When Dantes dreamed, the people appearing the most in his dreams were his father, mother and sister. Especially his sister.
In an especially striking dream, he was at his grandparents' house, a small apartment which clearly showed its age with stairs leading to the roof and no elevators in sight. It was built in a time before elevators, and apparently a time before railing or fences around rooftops were common. His grandparents used to grow a small garden up there, peppers and whatnot.
Anyways, in this dream, there was a massive spider in the bedroom -- a colossal manifestation of his worst fear. His sister was there too, though Dantes was far too ensnared by the thoughts regarding the spider to notice her presence. Quickly, he dashed out of the room, and then closed the door behind him, leaving his sister to deal with the spider herself in the enclosed environment.
It was a nightmare, but it ended right after closing the door behind him. Would he have done the same in real life? Do actions in your dreams represent who you are in real life?
Dantes was around 9, or 10 years old at the time, but would he make the same choice again?
So was the nature of dreams, and now, Dantes explored another dream.
----------------------------------------
For some inexplicable reason, Dantes found himself in the garden of ARK 8. It was a massive garden, large enough to be called a farm. An XP, gold and rare drop farm. It seemed that many members were distinct as farmers as evident by their uniform of a straw hat with a string securing on their head, a white shirt, shorts and a towel hanging loosely around their neck. Just watching them work reminded Dantes of summertime. What season was it anyway? It seemed that the first floor at least was in a state of limbo, stuck between winter, summer, fall, spring or whatever order they actually came in. Damn, it's been a while since Dantes walked outside.
At the center of the garden was a small circle, designated specifically for duels.
"Hey, this is a bit nostalgic. This is the place I was demoted!"
"You mean like two days ago?"
"Hm, will you be demoted from candidate to civilian I wonder?"
At the opposite side of the circle silently stood Crownslayer. He was without any movement, and he seemed unresponsive to all and any external interference. Perhaps he saw only the battle, and the battle only.
"...So, are you ready?" asked Crownslayer.
"...Fine, let's get this over with."
Dantes's heart began to race bit by bit, his passion for the battle being reignited. For him, it had been forever since the last combat encounter, and the fear of death prevented him from seeking any potential dangers. However, this was a duel, meaning that such a possibility was an impossibility.
“Then brace yourself,” announced Crownslayer.
Like an experienced calligrapher, the samurai moved swiftly, but never pushed beyond the boundaries of comfort. This was his style, his way of battling. His singular double-handed, single-side blade sliced the tense atmosphere and seemed to reintroduce colour into Dantes’s world.
However, this was no time to be entranced. He quickly blocked the overhead attack with his staff, then parried it to the side. Hopefully, all the Kendo classes weren’t wasted. Though his sister was freakishly good at it, Dantes still considered himself a decent bladesman, though this was not a blade, and he was currently not a man.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The way of the blade was not as simple as rock paper scissors as many videogames represent it with specific moves beating specific moves. It was also usually not a battle to pure speed, but rather technique and strategy. It required quick, on-the-fly calculations and reactions. As such, after Dantes parried Crownslayer’s blade, he quickly rotated his blade around the circular base of the staff and pointed it once again toward his opponent.
In panic, Dantes temporarily stepped back. However, Crownslayer was not about to let him live a peaceful day.
A peaceful day.
No, there was no peace. There would be no peace no matter what.
Dantes finally realized the true meaning of the duel — the reason why Crownslayer wanted to battle him.
It was a puzzle, with a distinct answer.
There was no way that a healer could defeat a samurai in a 1 v 1, that is unless you take advantage of your class.
Dantes quickly opened his settings configuration and reduced the pain capacity scaling to zero, meaning that he was now numb to all attacks. He had it on in case of poisoning or ambush, but for now, this was what he needed.
“...So do you finally realize what we must do to clear the first floor?” asked Crownslayer.
“...Shut up and watch me win!”
The hero entered a mad rash toward Crownslayer, who answered with another looming strike. However, instead of parrying, Dantes took the blade to the abdomen, though he could not feel anything. He then held the blade in place as he watched his HP drain continuously from the bleeding.
“Continuous heal!”
His level was high enough for such a basic spell to overcome the bleed status DOT, but it would not last forever. As a healer, he still only held one attack skill: Swing. This was his last option.
Dantes began to smash his staff against Crownslayer. However, he could not put all his strength into it as the other half of his body was focused on restraining Crownslayer’s blade. After receiving a few hits, Crownslayer immediately let go of the blade and kicked Dantes away.
Putting firm pressure onto his wound in order to ease his bleeding, Dantes pulled the sword from his stomach. Blood. Lots and lots of blood. It was sickening to see. He threw the blade toward Crownslayer.
“The duel isn’t over yet.”
“...I surrender.”
----------------------------------------
“...Our bodies aren’t the only things that we will need to sacrifice,” said Crownslayer, noticing Dantes still looking at his clean abdomen.
As soon as the duel was over, all HP lost were recovered, and the blood was automatically cleaned. However, Dantes still felt a stinging sensation as he turned the pain receptors back on.
“...What are you doing here?” asked Dantes.
“...What do you mean?”
“Your get-up is ridiculous, did you think I wouldn’t notice my own sister?”
“Eh… heheh…”
Crownslayer removed his helmet to reveal his handsome face — a preset handsome face.
“Well… I…”
“...Why did you come here?” asked Dantes.
The samurai role. It must’ve been a day one patch. His strange social behaviour. His blade techniques, his story about receiving the machine from his friend, his proficiency with his blade and the fact that he preferred to communicate non-verbally. All pointed toward a singular truth.
“...I can’t leave my brother to rot here alone. The more the merrier… right?”
“No… That doesn’t really apply to this situation.”
“O-oh…”
“...I don’t know if I should be thankful, or horrified.”
“...I came here in my own volition,” said Crownslayer, “also, it’s not like I’m here on a suicide mission — I actually know some people on the outside. I can’t tell you who though…”
“...Well that’s fine. I guess.”
“...”
“...How’d you get so high in levels so fast?”
“I was watching you, and I did the same. We’re not alone in that regard either, there are hundreds like us who are working in order to survive and to escape.”
“...Then why us? Why does it have to be you or me?”
“...Because we’re here, and we’re just as responsible for the fight for our individual freedom as anyone else,” said Crownslayer, “Sure you could loiter around and stay here, but if we can, we need to fight. In this game, everyone is meant to fight. It’s not just about you or me, it’s about all of us. And it’ll take all of us to escape.”
“...Aren’t you afraid to die? Why did you come here, knowing that you’d die?”
“I won’t die, you won’t die, because we’re here together.”
“...That’s some corny ass shit…”
“S-sorry…”
“That’s fine. Come here,”
Dante hugged Crownslayer tightly. It was strange to be the shorter one, but appearances did not matter. The only thing that mattered was who they were, and they were family. Dantes remembered how when he was younger, in elementary school age, he was called a crybaby by the entire school. It wasn’t bullying, but an accurate description of his behaviour. It seemed that the well dried up ever since, and he rarely cried after that. Dantes was a weird kid back then. For some reason, in most of his elementary school memories, his sister was not present.
However, she was here now.
It had been a while since the well held any water.