“There’s quite a few here, everyone. But this is not too hard. Remember the plan. 2v1s. Do not go for the kill unless you’re fully confident that you can take them head-on,” Ezekiel barked confidently. “Anna, please take care of the oakwalker on the left; use your spear to keep your distance. Jason, you help her.”

Anna kept her silence and ran to the enemy on the left side of the field. Her opening move was a powerful one-handed thrust. However, her precision was a bit lacking. The spear’s tip hit the monster’s side instead.

“Micah, to the right. You’re going to be dealing with two, so don’t be too greedy. Do not engage the two of them at once. You already got punched in the face twice. Use the tree roots to your advantage.”

“Got it, boss!”

Ezekiel drew his bow as Micah ran to buy them some time. There were two enemies that he did not mention to both Anna and Micah. Two shots. He let his arrows loose. Sadly, both arrows were accurate enough to punch a hole through their heart and kill them instantly. Ezekiel gave himself a fist pump and screamed. Jason smiled at his little victory, but that’s all about it. Ezekiel admitted to them that he didn’t want to risk shooting while his allies were near the oakwalkers. So now, it is Jason’s turn to be useful.

A week has passed ever since Jeremiah took the reins over the rest of the players. Once the Berry Unit, the foragers, discovered that some plants and mushrooms in the room were edible, they urged the coalition to move their base of operations into the first room. At the moment, the Hammer Unit led by Bob, is making an outpost for everyone to see; he thought of scraping the luminous moss from the surrounding trees and using them in order to make their new base more visible. The Sword Unit serves as the guards, most of them are training to pass the time. The ones that are injured are tended by the Bandage Unit, Micah knows this too well. The Spyglass Unit was given the task of hugging the walls and trying to find the door leading to the second room. Finally, to ensure that everyone in this tiny operation is safe from threats from afar…

“Head’s up, Miss Anna.”

Jason kicked the ground to gain more speed, keeping himself low as he swam through the roots of the luminous mangrove trees. Anna heard him. She clicked her tongue. She dodged and traded back a few blows with the oakwalker. She created a small opening. Jason acted accordingly. He threw a pebble to further disorient the poor creature. Once its back was slightly exposed, Jason emerged from the monster’s shadow and drove his dagger into its heart.

Jason is now with the Spear Unit.

“I had that,” Anna grinned selfishly. She turned and threw her spear into one of the monsters being held by Micah.

She missed. But Ezekiel immediately screamed that it was a good try. Ezekiel was right. The spear landed near the monsters, disorienting them. Micah saw the change and immediately used his huge body and overwhelming power to wedge his axe into one of the monster’s torso. The kill itself was a cause for celebration, but not yet. Another monster is still alive.

Right when it was about to land a critical hit on Micah, Jason intercepted the blow and used both his arms as a shield. He took damage. However, the blow did not get as enough momentum as it was supposed to. It was minimal at best. Jason smiled.

Jason slammed into Micah and both were sent to the ground. The monster stepped forward, about to finish the job, but an arrow landed in its shoulder. It froze and got confused about who to follow. By then, Anna had come to the rescue and kicked the monster back. Having enough distance between the monster and his teammates, Ezekiel’s confidence in his accuracy returned, allowing him to shoot the oakwalker in the chest and kill it immediately.

With a bit of peace and silence amongst the luminous trees, Jason helped himself and Micah to his feet. Jason’s arms were fine. Moving it was no problem, except for the bit of pain that stabbed his forearm whenever he twisted it too far. Other than that, nothing seems to be broken, nothing a little rest can fix. His confidence in being able to firmly grasp his dagger and be accurate with it was gone, however.

“Sorry about that,” Jason glanced at Micah and to the floor. “I thought I could take him and messed up. Did you get hurt?”

“Nope. Not at all,” Micah replied along with an awkward laugh. “Thanks. But try not to hit me next time, though!”

Jason was about to return his episode of laughter when Anna punched him in the arm. Then, she laughed herself. Ezekiel followed too, maybe out of pure jealousy.  Jason got confused about what was happening. At least, that relieved smile of hers was enough to make him believe that he did a good job.

“So,” Ezekiel started, “how many does that make for today?”

“Eleven,” Jason replied, scratching the back of his head as he sat down to eat his rations. “Really low compared to our count the past few days. I think we’re also in the middle of this particular room. I’m hoping that we’ve cleared everything.”

“As long as this room is safe and close to us, I don’t particularly mind,” Anna commented with a level of coolness behind her tone. She brandished her spear and let its butt hit her at the top of the head. Everyone pretended to not see it. “I also n-need a ton of practice. So having more monsters to fight in this area is good.”

“Still in the lead, baby.” Ezekiel tried to high-five Micah. He succeeded and boo-yah’d himself. “Micah has three. Anna has two.”

“I could have caught up to Micah if Jason didn’t kill-steal me.”

“I have five. You guys are still fine.” Ezekiel glanced at Jason’s arm and there came a flash of worry that was immediately replaced by his general enthusiasm. “I think we can take a break for today. I heard what Jason was trying to say. If there’s a mini-boss around, I wouldn’t want to face him tired. My arms are precious right now.”

“I see. I would like to look around if I can find a bunch of food lying around. I may as well help the base,” Anna said. “Would you guys care to take a break? I’ll just take a few minutes.”

Ezekiel smiled. “I’ll help too.”

Anna tucked a bit of her hair behind her ear, smiling back. “I thought your arms are precious right now?”

Anna and Ezekiel continued their conversation into the tree line. Jason followed Micah to a nearby tree to rest. He finally got to let his arms down and breathe. A part of him was glad that he did not have to be a wing-man anymore. His new task, however, was a giant in of itself.

Micah was near him, whistling as he wiped the pollen off the blade of his axe. Jason, on the other hand, had to resort to struggling to pick up some pebbles so that he would have a reason not to talk to him.

To be honest, Jason had nothing much to say about his teammates. Jason believed that it would just be him and Ezekiel when everyone else was divided into their respective units. He gagged. He almost thought about inviting Arthur to join them. But going back, It was a surprise that two people volunteered to join the Spear Unit.

Micah is a tall dude with very thick arms and a soft belly. He said that he was a butcher’s son and one day would take the family business. He said that he would take their family business into a theme park. Jason did not question his dream. The man does not have good stamina. Their first day was a challenge, but now, he’s much smarter in using his power in combat.

Anna is as tall as Ezekiel. Both are a bit shorter than Jason. Anna carried a confident big-sister vibe. She had long bobbed hair that touched her shoulders, which made her more authoritative at times. She tied her hair before fighting, but that changed when her scrunchie was snagged by an oakwalker; Ezekiel had to grovel for her not to cut it. She’s fighting to keep her sister safe who’s back at the base, helping Alexander set up a clinic.

And then, there’s Jason. He had no particular skill to boast of. Over the course of the week, Ezekiel learned how to properly shoot a bow with Tanya’s help. Back then, Jason had a bit of a laugh when Ezekiel admitted that he was shooting his arrows with both eyes open. Jason called him a dumbass. But now, he can one-shot an oakwalker. Jason was happy that he didn’t gloat too much about it, especially when Anna is around.

“So uh… I never really got to thank you. Well, sincerely,” Micah started. “I really should have joined the other two now that I got this far. Like, what are we even supposed to talk about?”

“Love life?” Jason answered immediately without looking at Micah. “I don’t know man. We never really talked outside of Ezekiel’s shotcalls.”

“I agree. With the Ezekiel thing, not with the love life thing. I’m very surprised that Ezekiel is keeping us, keeping things together. The guy looked so happy that it was weird. It’s rubbing onto me. We’re supposed to be in a death game. I’m glad that I can finally be useful, useful to everyone… but it just feels weird to feel that…”

“You’re having fun?”

Micah leaned, giving Jason an honest smile. “I can’t explain it.”

“Same.” Jason looked at his battered arms. His hands were getting thick, too. He smiled to himself. “I suck with words. But if there is one thing that I’m sure of with whatever is happening, I like the silence it gives me. I like the idea of focusing on not dying for once. It’s refreshing.”

It’s the same. Jason believes that he’s still alone. However, being in a room filled with glow-in-the-dark trees and monsters that can kill them with a well-placed punch comforted him. But Jason guessed that it would not be for long. 

Micah jumped on his feet. Footsteps. There was someone in the trees. It was not Ezekiel or Anna. There weren’t any other voices around. Jason whistled loud and clear. Ezekiel whistled back, but it seemed far. It may take them a while before they get here.

Jason materialized his dagger and immediately placed himself between Micah and the new enemy. It was similar to an oakwalker, but taller and with bigger physicality. For a moment, Jason thought that it was looking at them. For a moment, he could see a small aura surrounding its body. 

He was not entirely sure. Jason believed that this game was intelligently designed. So, as they cleared this big room, it was inevitable that they would encounter someone like this: a mini-boss.

“Equip, dual-wield. Left hand, dagger. Right hand, mace,” Jason commanded, brandishing his weapons. He grinned nervously. “Ready your axe, Micah. I’ll give you a pretty good shot.”