A warrior cleaved through the drake’s neck with his greatsword as another frostball crashed into the mana shield formed by their mage. Time was not on their side. He was too slow to dodge, the only saving grace being the simple nature of drakes to charge head first at their enemies. He struck another drake with his fist and removed its head, charging at the next with haste. He had to kill the regulars before he targeted the horned variants and he had to kill them before the casters ran out of mana.
“Hurry!” One of them called out behind.
The tension in his mind increased but he was already moving as fast as he could, panic only serving to make his movements more brutal and desperate. He felled another, the last, and rushed forward. Arrows from their two archers did little but stutter the horned drakes movements and draw their ire towards them. But it made an opening. The warrior charged as the horned drake focused on him, ignoring an arrow sank shallow into its side.
A blur from his side just barely caught his attention. He raised his sword and a force knocked him away, claw marks on his arm and side bled deeply. A third variant, this one long and thin like a panther.
“Dodge!”
The warrior’s focus turned to a frost ball forming in the horned drake’s mouth and the world around him seemed to slow. A red blur shot through the air and a great explosion enveloped the two horned drakes, their bodies burned and blasted in. Something else blurred past him, a long needle flickered and the Ambush Drake slumped to the ground, blessing out of one eye. The boy who felled it draped in black, blurred away back to three others, an armored knight walked out to the front.
“No needs to die, yeah? We just need your essences and any elemental resistance items you have.” Silence followed Donny’s casual extortion. “You all are missing your chance to walk away.”
With that the other party reluctantly took out the items mentioned and handed them to Shin who flickered in front of them, flinching at first, but yielding to the implied threat. Shin stored some of the items and all of the essences, handing the rest back to one at random.
“Which way is the center?”
“...center?”
Shin dashed away before he got an answer, back to the party who had already started to move on, choosing a tunnel at random, leaving their robbery victims as quickly as they appeared.
“Three variants means we should be getting closer…” Yen spoke, though she didn’t seem too expectant. They had been travelling through the caverns for several hours now without break. She and Kamala had taken turns staying back, walking with the ring of meditation to replenish their mana which never seemed enough.
“We could have just had that guy from the first party lead us to the center, you know.” She directed at Shin.
Shin thought for a moment. “I guess.”
“Hey…”
“It’s better this way.”
Yen went with the flow with a light sigh. She didn’t bother asking him his reason, knowing he either wouldn’t say anything or it’d just be nonsense. She was about to bring up something else before Shin stopped in place, looking ahead alert. The rest followed in suit. Even with her high perception, Yen couldn’t hear them until they drew near. A quirk of the tunnel, she assumed, something they hadn’t encountered thus far.
A party of four soon came into clear vision and sound, at the helm a blond haired young man with serene pink eyes and a slight calm smile. Shin stood confused, the man’s soul feeling of nothing yet something drew him in. A strange curiosity took Shin as the two stared at each other in silent nonchalance.
“You got a problem?!” Shin turned his eyes to the young tan red headed girl at the side, dressed in rogue’s garb. He titled his head in thought for a moment before memory found him.
“Troll girl.”
“W- Fuck you! Come over here and say that to my face!” She shouted as she positioned herself behind the blond man.
Shin turned his attention to inspect the party for the first time. The blond man wore a mix of metal and leather and cloth, leaning more to lightly armored with no weapon in hand. At his side was a black haired woman of similar age wearing tight fitting black silk garment under a loose beige long sleeve martial crop top. And behind them a robed woman slightly hiding her face with a hood.
[Human Magic Warrior (rare) - Intermediate Rank]
[Human Thief (rare) - Intermediate Rank]
[Human Martial Artist (rare) - Intermediate Rank]
[Human Conjurer (rare) - Intermediate Rank]
Shin tilted his head at the hooded woman hiding her face. “Grace.”
The woman flinched. She did nothing for a few moments before finally pulling down her hood, revealing light blue hair, and an uncomfortable expression. Shin waited patiently with a carefree smile, simply happy that she was doing well as she struggled to find something to say, or rather an excuse not to say anything at all.
“Want to join my party?” The blond man asked Shin directly.
“No.” Shin answered casually and honestly.
“I see.” The man didn’t seem too bothered about the rejection.
“We wouldn’t want to mess up your harem. Still got six spots left to fill.”
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
“The invitation wasn’t meant for you.” The martial artist woman shot back at Yen, her expression cool and collected.
Yen glanced over before her demeanor fell into that of a smug queen. “Oh, did that strike a nerve? There’s no need to worry. No matter how many he picks off the street, you’ll always be slightly more important.”
“I’m amazed a fool like you made it this far.”
“It’s called talent. Would you like me to show you?”
“You can try.”
“Shin.”
“Leon.”
The tense atmosphere of a looming battle dissipated as the two party leaders greeted each other, unconcerned with the situation. The magic warrior smiled more warmly and started walking past.
“Second path on the left.”
“Thanks.”
Shin walked forward himself and the rest of the members of each party followed their leaders, the only ones devoid of tension or vigilance. The party walked into an open cavern lined with corpses of drakes, some of them seemingly undamaged save for the small pools of blood draining from their jaws, most severed in two by a single clean cut.
“That was the number two, eh?” Donny glanced around at their work. “Kinda felt like facing off against Shin.”
“Our weird psycho is better.” Yen grumbled, her personality reverted back to normal.
She glanced over to the boy in question, already leapt over to the tunnel Leon pointed out, waiting on the rest, Kamala already halfway. Yen and Donny joined up, little more to glean from the corpses past a long glance, and they continued through soon finding themselves stepping out into the famed center.
Far too large to be called a cavern, the massive open enclave spread out in a wide sprawling berth. Before them in the distance, a long line of camps and stalls, some erected from the rocks of the opening, many simple creations of wooden planks and cloth. And beyond that, a massive mural of a two headed dragon flanked by two stone statues of fearsome drakes.
Shin headed off and the party followed into the bustling makeshift marketplace filled with hundreds and hundreds of players, absent of any conflict beyond mere words and rough handling, at fair odds with what could reasonably be expected. The party looked around at the various players haggling and bartering all manner of goods available to them, weathering the prickling volley of Identify and keen stares.
Donny stopped at a bored looking stallowner. “What’s the deal with this place.”
The man glanced over the party. “1 gold and I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”
“Let’s find someone else.”
“Okay, okay, 10 silver.” Donny turned back and put 10 silver on the counter. The man stored it quickly and leaned towards the four.
“People call this the Bazaar. Don’t know who exactly but it formed up as players started pouring in. No one’s in charge but there’s two rules you need to follow. First, no killing. No one’s going to jump in a save you if you piss off the wrong person, but anyone who kills in the Bazaar is fair game.”
“What if someone tries to kill us?” Yen asked.
“Fair game.” The man repeated. “Kill ‘em. Take their stuff. No one will bother you.”
“What’s the second rule?” Donny continued.
“No stealing. Don’t need to tell you it’s dangerous here. People are risking their lives so taking their essences or items is the same as trying to kill them. Also fair game.” The stall owner gestured over to the mural. “That there is the door to the dungeon. Drops good loot obviously, most importantly epic tier resistance items. But it costs 100 essences each go. The element changes based on the essences you give it. More of a certain type, more likely for the boss to be the same.”
“If it’s been cleared, that means there’s another dungeon after this right?”
“Yeah. Epic tier Greater Lord.”
“What?” Yen couldn’t hide her shock. She had expected greater rank but a tier higher made things incredibly dangerous. “Ah… The epic resistance. That’s why people are camping out here running the boss over and over.”
“Exactly. Lawless shithole, really, but it’s better for everyone if people can trade freely and prepare for the last boss safely. People won’t take too kindly to someone messing that up.”
“Can you choose the element of the next one or are we just gambling?” Donny inquired.
“Dunno. Didn’t hear anyone trying yet. Can’t imagine they’d give away that information easily though.”
“Is this everyone?” Shin asked.
The man paused for a moment before realizing what Shin was asking. “Seven bazaars in total, I heard. One for each door. It’s all the same, apparently, but you have to go through that maze to get around.”
“Cheers.” Donny left the counter and walked over to an open space, the others following him. “What’s our plan?”
“Need to see what the deal with the last boss is first. We should choose the easiest element to beat this one. I say frost.”
“My plants have no cold resistance.” Kamala countered.
“I know, but fire takes away my best spells and lightning is too fast. More dangerous for the melees.”
“We have resistances for that.”
“Rare tier resistances.” Yen jabbed back at Donny. “The boss is definitely going to have epic abilities.”
“We can manage. I’d rather have Mother Nature as a trump card in case things go wrong.”
“Lightning.” Shin voiced up while looking around.
“3 to 1.”
“Fine… The guy said more types mean higher chance, so we should makes all 100 lightning, just to be sure.”
“Sounds good.”
“Rani.” The party turned to find a man with light brown skin, lush silky shoulder length black hair with a light beard, and a white tattoo of a simple lotus on his forehead. Over six feet tall with thick muscular arms, donning a white chestpiece with matching bracers and a confident easy smile. Kamala was the last to look, moving only her cold eyes.
[Human Cleric (rare) - Intermediate Lord]
“It’s good that we found you early. Come, we’re camped over here.”
“I will not be returning.”
The man stared at her stoic intensity, his expression unchanging, then glanced at the rest of them. “You can be selfish for a while longer. But you must return to the clan.” He casually stepped back and turned away with a warrior’s disposition. “We all have our duties.”
“Who was that?” Yen asked.
“...my brother.”
Yen had other questions but by the atmosphere around Kamala felt it wasn’t the right time to ask them.
“Look who it is!” A red haired young man crashed down in front of shin with all the grace his Brute class would imply, bearing a mocking smile. “What did you do to get number one, kill everyone in your zone?”
Shin looked back at his brother without answering.
“Still fucking creepy. The tower came just at the right time for you, huh? You must feel right at home with all this shit.”
“Who is this?” Yen asked, far more hostile than for their last guest.
“Yugo.”
The second son of the Igarashi main family glanced at the rest of them. “You actually found people who can stand being around you? Hey, do they know you’re a demon?”
“That’s enough.” A taller, larger man with short black hair and a stern expression joined them.
[Human Diplomat (rare) - Intermediate Lord]
“Have you met anyone else from the clan?” Renzo asked straight to the point without greeting him.
“Ko and Kei.”
“Where are they?”
“With mother.” A hint of relief showed on Renzo’s face. Shin thought a bit more. “Haru and… the old branch guy with a thin mustache?”
“Thin, sharp face?”
“Yeah.”
“Matsuta.”
“Old bastard…”
“I killed him.”
A silence came about the two. “Why?” Renzo asked.
“Tried to sell Ko and Kei to the Atreus.”
“That piece of shit!” Yugo cursed the dead elder.
“...if you meet anyone else, direct them here.”
“Okay.”
With that Renzo took his leave. Yugo seemed displeased but followed him without another word, in the opposite direction that Kamala’s brother went.
“The fuck is wrong with your families?” Neither Shin nor Kamala answered, though for different reasons. Yen changed the topic. “What do we do now? Buying essence would be faster.
“There’s a better way.” Donny started to walk off.
“Like what?”
He sold a number of items to a wealthy looking stall owner and bought lightning essences, making no effort to keep a low profile. “Fishing.”