"Hmmmmm, quite peaceful isn't it?", Lydia stated.

"Yeah, it sure is", Gerhard agreed whilst lying down on a straw mat, hands under the back of his head with a grass stalk between his lips, twirling back and forth. The boy from the orphanage, William, was watching this with rapt attention, chin on his hands and squatting a respectful distance away from the 'angel'. He seemed to have grown quite attached to Gerhard.

"… really very peaceful".

"Yeah, it sure is", he agreed again, still with his eyes closed and not really paying much attention to her words.

In the background, the little boy William went, "Ooooooh!", as Gerhard completed a series of loops and counter swings more akin to a circus gymnast… with just the straw stalk.

"… why are we relaxing so peacefully?"

"Hmm? Isn't it because it is relaxing and peaceful?"

"… don't you think this scene is kind of strange?"

"Hmm? What is?", Gerhard almost yawned un-gentlemanlike, as he stretched his arms over his head, turning to the side to give William a wink. To which having been noticed, the boy scurried off to hide shyly behind the dress of Lydia.

"… seriously, why are we relaxing when we are in a pinch?", becoming agitated, and without realising it had reached down to gently stroke the top of William's head.

Gerhard look at her in surprise as he asked, "Can you define 'pinch' for me?"

"… we are LOCKED up in a cell"

"Eh?"

"Don’t 'EH' me! WHY DID WE ALLOW OURSELVES TO GET CAPTURED?!", Lydia yelled in exasperation.

"Are you sure? I thought we were invited for dinner?"

"There is something SERIOUSLY wrong with that statement, because…", she turned abruptly and bowled little William over in surprise, "WE ARE THE DINNER!", she exclaimed, pointing her arm out of the cell door towards a pair of Forest Giants stirring a relatively massive iron pot. Hearing the commotion, the pair looked up from their work and cheerfully waved back at them, while the boy looked up at her in disappointment, wishing she would continue patting his head.

"Lydia… why are you judging people based upon their appearance? I mean, look at Eric here", Gerhard flicked his thumb over to the silent brooding figure, leaning against the stone wall, who only glared back at Lydia, "he is actually a kind hearted man".

"… WHAT TYPE OF KIND HEARTED MAN SENDS DEATH BEAMS FROM HIS EYES?! And speaking of which", Lydia inhaled her breath deeply and slowly, "WHY IS HE STILL FOLLOWING US?!!"

"It's only until that Player Killer status you keep mentioning fades away. That's no problem, right?"

"... no, no, I mean, WHY with US?!"

To which Eric growled low, still unable to shake the persona he had acquired whilst playing Royal Road for so long, "Where he goes, I go".

"Gerhard… does that sound like someone intending to leave eventually?", Lydia pointed out… from behind the back of William.

Gerhard turned to Eric and said crossly, "Eric, please don't frighten Lydia. We already had a hard time convincing the boy that you are not scary"

Having been spoken to, Eric clicked his heels together and stood to rigid attention, replying, "Jawohl, mein Kommandant!"

"… please don't", Gerhard waved a hand in irritation, "We all know that I am unfit for that title..."

"I beg to differ", the giant countered, "you achieved a great victory against impossible odds".

"Yes, but at what cost? The total destruction of my command…"

"They were willing to die for you, that is all that matters"

Lydia looked at the pair of them in bafflement, "… weren't the two of you killing each other weeks ago… HOW CAN YOU GUYS PULL THAT 'UNDERSTANDING EACH OTHER THROUGH BLOWS' CRAP ON ME?!"

The two men looked at each other and chuckled, Eric showing a rare smile as Gerhard spoke for the both of them, "It's… how do you say it… we both also came from the same line of work. Kind of like a bond that comes from being in the same company"

"… Are you sure you are not a Japanese company employee...?", she sighed, "... the only thing missing is you volunteering to work over time. Oh wait", she placed a fist on the top of her palm, "you ARE working overtime!"

"Well, I was asked by the local villagers to locate the whereabouts of their missing cattle", Gerhard explained slowly to her, "after all, I was also a former detective".

"… it doesn’t take a detective to realise that", Lydia pointed to the giants again, "THEY ARE THE ONES EATING THEM!"

"Again with judging a book by its cover", Gerhard tsk tsk at her.

"Uuuuu if only my spells worked, I would have so incinerated them by now… and singe you a little bit", she chuckled evilly at the barely heard last words. Except William did and began to back away fearfully, step by step as he realised that maybe… she was probably scarier than Eric.

"Well, it can't be helped, apparently this forest is very Tolkien-ish, what with the absence of magic. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were Elves here too, like in The Lord of the Rings", Gerhard took the scared boy unto his lap and brushed William's hair to calm him.

"Wow. I am surprised you watched the movies, considering how much of an old geezer you act sometimes", she said in genuine surprise.

"Movies? What movies? I read the books when they first came out. Perhaps the only British author worth reading at the time", he smiled as Gerhard reminisced about the first copy of the book he received from his wife as a gift.

Lydia sighed to herself as she mumbled, "Stupid over enthusiastic role players..."

"But!", she pointed her finger at Gerhard accusingly, "Why didn’t you!", then to Eric, "Or you!", before crossing her arms under her ample chest, "At least put up a fight when they grabbed us out of nowhere!"

Eric just shrugged while Gerhard took a moment to ponder on it, before replying, "They can hide surprisingly well can't they?"

"… HOW CAN YOU MISS A FOUR STOREY TALL GIANT!"

"… didn't you fail to notice it too?"

"… t.. that's beside the point!", Lydia blushed as she yelled, "You're suppose to notice these sort of things!"

Gerhard looked to Eric and the two men somehow managed to exchange a few words with their gaze.

'……….. incomprehensible'

'I know, right?', Eric's eyes managed to communicate back, 'My wife does that to me sometimes, too'.

They both nodded solemnly to one another to which Lydia noticing turned even redder. "And furthermore", she continued to barrel forward to hide her embarrassment, "is it just me, or have you become even weaker recently", looking at Gerhard critically.

"Hmm, now that you have pointed it out, I guess you are right", Gerhard agreed, "Foes used to be much easier to slay… those 'mobs' as a generic term for enemies of all sort as you explained… it seems that they have either gotten faster, or I can't seem to inflict substantial damage on them at all"

"Herr Kommandant", Eric piped in, "Might I be able to see your Avatar Window? I have some experience in bringing out great performance in our alter bodies".

Gerhard laughed, "Yes, I have kind of experienced it with your heavy fists. Alright then", he set William aside unto the mat as Gerhard stood up, "how do we do this?"

Eric walked until he was side by side with Gerhard before saying, "First call out your Avatar Window"

"Character info!", Gerhard did as told, "Now what?"

"With purpose say, 'Share info with Eric'"

"Share info with Eric!", Gerhard scratched the back of his head, "Doing this… is kind of embarrassing"

"It's only for a moment... and I can see it now. Excellent, let's see a Sword Singer? A new class...?", to which Eric stopped abruptly, his face becoming an unreadable mask that made Lydia very curious.

"Sir… how long have you been playing like this?", Eric enquired in a low voice.

"Hmmm? Since I first came into this world, I suppose"

"I see…"

"What, what?!", Lydia, her journalistic core going into overdrive from her curiosity, as she began to hassle Eric, overcoming her natural fear of him, "Did he allocate points into something useless like Charisma or Intelligence? After all", she turned her nose up at Gerhard, "he sure needs every help he can get".

"Sir…", Eric said with absolute respect in his voice, "Can you please share it with her, too".

"? Alright", Gerhard sighed, as she came over and stood next to him, "Share info with Lydia! Damn… this is way too embarrassing".

"Time to laugh at your horrible build", she teased… before her eyes almost bulged out of her head when his Avatar Window became visible.

"Well… what is it?", Gerhard asked in consternation.

"You……", Lydia began, "you, you, you IDIOT!", she grabbed the back of Gerhard's head and almost slammed him face first into the Character Window, pointing at a figure glowing red at the bottom of the screen, "WHAT IS THIS?!"

"Lydia, you are hurting me…"

"WHAT is THIS?!", she tapped the image repeatedly.

Sighing, Gerhard shifted his gaze to read what was on the screen.

"It says: ‘unused stat points’"

"No…. what is with this figure!"

CHARACTER INFOAvatarGerhard von NatzmerAlignmentGoodLevel83ClassSword SingerTitleKnightFame280StatsHealth3460Mana140Strength60 +25Agility50 +25Vitality89 +25Wisdom10 +20Intelligence10 +20Stamina90 +20Fighting Spirit90 +20Singing34 +80Charisma78 +20Leadership108 +20Luck14 +20Offence50Defence50Magic ResistanceFire0%Water0%Earth0%Air0%Light0%Dark0%

All stats are added extra 20 points.

Singing stat is added extra 80 points.

When singing all stats increase by 20%.

Increases Attack Power for Sword Song.

Decreases Mana Consumption for Sword Song.

Enables you to learn secret skills based on your performance to the Gods.

Increases Fame by performing in front of an audience that's more than 1000.

Unused Stat Points: 410

"It says 410?"

"YOU HAVE ESSENTIALLY BEEN PLAYING WITHOUT ALLOCATING YOUR STATS, YOU IDIOT! PLEASE PUT IT ALL IN INTELLIGENCE!", Lydia cried out in a voice filled with despair.

"Hmm", Eric said from the side as he analysed the data, "you basically got the other stats from completing basic training, the 5 extra from equipment… and your class change."

"Did I do something wrong?", Gerhard looked to the both of them in bafflement as Lydia went to a corner and sat down woozily.

"….No, Sir… you have been doing something amazing…"

*********************************************************************************************

INTRO SONG: Kono Sekai e Moeru

*********************************************************************************************

As soon as Eric made sure that Gerhard spread his points out and to be doubly sure he didn’t missed anything, he made Gerhard open his skills window as well. True to form, another oddity greeted Eric's sight.

SKILLS WINDOWPassiveForced March (Intermediate)Lv.1 (57%)When singing whilst in an allied group of more than 5, movement speed is increased to all members due to your motivating song

+ 10%Herald of the King (Intermediate)Lv.1 (57%)When singing whilst in an allied group of more than 5, your leadership is increased temporarily.

+ 5 minsLord of Battles (Intermediate)Lv.1 (57%)When singing whilst in an allied group of more than 5, attack power is increased to all members due to your motivating song. Additional effects on your sword mastery.

+ 10%EnduranceLv.8 (78%)Reduces physical damage inflicted by the enemy.

- 5%Sword Mastery (Intermediate)Lv.4 (18%)Increases attack power and speed for equipping a sword.ActiveSword SongLv.1 (0%)Increases attack speed and critical chance. If leadership higher than opponents, additional effect of 'slowed' is applied on enemies.

Mana consumption: 40 per secondWords of IronLv.1 (0%)Chance to turn enemies or convince NPCs to do the unreasonable for a limited duration.

Mana consumption: 10Rare Skills AchievementTrue Warrior"To a real warrior, power perceived may be power achieved."

You are a strangeness in this world, unbound by the laws that dictate the lives of its denizens. You have relied on nothing but what was given at birth, and triumphed over great foes, never tasting the sleep of death.

Survived the first 50 levels without allocating Bonus Stat Points, used an Active Skill or suffered Death. Once per day, you may choose to augment any single attack for 4x extra damage. [Please choose mode of activation: Spoken or Motion]

'Rare skills achievement?', Eric read the title to himself, 'I have never seen or heard of this before', his eyebrows arching up as he also noticed that Gerhard had never once used his active skills. Turning to the crouching figure of Gerhard, who was busy playing rock-paper-scissors with the little boy, they were all interrupted by a scream.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaa! L… let me go!!!!", Lydia squealed as she was lifted into the air in the fists of one of the Forest Giants, "I am not tasty, I swear! Look at that red armoured man over there!!!", she pointed to Eric, "Doesn’t he look like a tasty lobster!!!!!? He also has a lot of muscle, so he is lean and healthy for you!"

A visible vein began throbbing on the side of Eric's head before Gerhard clapped him on the shoulder, "Well… she is always like that. You will get used to it"

"… should we help her?"

It was Gerhard's turn to look up at Eric with an arched eyebrow, "You and I both know they are not going to harm her", before walking away, taking the hand of William in his as they both waited for their turn to be picked up by the giants.

"True", Eric shrugged his shoulders.

Lydia continued to struggle vainly, until she was deposited onto the table, before running about in a blind panic, reaching the table edge and peering over… only to realised it was too high to jump down from. Sitting back on her bottom, she could only hug her knees to her chest as Lydia swayed back and forth whilst crying, "Uuuuuu, I never wanted to know what it feels like to be eaten".

She felt a tug on her shoulder, Lydia continuing to ignore it, but it was so insistent that finally she lost her temper and looked up in annoyance, "WHAT?!"

William took a step back, looking fearful before raising a hand to point behind her. Sighing in resignation, she turned… only to be greeted by an amazing sight.

Sitting down cross legged in front of a spoon as long as a car, Gerhard was leaning over it with a metal cup taken from his bag. Scooping the hot steaming liquid into the cup and blowing gently on it, he brought it to his lips before drinking it down slowly.

"Fräulein… this is delicious!", Gerhard complimented towards one of the Forest Giants, both almost distinctly unrecognisable from the other, however, one of them placed their hands on their cheeks and blushed.

"T...THANK YOU", she replied, the voice so loud that the air pressure threatened to burst the puny humans' eardrums. She promptly placed her hands over her mouth and somehow managed to look apologetic.

"I see why you don't speak often", Gerhard rubbed his ears gingerly, "Well, come here, William, I will cool some for you. You too, Eric, come try it as well", the little boy already sitting down on Gerhard's lap happily.

"…. why aren't we eaten yet?", Lydia confused, walked towards Gerhard, warily keeping an eye on the giants.

"Hmm? It's because they are vegetarians".

"… and how do you KNOW this?"

"Obviously, from their teeth, of course"

Lydia switched her gaze from the giants to Gerhard as she exclaimed in surprise, "What?!"

Sighing, Gerhard lifted the now cool liquid towards William's lips and then wrapped the boy's hands around the cup as he finally looked up at Lydia.

"They are vegetarian because of their teeth", Gerhard pointed toward his own, "We are omnivores because we have different sets of teeth to eat both plants and animals. Herbivores and carnivores only have one set of teeth, due to the reason that they are specialised for their preferred food"

Looking at Lydia with a gaze that seemed to say 'go back to primary school', "Carnivores have long canines… herbivores have….?", Gerhard waited for her to come up with the right answer.

Eventually, it clicked for her and she finally noticed that the giants had massive flat molars, which was shown as they talked to one another in low hushed tones, although it was still so loud that the humans could hear them quite well.

"The reason why we never fought back was because they never had any intention to hurt us in the first place", Gerhard finished.

Lydia fell to her knees as she stammered, "so… so I was the only one worrying for nothing!"

"Well, truthfully there was always a chance that I was wrong, however", Gerhard smiled, "neither me nor Eric felt any killing intent".

"And now we come to the crux of our situation", he raised his head up to catch the attention of one of the giants, "Why exactly have we been brought here? I don’t think kidnapping us just to share some dinner was your primary goal?"

The two giants looked to one another, before one embarrassedly bow their head, and said in a low voice so as to not hurt the human's ears again, "Well… me and my missus rarely have guests around the home… and you little people tend to run away screaming, ya see. But this time we needed some help, ya see. So, that’s why we went looking for little people, and", the creature pointed towards the cell "put you'se lot inside our bird cage, so that you can fulfil our request", it finished in a rush, almost sheepishly.

"Wow… this game has some very big birds", Gerhard said, intrigued.

"IS THAT WHAT YOU’RE FOCUSED ON?!", Lydia yelled in exasperation, "More like the fact that we might be given a dangerous quest!"

To which Gerhard asked the giants, "So, what is your request?". In the background, the sound of Lydia groaning could be heard… which is an understatement, because she was actually screaming and Eric was forced to silence her... by placing a hand over her mouth.

"Wells’sar, something has been leaving dead carcasses of cows all around our home. And I managed to follow the trail but it ended in a cave", the giant looked sad, "little people always blame us for everything and we were chased out of our last home. Please, find what did it and stop it. Save the little people's cows"

*Tring!

Quest Updated: Dang Cows Gone Walkabouts

You have found a clue as to the possible whereabouts of the farmers missing cows. Stumbling upon the giants, they have given you new leads that points towards a creature feeding on the livestock and leaving a blood trail towards a nearby cave.

Difficulty: D

Quest Reward:

20 Fame

10 Gold coins

"Well then", Gerhard stood up and turned to his friends, "shall we get going then?"

*********************************************************************************************

"Hermann?"

"Hmm? What is it dear?"

"Do you think that Max is actually doing what he is supposed to in that game of his?"

"You mean meeting papa? I am sure Max is being a good boy….I hope", he furrowed his brow in worry.

"I do wish he is not being naughty and chasing after girls", she said in worry, chin on her hand as she leaned over the back of the chair Hermann was sitting on.

Hermann almost spluttered out his coffee as he tilted his head upwards to look at his wife, "You don't have to worry about that dear", he chuckled.

"True… the girls might be chasing him instead", she looked at Hermann, annoyed.

"Huh? What did I do?"

"Hmph!"

*********************************************************************************************

Dear Miss von Natzmer…. please be reassured, that such a thing will never happen. Unless he owes them a considerable amount of money…. BECAUSE THEY LENT IT TO HIM… not those other things people are imagining….AHEM *cough* *cough*, back to the adventure…

"Waaaaait for meeee!", Max cried, chasing after the departing backs of the Samurai twins.

"Masumi, do you hear something?"

"No, nee-san. Could it be the wind?"

"Hmm, I don't think so. It almost sounded like someone we used to know…"

"Eh...?", Masumi decided to listen closely, "You could be right, nee-san"

Spinning around sharply, Mayumi exclaimed, "WHY, isn't it our AIR friend, Max?!"

The words like daggers impaling his heart, he stuttered, "Wait, I can explain.."

"No, no it's fine", Mayumi said sadly, pretending to wipe away fake tears, "we had always known you were lonely… but we are so happy that you have managed to make an AIR friend".

"Guuuh!", another mortal blow to his fragile heart as Lorelei whispered in his mind.

"Are you ok? You seem to be having heart pains", she asked in worry.

"I..I'm fine… just suffering from critical strikes", he replied unwittingly before freezing and returning his gaze to Mayumi.

Sure enough, there was an expression of deep pity on her face. The misunderstanding happened just a few days ago, when he was caught apparently talking to himself. Max didn’t know why Lorelei wanted to be kept a secret from the others, but he made a promise and, as his father and grandfather always said, 'we should always honour our words’. Hence his problem at this moment as he struggled to come up with an explanation. And kind of failing.

Sighing, Max gave up as he replied, "Yes, I understand. Mayumi, Masumi", he gestured vaguely to his right, "Please, meet my air friend, Jessica".

The twins gave him a sad smile as they both bowed at his imaginary companion, replying, "How do you do?", in unison.

Suddenly, he got a sharp throbbing headache as Lorelei said, "Who is Jessica, hmm?", sounding annoyed.

Gritting his teeth, he replied in a low voice, "I will explain later".

"Hmph!", before he somehow heard the sound of an imaginary door slamming inside his head, followed by another expanding wave of a headache.

"So uh… how did you and Jessica meet?", Masumi asked politely.

'Give me a break, Masumi!', Max yelled inside his head as he struggled to smile, "Oh um, in High School, I suppose?"

"Ahhh, I see", Mayumi nodded her head in understanding, "So, she is your childhood sweetheart, huh"

Inside Max was weeping an ocean worth of salty tears, as he replied vehemently, "No, no! We are just friends right, Jessica?"

"Oh my god!", Mayumi cried, "What have you done Max! There there, I understand that he is insensitive", she began stroking the air where a human's back should be.

"Eh?", Max looked at her startled.

Mayumi glanced up at Max as she continued to comfort the air friend,"… Jerk..".

"Eh?"

To which Masumi also gazed steadily at Max, "… Jerk…"

"EHHHHHHHHH?!", Max yelled out in incredulity as his mind struggled to process the situation, 'WHAT THE HELL! AM I THE CRAZY ONE?! REALLY?! IS JESSICA ACTUALLY THERE?!', he looked wildly to his right.

Even Lorelei joined in, "How can you be so mean to your friend?", sounding quite disappointed.

"Oh… oh my god, I am so sorry, Jessica…", Max began until Mayumi gave a whelp.

"Eeeeeee, see what you have done!?", she cried.

"Wait, what?!", he asked baffled.

"GO CHASE AFTER HER YOU FOOL!", as she gave him a light push.

Not knowing what is going on anymore, eyes spinning, he ran desperately after the imaginary friend who was supposedly far off in front of him now.

Behind his back, Mayumi winked at her twin.

*********************************************************************************************

Eric knelt down as he studied the tracks whilst Gerhard endeavoured to remember the minor forensic skills he had acquired in his time in the Austrian Police Force, trying to gauge how large the animal was by the size of the bite marks on the rotting carcass. Lydia was… tying ribbons in William's hair. She claimed it was her vital duty…

"… you know, I did say to look after him…", Gerhard said slightly annoyed, "… away from danger…"

"Isn't it fine? After all, I can't even cast any spells in this forest, so I might as well use my hands for something"

"… tying ribbons?"

"Looks cute, right?", she cradle the boy in her arms and spun around in a circle, as though doing a fashion show.

The ribbons were… actually quite impressive, tied into the shape of flowers and Gerhard sighed, "If only you used your skills for more productive things"

"Oh, you mean, except for being so beautiful?"

"… is that a skill that I am unaware of?", rubbing the corner of his eyes tiredly. Still feels strange not having to wear his reading glasses after all these years.

In hindsight, maybe it would had been better to leave the two non-combatants with the Giants… then again she would had followed anyway, mentioning something about 'the world's loot is mine!', and the child would for some reason follow her. Gerhard sighed again, more times today than he could ever remember, 'At least they are in my sight', he consoled to himself quietly.

"Herr Kommandant ", Eric stood up, "the directions the Giants gave us are accurate. If we keep heading North-West we are bound to find the cave as well".

"… I guess we should end this soon then", Gerhard looked up at the darkening sky, "before we lose all light".

They were to follow along a trail that only Eric could see, and it wasn’t until twenty minutes later that they stumbled upon a clearing, a fairly large opening leading into the earth could be seen in the distance, vast sections of it obscured by outgrowth from the surrounding bushes.

"Yaaaay! We are finally here!", Lydia cheered, the rest looking to one another unsure of what to think.

"You do know we are going to be doing most of the work… again", Gerhard pointed out…

"Ehhhh? It's fine, 'All for One and One for All', right? All the loot for me, and me for all the loot!"

"… I don’t think that phrase was meant to be used like that…"

There was a rustling from the bushes, and instantly Gerhard and Eric reached for their weapons. But to their surprise, a fury little creature tumbled out, turning its white head from side to side in apparent confusion and sniffing the air.

"…Kyaaaaaaaaaa!", Lydia screamed as she rushed forward, "It’s a baby PANDA!"

"Lydia!", Gerhard yelled, "GET BACK HERE!", he and Eric having drawn their weapons already.

She whirled around with hands on her hips, pouting, "Eeeeeeh, but I want to tie ribbons-", was what she wanted to say, till Lydia heard a low growl from behind her. Turning back, she saw that the 'baby' panda was rapidly increasing in size till it towered over her, "Ooh… what nice long canines you have", she gulped.

To which the creature only roared, followed by Lydia screaming again only with a different undertone, "KYAAAAAAAAAA!!!", as she dashed back towards the group, her running style that of a professional sprinter. If this was the Olympics, she would have won Gold.

Both Eric and Gerhard raced forward, each taking position on either flank of the monster and began initiating their attacks, as Lydia ran by in the middle. Gerhard felt…. incredible, almost stumbling and mistiming his strikes as his newly adjusted stat points enhance every single movement he made, forcing him to consciously make an effort and concentrate three times as hard as he would normally do. In the space of several minutes of intense fighting, of blind dodges and wild circling of the creature, Gerhard finally showed the full potential of his newly tuned body. Chasing, racing along the ground to leap high into the air and landing a strike at the forehead of the creature. The blow was so heavy that the creature reeled back, momentarily stunned.

Gerhard's body was now moving in sync with his subconscious, as he let out a yell, landing on the Death Panda's chest and thrusting down with the tip of his sword into its soft underbelly. The creature let out a painful roar; swinging an overlarge paw to swat Gerhard off, only for him to have already disappeared, having leapt backwards with such force that he almost crashed into the trees. 'T-this is insane!', Gerhard grinned inwardly, 'so, this is what it feels like to play a VRMMORPG. No wonder Max is addicted to this', the world appearing in slow motion to him as he sidestepped the monster's overhead strike with its arms, 'I feel like Þunraz!' .

To the side, Lydia could only look on stunned. Where before she thought Gerhard's swordsmanship was a graceful gentle breeze… he was now a violent storm, striking again and again and again in so many different directions that she felt dizzy even trying to keep up with his movements. Eric continued to drop the monster's HP with his savage and higher damaging blows, hacking away at the Death Panda's legs… but for sheer amounts of what appeared to be critical strikes, Gerhard was unmatched. It was true that his damage was low, due to his equipment and level… but to the untrained eye, it appeared that Gerhard was the focal point of bringing the monster staggering to its knees. Lydia shivered as she thought to herself, 'What would happen if he did have the right gear to fight...'

However, they must have hit some sort of event trigger, because once the creature had all four limbs on the ground, it suddenly began to rapidly expand larger, before turning away to crash back into the cave. The two men gave chase, as Lydia hitched up her robe and chased after them shouting, "OI! COME BACK, LOOT!"

As they ran in, the creature seemed to have stopped abruptly and it soon became apparent why. A puffing man was standing in shock at this unexpected encounter, but none more so than Gerhard, as he noticed the figure on the opposite end of the cave tunnel. The brown haired man also gaped as the two recognised one another instantly.

"Eh? Max?!", Gerhard exclaimed in astonishment.

Max stood stunned as he replied, "Gran-..", to which he was abruptly cut off as Mayumi threw him backwards, the paw of the Death Panda narrowly missing crushing Max's skull as he stumbled and rolled along the ground.

The creature roared in frustration, the walls visibly reverberating to the extent that rocks and stalactites broke loose from the ceiling to plunge haphazardly around the two parties. Max lying groggily upon his back could only look up helpless as a section of the ceiling came crashing down towards him.

"Oh, crap", Max said aloud, as the voice of his Grandfather could be heard in the background shouting out in warning.

Gerhard ran towards Max, as fast as his enhanced body would allow, stretching out with his hand, powerless to stop what was happening before him.

In that brief moment, Max and Gerhard's eyes met. And then there was darkness.

*********************************************************************************************

Ending Song: Promise You