The cries of wolves howling in agony as the ones that are defeated first pixelates and their corpses are being replaced by floating blue box items, while the pair who are defeating the pack breaths hard enough, that the wolves surrounding them can hear the two as they take in the air.
[Dire Wolf: 4/50 Defeated]
[You Received 1200 EXP]
The one in front acting as the vanguard is a female with short pink-colored locks wielding a shield on her left hand and a short sword on the other, her partner, a man wearing a black long roll overcoat matching it with his all-black attire while wielding a pair of black daggers with red engravings on both hands.
The two are wary of their surroundings, not just because they are surrounded by bloodthirsty wolves, but because the leader of the pack, their alpha, is just around the corner, lurking in the shadows and is waiting for the right time when the duo would slip their footing and ponce them for a one-turn kill.
One mistake, just one vital mistake, and it will be over for the two.
Their hearts, races as it pumps as fast as it can, the feeling of being watched by someone and knowing that it might lead to their demise made Kyle feel the excitement he is yearning from time to time. He knows that this excitement is the reason that he is playing this game and wants more out of it.
Kyle gives off a grin as he sees the entirety of the pack gathering, surrounding them completely and what's making the situation worst is that they have a child that they rescued from the wolves behind them, a dead weight if one must say, but the two are doing their best to protect the kid.
The child is a local from a distant village east of Florence and an urgent quest for finding the child appears to players whenever they speak with the village chief. It is a one-time quest and the rewards are also reasonable that is why Emily and Kyle took the quest without second-guessing.
Scared of their current situation, the child muttered in fear, chanting loud enough that the short-tempered Emily could hear the child as it utter words that sounded like it will be the last of him.
"I'm scared… I'm scared… I swear to the almighty above that I won't…"
"Hush it will you!?" Emily, the woman with pink hair said somehow annoyed to the child.
Emily's scolding tone forces the child to cover his mouth due to fear not of the wolves, but of Emily.
"Hey, don't scold a child he has nothing to do with this." Kyle, the man in an all-black attire said as he tries to calm Emily that is obviously annoyed with the child now and she has a reason to be.
As most quest would be before one can complete the main quest, there are also multiple sub-quests that has to be done first and every one of the subquests provided by the main quest involves the very child she scolded a moment ago and the troubles they are facing for each quest are due to the mischiefs done by the child.
"Hey, are you defending this child? I hope you didn't forget that it is because of him we are involved in a lot of troubles and now we are trap here inside a dire wolf den surrounded by multiple flesh-hungry wolves!" Emily said while pointing a finger at the child as she glares sharply at the kid.
The child and Emily's eyes met, noticing her sharp gazes, the child avoids Emily's deadly stare by rolling his eyes away in a certain direction and gawks that way while whistling as if nothing happened.
Annoyed to the fact that the child is somehow acting innocent in this crucial time, Emily almost bestowed the child a punch of a lifetime, good thing she remembered that it is pointless since a player can't attack an NPC, like literally, they can't land a blow to it even if they try since there is no such command in the game that allows an NPC attack.
Since she can't take out her anger on the child, Emily focuses on beating up the wolves instead.
After minutes of bashing and slashing, Kyle and Emily manage to eliminate all the dire wolves surrounding them. The quest is meant for Kyle since it is a quest that is appropriate for his current level and Emily is just tagging along with him to make sure he won't encounter any troubles along the way.
[Dire Wolf: 50/50 defeated]
[You received the title: Wolf Hunter]
[You Received 12000 EXP]
[You Leveled Up!]
'Nice! I'm level 37 now with just an hour thanks to the triple EXP card.' Kyle thought as he checks his character menu and thanks to Emily's triple EXP card that she gave to him moments ago.
'With this, I can reach the level quota not less than a month!' He thought as he refers to the vast amount of EXP he gains.
[Defeat the Dire Wolf Alpha Quest Active]
[Dire Wolf Alpha Defeated 0/1]
"Hey, Kyle, sorry to interrupt your daydreaming but the boss is on its way." Emily said as she points to a certain direction inside the wolf's den and there, a pair of glowing crimson orbs aligned horizontally approaches the pair alongside a terrifying sounding growl that echoes throughout the entire den.
The two readies themselves as the terror approaches but are aware that this will be an easy bout if everything goes as planned.
"You're ready?" Emily asked Kyle that is standing behind him as she positions her shield in front to perform an enemy taunt.
"Yeah, anytime." Kyle answered.
As the alpha approaches them and is coming nearer each passing moment, the shadow that is covering it slowly unveils the figure of the wolf.
As the shadow reveals a gigantic four-legged beast with black spiky fur while its body is almost covered by multiple battle scars making the ones who witness it the first time tremble in fear.
Seeing it, Emily tightens her grip on her shield while Kyle prepares to lunge it after Emily has done her part.
The wolf stares at the two as its malicious intent fills the air around them.
After a few seconds of delay, a notification appears on Kyle's screen signaling him that it is the right time to attack.
[A party member used: Taunt]
The wolf, losing its cool due to the taunt, attacks Emily blindly as it crashes its head on Emily's shield, pushing the girl a few inches back.
[A party member used: Petrify]
After the stun, Kyle dashes forward to the wolf that is standing still like a statue while sticking its head on Emily's shield and throws one of the daggers he is holding towards it.
As the dagger pierce itself on the wolf's forehead, the effect of 'petrify' worns out at the same time, making the wolf mobile again.
[You used: Dagger Blink]
And Kyle is then transported where the dagger is pierced.
The wolf struggles hard as it tries to toss Kyle away from his forehead where he is currently on, while Kyle, on the other hand, holds the pierced dagger firmly as he pierces the other one to secure a better hold on the gigantic wolf's forehead.
Watching the two playing around, Emily yawns in boredom for she has nothing to do now and what is left is for Kyle to complete the quest so that they could proceed to the next quest and for Kyle to finally start raising his level on the fields of Lorencia when he reaches the level maximum of the start town Florence that is forty-five.
"You need help?" Asked Emily as she takes a sit down on the ground as she watches Kyle riding the wolf, like he is someone competing in a rodeo.
"I got this!" Kyle shouted while holding the impaled daggers firmly.
[You Used: Vital Strike]
Then Kyle began attacking every vital spot of the wolf in a drop of a hat, draining the wolf's HP gauge completely after a few more attacks.
[Dire Wolf Alpha Defeated 1/1]
[You Received 25000 EXP]
[You Leveled Up!]
After defeating the wolves' alpha, Kyle and Emily along with the child they saved return to the village and to the child's parents. After they return the child, a system notification appears on Kyle's screen stating the completion of the quest.
[Finding the Missing Child Quest: Completed]
[You Received 30,000 coins]
[You received 150,000 EXP]
[You Leveled Up!]
[You Leveled Up!]
[You Leveled Up!]
In that instance, Kyle is now a level forty Slayer and can still go on since it is just around two hours since the two began grinding.
"Great! Ten more levels and you'll reach the quota and the event is still a month away." Emily said while checking Kyle's current level at her party members' window and is a bit proud of herself for thinking such a great plan.
But Kyle knows that if he only sticks on the minimum level requirements then there is a huge chance that they would get eliminated easily since there is a high possibility that players who are level fifty and above would join the said event knowing that the winning price is that big, not to mention the possibility of facing a max-level player.
"I will continue on increasing my level until the day of the event." Kyle said.
"Yeah, we should be. Since the possibility of other high-level players joining the Battle Royal is high." Emily replied to Kyle.
"But first, we must slowly find members for the Battle Royal." Emily added.
The two returns back to Florence and went immediately to the town hall in a rush. Kyle doesn't know how they could possibly find members here, he just followed Emily and eventually noticed that they arrived at the doors of the town hall by the get-go.
In the town hall, even if there is no available quest there, people still flock to the place for some unknown reasons that Kyle is yet to know.
Curious about the reason why they are here, Kyle asked the reason for them going to the town hall.
"Hey, Emily? Why are we here anyway?" He asked.
Emily turns back to Kyle with a surprised look on her face.
"To make an announcement." She said leaving Kyle with more questions in his mind.
"An announcement?" Kyle asked, still confused about what she is saying.
"It's more like a commercial that appears on every player's notification and inbox." She replied answering Kyle's inquiry.
"Like a server announcement?" Kyle made a hunch and eventually made the right guess.
"Yeah, just like a server announcement but from a certain player instead of it coming from an admin." She said.
After their conversation, Emily walks to a teller-looking NPC on one side of the town hall and then made a transaction. After a few minutes, Emily returns to where Kyle is with a smile on her face.
Seeing her good mood, Kyle thought that she might have already found a member or members for the Battle Royal.
"Any luck?" Kyle asked and Emily answered him chirpily.
"Yes, and guess what? I found a level 68 mage, an Arcane that is willing to join us! That player even wants to meet us now." She said and is very happy with the outcome of the announcement she made.
"Is that so?" said Kyle.
"Yeah and that person is already here in this very town." Emily Added.
Then after a while, an alluring voice of a female coming from behind Kyle catches the attention of the two, forcing both of them to turn their gaze to where the voice came from. But in Emily's case, since she is facing Kyle, what she did is she tilts her head just a bit to have a better view of the person that is behind Kyle.
"E-excuse me, are you perhaps Emily? The one who made the announcement?" the voice of a female said with doubt in her tone if it is the right person she is talking to.
"Hey, are you Alex?" Emily said while waving her hands as she cheerfully greets the one who came to them.
The person in front of them, namely Alex is somehow peculiar in a way for Kyle, for Kyle expects someone other than what he is seeing now.
'A child?' Kyle thought as he scans the entirety of the one in front of him.
Her small slender body seems to still be in the process of growing, followed by her height that is a few inches shorter than Emily's and her almost cute appearance.
'Damn, could this kid be of any help?'
But another question spins around Kyle's mind. Yes, she could be a child or whatsoever, but what matters here is her ability to contribute to the upcoming event and if he recalls it correctly, she is the one with the highest level among them if she joins their party.
"Yes… I am." The female named Alex answered Emily.
"Aww, aren't you a shy one?" Emily responds to Alex while patting her head like a puppy while Alex seems to somehow enjoy Emily's patting of her head.
'Yup, she is a kid who loves getting petted on the head.'
By that, a female player having the name of Alex joined the merry band of Kyle and Emily to their quest of conquering the Battle Royal that will rage on next month.
"Alright! Let's go and fill up our EXP gauge!" Emily said as the three of them walked to the next quest they are going to take.
But on a corner, a gaze of pure evil-intent beams towards Kyle forcing him to turn to the direction where he felt the agitating gaze came from and saw nothing but an empty alley and thought that it might just be his imagination playing tricks on him.
But what Kyle didn't know is that someone is spying on them and has been lurking in the shadows ever since he formed a party with Emily.
"So why don't we have a little bit of fun? Our little sole Slayer."
And an upcoming danger awaits the three as the gaze follows them.