"Never take your hand off the hilt of your sword, even when you're drinking a potion."
My voice cut through the silence of the Valley of Echoes, a transition zone toward Floor 1 notorious for its abysmal visibility. The mist here was thick and gray, swallowing the line of sight until only five meters remained before one's eyes. Technically, this was a Level 10+ area, but I had brought Kanna here for one reason: to train her instincts.
"I know, Faker. You've said it ten times since we left the city gates," Kanna replied. Her voice sounded a bit tense, but I could see her posture was far more stable than yesterday.
I didn't respond. My eyes constantly monitored the mini-map, which flickered incessantly. In areas like this, player detection sensors are often disrupted by the density of fog particles. A loophole frequently exploited by "predators."
"Stop," I instructed suddenly.
Kanna froze instantly. She didn't ask 'why.' She immediately took a low stance, her shortsword held across her chest. Good. She was starting to get used to my short commands.
Sring—!
An arrow streaked from the darkness of the mist, aimed directly at Kanna's neck.
Clang!
I moved faster. With a single swing of my longsword, I parried the arrow, sending it spinning into the dirt. Metal meeting metal produced a spark that momentarily illuminated the fog.
"At least three of them," I muttered, scanning the direction of the attack. "Two in front, one archer in a high position. Kanna, stay behind me."
From behind the mist, three player figures emerged. They wore dull red cloaks with cracked skull symbols on their shoulders. Blood-Hounds. A small guild specializing in robbing novice players lost in the fog.
"Well, look what we found here," one of them, a bulky man with a giant axe, smirked. His name was Varg, Level 15. "An elite mercenary babysitting a chick? Your sword looks expensive, friend. Hand it over, and maybe we'll let the girl go without any trauma."
Kanna subjectively gritted her teeth. I could feel her emotion bar on the Soul Link interface heating up. She was angry, but she was also afraid.
"Kanna," I called out softly without taking my eyes off Varg. "Remember what I taught you last night? Use it now. I'll take care of the two in front. You, find that archer. He's hiding behind the stone pillar at two o'clock."
"But I—"
"Just do it. Trust your own body's frame."
Without waiting for an answer, I lunged forward. Varg swung his axe with full force. The attack was slow, filled with unnecessary wind-up. To me, it looked like a movement in slow motion.
I didn't parry. I used a Diagonal-Slide, shifting my body's axis just a few centimeters away from the axe head as it slammed into the ground.
BOOM!
The ground shook, but I was already inside his personal space. "Too many openings," I whispered.
I activated Manual Chain. My sword danced in a sequence of three unbroken slashes, cutting Varg's HP bar in half in an instant. His partner, a spear user, tried to stab me from the side, but I pivoted my body, using the momentum of Varg's axe as a foothold to leap into the air.
Meanwhile, Kanna moved.
She ran toward the stone pillar I had pointed out. The PK archer realized his position was compromised and fired three consecutive shots. Kanna panicked; her movements began to scramble.
"Don't look at the arrows! Look at the pull pattern of the bow!" I shouted while kicking the spear user in the face, sending him sprawling.
Kanna took a deep breath. Amidst the flurry of arrows, she did something I didn't expect. She dropped her sword for a split second, performed a short sprint, and then caught her sword again mid-air—a Weight-Cancel technique to gain a sudden burst of speed.
She reached the base of the pillar in seconds. The archer tried to draw a dagger for close combat, but Kanna had already jumped.
"Now! Frame-Clip!" I roared.
Kanna swung her sword upward. As the opponent's bow tried to parry, Kanna canceled her animation with a sudden side-step and followed up with a straight thrust toward the heart.
STAB!
Her shortsword pierced the archer's leather armor. A bright yellow critical hit effect exploded in the mist.
"Argh!" The archer was thrown off the pillar, his HP bar flashing a dead red.
Varg, seeing both his comrades fall, began to panic. "Damn it! Who are you people?! Level ones shouldn't be able to move like that!"
I walked toward the trembling Varg. My longsword glowed with a faint blue light, ready for the final strike. "We aren't level ones. We are the system error you forgot to avoid."
With a single, clean horizontal slash, I finished off Varg's remaining HP. His body shattered into light polygons, leaving behind a few loot items on the ground.
Silence reclaimed the valley. Kanna stood there, panting, her sword still drawn. This was the first time she had defeated other players in a life-or-death struggle. Her hands were shaking violently—not from fear, but from an overwhelming adrenaline surge.
I walked over to her, calmly sheathing my sword. "Not bad for a rookie."
Kanna looked at me. Her eyes were watery, but there was a smile of victory she couldn't hide. "I did it... I actually did it, Faker. Just now... it felt like my world slowed down."
"That's called Overclocking," I explained. "Your brain is starting to get used to Aethelgard's data speed. But don't get used to it. It'll exhaust you in the real world."
I picked up one of the dropped items. A bronze badge belonging to the Blood-Hounds. "We need to get out of here. PKs like them usually have stronger friends. And if they report 'strange players' in this valley to their guild leader, the real hunt has only just begun."
Kanna nodded, wiping the sweat from her forehead and standing tall beside me. She no longer looked like a girl who needed me to save her. She was starting to look like a partner.
"Faker," she called out as we began walking away from the foggy valley.
"What?"
"Thanks for not letting me be an NPC again today."
I went silent for a moment, staring at the path stretching before us toward the more dangerous. "Save your thanks. Our journey is still long, and I don't plan on babysitting you for free forever."
Despite my cold words, in the corner of my eye, I saw our Soul Link synchronization bar increase slightly. Apparently, amidst the bloodshed, something had begun to connect between us. Something that not even a glitch could erase.