(Malech's POV):
"Ugh, so exhausted..."
I'm currently lying down in the sofa from protecting the entrance of this cave without stopping for more than two hours. When William saw that no more raiders will come, we immediately returned with multiple bruises and cuts. Just the amount of fighting we had to do was enough to make me crash on the sofa for the rest of the day.
"At least we did well in our job." - William
William is lying down in two couches facing each other. Seeing him fit just fine makes me want to stand up and put flowers like it's his deathbed.
"You good?"
Both of us were groaning from the amount of mana used up and exhausting at least half of my supply. Right now, I'm completely relying on the two supports who were downed for the time being due to the despair factor she doesn't want to see again.
"I think?" - William
"You think?
"After pulling off target switching multiple times in a row, it's to the point where I think I'm fine." - William
The two of us were often getting in trouble with handling our targets, so we had switched spots and opponents while still trying to support one another.
One such example was when William was nearly sliced down by one knight behind him. Using time zero, I threw the hook towards the sword and pulled it towards me while urging William to switch places.
"Like two heroes huh?"
"I guess so, if it's the two of us... Then we could become unbeatable... That was only until Denzel got us down. Speaking of him, what were you pissed off about earlier?" - William
"Well, you see-"
"Good work you two..." - ???
A tall light brown haired woman entered the room with a tray of two teacups filled with a nice scent and calming color. I know her well myself since I have talked to her a few times or so.
"Ah Claire, are the others well?"
"Yeah, Ashley and Lilith were still sobbing in the room, and here I found out what happened from Gayle." - Claire
"So you heard it too huh?"
"Aight, about time for you Malech to explain Denzel's past?" - William
"Yeah, when I heard from Gayle who found out more... I was shocked at first because he has a deceptive face, but when I asked for his past... I found out more that he's changed..." - Claire
"Alright you two, I'll tell the rest of it..."
I filled the two in of Denzel's story about his darkened past from Lilith. Claire who knew what Lilith had seen opened her eyes wide with her mouth twitching to open.
"So, he's in a horrible state. I hope Rika would help him back." - Claire
"Actually, with my doubts now proven. I think it's impossible that Rika will be helping Denzel recover."
"What..." - Claire
"You heard it from Gayle right? Miguel and Leo had corrupted Rika's heart and mind for their sneaky plans."
"You-! You would consider her best friends are evil?!" - Claire
Claire flared up her anger for a minute but I had managed to silence her before it.
"Rika could've been a great lover for Denzel, but when I noticed my mistake of not finishing off Leo and Miguel that time... Damnit!"
I spat out curses to my own retarded self for being unable to remove the two pests.
"If I killed those two sooner... Rika wouldn't have been cajoled by them! Denzel would've been still able to live normally and happily!"
Before I noticed, I yelled at Claire while shedding tears. I tried wiping off my tears but Claire noticed my resolve.
"So, it was all for friendship huh..." - Claire
"Yes! I don't want to see them hurt!"
"I... I understand... If Rika gets separated or killed even... I won't hate him..." - Claire
I reached my hand out but I had lost my consciousness before I felt soft palms clutching on my hand...
I remember these soft palms... They aren't from Claire... These are from Thri--...
I resigned my own consciousness and moved to the world of dreams.
=============================================================
One month after we became trapped in this virtual game...
I had finally started getting used to entering combat in this game. I was able to swing the shortsword pretty safely. The place we're in is the black zone on the far east. It has no magic particles and is a harmful atmosphere for magician type classes.
I arrived to this world with Jerald, and Vince. The former was my cousin and the other was my former classmate. The three of us were a trio that will try to push through this world knowing that we couldn't come back.
The three of us immediately set off to the east and settled in the area where we couldn't be ambushed easily. We geared ourselves up and eliminated an early game boss... A King Slime.
Fifteen days ago, the three of us met William who is a solo player that has a bit of a short fuse... When we first met he was asking for directions, towards a powerful hostile faction called Praetorian... We doubted his sanity at first, but when I probed further... Our group had joined him in his journey to eliminate them. And because of that, we became an actual group.
Flora joined us soon after we accomplished William's main goal which is to save Flora from being kidnapped. We annihilated only half of the Praetorian faction but it was enough losses when we rescued Flora. When we saw her, we got charmed... But that charm disappeared soon after William told us that Flora is a dude. It was quite a shocker you know? I didn't quite expect that Flora is actually a guy using a female avatar. I wasn't able to sleep for a few days due to the betrayed feeling that hasn't left me since it happened.
After a few days, an event occurred on the spawn area which is a tournament of various tarot cards. We went for various cards and the ones who actually won something are just the three of us, me, William, and Flora. I won the Hanged Man, William took the Tower, and Flora took Death.
Me and William have never used the tarot card unlike Flora who has used it quite a few times.
Three days after the tournament, we went ahead and collected information. Me, Jerald, and Vince went toward the guild to collect some information towards the factionless party in the south that is a group of cute girls. But we ended up getting into a fight with hoodlums who are aiming for the same goal.
After performing a beatdown, the people took their distance from us. That was until a person closed in towards our position while smiling.
We thought that he might be an ally with those hoodlums which is why we immediately attacked him without hesitation. But he immediately beat us down and locked all three of us in ice. This person is definitely beyond William. He had white hair and light blue eyes with a pair of white gauntlets hanging down on his waist.
After we got brought outside, we immediately kept our classes secret using a cover class technique.
Our true classes were hidden by a cover of time related classes to make him think he just shut down a group of chrono types. We pledged allegiance to him and became information collectors for him. Which isn't a bad deal considering that we aren't technically summoned frequently.
We asked for his name after introducing ourselves, he didn't really think but he simply said 'Denzel' and left.
When William found out, he was relieved that we didn't really do much. Flora was a bit down when he found out as well.
A month later, he disappeared...
He left a sign where he said that he's going with some of his friends for some time and will try to strengthen himself before going back to our party.
I was initially worried but William actually said that he'll be fine, so I let Flora walk his own path for a while. The entire group had a talk about finding the group in the desert who has sent out a request for help.
After preparing ourselves for two weeks, we heard news of Flora dying. While we set out to our quest, we couldn't really find a chance to talk or mourn for Flora's death. We found out that the ones who killed him are the ones who beat me, Jerald, and Vince. We couldn't think of revenge because it was Flora's fault for trying to attack them in the first place.
After despairing for a week or so, we actually went to the desert biome before seeing William become dumbfounded for the first time.
"William?"
"Ah, nothing... It's just that, Flora's actually alive." - William
"Well, he's transferred to a different server so."
"No, he's alive in this server. I received a message from him." - William
"Really?! What are the contents!?"
Upon knowing that he is still alive, we went towards our quest without issues. We were discussing about Flora's current problem of trying to live in an island after using an object called: 'Emblem of Death'.
We then arrived to the desert well near the mystic biome. We noticed a pair who was talking to each other with a bit of a flirtatious tone.
"How nice..."
I reflexively let out a voice of jealousy.
"Jealous?" - William
"Well yeah, I want a girlfriend too."
Even in this harsh world, I have a feeling that I have higher chances of getting a girlfriend. We came close towards the pair that noticed us.
"Oh, are you the group that has accepted our request?" - ???
The person who asked that was a tall guy with red hair, he seems to be wearing casual clothing unlike the girl with him who seems to be a bit more prepared in combat.
"Yes, and you are?"
I take over at times when introductions are necessary, since I can easily talk my way towards them.
"The name's Lester, this girl is Gayle. She's my lover." - Lester
"Name's Malech, this is my party."
We shook hands as we greet each other and talked about the quest details.