'Ironvale must be a day away at most'
Ray thought as he calmly unpacked supplies from his bag.
He hummed a cheery tune as he arranged a tent which he had took from the elf camp, as their tent was ripped apart by those same elves.
He casually leaned his sword against a tree. The ease with which Ray moved—the lack of concern—infuriated the elf.
The camp settled into a quiet rhythm as the evening deepened. The forest, usually teeming with sounds, was eerily silent. No beast dared approach the clearing, their instincts warning them of the nightmare bull that stood at its center.
The massive creature let out a low rumble, smoke curling lazily from its nostrils. Its glowing eyes pierced through the gloom, casting faint shadows on the bound figure sitting before it.
The elf leader sat stiffly, bound and gagged, his thoughts running wild. He couldn't even muster the courage to move an inch, not with the monstrous bull looming in front of him.
To his side, the group he was now inexplicably stuck with was going about their evening with a bizarre sense of normalcy. Ray had finished setting up the camp, his movements calm and practiced, as if this were just another day.
The elf glared, but his attention was drawn to Seraphine, who was expertly gathering firewood nearby. She carried herself with a surprising lightness, her earlier ruthlessness replaced with what looked like genuine excitement.
"Is she… smiling?" the elf thought as he remembered her slicing his tribe like vegetables. His heart screamed of vengeance but the fiery breath of the giant bull quickly hushed him up.
Cassandra sat nearby, conjuring small bursts of flame in her hands, her face scrunched in frustration.
"No, no, no… Why won't it flow?" she muttered under her breath. Every attempt resulted in a flickering flame that quickly dissipated, leaving her scowling.
She switched to conjuring a fireball instead, which worked—but it was clear she wanted more control.
Ray wandered over, crouching next to her. "You're forcing it too much," he said casually. "Mana isn't about brute strength; it's about balance."
Cassandra frowned. "Balance? Feels like whoever designed this magic system did a half assed work."
"Uhh, Not sure about that," Ray said, although agreeing inside. "But you can't just brute-force mana to stay still. Here—try this." He gently guided her hands closer together. "Create a circle. Let the mana flow through that shape. Don't fight it, just let it guide you."
Cassandra hesitated but followed his instructions. Slowly, the flickering flame steadied, forming a small, controlled orb that hovered between her hands. Her eyes lit up with excitement. "It's working!"
Ray grinned. "Told you. Now practice keeping that flow steady."
From across the campfire, Seraphine glanced up from tending the firewood. Her calm expression soured slightly as she watched Ray's easy rapport with Cassandra.
With deliberate movements, she walked over to the tent Ray had set up and kicked one of the supporting nails, causing the structure to wobble precariously.
"Ray," Seraphine called, her voice light but laced with an edge. "Your tent's falling apart. Maybe you should do something about that."
Ray looked behind. confused at the sudden failure of his work."Keep practicing. You've got this."
As Ray walked off to fix the tent, Cassandra groaned in frustration. "Why does she always do that?"
Seraphine stood by the fire, her lips curving into a faint smirk as she watched Ray struggle with the tent poles. "This is why you double-check your work," she teased.
The elf leader, watching all of this from his spot in front of the bull, resisted the urge to groan. They weren't even trying to act like competent kidnappers. His gaze shifted to the bull that had been menacingly staring at him for hours.
Every breath it took was a reminder of his strange situation, its molten eyes seemingly laughing at him.
He thought back to his once-dignified role as a leader, and now… here he was.
The picture of humiliation: bound like a common thief, stuck in the company of lunatics, and parked in front of a flaming bull that looked ready to make him its next snack.
The flames crackled, the night grew darker, and the camp fell into a strange, peaceful rhythm.
The elf leader closed his eyes briefly, trying to ignore the absurdity of it all.
But then his thoughts broke through.
Why am I stuck here!?
He opened his eyes again, the monstrous figure of Ashram staring him down, its molten gaze unblinking.
Suddenly, Ray and Cassandra's attention was
caught by a ringing notification as a translucent screen appeared in front of them.
[Congratulations to all players! It has been officially two days since the game's grand launch!]
[Currently there are 2348775 players which have nearly doubled in the last 24 hours]
[World Leaderboard is now available!]
[You may access Leaderboards from the system]
[Happy hunting!]
Ray quickly opened the leaderboard to see if there was any change from his past life and as predicted it was same as before.
"Woah! Who is this 'Zenith'? Level 15?? What the hell is he doing to get that level in just 2 days?" Cassandra exclaimed bewildered to see the leaderboards. She saw her own level 8 to be in the top 100 feeling proud of her.
Even though the experience gained was from 'slave trade'
Ray was also looking at the different names on the leaderboard getting nostalgia seeing his own rank to be undefined as he was level 1 himself.
[ Leaderboards ]
1. Zenith - lvl 15
2. Overkillx - lvl 10
3. CRIMEhavoc - lvl 10
...
...
...
94. Cassandra - lvl 8
...
...
...
As he was scrolling through, he remembered a fake post about Zenith, him telling how he was 4 levels ahead from everyone and how he was a developer in secret.
When he was about to close the leaderboard a doubt crept up his mind.
'Wait, 4 levels but isn't he 5 levels ahead?' He thought as he forced his mind to remember his level.
And sure enough, Zenith was level 14 by this time in his previous life not level 15.
Ray's heart sank as his mind tried to make some sense of this slight change,
"Is this the butterfly effect or...
Was Zenith like him - a reincarnator too?"
----------
After Ray had finished his dinner, a small grin crept across his face as he pulled up his laptop.
He quickly typed up another post for the forum, offering more tips for players on how to get experience potion in the beginner town and how to obtain the materials.
He had already gotten a good response from his last post, but this one was going to be better.
With many people following him on the forums, he knew this time the reach would be far greater.
The response was immediate. The forum practically exploded with activity, and many players eagerly followed his advice, thanking him in the comments.
Ray chuckled softly to himself as he read through the posts, happy to help but also secretly relishing the attention. As he scrolled, he noticed that the feedback was pouring in faster than before. It was clear he had struck a chord with the community.
After a few more minutes of scrolling through the feedback, Ray logged out of the forum and back into the game.
[Logging in!]
Expecting the usual bickering he appeared un front of the tent, although the silence that greeted him was unsettling. No Seraphine. No Cassandra. No Ashram. His gaze quickly snapped to the only figure remaining— the elf leader, still bound to the tree, his expression unreadable.
Ray's brow furrowed.
'Why can't I find anyone, everytime I log in'
"What happened?" he asked, already fearing the worst.
The elf leader, who had been eerily quiet until now, glanced up, his eyes wide with a mix of panic and disbelief. "A demon… came… and took them all."
Ray's mind raced as he quickly tried to process the situation. "The general… he must have caught up with us," Ray muttered under his breath.
His eyes scanned the forest, and without another word, he began to sprint through the trees, following the path the nightmare bull had left in its wake.
The bull's powerful hoofprints were still visible in the ground, and Ray didn't waste any time, pushing through the dense foliage.
Minutes later, Ray arrived at a clearing, breathless and alert. The scene before him stopped him in his tracks.
There, in the center of the clearing, was a gathering of figures—Seraphine, Cassandra, and… the demon. Ray's heart skipped a beat as he saw them surrounded by the intimidating presence of the demon.