=== Chapter 6 [Rain]

The wind blew my hair, it was sunny and the air was chilly. I walked towards the nearest trader, asking if they had anything to sell. Recently, I and my party gathered a lot of good dungeon loot. We just had to distribute it evenly. WRose, who changed her archetype to a Priest, also did help a lot.

[Hey hey, Wolfie, how's health? You smoke a lot you know?

Do you smoke in real life too? I heard that you can quit easily if...]

Titania, who commented at my smoking habit in game, confronted me in front of the AI I was talking to.

[It's a habit, I'm fighting it.]

In truth whatever else I could say would be probably as convincing as saying "I'm fighting it." The knight gave me a silent stare. She was probably thinking that I probably needed help badly. I averted my eyes, ignoring her intrusive nature and minded my own business. Unlucky for me she continued.

[Okay, that's great. I was just trying to strike a conversation you, you know?

Like I barely know about anything you, we barely know anything about you. All you do every day is…

do dungeons, do hunting, do crafting, then log out. Hey, you have a life right?]

As rude and blunt as she was, Titania was making a point that I was not as friendly as the rest. I didn't have to be like the others, I was my own man, I had rules, and I enjoyed freedom the most. When you talk too much, you form connections with others, the way you play the game changes.

[Don't be rude. There is just no reason to talk like that.]

[Yea, there is always a reason to talk about stuff outside of the game stuff, you know?

Duh, just because you can talk to other people about anything, online games are great, right?

I mean, if everyone was just an npc or an AI or whatever, you be just playing this game alone.]

I don't see a reason why that would be a bad thing. Different people have different ways of playing the game, they have different expectations and goals that form as they progress through each level, each boss... For me, I had a very special reason to, something that I feared would be impossible to explain to others.

[That's fine too, everyone is different.]

[Ye I know right? You always were like a hero or something, especially riding on that bike.

You also talk a lot about this game in general. You must be a real fan huh? Well okay,

I might be exaggerating but I think heroes are people who can do what normal people can't.]

Titania, who was usually very carefree and easy-going, changed her expression to a more stoic one. The words she released didn't sound petty, she actually sounded earnest for the first time ever. They remained me of the time when WRose took me out for shopping. So in order to not make the same mistake twice…

[Right... heroes are pretty cool.]

[Yea I know right? I always thought that you were merely playing the cool guy’s role,

but if that is how you really are, then sure. I'm sorry, I probably misjudged you.

Then again, what's the deal with you and WRose? I was dying to know ever since I talked with her!]

And then, she reverted back to her old self, clenching her arms in air vigorously. From what I understand, Tanks are an archetype that uses a lot of grappling moves. By watching Titania play, I could confirm that during combat and outside of it...

[Sorry to burst your bubble, but nothing interesting had happened.]

[No no no, you tell me a story Wolf, you are a gentleman right?

It's not that I need to know, but you just not giving a damn. Do you Wolf?]

She paused mid-sentence, as if she wanted to take back her angry words directed to me. Afterwards she waited for me to say something, but with her like that I chose not to speak.

[Yea... sorry, I was just in a trance there so just forget what I said. Sure thing wolf,

you can do whatever you want, but at the same time if you don't encourage people,

you will be just hurting their determination. That’s what a hero should be doing, right?]

[More or less...]

The knight pushing her agenda, have also touched upon something that I did actually believed in. Perhaps we are not apart from each other after all, I thought, while finishing my trading business.

[I am done, are you shopping too? Tell others to be ready in an hour.]

[Oh yea, we will be doing that one dungeon again right?

I believe they should be logging in pretty soon now.]

And with that, I went somewhere to check my inventory and see if I could upgrade anything. While getting your weapons stronger and stronger is enjoyable, monsters are also getting stronger, not just in raw numbers, but also in variety. I’m always required to adapt new strategies.

===

Recently, there was a big thing on the news, even the people here were talking about this. It seems that due an armed protest one of the countries, which was facing war for a long time, had its government overthrown, and now said country is in chaos that engulfed many other countries.

Not only the neighbouring ones, but also the big powers in the world decided to prevent that war from spreading. This is worrying because many times before this has happened, and no one had a decisive answer for peace. Speakers in the media declare the end of globalization and the return of nationalism for democratic countries.

As for me and my party, we have no connection to the issue—we were just people of this world. If there was a way to save that world, surely a hero would raise and fix the problem somehow. Right now, that wasn't possible. Right now, all four of us were going into the boss room.

[Okay are guys all ready?]

[We sure are, I think this time we will get this boss for sure!]

[I will sure hope so, Tania, we should have it down to the last phase.]

Knowing well our roles, not just from tactics but from experience as well, we entered through the portal. We found ourselves in a tower far in the cloudy sky—the outside of it was filled with dark stormy mass. The arena for this boss was a circle and four smaller circles placed on each cardinal direction.

In the middle, there was a giant floating air elemental, in the smaller circles tall lighting towers. During the first phase we only had to focus on the boss, we didn't need to do anything else.

[Okay this is the easy part.]

Titania, as soon as the boss noticed us, charged towards the middle with her giant sword in hand. She had to be careful not to take too much damage at the beginning of the fight, or that wouldn't be good for the rest of it. Luckily we had someone in case something happens.

[Here, have this just in case.]

A mystical energy sword appeared near the Tank, thanks to WRose's buff. This was only to ensure more damage was dealt, the defensive buffs still had to wait for their turn.

Titania was ready, and as she was in range. She used her Armor Pierce to increase the damage further. I was already dashing, and as the attacked finished I used my Vault. Before I was countered however, the Tank used her counter grab and thus initiating our combo. We had to strike fast and without holding back.

Darku, used his Arrow Trap, following with his volley and finishing it with net to extend combo. WRose on the other hand, not having many options to attack as a Priest, used a few of her skills, the Ice Spear who was shared due the staff weapon and Sunlight, which fired an enclosing light beam on the boss.

Afterwards, our party returned to a defence stance. I moved back, and used my only 2 ranged attacks. Our Priest who changed her Healing Touches, waited for the boss to strike at the Tank, before moving in. Its two massive hands went down into the ground, creating small circular wild tornadoes that roamed about.

[It's fine everyone, I will take it.]

The main asset of our party now, WRose, had an important role now. Using her Barrier ability—the Priest’s right click—she was able to destroy the boss’s tornadoes that counted as projectiles. This didn't matter for me, since my ranged attacks was already on cooldown, but for Darku who didn't have to deal with them now.

With the threat cleared, WRose, who waited for the right moment step in, was now clear to heal the Tank. She used all of her charges, all three of them. Now the Tank could block with a margin of error, before we would have a chance to attack again.

[Okay, phase one done guys.]

And so, repeating this process a couple of times, we managed to save our mana and entered the second phase. Now this is where it gets interesting. In the second phase the boss moves flies into the air, becomes invincible against any attacks, and bullets fly from the four smaller outer circles.

While the boss swims through the air, it leaves a cloud of thunder that damages anyone who enters it. To make the boss hittable again, you have to use the lighting towers. To activate the lighting towers, you have to channel your mana into it, mana that you don't get back until the end of the fight. In other words, you must spend your maximum mana for it.

[Okay, you guys I'm ready.]

Everyone moved according to our plan, Titania was in the middle, while everyone else had one tower each. Before the bullets actually fired, we had some time to activate the towers before the next phase. Thus, with our timing, I, WRose and Darku each placed their hand onto the device. The next second...

===

I could feel like lighting striking and surging through the entirety of my body. It was a shock experience, but I got used to it after trying this dungeon many times. With that done, the tower was filled with energy that gushed out fog-like gas into the air. From now on, we have to keep the boss in that vapor, in order to weaken it.

Because we used three out of four towers, we had one spot that not covered by the fog. This was done on purpose, our Tank needed mana the most out of all of us. If we had her spend mana as well, she wouldn't be able to survive. The elemental and the bullets deal a fair amount of damage, and she needs to able to take those hits for us.

[Okay, stay on the other side and good luck!]

We have to split our forces, leaving Titania alone, as she was trying to keep the boss away from her allies. With that in mind, we had to now stay close to WRose and evade incoming bullets. But that was not that easy, not only multiple light globes were our worry, but also lighting beams and tall hurricane cylinders.

Normally you can evade every bullet easily by jumping, which is also true for any laser-type projectiles. However, the vapor released from the towers would damage anyone if they were to jump into it. This was however foreseen, as we left one corner fogless. Hence, we had plenty space to dodge if necessary, using either horizontal or vertical movement. However, the homing cyclones would hit us regardless if we were in air or ground. To counter them...

[I'm fine Tania, just tell us when to attack!]

We had to count on one person who could deal with them, WRose. She could either use her right click, or the skill Dispel Magic, in order to erase them. Additionally, she also had to keep Tank healthy, moving in range of Titania. This was done by making the tank do a circular movement around the arena.

Doing so, the knight was able to reach the necessary distance for the Priest. Their timing was also excellent, every time WRose had the healing charges ready, Titania was right where she wanted her to be. However, additional obstacle was the stormy cloud that boss left on the ground level when it moved. But there was a way to deal with it as well.

[This is going good, keep up the good work girls.]

Darku, who was as useless as me in this phase, watched as the girl dressed in white did the work for him. She used her skill, Dispel Magic, which caused the threatening cloud to disperse into nothing. Her hand waving, and with a strange gesture the danger for us was no more. She also did it just in time, by coincidence perhaps.

[Okay now!]

It was just a second later—the Boss was finally disrobed of his cloak of lighting, smashing to the ground. Now, with the damaging cloud on ground out of the picture, we can do some real damage. Knowing so, I quickly dashed and did our usual combination attack with Titania. She was low on mana, as well as we all probably, but this was where WRose would be able to help again.

From the ground beneath the two melee damage dealers a fountain of pure water was erected, restoring our spirit. With our powers being regenerated by the second, our party was eager to use all of their attack at once. Surprisingly, the bullet density was not as high, we didn't have to worry about taking too much time while attack. And so...

[There we go, keep at it.]

With our efforts combined, the boss was once again took significant damage, and was forced to burst. I and Titania were pushed back by the blast power, but landed on the ground firmly. We had to move, back to the formation and our positions. The battle was resumed, but now we faced different circumstances.

The boss was now in the air, instead of the ground. Because of the gas released from the towers, this was a problem. To grab the boss, Titania had to jump into the air, and then use her grappling skill. Doing so in the space where the gas was unwise, thus she had to pull the boss to our zone which was safe.

This again had to be perfectly timed with Dispel Magic going off the cooldown, since despite the boss floating in the air, the stormy cloud that followed him was still appearing on the ground. If that vapor would cover Titania’s space completely, it would spell game over for us.

[Just take it easy...]

Thus we waited patiently for the cooldowns to come back, still being aware of the bullets. Somehow, the further into the battle, the more bullets would appear on the battlefield. That worried me, and possibly others too. There was less and less room for error and the battle was getting intense. And so, when Titania returned to us with the boss...

[Okay guys, hop on.]

Darku, preparing his Spring Trap, beckoned us all to stack up near him. Doing so, we were all launched into the air. At the same time Titania jumped herself and used her air grab, striking her massive sword into the murky mass. With a mighty swing, ought to bring the boss into the ground, the attack connected, but the boss stayed in the air the whole time.

[This is is everyone! Time to finish it all.]

With all our might, and with how much mana we all had left, each one of us used their air skills, dealing significant damage to boss. A blow after a swing, shots, arrows and even magic bolts, the boss had no choice but to accept defeat and fell onto the ground.

We soon followed, making our gentle landing. Luckily, the thundering cloud beneath was disappeared on its own. This wasn’t the end however...

===

However, I was mistaken. The boss didn't stop moving just yet. As for our previous attempts, we never got pass this point. With our bodies slowly reacting to the scene, our faces speechless, we could only imagine what was going to happen from this point onwards. We had to be ready for anything.

[Watch closely and don't spread.]

I calmly articulated, to take time in order to assess the situation now. Would we be seeing new attacks, new mechanics, or something unpredictable? If we wouldn't be able to adapt quickly, we wouldn't be able to learn anything.

[Don't worry, I gonna block whatever it does.]

Said the knight, confident in her defensive abilities. Everyone else seemed to agree to that plan. We were to stay away, in one place and observe the situation before taking any action. But even so, the boss only moved to the middle, while the bullets still swarmed the place. Did we have the time to wait?

Suddenly, the boss's aura changed, a huge pillar of white energy fallen onto the elemental, illuminating its body. Following this light show, and after the brightness faded, the cloudy mass changed its colour from dark to white, as if it was purified by the blessing of the gods. This was the thing we are going to fight now, I thought...

[It changed? So this is the third phase?]

Indeed it was. As soon as WRose spoke those words, the boss spun around, and gaining enormous speed, dashed through the battle ground, knocking every bullet away it passed. It happened so fast and suddenly, no one in the party knew what exactly happened. Furthermore, the ground it passed through was also affected.

[This must be ice right?]

As Darku accurately assessed, part of the floor became covered with a chilly and slippery ice. It was evident that stepping on it might cause you to move slower, so no one was willing to test it. But there was still more to come, more difficulties we had to overcome, and less time for us.

The boss, moving outside of the arena, dashed again, doing the same ice attack as from before. The ice floor spread. Furthermore, Titania, who blocked the attack, was now inside of that zone. Her body wasn't visually affected in a negative, only her foot work looked a little bit slower.

With that in mind, she was trying to move away from the ice beneath her. However, the boss, finished its rounds of dashing through the area, stood at the edge, gathering power. It sucked the air around it, creating a whirlpool of ice and hail. To our surprise its target was...

[Rosie, watch out!]

Titania, who spotted who the boss was aiming at, tried to warn WRose. But it was too late, a white beam fired from the boss, directly at the Priest girl. She panicked, and used one of her skills which brought forth a brilliant light around her. However...

It is safe to say that skill made her invincible, but not immune to pushing. Thus, without taking visibly any damage, she was flung away, and landed on the far edge of the arena. Furthermore, her hands were hanging from the ledge, unable to climb back on their own.

[Hey, someone! I think this counts as downed, I can't do anything!]

If that was indeed the case, we only had thirty seconds to save her from falling. I took my chances, and ran straight through the icy floor towards the maiden in distress. As expected, I was slowed by ice, but I didn't lose control of my footing. Meanwhile, Darku and Titania were trying to damage the boss.

[Hey, it just stands there...]

The drow observed, as it didn't make a move until I reached WRose. Timely, as if waiting for a good chance, the boss rushed towards the middle of the arena and started spinning again. I remember that from before, it was trying to dash through the floor again. However, at that time I was stuck with helping our Priest up.

It was unfortunate, but I was hit by a sneak attack, and landed in the same position as the girl. Darku, who was the next target tried to use his Spring Trap to jump over the boss, that plan also failed. And so, Titania became our last member standing, who continued the fight. She alone won't be able to deal with the beams. This was over, I thought.

[I... can't... I have to do this!]

And when just everything turned to worse in seconds, just when we lost all hope that a miracle could occur, the gallant knight amazed us all. As the boss rushed towards her at a high speed, she jumped high in the air, and performed her air grapple with magnificent timing. She pierced the boss with her sword and brought it down to the floor.

There, she performed several additional attacks that must have cost her entire mana pool. Afterwards, the boss returned to the edge of the arena, amassing power for another attack. She was ready for it as well. She rushed at the boss with incredible speed, ignoring the bullets that hit her. This is where she wanted to be.

Thanks to the position, the beam that was released upon her did indeed push her, but not the whole way. Have she placed herself anywhere further from the boss, she would have been blown away, just like the rest of us. Furthermore, her position allowed her to return to the middle of the arena, which was the safest location from the bullets.

Time and again, blocking and self-healing in between, Titania managed to survive the boss’ rush and beam attacks. It was as the time itself slowed. With inhuman skill, she performed her execution perfectly and without any delay or hesitation. We were cheering for her, unable to do anything but watch. If she chose to save one of us, she would have shared our fate.

[Just die already!]

And after we spend a good amount of time hanging from the ledge, it was over. It was obviously more than thirty seconds, but no one was able to tell how much time actually had passed. As we returned to the ground, I saw a lone victor, Titania, in the middle of the arena. To congratulate for her magnificent victory, WRose ran towards her with joy sparkling in their eyes.

[You saved us all Tania, you are really our hero!]

===

It was indeed a feat fitting a true hero—even I had to admit that. However, there was more to this than the victory.

[Hey... what is this? Wolfie, you should know, you are the expert.]

Titania, checking the loot from the boss, picked up a particular item that looked like a snow globe. Inside of the crystal, there was a fire place surrounded by figures of children made from wooden straws. The item name was [Rain].

[Is this a snow globe? Tania, how about shaking it?]

When the Knight shook the item, instead of snow falling down, there was a rain-like substance that ignited the fireplace. Afterwards the children dolls started to dance around it.

[Wow, this is really something. I remember having one of those,

but it looks like a thing that you can't really make in real life.]

[Rain huh... I have no idea why is this called Rain, but an item is an item.

On top of that, this boss was already hard enough, I'm glad we got a word from it.]

That reminds me... it reminds me of something very specific. The thought couldn't leave my brain,

it was challenging me and my ego every second. If I could do something... there was only one way.

[Here, be sure to take one each, and whatever was left.

I need to tell you guys something important. Let's meet back at town.]

I said, trying to keep my composure. I was in fact shaking my hands, knowing that what I was about to do, was going to change forever who I was and who they thought me to be. This [Rain] was the cause of it.

[Yea sure, let's meet at the town, I know just the right place as well.]

And with that, I kept my thought to myself until the very end... hesitating whenever to tell them or not.

...

[It is the twenty one century and we are living in very interesting times indeed. After the World War 2 we had a period of fear. The conflict might return, and yet again, we will be forced to fight. But people didn’t want that. No, our fathers were opposing that notion. And so, the ideology shifted and our parents choose pacifism and peaceful solutions.]

There was a voice following me. It might have been a video or something. I had to hurry.

[Eventually, thanks to the influence of the hippie movement, minds of many changed in a way it embraced freedom over everything. That power, liberty, could even break walls, namely the Berlin one. The Cold War was over, Eastern Bloc was no more, though not entirely, peace was attained. What people of that time wanted was freedom.]

There was no escaping it. I was already running at full speed.

[And now that we have this privilege, what do we do with it? We certainly are taking advantage of it fully. Fiction, video games, movies, or entertainment in general, that’s the purpose of freedom? Maybe we are just confused, overwhelmed with endless choices?]

The streets of Maremoda looked now as it were a maze. But there was a solution to this puzzle.

[We defeated the enemy, overcame all threats, but what the hell we do with the freedom we achieved?]

...

It was still early, the sun was setting and the air felt nice. I sat down in the middle of a garden gazebo. The girls, Darku and I were all sitting next to a round table. They watched me closely as I took a deep breath. We all were secluded from the world—no one else was able to hear what I was about to disclosure then.

[I don’t know how to say so I will be as blunt as possible,

I already saw this scene before, the one inside the globe.]

I shook the globe a little, to show others clearly what I was talking about. They gazed at it deeply, not understanding any meaning behind my words.

[That being said, I didn't saw it in this world, it was in the other world that I meet her.]

I briefly paused, as the others made a surprised face. They already knew this was something strange.

[By her I mean I meet Lunar in the other world, the real world as you call it.

I was walking back from a convenience store, and I saw a little girl, she was vaguely visible.

But I didn't saw her body, I only saw her reflection. Isn't that a little bit strange?]

[And so? Wolfie are you implying you saw a ghost or something?]

[Not quite a ghost, but a "Ghost AI". And that happened inside the other world.]

WRose exhaled her air all of the sudden. I couldn't tell if she was surprised or was suppressing herself from laughing.

[Yes, I'm being serious here. Do you guys remember the feather?

We still have them in our inventory, I checked I have mine.]

And indeed, after everyone else checked, they still had theirs.

[So a funny thing about it, when I first met her, she was carrying the exact same item.

Today, before I logged in, she was carrying the globe you see before me. What I'm saying is that...

this is no coincidence, those two incidents are somehow connected. I don't know how but...]

As I said those words, everyone was looking at something else, for some sign of confirmation. Gazing back at their faces, I was too, desiring their affirmation. This story, even if its hard to believe, actually did happen to me. I kept it a secret up until now, but now I felt stupid for not revealing that sooner.

[Hey... Wolf, is that why you have been so difficult with us?

I can understand. When you have to say something that sounds like a joke...

Anyway, I think I can believe you, you have my trust. Therefore...]

WRose stood and bowed formally towards me, extending her tiny hand. Others joined in with their hands as well.

[Yes, I don't think there is any problem with that,

if anything Wolf, you should talk about things a little earlier.]

The drow followed.

[Yea Wolfie, don’t be mean to girls okay?]

As well as Titania.

[I mean… you always liked talking with us about this world’s secrets.

It's pretty clear now why, right? So those ancient humans and stuff...

They might actually exist or something. With your help we’re gonna find the truth, right?]

And finally WRose again.

After the three reached and joined their hands in the middle of the table, only my hand was missing. Why did they were that quick to put the trust to me? In any case, yes, WRose was correct. My goal in this world was to see if I see if it has connection with the other world. For that sake...

[Right... I'm sorry, but I’m not going to back away from now on.]

I was running away, but now I found a place to stop. Reaching my hands towards them, we created a circle, with each of us holding each other’s hands. This was a strange feeling for me, as if someone was able to directly touch my soul. I felt like this was the special place I belonged to.

[Stop! Don't trust him!]

===

Suddenly, ruining an important moment for us all, a small boy dressed in black jumped out the hedge.

[Why would you trust someone so easily? Isn't this an obvious lie?

How could you see something that has relation to a video game?

Isn't this like a day dream or something? You should all wake up!]

He was obviously upset about something, and very rude. Well, I can only blame him for eavesdropping. On top of that, I didn't know what he knew. Perhaps there are other players, who did experience something...something that would change how you treat others. I had problems with giving my trust to people as well.

[Oh, you must be that boy who was searching for Wolf right?

Then here he is. I'm sure that's all you wanted to say to us right?]

[In the end, it doesn't matter what I say to, it's you who needs to see through!]

Darku, althought with good intentions, made him stomp the ground angrily. Everyone stood up from their chair, looking at what exactly the boy wanted from us.

[You can call me Anti-Wolf, because I stand against everything he does.

But not only that, I just hate people who put their trust into unknown.]

[Who said anyone was blindly trusting him? Hey little boy, listen well,

I trust in Wolf because he is my friend, he might be even more than that!

Of course he's crude and boorish, like a boy is, but the things he said so far made sense.

I have no reason not to believe a friend, that's what friends are right?]

Titania, who was the first one to speak her opinion, acted rashly and confronted the boy up close.

[So you trust this guy, only because? There is no actual reason,

you just think that without looking at the evidence, he is trustworthy?]

[On the contrary, the evidence lately has been supporting this theory.

Thanks to the understanding of quantum technology,

brain science was able to create a mostly accurate brain model.

Comparing the input of a virtual and a real brain,

scientists were able to determine that the brain is affected by exterior biochemical signals.

Their source currently is however unknown, therefore you can't reject the possibility.]

Darku, who calmly explained the relation of my vision to the Morphic Fields theory, gave the boy another reason.

[So what he saw were signals his brain received from somewhere?

Luckily, that theory is still just an assumption, not a fact,

thus external brain communication sounds more like a thing from a fictional work.

Is that where your belief originated, from something you read for your own amusement?]

[No... my belief comes from hope. It is a very thin and likely fragile thread,

but if words were able to change the world in the past, then our times won't be different.

Even the darkest and most twister lie, even something that seems impossible,

even if you are alone, and no one is going to agree with you... without belief, you stop existing.]

Swallowed her saliva, and albeit holding onto her chest with one hand, WRose was also able to express herself.

[This is great! I mean all of you have your own reason, beyond doubt.

But outside of it, your individualism shows. Wolf, listen to me well now.

We can't both be right, one of us must be wrong. There is only way then, we duel!]

[Wait... what?]

I was surprised to hear what the boy was saying. He wasn't able to convince others, or myself, and yet now he wants to fight me. I guess he just might be frustrated about something.

[Yes, we duel! Here are my conditions. If I win, you will be compelled to show evidence.

If I lose, you will be freed from my accusations. This is as simple as that, right?

Don't tell me you want to run away, that you don't want to accept the truth huh?]

[The truth? What is that?]

Clearly he can't tell me what I saw, or how do I interpret it.

[For example your "Ghost AIs"... aren't they just GMs who are screwing around with you?

And don't tell me that "Dev's don't play". That's just a bad meme and you know it!]

[Did you get karma'd?]

I trolled him back—he was now getting on my nerves. I’m sure he knew what that meant because his brow frowned. At this point a duel would be unavoidable.

[Well then, if you are that eager to know, let's do it right here and now.]

He took out his weapon, Rapier and Dagger, which was very similar to mine. If anything, I would say that he copied me in everything, even fashion style. His behaviour was completely different though. I didn't want to fight, but I was forced to now unfortunately, thus I drew my weapon as well.

This was the place we would battle, in this small miniature garden that was located on the roof. No space to do ranged attacks, nor that I expected any from the weapon he was carrying. The focus here clearly was on landing and connecting attacks by properly managing your space.

Would have I not upgraded my HP stat, this fight would have not allowed for even a single mistake. Hence, I was able to take hits, even if the Rogue class was supposed to deal damage rather than tank. Thus, waiting for what he had to offer, I calmly stood in one place, without a slip in concentration.

[Okay big guy... you are sure making me wait.]

[Here, accepted. Can we start?]

[Sure...]

As I predicted, he would first try to test me with his Magic Spike, but I easily just stepped away. However, as soon as I started moving, my opponent also did the same, and ran towards me. We traded Vaults, guns were blazing, but nothing that would bring the other into a stagger state.

The battle itself was a stalemate, whatever skill I was able to do, he was able to do it as well. Knowing so, both of us couldn't find an opening. If I were to win this duel, I had to take risks.

[Say, I can do what you can do, but can you combo out of a parry?]

This was true, his parry allowed him to continue his combo, unlike mine. But that I already knew, I think he was just testing me to see if I was to take his bait. Obviously, knowing how my parry works, he would perform a setup in which he would make me move forward, leaving me in a defenceless position.

However, if I were to make him think I am going to use it... that plan would be a major upset for him.

[Yea, come and try...]

He instantly moved close to me, expecting that I would reply with a parry move. But I knew better, his plan was not to attack me directly, but to bait my parry. As soon as he was in range to attack, he jumped in the air. I had to be quick about it now, and this was a pure gamble as well.

I used my Crescent Swing with S/A while he used his Fox Dive also with S/A. Both moves have armour, and both moves have similar animation duration. Thus we ended up hitting each other without a stagger. With this close, we both used out quickest skill and hit each at the same time. Flying in the opposite direction, he hit a wall, while I was still in stagger state, flying towards the ground. This meant that he would get up faster.

[Hey... nice try]

As soon as he stood up, he instantly dashed at me, forcing me to pick an option for my wakeup. It was probably obvious now that my armoured moves are one fewer, I would have to pick the Backstep. However, I also did expect him to just attack me, without using any important skills or tricks.

Before he could realise, my gamble paid off. As quickly as I could I pressed two buttons, my dash button and my False Step. Naturally, that skill is reactable, you can see opponent's feet glowing. In this case however, even if you mashed, there was no time. My opponent fell for my trap and got staggered.

[That's enough guys, come down.]

Suddenly Darku, who was watching just like the others, spoke to us. I decided not to initiate my combo, leaving my adversary free to do as he pleased.

[We won't solve anything with this, thus I think you guys should stop.

I know you might be having fun and all, but there's no point... really.]

A little bit shaken, he continued to plead the aggression to stop.

[I see... With that I can't disagree. If you all made this decision,

then the rest will be up to me. I shall return another time. I wish you well, Wolf]

Saying so, the boy cancelled the duel, and left, just as fast as he appeared. What was strange was that he said he will come back... for me this mirror was boring.

[What was his problem eh?]