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Levi sat at the World Fortress hidden beyond the clouds of the entire Ancient Woodwork Sky Maze along with the other players. The other contestants looked downcast, some nagging at him to save their companions with weapons drawn, but Levi did not even spare them a single glance. This was a non-combat zone. And even if it wasn’t, even a hundred people couldn’t pose a threat to him back at the Trial of Champions. What could these Summoner and Trainer classes even do?
He was more curious about the chaos ensuing below. By normal standards, if we were to follow the usual flow of the pet marathon, the whole ordeal should have been a test of the abilities of both Master and Companion. The System temporarily granted the ability to the masters (contestants) to cast buffs and provide commands while they had an aerial view of the screen. It was meant to be a fun and friendly game for the lighthearted Pet Marathon genre.
Levi could also see the maze and exploration part, as you could only give directions to your pet while they got chased and battled goblins, dodging traps along the way, and, of course, avoiding falling off the edge of the Sky Maze.
Even the Woodwork goblins didn’t have blood inside them. They were simply wooden mechas—dumb, slow, and shattered as soon as they were hit once or twice. The event was clearly targeted at a younger audience.
Which meant, it should have been a walk in the park for Levi…
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It was annoying to see Woodwork goblins turning into undead once they died, or Woodwork goblins growing roots and regenerative aspects. Other deities later joined in the fun as well, making the battlefield even more chaotic.
Only Levi’s absence from the actual battlefield prevented another tribulation. Every contestant dropped as they either got mobbed by seriously buffed Woodwork goblins or simply got pushed off by the sheer number of units in the Sky Maze.
Hel, of course, tried to help the other contestants at Levi’s command, and some of them, like the Chaos Sprite and the Baby Crystal Hoof Gemmy, fared quite well. The two riding the drake bombarded the mob of Woodwork goblins, but being airborne too long, they were soon forced by the system to get near the designated platform or face disqualification. In the end, they put up a last hurrah, clearing a decent chunk of enemies before succumbing to the goblin apocalypse.
Everyone, including Levi, felt annoyed by all of this. He had initially found the ‘intervention’ aspect quite fun, but there had been too much meddling at this point. The whole Ancient Sky Maze event had become more of a survival game rather than a marathon. Either the admins didn’t have proper control of their accounts, or the system ranked higher than them.
This made sense from a security standpoint, as it prevented manipulation, though it allowed higher beings to intervene during events like these. And most importantly, it was a direct provocation to him.
If they could do this during an IRL event, what more could these fuckers do to his wife’s territory inside the game? It also concerned all of his creations. Unlike other entities in Avalesk, Skeletals are mortal in a more common sense of the word.
They could be rebuilt using the same form and structure of bones, but they wouldn’t necessarily inherit the same personality and individuality as the former being. Levi could already imagine the wrath on Anri’s face. Mildly laughing, he recalled she should also be watching right now…
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To be continued.
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