Chapter 105 - 102 : Damsel In Distress

(AN : Notify me for any errors please.)

If someone were to say that Xue Yan had expected the current development of things, well, they wouldn't really be wrong neither are they right.

Xue Yan had made it to Black Grill's Cave all because of a quest she had received from a weird villager in Black Mountain Town. She had quite a meticulous and pedantic behaviour. Due to this quirk of hers, she had chanced upon on a quest just a few hours after the game went online. She went on to complete some of the missions on the quest while levelling up at the same time.The quest was quite strenuous. The current mission that was set on the quest was to collect a certain specimen. The only place it could be found for now, was in Black Grill's Cave.

Xue Yan could obviously wait till she reached level 10 and got to the city but that would not be reasonable as there was a countdown attached to the mission. Even if there was none, the experience she would then gain would be minute to a level 10 player and also, most of the locations for the missions in the quest would be based close to Black Mountain Town. It would be really dumb to be heading to a low level town when other players are exploring city level maps. So leaving the mission behind till she became level 10 didn't really make much sense.

Xue Yan had thought that this would be a simple trip; in and out before anyone knew it. Though she had long heard about how Black Grill's Cave became a camping ground for dark layers, she never expected to intercept some of them. Black Grill's Cave was indeed a hideout for dark players but one should remember that it is almost as large as a Primary town. As a result, it wasn't certain that players would meet one another as long as they take on different paths. Though some paths and tunnels might intersect with one another, the chances of finding such tunnels isn't so high; even more so the chances of spotting a dark player. That's why the dark players have been able to survive in Black Grill's Cave without suffering retribution from the big guilds..

Xue Yan had teamed up with a party 4 other players at the entrance of Black Grill's Cave. As an elementalist type mage, even more so a level 6 fire type, she was a popular and very much needed 'commodity' for players hoping to explore Black Grill's Cave. Easily welcomed into the team, Xue Yan journeyed with them with the idea of heading deeper into Black Grill's Cave.

A boon attached to her mission was the fact that she had map that directed her towards the location of her mission's goal. With the map in hand and her smart brain, she influenced the decision of her teammates and surreptitiously directed them towards her designated site.

Everything had been going smoothly before. The team had dodged a few high levelled monsters and made it this far but they never expected to get ambushed. Having gone quite deep, which level monsters would fill this area. They never expected that a dark team would infiltrate this deep after all, the dark players were hiding.

Black Grill's Cave was divided into 3 regions. The Outer region; which was from the entrance to a few metres down and filled with level 5 and a few level 6 creatures. The Middle region; which was from the boundary of the outer region till sea level[1] had level 5, level 6 and a few level 7 monsters. The Inner region, which is the last region, begins below sea level. As for the depth, no one knows as there is no complete map about this area. It is believed that level 8 and level 9 monsters live here. There might even be a level 10 monster but no one was sure about that.

The Dark players were believed to have camped at a spot in between the Outer region and the Middle region, that way, they can easily escape to the Middle region if the big guilds were to try and hunt them. Going deeper to a place with high level monsters would be nice and all but the risk is much higher since they would have to hide from both monsters and players. Usually, they would hang around boundary of the outer region and dispatch a few players there. Xue Yan and her team were currently at the middle region and had gotten past the boundary point of the outer region. That point was the dark players active area, so they thought they were safe already. They never expected to find some of them here.

They got ambushed and lost 2 of their men immediately. Thanks to Xue Yan's aid, the survivors were able to hold up against them but if things keep going the way it is, they would undoubtedly die.

"We can't go on like this." After setting off a blast and creating space between themselves with an AOE skill, Xue Yan talked to her teammates.

"Haha. What's the matter, are you scared perhaps? Hahaha." Rolo laughed at the players in front of him.

After he and his squad had defeated the last group of players, they had an unlucky encounter with some of the members of a big guild. Because of that, they had to retreat into the Middle region to get away. Rolo never expected to actually meet a group of wandering players here since the Middle region was home to level 6 and above monsters. Regular players couldn't handle them and the group in front of him didn't seem so special. Rolo decided to trail them for a while to confirm whether they were pro players or regular players. In the end, he found out that they weren't that strong but just slightly above average players.

Using his knowledge of the environment to play, Rolo set up an ambush with his squad mates. Though they didn't deal with their targets all at once thanks to Xue Yan's quick reflexes, they still managed to take down 2 of the original 5 players.

A 4 on 3 showdown began and because Xue Yan's team was initially caught by surprise, they had the lower hand in the battle. Xue Yan might not have been an expert player but she was close to the rank. With her amazing control and timing, she was able to hold off 3 players alongside one of her teammates while the last player took on the last opponent. However, there was still a limit to what one can achieve. She was running out of Mana [2].

"You might be able to hold us back now but for how long? This is the Middle region; no one will come to your aid. Even better, Black Grill's Cave is so big and this place is even somewhat isolated. The chances of another player reaching here is close to nil. Hahaha."

Rolo licked the blood stained on his blade as he stared at the trio that looked tattered and worried, with anxiety written all over their faces. Rolo always liked to play mental tricks on his prey as he felt that by looking at their worried faces that were filled with regret, he would experience such intense glee and elation, that he would even get intoxicated by it.

"Hahaha. You know what? Why don't you surrender all your weapons and items and I might let you go?" Rolo grinned at them. Right now, the two parties were at a standstill so he decided to weaken their will to fight so as to strike them when they least expect it.

Xue Yan could guess that Rolo was just giving them false hopes but she didn't say a word after all, everyone had the right to decide for themselves.

"A bunch of dark players looking down on us. You will pay for sure!" The Guardian who stood in front yelled at them but didn't rush to attack.

"Hahaha. Don't say I didn't give you a chance. Get them."

With a laugh, Rolo commanded his teammates and they all rushed towards the 3 in front.

"Do we help them?" Fudo asked while looking at the fight going on below them. They were at an opening on the wall of the huge 'hall'. In order not to be noticed, they stealthily hide behind a huge stalagmite and watched the ongoing fight.

"What does it have to do with us?" Sato asked straightforwardly.

"Uhhh." Fudo was tongue tied as to how to answer. This was a game not real life; dying here didn't mean they would be gone forever. Also, Sato was right. Why should they bother to fight someone else's battle when they wouldn't gain anything and will possibly offend another power. Was it worth it?

"Hey, can I ask for a favor?[3]" Lu Zhen who hadn't spoken since they arrived here, suddenly asked.

"What is it?" Sato looked at him.

"Well you see, I kinda know that girl. To be precise, she's my cousin. A distant one but still my cousin. I didn't think that I would see her here so please grant me a favor and help me." Lu Zhen stared at Sato. He could have gone off on his own but Lu Zhen felt that he owed Sato and Fudo since they both had made it possible for him to reach here. Rushing out on his own would most likely incur their ire and that wasn't what he wanted. Lu Zhen despite being shameless, was still a man of morals.

Sato frowned a bit. Although he didn't want to interfere in the battle, Lu Zhen had requested for his help. Of course this wasn't just the reason. After battling alongside each other for awhile, as Lu Zhen had said before, they had become somewhat similar to brother figures. Also, Lu Zhen had skill, one which even Sato himself admired. He felt it wasn't bad befriending him and since Lu Zhen had even requested a favor of him, doing so would make Lu Zhen owe him. The current target were Dark Ayers and it didn't really matter whether they killed them or not. Killing red names would not make one a red name, so there wasn't much harm in killing a dark player. Adding in the fact that eliminating a player would make them drop a loot, there wasn't much loss or danger as long as they approached the matter carefully.

"Alright then. Let's go."

AN :

To those who don't understand what "sea level" means, kindly ask Google cause I might not be able to explain it well for you. Simply put, sea level is the regular level for land. It isn't tall, it isn't low; its regular. You can say it is the base form of earth.

[2] I never added the Mana bar on their attributes panel because I felt it was stressful and not as important as HP...lol. It will appear in the next one though. Just know that MP is [Intelligence] x10. Let's do it like that.

[3] British spelling ought to be "Favour" but that's my ex's name. So I used the American spelling.. *Bows* Sorry for the irregularity.