Elliot was still baffled. The Manual had been helping him with every decision he takes. Some even led him to take those decisions in the first place.
"This is so weird," Elliot sighed.
Lance bumped their shoulders, "What is?"
They were both walking behind the three. Hope was in the front lines with Ed while Connor was in the middle. Lance held Elliot's arm and backed a bit to distance themselves from the other three.
"It seems like I'm being controlled," Elliot confessed. "Like there's a mysterious force making the decisions for me."
"That's crazy," Lance pursed his lips. "But I can relate. My father had always made the decisions for me. It always felt like my path was already made for me. Like I'm only a puppet."
Elliot was about to speak when Connor clapped his hands, stopping him.
"We're almost there!" Connor cheered. "We can finally leave this creepy cave."
"Are you that excited, Mr. Godfather?" Hope chuckled. "Because I am. I hope the boss is the same size as me when I was–"
Connor pinched Hope's cheek. He leaned in and whispered, "Ed doesn't know that you're a dragon."
"Oh, right," Hope said. "Mr. Edward, do you know that I'm a dragon?"
A series of facepalm followed.
"W-What?" Ed asked, his eyes widening.
"Hope was a dragon! But then Mr. Moon granted me one wish, so I became a human!" Hope cheered.
Ed's gaze landed on Elliot. "What do you mean?"
"I think that's enough," Lance said and pulled Hope. "Hope, bud, it's enough."
A long pause followed them. They continued on their journey until they have reached a larger cave.
'Multiple beasts detected.'
<< Fire Lizard Guard >>
Level 31
<< Fire Lizard Guard >>
Level 30
<< Fire Lizard Guard >>
Level 34
…
"The boss lies ahead," Lance said. "There are guards here. Hope, how many are there?"
"I can sense 5," Hope replied.
This made Elliot thought.
Their Consoles don't detect the beasts in a wide range like I do, the Console warned me about 7 of them.
"Wrong," Lance said. "Connor, how many?"
"Err," Connor tried to sense the dark surroundings. "6?"
"Wrong. Ed?"
Ed was speechless. Lance repeated himself, "Ed?"
"Nine," Ed whispered. He was looking down, the others unable to see his face. "There are nine guards."
"You're… right," Lance stopped when Ed sobbed.
"There are nine guards. There are nine guards. There are nine guards…" Ed repeated like a rhyme.
Elliot held his shoulder but Ed nudged it away.
"I thought I could do this, Elliot," Ed said.
"Did you know what killed my previous party?"
"What do you mean?" Elliot asked, walking closer.
"Towering humanoid lizards with arms the size of barrels, eyes flaming like the sun…" Ed sobbed. "The guards killed my party, Elliot. T-They killed them and it's my fault!"
A slap echoed the cave that triggered the guards ahead. A couple of meters away, in the darkness, flames started to spark.
Elliot was looking down, his face contorted in confusion.
"It wasn't your fault!" he said. "How many times do we have to tell–
"No," Ed cut Elliot off, he was stuttering, eyes twitching, lips trembling. "You don't understand. I canceled the tank's buff. The lizard killed him. Then the mages. I was a Knight, yet I cowered and ran. T-They… I-I canceled everyone's affinities. Even our mage's final hope. The Ethereum."
"What do you mean, Ed? Tell us!" Elliot pushed. "How can we help you when you won't tell us anything–"
"I'm not human!" Ed yelled. "I was an egg hatched by Ethereum in the Netherworlds. T-The moon… the moon turned me human!"
Elliot was speechless. So was everyone else.
"The Ethereum made me, the creature inside the egg, produce an anti-Ethereum and anti-magic affinity, Elliot," Ed panted. "I don't even know what I am. I'm all alone in this world–"
Ed was cut off by a hug. Elliot hugged his new friend, sympathizing him, feeling the pain and sorrow Ed has.
"You're not alone anymore," Elliot whispered. "You will never be alone anymore."
This made Ed burst in tears. "I-I'm sorry. Thank you… I have a million things to say but I can't. I don't know how."
"You don't have to," Lance said, ruffling his hair. "You just need to let us feel it."
Ed nodded but knit his brows when Lance disappeared.
"We're not like any other parties!" Lance yelled, running towards the incoming guards. "Unlike before…"
"You have now have a poor but cute flame mage," Connor chuckled. "Ghoul's Ring of Fire!"
His rotating ring made of flames hit the lizards. It has a stun effect for 10 seconds that could affect even flame affinity beasts as long as they're under his level.
"Dragonic Slicer!" Hope yelled, finishing the two lizards Connor shot. "A former dragon human friend."
Lance slashed his swords, killing 3 beasts at once. "A cheesy vice guild master."
"Ed," Elliot let go of the hug, brandishing his sword. "You now have a family."
Elliot burst towards the remaining lizard, leaping and hacking its head off.
The beast fell to the ground while Elliot landed on its back. "We're not just a party anymore. We're a family."
Ed smiled and nodded. "Okay."
"Wait!" Connor yelled, running after the beasts. "One, two, three…"
"What's up?" Lance asked.
"I thought there were nine guards," Connor said. "We only killed 7."
A roar echoed from the inner cave.
"Don't tell me…" Elliot trailed off, looking at Lance. Lance sighed and nodded. "This is so messed up."
"Why? What's happening?" Connor asked.
His question was answered when a large head appeared from the opening ahead. It looked like one of the guards. Only 4 times larger, about 8 meters tall.
"That's a big-*ss lizard," Lance said. "Elliot, lead the way."
Elliot smirked. "You guys can support, but don't get near. Once again, a Cannibal had appeared it seems."
"They seem to appear frequently these days," Lance sighed. "Elliot, I'll tank. This one's a wreck."
"I'll tank next time then," Elliot said. "Let's do this!"
<< Fire Lizard >>
Level 79
The beast roared, making the entire cave shake. It opened its mouth and an orb made of flames appeared. The lizard shot the flames but was met by Lance.
He crossed his swords and fired crescent-shaped blasts that destroyed the lizard's attack. He landed on the ground and shot back up, hitting the lizard's face with the same attack.
Like the previous high-level beast they faced, their plan was for Lance to aggro the beast. And instead of taking a quarter of the HP, he only took 13%. This would give room for their growing party to farm the XP.
"I feel like a dad," Lance chuckled. "Teaching my kids how to fish. But this time, we're 'lizard-ing'."
"Ah, dad jokes," Elliot snorted. "Fatherhood suits you well."
Lance glared at him and leaped to make the lizard look away. "Now!"
Since Connor couldn't just attack the beast, the two Knights would open a cut for him to shoot his attacks. Lance told him that flame-type beasts are only immune to flame outside, their insides were still vulnerable or at least damageable.
"Are you ready Mr. Ed?" Hope asked, grinning.
Ed looked at the boss, while shaking all his sorrowful memories away, he nodded. "I am."
"Let's go!"
The two leaped, slashing their swords simultaneously on the wide open neck of the lizard. They made a wide but shallow cut on the neck.
"Mr. Godfather, now!" Hope yelled as the two of them landed on the ground.
"Ghoul's Ring of Fire! Ghostly Flame!"
Connor's attack hit the neck of the lizard, taking a portion of its HP.
"It worked!"
The lizard gaze at him, but returned it attention towards Lance who was jumping side to side on its back.
"Connor, slow down!" Lance yelled. "You might accidentally aggro it."
Connor grinned awkwardly, "I'm sorry~"
Lance only narrowed his eyes and continued taking the beast's attention.
"The Fire Lizard is approaching Rage Mode!" Lance infomed. "Everyone, prepare."
The HP of the lizard was almost at 25%. At this time, they must finish the lizard quick.
"Everyone, ready!" Lance yelled. "Rage Mode in 3…"
They continued attacking the beast.
"2…"
Their attacks started to cease, preparing for Lance to give the signal.
"1!"
Lance stabbed the lizard's eye, pushing it over the edge.
Its aura started to spike. The flames on the beast's neck that traveled down its tail turned dark red.
It let out a terrifying roar before it slammed its claws down the ground.
"Now!"
Lance pirced his sword at the top of the lizard's head. He planned to ride the beast like a rodeo while the others drain its HP.
Their plan involved the Knights opening wounds while Connor hit those wounds like he was playing shooting at the fare. When the lizard reaches 10%, Elliot would use his Hasty Aspire and cut the beast's head off, securing their victory.
"It's at 11%, Elliot in position!" Lance commanded. "Ready? Now!"
"Ghostly Flame!" Connor took the 1% off the lizard's HP that was the signal for Elliot.
He leaped beside the lizard's head and prepared. "Hasty Aspire!"
'Cast blocked.'
"What?" Elliot's eyes widened.
'Cast canceled.'
Ed fell to his knees and whispered, "I'm sorry."
The lizard locked gaze with Elliot and shook its head to get rid of Lance.
Elliot fell to the ground, wide eyed at what he had seen.
"Are you okay?" Connor asked, running over to him. "Elliot, are you–"
Elliot raised his gaze that made Connor gasp. His eyes were filled with confusion.
"It smirked."