Time for new characters oooh. Shout out to heyitsmogan for beta reading this.

It has been a year since the Incident happened. That was what we called the day we learned of this death game.

I have been dubbed a demon by the other players for the way I play the game. I was fine with that since I have completed higher quests. Even big time guilds couldn't complete them. I knew more about his game than anyone else. So, I have refused to join any party or guild. But I have only one friend, Weaver. We met during the Incident. He knew what I was up to so we formed a group.

I was level 21 because I took my anger out by just trying to level as fast as I can. The leveling system was pretty simple in many ways. The game has almost a mind-boggling amount of skills plus the one unique skill you got when you started this game. Mine was Demonic Frenzy. Weavers was Heavenly Protection. We both unlocked it around level 20, we think. We could not be sure since the skills appeared in our menus shortly after one of the many mini dungeons that leveled us up a few times. Now we're both level 32. Which was higher than most of all the players in Code Planet.

I was also known as the Black-Red Devil. Simply because of the two swords I carried around, a black sword and a red sword. Both of them were weapons you could only get from difficult quests. Weaver carried a huge gold and white shield which had the highest defense stats that we know of along with a holy mace. We were very alike in many ways, but I wore an all-black cloak while he wore an all-white one. They gave us the names The Demon and The Angle. Everywhere we went, people moved out of our way like we were two deities. Talk about an ego boost.

We walked into a local inn, hoping to just buy a drink and discuss the state of things. Soon enough, people cleared out and I found a table in a corner far away from the other players and NPCs.

"So Weaver do you know how many players are left in the game," I asked.

"Last I checked About 100,000 are still playing even though we haven't found the first boss room yet. About 100 have died so far looking for it out in the Wilds," he responded with a grim look on his face, followed by a sigh of depression.

Weaver was around 6'2 and was very well known for his caring nature. I, on the other hand, didn't get along with anyone but Weaver. I also had very little care for enemies and always had a very sinister look on my face.

"Dammit!" I whispered under my breath, cursing this foul game. It was now or never. "Weaver, I haven't been honest with you…"

"What? What do you know Hawk?" Weaver's brow was creased as he took a sip of the ale we had been served. Followed by a very long sigh of relief.

"I know where the boss tower is," I told him in a quiet voice, fingering my own mug.

I proceeded to look around the tavern to take in all the faces of those around us. I looked back at Weaver and saw that he was staring at me intensely. I took a sip of the ale and began to explain what I knew.

"I've kept it a secret because I know the level of this boss is much higher than one would expect. We know that only a handful of players are even over level 30, and that's including us." I explained with a grim look, knowing that players will attempt to take on the boss dungeon

"Hawk, you have been the closest friend I've known for the longest time -"

"I didn't say anything for fear of causing panic," I interrupted, knowing what he was going to say. I have been playing with Weaver for a month. That was enough time for me to pick up on his mannerisms. "If we broadcast it, too many players would try to storm its dungeon and die," I explained hoping he would not try to convince me otherwise.

"Hawk. Since we are the highest players right now what we have to say has some weight behind it. So, I think we should call a raid meeting so we can finally beat this floor and move on to the second floor." He in a low voice, but still loud enough for the next table to possibly overhear us, totally ignoring my warning. This upset me a little, but I kept that hidden not intending to create a scene in the tavern.

"I agree, but let's send out an invitation to only the major guilds and schedule the meeting for next week on Monday," I said hoping he would have forgotten this conversation by that time.

"Why wait so long? We could have this done by the end of the weekend." Weaver stated while he clenched a fist on the table, refraining from pounding it in frustration.

"To give them some time so prepare." I took a long drink from my ale. Weaver could be so bloody dense sometimes.

"Alright, fine. Who are we going to invite?" He said, leaning back into his chair.

"Leave the invitations to me."

After that, we finished our drinks got up and left the inn, but not before booking two rooms. We both did not want to share a room and we had enough money for our own rooms.

I went to all the major guilds in the town we were in, Frost's Giants, Phantom's Tear, and Midnight Raven. It took me most of the night to do, one guild was run by a person who was always trying to get Weaver and me to join.

I walked up to the door before I have a chance to even knock, the door was flung open causing it to break off its hinges and a blonde elf jumps out of the doorway tackling me to the ground.

"Ugh! Watch it!" I said as I got up and brushed the dust off my jacket. I looked down at the person hugging me like a long lost child who just found her mom.

"Will you get off me!?" I yelled as I was attempting to be relinquished of this death grip.

"Do you not remember your old friend?" The blonde elf said as I stood there dumbfounded. I always forgot people I deemed unimportant in my life. It was one of my values, it helped me form getting too overly attached to anything. People included.

"Ummm, who are you again?" I ask staring at her intently. She was about 5'3, slim figure, nothing terribly defining. Except for her bearish strength which was slowing draining the life out of me.

"How can you forget about me after all the times I ask you and Weaver to join my guild?" She murmured, tears running down her face. Which was also covered in dirt from when she had tackled me to the ground.

"Look now," I say wiping away her tears. "Both Weaver and I have been very busy, so I'm sorry if your name has slipped my mind," I said in a calming voice. She continued to sniffle, but thankfully the tears stopped.

"Okay, then I think it's time for reintroductions. I'm Lightning Arya leader of the Lightning House guild." She stated with an excited cheer and striking a heroic pose. Gods, this girl was an emotional rollercoaster. Then as if on cue, Weaver stepped out of the shadows of the doorway.

"Wait, have you been there the whole fucking time?" I yelled, pointing at Weaver, who had a smirk on his face after watching me get tackled by a girl and trying to comfort her.

"No, I just got here but I thought you would end up fucking this invitation up, knowing the way you are with Arya," He said while holding back a chuckle. I already figured he was lying seeing that he was about to burst out in laughter.

"Haha, you're so funny, Weaver. Go fuck yourself," I told him while holding back the urge to punch him in the mouth.

If we started a fight, one of us would wind up dead or nearly there. This was another reason why we traveled together: our unique skills are complete opposites of each other.

"Umm, can you two children quite all this bickering," Arya said sternly, as both of us started to draw our weapons, completely ignoring her. Both of us had a serious look and intent to kill emanating from each other.

"You should know that when you two go at it causes a lot of damage!" She forced her way between us and held her hands to our chests, keeping us apart. "So cool it! My guild doesn't have the money to pay for the damages right now."

Weaver and I have fought a few times before today. Each time worse than the last since I didn't know the concept of holding back and neither did he. One time, we even came close to leveling a town but we both got bored and stopped, continuing our journey.

"Fine." We both stated. I turned and let myself into the guild hall, the other two follow behind me. I was kind of hoping that I could settle things with Weaver.

Once inside Arya's guild hall I found a wall to lean against while Weaver took a seat on a sofa that was where I was standing.

"Would you both like something to drink?" asked one of Arya's guild mates, who was trying to be courteous to the guild master's guests.

"No, thanks. I'm good" I state trying to be nice. Nice wasn't my thing, I was The Demon for a reason.

"I'll have some tea please," Weaver said, being all angel like. The bastard.

"Try to keep the flirting to a minimum, Weaver," I told him while giving him a serious look. Knowing that he can be a playboy at times when a cute girl was around.

"Okay, okay. I will. Now Arya, let's get down to the matter at hand. Hawk has found the boss room for Floor One," he said becoming more of a devil as he went.

Both of us were devils in our own right. I'm more a devil when fighting, but Weaver is a devil when it comes to negotiations. Even I stay out of his way when he gets like this.

"Wait, you did? For how long have you two known!?" Arya said, shooting out of her chair behind her desk knocking it over.

"About a week now," I answered. I pulled out my swords and began to polish them with a cloth from my pocket. I usually left these things to Weaver, I didn't like human interactions all too much.

"Why have you guys kept this a secret till now?" Arya asked still stunned by the news. She intently listened for our answer, never breaking eye contact with Weaver

"We didn't want to cause a panic, so we've kept a secret" Weaver answered. There was a knock at the door and we all looked over. The meeting to come to a complete halt.

"Come in!" Arya yelled with an unpleasant look on her face.

The door open and a tall muscular man walks in. He looked a like a giant who ate way too much protein and took steroids.

"I was told that the duo known as The Demon and The Angle are here," the tall man asked with a deep voice, looking in our direction. I glanced up to see who had interrupted me from my little polish time and saw a bear-like man staring me down.

I put away my swords and asked, "Yeah, we're here. What about it?"

At that same moment, Weaver stands up and got out his shield. Both of us wondered why he wanted to see us.

"I've come here to challenge the one known as the Demon," the man said stoically.

Fucking great. We would receive challenges from other players often. They wanted the fame of taking down one of us or either both. Most of the time I'd ignored the challenges, they provided to most of the time be worthless.

"Why do you want to challenge me?" I asked, walking towards him slowly. Still slightly ticked that he interrupted my quiet time

"Because if I can beat you, you'll have to join my guild," the tall man exclaimed. I don't think I mentioned this but every time I would be challenged and if they won, I would have to join their guild.

"And if I win what do I get?" I asked, now standing in front of him. "Oh, wait, never mind, I don't need anything right now, but I'll accept your offer." I stared at him with a devilish grin on my face.

"Now Hawk, please don't destroy the town," Weaver warned as he puts his shield away.

I waved a dismissive hand over my shoulder as we all walked outside to set up the duel.

"Frostbite, nice name," I told him, reading the duel menu the popped up in front me. "I'm called the Demon for a reason, boy. I won't go easy on you."

I looked over at Weaver and see Arya hiding behind him. Weaver just yawned.

Before the Duel

We set the duel time to start a bit later so we each had a chance to get ready.

"What's wrong Arya?" I asked after seeing her fall to her knees after Frostbite left the lobby area to wait for me outside.

"He's been asking me to merge guilds and marry him for the past two weeks. He's also been hurting my guild mates," she hiccupped as tears ran down her face.

Weaver squatted down next to Arya and wiped away her tears. We have both looked out for Arya's guild and her for a while now. We even helped out on some of the quests, but only as support.

"It will be okay. Hawk will kick his ass," Weaver said helping Arya off the floor. Weaver then looked at me and I continued to watch Arya, making sure she was ok.

"Damn straight, I will," I said as I left the room.

I walked outside to see a very impatient Frostbite waiting to start this duel. I continued to the other side of the clearing in front of the guild building.

"Now let's get this over with," I muttered standing outside.

Frostbite was a monk, apparently from what Arya had told me. I also saw this looking at the window still in front of me. I hit accept on the floating icon. A timer appeared in the air floating about 10ft off the ground.

"Begin." At that moment with incredible speed, Frostbite charged at me hitting me square in the chest. I was sent flying back into a building.

"You'll have to do better than that!" I yelled, getting out of the debris.

I drew my two swords and charged at Frostbite. As I went to land a strike, he would parry with his gauntlets. This exchange of strikes and parries went on for the majority of the duel. After a while, I jumped and landed on his shoulders, knocking him flat on his back, staring him straight in the eyes. My swords ready to decapitate him.

"Give up now or die."

"I surrender," Frostbite said icily, keeping to his name.

"Match over." exclaimed the Game.

I jumped off of his shoulders and while in the air sheath my two swords. Arya came running over and hugged me.

"Never do that again, you idiot! I was worried that you would lose," she cried out, tears running down her face.

My gods, sometimes she was over dramatic.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I was in control that whole match," I told her, wrapping and my arm around her shoulders to reassure her anyway.

Weaver walked over to us and gave me a slap on the back. Which hurt because I actually let the other guy hit me a few times on purpose. I let him think that he had a chance at fighting me.

"Nice job, Hawk," Weaver said as he grinned at me.

With that, we all headed back inside to finish the meeting.

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