“H-hold…on…!” Hazel struggled against the person, trying to get her off.

The gnarled staff blocked the dagger she slammed on her. Hazel kept her weapon up, preventing the attacker from driving the dagger into her body. But she could only hold out for so long, especially with how much stronger this person was.

This was not the ideal situation that Hazel wanted to find herself in.

It was her first interaction with an actual living being that wasn’t fractured, and they were currently fighting one another to the death. Hazel mentally wept at her situation. Why was it that she was forced to do something like this in the first place?

The person on top of Hazel continued to attack her as if seeing the mage as nothing more than an enemy.

“C-can we please talk this out?!” The mage pleaded, not wanting to resort to violence.

Sadly, this new player had different ideas. She strained against the gnarled staff, trying to move it aside so she could stab Hazel and kill her. If it wasn’t for the fact that her wooden staff was durable enough to keep her at bay, the mage would already be dead.

And if this persisted any longer, then it would soon be a guarantee. And Hazel could allow that to happen. Player or not.

“Alright…” Hazel strained. “You asked for it!”

Annoyed by the player trying to kill her, Hazel managed to push her off. The gray-skin player fell to the ground, sluggishly trying to get up. Meanwhile, the mage quickly got to her feet and stood over the plater, pointing her staff at her.

“Don’t move,” She ordered with a cautious glare. “I don’t want to hurt you, but…”

She paused as he eyes spotted something very intriguing. It was the player’s ears. Instead of looking like Hazel’s, they were pointed like a blade, and Hazel only knew one race that displayed such a feature in the fantasy world.

“An…elf?” Hazel tilted her head in confusion, staring at the gray-skin elf.

The elf woman glared at Hazel before grimacing in pain. She palmed her side with a grunt, finding it difficult to move. A moment later, she passed out on the spot, her body lying on the grassy dirt ground.

Hazel stood there for a moment, trying to process the scene of events that just transpired. She just got attacked by a person that wasn’t a fractured monster. Not only that, but this person wasn’t human but an elf since she had pointed ears. A common fantasy race seen in books, movies, and video games.

Out of curiosity, Hazel decided to try and identify the elf and see who she was.

Level 10

Race: Dark Elf

Class: Ranger

Resident of the Planet, Gorus, and the Oldest child of the Tribal Chief of the Greyvolk Tribe. She is also a Captain of the Greyvolk Legion and next in line to become the next Tribal Chief.

“Whoa, so this is the type of information I get when identifying a Player.”

Although Hazel only did this on a whim, she was quite surprised by the results. She was even more surprised by the information she was getting from this player.

Not only could she see a Player’s level, but also their race, class, and even description. The last one was a bit surprising since it gave her some specific information regarding who this person was.

For one thing, this person was named Astrid, and Hazel was only half right regarding her Race. Instead of an Elf, she was actually a Dark Elf. From what Hazel knew about Dark Elves, they were typically Elves that used dark magic and became corrupted and evil, but she couldn’t assume that was what this Dark Elf was.

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There was also the information regarding how Astrid was the daughter of a Tribal Chief, who Hazel assumed was the Head Honcho of their Tribe or something of that nature. That and Astrid was next in line to become one.

This was a bit surprising to find out since that meant Astrid was a big shot in her world. Probably not that big like being a King or Queen of a Kingdom, but she was still likely someone from a prestigious family.

Hazel didn’t expect to actually encounter someone like this in the middle of the forest. What kind of luck was this?

Then there was another issue Hazel had to deal with. Astrid appeared to be injured. Taking a closer look at the dark elf, her side and leg were bleeding. Hazel could see the blood stain on her outfit that continued to leak through the fabric.

“That looks pretty bad,” Hazel muttered, kneeling so she could see it better.

It appeared that she was cut with something on her side, like a dagger or a sword. As for her leg, it looked like something stabbed through it. Something thin and sharp. Maybe an arrow?

Could she have fought a group of Goblins or something on her own and one of them managed to hit her with an arrow? Were those Goblins nearby?

Hazel glanced around the forest, cautiously looking out for any monsters that might appear and attack her. Thankfully, not a single one appeared. But, she couldn’t stay here in case they did.

And Astrid wasn’t going to last long if Hazel left her here on her own. But that begged the question; should she save this dark elf?

This player did just try to kill Hazel, so she didn’t want to save someone like that. However, this was also the first person she encountered since coming to this dungeon. Although the circumstances were a bit off, she also couldn’t just leave her here to die.

So, Hazel was forced to make a decision. Save or nay…?

She pondered over her choices, trying to decide what was her best course of action while also taking another look at the gray-skinned elf. Her breathing turned into raspy wheezes, likely because of her injuries.

A hint of guilt washed over the mage. Even though she wasn’t the one who injured her, Hazel could tell that she’d feel a lot more guilty if she did nothing for the person.

“God, I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Hazel groaned. “If there even is a God that would allow my world to get assimilated by some System with another world.

Left with no other choice due to her conscience, Hazel decided to try and save the gray-skinned elf. She struggled to lift her body but managed to get the elf on her back. With the help of her staff being used as support, she was able to keep the player on as she decided to make her way back to camp.

During her trip back, Hazel groaned and complained along the way.

“This…is such a bad idea that it isn’t even funny.”

…

Dolk sluggishly ran through the forest, trying to find Astrid after she ran away, leaving him to his fate with the Orcs. Luckily enough, the dark elf rogue was the victor in the fight, despite the injuries he sustained during his scuffle with his former captain.

Of course, even though he won, it wasn’t an easy fight, and those orcs unfortunately inflicted more wounds on him. He bore a large slash mark on his back from a battle axe and his left arm was mutilated from another Orc biting down on it. To make matters worse, he lost his left eye when one of the orcs attacking him slashed his face, leaving a nasty scar across his face.

Despite his injuries, he still managed to survive, although barely. As for the Orcs, Dolk killed them during the battle, so he didn’t have to worry about those bastards hunting him down. It didn’t change the fact that Astrid still ran away and was nowhere to be seen. And that was a huge problem for him.

Astrid was wounded just like Dolk, which meant she was vulnerable at the moment. If he didn’t find his captain soon, all of his efforts to protect her would be wasted. And he couldn’t let that happen after doing everything that happened.

He couldn’t allow her to return home. Not when Kollr was planning to kill her so he could become Tribal Chief. That’s why he did all of this. And knew that it was his only option.

He even got his other fellow dark elves killed because he knew that they would get in his way. They were loyal to Astrid and wouldn’t go against her, even if it was for her own good. If Dolk didn’t get rid of them, they would’ve simply tracked down Astrid and freed her, only to let her risk her life by continuing her mission.

Astrid couldn’t afford to go home, and that was because as soon as Dolk heard about Kollr’s plan, that place was no longer her home. And this whole system apocalypse was some kind of divine blessing that kept her from getting killed by her brother’s malicious plan.

And Dolk needed to make sure that the divine blessing wasn’t wasted or in vain. Which meant finding and protecting Astrid from her foolish choices.

“Astrid!” Dolk screamed for the captain, ignoring the dangers of attracting monsters to him in hopes of finding the woman he cared about. “ASTRID!”

Despite his injuries, despite everything stacked against him, Dolk wasn’t going to give up and lose the only person that mattered to him. Even if she despised him, he would do everything in his power to protect her. Because he made a promise, and he was determined to keep it if it meant keeping Astrid alive.

The dark elf Rogue continued to stumble through the forest, relentlessly searching for Astrid, in hopes of having her see reason and realize that there were only the two of them left.