Merrick had no way to figure out exactly what was going on. There were three enemies in front of him and two allies beside him. Regardless of who the allies were, Merrick decided to trust the system and dive head first into the fight ahead. If for no other reason than this battle had to be concluded before they could go after the two people that seemed to know what was going on.
Before he could act though, the Commando struck first. The sylphs were still powering up, but the death knight had started to charge forward. The Commando stepped up and met the Death Knight in close combat. The Death Knight's sword swung heavy through the air; the Commando dodged the swings easily.
After two failed swings, the Death Knight shifted stance to try another attack but before it could lunge forward, the Commando dropped back a few paces. That was when Merrick noticed a red blinking light inside of the Death Knight's ribcage. A second later, the Death Knight exploded in a hail of bone chips and leftover, decayed flesh. Instead of waiting for the Death Knight to reassemble, the Commando picked up the Death Knight's fallen sword and broke the fractured metal over his knee.
There was no time for congratulations. The Wizard's Apprentice was already squaring off against the Sylph of Fire. Bolts of water and gouts of flame arced over the courtyard. Merrick took on the last of the three enemies: the Sylph of Lightning.
He already knew from his past encounter that his powerful Lightning Bolt spell would be of no help in this fight. Beyond that, the Sylphs were light and quick. He had struggled to land a single blow using the improvised Force Blast. Instead of relying on magic, Merrick decided to rely on his experience as a gamer and drew the artifact dagger from his side.
With Spell Stealer in hand, he charged the Sylph of Lightning. Even though it was not the same Sylph as before, Merrick took his opponent's mocking smile personally as it waited for him to come. Unfortunately for the Sylph, Merrick had already fought this type of enemy. It would flitter and dodge through the air while unleashing bolts of lightning at him.
Merrick opened up his attack with a magical feint. He released a blast of arcane energy, unfocused, into the Sylph's general direction. The Sylph was forced to dip low to the ground to avoid the feint. As it came back up from the dodge, Merrick dashed past and slashed with Spell Stealer.
The wound was superficial, but it was deep enough for the dagger's magic to kick in. Spell Stealer siphoned off the Sylph's energy with a chaotic thrum of power. Merrick watched as the lightning drained from the Sylph, leaving only dregs of power behind.
Before Merrick could think to move, the withered husk lashed outward at him. Despite the lack of energy, it did not stop its onslaught. If Merrick had picked a melee class to start, he might have been able to counter or at least interrupt the attacks. Instead, all he could manage to do was backpedal away as the weakened Sylph slashed with claw-like hands.
After a few near misses, Merrick managed to launch a counter of his own. With the help of Crudle, Merrick tripped the Sylph, dodged to the side and then improvised a magical attack. He had used Lightning and Water magic already. He had been accompanied by the Vassal of Fire. Merrick was certain that he could pull off a Fire Bolt, instead of a Lightning Bolt.
He did not know the words to the spell, but he focused on the feeling. The form, the shape, the power. Merrick gathered the arcane energy into his hand, aimed carefully, and whispered a wish as he released the improvised spell.
The bolt of fire came out of his hand like a comet and seared into the Sylph's side as it tried to get up. The force was more than Merrick intended, the Sylph was sent careening off into one of the courtyard's far pillars. It hit with a sickly crack and did not get up once it fell.
No more sounds of battle rose from the courtyard. Merrick turned to see that the Apprentice and the Commando were waiting on him. The Death Knight never reformed after the explosion. The Sylph of Fire was locked in a floating orb of water.
Despite the fact that the battle was over, Merrick still felt danger. The Apprentice had a wand in hand and the Commando's hand was resting on a holstered gun. Merrick raised his hands, unsure why, but before he could ask a question, the Commando started in with an interrogation.
It was a quick and simple question, "Where are we?"
Merrick lowered his hands as he answered, "On top of a prison called the Elemental Cage."
The Apprentice chimed in, "Where is that? Are we still on Atborea? I don't want to rid up that hellish contraption again."
"Atborea…" Merrick mumbled until he remembered something he had read in-game, "Yes, yes. We are on Atborea still. If you're not from Atborea does that mean the game has more than just the one continent?"
They ignored him.
A moment later, the Commando asked, "Who are you?"
"A Player, like Xerxes, my name is Merrick."
They looked at him blankly.
Merrick continued, "This was the dungeon that I spawned into. I was about to confront the final boss, Xerxes, when I summoned you all and then he… ran away."
The Apprentice frowned, "You summoned all three of us? I know my Master could do that, but I don't think you're that powerful. Are you a Wizard? Is this a Glamour? Are you actually really old and just self conscious about your-"
"Rat!" The Commando cut the Apprentice off.
Rat, the Apprentice, shrugged. "I meant no offense."
"It's okay, I'm not a Wizard. I just started the game, a few days ago but I've been playing a lot. I'm actually a Mage. By the strictest sense, I did not summon you. I used an item, a type of seal, to summon aid and the system sent the three of you to me."
The Commando's face grew still, "The system?"
"Oh! You're the-"
"Rat!" The Commando cut her off again, "I think we know what is going on now. It would be best if we catch up to the other person that you summoned. She is best equipped to explain what is going on to you."
With that, Rat and the Commando turned to head after Xerxes and the Wizard that chased him. Merrick started to follow but then realized that he had already heard their voices before. They were the strangers that he had been listening in on inside his Library.