Sora’s POV

“Dear God, I have always lived a very honest and selfless life. If I die today, it is only because I cared for my friend. Please be kind enough to grant me a harem in the afterlife.”

You know how Hollywood movies show the actors have flashbacks just before they are about to die of their loved ones, life etc? All that is just bullsh*t. I don’t know what I am supposing to be experiencing but the sensation of falling has never suited me. My phantom stomach (as I now call it), is churning like crazy – the zero g sensation is the most vulgar feeling. I am not sure if I would feel the same thing as a human. However, as a skeleton I can tell you – skeleton don’t like falling. Not one bit. If I had phantom organs then are all probably doing somersaults in me.

I feel like I might throw up….I don’t want vomit all over my dead body….

*THUD*

***

Sora hit the ground with a loud thud. His back (spine) hurt like crazy, however Sora knew he was still intact. It was oddly cold but nothing out the ordinary.

[Well that was quick?] Sora thought as he hit the ground. When he had stared into the abyss he was sure it would take him forever to hit the ground yet he hit the ground in two seconds after falling. Furthermore, as he continued to stare upwards, he hadn’t fallen all that far. No more than thirty feet from the ledge. In fact, since he wasn’t far at all from the edge, he could clearly see the orc peering down at him.

The orc was most displeased – his prey had nearly gotten away but it seemed all was not lost. The orc jumped off the edge of the cliff as well in pursuit of Sora.

Sora frowned as he noticed the orc coming down on him with his battle axe over his head – ready to launch the final blow. Sora was just fast enough to roll over and dodge the attack. A second later the orc’s axe landed where Sora’s skull was; cracking the ground in two.

“Come to Gara, bones…” The orc smirked as he dislodged his axe from the ground.

The goblins who had been watching from the side lines walked towards the edge of the cliff to continue watching the show. There were many surprising things surrounding the skeleton. He dodged the orc’s first swing and appeared to be strong. Then, he leaped to his doom…only to be saved by a floor of ice which magically appeared beneath him – breaking his fall. Just what was going on?

Sora slowly stood up – it was difficult to stand up because he was standing on ice. Sora wondered what is up with the ice? Where did it come from? It wasn’t here before – he checked!

Unlike Sora, the orc had no trouble walking on ice. His steps were heavy, thus leaving strong impressions in the ice giving him the much needed grip. Also, unlike Sora the orc did not care where the ice came from. All the orc saw was prey running, prey escaping, prey hitting ice. He was truly a moron.

“Hey…” Sora tried to cajole the orc into letting him go. “Why are you chasing me anyways…don’t you have anything better to do…”

Reasoning with an orc might have been one of the dumbest things Sora did. He didn’t have any expectations it would work. The beast has muscles for brains – how could it possibly understand reasoning? Orcs lived for fighting and blood, nothing else. Why did Sora bother? Desperation; anyone in Sora’s position would try anything to live. Sora wasn’t strong nor did he have special attacks…there was no hidden attack up his sleeves. Sora didn’t have an iota of a clue where his bindle with all the slime etc had gone.

This was truly the end.

“Can we not discuss this?” Sora was pleading. He really was scared of dying. His breaths were fast – indicating how stressed he was. There was no assurance of a second life if he died. In all likelihood, Sora was certain if he died right now, there was no coming back – military programmes of this scale had to be hard core.

The Orc raised his axe and swung it at Sora. Sora didn’t even have a chance to flinch.

***

The axe never touched Sora – it froze. More specifically, the orc’s entire lower body was frozen. The ice extended all the way across his arm holding the axe. Thus, the ice prevented the orc from moving any further.

The orc growled in rage. Who dared to stop him?

The goblins who watched everything from above gulped in fear. There was only one monster in the entire fifth floor with such a terrifying magic; vampire – Toketsu.

The goblins weren’t mistaken, on the edge of the ice platform which hovered above the abyss, the vampire who had ditched Ai, appeared.

Toketsu was the mini boss for the floor. He could be considered on par with the at least the 25thfloor foot soldier. The gap of strength between each floor was no small joke. Only the young orc had no idea who Toketsu was. After all, orcs were monsters of the either floor and had never seen the mini boss of the fifth floor in action. Furthermore, mini bosses like Toketsu rarely made appearances.

“Leave the skeleton untouched and walk away.” Toketsu ordered. As he spoke condensed air could be seen near his mouth. The vampire’s skin was a pale shade of blue as if he had just been taken out of the freezer.

Gara, the orc, simply spat near the vampire’s feet. “You wait for your turn. This is mine now, I will play with you too!” The orc grunted. The orc then exerted a bit of brute strength and broke free from the ice.

The goblins shuddered in fear. Toketsu was merciless. His heart was truly ice cold like magic – it could also be thought of the other way round. The goblins felt glad they weren’t the ones fighting the skeleton right now. For whatever the reasons maybe it appeared, the orc found himself a formidable foe. The goblins knew this was truly the end of the orc – had they been standing on the fifth floor, it would have been an entirely different matter. Certain rules would have prevented Toketsu from killing the orc. However, since they had dived into the abyss, the depth they now stood at was no longer considered part of the fifth floor but rather the sixth floor. Here, the rules were completely different and there was no reason for Toketsu to hold back against the indignation.

The orc turned towards the vampire, seeing that the undead (vampires appear no different from the undead) didn’t budge.

“You fight Gara?” The orc grunted in a speech barely comprehensible.

“Come moron. Let me show you your place.” Toketsu said as he unleashed his icy aura. Cold winds began to blow through the ravines with great intensity as Toketsu released his aura – cold winds swept through the ice platform.

As the orc and vampire readied to fight each other, Sora looked around for a way to escape. He couldn’t care less who went after whom - as long as he was safe. Secretly, Sora prayed they fought each other to death.

:keuhkeuh: