“What should we do about this?” asks the man in front of Kagito and Eliana. He is one of the commanders that they had positioned—his name is Arthur and he is currently level 136
“We will wipe the floor with them” Eliana orders, trying to make sure that Kagito wouldn’t intervene
“Yes, but wouldn’t it be better for us to call the other two?” asks Arthur
“There is no need, they are on a mission” Kagito interjects before Eliana could interrupt him again
Both Arthur and Eliana become surprised. Arthur also knew of Kagito’s and his moments of seriousness, and while this is war, it still was only a rather small one. In fact, it could simply be classified as a skirmish.
“Even so, this needs the cooperation of every member”
“They are doing what they believe is right, and so we will respond in kind. Let’s begin preparations” Kagito orders to terminate any further conversation.
“Okay, but what should I tell the others?” Arthur inquires, still unconvinced by Kagito’s answer
“Tell them that we will win, be it by defending or with us attacking. Our ambition is to become even stronger and expand; if we were to need them now then we will surely be doomed in the future”
Eliana was surprised by the answer that Kagito gave, but she also recognized of its truth.
“Ok, I will tell the others and begin preparations” Says Arthur as he takes his leave, of course, he could have just PMed them, but some of the commanders are NPCs. Therefore, they needed direct orders.
“Well done, Kagito” Says Eliana praising the spineless man in front of her who just sighs as if his life force was leaving him.
“Thanks… but I didn’t expect another guild would wage war against us…”
“It was within my expectation; no one would just leave a growing guild in peace” Answers Eliana and she continues “I will notify them too”
“You shouldn’t”
“Huh? Why?” asks Eliana concerned about the matter, after all, he just contradicted her
“They must be at their best; this will just put them on alert and make them unable to focus.
“…As you say, but will you be able to manage when they ask you as to why you didn’t tell them of the upcoming war?” Eliana questions, her gaze taking note of Kagito’s expression.
It seems to be one of seriousness and yet at the same time radiates an aura of calmness.
“I will” He answers with a solemn look.
Kagito had a plan in mind.
Annihilation was not the answer. If he plays his cards right, he can gain more power for the Guild, and Eliana is beside him too, and with her to keep him in check and steer him in the right direction, there is absolutely no chance of failure, he thinks to himself.
“When shall we begin preparations?” Asks Eliana
“Tomorrow”
Kagito walks off out of the room.
It’s fun, and with a smile on his face he just thought
‘Bring it on’
——————————————
I woke up and start my mourning routine, but I was anxious throughout.
I had died.
Thus, I have to wait a few more hours to enter Parallel.
During my way I saw a University that is close to my house, I might enter that one next year…
And maybe the other two will too, we don’t really care which place we go, after all, we seem to ‘excel’
That word always brought me sadness after what happened…
If I could, I would rewind time and stop that from happening. After all, who can watch their friend breaking apart as if nothing is happening?
It took time and there was a bit of aftershocks since he ‘recovered’…
Isa was crying while seeing our friend on the ground, we wanted to catch him, we wanted to stop him for him to see us, but we couldn’t even do that much…
We should have noticed sooner how far away he was from us already, but we didn’t…
We, his ‘family’, didn’t notice…
I was pissed, I was angry, but beyond that, I was sad and depressed. So much that one day everything went red. I started punching him, yelling, inflicting him bodily pain, but something different happened—he retaliated
He started pushing me back, and he could see me, even if for a moment, that my tears were mixing with our spilt blood. It might have been stupid, but he cried too
It wasn’t as if our fistfight could change anything, I doubt anything could have brought him back, but he noticed.
He noticed our feelings, our anxiousness, and sadness, and he answered us. He stood by himself, but it is obvious even now that he still hasn’t recovered.
It might affect him forever, but he changed that endless time that could happen to us before it even happened.
He is our friend and our family
And thus, he protected us as we wanted to protect him. And now, the 24 hours restriction ended, and I put that capsule on and a single message appears before me
Do you want to log into Parallel world?
Yes No
“Yes”
Our adventure has started again, like old times, but this time we will grow together. We will not leave anyone behind.
This time for sure I won’t let anyone, or anything harm them.
They are my friends, they are my family—and thus, we will protect each other.
—————————
I logged into Parallel and I see Zenith and Peko along with Vladi waiting for us
“So, you did it” Says Zenith to me with a light smile
“What ‘you did it’ you rascal, we could have defeated him without you resorting to that move!” I tell him off, a bit angry and relieved after seeing him.
“Sorry” Says Zenith with an apologetic look.
“At least you two seem to be fine” I say while sighing and look towards Peko “Are you okay, Peko?”
“Yes, I am~ Thanks to you guys” She says with a bit of reminiscing in her eyes.
“The others should be coming anytime soon. Anyways, how is it outside the room?” I ask
“Full of golems, there seems to be more than when we came inside” Answers Peko with Vladi nodding along.
“Thought so, after all, Mader was absorbing power from this place; the golems must be stronger too…” I thought while remembering how these golems were a pain and then I remember what I got from ending the quest.
I say out loud
“Show notifications”
-You have created a new Stat! Killing intent. +10 Killing intent
-You have learnt a new Skill! Dark Coat. Do you want to see the skill description?
– Killing intent
A stat that was created by the full commitment to eradicate someone or something. It can inflict negative status to the ones on which it is being directed. Its effect can stack along with Fighting spirit.
You cannot distribute points to this stat. This stat will increase accordingly
– Skill: Dark Coat (Active) Beginner Level 1: 0%
This is a Darkness defensive skill. It allows the user to form darkness to defend against attacks. It can also increase defense on armors while it is active
1% Increase in base armor while it is active
It consumes 100 mana per second
‘Killing intent… well, it will come in handy later and its effects can stack along with Fighting spirit’ I think a bit bitter about it
“Oh yeah, what skill did you get?” Asks Vladi
“Dark Coat… wait, did you get a different skill?”
“Dark Bullets, I can also shoot a Darkness Full Buster now, that’s how I know that we might have gotten different skills”
“Oh… And you guys?” I ask the pair that was watching us
“I received effectiveness in magical attacks” Says Peko
“Me too, but in physical ones, I think it is because we have a sort of Darkness alignment that we didn’t really receive skills”
“I see…”
We just sat and chatted for a few minutes to collect information on our team’s physical states. It seems none of them have lingering effects of the battle.
I am grateful to Vladi for her attention to them, she ran up to them to help the moment she was available and managed to save their lives, especially Zenith’s, who had been on the brink of death.
A little later, Arksen and Isa logged in and I cooked as they checked the skills they got. My friend shrugged and my cousin was extremely surprised.
He got the Dark Spear skill that not only killed him, it also killed Isa and me.
Nevertheless, it was a useful and powerful attacking skill with high penetration power.
Isa on the other hand, being a Paladin, didn’t get a skill, but instead obtained a boost in power towards all of her Light related skills… of which there are many.
“So, what are we doing now?” asks Zenith.
He seems a bit anxious to start.
“I think we should go to Gardan Village” I suggest to the group.
“Hm? Shouldn’t our destination be the Dungeon of Wishes?” Vladi asks in a concerning voice
“I think I know where you are going…” Isa interjects
“Is it because we are now low on supplies and it would be better to talk to the villagers about our quest completion?”
“Yes, the sooner we get to report the news the better; we can ask them help for later and it would be good to resupply now since we have a Village that seems to be just a one month away” I say while adding “Also, I doubt we can just rush into the Dungeon, as there would be even more difficult challenges awaiting us inside than out.”
“I think we should too, the fight against Mader was extremely exhausting, and if we didn’t have that Blood Orb, then our annihilation would have been a sure thing” Says Arksen in a serious and rarely seen tone.
At the statement everyone started to have flashbacks of the fight against Mader, who even in his weakened state, managed to kill almost everyone in the party.
“Then Gardan Village it is!” Exclaims Peko
Peko gets up and ready herself to go outside the cave to face the onslaught of the golems outside before Vladi interrupts.
“Yeah!” Shouts Vladi with a burst of energy.
We had set off soon after.
The way out of the cave was hard, the golems were stronger and had somehow risen to even higher levels while having their numbers increased. It took us, with great effort, over one week to finally reach the sunlight.
During the time span I used my skill, Dark coat, every time I could to increase its proficiency as it is still weak. Most of their attacks lacerated it and connected squarely at my body. Some of the cause was attributed to the majority of my skills being at the intermediate level, but the shield, as of this moment, is truly pathetic.
The trip to Gardan Village seemed to be shorter when compared to our journey towards Mader’s lair… It’s probably because we had all grown stronger.
We were also able to monitor the situation with our guild after finally being able to once again access the news. It seems that from what was said on the announcements, our guild was at war.
While it was certainly news, I didn’t feel the need to inquire any information from our other colleagues as I could understand why they had kept silent.
‘We got some reliable allies after all’ I think to myself while smiling.
I open the system and send a message to Kagito and Eliana to thank them for their hard work.
We have finally made it to Gardan village! In front of me stands a two-meter-tall guard who, from eyeing me, starts to do his job.
“Welcome foreigners, what are your reasons for coming here?”
“We need to talk to the Mayor of the Village, we have defeated Mader” I say upfront and with a direct tone.
I could not currently afford to delay my words as time is of the essence.
Knowing this, we just have to act with the intent of making the most of it—to move forward to carry out the mission and fulfil the promise which we made on that grey eventful day.
