any further.

    He knew what he had to do. There was no way to convince these fanboys that he was a worthy opponent because emotion drove them, not logic. But he knew that there was one person who could definitely end this thing. Someone whose words they would have to accept.

    He gritted his teeth and turned towards the city. Inside was the teleportation circle that would let him get to the city of Translor. He knew that this endless wave of challenges and abuse would only continue as long as he did nothing to retaliate. But since it had started with people believing he wasn¡¯t skilled, the right way to end it would be to show everyone that he could actually fight at the top level of the game.

    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Arnie asked hesitantly.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to fight Ji-Woo.¡±

    ****

    ¡®I have a favour I¡¯d like to ask. No. I definitely need a favour. No. I demand a favour. No. I would pretty please, very much like to ask something of you. Yes, a favour, your fans are being little bastards.¡¯

    Cheshire went over every scenario in his head as he waited for the duel to be processed. They had allowed him to stay in the arena and he was sitting with his sword on his lap trying to figure out what he¡¯d say. This wasn¡¯t some no-name greenhorn he was confronting.

    This was Ji-Woo.

    A legendary player that everyone knew was one of the best in the world. To demand a favour seemed like it would just backfire. But he didn''t know if Ji-Woo would appreciate someone who sucked up to him. So he was replaying every sentence in his head.

    ¡®You¡¯ve definitely got to ask him,¡¯ Cheshire tried to hype himself up but his resolution wavered. ¡®Maybe I¡¯ll ask him after the match?¡¯

    Before he could decide on the proper way to go about it, the arena lit up with light. Cheshire was more than familiar with this by now. His opponent was teleporting into the arena.

    ¡®Okay. First impression,¡¯ Cheshire felt his confidence draining as Ji-Woo¡¯s form came into view. ¡®I¡¯ve got to make these first words count.¡¯

    ¡°Ah, um. Hey.¡±

    He could feel his nerves failing him as he stood up and came face to face with Ji-Woo.

    ¡®God this was a bad idea.¡¯ He immediately regretted his stubborn-headedness.

    This was the Ji-Woo. Legendary player and one of the strongest in every game he played. He was probably the top warrior in the game right now. And Cheshire was just an ant compared to him.

    ¡®No,¡¯ Cheshire¡¯s hands gripped tightly onto his sword. ¡®Don¡¯t defeat yourself before you¡¯re even started.¡¯

    ¡°Oh cool, I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d actually accept. Damn I¡¯m¡­ no wait.¡± Cheshire took a deep breath.

    ¡®Get a hold of yourself.¡¯

    He could feel his muscles relaxing and his mind clearing as he breathed in and out. It was his decision to come and fight this man. Now that he was here he wasn¡¯t going to chicken out.

    ¡°Hi. We met about a week ago. I¡¯d like to fight with you.¡±

    He raised his sword defensively and he could see Ji-Woo¡¯s eyes flicker. But he wasn¡¯t sure if it was derision or something else. Cheshire kept his sword held out in front of him just in case Ji-Woo decided to kill him out of spite. He was probably taking up the man¡¯s valuable time.

    ¡°Cheshire.¡± Cheshire¡¯s heart pounded in fear as Ji-Woo¡¯s face broke out into a grin. With a flick of his hand a beautiful and deadly looking sword appeared from thin air. ¡°I remember you.¡±

    ¡°And yes.¡±

    Cheshire jolted in fear as Ji-Woo¡¯s body seemed to disappear. Before the words had even left his mouth Ji-Woo had disappeared from his spot and he could see Ji-Woo¡¯s blade aiming to pierce his chest.

    -Blocked.

    Cheshire brought up his sword to meet the oncoming weapon. Compared to the hundreds of attacks that he¡¯d experienced this week, it was definitely the strongest he¡¯d faced. But he¡¯d grown so used to fighting that he knew he¡¯d be able to block it.

    That was one attack down.

    ¡°I wanted to fight you too.¡±

    ¡°Oh damn,¡± Cheshire¡¯s eyes widened as he realised the sword had come a lot closer than he¡¯d thought. ¡°You don¡¯t waste time do you.¡±

    ¡®My turn.¡¯ Cheshire threw out a strike to hit Ji-Woo.

    -Dodged.

    ¡®Holy-¡¯

    Ji-Woo dodged the attack with a well-practiced motion and struck back at Cheshire with deadly accuracy. Cheshire could hardly see the strikes and felt his fear rising as he realised he¡¯d probably bitten off more than he could chew.

    This guy was far too strong compared to the individuals he¡¯d been fighting all week.

    -Blocked.

    -Blocked.

    -Dodged.

    ¡®Ah man,¡¯ He¡¯d had to dodge that last one.

    But at least he''d blocked two. Cheshire brought his sword back and looped it around so that he could stab at Ji-Woo, but before he could bring it out fully he realised that Ji-Woo¡¯s sword was already flying back towards him. Attack after attack pelted against him and he hastily brought back his weapon to defend himself.

    Each hit seemed to be quicker and faster than the last.

    ¡°Heh.¡± Cheshire¡¯s own eyes looked like they couldn¡¯t believe what they were seeing. ¡°I knew it.¡±

    He was still keeping up with the attacks even though they were even faster than they¡¯d been during the placement matches. He really was strong enough to avoid dying by Ji-Woo¡¯s hands. Even if he died here he could tell that if he wanted to, he¡¯d be able to bring out this level of power in every fight.

    ¡°Mm?¡± Ji-Woo sliced at Cheshire while thoughts distracted the warrior but with a swift movement, Cheshire dodged his attack and brought his blade around to cut up Ji-Woo¡¯s chest.

    A single wrong move and both of them would be cut into ribbons. Cheshire was feeling the pressure as Ji-Woo continued to dodge his onslaught with a grin. But this was the kind of pressure he could thrive off of.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a rough week.¡± Cheshire wasn¡¯t ashamed to admit it as he stabbed forward with his sword at Ji-Woo, only to hit thin air. ¡°I needed to let off some steam, and prove something to myself as well.¡±

    ¡°Prove something?¡± Ji-Woo leaped back and with a spring in his step he shifted Cheshire¡¯s blade away from his face and swiped at his fingers.

    ¡®Crap.¡¯

    Cheshire brought his hand and sword back as though his fingers were getting close to lava. The blade missed him by a mile but he wasn¡¯t taking any chances in this fight. He didn¡¯t want to die due to a stupid slip up.

    ¡®I might actually be able to win this duel.¡¯

    He jumped back as far as he could and stared Ji-Woo in the eyes. ¡°Actually, I got completely smashed in the competition. So I wanted to show myself that I didn¡¯t completely suck.¡±

    He didn¡¯t mention the bullying or the online rally against his reputation. Ji-Woo wouldn¡¯t be part of that, but he still wanted to ask him that favour. He wanted Ji-Woo to tell the world that it wasn¡¯t just a fluke that he¡¯d managed to get this far.

    ¡°Oh?¡± lightning surged through Ji-Woo¡¯s eyes as he registered what Cheshire was telling him. ¡°You¡¯re telling me you were feeling down on your luck and your first thought was to come and challenge me?¡±

    Ji-Woo laughed darkly and with a gesture of his hand arcs of lightning spread out of his body, forcing Cheshire to step back further as they threatened to electrocute him. Cheshire panicked as the arcs got closer and he took a step back.

    ¡°Well then,¡± Cheshire¡¯s fingers curled around his blade as his opponent spoke. ¡°I guess I¡¯d just be insulting you if I held back.¡±

    Ji-Woo¡¯s eyes lit up with lightning and Cheshire¡¯s hair blew back as a fierce wind picked up in the arena, and the surroundings filled with the echoing of thunder. Behind Ji-Woo three swords formed in the air with a sharp crack. Each one filled to the brim with lightning.

    Cheshire knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to guard against all of them at once.

    ¡°Lightning¡¯s Descent.¡± Ji-Woo pointed at Cheshire and the swords flew towards him.

    ¡°Grand blade."

    Four blade afterimages appeared in the air to meet the lightning-filled swords and Cheshire ran past them, going after Ji-Woo. He couldn¡¯t defend against the swords continuously. He had to end this in one go.

    The lightning swords clashed against the blades and Ji-Woo brought his sword up to defend against Cheshire¡¯s sudden attack.

    ¡°Lightning¡¯s power.¡±

    The air crackled with electricity as the arcs of lightning surrounding him converged on his position. Each one followed his sword and struck out at Cheshire¡¯s body.

    ¡°Grand shield.¡±

    Cheshire didn¡¯t hesitate to use his skills to defend himself. The seal had already broken and they were in an all out battle now.

    -Blocked

    -Blocked

    -Blocked

    A massive iron shield appeared from the ground in front of him and the arcs of lightning bounced off of it harmlessly. He had successfully defended against Ji-Woo-

    -156

    ¡°What?¡± Cheshire couldn¡¯t help but gasp at the damage that appeared over his head.

    It was insane. The warrior appeared next to him, smashing through the giant shield and stabbing Cheshire through the arm. But this was also an opportunity.

    Cheshire finally had Ji-Woo close enough that his attacks couldn¡¯t miss.

    ¡®Now.¡¯

    -70

    -70

    He swiped at Ji-Woo and made sure the distance between them didn¡¯t increase. He had him.

    ¡°Gran-¡±

    ¡°Lightning¡¯s power.¡± Ji-Woo¡¯s voice cut through his and Cheshire felt the air around him electrify.

    -80

    -You have died

    Cheshire didn¡¯t even have time to respond as his body hit the ground.

    ¡®Ha.¡¯ He smiled to himself as he saw his corpse.

    He had made Ji-Woo serious. He didn¡¯t have a shred of regret about losing the match.

    ¡®No,¡¯ he shook his head as he revived in the area. ¡®That¡¯s a lie.¡¯

    He definitely regretted that he¡¯d lost. Because even if he¡¯d made Ji-Woo get serious, in the end he was definitely aiming to win, not just to come out even.

    ¡®I guess I am a pretty competitive person,¡¯ he brushed off the feeling of defeat and was surprised to see Ji-Woo still standing there.

    The professional player had waited for him.

    ¡°That was a good fight,¡± Ji-Woo nodded at him, and then tilted his head in confusion. ¡°You look like you wanted to ask me something?

    Cheshire smiled. Here was a professional player treating him like an equal. Someone so important that his time was probably worth more than Cheshire could afford. But this fight had made him realise something else.

    He was really god damned strong.

    ¡®Ah. So that¡¯s it.¡¯ Cheshire flexed his hand as he felt a rush of emotion squeeze through him.

    He had just fought against one of the strongest players in the world and held his own. This past week he had surpassed his own skill, become dedicated and proven to himself that he was just as strong as he thought he was.

    The past week had been hell. He¡¯d lost confidence in himself, he¡¯d been beset at all sides and his reputation was in the gutter.

    But now that he had regained his confidence he could finally think clearly. Dozens of players wanted to fight him daily, each with their own set of skills and abilities. Ordinarily it would be hard to find enough players wanting to fight you, and you could count them on your fingers if you were well known. Now he was practically being handed a buffet of opportunity. This was his lucky chance to improve.

    ¡®Who cares if they insult me a bit,¡¯ As long as he believed in himself that was all he needed.

    He didn¡¯t want to give up this golden opportunity that had been handed to him.

    If he was going to show the internet he was strong, then he would do it with his own two hands. He wouldn¡¯t rely on Ji-Woo or anyone else. Even if it took a thousand battles, he would overcome every single one of them and then show the world who he was.

    ¡°No. No questions or favours to ask about.¡± He stuck out his hand. ¡°Thanks for the fight.¡±

    Ji-Woo smiled and took the hand, giving Cheshire a firm handshake.

    ¡°Hey,¡± Ji-Woo¡¯s voice grew deeper and Cheshire could see the warrior was thinking over something. ¡°I really enjoyed this. Let¡¯s fight again sometime.¡±

    [You have been sent a friend request from player: Ji-Woo. Would you like to accept? Y / N]

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Cheshire couldn¡¯t contain his happiness at the request. ¡°Anytime.¡±

    ****

    ¡°So you got your ass kicked by Ji-Woo,¡± Arnie put up a comforting smile as he saw Cheshire returning.

    He¡¯d gotten the notification in his party chat that Cheshire had died. He believed in his friend more than anything, but against a player as skilled as Ji-Woo he honestly hadn¡¯t expected any other result.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Cheshire¡¯s grin was unexpectedly light and genuine. ¡°Got my ass kicked badly. But you know what, I held out for a while. I¡¯ll take the good where it comes.¡±

    ¡°Ha!¡± Arnie¡¯s smile widened as he saw Cheshire¡¯s enthusiasm. ¡°That¡¯s just like you man. Nobody can keep you down.¡±

    ¡°Heck yeah!¡± Cheshire¡¯s tone was upbeat as he and Arnie walked through the city. ¡°I¡¯m the goddamn Cheshire Cat.¡±

    Now he only had one last loose end to take care of.

    ****

    ¡°You¡¯re a real credit to our family Jack.¡±

    Chester could hear his father¡¯s faked politeness as he walked into the living room. It was like listening to a snake congratulating its future meal on fattening up. He didn¡¯t doubt that his father had somehow duped uncle Jack into something. Of course, only Jack would lose if things went south; His father probably had enough backup plans to make sure he was nowhere in the blast zone.

    ¡°Ah good. You¡¯re here.¡± Chester¡¯s father turned to him with a sly smile. ¡°I¡¯ve figured out a way to fix this whole mess you¡¯ve gotten into.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to do it.¡± Chester flat out refused before he¡¯d even heard his father¡¯s proposal.

    He didn¡¯t need to fix anything. Besides, the only person his father wanted to benefit was himself. He knew the man had somehow organised a way to gain something from a poor sucker.

    Chester watched his father¡¯s face turn red and the man slammed a piece of paper in front of him.

    ¡°A party?¡± Chester scanned the paper up and down.

    This wasn¡¯t his father¡¯s usual way of doing things.

    ¡°I will not stand a humiliation to this family,¡± His father¡¯s stern tone left no room for negotiation. ¡°You will go, and you will court the influential figures and network. I¡¯ll be handing you a list of their details soon. You don¡¯t know how many strings your uncle had to pull to get you this opportunity.¡±

    Chester¡¯s frown deepened, but as he read the details, he lightened up. This seemed like something he¡¯d be into.

    ¡°Fine.¡± Chester grinned.

    He didn¡¯t care about networking or even his humiliation. He had already proven to himself that he was strong, and that was all that mattered. Soon the entire world would know his strength. But seeing the name of the organiser made him frown. His uncle had to have pulled a lot of favors to get him invited to this. He didn¡¯t know how much it had cost to get this invitation, but this was no small company.

    This was Greiche Financial.

 Book 2 Side Story 5: The Game Masters.

    ¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡±

    Marcus¡¯ voice slammed into the group like a hammer and they looked at him nervously. They all knew that he¡¯d react this way to their new strategy, but unfortunately, the team captain was the one that made the final call. It was just unfortunate that it wasn¡¯t the call Marcus wanted him to make.

    The team captain in question was standing with his arms crossed and looking at Marcus with narrowed eyes. On his back was a blazing sword dedicated to slaying enemies, but it wouldn''t surprise the team if he brought it out to slam into Marcus.

    [The Crimson Eagle.]

    The tall man had revealed no details other than his name to the outside world, but Marcus knew it wasn¡¯t because of strategy or anything noble and intelligent like that. He didn¡¯t want people to think he was mysterious. The Crimson Eagle was just afraid that people would attack him if they saw his level. And it showed in his tactics.

    ¡°Just give it five minutes. Draw out his abilities and Merry and I can make a battle plan to defeat him.¡±

    Marcus tried one last time to convince his team leader to fight. The Crimson Eagle was the only one out of all the players gathered here from Game Masters that could make Ji-Woo become serious. If the man could draw out even one of their enemy''s major abilities, then they would have an absolute advantage on the battlefield. Marcus would make sure of it.

    They might even be able to take on Grand Thunder and win.

    ¡°Attacking Ji-Woo would be suicide. An unnecessary loss of experience and gold.¡± The Crimson Eagle¡¯s tone was final as he spoke.

    Marcus clutched his head in his hands as if he couldn¡¯t believe what he was hearing.

    The Crimson Eagle didn¡¯t care about the gain they could get from fighting Ji-Woo because he couldn¡¯t see past the fact that he would probably lose. And Marcus knew that if his team leader thought he¡¯d lose, then they¡¯d never agree to the plan.

    ¡°You know what?¡± Marcus stuck out his hand but then thought better of it. ¡°I need to get out of here. Go do the damn dungeon on your own.¡±

    ¡°Hey Marcus!¡± One of the players called after him but Marcus had already logged off.

    [GM Sad.]

    ¡°Merry.¡± The Crimson Eagle¡¯s voice was low as he turned away from where Marcus had logged off. ¡°I hope you¡¯re not going to go after him.¡±

    ¡°Oh shove a sock in it you tottering coward pissant of a man.¡± Sad flipped The Crimsons Eagle the bird and then logged off.

    ¡°Well then.¡± The last two players eyed each other nervously. ¡°I guess we¡¯re going to try this dungeon with three people.¡±

    [GM BagelKing.]

    [GM Power.]

    ¡°What?¡± The Crimson Eagle looked at them with a stormy expression. ¡°We¡¯re not going to go there now.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± BagelKing lifted his wand up his and the three players could all see it glowing with power. ¡°A few buffs and we should be able to scrape through. It¡¯s not like its undoable. Come on, they¡¯ll join us after.¡±

    He put on a confident expression to goad his allies into committing to the dungeon. Merry and Marcus had already gone through a multitude of videos and NPC dialogue, practically mapping out the entire dungeon before they¡¯d even set foot in it. It was a surefire win if they didn¡¯t screw it up somehow. They might even be able to tackle the areas that other players hadn¡¯t reached yet.

    The Crimson Eagle shook his head and turned away from the dungeon entrance. He wasn¡¯t willing to risk death just because his team was throwing a hissy fit. He pointed at the nearby mobs and gestured for the group to head towards them.

    ¡°Gabriel. Louise. Go and farm. If you two want to attempt this on your own, then go for it. I¡¯m not following a fool''s errand.¡±

    He eyed the spot where GM Marcus and GM Sad had logged off.

    ¡°I¡¯ll deal with them later.¡±

    ****

    ¡°That poor wimpy excuse of a turd! That cantankerous moron!¡±

    GM Marcus could hear Merry logging off long before he spotted the man. His face cracking a smile as the feelings of anger simmered down. Despite Marcus¡¯ outburst being the loudest, Merry was the most affected by the rejection. After all, it had been Merry¡¯s plan that their leader, Kraugar, had rejected.

    ¡°God, who the hell does he think he is?¡± Merry finally came into view as they both entered the kitchen and grabbed a bite to eat.

    After a few seconds of ruffling through dishes and removing a secret panel, they¡¯d snuck out some junk food from the stash of snacks they¡¯d hidden up in the cupboards. Thankfully Roxxy had set up the hidden area up once upon a time and allowed Marcus to inherit it after she¡¯d left.

    ¡°The team captain probably.¡±

    Merry snorted with derision at Marcus¡¯ response. They both knew that the only reason Kraugar had wanted to be the team leader was because it came with a nice fat stack of reputation. Management had agreed because the man was the most skilled player out of all of them. They couldn¡¯t deny that if he put his mind to it Kraugar could outshine even the strongest of warriors.

    ¡°Your plan is still solid.¡± Marcus recalled the outline that Merry had brought to all of them earlier. ¡°Maybe if we can get Louise to agree to fight Ji-Woo we¡¯d be able to get something out of the Korean?¡±

    Louise was undoubtedly the second strongest player in the team. It was just a pity that she was a tank and not a warrior.

    ¡°Ha.¡± Merry shook his head. ¡°She won¡¯t get anything out of him. No offense but nobody else on the team is strong enough for my plan. Otherwise I¡¯d just send you.¡±

    Marcus hummed good-naturedly, ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    Their team had the odd tactic of running two tanks and one pure damage warrior on the frontline. Kraugar was their frontline, so as the main damage dealer and only close-range fighter worth a damn in a duel he was the only one that could match with Ji-Woo.

    ¡°Can we delay it two weeks? Send out the four of us into a team battle without telling Kraugar and then go back after the cooldown ends?¡± Marcus knew he was just fishing for answers now.

    The team captain¡¯s word was final and they both knew it.

    ¡°Gah!¡± Merry had already run out of words to use to insult Kraugar. ¡°I just wish the man would grow a backbone.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it would help us a lot.¡±

    Marcus had been just as excited to bring to plan to their team as Merry had been. It was actually really simple, and they could execute it with minimal loss and a lot of gain for them overall.

    Get Kraugar to fight Ji-Woo, reveal his abilities, and then challenge Grand Thunder to a group duel in the nearby future. The individual duel waiting period and the team challenge waiting period were different, so they wouldn¡¯t have to wait two weeks to issue their challenge after Kraugar inevitably lost.

    ¡°If only we could convince him that Roxxy¡¯s words are true.¡± Merry couldn''t help but let doubt tinge his voice for the first time in the conversation. ¡°I mean, I obviously wouldn¡¯t doubt her myself but¡­¡±

    Marcus sighed. He knew what the man meant. Normally there would be absolutely no reason for them to risk challenging Grand Thunder and losing. But if what Roxxy told them was true, then it was a game-changer and they needed to get a spot before the second class advance.

    She had given Marcus a very specific list of things as part of their deal.

    One of the major pieces of information was the secret to determining classes. Roxxy''s notes said the game didn''t determine class allocation just by your skill level, but also by your impact on the game, including quests done for NPCs and the difficulty of those quests. The game measured each player in the same way so to gain an advantage you just had to complete quests far more impactful or difficult than everyone else did.

    That meant that in order to improve beyond their peers, they needed to take even bigger risks and potentially more losses than anyone else. Marcus and Merry had based their Grand Thunder plan around this idea. Surely the game would consider holding a team city spot as an accomplishment which would lead to better class advancement rewards, and at the least maybe even defeating Grand Thunder itself as the lead team in the city rankings would lead to a boost in whatever metric was used to calculate classes.

    But they had already experienced how this went against their team captain¡¯s life philosophy.

    No matter how much they tried to convince management, the staff still sided with Kraugar. Nowhere online stated this information as being true and the creators of the game were staying silent. It was as though the information had come from thin air or had even been fabricated by Roxxy. But Marcus knew that the other teams had already caught wind of similar information, or had even worked it out for themselves. There wouldn¡¯t be so many new teams entering and getting higher end rare classes if that wasn¡¯t the case.

    Marcus suspected that the problem was less with the verification of the information so much as who Marcus had gotten it from. Kraugar and Roxxy had a terrible relationship, to say the least.

    ¡®Okay.¡¯ Marcus grinned as the thought crossed his mind. ¡®Maybe terrible is understating it a bit.¡¯

    He could easily picture Roxxy attempting to stab the man if she saw him again. Not just in the game either.

    Kraugar probably thought that Roxxy was trying to sabotage him in some way. Honestly, Marcus couldn¡¯t disprove that at all.

    ¡°And your source?¡± Marcus shifted his attention to Merry. ¡°If we can at least confirm their words, we¡¯d be in a stronger spot here.¡±

    Recently, Merry had heard from a reliable source that Ji-Woo had fought a battle against an unknown warrior and used his abilities when pushed. But they didn''t know the abilities or have them recorded because that unknown player hadn¡¯t spread them around, but now that Merry knew that Ji-Woo would give up information on his skills just for a good fight it opened up a realm of possibilities.

    After all, they already had all of Jein¡¯s moves recorded thanks to her fight against Claire. Jein and Ji-Woo were the focal points of the entire Korean team. Together those two were unstoppable but as long as Merry and Marcus could learn Ji-Woo¡¯s abilities without giving up their own they were sure they could make a plan to destroy them before they gained their second classes.

    They didn¡¯t even need to reveal their own skills so long as they figured out how to destroy the enemy team properly. They could trust the team to be professional and not release their recording of the fight, and they would do the same.

    Winning this fight had other benefits as well.

    Grand Thunder was already the most influential professional team on the scene after the inter-city competition placement matches. If they could take Grand Thunder¡¯s city spot, then Game Masters would instantly gain the reputation needed to build up a proper guild and support inside Zodiac Online. It was the perfect time to steal Grand Thunder¡¯s reputation right from underneath them. They even had the perfect warrior on their team that they could use to draw all of Ji-Woo¡¯s powers out. There was just one problem.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Kraugar was a wimp.

    ¡°We really should have seen it coming.¡± Marcus tapped his fingers against the table in agitation. ¡°In hindsight, there¡¯s no way he would have accepted this.¡±

    Marcus knew that Kraugar could beat Ji-Woo if he went all out, and he could definitely draw out the man¡¯s skills. But it didn¡¯t matter what he could do. It all depended on what he wanted to do, and Kraugar considered any fight he couldn¡¯t one hundred percent win too dangerous to even try.

    Ever since the man had taken charge he hadn¡¯t allowed a single hit to his reputation. To the outside world, it looked at first like Game Masters had completely launched into a new era, defeating foe after foe and creating a legacy of being undefeated. But as the fans watched more and more battles, they slowly came to realise something crucial.

    Game Masters were avoiding difficult opponents.

    It wasn¡¯t even a small decrease in the quality of opponents. The Game Masters players were outright avoiding players they risked losing against. Even old teams at the top of the game that they¡¯d had rivalries with began to see less and less of Game Masters. Marcus knew Kraugar wouldn¡¯t even scrim or practice against them if the management hadn¡¯t ordered him to. It was bad enough that he had even considered leaving to join other teams at one point. Only professional pride and friendship had kept him with the Game Masters.

    This hadn¡¯t been without backlash. They had slowly lost the trust of their fans over time, but it was still an ongoing process. Kraugar was still new, relative to other team captains. Not something that the management could hold against them just yet. Kraugar''s record was still too solid for a minimal loss to damage it. But soon Marcus knew it would cave in. No amount of victories could make fans cheer for a team that was acting like cowards every fight.

    All this because the management didn¡¯t want to lose the one player they considered skilled enough to carry Game Masters on his shoulders. Kraugar.

    The man claimed that defeat wasn¡¯t in his vocabulary. And the online community loved praising him as the man that nobody could slay, but his team knew him as a selfish coward who ran from all the difficult fights. It wasn¡¯t even just about reputation, not as far as Marcus could see.

    Kraugar even refused defeat or its possibility in fights that the public would never know about. Unless his paycheck was on the line, he wouldn¡¯t risk anything to grow stronger or let his team gain just that little extra needed to ensure victory.

    Kraugar probably couldn''t stand the thought of trying to stand up for himself and failing. Marcus was sure that the man wouldn¡¯t have even become a professional if not for Roxxy¡¯s recommendation bringing him to the limelight.

    ¡®Well, she came to regret that.¡¯ Marcus¡¯s eyes shimmered with anger at the thought but he was quick to bring his attention back to memory.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Merry took a deep breath and paused. ¡°What are we going to do next?¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡± Marcus tilted his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. What are we going to do next?¡±

    Merry rolled his eyes and flicked a crumb at Marcus. ¡°It¡¯s not a punchline. I¡¯m genuinely asking what we¡¯re going to do next. We need to do some difficult missions and dungeons to get better classes, right? But we¡¯ve been sticking to medium class dungeons for so long I won¡¯t be surprised if our second class offer is to become a dungeon. Actually, you know what you should do.¡± Merry¡¯s expression perked up mischievously, ¡°You should message Roxxy. Tell her about the thing we got invited to. Maybe it''ll stir Kraugar''s fighting spirit. You know, for research purposes.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    Marcus grinned as he thought of what he was going to say to her. He didn''t care about what Kraugar felt about it or even rousing his fighting spirit. This was an opportunity Roxxy wasn¡¯t going to want to miss even if she had to drag her half-dead corpse there.

    ¡°For research purposes.¡±

    ****

    ¡°And that¡¯s my dissertation on how Kraugar continues to be a giant asshole.¡± Marcus typed the messages with gusto as he spammed Roxxy¡¯s inbox with messages.

    He was facing off against giant spiders as he typed and was dodging their attacks with ease.

    ¡°You know I only added you as a friend for business purposes right?¡± Roxxy¡¯s reply was instant but he knew she was interested in talking, or else she¡¯d have told him to shove off after the first wall of text. ¡°You already have my mobile number.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t have this being traced back to me,¡± Marcus smashed his shield against a spider and slashed at it with his weapon, a shield covered in knives. ¡°And I will claim forgery if you send him a screenshot.¡±

    ¡°Oh-my-God, this is fifteen pages Marcus!¡± Roxxy¡¯s text came through quickly. ¡°Do you realise how long I¡¯ll have to spend reading this to see if you left me anything useful.¡±

    He had sent a lot of pages to her wording his complaints thoroughly, but that was also a measure of how much he trusted her. If any of that leaked, it¡¯d be a little more than a slap of a wrist even if he denied it before the contents spread too far online.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m a thorough guy.¡± Marcus grinned as he clove a spider in two and moved on to the next mob.

    The forest wasn¡¯t very welcoming this time of year. The walls and walls of cobwebs should have tipped him off, but ever since Roxxy had told him about the conditions to gaining a better class he¡¯d been going all out in his exploration of dangerous areas and finding hidden quests.

    He¡¯d stumbled onto this beauty of an area after several teams had gone missing inside it. The whole place was reminiscent of a horror film and even the veteran player could feel a chill running through him as he passed by tree after tree covered in cobwebs.

    His team had called him crazy for exploring this place on his own; He was just a tank.

    ¡°Do those guys drop anything good?¡± Roxxy was watching his passage curiously as he posted more and more pictures to her, and then she received a picture of the monsters up close. ¡°Actually who-cares. I¡¯d rather just leave them to you.¡±

    ¡°Haha.¡± Marcus typed a dry response as he made his way deeper into the forest.

    He was killing everything in his path, but he wanted to attract something bigger. He didn¡¯t know what hid inside this place but most of the parties that had tried to navigate its webbed walls had fallen prey to a predator far deadlier than a few giant arachnids.

    He was itching to get his hands on this team killing monster.

    ¡°Well, our glorious leader completely rejected our plans thanks to his ego,¡± Marcus dug his shield knives into the web hoping to trigger more mobs into fighting him, only to realise it had stuck on the webbing. ¡°The great Crimson Eagle, destroyer of all that is weaker than him and upholder of his own reputation. Long live the king am I right?¡±

    ¡°The Great Crimson Eagle?¡± Roxxy¡¯s disbelief was almost tangible even from a text. ¡°Did he really add the words ¡®the great¡¯ into his name?¡±

    ¡®Not the ¡®great¡¯ part. I just embellished that. But yeah, he really added the word ¡®the¡¯ to his name.¡±

    Marcus closed his eyes and for a second he could see Roxxy holding back as her voice threatened to break into laughter. Once upon a time, it had been a common sight.

    He missed those days.

    He looked at the next thing he wanted to send to her. It was Kraugar absolutely demolishing the fish that Marcus had cooked. Nobody could resist his cooking when he put his mind to it. He had made sure to grab the most unflattering angle he could.

    [Saw a pelican gobbling down a fish today :) :) :).]

    He typed the message but then hesitated. He may not like the guy, but this was probably going a little too far. His team wouldn''t be able to save him from a physical photo being uploaded online. He quickly backtracked the message but kept the picture for future use.

    His constant attacks on the web finally seemed to yield results as well. He plucked his shield out of the webs and the threads reverberated around him. He could feel the trees around him trembling as the silken threads began to cascade down around him, trapping him and surrounding him with a wall of white. An unearthly shriek filled the air and he felt a chill crawl down his spine.

    ¡®Yeah.¡¯ His tongue ran over his lips in anticipation. ¡®This is the challenge I wanted.¡¯

    He couldn¡¯t stand holding back from danger like his team wanted to.

    He shifted the conversation somewhere else as he waited for whatever he¡¯d enraged. ¡°Hey, are you free next week?¡±

    After a few seconds, she sent a short reply. ¡°Yeah, why?¡±

    ¡°Someone sent the team an invite to a party. Kraugars not going but Merry and I are. The organisers only wanted the veterans of Game Masters there. So I figured why not you too? Our organisation convinced them to let us take a plus one. I think they¡¯re hoping I¡¯d invite Kraugar but we all know that¡¯s not happening.

    ¡°Oh-my-god.¡± She typed just like she spoke. ¡°You know I¡¯m not in France anymore, right? I can¡¯t just pop by for a late-night and come back like I used to.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Marcus flippantly waved around his shield in front of him with a smile on his face. ¡°But I get the feeling you¡¯ll be able to go to this one. It¡¯s in the organisers budget to get you there at least. Besides, it''s not even in France.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Roxxy¡¯s reply was instant. Marcus could tell he''d gained her full attention now. ¡°Tell me about it.¡±

    Marcus was typing his reply when he saw the first long, black tentacle-like object fall down from the treeline. Followed slowly by another, and another, until finally, eight furry black legs dropped around him.

    Each one was longer than a full-grown person.

    Marcus looked up and came face to face with a spider bigger than he¡¯d ever seen before. Green venom dripped from above him and splashed into the ground, dissolving the grass and webs around him. It wasn¡¯t something the game meant a single player to take down. Not without the player dying horribly in the process.

    ¡°You know what.¡± Marcus looked up at the creature¡¯s venom tipped fangs and lifted his middle finger at it. ¡°Let me get back to you on that.¡±

    He whipped his shields out challengingly at the creature and it responded with an earth-shattering roar.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got a monster to hunt.¡±

    ****

    "Quite the outburst you had earlier."

    Kraugar walked into the kitchen just as Marcus was getting into his meal.

    "Thanks."

    Kraugar looked unamused by the response as he pulled out a chair. ¡°You didn¡¯t invite me to the Greiche International gathering.¡±

    Kraugar crossed his arms as he sat down across from Marcus. The kitchen was bare and empty because the others were all inside the game levelling up, something that Marcus had thought Kraugar was doing as well.

    ¡°I found someone else. Sue me.¡± Marcus nibbled on his snack innocently but he could tell that he was just pissing Kraugar off.

    They both knew that if Greiche wanted Kraugar, then they would have invited him. It seemed like someone in the company had more than just a street-level of information on their team.

    This was foremost a business opportunity after all. It was a great place to socialise and create connections to the wider business and professional gaming community. In other words, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The entire team had expected Marcus to pass on his additional person onto Kraguar. Well, everyone on the staff at least. The other players on the team had seen this coming from a mile away.

    ¡°It¡¯s her isn¡¯t it?¡± Kraugar looked like he was swallowing a bad pill. ¡°You¡¯re wasting our time and resources. She is no longer part of this organisation.¡±

    ¡°Because you backstabbed her.¡± Marcus shot back immediately. ¡°If I remember correctly, you wouldn¡¯t even be part of Game Masters if it wasn¡¯t for her. You¡¯d just be a leech sitting around waiting for glory and fame to come and magically kick him in the ass. At least now you¡¯re just a regular leech.¡±

    Kraugar¡¯s eyes narrowed and his fingers curled into fists. He wasn¡¯t a happy-looking man at the best of times, but he was downright ghastly when angered. But Marcus kept his gaze calm and steady.

    ¡°What you say doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Kraugar tapped his knuckles rhythmically on the table as his anger grew. ¡°She is not part of the team. I am. You should never put strangers before the team, and that is that. The people who don¡¯t put their professional lives before their personal are soon to lose their paycheck.¡±

    ¡°Pardon me if I don¡¯t listen to your bullshit Kraugar,¡± Marcus could feel his teeth beginning to ache as he clenched them and forced himself not to raise his voice. ¡°But that stranger was your best friend once upon a time.¡±

    ¡°Do you value your friendship or your money?

    Marcus¡¯ lips pulled back into a menacing smile and he lifted himself off the chair, pushing his face close the Kraugar. ¡°Tell me one time you¡¯ve ever heard a good guy say that line. Go on. Threaten me. But I''ve got more pull with this organisation than you''ll ever have and you know it.¡±

    ¡°This is not a movie.¡± Despite his words, Kraugar pulled back and Marcus could see a hint of fear in his eyes. ¡°You have a dut-¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s funny.¡± Marcus¡¯ voice turned quiet, but he could see Kraugar quieting down and listening despite the interruption. ¡°Because I sure as hell see a lot of acting going on in this room. You act like you''re top shit, you act like you¡¯ve never tried to manipulate others for your own gain and you act like you¡¯re actually a human being that deserves even an ounce of my trust and respect. If I considered you my teammate for even a second then I¡¯d have invited you without hesitating.¡±

    Marcus pushed himself up to his full height and looked down at Kraugar with disdain. ¡°You act like you¡¯re the man who can bring this team to the top of the world. But inside we all know you¡¯re just a coward. Never noticed by others because you¡¯re too afraid to stand out on your own. You¡¯re a scumbag player who somehow lucked his way into a paycheck and a stable position on this team by throwing someone everybody loved to the curb. You think you¡¯re going to make it in the professional scene but when push comes to shove, you¡¯ll run away just like you always have. Because you can never do it on your own. You¡¯ll keep being held back by the same fear that¡¯s made you hide behind others all your life and ride on their coattails to glory. For god¡¯s sake, you didn¡¯t even put the Game Masters tag in your name!¡±

    ¡°Enough.¡± Kraugars fists slammed down on the table as he stood up to face Marcus. ¡°When push comes to shove,¡± Kraugar growled. ¡°I am still better a better player than you. I¡¯m still your team captain.¡±

    Marcus laughed. He couldn¡¯t help it.

    The man was so self-centered that he couldn¡¯t see the reality standing right in front of him.

    ¡°There won¡¯t be a team if you continue doing what you¡¯re doing.¡± Marcus decided it was time to detach himself from the competition and throw himself into Zodiac Online.

    He didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d do if he let himself be alone with this guy for another few seconds.

    ¡°Let me give you one piece of advice, from a veteran to a rookie,¡± Marcus glared at Kraugar until the man shifted his eyes away. ¡°You¡¯ll never be my team captain. Not until you decide that you¡¯re going to do what¡¯s best for the team and not for yourself. The reason Game Masters grew to be a global powerhouse is because we went above and beyond to tackle risks and come out on top. You may do things in a way that doesn¡¯t get you fired, but that¡¯s also why we¡¯re going to slowly die out until Game Masters doesn¡¯t exist anymore.¡±

    Marcus watched Kraugar fall into a thoughtful expression and without another word left to log onto Zodiac Online. He didn¡¯t care if the man suddenly changed his mind and fought Ji-Woo.

    It would take a lot more to earn their respect back.

 Book 2 Side Story 6: Claire & Pascal

    ¡°So Golden Lion really are down to three players.¡±

    The warrior grinned at Pascal, Yanti, and Claire as his team fanned out around them. The five enemies were brandishing their weapons with glee as they eyed the French players hungrily. Earlier they¡¯d read a forum post showing the two twins of the Golden Lion team out on vacation and worked out that if the twins weren¡¯t in the team house, then Golden Lion was likely defending with three players. It was a risk they were willing to take for the potential glory of a victory against the professional team. Even if they weren¡¯t at the pro stage each one considered themselves a skilled player in their own right.

    ¡°I have this.¡± Claire strode forward with confidence just as Yanti and Pascal were about the leap into action.

    Pascal turned his head to her. ¡°I don¡¯t think-¡±

    But Claire had already run off ahead of them and towards the enemy players. She had already memorised her enemy¡¯s positions and had released control spheres all around them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Yanti gave him a confident smile. ¡°She can do this.¡±

    Yanti sent a silent look towards their cocky opponents. ''Fools. Claire is known as a master strategist for a reason.''

    ¡°Heh. You¡¯re just a worse Jein.¡± The magi sent a funnel of flame towards Claire without hesitation. ¡°Die for me.¡±

    Claire dodged the incoming attack with ease and snapped her fingers, causing the arena to light up. ¡°Light¡¯s Judgement; Fire.¡±

    The five players looked around them with grins. They had perfectly planned for this after watching the video of Claire¡¯s fight online against Jein. They had the speed of the lights, the accuracy and everything else completely committed to memory.

    [You have slain player: Jimbob]

    [You have slain player: Lient]

    [You have slain player...]

    Claire watched with satisfaction as her attacks took every player that had challenged her team down in a hail of attacks. She could tell from the surprise on their faces that they had been expecting to be able to dodge every single shot whilst taking care of her but watching a video online was far different from experiencing the real thing. Even if they were extremely talented it would be difficult to dodge these shots the first time they saw them.

    This had been the last of the three mandatory team matches. Until the twins got back the team didn¡¯t want to risk taking on the extra challenges. Some powerful opponents had popped their heads up after seeing the forum''s posts about their teammate''s vacation.

    ¡°That takes care of that.¡± Claire walked back to Yanti and Pascal, who politely clapped at her performance. ¡°What¡¯s next on the agenda?¡±

    ****

    ¡°We¡¯re probably going to encounter some heavy opposition until the twins get back.¡±

    Pascal didn¡¯t seem too worried about the potential risk to their team spot. He was confident that even if they lost as a team that they could win another spot without too much trouble. The only issue he had was that they might accidentally reveal their abilities to enemies. It was a blessing in disguise that Claire didn''t have to hide anything.

    ¡°I agree.¡± Yanti nodded at Pascal¡¯s words and turned to Claire. ¡°Do you have any ideas on our potential enemies? Who should we be worrying about?¡±

    The two together were part of the five strategic geniuses of France, but Claire was by far the most diligent team member with information gathering. Even if Yanti compiled the reports, Claire had the touch of genius that allowed her to see patterns that nobody else could. So Yanti usually used her as the first port of call in team tactic matters.

    ¡°I think Game Masters would be the most likely candidate to attack our team spot.¡± Claire lifted their respective papers and showed them the files on Marcus and Merry.

    Those two players had been a pain in Claire¡¯s ass since the moment they¡¯d entered the virtual reality scene. Merry was bad enough, able to outmaneuver her strategies at the best of times and completely dominate her at the worst, but Claire also knew that the Game Masters also had someone else hidden. It was likely someone who analysed their opponents thoroughly just like Claire did. Luckily the Game Masters didn¡¯t seem to be using their services as much lately.

    ¡°We¡¯ve fought against these two long enough to know their MO. They¡¯re probably planning on hitting someone big to get a head start in the game and on building their reputation. It wouldn''t surprise me if we get challenged within the next couple of days. Either that or they hit Grand Thunder.¡±

    The team had clashed with Marcus and Merry so many times throughout the years that it would surprise her if the other premier French team avoided a fight with them. The Game Masters had been gunning for the top French team spot for years and the only team standing in their way was Claire¡¯s.

    Now with guilds slowly forming it was their job to maintain their winning streak and head start or else these other teams would slowly encroach on their territories. Luckily the organisation left the management of the guild to other players and staff members so that Claire and her teammates could focus fully on getting stronger.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to happen.¡± Pascal¡¯s voice was calm but laced with certainty.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Yanti tilted her head towards Pascal but didn¡¯t interrupt him.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± Pascal apologised. ¡°But Game Masters have been acting strange since they appointed their new team captain. I used to fight with a couple of them all the time back in the day, but recently they¡¯ve been avoiding contact with me. I¡¯d say they¡¯re going to hold back until the last minute to join the competition.¡±

    Yanti and Claire took his argument in stride. It wasn¡¯t rare for a team to change its tactics and personality so soon after changing team captains. The team entering Zodiac Online was a completely new Game Masters that they¡¯d never encountered before, even if they had only changed one team members and some staff.

    ¡°Fine.¡± Claire nodded and then brought out another paper. ¡°This is someone I¡¯ve had my eye on for a while. Honestly, I think these guys will hit us in the competition.¡±

    Yanti¡¯s eyes grazed over the piece of paper Claire was emphasizing. ¡°Attracting.¡±

    She was familiar with the man. He¡¯d sent their entire team letters of challenge before the competition was beginning and had then tanked the entire competition. She had personally killed him during one of the rounds.

    Claire gave the paper to Pascal and confusion spread over his eyes. ¡°Yes. I believe they¡¯re going to use their city¡¯s right to challenge any team to fight us in the first round.¡±

    Claire could see that the news didn''t faze Yanti at all. Despite the fact that she let Claire speak, Claire knew that Yanti had considered almost all the possibilities she had. No matter how they saw it, Attracting and his team had purposefully attempted to lose the competition and as a result had gained the ability to choose their opponent in the next portion of the competition. Yanti had suspected something similar would happen since the competition itself. The woman was a tactical genius of a different kind.

    Both girls had reached the conclusion that Attracting was getting ready to take on a bigger opponent during the first round rather than running. But Pascal was a different matter.

    For the first time since the meeting began, Pascal looked like he was about to disagree with her. ¡°I¡¯m not saying it¡¯s not possible. But they¡¯re the lowest-ranked team out of the entire competition. Why would they choose to fight us?¡±

    ¡°Because we¡¯re the weaker team.¡± This time it was Yanti who answered. ¡°Grand Thunder is definitely the best team to defeat if you want a good reputation, but we all know they¡¯re on another level when it comes to teamwork. Ji-Woo and Jein can wipe out teams by themselves. We are a strong team, I wouldn¡¯t hesitate to say we¡¯re currently the second strongest in the game. But we are still lagging behind the Koreans. So if someone is ambitious enough to reach for the top, then logically we are the team to attack to get there.¡±

    ¡°So?¡± They hadn''t convinced Pascal. ¡°That means we should be the team that others will avoid. I¡¯ve never heard of this guy but I doubt he has the balls to attack us, let alone his entire team agreeing with him.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that would be the case if it was a normal team.¡± Yanti pulled out the four other sheets with notes on the rest of Attracting¡¯s team. ¡°Let¡¯s look at the facts. Their city team has definitely been attacked more than any other, yet they have accepted every duel and come out victorious. We even sent in a few of our spies to see what their team formations were. However, their players can defend against entire teams on their own. Something even we¡¯d hesitate to do. This appears to be a grouping of extremely talented players that none of us have seen or heard of before.¡±

    Pascal¡¯s eyes flashed with curiosity and he pulled up the files to his side. ¡°Are they a professional team? One that hasn¡¯t publicly declared themselves?¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t find any evidence of it.¡± Claire shook her head as she answered him.

    She¡¯d been curious about that as well, but every shred of information she searched up seemed to hint that Attracting and his team were just ordinary, but very skilled, players. None of them had played professionally before but suddenly were coming out on top against all the players that challenged them.

    ¡°A priest? They¡¯re not going to fight with a priest on their team are they?¡± Pascal looked at them in disbelief before letting out a slight cough as he saw Yanti smiling at him.

    ¡°Is there a problem with that?¡± Yanti''s tone was serious as she held his gaze, but he could see she was just teasing him.

    She was by far the least priestly priest he had ever seen in a virtual reality game. He even suspected that she was a warrior disguised as a priest, and the system had just given her the wrong abilities.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, actually.¡± Claire had found it hard to believe as well. ¡°But I¡¯ve found some videos that suggest he¡¯s actually the same as Yanti, just a priest in name but dedicated to battle.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t that priests were useless in Zodiac Online, on the contrary, they were vital in tackling dungeons and mobs. However, in player battles priests had fallen behind because of their lack of battle capability. It was fine to heal others but that meant nothing if your allies got taken down before the priest could heal them. There was the odd priest inside the other teams but for the most part, the player base was waiting for the second class advancements to provide them with dedicated priest classes that they could use in team battles.

    Yanti and this Attracting person seemed to be exceptions to the rule.

    ¡°If he is skilled, then we can assume that any battle plan they devise will center on prolonged combat.¡± Yanti went over their files carefully. ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll win against us?¡±

    ¡°Win?¡± Pascal took a step back but didn¡¯t outright reject the notion. ¡°Claire?¡±

    ¡°If they challenged us, then I would assume they were confident enough to beat us.¡± Claire seemed hesitant to dismiss them outright. ¡°I can¡¯t say much more because we don¡¯t know most of their skills.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    ¡°But it¡¯s the same for them.¡± Yanti smiled. ¡°As long as they don¡¯t know our abilities, they can¡¯t prepare for our attacks or formations. Good.¡± She turned to Claire. ¡°Anything else?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll need more time to check out potential enemies. But I think I¡¯ve found a dungeon that Pascal and I can clear.¡± Claire had spent the last week going from NPC to NPC hoping to find any clues to hidden areas or quests that would yield good rewards. ¡°We¡¯ll be heading to the area to check it out tonight.

    ¡°Great.¡± Yanti broke out into a grin. The prospect of rewards never failed to put a smile on her face. ¡°Good luck you two.¡±

    ****

    Greater accuracy. More speed. Better precision.

    Claire watched the sky lighting up with rays of light as she mowed down mob after mob with her spells. Each creature was formed of stone and had no qualms about rushing through the rain of light to smash her into the ground.

    In her mind, she was a thousand miles away from her enemies. She was replaying the moment she had fallen down and died in the placement matches repeatedly in her head. It was something that had distracted her for the entire week.

    She deftly moved from side to side to avoid the golem as she riddled it with holes. She didn¡¯t care whether she killed the golems; She only cared about hitting the spots she was aiming for. She knew that if she could improve herself all around, then she would never lose again in the same situation she had before.

    But the event had left a small trauma in her heart that refused to go away.

    There was an intensity in her practice that would cause others to stop and watch if they had been in the area. Within seconds she had cleared the entire area of golems and Claire eyed the huge door the monsters had been guarding.

    A hidden dungeon.

    ¡°So this is what you were looking for.¡± A strong voice sounded out from beside her and she turned to face the newcomer. ¡°Seems like it was well worth the journey.¡±

    From thin air, Pascal appeared and he immediately began to walk towards the door. ¡°A very good find.¡±

    Pascal had been watching the entire display. He¡¯d wanted to jump in and help Claire but lately, she¡¯d been much more emphatic about completing certain tasks on her own. He knew the loss from the fight a week ago against the magi was still on her mind, so he let it go. It was better for her blow off steam when she needed to.

    ¡°What¡¯s in here?¡± Pascal didn¡¯t doubt that Claire had already done a thorough search of the area''s lore.

    Claire had never once forgotten to dive deep into a games true culture to uncover its secrets. People often thought that the key to gaining strong items and powers was through ordinary quests, but Claire knew it was exploration that netted the best rewards.

    ¡°A boss related to an ancient magi called Malagor,¡± Claire watched Pascal take out a dagger and tap it against the door to check for traps. ¡°I doubt that the magi himself is going to be in here. Maybe a pet or some magical experiment gone wrong.¡±

    ¡°Should we wait for Yanti?¡± Pascal finally determined that nothing was keeping him from opening the door and pried it open, revealing a pitch-black passage riddled with glowing symbols.

    He immediately jumped back and then sighed in relief as nothing hit him. He¡¯d been an assassin in his former virtual reality game but for this one, he¡¯d switched to the wizard class. It was a drastic change in play style but he¡¯d alternated between the two types of classes ever since starting his career. In fact, Zodiac Online had given him a class that let him replicate both kinds of classes with only some slight limitations.

    ¡°We don¡¯t need to. If those golems are any indication, we can handle this ourselves.¡± Claire shot a ray of light down the corridor, revealing nothing inside. ¡°I think that there¡¯ll be at least one yellow ranked weapon inside. And nobody should be strong enough to enter this area. Considering how many mobs and secret tunnels we had to wade through to get here I doubt anybody is going to stumble onto it by accident anytime soon.¡±

    Pascal put an arm out in front of her to block her from walking inside. ¡°Hang on.¡±

    He shifted his hands and a long staff replaced the dagger. Within seconds the darkness of the corridor shimmered and shifted towards him in a long swirl of black particles. Then it slowly coalesced into the shape of a humanoid and began to move in front of the duo at Pascal¡¯s command.

    ¡°Avoiding a trap?¡±

    She trusted his battle instincts a lot more than her own. In planning and uncovering secrets, she was definitely the go-to for the team, but Pascal¡¯s intuition was on another level when it came to danger.

    ¡°No. Just being cautious.¡± Pascal¡¯s magical creation plodded along as though it was a real human.

    [You have entered a hidden area: Map and communication are being restricted]

    Claire and Pascal heard a grating sound behind them and swiveled around only to see the door closing behind them. It didn¡¯t look like it would be as easy to open from the inside of the dungeon as it had been from the outside.

    ¡°I feel like it¡¯s definitely a yellow ranked weapon.¡± Pascal looked down the passage curiously. ¡°And it¡¯s possible that we¡¯ll find more than that down here.¡±

    Claire looked at the humanoid-shaped darkness. ¡°Drop your spell.¡±

    Pascal¡¯s avatar was sweating bullets as he maintained the spell. Claire knew that it was his most powerful ability when used correctly, but unfortunately, the design of the spell wasn''t meant for these kinds of drawn-out explorations. It was a quick and deadly apparition used for split-second attacks. Even keeping it up for a few seconds drained his mana more than they wanted.

    ¡°So then.¡± Pascal¡¯s spell dissipated into the air. ¡°Where do we start?¡±

    Claire could see the path branching out into different areas, each looking more ominous than the last. ¡°This guy was an old magi that worshipped a dark lord according to the lore. He would even summon monsters to terrorise the local townsfolk.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t sound like the worst guy we¡¯ve met.¡± Pascal could recall quite a few hidden areas they¡¯d explored that had been far worse than this one. ¡°What was he doing on the Kyrgios continent?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t a secret that the warrior continent treated magi the worst of any others. At least, that was the lore that Zodiac Online had created. Pascal and Claire were rare exceptions to the player base in that they¡¯d chosen to become magic users and also start on this continent, compared to the multitude of warriors that would undoubtedly spawn on it.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Claire¡¯s eyes narrowed and she finally took the left-most path. ¡°I assume we¡¯ll find out at the end of the route. Or maybe it¡¯ll be a chain quest.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± Pascal liked a mystery.

    They crossed down the path and the glow slowly turned into a faint purple light that simmered ominously through the surrounding air. They even caught faint whiffs of something metallic permeating the dungeon, and it appeared there were no monsters on patrol at all.

    ¡°A boss.¡± Pascal concluded quickly.

    They shifted into a defensive stance as they moved further down the passage and soon enough they entered a huge room filled with torture tools. Bloodstains spattered across the walls and a single hulking figure carrying a butcher''s knife stared down at them from the middle.

    [Undead Grair; The Butcher. Level 51]

    Claire grinned. She was stronger against undead monsters because of her light damage.

    ¡°It hasn¡¯t noticed us. Let¡¯s stay hidden and scope the area. I go left, you get the right.¡± Pascal brought out his staff and the tip began gathering the darkness and shadows from the surroundings.

    ¡°No.¡± Claire released her control spheres into the air. ¡°I¡¯ve got this.¡±

    Without another word, she stepped into the air and her foot landed steadily on a golden platform that formed underneath it.

    Aura Step.

    ¡°Claire!¡± Pascal¡¯s shout caught the attention of the Butcher but he didn¡¯t care.

    She was already straight above it. Claire¡¯s hand moved and the room lit up at her gesture, a dozen control spheres emitting a bright light and firing off rays towards the boss.

    ¡°I have this,¡± Claire repeated as she vaulted through the air.

    With her automatic firing control spheres peppering its body with attacks and her own rays striking it, the Butcher didn¡¯t stand a chance against her. She was a one-woman army that no monster could stop.

    Pascal crossed his arms at the sight and sighed. He didn¡¯t like being left out of the fight and even though he could easily jump in and aid her; It was clear that Claire wasn¡¯t having any of it today.

    Within minutes she reduced the Butcher to a badly destroyed torso, its arms, legs and everything else was completely obliterated by Claire¡¯s strikes. She¡¯d made sure that it wouldn¡¯t die until she¡¯d gotten rid of every target she could. With a final burst of light, she completely destroyed the boss¡¯ remains and it left a shining green light of an item on the floor.

    As Claire picked up the items Pascal cleared his throat and she looked over to him. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s walk and talk.¡± Pascal¡¯s eyes flickered towards the end of the room.

    When Claire destroyed the boss, a door had suddenly blinked into existence, except that instead of regular iron or wood someone had carved it completely out of stone.

    ¡°Nice.¡± Claire perked up as she approached the door. ¡°The boss didn¡¯t drop anything to open it. There has to be a key somewhere, maybe a puzzle door?¡±

    Pascal eyed the apparition carefully and smiled. ¡°Yeah, probably.¡± Then he moved over to the various benches and torture tools. ¡°So.¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°What was that Claire?¡± Pascal¡¯s voice slowly turned serious. ¡°You jumped in there without even taking a second glance at the surroundings to see if there were any potential pitfalls or traps. Even if you can fly around the boss, there¡¯s no reason to think that it couldn¡¯t bring you down or even destroy you in an instant.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Claire nodded nonchalantly and continued to examine the door.

    She¡¯d spotted a few different holes that looked like they¡¯d be able to hold something.

    ¡®Possibly items found in the other passages?¡¯ She memorised the shape and size of the holes just in case.

    ¡°Claire, you¡¯re not listening.¡± Pascal turned to her and shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re taking that loss way too personally.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Claire stopped in her tracks and with a sharp push, she brought herself face to face with Pascal. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m talking about the fight you lost last week,¡± Pascal said grimly, but then motioned for her to follow him.

    He¡¯d seen the holes too and they didn¡¯t need to waste time squabbling when they could talk and be figuring out the dungeon at the same time. Pascal brought his staff out and formed another humanoid that walked in front of them. So far the entire dungeon had been devoid of traps but he wasn¡¯t willing to risk it.

    Pascal¡¯s expression softened as they walked through the darkened passages. ¡°I care about how you¡¯re feeling. But I¡¯m not going to force you to talk about it if you don¡¯t want to.¡±

    ¡°Then why are we having this conversation?¡± Claire¡¯s expression was even but her tone left no room to guess how she was feeling.

    ¡°Because I want you to be careful about how you do things.¡± Pascal finally spotted the door to another room and smiled. ¡°I can understand wanting to improve yourself, but we¡¯re a team. We are part of your strengths and you¡¯re part of ours. We can¡¯t just leave you behind when you¡¯re clearly trying to improve. So I have an idea that I wanted to throw by you for after we do this dungeon, just to see if it''s something you¡¯re interested in.¡±

    Pascal opened the door and peeped inside. It was all clear except for what looked like an undead magi shuffling from side to side. He turned to Claire and could see that she was waiting for him to finish his proposal.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go on a book date.¡±

    ****

    ¡°A book date?¡±

    Yanti''s watched with interest as Claire curled up into a ball on the couch. The girl hadn''t even tried to take the sole chair from Yanti. She was clearly deep in thought about what Pascal had said to her.

    ¡°A book date.¡± Claire nodded.

    She had never heard of a book date, let alone gone on one. But Pascal had suddenly brought up the suggestion and it had been a complete surprise to her. Claire had faced hundreds of problems without an issue. Every time she encountered something new, she went through a simple process. With an unknown like this, she tried to first analyse it to death and then explore every nook and cranny of what might happen. It was what made her such an effective strategist. But the proposal had completely stumped her. Her next step was to get an equally intelligent mind to give her a different perspective on the situation.

    So Yanti was her first port of call.

    ¡®What the hell is a book date?¡¯ Yanti was just as confused as Claire.

    She¡¯d had a boyfriend for years, but they both played video games for professional teams. He¡¯d never taken on her a book date. But she didn¡¯t want Claire to know that. The girl thought she was the end-all for all issues that involved guys.

    ¡°I assume it¡¯s like a movie date.¡± Yanti kept a straight face as she pulled answers out of thin air. ¡°But you go to bookstores instead.¡±

    ¡°Huh.¡± Claire¡¯s face turned thoughtful.

    ¡®I do like books.¡¯ She smiled as she thought of the possibilities.

    As much as she hated to admit it, she had been feeling a lot of stress lately. The loss during the placement matches had affected her more than she cared to admit. Maybe a book date was just what she needed to relieve some tension.

    ¡°And he wants to take you out today?¡± Yanti pressed Claire for details.

    She wanted to know everything about what Pascal had said. His exact words, his intentions, and even his approach to asking. For professional reasons, of course.

    Claire shook her head. ¡°Next week. When we go to Greiche¡¯s thing.¡±

    Yanti tilted her head and a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes. ¡°Ohh, a date in another country. Sounds romantic.¡±

    "It does, doesn''t it?" Claire''s eyes clouded over as she began daydreaming about what they''d do. "Do you think he has a plan?"

    "Not A chance," Yanti responded without a second of hesitation.

    Claire nodded and laughed. There was no way Pascal had planned this out. He just wasn''t that kind of person. She was willing to bet good money that he''d come up with the idea on the spot after seeing her fight the dungeon boss. But that was okay, because now that Claire knew what he wanted to do she was going to make sure that they couldn''t possibly have a bad time.

    "It''s going to take a lot of planning, but I think we can do it." Yanti was having the same thoughts Claire was.

    "Okay."

    Claire brought out her laptop and began typing in locations near the hotel Greiche was hiring out for their team.

    "Time to plan the perfect date."

 Book 2 Side Story 7: Zodiac and the Five Miracles

    Zodiac watched with interest as the young man attempted to do the impossible.

    The giant crevice was unfathomably deep and guaranteed to kill any player that dared to explore its depths. Still, this player pushed himself deep into the bowels of the world as he spent day after day climbing down. Darkness veiled the figure but to Zodiac the area looked as though the sun had bathed it in light.

    Zodiac knew that as far as starting villages were Pattersol was a quiet town. The only exception was this crevice, something Zodiac¡¯s creator had wanted built here. The man had directed Zodiac to ensure that the crevice was impossible to traverse for normal players and even then only once they had reached at least level one hundred should they be able to reach the bottom. Zodiac had designed it himself, and a fierce wind blowing from deep within the crevice disabled all magic and willpower abilities. Communication cut off once inside and jumping would only lead to your death. On top of this, it was impossible to see anything while inside unless you brought items that created light. A task impossible for a new player. That was why the only way to reach the bottom was to climb down and hope. When the player inevitably fell, they had to pray they had enough health to survive.

    ¡®But someone jumped in immediately.¡¯

    Zodiac looked down at the player as they made their way through the crevice, using the natural terrain to climb down despite the pitch-black darkness. They hadn¡¯t even hesitated after seeing the crevice before they¡¯d begun making the climb. To Zodiac it seemed like they welcomed the challenge.

    [Ji-Woo. Level 1.]

    At first, Zodiac had dismissed the player entirely. Others had tried to jump and climb down since the game had first started, but they¡¯d all died. It was impossible, and Zodiac knew that because it was the creator of this impossible task.

    Three days. That was how long Ji-Woo had been climbing in the pitch darkness of the crevice, buffeted by the winds and clutching at the various rocks trying to find a hold to lower himself. Zodiac tilted the head of the NPC it was controlling as it felt an unfamiliar emotion flaring up inside of it.

    The player was confusing it.

    Ji-Woo was completing a task it knew was impossible. But that the task was impossible meant that it couldn¡¯t be completed. Zodiac¡¯s expression turned into a frown as it examined the player closely. To others, it looked like the NPC had gone limp, staring blankly down the hole in the ground. But for Zodiac, a whole new world appeared before it. It gained access to certain parts of the virtual reality capsule that Ji-Woo occupied and it searched thoroughly.

    It was looking for cheating software.

    Even if it was only the third day of release, Zodiac had already banned hundreds of capsules from accessing the game because a third party had changed them to include cheating software. It wasn¡¯t sure that it could get everything with shallow sweeps, but it knew that a thorough one like the one it was doing now would catch any cheat. But even as it searched through the information coming through the capsule, it found nothing. There was no cheating or even signs of a third party software interfering.

    ¡®That is impossible.¡¯

    Zodiac waved the NPC''s hand and a series of system messages appeared before it, quickly opening and closing as it went through the motions.

    [Banning player: Ji-Woo]

    Zodiac had banned the player just in case. It would request a thorough search of his capsule and then if it found nothing it would unban him. It seemed like the easiest solution to fix the situation.

    [Ban request denied.]

    ¡®Excuse me?¡¯ Zodiac blinked in surprise at the unexpected message.

    Another impossibility had occurred. There was no way for the system to reject its banning request. There was no one with the ability to override its commands.

    ''Unless...''

    ¡°What an interesting person.¡±

    Wearing the simple robes of a peasant a single person peered down the crevice alongside the NPC Zodiac had taken over. He had changed his appearance so that others wouldn¡¯t recognise him but Zodiac knew the man intimately. The creator of Zodiac Online, Hein Haster.

    Its creator.

    ¡°Administrator.¡± Zodiac¡¯s NPC lifted itself up and the A.I¡¯s expression turned warm.

    Its creator would know how to handle the situation.

    This was the man with access not only to the same information and privileges that he gave Zodiac but also other benefits. He could manipulate the system at will, and he could even interact with people outside of the game. He was a god in this realm.

    ¡°So,¡± Hein turned towards Zodiac with a smile. ¡°Why did you want to ban this person?¡±

    ¡°I suspect he is cheating,¡± Zodiac didn¡¯t cut any corners in his report as he explained his confusion to Hein.

    He even showed Hein footage of Ji-Woo climbing down the crevice in the pitch darkness. It was only a few minutes worth but Zodiac felt that it would show the creator the reason it suspected cheating. Hein could see its confusion deepen as it watched the player going further and further down the crevice.

    Hein laughed with pleasure as he saw Zodiac¡¯s expressions.

    ¡°Do you know why I stopped you from banning that player?¡± Hein asked Zodiac after viewing footage. Zodiac stayed silent but he knew that if it had an answer, then it would have told him so. ¡°I didn¡¯t let you ban him because he has done nothing wrong.¡±

    ¡°He is cheating.¡± Zodiac pressed the point again but then quieted down as it saw Hein¡¯s relaxed posture.

    ¡°Did you find any software which would give him an unfair advantage attached to his capsule?¡±

    Zodiac shook its head.

    "Do you believe he knows what is down there?" Hein pressed Zodiac.

    Both Hein and Zodiac knew that any player that made it down the crevice would meet with a special NPC, the Lightning God Indra. This NPC would determine on its own the prize to give the player that met with it. It could even kill the player without giving them anything.

    There were certain types of cheating programs that could analyse areas and determine where hidden dungeons were, but Zodiac was certain that Ji-Woo wasn''t using any of them. If it had detected anything like that, it would have banned him regardless of what Hein stated.

    Of course, if someone had told Ji-Woo about the dungeon externally then it wouldn''t have mattered. Zodiac knew that players talked to each other outside of the game and wouldn''t ban them for it. The creator even gave it moderate control over the forums, enough to administrate and moderate the content.

    "He does not." Zodiac knew this for sure.

    The only persons with knowledge of the hidden quest were Hein and Zodiac. Players couldn''t possibly gain access to that information unless an NPC had told them or Hein himself.

    ¡°Then what he is doing is overcoming the impossible using his own skills, and all without even knowing if he''ll get a reward.¡± Hein crouched down and stared into the crevice, eyeing the various footholds that provided a false sense of safety.

    A player might think that climbing down the crevice was possible when they saw the footholds. But in reality, the strong wind and darkness would soon cause even the best of players to fall to their deaths. Hein could hardly believe it as he saw Ji-Woo slowly making his way down. The player almost slipped on every foothold, lost his grip several times, and even finding the next foothold was a daunting task considering the fact that he couldn¡¯t see. But still, he survived.

    ¡°It would not be an impossible task if they could complete it.¡± Zodiac informed him politely.

    It knew what a basic definition was.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what the dictionary would have you believe.¡± Hein chuckled to himself. ¡°That¡¯s not what I believe. Here we have proof of a person completing the impossible right before our very eyes. But there is something else. You wouldn¡¯t recognise this player considering your limited background, but he is a very famous virtual reality gaming professional. Someone considered at the peak of gaming and with skills that outmatch almost every other player.¡±

    Zodiac was quiet for a second. It hadn''t known that. Unfortunately, when it came to recognising players and their accomplishments in other games, it was still a novice. Soon enough, the system would determine which of these players were the most skilled and until then it would continue to be surprised by the player base.

    ¡°He could still be cheating.¡±

    ¡°Potentially,¡± Hein admitted. ¡°And not likely. Zodiac, I outfitted you with the greatest technology the gaming world has. I know that given time you can detect even the subtlest and sneakiest of third party software. But sometimes you forget to use the one thing that everyone else has access to. Use your eyes.¡±

    ¡°I do not have eyes.¡± Zodiac was being pedantic and it knew it. ¡°What am I looking for?¡±

    It could still see through its NPC.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got control of the entire game Zodiac.¡± Hein looked at it as though he was trying to coax a baby into walking. ¡°Look at his every movement since entering the crevice. Every hesitation, every failure, and every success. Check his probability of succeeding each step, and if anything seems like something a human could not possibly do, then you can ban him.¡±

    Hein smiled as he saw Zodiac¡¯s eyes cloud over, and then in the next second its expression cleared and it turned to him. It had analysed all the footage of Ji-Woo¡¯s three-day climb within a second, playing each part instantaneously. It had seen his every movement with its eyes and viewed him from a perspective other than data and software.

    ¡°Tell me, what did you see.¡±

    ¡°Player Ji-Woo is not cheating.¡± Zodiac sounded surprised. ¡°He has made every movement with peak efficiency and skill. Even when Ji-Woo has failed to grab a foothold properly, he has recovered in a way that is humanly possible.¡± Zodiac hesitated as it looked down to glimpse the player making his way down the crevice. ¡°He is a monster.¡±

    Hein nodded cheerfully. ¡°Some call them monsters. I call them miracles.¡±

    ¡°Miracles?¡± Zodiac tilted its head once again in confusion. ¡°I do not understand.¡±

    ¡°I created this game so that we could allow players to become the greatest version of themselves that they want to be. Not to limit them and ban them because they have accomplished what we perceive to be impossible. But eventually, there will be players that stump both of us. Those people who do break the limits without cheating. This is what I refer to as a miracle.¡±

    ¡°I believe that these players are something unexplainable by mathematical calculations and scientific explanation.¡± Hein lifted himself up and turned to face Zodiac, his gaze serious. ¡°They are the people that will break the limits we have set in the game, with skill, luck, and creativity which we could not possibly have calculated.¡±

    ¡°How do we tell if someone is a miracle? What if they are simply cheating?¡±

    ¡°Then I trust you to be able to decide.¡± Hein put a hand on the NPC''s shoulder. ¡°And if you can¡¯t, then just ask me. He is the first miracle, but there will be more. Many more.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Zodiac glanced back at the crevice and when it brought the NPCs head back up Hein was gone.

    Zodiac delegated part of its attention to the running of the world as it continued to watch Ji-Woo. Two days later, the player completed the journey down into the bottom of the crevice.

    Ji-Woo had overcome the impossible.

    ¡®Fascinating.¡¯ Zodiac had become enraptured by the player''s performance without realising it.

    It watched him meeting with a lightning spirit as it teleported him into a grand lightning palace that floated in the sky. Then Zodiac turned its head towards the distant Kyrgios continent. Another cheater had slipped past its checks.

    ¡®No.¡¯ Zodiac corrected itself. ¡®Another miracle.¡¯

    ****

    [Yanti. Level 10.]

    Zodiac watched this newcomer with interest. Its automatic checks had flagged the girl as a potential cheater for two reasons. One, she had improved faster than the system considered humanly possible, and two, she was interacting with NPCs far beyond her level. In fact, she was already travelling between two continents using the Verm priesthood NPCs from the two continents.

    Zodiac watched the player closely and watched the footage of her five days playing the game. It could see every single second of gameplay from the beginning to the end, and it knew why its system had pinged her as a potential cheater.She was an anomaly.

    Her skills when entering the game had already guaranteed her a third-tier rare class. The system had given her a unique warrior class and it would provide her with ample powers. Among the player base, she would already be within the top ten in terms of raw power and potential. Her battle ability and game sense had caused the system to determine that within the first hour.

    Then she had improved.

    Yanti had achieved the highest growth of any player inside Zodiac Online. Her already strong skills and abilities had sharpened to the point that mobs well above her level and speed couldn¡¯t touch her. Zodiac watched as she fought against a creature three times her speed that should have crushed any player no matter how skilled they were. However, Yanti seemed to dodge the creature before it even made a move.

    ¡®Dodging software?¡¯ Zodiac hesitated.

    It had just finished determining a couple of days ago whether Ji-Woo was a cheater. And it had been wrong. It didn¡¯t want to make a similar mistake and ban Yanti without thoroughly checking her out. Zodiac searched through her capsule and found no cheating software, and then it brought itself back to reality and looked at her growth. Every step she¡¯d made, every tactic she¡¯d planned and every movement she made.

    It could see her improving at every moment of the game. Zodiac could practically hear her thoughts as she seemed to take in every attack and grow increasingly reactive to it. She wasn¡¯t just growing faster or stronger; she was predicting the attacks of every monster she fought. Zodiac could see that the reason the system was struggling was because she was calculating every action ahead of time. Zodiac felt a small pang of familiarity as it watched Yanti fighting.

    It was as though it was watching a copy of itself.

    It could do the calculations in its head to fight like that if it wanted to. It could even do it easily considering its processing powers. But that was impossible for a player. The human that could do those sorts of calculations in their head would be a genius. It was like watching a machine slowly beginning to learn.

    ¡®I suppose I would not be watching her if she was not a genius.¡¯ The thought suddenly poked itself into Zodiac¡¯s mind.

    It didn¡¯t feel comfortable viewing something that it couldn¡¯t understand. The system used several factors to determine what tier class a player should receive. From the five common tier one classes to second and third-tier rare classes. But this was someone whose skill was beyond that. Zodiac could see that to give this person such a lowly class would be an insult. The system itself was struggling to determine the class it would grant her. She seemed someone ill-suited for any manner of class in existence.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    She was the second miracle it had encountered.

    ¡®And that is not all of it.¡¯

    It had already been five days, but Yanti had been playing non-stop. She occasionally logged out, and Zodiac assumed it was to sleep, but she could have gained her class at least two days ago. She was refusing to advance her class.

    Instead, she was asking around the town and the NPCs to see what she could do to help them. She appeared to be conversing with another player named Claire and determining the lore and history of the town as well. Within two days she¡¯d convinced the town priest to teleport her to the Zhalnor continent into a bigger town, and within four days she had made friends with NPCs belonging to the upper priest echelons. She even expressed a sincere wish to gain a priest class.

    It was something no other player in the game had accomplished in terms of achievements and influence. Now the system was trying to cope with her influence on the world and her skills when determining her class. It wasn¡¯t much influence in the grand scheme of things, but compared to the rest of the player base it was immense. She could even convince certain members of the church to fight for her if she wanted to.

    Zodiac was unsure what to do with her.

    [Player Ji-Woo has obtained the class option: Avatar of Lightning.]

    A notification came in from the section of Zodiac that was watching Ji-Woo. The NPC Lightning God that Ji-Woo had encountered had elected not to kill him, and instead it had even granted him a completely new class. It was a special NPC that had been gifted a limited autonomy and could influence the game. The class it had granted Ji-Woo was one that the system would not otherwise have given a player voluntarily. It was far above any other class in power.

    ¡®She also deserves a completely new class tier. One above the third-tier.¡¯ Zodiac hummed to itself.

    It observed Yanti closely. She wanted a priest class, but every action she¡¯d taken showed the abilities of a battle class. She was on good terms with the hierarchy of the Verm church but had started in the Kyrgios continent. It was a class that needed to consider these factors. It took a few seconds to figure out the exact class it would offer her, and then Zodiac took one final look at Yanti and left.

    It would wait for her class advancement before providing her the option it had decided.

    ****

    ¡®Oh, the third miracle has re-appeared.¡¯

    Zodiac¡¯s NPC eyes twinkled as it viewed the player working at the blacksmith forges. The same player had been working at the starting towns smithy since entering the game. It was slower experience but the player''s dedication to hard work had shone through and he wasn¡¯t much lower than the rest of the player base in level.

    [Belfast. Level 21 Architect of Destruction.]

    ¡°Master Smith.¡± Belfast lowered his body into a bow before returning to the sword he was making.

    ¡°Belfast¡± Zodiac allowed the NPC to speak as it normally would to the player. It wouldn¡¯t take full control of the NPC unless it felt something was awry. ¡°How goes the smithing today?¡±

    Zodiac watched the exchange with a pleased boredom. This player was a lot less conspicuous than the others it had investigated, but he was hiding a secret from everyone else.

    He was the first player to have created a skill on his own.

    He¡¯d done it before the system had even granted his first class advancement. It wasn¡¯t an ordinary skill either; It was the ability to imbue all weapons created by him with a magical property. If given to the wrong hands, it could topple the economy of the town and leave a lasting impact on the powers of the players in the game. Each weapon created by the blacksmith was at least a blue ranked item, but soon the skill would grow, allowing him to make green and yellow ranked weapons with ease. This player could use his skill to grow richer than anyone else could become.

    Normally, Zodiac would have felt surprised. Its initial calculations predicted that the players would only create the first skill after a few weeks, not a few days. Creating a skill in the first place was more than just knowing you could do it. It was about having the ingenuity and creativity to believe and imagine the skill into existence. To create a skill so quickly was beyond its calculations.

    So it had done its usual search for cheating software and found nothing. No programs attempting to exploit the game and nothing that had dug through the game to find out skill creation existed. He had simply used his own talent.

    ¡®I am growing used to this.¡¯ Zodiac mused as it realised its lack of surprise.

    It had spent its time observing too many interesting players to let something this small catch its attention. However, there was something that interested him more than skill creation.

    The player hadn¡¯t told a single soul about his created skill.

    Zodiac observed the player closely. It could tell he was lying to the NPC about his skills. He was far more experienced than he was letting on. However, it couldn¡¯t tell why. According to its knowledge, almost all humans shouted their accomplishments to whoever would listen, and sometimes even the ones that weren¡¯t listening. On the forum, it watched as the players revealed secret after secret, location after location, and dungeon after dungeon to the world. But this person had stayed completely quiet about one of the greatest accomplishments in the game.

    Zodiac was so engrossed in its thoughts that it barely noticed as a new player brushed by the NPC and walked towards Belfast.

    ¡°You look like you have a good swing.¡± The player let out a charming grin as he approached the blacksmith. ¡°How¡¯s the smithing going?¡±

    ¡°Attracting.¡± Belfast immediately stood up and stopped the weapon creation process. ¡°How can I help you?¡±

    ¡®Now this is a surprise.¡¯ Zodiac turned to face Attracting and Belfast as they talked animatedly, but the two ignored the NPC.

    The fifth miracle. That was the title that Zodiac had handed to Attracting; However, the player was travelling everywhere alongside his companion, IEatTortillas. He¡¯d been quite the thorn in Zodiac¡¯s side considering the lengthy investigation that was still ongoing into this player. Zodiac still harbored thoughts that he was cheating.

    But to see the two miracles talking animatedly was a rare sight, even for Zodiac.

    One thing it had noticed about Attracting was his ability to run into more and more powerful and influential characters in the game, seemingly without even meaning to. At one point when entering this starting town for the first time while exploring Zodiac Online on the way to Lum, Zodiac had observed Attracting walk straight into Belfast. The blacksmith was being bullied by two players and from their words, Zodiac could tell knew Belfast outside of the game. It was far beyond the usual limitation of bullying as well. These players clearly had a grudge against the blacksmith. However, before Zodiac could ban them for harassment, Attracting had interfered. The priest had driven the two players away with harsh words that caused them to flee.

    The moment they were out of sight Zodiac banned them both of them for three days with a warning that a permanent ban would apply if they continued the way they had been.

    As far as it could tell the encounter was a complete accident and even Attracting felt surprised at the sudden event. He hadn¡¯t even noticed who he was saving before he did so. Belfast and the priest had quickly become close friends after the incident.

    ¡®Lucky break after lucky break.¡¯ Zodiac had noted this as Attracting¡¯s main strength.

    Zodiac had almost banned the player several times because his luck was near unbelievable. It was one thing to run into several players that were strong. Even if some had been on purpose, the majority that Attracting encountered were complete accidents and incidents much like the one with Belfast. His luck with items was also good.

    Zodiac had first noticed Attracting when the player had gone to kill the hidden boss of Torkay, a cave dragon, which he did with relative ease despite the monster¡¯s high level. Attracting had help; However, the player had clearly been expecting not only the dragon but also the treasure inside the cave, a book that would unlock the shadow priest class.

    There was only one problem.

    The loot dropped in the cave was random.

    Yes, it was possible to get the shadow book Attracting had obtained, but it was equally possible to get several other items instead. So looking for that one book in this cave and expect to get it on purpose? That would just be silly, even if the player knew that the book was one of the possible drops.

    Zodiac had replayed the various incidents caused by Attracting that had triggered possible cheating warnings and gone through them thoroughly. Most of them involved Attracting getting items that the system considered optimal for his character. For the rarer quests, the system locked items in. For these lower-level quests, the items were random until the moment the player picked the items up. It was impossible to figure out beforehand what was in them. Yet Attracting seemed to walk into areas expecting certain items and then they turned up.

    He had obtained weapons beyond those possessed by the rest of the player base, and he had obtained rare recipes and had even rarer encounters with players that could then use those recipes.

    It caused Zodiac no small amount of grief. If it could see luck then it knew that this player¡¯s luck would look like it was rocketing into the sky. But that was also a cause for suspicion.

    So it had checked his capsule thoroughly, much as it had with the other miracles. It searched and searched for any software that could interfere with the drops that fell from creatures and bosses. It had found absolutely nothing, and luck wasn''t cheating.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong master smith?¡± Zodiac suddenly found himself being confronted by Belfast as a curious Attracting watched from behind.

    Zodiac had accidentally fully possessed the NPC and without meaning to, his eyes glowed red. It was a feature that Hein had put in when creating the game, though Zodiac couldn¡¯t guess why since it seemed purely cosmetic. Hein had just chuckled when Zodiac had asked and said it gave the A.I a certain ''flair''.

    The two players had seen the NPC acting strange and approached it.

    ¡°Brave adventurers, I wish to present you with a quest.¡±

    Zodiac generated a quest that he thought would be good for both of them and then took one final look at Attracting.

    ¡®I will have to search you thoroughly.¡¯

    ****

    ¡°You¡¯re right. This is good practice.¡±

    Violet¡¯s rapier fluttered through the air as it defended against the sword master¡¯s attacks. The rapier was lighter than the sword but the sword master had enough experience enough to make up for the deficit. Violet seemed to be able to twist and turn in the air as she dodged the incoming strikes. It was like watching a caricature of a human. Beautiful movements being used to dodge and weave through the hail of blows.

    ¡®Her abilities are not human.¡¯

    ¡°I would not have offered it to you if I did not think so,¡± Zodiac replied firmly as it stabbed at her.

    He had possessed the NPC to test the boundaries of the fourth miracle player he¡¯d found. The way she moved seemed more and more inhuman as he fought against her. Attacks that he calculated would one hundred percent hit she dodged easily and with each cut she even retaliated. This girl was the player that seemed the most likely to be cheating out of all the miracles.

    Her body movements were far beyond what was possible physically. Zodiac knew that certain players were already growing used to moving beyond their normal human limitations, but Violet had seemed to use her body to the utmost from the moment she even stepped into the game. Other players weren''t used to these kinds of movements and so they couldn''t keep up. They were familiar with how humans could normally move, with their physical restrictions included. But this girl seemed to have broken all of her limits without even trying.

    But Zodiac couldn¡¯t prove it, and when he had brought it to Hein¡¯s attention, the man had pointed out something that Zodiac had missed. The capsule Violet used was a special one fitted for someone with disabilities. They couldn''t tell who was inside the capsule, but gathering its make and model was simple. Hein reasoned that the secret behind Violet¡¯s amazing movements was that she was playing how she imagined she wished she could move. She was this amazing because in her mind this was how she would normally be. She was living her ideal.

    A curious quirk of human nature that Zodiac could never have guessed. The A.I had analysed many players and a few of them were registered under special capsules that took their disability into account, but none displayed the skills that Violet did.

    ¡°Thank you. That will be enough.¡± Zodiac stopped the fight with a subtle wave of his sword, slicing through Violet¡¯s body and grinning as the disgruntled player revived outside of the dueling area.

    It had gathered all the data required.

    It would allow Violet to keep playing without banning her.

    ****

    ¡°How did you know?¡± Zodiac held Attracting in place as it interrogated the player.

    There is a limit to overcoming the impossible. It was willing to believe he was lucky. But luck had boundaries.

    Attracting had found every item that benefited him. Attracting had gathered together skilled players despite never having encountered them previously. And now Attracting had tanked the inter-city competition despite all reason dictating he should do otherwise.

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Zodiac could see Attracting¡¯s confusion spreading over his face. ¡°How did I know what?¡±

    Zodiac took full control of the NPC and glared at Attracting. It kept the angry expression that the NPC had on its face, hoping to scare some information out of the player. But it was more confused than angry.

    ¡°Every battle I¡¯ve watched you sit back. You are not weak Attracting, you and your allies could have gone far.¡± Zodiac searched deep into Attracting¡¯s eyes, trying to guess what the player was thinking. ¡°But now you have held back at every turn. You have sat down and convinced your allies to do the same. All so that you could come last.¡± Zodiac took in a deep breath. It still wanted to keep the realism of the scenario intact. ¡°So I will ask you again¡­¡±

    It forced Attracting to meet its eyes as it spoke.

    ¡°How did you know?¡±

    Zodiac had put up with this player''s unbelievable actions since the game had begun, but now it had finally decided that he had taken things too far. It knew Attracting had big plans; His actions had spread his influence so far and high that even Yanti couldn¡¯t compare.

    This player was secretly in charge of the biggest player-owned alchemy store in the game. He was leading a team that contained no less than three of the five miracle players, and he wielded real estate within major cities in his iron grip.

    No single player could match his actions and impact on the game. But now he had lost every single match on purpose. Zodiac knew that his team could easily come out as one of the top teams in the competition. The system had calculated them all as strong enough.

    There was no reason for their losses. The only logical reason for their plan was that he had somehow gained knowledge of the handicap that the lowest-ranked teams in the placement matches would get. But this only confused Zodiac more.

    There was no amount of software that could make this knowledge publically available. If he had been cheating using software that analysed where hidden areas were, it would be different. But this wasn''t the information that a cheating program could analyse and find out. It wasn''t a hidden dungeon or boss. It was a piece of information that they hadn''t incorporated into the game yet.

    Only two people knew what they planned for the competition, Hein, and Zodiac itself. It wasn''t even technically cheating to have this knowledge in his possession, but there were far too many coincidences piling up for Zodiac to be content.

    ¡®How?¡¯ That was the only thing Zodiac couldn¡¯t work out.

    It didn''t care if he was doing it legally. It wanted to know how he was possibly doing all the things he was.

    ¡°I guessed.¡± Attracting gripped Zodiac¡¯s hands and gently lifted them off of his shoulders. ¡°You do not have to worry. I guess you already know this, but we will soon bring honour to Taehra and its citizens. We have only lost this battle so that we can win the war.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Zodiac kept up the charade of being the NPC. ¡°If you fail, I will not be forgiving.¡±

    ¡°Then I will not fail.¡± Attracting assured it.

    ¡®I will get nothing else from him.¡¯ Zodiac could tell that Attracting wouldn''t talk to an NPC about this.

    Zodiac knew that he hadn¡¯t even talked to his own teammates about his mysterious source of information.

    ¡°Very well priest.¡± Zodiac turned the possibilities around in its mind as it turned away from Attracting. ¡°I will watch your progress closely.¡±

    Zodiac ignored Attracting and the others as it left the NPC¡¯s body and began to put together the clues Attracting had given it.

    It had watched for weeks as Attracting seemed to pull information out of thin air that he shouldn¡¯t have access to. Starting from the dragon¡¯s legacy quest that Zodiac had expressly forbidden him to take part in the player had broken every taboo. Zodiac had assumed that if nobody had told Attracting inside the game, then someone must have outside of it. But then coincidences kept piling up.

    The priest had gained items by the dozen and each had aided him whenever he needed them to. Even when they were randomly generated he had still obtained yellow-ranked priest equipment and if it hadn¡¯t been for the interference of a few players, he would have obtained enough weapons at the dragon''s lair to equip an entire team. He would also have gained a powerful ally if they had given him time to tame the Corruptor.

    He had numerous encounters with players whose skills the system had determined were far above the norm. Against all odds he had run into professional players, hidden gems and players with staggering potential to rise to the top. These were things no normal person should have been able to do. Let alone cheating and gaining certain items, knowing who was inside each avatar inside the game was impossible. Not even Zodiac could look into the true identities of players under law. Access to their estimated skill levels was also impossible.

    It would require privileges equal to or higher than the Zodiac A.I itself.

    But nothing had indicated the player was cheating. There was no software attached to his capsule; There was nobody in contact with him inside the game who could point out-

    ¡®Ah. I see.¡¯ Zodiac¡¯s mind fluttered as it realised it had missed something obvious.

    There wasn''t a single player that could provide this kind of information or help to Attracting.But therewasa person who had the means to do so. Somebody who could guide him to skilled players, generate the items he needed, and even give him knowledge of how to strategize in the competition to his advantage. A man with the ability to manipulate the game, check its list of skilled players and ensure that Attracting met the right people. A man who knew the faces of professional players well enough to point them out, even if Zodiac itself didn''t.

    Hein Haster.

    Attracting was the administrator.

    ¡®No,¡¯ Zodiac had seen no signs of the player using administrator privileges. And a scan of his capsule had definitely determined it was not in the same location as Hein was. ¡®But the answer is close.¡¯

    ¡®Attracting is being helped by the administrator.¡¯

    It was the only explanation Zodiac could think of. It could believe that Attracting was lucky up to a certain extent. It could even accept that he had run into players by accident. However, if it considered that Hein was helping the player, then everything fell into place.

    There was no need for an external software program if Attracting wasn''t the one doing the cheating. Hein could also give the information to Attracting outside of the game where Zodiac had no jurisdiction.

    ¡®But why would he not tell me?¡¯ Zodiac watched Hein closely as the administrator delivered his speech to the players that had taken part in the competition.

    The A.I thought it had known everything going on in the game. But now it wasn¡¯t so sure.

    It wrapped itself up in its thoughts as it went through all the scenarios. It knew its creator was far more carefree in his actions than it was. It had known him to create locations in the game at a whim and even favour certain players as he watched their progress. If he was helping this one in particular, then Zodiac was sure that there was a good reason for it.

    ''Or he simply wishes to motivate the other players into growing by adding an unknown factor into the game.'' Zodiac let the thought cross over its mind.

    It was definitely a possibility.

    It was not the only one.

    ''Continue to monitor him.'' Zodiac only had one option.

    It didn''t want to interfere if Hein was attempting to do something. But it didn''t want to allow cheating.

    If Attracting truly wasn''t using software to generate the items he needed, then he wasn''t cheating, and if he had somehow come across the information he had legitimately, then Zodiac couldn''t do anything. Even if it was the administrator himself doing the cheating, if Zodiac caught even a whiff of an external program working its magic, then he would clamp down hard.

    He would destroy any trace of Attracting''s account.

 Book 2 Chapter 14: Party Planning

    Emily hummed happily as she made her way to Ana¡¯s house.

    It had been a good week for her, relaxing and fighting duels. Their team wasn¡¯t expecting anything big since their competition was ramping up, but the extra practice made for some great times. It was the opposite of her experiences fighting her own team. Even if they got knocked out by a stronger team later on, she felt great kicking ass for once instead of getting her ass kicked.

    Gyro and Nastin had left, leaving their spots voluntarily to Spark Joy and Roxxy. Though the girls had insisted that the team only needed one tank, and when Third finally got out of the library they¡¯d pass one of the spots to him.

    ¡®Honestly, that should be me.¡¯ Emily thought as she drew nearer to Ana¡¯s house.

    Third was definitely a lot more serious about the competition than she was, and she knew that his utility could probably replace her as long as Archy provided consistent range damage. Then, with two tanks, they would be a stronger and deadlier team.

    ¡®When did I get so strategic?¡¯ She chuckled as the thought crossed her mind. ¡®It¡¯s all Nastin''s fault.¡¯

    Just a few weeks ago she would have left everything to the others because she didn¡¯t know any better. Now she was thinking of different tactics and strategies.

    Nastin had spent ages going on about various tactics she could try during their duels and explaining strategies to her. She didn¡¯t really care much about the different tactics, but it was still interesting. Most of all it was just fun to hear him talk on and on about it so passionately, especially when it distracted him enough to let her get a shot in. But some of it had definitely rubbed off on her.

    ¡°But this istheGreiche Financial. This is a once in a lifetime chance.¡±

    Emily stopped in her tracks as she heard Andrew¡¯s voice. She¡¯d already made it far enough that she could see him standing in Ana¡¯s driveway, talking to Ana. She didn''t look too happy to see him either, she''d crossed her arms and she looked like she just wanted to get rid of him. But Emily had known them long enough to spot the tell-tale signs that Ana was only pretending. To a stranger. it would look like they were fighting. But to Emily, it looked like Ana was deeply interested in what Andrew had to say.

    Once upon a time, she would have jumped into the conversation without hesitation, but she didn''t want to interrupt them. ¡°I¡¯ll come back in five more minutes.¡±

    She turned around and thought about what she¡¯d do to pass the time. She didn¡¯t feel like walking around the block in this heat.

    ¡°Milly!¡± Ana¡¯s voice shouted out to her and Emily froze, turning back around with a smile.

    Ana¡¯s eyes brightened as she spotted Emily. ¡°I was waiting for you! You¡¯ll never guess what Andrew¡¯s saying.¡±

    ¡®Hang on. What¡¯s going on here?¡¯ Emily couldn¡¯t help but be suspicious of her attitude.

    She was starting to think that the reason Ana had been so interested in what Andrew was saying was that she was planning something.

    Emily walked up to Ana and nodded politely as she passed Andrew. ¡°Hey.¡±

    ¡°Hey.¡±

    ¡°Milly, come with me.¡± Ana grabbed Emily¡¯s arm gently and without warning began walking towards her door. ¡°We¡¯re going to talk for a bit.¡± She turned to Andrew. ¡°Wait out here for a second.¡±

    Ana closed the door and whisked Emily into the house, moving the confused girl to the kitchen. Emily stared at the door where she knew Andrew was and turned back to Ana, only to see her friend¡¯s eyes twinkling.

    ¡°All right.¡± Emily gave in and raided Ana¡¯s fridge rather than fight off the inevitable any longer. ¡°What''s on your mind?¡±

    ¡°So, Andrew is going to this party and has a plus one-¡±

    ¡°No way.¡± Emily could already see where this was going.

    Ana wanted her to go with Andrew and patch things up.

    ¡°MILLY.¡± Ana looked hurt at her rejection. ¡°At least let me finish.¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°I want to ask Andrew to take you instead of me to this party thing.¡± Ana didn¡¯t mince any words.

    ¡°No w-¡± Emily hesitated just as she was about to get the words out.

    She could see that Ana was deadly serious about it. But she knew her friend wouldn¡¯t push her to go to something she didn¡¯t want to. Whatever kind of party it was, Ana had probably already found out enough to know that Emily would have a fun time there.

    ¡°Are you sure he¡¯ll accept me going and not you?¡±

    ¡°He will if he ever wants to hang out with us again.¡±

    ¡°You know I¡¯m not really someone that goes out much. Especially to parties.¡± Emily was telling the truth and they both knew it.

    She had always been a quieter person and instead of parties, she¡¯d hung around Ana and Andrew as a trio. Both of them were the same as far as she knew. A large, extravagant, and booze-filled night just wasn¡¯t on their list of things do to have fun.

    ¡°You know I¡¯d never ask you to go to that kind of thing. This isn¡¯t a regular party Milly, it¡¯s a gamer one.¡± Ana brought out a small flier. ¡°Andrew handed me this. I¡¯ve had him talking outside for the last thirty minutes about it.¡±

    ¡°God, he must be dying out there.¡± Emily giggled as she thought of Andrew baking into a crisp outside.

    The guy couldn¡¯t even handle sunlight on a regular day, let alone a hot day like this. She knew Ana could handle anything; She was a beast in fitness and a little heat wasn¡¯t going to kill her. She was willing to bet Ana had done it on purpose to Andrew to see if he was serious about offering this thing.

    ¡°Greiche Financial?¡± Emily raised her eyebrow at Ana. ¡°You realise this is probably a business thing right?

    ¡°No, no.¡± Ana shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s for Zodiac Online players to get together and mingle. Or you know, talk about the game. Andrew said that strong player will be there. You know, the one that¡¯s his teammate.¡± Ana tilted her head in concentration as she tried to remember the name. ¡°Violet.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Emily felt her interest growing.

    She enjoyed gaming parties. Andrew and Ana had always been the bigger gamers but she had tagged alongside them, going to virtual reality gaming sessions, and some festivals.

    ¡®Violet.¡¯

    Emily had never encountered her personally as Seven but the warrior had also left a huge impression on her in the competition. Her fight with TidalWave had caused him to improve massively. But that still wasn¡¯t enough to get her to want to go.

    ¡®A party for gamers sounds pretty fun.¡¯ Emily felt intrigued by the idea.

    A regular party wasn¡¯t her thing, but Zodiac Online definitely was.

    ¡°This might be your best chance to have a solid talk with Andrew and sort everything out.¡±

    Ana¡¯s words bit into Emily¡¯s main thoughts like a piranha taking out a chunk of flesh. No matter how much Emily denied that she wanted to go, they both knew she could have fun wherever she went as long as she was with friends. She wasn¡¯t even shy around strangers as long as she could find something to relate to. The only reason she wasn¡¯t interested was because she didn¡¯t want to hang out with Andrew.

    She was still hesitating about the state of their friendship.

    ¡°You¡¯re talking like I actually want us to be friends.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°The guy is a douche and we both know it.¡±

    Ana¡¯s expression softened as she heard Emily¡¯s words and Emily saw much the words had hurt her. ¡°Milly, look at me in the eyes and tell me you don¡¯t want to be friends with Andrew anymore. Tell me you want to have him out of your life forever. Or that it doesn¡¯t matter what happens to him.¡±

    Emily brought her gaze directly into Ana¡¯s face and felt her throat clog up as she tried to get the words out. She tried to tell Ana that she didn¡¯t want to talk to Andrew, or go to a party with him or be friends with him. But she couldn¡¯t get the words out of her mouth.

    It just wasn¡¯t the truth.

    They¡¯d spent so much time together over the years that she thought she knew him as a brother. At the least, they¡¯d been close friends. He¡¯d been with her through hard times and painful memories, and he¡¯d never been the type of person who was such a dick. He had hurt her feelings deeply, but it wasn¡¯t his words or his attitude that made her feel pained, it was the fact that through it all he hadn¡¯t once acted like they were friends. He¡¯d acted like they were complete strangers.

    She could forgive the harsh words, but she couldn¡¯t forget the isolation.

    ¡®Am I going to let a couple of bad months ruin years of friendship?¡¯ She wondered to herself.

    Andrew was probably going through issues of his own. She knew just from what Ana had told her how much he¡¯d changed, and how he was suddenly spouting nonsense about being from the future. If it wasn¡¯t true, it meant that he was probably in a pretty bad position.

    ¡®I don¡¯t want to abandon a friend. Especially not one going through a bad time.¡¯

    She¡¯d honestly been considering how to approach him already. Not to get closer to him, but just to confirm what Ana was saying was true. It seemed almost too unreal that he would have changed so much in so little time. If she could get him to say the words out of her own mouth then she''d probably just advise him to seek professional help like Ana had done.Stolen novel; please report.

    ¡°I can¡¯t say that I don¡¯t want to be his friend.¡± Emily¡¯s mouth said the words before she even realised she¡¯d thought them. They surprised her more than she¡¯d thought they would. ¡°But if he¡¯s still a dick to me I swear I¡¯ll never talk to him again.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯llnever speak to him again,¡± Ana confirmed with a gentle smile. ¡°Because if he screws this up I¡¯ll be right there with you with ice cream to talk about what an ass he is. Then we¡¯ll get him some professional help.¡±

    ¡°Heck yeah.¡± Emily nodded and chuckled.

    She was willing to give Andrew another chance, but she wasn¡¯t going to let everything slide that easily.

    ¡°I-I know it''s selfish for me to say this now.¡± Ana suddenly grew quieter. ¡°But I really want you two to be friends again.¡± Ana said to Emily¡¯s surprise. ¡°I know, I know, I¡¯ve been avoiding Andrew as well so I¡¯m a bit of a hypocrite. But it¡¯s not fun to know that my two best friends are fighting.¡±

    Ana felt two arms wrapping around her in a hug, and then they wrapped even tighter as they seemed to want to squash the life out of her.

    ¡°Milly- You¡¯re squishing me.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care.¡± Emily¡¯s smile grew wider as she continued to squeeze tighter.

    She knew Ana was someone strong enough to overcome any obstacle with time. Physical, mental or otherwise. But sometimes even the near-perfect Ana needed a hug.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± Ana whispered into her ear.

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Emily said with a glint in her eye. Then she released the hug and swiveled towards the door. ¡°Now let¡¯s go tell that guy that I¡¯ve got a party to prepare for.¡±

    ****

    ¡°Oh dear, we can¡¯t have you going to the party in these clothes.¡±

    Patrice stared at the closet in shock. Violet had moved her wardrobe to Patrice¡¯s mansion and after she was done her aunt had insisted on checking them all. Considering how bright and glamourous her aunt was, Violet was afraid that Patrice was going to have a heart attack from the lack of colour.

    ¡°Lordy- I haven¡¯t seen this many faded and bland colours since Ebony and Ivory. No, no, no, this won¡¯t do at all.¡±

    Violet shrugged at her aunt¡¯s exclamation.

    Slacks and t-shirts had been her bread and butter ever since her accident. She¡¯d never once tried on her dresses because she¡¯d hardly gone out. The one time she¡¯d considered it her mother had just laughed and told her she¡¯d never look good in them anyway.

    Her thoughts wandered back to her usual playtime activity. Somehow she got the feeling that she wasn¡¯t going to be able to play much Zodiac Online today.

    ¡°We need to find you something immediately.¡± Patrice¡¯s voice broke through her dark memories and Violet looked up in surprise at her aunt. ¡°Oh, but you¡¯d look so lovely in a dress. Something bright and vibrant to bring out your beautiful eyes.¡±

    ¡°Do you really mean that?¡± Violet¡¯s voice quivered as she asked the question.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say it if I didn¡¯t.¡± Patrice didn¡¯t notice Violet¡¯s reaction to her words at all as she paced from side to side with her hand to her chin. ¡°I know!¡± her eyes lit up and her voice boomed. ¡°To my room!¡±

    ¡®If I grow to be half as spontaneous as she is maybe it¡¯ll do me some good.¡¯ Violet brought her hands to the wheels of her chair to move herself out of the room.

    Then she felt her wheelchair jolt as a pair of hands grabbed onto the handles at the back of it. ¡°Here, let me get that for you, dear.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Violet¡¯s voice was quiet as she felt her wheelchair moving.

    It felt nice to have someone else moving her for once.

    Violet¡¯s room was on the mansion''s first floor. Her grandfather had helped Patrice place accessibility ramps all around the mansion before they¡¯d even come to pick up Violet. Even though she was only staying with her aunt temporarily, they had pulled no stops in making things easier for Violet. But the real kicker was the elevator. She didn¡¯t know how wealthy her family was, but Patrice¡¯s mansion already had one installed.

    Everything was so much more accommodating in this place. It was making her feel the warmth of a home that she hadn¡¯t felt in a long time.

    The moment they exited the room, two middle-aged women and a girl Violet''s age converged on them, with Patrice shaking her head as one tried to take over moving Violet. Each one had a red and blue maid uniform instead of a black and white one. Violet suspected her aunt had changed their uniforms on purpose because when she¡¯d visited her grandfather, it had been all normal. Normal compared to what she¡¯d imagined from television at least.

    ''Maids. Real-life maids.''

    Violet shook her head in wonder. She still couldn¡¯t get used to the eccentricities of her family¡¯s lifestyle. The girls did everything Patrice and Violet wanted. Not to mention it was as though there were helpers around twenty-four-seven in case Violet had any issues.

    She didn¡¯t know what her mother had done to get herself kicked out of this lifestyle but she bet the woman regretted it. She¡¯d wanted to ask her grandfather when she''d met him, but her aunt let her know that it wasn¡¯t a good idea. Apparently, the family didn¡¯t want to discuss the matter at all.

    ¡°Oh yes, yes.¡± They finally arrived on the second floor, and Violet could feel her aunt radiating happiness.

    However, instead of turning towards Patrice¡¯s room her aunt wheeled her over to another door that she¡¯d never gone through before. She hadn¡¯t done much exploring out of respect for her aunt but it also didn¡¯t help that the mansion was so big that she¡¯d need an entire day to explore it all. The backyard alone had almost caused her to fall out of her wheelchair in shock. The maids even had their own houses. Not just one house for them all, individual ones for each maid.

    Patrice let Violet push herself the final few steps as she went to open the door with a smile. ¡°You¡¯ll soon see that this is the room where dreams come true. I hope you come to love it as much as I do.¡±

    ¡°Oh. My. God.¡± Violet let out an uncharacteristic gasp as she took in the room''s contents.

    Clothes. Lots and lots of brightly coloured clothes.

    ¡®It all makes sense now.¡¯ Violet had been wondering how her aunt seemed to change into half a dozen different outfits throughout the day when meeting guests.

    This entire room was like a mini-warehouse filled with outfits. Shirts, dresses, and pieces of clothing that Violet couldn¡¯t even figure out. There were types of clothes in here that she¡¯d never even knew existed. And that was all just from her first glance.

    And then the realisation hit Violet that her aunt was going to be picking her dress out for her grandfather¡¯s party. Her aunt. The woman that was so gaudy that she dragged every eye in the room towards her wherever she walked.

    ¡®Please don¡¯t make me dress up like her.¡¯ Violet silently begged the maids and they gave her a pitying look.

    She loved all the things her aunt was doing for her but she couldn¡¯t stand the flashy clothing style Patrice had.

    ¡®I¡¯ll end up looking like a discount princess from Walmart.¡¯ Violet felt a sense of dread at the thought.

    ¡°Oh yes, yes, yes.¡± Patrice¡¯s eyes flashed with anticipation as she pulled out a lemon-yellow dress. ¡°That''ll do nicely. Why- I¡¯ll have you know my sense of fashion is highly sought after from here to Dubai.¡± Patrice flashed Violet a smile and brought out the dress in its full glory. ¡°Those celebrities and game players will have a field day when they see you.¡±

    Violet blinked her eyes in surprise. From the way her aunt dressed she¡¯d been expecting glitter, and colours bright enough to blind her. And buttons. Lots and lots of buttons. But the dress Patrice picked out looked nothing like her imagination. It was actually very plain.

    It looked like a simpler version of the dress Belle had worn in Beauty and the Beast.

    ¡°Ha!¡± Patrice exclaimed happily at Violet¡¯s expression. ¡°You thought I was going to dress you up like me? Oh deary you have no idea how much I would adore the twin look, but I know what I am and how I dress isn¡¯t for everyone. I would never force it on you.¡±

    Patrice brought the dress over for Violet to explore. Violet took it in her hands and admired it. She¡¯d never even imagined something like this for herself. She had no idea what they made it from but it felt nice.

    ¡°That¡¯s a smile.¡± Patrice¡¯s eyes glittered as she saw Violet¡¯s expression.

    "Was I smiling?" Violet hadn¡¯t even noticed it.

    It had been automatic.

    ¡°Yes, you were,¡± Patrice responded as she saw Violet¡¯s confusion. ¡°And that¡¯s why this dress is perfect for you. You don¡¯t need something that¡¯ll take too much attention away from your eyes and lips. You¡¯ll captivate everyone with that dazzling smile.¡±

    Patrice tilted head thoughtfully.

    ¡°Right after we take you to the makeup room of course.¡±

    Violet stared at her aunt.

    ¡°Makeup room?

    ****

    Howard Greiche stared at the gathering of people before him. Each one wearing clothing and accessories worth a small fortune. The best of the best that he could gather, all under one roof.

    ¡°Have you sent out all the invitations?¡±

    This was the last point they were going through. His granddaughter¡¯s arrival into his life was as sudden as it was unexpected, but he intended to make sure that nothing could go wrong during her return party. It was a gathering for potential players and teams that they could sponsor going into Zodiac Online. The game had boomed in popularity more than any other on the market, and it would be a good business decision to jump on board now.

    That was the official explanation at least.

    His associates all sighed as they saw his expression. They knew exactly where he was going with this, and they knew they couldn''t do anything to stop him. To the outside world, Howard Greiche was a cold and calculating businessman, a genius who cut down anyone that got in his way. But the people close to him knew his true personality.

    He was an unashamed doting parent and an even more doting grandparent. He took any excuse he could to celebrate his family and shower them with lavish gifts and praises. He was the kind of man who hired twenty dancers and an elephant for a tea gathering. His flamboyant parties and actions put his daughter Patrice to shame. There hadn''t been a single member of his family and close friend group that hadn''t been a victim of his vigorous shenanigans.

    ¡°Good.¡± He turned to his computer and straightened his back. ¡°Dismissed.¡±

    He heard the shuffling of shoes on the carpet as his associates went their separate ways. He could tell they¡¯d been uncomfortable with the impromptu meeting and the place it was being held. It wasn¡¯t often that he invited people to his mansion, let alone his personal study room.

    But one figure stayed where they were.

    ¡°Father, I want to speak to you.¡± His voice was cold as he gazed at his dad¡¯s back.

    ¡°Edward?¡± Howard swiveled around and an expression of glee appeared on his face.

    It was a completely different person than the one that had been so commanding to his associates only a few minutes ago. This was Howard Greiche, doting father and flamboyant billionaire.

    ¡°My dear son, how long has it been since we¡¯ve talked in private!¡± Howard gushed and ran forward towards Edward, leaping into a hug. His son eyed him cautiously and ducked out of the way of his father¡¯s hands, dodging the hug with trained precision. ¡°Oh come now, don¡¯t be mean to your old man. Tell papa what you need.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s about my sister¡¯s daughter.¡±

    Howard turned silent. Out of the four siblings, only Patrice still said Daedrie¡¯s name. The rest only referred to her as ¡®my sister¡¯. It was a habit he wasn¡¯t happy about, but he respected that they couldn¡¯t return to the way they once were. What she¡¯d done had been too impactful on them.

    Especially Edward.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like that she is being allowed to return to the main family so easily.¡± Edward was blunt in his words. ¡°If she takes after my sister, then bringing her in will only cause issues. I won¡¯t have my son put in danger becaus-¡±

    ¡°Edward.¡±

    Edward¡¯s body stiffened as he heard his father¡¯s voice turning low and cold. Howard Greiche was many things, but he was never a person to cross when angry.

    Howard Greiche stared down at his desk. There, for everyone to see, was a picture of his four children, smiling happily together as a group.

    He looked at his estranged daughter. She had been such a disappointment to the family line. Even if she had no stomach for competition and no fire inside her heart that made her want to reach the top, he still would have accepted her with open arms. It was unfortunate that she had instead gotten greedy and tried to sabotage her own family to try and gain herself an easy way to power and reputation. He would never have imagined that she would even treat her own daughter so terribly.

    But now he could at least help Violet.

    ¡°No. There will be no questioning her return. She is nothing like her mother.¡± He had seen the fire in Violet¡¯s eyes when he¡¯d met her and mentioned Zodiac Online. His granddaughter wasn¡¯t anything like her mother. She was someone who had passion coursing through her veins. ¡°She reminds me of myself.¡±

    Edward stared at his father. Howard wasn¡¯t going to change his mind about this matter. But Edward¡¯s face still held onto its dissatisfaction.

    ¡°Very well.¡±

    Edward turned around and made his way through the door.

    ¡°But no matter what you say, I will test her. And after she fails, if you won¡¯t do anything about her, then I will.¡±

 Book 2 Chapter 15: Dragon Seeking

    Seven kept her wand raised as she looked down on her opponent.

    Even when she was using aura step, she knew the guardian could take her out with a well-placed sickle. But the tank was too strong to hit from a distance. She would just knock all the attacks out of the air until Seven had run out of mana.

    Seven threw magic blasts towards her opponent and watched as the tank dodged all of them. Then the tank retaliated by throwing her sickle towards Seven, the blade trying its hardest to reach her. And it was succeeding.

    ¡®I¡¯ve got to get away.¡¯ Seven created another platform higher in the air and made her way towards it. ¡®Get some distance.¡¯

    As Seven jumped off the platform she realised the grave mistake she¡¯d made. In the space between two platforms, a glint of metal marked the appearance of a sickle rising to cut her. She¡¯d underestimated how slowly she was moving in the air, and how quickly her opponent could throw the sickle at her. She couldn¡¯t dodge the attack mid-jump and even if she reached the other platform, it would already be too late and the sickle would still pull her towards her enemy.

    She was helpless.

    ¡°Damn.¡± Seven watched the sickle digging into her chest, dragging her to the ground.

    The fall damage alone was enough to kill her.

    That made the third duel in a row that she¡¯d lost.

    ¡°You¡¯ve gotten used to my movements already?¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡± Spark Joy¡¯s mirthful expression greeted Seven as she revived. ¡°You¡¯re pretty stifled when you can only move from platform to platform. You¡¯re just relying too much on aura step now.¡±

    Seven had learned a lot over the past few duels. The tank had exploited the issues with aura step from the moment they¡¯d begun and had completely dominated the fights. The first issue was that aura step was incredibly slow to start up. Let alone creating a platform, just stepping onto it and making new ones like steps to fly higher and higher made Seven an easy target for Spark Joy to attack her. Seven¡¯s concentration had to be perfect to maintain the platforms and make them, and once she stepped onto them they locked her into a certain position that was still close to the ground. It was a period of the fight full of openings for the tank to exploit.

    Spark Joy¡¯s previous two victories had been during the beginning of the match.

    ¡®She¡¯s right.¡¯ Seven scrunched her eyes up as she tried to think of a solution to the dilemma. ¡®If only I could do what Azeroth did and create a huge arena. No, then I wouldn¡¯t even be able to reach them with my attacks.¡¯

    The was the first issue she¡¯d encountered. The second had been the fall damage. When Seven finally got high up enough that scythe attacks weren¡¯t an immediate issue she¡¯d found out the hard way that falling would cause her more damage than anything her opponent could do. Spark Joy¡¯s dragging attack forced her to speed onto the ground and splatter like an undercooked pancake.

    ¡°That¡¯s why we do it.¡± Spark Joy read Seven¡¯s strained expression and smiled gently. ¡°I can¡¯t do too much today though. I¡¯ve still got to talk to some of the priests taking care of the Verm library. Apparently there are some interesting legends there on mythical creatures that have been cited as accurate.¡±

    ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± Seven was curious about Spark Joy¡¯s self-imposed mission.

    Ever since the competition had ended, they¡¯d all been going on with individual missions. Seven and TidalWave had been farming together and completing subjugation quests. Third was learning spells and Archy was trying to figure out all the secrets involving archers inside Lum.

    Spark Joy had spent the free moments of her time searching for dragons to kill. It was the one condition that they couldn¡¯t complete to unlock the yellow-ranked weapons they¡¯d received after defeating the Corruptor. From the libraries to NPCs, she¡¯d been completing quests and raising her reputation to gain access to information on possible dragon locations. The entire team had been helping her where they could but other than Roxxy none of them had a large enough reputation to get any good information out of the NPCs. They were all tight-lipped to players that they didn¡¯t know.

    Spark Joy sighed. ¡°It hasn¡¯t been too fruitful to be honest. This is a pretty flimsy lead at best.¡± Then her eyes lit up. ¡°I had a major breakthrough recently, actually. I was going to go and check it out later. I need to get someone to help explore, there are too many mobs between here and there.¡±

    Seven¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Can I come?¡±

    She was itching to do some battle. She wouldn¡¯t be able to play Zodiac Online for the next couple of days if she went off with Andrew, so she was getting it all out of her system.

    ¡°Sorry.¡± Spark Joy shook her head and looked apologetic as she saw Seven¡¯s expression fall. ¡°It¡¯s at a place past the frogmen village. We¡¯ll need someone that they don¡¯t mind giving passage to.¡±

    ¡°The frogmen?¡± Seven blanched as she remembered the events that had led to her being banned from the village. ¡°Are they hiding a dragon somewhere?¡±

    She¡¯d had a pretty bad encounter with an archmage named Trog, but in hindsight it had all been her fault. She¡¯d crossed into the frogmen village territory and started slaughtering their villagers without mercy. She still felt kind of bad about it, even if they were computer-generated NPCs.

    ¡°Yeah, the ones you massacred.¡± Spark Joy joked. ¡°They have a pretty interesting tale of a monster living deep within the lake their village is inside. They think that if you go far enough down the river you¡¯ll encounter a dragon-like creature that lurks below the surface. Apparently the only one to see it and live was the village archmage, and when he came back he could summon dragons to fight for him out of water.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Seven could vaguely recall something like that.

    She could definitely still remember the Archmage¡¯s attack. Twin columns of water shaped like serpents had formed in thin air, moving so lifelike that Seven had mistaken them for summons. The raging animals had crushed her without mercy. They¡¯d left quite an impression on her.

    ¡®But could they have actually been dragons?¡¯

    ¡°Those things were based on a monster?¡± Seven couldn¡¯t help but feel envious of the frog.

    ¡°Yeah, and it could be a dragon. Dragons and snakes are closely related in most games as well, so there¡¯s a chance we¡¯re onto something big.¡± Spark Joy had questioned Seven thoroughly about the incident earlier alongside Third but Seven hadn¡¯t thought it relevant. ¡°So we¡¯re going to have to check out what the monster is and then run like hell if it¡¯s something we can¡¯t kill by ourselves. We can only get to that part of the lake if we go through the village. It''s cut off by high-level mobs from every other side.¡±

    It didn¡¯t need to be said that if they could kill it by themselves, Spark Joy and whoever went with her would wait until the entire team was there.

    ¡°That¡¯s going to be a pain if it¡¯s actually a dragon. They don¡¯t exactly like me there, not enough to let me go through.¡± Seven wasn¡¯t exaggerating.

    The frogmen had placed an order to kill her on sight if she went anywhere near their village.

    ¡°It¡¯ll still take a few days to verify the information. There¡¯ll probably be a higher levelled zone there for us to make our way through.¡± Spark Joy tilted her head. ¡°Damn, maybe I should take a couple of people.¡±

    ¡°Archy and Roxxy.¡± Seven didn¡¯t have doubts about the choices. ¡°TidalWave wants to learn aura step from the fighter¡¯s guild.¡±

    Azeroth liked TidalWave more than any of their group. The old man had let slip in conversation that aura step was available on the second floor of the fighter¡¯s guild library, but not how to get there. TidalWave hoped that his improved skills after fighting Violet would boost him enough to impress the branch leader.

    Seven was startled to see an uncharacteristic sparkle in Spark Joy¡¯s eyes when she mentioned Roxxy. Her posture shifted and before Seven could even blink Spark Joy had transformed into a bubble of energy that looked like it was about to explode.

    ¡®She kind of reminds me of Roxxy.¡¯ Seven mused as she saw Spark Joy¡¯s transformation.

    ¡°Roxxy is heading out this weekend.¡± Spark Joy said with a conspiratorial grin. ¡°A friend of hers invited her to one hell of a gathering. She¡¯ll be out for a couple of days at least.¡±

    ¡°A boy?¡± Seven was quick to home in on the new information.

    ¡°A boy.¡± Spark Joy confirmed and they both smiled.

    Spark Joy was clearly excited by the development, and Seven was caught up in Spark Joy¡¯s enthusiasm. They moved into position as they began the next duel, smiling at each other and talking.

    Seven began the fight by stone shifting as far away from Spark Joy as she could. ¡°So she¡¯s going on a romantic getaway?¡±

    Spark Joy leaped through the air and threw her sickle at Seven, bringing her shield around at the same time to block an incoming attack. ¡°Not exactly. She¡¯s just getting together with an old friend, he used to be my housemate way back in the day.¡±

    ¡°An old flame with a new trick? Guess he must be trying pretty hard.¡± Seven could definitely see men chasing after Roxxy.

    Roxxy just seemed to have that kind of flighty personality.

    ¡°She was always the one more into him, actually.¡± Spark Joy missed with her sickle attack and watched as Seven began to form platforms. ¡°So when he asked her out she almost fainted from the shock.¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    ¡°Roxxy did?¡± Seven dodged the incoming attacks and made her way up the platforms carefully. ¡°He must be one hell of a guy.¡±

    ¡°They have fun.¡± Spark Joy retracted her weapon and made her way towards Seven. ¡°I always wanted them to get together, but then some stuff happened and I had to switch houses. We sort of lost touch after that.¡±

    Instead of attacking the magi she jumped onto the nearest platform that Seven had left up and then made her way towards the floating girl.

    ¡°Oh what the hel-¡± Seven barely got the words out before Spark Joy¡¯s shield smashed into her and pushed off of her platform.

    A second later a sickle wrapped around her leg and dragged her towards the tank, who jumped down from the platform and crushed Seven¡¯s body with her shield. Seven tried to retaliate with a magic blast but by the time she got her wand up the sickle was back in Spark Joy¡¯s hand and cutting through her head.

    [You have been defeated by player: Spark Joy.]

    ¡°So I can step on your platforms.¡± Spark Joy looked content.

    The platforms had all disappeared the moment that Seven died, but while she was alive they would only disappear if she wanted them too or if she lost her concentration. Seven hadn¡¯t even thought about Spark Joy trying to run up them before she could dismiss the skill. The tank had immediately used the oversight to her advantage.

    ¡°You know, it might be better for you not to use aura step for a bit.¡± Spark Joy couldn¡¯t help but remark and she watched Seven revive. ¡°You can beat me easily if you stop trying to get high into the sky first. You have the absolute advantage on the ground and against a tank like me, it''s not like you¡¯ll be in danger of getting one shot.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡± Seven sighed as she thought over the fight again. ¡°I¡¯m just being stubborn. It¡¯s such a great skill but somehow I thought it would be more useful.¡±

    ¡°It will be.¡± Spark Joy assured her. ¡°You¡¯ve got time to practice it and make it work for you. Not everyone has an ability that lets them drag in players from a long-range.¡±

    ¡®It¡¯s not exactly uncommon though.¡¯ Seven left the thought unsaid.

    She knew Roxxy could also knock her off her platforms by throwing her shield. If the tank hit her platforms she could even break them, causing Seven to die from fall damage. At the least Seven would be severely incapacitated.

    That was the third weakness of the platforms. They used focus points as their main origin, with Seven manipulating the focus point so that matter could be created on it. However if an attack so much as looked at it the wrong way the platform would shatter into pieces.

    She¡¯d discovered that the hard way when Roxxy¡¯s shield had missed her and hit the platform underneath her instead. She¡¯d plummeted to the ground and before she knew it she was being stabbed to death by an overly enthusiastic tank.

    It hadn¡¯t helped that she¡¯d been killing in duels Roxxy a lot lately.

    ¡°Hey.¡± Seven¡¯s brain suddenly put two and two together. ¡°If Roxxy and I are heading out this weekend doesn¡¯t that only leave us with three players? We¡¯ll probably lose our team city spot.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re planning on heading out as well?¡± Spark Joy wasn¡¯t concerned. ¡°Roxxy is planning to give her spot to Third before she leaves. So we¡¯ll still have four players to defend our spot. Honestly, I think we could defend it with three people as long as we have Archy and TidalWave.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure I shouldn¡¯t give up my spot?¡± Seven had been giving it some thought lately, and it wouldn''t surprise her if they asked her to step aside.

    ¡°Absolutely not.¡± Spark Joy shook her head. ¡°Unless you want to of course. But we definitely need you in the main team, you¡¯re one of our strongest fighters.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Seven could feel her pride rising as she heard Spark Joy¡¯s words. ¡°That¡¯s fun about Roxxy though, don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t tell her you told me.¡±

    ¡°You better not¡± Spark Joy punched Seven lightly in the shoulder and then her eyes widened as she looked behind the magi. ¡°Oh hey, look who we have here. We were just talking about you.¡±

    ¡°All good things I hope.¡± Seven heard a familiar voice behind her.

    ¡°Third!¡± Seven turned around and then froze in her tracks. ¡°What the heck happened to you?¡±

    The wizard looked terrible. His robes were severely burnt, his eyes had dark shadows underneath them and even his comically rotund figure seemed to have shrunk unhealthily. It was like staring at a very fancy corpse, or a zombie.

    ¡°The library is not as safe a place as they would have us believe. I am now under a curse that is making my character disheveled for the rest of the day.¡± Third stated as though it was a common occurrence as he made his way up to the duo and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you both again. I trust everything has been going well?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not cursed if that¡¯s what you¡¯re asking.¡± Seven smiled as she saw it was still the same old Third.

    She¡¯d been a bit worried that he¡¯d gone off and ditched their group. Even though he was constantly messaging them, they still hadn¡¯t seen him for over a week.

    ¡°Ah yes, a wonderful state to be in. It¡¯s not a fun thing to be cursed.¡± Third raised his staff. ¡°But not something that will keep me down either. Would either of you like to fight?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll give it a try.¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± Seven and Spark Joy spoke and the same time and then laughed.

    They formed a party and challenged Third to a duel.

    It would be two against one.

    ¡°How much space do you want between us?¡± Spark Joy was adjusting the settings of the duel.

    Technically they could start wherever they wanted to, but because Third had just come back they would probably be fighting a few duels in a row. So they would let the system pre-set a range and just use that.

    ¡°I would like to try all of them.¡± Third¡¯s voice was confident. ¡°Let us start with close range.¡±

    Seven whistled. Close range was the hardest range to fight at for a wizard. His techniques and skills were all dependent on his ability to stay alive, something that became a lot harder if there was a close-range tank fighter hitting him from all angles.

    ¡°Your funeral.¡± She took a step back as the duel began.

    With Spark Joy in front of her she could easily obscure her body from Thirds view. She had tried this trick numerous times when fighting against Third in duels.

    ¡°Sickl-¡±

    ¡°Magi-¡±

    Seven and Spark Joy threw themselves into the fight at the same time. Both of them working in perfect harmony to launch their attacks at Third.

    -56

    -56

    -56

    -56

    -48

    Seven was suddenly eating dirt and grass as the attacks smashed her body into the ground. She''d been flung across the grassy plains by several explosions and then a rift had formed in front of her, causing her momentum to kill her when it forced her to ride through the purple crack in space.

    ¡®What the hell?¡¯ Seven watched her body turning grey, and a quick glance to the side showed her that Spark Joy was in a similar state. ¡®What just happened?¡¯

    ¡°Yes.¡± Third¡¯s voice floated towards Seven as she revived. ¡°This is as I expected.¡±

    She¡¯d been taken out within a second.

    ¡°Rift destruction isn¡¯t that powerful. Or that quick to activate.¡± Spark Joy joined up with Seven. She¡¯d been blown even further away, and Third had shot a couple more rifts as her while she was incapacitated to finish her off. ¡°Did you get an upgrade?¡±

    ¡°I did.¡± Third pointed to his eyes and they looked at his avatar with interest.

    His pupils were glowing a faint purple and black colour, with little purple lightning strikes flowing in and out of his skin. It was like looking at something charged with power.

    ¡°So that¡¯s what a new constitution does.¡± Spark Joy¡¯s interest was piqued. ¡°But I thought you didn¡¯t have the time to learn one?¡±

    Constitutions could be learned in the library just like spells, but they took far more time.

    ¡°Luckily I was helped by some of the kind NPCs at the library.¡± Third smiled as they began to reset the dueling parameters. ¡°Shall we try it at the longest range now?¡±

    ¡®Helpful NPCs?¡¯ Seven shuddered.

    Her visit to the library hadn¡¯t been nearly as easy going as Third¡¯s seemed to have been.

    She lowered herself into a defensive stance as she was teleported by the system to a far range alongside Spark Joy. As a magi she couldn¡¯t risk firing a single shot at Third from this range, his rifts would tear her apart if she did. But as long as they moved quickly enough his rifts weren¡¯t difficult at all to dodge.

    ¡°Get high into the air. Make sure to avoid the rifts.¡± Spark Joy took command instantly as they prepared.

    Getting near Third while he could use rift destruction wasn¡¯t something they could afford to do. Seven would need to hover above it to avoid the blasts.

    Aura Step would be the way to go with this one.

    ¡°Hello.¡± Third¡¯s voice suddenly broke out from behind her and the duo froze.

    -56

    -56

    -48

    -48

    Seven felt her body being blasted back but before she could react two more rifts formed where she was falling, dealing damage to her and killing her instantly. Because the duel hadn¡¯t ended Seven was given the chance to observe and she turned to watch Spark Joy running away from Third. Seven knew she wasn¡¯t retreating, the tank was trying to see what Third had done to get so close to them. Apparently Third had only had time to concentrate on killing Seven because Spark Joy¡¯s health bar was completely untouched.

    Then Third lifted his staff towards Spark Joy and magic began flowing out of the weapon.

    ¡®He¡¯s forming a rift? No.¡¯ Seven¡¯s eyes widened as a gigantic rift formed around Third¡¯s body.

    He was teleporting.

    Third disappeared but in the next second a rift formed next to Spark Joy and Third emerged from inside it, blasting back the tank and finishing her with more rifts. The tank''s eyes were wide in disbelief as she died and Seven couldn¡¯t blame her.

    They¡¯d been completely toyed with the entire fight.

    ¡°Damn you got me. Spark Joy looked at Third with interest as she revived. ¡°What level are you Third?¡±

    ¡®Oh right.¡¯ Seven suddenly realised what Spark Joy was getting at.

    Third hadn¡¯t had any time at all to level up since he¡¯d been in the library.

    ¡®Did he kill us while he was almost twenty levels lower?¡¯ Seven couldn¡¯t believe it.

    Surely he wasn¡¯t that powerful.

    ¡°Level 43.¡± Third¡¯s avatar shimmered for a second and then they could see his level next to his name. ¡°My apologies. I forgot I¡¯d hidden it. I haven''t simply been spending time at the library. I had to go through some harsh quests to receive these powers.¡±

    ¡°So you did get time to level up.¡± Spark Joy looked relieved. ¡°At least I know you¡¯re only nine levels lower than us.¡±

    Spark Joy and Seven were currently level 52.

    ¡°Can everyone become that powerful just by spending time in the library?¡± Seven narrowed her eyes.

    She would spend all of her time there as long as she could get access to these kinds of spells and power. She didn¡¯t care if she didn¡¯t have to farm. This was a level of power that she¡¯d only seen when she was fighting against Claire and Jein.

    ¡°No, no.¡± Third shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s quite a bit more complicated than that. Not only did I have quite a few lucky encounters, I even managed to gain the A rank in the Magi Guild of Lum¡¯s test. They gave me access to the second floor after that, and a reward for being the first player to accomplish it. Not to mention I passed the test of that witch you mentioned Seven.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Seven¡¯s eyes lit up.

    She¡¯d taken the same test when she¡¯d first come into Lum. She¡¯d received a D rank, the third-lowest rank possible. But because of Third¡¯s interference, she¡¯d later received a portable test that she could take any time.

    `Is now the right time to take the test?¡¯ She wondered as she viewed the box in her inventory.

    She would receive a reward that scaled based on her results, but she didn¡¯t know how high she could go. Even if she could get a B, she was competitive enough now that she wanted to aim for an A just like Third had received. She wanted the highest tier reward a player could get.

    ¡®No.¡¯ Seven shook her head and turned back to Third. ¡®Not yet.¡¯

    She would wait just a bit longer.

    ¡°So then.¡± Third turned to them with his staff outstretched mockingly. ¡°Shall we go for another round?¡±