A Power Game

Normally, a walk in the forest with a cute girl was Mhykol's idea of a good time, but this was slightly different. Rain seemed to flicker between the trees, like a figment of imagination. Mhykol watched her in amusement.

"What are you doing?"

Rain jumped slightly at his voice, glancing back at him over her shoulder. Her blue-green eyes were wide, and she raised her thin eyebrows slightly.

"What do you mean?"

Mhykol gave her a flat look. "You know what I mean." He raised one hand, gesturing to her. "You're kind of weirding me out, you know."

The girls expression made it seem that she was looking at a child. "Would you rather be bored or dead?"

Mhykol scoffed lightly, kicking leaves at the girl with one booted foot. "Oh come on, we're the only people for miles." If his voice carried the hint of a suggestion, the look on her face killed it instantly. "There's nobody around for you to be looking for."

"The right."

Mhykol frowned. Had the girl lost her mind?

"Pardon?"

"They'll attack from the right, in about three minutes." She cocked her head. "Or slightly sooner. There's 4 of them, one higher level than the rest, almost the same as me."

"We're still in PVP?" Mhykol's voice was thoughtful, and if it was slightly disbelieving, the girl would just have to deal with it. Unfortunately, she nodded.

"For at least the next twenty minutes."

"Damn."

So there was no chance of running to safety. Not that Mhykol would have, at least he didn't think so. Mhykol was smart, but running went against his nature. His inner beliefs stopped him. The weak died, the strong lived. Unfortunately, he knew that he wasn't by far the strongest yet in this virtual world.

"They're here." Rain's voice was sharp, and her eyes flickered between the tall trees. She reached down gracefully, drawing her long silver blade into the afternoon air. She held it in one hand in front of her, body turned to the side. She looked like a dancer.

"I thought you said 3 minutes." Mhykol summoned his own sword, the black-metal blade appearing in his hand like smoke. Unfortunately, the blade literally appeared in his hand, and he had to spin it so that he was holding the handle.

This game is fucking with me, he thought irritably.

"They're faster than I expected. That means they're probably from the Shai'Zhou Temple, they're masters of light movement and quick attacks. Unfortunately, thanks to your class, they're also masters of the Touch of Death."

That name gave Mhykol a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, as if he had suddenly dropped a hundred feet. It was probably the 'Touch of Death' part. "And that means?"

Rain glanced at him, her dark eyes deep and playful. "Don't let them touch you."

"If they do?"

"You die." Her voice was light, but completely without humor. She wasn't joking, he could see. This was definitely not in his job description.

The seconds passed like minutes. Every sound in the forest; birds rustling branches overhead, squirrels gathering food, the wind in the leaves, became the sound of footsteps, of bodies approaching. Staring into the depth of the forest, Mhykol looked desperately for any sign of their attackers. Suddenly, Rain stiffened.

"Behind us!" She whirled, just in time to catch her attackers sword with her own. The man had appeared to fast, Mhykol barely had time to register his presence before his own attackers were on him. They were massive men, dressed completely in red and gold. Each one carried a broadsword, which they currently swung at Mhykol with. Relying completely on instinct, Mhykol threw himself backwards just as twin swords cut the air where he had been standing a moment before. One of the men wore a dark brown headband around his temples, and his hair was long and curly. His skin was a deep chestnut brown, and his chocolate eyes were angry. The second man was built like a vulture; tall, with pallid skin and drooping, intelligent eyes. His short brown hair was slicked to one side, and his perfect white teeth were open in a yell. Both men wore red leather with golden dragons sewn on both sides of the chest, under their arms. Their capes and boots were golden.

"Run, boy. Run and you will live."

It was the second man who spoke, vulture-man. His voice was deep and commanding, completely off contrast with his frail-looking body. His eyes bore into Mhykol. "We're only here for the princess."

Princess? Mhykol glanced over at Rain, who was fighting with the other two men. As he watched, she dodged one man's sword, kicking it away from her body, and spun around the other, throwing him into his already reeling companion. She was having no problem with the two, but four would most likely be a different matter. Besides, like he said before, it was against his nature to run.

"Nice try." Mhykol raised his sword, pointing it at the vulture-man. "I don't run from friends in trouble."

Catching his words, he saw Rain spin to look at him out of the corner of his eye. Then, narrowing his eyes, he breathed deeply, focusing completely on the men in front of him.
"System;" Mhykol said slowly, almost under his breath, "Activate Special Ability: Godspeed."

He saw the two men in front of him stiffen, obviously reading his lips. Both men opened their mouths to activate their own abilities, but they never got the chance. Mhykol felt his body ... buzzing. It was as if he had suddenly been hit with a wave of caffeine so strong it rocked the world. Everything slowed, as if they were flies caught in honey. Running forwards, Mhykol drove his sword through the first man's chest, kicking him backwards at the same time. As he did so, the spell vanished. The man he had struck, the vulture-faced one, stumbled backwards with a scream of pain. As he fell, Mhykol drew out his sword, spinning to face the other man. He was shorter, and seemed to be the more dangerous.

"Activate Special Ability: Titan Strength." The man didn't change shape, but something about him changed. Suddenly he stood taller, as if he was no longer weighed down by the world, and he carried his massive broadsword like a childs' toy, spinning it slowly in one hand, he approached.

"Last chance."

Mhykol readied himself. "No thanks."

The man smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that." He yelled, the sound deep and raw, and struck at Mhykol. Mhykol raised his sword to block the blow, and instantly knew it was a mistake. It was like being hit with a building. The man had barely put any force behind the blow, yet Mhykol left the ground, spinning across the ground like a top. When he met the forest floor, it was like connecting with cement. Mhykol's head spun dizzily, and he struggled to raise himself to his shaking legs. He had somehow kept his grip on his sword, but it didn't do him much good in this state.

The man approached lazily, a hunter than knew his prey was done fighting. Unfortunately, Mhykol was tougher prey than most. Rising to his feet, Mhykol shook his head to clear it.

"Right, no more blocking."

The man smirked, baring his teeth in a savage replica of a smile.

"Know when to give up. It will make life so much easier for you, newbie. I'm impressed that you've unlocked Godspeed at level 1, but it doesn't matter. I've been playing for almost six months now, and I just reached level 7. I can't be beaten by a kid like you."

So this was the one that Rain had been talking about. The one that was far stronger than the rest.

"Activate Special Ability: Shieldwall."

Two special abilities, huh? Mhykol sensed that this was about to get serious. He licked his lips, and decided to pull his first two secret cards from his sleeve. "System Check: Speed Stat. Activate Special Ability: Touch of Death."

He heard the man's sharp intake of breath, coupled more lightly by Rain across the clearing. The man in front of him stiffened, his eyes bulging. "How did a runt like you?" He spluttered, tripping over his words. His left hand trembled against his sword, and the tip swiveled dangerously. Suddenly, he was very unstable. Then, he retook control. That derisive sneer came back to his face, and his eyes narrow suspiciously. "Nice try kid, but I can check your levels. Your speed is very fast, you must have leveled that right off the bat, but your other stats are trash. You don't have Touch of Death yet, do you?"

Mhykol growled. Whatever this man was talking about, he figured it might work out to play along. He had been under the impression that what Special Ability you got, you couldn't change it, but now he was realizing that the others were unlockable. There must be some kind of quest to unlock them, or maybe you just had to reach a certain level.

The man heaved a massive breath, and roared a warcry at Mhykol. Stepping forwards, he barreled immediately into a run. Mhykol knew that if the man hit him with that kind of strength, he would be flattened. The man approached quickly, covering ground like a bull. A second before they collided, Mhykol jumped. Lunging to one side, he drew his blade along the man's side. At least, he tried to. An inch from the man's skin, his blade slithered across an invisible barrier, harder than armor.

So this is Shieldwall, Mhykol thought.

The man spun, his blade flashing, and Mhykol ducked under the razor edge. The man's face was contorted in anger, his deep brown eyes glittering. Mhykol tried to slash at the man's chest, and almost got his head taken off as the man's sword cut low in a scything motion. Mhykol rolled backwards out of the man's reach.

"Aim for the heart! Shieldwalls Achilles heel is the heart! Watch out he's-" Whatever else Rain was going to say was cut off in a yell as she met once more with the men behind him. Mhykol's attention snapped instantly back to the man in front of him, who was approaching slowly. His giant sword snaked around in a figure-eight pattern, searching for any weak point in Mhykol's defense. Unfortunately, it was all weak points.

The man bellowed once more, stabbing straight at Mhykol's torso. Spinning, Mhykol felt the cold metal brush his shirtsleeve. He returned the blow with one of his own, drawing his sword upwards across the man's exposed face; like before, it stopped an inch from his skin. It did, however, make the man stumble backwards, giving Mhykol the opening he needed. As the man staggered backwards, Mhykol drove his sword point into the man's chest, just to the left of his breast. The man roared in anger as his Shieldwall vanished. Unfortunately for Mhykol, it had an unexpected side effect. A wall of force exploded form his sword point, launching him backwards.

"-he's a magic user!" Rain finished, finally driving off her attackers. Glancing over, Mhykol saw her standing facing the two men, who were circling in opposite directions like hyena. Her chest was heaving, and her eyes were narrowed, but she seemed unhurt.

"Thanks." Mhykol whispered under his breath. A little late for that advice.

"Alright, newbie, you need some help?" Rain turned to face him, and he noticed something strange. She hadn't broken a sweat. One of the man behind her widened his eyes, seeing the opening, and attacked her exposed back. Without turning, Rain sidestepped the blow, drawing her sword across the man's neck as he stumbled by. The man fell without a word at her feet. The second man lowered his sword, watching Rain closely. She spun, hand shooting outwards as if she was Spiderman, and something flew from it. The man across from her gurgled as a knife appeared from his throat, and he clutched at the protruding metal dart. Blue eyes rolling back in his head, he fell over without a word. Rain ran to Mhykol, and for the first time since he had seen her, Mhykol saw her smiling.

"Who's this punk?" Her voice was light. Mhykol shrugged.

"He just attacked me out of nowhere," Mhykol said, going along with her playful teasing, "very rude." Rain nodded in agreement. "Shall we teach him some manners?" Mhykol's grin was wider than Rains. "I think we ought to."

The man stopped walking forwards, his eyes nervous as he faced the two attackers. They stood side by side, swords outstretched. Suddenly, Mhykol felt powerful, like he could take on anything.

"Activate Special Ability: Godspeed."

"You can't-" Rain's voice faded into silence as the world turned once more to still images. Mhykol darted forwards, spinning behind the larger man, and put his sword to his neck. Then, he released the magic. "-do it more than once in ... a ... short ... period of time-" her words trailed off, but this time in a shocked, breathy silence.

"Drop the sword." Mhykol's voice was cold, and he felt the man's anger in the way his body stiffened. To Mhykol's amazement, he did as he was told. The giant sword thudded into the wet grass by the mans feet. Kicking the blade towards Rain, Mhykol lowered his sword from the man's neck. Stepping away a few feet, he made his way to Rain again. The man stayed standing where he was.

"Walk into the forest until you are home." Rain bent down, picking up the man's sword. To Mhykol's amazement, she threw the broadsword to the stiff man. He raised one hand, catching the handle and sheathing it in one motion. "Go!"

The man turned, loping off into the forest gloom. Mhykol watched him until his back vanished among the leaves, but the steady thumping of his boots could be heard for another thirty seconds before it faded to silence.

"You can trust him to do as you said?" Mhykol's voice was disbelieving, "How do you know he won't be back with more people?"

Rain nodded approvingly, "Good. You're not as stupid as you look."

OFFENSIVE, BITCH.

"I can't, but I know he'll do as I say. My Special Ability is one only for Healers; Contrast by Compulsion." She twirled one hand in front of her face like she was performing a cheap magic trick.
"Mind control."