There was one thing that bothered Garett.
Why did that message say to not tell anyone their names?
Did ones name hold some sort of significance in this world that they were unaware of?
Or perhaps this "Determined" person simply wished for the party to lay low and not allow information to leak about them.
Either way, Garett spoke up.
"I'm not exactly sure what the reason is, but I think we should follow this 'Determined' persons advice and keep our names a secret."
"Mhm. Staying out of the spotlight is always the best option", Ashley responded.
"Is that really wise? How will we gather allies without spreading our fame?", Samantha asked.
"There is never anything wrong with erring on the side of caution. For now, lets keep our names secret, and do our best to avoid leaking much information to others about ourselves. Until we become stronger, we need to be careful.", Trevor stated.
Trevor began to speak his mind after taking some time to finish reading the messages.
"I have a theory, everyone. Please hear me out"
He pushed up his sunglasses, and began to explain with the flip of his hair.
"There appear to be multiple people who are communicating to us through the system. First was this 'Indeterminant' character, and now, this person who called themselves the Determined. Based on what we have seen, it is likely that the Indeterminant is an enemy, who seeks our deaths- or at least enjoys watching others suffer. If we are to believe what was said by the Determined, then they are an ally, and they want us to make our way to them. We should be wary of if they are lying, or trying to set us up, however..."
Trevor paused for a moment, as if he was still coming to a conclusion.
"The lack of information as to their location makes me think otherwise. If you wished to lure your enemy into a trap, would you not tell them where to go? It seems that the communication is somehow being limited... perhaps because they fear the leaking of their location to a 3rd party, or perhaps because they are unable to say due to the rules of the system. Either way, what is certain is that they are likely somewhere within this so called 'realm of monsters' given that the quest priority shifted right after their message ended."
The other three nodded in agreement. There weren't any flaws in Trevor's reasoning as far as they could see.
"The real question is, if they are able to communicate through the system to us, why are we unable to do so?", Garett asked.
Trevor placed his chin on his hand, stumped by this as well.
"My only guess is that they have some ability unlocked that we haven't. I don't think they are any form of 'administrators' to the system, as if they were they would likely not be pinned against one another... unless they were actually working together... but if that were the case, why go through all the effort to separate your identities? To lure us into a trap? It would have been easier just to pretend like both people are on our side, and would harbor less suspicions among us, no?"
"I suppose either way we should try to be wary of the abilities of both parties, and try to avoid making any attention drawing moves from here on out... but... that's easier said than done in these forms...", Garett replied, looking at his own demonic hands.
"Why don't we just avoid everyone and figure things out on our own?", Ashley suggested
"No, no! We should be working to get the public on our side! Even with forms such as these, we should try to gain as many allies as possible to prevent others from carelessly attacking us!", Samantha responded.
"Are you an idiot? That would just get us killed. Stupid bitch seems a little thirsty for attention, eh?"
"What was that, you bum!? At least I am a productive member of society unlike you!"
Sparks flew between Samantha and Ashley, and Trevor and Garett just awkwardly watched as these two had their cat fight.
Garett put his hand on Ashley's shoulder, and Trevor held Samantha back.
"Calm down. We need to figure out what to do. For now, I would suggest that we lay low and find an exit to this dungeon. From there we should scout out the surrounding area and see if there is any civilization to begin with."
The two stopped their quarrel and nodded, still glaring at each other.
[Player Samantha and Player Ashley have earned the skill: [Irritate foe] Charisma based skill. By pointing out your opponent's insecurities, you can force them to make irrational decisions.]
Ashley slithered back to hovering on Garett's back, seemingly hissing at Samantha.
Samantha too rolled her eyes.
Following this, the four looked towards the 6 doors which they had the option to enter.
"Which one should we enter, leader?", Trevor asked Garett.
[Player Garett: Rolling for perception. Success rate: 1%]
[Roll: Value not displayed. Success or Failure unknown]
"Lets go this way", Garett stated as he pointed to the middle door on the left hand side of the arena.
"Fine by me. Either way, we have no idea where they will lead, so they are all the same", Trevor said.
And with that, the four entered the gate.
----
The gate once more led to a long hallway, that twisted and turned for a while. It seemed that they were still a long way off from the surface, but the party managed to continue on. Strangely, there were no intersections along the way, but merely a long twisty path.
It became pitch black eventually, but Garett took out his torch of illusion to fix that issue.
The party continued walking for about an hour, when all of a sudden....
Grumble....
The sound of a rumbling stomach came from Samantha.
"That... that wasn't me!"
Garett let out a weak laugh, but was too tired to really make any comment.
As if in response, Trevor and Garett's stomachs as well began to rumble.
[You find yourselves hungry and tired after much walking]
Ashley was a ghost, however she did have a physical body that was being replenished by mana. Even so, her energy was not limitless, and as such she would eventually tire out as well.
And just as the Garett began thinking of what to do about the food situation, they ran into a dead end.
"..."
"What do we do now?", Ashley whispered, conserving her energy.
Garett looked weary, as if he was about to fall asleep again.
'Huh? I seem to be losing consciousness...'
Garett forced his eyes open.
He had to stay awake. As the leader, he couldn't afford to let himself become a burden like Samantha had.
"Agh!! What the hell!! Why the hell is there a wall here!!"
Samantha, who was also clearly tired and irritated, began to smash her horned head against the stone wall.
When she did, there was an echo sound, accompanied by the cracking of stone.
[Note: Player Samantha has damaged herself. HP: 13/14]
"Hey... don't do something so dangerous as hurting yourself! You never know what could happen on this nightmare mode if we trigger an unlucky event...", Trevor warned.
Garett watched this though, and thought.
Her horns were hard! It was amazing that they could penetrate the wall so easily!
But more importantly...
"Is it just me, or did that wall sound kinda odd when you hit it?", Ashley asked.
This question triggered some curiosity in Garett and as he imagined a scenario, a message appeared.
[Player Garett and Player Samantha have unlocked the ability: Headbutt]
Garett saw this and grinned.
"Move"
"Eh?"
Garett grabbed Trevor and Samantha by the collars of their shirts and threw them lightly aside.
Ashley unclinged from Garett's back and stood back, as if understanding his intent.
Garett reared his head, faced his horns at the wall, and took off.
[Garett has used [Headbutt] on [Stone wall]]
SLAM!!!
Chunks of rock went flying.
The wall crumbled, to reveal....
A thick layer of mud poured out into the tunnel. The dirt formed an incline that lead upwards, and sunlight peeked through.
"We did it!!!", Garett shouted.
"Yayyyy!!!", Ashley replied.
The other two were too tired but Trevor smirked lightly and Samantha let out a giggle.
The four began to trudge up the muddy slope, not caring for getting dirty. After all, they had been in many life and death battles since entering this world, and the sight of the sunlight made each of them feel refreshed as they longed to exit.
Once they exited from the tunnel, they looked around to see that they were in a field of mud.
It seemed that the patch they were in was relatively isolated. A swamp surrounded the large patch of mud that they had exited, with various shrubs and trees, as well as reeds and marshy ponds.
But in their location, a relatively large clearing of thick mud was the only thing present.
The mud slowly was oozing into the opening that had been made after the wall caved in, and the party had trouble taking each step as they had to make their way through the thick mud.
"We should head over to that grassy area... if were lucky we might be able to catch some fish or something..." Garett said.
"How exactly would we do that?" Trevor responded.
They had no fishing gear, nor anything to use.
Garett wasn't thinking straight. He just wanted to eat something.
It was as if the hunger was literally eating away at him.
He felt his steps become heavier and heavier. Ashley was the only one who wasn't having trouble as she hovered above the mud, and easily exited the incline.
When they had all reached the top, the mud began sinking in.
With it, three of the four party members were engulfed up to their waste in mud.
"UGH!!! THIS IS FILTHY!!!", Samantha shouted, clearly disgusted by the scenario.
[The party has been trapped in mud]
Garett could feel his body being slowly pulled into the mud.
"We need to get out of here! If we don't, we might get sucked under!"
The three began clawing at the mud, but this only sped up the process.
"Should I use a [Fireball]!?", Ashley asked.
The heat could melt the mud, which would scald their skin, but it would evaporate the water and make the ground more solid.
"Hold off on that for now! Try to help Samantha by grabbing her staff!"
Ashley obeyed Garett and began to slowly pull Samantha up, by the staff, until the two had reached the grassy area.
All of the sudden, out of a clearing of reeds the party heard a rustling sound, accompanied by a few voices.
"Captain! I believe I heard something in this area!"
"We had better investigate, Hic. If there are any monsters here, I'll show them not to mess with the border patrol!"
Three men in leather armor- two carrying bows and quivers on their backs, and one carrying a sword on his side appeared from the reeds.
They were all wearing snowshoes to prevent them from sliding down in the mud, and clearly the light armor was to prevent that extra weight in the swampy area.
Garett and Trevor, who were stuck in the mud, made eye contact with the group of three.
Samantha and Ashley were both a bit behind where Trevor and Garett were, on more solid ground. Of course, they were still within the 3 meter limit.
"What the..."
The man who had the sword's eyes went wide.
"What kind of abomination party is going on here!?"
----
In the instant that Garett and Trevor were staring down the three men, Garett had used his [Tactical Analysis] skill to confirm the status of these people.
There was no longer an action point system holding Garett back, due to this supposed nightmare mode, and Garett was planning on taking full advantage of that.
Instead of using up said action points, the system displayed a message over the course of 10 seconds.
[Analyzing Enemies.... 5%... 10%.... 15%.... 95%.... 100%]
[Analysis Complete]
When the analysis was completed, some status bars appeared above the heads of the three soldiers.
Above the man with the sword:
[Vythguard Empire Border Patrol- Squad Leader] (Lvl 15)
Attack: 10-20 (Melee)
Physical Defense: 5
Magical Defense: 0
HP: 30/30
MP: 0/0
No special skills
And above the heads of the two men with bows:
[Vythguard Empire Border Patrol-Archer] (Lvl 10)
Attack: 8-13 (Ranged)
Physical Defense: 3
Magical Defense: 0
HP: 20/20
MP: 0/0
No special skills
These men were relatively strong, compared to the current party.
Their status screens from the analysis seemed to be in a different layout. This was due to nightmare mode being enabled, thus vastly changing the stats and relevant information in battle.
It happened in an instant, but after seeing this info, Garett knew that they had to get away quick. This wasn't a fight they could win through regular tactics. With an attack of 10-20, that melee fighter could oneshot any one of the party members. Not to mention that the archers would be peddling them with arrows- which also might be able to oneshot them.
Trevor pushed up his glasses and began the negotiations.
"Gentlemen... it seems we have found ourselves in a bit of a predicament here. Would you mind helping us out?"
[Charisma roll: Chance of succeeding: 9% Minimum Roll needed: 92 Roll: 50 (Failure)]
Ashley was visibly very distraught.
"This guy.... he called us abominations...."
She was harboring feelings of hatred towards the squad leader.
She stared at him with an eye that could penetrate ones soul. She could feel his arrogance towards the party. This guy was no good. This guy is looking down on us. Interacting with this guy will only lead to a bad outcome.
Her introvert-sensor was flaring and beeping as the soldier approached, his archers in tow behind him and a sly grin on his face.
This guy isn't going to help us.
This guy is going to pull something sneaky on us.
She knew.
It was baseless intuition, but she knew for absolute sure.
Samantha, on the other hand, pitched in to help Trevor with the negotiations. She could tell that Trevor's plead for assistance had been completely overlooked, and intended to use her feminine charms to sway the men over.
In a cutesy voice, she asked like a damsel in distress.
"Umm.... would you kind gentlemen be able to help my friends out? Just this once for me?"
[Charisma roll: Chance of succeeding: 12% Minimum Roll needed: 89 Roll: 15 (Failure)]
The leader looked at Samantha with a face of disgust as he continued approaching.
"And why exactly would I give any help for some sort of angel demon hybrid?"
The man darted his eyes back and forth between the four.
"A demon... the very definition of evil.... some sort of experiment gone wrong in an attempt to mix angel and demonic blood.... a spirit that is staring at me with a face that is just asking to be purified.... and... a member of the filthy elven race."
"Tell me, boys. Do either of you see a single soul worth cooperating with here?", the man asked to his men, with a disgusting sense of arrogance.
"All I see is a bunch of trash and evil beings that can only be saved through death.", one replied.
"If the Empire is to take over the monster realm, I think ridding these abominations from our sight would be the first place to start", the other agreed.
"There you have it, folks. Sorry, long ears. Looks like no help is gonna come for you this time around. Consider this a blessing. Your death will not be in vain. It will mark the beginning of the world to come. Hail the Emperor!!!"
The man unsheathed his sword, and continued approaching the four.
"Experiment gone wrong, you said?" Samantha had eyes filled with fury.
"Abominations?" If looks could kill, then Ashley's eyes would be shooting out lasers that were of a higher intensity than the surface of the sun itself.
"Filthy, I believe is what you just called me?" Trevor, despite being covered in mud from head to toe, seemed to change his demeanor to that of his previous businessman self.
The very ground shook, and as if they were not even trapped in the first place, Trevor and Garett both seemed to gain some invigorating strength in that moment. They both planted their arms, and lifted their bodies out of the mud, which had slightly hardened around them, allowing the two to move freely for a moment. Of course, if they stood still they would begin sinking back in, and no progress would be made.... however...
They both jumped over to the dry ground where Ashley and Samantha were, and the captain smiled.
"Trying to escape with your lives? Archers! Fire on them!"
"Yes, Sir!"
A sling of arrows were shot at the four.
Ashley and Samantha both burst a vein in anger when they heard the man shout.
[Player Ashley: Ability Unlocked. [[Wall of Fire] (Lvl 1) Costs 10 MP] (Intelligence roll)
[Player Samantha: Ability Unlocked: [Defensive Barrier] (Lvl 1) Costs 8 MP, Lasts X Seconds based on Intelligence roll]
Samantha, as if it was her natural instinct, raised the barrier to deflect the two arrows aiming straight at Trevor and Garett. A sheet of glass like material batted down the arrows like they were nothing,
[Intelligence Roll: 4]
After 4 seconds, the barrier disappeared.
[Player Samantha: MP: 11/19]
Ashley then took the stage, releasing her new ability.
[Wall of Fire]
A wall of fire erupted from the mud, scorching the squad leader. His leather armor caught fire and his snowshoes were destroyed from the impact.
[Intelligence roll: 8]
[Squad Leader HP: 22/30]
[Player Ashley MP: 16/26
"Agh!! Why you little shit..."
The man was visibly angered, and gripped his sword with veins bulging from his arm.
"How dare you do this to me, the great Edward! I will make you pay for this, girl!"
Meanwhile, while this happened Trevor had knocked an arrow and was beginning to fire off at the archers in the back.
Garett had readied his club, and was waiting for the man to come closer so he could give him a good wack.
Two arrows flew, one at each of the archers, from the bow of Trevor. The shoulder of one and the side of another was pierced by the arrows.
[Dexterity roll: 3]
[Dexterity roll: 1]
[Physical Damage resistance exceeds rolled damage.]
The arrows fired merely punctured the leather armor in their respective locations, and did not actually damage either of the archers.
"These guys are too resistant to physical attacks... its all I can do just to scratch them!", Trevor shouted.
However, because his leather armor had been burned off, the squad leaders reading now displayed:
[Physical Defense: 0]
Ashley had begun preparing another spell, while the two archers reknocked their bows and prepared to fire again. In response to this, Samantha got ready to put another barrier up.
However, Garett did something unexpected.
He held out his hand, and motioned for the squad leader to come at him.
"You impudent..."
The man grabbed his sword and began prodding through the mud at Garett.
[Ashley has used [Irritate foe]]
"Look at you. A grown man, who holds a deep hatred for anyone different than him. You seem to be quick to call us abominations and monsters, but I think the only abomination here is how small your dick is!"
The man was running at Garett through the mud as Ashley said this, sword raised, and when he was in front of Garett, this statement caused him to let his guard down for a second.
"Wha-!? How did you know!?"
In that moment, Garett pulled out the bottle of acidic slime venom, and threw it in the face of the man. The potion shattered, and the purple liquid boiled away at the mans face. He inhaled it in his nose and began screaming and vibrating violently in the mud as he fell.
"Agh! OOF!!! GET THIS OFF ME!!!"
[Garett has used an item on Squad Leader]
[Squad leader is poisioned]
"NOW! RUN!!!"
The two archers then let off two arrows, and Samantha quickly put up another barrier.
[Intelligence roll: 6]
The arrows were blocked, and the four ran.
They ran as fast as they could. Jumping over trees and bushes, they dodged into the brush. They were all starving, and dying for something to eat, but they completely forgot their hunger and fatigue in the chaos.
The archers ran up to their squad leader and began immediately trying to help him, however he pushed them away.
"Go after them! Don't let them escape!!!"
The archers turned to pursue the party, however Garett and the party were long out of sight into the swampy bushes.
"Sir! Drink this antidote!"
The archer whipped out a vial with yellow liquid in it, and handed it to the squad leader- who gulped it down and splashed the rest on his poison covered face.
His skin had been boiled off from the acid, and he screamed at the two.
"You idiots!!! NOW THEY GOT AWAY!!!!"
"But sir..."
He shoved them away, and pounded his fist into the mud.
"We need to report this to the higher ups. A party of 3 monsters and an elf... appearing in a place like this at such a busy time... could they be?"
'No. There's no way. If they had to run away from me, there's no way they could be the prophesied Demon lords. They are nowhere near powerful enough. Still... for such an odd pack of demons to be so close to the border... something odd must be going on in the territory of the monsters...'