Three arrows raced through the air. They came from Kieran. The seasoned hunter was fast and ruthless, aiming for the wolf's weak points.
The beast obviously perceived the danger, shaking off its dizziness. It let out an angry howl. To everyone's shock the void suddenly surged, moving in front of the beast and blocking the three arrows.
Only Hoffman remained calm. He stood at the side, watching how the players handled the beast, clearly only planning to intervene if there was real danger.
"Guys, get moving!"
"Kill that beast!"
"Let's go!"
The players motivated each other as they finally acted. Two people waved their staffs, drawing energy from their consoles.
Originally staffs had only been used by starlight masters to support their use of starlight energy. But ever since the game launched staffs had become widespread.
Refraining from using any complicated skills the two mages unleashed spheres of fire and rock, shooting them towards the wolf.
The beast's void barrier swayed heavily, barely holding on. Just then another player arrived in front of it, swinging his heavy sword with both hands. With a bang the barrier shattered. Instantly a figure appeared, already close to the player, its terrifying claw ready to strike the human down.
"Careful!"
Fortunately, the player wasn't alone. As he froze for a moment a translucent shield appeared in front of him. As the wolf collided with it, it exploded, throwing the beast back again.
"Thank you!"
"Good job!"
"It feels like in the game. Fighting as a team is really awesome!"
The players grinned, gradually shaking off their nervousness. As the wolf was thrown back, the players unleashed their skills. Swords and arrows shot towards the wolf. Everyone anticipated the beast to die under their weapons.
But at that moment the situation changed. Liam hadn't joined the fight at all, constantly feeling a prickling on his neck. He was certain that the group was being observed.
However, nothing happened, and the wolf was about to die under everyone's attacks. Just as the players relaxed their vigilance, though, another predator struck.
Out of the corner of his eyes Liam saw a mass of void to his right moving in his direction. When only half a meter was left, something abruptly jumped at him.
"Got you!"
"Die!"
Liam moved instinctively. Sparks enveloped him and his body reappeared in the air above the attacker. His swords flashed, delivering a [Brutal Strike], freezing the beast in place.
Simultaneously Hoffman appeared where Liam had stood until a moment ago. Obviously, the soldier was also ready for the second beast's ambush. This time he didn't hold back.
Both Liam and Hoffman attacked with their full strength. The beast didn't even realize how it died as its head was squashed in by a punch and its spine received a deep cut from Liam's sword.
Carried by inertia the beast slid past Hoffman and came to a stop in the middle of the group.
Everyone gulped looking between Liam, Hoffman, and the beast which turned out to be a smaller wolf. Originally the second wolf was supposed to be more powerful but who could've expected it to die instantly after meeting the two real monsters Liam and Hoffman.
"Is this the power of the top player?"
The warrior who just ended the first wolf's life looked between the two beasts and suddenly felt incredibly weak. Everyone was astonished by Liam's power.
Only Hoffman appeared suspicious. The strength he felt from Liam just now was not lower than his own. Even Bleary Mirage couldn't have such a strength at level 41. The only explanation was that Liam's real body was more powerful than expected.
Coming to a conclusion Hoffman was surprised but didn't delve further into it. Instead, he addressed the whole team:
"You've done well. It's good that we could eliminate the threat early. Now, as I said before we can split up and search the ruins.
Don't forget that your console can only hold off the void for three hours. Before that you need to leave!"
"What if we can't find the entrance?"
"Don't worry, I will place something at the entrance. It will give off a loud auditory signal which can be heard over a large distance.
Oh, and one last thing to take note of. Within the area covered by void energy most signals are obstructed so we won't be able to call each other. If you want to communicate use the most primitive method and just shout loudly."
Some people were obviously surprised by this information, but most already expected it. They nodded, prompting Hoffman to announce:
"Alright. Now let's stop talking and get to work. You all can disperse. Don't forget about the three hours!"
Everyone's eyes lit up. Finally, they could do what they came here for. The players nodded at each other before spreading in different directions.
Liam jogged lightly, passing the smaller buildings. Those didn't look like they could hold anything of interest, and some had already turned into rubble. It was impossible to do a thorough search in only three hours.
After a short while a high-pitched alarm suddenly spread far and wide. Liam flinched before realising that this was the signal mentioned by Hoffman. It sounded consistently, marking the exit for everyone.
With this Liam felt confident to go deeper into the complex. Finally, he came across some different buildings. Even with limited vision he could tell that the wall before him spanned at least a dozen meters.
Curious, Liam searched for a gate, which wasn't difficult to find. Two towering metal doors appeared before him with the image of a large red animal painted on them.
Liam frowned for a moment. Studying the image, he got a sense of familiarity but due to his limited vision he couldn't make out the full picture.
Strange...
Liam shook his head, ignoring the sensation for now as he pushed open the gate. The heavy gate scratched along the floor, producing a sound which echoed endlessly.
Stepping past the gate Liam entered a vast room which obviously served as a warehouse judging by the large shipping containers and shelves it contained. Finally, Liam's curiosity was roused. He searched his surroundings for anything interesting left behind.
But all he found were various metal parts lying among toppled shelves. Constrained by time he couldn't study them all closely. Liam only took a single one with him before continuing his exploration.
Soon he left the area taken up by shelves and approached a large container. It was dented all over, its colour having long since faded. Whether it was due to time or heavy usage was uncertain. Taking a peek inside Liam was only greeted by a cloud of void.
Liam shook his head. He didn't have high hopes for this place. He went on, searching a few more containers but with no results, the void obscuring his vision too strongly.
However, suddenly he froze. A suspicion came to his mind.
Something is not right. The density of void energy in those containers it much higher than outside. Strange...
Liam's thoughts churned. Presuming the void in the game followed the same rules as the void in the real world, an increased density of void energy should be caused by void dwellers or void-corrupted beings.
Coming up with such a guess Liam naturally decided to investigate closer. He picked one container at random and entered it, looking for even the tiniest clues.
Yet he found absolutely nothing. Since it could still be a coincidence Liam inspected more containers but even after wasting ten minutes, he came up with no clues.
Liam was confused as remains of void dwellers can usually be preserved for a long time. Just like the leg which created the first world boss in the game. Thus, either the void in the real world behaved differently than in the game or the increased density was caused by other sources.
Liam pondered for a bit before he suddenly remembered something. Why should he rake his own brain over it when he had the perfect source of information with him?
C? Can you tell me if the void in the real world is the same as in the game?
[Player Liam, this console carries but a subsidiary of C, enough to facilitate the working of the console. Please leave the void to reconnect with C!]
Liam froze in place, stumped. This situation was unexpected. C, who seemed almost omnipotent so far was unable to ignore the void?
Realizing his question would remain unanswered for now Liam had no choice but to ignore the issue. He crossed the warehouse and left through another gate. An hour had almost passed, and he had yet to find anything noticeable.
Yet C's challenge existed, indicating that this ruin should hold something significant.
Keeping this in mind Liam hurried up, crossing a seemingly empty area before he reached another structure. It was a low platform reaching only up to Liam's waist. Walking along its outline the young man quickly understood that the platform was circular.