Ser Herschi led the way, strolling across the stunning blue road and onto a narrow side street paved with what looked like little shards of clear glass. They glimmered, catching the light and throwing it back in a dizzying kaleidoscope.
Squinting, Severance focused on Ser Herschi's broad, armored back. The guard moved quickly, taking long ground-eating strides that forced Severance to match the pace in order to keep up. Not once did Herschi glance back to see if Severance was still following him.
They followed the side street to another marble building that had another two guards standing in front of it. Ser Herschi exchanged a nod with both of them before stepping towards the door, which was an elongated triangle of silver metal. At his approach, the metal surged towards the sides of the door as if it were flowing liquid.
Severance had no time to gawk at the bizarre spectacle, however, for his guide moved onwards without pause. Inside the building was a singular raised platform. That was all. There was enough space for many fifteen people to stand on the platform. Ser Herschi stopped on the platform, and silently waited until Severance had joined him.
There was no hint of a warning before the world suddenly fuzzed white and Severance felt himself being sucked into all different directions. A teleport? His feet abruptly found solid ground beneath him, his awareness snapping back into his physical body.
"This is it," Ser Hersch said. "I will take my leave. If you wish to leave, talk to one of the guardsmen."
Severance barely heard him, or even noticed when Ser Herschi vanished in a flare of pale sparks. He was too busy taking in his new surroundings.
They were in a large room. But "room" was entirely inadequate to describe it. It was like they stood inside a perfect box built out of a silvery blue crystal. The only entrance/exit was a copy of the raised platform on which he currently stood.
Well, that and the suspicious-looking pool of water on the floor. It wasn't very big, maybe five feet across, and the water within rippled as small vibrations spread across its dark blue surface.
Quite a few players milled about this pool of water, some peering down into it, while others chatted quietly with one another.
Heads started turning his way, already noticing his arrival. One of them, a roguish fellow dressed in dark gray leathers, called out to him. "Hey you, what class?"
Severance tensed. He just got here. Couldn't they give him a minute to adjust? And besides, he still had to send Awesome Dude a message.
"What's your class?" The same player repeated, a hint of impatience showing on his sharp features. His name: Death Rider
Severance frowned, not really impressed with the other player's tone. "Battle Dancer."
"Battle Dancer?" Death Rider repeated, face scrunching up in question. "Is that—"
"A healer," interrupted a second player. This one was a tall young woman, dressed in floor-length white robes. Her hair was a pale blonde, piled up high on her head in the type of hairdo that one usually wouldn't see unless at very formal events.
Amrita was her name, and once Severance noticed her, he couldn't help but get a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. She looked at him with the same cool arrogance as his sister.
"A Battle Dancer is the other healer class," Amrita further clarified. "But they're weak compared to us."
Other healer? Weak? What was she talking about?
"Doesn't matter," Death Rider waved her off. "We need a healer and I don't want to wait another half an hour for one to show up."
Party Request sent from Death Rider. Accept Party Request?
The words floated in front of him, waiting for an answer. A party request? For the dungeon, he realized.
He hesitated. "I'm waiting for my friend."
"Just accept it," Amrita snapped, making him startle. "We need to get through this quickly. You can do it again with your friend later."
She wasn't giving him a good impression, but she did have a point. He could always give it a try while waiting for Awesome Dude.
"Alright," he agreed, and just like that, his fate was sealed.
A list of names materialized, hovering unobtrusively in the upper left field of his vision. Yet the second it appeared, Severance's attention fixated upon it, horror seeping into his bones.
There were ten names on this party list.
Ten!
His hands trembled. This wasn't a normal dungeon. He gazed at the party list. Death Rider was there. So was Amrita—that charming young lady was another healer, and guessing by her comments earlier, she was a Moon Scribe. The thought of having her as a cohealer almost made Severance log out of the game on the spot.
Yet, he didn't.
His clan was expecting him to do this. It was the next step he had to take. If he wanted to get further in this game and make his clan proud, this is what he had to do. He couldn't run away every time things got hard.
Severance curled his hands into fists. I can do this, he told himself. I just have to heal and keep people alive. It's not hard.
Besides, after the last few days, he was ready. He'd run dungeons, fought terrible beasts, learned new skills, gained experience and boosted his attributes.
He could do this.
***
Despite his determination to see this through, Severance couldn't help but feel like he was one step away from diving headfirst into a bottomless pit of Doom and Gloom, with some Boom thrown in for fun. Just what were they facing that the party needed two healers, two tanks and six people to deal the damage?
His newfound party didn't give him a chance to orient himself. Without a single word to him, they crowded around the pool of deep blue water. And one by one, they jumped in. After each entry, the water rose up in a splash, getting all over the floor and anyone silly enough to stand that close.
In very short order, he was the last one to remain. He hesitated, gazing into the water. Nothing showed beneath the rippling blue. It remained as dark and mysterious as ever, giving no indication that it had just swallowed nine people whole.
Just to be sure, he glanced at the party list. Everyone appeared healthy, so they hadn't died. Then it must be safe.
Still, just before he stepped off the edge of the floor, he squeezed his eyes shut, holding one last lungful of air before he plunged feet first into the pool of water. He felt a cold pressure for a few seconds before it vanished. It was then he realized that he was falling through cool, damp air.
Eyes popping open in surprise, Severance saw a gray stone surface rushing up at him. He barely managed to brace himself before impact, feet thudding onto stone, force compacting his knees and hips in a flash of discomfort.
All around him was his team, none of them appearing to be surprised by their sudden freefall onto the stone arena. A few of them looked around, curiosity apparent upon their faces, though there wasn't much to see.
The arena they stood on was a large circular shape, with what looked like a huge bubble surrounding them. It trapped them in a pocket of air, while deep blue water surrounded them. Yet somehow, there was light. A soft glow suffused the air inside the bubble, allowing them to see with ease.
Suddenly, there came a deep, keening wail came from the surrounding water, causing more than one player to startle. Severance spun, anxiously searching the walls of the arena's bubble for the source of the sound. A dark shadow moved past his peripheral vision, but when he turned towards it, there was nothing but dark water.
He stared, a deep furrow in his brow. Something had been there, he was certain of it. A whale, maybe? Usually whales made that kind of creepy sound. Was that what they were going to fight? Severance tried to picture it, a big beluga whale waving its fins and flapping its tail at them. Maybe it'd shoot fire out of its blowhole!
He shook his head, his lips tugging into a smile. That was just ridiculous.
"Here we go, guys!" One of the players, a tall, redheaded fellow in a chainmail and leather armor blend, let out an excited whoop. His name: Cptn Hook.
Severance blinked, focusing on people surrounding him. Was the fight about to start?
"I got dibs." One of the tanks stepped forward, a shield and sword materializing in his hands. He looked like an underwear model, with ruggedly handsome features and deep brown eyes. A confident smirk showed beneath his gleaming helm. His name: Your Daddy.
The other tank, Erengar, shrugged. He didn't seem to mind following Your Daddy's lead.
Severance watched in uneasy silence, not really sure what was going on. Though he almost smiled when he saw Your Daddy's name. That guy must be a real character to choose something so outrageous.
Everyone was taking out their weapons, so Severance followed suit. With a mere thought, his war fans appeared in his hands.
He looked around, searching for any sign of this Boss creature they were supposed to fight. Where would it come from? What would it look like? Anticipation soaked the air and everyone on edge as they waited.
Severance found the tension almost too much to bear. Was there something he was supposed to do in this time? He found Amrita nearby, looking to her for some kind of clue. She stood calmly behind Your Daddy, chin lifted high and two small handbells held delicately in one hand. She looked like an ice princess from a snowy land, pristine and untouchable and completely confident.
It made him feel like a black little beetle in comparison. She was everything he was not. It was all he could do to keep a calm facade when all he really wanted was to go hide behind someone's back. Preferably a tank.
Wait.
Was that what Amrita was doing? Severance paused, eyeing her. She was awfully close to Your Daddy, barely more than an arm's length behind him. Nah. She looked pretty confident. No way she was hiding. That was probably the most logical position for her—to be close to one of the tanks.
Should he go stand beside her? He decided against it. Something about taking refuge behind Your Daddy seemed a little disconcerting.
Another low cry reverberated within the water around them. This time, when the shadow passed overhead, Severance saw it. His jaw dropped. It was huge.
"Here it comes," warned a player in pale green and gray robes. His name was Petting Zoo, which fitted him well, since he had a tiger sitting beside him. Its tail flicked lazily back and forth while it calmly followed the shadow with its gaze.
Severance momentarily forgot about the ominous shadow, because since when had there been a tiger?! Where did that come from? As if sensing his stare, the tiger turned its head and looked at him. Its mouth slowly opened in a yawn, showing off every single impressive tooth it had.
"There!" Cptn Hook cried, just as the entire far side of the arena grew dark. Everyone turned to face it, anticipation rippling through the group.
Except in Severance's case—he only felt a mounting terror. All thoughts of the tiger were instantly replaced by the horrid realization that whatever they were about to face was undoubtedly the biggest creature he'd ever faced in Eliona.
And he'd already seen spiders that were the size of houses.
A monstrous head punched through the bubble, water rocketing towards them from the force of the breach. He caught a glimpse of a green-scaled snout before jaws stretched impossibly wide, revealing snake-like fangs that were just as long as he was tall.
The Poseideous had arrived.