The first of Samantha’s group to spring into action was the hellhound. The owner cried and ordered it to stop. The black dog did not listen and pounced at the ball of yellow light. There was a flash, the mist parted to expose the enemy, and the hellhound was hurled to the side. It was shaped in a perfect circle and the size of a human to boot.

“Everybody in offensive formation V!” Samantha yelled. At the call of their leader, they took to a V-shaped one-two-three battle arrangement. Samantha was at the front although she was the least impressive of the front lines. Level 22 and wielding a wand, she began drawing a magic circle and leaving herself open. A female spearman by the name of Dee attacked without fear. Her slash went down the yellow Will-o'-wisp.

The Will-o’-wisp pulsed and Dee backed away, switching with the strongest player, Skullmask. He wore a skull mask and he wielded a scythe. Jumping high in the air, he calmly declared, “Nightly Abyssal Slash.”

The Will-o’-wisp clashed against the darkness with red flames. A clash of equals. A clash that momentarily caused even the group to freeze up.

Dasha had his arms crossed, invisible and cool. ‘Skullmask is Level 25. Not bad.’ As for the Will-o’-wisp, it matched his level and its class was designated as a Ghost. The moment Skullmask skidded back from the aftermath of the clash, Samantha tapped her wand against the magic circle she drew.

“Super Fire Dart!”

The missile of fire was too fast for the Will-o’-wisp to react to and blasted away half its body. It wasn’t dead though, recollecting the light it lost. Dee swooped in and attempted to finish it. Her attack, like before, did nothing.

‘Physical attacks don’t work but magical attacks do. Good to know.’ Dasha remained still, observing every single player fighting. Skullmask sprung forward as soon as Dee backed away, his scythe swinging with a purple gas following. The Will-o’-wisp sent out another blast of fire and cancelled out the attack. Skullmask did not equip a class yet landed on his two feet without issue.

Samantha was busy drawing another magic circle with her slender wand. The Will-o’-wisp recovered the pieces of light it lost and reared for a third blast of fire. That was when the two behind Samantha came forward. It was their job to protect Samantha while she drew her magic circle.

“Aqua Bolt—!” the two mages with staffs casted. The bolts of water and the blast of fire caused the mist to intensify.

“Over here everyone!” Caleb was at the vanguard and equipped with a shield. His voice was a tinge shaky. Even so, everyone jumped and reentered their formation. Dasha stood behind Caleb, silently judging their teamwork.

‘I don't know how long they've been together but it's clear they're experienced.’

“Aqua Bolt!”

“Nice! Dee, switch in!”

The thicker the mist, the harder it was to see their opponent and the less chance Samantha was willing to fire off her spell. It was concentrated and small. Very easy to miss if the aim wasn't adjusted properly. The fog also prevented the group from clearly seeing that Dee's attacks were ineffective. Her spear sliced through the ball of magical energy and did absolutely nothing to keep it apart. Unlike magic, there was no conflict to heal.

Skullmask was different. When he attacked, the Will-o’-wisp garnered the instincts to start moving. It did strike Dasha as odd that he chose no class and wielded a scythe. The weapon's range was certainly impressive.

“Nightly Abyssal Slash!”

One hand at the base and the other at the center, Skullmask leapt forward and cleanly wiped out the Will-o’-wisp. The group celebrated, relieved from their victory and gained the subsequent XP.

“Good job, Skull!” Samantha praised. The mist had thickened due to the disappearance of the Will-o’-wisp and she had to squint to find him. His black cloak fluttered and he returned to the party.

“Kekeke! I do my best.”

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“Dude, please don't laugh like that,” Liam said. “It gives me the creeps.”

‘Ah.’ Dasha brought his hand up. ‘This mask is aching to fight him. Not yet.’

Not yet. Patience.

Dasha stealthy approached the area where the Will-o’-wisp died. Nothing remained of it save for yellow particles. Dasha glanced over his shoulder and waited for the voices of Samantha's group to disappear. One minute, two minutes, five minutes…

‘Finally, I'm alone.’ As certain as he was of their disappearance, Dasha tried to keep an ear out for them. He charged up his gauntlet, black electricity crackling, and slammed it into the ground.

In Finnish mythology, Will-o’-wisps were thought to be guardians of great treasure buried by fairies. The treasures could only be located with a mythical fern seed. A supposedly rare phenomenon. In reality, fern flowers did not have seeds and instead had spores to reproduce. That single fact put the stories of the Aarnivalkea into question. However, a keen mind would recognize that even history was distorted with authenticity. Not everything was a hundred percent accurate.

Dasha’s fists slammed into the ground over and over again. He needed to dig. There was a great possibility this was the start of the main objective.

Slam! Slam! Slam!

The dirt kicked up from the force of his punches. The ground shook. He stopped twenty metres deep and dug another hole. Then another. Then another. Finally, he decided to focus on a single hole. He kept going until he was a kilometre deep.

Nothing.

‘Tch. I suppose thinking no one else tried this was a fool's dream.’

He considered several more punches. At full strength, it was easy to dig up the dirt. Maybe it was so deep that ordinary players couldn’t find it. Minutes later he discovered that was not the case.

[ Warning! You are approaching the end of the map! ]

What he found buried deep underground was an black metal. Raw and thick enough to give no discernable pattern, it was a law that Dasha could not break with all his might. The gauntlets crackled at the challenge.

Unbreakable? As if. He couldn't do it before but maybe now—

“Black Cards.” His muttering of the skill caused three black cards to appear between the digits of his closed fist. It was intended to be a projectile technique. However, by inflicting self-damage, it was possible to bolster one's strikes. It was a caveman's way of attack. Even so, it was effective.

Slam! Slam! Slam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

The obsidian did not yield. Every time the thin black cards exploded, he muttered again, ‘Black Cards.’ A self-inflicting wound for a great sense of power. It did not matter. Hell wouldn't open itself to him.

‘Maybe if I was as strong as her or the Emperor…’ He stopped and touched the mask. ‘To think I would ever compare myself to another in such a pathetic tone. I should get rid of this mask soon.’

He glanced up to gauge the hole he dug himself into. The world was too dark to see how far. Luckily, he kept count. Two point two kilometers. A hole so deep that light did not intrude on him. Total darkness embraced him. It was why he chose to use Black Cards. The Dark Sorcerer Class and its skills gained effectiveness during the dark. It wasn’t a stated element but an instinctive conclusion every player recognized. In the day, the holy element was stronger and darkness was weakened. In a territory such as the Silent Forest which possessed no sun, darkness held the advantage.

In darkness so steep, Dasha had figured the obsidian would break. “But no. The Architects built this to be impossible to penetrate. No point in punching further.” He activated Qi Sense. “Ah, there it is. The mist doesn't linger here, thus I can see.”

The hole he made was ten metres wide, seven metres long, and two point kilometers deep. Bouncing between the circular hole was going to take a lot of dedication. His thighs coiled up the necessary strength, Qi gathering up in his stomach and then the legs, and he launched off. He closed his eyes, feeling the air rush over him. He counted.

‘Twelve, thirteen, fourteen…!’ He couldn't see. The world was too dark. But to see beyond one's five senses was what he trained for. He went higher and higher and as soon as he reached the crescendo, he slammed his foot onto the dirt wall and bounced over. His initial jump took him thirty-seven metres height. The rest would have been done on foot.

The darkness was quite disorienting. Flickering between Qi Sense and his footing was easier said than done. “Tch!” His foot missed and he shoved a hand through the dirt, his body dangling. He was halfway there. To think he messed up…

He was agitated. He should have been able to do this without any mistakes. He should have made it to the top, darting between the walls as he switched from Qi Sense to intense physical movement. He could do it in combat, more or less. Why was this different?

‘Because I can't see.’

That was the issue. Even now, halfway in his journey, he was in total darkness. Not a single ray of sunshine snuck through. No matter what he tried to tell himself, Dasha had habits. He relied on sight. He relied on taste and smell. Here, there was none of that. Only the overwhelming stench of dirt stood.

‘Sandhya Chadha would have been able to navigate through this without issue. She's blind, of course her senses are sharpened.’ Dasha continued to stare at the bottomless darkness. Left, right, up, down—it didn't matter. All of it was the same.

He had to be efficient. He had to complete this gate. At the same time…

‘This is the perfect place to hone my Qi Sense. It may take hours or days but...’ His head hung down. Darkness. ‘If I meditate at the bottom of this hole, I will be in true darkness. True silence. Nothing will disturb me.’

Dasha dragged his arm out and dropped to the bottom.