"Captain, the demons have surrounded us!" One of the players shouted aloud causing his comrade's expression to somber.
Many of the players were panicking, it was due to the monstrous amount of demons currently attacking them each day and night.
The thought of the demons surrounding them brought immense fear to the newbie players.
"Reinforcements will arrive in ten minutes! Players, stand your ground!" Kaz the leader of the Silver Knight shouted aloud, his body covered in bruises, his weapons and armor tattered, his face disheveled and covered with the blood of demons.
With his announcement, many of the players calmed their panic.
The Silver Knight Guild, was one of the influential guilds across America, with their leader a high-ranking player in the country and across the globe.
'Damn this!' Kaz cursed, he knew he had to maintain his composure at all times, especially with his responsibilities as a guild leader managing over a hundred players.
'I only took this mantle since it said that leveling up would get easier! The heck, now I have to worry for these goddamn low-ranking newbies!' Kaz was in a state of panic. He had to take care of over twenty players amid a quest. 'This damn quest, Michael didn't give me much information, he said that this would be easy!'
'Damn this, if I knew it would be like this I wouldn't have created a guild!' Kaz reorganized his thoughts. 'Huu, calm down, for now, I have to make sure they're alive, if they die then that would bring more trouble..'
Kaz opened his inventory and gave each of the wounded players his health potions, although Kaz didn't want to, he knew that he needed all the help he could in clearing the quest.
"Thank you so much, Captain!"
"Yeah, just be sure to pay me once this quest ends." Kaz gruffed. He tightened his hold on his twin swords, currently, there were over fifty-plus demons attacking them.
Their tanks had to do all they could to stop their attacks. "Everyone don't die! I don't want to go to either one of your funerals!"
"Yes, captain!" The players shouted aloud. Their health and energy were replenished, and they charged forward with Kaz's instructions.
Kaz glanced at each of his players, once a demon gained an upper hand at one of his players, Kaz would immediately intervene. 'Although they're damn useless, at the very least they can provide some minimal attacks for me to finish the demons off.' Kaz thrust his sword stabbing the demon's throat.
"T-Thank you, Captain!"
"Shut up! Start paying attention you shit, do you think that once you die here you'll get resurrected? This isn't a damn game anymore alright?"
"Y-Yes captain!"
"Fuck.." Kaz began to march forward, eradicating demons in his way. 'This would have been damn easier if this was a game!' Kaz shouted in his thoughts, every twist and turn, a demon would die from his sword.
The players watched in awe due to their leader's amazing combat abilities. 'This must be the skills of a high-ranking player!' They thought in unison.
Although the quest was easy for Kaz, the amount of never-ending demons was the problem plus with newbie players who only relied on goblins to level up.
Kaz thought that it would be a great idea to teach the newbies and help them level up through this quest, but not only were they uncoordinated, but they even had trouble trying to hold their swords.
Thus Kaz had to multi-task, killing demons and helping his players.
'Damn this! Once I finish this quest I'm going to kill Michael!' Kaz with an angry and determined expression plastered on his face went on a rampage against the demons.
[Quest: Eradicate all the lower-ranking demons!]
[Quest Rank: B]
[Reward: Affinity with the barony's people will reach the maximum]
[Failure: The barony's people's affection will plummet.]
[A medium-ranked ogre has been spawned!]
"W-What? An ogre?"
'This has to be my bad luck, an ogre? Really?' Kaz wiped the blood off his face. His expression turned bitter.
[Caution a medium-ranked ogre has been spawned]
With the system's caution, the players took a step back, they glanced at the flock of birds flying in their direction, the trees swayed, and the ground shook followed by a deafening scream.
Graaaaa!
An ogre had been spawned in the forest. The low-ranking players held their weapons tightly. Fear and panic rushed through them.
All this time, they were having trouble facing low-ranking demons, now a medium-ranked ogre had been spawned. This brought immense tension between the players.
"Fuck.." Kaz cursed, although he was a high-ranking player he never once faced a medium-ranked demon alone.
Demons were categorized according to the amount of destruction they hold.
[Low-ranking demons were enough to terrorize small towns.]
[Medium-ranking demons were enough to destroy hundreds of towns.]
[High-ranking demons were enough to destroy a city.]
Medium-ranking demons can be killed, but it takes tons of high-ranking players to take it down. It was due to their intellect and powerful skills making them hard to kill.
"How many minutes more till the reinforcements arrive?" Kaz asked the player beside him, his facial expression turning bitter at each second.
"5-5 more minutes." The scared newbie replied.
"Then that's enough, you take the others and run to the barony! The reinforcements won't do any help, instead call Michael or any goddamn high-ranking players before this ogre reaches the barony and access the portal!" Kaz shouted aloud, all the players nearby heard his orders.
"B-But what about you cap-"
"Go now! Forget about me and think of hundreds of lives if this thing gets out!" Kaz shouted and the newbie player nodded his head.
"Y-Yes!"
By Kaz's orders, the players immediately ran through the direction of the barony.
Kaz stood alone in front of the monstrous ogre. The low-ranking demons went back to the abyss. Thus the only opponent Kaz had to fight was the ogre.
Kaz tightened his grip on his twin swords. "I just have to buy more time. I hope those assholes can immediately alert the high-ranking players." Kaz's body was tense, he could feel the murderous aura coming from the ogre.
The ground shook even stronger, as the ogre's huge build reaching the skies appeared in front of Kaz. The ogre with its green skin and humongous build brought fear into Kaz, the ogre wore leather armor holding a giant axe.
"Damn, that's scary.." Kaz jumped up and down to get himself ready for the fight. "Just buy some time....buy some time.."
Graaaaaaaa!
"Okie doki!" Kaz immediately rushed forward. Kaz disappeared from the same spot, as he appeared beneath the ogre's feet trying to slash and make the ogre lose its balance.
Klang!
But unlike Kaz's plan, the ogre's skin was too tough for him to fully penetrate.
'Shit..'
Kaz took a step back, although the ogre was huge, its movement was slow allowing Kaz to dodge its attacks. 'If this was the good old days, I would have just resurrected!'
Ever since the virtual reality game 'Fate' became a reality, every player around the world has always feared death. However, due to the amount of rewards from the quests inside the game, many players were still eager to play even though death's doors awaited them each day.
Graaaaa!
The ogre took its stance, a high amount of blood lust oozing out of its body.
[The ogre has used it's stun ability]
[You have been stunned]
'Fuck!' Kaz cursed, he tried to move his fingertips, but it was for naught. His whole body was penetrated by the amount of blood lust.
"Fuck move! Come on Move!" Kaz kept cursing, he tried to move his body but the same notification from the system kept on ringing.
[You have been stunned]
[You have been stunned]
[You have been stunned]
[You have been stunned]
[You have been stunned]
Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
The ogre held its huge axe, aiming to thrust it down at Kaz.
'Fuck. Fuck. Move!' Kaz kept swearing inside his thoughts, his whole body still stunned due to the ogre's blood lust. Kaz watched the looming axe, his body shivered in fright. 'Shit..'
Graaaaaaaaaa!
Whoosh!
An arrow shot beside Kaz, the arrow aimed at the ogre's head. But the ogre wasn't affected by the incoming arrow.
Klang!
'An arrow?' Kaz was confused due to the sudden attack, he glanced at his side.
A man with long white hair tied into a ponytail, wearing blue armor whilst holding a huge bow.
Kaz was mesmerized with the man at his side, not only didn't he notice the man's presence, the man was excluding a powerful aura.
Kaz snapped out of his meserization, his body was still stunned. "Are you the reinforcement? Hey, carry me! My body's been stunned but it seems you weren't affected, you can't take down that ogre anyways, so carry me!" Kaz's hopes rose. He heaved a sigh of relief, thinking he was going to be saved.
"Fleeing is a cowardly act, no matter how powerful the enemy is, always stand your ground." The man said.
Kaz blinked a few times, he wasn't expecting that answer. His vein's popped, as anger eroded his head. "The fuck? Are you an otaku or something? What the heck are you spouting you son-of-a-bitch? If you want to fight this thing then take it, but first get me to safety!" Kaz shouted aloud, he was thinking of whether this man was stupid or was planning a suicide.
The man pulled the string, an arrow materialized on his bow. "My arrow is my answer."
"The fuck..." Kaz glanced at the man, his eyes wincing due to the amount of nerdiness coming from the strange man. "Well, thank you so much.." Kaz said sarcistacilly. 'Well, I'm going to die..' He gazed back at the ogre who had regained its composure.
Graaaaaa!
The man didn't move from his stance. Instead, he moved his fingertips holding the string of his bow. "My aim has never once missed an enemy." All of a sudden the man changed the position of his hands, he aimed at the sky, he let go of the string as the arrow flew.
"Crescent Arrow."
The sky dimmed, and a crescent appeared on top of the ogre. Slowly, hundreds of arrows fell from the crescent.
Graaaaaa!
Klang!
Klang!
Klang!
"H-How did you do that?" Kaz asked and glanced at the man who had disappeared from his sight. Kaz glanced up above, a figure was on top of the ogre's head.
The man with swift and fast movement of his hands kept shooting arrows, he shot an arrow at the ogre's neck but due to the ogre's thick skin, the arrows couldn't penetrate.
Graaaaaa!
The ogre noticed the human on its head and tried to capture the human with its bare hands but was unsuccessful.
The man jumped from the ogre's head, he had two arrows in his bow and shot the two arrows directly at the ogre's huge eyeballs. The man landed safely beside Kaz who watched in awe. "Its skin is thick, my arrow couldn't penetrate its neck or head."
Graaaaaaaaaa!
The ogre cried due to pain, it touched its bleeding eyes and pulled the two arrows.
Graaaaaa!
"H-Hey! We have to go, the ogre's pissed!" Kaz shouted, although he was quite shocked by the unknown man's attacks, he knew that it wasn't enough to kill the ogre. "Come on, while the ogre is still wincing in pain!"
The man didn't bother to listen to Kaz's pleas. Instead, once again, he held his bow and aimed the arrow at the sky. "If a barrage of arrows cannot penetrate it...then.." The man once again shot the arrow at the sky.
Kaz gritted his teeth. "We have to-" Kaz stopped midway, the ground shook, and the sky changed its color. Kaz glanced up above, a tip of an arrow was slowly coming out of a magic circle. "What the..."
"May the goddess forgive me.." The man said, his bow disappeared and he stretched his right hand. "Now fade.." The man with a cold tone gestured his hand to move downwards.
The sky cried as the huge arrow descended with fast movement. Before the ogre could react, the arrow cleanly cut its body in half, the earth quaked and dust formed leaving a huge crater.
"Disperse..." The man said, he waved his hand as the huge arrow disappeared into tiny light particles, and transformed into a small bow.
[The stun effect has been lifted]
[Your quest is finished]
Kaz couldn't even comprehend the attack the unknown man had performed. But only one thing was currently circling in his thoughts.
'This man is powerful...'
"Y-You what's your name?" Kaz asked terror and worship in his eyes.
'How did he kill that thing? And that skill? Wait was that supposed to be a skill?' Kaz had numerous questions piled up inside his head. 'Wait, why haven't I heard of him? With that skill that's enough for him to become a high-ranking player!'
"Name?...." The man paused and replied. "You can call me Mathias, the moon archer. "
"Mathias...." Kaz who was free from the stun effect, was once again stunned by the unknown man's presence.
The man didn't even blink when he killed the ogre. A single individual killed a medium-ranked ogre! Not only that, it took only 3 minutes and the ogre died! In history, not one individual killed a medium-ranked ogre under 3 minutes! No, no one killed a medium-ranked ogre alone!
"T-Thank you for saving me" Kaz was awkward it was due to his constant shouting at Mathias earlier. "Sorry about my doubts, I thought we were going to die."
"B-By the way, I'm from the Silver Knight's guild! Our guild is still open for more players! Umm here's my card!" Kaz handed a card to Mathias.
"Silver Knights? A guild? Sounds fun..." Mathias held the card and flipped it. "I'll think about it, but for now I have to go."
"S-Sure! Thank you once again!" Kaz grimaced due to his awkward behavior. 'The heck? Why am I so awkward?' Even Kaz was questioning himself in his thoughts.
"You're welcome, may the goddess guide you." With that last sentence, Mathias was nowhere to be seen leaving the bewildered Kaz.
"Amazing...If he were to enter our guild then..." Kaz was already making scenarios inside his head. 'I'm sure this wouldn't be the last time we see one another, a man with that skill wouldn't go unnoticed..'
"O-Over there! The captain is alive!"
"Oh right..." Kaz turned around, his newbie players flocking him. Some even had tears in their eyes thanking Kaz nonstop.
Although Kaz had some loathing with his newbies, he heaved a sigh of relief knowing that they were safe and none had died.
"We thought you were going to die.." Michael wearing a priest's robe held his book as he immediately began healing Kaz. "By the way did you kill the ogre? All by yourself?" Michael asked as he glanced at the ogre's body cut in half.
"No...I didn't, someone else did. A moon archer." Kaz replied earning a confused glance from Michael.
"Moon Archer I never heard of that title.." Michael replied. "This is going to be troublesome, we called some other high-ranking players who were near the portal, if they see this bloodbath they're going to interrogate us all..."
"Michael, are you trying to kill me?" Kaz nonchalantly asked holding a pocket knife. "You gave me this quest without properly gathering information, it seems you want to kill me eh?" Kaz said putting the knife on Michael's throat.
"W-What? H-Hey put the knife down! Come on brother!" Michael quivered, he adjusted his glasses and immediately ran for his life as Kaz chased him with a knife.
"This isn't funny ya know!" Michael shouted while the other players watched the two brothers running around.