Cough! Cough!

Dust filled Percival’s lungs like a vacuum on low as he collapsed back onto the ground. Then, the fall unlocked something in his ear as a ringing sound assaulted him. The ringing was accompanied by the texture of stone and the taste of dirt.

What was that? Some sort of bomb?

Percival struggled to his feet but was pushed onto his knees by a savage kick. Gradually, his eyes steadied, and he saw the multiple players readying their weapons at him.

“Ah.”

Percival felt the cold press of a spearhead against the back of his neck. If he moved, no doubt the spear would only need to inch forward to pierce into him. That thought sent a wave of panic over Percival as he thought back to the feeling of dying to the Slime Colossus. The feeling of being helpless against a power greater than you.

The grip on Percival’s spear tightened subconsciously, which prompted the spear to dig deeper into his neck.

Despite the spearhead digging into his neck, Percival slowly looked up and found Adrianne and Novus, who had regrouped and gotten on some rubble nearby. Adrianne’s eyes were filled with a concern that Percival didn’t realize she had. But, Novus’ golden eyes still reeked of lingering anger. Percival knew it wasn’t towards him. It was towards whoever that person named Mercury was, but it still hurt to see no concern.

Percival’s face scrunched in mixed emotions: anger, frustration, sadness. Most particular was the sense of self-loathing stemming from his inability itself. At this tense moment, the image of the warrior on his dream board popped into his head, and Percival couldn't help but steel his eyes.

I told myself I was going to change- that this game would be a new beginning.

Percival's eyes finally shifted to an unflinching gaze.

I’m tired of being useless.

A shallow line cut into Percival's skin as the spearhead crossed his neck and his eyes landed on the spear-wielder. Thankfully, it wasn’t a deep gash; only a dull pain and some blood. The spearhead shifted as Percival locked eyes with the man, holding a spear he should have rightfully owned in the first place.

Dark hazel eyes reminded Percival of moss-infested wood. However, these eyes held a sharp glint that nearly caused Percival to avert his eyes despite his hardened nerves.

Chuckle.

The man derived some measure of satisfaction from seeing Percival's dirty figure and let out a dry chuckle. With the utmost confidence, he lowered his spearhead, and his eyes left Percival.

This action made Percival want to growl in anger, but the man had already resumed staring at bigger prey.

Novus’ heated gaze burned away any pressure coming from the hazel eyes. In particular, a killing intent briefly flared that seemed foreign and odd to Percival. By this point, Percival had experienced Novus’ killing intent, and something about it seemed off. Typically, the mist crimson aura would briefly flare alongside Novus, but this time, nothing appeared.

Percival looked back to see an odd grin break through the lifeless demeanour of the hazel-eyed man. It was almost like he was happy to see them.

Cain.

The bright red name floating above Cain’s head gave away the killing nature of his rise. When the same player killed enough players, their name would gradually turn red above their heads instead of the usual, reserved green. The only way to get rid of it was the passing of time, defeating wild monsters or some unique items.

“Grahhh!”

A burst of rubble sent rocks flying as a prominent figure emerged and broke the tension.

“Fools! Tham the strongest goblin leader!”

The rubble was no match for the swamp-coloured biceps that broke through them. An equally muscular shout shook the remaining players already trying to steady themselves from the abrupt blast.

Meanwhile, Percival locked eyes with Tham. To Percival, Tham’s eyes only held the conviction of a bravado-filled ego. But, he could already tell it would be a long battle with the amount of muscle Tham's body possessed. Tham seemed half-bodybuilder goblin, half-ogre as his tall figure flexed to fight through the rubble.

"GRAHH!"

That’s who Garbal said we had to kill?

Percival's previous confidence was beginning to flee, but that was more so because of a debuff that passed through the room.

 

 

Despite the growling conviction that Tham shouted with, two people remained unaffected as they continued staring at each other. With their stare, the two conveyed sentences to each other in seconds. Soon, Cain was moving his finger in a player-like fashion, and soon after, Novus followed suit.

Gak!

Out of nowhere, Cain released a ruthless kick that sent Percival tumbling towards Novus. Evidently, in terms of pure bodily stats, Cain's stats were much higher than Percival's. Percival coughed and hurried to his feet just in time to see Cain’s odd grin recede like the tide and his foreign words cut through the air.

“Show me what you can do, sunshine.”

 

---

 

Cain’s light feet twisted his momentum as he used some form of dashing skill to evade an oversized staff smashing toward him.

Thud!

The strike was reminiscent of the Slime Colossus’ slamming attacks, but concentrated to a single point and with an intelligent placement. Yet, despite the pressure Cain no doubt faced going head-to-head with Tham, he still had room to give brief orders.

“MDDs fall back! MTs taunt! Healers, get going!”

The flow catered to the players as Cain’s orders eventually put a few wounds across Tham’s body. But soon, those wounds began to regenerate at an irregular speed, even as Tham was getting pushed back.

Likely, the players could have pushed the advantage and severely damaged Tham. However, for some odd reason, the players seemed unnerved. Their blows were hesitant, like their weapons shouldn't be attacking Tham. Even Cain had the slightest fear creep across his face as he looked at the oddly calm Novus.

Like the well-trained legions of the various beast settlements. If they acquire an excellent war array, it’ll prove difficult to fight against them.

Novus saw thirty fluctuating health bars from the party screen, with only Cain, Adrianne, and himself having a mana bar attached to it. At this point, the damage dealers were striking with basic weapons, the tanks were banging their shields to make distracting noises, and the healers were just dragging people away before stuffing herbs and liquids in their mouths. Despite this, the group worked in a well-trained unison with each other. The only unfortunate part Novus found was that no other players held any mana-related skills.

Or maybe, my entrance killed the ones who did.

Novus noticed another detail as he inspected a debuff inflicted against all of Cain’s party. A debuff that reminded Novus of the true enemy that was likely behind Tham.

 

 

“Mercury’s power, no doubt.”

The debuff kept refreshing between 15 minutes and 14 minutes & 59 seconds. Without eliminating the source, or getting a countering buff as Garbal had cast on Novus' party, the debuff would likely last semi-permanently as long as one remained trapped in the invisible black fog.

“Guys! I’m alright.”

A roughly-hewn Percival climbed up to where Novus and Adrianne were analyzing the battle. Percival’s face was reddened, but it was hard to tell if it was from exertion or shame. Surprisingly, it was Novus who tossed a glistening green herb to Percival.

“Heal up.”

Percival's face quickly returned to normal after eating the green herb, and Adrianne brought him back to the present moment.

“The black fog is coming from Tham’s staff. His status window has a lot of question marks, but at least it shows the 63% health marker. He seems like a physical brawler, but I don’t doubt a BOSS monster would have some extra skills hidden away. That annoying shout being one of them.”

“THAM THE STRONGEST!”

The shout explosively rocked the group's ears, and they were already a distance away from the ensuing battle. They could only imagine the power that shout held at a close range.

Novus nodded his head as he continued Adrianne’s summary.

“Be wary of the staff. Garbal's light symbols are strong, but not that strong. Adrianne, we fight in pincers like with Stash. If he starts chanting, we withdraw. Percival, you cover Adrianne in the melee. Make sure nothing happens with our new friends.”

Adrianne and Percival both nodded.

“Got it.”

“Sounds good.”

From there, the two entered the battle under the loose commands of Cain. But, secretly, Novus ensured to adjust their positioning with his sight atop the rubble.

At first, Adrianne looked sporadic while fighting in such a large group, but she rapidly became familiar enough to fall into line as her versatility began to shine. Surprisingly, Percival grew accustomed to the group battle faster than Adrianne. Likely, he was already used to fighting in a group. He had no problems following both Cain and Novus’ orders as he trailed behind Adrianne, ensuring any players that got too close were subtly moved away. Soon, the party entered into a battle rhythm that slowly whittled away at Tham's health.