Easy path

[Four players died from the process]

[Outstanding players were all of you for working together!]

[You all have each received a common skill:]

[Five Seconds Dash]

[Frost Monsters Remaining: 121]

[Skeleton Monsters Remaining: 148]

[Monsters in Total Remaining: 269]

Drahon, fixing a strained stare at the words, was frozen in consternation.

Frost Monsters Remaining: 121?

Damn, they were doing a better job than them. But in the end, it didn't really matter—if they were more proficient, then it would be for the betterment of them all.

He wondered what the other players got for their level one and which side of the game world they were dropped in.

Perhaps they got to face scarier beasts, docile ones, or more ferocious ones.

At the end, he was certain they all would eventually meet at a stage in the game.

They all had received a skill, and as Drahon was still in thoughts, runes only he could see appeared in front of him.

[New common skill activated: Five Seconds Dash]

Drahon was not in the littlest bit impressed. Five Seconds Dash? It might seem epic and all that, but the reason it would seem ridiculous was the rank: Common Skill!

It was common! They all had been given it. And he didn't even know what exactly it was—what it did.

[Description: Gives your dragon a boost of speed. This is a common skill given as a reward for doing something outstanding in the game. Its performance is based on the rank of your dragon. If your dragon is a Tier F dragon, the dash is average. If it's Tier D, fast but a bit average. If it's Tier B, fast. If it's Tier A, more faster. Then if it's Tier SSS, it'll be insanely fast for five seconds.]

Drahon shrugged. Perhaps it wasn't so bad anymore. He was at Tier SSS. A five-second insane speed boost would really be awesome if he was to be facing off against some powerful monster and he was stuck or trapped. The boost would really be helpful at that point.

"Does it have a limit?" he asked the runes stuff, not minding that the other players were beside him.

The players were busy with their systems too. Seemed they got the rune stuff in front of them too.

[Yes. You can only use it once every day] the system replied.

Drahon had expected that answer, but then, the skill would be pretty useful. If he was ranked lower, like a Tier F maybe, he would think otherwise. Nevertheless, it was his luck. Who knows what he would be able to do with the skill, even in Level Two or more levels, perhaps he could upgrade it and,

The runes disappointed him with the words:

[The Five Seconds skill can only be used in Level One.]

'The fuck?'

He sighed. Then it wouldn't be so useful after all.

---

The players spent the rest of the day looking for Skeleton Monsters.

Sometimes they came across over twenty, which they burned down immediately. Drahon and Devon did most of the work though, and they weren't afraid of the Skeleton Monsters anymore, not after facing off against the highest rank and finding them easy.

The Skeleton Monsters did not move alone. It was a habit of theirs that ensured they had full dominance against their predators.

But in the case of the players, they didn't give a fuck, actually. If the monsters were alone or moved separately, it was none of their business, they burned them all, and at some point, Drahon found it too easy.

If they were to fight them with weapons, it would have been harder and required lots of planning and all of that to take the monsters down.

With their dragons, it felt like they were cheating, and all they had to do was burn them down.

ROARRR!

Anytime they defeated a batch of monsters, the words in italics in the sky would appear with the orotund voice:

[Congratulations players. You have just killed 21 Skeleton Monsters]

[Congratulations players. You have just killed 11 Skeleton Monsters]

After killing larger batches of the monsters, they encountered smaller batches, where the rest of the players just let a player do it. And by 'a player,' it was Drahon or Devon.

Drahon did the most killing though, as Devon soon got bored of letting out a single roar that killed little monsters. It felt like he was wasting fire.

[Congratulations players. You have just defeated 4 Skeleton Monsters]

[Congratulations players. You have just defeated 5 Skeleton Monsters]

[Congratulations players. You have just defeated 2 Skeleton Monsters]

They occasionally encountered a batch of monsters every 2–3 hours.

They walked though, as the game mechanics wanted to make these things hard for them.

There was a gust of wind upwards. Occasional gusts of wind, bursts, actually. And when a player with a Winterer Dragon had tried to see if they would be able to manage, she was thrust down with a loud THUD!

Even Drahon and Devon tried, but it was just too windy, and so they resorted to walking.

After a long and tedious walk, the players, only eight remaining at this point, now stepped upon a moist-like ground which half-sank their boots in it.

This place was without trees, the sky was getting dark so they couldn't see their surroundings more clearly, but peering ahead, they saw a large rock.

Squinting their eyes, they trudged over to it.

The words in the sky hadn't announced their progress, and it seemed weird, because it usually does after they defeated a horde of the Skeleton Monsters.

After about ten tired steps, they drew nearer to the large rock.

The sky's light wasn't so bright, it seemed like that of early morning, like the sun about to rise, but in this case, it seemed like it was about to go down.

The players couldn't see the sun in the sky, as it was covered by misty cloud-like stuff, so they weren't so sure if this game world had a sun.

Now closer to the rock, Devon snapped his fingers and a dark flame hung in the air, above his hands.

The flame was dark but brought out light, which was a great contrast to the ordinary. It was to be expected though, as his dragon was, well, demonic.

Drahon also wondered how he could do so.

They continued walking towards the large rock, Drahon and the rest of the players on guard in case they faced a monster.

Devon's flame was bright, but it didn't exactly show what was ahead, as partial darkness still silhouetted the large rock.

Three steps to the rock, with a great amount of squinting their eyes, they saw a figure lurch forward.

From behind the boulder rose a towering brute clad in tattered furs and rusted armor, his massive frame nearly blotting out the dim light.

His eyes gleamed with aggressiveness beneath a horned helm, and with a low, guttural growl, he slammed a cleaver-like blade into the ground.

The players staggered back, startled.

'Was this an NPC?'