Hey, hey guys Jason here, and I'm back with another chapter of The Salient. I kinda left you guys off on a cliff-hanger last chapter, so l'll be sure to get a lot of action in this chapter. Besides all that, stick around for the A.N. at the bottom. And do me the favor of enjoying the damn chapter! This shit takes time and effort man~

Chapter 3: Out Of The Frying Pan. . .

_GDFO_

Bodies litter the floor. And from them came a metallic scent. An unmistakeable, tongue coating, STENCH. The taste of metal made even the most stoic among them grimace. They acted like sharks getting a first glimpse of the blood they knew was there. Which is to say that the dead players about the stained hall frenzied those still among the living.

Windows shattered, people screamed their anguish to the Heavens, as if beseeching the occupants of the sky to save them. Boots, helmets, swords, shields, arms, legs, people. They all littered the floor. A sticky *shlick* sounded whenever someone took a step. And the overpowering scent of vomit tickled at the senses.

This is hell without brimstone and fire. Without the darkness of the night, but under the luminous lighting of magic. Some had managed their way out of the main hall, but for the unfortunate, the center of the dance hall engulfed their world. Kingster found himself entrapped in the middle of this chaos.

_GDFO_

King had dropped into GDFO at 8pm precisely and after deciding on being practical for his first character, he choose Tank for his main and Mage for his secondary. After spending a good thirty minutes enjoying life (an absolute overload of the senses will do that), and the beautifully cool-grassy plains he spawned in, Kingster decided to read that annoying system notification and learned how to open his menu. King spent a fair amount of time going through the Options Menu and practically memorized exactly where everything is.

Equipping the shield that he spawned with, Kingster went out in search for something to fight. This is what he had been waiting for all of his life. This glorious universe! A world in which he can physically adventure an entirely new world, exactly like the two and three dimensional games he played before. Games that he will most likely never play again.

Kingster enjoyed his (unknown to him) grace period.

Fumbling the pronunciation of the two spells he was given with his magery class, the player tested the waters on his magery skills. Instinctively he knew the motions, build up mana, elementally transform it, and then expel it from the body. Knowing the motions and being able to execute them are two different matters entirely though.

After a bit, King found he had enough of a hang of his spells, and their curious pronunciation, to take his newly found skills into battle.

aqua and ignis, water and fire. King found the minor spells to be more trouble than they were worth. The reason for that being the system's assist,King would unconsciously try to whisper the words for one of his available spells whenever in a combat situation. King would be trying to concentrate on mouthing the words, and would leave himself an easy target for any aggressors. A while later, King turned off that function, for a mage like him it can only be distracting.

The fact that the Tank class also seems to be a stationary class doesn't help the matter. Though in contrast to that is the fact that the Tank class is very useful in regards to having plenty of health points and decent in-battle regen.

King studiously played about with the different battle strategies, using the shield for cover and pelting the low-level boars in the area with spells. Trying to use the terrain to his advantage, which failed spectacularly. King even tried being more proactive, unequipping some of his heavier gear and shield. This kinda worked, King took less damage, slipping around the much slower Plain Boars and slapping them with his spells. The only drawback being that King would have to focus much harder, and if he lost concentration, he would still lost the mana for the spell, but wouldn't reap any of the rewards of using his meager mana stores.

l think if l can master moving and using spells, l can be really good at this game. Maybe the best in The Crew for a game like this. Kingster thought to himself, sitting on the rough surface of a rock. The Crew has had a long running competitive streak in it, each of the members gloating their superiority over the other whenever they could. As a group of steady gamers, their skill in the games they play mean quite a bit to them.

Staring at the orange sky, King began to wonder where The Crew was now. lf they had a good first day in. l wonder what class is my weakness. It's not in the Options Menu. . . actually a lot of information is missing from the Help/Options Menu.

King paused his tumultuous thoughts to enjoy the quietness of the moment, but could not help but question the integrity of the world around him. For a videogame that took anywhere up to ten years, it has a lacking feel to it. l wonder what classes everyone else choose. Will l respawn here after l log out? Why am l getting hungry, where do l get food? Why would the game spawn me all the way out here in the wilderness?

Scratching his head, Kingster realized that there are many things in this game that he does not understand. Like mapping. A world map did not come as a part of King's Inventory, as well as a messaging system. It's as if the developers didn't want the players to have any sort of way to contact or re-group with their friends.

King suppressed the urge to open his Options Menu again. Rising to his feet, Kingsterboy made the split-second decision to not kill more of the local wildlife and manage his way to a town or city.

There must be one somewhere around here, King looked about as if for a directional indication, King felt a light engulf his person.

And left like he arrived he vanished, in a flash of light.

_GDFO_

King wished he could go back to that simple existence of the plains.

King swirled about in a never-ending spin. Shield upraised and ready to defend himself. That woman -the catalyst as players abroad would refer to her- died fairly near to him. King raised his large iron shield in front of himself towards the aggressor, backing up slowly.

The killer stepped over her body and advanced on Kingster, and was promptly mauled by a horde of players appalled by his actions. The idea of a person dying in real life had not sunk in. Only much would the Areaians of this world realize that their actions had severe consequences, but tonight the bodies sprawled about were sickening to look at, and promoted a fear of being sucked into such a predicament. But did only just that, the pathos, the sympathy that everyone should feel. It's overshadowed by the rulings of the mob.

King raised his shield in front of his face to block the sight, and moved in a slow circle to find the nearest route of escape.

l'm so far! King thought to himself.

Deciding to put his shield to work, King bowled over a pair of players locked in mortal combat. King pushed onwards though the crowd. Ignoring the people shaving off bits of his health, he used his heavy shield as a battering ram.

The magi players there either found themselves dead because they tried to use a spell and left themselves open, or didn't bother using their magic at all. King saw the effects of the former and choose the latter.

Kingster bullied his way through the crowd, pushing aside those who would stand in his way and doing his best to swerve around the other Tanks in the process. Ignoring the fact that his health has never dropped this low before King pushed on to the windows just a bit farther away.

As King drew closer to the window, he saw a familiar face. Tball! King rushed towards his friend and shuddered. The basic Assassin garb. Black everything, gloves, scarf, boots, jacket, and hood. Most of the Assassins in the beginning of the chaos had been killed. On the basic principal that they will stab you in the back without a seconds hesitation. The discriminant clothes that they wear, and vicious way in which they are being slaughtered pushed the assassins to work together in a silent agreement.

An older man is trying to keep up that running custom, in killing Kingster's friend Tball.

Locked the the throes of battle, neither player expected King to shoulder-check the guy. Tball took advantage of the situation and dropped to his knees, plunging his blade into the man's neck, killing him in a fluid motion.

Tball raised to his feet with a grimace on his blood splattered face. "Hey King."

The only reason they recognized each other from the get go is because of their usernames, Kingster and Tball Skulls. Players who saw the proceedings avoided the pair of obvious companions, sneering at the fact that a Tank had saved a Assassin.

"Tball take my potions." King raised his shield to protect them both and flitted his hand though the menu. Plucking out the potions inside he handed them to Tball who downed them quickly.

"My HP was getting low, thanks King. Lets get outta here." Tball eyed up the window only a few yards away. lgnoring King's betrayed blanch, Tball explained.

"Tball l don't know-" King closed his mouth when Tball spoke again.

"The others will get out," they have to. Tball finished to himself in worry.

"But we have to escape now before someone decides our gear would look better on them." At Kingster's solemn nod, they moved. At first awkwardly but always efficiently. By now a fair majority of the fighting had ended, the frenzy of so many people all panicking at once had dwindled.

Nobody wanted to stay in a hall of despair and death and so the thousands of people remaining focused on getting out, or at least most of them.

Jumping out of the window one after the other, Tball and Kingster were met with midnight darkness. "Keep moving, the further we are from the building the better." Tball told King still jogging forwards.

Together they moved away from the bright lights of the hall, into the darkness.

_GDFO_

Bendazi ran through the trees quietly. Everyone wanted to get as far away from that palace as possible. Daniel ducked behind a tree and took a few deep, calming breaths. Raising his head, Daniel tried to take solace in the fact that he can't hear the sounds of players anymore.

F-four times. . . l nearly died four times because of THIS! Daniel Swain removed his starting assassin's gear and put it into his lnventory. Temporary buffs be damned.

Charles 'Bendazi' Rancliff had spawned on the shore, not realizing that he actually had spawned on one of the world's islands. Using his bow and dagger Bendazi killed quite a few of the low level monsters in the area, and was more than a little surprised that instead of killing an Alpha Crab Dragon, he was re-spawned inside of a fanciful dancing hall from the early 20th century. Except instead of wood floors you had a near mirror-like material, and instead of support beams of wood, you got elaborate columns of marble.

Getting over his surprise, Bendazi watched from near the food wall. Turning down requests from strangers to dance, watching as the awkward atmosphere slowly turned comfortable, and then to deathly silent. Before beginning its descent into madness.

Hearing that piercing scream, Bendazi moved to jump through a convenient window about a dozen feet away. As one of the first people to move, on top of that if you add in that he is dressed in his assassin gear, Bendazi became immediately suspect.

If his level wasn't at four already and his ears were not so keen, then Bendazi would've died a, not so spectacular, death. Ducking the warrior's sword, and spinning in one fluid motion, Bendazi slashed the offenders jugular in one smooth turn. And because his hood is so obscuring, no one saw how disgusted with himself he appeared.

To them, a player rightfully tried to destroy an assassin, but was cut down like a lamb. And to add insult to injury that assassin is still lording over his conquest, his victory like some perverse vanquisher.

Bendazi did not get out of the dancing hall until later, effectively quicker than his friends, but later still.

Rising to full height, Bendazi swept his blood-caked hair back. Daniel thought about checking to see if there really is no way to logout, still slightly unsure. He quickly discarded that idea, the light from the Options Menu would be much too luminous in the pitch-black night.

Bendazi moved deeper into the sparse forest. Wincing slightly at the crunch of leaves and whispers of the air. Bendazi walked for what felt like half an hour, but could only be a fraction of that in reality. Breaching the end of the forest, Bendazi stared in amazement.

From his spot, he could see mountains, huge constructs of earth. Rivers, lakes, valleys, a dessert, some sort of light reflecting off the moon. .an ocean. And at the edge of Bendazi's keen vision lays another forest, but from here the details are difficult to spot. Stupefied by the beauty for a minute, Bendazi shook off his amazement and studied his predicament.

How am l supposed to get down? The man looked about his immediate area and from the looks of it this palace, this settlement of land, has no base. The hill that they were teleported onto does not support itself like the mountains abroad. No, the players of this world we're teleported onto a floating island. And then for the second time that day, he found himself engulfed in the light of a forced teleportation.

Oh god. Please not again. Bendazi's pleas to be let alone were ignored. When the light faded, he was no longer there.

_GDFO_

Thrum and Ultorem shared a look during Azura's speech, and the look one shared conveyed the same message the other was trying to give. Wherever this is going, it cannot be good.

And then as Azura's speech was coming to a close, someone much too far away began speaking. Thrum couldn't hear what the person said, but Ultorem could. His heightened hearing allowed him to hear all of what she said before being cut off.

"Thrum, we gotta get out of here now!" Ultorem whispered harshly.

"What? What's going-" Thrum shut his mouth quickly when he heard a woman scream at the top of her lungs. And watched in horror as people started running for the exits available, trampling over each other if someone is in their way. Andthen people started to die, or more accurately, those who choose to be assassins.

"Thrum, we have to go now!"

Ultorem had long since drawn his dagger. Thrum turned to his friend and looked on with fright, Ultorem is dressed exactly like a majority of the killers. An assassin.

"Josh, what the fuck happened up there?!" Thrum never got his answer to that particular question.

Ultorem had laid his back to the food table, hoping to use it to protect his rear. A player who had managed to flee the derangement at the center of the hall took one look at his attire and tackled him from behind.

"Fuck!" Ultorem turned mid-fall and tried to throw off the assailant, but the guy was much too heavy.

"Die Assassin! Just die all of you!" The spiky-haired man straddling Ultorem raised his axe. He tried to plunge the blade into Ultorem, but Thrum tackled him before he could raise his weapon up.

Thrum grabbed the man's wrist and snapped it with a crunch. Pinning his arms Thrum used his greater strength to pin him to the floor. The man, who actually looks to be closer to Thrum's age than he thought, thrashed and hissed in anger.

"Get off me, get off, that fucking assassin deserves to die!" Thrum nearly lost his grip with the way the teen wiggled. The way he hissed assassin, it was like a curse.

"You're not going to kill my friend!" Thrum grunted in brevity.

Ultorem stood above the struggling pair and watched guard. We can't stick around like this, even if we are a bit out of the way, they're eyeing us.

"Thrum, knock him out we have to leave." Ultorem kept his dagger raised and his body tensed, he lost his focus for a second and this happened.

Thrum grunted in agreement and brought his gauntlet down in a powerful smash, knocking the tanned teenager out. Hopping off of him to his feet, Thrum waited for Ultorem to give direction, he had plenty of time to observe after all.

"We can't go that way, even though there are windows really close there. I think an assassin player killed the woman who was trying to plead our case," Ultorem pointed in the direction of Azura and her throne, which nobody seemed keen on getting close to. That also happened to be the direction in which the chaos began and is most prominent.

"Well, only one way out then, huh," Thrum turned away from the bulk of the chaos and faced the opposite direction. Not much better, but better nonetheless. "Let's go then."

Thrum followed Ultorem, doggedly tailing behind him. Ultorem scooped up a deceased player's shield and used it protect himself somewhat, but even so, the much stronger Thrum had to do the bulk of the way clearing. Thrum filled his hands with iron swords and busied himself with flailing them about threateningly at whoever thought it would be a good idea to tangle with them, which wasn't very many. Working in tandem, the pair slipped around tougher knots of players and bruised their way through the weaker ones.

For a solid ten minutes all the world consisted of was survival. And for some reason it was easier than it should've been. Ultorem would use his superior reflexes to dip and dodge around his opponents, and slash and hack at their exposed sides and back until they attempted to escape. And he would let them.

Thrum abandoned one of his swords to have a hand free at all times. Slipping into an aggressors guard, he would bruise them with his gauntlet, and with its proficiency in close range and the cramped spacing of the hall, Thrum found himself in the kill zone. A sword to keep the masses away was nice as well, but Thrum never allowed himself to drop an enemy below half HP.

As the pair pushed on, less and less people found it in themselves to keep fighting. Jumping over another dead carcass, Thrum waited for both Ultorem and a break in the wave of people to continue. Feeling a gnawing bite somewhere behind his eyes, Thrum clenched his fists and readied himself for another confrontation.

Ultorem broke away from his fight to return to Thrum's side.

"Thrum, let's keep moving. We only have a bit further to go." Ultorem pants with exertion.

". . . Yeah alright." Thrum felt his danger sense fade and nodded in agreement to his compatriot.

The final sprint to the window was easy, mostly because those closest to said window were not sticking around to pick a fight. Ultorem went first dropping out of the window, his class just doesn't have as much health as Thrum's, which is why he proceeded before Thrum. Even as an Assassin, Ultorem was slightly blinded by the swift change in lighting. Crouching, Josh waited for his schoolmate and brother-in-arms.

Thrum stood guard for Ultorem as he gauged the distance he'd have to drop before hitting the ground. As Thrum waited, he surveyed the people still fighting. Seeing nothing noteworthy, Thrum turned his back on the madness of the bloody hall.

To get pinned to the wall by a much heavier woman.

"You beat one of my charges unconscious. Stomp along with an assassin of all players. And nearly kill my brother. A player like you could potentially kill many of people. So I'll save us the future headache."

The gruff woman was hit with by a dark spectre of vengeance before she could make good on her promise.

"Next time you jump out the window first, honestly l leave you alone for a minute and you're getting your ass kicked by a damn gorilla." Ultorem rubbed his shoulder and eyed up the -ahem- very large woman in front of them. Note to self, don't tackle a woman who weighs about sixty pounds more than you.

Severe scowl, tanned skin, level ten, heavy armor -though the shield customary of a Tank is absent-, straight back, long grey-black hair, and a thick hammer in one hand. This woman could be the sample they used for a stereotypical disapproving mother. Wait level what. .?

Between the pair of them, Thrum and Ultorem barely scraped together level ten. "Hey Josh."

"Game's mostly PvP centered." Ultorem said, regretting not killing a few of those players back there. Raising his unique dagger, Ultorem prepared himself mentally for a much more difficult battle.

Thrum looked over to his friend, Ultorem gave away nothing under his scowl. Opting for humor, Thrum said, "Uhuh, the next time some crazy-ass kid pins you to the ground and shouts 'Long live the king!' I'll make sure to leave you to it." Thrum grinned back, cracking his knuckles in false bravado.

As if defying the impossible, the woman's scowl deepened.

"I'm happy the kids are with Alice and won't hear me say this," The woman flexed and creaked the iron armor protecting her person. "Cause you fucked up saying that pretty boy."

_GDFO_

Today is the worst day of Houten's life. As well as first. . and best. Through that logic today is alot of things.

Murphy dropped into GDFO and filled out his customization sheet. After checking it over, he submitted the form and bit his lip at the slight change in scenery. His eyes were already adjusted to the darker lighting, so Wolfgang Van Houten did not stand about. The earthy scent made Houten's nose twitch and he sneezed a lot during his time underground.

He knew he was underground because of the enclosed, silent tunnels everywhere he walked. The strong scent of dust and dirt-like feel of the walls around him confirmed as much. And so alone, in the dusky tunnels Houten walked. Not encountering a soul in sight, Houten strolled through the tunnels, gaining his bearings on the Options Menu all the while.

"Hello!" Houten paused as his voice echoed along the passageway. "Is anybody there?!"

Houten cleared his throat, too much dust. Nothing responded to his call. By this point, Houten had already made a few turns, changing direction into different tunnels, hoping to stumble his way to the surface.

"Did l just get a bad spawn? This is fustrating." Houten raised his voice at the end, hoping to attract someone's notice. Still no answer forthcoming, Houten returned his attention to the menu illuminating his way.

At first, he didn't notice. But after a bit, the fact that the menu seemed a bit shorter than he remembered made Houten stop. Checking, checking, and rechecking, Houten couldn't for the life of him figure out what in the hell is missing. Until his stomach growled and Murphy wondered about what his mother would be making for dinner. It was only then, as Murphy was daydreaming about food, that he realized a logout feature is missing.

Speaking out loud in the wishful manner of finding anyone, Houten spoke his mind out loud. In contrast of his usual style of keeping his opinion to himself. "Where did the 'Logout' button go? Where's the Logout prompt!?"

Staring in disbelief, Murphy began to get worried, and so in a bid to be proactive about the situation, turned to head back the way he came.

"Maybe it's like some other games work? You can only save in certain places, and logout of the game in others?! Right? Right?!" Murphy turned on his heel and sped his way along, ready to backtrack as far as necessary to get the logout button back.

"Hey." A foreign sound startled Murphy.

"W-what!" Murphy whirled around and instinctively unsheathed his sword from his back.

Houten heard the person shrouded in darkness shuffle backwards, and listened to the feminine person assure him of her amicability.

"l'm sorry! Please don't hurt me." The teenage girl opened her own menu to reveal her presence further.

Houten dropped his half sheathed sword into its holster and straightened his back. Getting a good look at the brunette, Houten smiled uneasily. The girl looked a bit younger than Houten, fifteen or so if he had to guess. Kinda skinny, but in a cute way. And very pale skin, accentuating her dark brown hair, giving the younger female an ethereal appearance. Houten took just as long to appraise her Gamertag, as he did her body. Merida.

"Don't," Houten took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He expected someone to eventually heed his call. Not a girl though, especially not a cute girl. "Don't worry about it, you just scared me. ."

An awkward pause swallowed their words, and if it could it'd swallow them too.

"Um. Do you know the way out of this dungeon. . um Wolfgang von Hotten? l do not know the way to the surface." The petite girl asked.

"Van Houten. You can just call me Houten though, or Murphy if you like. It's my real name." Houten paused before continuing. "l don't know the way out. But do you still have the logout button in your menu? Mine is bugged."

Houten peered at her Options Menu, trying to decipher the illegible block of text by hip.

That doesn't look english. ls it. . oh l get it it's coded! In this game one player can't peer into the menu of another. Houten thought to himself leaning away from her.

What Houten did not know is that a player's Options Menu can be seen by another. Through a few select means.

"Yeah, it's right heere." Merida stared in horror at the fact that her Logout button was not 'heeere'.

"What's going on, l swear it was here just a moment ago." Merida closed and re-opened her menu to see that nothing had changed. "But what do we do then Murphy? l need to get back to the real world soon."

The distraught look on her face made Houten's heart sink.

"Listen, l think we're just too far from the spawn zone. In some games, if you're not at certain checkpoints then you can't save and leave. l was retracing my steps just now, we can go together." Houten smiled in his best convincing smile and Merida looked skeptical.

"l-l don't play many games in real life. l don't have any actually, this was a gift." Merida looked absolutely lost, and sounded like it too. Houten realized that he'd have to be the driving hope for the both of them if this is going to work.

"Just stick with me, we'll find a way out better if we work together." Murphy took Merida's hand and walked past her, dragging her the way she came.

Merida looked at their hands, the hands that were clasped in each others. Flushing scarlet, Merida smiled and let Murphy lead on in the first companionable silence they'd had yet.

_GDFO_

Houten lead with his Options Menu as a flashlight. The two spells he had ignis and aqua, are inadequate for lighting. Houten tried. The basic spells used a bit of mana and fired a plum-sized ball of clear or fiery energy. Not very effective when it comes to sustaining a light source in the darkness of the caverns. They walked in the dark for minutes on end, deciding together on which directions to take and generally how crappy their spawn happened to be. A bulk of their walking occurred in deafening silence, punctuated by their hand-holding.

"Um, Murphy, you don't have to hold my hand all the way. l won't be left behind." Merida said.

"Huh. Oh! Sorry, l'm not treating you like you're helpless, it's just. . ." Houten dropped her hand as if it had scalded his own, keeping his gaze firmly forward. l hope she can't see my blush from there.

Merida ignored the fact that the warmth in her hand was fading already. Merida looked down to her own Options Menu, trying to focus on the task at hand but was interrupted by Houten's words.

"Hey, why did you name yourself Merida?" Houten asked.

"Um. I loved this old movie from before l was born. Brave, its an old Pixar movie, you've probably never heard of it, but back then, ya know, it was pretty popular, and there was this one girl, the main character actually, and I just. . l loved her attitude." Merida finished lamely.

"I think my dad made me watch Brave when l was younger. The girl with the red hair?" Houten asked with brevity, and Merida simply nodded. "And you loved her?" Houten asked.

"l love her yeah. Her name is Merida and l wish l had HER personality instead of my own." Merida explained.

"I think your personality is really nice." Both of the teenagers flushed brighter than a tomato then.

And before things could get really awkward, their ears pricked at a distant sound.

_GDFO_

A wide berth had been made for the two factions preparing to fight. A pair of players who had beaten the snot out of groups almost three times their size, and a woman who could make an adult Gorilla reconsider fighting her.

The only group of people who seemed to be staying fairly close to the ensemble about to battle is a smallish clique, they had only just arrived a half-minute ago. One kind looking adult woman, and a handful of pre-teens, and a few younger teens. One of the teenagers is holding a bundle to his chest, a spiky-haired bundle that looks similar to that kid Thrum knocked out. In the nicest way of saying it, the group looked vulnerable. Easy prey for any wayward asshole to take advantage of. But Madre Grande makes all of those points moot.

"See your first mistake warrior," The woman said.

Looking above her head for a Username, Thrum and Ultorem found nothing. Thrum scrunched his brow in frustration. A fight to the death at a time like this altogether sounded stupid and unnecessary, especially when the living are in peril. His friends being the most important amoungst them.

"Her level is too high for us to see, it's an optional setting in your Options Menu. To make your name non-existent to players of a much lower level than you." Ultorem explained to Thrum under his breath.

"So her level is so high we can't see it," Thrum had tried his hardest to not think about the others, especially Sarah. But as time wore on and more bodies lied lifeless, it became more difficult to believe that all of his friends came out of this ordeal unscathed.

"Grand, l get to die to a nameless gorilla woman, exactly how l expected the launch to turn out. When all a guy wants to do is find his girlfriend and get the fuck out!" Json said out loud in an outburst of anger.

Josh looked over to his friend. The fact that Sarah is nowhere to be found must be really wearing on him if he let himself lose his cool like that.

"Thrum, she's ok, just calm down. Think about now. If you die, it won't matter if she's ok or not." Ultorem consoled in the lacking amount of time they had left before talking became a detriment. Josh wanted to say so much more, but time is a commodity they just don't have at the moment.

"So you have someone important to you trapped in here as well? l will be sure to let them know about your demise. It'd be a shame to leave one half of a couple confused about the location and well being of the other." The woman gloated, knowing that the pair of boys were waiting on her to make the first move.

Thrum took an unconscious glance at the floor around him and winced at the sight. Flinching and raising his sight high enough to no longer see the ground Thrum bit his inner cheek before clenching his teeth in a rush of confidence. l don't have time for anymore of this wait and talk bullshit. "You wanna fight? Let's make this quick." Thrum declared. Impatience overriding his judgment he raised his sword, sharing a quick glance with Ultorem, Thrum conveyed his message. I've got more health than you, so l charge. Do your thing while l distract her.

Ultorem blinked in assent.

Thrum launched himself forward, sword first, in a horizontal backhand slash. The group behind the woman tensed in concern, but didn't move. Using his bulk Thrum tried to guard the fact that Ultorem is mirroring his rush like a shadow.

Shadow Walker. Ultorem chanted in his mind.

Ultorem activated the one of the two skills he has, his clothes becoming harder to spot as it blended partially with the color scheme of the hall around them. And at the speed he's moving, if you weren't looking for him, you'd probably miss him. But the woman was watching for him, problem is she couldn't do much about it.

Thrum opened with few testing slashes, trying his hardest to get behind her. *Clang, clang clang* But the woman knew her weakness and covered it to the best of her ability. Almost constantly turning the woman focused on Thrum. Using her warhammer as a ward, the woman and Thrum moved in a killer's dance.

Thrum orbiting her and shaving health away, with her landing half-hits and near-misses that would deal a half-dozen of Thrum's strikes in one. Ultorem imitated Thrum's shadow and waited for his opportunity. Which had to come quickly because Shadow Walker drains mana much too fast for Ultorem to sustain for long periods of time, and so it did.

Changing directions abruptly, Thrum tried to catch the woman in a slash in one of her armor's chinks, she was ready for it this particular time. Swinging her hammer at waist level, the woman aimed for Thrum's solar plexus. Raising his iron sword vertically Thrum planted his feet and tried to stop the blow cold.

*SNAP!*

The sword snapped and in slow motion to Thrum, the hammer continued its path at a much lessened speed.

"Ugh!" The hammer smashed into Thrum's chest and took his breath away, throwing him back violently. Thrum crumpled in a heap, vision dimmed and gripping onto consciousness just barely. But the opening it gave Ultorem was perfect. Not sparing a glance back to his compadre, Ultorem slid past and around to the back of the flat-footed giant. He could feel his body invigorate itself with energy, the second skill passively activating. Natural Backstabber.

Ultorem had instantly fell in love with his Launch Quest IV dagger. A leather perfectly-sized handle, with curved zig-zag blade, and an obsidian pommel. A construct of pure destruction. Death personified. And Josh is more than happy to use it on her, a woman who, on the basic principal of him being an assassin, decided to attack them. Who made a conscious decision to hurt and hate a man because he saved his friend's life. This woman.

No, this thing! Josh declared to himself internally. Can. Not. Be. Left. Alive.

Bringing the powerful dagger up to his chest, Ultorem found a perfect spot to bury his weapon, a gap in the woman's armor loosened by Thrum's efforts. Sending the blade forward in a killer's arc, Ultorem flashed a brilliant white.

And disappeared.

_GDFO_

Merida glued her hip to Houten's, figuratively. As they pressed forward into the piercing abyss, the sounds they heard grew from a whisper to a chatter. To Houten the dialect he could hear was inhuman, the gruff grunts much too low, and what could only be conversation had an interesting pitch change as they spoke. Whatever is up ahead isn't human, which probably meant it is a hostile monster that dwells in these caverns. Monsters, if Houten's guess proved true, though he really did not want it to be.

"Murphy, what are we going to do when we get to where we are going?" Merida asked in a low tone.

"l'm not sure, but if we're lucky, things won't be too bad when we get there. It really can't get much worse than it's been, right?" Houten replied, ever optimistic in their chances of survival. Even with his optimism, as they grew closer, Houten drew his iron sword.

During their brief chatter, they had made it close enough to confirm that yes, there is in fact more than one voice speaking, definately inhuman voices at that. But when Houten drew his sword, the shrill screech of metal on metal made all conversing cease. Rounding a bend, Houten and Merida stopped dead in their tracks.

Eyes peered at them from everywhere ahead. In a much wider range than what the tunnel they were passing though should allow. Which means the tunnel opens up here. Peridot eyes, the eyes of a nocturnal beast, stared at the pair. Unblinking and unmoving.

Then a sound chattered out rapidly from the dark. Houten and Merida stood transfixed in fright. The sound came again, but closer this time, slightly different in style but more comprehensible this time, more comprehensible to at least one of the pair.

"N-no we mean y-you no harm." The last word came out much higher than Merida meant it to be.

The gruff voice was now only a few feet away. Guffawing, the voice made an unsettling noise, that the others imitated cruelly. Something blunt hit another blunt object, making the pair of humans jump. A few seconds later, all of the glowing eyes dimmed, and white overhead lights beamed down from the ceiling.

The beasts now under the lighting could be scrutinized. And for a good half minute the two parties, one intruding and the other hosting, stared at each other.

They look like gnomes. Murphy thought to himself.

Except these gnomes have dark soot-stained skin. Beady green eyes, bulging muscles and a height defect of impressive quality. The tallest of them clocked in at almost four feet, and the shortest looked like a toddler. But the beard told a different story, they all had a gangly chin hair. Of varying sizes and length, but all dirty. A byproduct of all the work that they do here.

"You all must have lived here for close to a century to turn a barren cavern like this into such an industrial wonderland." Merida said in amazement.

And industrialized it is. The sheer size of the domed room compared to the claustrophobic tunnels they'd traversed skewed their perception a bit, but only just a bit. Forages, workstations, living quarters, meal pits, play areas for children, side pathways, and entrances lie all about. An organized chaos underground, an underground community.

Bored of the not very entertaining foreigners, the children went back to their play, driving the ecosystem back into motion. That never-ending chatter returned, and only the much older looking Dwemer stayed unmoving. And even that only lasted for a minute. Grunting in a pseudo-human manner, the Dwemer turned on its heel and began walking deeper into the colony.

Merida followed without question, before stopping. "Murphy, it's ok, they won't hurt us. But he said we have to keep up with him or we'll get lost." Merida smiled in a assuring fashion, before following the creature.

Murphy tightened his grip on his weapon and sheathed it. Houten followed Merida.

"You got all that from one grunt?" Houten asked, walking alongside Merida, following behind the elder Dwemer and appraising the bronze everything. The only thing not made of that gilded metal is the tools that everyone seems so fond of keeping handy around here. Even the children carry about toy wrenches and imitate their fathers, walking about as they have somewhere to be and something to fix.

"Um. Well. l'm not sure, l have Beast Tamer as my primary class but these guys are sentient and it dulls my connection with them. But they have not tried to harm us yet Murphy, so our chances of survival must be high." Merida said to Houten.

The old Dwemer stopped abruptly, apparently reaching his destination.

"Hhhear zheep." The grouchy monster said before trotting off in a huff.

"So this is our sleeping quarters for the time being? Well, at least it looks clean." Houten stepped down the bronze stairs to Meridas and his sleeping hut. Merida followed behind him and they entered the clean dugout. Closing the door behind them, cutting off the rukus of the Dwemer outside, Houten and Merida checked over their meager accommodations. A chest full of preserved food, a tiny table set made for creatures of Dwemer stature, and a workbench of all things in one of the corners. At least the Dwemer like tall ceilings, or staying here would be much more annoying.

I really hope the bug or whatever gets fixed soon, this us surreal. Houten thought to himself. As Houten looked over the workbench for usefulness, and Merida counted up their food stores getting ready to prepare a meal for the both of their constantly growling stomachs, Houten found himself glowing a brilliant white.

"Ah," Houten stared down at his body in surprise before calling Merida for help. "Merida what's happening, is the Dwemer tricking us!" As Merida opened her mouth to speak Houten disappeared in a burst of light. She rushed to where Houten had illuminated the room and dissapered from, eyes wide in gleaming shock over Murphy's sudden departure.

"Murphy!" Merida screamed, grasping for the fading light before finding herself engulfed in a similar spotlight of energy.

Cutting off any protest Merida might have about the situation the light vanished, taking the female with it.

_GDFO_

Houten did multiple actions at once when the TP light faded.

Swiveling in circles Houten kept turning until he got dizzy, and bumped into something, turns out it was a someone. Not the someone he was hoping for though.

"S-sorry l didn't mean to crash into you." Murphy apologized.

"N-not a problem friend." The stranger replied, just as perplexed as Houten himself.

"Do you know what's going on?" They asked in unison. Sharing a bittersweet moment the older man and younger teen Houten parted ways, finding that no one knew what's up after asking a few people as temporary partners.

Houten spent some time looking for Merida before giving up, more people spawn into this huge party hall every second and what started as a wishful endeavor devolved into a futile search. The search officially ended when everyone started dancing, Houten made his way to one of the double door exits he saw earlier and tried to leave. That failed spectacularly as he realized that this must be some kind of launch event because there is no way out.

Deciding to stay near the doors and stay true to his loner nature, Houten refused to dance at all. And then Azura Rivera cut the fun and games of the entire event short, revealing the true nature of this world, and shattering Murphy's hopes of the 'logout glitch' being just that. A glitch.

Then everything happened so fast Houten could only remember bits and pieces of what transpired that night if recalling it afterward. First of which, and the simplest of them all, the double door exits opened.

In the time it took for Houten to register this development, as well as register that he is now in a high-traffic area, Houten found himself slashed in the side, all Houten remembers of this aggressor is a large hood and gleaming teeth. It's right about then the adrenaline kicked in.

Murphy scrambled away from his new nemesis, to be saved by a faceless hero. Recalling the experience later Murphy doesn't even remember that players gender, let alone class or Username.

Stumbling drunkenly Murphy swung his sword wildly, and managed his way through the clusterfuck of killers killing killers through sheer luck over everything else. The first memory Murphy could recollect on after his surprise assailant's attack, would be finding Merida again. Pinned beneath the body of a blood-crazed Tank.

Houten rushed the bastard and plunged his blade into the man's neck from above. Killing him instantly and leveling Houten up by two levels at once.

Helping Merida push the dead man off of her, Houten, in a moment of clarity, realized that he needed to get out of here before he died. Houten realized that he needed to get Merida out before she dies! Pulling Merida to her feet with one hand, Houten took this moment to flit his finger downwards to the level up pop-up and selected to automatically buff his stats though the system's help.

Fueled with energy Houten looked Merida in the eyes, cutting off her gratuitous 'Thank you' and told her with the utmost confidence, "I'm getting you out of here now."

Merida had the decency to not blush at his intense stare. "l wish we could just leave Murphy but l need to catch up with my. . Um. . Friends." The unsaid beg for help was accepted by Houten.

Houten took Merida by the arm in one hand and batted away players with the sword in his other, unconsciously activating his passive skill. Killing lntent. "Do you have any idea where they are?" Houten asked.

"l think l saw Astrid over here." Merida replied dragging Houten along.

Pushing through the dwindling crowd, Houten led with Merida's guidance. After ten minutes of yelling, screaming, pushing, pulling, and general maiming, the pair of players broke out of the crowd to see a large woman fighting two teenagers in a dizzying flurry of weapons.

Then as if watching a movie in fast-forward Murphy, watched in abject fixation as Json's sword snapped in two and he was sent nearly a dozen feet away. Then as if like a brilliant glistening ghost one of Murphy's best friends, Josh, disappeared into thin air a second before dealing a crucial blow to the giantess. Houten then caught the eyes of the woman, staring straight at his fallen friend.

Moving as fast as his legs could manage Houten aimed for the chink that Thrum loosened, the chink that Ultorem would of used to end this battle had he not vanished like vapor, the chink that Houten would use now to end this gladiator deathmatch.

Bringing his sword up point-first Houten aimed for the opened gap on her lower back. Spinning faster than he could see the woman brought her warhammer backwards and around, catching Houten in between the handle and head of the hammer.

"Hah," The woman threw Houten towards the window. Houten rolled, before catching himself mid-roll and springing himself to his feet, sliding to a stop in front of Thrum sword gripped in two hands.

"You thought l did not see y-" A crushing wave of anger and resentment washed over her.

"Astrid, please stop! Murphy is my friend and that must be one of his as well!" Merida pleaded with the older woman stepping closer to her and imploring her pathos.

Astrid clenched her teeth to focus herself.

How is he doing that with only a glare? She thought to herself.

Astrid, Merida, and the rest of the bystanders, watched as Houten slowly knelt down and placed his hand on Thrum's chest. Keeping his eyes firmly locked with Astrid, Houten opened his mouth to say something.

Recollecting on the moment Houten couldn't for the life of him figure out what he would've said in that moment. Insult Astrid? Likely. Say something, probably kind, to Merida? Maybe. Use his spells as range attacks? Not likely.

But Houten never got the chance to speak, because for the third and last time that night Houten flared a brilliant white. The light traveled from Thrum's body to Houten's and before anyone could blink twice, they were gone.

Houten was, and still is grateful for that teleport.

_GDFO_

A/N: Sup. Thanks again to my beta AwesomeA909. This'll do Big A, this'll do for now.

That aside hope you enjoyed reading as much as l enjoyed writing. l know, kinda annoying to add in more characters NOW. But let it be known that there IS a method to my madness. Review, follow, all that nice stuff. The random TP's and crazy weirdness is all in there for a reason, l don't add things into the story for no reason. Besides all that, this is Jason signing out, Just Jason.

Uploaded September 20th, 2016