The shaking stopped and like a torpedo, a hulking mass of muddy brown scales, partially hidden inside the murky water, propelled itself towards them.

Three small balls of dark orange flame nearly scorched Noir’s braids as Nyx’s Homing Flares swept past her and pelted the gator.

The ensuing explosion of shadowed flame and smoke, harmless enough that it didn’t reach the trees, hid whether the Blaze Blessing halted the beast at all. It didn’t matter to Noir. She headed quickly for the darkness of the trees under a shower of dirty water. Nyx followed close behind. The Darkwick Woods were silent.

Kazim stayed, just under the lantern which hung suspended on a thin branch above. A weak shove on the even thinner tree would easily have it fall but it granted a much needed source of light.

Noir wondered if the well-formed man was a gift from god. Even with no skills and that abysmal Valor rank, he played as if he grew up with nothing but virtual reality. When she first traveled to the Murk to form a guild, she immediately found success with finding a Mage and another Rogue in the snappy Conservatory graduate Nyx and sometimes foolish but reliable Gale. But Chas’dan was not known for its Warriors and yet, this is where Kazim first spawned a month prior. Ready for her to claim.

“Apologies” Nyx said softly at her side behind one of the thicker trees. “Almost sent you ablaze there...along with the forest”

Noir wouldn’t lose sleep over it and even if Nyx managed to set the swamp aflame, rain would take it away the next day. It rains too much down here. She would be lying if she said she didn’t miss Mytikas and its sparse rainfall.

Seven feet tall and bulging with muscle, The Murkian Gator stomped its way into the lanterns vicinity on two legs. White underside held unnatural muscle. Strong arms boasted short thick claws that could rip anything in half. Its broad snout whirled through the air as it searched something with its nose. Its massive jaws finally settled, jet black eyes aimed directly at where Noir and Nyx hid.

She shook her head absently as Kazim stood to face the gator who immediately whirled those eyes to him, puffing and snorting in a show of challenge. Homing Flare seemed to have little effect.

It still surprised her everytime a beast could pinpoint where she hid, even when she knew why. All beasts in the game were programmed to seek out Rogues and Mages first. That's where the damage was. It was the job of the Warriors to hold ‘focus” or their attention, so everyone else could do their jobs. This was a little harder for her Wrath Knight who held no Blessings to warrant any sort of attention.

“Our answer to its element seems to be clear” She whispered.

“Marine” Nyx said with a frown.

“We should position ourselves” Noir whispered. “I want you head a little further down so that you’re behind him. No more fire. Just support us however you can. If you see Gale...Well...if you hear Gale, send him on the other side of the trees so we have the gator on all sides. ”

The Stone Mage nodded before quietly scuttling away as Kazim engaged the gator in a flurry of swiping claws, spraying water, and brutal jabs.

Kazim, chin tucked and eyes wide in alert, backed and moved with vigor as the gator pressed on. He miraculously dodged claws, swings of its heavy spiked tail, or snapping jaws.

Fights ended fast in Helm.Online. One swipe of those claws and Kazim was dead. To balance this, there was something commonly referred to as the ‘killing blow’. Whenever any beast prepared to attack a player with a blow that could kill, the source of that attack would glow red for a brief second. It would go away so fast that any newbie player would freeze in confusion, their graves marked in the process.

Noir beamed, watching Kazim in wonderment. For a newbie himself, he never seemed to miss that glow, and when he had the chance, he delivered a counter punch that had the gator reeling in anger.

She could have headed back to Olympia, with all those Wardens, Hunters, and Paladins who would clamor at the chance to join her guild. That would’ve been easy. But even with their high Valor ranks and legendary items, very few of them were as natural and as competent as Kazim. This was a game after all and all that power gave rise to foolish and reckless attitudes that she had no time for. That idiocracy just led to death in Helm.

It also didn’t hurt that he held the rarest Warrior class in Wrath Knight, a class with powerful potential. She knew a female Wrath Knight from her early Valor rank and that woman was a monster. It was too perfect. Now if only he could learn another skill…

“You done admiring?” An invisible Gale said from somewhere behind her. She couldn’t see him but she knew he wore that wry grin.

Assassins were a scary bunch. A common ultimate found among them was From The Shadows, which granted them a long period of invisibility until they attacked. Gale was a friend but it still made her uncomfortable that a player with such a skill could watch her from the shadows and she wouldn’t know it until they spoke or decided she needed a visit with a coffin.

“The other side! I told her to tell you to head for the other side of the trees” Noir said, looking at one direction. She hoped she was looking at the Assassin but when he spoke, it was from another direction entirely.

“Yeah, yeah. I heard….Why don’t we let him fight the thing alone? That way, he gets most of the experience...I mean, it looks like he’s doing just fine without us..”

“Truly an original suggestion.” They had done that before with the owl and it had ended poorly because the wretched thing could fly. Nyx’s Homing Flare came in handy that day.

Noir turned back towards Kazim. Greenish wind danced around his body now.

Where Rogues were the damage dealers, Mages were supports who controlled the enemy and the battlefield. Nyx leaned more towards the control side with only one support Blessing in Zephyr.

Thanks to the skill, Kazims counters came more frequently as his tall body easily avoided swipes and tail whips at breakneck speed. It doesn’t last long however, so he quickly returned to his careful approach as the gator increased its aggression. The gator seemed to not be moving any slower while Kazim showed a clear rise and fall of the body. A fault in the Warrior class. They weren’t primary damage dealers and with no skills, Kazim had no punch to meet the gators bite. He could dance all he wanted but that wouldn’t save him from exhaustion.

“Hmm, maybe not….How is he gonna take that big boy down with no sword? This could take forever with those gauntlets” Gale suddenly said, echoing her thoughts. “He could use that rage of his but if he doesn’t finish the job, he’ll be tired and useless after”

“Perhaps..” Noir murmured, tapping the blade of one of her Wakizashi on her chin in thought. At some point, she had decided to go with Gale’s idea, against her better judgement. She wanted...needed him to rank up fast. “...We’ll jump in when it starts to get ugly” She was surprised the gator commanded no minions, as was common among beasts. Even the owl had some tiny versions of itself that had to be taken care of.

As if on cue, a shrill scream from deep in the forest joined a chorus of erupting water as gators, half the size of The Murkian Gator, surrounded Kazim a little outside the lanterns light.

Gale cursed. Kazim frantically looked from the minions to the gator and back.

“Who am I saving?” Gale asked.

“Nyx. I’ll help him. Go!” Gale disappeared into the darkness, an invisible force that kicked murky water and disturbed greenery.

Noir counted four minions as she appeared from behind the tree. All five, including the Murkian, almost immediately turned to her. Kazim shoved the distracted Murkian Gator toward the darkness. It wasn’t a very strong shove and the gator even stayed on its feet, but it was enough to regain its ‘focus’. He’s a natural.

The minions however, wanted Edo blood. One of the skinny gators in particular couldn’t wait and leaped towards her, narrow jaws parting in a ‘killing blow’.

Exploding Wound (Forward Slash ---> Any Kick): Send your foes to the grave in explosive style! Fail to kick them away, and you might get caught too!

The minion flew over her as she ducked, landing close in the water behind. She turned quickly on bent knees before she found her legs to deliver a deep forward slash on its underside with her right handed Wakizashi, Shock, just as it turned towards her.

As the short gator squeaked in pain, she lifted a soaked tabi to spartan kick it into the darkness. The deep cut on its white belly sparked like a firecracker before the gator burst in a spray of illuminated glass. This was how death looked for beasts and players in H.O. No bodies or carcasses. Only virtual glass.

She wiped her face of dirty water. Kazim continued to tango with the Murkian and to her surprise, one of the minions, who was trying to claw his back off. His Basic Green Cloak was shredded.

Gale appeared then, unstealthed, attacking the Murkian Gator from the back with Zephyr around him and a single dagger in hand. The beast whirled on the assassin as Noir threw her left handed Wakizashi, Awe, at the minion clawing at Kazim. She had to get past the two other minions who awaited her next move.

Awe (Valor Req. 790) (Wakizashi): A short curved blade that allows the player to teleport to its location using its twin sister sword, Shock.

The blade sank into its scaly back. Noir shook Shock like a maraca and the world around her seemed to stretch and thin as if her entire reality were being torn apart from two ends. Her stomach churned but she readied herself for when reality would finally smoothen.

It all happened in an instant and she was past the minions and behind the gator, hand clasped on the laquered wood of Awe. She swallowed bile before freeing her blade and shoving the minion away from her Wrath Knight.

She used the same combo from before, delivering a forward slash into a spartan kick but this time she kicked the minion into one of the other two. As the two shattered in unison, the last minion leaped for her throat with its jaws. Silver gauntlets caught them mid air. Still holding its jaws open, Kazim slammed the poor minion into a nearby a tree which shook from the sudden force. It disappeared into the water

“Alright! Lets go help Gale, shall we?” Kazim said with a satisfied smile.

But Noir didn’t hear. She was staring at the tree which held the lantern. It was the one that Kazim had slammed the gator into.

He must have saw her face because his expression changed quickly as she leaped to catch the lantern which plummeted towards the water. Her hand barely clipped the metal hoop as both her and the lantern met murky water.

Strong hands pulled her up by the shoulders where she met utter darkness. She heard nothing but her coughing and Kazim’s heavy breaths.

“Noir..” Kazim said, sounding alarmed. “I didn’t me-”

“Uhh guys!?” Gale frantically began from somewhere in the blackness. “Bad news! Uh..I... I lost its ‘focus’ and I don’t know where it went!”

“That means it's coming for me..” Noir muttered, gently removing Kazim’s hands from her shoulders. A beast tended to target the biggest threat among Rogues and Mages. Noir was that threat with the highest Valor. They needed light. She raised her voice. “Nyx! If you can hear me, use your fire as a ligh-”

Everything happened too fast. Kazim suddenly grunted in pain as he turned to fend off something behind him. Noir suspected the minion. She slashed blindly and managed to hit something before the minion shattered. The slightly illuminated glass particles gave a brief and tiny source of light.

That was when she saw The Murkian Gator. It loomed over her and Kazim, jet black eyes sharp and nose silently puffing air. How had it sneaked up on them? The water?

The particles lights were beginning to dissipate and she had no time to think as the vicious gator lifted thick dirty claws in a ‘killing blow’. Kazim shoved her away, hard. She managed to stay on two feet as she slammed against a nearby tree.

This fool! “W-what are yo-?!”

The shadowy Darkwick Woods once again found an inkling of light, as the beasts ‘killing blow’ finally hit home and Kazim shattered.