“This is the warrior library?”

TidalWave looked at the decrepit old building with skepticism. From the description Seven had given Third of the huge library inside the Magi Guild of Lum he had expected something similarly extravagant from the fighters guild.

Unfortunately, it seemed that they didn’t have the same funding as the illustrious magi.

TidalWave saw Roxxy and IEatTortillas visibly deflate as they also took in the sight of broken wood and glassless windows that seemed like a slight breeze would tear it down. TidalWave would have believed it to be a failing store rather than the center of a guild within one of the continent’s biggest cities.

“I don’t think warriors are respected over here.” IEatTortillas was hesitating to walk in, “Since paladins are part of the church and only magi are in high demand.”

“There’s just no place for the poor sword wielders.” Roxxy shook her head sadly, then she immediately perked up, “Let’s see what washed up old farts live here.”

The tank walked into the building and TidalWave watched with a smile as IEatTortillas almost smacked his head against the low hanging door frame. Then he followed them through the doorway and was confronted by a crotchety old man eyeing him and his teammates with suspicion.

“What do you want?” The old man got straight to the point, “If you’re looking to buy we’ve got nothing.”

‘This is why there are a separate weapon and armour shops.’ TidalWave recalled having to go somewhere else in Lum to have to buy his equipment.

“Oh-oh,” Roxxy immediately walked forward and greeted the old man, “We’re looking for a library. A warrior library.”

“Do I look like I read?” The old man snipped back at her and then turned around, “Whether or not there’s a library is none of your business.”

“But we’re fighters.” IEatTortillas walked forward with a frown, “We have a right to access the library if there is one. You’re the fighters guild aren’t you?”

TidalWave was chagrined to see that the old man was continuing to face the opposite direction, staring blankly at a wall.

“I think he’s going to ignore us until we leave.” Roxxy circled the old man curiously and giggled as he moved his head to face away from her at all times, “Curious old guy aren’t you.”

They felt a wave of disappointment cross over their bodies. They had looked forward to this after reading Seven’s messages. Even Archy had gone to see if the ranger’s guild offered anything similar.

“We have money.” TidalWave tried a different tactic.

The old man turned around at the mention of cash and his eyes glinted. But he didn’t make any attempt to talk to them.

TidalWave saw his change in posture and smiled. Then he took out a coin from his inventory and began to roll it along his fingers, making sure to drag out the action for as long as possible.

“We have lots of gold.”

“Tons.”

Roxxy and IEatTortillas tried to back up TidalWave’s claim.

Roxxy even brought out a pile of gold coins to show the old man.

“Young heroes.” The old man instantly changed his attitude as he bowed low at the sight of the coins, “I regret to inform you all that although there is a library, it is inaccessible to those that have not passed the test of the fighter’s guild.”

-He’s faking his attitude- TidalWave wasn’t taken in by the act for a second.

He knew a trap when he saw one.

-Oh-my-God, I know right-

-Then let’s make him think we’ve fallen for it.-

Roxxy and IEatTortillas replied almost instantly.

“Test?” Roxxy’s eyes shone, she’d seen one of these ‘tests’ done before, when she’d visited the Magi Guild of Lum with Seven. “I love tests.”

TidalWave nodded in agreement as he eyed every movement the old man was making, “Sounds like fun. How do we take this test?”

-9999

[You have died.]

TidalWave barely got the words out of his mouth before a wooden sword was stabbed through his chest, a pair of glowing red and black eyes staring down at him. Then the sight was gone as his body slumped to the ground and he received notifications that Roxxy and IEatTortillas had been killed as well.

TidalWave quickly revived on the spot and frowned.

Normally he would have been sent to the city center. He hadn’t even lost any items or experience. He turned to face the unassuming old man that looked like he was about to go to sleep.

“I think we can start right now.” The old man waved his weapon in front of him.

“That’s being said a bit late.” TidalWave grinned in response, “I’ll warn you, I’m not one to back down from a challenge.

“No true fighter ever is.” The old man’s eyes began to shift and his skin changed into black and red plating, “You won’t win. You cannot. But if you can survive a few hits maybe I’ll consider it a nice distraction from being tied to this crap hole.”

TidalWave stood still as the old man disappeared and then he saw Roxxy being sliced in two by the reappearing old man.

-Damn it. and I just revived too!- She sent a message to the party.

The old man disappeared again and in the split second between his pause and his disappearance, TidalWave saw the old man shift his scaled feet towards him. TidalWave lifted his sword and his action caused a resounding thump as the old man’s sword smashed against his own.

His glowing eyes flickered with surprise, “Oh. Perhaps you have some potential.”

“But don’t let yourself get cocky.”

-9999

[You have died.]

His next swipe killed TidalWave. The attacks were coming in too quickly to see with the eyes.

“Okay.” TidalWave revived and eyed the old man with calculating eyes.

He hadn’t been this thoroughly destroyed since… no. He had never been this helpless against an opponent. The man was faster than him, stronger than him and obviously held the advantage in close quarters with that teleporting movement he was doing.

TidalWave felt his surroundings disappeared as he concentrated on the quickly transforming old man in front of him. There were spikes growing out of his back and his entire chest seemed to have transformed from tattered clothes into a luxurious and shining red and black armour. His spine was visible from behind him as he closed in on TidalWave’s teammates.

“Well, that’s some weapon you have there.” TidalWave remarked as he noticed that despite the creature’s strange appearance there was one thing standing out.

It was using a normal wooden sword.

It looked like it was worse than the starting weapon he’d been given by Barnacle.

The old man grinned and TidalWave could see his entire jaw had twisted into a demonic black jut. The thing’s head looked like a demented goat. Its body seemed like a suit of armour.

“What use are weapons if you do not have the skill to wield them.” The old man snarled, “And once you have the skill to fight, why would you need a weapon.”

TidalWave jumped back as he saw the old man shimmer and disappear again.

He lifted his sword and felt the enemy’s wooden weapon thump into it again. Instead of standing his ground he immediately allowed himself to be blasted back by the force of the blast and grinned as the old man disappeared again. He had managed to see where his opponent was pointing his feet before he’d used his trick.

‘I have you now.’

He sliced his sword upwards into the empty air and was satisfied to see it dig into the creature’s flesh.

*Clang*

Only for it to bounce off the enemy’s skin as though it was rubber.

He sighed and jumped back, followed closely by the wooden sword that was about to kill him. The enemy moved and struck so quickly it appeared like there were dozens of swords heading towards him in the air. He lifted his sword to defend against the oncoming onslaught but he could see his weapon wouldn’t meet it in time.

“Oh-oh-oh, don’t forget about me.”

The swords suddenly stopped a few centimetres away from his face as the goat-headed being was struck by a shield and froze in place. TidalWave took the opportunity to retreat back and quickly found himself flanked by Roxxy and IEatTortillas.

“You are not weak.” instead of pursuing them, their enemy stood still and laughed, “But you are not strong either.”

The air above his head shimmered gold and suddenly a green name appeared above his figure.

[Fighter’s Guild Branch Head; Azeroth.]

“Congratulations.”

Azeroth smiled menacingly and with a wave of his hand, his wooden sword began to transform into a brilliant blood-red blade.

“Now we can truly begin the test.”

He slashed at the air in front of him and the entire room was covered in darkness.

TidalWave hesitated as he saw that he was suddenly in a different location, Roxxy and IEatTortillas looking warily beside him. Then the darkness shifted to his side and before he could react he saw a sword pierce his body.

[You have died.]

“You want to call yourself a fighter? Then prove yourself. If you pass, I will personally welcome you to the big leagues.”

****

Seven gazed into the endless blue space with wide eyes.

One second she’d been talking to Muriel inside the library and the next she was transported into this place. A quick look at her stats told her that she still had the library’s buff placed on her so she was probably still there. Technically.

But it definitely seemed like she had been transported into a different world entirely.

“There’s not much variety, is there?” Seven tried to provoke a reaction from her surroundings but nothing happened.

She had heard a single ‘I will show you sorcery’ and then nothing.

She sat down and pondered her situation. Clearly she had triggered something by looking at that book and speaking to the witch, but she didn’t know what to do now. She couldn’t see anything except blue space. There was no furniture, no birds or trees. Even the library was nowhere to be seen.

She lifted her wand and began to fire magic blasts at random and sighed as they drifted endlessly in space before disappearing from sight.

“I hate puzzles.” She said glumly to no one in particular.

Then she had an idea. She lifted her wand and fired randomly into the air again, but this time tried to see carefully if she noticed something, anything, different.

Then she saw a slight glimmer as one of the magic blasts passed through an object.

‘There’s something there.’

She walked towards it and inspected the air carefully, but she couldn’t see it. Whatever was there was invisible to the naked eye unless she sent a magic blast through it.

‘Invisible?’

An idea crossed her mind.

She closed her eyes and concentrated. Slowly, ever so slowly, she began to see in her head several glowing balls that seemed to throb with magical power. She recognised them instantly, after all, she used them all the time.

Focus points.

But these weren’t her focus points. These were somebody else’s. One, two, ten, twenty, fifty.

There was one hundred in total.

‘So what am I meant to do here?’ Seven was in awe of the number of focus points being deployed to keep this place running but she was also confused.

They weren’t her focus points, so she couldn’t influence them in any way. She couldn’t even change the direction of her magic blasts because that was something she’d need to do with her own magic and concentration, not her opponent’s.

She decided to try it anyway.

She fired magic blast after magic blast into the nearest focus point while concentrating on it like she would with her own focus points. Nothing. She tried to create a focus point around the unknown ones and it immediately popped and she began to sweat. Her avatar actually sending beads of water down her forehead as her focus point was destroyed.

“Ugh.” She groaned and sat down again.

‘I’m not getting anywhere doing this.’ She decided to try a new approach.

“Hey.” She shouted into the air, “Can you tell me what you want me to do? Just abducting people and putting them right into a magical portal world is a terrible way to do things. Or whatever this is.”

“Silly child.”

Seven almost jumped out of her skin as Muriel appeared in front of her.

“If you wanted to cry and give up you should have just told me from the beginning. After all, sorcery is not for quitters. I will gladly send you back.”

‘Wait,’ Seven tried to think logically, ‘She’s just trying to provoke me. No need to stay in this place if I don’t even know I want to do this.’

“Like hell, I’m going to give up.” Seven suddenly found her mouth saying something different than what her brain was thinking, “Just give me a clue.”

“There is no clue. Sorcery is not about solving a puzzle, you either understand the nature of magic or you do not.” Muriel shook her head and with a wave of her hand she began to fade away, “Let me know if you wish to leave.”

‘Dang it.’ Seven didn’t want to leave but she didn’t have much hope of doing whatever it was the witch wanted her to do.

‘Focus points. Lots of focus points.’

Seven could only create four or maybe five focus points at most at one time. It was the ultimate defense she’d created to deflect Attracting’s blue light attack away from her body. As far as she knew Third could only create a few more than she could. But he definitely couldn’t come close to the number of focus points that she had seen floating around in this area around her.

‘But what are they doing?’ Seven closed her eyes again and tried to concentrate.

One by one the focus points entered into her vision and presented themselves in the air. Each one was hovering at an equal distance from the other but they didn’t actually seem to be functioning. There was no magic being sped through them, no deflections or changes in direction occurring.

If these focus points were being used then it was in a way she had never encountered before.

‘Don’t think too big.’ Seven chided herself and retracted her thoughts.

There were a lot of focus points but she chose to instead force all of her thoughts onto the one above her. It was both the closest and the one she had first seen. She poured all of her mind into this one focus point…

And saw nothing.

‘It’s not doing anything.’ Seven felt anger course through her before pushing it down.

It wasn’t the game's fault that she couldn’t solve this puzzle.

“Muriel.” Seven called out into the empty air, “I give up.”

“Excuse me?” Muriel once again appeared in front of Seven, almost giving her a heart attack, “You quit already? You were only here for ten minutes youngling.”

“I’m not giving up.” Seven’s fingers curled around her wand as she felt anger at her own inability, “But I know I can’t figure out what you want me to do. I want to know if I can leave and come back, later on, to try again.” She scrunched up her eyes and thought hard about what she was asking, “Once I’ve had some more time to study magic.”

Muriel’s eyes flickered with derision but then she paused and began to think.

Seven saw the change and recalled something that TidalWave had said to her during their numerous practice sessions, “I believe that retreating in an unwinnable situation is the right thing to do. After all, if I cannot overcome an obstacle today it doesn’t mean I won’t be able to tomorrow. I’d say its a temporary tactic, not a permanent escape.”

“You make sense youngling. Perhaps with such a logical mind, we’ll make a sorcerer of you yet.”

Muriel seemed satisfied as she heard Seven’s words and the nimble magi breathed a sigh of relief. She honestly had no idea if she would ever come back to this place. Let alone solve the puzzle as well.

But she sure as heck wasn't going to give up.

“Close your eyes.” Muriel commanded Seven and the girl complied readily.

Within a second she felt the air around her shifting and when she opened her eyes she was back inside the library.

She was in the exact same spot and the sorcerer’s constitution book was back on the table beside her.

“Let me know when you wish to come back, nimble magi.” Muriel didn’t seem too happy with the outcome, “But do not mistake me for a taxi service. I am not going to ferry you back and forth for free. Provide me with fifty gold and I will consider taking you back to take my test.”

Seven nodded halfheartedly but the truth was she was hardly paying attention to the old witch. The moment she’d returned to the library her chat window was hit with a series of messages that made her eyes go wide.

[Team member; TidalWave, has died.]

[Team member; Roxxy, has died.]

[Team member; IEatTortillas, has died.]

[Team member; TidalWave, has died.]

-Seven.- Third sent a message the moment he saw Seven was available to message, -You were in a zone where all messages were blocked. If you’re still at the Magi Guild of Lum please come outside.-

-Sure, sure.- Seven wanted to see what was going on.

Third didn’t seem too worried but somehow her teammates were dying over and over again.

[Team member; IEatTortillas, has died.]

She received a few notifications as she walked outside the library and was assured by Lass that she could enter again at any time today because she’d already paid.

Seven saw what Third had wanted her to see the moment she walked out of the guild, “What the heck is that.”

In the sky towards the other side of Lum was a pillar of smoke rising from the ground. Except that instead of being a normal grey colour the entire plume had transformed into a red and black colour that seeped into the sky menacingly and seemed to strangle the air and buildings it weaved around.

“A fire?” Seven peered at the top of the pillar and her eyes widened, “What…”

At the very top of the pillar was a floating dome of darkness that was large enough that even she could see it stretching almost like an arena. In the middle of the dome, an armoured person was fighting against three other individuals.

Roxxy, TidalWave, and IEatTortillas.

“That.” A hand clasped itself on her shoulder, “Is Azeroth. The branch leader of the Fighter’s Guild of Lum.”

Seven stared at the person that had appeared beside her and then looked back at the dome with interest.

“Barnacle. Hi.” She said pleasantly but continued to stare at TidalWave and her friends getting their asses whooped by the sword-wielding creature.

The priest chuckled at her lack of response and shrugged as he moved forward to inspect the fight, “So these are your teammates I suppose? I remember seeing you with a couple of them before. Back in Torkay.”

“Yeah.” Seven tried to analyse their opponent carefully, it looked like a human but had the head of a goat.

It was covered head to toe in black and red armour and its eyes glowed like a demon.

“Azeroth.” Seven mouthed the name, “I’ve never heard of him. Wait.” She turned to face Barnacle, “There’s a fighter’s guild?”

“Of course there is.” Barnacle looked like he was going to hit his own face with his palm at her words, “There’s a guild for almost every profession you can think of. Guilds are not the exclusive property of magi, no matter how much importance your folk place in yourselves.”

A whisper of agreement suddenly came out from nearby and Seven realised she was surrounded by priests similar to Barnacle that seemed to be watching the screen in the sky with interest and apprehension. She hadn’t seen this many priests since the expedition force had set out to fight the Corruptor.

“However,” Barnacle’s eyes seemed to glow white before returning to their normal colour, “the fighter’s guild is under the providence of god Varsha. They are not generally welcome within our continent, so it is rare to see such a powerful follower of Varsha within Zhalnor or Verms other domains.” He motioned to the priests standing nearby, “We do not often tolerate such transgressions willingly and his looks tend to scare the younger priests. His appearance is also a result of his faith in his god. Though I believe he is an old man when not utilising his powers to their full potential.”

“Wow.” Seven’s gaze turned to admiration at the figure smashing through TidalWave’s defenses, “Why wasn’t that guy sent to fight the Corruptor.”

Barnacle laughed but it was quickly muted as a nearby priest glared at him, “Ahem.” He made sure Seven was paying attention before continuing, “We do not allow him outside of the city. Unfortunately, the followers of Varsha are not completely… welcome in our continent. The Theocracy only allows certain key members of the fighter’s guild into their cities in order to promote their services to those few individuals that may require them.”

“And to keep an eye on them.” Seven was starting to get an idea of the restrictions the goat-headed man was under.

“Perhaps. I don’t mind keeping them as allies, so long as there are worse things lurking in the world for us to defend against.” Barnacle smiled and continued to watch the progression of the match, “The sly old fox probably didn’t even mention to your teammates that the fight is being displayed to the entire city.”

“Yeah, about that.” Seven winced as she saw Roxxy about to be stabbed through the stomach before the attack was blocked by a sword thrown by TidalWave, “Why is the fight being seen by everyone? That doesn’t seem like something that usually happens.”

To her it felt like something Archy would kick himself for missing out on. He would have loved to have been on display to the entire city.

Barnacle chuckled, “Perhaps you have not noticed since you are new to the continent, but there are a lot more adventurers seeking their fortunes across the entire world at the moment. Not all of these are priests, or even follow Verm. Some are fighters that would benefit more from following the fighter’s guild or even the god, Varsha.”

‘The players.’ Seven thought absentmindedly.

If there was one drastic change that was occurring it was the introduction of the players into the world of Zodiac. Of course, this would have some sort of impact on the game and its cities and factions.

“So I suppose he is taking this opportunity to advertise the strength of the Fighters Guild of Lum.” Barnacles' trademark smile glowed brightly as he stared at the fight, “It is not something Azeroth would do lightly. After all, there would be no spectacle if the people he chose to fight did not have some skills. It appears he decided to put these events into motion after deciding that your allies were skilled enough to demonstrate his own strength.”

“Damn right.” Seven said and immediately regretted as the priests sent her looks at her outburst, “I mean, yep. They’re skilled.”

She watched the fight progress with pride. Her teammates were dying less and blocking more and more attacks. Even though it seemed that Azeroth wasn’t phased by their attacks or their health it was clear that the goat man was slowly speeding up. He teleported to each player less and less as he took his time to jump through them and get behind them using normal movements.

He was even starting to blur in places where he was moving normally, he was simply moving that fast.

But when he teleported to TidalWave something unexpected happened. Instead of defending against Azeroth the warrior raised his sword and stabbed the goat-like head of his enemy. TidalWave was immediately blown back as the enemy's sword raised to defend but in that split second TidalWave managed to make a single cut with the edge of his sword. A small speck of blood dropping from Azeroth's cheek onto the ground.

The branch leader snorted and continued the assault, leaping towards the trio.

Even if he couldn't break through in an instant he would still inevitably kill them.

Then TidalWave lowered his sword and allowed Roxxy and IEatTortillas to instantly be struck down by Azeroth, who looked at him in confusion at the sudden surrender.

‘I see.’ Seven smiled.

-Please step back. Don’t interfere in the fight anymore.-

The moment Roxxy and IEatTortillas respawned she sent them a message, and up above she could see their eyes widen. But after a second both of them took a step back to the edge of the dome and left TidalWave and Azeroth alone.

Seven stared at TidalWave and her intensity caused the nearby Barnacle to narrow his eyes and gaze in contemplation at the fighters. He could sense that something was changing.

Seven could see TidalWave’s eyes lighting with an emotional fire as he lifted his sword towards Azeroth in challenge. She had seen the same look in his eyes dozens of times when they were fighting. Bloodlust. A result of his genuine love of battle. It only appeared when he had been pushed to his limit and had thought of a new tactic. It was a look that came with new vigor and new knowledge.

The knowledge that he’d found a way to win.

‘Okay then.’

Her lips tugged into a smile as she saw Azeroth hesitating in front of the lone warrior.

‘Show them what you’ve got.’