Chapter 2

Pyramid of Light

“This is the place.” Elron stopped in front of a giant pyramid.

Zero and a large group of over eighty-two dragons and their companions arrived at the foot of the Pyramid. He was in his human form looking around for the entrance into the pyramid. His hands touched the rough texture that rubbed against his skin like sandpaper.

Elron’s whole appearance had changed back into his usual form. No more was he an ugly monster elf, but a beautiful appearance that all elves had. The sharp slant of his eyes that looks wide and elegant, hair that were black as jade and even a masculine chin but feminine lips combined into one. He was living, breathing art.

Zero couldn’t help but feel dwarfed in comparison to the monolithic building in front of him. He wondered how such an large building was created. It reminded him about the famous pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

“Where exactly is the entrance?” Agnis was beside him. “I don’t see anything.”

“I honestly don’t know.” Elron shrugged. “I mean it was always like this from the start. There never has been an opening to get inside. If what the elf queen said is true, then it means that the appearance should appear for us.” His baby dragon companion that was just recently born, Dede was resting on his shoulder like a scarf. Her silver scale glistened like water as it fluctuates every time she move.

“So I’m going in there too huh…” Dede spoke with a whisper. “Will I be okay?”

“Do you want the truth or do you want me to lie?”

“Ugh. Good question. I want to hear a bit of reassurance what my thoughts are thinking instead of heading into danger. I mean lying once is not a bad idea, but I feel like there no point right now.”

“Good, because I don’t want to lie.”

“As always you’re a goodie two shoe.” Dede sighed.

“Hey, that’s how I was brought up. It’s chivalrous and I enjoy it.”

“I’m not so sure now if your motives are good now after you said that.”

“What? Come on we been childhood friends for a long time.”

“Yea.…” Dede puffed up a black smoke that escaped out of her breath.

“If you are that worried. Here.” Zero rummaged through his pocket and pulled out the Silver Queen Beetle that wiggled in his hands trying to get free. He brought it up in front of Dede’s snout telling her to eat.

“Ew! Gross! What are you trying to feed me?!” Dede cringed and she slunk back. Her head swiveled away trying to get out of Zero’s hands.

“You need to eat it if you want to get stronger quickly. I’m not sure how strong it is in there but you won’t survive.”

“You’re trying to kill me. Elron what are you doing but not stopping him.” Dedee hissed.

“Hey, I don’t know anything much about being a dragon so coming from an expert here might be a good idea.”

“Hell no!” Dede stressed every word.

Zero did not listened to her riot and instead whipped his hands into her mouth when she momentarily opened it. The silver beetle disappeared, and he held down her snout. Dede thrashed around Elron’s shoulder trying to pull back and get rid of the bug out of her mouth, but the sweet taste of the bug was gulped down in seconds.

Dede’s eyes watered as if she was about to cry. She was so ashamed that she ate the bug that she writhed and tighten around Elron’s neck. Elron had to try his best to pry her back from choking him, but just as he was prying her away, Dede began to change.

Elron’s whole face were being attacked by Dede’s change. Dede’s magic swirled around Elron like blades of wind. Each cut left a small red line on Elron’s face. In alarm, Elron pulled out his own magical barrier to combat against Dede that was going out of control. He had to slip a thin physical barrier around his head in the hopes to stall back the possible massive damage that Dede was going through.

The change went through another five minutes of struggle between Dede and Elron that it became quite a funny sight. Zero couldn’t help snort with laughter as he saw the comedic act between the two. Dede did not let go of Elron’s neck and head, while Elron was busily trying his best to pry her off with magic but miserably failed.

Finally Dede settled down, but her appearance did not change as much. She grew a little fatter and bigger but was not as big as a large dog. Dede let out a gasping breath of air as she slunk forward in exhaustion.

“W-what did you do to me.” Dede gasped. Her silver face was hanging of Elron’s shoulder barely able to lift it.

“Help you grow.” Zero had to hold back his laughter.

Elron look worst. His face was littered with cuts and his hair was disheveled. It remind Zero of someone who got electrocuted from the way his hair stood.

“Let’s..not…do that again.” Dede panted. “I for sure do not enjoy that.”

“Me too.” Dede gasped. Her grasp loosened around Elron’s neck.

“Don’t worry you only can have one anyways.”

“I’m glad to hear that…”

“Zero!” Agnis ran over with the last remaining group of dragons. Beside her Zeraph came as well as they both stop next to him.

“Agnis. Glad you’re here, though Zeraph you do know that this is dragon and their companion only right? I’m not sure if you could even enter inside.”

“Doesn’t hurt to try. If I can’t, I’ll just roam around till you guys come back out.”

“M2 and his villagers will be staying back in the Draconis Village. They told me to tell you they hope you succeed.” Zeraph passed on his words to Zero.

“For sure.” Zero nodded. “Well then let’s get started, though I don’t know where to be-”

Rumble. Rumble.

The pyramid shook as dirt and stone started to tumbled down from the size. A large hole the size of a bus opened up. An eerie dry wind seeped out from the darkness, beckoning them in. Zero had an inkling of what could be inside, he had heard stories about how that the pyramids were the large tombs of dead pharaohs. The thought of raiding a dead person’s tomb sounded like a horrible idea. Worse, the possibly of getting cursed sounded like something that he wouldn’t want to get. One curse was enough, but two? He was not to keen on such a subject.

“Are we going to step in?” Dede whispered. “I mean, fighting against dead people does not sound like something that I would enjoy.”

Agnis gulped. She too was not to fond of entering something that they did not know about. A ghastly screamed echoed throughout the hallway and burst out from the entrance making everyone shiver. They peered into the unknown darkness wondering what was inside, but even still, the majority of the dragons and their companions took a couple of steps back with unease.

“I’m not liking this at all.” Agnis whispered. “Why the heck do we even have to do this?”

“Because the queen said so.” Zero dryly spoke. He was the first one to take the step in. Agnis followed after glancing around the darkness anxiously. She summoned her holy fire to light up the darkness that seem to surround them at every corner. The bright blue light floated above Zero allowing him to see in the pitch black darkness.

The Pharaoh’s curse has been activated. All statuses have decreased by twenty points. For the first adventurer to enter into the Pyramid of Darkness, all experience points and drops have increased by 2x for the next week. Raid Dungeon has activated. Only a total of forty-one dragons and their companions may enter at the same time.

Zero groaned. The message that was pasted in front of him were like a lullaby that crippled their power. This made the fight inside five times more dangerous than before making it even harder to accomplish.

Everyone slowly moved into the pyramid after Zero and they too had the same message that Zero was given. What was more surprising was that Zeraph had stepped through. The message that he got only allowed forty-one people not forty-two. How Zeraph got in, he was not even sure.

“Zeraph.” Zero asked.

“Yea?”

“How did you get pass the entrance?”

“I’m not quite sure. For some reason, it seems I’m a whole different party or something.”

“Really? I mean I thought only one party can go through a raid at one time.”

“What Zero said is true.” Elron spoke. “Until we all die or all of us get out nobody is able to enter inside. Raid Dungeons are made specifically made like that, though there aren’t many out there that we know of. I think so far there are a total of seven Raid Dungeon throughout the whole Fire Continent itself. This would be the eighth. The only thing I could think of is that you’re an anomaly that’s somehow connected to this dungeon.” Elron spoke with reassurance. He nodded and he stroked Deede’s head.

“Possibly. Doesn’t matter though, one extra person is going to help right?” Zeraph shrugged his shoulder without much thought. He did not care much why he was able to get in without much trouble.

“True. One more person to help is better to survive this dungeon.”

The thick walls were slowly opening up becoming larger and the path continued to wind through the darkness left and right without a pointless direction.

“Arrrrggghh…” A deep sound of the dead mummy was seen walking around in front of them with its bandages partially falling off its body. A pungent smell of rotting flesh and dead skin was shown making it look grotesque.

“We got company.” Agnis quickly pulled out her bow and aimed. She carefully lined up her arrow and swirled around her holy fire at the tip of its edge. Letting go, she took the first shot in which case the arrow pierced through the mummy’s head. Stuttering backwards, it rose back up again.

“Arugugh!” The mummy cried out and stumbled forward towards Agnis.

“Great. A mummy. That means there possibly more.” Dede frowned.

“Don’t jinx us.” Elron spoke with a haste. He pulled out his heavy sword that were decorated with floral patterns.

Both Zero and Zeraph followed after and everyone else as well. Even though the pathway allowed ten people across to walk side-by-side, the room was still tight for them to fight without disrupting each other’s flow. Not only that, Zero couldn’t shift into his dragon form without being stuck between the tight walls.

More and more appeared from the darkness and was drawn by the mummy’s voice. Agnis’ arrows flew straight at its mark, making a pin cushion out of the first mummy. It fell forward dead.

“That’s not to hard. It took what, six arrows?” Agnis spoke with confidence. “My senses are telling me that these things are weaklings.” She fired more, causing three more to fall without much of a hitch.

“I must say, you been doing quite well aren’t you?” Zeraph stormed into the heat of the numerous mummies that made up the thicket. His sword dangerously whipped around him cutting the monsters in half as if they were grass.

Elron whistled. “Quite a fabulous skill.” He enjoyingly took in the sight of Zeraph’s attacks and defense. “It makes my blood boil. Wait for me!” He dove into the thicket of the fight and decimated the enemy as if they were nothing.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Elron, don’t forget I’m still on your neck! I don’t want to die!” She expelled a burst of fire from her mouth that was barely damaging to the mummy.

Zero stood back without taking part in the battle and instead watched as the swarm of the dragons rushed forward to take part in the heat of battle. It didn’t take long for all the mummies to fall down dead. The voices of the dragons and their companions spoke out sharply with enthusiasm.

“Look at that. They were nothing special.” A green dragon spoke cockily. His tail drummed on the floor like a happy dog.

“I know right? I for sure got a lot more powerful.”

“Did you see me tear those monster’s apart with my teeth? I shredded it into pieces!”

“That’s nothing. I did better than you. Took me ten hits to kill it.”

“Seven for me.”

“What? That’s nothing. I mean, we were all attacking it all at once.”

Zero sighed. The rambunctious attitude of the players were excitedly speaking out with enthusiasm at killing the mummies in front of them. At this rate, it was all good and all in destroying the monsters, but they still needed to be careful not to be killed.

The group continued forward, Zero this time did not take the lead. Instead, he allowed the others to wipe out and grow stronger. Zeraph and Agnis noticed Zero not partaking in the battle and followed his example. Instead, Elron and Bebe took the lead, giving Bebe a chance to grow up quickly in the dungeon.

“At this rate, they’ll wipe out the whole first level.” Agnis walked next to Zero with her hands next to her hilt.

“That’s better than nothing. We don’t know how powerful the enemies will be the deeper we go.“

“Better than nothing.”

They continued forward and found there way towards the second level, third, and fourth going deeper into the pyramid. Each level they were more and more mummies but they were no change in the monsters.

Zero couldn’t help but feel that something was off. Even though they went deeper into the dungeon, they were not many changes that were hindering them from pushing forward. It did give the lower level players a large jump in levels, but even still they were a bit far away from the higher level group.

When they arrived at the fifth floor, the group appeared in a large room with open grassland and a small casket with ancient Egyptian writings. Ghastly green light appeared from the ground as it lite up the room one-by-one. Hieroglyphs lit up the walls

“I get the feeling that you won’t like this any more than I do.” Zeraph was carefully walking over to the casket.

The others spread out to see if they were anything that they could pick up and look for any treasures. Zero felt like a thief looking through the room for anything that they could find. His hands traced against the runes wondering what each one was saying. He got the feeling that the words on the wall would tell a different story if only he could understand.

Suddenly he stopped. On the wall of the walls were one familiar egyptian words that represented ‘gate of death’ that he remembered while he was studying. When he look around a bit more, he realized that it cropped up many times. It just that he did not understand why and for what purpose.

“Did you guys find anything?” Zero called out to Agnis and Zeraph.

“Nothing here, but grass and more grass.” Agnis spoke. She walked over towards the casket wondering what was inside. A large group of dragons and companions were trying to figure out ways to open it. “Though, I got to wonder what this thing is hiding.” She brushes her hand against the cold stone as her fingers traces the carvings.

Zeraph came over and glanced down at the casket as well, wondering what was inside. He pulled out a scroll from his bag and placed it on top of the stone slab.

“What are you doing?” Agnis glanced over his shoulder.

“Nothing of too much of an importance.” Zeraph spreads out the scroll and took out a charcoal. He started to smear the charcoal over the carved rune. He specifically picked the one that was large with smaller words written around it in a circle creating a sun like drawing with words.

“Wait, why these hieroglyphs?”

“I get a feeling we will need it later.”

“Hah? Gut instinct?”

“Something like that.” Zeraph was hunched over diligently working copying the hieroglyphs. “This is too troublesome.”

“Then why do it seriously…” Agnis let out a sigh.

“I told you, I have a reason.”

“Then don’t complain.”

“Do it for me then.” Zeraph handed her the charcoal for her to work.

“Nope. That’s not my job.”

“Pft, then don’t say anything as well.” Zeraph went back to scribbling away at his paper.

“I give up.” Agnis let out a sigh.

Zero to was stuck and did not know what to do. They were no exit except the entrance that they came from. Walking over towards the middle of the casket where Agnis and Zeraph stood, he wondered what else to do next. Right now, all he could think of was how to advance forward, but not a single player was able to read the hieroglyphs on the wall.

“What is he doing?” Zero stopped behind Zeraph and glanced over his shoulder.

“Drawing. I don’t know why but he said it’s important and it might help us later on.” Agnis shrugged and walked around the casket thinking not much of it.

“Well if he has a reason, it could come up to be helpful at the end.”

“If you say so.”

Zero watched Zeraph finished up his drawings and rolled it back up. He stood up straight with his back turned away from the stone casket. “Well, I’m finished with that. Did we find anything?”

“Nope. Nothing at all. The others are still looking.” Zero pointed behind him where all the others were diligently searching for a way out. “I mean, this is not the the end that we are searching for.”

“Well, things will eventually show up in due time-” Zeraph took a step back in surprise. The casket in front of them started to glow all around it. Even the hieroglyphs were glowing ruby red signifying that something was going to happen.

Zero took a couple of steps back worried that something might happen if he walked up to close to it. The stone slab moved, grating against each other as black smog spilled out of its content.

“What the hell is going on?!” Zeraph replied with shock. He pulled out of his sword ready to fight. Everyone else were on edge, ready to attack if something happened.

The black smog creeped forward on the floor slowly encroaching upon the players. Zero couldn’t help but feel that whatever was coming upon them were something dangerous.

“Stay back, don’t let the the black smoke touch you!” Zero took a couple more steps back. “Head back into the-!”

Bam! The door to the entrance closes leaving them all trapped inside the large room. Amidst the darkness, a figure appeared. A black haired pale skin human being stepped out from the cloud of smokes. Each step it took, the darkness wrapped around its body like a cloth creating a cape. With a yawn, it stretched its arms and groggily walked forward.

“Who the hell are you?” Valiant was the first one to speak. His black scales match perfectly with the darkness that came after them, but what differentiate him from the humanoid being was that he was filled with life while the other wasn’t.

“An unwanted guest had arrived.” The being yawned as if they were no threat at all. “I want a little more sleep.” With a snap of his fingers, all the dragons and their companions were teleported away outside the pyramid.

“What the?” Zero stood speechless facing the front entrance of the Pyramid. “How?”

“I don’t know.” Agnis replied with the same shocked expression as Zero. “We just got booted out without a single chance to do anything.”

“I’m not even sure why though? I mean wasn’t that a boss character? Does this usually happen when fighting in a Raid?”

“No.” Elron whispered. “This is the first time I’m ever hearing about it too.” He went quiet not sure what to say.

“Wait.…where’s Zeraph?” Agnis was searching around trying to find him the large crowds of players but she did not find his presence anywhere. “Did he?”

“I don’t know.” Zero replied. “I’m going back inside and see what’s going on.” He walked forward towards the entrance with hurried steps, but he was suddenly stopped by an invisible wall.

“?”

Twenty-four hour time limit cool down before being able to enter into the Pyramid of Light. New party members who have not stepped foot may enter into the Pyramid.

Zero was surprised at the message. “I think we have a problem.”

“What?” Agnis came over and she too was blocked out from entering. “Ah…I now know what you mean.”

“We might have to tackle this problem a little differently. We should start a second lower level group to raid inside the pyramid. This should give them a chance to level up while the main force cut through to completing this quest.”

“You know what, that’s not a bad idea. I’ll go tell Valiant and the rest about this and we can start on a second group to enter.” Agnis spoke excitedly. She ran over to Valiant to talk about the plan that Zero just spoke out.

Zero was going to think on it a bit more but, it seem that Agnis was already putting the plan into play. He could already feel a headache forming in his mind, the trials to come in breaking through the fifth floor might actually become a lot more harder than he had expected. All he could do was to find answers by deciphering the hieroglyphs on the wall the next time they entered.

#####

“Stay back. Let me handle this.” Zeraph held up his hands holding Zero and the others back. Once again they were in front of the same rune stone casket. The green orbs appeared lighting up the dark room and the runes glowed once again.

With a rumble the stone casket opened allowing the black smog spill out from its content. The smog spilled forward like liquid and a silhouette of a human being appeared from the darkness. Black cloak fluttered behind its back as the man yawned wearily.

“So you guys came back.” The man frowned and crossed his arms. “Why won’t you let me sleep? I mean what does it take to get a nap around this place? Already you and another group came to wake me up one after another.”

“I’m sorry to disturb your sleep Anu, but I would like to meet the King who sleeps in this tomb.” Zeraph spoke with confidence. He did not seem to show any sign of restraint or problem that what he said was false.

“You too?” Anu sighed. “Though how were you able to figure out my name? Are you his messenger?”

“Well, we can say something like that.”

“Hmm…then it must be of an importance. Nobody should’ve been able to figure my name but the King himself. Then the way to the king will be opened, though I will come with you to see him as well.”

“Sure. The more the merrier.” Zeraph whistled pleased at the outcome. The stone casket shuddered and groaned. Its heavy stones moved, allowing a large invisible passageway to lead downstairs.

“How did you figure out his name?” Agnis walked over next to him and whispered.

“I have my sources. I told you what I was doing had a reason.”

“So you’re saying that what you copied was his name? You know how to read ancient Egyptian writing?”

“Somewhat. I had to go back and check my sources, but Anu is not the main name that was written in big bold letters. We’ll be looking into something a bit more complicated. I’m not sure where to begin.”

“Hit me.”

“Literally or metaphorically?” Zeraph joked and nudged her by the ribs.

“You know what I mean.” Agnis rolled her eyes.

Zero was listening in on their conversation and noticed that Anu transformed into a jackal and flew over towards Zeraph’s side and followed quietly next to him like a guard dog. He had to wonder what was Zeraph’s angle on all this. He remembered him not being kicked out of the dungeon and was inside for another five hours. During that time another raid team which was a lot lower in level entered into the dungeon and slowly but surely sweep through till they were finally able to enter the fifth level and stated that they saw Zeraph still on the fifth floor.

It wasn’t until they entered in the dungeon, Zeraph was kicked out back to the beginning and brought outside without a single scratch. Following after was the raid team only a few minutes behind.

Zero had specifically asked him what he had found out, but it seem as if Zeraph did not talk much about it except how he might had found a way through. He had a million questions, but Zeraph walked away before he could ask. The way things were going, Zeraph was getting a bit unusual throughout this whole raid.

“Did you get a chance to check out the lower levels?” Zero asked carefully.

“Well that’s the thing, I only got to stick around on this floor. I logged out a couple of times to make sure my reading were correct. If I understand correctly, the test trial had already begun.” Zeraph answered casually without much effort of hiding anything.

“Tests? What kind?”

“There are a total of fifty levels. Each tenth level, we got a boss on our hands and the layout of this dungeon is slightly strange. One second you’re going downstairs, another you’ll be going back up. Though it seems that each floor is different.”

“Teleportation?”

“Something on that line, not hundred percent sure if it is or not, but the exit will always be different. All we can do is push forward, that means no going back.”

“That shouldn’t be too much of a problem.” Zero continued forward with Elron leading the large team. He was in the middle of the group letting the others level up and at least attempt to try to get closer to Zero’s team who were all high level. The average level of the dragons were around level 75. While Zero, Zeraph, Agnis, and Elro were past level 140. Valiant and his group were all around level 110, leading their own specific teams.

“The problem lies with if we die, than we have to start all over again. This raid might take a lot longer than a couple of days, by my calculation possibly a few weeks.”

“A few weeks?” Agnis stated in alarm. “How are we supposed to sleep? I mean, we are all humans that have a life of our own, you know.”

“I expected as much. My suggestion is to designate a specific time slots dedicated to clearing the dungeon. We won’t be able to get out of this place to get more supplies unless we die. It’s stupid if we attempt to run away to get more supplies. The time of rest to enter back into the dungeon corresponds exactly with the twenty-four hours a person normally has before they get back in. We need to push forward and use every single able body to map out as much of the each level terrain as possible.”

“I agree, though there is one more thing that we should look into.”

“What would that be?”

“We should use the time when we die to also map out the dead zone levels as well.”

“You serious? Why?” Agnis was not liking the sound of exploring the spiritual world at all. “I just don’t like the ominous feel that we have to deal with. Can’t we just you know bypass it as well?”

“No. I got the feeling that there is more to the place than you think.”

“What do you have in mind?” Zeraph asked interested in what Zero got to say. He seem a lot more excited than usual.

“If I remember my Ancient Egyptian history, I know they were quite religious with the spiritual world of the dead. The way they wrapped their kings and people into mummies were all steps to preserve the body for the afterlife. If this Pyramid follows the same principle, I believe our real battle starts when we die. Not when we are alive.”

“That is a interesting twist of events. I’m going to completely back you up on this as well. I was wondering why the words gate of death kept repeating itself on the walls over and over again. This might be the answer that we were looking for.”

Agnis sighed as her shoulder slumped forward in defeat. “So you’re saying that we all eventually have to die.”

“Technically no. I believe having two teams was actually the smart way to do this. When one team dies, we will all be stuck in the spiritual dimension. This allows the second team to enter and make there way to the final level. Attacking on both ends might actual be the key to win this raid.”

“I never heard such strange raid before. I mean, to fight when you’re dead at the same time with the living? I mean, that’s sounds so crazy.” Agnis was flabbergasted at what she was hearing.

“It’s possible.” Zero reassured her without a second doubt. “I fought a numerous times in the spiritual realm. The people who died when we were fighting the Swamp Fairy was fighting them still after they were dead. I fought with them side-by-side in that battle and completely obliterated the Swamp Fairy’s spiritual form.”

“Really? When?”

“At the time when I went unconscious. I had to make my way back from the other side and slip back into my body. I’m glad I made it back just in time before Russ completely overwhelmed our forces.”

“So that’s when you woke up?” Agnis eyes turned wide from shock. She was having a difficult time processing all this information at the same time she was starting to believe every word that he was saying.

Zero slowly nodded.

“Damn.” Agnis stomped. “I was hoping what you were saying was just a joke, but after the Black Dragons that escaped from who knows where, I don’t know if I can take it as a joke anymore. Those things were freakishly scary. I never seen suchcreatures before, I mean no disrespect towards the Black Dragons but the thought of them changing into a evil creature makes my skin crawl every time.”

“I don’t think they all do. It’s just the ones that get consumed by rage.”

“Well, I hope you’re right, because right now the population of black dragons is a lot more higher than any other dragon species right now in the Draconis Village.”

“I know. It’s something I can’t really do anything about.”

“Yea.” Agnis sighed. “So what’s the plan. We push through as much as possible, get overwhelmed by the enemy, then die? We’ll all lose a level and this is pretty big for someone like us where our levels are pretty high up there. I mean, I’m getting closer to level 150 very soon. Past level 150 it’s not a walk in the park, you know.”

“I know. It’s something we have to take a bet on.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Me too. Agnis.” Zero whispered.

“So our plans?” Zeraph glanced towards Zero waiting for what he would say.

“Push as far as we could and map out as quickly as possible. If we die, we die. Then we’ll push forward in the other realm as well.”

“Wait. Is there a penalty for death in the game if you die twice?”

“I don’t know.”

“Nobody has taken the chance to see what happens. There are rumors going around that it’s not a favorable outcome if they do.”

“Those are just baseless rumors.”

“Well we should still tell everyone about the plan before we go head first into something we don’t know about.”

“I know.” Zero stopped and he messaged all the eight sub leaders telling them to stop and come huddle around him. “I just sent them a message. They’ll be here in a second.”

Every dragon and their companions tightly wrapped around Zero, Zeraph, and Agnis. They were wondering what Zero had to suddenly say when they arrived to the sixth level. Before they continued they waited for Zero’s message.

“Zero!” Valiant trotted over with the others. “What’s the hold up?”

The others were curiously peering towards him waiting for an answer.

“We got something we should do.”

“Aren’t we doing what we should be doing already? I mean there isn’t much to do but blast through this dungeon.” Valiant chuckled.

Reed smacked him on his head. “Enough with your lame joke and listen to what he has to say.”

“Hey! That hurts.”

“Good.”

Valiant grumbled and sulked.

“We are going to push as deep as we can through the dungeon and map out as much of the terrain as possible. Our teams objective is get to the end as quickly as possible for the second team to get through it easily.”

“What do you mean? Why would we need the second team anyways? I mean, aren’t we enough?”

“No. There’s more. The battle is going to get worse as we get deeper and that’s a given, but our real objective as a team is to die and get into the spiritual world.”

“You’re kidding me right?” Valiant gave Zero a weary look. His tail was already flopping back and forth in agitation at the thought of death.

“No. This battle is two folds. One team is going to push through in the spiritual world and the other team is going to go through the physical world. The number of players that can enter in this dungeon is already predetermined in the physical world, but that does not mean that the spiritual attack is not welcomed. If my guess is right, it works on both dimension.” Zero cleared his voice. “This Pyramid is possibly made by the Egyptians meaning that their belief system is a bit different. We are in a pyramid for crying out loud, it’s a tomb for a king. The world of the dead will definitely be where we have to go.”

“Are you sure that’s even a good idea? I mean, can we do it?” Valiant wasn’t gung-ho on diving into the unknown. Every one who had died made it a priority to not explore the world of the dead. The game elements of this world were a lot more different the physical world. Things did not happen the way players wanted it to go, so the spiritual world were a big let down for many players.

“Yes, we can. I know there will be level reductions but the experience points on the other side is a lot better. Trust me on this. I have lived through the first twenty-four hours and made it back alive and I know what I say is true.”

The voices of players cried out in concern as they bombarded him with questions.

“Really? I mean, doesn’t the dreary oppressive air make its difficult to travel?”

“What about the level handicap that I had heard about. Is that true as well?”

“Is the game system the same as fighting in the physical world? I mean, has anything changed?”

“What about where are we going to start if we die? Do we leave off where we died or what?”

“Enough!” Zero’s voice boomed out loud causing everyone to leer back in surprise. They did not think that Zero’s human voice would make such an impact, leaving them all a bit shaken.

“To answer your question, there is no level handicap. You’ll lose one level and if you fight and live you’ll gain more levels than when you started. That is only if you fight the monsters in the game. There is no reward if you do not put your life on the line. The dreary atmosphere does get to you, but that does not mean it’s not possible. When I say it’s possible, it’s possible. For the people who are concern about the game mechanics in the spiritual plane, there is a big change. The physical skills that you have acquired does not work. Instead, what you need to take with you is belief.”

“Belief? What good would that do?” A young green dragon spoke in outburst. “Belief is not going to cut down monsters.”

Zero eyed him down and sighed. “What i’m saying is that once you’re dead, you’re dead. You don’t bring anything from the physical plane. All you got is your birthday suit that you were given. Now with that it does not mean it’s all over. What I meant by ‘Belief’ is that you need to believe that you are able to conjure up a weapon that you are familiar with. What I have noticed is that this weapon is made from your own energy and takes shape into a weapon. This is your best weapon in the spiritual world. Remember this and don’t panic.”

“That’s easier said than done. How are you so sure we won’t get even a worse penalty than before if we die a second time?”

“I don’t. That’s why this is a game. Be glad it’s only a game. We got to take chance somewhere, don’t we? I mean if we want to succeed failure is part of the process.” Zero was walking around meeting each individual in the eye when he was talking. He stressed his points as best as he could. “Walking with our tails in between our legs won’t let us get anywhere we need. Take a chance, a jump of faith, because you don’t if that next jump was a lot more easy than you think.”

The players nodded in understanding as his words touched and inflamed each one of their souls in excitement. Their chatter became louder as they thought of the possibility to come.

“Well then, one last thing, we are going to chart out the physical world to let our lower level players in team two level up faster and safer. We don’t want them to die and we need all of them make it to the final floor. With that being said, for the people who died, make sure you all find each other on the spiritual realm and stay together in groups. I’m not sure how or where we all going to end up with. Until we find the answer, we’ll keep pushing forward.”

“That sounds like a decent plan for now.” Valiant and the other dragons nodded their head in agreement.

“It’s the best I got. We’re all going in blind.”

“True. Wish we had a map of this place.”

“Well we better start one then, shouldn’t we?” Reed smirked. “I mean it would be good and all if you start using your head too for once in awhile.”

“What are you talking about. I always do.” Valiant shook himself like a dog trying to buck Reed off his back. Reed held on tight with a smile plastered on her face. “I swear after the bullying incident, you got a lot more meaner.”

“Meaner? Hardly. I became much cooler.”

Valiant snorted. “If you say so.”

“I did.” Reed haughtily replied sitting up straight on Valiant’s back.

Zero couldn’t help but chuckle at the two, they were working a lot more efficiently together than before. Compare to his friends, Valiant did a pretty decent job of getting things under control when leading his group of friends. He was a natural born leader in his own way.

“Well then, let’s get back on the road.”

The players trudged forward into the dark passageways as they stepped through the unknown with more dedication than they had before. Even though the thought of death was imminent, the chance to explore a whole plane made everyone excited at the prospect of getting stronger than they already were.

Zero knew that he couldn’t slack off and patiently observed the surrounding areas carefully. He did not wanted to lose anyone in the early stages of the game. He knew that it would be detrimental to the team if they started to drop like flies too soon.

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