The sound of a raging battle echoes inside the cave, as two opposing sides clash to the death. Aerial assault coming from the mages of each side bombards the battlefield, wrecking the land leaving craters after craters.
While on the front line, Carol alongside Kyle clashes with the three charging opponents that are after them, one of which is the well-known outlaw, Luca together with her band of co-outlaws.
Clashing their weapons as the two attacking groups meet, creating a harmony of metal thru metal sound.
Behind the charging group of Luca is their only mage that is casting a second-tier fire bombardment spell to support the attacking group.
Emily spotted the defenseless arcane and points to it, signaling Alex to attack the damage-dealer first.
"Alex, take the mage out first." Emily said while still pointing to the mage behind Luca's attacking force.
Taking heed of Emily's request, Alex immediately cast an aerial bombardment spell above the sole mage of their opponent.
[You Used: Meteor Crash]
A huge spell circle with rune engravings surrounding it stating the elemental group the spell belongs suddenly appears above their opponent's mage, followed by a slowly descending meteorite covered in raging flames.
The meteorite is about to crash the opposing mage when suddenly, the spell was broken by an unknown reason and disperse before it could actually deal damage.
"What happened?!" Emily asked Alex for the reason why the spell didn't take effect.
Alex tries to cast the same spell again yet the same result happened.
"She's good." Alex said.
"I didn't notice she is already in her battle mode." She added.
Arcanes or mages in the game Grand Nexus has a unique defensive battle mode called "Dual Cast" that enables them to cast two types of spell at once, but what makes it defensive is that they obtain a passive skill when entering the said battle mode called as "Null Field" that prevents active skills on triggering and immediately nullifies it upon reaching the effective area of the said skill.
The opposing mage then releases the channeling spell she's been charging this whole time towards Kyle and Carol to help her battling team.
[You Used: Solar Flares]
Multiple average-sized spell circles appear, surrounding Kyle and Carol on a 360-degree radius.
Knowing that they are in a bad position, Kyle flings one of his daggers away in case they need an immediate escape.
Seeing the spell surrounding Kyle and Carol, Alex screams to the two to run away from the surrounding spell circle.
"Cael, run away from…"
But she was too late and the spell already triggers.
Scorching fire squirts out of the circles surrounding the two, creating multiple pillars of flame that are burning everything on its designated AOE.
Seeing what happened, Emily and Alex thought that the two are done for, but the exclamation of Kyle relieved all their worries.
"Woah that's hot!"
And they saw Kyle putting out the fire that is caught by his clothes using his bare hands.
Carol and Kyle are both safe with Kyle obtaining just a few burns on his clothes that he immediately puts out before it could damage his clothes, leaving the rest of the crowd dumbfounded, especially the mage who cast the spell.
"What a slippery dude." Luca said, seeing Kyle still breathing after that skill.
And a sigh of relief came out of both Emily and Alex's mouths upon seeing them unharmed.
"Good thing he's an elusive one." Emily said
Then suddenly, someone joins in Emily and Alex's conversation.
"Yeah, he sure is."
The two turn around to find where the voice came from and as they turn their heads in a specific direction, the two again saw the Guild Master from before along with the force he brought with him.
"It's you again." Alex said since it is the second time around.
"Hey what are you doing here?" Emily asked since their appearance is here somehow vague.
"You're not here to help are you?" She added.
The man extends his arms and then faced his palm towards Emily and Alex, wanting them to stop further asking questions. Then he points to the enemy mage that is now casting another channeling spell to help the combatant in the frontline.
"Her battle mode already expires." The Guild Master said, noticing the expiration of the battle mode of the enemy mage.
Seeing this as an opportunity, Alex cast a spell that immobilizes their opponents by morphing the ground into quicksand canceling the channeling spell of the opponent's mage.
[You Used: Earth Bind]
The moment their opponents' feet are sunk into it, the quicksand immediately turns rock-solid trapping their enemies, restraining their movements.
Seeing their opponents' helpless and vulnerable state, Kyle and Carol took the chance to strike but Luca won't let them be, she won't just let them have a victory without breaking a sweat.
Luca stabs her sword to the ground and slightly twists it to create a dent.
[You Used: Seismic Impact]
Activating the skill, the ground trapping their feet began shaking and cracks began appearing on the earth as it travels forward towards her charging opponents.
As she pulls the sword out of the ground, the top layer of the ground is also pulled up in a cone shape, preventing Kyle and Carol to charge at them while at the same time they are thrown away because they are under the skill's area of effect.
Freed by herself, Luca didn't give Kyle the chance to even blink an eye and dashes forward to him, Luca knows that it will take a while before Carol can recover from the knockback since she knows more about the tolerance of a Warrior class when it comes to being under a crowd control effect than anyone else that is present in the area.
But Kyle's passive "Aerial Recovery" immediately triggers but Kyle is already within Luca's reach and her swift sword is incoming aiming for his neck, leaving Kyle with no chance of blocking her attack.
'Please trigger!' Kyle prayed, in hope that his one and only salvation that is a chance-activated skill to take effect.
[Requirements has been met: Auto Dodge Activate]
On the brink of being decapitated, Kyle's body automatically dodges Luca's blade with the best possible way to dodge it.
By using the hilt guard of his dagger, he timed the slash to when it will reach his neck, and before the edge of Luca's sword could hit it, Kyle used the hilt guard to block the attack.
When the edge of the sword and his dagger's hilt guard meets, he then slides the hilt-guard forward, using the blade of his dagger that he used as a lever to elevate the sword's body up while at the same time raising his arm to increase the elevation and successfully guide the sword just over the top of his head, slashing a few strands of his hair instead of his neck.
Able to dodge the attack, Kyle then performs a few summersault backward to distance himself then afterward returns to his combat stance.
Luca was stunned so do Kyle because the last thing he remembered was that he is about to be slashed on the neck then everything happened in a very fast sequence and now he is standing a few meters away from Luca.
'Good, I still have time left before the skill worn out.' Kyle thought after checking the remaining time the effect of the skill has left.
Kyle decided to recklessly attack Luca since the "Auto Dodge" will take any possible actions to prevent him from taking any damage as long as the skill effect is still on.
But when he is dashing towards her, Kyle saw a silhouette standing behind Luca, initially making Kyle stop ongoing closer to her.
Seeing his sudden halt, Luca wonders why Kyle suddenly stops and noticed that he is looking on at something behind her so she turns around, and there she found a familiar face gazing at her while holding a sword in his right hand.
"You…"
But before she can finish, the person stabs her using the sword he is holding, piercing it through her body, and instantly pulls it out.
Having the pain receptor still in maximum, Luca crouches as the agonizing pain of being stabbed runs thru her entire body.
At the same time, she drops the Jewel of Vulcan that she possesses and went rolling on the ground, but before the jewel could go any farther, the man gently stepped on the jewel to stop it from rolling.
"Looks like you are doing well." The man said.
But Luca smirked after hearing it.
"I thought you're the kind of person who normally bosses other people around?" She said.
"Mister Guild Master." Luca added.
But the man didn't bother to further extend their conversation and picks up the jewel stuck under his foot.
"I have reclaimed what is mine, so I'll be taking my leave." The guild master said and walks away from her.
Luca, while gritting her teeth forces herself to stand up to reclaim what he took away from her. The moment she was able to stand up, she instinctively dashes forward to attack the man but the man's elbow welcomed her, hitting her forehead, knocking her down to the ground.
"Do us both a favor and stay down will you?" He said and continues on walking and then orders an Arcane in the crowd that is with him to restrain Luca on where she is currently lying.
"Bind her up." He said.
"And Carol, I need you to also come and participate in the raid." He added.
Using an earth bind spell that is the same as what Alex used earlier and imprisoned Luca on the ground, binding her arms and legs.
The Arcane then leaves together with the rest of the crowd after.
Seeing them, Carol also follows the crowd and left Kyle and the rest behind.
Kyle scans the place and notices that the rest of Luca's gang is either bound on the ground or knocked by someone that is in his team or let's just say they are still knocking them out at the moment.
"So who's your daddy now huh?!" Emily exclaimed while kicking the crouching man from Luca's party relentlessly.
"You better know your place you baldie!" Alex also shouted while continuously bashing her crystal staff on the head of a bald man that is also in Luca's party until her staff shatters into pieces.
And the two laughs sinisterly aloud as they celebrate their victory against Luca.
"Now, it's your turn." They both said as they turn their evil glare to the only mage in Luca's party.
'These two…' Kyle thought and then sighs after seeing them do such brutal things to forfeited opponents.
"That ends quickly and very anticlimactic." Kyle said while focusing his gaze on the group that is leaving the place.
Luca on the other hand is still stuck on the ground with a defeated look on her face.
They thought that it is over when suddenly, Luca tries to break free from the earth that is shackling her. Forcing her way out of imprisonment, she tries to break the stone-cuffs with just brute strength, yet nothing happened.
Without her sword in her hand, she can do nothing, that's what she thought so she tries to reach for the sword that is lying on the ground next to her but the restraints prevent her to even touch it.
Kyle asked Luca why she is so determined and desperate to grab her sword and fight back since everything doesn't make any sense for Kyle and built up series of questions in his mind like;
Why would someone be into hurting people inside a game?
Why would she have this kind of mentality as if she wants something?
Does she want to seek revenge? Is she a victim of bullying before?
Is she that lonely in real life?
Kyle thought of many possible reasons yet nothing that matches Luca's case comes to mind.
'Could it be?!'
"Could it be that you turned this game into your own personal refuge from real life?" Kyle asked Luca, but Luca didn't answer him as she keeps on trying to reach the sword that is next to her.
'Or maybe not.' Kyle thought.
She forces herself too much to reach the sword that her wrists are getting some bruises and the skin is slowly being torn by the tight cuffs but in exchange for that, Luca's fingertips are able to touch the surface of her sword and gently use it to drag her sword closer to her bit by bit.
Seeing it, Kyle went to where Luca's sword is and kicks it away.
"Hey, stop it will you?" He said after kicking Luca's sword away from her reach
Seeing her sword being tossed farther away from her, Kyle can no longer determine Luca's expression. She looks like she has lost an important part of her and wishes that everything would just die at once.
"Die…" Luca said.
"Wow, the very first word you say after being shackled is 'die'? Seriously?" Kyle said hearing her very first word after a while.
"They'll all going to die there."
"Yeah, by the way, where are they exactly going?"
"There is a hidden boss dungeon here in this very cave, and the dungeon boss will slaughter all of them." She added.
Listening to her, Kyle responds to Luca.
"Well, that is normal, you know, like dying if there is a huge gap between you and the dungeon boss and then respawns back to where your latest save point and so on."
But Luca just smirks after hearing Kyle.
"That is why I hate noobs who only knew the façade of this game, being so enthusiast while knowing only a portion of the truth." She said then turns her gaze to the ceiling of the cave.
"Then miss expert, would you mind enlightening me?"
"Tsk, how sarcastic." She said.
"Come on, I'm waiting." Kyle said, squatting down the ground, waiting for Luca to tell him everything about it. But Luca seems to be not interested in telling him at all.
"Still waiting." Kyle added.
"Fine mister gossip whore, let me tell you another short-lived story that never came into light to the public's eye because of the connections the developers and the game company has." Luca said somehow annoyed to Kyle.
"Once upon a fucking time, after defeating an extremely strong dungeon boss, the main haul of the raid is a relic item called Jewel of Vulcan, which is in my possession a couple of minutes ago until that guy took it away from me."
"Then this relic item is also a homing beacon that guides the one who has it to a certain location A.K.A. this smelly cave. The jewel then leads the owner deeper until it reaches a gigantic stone door, that door can only be opened once you insert the jewel into a socket located at the center of the stone door."
"Then?" Kyle asked since Luca didn't finish her story again.
"Obviously the door will open and a massive beast will then appear before your eyes which will either crush or swallow you to your respective deaths."
"Soo…?"
"So, you'll die. The end."
"No, I found nothing wrong with it? That's how a game works, kill or be killed. Even if it exceeds the limitations and it makes everything realistic almost as if it is true, at the end of the day, this is just a simulation from a game." Kyle said, telling Luca that everything is as expected from a game.
"That's why you got it all wrong. So let me tell you my theory about the jewel." Said Luca, then added a few vital points to her story.
"The door and dungeon boss are both linked to the Jewel of Vulcan, and the main purpose of the jewel aside as a key is to tweak the player's settings just like I did, and the time the door opens, each one that enters the room will automatically have the same settings as the other…"
"…and that will be a full-on pain receptor."
"But that's not just it, because they are facing something that is on the extreme, the pain is literally too much for someone to handle, so once you get hit by an attack coming from the boss, your Dive Gear will send the exact equivalent of pain directly to the player's brain without any restrictions."
"So when you get stepped or eaten by the boss that is, let's just say as big as a C130 plane then that will be very, very painful don't you think?"
"Now, here's a question, what will happen if the said signal is sent to your brain?" Luca asked Kyle since she found it that he is listening to her eagerly as she tells him about her theory."
Kyle was too shock as he analyzes it carefully and unwarily answers Luca.
"Then there is a possibility that the brain will mimic the received signal and…"
"And?" Luca probes Kyle that is reaching the right answer.
"Simulates death to the actual body… no shit!" Kyle suddenly exclaimed catching the attention of Emily and Alex.
"Yes shit." Luca replied to him.
"But how did you manage to arrive at such a conclusion?" Asked Kyle.
And Luca just answers him in a casual way as if it is nothing to her.
"I was there at the first raid, and now, my actual body is in a coma for about a year."