"I think I shouldn't have done that" came a voice, sounding not apologetic in the least.

Eyes, both human and giant, lifted upwards looking for the one who had interrupted the fight. Or more like killed the survivor.

"Like really! How could he be so weak to die from a healing infuse? That's just stupid!" he said, bad-mouthing the kid while everyone else just stared in disbelief.

The guy was standing on the large doors, looking like a speck of dust with a loud voice.

"Can you see him?" Aurora asked Hawk who activated ability with his namesakes eyes.

"Yeah."

"Do we know him?" Monthu inquired, keeping Par behind himself.

"He's around fifteen-sixteen with black hair in three braids past his mid section. He's wearing brown leather armour, has a number of daggers strapped to his west and has a chain wrapped around both his hands. Sounds familiar?" he asked, turning around and glancing at the group. Everyone shook their heads.

"I don't trust him" Aurora whispered looking upwards with her brows furrowed. She couldn't see the person but he sounded dangerous.

"Really?" June asked through clenched teeth. "I thought him killing the kid already marked him as a heartless beast or do you have a different idea of what evil is?" Her eyes boring holes in Aurora's skull.

The girl gulped taking a step back. "I didn't mean..."

"What? That it's clear we shouldn't associate with him? Are you dumb or just have an unexplainable need to state the obvious?"

"June!" Lancelot hissed, taking a step before her. "We're not here to make scenes! Take a deep breath and calm down or leave! We have problems enough already!" His look was of cold disdain that didn't fit on his face. It had friendly, soft features meant for laughing and smiling not frowning or the like.

June lowered her eyes for a moment before rising them again. "She started it" she said, softly before turning and sitting down in a corner, out of everyone's way.

"We need to figure out a way out" Lancelot murmured, looking at Monthu and Nein.

"Well, we were promised freedom once the kid died." Nein said, still sitting. "I'm up for waiting for that."

"You'd trust a word said by those who made a kid fight a death match?" Lana asked, angrily. "They're monsters!"

"He broke their law" Nein said, shrugging. "Most cultures believe that children are capable of making right decisions and know what they're doing so I find nothing shocking here."

As he said that their cage moved, pushing them all to the left, one over the other and then back again. The swaying lasted only for a minute until their cage broke and they fell on the ground with loud groans. Aurora and Lana instantly used their spells to heal the injured ones.

When they stood up to dust their clothes and look at what had happened, they saw the killer standing right before their noses. He was tall, almost two meters, with dark green eyes and an eager expression on his face. "Let's go hunting!" he said, excitedly.

"Hunting what?" Monthu asked warily. The guy was as far from a trustworthy person as it was possible to get.

"Giants, of course! I know you have a mission to wipe them out and I'll help you!" he said, balancing on the soles of his feet, dagger with a chain on it swirling in his hand.

Monthu looked around to see over a few hundred giants looking at them with calculating eyes. They couldn't have heard what they were talking about but if they didn't get out soon, they might attack anyway. "Thanks for the suggestion, but I think we'll take our leave now. It was a very stressing day, you know" he said in a normal tone and motioned for others to follow him. No one had a death wish so they went after him.

"But that's not fun!" the killer whined. "I want some action!"

"Then face them on your own" June suggested with a crooked smile. "I'm sure you can take them on!"

The killer frowned slightly. "There's quite a number of them" he murmured, rising his head to take in the whole place, the hundreds of giants clustered around. A smile touched his lips. "Well, that only makes it more interesting!"

The next moment he was running up a giant's leg with his chains flying after. He made it in moments and daggers at the end flashed before they embedded in the giant's soft flesh. The killer dragged on his chains, making the blades slice downwards and leaving gaping wounds in their wake. They festered and greenish foam came out. Then the giant started to scream and try to swat his assailant.

The killer nimbly dodged his attacks and swung his chains again, leaving more gashes. Huge hand came to swat him like a fly but he ran up the head and used his chains to entrap the fingers. Then he tugged on them, cutting the fingers off and freeing his chains to send the daggers striking at the eyes. They were soon out and the killer used his chains to make a few more disgusting wounds before sending his daggers forward to hit another giant and pulling himself to them. Then his dance of torture and blood begun anew.

He looked amazing, doing all those stunts and ignoring the coming attacks making the group look up at him in awe but that didn't last long. Soon they noticed angry eyes directed at them too and giant feet coming over their heads.

They scattered out to evade them but running around wasn't going to solve their new problem. One called angry giants.

''Whose smart idea was to tell him go and fight while we were still here?'' Hawk asked, angrily, rolling to escape being splattered. He rose to let loose a couple arrows, but they fell uselessly having hit stone boots.

''Sorry!'' hissed June, being pushed to the right by Lancelot. ''I didn't think he'd actually do it!'' She fell with a huff and lay for a second before being able to stand up.

''We can't run forever!'' Nein noted. He was standing still as a statue while everyone else rushed back and forth to evade the feet and hands coming their way. Somehow he was being left alone for the moment.

''We'll have to fight!'' Lancelot agreed hitting some foot with his fist. It cracked the boot but that was all, the giant didn't even feel it.

"Regroup!" Monthu shouted out, dragging Par away. "Southern wall! Mages to the back! Fighters make the vanguard! Make sure everyone succeeds!" He pushed his brother forward, blocking a hand coming Worglan's way. The man nodded in gratitude and together they rushed to the wall.

Hawk with Aurora was already there. "Should we use the old strategy?" Ranger asked, shooting arrows up in the air. You never knew, maybe some will hit something vital.

"Can't use Meteor shower inside the mountain!" Worglan said in a huff. How the kid's illusion spell was working even though he was dead, he would never know. It was pretty annoying even if it was amazing. "We'd have to break the ceiling first and that would drain us out!"

"Any other ideas?" Monthu asked while blocking a foot with the shaft of his scythe. The fights with snakemen had raised his level considerably, making it possible for him to block and even attack giants but the difference in size was still too great for him to deal any significant damage. "We need them now!"

"Do you have any image amplifying spells?" asked the quiet brunette from Lancelot's party. "I could mesmerise them if they could only see me."

"Worglan?"

"Sure thing" answered the man. "Shift and turn images within the eye and make them see astray, Illusion!"

It looked as if the girl became ten times bigger, the size of the giants, and then she started to dance. Her moves were slow and seductive showing off her body’s beauty but in no way vulgar. The sound of chiming bells followed her every move, catching the giants' attention and making then immobile for a bit.

Humans watched her for a bit too, amazed by her grace. "Snap out of it!" June hissed, leaning against the wall heavily. Her breath came in ragged gasps, more from fear of being stepped on than any real lack of energy.

"What if we tried fighting them one by one?" Nein asked.

"Can't separate them that much" Monthu disagreed. "We'll need to fight them all at once somehow."

"Well, then let's not waste time" Nein said with a sigh, starting his million of buffs. He wasn’t stingy with them and used them on everyone present, even the crazy killer running around and maiming giants. Then he used his weakening spells, after which he sat down with his legs crossed to meditate and recover his mana.

"Worglan any useful spells?" Monthu asked, blocking an attack and hearing his scythe groaning. it wasn't something he wanted to hear at the moment. "I can't do anything while they're protected by those stone boots."

"And armour" Hawk added.

"I can take care of that!" June said. "Earth magic is my speciality!" Worglan nodded and started to whisper something in Par's ear. The kid listened attentively, clutching his staff tightly.

The girl in the meantime said a complicated spell aimed at one giant. A brown wave of dust collected around its legs. They pushed itself into the stone workings, enlarging the gaps until the boots fell off in pieces almost crushing Monthu. He managed to jump just at the right time before he would be buried alive.

"Care!" he shouted out, jumping on one slab of stone and from there cutting at the exposed skin. It did little to no damage as a mosquito's bite. "Use this!" came a voice from above and he saw the beast like person from Lancelot's party running up the giant's leg with his double swords outstretched.

Monthu caught the vial falling his way and backed a bit to see what it was. There was a skull with crossed bones underneath it drawn on the label. He opened the vial and without inhaling or touching the liquid, dropped some of it on scythe's blade. It glistened for a moment before returning to it's normal colour. Monthu put the vial in his bag and returned to the fight.

He tried to wound his opponent again. His attack left a wide gash by human standards, nothing more than a scratch by giants' but where he had drawn blood, it was set on fire. The giant bellowed his pain, making the walls rumble, but no one paid him any attention. His own kind had more problems while humans only enjoyed his suffering. A beast like one was up in his face, slashing and slicing at all of his exposed skin. Every attack numbed his body, making him less responsive and able to counter-attack. Yet it did nothing to dull the pain. He could feel his bones breaking in his right leg while the left was on fire.

"Kid now!" Worglan shouted out and together with Par he finished a spell. A massive amount of balls made of fire popped into existence behind them and flew to attack but instead of exploding on contact they stayed near the giants' skins and burned them repeatedly. There were hundreds of those balls and they were high up to pose no threat to humans wile blocking sight and hurting giants.

"How did you do that?" June asked in disbelief. High level spells were an expensive rarity so that even people with money tended to not have them. Not that many casters were rich; spell books, materials and teachings were always high priced. Knowledge is power, after all.

"Like every other mage" Worglan answered, looking around for anything that might hint at a spell to use. He knew many of those but he rarely fought in groups so most would hurt his companions and he doubted Ace would appreciate it.

"I want to learn it too!" she shouted out, coming closer.

"No point, it's already cast, better take care of what you can do" Worglan answered, looking pointedly at a couple of giants coming their way who had stone armour on. The girl huffed in annoyance but did as told, she wanted to survive this predicament.

"Change your dance!" Lana shouted out. "They're getting used to it!" The brunette noted it and started to move quicker as if hearing some new music others didn't. She shook her waist, twirled and moved her hands in snake like motions, all while smiling knowingly. Giants could do nothing but be entranced by her moves and stare open-mouthed. "I really want to help too" Lana said in an angry huff, looking longingly at the fight but keeping to the back lines among the mages to save up her mana.

"I think I can heal both parties if we merge" Aurora suggested, throwing a heal Monthu's way. He had been hit by a piece of stone having fallen when June had broken the armour. "We're not receiving too much damage at the moment."

"We're higher level, we'll lower your experience" Lana said with a sigh. "I wouldn't want to do that to you all."

Hawk laughed. "I think this is more about surviving than earning levels. If we lose, we'll all die. Besides we have Nein and that guy's level is over the top."

"You sure?"

"Do it!" Aurora agreed and Lana screamed at Lancelot. "Combine the parties! Let's make a raid group! Everyone agrees!"

The guy hit the giant a few more times before doing a few jumps that brought him to where Monthu was finishing his fight with another leg.

*Lancelot's party wants to join yours and make a raid group. The experience will be shared equally while items belong to ones who pick them first. Do you accept?*

"Yes." Monthu answered with a vicious slash towards the giant's leg which was too much for the guy to take and he fell backwards, bringing a couple of his friends along too. The beast person used that time to jump on them and start his job there. He needed many attacks to paralyse someone the size of the giant but he never shied away from hard work.

*Raid group has been created*

*Stand United activated!*

"What's this?" Lancelot asked in surprise. He had seen many leadership skills before but nothing to this extent, knowing that it couldn't be high level with its owner being an unknown adventurer.

"Random generated skill that activates whenever it wishes to" Monthu answered, choosing a close giant and restarting his attacks. It looked to be going pretty well for now. The killer kept many giants occupied on the other side of the room while the dancer kept those around in check. The few escaping her charm could be dealt with one by one, something he hadn't expected to be possible.

"How did it happen?" Lancelot asked, not really expecting a reply. The way to receive rare skills were always kept in secret so they wouldn't become common, which meant no one shared their experiences. He used [Fist of an Angry Monkey] followed by [Flurry of Fists] before remembering his old dream to create a guild for helping others. When he had joined the game he thought it would be easily done since he was good at leading and most people liked him but it showed up none shared his ideals. They all wanted to become the emperor and didn't care about stepping on others to do it, something Lancelot could never tolerate.

"We were attacked by bandits and fought to our last breath for the whole day. Most died but those who survived received the same skill as I or a variation of it" Monthu answered without any reservation. He wasn't aiming for the throne so there was no reason for him to hide what he could do. He was here to enjoy the new world with his brother, nothing more, nothing less.

"That sounds a lot like a castle defence but I haven't heard of such skills from there" Lancelot said, blocking a giant hand coming for Monthu from the back. He used [Staggering Punch] at one of the finger's which shook the whole hand and the giant brought it back. Monthu nodded in thanks before evading a giant foot and slashing at it, creating flames in blood. "We were hired to protect a caravan and there was no rest, no additional fighters to change us when we got tired. We also had eight clerics for hundreds of defenders, receiving a heal was a joy only a few felt. Besides by the end all mages were wiped out, leaving fighters and rogues to fight on our own."

Lancelot did a sidekick and triple punch before replying. " That does sound like a battle worthy of a rare skill. Did you make it then?"

"Yeah" Monthu answered, cutting at the fingers coming his way. Noticing they were moving sluggishly his way, he changed his position so he could cut them off. The giant screamed in pain, bringing his hand back up and starting to jump all around. Both of the fighters had to use up all their movement skills to evade being squashed and try to finish off the giant before he came to be a threat to the mages resting by the wall.

Blinding white light flashed by them and the giant screamed even louder. "Lana" Lancelot said with a laugh. To Monthu's questioning look he explained. "She's a great healer but she's an even better mage. Her divine punishment spells deal insane amounts of damage to anything that has any connection with dark magic."

"Giants?"

"Don't you know? They were human once but necromancers experimented on them which resulted in them growing in size but losing most of their emotions, leaving them closer to animals than humans which they hate to hear. That's why they hate anything that reminds them of us" Lancelot said in good humour but his eyes darkened as he remember how the kid was sacrificed. The boy had done nothing wrong but was killed and even though his executor was the newcomer, giants were the ones really at fault. If not them, the kid would still be running around them with a happy smile on his face.

"That's good..." Monthu said, without real joy. He knew their secret weapon was Worglan's true nature and the guy was a necromancer. His skills wouldn't reach their full potential if he was fighting dark creatures instead of normal living beings.

"You don't look too happy" Lancelot noted, breaking a bone or two. The giant was becoming paralysed and all they needed to do was finish him off now. He was no longer any danger, but they couldn't let him leave his slowed state and become active again. He had to be taken care of before that happened.

"It's nothing" Monthu answered, hitting his opponent repeatedly. He was no longer looking for a safe hit, just to deal the most damage possible.

They took care of the giant and a few more in companionable silence. Worglan and Par aided them with fire spells, June stone armour shattering ones while Lana used holy ones. Hawk used paralysing arrows to aid Mai, the beastman, in his work of slowing the giants down while Aurora and Nein held the back with heals and buffs. Rowena was nowhere in sight.

They fought like that for hours until they came near the throne. A giant larger than the others sat there. He was all hidden beneath stone armour, not even the smallest part of skin showing.

"What a scaredy cat" the killer noted, joining everyone in where they had been standing before him. The crazy chain guy didn't look tired at all, but his blood red chain with same coloured daggers showed him to have been busy.

"What are you?" Nein asked him, noting Rowena hovering near him in her hawk form. She had blood on her claws too but unlike him she was breathing heavily, her wings moving with her slow inhales and exhales.

"Aster, a kind of a berserker" the guy said with a bright smile. It deformed his face making him seem a bit crazy.

"Any explanation as to what you're doing here?"

"Looking for Silver Wing but the bastard seems to have left here ages ago" the berserker said in annoyance. "Can you imagine he was sighted in Kallamore kingdom yesterday!" he said in disbelief.

"He never leaves Meda kingdom" Hawk said surprised. He had followed the guy's path and Wing had never went even close to the borders.

"Hell yeah, that's why I came to Meda in the first place!" Aster grumbled. He rose his right hand and freed the chain, starting to circle the dagger before himself. Everyone took an involuntarily step back. You could never be too careful with crazies. "How did he even get there? He couldn't have used the cleric's teleportation with his infamy but the path to there would be longer than a few months!"

"You sure he was spotted there?" Hawk asked again. He could hardly believe it. Maybe someone decided to imitate Silver Wing? There could be no other explanation.

"Guys, we have bigger problems now!" June hissed, watching the giant king raising his right hand and snapping his fingers, but no one paid her any attention, everyone was more interested in what was happening with the notorious killer. Even Lancelot was aware of him and had been planning to catch him until he heard it was a misunderstood kid. Now he just wanted to meet him and maybe show him that the world wasn't as terrible place as he might be thinking. And that killing never solved any problems.

Aster circled his dagger faster before throwing forward, the chain sliding through his hand with ease. The blade hit the giants king's leg, breaking the armour and drawing blood. "Damn well, he was. No other bastard would go against a healthy mercenary band in their camp and actually win it. The idiot group said they even recognised him from the mask, crimson eyes and his tactic to throw poisonous daggers."

"Did anyone survive?" Aurora asked in a whisper, her hand over her mouth as she tried to imagine what had happened there. Lucky for her she had no imagination for the macabre and the worst she had seen was Ace fighting cavemen.

Eleven pair of eyes turned to stare at her to make sure she had really asked that. She felt a little stupid then. Aster answered her in a tone that said she was a moron. "Nobody escapes Silver Wing. That's common knowledge!"

"So he really left for the wider waters" Hawk said with a sigh. "Not sure whether to be happy for us or feel bad for the other kingdoms for they have no idea what they'll be facing."

"Weak deserve to die" Aster said without any remorse, tightening his hold on the chain and bringing it back with a swift jerk of his hand. "Just how am I supposed to meet him now?"

"Why would you want to meet him?" June asked, eyeing the giant warily. He was the only one left but he was too subdued for her to believe he was just accepting his fate. From her experience bosses never sat so calmly allowing themselves to be ignored and wounded without any retribution. It just wasn't in the blood of leaders to give up without a battle.

"I want to fight him" Aster answered with a dangerous gleam in his eyes. His whole body grew taut only thinking about it. He was like an arrow poised to be released. "I want to face him one versus one and see who's better."

"Has he ever fought a real duel?" June asked doubtfully.

"No, but I'd make him! He never leaves anyone alive and I'd be the last one standing! He'll have no choice but to go all out on me and we'll see who's the best fighter!"

"Deluded" Hawk said, turning away from him in disgust. "If you think such a strategy will work on him, you're more stupid when you look like."

Aster's chain instantly snaked around Hawk's neck, ready to remove him from the world of the living. "Any last words, smart-ass?"

Hawk turned to look at him in contempt. "I'm just sorry for Wing to have to waste time assassinating you. Somehow even someone like you managed to reach a high level."

Aster's eyes grew wide. He'd never thought about being assassinated before the fight even started. Could that really happen? "What do you know?" he asked gruffly without loosening the chain.

"He always kills the most important targets in the beginning; people who have the highest level, leaders or supporters. He's not just some random rogue you take him for! Strategy and quick judgement is his strongest points and you would know it if you actually followed him!" Hawk said in a growl. He was a passionate fan of Silver Wing and hated people who misunderstood him or thought less of him than he deserved. Wing might be a murderer and all but he deserved respect for creating so much mayhem and every time escaping not only unscathed but with his identity in as much secrecy as it was before.

Aster glared at Hawk for awhile longer before releasing him, leaving a red mark, which Aurora healed instantly. "You might be talking truth so I'll let you off this time, but never challenge me again. I won't be this forgiving next time."

Hawk gave him a look that said he had many things to answer to that but he was leaving it for another day. Aurora's hand on his kept had a lot of influence on that.

Whooosh!

A spear went through Aster’s shoulder and he hissed in pain, falling to the ground and looking from where the weapon had come. His eyes landed on a group of snakemen coming from a secret passage. They walked in a formation, six creatures in line. Right after them came another group, and another.

Aster dragged the spear out of his shoulder, standing up and watching the procession with wary eyes. He hated going against armies as his fighting style was best in small skirmishes where he could keep his distance and play with his chains. He glanced at his health bar, it was barely missing any points.

“What’s happening?” Aurora asked in horror, watching the upcoming monsters. Their group wasn’t out of commission, mana regenerated quite easily, but stamina didn’t. She had only half of her own and she had only been standing around, casting a heal or two to help out her team mates. She didn’t want to think how those in the front felt. They had to be exhausted.

“Something I tried to warn you about!” June threw, angrily stomping on the ground. A bunch of snakemen couldn’t pose much threat to her group but she doubted they were alone. The giant king surely had more up his sleeve since he was letting them be cornered against him. There was nothing stopping them from just killing him and then going against the army.

Aster’s eyes moved to the giants’ king, his chains following his eyesight. Daggers flew onwards, trying to kill the monster but to no luck. They were stopped by an invisible barrier. Aster cursed under his breath and attacked again, hoping to break the barrier by force. All the attacks were deflected.

“Don’t waste energy” Hawk suggested, looking at something high up.

“Do you see something?” Aurora asked, positioning herself behind the group and entering a meditation. Her mana was missing only a little bit but it was best to be full before a fight started, and it was going to soon.

“There are mages on the ledges, but they’re too small for me to see what kind of creatures they are.”

“How can you say they’re mages then?” Aster asked, glaring at him, his eyes blood-red.

“They have rods and cloaks that hide most of their figures” Hawk said, squinting to see better. The creatures were very thin and wore robes to blend in, only their slightly glowing rods gave them away. Pale light left them and if you were looking from the right angle, you could see it reaching towards the giants’ king and creating a shield around him. As long as it was there nothing could touch him and the humans would be stuck between an impregnable barrier and an approaching army.

“Can you shoot them?” Monthu asked. He was looking at their position and not liking what he saw. They were surrounded. Again. And had no way of escaping. Last time they were only captured but he doubted that after killing so many giants they would receive such a lenient sentence again.

Hawk shook his head. “Not easily. I could try to concentrate all my power on single shots but it would take lots of time for each attack and I still might miss some at such a range.”

“Worglan?”

“You should look for a fire or light mage that specialises in long ranged attacks and you know I’m not one” the mage answered with a calculating look. He wondered whether he’d have to use his secret skills and show his class or not.

On Monthu’s look Lancelot sighed. “We have nothing either. Our only long ranged attacker is Lana but she specialises in mass damage instead of precision so her range is reduced by half.”

“They’re all yours then Hawk, take them out as quickly as you can. We’ll cover you from the snakemen.”

The archer nodded gravely and took out a different bow from his bag. It was larger than his usual one and thinner, adorned with animal fur on the sides and feathers at the ends. He had gotten it from Ace when they had seen the kid almost giving off things for free (for herbs). The bow had been way too high level for Hawk but he had loved the statuses which increased accuracy and range immensely. If he combined it with [Mark], [Precise Shot] and [Lethal Arrow], he could become a sniper to be feared. “Make sure I’m not interrupted. I need to aim carefully if I want to hit them.”

“Got it” Lancelot said, taking a fighting stance.

“Aren’t you going to lead your group?” Monthu asked, looking over the approaching enemies. He would have liked to have some secret plan which he could reveal now that would destroy all the enemies easily but his head was empty. It had been hard to fight the giants and not like they had much of a strategy then either. It was the simplistic one of protecting the mages and allowing them to weather the enemies down until they could be finished off in a few hits.

“We’re in the same group now and you seem accustomed to leading so use us as you see fit” Lancelot answered. “I’ll interrupt only if I see something better that could be done.”

Monthu nodded while the rest of Lancelot’s previous party prepared for the battle. They seemed to be used to acting without any command. Viola went to the side where her dance could be seen, but she’d be out of danger’s way and Kalin with Lancelot could defend her if danger arouse ‘cause they were standing at the front. The beast, Mio, was at the other side checking his weapons and the mages stayed at the back, meditating alongside Aurora, Par and Worglan. Monthu’s eyes landed on Aster who was in the middle, glaring at everything with eyes turned crimson.

Sensing the scytheman’s gaze Aster turned to him. “I’m not joining your group.”

“Will you fight on our side?”

“I may be crazy but that doesn’t mean I enjoy being killed” Aster answered, getting hold of his daggers and glancing at the walls. They were steep, without any handholds so getting a better position was out of a question. All he could do was go all out and hope that nobody got in his way but instead cleared some of the mobs. It was a lot to ask but he didn’t have much of a choice. “I’ll take the right side of the cave. Don’t go there.”

Monthu nodded, noting his wish and went to where Lancelot was standing. “Should I check your levels?”

Lancelot looked at him surprised. “You’re asking for permission?” In his eyes disbelief and admiration fought for supremacy.

Monthu noticed the expression and turned around. There was no real need for him to know their levels. Their help was what was important and that was most easily achieved by staying in their good graces.

The snakes slithered up to them, stopping some ten meters away. The creatures wore stone armour that hid their heads and protected chests. Tails were left free for movement and hands to hold spears or shields and short swords. These monsters were nothing like the ones they had faced before.

Before anything could be said or done, the snakemen split and a small creature moved ahead. His whole body was hidden beneath a cowl, making it impossible for anyone to guess who or what he was. “Humans! Lay down your weapons and we’ll execute you mercifully!” he said in a gravely voice. However, because of his shrill tone he sounded more like a petulant child than a scary monster.

Aster’s dagger flying at his chest was the answer. The guy had only been halfway to the place he’d reserved for himself and his chains had quite a range which often helped to express his opinion about things.

The creature hissed a word creating a shield around himself which blocked the attack and cackled. “I like that! Let us e-” Before he could finish Aster ran and jumped landing among the snakes on the right side of the cave and swung his chains. They cut through the snakemen’s armours leaving gashing wounds and filling the place with hisses of pain.

The creatures tried attacking him but they couldn’t get anywhere close while still being alive. His chains flew all around, creating a circle of death around him. Everything that came close was cut into pieces be it stone armour or flesh. Blueish blood covered the berserker and his weapon of choice for creating mayhem.

“What are those things?” June asked in horror, watching as a snakeman was severed in half and the chains didn’t even slow down. They rose and fell, cutting through all resistance while Aster smiled crazily, jumping around with crimson eyes.

“Don’t they remind you of anything?” Hawk asked, taking a breath before he could shoot another arrow. His voice had a strange tone to it.

June glared at him. “A mass murdering machine? A maniac’s best weapon?”

“Not the weapon! His eyes. Doesn’t their unnatural redness bring someone else to our mind?”

“Wha- Wait, you mean?” June asked in amazement, looking at Aster with new eyes. “It actually makes sense! ”

“I don’t think anyone else made the connection before. They’re so rare after all.”

“No surprise, being a berserker is one of the worst things possible! Only criminals are happy to shower in blood! No healthy human would ever choose it!”

“What are you two talking about?” Aurora asked quietly, her gaze following Aster through spaces between her fingers.

“Silver Wing! Everyone was so focused on thinking of him as a constant murderer that they didn’t consider a fact he might be actually hiding among us looking like a normal person! Just think about it! A normal child with ordinary eyes and looks! Who would ever question him? Who would ever expect him to be the most hated and feared killer in the whole world?”

“Why would you think that?”

June sighed loudly. “But you’re slow... Look at Asker’s eyes! They were green before and now they’re shining red! And his clothes and hair are getting drenched in the liquid that substitutes for the snake’s blood. Imagine what would happen if he was killing humans?”

Aurora gasped, once again remembering Ace as he had killed the cavemen. It was her worst memory and it portrayed everything quite well. The dance of death, the blood gushing in all directions and a person covered in crimson with a delicate smile on his face and gleaming red eyes. “Does red eyes mean a berserker class?” she asked, no longer thinking about the possible scenario of Silver Wing maybe being of this type.

“It should” Lancelot said, joining the conversation. “I think it’s called BloodLust or something of a kind which is supposedly a skill they receive upon converting to this class and it clouds their senses, making them immune to pain, exhaustion and able to see everything in red hues. The more blood is spilled the stronger the last aspect becomes and the more pronounced the red eyes become.” His face hardened while saying it, hands clenching into fists.

“Can’t other classes learn it in any way?” Aurora questioned in a shaky voice. She was having a very bad feeling about it. Had Ace been lying to them all the time? He never hid his nature to act dishonestly and keep the truth away but was he really a berserker? Someone who enjoyed the bloodshed? Her heart shuddered at the thought of what else it could mean.

“No” Lancelot answered, shaking his head remorsefully. “It is a class restricted skill.”

“A berserker...” Hawk whispered as if tasting the word. “Ha-”

His next words were cut off by a wave of fire rushing to them, its heat singing clothes even from a few meters away. Worglan who had been only paying little attention to the conversation became the saving grace of the group. He saw the upcoming fire and cast a spell which made flames rise from the ground and create a wall, blocking the upcoming damage.

However, it did nothing to the heat and warriors at the front started to sweat. “Couldn’t you call some water instead of fighting fire with fire?” complained Kalin. His heavy armour made him feel like he was being boiled alive.

“I can remove it altogether” suggested Worglan without a hint of remorse. He wasn’t going to tolerate any stupid remarks. The guy should revere him for even wasting time on saving his life. He had had no reason for it yet he did. It seemed that being among humans and being treated as one had more influence on him than he had expected. He was starting to even act as one.

“Thanks for saving us” Aurora said, angelically, turning to Worglan with a smile. It was a little shaky but genuine. The mage nodded in her direction and turned to the kid to teach him a spell which would cause quite a commotion among the snakemen.

“I think the discussion can be postponed for a better time” Monthu said from the front, not turning back to look for a reaction at all. He could sense the embarrassed faces and downcast looks. “Then I think our chances lie on the ability to get rid of the casters. Hawk continue with your attacks. Mio can you take care of the one in front of us?”

“Yes, but I’d be instantly deleted by the snakes while all my abilities on cooldowns” Mio answered from the side, his eyes trying to identify things behind the battling fires. He could discern the mage’s cowl behind a few lines of snakemen.

“Then we’ll do an arrow head tactic. I’ll rush first to make the way Kalin and Lancelot defend my sides while Mio follows behind. He’ll jump out to assassinate the caster and then we’ll retreat with Lana covering us with her magic. Worglan and Nein you’re to assist us in any way you find fit.”

“Roger” the guy’s answered and fell in their designed places.

“Fire’s that burn and singe, heal and save create a ring of protection, Fire Resistance!” Nein muttered under his breath, a yellowy glow surrounding the fighter’s. “You’re free to do a surprise attack through the flames. You’ve got thirty seconds of immunity to fire!”

Monthu smiled, rising his weapon in a get ready sign and with Nein’s voice echoing behind, casting a spell of blurred view, he dashed forward.