Numerous tall, skinny trees topped with drooping, dark leaves shielded the bog of Darkwick Woods from the pale night sky. Light escaped through small gaps between narrow branches, casting very small pockets of light that barely managed to crack the darkness.

The forest itself was a chorus of eeries cries, strange croaks, and incoherent hoots. Some calls went alarmingly silent as four players, two men and two women, traversed the natural waters and aquatic vegetation with the intent to be silent.

They were anything but that however, as three of the four were engaged in conversation. The only quiet one, a lean, tall young man with dark, shoulder length hair tied in a ponytail and olive skin, held a small lantern. Its strong flame basked an orange hue around him and his companions.

Kazim gripped the quest paper in one hand while his other moved the lantern here and there so he could take in his surroundings. He propped it against some trees as he fought the thick bog water with his quilted legs and ignored the rancid smell of decaying vegetation. The Murkian Gator was proving hard to find but he would not give up yet. He needed to prove himself and all he needed now was one clue to the whereabouts of.....One tree in particular caught his eye immediately and he stopped, leading to someone running into his back.

“Ow! Y-You big bear of a man! Why have we stopped?” Nyx said, backing away and rubbing her pink nose in frustration. The hand she used, her Valor hand, illuminated a pretty pink, oval face below a green, feathery wide brimmed cap. The tall womens pale blue gaze searched his face for an apology he wasn’t going to give. “First you drag us through mucky muck on some hunt in the middle of the night and now you bloody near break my nose?”

“Awww, is our little princess Stone Mage in need of a kiss on the nose” Gale began, hands clasped behind his neck and lips on the brink of a wry smile. His round face and bald head lied hidden under a green assassins cloak and hood with a triangular front that shadowed a lazy amber gaze. “Maybe I should carry you. Keep you out of this water. Here, here. Come here...”

Gale managed a hand around her slim waist before she nearly leaped out of her green half-cloak towards Kazim in disgust. Gale’s smile turned into a full bellow of a laugh that racked his short, lean body. His sudden laugh earned one from Kazim as well. While nothing was particularly funny, the assassins deep, roaring laugh was so contagious that he couldn’t help himself. Plus, the dignified Stone Mage made for easy teasing. She looked ready to throttle them both, her lone gloved hand raised as if to use a Blessing.

“Enough” Noir finally said. She sauntered past Gale and Nyx both, giving them quick looks as if to state she wanted no more foolishness. Gale’s laughter ceased and he added a lopsided salute for good measure, the wry smile returning. Nyx composed herself, adjusting her white buttoned down, hat, and the short, dark bob cut beneath it. Lucky for Kazim, Nyx always seemed to forgive him easily. But, she would get back at Gale somehow. A conveniently placed foot for tripping was usually it. Last time Gale had teased her, it had been a wooden bucket of ice cold water in the morning.

The guildmaster moved until she was at his side, examining what Kazim had seen on the tree. The cute young woman was short, coming only to his shoulder. With sharp brown eyes and skin that seemed to glow under the lanterns flame. A long, yellow bandana held dark braids that fell to her slender lower back. Hands clasped behind the back of a tight, green leather tunic below a green cloak, she studied the tree before glancing at the quest paper which held a detailed illustration of the Murkian Gator. Finally she turned to Kazim, her steady gaze somehow kicking everything else out of his mind.

“You think these are from the gator?” She asked pointing to the markings on the tree. Kazim had to rip his eyes away to return to the ravaged tree. It carried an assortment of thick, deep claw markings as if something way too big tried to climb it. The tree looked ready to split in half as a result.

He cleared his throat. “Um, yep. When there’s little land or sea animals to feast on, the Murkian Gator likes to climb trees to hunt the birds. Its limbs are really strong and flexible, so it has no problem getting up but it fucks up the trees, as you can see”

“Where’d you peep all that?” Gale said, as he joined Kazim and Noir, along with Nyx. “I was with your ass all day and I don’t remember you reading any dictionaries”

“Dictionaries are for...words...definitions” Nyx muttered with a shake of her head.

“Mistress Fury” Kazim simply said. The older beta tester turned local guild receptionist in Chas’dan, knew more about the local Murkian beasts than any player he’d ever met. Even Noir. Although, his guildmaster had spent most of her time in Olympia where she started out.

“Well, it's good to see you’ve done your homework” Noir praised with a small smile.

Well I'm useless in battle so this is all I've got, he wanted to say but his guildmaster tended to frown at his verbal self depreciation.

“I believe we’re close then. As we proceed, I’d like to affirm our approach once we face the beast. It is very dark and we have but one lantern, so we must be careful.” She added. “Lead the way, Kazim”

They continued forward, Kazim finding more and more claw marks. Using them as a guide, he returned the quest paper to his inventory and as he seemed to do every five minutes, decided to check the back of his now free, glowing right hand…

[Valor] - 25

6,432 exp to next point

….Is what rested on the back of it in glowing gold lettering. It dimmed a little as he returned his hand to his side with a sigh. Pathetic. The world of Helm held its own currency but Valor was the players rich, precious gold in the form of a leveling system. With it, you could buy Legendary weapons, items, and versatile Blessings from guild masters. It also gave you the authroity to use those items and Blessings as most, if not all, were behind a requirement wall.

There were no stats in Helm. No attributes, no numbers to crunch, nothing. Players were naturally skilled and physically strong but a basic Fireball would sear him to death unless he stopped or avoided it. It's why the five Blessings and items were vital. They turned the tide of battle and he had nothing but uncommon weapons and armor with no active abilties, and his ultimate. The one skill he automatically started with when he first joined a month ago.

The cheapest Blessing he could buy from Master Fury was at least 300Valor and it wasn’t even a Blessing a Wrath Knight could use. It took ages to level up with how much experience the stupid thing seemed to need!

There was a pro. You gained Valor experience from doing almost anything. Just the other day, he reached level twenty-five just from relieving himself by a tree!

Another pro was that there was a very, very slim chance to loot Blessings from beasts, but unless it was in a Dungeon where the chance was increased tenfold naturally, you needed lucks hand in marriage to find anything of worth outside. When Kazim finally did a week back, after managing to kill a Mammoth Owl with the guild, it dropped a Blessing...for another class. Blessings sold for good marks in the city but the incident still left a sour taste in his mouth. When would his luck begin?

Adjusting his Stout Leather Armor from under his Basic Green Cloak, he thought of his skills and that familiar blue display came to meet him. The screen held four circular slots that were laid out horizontally. The leftmost four were empty while the very last one held an icon depicting a raging flame.

RAGE MODE: Enter a state of [RAGE], gaining invulnerability for 3 seconds and increased physical power!

Just great. Three! Three seconds! What the hell could he do in three seconds with no other skills to follow up with? Why couldn’t he be a Warden or something? He heard they soaked up damage like a sponge and commanded the battlefield. One player he always heard about was a Warden named Elias who was a beta tester and hadn't lost a single life to this day. That sounded incredible!

He remembered character creation like it was yesterday, your appearance was based on your real world self, but a series of random questions having nothing to do with the game determined your role and class. After answering them, he was met with a screen saying …

Congratulations adventurer!

Your Role is...Warrior

Your class is….Wrath Knight

“Kaz…….Kazim, are you listening?” Noir said, her voice pouring into his thoughts like honey. While in his thoughts, he had faintly heard his guildmates discussing something about the gator.

“No, not really. What’s up?” He said, the display winking out. The amused smile she gave must’ve been in surprise to his honest response. He liked to surprise Noir. She seemed to always know what he thought and where and which way his feet would go.

She opened her mouth but Gale beat her to it.

“What element do you think that gators gonna be? I’m shootin’ for Marine, but these two think it's Terra” Gale said with a look saying he couldn’t believe the word had come from their mouths. “How is it gonna be Terra? I mean, I don’t know if you guys know this or not but gators swim...in water. We’re knee high right now...in water”

Gale allowed his statement to sit in the ensuing silence as if he blew their minds.

“I didn’t say it was Terra, it's just a possibility. I don’t know if you know this but gators crawl on land as well” Noir rebuked, matter of factly. Their land versus water debate continued so Kazim approached Nyx who was busy in a display.

“What do you think, love?” He asked the Stone Mage.

“Blimey!” Nyx suddenly exclaimed, her accent in full swing. It took Kazim a moment to realize it was not in response to him but something she was seeing. She nibbled her gloved hand in thought. “Regardless of the element, I have nothing to hurt it badly. Thunder beats Marine and Greenwind beats Terra but the only Blessing I can use for either situation is Zephyr which is Greenwind but it just increases an allies speed”

Kazim frowned. He knew Nyx was a Blaze type Stone Mage, who used mostly Blaze Blessings to set things well... ablaze, but the thought of the Murkian Gator’s element hadn’t even crossed his mind until it was brought up.

“If it’s Terra, we may be fine but if it's Marine..and Marine beats Blaze…. what’s that word you always use...Sketchy? This may get...sketchy” Nyx said as the display winked out.

“Nonsense, this isn’t sketchy. We have Noir’s Lightning. Easy peasy!”

“I’d rather not electrocute you all in this water by accident” Noir stated, joining them with Gale who wore a victorious smile. It seemed Noir had given up on their debate.

Through her Rogue class, Edo, Noir had access to ninjutsu. A mechanic tailored only to her class that allowed her to conjure elements to enhance her weapons through various Blessing combinations.

“Oh...true.” Kazim mumbled.

 “Just fight in your roles effectively and we should be fine.” Noir began, breaking the silence that had ensued. “Kazim holds ‘focus’ while Gale and I bring it down. Nyx will provide support from the back, as us-”

A thunderous roar cut his guildmaster short as a shower of leaves, brownish water, and debris flew their way from whatever force lied ahead in the darkness. Equipping his Shining Gauntlets, Kazim managed to smash a thick branch heading for them with a right jab. The splinters of what remained showered them instead.

“Eyes up, Swamp Eaters. He sounds hungry!” Gale said before disappearing into thin air, leaving a small cloud of smoke in his wake. The water caved in through some unseen force as the assassin prepared for an ambushing opportunity. The water shook slightly as something huge approached. Nyx raised a gloved hand, now enveloped in Blaze, magical dark, orange flame that seemed to conform to her hand. Noir equipped her twin Wakizashi, short curved bladed swords with lacquered wood hilts covered in gripping yellow fabric. Kazim quickly slid the lantern onto a tall branch nearby before readying himself.

He had struggled against the owl but this time, Kazim was not going to let the Swamp Eaters bail him out.

Skill-less and weak, it was time he kicked Helm.Online’s ass for once.