Langa was late. He could tell Synn was getting impatient by the way she was sending messages to his comcer over and over again. He bit his lip and concentrated on inscribing the final ignition glyph on his newest enchanted product.

  He had spent the entirety of the previous night working on his new exploding powder, and he made progress as his experiments only blew up in his face three times.

  He used Exploding Elemental Orbs as a reference, and since he couldn't enchant orbs, he had to improvise. He managed to create two types of explosives successfully. The first was an improvement on his current lucent powder bombs that used Lucent Patches and excess lucent stone powder to create the explosion.

  [Explosive Lucent Powder (V2)

  Common enchanted fire lucent powder wrapped inside lucent patches. When the lucent patch is infused with mana, it ignites the powder.

  Deals 50 to 80 Fire damage in a 1-metre radius

  Expiry date: 05/05/12 MDXXI]

  The second type of explosive he'd made was currently his magnum opus. It wasn't easy and cost him an entire common lightning-lucent crystal. Even after he'd managed to enchant his Umgexo Wegazi necklace, he still couldn't directly enchant any other lucent crystals. So during the previous night, he'd come up with an alternative.

  It was an explosive that combined residue from lucent crystals soaked in lucent auink to create a colloidal solution. The colloid was then poured into Lucent Patches. If he had the money to spend on lucent crystals he knew he could improve it. For now, he was happy with what he could make with just one common lightning-lucent crystal. He even named it number 1, because he was sure he would make upgraded versions later.

  [Electrospark Colloid (V1)

  Particles of a common lightning-lucent crystals suspended inside liquid darkblood auink. An external source of ignition is required to activate the lesser ignite enchanting glyph on the lucent patch containing the colloid.

  Deals 100-150 lightning damage in a 1-metre radius.

  Expiry date 3/05/12 MDXXI]

  He could only make ten of the Explosive Lucent Powder V2 and three of the Electrospark Colloid V1 because he ran out of time, fire lucent stones and lightning crystal particles.

  He also renewed the Sharpness enchantment on his daggers making them more useful, and since the auink he used this time was lucent fireblood, it meant that there was a small chance his daggers could deal minor fire damage. Once he was done with the enchantments, he used his speed to run across town.

  Langa found his three party mates outside Sorrento Inn checking their weapons and equipment. Synn was dressed in new black robes with red floral patterns, and her new whip, a gift from Adtonifulmin, on her hip. Coraloa's wavy green hair was down and she wore a tight-fitting black leather armour set with a scaly green breastplate, her icy-white trident held in hand.

  Liv had dispensed with his usual bodysuit armour, and wore heavy scale armour with reinforced metallic alloys on areas like his chest and back. He was carrying a large round shield instead of a buckler and his Bloodserpent sword was sheathed and hanging from his belt.

  Langa felt under-armoured in his pronghorn leather jumpsuit armour, headband and boots. It couldn't be helped though as his class disallowed medium or heavy armour.

  “Langa, you are the one who rushed this entire quest, and you're late,” Synn said spotting him, annoyed. She was placing a bunch of flaxes of liquids, flammable oils and potions to increase the reach of her fire into her bag. She wore multiple accessories to improve her mana regeneration.

  “I know. I'm sorry. It took longer than I expected to complete my enchantments,” he said. "But it was worth it."

  "I hope so. Here, I managed to buy nearly everything on your list,” Liv said, handing Langa a small leather bag filled with health potions, mana potions, and stamina pills. "Unfortunately, I only managed to find two rare lightning-lucent stones at Tishiba’s Peak."

  "Thanks," Langa said, using them to charge up Tonare. It sucked because it meant he could only use Thunderbird’s Stunning Strike an extra two times.

  "Can we go now? We need every second we can spare, don't we?" Coraloa asked, closing her feathervault bag.

  Liv hired a lucent carriage and drove them to the location of the Gate, using The Sun God's map as a guide. The short ride allowed Langa to catch up on his sleep.

  The scent of life awoke him an hour or so later, and he looked down. The dense forest enveloped the lucent carriage as the four players flew above it. Large trees filled the landscape below them, their branches swaying in the wind.

  Langa had never been good at sensing lucents in the air, but surprisingly, here, he could easily detect the lucents of life all around them. Synn, as the most seasoned Mage of the group, seemed to be in bliss, taking in the mana when Liv slowly lowered the carriage.

  “I can hear the spirits of the forest wailing. Something is disturbing the air in that direction,” Coraloa said with a frown as she pointed towards their right.

  She was quiet today, especially considering how animated she had been the previous day when she and Langa were summoned by Merreddyd. Was she upset, or was it Langa’s imagination? He didn't know her very well, so he could be wrong.

  Langa closed his eyes and listened to the breath of the forest, scanning their surroundings for any signs of danger. Finally, after focusing on the area Coraloa had pointed out, he felt something different. Something was breathing quietly, but it wasn't doing so in tandem with all the other living things in the forest, so he told Liv to drive the carriage in that direction.

  "Look at that!" Synn said, spotting something out of place on a large willow tree standing proudly in the centre of a small grove. As the lucent carriage approached it, Langa saw that its bark was marked with a series of unfamiliar symbols.

  Liv circled the tree twice, making sure nothing was lurking about to ambush them before landing the carriage in front of the willow tree. He traced his fingers over the markings on the bark. “This is it. The Gate to the Floor Boss’ domain is in this tree,” he said.

  “Okay, let's go in,” Langa said, stepping forward excitedly.

  Liv held out a hand to stop him. "Hold your dragons there, Mr Impulsive. We need to lay down some rules," he said. "First of all, I need you guys to understand that when it comes to roles and formations, what I say goes.”

  “Of course. It's your quest,” Coraloa said, her arms folded. “But obviously none of us is going to step into certain death just because you said so.”

  “Yeah. I, for one, won't hesitate to tell you if you're making a stupid call,” Synn said.

  Langa just nodded. He didn't care who was in charge as long as it wasn't him, and he could fight however he wanted.

  “Good,” Liv said. “Now, since this is a new Gate that was born with our Batch's entry, we don't know what kind of terrain is inside, and we may end up separated. Let's form a party before we enter so we can communicate with each other."

  No one objected to what he said, and Langa impatiently accepted the invitation to join the party. Through the party menu, he could see the location of each player as a dot, as well as the HP, MP, and Stamina bars. It didn't show the exact number, only the percentages.

  [You are in Player Liv'Kungsadu's party. 10% extra damage to critical hits]

  "I made sure we all have an idea of each other's abilities, so what's the plan?" Synn asked once everyone joined the party.

  "I was getting to that," Liv said with a touch of irritation. "I'll be the primary tank and healer, which I know doesn't go with a traditional party formation. Normally you want your healers in the back line, but you don't have to worry, I'm very durable. If I'm too preoccupied to heal, please use the health potions I got you. I bought more than enough for everyone,” he said sternly.

  “SynnForessa, I know you're okay at hand to hand, but as our ranged damaged dealer, I do not want to see you in the front line. Coraloa, you'll be the main support. If things go south, one of your summons can be the secondary tank, and any others you can summon to help with damage dealing are welcome,” Liv paused. “But please make sure that you don't run out of mana. Your attribute is the key to my entire plan. It's why I am confident in raiding the Gate with only the four of us."

  Langa wondered what Coraloa’s attribute was. With his Team Player Title, he could see that it was called Second Support, but he didn't know what its effects were. She did not offer up the information. If Liv thought she was the key to the whole raid, then he was sure her attribute had to be powerful.

  "That's fine, but I won't be able to summon my blood koi, Kota. I can't find my Spiritual Link to him ever since that damned dark elf exterminated his soul," Coraloa said with a dark cloud over her face.

  "Look on the bright side, he only exterminated one of your summons' souls. What if he'd done it to all of them?" Synn tried to comfort her. "Or to you?"

  Coraloa glared at her. "Should I be grateful that a devil-worshipper showed me mercy? I would rather die first."

  "You did, didn't you?" Langa said with a raised eyebrow. He'd seen the footage of Vos and Coraloa's fight from the Celestial Clash. He just wanted this whole discussion to be over. Why were they wasting time planning for something they didn't even know when the Gate was literally right in front of them?

  Before Coraloa could snap back at him, Liv continued. "Hey, focus all of you. Langa, besides being the melee damage dealer, I need you to also scout ahead. You'll check the paths for us for anything unusual, whether it's any enemies or any traps, got it?"

  Langa frowned. "Hold on, I'm not a Rogue, I don't have any trap-disarming skills or observation skills."

  Actually, now that he thought about it, that was a lie. As a reward for winning The Celestial Clash, Mictlantecuhtli had given him the skill: Two Eyes of Nahuke, and from the description, he knew it was an observation skill. He had not seen how it worked just yet, though.

  "You're fast, and you're a decent tracker. You can even sense enemies before they show themselves," Synn said, raising her eyebrows.

  “You have the highest Mind stat of all of us, that means you have the best perception," Langa argued back.

  “My Agility is in the pits.” She rolled her eyes at him. "I use my Mind stat for mana, not awareness and perception."

  "She's right, you're the best person for this job. You have a stealth skill as well, don't you?" Liv said pointedly.

  "Have you ever seen a rogue using a spear?" he asked. The skill that made him invisible was Distortion, a skill from Psike's jerkin. "I'm a Lancer."

  "A Lancer?" Coraloa scoffed. "What kind of a Lancer doesn't even have a mount?"

  Langa glared at her. That was a low blow. Granted, he'd taken a low blow at her earlier too, but it stung. He sighed. "You know what, fine. I will be your Rogue/Ranger. Can we go now? You'll drain my excitement at this rate."

  "Before we enter, drink these all of you," Synn said, handing them each a small bottle with red viscous liquid inside. Langa immediately downed it all. It tasted like blended purblans.

  [You have ingested SynnForessa's Foxy Purblan Juice (2)

  +1 VIT for 2 minutes

  Cool-down: 2 hours]

  "Oh, nice. I thought you said your food couldn’t give attribute effects?" Coraloa asked.

  "Yeah, but I cooked a lot for the children when we were on our way to Tishiba's Peak. I tried a few new recipes and managed to raise the skill to Intermediate Rank,” Synn smiled. “I can only apply effects to juices at the moment, though, and they need to ferment for a while, so don't get used to it. Plus they have a long cooldown."

  "Thank you," Liv said.

  "Yeah, Synn, this is awesome,” said Langa. “ Let's not waste the bonus and get in there."

  "Alright. All of you, stay behind me," Liv said. He stepped forward gathering his mana and Langa watched the scales on his hands stand up as he infused it into the runes on the tree. The bark lit up, the symbols glittering in the darkness of the forest like neon lights. The lights formed a square shape that grew until it was the size of a normal door.

  [Congratulations! You have discovered the location of a Gate.]

  Suddenly, a translucent figure appeared before the door, startling Langa. The figure had pale skin, with a human-like head, a furred body and a sharp tail. Langa recognised him as the manticore who had given him the stink eye before the Celestial Clash. It seemed Langa was the only one surprised by his presence because the other three looked at the seraphim expectantly.

  Once again, he looked at Langa intensely before turning to the others. His gaze still made Langa nervous.

  "Hello, players. I am King Maetrolugy, the Floor Overlord of the 1st Floor. Since this is the first time this Gate will be opened, I am here to unlock it for you. Are you ready to enter?" he asked. His voice was bored as if he had better things to do.

  “Yes,” Liv said.

  The manticore raised his hands, and the door slid down, creating a dark, narrow opening within the tree that seemed to lead deep into the earth. "Go on in," the manticore said, floating behind them.

  When Langa stepped into the opening after Liv, he expected to see some stairs leading down, but in the next moment, he was transported into a different world.

  "Good luck...you will need it," the Floor Overlord said, and his translucent form disappeared.

  [Welcome to the Gated world: Funduvus' Swamp

  Entry Requirements: Min Level 10, Max Level 14

  Min party members: 4, Max party members: 6]

  [Your party is the first from tutorial batch 4 to discover the Floor Gate.

  Because this is a newly found Gate, +500 experience and +2% Renown.

  +480 karma

  +100% Extra EXP gained for the first 52 hours inside the Gate. No rewards will be issued until you complete your quest.]

  [Warning! Although the rules of The Tower govern this area, it is outside of the Deiwos Tower. There are only two ways to leave the Gate: Death or Clearing it.

  Gate Clear Conditions: Defeat the Floor Boss Funduvus The Cleaver

  Agree: Yes/No]

  Of course, Langa agreed. If he didn't then he couldn't enter the Gate.

  The experience bonus was great. Langa legitimately believed that with double experience, he would be able to earn enough EXP to reach level 13 since he was already close to 12. But that was only if they defeated the Floor Boss, of course. It was interesting that the maximum level required to enter was 14, yet The Sun God's Quest had a maximum level of 12. Langa guessed he wanted to see Liv at a disadvantage in order to bring out his potential.

  Langa’s nose was immediately assaulted by the musty smell of wet earth. His boots sank into the wetland below them as he walked up to Liv. Synn and Coraloa appeared behind him as a hot breeze swept past, leaving goosebumps on Langa’s skin, even though he wore a warm jerkin over his jumpsuit armour.

  “Langa,” Liv whispered.

  Langa nodded. “I know. Scout ahead,” he said.

  "Hold on," Coraloa said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  [Party Member Coraloa Aquarius Winter has shared The Blessing of The Water Bearer with you.

  +2% Darkness Resistance, +2% Death Resistance as long as you are in the same party and she has this Blessing equipped.]

  It was a swampland as far as Langa could see. The earth below his feet was a white muddy mess. Vegetation was short and sparse, but that did not mean that the area ahead was easy to traverse, as a thin white fog obscured the air. This area was on the lower elevation, and it looked like corrupted black water was flowing down from a higher area in ridges and collecting into ponds filled with algae.

  Langa was no longer inside the Tower and had entered a chaotic domain belonging to a maestril. He hadn't realised how comforting the constant presence and protection of The Unrivalled inside the Tower was until he felt distant from it now.

  He beckoned the others forward as he led the way past smaller ponds and towards an area with the absence of life. Once they got closer, he stopped them, activated Distortion on his jerkin and went invisible.

  There was a series of larger ponds ahead of him, and he knelt before one of them and closed his eyes. Liv took a step forward, and just before he placed his foot next to the muddy surface of another pond, Langa felt a surge of breath from below and whirled around instantly, plunging his spear deep into the pond.

  Now that he attacked, he was visible again.

  There was a shriek as his spear made contact with something squishy, and the water turned green. Langa felt another sudden surge of breaths from the nearby ponds, and before he could step away from it, Coraloa raised her hands. The water in one pond rippled, creating a sudden sound wave that nearly caught Langa off balance.

  “Behind me, now!” Liv barked, and once Langa saw what was contained by Coraloa's Vibration Wave, he did not hesitate to comply.

  A huge, perhaps three-metre-long, segmented creature with a large head and long thorax wriggled out of the water like a deformed worm. It has over 50 long and sharp teeth, and its harpoon-like tongue snaked out at him. Over a dozen similar organisms floated to the surface from the other ponds around them.

  Corrupted Larvae

  Level 11

  HP: 950/950

  Liv cursed and activated his aura, Charging Ray Burst active. He was outwardly emitting his karma pressure and the larvae turned their heads and focused on him.

  “I told you guys before we started that I was no good at scouting,” Langa said defensively.

  "Focus," Liv said. "Since I've never worked with SynnForessa, I'll be with her for our first battle so we can learn to coordinate first before we try full-party play. Langa, you're with Coraloa. there may be many of them, but these monsters aren't strong. Don't use your divine skills or attributes just yet, unless you're in true danger. Those are limited per day, and we don't know what's up ahead."

  Two of the larvae crashed into Liv's shield, and he kicked them back, drawing his sword and stabbing one in the abdomen. With the larvae focused on Liv, Synn threw a vial of Kiribo's Sweat at the larvae, wrapped two concentrated rings of fire around both hands and hurled a slew of Flame Spikes targeting four larvae to Liv's left at once. The Kiribo's Sweat enhanced her fire damage setting the larvae alight.

  Coraloa raised her hands and summoned three bipedal marine iguanas only a few centimetres shorter than Langa, carrying short swords. The iguanas sped up to join the front line.

  “Thanks for the save,” Langa said to Coraloa, referring to what she had done by the pond. Watch the vibrations, though; I could have fallen over."

  “Impossible. Your agility is high,” she said. "Target the three to Liv's right. I'll paralyse them. It'll only last for about three to five seconds on all three."

  She closed her eyes as she held her trident up to her mouth, covering two of the holes on its shaft, and played a mellow, slow tune on it like it was a flute. The three larvae froze in their attempts to latch onto Liv, and she didn't have to tell Langa twice as he sped towards the paralysed larvae, slashing one larva right in the thorax. It howled at him, spitting strange green liquid. He shifted too fast for it to hit and swung at the second, stabbing Tonare deep into its eye before focusing on the third.

  Coraloa created another Vibration Wave, pushing two larvae away from Liv. One of the iguanas cried as a corrupted larva spewed out the green goo from its mouth, spilling on the iguana so that red blotches appeared on its skin before it went rigid, falling to the ground. The larva opened its mouth wide and consumed the summon.

  “Damn! Don’t get in contact with the maladic fluid. It causes a dangerous skin malady,” Coraloa shouted, running back and raising her trident to shoot a mass of ice bullets into the larva’s wormlike abdomen.

  It was a chaotic battle, as more larvae rose from the nearby ponds. Synn’s Incinerate spell engulfed the larvae, turning them to ash with each explosive blast. She was dealing the most damage, and Liv constantly had to hurry over to her to pull back the larvae that tried to target her. His sword sliced through the creatures, his shield deflecting their erratic attacks.

  Langa’s spear burned with lightning as he cut between the creatures, striking their thoraxes one after the other, trying to get into the fight, but with so many people and monsters, there was very little room for him to use Flash Step freely.

  Having so many people on the battlefield meant he had to work twice as hard as he would on his own. There was nothing he hated more than teammates who dragged him down. He hadn’t worked in a full party like this since the tutorial. With Aquila’s team, he stood back and watched their backs while they battled the monsters, and only helped when they were in trouble.

  Coraloa's remaining iguanas struck at a massive larva close to him. Unfortunately, their presence was restricting his movements and Langa's frustration grew.

  He Flash Stepped in front of a paralysed larva and stabbed it in the abdomen as another approached him from behind. There was a bullet wound on its leg and it was moving slower. When he tried to turn, he found one of Coraloa’s iguanas blocking his way as it bit into the larva's side. The fucking iguanas were in his way. Frustrated, Langa kicked the iguana towards the larva as a distraction, then turned and slashed the larva’s abdomen.

  “Hey, what the hell are you doing?” Coraloa shouted, as her summon was sent tumbling into the swamp.

  “If you don’t have enough control over your summons to know where they are not needed, then I’ll use them as my shields!” Langa said as he shrank Tonare into its short sword form before stabbing it into another larva’s neck. "I don't need to carry dead weight."

  “Langa, play nice! I won’t have you turning on allies!” Liv called out, bashing a larva away from Synn as she wrapped her flaming whip around another's thorax.

  “This side is too crowded. Coraloa and I's fighting styles don’t match. Let me work with Synn,” Langa protested.

  “No. She deals too much damage, you can’t protect her as well as I can. Learn to compromise for the gods’ sake,” Liv snapped. “Coraloa, make sure your summons are at least a metre away from Langa at all times, he needs space to move freely. And watch your vibrations as well, you almost interrupted SynnForessa’s spell a moment ago.”

  “What about m-” Synn started.

  “Stop standing in one place like a princess, we all hate the bog, but you need to fight moving forward, or else I’ll leave you behind,” Liv cut Synn off before she could finish her question.

  The smell of death was gradually overtaken by the scent of burnt flesh from Synn's attacks. There were only four larvae left now. One was right between Langa and Coraloa and he didn't want to deal with her vibrations displacing him or her summons getting in his way, so he focused on the others.

  Liv's taunt pulled three of the larvae in, and they ganged up on him. He filled his legs with solar aura and kicked one in the head before slamming his shield into the other's ridges. He wasn't fast enough to intercept the third, and it blew out the maladic fluid at Liv. Langa hurriedly ran over and plunged Tonare into its side, interrupting its spell.

  Three fireballs floated through the air, striking the other larvae simultaneously, and a loud grunt caught Langa's attention.

  The fourth larva had just gobbled up Coraloa's iguana, and the only reason she was still standing was because she hastily fired ice bullets at it, the explosion of ice slowing it down, before skilling it. Unfortunately, another larva unexpectedly emerged from a pond behind her. Since she tried to turn and shoot at it instead of paralysing it or pushing it away with her Vibration Wave, Langa guessed her mana was extremely low.

  The larva’s tongue tore into Coraloa’s leg, catching her by surprise before she could shoot as it started to drag her into the swamp. Shit, Langa thought, crossing the distance as quickly as he could and hurriedly pulling out a lucent powder bomb, throwing it at the monster. It lit up in an explosion that sent guts flying everywhere. A sudden flash of pain on his arm told him that some maladic fluid got on the arm, causing him to bleed and erupt in an itchy rash.

  He stabbed the larva's thorax with his good arm for good measure. Finally, all the larvae were destroyed.

  Liv gave everyone an unhappy look. “Well, that teamwork sucked. If we can't work together, we won’t get an S-Rank clear or an S-Rank guild token.”

  Langa clutched his bleeding arm, and after healing Coraloa, Liv placed his hand over the arm and muttered a spell. Warm golden light flowed from his hand into the arm, slowly healing the rash.

  “Langa, what was that last play? I told you to work together! You shouldn’t have turned your back on Coraloa,” Liv said.

  Langa blinked, confused. “You had three of them on you. You needed help.”

  “A few more hits wouldn’t have killed me! SynnForessa was preparing a spell to get rid of them while I held their attention. Your leaving Coraloa alone at near mana exhaustion after all the larva she paralysed and slowed down to make damage dealing easy for you could have gotten her killed!” Liv snapped.

  “But-” Langa was a little annoyed. Shouldn’t Liv be glad that he’d saved him?

  “But nothing. You agreed to follow my commands, and I told you to work with her!" Liv said.

  "The entire battlefield was a mess! I made a call based on my judgment," Langa said defensively. "I didn't think I needed your permission for every single move."

  "Oh so, you don’t wanna lead, but you don’t want to follow my orders either?” he asked.

  “Excuse me?” Langa asked, appalled. As far as he was concerned, he’d followed the commands just fine. He glanced at Synn and Coraloa for support, but neither met his eye. “Do you agree with him?”

  “You say the battlefield was a mess... but that's because you were everywhere, Langa,” Synn said, placing a hand on his arm. “Everyone in this party is capable, and we can hold our own provided we each do our part. Trust us, and observe the battlefield to know where you’re most needed. You don't have to try to do everything.”

  Her gentle scolding made the anger bubbling in Langa’s heart fizzle out. Fuck. He thought he'd moved past this, but he still carried the doubt that had been ingrained in him after all those years of having to carry his country's entire team through the relay races. The team's performance always hinged on him and made him take all the responsibility, doing everything... It made him lose trust in his teammates, relying only on himself.

  He took a deep breath. “Sorry, Coraloa. I'll be more observant next time,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “Hmm? Oh, it’s fine, you're not the only one who made mistakes today. I should have managed my mana better,” Coraloa said. “On that note Liv, you're the main tank, you need to strike a balance with Synn in the damage you deal. I can only do so much to support you.”

  “She’s right. You lost aggro a couple of times, and she had to intercept and slow the larvae for us. That's how she lost so much mana,” Synn told Liv. “I know your health is absurd, but getting hit isn't the only way to tank.”

  “Yeah, I noticed that. I’m sorry, it's my first time playing the main tank,” Liv said. “Let's practice some more on these lower-level larvae until I get the hang of it.”

  Since they had cleared the nearby ponds of monsters, the group moved steadily forward. Langa went ahead of the others. He needed a moment alone to cool down a bit. The white fog that covered the swamp seemed almost alive, and he did his best to be attentive, scanning the ground for signs of traps, even though he had no idea how to spot them.

  Up ahead a dark wind began to stir, rustling the leaves and carrying with it a whisper of life. Langa's breath caught in his throat, his Avatar title screaming a warning of hundreds of breaths of life approaching him.

  A high-pitched insisted buzzing began to rise, growing louder. He activated the Left Eye of his Two Eyes of Nahuke Skill, allowing him to see further into the distance. What emerged was a swarm of large creatures that broke through the actual fog, a mass of his worst nightmare buzzing towards him.

  Mosquitoes.

  The mosquitoes were nearly the size of a man's hand, with needle-like proboscises that protruded from their heads. Langa's body shivered as he remembered his worst encounter with mosquitoes back on Earth.

  “Nope. No fucking way!” Langa screamed. He was not going to get bitten and be infected with another disease by mosquitoes. He turned and bolted back towards his party. The mud clung to his boots, and he struggled to gain traction as the swarm closed in.

  Bursting through the fog, Langa stumbled into the small clearing where they waited.

  "Fuck! There’s a massive giant mosquito swarm headed our way!" Langa gasped, pointing frantically behind him.

  “Calm down. If it’s just mosquitoes, it shouldn’t be too hard to get rid of them,” Synn said, confused by his reaction.

  “Tell that to the millions of people who died of malaria!” he snapped. What kind of diseases could corrupted mosquitoes cause? He shuddered to think about it. “Fuck, I can’t escape these things even in a fantasy world.”

  “What’s mala-”

  “Positions,” Liv said. “Ready your ranged skills so we don't get overrun by the swarm. I don't do ranged, so I'll observe. I can hear them now.”

  They did as told and Coraloa whispered. “Why do you hate mosquitoes?”

  “One time the CAA held the Athletics Championships in Mozambique, and I forgot to take my malaria prophylaxis medication before we arrived. Unfortunately, when we went sightseeing, our truck got stuck overnight near a forest,” Langa said, pulling out a lucent powder bomb. “Do you know what happens if you forget to take malaria prophylaxis and get stuck in a hot damp mosquito-infested area in Mozambique?”

  “You get malaria?” Coraloa guessed.

  “You get fucking malaria,” he said angrily. “They are almost here. Incinerate those bitches Synn. I want them to feel the heat I felt when my body was so feverish I couldn’t breathe.”

  Synn tapped his shoulder. “Alright, don’t worry, I’ll get revenge on the pesky flies for you.”

  Coraloa raised her flute-trident to her lips and played a quiet tune that dazed and disoriented the mosquito swarm mid-flight. Two streaks of crimson flame flared as Synn cast the Incinerate spell. The fireballs were bigger than before, which meant the skill had advanced. Langa hurled his powder bomb at the swarm and it was ignited by Synn’s fireballs. The resulting double explosion of flames consumed the swarm like a rain of fire from the sky.

  Their buzzing turned to screeching that intensified as the mosquitoes were burnt to ash. They dropped useless things like wings, legs and maladic sacs. Liv made sure they picked everything up, including the ash, figuring that some classes could use them as crafting ingredients.

  Langa, Synn and Coraloa weren't happy about this but they couldn't really say anything considering the money for all the consumables they were using today came from Liv’s pocket.

  After fighting off another swarm, Langa could admit that he'd been impatient with the way the quest started, so he extended an olive branch. "Hey, Coraloa. I um...I work mainly with speed and lightning. My Spearmanship skill is decent, and I don't have a lot of health or mana, since I put most of my attribute points in agility," he said. "Can you please tell me more about your skills?"

  Coraloa raised an eyebrow, amused. “I know the gist of your skills, Langa. Synn sent me a summary of your kit last night,” she said. “Did she not send you mine?”

  Langa cringed. “I was too busy enchanting, sorry. I didn’t see the message. All I know is what I saw from your fight with Vos.”

  "Oh, well, that's not a clear indicator of my skills," she said and gave him a small smile. "Okay.… I specialise in Crowd Control with my Siren's Song skill. I have three songs that I can play with my Siyotanka. You've already seen the first, Siren, where I use low-frequency tones that cause neurological disturbances, mostly paralysis, but thanks to The Unrivalled's Blessing, if I target a specific organ, there's a chance to make eyes explode, make the heart beat too fast or disorient the brain."

  "Neat," Langa said, jumping over a shrub. He wondered if she could target his nervous system and stimulate his heartbeat to forcibly activate his attribute.

  "Unfortunately, I'm still completing The Higher Blessing quest, so it's a bit...." she sighed, her face downcast again. "Anyway, I can make my ice bullets explode with a Sonic Blast through my Siyotanka and I can also use Acoustic Impedance to steal the sound in an area, preventing corrupted beings from casting spells. It doesn't work well on regular players, but it works excellently on voidents thanks to the corruption inside them." She raised her hand, where she wore one of her summons, the chameleon Fulimi, as a bracelet. "I can use this little guy to purify certain mental and poisonous status effects too."

  Oh, so her flute-trident was called a Siyotanka. It sounded like there were a lot of benefits that the Blessing of The Unrivalled could grant, and Langa wondered if he should have chosen to become a Guardian after all. But then again, Jandri had said those Blessings came with strict regulations. Coraloa seemed to be struggling to bring the full effects of the Blessing out, so perhaps that was why she's equipped Aquarius' Blessing instead.

  "Alright, I got it," Langa said, as they were moving steadily uphill and now the fog was much thicker. "Give me a second."

  Langa closed his eyes as he went ahead of the others, concentrating on using his Avatar title to feel for something. There were no more swarms of mosquitoes coming, but he saw another pond full of corrupted water.

  Inside it, something enormous breathed, and he opened his eyes, trying to see it. The pond looked like a muddy area except that it twitched. He frowned realising that the entire pond was a monster.

  King Larva

  Level 12

  Corrupted Pond Mini-boss

  HP:1534/1534

  Quietly, he slinked back to the others and told them about the creature.

  The battle against the King Larva went much better than the others before it as the four of them tried to fix their weaknesses by changing their fighting style.

  Synn was working on controlling her damage output without putting herself in danger or overusing mana while Liv concentrated on learning how to hold aggro no matter how much damage Synn dealt. He faced the King Larva with just his shield and sword, no aura, to sharpen his skills.

  Langa and Coraloa were still working on their coordination and once he let himself trust that she had his back, he found that it was fun to try something new. He took advantage of Coraloa's Crowd-Control skills, combining paralysis and her ice's slowing effect with his speed while ensuring that neither of them took damage. They played around with the King Larva, switching formations until they brought its health below 70%.

  The King Larva roared, activating a spell and corrupted water rose out of the swamp coming like a seawater wave in the wind towards Langa but Coraloa shot a quick stream of ice bullets at the wave. Her Sonic Blast exploded the ice, freezing the maladic wave mid-air.

  Langa rode the frozen wave immediately, infusing his mana into Tonare and spinning the glaive hard to generate more power as he plunged it into the creature’s eye. Now blinded, it roared in fury, and mind-numbing pain suddenly shot through Langa’s foot as something sliced deep into his ankle.

  The King Larva’s tail had crawled underground the swampy water and attacked his feet! Shit, he wouldn't be able to step away on time with an injured ankle as its tongue jutted out towards him. A well-timed Incinerate fireball from Synn cut through the tongue causing it to open its mouth in pain, spewing green maladic sludge. Liv was suddenly in front of Langa, shield raised, giving him time to down a health potion.

  Liv flawlessly swung the heavy-looking magic weapon hard at the King Larva’s carapace at once and then shifted easily, the force not knocking him back as the creature roared again, trying to raise another wave of green corrupted water, but Coraloa's Acoustic Impedance stole the sound from the air, and the corrupted wave fizzled out.

  Liv glanced at Langa and nodded. Langa charged forward dodging the oozing green maladic fluid while spinning around and driving Tonare into its back. The wound was immediately increased when spikes of fire poured into it, making the King Larva roar again, this time in pain. As he retreated, Liv’s fist hit the King Larva's throat and he spun around and kicked the big writhing body, sending it rolling towards Langa.

  No other cue was needed as the giant monster sped uncontrollably towards him, Langa met it head-on, and using both his speed and the force of its momentum, he infused mana into Tonare and stabbed its thorax, the lightning damage killing it in two strikes.

  [You have killed a level 12 King Larva.

  Rewards will be issued by contribution.

  Please wait.]

  “Seriously?” Langa cursed as he breathed heavily in relief, glaring at Liv. If that rolling beast had slammed into him, he'd be toast. “What was that?!”

  “Good work. You're as fast as ever,” Liv said, grinning. “I’ve missed fighting next to you.”

  Langa couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Fighting against Liv was fun, but fighting alongside him was even better.

  “Did that last part all on your own, huh boys?” Synn said from behind them. “I hate to break up this beautiful moment, but more of those things are emerging from the pond up ahead.”

  “Let’s go,” Liv said, picking up the dead body of the King Larva and shoving it into his inventory. Langa frowned. How many inventory slots did he have?

  After battling another two King Larvae, the mini-bosses dropped a map of the surrounding terrain. Liv added it to his system map and shared it with everyone. At least now Langa wouldn't be moving around blindly.

  Patreon. You can read 20 Chapters ahead on Patreon, that's about 100 000 words and 2/3 of Book 3.