The Cave of Frenzied Flames
We walked out of the Town of Summoners and entered the Graceful Grasslands once more. I decided to check Selene's and Veria's stats while I we were safe from monsters. An interface with Selene's stats appeared in front of me.
Name: Selene
Class: Summoner
Title: None
Element: Water
Weakness: Thunder
Resist: Fire
Type: Magic
Rarity: Three Star Unit
Level: 3
EXP:93/100%
HP: 329/329
MP: 99/99
Burst Gauge: 25%
ATK: 9
DEF: 10
MATK: 20
MDEF: 13
AGI: 10
LUK: 14
Skills: Wave Crash, Tidal Flash, Geyser Blast
Burst Skill: Hydro Beam
Leader Skill: Spirit of Water [Boosts MATK of all Water Units by 25%]
Equipment:
Weapon: Magic Cane
Shield: Iron Shield
Accessory: Cleric's Ring [Heals 2% HP per second for 50s when damage is taken, increases MATK by +5]
"She seems like a solid player, may just have gotten unlucky with her battles then. Let's see about Veria, even though I have some knowledge about her." I said to myself then swiped to the left and the interface showed Veria's stats.
Name: Frost Veria
Rarity: Two Stars
Element: Water
Weakness: Thunder
Resist: Fire
Type: Mix [Magic + Breaker]
Level: 3
EXP: 0/100%
HP: 427/427
MP: 92/92
Burst Gauge: 28%
ATK: 16
DEF: 10
MATK: 14
MDEF: 11
AGI: 14
LUK: 15
Skills: Frost Slash, Blizzard, Ethereal Shine
Burst Skill: Cryo Tri-Strike
Leader Skill: Frozen Flux [Boosts ATK and MATK for all Water Units by 15%]
"She's a good unit with great abilities, stats, and skills...we just need to get her somewhere more her speed. The Blazing Cave should be a wonderful place for her to be." I said then closed the interface and continued ahead towards the cave.
We made it to the cave and a rush of heat hit us. Ophelia whined and I looked back at her. I walked towards her and she looked at me.
"Are you alright? Do you need to sit this one back?" I asked.
"N-No, but it's so hot. Too hot, b-but I can withstand it for you, Master." Ophelia whimpered with a nervous smile on her face.
"Tell me when it gets too hot for you alright? I don't need you catching an Overheat Status...well you can't get it since your ability doesn't allow you to, but still. I don't need you passing out alright?" I said then held her cheek.
She nodded and smiled at me.
[Ophelia's Bond Percentage rose to 11%]
We pushed forward into the cave and I noticed Cuara hovering over the ground and pulling up her interface checking the time. She wiped the sweat off her face and groaned lightly.
"It's too hot in here even for me as a Water Unit...I can't take another second in this pit of hell.." Cuara complained and panted softly.
"Cuara." I called out to her.
She looked at us then flew over to us. "Shin! What took you so long getting here?! It was just a straight path here!"
"Well we ran into some complications at the town, but we handled it. Sorry for the wait." I said.
"Well no matter. I think I've finally figured out what's going on. You aren't from this reality. You were somehow dragged into this world and things are somehow becoming different. The game's physics and logic are all different. The NPCs and AIs have become more humanlike, like me. I've become more sentient and self aware but I'm still in the game." Cuara said.
"So it isn't a dream then. I'm trapped inside of the game..." I said and crossed my arms. I looked back at my party full of beautiful women then looked back at Cuara. "I mean this isn't a bad thing, but is there no way out of the game?"
"Not from what I know. The other players haven't been able to log out either, but you're a special case. Your entire being was sucked into the game and your original account was deleted. It has to be the work of the Fallen Goddess of Chaos. I believe she was able to tap into the real world and drag you into the game itself...but why would she need you?" Cuara sighed and closed her eyes.
"Whatever the reason, it doesn't seem like it matters too much since I'm stuck here indefinitely...but if the NPCs and AIs are more self aware and humanlike...the bosses are definitely more smarter and have actual strategies unlike their normal game counterpart. Even if I am over leveled, my newest party memebers aren't." I said then looked at Cuara.
Cuara nodded then floated backwards. "That's fine. They are water units so they should be able to handle themselves fine just as long as you have the items to back them up with. I'll meet you at the end of the cave! I'll explain more about the task once you make it!" She said then flew off.
I looked at Yuki and the others then nodded at them and they nodded back. We pressed onward into the cave and I looked around to see if there was a correct path to the ending. I stopped walking, seeing a wall of flames in front of us. We couldn't walk down the path we were on. We had to find a way to take down the wall of flames.
"Maybe I could help with this?" Selene said then walked forward. She chanted then released a beam of water at the flames, but the water evaporated due to the intense heat of the wall of flames. "I-It didn't work?"
"Seems like the wall of flames is too hot for even water to get rid of meaning there is an enemy controlling these flames. Come, let's find the target and get rid of these flames!" I said then hurried off.
The others followed me and we hurried down a path to find the targets controlling the wall of flames. We were stopped by our first wave of enemies and I summoned my sword. Ophelia summoned her bow and Yuki summoned her staff. Selene summoned her cane and Veria summoned her rapier. I looked at the targets and scanned them. It was a group of fire elemental slimes. The slimes were red and constantly hopping up and down in a frenzied manner.
Name: Burning Slime
Level: 4
HP: 214/214
"I got this!" Selene said then dashed forward to strike the Burning Slimes. She swung her cane at the slime and hit it. The hit caused a bonk sound effect to happen. She noticed the slime only taking ten points of damage. A drop of sweat rolled down her cheek and she gave a nervous laugh then squeaked as the Burning Slime retaliated with a Burning Bite skill. She dodged the attack before it could hit her and she hurried behind me, grabbing my sleeve. "Okay...I don't got this..."
"Yuki." I sighed and had a bead of sweat rolling down my cheek.
Yuki blinked then used her Dark Beam on the slimes and slayed them all in one blow.
[Party Earned 250 EXP!]
[Selene Level UP!]
Name: Selene
Class: Summoner
Title: None
Element: Water
Weakness: Thunder
Resist: Fire
Type: Magic
Rarity: Three Star Unit
Level: 3 -> 4
EXP:0/100%
HP: 329/329 -> 412/412
MP: 99/99 -> 105/105
Burst Gauge: 25%
ATK: 9 -> 10
DEF: 10 -> 12
MATK: 20 -> 26
MDEF: 13 -> 16
AGI: 10 -> 13
LUK: 14 -> 18
Skills: Wave Crash, Tidal Flash, Geyser Blast
Burst Skill: Hydro Beam
Leader Skill: Spirit of Water [Boosts MATK of all Water Units by 25%]
Equipment:
Weapon: Magic Cane
Shield: Iron Shield
Accessory: Cleric's Ring [Heals 2% HP per second for 50s when damage is taken, increases MATK by +5]
"Your attack stat was nine...I don't get what your thought process was." I said to Selene.
"W-Well...Slimes are squishy right and I assumed they had super low defenses...but..they seemed to have more defense than I anticipated.." Selene giggled nervously. She let go of my sleeve and looked at me. She was embarrassed and stepped back. "I promise to do better..."
I looked at her then smiled a bit. "Good. Now let's keep pushing forward."
We hurried forward and we kept going down a path. Ophelia panted softly as the heat began to really get to her. She began to get fatigued as her stamina drained faster than the others due to her fire weakness. I looked back and hurried over to Ophelia.
"Ophelia...Alright, you're gonna have to sit this one out." I said.
"N-No...I'm okay I promise. I've gone through worse in the past. I guess it's because of my breasts weighing me down...I can't really keep up like everyone else can.." Ophelia said then held her knees and wiped her sweat off her forehead.
I looked at her worried. I held her up and looked at her. "We can take it slow for you then..."
"The other fire areas aren't super bad since we aren't going to be inside a cave full of lava. I can tough it out for you, Master. I promise." Ophelia smiled and nodded.
I nodded and let her go then we pressed forward. As we hurried forward we noticed a group of larger slimes that wore a lava crown over their heads. I also noticed a slime girl with them. I looked at the larger slimes and the slime girl then scanned them.
Name: Royal Burning Slime
Level: 9
HP: 700/700
Name: Red Slime Hemi
Rarity: Two Stars
Element: Fire
Weakness: Water
Resist: Earth
Type: Magic
Level: 10
HP: 915/915
MP: 110/110
ATK: 24
DEF: 30
MATK: 39
MDEF: 29
AGI: 30
LUK: 15
[WARNING! WARNING! Mini Boss Detected!]
The red slime girl looked back at us then smirked and turned into a puddle of goop and rushed towards us then emerged from the puddle then landed in front of us. She giggled and summoned a her cane. She pointed her cane at us then unleashed multiple fireballs at us.
We dodged the attacks and my units got prepared for battle. Veria looked at Selene who was obviously afraid to fight. Veria stepped in front of Selene and her eyes shined.
"I will defend you, Mistress." Veria said. She was obviously under leveled, but she would still go beyond for her Summoner.
"Veria..." Selene said softly and gripped her cane tightly.
I dashed into battle and slashed at Hemi, but my sword got stuck into her body and I grunted lightly. I noticed that she was highly resistant to physical attacks and could only take damage from magic attacks. "Yuki! Ophelia!"
Yuki avoided an attack from the Royal Burning Slimes then blasted them with a Dark Beam, making an opening for Ophelia. Ophelia took aim at Hemi and her eyes shined.
"Time for some Spring Cleaning!" Ophelia bellowed and fired a powerful arrow at Hemi and she slid back from the recoil.
I noticed it was one of Ophelia's Critical Quotes then dodged out of the way and the arrow pierced straight through Hemi and dealt critical damage. Hemi groaned loudly and my sword landed on the ground and slid over to me. I picked up my sword then noticed Veria rushing ahead.
"Burst Skill: Cryo Tri-Strike!" Selene bellowed.
Veria's weapon was surrounded by magical ice and she slashed at Hemi three times and on the third slash, Hemi had a burst of ice erupt from her back then she fell on her knees. Her weak spot was exposed then Veria struck her weak spot, Hemi screamed in pain then dispersed into magic particles.
[Mini Boss Defeated!]
[A new pathway has been unblocked!]
[Party Earned 1500 EXP!]
[Selene Level UP!]
Name: Selene
Class: Summoner
Title: None
Element: Water
Weakness: Thunder
Resist: Fire
Type: Magic
Rarity: Three Star Unit
Level: 4 -> 8
EXP:0/100%
HP: 412/412 -> 924/924
MP: 105/105 -> 281/281
Burst Gauge: 25%
ATK: 10 -> 19
DEF: 12 -> 23
MATK: 26 -> 31
MDEF: 16 -> 27
AGI: 13 -> 28
LUK: 18 -> 31
Skills: Wave Crash, Tidal Flash, Geyser Blast
Burst Skill: Hydro Beam
Leader Skill: Spirit of Water [Boosts MATK of all Water Units by 25%]
Equipment:
Weapon: Magic Cane
Shield: Iron Shield
Accessory: Cleric's Ring [Heals 2% HP per second for 50s when damage is taken, increases MATK by +5]
[Frost Veria Level UP!]
Name: Frost Veria
Rarity: Two Stars
Element: Water
Weakness: Thunder
Resist: Fire
Type: Mix [Magic + Breaker]
Level: 3 -> 7
EXP: 0/100%
HP: 427/427 -> 882/882
MP: 92/92 -> 103/103
Burst Gauge: 3%
ATK: 16 -> 24
DEF: 10 -> 18
MATK: 14 -> 21
MDEF: 11 -> 19
AGI: 14 -> 21
LUK: 15 -> 22
Skills: Frost Slash, Blizzard, Ethereal Shine
Burst Skill: Cryo Tri-Strike
Leader Skill: Frozen Flux [Boosts ATK and MATK for all Water Units by 15%]
"She's gone and that pathway has been unblocked. We can finally continue forward. Let us press onward." I said then the others nodded their heads and we hurried off to continue to traverse the Blazing Cave.