After the successful completion of the Orpheus and Eurydice storyline, a pair of tall doors appears behind us, filling the dreary Asphodel Meadows with a modest lighting. It’s purple with gold trimming, and a design of an owl etched into its frame. The border contains images of olive branches.
“Those doors should lead us to the fourth floor. Does anyone want to take a moment to upgrade their gear before we leave? It’s a combat floor, so the action will start as soon as we step through. Now’s a good time to replenish our MP while we’re at it,” Braeden explains before turning to Mist. “Can you level up your shield? We’ll need it.”
Everyone sits down, going through their inventory as we wait for our stamina to recover. Although I’m not out of breath, my feet ache as if I’ve been walking all day in the real world. Kicking my shoes off, I begin to massage my feet, hoping it would alleviate some of the discomfort and give me more time to carry on. Braeden wanted us to reach level five before calling it a day, but it already feels like it’s been a couple of days since we began our trek.
Yumi finishes setting up her gear and sits next to me. She raises an eyebrow in amusement. “You alright?” she asks, trying to keep the laughter out of her voice.
“My feet hurt,” I say. “How is that possible? How can I feel my feet if I’m not really here?”
“Your subconscious has been uploaded into the game. It would be strange if you didn’t feel anything. I suppose it’s all part of the challenge,” she replies. “Either fight and risk dying, or work as hard as you can to get out of the game and die of exhaustion. It’s pretty cruel of the devs to rig the game like that, but then again, I guess they were just that desperate for players.”
Are they really that desperate? Something tells me there’s more to Mythic Kingdoms than what Yumi is suggesting. Why would they risk liability? All the money they earned from the sales would go straight into lawsuits and settlement fees. They’d end up bankrupt.
My gaze flickers to Serafina, Mist, until it finally lands on Braeden. He’s not completely stupid. As much as I hated to admit, he had superior knowledge of the game. He’s overcome more obstacles than most of us. I didn’t know if I should raise my concerns with the group because if there is really something sinister at play, it could compromise the guild. My best bet is to continue playing the game as the creators intended and wait for the true villain, or villains, to come out of the shadows.
━━━━━⋅⋅⋅ˏˋ ♚ ˊˎ⋅⋅⋅━━━━━
The fourth floor door takes us to an island called Sarpedon. A regal banner appears above us, welcoming us to the land of the Gorgons.
At the entrance, a young man named Perseus rests against a rock, staring off into the distance as he hums a strange tune. He has curly black hair and tan skin. His green eyes shine brightly like the sea, full of determination despite the uncertainty ahead. I can see his clearly defined muscles through his beige tunic. He wears a black cloak over his shoulder, concealing a small bag tucked to his hip and his sword on the other.
Bones are scattered in the sand, along with rusted swords, shields, and armors. No doubt the remains of those who failed make it close enough to the ruler of this place. The island runs rampant with Level Ten medium-sized serpents and domineering lionesses, who patrol the grounds with watchful eyes.
As soon as we take a few steps toward Perseus, it provokes the nearby monsters, and the battle begins.
Braeden wastes no time cutting through our enemies with his sword. Even though he could have swapped with Mist to deflect the enemy’s attack, he barrel rolls out of the way, dodging everything thrown his way. Show off, I scoff, shaking my head in amusement.
Serafina stands at the back of our ground with Mist defending her as she lends her healing skills to Yumi and Braeden during their brawl. Yumi is busy at work, taking out a mob of five lionesses with her charged arrow. With every enemy they kill, they gain a small amount of experience and gold.
I better not disappoint. “Ignis!” I call out, channeling a small fire ball at the tip of my staff. It’s the best fire spell I can muster at my level, but it’s strong enough to get the job done. The ball of flames explodes on impact, knocking out a third of a serpent’s health. I follow up with an ice spell, knowing a counter element will wound the creatures more, “Glacies!”
A glass ball flies towards the serpent, causing it to evaporate. It disintegrates upon impact, killing the creature in time for another to take its place.
There doesn’t appear to be an end in sight as we continue to fight through the never-ending wave of monsters. I glance at my stamina bar, noticing it's getting low. I've resorted to
using basic physical attacks with my staff, saving the last of my MP in
case I need it.
I glance at the others, and they're in the same boat. However, Braeden hasn't lessen on the intensity of his attacks. He's going to die at this rate. You
might be stronger than most of us, but using up all your stamina this
impulsively won't be useful once we get to the main quest area. And then, realization dawns on me. He's not being impulsive or arrogant. He's fighting as if he knows everything will be okay. That we won't die as soon as our stamina hits the last bar. I let out a curse. You choose now to not tell us everything you know?
I catch movement in the corner of my eye and I turned my head just in time to see a sickle fly past me. Perseus has gotten up from his spot to join the fight. A yellow health bar appeared above his head, along with the quest banner that read 'Protect Perseus During His Battle Against Medusa.'
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