“Co here little piggies.”
“Don’t run!”
“Leave the loot behind and we can let you go.”
Liam and his friends couldn’t help but get annoyed at the mocking shouts coming from behind their backs. But they could only swallow the insults and continue escaping.
“Expert, do you have a plan? Else I’ll turn around now and beat those idiots up!”, said Cyclone indignantly.
However, the others naturally dissuaded her.
“Young lady, don’t stoop to the level of these villains.”
“A tense chase is great for my video! Dear viewers, will we make it out? Or will the flood of thieves drown us?”
“Hold on guys. We’re not far away.”
Liam reassured his friends as they left the area of lush fields. A hilly zone appeared before them.
Suddenly a loud shout ca from the front.
“Here, co here! I ca to help you!”
Liam frowned. He stared at the dwarf peeking out behind a boulder. The na floating above his head appeared familiar.
It was Braag the Virtuous, who wanted to learn from Liam earlier that day.
No one knew if they could trust this person. But he appeared openly despite occupying the path Liam intended to take in the first place, a narrow route between two steep slopes.
Confident that a single player wouldn’t be able to stop them, Liam decided not to change directions.
“Mirage! Co!”
Liam dashed towards the hills. But suddenly he dug his heels into the ground stopping abruptly.
Just before he wanted to shout a warning to his party, Braag spoke first:
“I buried so explosives here! When you pass, I will stop those behind you!”
Liam gave the dwarf a deep look. He made up his mind instantly.
[Bleary Mirage: I will go first.]
The party didn’t show anything outwardly but kept a short distance to Liam.
The latter knew that they were running out of ti. Without hesitation he stepped onto the path, his senses focused on the ground.
However, nothing happened until he reached Braag. The dwarf looked at the rest of the party mbers strangely but didn’t feel offended.
“I understand if you don’t trust . But we don’t have ti now!”
Silver Blade looked at Liam who safely made it past the prepared area. With a nod from her the other party mbers followed as well.
Their hearts were tense with every step. But again, no explosion went off. With a sigh of relieve they arrived next to Liam.
“Sorry.”
Braag didn’t take Liam’s apology to heart. He waved his hand impatiently.
“It’s ok. But you need to go now!”
Excited voices could already be heard coming from the fields. A crowd of players appeared surging towards the hilly zone.
Liam and his party imdiately continued their escape, this ti followed by Braag.
“Dwarf, didn’t you say sothing about explosions?”, asked Cyclone confusedly.
“Sure, sure. Remote controlled!”
“That’s a thing?”
“Yes. Cost a sh*t ton of money.”
Pain flashed on Braag’s face. Cyclone was taken aback. From his expression one could think the dwarf lost his wife.
Fortunately, he quickly cald his mind, looking over his shoulder.
The crowd of players arrived at the entrance of the path. They looked at Liam’s back eagerly. After the short delay the distance shrunk again.
At the front of the crowd were teams of guild players. They frowned, looking at the strangely uneven soil below their feet. But with other pushing from behind they couldn’t take the ti to scan more thoroughly.
Dozens of players stread into the narrow path, at most six people next to each other.
When the front had advanced for about ten ters, a few dozen players had occupied the path.
But at this mont…
Alarm bells rang in everyone’s minds. Their senses scread of danger. But it was already too late.
Boom!
With a deafening sound echoing between the hills multiple explosions went off. The floor and the air shook. Dirt splashed everywhere. Chaotic, frightened shouts were mixed in. Players were thrown away by the incredible force, hit by loose boulders, seared by flas.
It was a scene of carnage. The few survivors slowly dragged their bodies up, cursing loudly, looking at the battered ground before them with lingering fear.
A scoff could be heard. A chubby player surrounded by others pushed towards the front.
“Brainless. Hmpf! Bear, you take the lead!”
The chubby player going by the na Fat Tiger ridiculed others, but he didn’t dare to probe the path.
Fighting Bear wanted to complain but seeing the boss’s stern eyes he swallowed his words. With a reluctant expression he stepped forward.
Fat Tiger followed at a safe distance taking the lead among the remaining players. He squinted his eyes as he urged Fighting Bear:
“Hurry up! I can barely see them now! Don’t lose Hotpot!”
anwhile Liam turned his head back towards the front.
“Wow! What a great scene! This will be the highlight of this video!”, exclaid Fortune happily.
Braag squeezed out an ugly smile:
“At least I didn’t waste so much money for nothing.”
Fortune fell back a few steps while talking:
“Definitely not!
Dear viewers. No one of us expected such tily help. Who is this heroic stranger coming to our aid? Will it be enough to escape? Stay tuned!”
Silent Acacia rolled his eyes.
“Guys, we are not in safety yet!”
“No, we are almost there.”
The others looked at Liam in surprise. They were still following a lonely path between vast hills. Where was the safety?
Taking one last turn the party arrived at a sowhat large, grassy square. A few sparce, dark green trees grew towards the sky.
In the center of the plain an inconspicuous statue could be found. It was only about the height of a human. It depicted a fierce lizard-like creature with broad wings behind its back. Standing on a prominent rock its vivid gaze seed to look down on the world.
Balm drew a sharp breath.
“Is this…”
“A dragon!”
Everyone was startled by the loud shout, looking at the speaker in bewildernt. Watchful Eye didn’t care, approaching the statue with awe in his gaze. He reached out with his hand.
Suddenly he stiffened, recalling the current situation. The usually taciturn man turned around with an awkward smile:
“Apologies, young lady.”
“No, it’s… ok.”
Even Silver Blade was confused, having never seen such a side from her loyal bodyguard.
However, now was not the ti for deep talk. Silent Acacia averted his gaze from Watchful Eye, addressing Liam:
“What now? Is there so secret here?”
“Sohow I feel this place is a bit spooky.”, said Balm, subconsciously approaching Radiant Shield.
“It’s because of the lack of sound. No insects, no wind. Nothing.”, concluded Silver Blade.
anwhile, Liam didn’t waste any ti. He approached the dragon statue, staring into its eyes.
“Silver, invite Braag into the party.”
The dwarf’s eyes lit up with joy upon hearing this sentence from Liam. An invite popped up before his face.
He accepted quickly as if afraid that it would disappear if he was even a beat too late. Just as he wanted to speak up and thank Liam, the latter spoke towards the statue.
“Si owl n re ot ear or h thig ogar eyal.”
[Knowledge 5]
The other party mbers looked at Liam in confusion, unable to understand his words.
“Are you ok, expert?”
But Cyclone’s question was left unanswered as the dragon statue’s eyes lit up in a deep, majestic, blue.
“There they are!”
“Haha, it’s a dead end!”
Mocking shouts could be heard from behind the party. Fat Tiger wore a victorious grin, swaggering towards the party.
“Haha, when you incited others to attack our guild last ti, did you ever think such a day would co?”
But a mont later the chubby man frowned perceiving the changes on the stone statue. A strange anxiousness suddenly crept into his mind.
His thoughts moved as he shouted loudly towards the players behind him:
“There seems to be so secret here! Quick, grab them!”
“Could it be…?”
“Hurry up! Catch them!”
“Hotpot, tell us what’s going on here and we might let you live!”
Players sward towards Liam’s party. So were greedy for loot, others were only in for the fun. anwhile Fat Tiger watched while quietly increasing the distance. The horror of the earlier explosion was still vivid in his mind.
However, his caution proved unfounded a mont later as Liam and his friends were embraced by a blue light, disappearing into thin air.
Only a group of baffled players were left behind.
“What’s going on?”
“There is indeed a secret here!”
“It got to be that statue!”
The players discussed animatedly, quickly turning the plain upside down before focusing on the dragon statue.
Fat Tiger also pushed through the crowd. He cursed inwardly, his sharp gaze trained on the inconspicuous dragon.
“Boss, what should we do now?”
Fat Tiger glanced at Fighting Bear, sorting out his thoughts.
“Two things.
One, find out how this statue works. Activate it if possible.
If we can’t, we will wait here. I don’t believe they won’t have to co back!”
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