He had found his path.

The words rung in his ears in a strange sort of way. It almost felt like some accomplishment like acing all of his quizzes and tests in a semester. It was strange to think about it completely, but really, the statement was true. After a year of searching ‘The World’, he had found his path, one that was long and twisted and then went into a straight road. He wasn’t sure if the straight one was going to be a rough path or a smooth path, but it really didn’t matter. All the curves annoyed him and he was quite a happy camper now that he had finally settled into life in ‘The World’. Despite the distractions of school and social life, he could focus a bit more on making a few new friends in ‘The World’. As of late, it had been strange not to be in the Eventide Crescendo and not to be a part of the hectic AoD life, but…he had chosen the path.

He hadn’t really done much for either and had decided to join the Swordbreakers. He knew a few people from it, including Savior, who he had met in the streets of Mac Anu, Centrus, an opponent in duels, and also Kiwi, someone who had recently traded with. He didn’t know the guy that much, but he was the leader of them and also quite a famous dueling champion, who was currently in the root town clash facing off against Hacorie, who he had recently lost to. It was strange to think that he was already so much higher in level… His long and twisted path was full of confusion, conflicts, maybe a bit of love, and so many new friendships that changed his personality forever. Shenmock, his character in ‘The World’, was going on an adventure that he would follow until the end. He liked the regular path; he liked things that were smooth and simple.

Now he was part of a type of mercenary kind of place, with Kai, Zen, and Sen. They were all dependable party members and he enjoyed being with them, though Sen could be a bit of a pain at times when she teased with him. He could only think about what he would be assigned tonight when he logged into ‘The World’. He had planned to log in right after dinner, but after dinner, he had decided to just lounge about and do nothing for an hour or so. The boy watched the tan carpet floor and then at the usual gray ceiling. Then he looked to his desk, to his closet, to his dresser, to a few other things in his room: they were all that same texture, that same smooth surface that he wanted to walk on forever. That simplistic path.

Yet things were hardly simplistic when it came to missions. He’d get in some uniform and go around doing people’s work for them. Sure, they were experts at doing it and never failed at the mission, but really, it was so enjoyable to finish a mission and then lounge around the hideout talking to each other. Now that he thought about it, it sounded like a lot of fun, but when he got in there, he was always nervous about things or doing something wrong when the time came by. He might’ve liked the people there, he might’ve liked the smooth path he was about to follow, but something was immediately apparent: it might’ve been smooth, but it’d still be a little roller coaster there. He knew there were more things to it than just mission upon mission upon mission. They had a job there, a job to try and eliminate most of the hackers or get them out of the habit of it. Whenever a hack was tracked, their client Vann would drop a note for them to handle it. It really depended on how the mission went. They could either reveal themselves and overpower them in battle or rather just sneak up behind them and slit their throat (along with a few other stabs, of course). It all really depended and he was starting to get a little chilled at the thought of going on the harder missions. Fun stuff couldn’t last forever, could it? He didn’t think so, and today he got that strange feeling that they were going to be doing something harder and something that would prove his training. He had learned a lot, but now he’d just have to improve on that stuff… Sure, there was more stuff to learn, but he had learn the basics and they’d leave it at that for a while, right?

The boy leaned against the wall and watched the storm clouds that hovered in the distance, threatening to bring peril down into their midst with rain and lightning, maybe even a fire or two. That wasn’t good. His fingers curled around his kneecaps and pinched into it, making him wince for a moment. He just had to pinch himself to stay awake these days… He banged his head against the wall lightly, groaned, and let his feet slide down to the tan carpet. He stood up shakily and stretched, yawning. It was about time he logged in and for all he knew, he could have someone waiting for him. It didn’t matter really, just as long as it wasn’t some torture mission full of tangling upside down and being whacked on the head. That was more annoying than torture, but there wasn’t really a difference in his book.

James hit the seat lazily and looked up, a grin starting to form on his lips. Of course, for all he knew, he could be going on a long trek through a forest full of monsters with someone else, like Ken and Ren or Kei, maybe even one of his old party members that he used to hang out with. He yawned and patted his knees, stretching his arms before he snatched the goggles up from the wooden desk. He pulled them on until they fit snug on his head and let his fingers dance across the screen. He clicked the tab button once, typed in his easy-to-remember password, and clicked the enter key. Then, he let his fingers curl around the controller once again and then, logged into ‘The World’ once again for an exciting or dull experience once again.

The same rings in the same place at approximately the same exact minute came down once again in ‘The World’, revealing a boy downed in a black cloak and a neat blue jacket that seemed a size too big. The boy fidgeted under his cloak and pulled his pants up a bit, just to surprise a few people with his random acts. Then, he headed forward in the direction of the bridge, moving past the numerous players and coming in the direction of the infamous river that ran through Mac Anu, making it seem like some kind of European paradise to most of the players around him.

It was surprisingly quiet in the city. A crow cawed and dove off the building, spreading its asphalt colored wings and gliding over the numerous players and ascending up in the direction of the other buildings. The boy let out a breath of air and took his perch on the end of the bridge, watching the water with a close eye. No one talked to him, but rather looked at him as if he was trying to show off his level to the world. It wasn’t like he was too high or anything, but why would someone as high as him be hanging out with lowly new players who were taking their first steps? He was the type of person who enjoyed Mac Anu and didn’t want to go explore the other cities. The Theta server was pretty interesting, but he had never really bothered to look at. The Lambda server, for one thing, wasn’t really available to him and he didn’t plan to go there, due that anything there was three levels higher than him. He, as macho looking as he was, couldn’t handle that. He relaxed a bit and let his cloak flow past him, revealing his slender legs and slightly burly arms to the crowd before the wind ceased and the cloak came back behind him, making his features invisible to any people who passed.

He twiddled his thumbs for a second, looking down at his reflection in the water. His blue hair, his emerald eyes, and his black cloak added up to a popular kind of design he had seen other players use, but not quite in his kind of fashion. He had changed so much in the past year, from Wavemaster to Long Arm to Fist Fighter…he had even planned to be an Archer at one point, but nicked the idea at the last second. He cracked his knuckles and yawned, only getting a few more wandering eyes. He kind of liked the idea of people staring at him and how he was trying to act so strong. The real thing was, he didn’t care what his level was, just as long as he didn’t get looked down on as a stupid new player who was still in his elementary years. Great, that was just what everybody wanted; to look like an eight year old.

There was a ping! and a long, heavy sigh from Shenmock as he picked the digital envelope from his head and looked at the user who had sent it: Kai. It seemed the eagle was calling him out to either a mission or a simple dungeon adventure. Not to his surprise, it was for a mission, one that he said was urgent and that they needed to get to pretty quickly. Another small little player to deal with who was causing trouble with the knights and the like, but also had valuable information that they needed urgently for something else. He was in a dungeon, so they’d get to fight a few monsters while they were at it. Perfect, great, dull, lame, and just plain fun! Not really, though.

So, as he saw it, they were to grab the guy, bring him back so they could interrogate him to stuff, and then turn them into the knights or CCCorporation, though likely it would be the knights. They could handle something as small as a lowly player, right? If they couldn’t, he’d really start to disrespect them, unless this guy was a living devil who terrorized people for their money and items. The boy slid off the railing and moved off in the direction of the alleys. He knew he said to be there quick, but really, he could make up for it by sprinting in the alleys. He gave a sharp right into a narrow one and then started to jog, giving a quick glance back to see no one following him. It was just an automatic thing that everyone did. No one ever wanted to be followed in a place where that person wasn’t needed.

It was a few more curves before he arrived at the door, his fingers coming around the knob and pulling it to the right. He pushed it open and closed it behind him. He heard a few murmurs from Zen’s room and then Kai stepped out, his whole uniform on, looking ready to do some serious mission. ”Come on, get ready,” he snapped, yet he had a smile on his face as if it was no big deal. ”A small meeting with Zen in a few minutes. Come on, move it, move it.” The man pushed him into the room and closed the door quickly behind him. The Fist Fighter hadn’t done anything to move, so he acted on his own. It wasn’t like there was a mission that needed to be done that very second, but the quicker they got the meeting over with, the better they’d have with catching whoever this guy was.

The boy pulled on everything and then slipped on the silver armor, both on his arms and on his chest. He pulled a few bandages around his legs and then stepped out approximately thirty-one seconds after he had walked in. He was a second behind time. Big deal. Kai was waiting outside, chewing on that same piece of wheat and smiling before he got up and opened the door to Zen’s office. The boy walked in first before Kai walked in, closing the door behind him and nodding in the direction of Zen, who was in his desk arranging a few things. He gestured for them to both take a seat. They both did and then he started to speak.

”I’m sure Kai could handle this on his own, but since you got online, we decided to call you. It’s something that he could handle, but the more, the merrier. Anyways, you’ll be heading through a dungeon and trying to capture this guy. He’s been known to take things childishly and usually kills almost six players per day, as we’ve heard. That’s one hundred and eighty players per month, and unless you’ve been sitting under a rock, you’ve obviously been killed by this guy.” He pulled up a picture and showed it to both of them. He had all black on, along with two blades at each side. He had a sadistic smile on his face with blonde hair that was spiky just like his. ”Kai was killed by him a few months ago while going on a quest alone. He tends to just follow people there and takes it like a chore. We think he has someone he’s working for, or better yet, a lot of people. Hackers, likely.” He crossed his arms and set down the picture. ”Now, before you start talking or arguing, I’ll just let you know that if we can get some kind of information out of this guy, we can stop quite a few things in ‘The World’ that are disturbances to CCCorporation. We turn him in after we’re done and then investigate whatever we can get out of him. This case is up for you and Kai to decide and likely, Sen will be the one to snap the information out of his tongue.” He took a breath, a long, deep one. ”Now, this is party of something big, so don’t be childish in this thing. Clear the dungeon and find him. Since you’re traveling with a party of two, it’s not likely he’ll be able to succeed. Stick together, you two, less you’re going to have some rough lectures later.”

Shenmock crossed his arms. So, this was about a band of hackers that they needed to capture, interrogate, invade, and then take out. If they could threaten them with the obvious ‘We’ll turn your names into CCCorporation’, they were bound to stop, no matter what the cost. They weren’t just going to give up fifty hours of game play and more, just so they could satisfy themselves. They were being serious in this and if it called to turn them, they’d do just what they were told to you. Yet, there was something that bothered him. ”Yeah, I think I’ve seen the guy before…I think. I was questing and when I finished, he killed me…yeah, he seemed troublesome, to say the least. Yet…” The boy scratched his head. ”He has such a similar costume to other players I’ve seen that I can’t help but think that there are more people like him who help with it. I highly doubt someone would enjoy killing so many players per month…everybody has a life, you know? Unless he lives under a rock or something…” He shrugged. ”That’s my two cents, though.”

Kai nodded. ”For once, I think he’s right with that much. If he doesn’t kill the same person three times in a row, how do we know if that’s true?” For once, the guy had agreed with his judgment. It was obvious to see that for all they knew, there could be ten people that went out each month and did the same job with him. They were likely all the same, but for ten people to be like that, they were likely in a group that had a certain meeting place. If they could get that. Bam! They could sneak in, infiltrate the area, and hopefully give them a chance to stop instead of instantly…wait, why give them a chance? Was it because of justice, was it because they were nice people, but these people deserved to be deleted. Well, he didn’t care, just as long as they stopped. They weren’t just about to take hundreds of hours away from hackers, yet he still thought they very well deserved it.

”I had still been pondering that for a while, but I’ve decided to investigate on that. We’ll talk later on the mission following this, but for now, go to the keywords listed and take him out. Don’t kill him, just grab him and get out. Do whatever you want to get him here, but don’t kill him, whatever he does to you. Now go!” The words weren’t yelled, but had enough urgency in them to get the two off their feet and going. Kai walked out, grabbing his arm and dragging him out with him. He gave a half-smile to Zen as he left before he kicked the door closed and stumbled after Kai, a newborn frown on his face.

They jogged through the alleys in silence, Shenmock a few feet behind Kai, who was meanwhile slipping on his cloak and letting the hood slide on. The boy did the same and started in a walk as the two came into the usual small crowds of Mac Anu. Kai hardly slowed his pace down, but let it cool down a bit so the Fist Fighter didn’t have to run through the crowds in order to stay close. They were probably gaining suspicion among the crowds, but who cared? Just because people wore cloaks didn’t mean that they were mysterious hackers that were going to try and destroy a few players didn’t mean that they actually were hackers.

Kai walked up the steps slowly and stopped there, watching the Chaos Gate for a moment before he raised his gloved palm in there and muttered a few words under his breath, just so nobody would be following them. Golden rings materialized and descended before fading away and sending their character data off into the highland city of Dun Louriug, the Theta Server and where they’d be starting their mission.

The same thing occurred once again, this time at a slower rate. Shenmock took his surroundings in once, let out a breath of relief, and turned back in the direction of the Chaos Gate, nodding to Kai that he was ready for their next mission. He saw the faintest smile on his face before the man raised his hand and muttered the keywords under his breath. Then, the golden rings surrounded them once again, sending them off to the field.

Golden rings showered down in the middle of a forest, yet in front of the entrance to the dungeon. One carried an axe while the other only carried his fists. Both were looking down at the stairs that led down into the dungeon, covered from top to bottom with moss and vines that were entangled on the sides. Small plants rose from cracks in the middle while roses bloomed on either side of it. The trees that were scattered about the forest loomed above them, casting a long shadow and making their faces a bit dark. Storm clouds could be seen in the distance, a bit faint, but apparent to those who looked closely enough.

Kai grunted and went down the stairs, his steps quick and not a movement wasted. Shenmock sprinted off behind him, leaving the light of the forest behind and being enveloped into a dungeon once again.

He hadn’t seen a dungeon like this before, or so he thought, at least. The first room, obviously enough, was a long hallway, yet the design of it was strange. There were patterns all around the walls, along with moss covering the floors. When he went over to touch the walls, it was smooth, not rocky. It was likely some sort of granite, because by the looks of things, a player couldn’t break it. ”Come on, we didn’t come here for sightseeing. Maybe later, Shen,” Kai called, already yards away from the passageway into the next door. The boy frowned and tilted his head before dashing off, his cloak still tightly wound around him. Kai disappeared into the darkness, Shenmock following closely behind as they came into the first room that held monsters.

The boy equipped his Yamara and looked in the direction of the portal that slowly swung around. It started to shine for a second before unleashing its own set of monsters for the two men to handle. They weren’t too high, around level twenty six or so, so they’d be able to handle them without too much trouble. He stretched and slipped off his cloak so it fell behind him on the ground. Kai did the same, and so the two cloaks vanished behind golden light, unneeded for the time being. The boy crossed his arms and looked to the Dark Rider that had materialized in front of them. The dragon roared at the two of them. He had encountered that kind of bugger while traveling with Zen…huh, and now here he was, facing it again.

Kai, on the other hand, frowned at their look and pulled out another axe, this one looking weaker than the other but this one had a Rai skill on it. He pulled it back and charged at the monster, more like a normal player. This was a simple fight with a monster, nothing more, so he need not be afraid of what would happen. Electricity crackled around the man as he pulled his axe an inch farther back and pulled it up, bashing the dragon on the side and making it roar out in sudden pain as the skill took into action, yet it didn’t deal an elemental critical as he would’ve hoped. The dragon whipped around, its tail coming out and lashing at his feet, only to swing into air as the man jumped and gave a quick laugh as he brought his axe down on its tail.

The rider brought dual swords out and tilted to the right a bit, his swords lashing out at the man and clashing with his own axe. Kai could only grin as he pulled his axe away and danced away, watching the dragon as it snorted out flames at the two of them. He nodded to him. ”I’m sure you’ve fought monsters harder than this before. Come on, show me what a player you are.” Shenmock gave a half-smile in response before sprinting at it, his fist pulled back as he jumped. The dragon let flames crackle out of his mouths, but not for long, as the boy shot forward, his fist glowing as he activated the ‘Blizzard Strike’ skill. Ice formed over his hand for a second as he pulled it forward in between the dragon’s eyes. The ice cracked and shattered as it connected with the head and sent the dragon into a screeching rage. The boy hit the ground and looked up at it, only to find its rider in front of him, his blades lashing out. Without thinking, he brought his fists up in defense and shoved the swords away from him. He glared at the monster before launching himself up at it, his foot coming out and knocking it back a bit. Of course, it still was on the dragon, but otherwise, the rider was forced to bend his back in a strange position.

He hit the ground and looked up at the rider that was meanwhile recovering from the attack Shenmock had just dealt. He inched back a bit, just out of range from the fire that was being snorted out of the dragon’s nostrils before sprinting- He couldn’t finish that sentence, though, as Kai was already moving in, jumping on its back and bringing his axe around to decapitate the rider. He swung his axe and with a blood-curdling screech, the rider faded, along with the dragon, leaving Kai to fall to the ground. He hefted his axe on his shoulder and looked to the Fist Fighter, giving off a wide grin. ”You did well, but I guess I got a bit carried away with myself back there. No time to talk, though, let’s get going before he manages to escape this dungeon.” He turned to face the three passageways that were now opening before them.

”Right,” Shenmock muttered as the man turned once again in the direction that he was looking to. Kai nodded and jogged to the right, disappearing in the passageway without another word. Well, it always did have the right direction in it. The boy jogged behind him and disappeared into the darkness of the passageway, gone from the first room and on to the second room.

He stopped at the front of the room. It was a long hallway, dividing into two directions at the very end and leading to two distinct passageways. The only thing standing in their way was a golden portal, swinging around slowly in front of them. Kai dragged his axe along the rough dirt below him, coming forward slowly and without fidgeting at all. The boy followed close behind, the Yawara out and ready as they inched closer and closer to the portal that was starting to let off a radiant glow that lit up the dark room. Kai stretched his left hand out, turned it lazily around, and moved forward, his armor glistening as the light reflected off of it. He, on the other hand, didn’t have quite a clear surface…

The portal faded and let two monsters materialize in front of them: Metal Goblins. The monsters were more just regular goblins with armor on. They still held the same rusty sword and rusty shield and still had that crooked, evil smile on their faces, but it didn’t make a difference. They were the basic monsters of this game that came up so many times; they might’ve been stronger, but they were still just as stupid. One of them held a gloved finger and pointed at Kai, while the other directed his own at him. Then, they dropped the finger and drew their swords, letting out a giddy roar of laughter that made Shenmock twitch with anticipation for the fight. He rolled his shoulders, cracked his knuckles, and walked at the monsters that were coming forward at the two. ”Excited?” Kai asked, letting his axe slide down from his shoulder until it hit the ground. He then dragged it around him, pulled it up, and swung at the oncoming goblin, bashing it in the chest and sending it rolling back into the rough wall. He smiled with exhilaration at the sight of the goblin groaning and getting up, a dent in its armor.

He shrugged as the goblin came forward, stabbing at his chest; it was too small to go for his neck anyways. The boy dropped into a crouch and grabbed the sword that was coming. His fingers pressed against the smooth, steel surface and then let go as he kneed the goblin in the chest and pulled his foot around, kicking it straight in the chest and sending it staggering back. ”I guess,” he said, stretching his arms lazily and listening to the following cracks. He let out a breath of air and watched as the goblin came at him again. ”OrMeAni Kruz,” he muttered, raising his palm and watching darkness emit out of it. A dark aura surrounded him, making his skin stand on edge and his eyes gleam at the sight of bats materializing forth from the walls. He let his palm fall as the bats came forward, screeching and converging on the goblin, making it roar out in pain and fall to the ground at his feet.

The goblin was quick to get up, but not quick enough to dodge his next attack. The boy pulled his foot up in a maneuver that would leave himself open if he had charged at the goblin. His foot connected with the monster’s chin and a second later, he pulled his fist back and let it ram into its armor, sending it back once again with his mighty punch. ”Amateur,” he said with a chuckle. He turned to Kai, who was meanwhile pulling his axe up and bringing it down in the direction of the monster’s head. It connected and came through, splitting the monster in half and making it dematerialize, leaving the two with nothing but another empty room. The fight had been quick and easy, mainly because the monsters hadn’t held a lot of hit point reserves, only three hundred or so.

The eeriness in the room was a tad creepy to him. The boy looked up at the ceiling and the multiple cracks above. Miniature rocks came down, bouncing off the floor and coming into another crack. Kai moved off to the left and stepped over a skeleton that was in the middle of the road, tattered flesh still sticking to the edges of the bones. It was still scary like the others, with the cobwebs, rats, spiders, and most especially, the darkness that enveloped them. A drop of water started to drip from a crack. Drip-drop. Drip-drop. It was the only thing he could hear for a moment until they came through the passageway and into the next room.

There the two faced a long passageway, yet this one didn’t have a portal. Instead, it led all the way to something that he would’ve liked to call ‘stairs’. They were those little things that you stepped on as you came down instead of sliding down some smooth surface and managing to kill yourself in the process. Sure, that’s what cars traveled on, but… Some players would cheer, like him, and run around in circles for a moment, but for him and Kai, they were silent, watching the stairs with a close eye before coming forward. Why weren’t they excited? They had progressed one floor in such a short amount of time and yet all they did is put on those straight expressions and come forward. It was like saying that they had no feelings, no mind, no personality, nothing familiar for people to recognize about you. Yes, that was the way they were supposed to be in missions: nobodies.

It was hard to think that they couldn’t reveal anything. Everyone had something that they could turn against each other, because everybody had a weakness and if you didn’t show that weakness, you rarely lost in a fight, whatever the circumstances unless they were just plain obvious. He always revealed himself as some guy who didn’t respect life and then now he, more or less, spent it to the fullest extent. ‘The World’ was a life changing experience, for sure, but he really didn’t like concealing his emotions and everything about him. The boy looked down as they came down the stairs and arrived in the first room. It looked to be less of a trek for them to walk than before, but other than that, it seemed completely the same, only a bit darker. They had gone down quite a ways and were now pretty far underground.

”I’m sure you might know this already,” Kai started, looking to him and hefting his axe. ”He’ll likely be around here somewhere, either on the second floor or the third floor, yet I doubt he’ll go to the third floor or the first. It would be too obvious in the first and in the third…well, most players don’t get to the third floor. More or less, we’ll be searching the area rather than trying to find the way down.” He slipped on his eagle mask and disappeared into the passageway. Shenmock followed, only to find an L shaped hallway. They were at the top. ”Be ready for anything. If there’s a tough monster, we’ll have to heal quick afterwards or else doom will fall upon us, or at least you. I don’t want to be using precious items to revive you.” He ran a hand through his hair. Shenmock only smiled at how easy-going he was in such a dire time.

”I’ve got it, Kai,” Shenmock responded, smiling in response before he faced the portal, his own mask (which he was still confused as to what the face was) on. Kai let his hand drop to his side and moved forward on light feet, coming in the direction of the portal and letting it slide off his shoulder like before. He didn’t look quite as well protected in this situation, but still, these were mere monster fights, nothing big. Shenmock was close behind as it was activated, releasing a single Mantis. This one wasn’t quite strong, but it was sure huge compared to the two. It was a giant monster with razor sharp teeth and a snakeskin. It eyed the two of them with gleaming eyes that said ‘I’m hungry, let me eat you too for a midnight snack!’, but they weren’t about to be eaten by something like that. Small, slithery hands came out with long, white thorns sticking out to the side. It let out a screech of delight and came forward at the two of them, swinging at both.

Both of them jumped to the side, watching as the thorn (I don’t know the name for it…) dug into the ground where the two had just stood. Just for the heck of it, Shenmock did half a cartwheel and launched himself off, making an elegant landing on the ground. It turned to face him instead of Kai and let its tongue slip out between its teeth. It came forward, its thorn-like hands coming out and swinging at him. He pulled his fist up and knocked one aside. He held his foot up to defend against the other one, but couldn’t swing it in time. The thorn gouged into his foot, making him flinch for a second at the sight of blood flowing out of his foot. It pulled it out, roared, and pulled its thorn back again just as Shenmock scrambled away from the monster’s range. He hit the ground and turned, muttering a ‘Repth’ and rubbing at the blood flowing out. It was sewn up in an instant and all the blood started to flow back into the wound. There was a bit of a red spot left in its midst, but other than that, it was completely healed from anything that would effect his fighting.

So there he was again, hitting the ground and looking up at the ongoing fight while his friend fought off the monster with just an axe and a bit of practice. Well, technically a whole freaking lot of practice, but still, practice was practice and exaggerations were exaggerations. The boy pushed himself off the ground and watched in sudden amazement as his eagle-masked friend pulled the axe around in a clear spin, hitting away both of the hands and coming up to let his axe meet its chest in one heart-stopping riiiiip! The man sprinted to the side as the hands came down, attempting to stab him before he got out. He slid to a halt, turned, and prepared his axe as the mantis turned and slithered over to where he was. It hissed as he brought his axe up and knocked its thorn-like hand away like it was a mere fly distracting him from some chores he had been ordered to do.

Yet Shenmock wasn’t that much of an idiot just to sit there and watch the show go on. Instead, he picked himself off the ground and charged at the monster’s exposed back. He pulled his fist back, squinted at the back of the mantis, and jumped, his fist coming forward. Most would’ve used some sort of skill to finish the thing off, but instead, he was doing it the hard way. The hard way would get him better, right? …Or was that just some cheesy quote from a big-time scientist? His fist came into its slimy skin, the thorns from the weapon sinking in before he was forced to push back off the monster and land on the ground. It whirled around and hissed at him, its thorn-like hands already on the move down to where his head was just seconds before. He was already dancing out of the way, his artificial brown hair whirling around as he did so. He pulled a hand up in defense as it came forward, but only listened to the slicing of flesh as Kai took his time in taking out the monster from its back with a few hard-earned swings from his axe.

Kai yawned lazily, making him twitch a bit more. It was evident that he was showing off how “powerful” he was to the world and he was the first to see him like that. He could imagine what Sen would do if she saw that: she’d smack him across the face. Zen, on the other hand, might laugh or something, but Sen didn’t exactly tolerate that stuff. At least he thought so. On the other hand, they were close enough… He shook his head slowly and joined Kai, moving forward without another thought about things.

Just a bit longer…

Big surprise.

That was the only thought that lingered through his mind as the two men walked through the dark passageway and came into a square room that was about forty feet in width and forty feet in length, a perfect square, yet not exactly the most perfect room. Dried blood dripped from the side of the room, giving off that small touch to make the room feel insanely creepy. It might not have been a haunted house, but sometimes, it sure felt like one, without Count Dracula stalking you at every turn they made. Shenmock looked up at the portal before them and how Kai was slowly walking up to it. It let out a strange noise and then dematerialized, placing a single monster in their midst: an Ogre. A freaking Ogre.

This thing had twice the amount of hit points that the Dark Rider had and it looked to be almost more powerful. If two had come out, he didn’t think they would’ve gotten past them, but that was just him. He crossed his arms, looking the monster over. Rags for clothes, yellow teeth with dozens of cavities, probably some kind of smell to him…yuck. The monster raised its arms, showing off hairy armpits, and then charged at Kai, who was meanwhile sprinting at it, his axe dragging against the dirt a second before it was lifted to connect with the monster’s bulky leg. The monster roared out in pain, his arms waving and his other foot managing to smack the guy right in the chin, sending him off in the direction of the wall. That thing looked to have multiple weak points, but the problem was, its power more than made up for it. He almost gulped as it turned its hairy body to him, but could only show bravery in his pose. Kai wouldn’t be all too proud of him if he did the right thing any player would do: run away.

The boy sprinted a bit to the side before coming forward at him, jumping to the side every now and then while coming at it just so he could throw it off guard. He raised his fist and let it connect with the monster’s chest. For a second, there was nothing, and then another the monster raised its fist and rained its fury upon him. He was knocked in the head and instantly sent to the ground, his body down in the dirt. He rolled away from one strike from the foot and raised a hand to guard against the neck when Kai came and tackled it from the side, his axe digging into its ribs. The monster let out another roar of disapproval for what just happened and struggled to knock him off, yet the man didn’t seem set on just falling off. He wrenched his axe out and swung at the monster that was trying to get up, letting his axe sink into its spinal cord. The monster’s head shot up and another roar escaped through its yellow teeth.

It whirled around, throwing a punch at him, only for that to get blocked by Shenmock’s upraised hands. The monster roared and threw out his other hand at him, only for that to get dodged. He shoved the hand to the side and came forward, kneeing him in the chest before crouching, spinning, and propelling him off the ground, his fist raised. It was a kind of slow motion scene that he enjoyed every second of; the expression, the move, and most especially the punch to the cheek that he dealt. The Ogre was thrown back to the ground, where it lay for a second, and then got up. It was still not beaten and despite those attacks, they hadn’t done a whole lot of damage to it.

”Ebbing Tides,” he muttered, already on the move while meanwhile, his fist was glowing sky blue. He jumped and pulled it forward, only to connect with the monsters own fist. Hoarfrost came up the monster’s arm and started to melt, making the monster’s arm look painfully cold and dead. The boy pulled back his other fist, only to get knocked away from the monster’s foot that came up to connect with his chest. He staggered back and fell to the ground, his brown hair hitting the ground as he looked straight up at the ceiling. Another roar from the monster and a yell from Kai, indicating another hit, this time from a skill that sounded like crackling fire. It was obviously Vak…

The boy pushed himself off the ground and stared at the flames that engulfed the axe that was already tearing into Ogre flesh. The monster tried to hit the man multiple times, only to be hit with the axe once again or let it swing into humid air. Kai jumped to the side, whirled around, and swung his axe, literally slicing off its hand with a riiiiiip that sent chills down his spine. The Heavy Axe turned and pulled his axe up, defending against the monster’s right hand. The boy took this as the time to charge in; it was defenseless. If they got it on the ground, they could easily defeat it, and even now, it was hard to hit someone. He twirled his nunchuks around (even though they were slightly weak at his level) and jumped, his character already going in the three sixty motion. He twirled them between his pointer finger and middle finger, held them straight, and brought them down on the monster’s two shoulders. Two whacks resounded about the area and then a grunt from the monster as he kneed it in the chest. The monster hit the ground, groaning as it did so.

Two gruff hands found his shoulders as the monster faded and the rocks opened. Kai patted him with both, laughed, and moved on straight in the direction of another passageway. Shenmock stumbled behind and came into the passageway right behind Kai, only to be shoved out of the way by his gruff hands an instant later. He had learned not to yelp, and he did, only to fall into a pile of bones and tattered flesh. Ew, disgusting. He heard a voice from afar, one that he slightly recognized, yet it really wasn’t the same as the one he heard months before. He was so tempted to go up, but he didn’t. Kai had one hand on his hip, the other behind his back motioning for him to stop. He heard giddy laughter from the other side of the room.

”-come and get me alone? Wow, what an honor to be…hunted?” Laughter echoed across the halls and light footsteps could be heard from where he was. ”Come now, you’re not idiotic enough to do that. Even if I confront my prey without hiding, I still come out winning.” There was confidence in his voice, confidence that neither enjoyed listening to. He laughed again and unsheathed his blades, twirling them lazily with his two pointer fingers. ”Well, if you say so, man. You come alone, you die alone. That’s that.” There was more of that laughter as the man came forward, his blades stopped and his face a mask of pure joy to what was happening. It was a total mismatch. Kai was the slowest class while he was with the fastest class. He could only wonder what would happen next…he was sure Kai would give it his all, but the only thing that was a problem about this was that he couldn’t see from where he was.

Steel and steel clashed and more laughter came from the man. A slice echoed around the room and another clash of weapons. More laughter, and a grunt came from Kai. A minute passed with what seemed like the same pattern…slice, laughter, and a clash, followed by the usual grunt from Kai as he did his best to absorb the attacks. Sure he was a Fist Fighter and he was one of the fast classes, but this guy was trained for these things, trained for killing quickly and using any attack to his or her advantage. A roar of laughter and then there was nothing. The boy took this time to crawl out of his place and look over at the exposed back of the man. He was shorter than Kai, sure, but his blades were just as sharp as his axe. He was shaking with laughter. The man wore a trench coat along with heavy-looking boots and black gloves. He could only see the blonde hair behind him; so it was the guy who had killed him, after all.

”Ha, ha, haha, ha! You really thought you could actually catch me like that? Huh, huh, huh?” He swallowed and pressed the blades harder against the turtleneck, making the man fidget for a moment. ”I’m not like most idiots. I’ve done this a hundred times before. Now, I’d like you to just hand a few items over, maybe something precious, or maybe just give me your life.” There was no answer from Kai. He was doing his job right and not giving in. ”Oh, silent treatment you say? This should be so fun.” The boy didn’t move yet, but moved behind a rocky pillar, watching closely as the man pulled off the eagle mask and held the knife closer to his motionless eyes. ”Let’s play.” Those were his only words before he rose the dagger above his head and let it come forward.

The boy came into action, his arm coming up and holding the man’s arm up in the air. Then, he grabbed it with his other arm and twisted it both ways, making the man frown and yelp. The boy let go, pulled his fist back, and punched the guy in the face before he could laugh again. He was sent spinning back into the wall before falling to the ground and laughing a bit more. ”Nice timing,” Kai muttered, slipping on the eagle mask and preparing his axe. The boy only crossed his arms and took a step forward, watching as the man got up and wiped the blood away from his mouth. He grabbed the blades from the ground and stumbled forward, still laughing as he did so. He raised his arms and fell forward, rolling before bringing them up, his arms loose and the daggers being held at the edge of his fingers. Whoa! The boy ducked under one of the daggers and rolled away from the other that was coming down. He crouched on the ground, ready to pounce on the man when he came at him next.

”Oh please, now we’re playing pin the dagger on the...the freaks.” The man licked his chops and spun around, his blades swinging out at him. The boy pulled his fist back and knocked one of the daggers clear out of his hand, only to find the other dagger close at his throat, the man’s other hand pressing against his shoulder before he disappeared, Kai’s axe in the place where he had just been milliseconds before. The man had moved to the left, sliding on the ground before coming forward again, his head coming first and his daggers following. He jumped and kicked Shenmock straight in the face, cracking his mask clear in half before he leapt over Kai and let his daggers slide down his shoulders and near his throat. He let out a maniacal laugh before pressing them hard against his turtleneck, making a fresh flow of blood come out. He roared out in laughter once again before letting both of his daggers sink into each shoulder. Then it was over. He had left his head wide open for an attack and the boy had taken that as his initiative to punch him right in the spot that was open. His fist was glowing as it connected, a Rue skill having activated. He hit the ground, not dead, but rather mostly unconscious.

Kai pulled off his mask and looked down at the man, his hands already moving to pull the daggers out of his shoulders. He let out a low groan at the sight of the blood and muttered a ‘La Repth’ for the two of them before crouching down and running a hand across his neck. The man fidgeted and then stopped moving, his eyes closed and his tongue out in a classic look. ”He’ll be out for a while longer, maybe five to ten minutes. Let’s hope he only wakes up once we’re in headquarters, unless we really want trouble.” Kai pulled him over his shoulder and let his cloak slide on. ”Getting him through will be a bit hard in the servers, but if we blend into the crowd and do our best to act like he’s a hurt party member, I think we’ll be fine.” The man pulled out a sprite ocarina with one hand and started to play. They both disappeared in the depths of the golden rings, gone from the dungeon and coming in the direction of the servers.

The mission was complete, yet they still had another one. They weren’t quite done with what they were striving to do, and yet it felt all too much like they had just done the impossible. This was just one small portion of something bigger. Not too big…but bigger.

Bigger.

Shenmock: 1 Level, Bagh Nakh, 400 GP