VOLUME 1

- CHAPTER 10 - PART 1 -

SNOW DRAGON

­

In this game, there are a few things you need to worry about.

First, the difficulty level you are in.

Second, which effects the biome you are have.

Third, what enemy you’re going up against.

The worst thing is, in this day, I’ve got every number on that list wrong.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Wind goes against my cloak, everything warps around me as I don’t stop dashing. I’ve just blinked away from the dragon-tiger’s leap.

The beast lands heavily on its four limbs a few meters after, then it turns to me. The gaps between its armor scales brighten red and flames burst out. Its rear paws explode the ground, pushing its speed from zero to a hundred in a single second.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Why is a monster that high level doing here!? Aren’t you supposed to be on a mountain or something??

My feet also explode in speed, magic wind pushing my back. But it isn’t nearly enough to outrun that monster. I turn to see it leaping at me with its claws out and an open mouth to bite. My feet twist to a forced turn and I jump mid-run, evading the attack and falling to the ground.

As I roll in the dirt I see the dragon-tiger sliding and burning the forest around it, bursting out fume from its nostrils and mouth.

[Tyfal Niteci, Snow Dragon-Tiger (Level 115)]

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Shit.

I draw both my daggers and they shoot forward with a bang, the beast lowers its head and both blades slide through its scales, not even fazing it.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ That’s what I thought, my daggers can’t do anything.

I pull my weapons back by their ribbons.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ That’s what I call an equipment lack if I’ve ever seen one.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Levels don’t matter that much in SFO, someone underleveled can always defeat something stronger than him. But if you have the wrong equipment, you will lose even if your enemy is extremely weaker.

My scout doesn’t have any specializations, my build is to survive the longer with the least equipment possible. Escape with movement skills and have a few elemental attacks to counter elemental blockages. My character wasn’t made to fight.

Dragon scales are the most resistant natural item in the game, if you don’t have piercing, massive damage, or poison you can’t fight against it. And for monsters faster than you, like a big cat using a flaming movement-enhancing skill, the only escape is defeating it or not be seen in the first place. If you didn’t follow those preparations, you’re done for. And that’s exactly where I am at, completely fucked.

- - - - - - - - - - -

The dragon-tiger bursts forward. With the last second of my wind boots, I manage to jump sideways to evade, but the beast quickly recovers after landing and leaps at me right after.

My body fades to invisibility, I lie down and roll as I see the beast’s belly flying above me, all of its skin protected with dragon scales.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ I need to get out of here. I can’t win against this thing.

The dragon-tiger reaches the ground and soon after starts running to my left, burning the forest where it passes.

I get up to run, but I soon realize there’s nowhere to go. I’m surrounded by fire.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ It trapped me?

The monster closes the circle of fire with the sliding of its paws, stopping to stare at the inner circle with fume coming out of its nostrils.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­What the hell? Wait, where did I see this before?... Ah, I know, goblins can do something like this with their torches, but I’ve never seen a dragon type do that. Hell, I never fought a dragon type in a forest either.

I turn to the opposite side of the monster.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Anyway, it’s not like I’m really trapped here.

I jump through the wall of fire, going outside the circle.

[3###/3710] -> [293#/3710]

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “Ouch, Ouch! Dammit!”

I tap the flames out of my invisible cloak as I run away.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “I didn’t imagine it would hurt this much.”

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ But it doesn’t matter, if I get out of its sight before my invisibility wears off I still can-

-The dragon-tiger emerges from the flames behind me in a leap attack.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ How--?

I look at my shoulders, seeing the fire going out of my body and being dispersed outside my transparency.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ It followed the flames?

The dragon-tiger’ claws shine purple and it slices the air in a fast swing, launching blades of energy in my direction.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “Parry!”

I twist my body to face it and my daggers fly blocking two attacks, quickly returning to my sheath right after, but the other three energy claws rip my chest open.

[2###/3710] -> [1207/3710]

Black smoke comes out of my injury, a passive skill that blocks half of fatal damage.

A second paw comes right after with the same purple magic. My iris moves to the side limits of my eye socket, and I blink forward in a moving beam, seeing the entire world warp as my invisibility fades out.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “Haha! That’s right, I have two blinks now! Damage doesn’t cancel this one.”

I extend my hand to the side of my running path and my imagination creates a copy of my character, “Arcane Perfect Clone”. It runs mirroring my image to the left.

The dragon-tiger looks at the clone, but ignores it, keeping a steady powerful walk toward me.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ What--? How does it know I’m the true one? Pure luck? It shouldn’t know which is real.

My eyes search around as I keep running.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Dammit, I was so close to that village too, why this had to happen? Can’t I get a break?

My legs start to burn from all this running.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Ah, wait, if I go there I can use it as a distraction and escape. I won’t die yet. Where is it? It was towards a little below west, where is west?

I look up at the canopy of the trees covering the sky.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ The sun, where is it? It sunsets in the west, wasn’t it? Or was it east?

The trees’ leaves wouldn’t open enough for me to see the sun, but something clicks in my mind and I look to my right, to the faded red ball of light over the mountains.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “There is near north.”

I switch my direction a little to my left.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “C’mon, C’mon! It needs to be somewhere around here! Where is it? I’ve been walking for so long, how I’m not there yet?”

Behind me, I hear the heavy monster coming nearer.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “Shit.”

Black smoke bursts out from within my cloak, surrounding the area within seconds. The yellow silhouettes of the plants within the darkness appear all around me.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “Where is it? My skills need time to refresh. I used all of them already.”

My daggers point forward, I know they don’t serve much but I can at least try blocking something.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “Where are you?”

Everything is yellow within the darkness. Lines, curves, dots, it’s impossible to discern exactly what is what. My mind keeps pace with the clocks of my skill cooldowns inside my head, each second turning the pointer to another cycle. My feet change positions to turn as I search my surroundings, following with my daggers pointing at the silhouettes of the moving flames.

A twig breaks behind me, my hands shiver as I turn. I was the one who stepped into it.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “Fucking hell.”

The smell of burnt wood gets thicker, making it harder and harder to breathe, and in the next second, I see the dragon-tiger jumping to my right. My daggers leave my hands to parry its teeth just an inch away from my nose and I tumble back.

One of my skills shines in my head, I look to the side and the world warps once more, the smoke is pushed away to a clear scenery of the forest while I balance myself to dash away.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “It needs to be around here! It needs to be!”

My mind aimlessly recollects the image of the game map, the Quick Travel positions, where I was, and the path to the village.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ I won’t die in this damn game, I refuse to.

I pass through between the hundreds of trees, evading to hit them as I go forward, jumping over the smaller bushes and going around the bigger ones. I hear the monster behind me running and snorting heavily, then I see something at the corner of my eyes to the left.

My eyes widen and a smile comes to my face.

Between many wood branches, there’s the top of a light-brown straw hut far away.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “That’s it!”

I quickly descend a slight slope towards it and I sheathe my daggers. My speed boots turn on just after it recharged, each step is equivalent to a jump, green leaves and brown logs go behind me with speed as I move forward.

I spring forth, getting out of the forest and clearing the view to an open space with multiple huts, makeshift stone fences, and houses in the background.

When I land on the dirt floor, my second blink recharges.

The dragon-tiger comes out just after me, burning a white rope that was tied in the last trees, separating the village area from the forest.

I flip my middle finger at the beast leaping behind me.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ “Fuck you, asshole!”

A magic beam transports me a few steps to the side, I leave the warp without stopping my run.

Once I’m near the first hut, I jump over its surrounding stone fence.

The moment my feet touches the ground, I feel something smashing below me, but it doesn’t stop me.

I look down: I’m in some type of backyard lettuce farm. Before I realize it, I’m jumping out of it and going into another small farm, where green tiny leaves are popping out of the dirt in straight lines.

I don’t stop running. Heavy steps come from behind, the dragon-tiger turns its almost metallic-looking body to jump the first fence.

Turning to the left side of the hut, I see an unfinished stone wall protecting the village’s surroundings and an open gate.

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Where are the guards?

I jump another fence and land on a dirt street. I follow it towards the entrance of the village, where I glimpse at some better-constructed houses with white wooden walls and some closed windows.

It doesn’t take long for me to pass through the open gate and go inside the village.

­

Waji Tame:­ ­ ­ ­“Let’s go! It’s coming from here--”

­

Two kids stop at the corner of a house, look up at me in surprise. The taller one, being about ten years old, is pulling the hands of a shy six-year-old girl to follow him. Both of them with grey hair, pale skin, pointy furry ears above their heads, and wolf tails at their backs, the girl having a double tail.

I dash through them, not thinking twice. My stare follows them, as theirs follow me.

The heavy beast arrives, landing over the dirt road with fire coming out of its entire body as it turns angry toward me.