"It's cold and it's not the kind of cold I like."
Mason said as they stepped into this section of the floor, his hand immediately moving to the hilt of his blade.
"Watch your steps," Garrick said. His reasoning was simple, the [Draken Tower] has been publicly known for mimicking game mechanics you would normally see in video games, which meant the chance of trapped floors was high.
Then suddenly, skeleton monsters began emerging from the floor, all equipped with different kinds of armor and weaponry, ranging from basic steel blades, to wooden shields and rusty helmets. What you would typically see in a video game.
"Undead," Garrick muttered as he smirked at the sight of them, he didn't bother hiding the excitement. It would be the first time any of them saw such monsters up close.
And Zane was no different. He tightened his grip on the straps of his bag, heart kicking up as he stepped forward. This was his first real moment as a Player.
Immediately one of the skeleton monsters fired a flame arrow in their direction, and wasting not a single second, Garrick stepped forward and activated his skill, [Bulwark Guard].
Ting!
When activated just before heavy hits, not after, the [Bulwark Guard] doesn't stop movement completely, but it makes the user nearly immovable. It is perfect for someone like Garrick, who is built to take the opening blow so the rest of the party can act.
Immediately it attacked, the condition has been met for the Players to see the monster stats, as it hovered above its head.
[Common Skeleton] (General Common)
Level 1
HP 40
'Level 1 common skeleton,' Zane thought as he read the tag. General meant they were the standard spawn for this floor, and common marked their rank.
"FOLLOW MY LEAD!" Garrick commanded as he charged at the skeleton monsters.
Unsheathing his broadsword, he stepped forward and let the weight of the blade settle into his grip. The first skeleton lunged.
Garrick swung.
SLASH!
The broadsword tore through two ribcages and a skull in one clean arc. Bone fragments skittered across the stone.
Another skeleton rushed him from the side.
CLACK!
His shield intercepted it, the brittle fingers scraping across steel before Garrick slammed forward with a short, brutal bash.
THUD—SNAP
The creature folded in on itself, spine snapping like dry wood.
A third tried to circle behind him.
He pivoted, boots grinding against the floor, as the broadsword came down in a heavy diagonal chop.
SLASH!
The skeleton's torso split apart, ribs scattering as its body collapsed into a pile of loose bones.
More of them clattered toward him, jawbones rattling, dragging old iron weapons across the stone.
Garrick drew a breath, tightened his stance, and moved again.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
Every swing ended something, as every block broke something else. He carved through them easily, leaving nothing but bone dust in his wake.
Garrick wasn't the only one buried in the fight. Mason, whose skill rank sat a tier above Garrick's, was carving his own path with a grin on his face. He loved this. Tearing through monsters felt like warming up.
As a warrior, Mason moved lighter than Garrick. His blade work was quicker, sharper, as he slipped between the skeletons with easy footwork.
Clang! SLASH! Clang!
He parried a rusted sword aside and cut straight through a spine. Another skeleton lunged, as Mason stepped past it, flicked his wrist, and broke it apart with a sideways slice.
Mason parried and slashed, taking them down. One after the other, he moved through them, repeating the motion.
Parry.
Then slash.
Parry.
Then slash.
It wasn't that Mason was some master player with flawless technique. He wasn't wearing top-tier gear like Garrick either. The truth was simple, these skeletons were weak, and an easy work for a B-Rank like Mason
Clang! SLASH! Clang!
He kept moving, kept cutting through them with ease.
Harley wasn't sitting back either. As a healer, her combat options were limited, but she still had her runic staff. Healer classes carried ridiculous amounts of mana, and when she poured it into the carved markings along the shaft, her technique, [Lightning Bolt,] activates.
Fire!
Fire!
Fire!
Each cast cracked through the air, a streak of white-yellow lightning punching straight through a skeleton's chest, its bones scattering before they even hit the floor.
Fire! Fire! Fire!
She didn't stop there, her staff pulsed in her hands as she kept channeling, sending bolt after bolt down the skeletons. Every shot tore another skeleton apart, reducing them to bone piles.
And she wasn't different from the rest, as she was also enjoying herself. The monsters were so weak it barely felt like a fight, and more like target practice with the actual stakes stripped out.
Zane watched as the three of them threw themselves into the fight, each one tearing through skeletons like it was nothing. He clenched his hands, his mind reeling.
He knew he wasn't anywhere near their level. Not in strength, not in skill, not in anything. But standing still didn't help anyone. If he wanted to be a Player people actually remembered, he had to find a way to work around his weakness instead of letting it define him.
With a now serious expression, a faint blue shimmer rippled around his hands as his double daggers materialized, light forming into steel.
The double daggers were the primary weapon of every assassin class player. Clenching their hilts very tight, he braced himself for his next step.
Clang! SLASH!
Mason parried and slashed, his smirking lips growing wide with every skeleton he took down.
"Oh! Oh! This is really fun."
"Don't get too cocky now," Garrick said, as he quickly performed a diagonal chop against three skeletons at once.
"But you have to admit this is fun. Really fun," Mason said, slipping past a clumsy chop from a skeleton, like he was dancing in a party.
"Hmph," Garrick grunted
Meanwhile, Zane still hadn't made a move, as no skeleton seemed interested in him. One had to wonder if they even viewed him as a threat at all.
'Why am I still standing here? They're right there. Just do what Mason's doing. Parry, then a quick strike. I've got two daggers. If anything, I should have the advantage… right?'
Zane thought.
'Fuck it. It's Now or Never.'
His grip tightened around the daggers. Zane pushed off the ground and rushed in, landing a quick slash across a skeleton's ribs, and began steadying his footing, ready for a counterstrike.
But the skeleton didn't react the way he expected.
It simply turned its head toward him, a slow, hollow, almost bored look, like it was glancing at an annoying fly buzzing too close.
-2!
That was the total damage he managed to inflict, even after putting all his strength into that attack.
The skeleton expression was now that of, 'why the fuck is he even here?' and that was a valid reaction considering it would take twenty of that his attack to put down a single skeleton.
Clang!
-6!
Player has taken damage!
Zane somehow managed to parry the skeleton's attack, but he still suffered a loss of 6 HP, out of his minuscule 42 point total.
Zane quickly dropped to one knee, his legs shaking hard, blood sliding down the arm he had used to parry the attack.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Now touching on the floor, the blood sound made an eerie sensation claw up Zane's body.
The skeleton swung again.
Clang!
Zane threw up his other arm on instinct, catching the strike with his second dagger. This one came down from above, a full overhead chop that sliced through the air with a hard whoosh, ready to cut him down.
Blood also began to slide down that arm. Some of it dripped to his face, and sliding down his cheeks.
-9!
Player has taken damage!
Another hit suffered, and another point loss. With that, his total HP now sat a low 27.
Three more strikes like that, and he would be killed.
Smash!
The skeleton in front of Zane burst apart, bones scattering across the floor as a small throwing knife tore through it.
Then Mason jogged up, shaking his head.
"What's going on Zane?" he asked. "Aren't you having fun?"
"ARRRGH!" Garrick roared as he crushed another skeleton.
Player has reached Level 3!
The blue panel blinked in front of him, but he barely glanced at it. His attention now toward Zane instead, and the sight made his jaw tighten. Zane's weakness wasn't just sloppy, it was dangerous, and can get him killed. He let out a low growl before he swung back to the fight.
"Here, I'll heal you," Harley said, rushing over the moment she saw Mason crouched beside the kneeling Zane.
She then planted her hands beside him and activated her C-rank healing skill, [Renewing Light]
A soft glow spread from her palm, wrapping around Zane's wounds. [Renewing Light] didn't fully restore someone in one burst, but it mended torn skin, stopped bleeding, and pushed fresh vitality back into the body over a few steady pulses.
Warm light soaked into Zane's arms as his HP began to rise back up, the shaking in his hands finally easing.
"Thanks," Zane said, feeling the warmth settle into his arms.
"How did it happen?" Harley asked. Her expression had slipped into something close to guilt.
"I just saw him on his knees," Mason answered before Zane could speak. "One of those things was about to pull off a clean chop on him so I threw the knife my mom gave me when I awakened."
"Wait—hold on. I did what? My knife?"
With an annoyed expression, Harley turned to face Mason.
"I wasn't talking to you, dufus. I asked Zane."
"Enough," Garrick said, stepping between them.
His gaze now on Zane, Garrick began to contemplate on whether he should kick Zane out of his party, or keep him so he can carry their loots.
In the world of Players, someone like Zane was a liability. Nobody wanted to be responsible for another person's death, and a weak link could drag an entire party down. Still… even E-Ranked Players could handle skeletons like these without falling apart.
So what did that mean?
Was Zane ranked lower than E?
Impossible, Garrick told himself. Nobody fell below E-Rank. That wasn't a thing. Or at least, it wasn't supposed to be.
"Get the pickaxe from the bag and get to work," Garrick said, his sight on the bunch of Vertriuim that filled the room.
Vertriuim. The crystal that pushed human technology past fossil fuels. Light-purple and pulsing with magical energy. It powered teleportation hubs, enchanted gear, and more than half the world's modern infrastructure. It's in the core of everything that was supposed to be impossible a decade back.
'Pickaxe?'
Zane thought. This wasn't part of the fabbook post. He was supposed to just carry bags and nothing more. He never expected to be mining crystals in the dungeon floor for them.
"What are you waiting for?" Garrick said. "Want me to repeat myself?"
"No need to look all worried Zane," Mason said with a smile, as he placed a hand on Zane's shoulder. "You won't be mining those purple gems all yourself, I will be tagging along."
"I-I will be helping too," Harley let out. "It's totally unfair to let Zane mine the crystals alone."
"Suit yourself."
Garrick said, as his attention had already drifted to a chest sitting at the far end of the chamber. Two stone doors stood behind it, split by a cracked throne wedged between them.
Garrick knew behind either of the door would be the boss of the floor, and it would mean they have completed the floor and will be ready to advance to the next.
His hand now on the treasure chest, he began to pull out valuable items, most of them were of the uncommon rank, and some few of the rare rank.
Harley then tightened her gloves and crouched beside the crystal cluster, the pickaxe resting across her knees. Mason stood on the other side, already tapping his own pick against the stone like he was checking it.
Zane had imagined a lot of things when he saw that Fabbook post, but mining wasn't one of them.
Mason then nudged at him with an elbow.
"Come on. First swing's the hardest."
"That doesn't make any sense," Harley said.
"It does. In my head."
Zane took a breath, grabbed the handle of his pickaxe, and stepped up to the crystals. The glow cast soft purple tones across his face, almost making him forget how badly he had embarrassed himself minutes ago.
He then raised the pick and swung.
Clack!
A tiny shard, barely the size of a fingernail, popped off.
Harley blinked, "Okay… honestly, that's better than I expected."
Zane chuckled, already feeling embarrassed by his strength.
Mason laughed. "Man, relax. Nobody's judging you."
Harley let out a sigh and raised her own pickaxe. "Let's just get the crystals."
They started working, swinging their pickaxe in different pace. The sound of clack, echoing in the chamber.
Clack!
Clack!
Clack!
Each strike peeled more of the Vertriuim, sending small chips rolling across the ground. Harley gathered the pieces with her hands, dropping them into a small satchel strapped to her hip.
"These are worth a lot," she said. "The fact they're just lying around like this… the Tower is truly something."
Interrupting her with his lazy stretching, Mason blurted out that he needed a break.
"I need a break for once."
"You clearly don't," Zane shot him a tired look. "You barely broke a sweat out there."
"That's because those skeletons were free XP." Mason shrugged. "Level one mobs are supposed to be easy."
Zane didn't respond, he just tightened his grip around the pick and struck again, harder this time.
Then, a bigger piece fell loose.
Harley noticed his shoulders trembling a bit, and she knew it wasn't from fear, but something closer to frustration.
"Did what Mason say hurt you?" She genuinely asked.
"I didn't hear him say anything offensive," Zane countered.
"Maybe he didn't, but only you know what hurt or doesn't hurt you," she said.
Mason leaned on his pick, and noticed they were talking about what he said earlier.
"Dude, no one expects you to fight like Garrick. Guy's built like a tank."
"Hey," Zane said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "I don't want to be useless."
"You're not useless," Harley said.
But before Zane could respond, a sudden plume of smoke from the far door made Garrick whirl around.
"Everyone, the door.... it's opening."