“Lower your bow, Ephey,” The woman asked, not bothering to look behind at the archer.

  “No! He’s too dangerous,” Ephey—the archer gulped, her voice came as shaky, full of terror, but Rue could tell that fear was not because of him, but from the woman in front of him.

  “That's an order.”

  “Mey, you can resist him, but most can’t! That was a brainwashing skill! He just controls everyone here!”

  Mey stifled a sigh.

  Wait Mey? As in, the one that has control of this whole place, and possibly the one whom Ashram had warned him about.

  Murmurs whispered through the crowd as some of them began to turn toward Rue with hostile looks in their eyes. He heard the word ‘Brainwashing,’ and several of them decided to leave the courtyard, hurrying out as if chased by a monster. But those who stayed were worse. An object flew at Rue—he whipped his hand, catching a beer bottle.

  “Give back our point!” a man screamed, followed by others, and then more objects were thrown at him. He caught a half-rotten apple—shielding himself especially from glasses that almost pricked his eyes. They began climbing the platform.

  Soma tried to stop them, but the youth was pushed back in the rush of the crowd. They pulled at Rue’s leg—still demanding their point. Rue kicked a man's shin and threw a beer bottle toward a woman's face, causing her to fall—hopefully not trampled by the crowd.

  “Brainwasher!” a man yelled. He clutched Rue's cloak before receiving the elderwood staff straight to his nose, breaking it with a crunch of bone. Rue skittered back, near where Mey was, and put the Elderwood staff back at his spatial ring.

  He summoned his frost shield, bashing three people trying to jump at him. Their bodies went flying off the platform, and Rue kept moving—bashing over and over again, but not hard enough to kill anyone. His strength made this possible. And these people…

  They’re weak.

  Yet, as he thought, he could get off easily. A fireball streaked across from the crowd. He blocked it with his frost shield. Fiery sizzle crept around him. Immediately, another spell lurched, a lightning zap, an earth chunk, and various elemental spells were thrown at him.

  He growled, struggling to keep his hand in position, but his back was freed, strangely not attacked. It’s probably because of Mey, who just stood there aloof from what happened. She kept staring at him with those inhumane eyes. No one dares to approach her, much less throw a spell in her direction.

  A plan concocted inside his mind, maybe he should use her as a shield, like she suggested? Well, she suggests against the archer, but she probably wouldn’t mind, right?

  A knife thrown at him with incredible speed, Rue reacts in time—his right-hand blurs, parrying it with a reflex he did not have before.

  As his sword busied, five people charged, each holding a common sword. Rue bent lower, intending to use their body to shield himself from the spell. And with his sword, he swipes in a crescent strike, drawing a deadly gaze across all of their stomach. His hand twisted the way it shouldn’t have been able to. They fell bleeding to the platform—and Rue's heart skipped a beat.

  “Healing, healing potion!” He shouted, looking around for any. Before he could buy one from the shop, another group charged at him. He blocked a strike with his shield and smashed one face with his pommel.

  “Do you want my help?” Mey asked as she still watched him fighting, she crossed her arms like this were an everyday occurrence.

  After parrying a strike and bonking another right atop their head, Rue was finally able to reply. “Yes, and help them too,” He motioned to the fallen idiots around him, five of them especially have serious injury, they would die if nothing was done.

  The crowd did not give him a second to breathe.

  More rushed at him, still tiptoeing from their elder.

  “This will cost you all the points you earn,” Mey shouted over the angry, hostile groups that charge him.

  Rue smashed a woman's head with his shield, and whipped his leg on someone who tried to stab him with a dagger across their hip, sending them sprawling down—hopefully tripping more.

  This is unfair, he looks at Mey, who raised her eyebrow, still waiting for an answer. The crowd behind her filtered around her to get their chance at Rue, and finally, a sword raked across Rue’s abdomen—he hissed at the sudden pain before he stabbed the young man who had done that straight in his stomach.

  The man fell, with his eyes wide in pure shock.

  “Heal him,” Rue whispered. The crowd stood dazed, and their eyes settled on him; anger rose behind those eyes. And this sight made Rue’s anger rise. He clenched his sword. If they do not want to heal the wounded, then he will crush each of them and worry about keeping the dying one alive later. He tapped his thumb to the Bone Sword, and it disappeared.

  In his hand, a clear blue ice sword with an edge worthy of the sharpest appeared out of thin air. Vapor of fog seeped out, each sway of it a reminder of death.

  The crowd took a step back, but some brave one kept their wit and were ready to charge at Rue.

  He peeked at his armor and was relieved to see it was ready.

  Just before Rue was about to summon it, a hand tapped his shoulder. He turned to see Mey, leaning by his ear, tickled by his Lion mane cloak.

  “Your HP is full?” She asked suddenly.

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  Rue gave a nod.

  “Good, then please excuse me for this.” She rose his legs, then Rue went flying through the air.

  The pain was instantaneous, took a couple of seconds, and a swirling of air around his body to register it. He let out a scream, and his Frostbite bite sword came undone. He was falling to his death.

  He needed to summon his armor—obsidian began to creep around his body. But, in front of him, Mey appeared—her left leg whipped straight at Rue again. And he went sprawling, straight at a hard surface.

  His head was spinning as the pain made him breathe with a wild rhythm. He briefly checked his health. And half of them are gone.

  HP: 992/2001

  “I do apologize, this is the first thing that came to my mind, so I can get you out of there.”

  He was on the stark, dark stony wall. That woman kicked him all the way here? Steps echoed against stone. And he looked up to see the beautiful, ethereal woman kneeling in front of him. He was almost enamored when obsidian formed in his hand, and he struck at Mey's face, sending her flailing down.

  Rue's eyes widen, just now registering what had happened. He stood, trying to see what had happened to her, but he fell, only for his ice to save him from falling thousands of feet below.

  Ice settled comfortably on his back, and he began to heal. The Obsidian ice encases all his body. Rue would let out a sigh of relief if he could. But this is not over.

  Mey zoomed through the sky, with every move of her leg, fire propelled her upward. She landed on the long stone pathway. Above the wall are only two of them. Rue made out the glimmer of her eyes, emotion bare to see.

  Excitement.

  In what appears to be impossible. She let out a thin sigh, slowly making her way toward Rue.

  Rue summoned his frost shield, only to find out it was dropped far below. He then summoned his Black Frostbite Sword. It might sound mad, it might sound stupid—but he found himself eager.

  “This is how you treated a lady?” She asked, spitting a tooth down below. “I just tried to save you. Let’s talk, shall we?” Mey said.

  Rue let go of his Time of Obsidian Ice; the armor disappeared into cold vapor that absorbed into his body, healing his health further.

  “Fascinating”

  “I don’t consider a monster like you a lady,” Rue said, craning his neck around, losing the impact from earlier.

  Then he stopped, cold sweat beading on the back of his head.

  Why did he undo his armor?

  He looked up to see Mey tilting her head. “You just did the same thing, didn’t you? I will hear no complaints. Well, in my case, I don’t need a superior mind to do it”.

  Rue stepped back, trying to resummoned his armor again.

  In a burst of fire that left a scorch on the stone, Mey propelled forward, her hand clasp around Rue's neck, and she pushed him against the stone battlement.

  “I just want to talk,” She said in a low tone. With those eyes, it felt like she was about to get him signing some cursed oath that would ruin his life.

  “Fine,” Rue said. He motioned to her hand.

  “Ah, sorry. But, you were dangerous enough to kill me.” She tightened her hand around his throat. “Also, you snapped out of it quickly. Was it a skill that was able to break a mind attack?”

  “If you want to talk, let's do it civill--”

  “Look behind you,” she said, loosening her grip. Rue turned to see a soft landscape that spoke of peace and tranquility, if not for the four enormous mountains that held four different elements surrounding each of them. The one behind them, far across the plain grasses, is a snowy weather that covers the gargantuan mountain with white winter.

  Another directly across, far away from them, is a mountain that seemingly split by Lava. The other two on his west and east are mountains with ever thunder, and one that is barren of life in exchange and filled with the dry color of earth.

  “Inside each of them is a portal that leads to another dimension; those portals are the goal of this phase. We must hold that castle and close all four portals. Each portal we close will lessen the attack that will happen, making things easier. So I meant to arrange four groups as an attack group. I want you in one of them.”

  “After how they treated me?”

  “That’s not all of them, those are just a bunch of degenerate gamblers, do they look like a hundred thousand to you?”

  True, there couldn’t be more than five thousand, perhaps.

  “Most live in this huge wall we stand at; inside each of the walls could fit an entire town. Even filling one wall is a struggle, you see, we barely need the rooms on the highest floor, hence no one is here currently. But, tomorrow perhaps, everything will change—the phase will start, and I need a strong individual.”

  He grasps Mey's hand and yanks it away from his throat. “I will help,” Rue said, still annoyed at what happened. “Of course I will help,” He breathed out.

  “Good, your name is Eur?”

  “No, it's Rue,” he said lowly.

  “Funny.” If it were not for her completely blue eyes, he would probably have seen an eye roll. “Come on then,” Mey began walking toward a door that was built into a block of stone, seemingly in the middle of nowhere on this sprawling wall that could fit an entire parking lot.

  “The person I stabbed, and those who were gravely injured. Don’t let them die,” Rue said. Mey stopped at her track—staring at him with her unnerving eyes. Only then did he realize his tone came up sounding like an order—but it's not, he is just… desperate. “Please?”

  “I’m not a monster,” Mey simply replied. “Ephey will surely heal them. We have plenty of potions. So don’t worry.”

  She opened the door and revealed a stair going down, big enough for three people.

  Rue followed her, and soon they stopped and found a boring corridor made entirely out of stone. Arrows slit filtered through sunlight inside this dark, depressing place. Mey white hair caught the color of the sun, and transformed into deep red when the light shone on her.

  “Hmm,” She stopped, leaning against the stone wall just beside a sliding opening. “No one in this floor currently, so take any room you want”. She pushed open one, revealing a single bed, and surprisingly, a bookshelf rested in the small room. “All of them are the same,” She added.

  Rue went inside, not much to see here. But he liked the room; it reminded him of his own apartment. Small, cheap yet comfy. A tear slithered down his cheek—he was surprised how he missed the air of silence inside this small space. The feeling where you know you will be fine. And the comfort of your small room inside the infinite world out there.

  “Why are you crying?” Mey asked, and the women sounded flabbergasted.

  “It's nothing,” He wiped his eyes. But he was not ashamed of this tear. “It’s just reminded me of my apartment. Small and comfortable.” He sniffled.

  “That's sad,” She commented

  “Shut up.”

  Mey smiled, this time a wide one that made her face human. Now her beauty looked not ethereal but one that you could find in your daily life.

  “Get some rest, Rue, I bet Ephey would arrange a search party for me and try to hunt you down.”

  “What?”

  “It’s fine,” She said. “I will take care of it, and soon a lot of people will be assigned up, for easier wall defense. So, enjoy your silence for a bit.”

  “I will,” Rue said, grateful to another person since he was here.

  She waved a hand and closed the door on her way out. Rue caught the glint of a smile on her cheek. Maybe she is not so impassive after all.

  He fell to the bed, and he summoned his Frost Chest on the small floor space. Deciding to open them later. For now, he is drifting off to sleep in a bed.