End Online: Volume 6 (6 page)

With the increased
efficiency from killing enemies that fall and can’t move, we manage to search
the remainder of the second floor and ascend to the third. Just as I had suspected,
the ‘Iron Guardians’ have increased by another ten levels to level 230. I don’t
know if it is just my imagination, but they also seem to be getting larger and
more resistant to physical attacks.

The vines are thicker on
the third level, making the enemies even easier to trip and kill. This level is
also smaller than the previous one, with wider paths allowing us to clear it in
two thirds the time of the second.

Just like clockwork, the
enemies grow stronger by ten levels, slightly larger in size, and the area of
the floor is smaller all the way until the end of the fifth floor. NightHunt’s
party is practically doing nothing by now, barely able to even damage the
golems who have increasingly large health pools.

This changes once we
ascend to the sixth floor. After several enemies, I notice in the dim light
that they appear slightly different and use ‘Creature Analysis’.

Having already killed
several of them, the description of the monster finally appears. I make a
mental note of killing each type of enemy before analyzing them in the future.

Despite the description of
the analysis, the ‘Silver Guardians’ are still stubbornly resistant to physical
attacks. They also resist ten percent of all magic damage, regardless of the
element. As if that wasn’t enough, they have a magic attack that causes various
parts of their body to liquify and shoot bullets of quicksilver.

One of Nighthunt’s party
members, HumorMe, is killed by this attack. Despite the fallen comrade, we
continue pressing forward to climb higher in the temple. Our loot of various
ores is enormous, with collections of silver ore now adding to the pile.

The seventh and eighth
floors have less enemies, but increasing monster levels slow our progress. Upon
reaching the ninth level, everyone, myself included, is exhausted from the
continuous online playing. We take turns logging off for food, but none of us
have had proper sleep as we keep pressing through the dungeon.

Back in my locker, I
ignore the ‘China3’ theme outlay and stare at Fen. Outside of the game, she
still wears the embroidered bikini top and short, slitted skirt like in the
game. She can change between this and the previous dress at will, but she seems
to like wearing the current outfit for some unknown reason. Perhaps it is
easier to move in.

Without saying a word, I
exit the virtual space and consciousness returns to my body. I wake to find
that I am still lying down on the bed.

After moving into my
wheelchair, I steadily move around the house to do any necessary cleaning and
make some food. I also have a quiet bath, hearing the echoes of the water
lapping against the side of the tub, the only thing disturbing the silence of
the room.

I have become much more
coordinated since losing the ability to walk, and with methodical movements
that don’t seem awkward at all I easily climb out of the bath and dry myself.

I return to my bed to go
to sleep, but rather than sleeping in reality, I return to my virtual locker.
There I find Fen curled up asleep on the bed with her knees poking out of the
bed sheets near her chest. At least, she appears to be asleep.

Rather than standing there
like an idiot, I silently walk to the other side of the bed and slide in. The
lights are dim, but I can still see the impeccable skin of her back. I disturb
the sheets getting in, which provides an admirable view of her thin waist.

Reaching out, I gently
touch her back with my fingertips. Perhaps it is because she is not in the game
and isn’t categorized as an ice wolf right now, but she is quite warm. I feel
embarrassed that I have never noticed this before.

Running my fingers up her
back, I realize that her top is completely gone. Instinct wars with reason as I
want to lift the covers to check her bottom half, but I manage to restrain
myself.

Fen twitches beneath my
touch, but doesn’t make any other movements or say anything. I come to the
conclusion that even if she wasn’t awake before, she definitely is now. I move
closer to her and wrap my arm around her from behind.

I am currently not wearing
a top either, so bringing myself close to her causes my chest to press against
her back. I guess you could call this skinship. While pulling myself closer, I
inadvertently grasp her breast. The sensation is soft, yet firm at the same
time. My face immediately heats up and I feel reason losing the battle.

My hand remains in that
position for a little too long, as Fen moves her arm and places her hand over
mine. To my surprise, rather than removing it, she tightly holds onto it. I
gently try to remove my hand, but Fen firmly holds it in place, resisting my
movements.

I start to relax when she
says with a quiet yet clear voice, “Stay like this for a while, okay?”

“You didn’t stammer?” I
ask, shocked wide awake by her speech.

“Nn,” she quietly affirms,
nodding her head slightly.

She refuses to answer any
of my questions after that, so I eventually put my curiosity on hold. Around
the time I stop prying with questions, Fen twists her body around and rolls to
face me.

With barely an inch or two
between us, I stare into her eyes as she stares back. My hand is now free,
wrapped around her back, so I pull her against me and press my lips to hers.
Her twin peaks presses against me, but the sweetness of her lips is so
overpowering that I barely notice.

After a long, deep kiss
that leaves me more awake than ever before, I loosen my grip on her slightly
and press my forehead against hers. Holding that pose, I just enjoy Fen’s
closeness until I calm down and sink into sleep.

***************************************************

“Lost, you’re late!” Mason
complains while yawning.

I am still tired from
recently waking up and logging on in a rush, as I actually was late,
so I don’t have the energy to argue with him.

Everyone else is also
waiting. I happen to have some small snacks in my inventory that I distribute
to the others, so we silently munch on that while proceeding on the ninth
floor.

“This is strange, there
aren’t any golems,” Sir Laurence says while looking around suspiciously. Even
NightHunt’s group notices something strange is at work here, and is on full
guard.

NightHunt himself is no
exception, glancing around warily. “Something is indeed wrong. Could it be a
trap?”

“I doubt it,” Mason
theorizes, “it is more likely that they are concentrated in a large group, or
large groups, somewhere.”

With everyone keenly
looking for anything out of place, we progress just as slowly as we did on the
previous floor. Verde spots several traps that we avoid and we run into a few
she didn’t see in time, but none of them release any ‘Silver Guardians’.

We eventually reach the
central area of the ninth floor, a massive room overgrown with vines and full
of crumbling walls. Part of the ceiling has caved in, exposing the sky. A
bright ray of light shines down from the hole, illuminating a golden golem
standing on top of the pile of rubble that was once the temple’s roof.

The golem is much slimmer
and slightly smaller than the previous golems. It has the shape of a man,
albeit one who would be considered obese.

Feeling a considerable
danger emanating from the golem, I immediately use ‘Creature Analysis’.

“It’s the boss!” I shout
in a panic after seeing its stats while cursing to myself, ‘and my ‘Partial
Draconic Transformation’ still has a few hours before I can use it again.’

As if my words set off
some sort of trap, the floor behind us rises and seals off the only way in or
out of here.

Quickly relaying the boss’
stats to the others, we ready our weapons and cautiously advance. I feel like
something is different with this boss, as the system recognizes it as a ‘Knight
Class’. I have only seen one monster before with the same classification, in
the mountains around Grael’s lair, and it was completely overpowered.

“Lost, be careful,” Fen
whispers a warning to me quietly enough that nobody else can hear.

I silently nod my head and
prepare to use ‘Dire Starburst’.

Mason, still analyzing the
situation, says, “It appears to not be reacting to our presence. It could be a
broken boss, but it probably won’t remain passive once we attack it.”

After a quick discussion
between our two parties, we decide to attack together at once with our
strongest magic attacks. Whichever party ends up killing the boss will get the
experience and loot, so we are wary of each other right from the beginning. I
am also prepared to fight NightHunt’s party if necessary. With Fen, we have
seven members, two more than them, so they are probably more wary of us.

Unleashing our full potential,
we bombard the boss with every element. A massive storm rages from the attacks,
twisting around each other with the boss at the center. I am shocked to see
only five or so percent removed from the boss’ health. The boss golem’s magic
resistance is clearly higher than any of the previous enemies. It is most
likely more susceptible to physical attacks than the previous enemies if that
is the case.

Just as Mason predicted,
the boss didn’t stay quiescent after being attacked. Doing a quarter turn to face
us with eyes like golden flames, the boss raises one hand and its fingers
extend, shooting forth like golden spears. Even I am hit from the unexpected
attack. I am lucky that it apparently has a low attack power and only takes ten
percent of my health.

The ‘Golden Guardian’
moves from its perch atop the rubble and runs toward us. I call it running as
it is faster than any of the previous golems, but its movements are still
clunky and slow.

Every step shakes the
ground and makes keeping our balance difficult, but we manage somehow,
splitting up to assault the boss from different directions. I get close to the
boss when slashing with my daggers, but it doesn’t seem to fall under my
aggravation. I try several more times, but it seems to be immune to it.

This causes the others to
be under more pressure as it directly pursues them. Sir Laurence holds it off
with his shield and defensive sacred arts, but is eventually knocked aside by
the overwhelming weight of the ‘Golden Guardian’. It doesn’t attack anyone in
particular, but seems to randomly pick a target from any nearby enemies.

Fen’s attacks are the most
helpful out of all of us, piercing with ice spears, flowers erupting from the
ground with razor sharp petals, and surrounding the boss with floating ice
shards that scratch it every time it moves.

The boss’s health finally
falls to seventy percent from our combined attacks. Despite that, its swinging
arms and finger spears hurt us more than we hurt it. We can only hold on by
rotating an attack group and recovery group. Six people attack while the other
six focus on restoring lost health and mana.

Almost as if the boss
senses danger, it breaks away from the fight and returns to the ray of light in
the center of the room. With an enormous leap, it ascends to the top of the
rubble and bathes in the light. Its golden body reflects the light and rapidly
recovers from all the damage we did to it.

“Not good! Everyone attack
and knock it out of the light!” I worriedly exclaim. If it can simply restore
health like this every time, we will never defeat it.

Something surprising
happens next. Rather than simply absorbing the light and recovering, it begins
to emit light of its own. It also starts to grow, until it’s several feet
taller than before.

“It’s transforming!”
NightHunt says, shocked by the scene.

I also feel something
isn’t right, and use ‘Creature Analysis’ again as if by instinct.