25 Ominous Premonition

Alex's consciousness flickered as a deep, red glow was visible even though his eyes were closed. Every time he regained consciousness, an excruciating pain assaulted his body, forcing him into slumber once again.

The pattern continued for a significant amount of time until despite Alex's eyes opening, no pain assaulted his body. He sighed in relief, using his hands to sit up straight. At that moment, an intense pain assaulted his temples, forcing him to clutch his temples in discomfort.

"I see that you're awake," A voice entered Alex's ears as he looked at the childish face of a boy stained with dry blood. "We only have a couple of days until we have to return."

Alex waved at Maxwell as he took in the rest of his surroundings. They were currently in what seemed to be a park. Before Alex was a fireplace kindled with dim yet powerful flames. Beside him were a pillow and some supplies such as water, Stones of Soma, and some food.

"What happened back there?" Alex asked, his voice weak. "I was fighting the Shadow Killer, and then I think… I died."

"You did die," The boy, also named Maxwell, stated flatly. "Your body was dead, yet that arm seemed to be supplying vitality to it."

"This arm?" Alex stared at his left arm. The veins seemed fainter than they had previously been, while the black color had turned grey. The arm had turned numb and seemed limp, having exhausted its vitality during the battle with the Shadow Killer.

"Yeah," Maxwell said. "Both you and that man were on the ground, dead until that arm saved you."

"Did you… nurse me back to health?" Alex asked, eyes refusing to admit he had been left so vulnerable in the face of death. When Maxwell nodded slightly, Alex did not speak. The two sat in silence for a while as they admired the twinkling stars in the sky.

Finally, Alex stood up, unsheathing Durendal, which had turned silver once again. The sword shone in the night like an artificial sun. Alex wordlessly thanked Maxwell with a nod as he disappeared from view.

"He seriously cannot express his feelings," Maxwell muttered as he revealed a subtle smile. "He's a good person, though."

As he continued staring off into the distance, something unusual came into view. Maxwell's eyes widened as he gathered his belongings and began chasing after Alex.

*

"Look out!" Eugene warned Sarah as a goblin shrouded in darkness swung its club. Sarah, instead of avoiding the blow, countered it by slicing the club using her knife. As the club separated into two pieces, Sarah kicked the goblin in the stomach, stunning it before decapitating it cleanly.

Eugene watched with a blank expression as he said, "Flashy moves won't help you in difficult battles."

"Shut it, fatass," Sarah responded with a glare, collecting the Stones of Soma that had dropped. "It's not like you can match up to me even without flashy moves."

"In agility, yes," Eugene admitted. "But in terms of strength, I'd destroy you."

Sarah didn't bother responding, wiping the blood stains off of her knife. She then swallowed the Stones of Soma, triggering an instant development in her physique. "Many people have returned from the dungeons now."

"For some reason, I think the difficulty of the dungeons wasn't preset," Eugene stated. "I think it scaled to the team's combined power."

"That's obvious, idiot," Sarah said as she bonked him using the goblin's club. "Do you really think anyone could have faced an opponent on the level of the old elf except Alex?"

"You've been praising Alex a lot lately. Do I detect a small crush?"

"As if," Sarah roared, kicking Eugene in the shin. The latter only let out boisterous laughter as he ruffled the former's hair. "Stop that!"

"How strong do you think Alex is now?" Eugene asked, grimacing. "I think he'd be able to take on the old elf easily by now."

"Obviously," said Sarah. "How strong do you think Maxwell is?"

"That child? He's fucking scary!" Eugene announced. "I think he'd be relative to Alex in terms of strength."

"No way!"

Eugene could only smirk as he listened to Sarah's intricate description of why Maxwell would not be able to rival Alex. However, he grimaced as he noticed something unusual off in the distance.

"Sarah…?"

*

Alex swung Durendal as it sliced the soft flesh of an orc. The orc raged as its eyes turned a deep shade of crimson. Its strength was boosted, causing its veins and muscles to overload with power.

Yet, Alex performed a simple dance using his sword, slicing the orc into seven even pieces.

"I'm still too weak," Alex commented, trying to steady his heavy breaths. The sword dance was named [Sea of Ryoujin], and was invented by Alex himself before establishing the Ryoujin Clan. It was a tribute to the God of Dragons and Seas, who offered a fraction of its power to Alex in the past for having saved an infant dragon when it was on the verge of death.

The sword dance was a simple series of moves in which one imitated the movements of a Water Dragon. And, despite it not requiring any mana to use, it still put a heavy toll on one's body.

"I can't even imagine trying to use one of my better techniques in this state," Alex shook his head as he sighed, commenting on how weak he truly was. Despite having survived the battle against the Shadow Killer through means he did not remember, he did not complete his revenge.

'That guy… he is strong,' Alex noted inwardly. There were clones of the Shadow Killer in each zone, country, planet, and dimension during the first tutorial, which meant he was at least as powerful as the Dragon King or Giant King. 'If he's as powerful as the rulers of one of those races, he has to be closely related to the Shadow God.'

That meant avenging his father would be incredibly difficult, and might take decades of training in Telos Dou Dromou. 'But I can't wait that long.'

The reason he was assassinated by the Templar Clan wasn't as simple as one might expect. It wasn't just because the clan wanted to get rid of a competitor. He knew information that might have shaken the world if made public, which was the reason the Templar Clan abandoned its pride.

"I will return," Alex triumphantly stated. "I will return and kill all that have wronged me."

As he continued gathering Stones of Soma and absorbing them, he noticed something unusual outside the lime-colored barrier that surrounding Vancouver.

"What the fuck is that?"