[RAIDS ONLINE @ Location - Area CC+63, Crossroad City.]
...WOAHHH!...
...IT'S LUCENT!...
...HE REALLY CAME!...
Luel log in to RAIDS ONLINE and find hundreds of players waiting for him at the location he had chosen to be transported from the Moon base, where he met Selene just a few minutes earlier.
Different Devour Classes have gathered, waiting for Luel's arrival, both invited and uninvited. From Canis-type Half-Beast avatar of Orion Devour Class, Aves-type of Aurora Devour Class, Felis-type of Saber Devour Class, Vulpes-type of Fiamma Devour Class, and Taurus-type and Ursus-type of Alpha Devour Class. There are even a few Serpentes-type avatars of the Asherah Devour Class, which rarely goes further away from their ocean territory.
Everyone is looking at Luel, and as Luel expected, all of their gaze slowly triggers his anxiety and panic attacks.
Luel distrusts other people. His insecurities about himself, his failures, and his weaknesses are overwhelming him deep inside, making his confidence in front of everyone else slowly crumble.
Although, this is exactly the reason why Luel decided to play the RAIDS ONLINE, to gain back his confidence to face others, using the excuse that the one standing in front of everyone else is not himself exactly but an avatar, a persona the Luel created, the Devour Lucent.
With those thoughts, Luel was somehow able to calm his anxiety and panic attack to the degree that the VR Gear he was wearing in real life while his body was asleep didn't initiate a force logout.
"Yo!... Thank you for coming at the exact meeting time Lucent!"
As Luel stood in the middle of the crowd, another player, a girl with short silver hair and silver color fur, wolf ears, and a tail, came running to approach and greeted him.
"It's what we agreed, after all, SliverPup."
.
.
.
.
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A few days ago, before the current gathering for the Boss Raid hosted by Orion Guild under Devour SilverPup command, Luel met SilverPup at Sunrise City. A location at Area CC+63 near the east seacoast.
"Hey!... Over here, Lucent!... It's me, SilverPup!"
When Luel arrived at the seacoast, he immediately spotted SilverPup waiting for him.
Luel was surprised to find out that SilverPup is a girl and quite attractive as well.
Along with her cheerful personality, as Luel's first impression of her, SilverPup's slender body figure is actually Luel's type when it comes to women. However, as Luel approached SilverPup, he felt a sudden goosebump.
SilverPup might be a female avatar, but Luel's instinct is telling him that the real person behind SilverPup is a guy, definitely a dude.
RAIDS ONLINE players can freely select the gender of their avatar, and surely, at 100 percent, Luel thought that SilverPup was among those who are gender benders.
"Huh?... Is something wrong, Lucent?"
To hide his unthoughtful assumption, Luel decided to get to the point of their meeting.
"Nothing... Can you please explain the details of your Boss Raid Invitation?"
"Right... Let's start talking about that. We don't have that much time after all."
SilverPup explains to Luel that what she wrote in her message sums up the details of the Boss Raid and that what's left is for Luel to agree and pass a test.
"Wait... You didn't mention a test in your message."
Luel becomes aggressive with his words, thinking that the test includes fighting other players. He would be fine if it is a one-on-one fight against SilverPup, but the idea that other players are waiting to gang up on him is something he doesn't like. After all, he hated the concept of PK or player killing when it comes to games.
"Don't tell me you didn't come here alone?"
SilverPup didn't mention in her message that she would come alone to meet Luel. Only Luel assumed that it would be a meeting between the two of them.
"Relax!... It's only the two of us here. But I didn't come alone."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Just listen to me, okay?... After all, we only have 10 to 15 minutes for this meeting."
10 to 15 minutes, that is how long it would take for the Rank A Ragnarok Beast Cerberus to arrive from Crossroad City, where Luel encounters Cerberus, to Sunrise City at their current location.
"I need to test if Cerberus is really going to hunt you, Lucent."
The explanation about the test is what SilverPup said, and the detail that she didn't come alone comes after.
"My companions are positioned along the way from Crossroad City to Sunrise City. They will inform me if they spot Cerberus heading this way so that we won't get hunted and lose our Link Force unnecessarily."
It was indeed a good plan to avoid getting hunted, as Luel thought. But there's something else that caught his attention from what SilverPup said.
"Lose our Link Force?..."
"Ohh!... You haven't checked your current Link Force yet after you got killed by Cerberus?"
At SilverPup's remark, Luel swiftly opened the character detail of his avatar and was shocked to find that his Link Force had gone down.
"37 percent..."
"Minus 10 percent huh... That's kind of a letdown."
As the Devour or players get to defeat and devour a Ragnarok Beast, their Link Force will increase. But as they get defeated and killed by Ragnarok Beast, their Link Force will be absorbed and decrease. That's the concept of Link Force between the Devour and Ragnarok Beast.
5 minutes have passed since Luel and SilverPup meeting began. While waiting for Cerberus to make an appearance, SilverPup explains to Luel the pros and cons if Luel choose to accept the Orion Guild's Boss Raid Invitation.
The goal of Orion Guild is not to defeat yet but to study Cerberus. They intend to use Luel as bait repeatedly as long as Cerberus comes after him. This will result in Luel's Link Force going down even lower with continuous defeat.
As compensation for Luel, the Orion Guild will give its support to help Luel recover his Link Force once the Boss Raid is over. It also includes boosting Luel's RAIDS ONLINE Channel to gain followers and views and earn some income.
...DING!...
While Luel is deciding to either accept or not the Orion Guild's Boss Raid Invitation, a notification sound rings around SilverPup, indicating that Cerberus is coming after Luel and will arrive in less than a minute.
"Damn... It's only been 8 minutes. That dog surely likes you, Lucent."
Of course, Luel has complicated feelings about what SilverPup said.
Before Cerberus could arrive, Luel and SilverPup initiate the logout sequence, and a beam of light coming from the Moon above the night sky ray upon the two of them. But before they could completely log out...
...BOOOMMMMM!!!...
...Cerberus falls high from the sky right in front of them.
The Rank A Ragnarok Beast didn't even bother to chase Luel and SilverPup as it understood that it wouldn't be able to reach them before they could log out. Yet the look that it's giving with its three heads is neither anger nor disappointment, failing to hunt its prey.
"Hoy!... What the heck is with Cerberus? I've never seen it making that face. It's definitely mocking the two of us. Right, Lucent!"
"You damn dog..."
...Run away like a coward...
That's the thought that Cerberus shows with a sneer of its three mouths as Luel and SilverPup disappear and log out.