With the bandits distracted by the redheaded mage’s sneak attack, Bane and Vala rushed the remaining three men. The shield maiden ducked to the side of the one closest to her. She then blocked a panicked slash aimed at her torso, deflecting it to the side. The man’s legs buckled and then gave way completely as her mace whipped into his shoulder. With the brigand already on his side, she kicked the short sword out of his hand and turned around.

In the temporary confusion, one of the men had tried to flee. But a well-aimed icicle sent him toppling to the ground, his calf a bloody mess. The other bandit circled around the lycan, desperate to get out of the mage’s line of sight. Bane stepped back, barely avoiding the brigand’s lunge as the dagger swished past his arm. He slashed at the man’s back, nicking him with one of his attacks.

But the bandit dropped and rolled to the side, dodging another icicle. He didn’t so much as look back as he darted into the nearby woods, weaving between the trees’ flickering shadows.

“What are you doing?” the mage called out, lowering her hand and the frozen spike floating above it. “Go after him!”

Confused, Bane stared for a moment at the man’s silhouette before turning around to answer her. “Why? He’s gone and I doubt he’ll be coming back.” He watched her expression shift from disbelief to annoyance as she shook her head and sent two icicles flying into the backs of the two remaining bandits. “Was that really necessary?” he asked, sheathing his daggers.

“What? They’re just bandits in a game,” said the mage, raising her brow. “I’m only trying to stop them from coming back with more of their friends in tow.”

“She has a point,” said Vala. Eyes still focused on the woods around them, she began to smother the fire with a bit of dirt. “We shouldn’t stick around long,” she said, coming up to greet the redheaded mage. “Thanks for your help. I’m Vala, and this is Mia and Bane.”

Mia simply nodded, trying to maintain a weak smile. Her eyes kept darting back to the motionless bodies around them, causing her to shrink away behind the lycan.

“You can call me Eris,” she said, shaking the rough hand extended towards her. “So, what brings you three out here in the Ironwood Sea, this late at night?”

“We’re trying to get a quest done,” answered Bane. Upon seeing Vala’s scowl, he froze and stopped himself from saying anything else. ‘She’ll kill me if I just blab about everything…’

Eris’ face lit up and he got a better look at her deep, blue eyes, her look of annoyance nowhere to be seen. “Oh, neat!” she said, her gaze shifting from side to side as she probably read a prompt from the system. “I’m also out here trying to complete a quest. That’s when I saw those guys lurking around your campsite. If you want, we could team up since that would probably be safer. Where exactly are you three headed?”

“North…” said Bane, immediately flinching. ‘Shit.’ He instinctively expected some sort of reprimand from the shield maiden. However, Vala simply sighed as she looked at Mia and then over to Eris. “But yeah, we could definitely use a ranged damage dealer in the group.”

Would you like to invite Eris (Level 5 – Female Human) into your party?

YESNO

Having added Eris to the party, the four headed north. A few scattered rays of moonlight reached the forest floor, illuminating their path as they made their way towards the foothills of the surrounding mountains.

“Shouldn’t we use a torch or something?” Bane whispered, listening carefully for sounds other than those of their own footsteps. “We could probably cover more ground if we didn’t have to take it so slowly.”

“And other bandits could spot us from miles away,” replied Vala as she led the way, compass in hand. The three, light-blue stones inside the device emanated a faint glow as they constantly adjusted the needle’s position, keeping it suspended in the middle of the compass.

“Fine… But how do you even know where we’re going?” asked the lycan. “Because I have literally no idea where we even are. And I could’ve sworn we already passed that tree over there…”

Vala sighed. “I know how to read a map. But if you want to, you’re more than welcome to give it a shot.”

“Please don’t,” said Eris, smirking at Bane who lagged a few steps behind her and Mia.

Bane shook his head and remained silent, unwilling to give the two women even more ammo that they could then use against him. The rest of the trek through the forest went by uneventfully. As the daybreak slowly illuminated the morning sky, they could finally make out the outline of the Harkonnen mountain range through the thinning canopy of the Ironwood Sea.

****

“Kill me now…” muttered Bane as his avatar materialized next to the party’s makeshift campsite.

“Are you alright?” asked Mia with a slight look of concern.

“Yeah,” he said, stretching and yawning. “That friend of mine that I told you about decided it would be a good idea to make me go jogging with him… I swear, I can still feel my muscles aching.”

“A bit of movement never hurt anyone,” said Vala, a mocking grin plastered on her face. “I’m starting to like this friend of yours.”

“Yeah,” the lycan sighed. “I mean, I get why he does it, since before Prism he couldn’t really full dive without getting really sick and nauseous. So he filled his time with exercise and stuff like old movies, games, and books.”

To the side, the redheaded mage’s eyes widened. “Oh? He can actually play Prism even with his VR sickness?”

“As far as I know, yeah. He hasn’t had any issues until now, apart from a bit of anxiety from when he first logged in. But that kind of goes without saying, since he’s never actually experienced being in a large crowd before.”

“Yeah, I kind of get that,” Mia mumbled, her mind seemingly elsewhere. “Prism is also the first VR game I’ve ever played.”

“I see,” said Bane. “Well, you’re keeping it together far better than he is.” He sighed and looked around, taking in the cool, morning air. They were almost out of the Ironwood Sea. And the small clearing where they had stopped to take a break afforded them a breathtaking view of the snowcapped mountains ahead of them. “So, Vala. Where to?”

“You see that dip between those two peaks over there?” she asked, pointing towards a small valley in between two of the tallest formations. “Once we reach that pass, it should only be another hour or so on foot.”

The color drained from Bane’s face. “You mean… we still have to reach those mountains… climb more than halfway up… and then we still have to walk another hour?!”

“Yup,” she grinned. “But hey, you should be fine since you’re already warmed up!”

They left behind the Ironwood Sea and began their slow ascent. The hills gradually became steeper the further they climbed until, finally, they reached a trail leading up the mountain side. The narrow path brought them all the way up to the pass as the trees around them shifted from the predominantly blue ironwood trees, to a strange species whose gray trunks spiraled out of the ground, coiling up into whirlwinds of purple-leafed branches.

As Mia spun around in wonder, they all stopped to look back on the blue sea of trees below, beyond which they could make out the distant towers of Alissey. But as their gaze wandered over the landscape, something… massive caught their eye.

Bane blinked incredulously, trying to put words to what was undoubtedly the thought going through everyone’s minds. “Tell me I’m not the only one seeing that.”

Far beyond to the left of Alissey, passed the horizon itself, was the faint outline of something so enormously tall, that it parted the clouds themselves before disappearing out of view; an impossibly large spear piercing through the heavens.

“I see it as well,” said Eris, taking a step closer to the cliff side. “We’re either all hallucinating in the exact same way, or that… spire really is there.”

The map between Vala’s hands crinkled as she rotated it in every possible direction. “There’s nothing on here anywhere near Alissey. There’s only a small symbol at the very edge of the map, beyond even the coastline. So, whatever it is, that thing isn’t even remotely close to Xeladia’s border.”

“So then,” said Mia, “how big does it even have to be for us to be able to see it all the way from here?”

The question went unanswered as the four simply stared for a while longer at the strange spire, before eventually turning around. An hour later, they hadn’t yet found the dungeon’s entrance. And with the light waning fast, their hope of reaching it by nightfall dwindled by the moment.

“I don’t get it,” sighed Vala, tapping the folded map against her palm. “We’ve searched this entire plateau. It has to be here somewhere…”

Looking around, Bane scratched the back of his head. “If you’re really sure that this is the place, then let’s just do another sweep.” They had already inspected every cliff face around them and nothing had stood out. Not even a shallow cave, let alone a passage or an entrance into a dungeon.

Irked, Vala raised her gaze towards the blonde woman. “How about it, Mia? Does that book of yours mention anything more?”

“Uhm, let me check,” she replied, unhooking the small chain of the tome strapped to her waist. As she began to flip through the yellowed pages, Eris came up beside her, curiosity seemingly peaked.

“Wait,” said the redheaded mage, leaning in closer. “Does that book actually have information on your quest?”

Mia nodded. However, it soon became apparent that the old pages would yield no answer. “I’m sorry… I can’t find anything in here.”

As Vala sighed once more, opening the map, Bane could have sworn he heard something. His wolf-like ears perked, he stepped away from the others and listened carefully. Gone were the songs of the birds that had accompanied them throughout their journey. Even the rustling of the nearby trees had grown silent.

“Are you okay?”

He nearly jumped at the sound of Mia’s voice. Gesturing her to be quiet, he closed his eyes. A faint, sickening warble sent the hair on the back of his neck shooting up. “There’s something over there,” he whispered, pointing to the opposite side of the small plateau.

“We already checked that place,” said Eris.

“I know, but I definitely heard something.” He then saw the mage glance at the top of his head and shrug. “Let’s just go and take a look.”

When they neared the cliffside, the warbling sound rang out once more, causing both of the party’s half-beasts to shudder and cup their hands over their ears.

“What the fuck is that noise?” groaned Vala as the sound died down.

A torch appeared inside of Bane’s hand, followed by a set of flint and steel. As the sparks hit the imbibed rag, the fire roared to life, chasing away the shadows. Hidden behind a large rock, resting against the mountainside, was a narrow entrance.

With her shield out, Vala took the torch and inched closer. The gap itself was tall enough for her to pass through easily. They all followed her in, entering sideways as they slowly made their way through the narrow tunnel, one step at a time.

****

Mia felt as if the walls were closing in around her, her pulse rising by the moment. ‘It’s okay, you can still move… Just focus on everyone else and try to keep up…’

She breathed a heavy sigh of relief as they left the narrow passageway and entered a large, circular chamber. The walls glistened in the torch’s trembling light, enough for them to gauge the size of the place, but not enough for them to make out anything else.

“Stay close,” Vala’s voice echoed as she led the party forward, weaving through a field of stalactites and stalagmites.

Mia shrank closer to the others, hiding behind Bane as she looked around. ‘This was supposed to be a fun adventure. Not… an endless sea of nothing.’ A heavy, damp smell lingered in the air, preventing her from taking any sort of deep breath. And as the sound of their steps reverberated throughout the cavern, they then came across a doorway carved straight into the craggy surface of the chamber.

Unlike everything else around, the smooth walls of the entrance in front of them curved into a perfect arch that led further into the mountain. Beyond it stood a curtain of impenetrable darkness, against which even their torches seemed powerless.

Shield raised, Vala stepped closer, holding out the torch in front of her. The flickering light grew dimmer as it passed through the tall archway. Visibly confused, the taur woman made another step and jerked to a halt. “Well,” she said, lowering her shoulders, “I think it’s safe to say that this is it.” As they passed through, the world around them became somehow… muted.

You have entered the hidden dungeon Shrine of the Defier.

It took Mia a moment to realize that she could barely hear the crackling of the torch anymore, and that its light seemed dimmer. Even the heavy steps of Vala’s sabatons had turned into little more than dull thuds.

“Man…” said Bane, his voice reduced to that of a whisper despite him being right next to everyone, “this place is every kind of wrong, all rolled into one.”

No one answered, but the expressions on everyone’s face left little to the imagination. The lycan took out another torch, hoping that it would lessen the oppressive veil of darkness surrounding them. The added light granted them a temporary reprieve as they could finally see the long, narrow corridor they found themselves in. The smooth, leveled walls extended all the way up to the tall, stone ceiling, propped up by rows of narrow pillars on both of their sides.

Interspersed between the pillars were shattered stone statues; headless figures of the same female wearing a segmented set of heavy, spiked armor. The strange, fragmented symbols etched onto the stone armor seemed to repeat themselves from what she could piece together. But as they neared the corridor’s end, rustling, skittering sounds came from the dark archway in front of them, wrenching her attention away from the alien patterns.

Two more headless statues, one on each side of the massive entrance, greeted them. However, unlike the others, these two weren’t simply shattered but also had long, deep gashes mauled across their torsos. And as Bane brought his flame closer, he doubled over, dropping his torch and covering ears as the same low, warbling sound they heard before resonated from within the chamber in front of them.

He leaned against one of the statues, grabbing his torch as Vala placed hers in the cracked, stone hand next to her head. Unable to even see more than a couple of steps in front of them, they all entered wearily, on the lookout for whatever had made that sickening sound.

“Shit,” groaned Bane, shaking his head as he then tried to pierce the darkness around them. “Again, what the fuck was that?”

“No idea,” said Eris, small wisps of cold air emanating from her hand. “But we could really use a bit more light.”

With her shield raised and her mace at the ready, Vala inched forward. “Agreed. Mia, do you have any other spell in that book of yours that could help us out?”

Hearing her name, the petite blonde froze for a second before she rushed to unclasp the tome from her waist. Her mind raced as her fingers went to work. ‘Healing, healing over time… damage shield. Mirror image…?’ Confused, her gaze lingered a moment before she went back to furiously turning pages. Just as she was about to give up, her hands stopped at a picture of the same symbols she had seen over and over on the torsos of the shattered statues. “Guys,” she said, her eyes widening with each word she read, “I think I’ve found something. Close your eyes!”

“Hurry it up,” Vala called out. “We’re not the only ones in here.”

Right arm raised, Mia snapped the book shut with her other hand and concentrated, the air around her glowing faintly.

“Bright Light, guide my path…

Set all right, and show your wrath!

Blinding Flash!”

Blinding Flash (Spell)

Rank:ApprenticeLevel:1 (0.0%)

Magic School:Light

Harness the light around you, allowing you to temporarily blind everyone around you. The effect lingers for a while longer after the initial flash, providing you with a steady source of light.

‘Bright Light,

Guide my path,

Set all right,

And show your wrath!’

Blind Duration: 1.5 seconds

Ambient Light Duration: 5 minutes

Mana Cost:10

Chantless Cast Time:0.5s

Cooldown:30.0s

The motes of light around her pulsed and swirled into a point above her head as it then flashed and shot up towards the chamber’s ceiling. Several shrieks echoed around them as even with the warning, their eyes still teared up. A moment later, Mia opened her eyes. But she soon wished she hadn’t.

Around them stood five hideous creatures, shrieking and shaking their heads. The multitude of elongated eyes on their dog-like snouts blinked out of sync as the entirety of their skinless bodies undulated. The tentacle-like muscles of their bent, misshapen legs stuttered back and forth as their snouts split open into three, teeth-filled segments that let loose yet another series of high-pitched shrieks.

Taking a step back, Mia’s gaze fell upon the name of the nightmarish hounds. ‘Level 5… Spawn of Mel’Hakath…?’

Immediately, one burst into a fountain of dark fluid. The thing continued to twitch as Eris impaled it with two more icicles, finally silencing it with a third shot to its neck.

“Bane!” Vala yelled, snapping the lycan to attention. “Take out the one closest to you and intercept anything that gets past me!”

“Right!”

The taur slammed her mace and shield together, loosing a deafeningly loud clang. Dropping his torch, the lycan dashed behind one of the monstrous spawns and plunged his daggers into the sides of its neck, forcing a gargled shriek out of the creature. It thrashed around, knocking Bane to the side, and then slowly turned to face him. Pitch-black blood gushed out of its wounds with each twitch of the twitching muscles that made up its body. The monster growled and lowered itself as it sprung towards him, latching onto the lycan’s leg and toppling him to the ground.

Bane screamed and slashed at the creature’s head, as almost a fifth of his health vanished. He missed, barely nicking one of its snout’s toothy segments, as an icicle impaled the beast’s side, causing it to stagger away.

“Need some help here!” yelled Eris, her hand still raised as she backed away from one of the creatures.

With Bane back on his feet, he reversed the grip on his daggers before rushing the wounded beast. The hell hound jerked its head towards him, snapping at air as the lycan sidestepped. He then spun around, turning the evasive maneuver into a spinning slash. His blade split open the creature’s side and, as the lifeless body slumped to the ground, he kicked off in Eris’ direction.

Icicle in hand, the redheaded mage stared down the circling hell spawn. The moment the monster lowered its stance, Eris brought her arm down, unleashing her spell. But the ice spike shattered on impact with the ground as the beast jumped to the side and then tackled her! The monster maw bloomed open to reveal its needle-shaped teeth, shrieking at the redheaded mage pinned beneath its limbs. Aiming for her neck, its mouth instead latched onto Eris’ forearm as she tried to punch the creature off of her.

Upon hearing the mage’s scream, Mia’s heart jumped into her throat. She raised her hand, light pulsing around her, and focused only on the warmth radiating from within her.

“Fuck… OFF!” yelled Eris, conjuring another icicle and using it to impale the hound’s temple, just as Bane’s daggers plunged into the sides of its back. She shoved the corpse off if her, the throbbing in her arm disappearing along with Mia’s healing spell. But before either of them could catch their breaths, the air around them trembled violently as another low, guttural warbling filled the chamber.

Bashing the final creature aside, Vala fell to one knee and brought her hands to her ears. She glanced around, her narrowed eyes falling onto the mangled flesh of the spawn she had already killed and then onto the three other dead monstrosities. “Bane!” she yelled, returning her focus to the last limping hell hound, “give me a hand! Mia, light this place up again! And try to find the source of that infernal noise!”

“Okay!” Mia replied, her hand already high up. Upon uttering the final word of her chant, the chamber lit up once more. And as the initial flash subsided, she and Eris began looking around. They could make out several dark outlines spiraling up along the smooth, circular walls, windows of some kind, and the lip of a platform, high up near the ceiling. ‘That has to be it, but how are we even supposed to get up there?’

Startled by the gentle tug on her arm, she turned to see Eris pointing towards an archway located on the opposite side of the entrance. They both nodded. Grabbing the torch that Bane had thrown down, Mia signaled the other two just as they had finished off the last spawn. She then passed Vala the light just in time for the shield maiden to take the lead.

The shadows melted away as they burst through the archway and into an old, circular staircase. The seemingly endless flight of stairs curved around the still lit chamber below. But the higher they climbed the more Mia felt her lungs burn. By the time they had all crossed the threshold onto the upper platform, she could barely stand, let alone look up from her feet. So, not seeing the source of that hellish, low warble made her skin crawl even more.

“Hey…” whispered Bane, taking half a step back, “what the hell is that?”

In front of them, encased in a stone shell taller than even Vala, was an eyeless, jet-black snail. Made up entirely of long, twisting tendrils, the monstrosity seemed rooted in the puddle of dark slime oozing out from underneath it.

A gentle wave of cold air washed over them as Eris conjured a large icicle above her palm. “I think it’s safe to say that we’ve found Mel’Hakath,” said the mage, carefully bringing her arm up towards the creature. “And I really doubt that it takes too kindly to random strangers killing its… spawn.”

Raising her shield, Vala handed the torch back to Eris. “And I assume the golden skull next to the level 6 marker means that this is the dungeon’s boss.”

No sooner had the taur finished speaking that the entire chamber began to shake. High above, near the arched ceiling, a bright, purple orb had appeared. Immediately, it picked up speed as it started to spin, causing glowing cracks to race through the walls, pulsing in sync with the purple sphere.

You have engaged Mel’Hakath, the Dungeon’s Rift Keeper.

The giant snail’s shell shimmered with the exact same sickly hue as the orb above. It then groaned as it struggled to lift itself above the ground, a toothless, gaping maw emerging from between the squirming, obsidian tendrils. And, as it let out another ear-splitting warble, it expelled three twitching piles of dark flesh. Underneath everyone’s gaze, the masses contorted, growing and solidifying into three new level 5 spawns.

“Shit,” Bane groaned, bringing the back of his palm over his mouth. “I think I’m gonna be sick…”

But before the newly created hounds could react, Vala charged the closest one. Twisting her torso, she slammed her foot down and rammed the hell spawn, flinging it completely off of the platform!

Eris followed suit, impaling an icicle clear through the head of one of the hounds, sending it toppling towards the edge. Stifling a shudder, Bane ran towards the half-dead creature and kicked, sending it hurtling towards its impending doom.

The last of the three hell spawns shrieked and lowered itself, before bolting towards Mia. She froze, unable to move as the alien monstrosity barreled towards her. But a moment later, Vala stepped in front of her and Eris. Before the hound could even react, she battered it to the side with her shield and then brought her mace down, hammering the creature’s head into the ground. Slimy, black strings of flesh clung to the weapon as Vala lifted it up with a squelch.

“You okay?” the shield maiden asked between breaths, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead. Mia simply nodded as Vala turned to face the boss. However, the humongous tendril snail had already spawned four more hellish hounds. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

Instantly, the creatures shrieked and dashed, their sights still set on Mia, as the group scrambled to intercept and dispatch them. But by the time they had killed them, Vala could hardly move, her stamina almost completely drained. And Bane and Eris weren’t far behind, with both of them hovering just above a third of their stamina and mana. The four braced themselves, preparing for another wave of hell spawns that never came.

The four of them stared on in horror as the snail-like shell split and opened up to reveal dozens of pitch-black eyes, twitching and turning in every direction. High above, behind Mel’Hakath, the purple orb shimmered, akin to a beating heart. The monster froze, becoming completely motionless for a mere moment as it simultaneously shifted all of its eyes towards them.

The color faded from Bane’s face. “Oh fu–” he managed, before the platform began to glow, a huge wave of pressure slamming them to the ground and knocking the air right out of them.

You have been affected by Mel’Hakath’s Dark Bind. Speed -99%, Stamina Cost +99%.

“Shit,” he groaned, straining to look around them, “I feel as if… someone dumped a building over me…”

Gritting her teeth, Vala tried to push herself up. However, no sooner had her knees left the cold stone that she then felt another wave of force pressing against her. “Seems like… some sort of gravity spell,” she said, gasping for each breath of air.

“Hey…” Eris whispered, her gaze transfixed on the squirming mass of eyes and tendrils. “What the hell is it doing now?”

Small spell circles appeared around the pupils of every one of Mel’Hakath’s eyes, glowing in sync with the beat-like pulse of the orb behind it. Bright runes and symbols lit up around the platform’s edge, connecting to form an even larger magical circle. And as even more symbols appeared, working their way towards the formation’s center, another system notification chimed.

The ritual spell Offering To The Forgotten One has begun. 117 seconds remaining.

An expression of confusion and panic washed over Eris. “We have to do something!” she yelled, looking at both Bane and Vala’s dwindling stamina. “I can maybe interrupt it for a bit with the mana I have left, but I need you guys to finish it afterwards!”

“Guys,” Mia whispered, forcing out each word as the rest turned to look at her. “I can restore… Vala’s stamina since she’s… the worst off.”

The two half-beasts and the mage exchanged glances and nodded. “Alright,” said the taur, “Eris, on her mark, go for it.”

With her trembling hand extended towards the shield maiden, Mia took a deep breath and began to chant, wisps of light circling around her.

“Beacon of Light, with thy heart so pure…

Renew their might, and let them endure!

Radiant Vigor!”

Radiant Vigor (Spell)

Rank:ApprenticeLevel:1 (0.0%)

Magic School:Light

Infuse an ally with Light, restoring their stamina.

‘Beacon of Light,

With thy heart so pure,

Renew their might,

And let them endure!’

Mana Cost:15

Spell Power:20.8

Chantless Cast Time:1.5s

Cooldown:30 Minutes

The air around Vala shimmered and swirled as a wave of light radiated from her, filling up her missing stamina almost completely. And as soon as Mia had finished casting her spell, Eris raised her hand. Three floating spikes of ice materialized around her that then shot towards the boss, impaling two of its eyes!

The effects of Dark Bind have faded.

As Bane and Vala charged towards Mel’Hakath, Mia’s gaze fell upon the Status Effect icon still flashing to the side of her vision. ‘Offering To The Forgotten One… 53 seconds?!’ Her eyes widened as she called out. “Guys! You have to end it in less than 50 seconds!”

The taur alternated between mace and shield attacks, pummeling and dazing the abomination as the lycan hacked away at its back, severing and maiming dozens of tendrils and jet-black eyes. With less than 10 seconds left and barely any of its health remaining, the nightmarish creature unleashed another ear-splitting warble. As everyone rushed to cover their ears, the boss began to reform and retreat inside its shell.

“Oh no you fucking don’t!” screamed Bane, jabbing both of his daggers in between two exposed segments. As the stone carapace began to squeeze his arms, he also felt the squirming tendrils trying to pierce his arms, along with a bizarre, burning sensation spreading over his hands. With a twist of his daggers, the warbling ceased.

You have defeated the Rift Keeper Mel’Hakath!

You have gained 510 experience points.

You have reached level 4!

You have reached level 5!

As a reward for completing the Dungeon, party member Banefang has been awarded the Passive Skill Darkness Affinity.

The giant shell disintegrated, as Bane collapsed, freeing his arms that were now stained black by what they could only assume to be the creature’s blood.

“Mending Light!”

With her healing spell already in effect, Mia sat herself next to the two half-beasts. She sighed, observing the purple orb near the chamber’s ceiling that had all but disappeared.

Her view suddenly shifted as she collapsed onto her back, a familiar feeling washing over her. She tried to move her arms… her legs. Nothing. “Oh no… No! Not here as well…” she whimpered, struggling in vain to move her body as her voice also began to fade, tears welling in her eyes. ‘No, wait… something’s different… I can’t move my head either.’

Mia glanced around, trying to find any sort of clue as to what had happened. She then saw Eris stepping over her as the mage discarded a small, blue vial. Her eyes widened as she finally noticed another Status Effect icon, along with a new system notification.

Eris has left the party.

Paralyzed by opponents Freeze Lock. Movement impaired for 30 minutes or until damaged.