The Monster's raid

The Players all watched with a hint of anticipation, while half of them knew that whatever was going to come out from the water wasn't something to trifle with. The dungeon wasn't as kind as most made it out to be, and so far, many had fallen for being ill-prepared. Even if veteran Players were brought in every week, the amount of experience gained through the dungeon life had hardened the Players themselves.

They have seen and heard of things that no ordinary human beings had to go through. This new world, or game that they like to call it, was their second life, and as days went on, they took it in such a way that they wouldn't dare to lose this precious chance.

Time was slowly changing, and the ideas were seeping through the Players that; the world was not a game. The brainwashing from back home was, falling apart.

Mike paced back and forth, staring at the blue electric orbs that seem to lazily roll around the ground like tumbleweeds.

A few players, who were brave enough, went forward to examine what was going on. To their surprise, the ball of electricity zapped them nearby, stunning them temporarily unable to move.

When they were released, a delayed scream erupted.

"What the hell are they doing?" Mike leaned over. He was not too thrilled by the stupidity of his people.

"Playing whack-a-mole, maybe?" Dairen came over as he casually leaned against the wall as he glanced down. He wasn't too phased by what was going on but was interested in the electrical ball.

He examines Mike's expression to the people down below. "I assumed when you see something like that; you would want to stay away." He shook his head at the Players response.

"What can you say, humans, are a curious creature." Mike shrugged his shoulders, not bothered.

"Haven't you heard, curiosity kills the cat?"

Shifting his position, Dairen peered back down; the rolling electric orbs bobbed up and down. Some unfortunate souls, who were a bit too close, were suddenly ambushed by a zap of electricity that let out a chain of energy.

Ever since the unlikely partnership between Mike and himself, he has been watching the back of Mike much more thoroughly. He had seen the flamboyant attitude, the womanizer side, the steadfast loyalty that he had given to his comrades, and even protected them with his body. He wasn't as intelligent as one wanted, but he had an uncanny charm.

Deep down, Dairen knew that Mike had a good heart, maybe a bit too much of a womanizer, but all-in-all the time he had spent with him had proven it so in different ways.

Dairen knew that this floor was different; he could feel it in his guts.

What was troubling for them was that there weren't a few handfuls of blue orbs, but over hundreds rolled around the ground, making the space a lot more challenging to move around. The blue balls were about the size of an adult male.

"Do you think that whatever is in a fog sent it out?" Mike asked, tapping the very stone wall a few times.

"Of course. Why not?" Dairen spoke, He was sure that the monster in the fog was testing them.

"Wouldn't it make more sense to throw out their traps before it goes for a kill?" He jokingly replied. He should be scared, worried, or worse in fear, but today that wasn't so.

Dairen had a gut feeling that whatever was in a fog was not going to step out anytime soon.

"True, your speculations tend to be spot on most of the time." Mike thought over what Dairen had said. "If what you said is true, then why now?"

"That I don't know."

Dairen didn't understand these monsters' logic, but he had a feeling that they followed a specific plan. So far, the past bosses were all lure type monsters that didn't like to come out and made themselves known. It was almost as if they had a mad love for baiting the Players and seeing them squirm in pain.

A sick pleasure, he believed that the monsters with higher intelligence had. It wasn't just one or two that he had seen, but many.

Dairen wondered how many floors before they got to the last level; it seemed almost endless. He didn't mind the raw materials collected, skills learned, and the archery that he was already good with before he came to this world. Now, using it often allowed him to hone it to perfection.

"Maybe I can do something about it?" Mike said before he backed up a step from the wall.

"Wait, what are you going to do?" Dairen wasn't so sure he liked whatever Mike was going to attempt. He had a knack for throwing out outrageous ideas that had a high chance of harmful consequences. It wasn't that he wasn't careful; he just did what he wanted to do.

A blur of white light appeared in Mike's hand, forming into a spear. It took a good while to solidify into form.

Dairen was amazed at the amount of control that Mike was able to gain in the past months. Mike's ability grew exponentially to the point where anywho, who was around him, would be jealous of his amazing skills and growth. Even Dairen, who had a bit of good luck in growing, was a bit jealous.

Still, Dairen did not let it bother him, for he knew that the things that Mike could and couldn't do, both of them complimented each other like the sun and the moon. Out of all the abilities that Mike had, Dairen excelled in Darkness and Ice. There were many things that Mike couldn't do that Dairen could.

With a fling of his light spear, Mike threw true to one of the closet balls of electric orb. A blinding flash erupted outwards, temporarily numbing everyone's sight.

Dairen cursed at Mike for throwing out such a powerful light. He rubbed his eyes a few times, trying to get rid of the white. It took a bit of time compared to the other flashes of the light, where this felt painful and jarring to his mind.

"Couldn't you use a bit less power?" Dairen asked. He blinked a few more times. Tears began to form as it dripped down his face.

"Absolutely Not," Mike replied, a smirk appeared on his lips. "I'm a Hero. I need to show the other guilds that we aren't easy to be messed with."

Finally, Dairen was able to see again. The electric balls of light started to disappear around the area that Mike had flung his light spear. The electricity spazzed out a few times before sputtering out one last shock.

"Well, you did a fine job of it. About a good half of those things are gone."

"See." He smugly replied.

"But, you want to show off your power during the fight, these small orbs are nothing," Dairen replied.

Mike shrugged his shoulder, he placed his feet on the wall, and he leaned down. "I don't like how the other guild leaders or Players don't see us as a powerhouse sometimes. They laugh at us behind our back."

Dairen knew what he was talking about. He had heard the whispers of the other Players jealousy of what Mike was: a Hero. Something that only a handful had, and the title was given by the Gods. If he remembered correctly, only five were given such a job, and out of the five, Mike was the strongest.

"Plus, this is a good time to show off a bit of our skill now?" Mike chuckled, he saw Dairen's expression that told him otherwise. "We need other Players to join our guild to be a force to be reckoned with. Right now, twenty isn't enough."

"But, they are all the best players." Dairen countered back. "I rather invite quality over quantity, Mike. I have said this before. Let me do the screening process. I don't want some fool to come in our alliance and wreck things up."

It wasn't like the other Players didn't see Mike as reliable, they all lined up to become part of the guild in the hopes of the benefit that came along with it. Everyone knew that Mike and Dairen had the first pick from Snow's mission and even gave a unique quest that brought massive profits.

"True, but we will need more to be able to strengthen ourselves when an Alliance war comes," Mike replied with seriousness in his voice. "I heard that some of the underworld alliances are going to make a move soon."

"You don't mean the Black Hellhound Alliance, right?" Mike had heard about this unruly group that took on the most unwanted missions. Most of them were assassinations missions and any drug trafficking with the cartels and gangs.

"Yes, I hear there is a bounty on the head of one of the government officials in the magical community. If they succeed in killing them, we might have trouble. Our existence in this world will become threatened.."

This was not good news, there weren't many politicians that were for the Players. If one of the assassin Players were to kill a politician that was against them, they would instantly scrutinize them, making their movement much more difficult. He wasn't so thrilled at what he learned, but what could he do? Right now, they weren't even strong enough to contend with the Black Hellhound alliance anyways.

"True, but we should only worry about this dungeon instead for now," Dairen replied. "We can worry about that alliance later when we have the people."

"We will." Mike assured him, "I will make our alliance grand."

Another spear of light formed on his hand.

Dairen silently watched as Mike flung his light spear into the field, taking out the rest of the electrical balls that were left. Before Mike could blind him again, he closed his eyes.

"Well, that wasn't hard." Mike laughed out boisterously, looking into the crowd as the Players looked up at him crazily. "See, I like that look."

Dairen said, "They know just as well as I that you are crazy."

"Good. I like it that way."

Dairen gave him a funny look and sighed. Suddenly, he saw Snow rushing towards them with a crazed expression.