While Merrick was wrapping up his research through the Patch Notes, the time had dipped dangerously into the evening. If he wanted to make it back to Als Atbor before the next in-game day, he would need to leave soon. However, when he dropped down from his makeshift bench Merrick realized he was no longer alone.
The newcomer's face was nearly hidden between a blue-green floppy Wizard's Hat and a bulky robe the color of the deepest ocean. Merrick's mind immediately went into defensive mode before he realized that the newcomer was not there to ambush him. It took a second to notice between the floppy hat and the bulky robes, but the newcomer was actually one of the three figures that he had summoned during his fight with Xerxes.
Though her attire was different now, Rat stood impatiently waiting for Merrick to realize that she was not going to attack him. As soon as he did, she cleared her throat, "That took long enough. What have you been doing out here? Why are you here?"
"I came to check the dungeon."
Rat came closer and that was when Merrick noticed the small status window hovering near her character. She was logged into the game, unlike before. This was Rat's avatar and her chosen name was Rath. Before Merrick could think more on that, she pulled off her Wizard's Hat and flicked it at him like a towel.
As Merrick quick-stepped backwards, Rath laughed. "Don't lie to me, game freak. You had to know the dungeon would not let you in. Why are you really out here?"
"I came looking for answers about what happened. I thought that maybe Xerxes had returned to his dungeon."
"He didn't. My Master said that Alex hasn't found him yet."
"Then why are you here?"
"I was hunting the DFZ and saw you pop up on my map. Why did you think you could get answers here? Or even from Xerxes? Kinda seems like he would just lie to you again."
Merrick shook his head, "I don't know if he was lying but he did share information. That is what I need. So that I can find the answers myself. That is why I came here."
"It's also why you grind so hard, game freak. Though you'll never top my scores." Rath laughed, "Anyway, how about this… I can tell you that you won't find the information you need inside this game. This is just Mouseion's Playground, for now, at least. If you beat me in a duel to first blood, I'll tell you a secret about the world."
Merrick thought about asking if she meant this world or the real one but he didn't bother. Merrick was not sure how it worked, or what it meant, but he did know that there was no difference between Dungeons Below and the world outside of his VR headset.
Instead he just said, "I'll accept a challenge if you send the request."
A duel to first blood was pretty straight forward. When the duel request appeared as a system notification, Merrick made sure to read through the proposed terms anyway. The terms were as simple as possible. The condition for victory was to simply be the first to deal damage. The victory rewards were set to *A mythical item or information valued at that rarity*.
Mythical level information. That was enough to get Merrick invested. He accepted the duel and the system created a barrier around them. It was similar to the PvP zone that Kobalk had created but this one only allowed Merrick and Rath to engage in combat.
As soon as the barrier was up, Rath started to chant. Water coalesced into ice and formed a wand. Merrick remembered the spell that she had used to defeat the Sylph of Fire and immediately started to weave arcane energy.
By the time that Rath's ice wand was fully charged with energy it had grown into a staff. Merrick was barely able to lay down his protection before Rath slammed the butt of her staff into the ground. The staff cracked and splintered for a second but then it grew into an icy oak tree. A cold wind blew over the courtyard and razorsharp ice-leaves were carried along the breeze.
If Merrick's arcane barrier had not gone up in time, he would've been reduced to ribbons. Instead, just like DeathX's firestorm, Rath's ice-leaves were absorbed and Merrick reversed the spell's energy back at its caster. Unlike before, Merrick held on to some of Rath's energy rather than just use it all up. Three spikes of ice flew from Merrick's outstretched hand.
Rath dodged the first two barely but when she tried to recreate a backbend from a classic movie to avoid the third, it cut upward from her eyebrow and knocked her floppy hat from her head. A system notification announced the end of the duel.
As Rath's icy oak melted, she retrieved her floppy hat from where it had been pinned to a stone block. The ice spike had not pierced the hat so Merrick did not feel bad about potentially breaking another Adventurer's gear. Once it was retrieved, Rath congratulated Merrick on his victory and then shared the information.
"This may not seem like a world secret, but that is because you'll have to learn more from your boss at the bookstore, my Master, Horace Abernathy. He is one of the more powerful people in the City."
"That isn't really a mythical level secret. I had already kind of figured that out."
"It might not seem like that right now, but it will make sense soon." With that Rath started to leave, but before she got too far she called back, "See you at the tower, probably… if you can make it."