VOLUME 1

- CHAPTER 6 - PART 2 -

TRIAL ARENA

­ ­ ­ ­ ­

They stop, each one looking outward of their spaced circle.

Mark:­ ­ ­ ­ ­“It won’t last forever, keep your guards up. Just don’t get too close, he might AoE us.”

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

Then, there’s nothing but silence, one second after the other.

With no more steps, only their breathing echo in the arena.

For a moment, it was like I wasn’t even there anymore.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “But again, you are forcing my hand.”

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

Elay and Steven side-eye to something in their peripheral vision, and turn to face my character who is simply standing in the middle of the room and between them all.

Sorvak:­ ­ “There he is!” – The mage points his staff and conjures one more red circle as he walks back.

All of them turn, Mark and Elay go forward with their giant weapons ready to attack, but all I do is stand still, my character emotionlessly looking forward unresponsive to their advances, focusing on something that isn’t there.

The fireball bursts forth and explodes in my back, scorching my dark cloak and pushing my spine forward; the axe swings and cuts me sideways in half; and Elay’s hammer comes down splatting me into a pulp on the ground.

Steven:­ ­ “We got him!” – he says thrilled, pointing his staff forward with heavy breathing and preparing another fireball; before realizing the faint blue smoke coming from below Elay’s hammer.

Mark twists his axe to a following swing as Elay takes her hammer away, but he halts mid-attack once he sees there’s nothing for him to aim at.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “That was an illusion.”

My invisibility wears out when both my daggers ignite into flames and I trust them into the mage’s back.

Sorvak:­ ­ “H-He’s behind-” – he says choking on his words.

I slice him three more times before he teleports away. Everything is in a greyish tone with my eyes in their golden form, seeing Steven’s health decreasing as it hovers above his head, not even midway yet. Elay dashes towards me while Mark hits the floor to send one more of his earth-waving ranged attacks.

Sorvak:­ ­ “That was close-,” – he says before the world warps and his face reappears right in front of me. – “Offensive blink?! No, he--”

Mark’s attack explodes far behind me and another couple of my wide slashes cut the mage’s cape even further, each attack spreading and increasing the flames covering his body. Steven points his staff forward and loads another fire circle, now way slower than the previous ones. But I keep moving to the sides, dancing in harmony with each hit and following the mage’s retreating steps, making Steven miss and throw his fireball to the floor.

I glance at the two status bars hovering above his head, seeing his health dropping near to a third. I lift my right dagger near my eyebrow and the other in a reverse grip on the side of my hip, both pointing toward him.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “Die.”

In a powerful burst, my daggers shoot forward at bullet speed, swiftly going through his chest and abruptly stopping by the ribbons’ limits, my gloves heat up from the friction, faint smoke coming out from my grip.

Steven’s character looks at himself with scared eyes, his own blood painting his face as he burns, until his health reaches zero.

Sorvak:­ ­ “I- I died? That was so fast-”

-His body transforms into blue flakes of energy that magically hover in the air without gravity, they slow down to a stop, and they transform into a shooting beam upwards and disappear. Just like when a character dies in the game.

I fix my posture, breathing heavily from the exercise. I look over my shoulder, seeing Mark and Elay halting a few steps behind me, with worry on their sweating faces. Without much of a hurry, I walk to my daggers and pick them back from the ground.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­“Two left,” – I mumble from the other side of the white screen, inside my dark room. – “My energy is at seventy, plenty enough to kill them.” – I smirk, gripping my mouse to aim at them. – “I just need to--”

I halt, feeling something viscous and warm in my grip. I slowly flip my hand, seeing blood oozing between my fingers and the plastic of the computer’s mouse.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Huh--?

I look at my other hand gripping a dagger covered in blood, from its blade to the ribbon, everything is stained red. A cold electric shock spreads throughout my body, freezing me completely as if I had just woken up from a dream, seeing both daggers in my hands and the light-grey stone ground below me.

Everything shakes, my legs' pain remembers me of how weak they are to stay standing, Steven’s body burning reappears in my mind, the dagger slicing and piercing him, blood splashing everywhere.

I slowly rub my shaking hands on my long sleeves, trying to clean them off, but it just makes things worse. It was everywhere, from my wrists all the way to my shoulders, below my torso, hips, legs; even my boots were dripping blood to the ground. From outside my cloak to my pockets, everything is heavy with warm blood. Everything stinks of rusty iron.

I can’t look up, I can’t move. I can’t stop the chaotic ringing in my ears.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “I- I-”

My eyes won’t focus, my throat closes shut, and my breathing suffocates me. I want to take my clothes off, to rip them away and clean myself, but I’m only able to stare at the bloodstains while the entire world shakes in red around me, my hands transforming into something that isn’t mine anymore and my own body distancing away from my control, I can’t feel the blood stains, they are not real, they are not real, these bloody gloves aren’t mine, this isn’t my fault, not my fault--

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

Elay:­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “Okay, I know, Steven, I know--” – Elay says annoyed, muffled in the background. – “You’re dead, now shut it.”

I stare at her with wide eyes for a couple of seconds.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “Ah--”

The world fixes itself, as if I suddenly remembered how to breathe again.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “I didn’t-- really kill him… that’s good.”

I breathe heavily, blood dripping from the tips of my daggers.

Elay:­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “Yeah, yeah, he has incredible animations, let us focus on the fight now, okay? I don’t want to lose my items here,” – she says never breaking her stare at me. – “Huh? Your items? No, they didn’t drop, maybe the boss took it.”

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “I thought I wasn’t in the game for a moment there. That scared me a little. But it's okay now, I won’t lose focus anymore.”

I lift my chin, shaking the blood off my daggers to the ground behind me.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “Hah- The fear of losing items,” – I mumble, calming myself down. – “I know that feeling. That’s why I have scouts in the first place. …and that’s why I’m this weak.”

I stand upright.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “But you guys are so courageous. ~Coming here blind with your strong characters~...” – I say waving my voice in irony. – “But even so, instead of trying to finish me off, you guys are staring at me and letting my skills refresh.”

A trembling smirk comes to my face.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “How kind… keep staring at me all you like.”

Mark:­ ­ ­ ­ ­“What the heck it is talking about?” – he says growling.

Elay:­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “’Keep staring at me’?’” – she thinks out loud. – “…he’s taunting us.”

Mark:­ ­ ­ ­ ­“What a cocky boss.” – He opens a smile, readying his axe to the side. – “What do you say? Let’s take him down, you and me.”

Elay nods.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “I played this game for four years. I know more than one trick to kill stronger players.”

I open my smile wide as they charge forth with heavy steps.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “And to tell you the truth… you guys kind of suck.”

­

­

­

­