Never once in my life that I considered myself masochistic, but towards the end of the repeated deaths in the Combat Training mission, what I felt wasn’t the bland, pitless despair anymore, no, it was the elation that I had gotten stronger out of my suffering.

Perhaps it was from me witnessing my growth in a real, tangible manner, or maybe I had just gotten used to the deaths themselves, but nevertheless; Here I was, back in the nexus after failing my mission, and yet, smiling at the end of it all.

Although, I couldn’t say the same about Maria. She wasn’t happy, to say the least. Her face was pale, her shoulders slumping, with both irises showing very little life and vigor. I guessed the mission didn’t end that well for her…

“What happened? You looked exactly like him yesterday.” Phillip said, both the corners of his lips curling into a smile, flicking his finger at me. “Did you beat it?”

“Oh, Totally, it’s a breeze fighting that thing.” Maria closed her eyes and moaned, “My arrows barely penetrated its skin, so my options are its eyes and neck, and you know how tough it is to shoot something that small?”

From the way Phillip conducted himself, I’d guess that he overcame the roadblock in the form of a massive green man. If that was true, then I had to say, I was impressed all over again. We stood no chance against that Hobgoblin without him, and so were our odds against the orcs.

But the key point wasn’t the orcs themselves. In the mission, it listed the name of another one of its type: The Hobgoblin to the Orcs themselves; The Orc Chief. If the hobgoblin was any indicator of how much more threatening it was compared to its kin, then we were in for quite the challenge.

Unfortunately, even with my magic, I was still a kid playing at the adult’s table; The Orc feeling more insurmountable than the lizardman from before.

But that didn’t mean I’d be happy being weak and ineffectual.

“We still had one more mission to complete. By then we’d get your class, and maybe another spell or skill book to boost our chances.” I clarified, doing my best to reassure everyone, “And if our stars lined up, we’d have someone else with us for the Orcs.”

“Yep… that’s a hopeful thought.” She mumbled under her breath. “Are we doing the next mission now?”

“Of course.” Phillip continued, his eyes regaining their previous spirit. That’s the Phillip I knew. “Let’s strike while the iron is hot.”

Maria sighed, eventually relenting. “Ugh… Mine is super cold, by the way.”

After making sure that we were prepared, namely sharing our potions and whatnot, we entered the second mission that was lined up for us today, named the Torch of flames. Little was known from the description that was shown, but mystery was something we’d grown used to having.

We opened the mission menu, then glanced over at each other before our bodies disappeared.

Instead of the bright, foggy skies that we were thrown into the last time, This mission placed us somewhere darker. It wasn’t as dark as the secret mission yesterday—not even close, but once I added the fog in, my visibility wasn’t that much better either. Well, that discounted the fact that in between where we stood, a bright, red torch blazed hot, illuminating our immediate surroundings with its orange luster.

Warm. So warm… That was the first thought I had when I regained my senses. From each of the torch’s little flickers, I felt a strange sense of comfort and safety emanating from its light, protecting me from the darkness ahead.

I glanced at the other two, and their relaxed faces showed that they shared the same thought.

Maria was the first one who spoke out. “Suppose one of us should carry this, I can’t exactly shoot with one of my hands tied up, so…”

Phillip was out of the question. He was the carry of our team, and thus, the responsibility of carrying the torch fell to me. “I’ll do it,” I said, pulling the torch from the ground it was planted in.

As soon as the torch left the floor, a massive wailing of turbulent wind blasted through us, dropping the temperature around us in an instant. Due to my close proximity to the Torch, I wasn’t affected much by it, but I couldn’t say the same for the other two.

“Sheesh…” Clutching herself, Maria whispered, shivering. “I-If I knew about this…”

I didn’t know it was that bad until I saw how she reacted to it, “Stick close to me, you two.” I raised the torch higher in an attempt to cover as much space with its heat, but that had little to no effect on them. I searched for Phillip, who was standing the furthest ahead, keeping an eye on the distance. There’s no way he didn’t feel the chill, and yet, he stood like it was as warm as the summer.

“I see… something. Over there.” Pointing towards somewhere in the distance, Phillip turned his head towards us. “Do you see it? A blue light…”

Maria was the second one who noticed it. “Yeah… Wow, that’s… dim, man. I won’t notice if you didn’t mention it. Maybe whatever’s there is the source of this freakin’ cold…”

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“Then we’ve found our goal.” I gripped my staff tight as I primed a bolt, preparing for the worse. I’d be an idiot to assume that there would be zero opposition going forward. “Let’s stick close together. We’ll share the heat.”

They took out their weapons, each reflecting the intense light from the torch I carried, then moved forward as a unit with me.

The first few minutes were uneventful, we were just daring the chill in the wind as we advanced, but that cold peace stopped once we heard the movements of multiple foes from the darkness.

“Shit, don’t tell me it’s those invisible goblins,” Maria exclaimed, worried.

Phillip readied his stance, his eyes locked on where the voices were coming from. “They’re coming. And these…” He held his axe high, “These aren’t goblins. They’re the lizards.”

Hiss…

Aw, come on. I groaned. Yeah, of course, we’d be dealing with them in this cold, pitch-black environment; as if clashing with those wasn’t difficult enough as-is. But hey, at least, I’m not alone this time.

My eyes searched the darkness, “Can any of you point to a direction where you think they are approaching from?” They responded by pointing their hands in pretty much the same direction.

I lifted my staff higher, then, one bolt zipped through our position, illuminating the area around its path with its verdant glow. The scales from those lizardmen glimmered ever so slightly, just enough for our eyes to make out their figures. But that wasn’t what surprised me the most, no; it was their numbers. There were no less than 10 of them coming from different angles and distances, and we needed to cover the possibility of being flanked too.

The death bolt blasted the floor right between the two lizardmen at the back.

“Shit. Too close!” Phillip yelled, “Incoming!”

His axe cleaved the air at his front from top to the bottom, which I thought was a missed attack at first, yet, I witnessed fresh blood splattering all over him. He had struck one of them down with such ease. How did he even see them?

Another spear snuck past his right, aimed straight at Maria. She knew this beforehand, and let loose one of her drawn arrows, resulting in the groan of another lizardman as she dodged the thrown spear. Two down. God knows how many are left.

I primed another spell as I watched them from behind. My ears were more focused on the space behind me, ready to shoot my flank at any moment’s notice. So far, there wasn’t anything that was worthy of my magic. So far.

“We have to keep moving-” I shouted, “If we stay, we’re sitting ducks! They’ll flank us.”

From the grim look on their faces, I understood that they knew it too. What made this situation even worse wasn’t the darkness on its own; No, it was the bright spot that our torch lit up amid the complete blackness, acting like a beacon, beckoning them to approach.

Trepidation took our breaths as we progressed step by step. The lizards were relentless, their sneak attacks had almost caught us more than a few times. Phillip was the one who warned us during every instance of them coming, which saved our asses more times than I’d like to admit.

I have to say, he is absolutely the only reason we’re still breathing.

As the blue glow in the distance grew, so was the cold snap in the wind. At this point, even I was struck by the effects of the sheer cold, shivering and clattering my teeth like the others. And yet, our adrenaline kept us going. The goal was just… right there.

So close to the end… Just… a little bit more.

Both of my feet grew heavier, the icy wind submerging me in its frozen embrace. At this point, the lizards were no longer pursuing us, discouraged by the cold itself. My breath turned to mist, my eyes arid, my skin as dry as the desert, and in the close distance — perhaps in the distance of 10 meters or so — I saw what appeared to be a massive tall torch sconce missing its torch.

This is it, I thought, turning my head back, “We’ve found-“

None of them were there. Don’t tell me… Are they…

Phillip was in front of me before, right? Am I seeing things? How did I miss him?

Gritting my teeth, I stepped forward, understanding that if I wanted them to be safe, I had to finish the damn mission. They might still be alive, after all. I knew that I was only conscious because of the heat I was carrying.

The same heat from the light was about to run out.

Grit twisted to desperation, desperation turned to sorrow. The wall of the cold winter was getting thicker, and thicker still when I was about a few steps away from the sconce. The dirt around it had become blocks of ice at this point, meaning that the temperature here was below what I would consider adaptable.

Shiver.

Extending the arm that held the withering torch to the sconce, I saw the edges of my vision darkening. My time had run out. But my mission wasn’t over yet.

Just… a little… bit…

I placed the torch where it was supposed to be put into. It made a rough tumbling sound as it fell into its slot, and I fell, both my legs losing their will to stand up. As I lay on the icy dirt beneath, clutching my arms and legs together, preserving as much heat as I could keep, a screen popped up in my vision.

Mission complete.

Mission Completed - The torch of flames

Rewards 1 - group: 1500 pts.

Rewards 2 - personal : 1 cold spell book.

The dark scene exploded into rays of bright light, and with it, came the warmth that I craved.

Reward distribution | Total : 1500 pts

GRAY MORS

PHILLIP JAGER

MARIA HILL

- pts

- pts

- pts

Am I supposed to distribute our points?

It was the first time that I saw this screen, which I presumed was the same message that appeared in the other mission before. After Inputting 500 points to each field — the amount we’d agreed upon — I found the strength to get back up after resting a few precious minutes.

But still, I relaxed, knowing that if their names were still here, it meant that they were alive.

Walking back, I noticed the vast coverage of ice all around the ground where the sconce was, a sight that I failed to see due to the darkness before.

[Points distributed, Returning to the nexus.]

Beneath my feet, laid a blue-ish spell book.

Cool.