The game of tag was a simple game. There were those who like to use fancy moves or cheeky tactics such as running unpredictably or choosing places to hide. However, the only ability required to excel at the game was the ability to run fast and the only strategy that mattered was being faster than the ones doing the chasing.

What a dull game.

The stakes of such a simple game were inconsequential. The jeer of school ground taunts and the shame of losing a pointless game only mattered to children and fools. The consequence of losing was yet another go again, a repeat until the sunset. That was why when a person grew older, the idea of running around chasing others was only a waste of time and energy. There was nothing to be gained.

However, if the one doing the chasing was a raid guardian in a Dungeon, there was no retry. If they were caught, they were dead.

Rana sighed. She remembered she grew out of the game of tag at a very young age. The children selected for the inquisitor order had little time to play, and the few moments of free time they were given was better used for study or training. The regiment was deadly and only a fool would use their precious time on frivolous pursuits. That was why she rejected her sister’s invitation every time.

Were they ever close to begin with?

“I never liked tag, and to think now as an adult I have to play a game of it seriously,” Rana said. She could not help but voice her irritation. She did not enjoy the prospect of not being able to win a fight and had to instead survive for some time, and her memories of younger times put her in an even worse mood. “Of course we need to use a waste of time of a game to buy time.”

“You must be the gloomy kid when you were young,” Taye said after a brief chuckle. “Well, let’s hope you aren’t bad at it.”

“Shouldn’t you be more worried? Your mark is that of a warrior-class after all,” Rana replied. She did not care if Taye died or not, but it would be a problem if there was one less target for the monster to focus on, and when their reinforcement arrived, having Taye would smooth out a lot of potential problems.

“I’ll be fine,” Taye said simply.

Rana and Taye scattered and ran towards opposite directions. Their defensive capabilities would no doubt be better if they had stayed together, but the issue was that no matter how well they defended, they would still suffer damage, and their health bars would not last until reinforcement arrived. If Rana were a normal mage-class and has put some effort into strengthening her healing Spells, that might’ve been an option worth considering.

However, that was something she could not do. She once wondered whether it was possible to detach a limb and surge it with the light element and explode it as the mage-class did at the Mines Without Blood.

The pain she remembered experiencing made her scared to attempt such an experiment.

Their only option was to scatter, each one of them relied only on themselves. If they ran together they could coordinate their Skills, Spells, and Abilities, but for the two of them who just met, no matter how experienced they were, their chemistry and coordination would not be up to par.

What they hoped was by having several targets, the monster would divert its attention and make dealing with whatever attacks it threw at them easier. However, that might’ve only been wishful thinking. This fight was a raid fight, which meant that the monster had the means to deal with multiple targets and large groups. Still, it would be better than dealing with concentrated firepower meant for multiple foes.

Rana observed the arena and traced her memory of what she observed of the Chrysalis Abominations. The first thing that came to mind was neither the rage of the turbulent ocean of stone nor was it the devastating destruction the monster wrought when it attacked. The first thing that came to mind was its creepy and knowing grin. The monster was sadistic and proud. It would always smile down on its puny prey before it attacked.

It reminded her of the fire soldiers of the chromed shell she fought alongside Alpheia. The monster was limited by the System, but what they did had an intention, and if she knew of that intention, then she could counter its attack.

The hostility below Rana swirled. It was about to rise. The monster wanted to make the arena rage, to make the platforms quake and crash, and to make dodging the boulders crashing down difficult. The same could be said when the tendrils emerged from the chasms. The large ones would slam the platforms and the smaller ones slashed at the marked ones. That was its plan, or rather, its strategy. The monster would attack after it destabilized the platforms and their foothold.

The monster attack had two parts. The first was to cause all the platforms and pillars to crash like tidal waves. The second was then to attack when the enemy was imbalanced.

This made it easier to anticipate its attacks.

Rana turned around and quickly scanned all of the platforms with her vision. The difficult part of the arena was that the floor she stood on was not weighed down by its own mass or stabilized by its connection to the earth. The platforms were wreckage on water, large but easily swayed. All except one area.

The monster jumped out of the abyss.

“To the edge!” Rana yelled. She did not wait to see if Taye acknowledged her words. She continued running and chose the path shortest to the pillar wall. She jumped on a large one surrounded by smaller ones and knelt down as the force of the monster’s jumps pushed the platforms. The larger platform pushed the smaller ones aside until it met one of the similarly sized ones at the end of its push. She waited until the last moment and jumped before the two collided. The one she was on retreated back and the one she was now on continued towards the wall.

Large shadows appeared below her, obscuring the red trajectory warning, but the shadow itself was enough to tell her where she needed to dodge out of. She made sure that whenever she dodged out of the boulders, it was not towards a direction where her momentum would stop. She ensured that there would always be a platform to rush to.

When Rana reached the wall, the tendrils began to rise up from the chasms. She scanned her surroundings and found a small tendril isolated surrounded by many large ones. There. She quickly launched a ward and had chains pull her up near that group of tendrils.

It would normally be suicide engaging with that many tendrils, but she knew she would be fine. She slammed her crescent staff into the wall and pulled out her dagger with another hand. She readied the blade. The large tendrils slammed onto the platforms, causing them to collide and sway. However, she remained steady by hanging onto the wall. The small tendril ruched at her, but she quickly swiped it away with her dagger. The power behind its attack was not large. She would be fine as long as it did not land a cut.

When the tendrils subsided, she waited. Rana saw Taye also do the same. The Fire Shield warrior-class marked one was slower to do so, but once the woman latched onto the wall, the smaller tendrils did nothing to the raised shield.

The monster once again rushed out of the abyss and the crashing platforms did nothing to her hold on her staff. The boulders began to fall and she carefully observed where they would land. If it would hit her, she would find a platform to drop to. If not, she simply stayed where she was and fended off the tendrils. There were only twice she had to move. Once was when a boulder would hit, the other was when the emerged tendrils had far too many small ones.

Rana and Taye continued this strategy until she finally heard a voice above where she was hanging from.

“Well, this certainly is a way to survive,” the voice said. She looked up to see Hamilton peer out of the edge of the wall. “I’m surprised both of you managed to do this well against that giant thing, but now we have to fight it.”

Rana looked at the monster and smirked. If she had played tag as a kid, she would be one everyone hated to play with.