As the boney figure before him died, Liam turned around with a smooth motion, attacking the skeletons outside with a [Double Slash].
His sword moved forcefully, cutting at dry bones.
[-110!]
[-180!]
But the opponents weren't intimidated, retaliating fiercely.
Meanwhile Silver Blade furrowed her brows, signaling Radiant Shield:
"Let's change positions."
"Alright!"
The tanks showed their tacit understanding, performing the maneuver without letting any skeletons reach the mages.
Radiant Shield attacked, drawing the elite's attention and forming a stable blockade.
A couple of seconds later, Watchful Eye managed to return to his old position. The party was confident. Having already dealt with two elites before, they didn't consider this fight difficult.
The common skeletons died under the fierce assault, their numbers dwindling quickly.
"Friends, let's grant these undead rest."
"To the afterlife!"
"Die, stupid skeletons."
Just as the mood among the party reached a high, unforeseen change occurred.
A crisp sound echoed in the hallway as holes opened in the ceiling.
Cyclone looked up, opening her mouth without words coming out.
"More skeletons?", asked Balm uneasily.
A moment later the answer arrived as flames suddenly erupted. With a hiss they traveled through the air, the hallway immediately resembling hell.
"Unfair!"
Unfortunately, the flames didn't care for Balm's complaints as her HP emptied out.
The flames didn't stop, soon sending the party back to the entrance.
Cyclone looked around in disbelief.
"Why…?"
"The fight might have a time limit.", analyzed Silver Blade.
"The difficulty is not low…"
Silver Blade glanced at Bleary Mirage, finding even the veteran frowning.
Liam was indeed surprised. He knew about the time limit, but expected his party to easily finish early. But obviously the game increased the difficulty.
Luckily, there was a strategy commonly employed by groups who couldn't end the battle fast enough. Now Liam was contemplating if he should inform his team.
But at this moment Balm surprisingly spoke up with a smile:
"We made it further than last time!"
"Indeed, this is the joy of improvement.", chuckled Radiant Shield.
"The party forging an unbreakable spirit to overcome the obstacles in their way. The viewers will love it."
"You guys have some potential.", complimented Silent Acacia.
Liam was delighted to see the development, deciding to give the party time to figure out the way forward.
With their improved mindset the group didn't need a long rest before they dived into the dungeon once more.
They quickly reached the wall of flames, engaging in battle.
With renewed vigor they gave it their all, slaying the skeletons quickly.
But unfortunately, it still wasn't enough as the flames sent them back to the entrance again.
The party gave it two more tries, constantly honing their teamwork but never managing to overcome the elite skeleton.
Somewhat exhausted they called it a day.
Outside the dungeon they said their goodbyes, logging off one by one.
Liam found himself back in the training room. A contemplating expression was on his face as he walked towards the dojo's exit.
But suddenly a voice interrupted him.
"Haha, Liam, right? Fancey meeting you."
Liam was surprised to find a brightly smiling Ken standing before him.
"Evening. Did you just leave as well?"
"Ahh, yes. I had to check some inventory."
"You seem to be working all day. Impressive."
"It's alright. I'm not as diligent as you."
"Haha, I'm just playing games. Hardly worthy of mention."
"Well, who isn't, these days?
Now that you mention it, why don't we play together sometime?"
"Oh I don't know, I don't want to hold you back."
The young men appeared to converse amicably, bright smiles of their faces. But their real thoughts remained hidden.
Liam remained noncommittal until Ken finally left.
So exhausting.
Sighing, Liam left the dojo. He didn't enjoy making contact with people like Ken. He was forced to uphold too many of these fake relationships in his old life.
***
At the same time in another city on Flava Star. A young man left his hotel room, his eyes conflicted.
He walked on a comfortable red carpet, soon reaching a spacious restaurant. A valiant looking woman spotted him, waving her hand.
The young man smiled, feeling a warmth in his heart as he sat down on her table.
"Babe, don't show such a sad look. I'm here for you."
"I know, Quiana. Thank you."
"Don't worry. We will show them!"
Adrian let out a sigh, looking at his girlfriend's encouraging eyes.
"But can we do it? With this team?"
"I think they have potential. Silver Blade looks like a natural talent and Bleary Mirage impresses even me.
The others will get there."
"I hope so. If we need to look for a new team halfway, we might as well give up."
"Well, we need to find out if they are interested in tournaments."
"Right."
Adrian's face turned uncharacteristically grim, some unpleasant memories appearing in his mind at the mention of tournaments.
"We will prove to them that letting us go was a mistake!"
Quiana silently held Adrian's hand, supporting him.
***
Later that evening Liam sat on the coach, Serena leaning against his shoulder.
The young girl watched as Liam scrolled through various interviews.
With the first player reaching level 5, a small craze had broken out in the media. Every news outlet outdid each other to get first hand news from players.
Gradually a few names gained popularity, building up a fan base.
Star Gazer was at the forefront, enjoying the limelight at the moment. But even Fat Tiger was among them, busily giving interviews with a bright smile.
"Liam, are you jealous?"
Liam chuckled, looking at Serena's large eyes.
"Why would I be jealous? I'm looking up free information."
"Those guys are about to get famous, yet they haven't played the game any longer than you."
"And what good is that fame?"
"Well, fame is… hmm…"
Watching Serena's thoughtful expression, Liam couldn't help but pat her head.
"You see. I think it's those guys who should be jealous of me!"
"Why?"
"Because I have the cutest sister in the world!"
Serena's ears immediately turned red from embarrassment. She lightly punched Liam's shoulder before running out of the room.
"Idiot!"
Liam shook his head with a chuckle as he focused on reading some comments.
"Star Gazer is the best! Already at the third chamber!"
"What third chamber? We don't even know how much chambers there are."
"Fat Tiger embarrassed himself today. He shouldn't have tried blocking the dungeon."
"It's said that Fat Tiger was stumped by Fortune! I'm looking forward to the video."
"Did Fortune find a team?"
"Why talk about some lame content creators? You all should focus on Mountain Lord! I tell you, he's a dark horse."
"That old dwarf? No way!"
"Guys, I heard rumors that Silent Acacia is playing on our server."
"Acacia? But he's not from Falva Star, right?"
"It's said that he was on vacation. He must've been caught off guard."
"Damn. Can't he change the server?"
"I don't think anyone has tried yet, we don't know."
"Maybe it's good for Silent Acacia. I phoned my cousin on Traneh Star yesterday. The competition over there is fierce. The first player reached level 5 yesterday in the morning."
"Phoning across planets? Damn, we have a bigshot here."
"Begging for donation!"
"+1"
"+1"
Liam continued reading for a while, checking on the other players. But from what he saw, his first clear shouldn't be in danger.
We need to make it through both wings tomorrow.
Liam went to bed with his thoughts revolving around the game, a faint smile unconsciously on his face.
The next day the party met again in front of the dungeon. A considerable crowd gathered as more and more players reached level 5.
Feeling a bit cramped, the party directly entered the dungeon.
"So many people. Can we really get first clear?
Expert, it's time for you to do something!"
Cyclone looked somewhat anxious as she addressed Liam.
"Don't worry. I checked up on our competition yesterday. We are in the clear."
"Let's take it one step at a time. I thought about some ideas on how to pass the hallway."
Everyone nodded when Silver Blade mentioned the hallway.
"Same."
"Me too."
"I'm glad you guys are so invested. Who wants to go first?"
Radiant Shield was just about to speak up when he saw Balm raise her hand. He smiled as he signaled her to speak her mind.
"Maybe we could push the skeletons into the fire."
"Maybe focusing the elite first is the way to go."
"We need to draw the skeletons outside."
Ideas were thrown around the room. All of them had their merit and Silver Blade found it difficult to decide.
"Bleary Mirage, what do you think?"
"All your ideas are good, but they won't work as soon as there is more than one elite.
Therefore, let's go with Acacia's suggestion."
"There is more than one elite, expert?", asked Cyclone.
"Who knows…"
Cyclone rolled her eyes at Liam, but his words were close to a confirmation anyways. Everyone prepared themselves mentally as they started a new attempt.