Chapter 6 - First Raid

"Okay, you will take over now," Tom said, turning his everblaze skill off. The corpse of the floor's boss was disintegrating on the floor, marking the end of the easiest part of the raid.

"Sure," Claudia replied as a smile of relief blossomed on her face. "I was getting bored, so it will make up for a delightful change of pace!" She added once her smile reached its peak.

Ever since the beginning of the raid, the girl silently followed Tom, watching how he dealt with entire floors all on his own. The doors that lead to the twenty-sixth floor were the barrier separating her from where she could finally score some achievements on her own.

The two of them didn't hesitate to push through the doors. Neither of them attempted to pry them open. They walked forward, and just when they were about to crash their faces into the massive gate, they appeared on the lower floor.

"Now, just watch how it's done!" Claudia shouted haughtily, rushing towards the group of monsters she spotted.

'That's quite a pose,' Tom thought, observing the girl's moves. Claudia's way of fighting wasn't pleasant to watch for an amateur. She was making wide swings of her arms and balancing at the edge of losing her footing. She would allow the claws and weapons alike to swoosh inches away from her avatar's skin.

'Is she dancing or what?' Tom asked himself, barely stopping his hand from smacking his own face. 'Or maybe she is just trying to impress me?'

Tom didn't belong to any guild, but that didn't mean he was unaware of their whereabouts. 'Still, for a brawler, she is quite nimble,' he thought, keenly watching every move of the girl.

"Okay, the path is clear. Follow me," Claudia cheerfully ordered, pushing deeper into the dim corridor. She appeared to be aware of Tom's curious eyes, but she was less likely to know why he was staring so intently at her.

'Well, that's the loss of joining a guild for you,' Tom commented to himself, adjusting his pace to the rate of the girl's progress.

Soon, only a single monster was left on the entire floor. Obviously, that was only a half-truth. Some monsters were bound to lurk in the corridors and dead-ended paths that Tom and Claudia ignored. In the end though, they matter in the grand scheme of things.

"Okay, now it's your turn," Claudia said, taking a step back and using the momentary pause to calm her breathing.

"Sure," Tom spoke little, but that didn't mean he wasn't using his mouth at all. "Hasten," he cast his spell, rushing recklessly towards his opponent.

This time, it was a battle orc. Its looks were simple. It appeared as if someone graced a massive pig with the ability to walk on just its hind legs. That, and its skin was of a slightly greyish green color.

The thick fur armor on its body and a massive cleaver in its hand were the only elements differentiating him from standard orcs. As long as one was taking only the appearances into consideration.

Because in terms of power, it was several grades higher than your usual orc!

Tom landed several feet behind the orc's back. At first, nothing changed.

"Shall we go?" Tom asked, turning his head toward the girl.

"Huh?" Claudia twitched. Then the orc's head slid down its neck. With the center of its weight shifted, its massive body fell lifelessly to the ground.

"Are you coming?" Tom turned his head towards the girl before asking.

"Ah, sure!" Claudia shook her head before rushing forward. "Just what the hell was that?" She muttered while passing by the beheaded corpse. Her eyes turned into slits for a split of a second before her face did a hard-reset, returning to a neutral expression.

From then on, the rest of the raid was pretty repetitive. Claudia would clear the path to the boss, Tom would get rid of the boss with a single strike.

The same procedure continued for two more hours before Tom introduced a slight change. Once they reached the fiftieth floor, they started collecting the mana stones embedded into the walls of the boss' room.

The first genuine change happened on the fifty-seventh floor. The monsters there turned out to be a little too much for the girl.

"I can handle this!" Claudia protested when Tom involved himself in the fight. 'If I'm right, he is bound to be a veteran. I can't let him look down on me!' She thought, tightening her lips.

"No, you can't. I brought you here to save time, not to build your pride." Tom shook his head. "I guess we have only about an hour or two more before we will have to head back. It's not about showing off. It's about time efficiency."

Time was the only constraint that the game placed on the players. Not by the game itself but by how the connecting capsule worked.

According to the official information released by the developers, the capsule augmented all sorts of physical states one's body was going through. If angered, one would turn furious once logged in. When saddened, one could even contract depression.

Obviously, some people were using this quirk for their own purposes. It took several tens if not hundreds of drunkards and junkies... for nothing to happen. It took a player almost starving out for the company to implement special securities that forcefully disconnected anyone incapable of continuing the game.

But as great as a step it was, it ended up with what players grew to call a hunger game. Because once one's nutrients would run out, the capsule would forcefully eject the player's consciousness back into reality. Needless to say, it ignored how dangerous it could be for his avatar to be left alone in the middle of the dungeon.

"Let's stick to an hour," Claudia said while nodding her head. The momentary hype caused by the challenging fight ran out, replaced by logical reasoning.

And it was pretty simple too.

What would be the use of showing off the strength of one's avatar... If one were to lose said avatar because of that?