A Piece of Cake

I watch as my dagger connects with her throat, the woman's momentum forcing my [Shadow Dagger] through her body. It was instantanneous and her head soon fell off her body, rolling accross the sandy arena.

Claire seemed to have it easier because she had three people chasing her. I dodge just in time for someone's attack to miss by a hair's length. I kick him and begin running in my route.

If I planned this right, we should run into a circle and get rid of the people chasing the other. I glance and see that John and Migs have already crossed points, 3 people losing their lives as they ruthlessly swung their weapons.

Claire and I will be crossing soon.

As I say that, I watch as she us pinned down by someone. She hold's the man's spear at its blade as he tries to force it down to her head. He seemed to see me coming and decided to run for me instead.

Guess its time to show off.

I blinked behind the player with the spear and stab his chest, my dagger cutting through effortlessly. I grab his spear and throw it at two of my assailants. The other two stopped and it became a stand still. No one moved, trying to anticipate our movements.

I quickly check my [Spells] and activate my [Attack Spell] book, selecting one spell very carefully. I then activate it and jum into the air, releasing a red aura around me.

[Taunt] has been activated!

Eyes on me, the four jumped right up and with one swing, I slashed theur heads off.

"Great job! Your team is still in one piece! But its not over! Now, you face the room's [Boss]!"

The voice rang out and our gate burst. out of it walked a demon.

[...] The room [Boss] has awoken! [Dementaur] has been summoned!

The giant demon had wings and the head of a bull.

[Dememntaur] (Boss)

HP:1200/1200

Looks like this will be a tough battle.

We regrouped accross the arena, hiding from the boss as he thrashed about and tossed, sand and rock flying at every direction.

"You distract him while I take the back. Its most likely his weak spot. Demons are known to have seven hearts so we probably have to destroy them all before we succeed."

"I have one problem." Migs voiced out.

I could feel the boss right behind the rock we were hiding in. "Yeah. I think now would be a good time to disperse."

We all jumped to our directions, me jumping behind to take its attention first. It swung it's giant hammer at me, the tremendous power was enough to wipe my HP bar clean.

"This will be tricky."

As soon as the Hammer hits the ground, I jump onto it and run up to swing at its throat. Blinking behind him as he tried to swat me away with his free hand, I swung at his neck. My dagger connected but it was a horn. Puzzled, I quickly retreated and watched as the giant Bull Demon turned into seven smaller Demons. They were Minotaurs, each having their own small pair of wings behind them. One had the hammer while the other six had collars with broken chains.

"What now?!" Claire shouted from one end.

"I thought seven hearts! Not seven heads!" John exclaims.

"I know, just make sure you hit their hearts! And remember, their horns are almost unbreakable. Watch out for them!" I warn the others, dodging as one of the Minotaurs came charging at me.

Another one released a war cry and begun to charge at me. Turning around, I see the first one trying to recover from missing and taking aim at me. I ran to that direction and when I felt their horns touching my skin, I blinked to the space above the first Minotaur. Their clash caused them to temporarily get entangled and I used this opportunity to stab the stolen spear accross their bodies.

It was a good thing I picked it up again.

Five more to go, the first two go limp and fall. I remove the spear from their bodies and return it in my inventory.

"Guys!" John exclaims as Migs jumps in to help him. "Why did they get bigger?!"

"They lost two hearts already!" I explain. "The remaining strength and health points are divided among the remaining bodies."

"Shit, could've said that sooner!" Claire says, narrowly dodging the charging Minotaur's horn.

"Sorry, just figured it out myself!"

I felt a rush of cold air cominf at me and I jumped off my spot in time before a projectile hit me. I glance at the Minotaur in the middle and noticed that it had clothes on, Mage clothing. It raised the hammer into the air, igniting it in some dark fire, before swinging it, the ball of dark fire flying towards my direction. I dodge a split second too late and I catch some of it on my shoulder.

[...] You have been hit by [Hell Fire]! It will continue to burn until the [Spellcaster] is slain.

Well, that sucks. I was hoping to just pat it off right after. looks like my shoulder is on fire until the Boss either merges or dies.

"Marshal! What happened?!" Claire asks, coming over to pat the fire away.

"Don't touch it!" I say, keeping my right shoulder away from her. "You'll catch it too."

"How? Its not like its a decease."

"Its [Hell Fire]. It won't go off until the caster is slain."

She looks at it. "Does it hurt?"

"It does. Im using it to temper my [Iron Skin] skill. Give it some time." I say. Then I feel the cold rush again and push her away in time to dodge a ball of fire. I glance over at the [Spellcaster] in the center as it aims at Claire once more. I jump above her to block the fire, just in the knick of time.

My back feels warm and the heat is slowly seeping into my system.

[...] Congratulations! Skill [Iron Skin] has been upgraded to [Obsidian Skin] (Fire/Water type upgrade)!

[...] Skill [Obsidian Skin] will remove all effects dealt by Fire/Water type attacks. Other elemental hybrids will have an 80% damage reduction!

I quickly activate the [Obsisian Skin] and true enough, I feel most of the damage wither away. And with the [Star Shield] equipped, the damage will soon be gone.

"Are you okay?" I ask Claire.

"Yes, I guess."

I felt another attack coming up so I held Claire and jumped away, landing above a rectangular stone a few meters above the Minotaur's head.

"Stay here, mind the fire. I'll be right back." I say, jumping down, landing on the shoulders of a Minotaur chasing John.

"It's about damn time!"

"I know." I bend backwards, stabbing it from behind with my body weight, piercing its heart and cutting through its torso. As the Minotaur collapsed, I swung my legs, achieving a backflip as I let the momentum tear the dagger off its back.

"Shit!" John was backed up against the wall and the Minotaur collapsed on him. "Help me out!"

"Can't man, gotta help Migs."

"Damn." he says, grimacing at the stench, trying his best to push the corpse off him and wiping the blood off.

"Why didn't you cut its head off?"

"I did! It grew right back!"

I shook my head and headed for Migs, fending off three minotaurs at the same time. Hitting one on its head, he jumped into the air and dodged the other two charging at him. The two quickly recovered and began to run away, preparing to charge in again. The third one had its head bashed in but it fixed itself quickly before getti g right back up.

Migs jumped in front of it, swinging his hammer up, crushing its chin. The chin fixed itself and the Minotaur aimed its horns at him, the other two getting closer by the moment. Migs then suddenly swings his hammer in a spiral, hitting all three heads as he twirled at the weapon's weight. I stabbed one on its heart while he bashed into the other one's chest, creating a hole where its heart should have been. The third one grew taller and regenerated faster but couldnt charge when John stabbed his sword through its chest from behind. It soon went limp and fell.

"One more left to go." I say, glancing up at the one in the center. But as I say this, Claire catches up with us and points at the spell above it, nearly through. "Shit."

Suddenly, walls rose from the ground and chains dispersed from the [Spellcaster] Minotaur.

[...] The [Spellcaster] used [Stone Prison]!

[...] The [Spellcaster] used [Body Revival]!

The chains connected with the iron collars on the necks of the fallen Minotaurs before they were eaten my the ground.

"The Minotaurs are alive again?!"

"I don't think so." Migs says. "They're dead. The [Spellcaster] is using their bodies to create a walking shield between us and itself. The maze is a way of delaying us. Look, its making another spell." He points out the spell forming above its horns.

"We must act quickly, but what about the bodies? If we can't kill them, how do we avoid them?" John asks.

"Who said we can't kill them? They are zombified by the chains. If we sever the chains, They will be corpses again." Migs explains.

"Good, then let's get to the middle of this." I say.

"But dude, your whole body is on fire." John points out.

"It probably spread out from my back. Don't touch it though, it wont burn out untill the [Spellcaster] is slain."

"[Hell Fire]?"

"Yes. Now let's hurry! We have until the spell is completed."

We began to run but soon was caught in a three-way dillema.

"Shit, where do we go?"

As John says that, a Minotaur arrives, chain dangling off its collar.

"Wait, let me find the route!" Migs says, his name changing to a shiny red. He probably equipped a title.

"I found it!" He exclaims! "But its always changing! Just follow my lead while I figure their pattern out." He says and charges at the Minotaur, jumping above it before swinging his hammer, breaking the chain. We followed his lead, watching as the corpse fell. I decided to quickly loot it and was able to pick up both its [Minotaur Horn](s). I quickly caught up with them and we passed each turn carefully.

It wasn't long before we came to a stop. "We wait." Migs said. "A path should open up in the side soon." he said.

As he finished, a Minotaur came from the passage we took and charged in. I took the lead and cut its horn off before blinking behind it and stabbing it on the head. I collected the [Minotaur Horn] and cut the second one off before stabbing its head once again.

Now having four horns in my Inventory, I used my [Mystery Item Box] and obtained an enchanted [Balancing Stone].

[Balancing Stone] (Enchanted): Magnifies Elemental Attributes (+50% ~ +250%) depending on compatibility.

I applied it to the [Shadow Dagger] and it got a (+120%) effect. Its not the highest but its pretty efficient already. I swifly cut through the chain behind it and jumped off, landing on its corpse.

"It's here!" Migs explains as the wall changes and shifts into a passage.

We all rush towards it but stopped. Three Minotaurs were waiting and had begun to charge at us. I had to move swiftly or else both the loot and the way out would be lost.

"Wait! Marshall!" Migs shouted after, but i had already entered and leapt into the air. I rolled to dodge a Minotaur and swung my daggers to cut its feet off. Blinking behind the second one as the third one smashed its horns where I was. I quickly glanced to see them running over to me. I then slit the throat of the second Minotaur and jumped off to kick the third one on its face. Now with the three on the ground, I cut off the horns from the second and third Minotaurs as the first one regrew its feet and stood. I pulled my spear out and stabbed it from behind before lifting it into the air and smashing it down head first. I cut both its horns in one move with the spear before throwing it into the air.

Dodging the second Minotaur, I ducked and pushed it to the thrid one as the first one regained its balance. Now with their chains tangled up, I leapt over the first one and used [Taunt]. The three of them were scampering above each other, their chains keeping them from getting too far apart. I then leapt into the air, caught my spear, and thew it down, impaling their heads. John jumps above them and cuts the chains, their bodies going limp once again.

"Took you long enough." I said.

"Showoff!" John replies before we set off once again.

"There is still one more!" Claire says, pointing out the fact that we only severed five chains and that there as still one chain connected to the [Spellcaster].

"It appears to be right beneath it. Must be a defensive stance. Holding us off to buy it some time." Migs says.

"Well then, we must move quickly!" Claire commands.

We reached the center in a few minutes, a gigantic minotaur standing in the center of it all. It held the hammer on its hand while the [Spellcaster] whirled its hands around to speed up the spell construct.

"Time!" John reminded us.

"Take the giant. I'll go for the [Spellcaster]." I say, jumping onto the giant's head and off it, straight for the smaller one above it. I managed to knock it off and we both fell to the ground, a spot away from the rest of the group. The [Spellcaster] now had a chain accross its neck, implying that they could not eliminate the giant on the center.

"You are now traooed with me human! Your comrades will all die now, are you ready to join them?!" The [Spellcaster says.

"No, because they won't die. I'll make sure of it!"

"Then kill me if you can!"

I charge at it and it vanished into air. I stopped and it reappeared with a couple more clones, surrounding me.

"Can you find which one is the real me?"

They all threw balls of [Hell Fire] at me. All of them dealt damage. I dashed for one of them and slashed but came to contact with nothing but thin air.

"Hahaha! Wrong!"

The clone I slashed at blasted my stomach with a ball of [Hell Fire].

"How long can you last human? You may be the mightiest, but you will die today!"

I stood at the center, closing my eyes as another wave of [Hell Fire] hit me. Then I noticed that one of the blasts dealt more damage than the rest and came earlier than the rest as well. I waited and, surely on the next attack, it was the same. Only, the ball of [Hell Fire] came from a diffrent direction. So I waited for the next attack. If my guess is right, the [Spellcaster] would not shift clones until after the attack hits.

I felt it coming, the balls of [Hell Fire] being hurled at me.

"Die human!"

I felt it, it was the one directly in front of me. Looks like the [Spellcaster] got excited.

I opened my eyes and blinked behind it.

"Er, what?!"

I swung my dagger and stabbed its heart before violently slashing upwards, splitting everything, from his chest and up, half.

[...] Congratulations on beating the [Boss: Dementaur]! All players granted (50000 xp) to reach level 5!

[...] Rewards: Unlocked [Classes]; Item: Key (one time use only); [Rune Stone] (5) (blank)!

The walls all came down and were eaten by the ground.

The voice came up soon after.

"What a surprise! You actually beat the Boss! Fantastic! As I have said, I grant you a bonus room as well as the spoils remanining from this battle! Namely: [Mjolnir]; [Minotaur Horn] (4); [Weapon] chest (12 inside)! These are the spoils from the battle."

A door opens from the center of the arena and a set of stairs appeared.

"This is the bonus room. Here, the prizes from the Boss is kept as well as some additional items. The key will allow you to jump out of [Immersion] once you are done. Thank you. May the real game challenge you fiercely!"

The voice stopped there and Migs begun walking in.

"Are you coming?" Claire asks.

"Probably not. I gotta get out of [Immersion] because i have to see how long we were out. I have some programming to do as well."

"I see. I'll grab you a few things then."

"Sure captain, take care."

I pull out my key and use it.

[...] Player: Marshall_Madden is now able to jump out of the Beta Testing Grounds (1). Thank you for participating in the program!

"Wait! Marshall!"

I turn around to see Claire before she hugs me and pecks me on my lips. I smile.

"That's for saving me." she says, turning away.

I hold her chin and direct her face to myself, kissing her fully. I jumped out of [Immersion] after that, feeling my body fade away from the game.

*3rd POV*

Claire kissed Marshall back and was soon pet qith disappointment after breaking off, seeing him fade away.

[...] Player: Marshall_Madden left the Program...

"About time. You should get in here before we take all the good stuff." John says.

"Yeah, good call." Claire says, recovering from her blush. "Idiot..."

*now back to MC POV*

My legs were cramped and my back was sore. I never knew that Immersion would injure me so badly. Then again, since we do Immersion, we look exactky like we do both in real life and in-game, no matter the clothing and language settings as well as custom skin colour and hair style. It all changes and shifts to our looks in real life.

Anyway, back to topic, the time passed quite heavily and its now 12:56 am. I rubbed my eyes and checked my phone. Too lazy to go back into Immersion, I checked it manually with my hand and found a message sent to me from Brett. It had our meetup location and a photo of the map of our whole region. As I was about to close it, Brett calls my phone number.

"Hello, this is IT:BT member hotline. How may I help you?"

"Shut up Marshall, we both know you saved my number."

"Stop exploring my phone."

"Fine, fine. Say, I jsut wanted to relay a message Cade sent."

"Why couln't you just text me?"

"Because he sent a recording! It has to be vocal."

He clears his throat before mimicking Cade's voice poorly.

"Is this thing on? Is it? Oh? It's already recording? Crap! Uh, guys, my fam is leaving for the next state today, can't join the Beta Program. Are you hungry sweetie? Shut up mom! I'm in a call! Okay, okay fine. Just come downstairs to eat the flight is in a few hours so you better hurry up and pack your belongings quick! Yeah mom, I'll be down in a minute! Anyway, We'll be out for about a year. I'll try my best to come up if I have time. Im starting My last year in highschool there so there's a ton of adjustments. Anyway, I hope you can understand. I'll be offline until tomorrow, at 9am."

"Is that it?"

Brett chokes on the other side of the line before clearing his throat.

"Yeah, apparently."

"His mum. You didn't have to include her dialogue."

"But his would sound incomplete."

"Fine, whatever helps you sleep at night. Anyway, i gotta snooze. I'll relay the message to the captain later today."

"Sure thing man! Thanks!"

I ended the call and decided to forward the message he sent me to Claire and John before going to sleep. Falling asleep was a lot easier than I expected. After closong my eyes, I felt myself sinking deeper.

*later*

I woke up to a phone call. I checked my screen to catch Claire's number showing. I quickly answered the phone and put it in my ear. "Hello..."

"What took you so long!"

"I'm sorry, I just woke up."

"I hate you!"

"For what happened last night? I thought you loved me." I teased.

"Shut up!" oops... "What time are we meeting up?"

I glance at the clock on my room. [8:24]

"At around 9am sharp."

"Hmph! You better show up!"

"Yeah, I will."

I ended the call before it could worsen and hop into my shower...

*3rd POV*

Claire put the phone down. A knock is heard from the door. She answers it and is greeted by the landlord.

"Hello, what can I do for you?"

"Its hard to tell ya' but I'm gonna get this place rennovated like the others. Your house is still an old model and is the last one left. I gotta renovate it. Don't worry, you paid your rent so I guess you can stay until the paid rent is spent up. I'm not accepting any payments from ya' cuz i need this place rennovated ASAP."

"Am I getting kicked out?"

"By how it sounds, today is your last day. I'm really sorry dear. This house's design is really an eyesore. I'm not getting boarders because of the current situation. This is the first house they see."

"I understand. Thank you for letting me stay."

"I'm really sorry dear. If you want, I can arrange another house down the street, a few blocks down."

"Nah, I'm fine. I'll probably move towns anyway. Had it coming, just not so soon. I'll find a way."

"Thank you dear." And, with that, the convo ends. Claire will have to pack her items before the end of the day to move. But where?

"I'll figure that out later!" She steps into her bathroom to prepare for the meetup.

Why would he want to meet up so suddenly?