Fatigue set in and strength started slipping away from my limbs, both my hands fell beside me, still a shitty way to --, her head exploded.

A long pause ensued, it would be an understatement to say I was shocked. Kahina's head was blown to smithereens, to say the least. Warm blood and lumps of human flesh splattered on my face. I heard a sound, akin to a balloon bursting, and her face fragmented to nothing the very next moment. Her lifeless body laid over me, spurting adrenaline-infused blood on my chest relentlessly. Without trying to look too much at the corpse, I shoved it aside and stood up on shaky legs.

Tears welled up in my eyes. I felt an itch in the back of my throat, I leaned against a wall for support and coughed, ejecting a wad of phlegm and blood. Miraculously, my glasses came out crystal clear from the bizarre event. Amidst the disgusted feeling boiling in my bowels, a strange sense of relief settled in. Finally, finally, I am free. While taking a few steps back, I sized up Kahina's headless body making sure it wouldn't move again and headed for the exit.

"Ouch!" "Ouch!" I bashed my skull right on someone's temple. We both exclaimed in pain at the same time. Unfortunately, my reaction didn't stop there. The sense of relief I was relishing was not that of a mongoose besting a poisonous snake thrice its size, but of a rat who barely escaped a snake's fatal bite. I dropped on all fours and scuttled away from my fellow human, like a cockroach. I shivered and pleaded without looking up from the ground. "P...pl...please don't kill me."

"Boys these days sure are weird," she giggled childishly, "I get it I saved you and all that but don't treat me like a goddess, it's kind of embarrassing."

I don't know if it was the feminine laugh or the familiarity of the voice or a combination of both that brought me back to normal. I immediately stood up and dusted my pants, conscious about my appearance. Traditionalist Hindus prostrate before idols of their gods in temples to show respect and faith, although I was raised an atheist, so I rarely had an occasion to do it. Thankfully, she mistook my involuntary flight response for a gesture of gratitude.

An indigo blue folded umbrella rested on her shoulder, its handle tightly clutched by a hand encased in pristine white gloves. A breezy, knee-length polka dot summer dress made her look younger than what her face told. And to top it off were her monsoon caramel-colored loafers. Her apparel resembled a hastily put up mash of different seasons.

"Did you kill her?" I asked hesitantly.

"Pretty sure I did," I was taken aback by her casual reply.

"Hey, that's rude, don't give me that look. Oh, sorry, my bad, you are a noob, right? Don't worry everyone has their first time you will get used to the deaths soon. Besides, that wasn't her real body."

I turned around to take a look at the corpse. Most of it had disintegrated into ashes, like the one left after burning wood. I touched my face and checked my body. The crimson liquid had almost completely disappeared, although the smell of blood still permeated.

"What the..." Even in the presence of otherworldly phenomena, I couldn't figure out what felt off. It was like trying to find the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle. "Wait, where is Intern?"

"Huh, what intern?"

"Didn't you see him? He is a big dude, scary, hard to miss, trust me... he-he was here just a minute ago."

She tilted her head in confusion, "I only saw Kahina and you grappling, no one else was here. Maybe you hit your head too hard. Well, people do call me thickheaded sometimes," she ended with an embarrassed smile, not knowing 'thickhead' doesn't mean the same thing as a strong skull.

"B-but," I decided it was futile to convince her. Her thought process was on a completely different tangent compared to mine and after seeing everything, I had started to doubt my own reasoning too.

"My name is Robin, nice to meet you." I extended my hand to her.

She reached forward and attempted a stiff handshake. "Um... mine is Ruby, the pleasure is mine," she said with all the seriousness possible, but her face, in turn, looked oddly comical. Despite the situation, I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Is this how you treat your savior? Hmph. I am not talking to you." With a hand on her waist and puffed up cheeks, she turned around, with her back facing me.

"'You are my savior', are you serious? I got into this fucking mess because of you."

"How is it my fault? If not for my Artefact by now you would have been dead or even worse."

"Do you understand Ruby, you didn't do me any favors. First, that weirdo cut me up and you gave me this Artifact because you felt guilty, right?" I only got silence as a reply, "I assume that's a yes. Then I am here just minding my own business, maybe have a snack or something, but I couldn't even do that. Why? Because this bloody Artifact that was supposed to help me, made me look like their enemy. Without this, everything would have been normal. Sorry, I was wrong, without you, everything would have been normal."

Her posture slumped and a long pause followed, "I don't know what to say. I am s-sorry, but I did come to save you, so we are even--"

"Cut the crap, we have never known each other, nor have we ever spoken. You have no reason to save a random teenager you met on the streets. You are here for something way more important. Now that I think about it, Kahina did say this ring is quite a powerful piece of work. Maybe, you wanted your Artifact back."

Once again awkward silence followed. She finally faced and spoke with a defeated expression, "you are free to assume whatever you want."

And you are free to assume your existence as a superhero. I kept the thought to myself since the fact that she saved me from death remained unchanged. "Take your ring back."

"Keep it with you," she replied, still trying to avoid eye contact with me.

"I don't want it," I insisted.

"Keep it or I will blow your fingers off." Her face darkened, but nothing about her tone said 'threatening'. Although the threat might have been empty, she did have the power to back it up, so I gave up on pressing further.

Ruby nearly jumped with surprise as a sound that could only be described as two cats on steroids fighting barged in. Unlike her, I was relieved instead of spooked. That was my trusty smartphone's ringtone. It buzzed and rang incessantly, jumbling the dust around it. I cleared the screen with my sleeve and accepted the call.

After ten minutes my ears hurt and my aunt's words echoed in my mind. "Well, someone at my home is really angry so I have to dash now."

"Wait, I'll come with you."

"You really don't need to."

"C'mon, what's the big deal? What if someone tries to kill you?"

"Take off my ring then."

"I already said no."

In my illustrious life of seventeen and half years, I had never met someone as stubborn as her. I wasn't too keen on the idea of her accompanying me all the way to my home, but ring or not, there were chances of me facing hostilities. So having someone strong with me was a plus.

"Fine, have it your way, but I am not paying for the rickshaw."

She stared back at me as if I had said something scandalous about her religion. "What? You can't even do that?"

"No way, I am going to ride a rickshaw. Can't you just book a cab?"

"They are expensive, some people need to save money."

We finally settled on the city bus. The pastel blue electric one to be specific. Her preference for cabs over rickshaws stemmed from a new year resolution about doing anything possible to reduce the carbon footprint on our planet earth. I was staring outside, the scene of Kahina's corpse disintegrating into ashes looped in my head. I tried to steer away from the thought, only to my despair, it was replaced by the image of multiple corpses one with a giant hole in its chest, some beheaded, and one even separated from its torso.

Besides me was a girl humming an odd tune and bobbing her head along with it. Who would believe if I say that this girl possesses supernatural powers and murdered a dozen humans without batting an eye?

"You want anything?" She stopped her humming as she noticed me staring at her. Her innocent and unfaltering smile almost made me wonder if she was even a real human.

"Aren't you worried about cops finding your handiwork?"

"Don't fret about it so much. During quests, missions, or raids no evidence of a fight is left behind also whenever two Players fight, their presence is almost completely erased, at least for normal humans. The same applies to dead bodies or articles related to the game, like Artifacts for example," she said while poking her chin with the tip of her umbrella sandwiched between us.

She probably noticed my confused state, "it's difficult to explain but think about it like a pebble in the middle of a crowded street. It exists but no one notices unless you know what exactly you are looking for. And even for worst-case scenarios, the government will cover for us."

"Why would they do that?" "Dunno, maybe they just want to keep the freaks corralled. I mean, no one can stop Players from hurting humans, except fellow Players and Wardens."

"Who are Wardens?"

"Just bad people, you will know once you see them. But, your chances of actually meeting one are almost nonexistent so you are safe." There was a hint of fear in her voice, despite the unbothered face.

I would be happy to say I was relieved, but the 'almost' part got me. For someone as strong as her to be wary of Wardens, it sure painted a formidable image in my mind. I continued badgering her with questions, some she answered, some deftly avoided while rarely a vague answer was granted.

"Ruby I am assuming you are an Artificer."

She nodded in confirmation, "yup, you are correct about that."

I was debating if the question was appropriate, but curiosity got the better of me, "I heard somewhere, that Artificers are su[ppossed to be on the weaker side of things."

She scowled at me for some time before replying, "your source is wrong. We might not be as good as Players in terms of fighting prowess but we do have infinite potential. The only things needed are hard work and extermination of those smelly grannies." She almost sounded like Kahina. I gathered most Artificers were sticking to teachings that inhibited their growth, at least as fighters, and Rubi and Kahina were one of the dissenters.

An entirely new world opened up to me, a world that had been thriving in the city's underbelly since its foundation. I learned so much new information that my mind could barely process. For basics, any person chosen by the game would be called a Player and are granted a power called Trigger. Although for a Trigger to manifest or grow, 'quests' need to be completed. Quests are tasks that must be completed unless you are fond of the punishments. A lot of times a Player's quest would intertwine with another one's unknowingly so more often than not they would end up pitted against each other.

Along with Triggers, Artifacts and Shards formed a Player's arsenal. To avoid quests, one can join or form a clan which was the preferred route. But none are easy feats. You now have to participate in raids and missions but they are much less frequent and the chances of your survival are high. But on a defeat or failing completion, the entire clan has to face the consequences.

There were also a lot of things integral to Player society, like using a pseudonym with fellow Players or how a clan is recognized by a certain blade. Ruby's clan 'Outcasts' was known by its Rampuri knife.

Before I knew the bus came to a screeching halt a couple of blocks away from my apartment complex.