4 Road Block II

     This is why I hate people.

     Despite them being NPC's, they operate on the very same level humans can. Their movements, their minds, everything. It was common to confuse an NPC with a player due to their complexity. The NPC's can feel pain, their pain is just as real as ours. Because of this, I can only associate them with the worst kind of people. I hate them all. Everyone in the world has some dark secret, most people have done something terrible in their lives. It's because of that possibility that all people possess that I am infuriated by most. 

     I put a smile on my face and act like no one bothers me. 

     My sword cleaved through one of their necks like wet paper. 

[ SKILL UNLOCKED: Sword of Agni ]

     An alert in a time like this. 

     I ignored it, and I swung my sword again, cutting another from shoulder to hip. 

     The next one put up a little bit of a fight: drawing a dagger and swinging at thin air. I pierced through their chest and cut upward. Turning around, I used the momentum from the swing to bring the sword down again, bifurcating them, stem-to-stern. I saw that I leveled up again. I immediately put the stat points into strength. 

     I turned and looked over at the woman, who's eyes widened, but not to me, to something deep in the darkness. 

     Large wooden club.

     Worn pelt around the waist with green skin and tusks. 

     Veronica, speaking in a shocked manner, "Ogre."

     "Shit." I swore under my breath.

     Veronica, just as I stook a step, shielded me from an attack I could not see. She was sent flying to the right. She used her skill at the last second, so the damage was just converted to recover all of her HP. A skill menu popped up as the Ogre initiated a battle with me, probably in response to me obtaining a new skill. I opened the tab and selected "Sword of Agni."

-1 Bottle of Oil

+30% Fire Resistance

+50% ATK (Fire)

     In the corner, I was given two symbols by my health bar, indicating that I did indeed gain buffs related to fire. A question mark above the Ogre's head changed to a flame symbol as well, with "EFFECTIVE" being just beside it. The only problem is…

     This thing was level 15. It was a miracle that Veronica was still alive. 

     I was unsure if this could stack if I added another bottle of oil, so I didn't want to risk it. 

     I ran forward, and swung my sword. Luckily, it didn't react fast enough, so I immediately moved back to my original position. 

     That attack did 5% Damage. 

     There was a duration for how long my sword stayed lit, around a minute and a half. If I wanted to put the most into this, it was clear that I needed to be on my toes. It was a given that a single hit could kill me in an instant. 

     It smiled at me, and made its first step, making the ground tremble before his weight. 

     With split second thinking, I moved forward after it swung its club, just barely grazing my shoulder. I then swung my sword at the club. It had the same basic shape as a baseball bat. It was at its thinnest at the handle. With all my might put into the swing, I struck the handle. The blade sunk in three fourths of the way in. This wasn't good enough. I could easily wait for it to be swung again for the odd chance that it broke upon making contact with the ground again, but I don't have the time to wait.

     I brought my leg up and started to kick the blade into the club even more. 

     I was completely unaware of what was going on with Veronica, if she regained her composure and ran off, or if she stood there to try and find a way to help. 

     It didn't matter to me anymore. 

     With three more hits into it, the club snapped, but not from me. I looked over to my left, and saw Veronica hitting the middle of the club with the side of her sword. 

     "Veronica!" I yelled, tossing a bottle of oil. "Do the same thing I did!" 

     From what I gathered, you were only given one skill upon leveling up to level 2. If this game was as expensive as I thought, I bet you could learn skills that are related to you from other classes. For example, an assassin could learn to use thief skills and vice versa since both of them are known for their stealth and speed. 

     Veronica nodded, pouring the oil onto the blade and on the ground. 

     In an instant, the sword was lit on fire. 

     The both of us jumped back after seeing it swing both of its hands downward, slamming into the ground. It caved into the ground bringing up tons of debris. 

     We rushed in, swinging our swords. In just a short burst, the both of us shaved off 30% of his health. It was there that we started to see the pattern in his attack, but that was only because Ogre's aren't the most intelligent of monsters. They only know how to hunt basic prey, eat and sleep. Their size just made their movements slower, so it was easier to dodge.

     Clearing the air, the Ogre ran toward us, and we dodged once again. It ran through a concrete wall, making an entrance to another part of the sewer. This was a more spacious area instead of the long hallway that they were fighting in before. 

     While it was a long way down, the Ogre was still alive. Veronica was about to make her way down but I stopped her. 

     "No. We need to make sure that the mother is alright. We can't keep using the same skill. We still don't know if it has something up its sleeve. Bosses like that could have a second phase."

     Although she was hesitant, she nodded. "Okay."

     We got her up on her feet, and although her legs were shaking in fear, she was able to walk with us. As we walked down the hallway, I looked at Veronica.

     "When we finish this quest, I wanna talk to you. Not in game. I'll be going to sleep as soon as I can so we can meet up in the morning, okay?" 

     "O-Okay." She replied. 

     It took a while, but we made it. The family of two reunited and thanked us for our help. We helped a little bit more by getting the mother some clothes and food. After that, Veronica and I agreed to log off, but not before a side quest was given to us: Kill the Ogre.

     I pulled the headset off, and I sat it down on the table next to me. 

     I looked at the time noticing that it was only 1:30. It felt much longer than that. 

     "That Ogre… we can't get too confident. While I don't want it to be roaming the sewers, but we have to prepare ourselves. We know its weakness, but that's it. It could easily change stuff up the longer we fight."

     "Her and I either need to level up to around level 10, or find someone to add to our party. Whichever happens first… happens. I'm just gonna go with the flow of things… despite how much I detest the idea of the latter." 

     I sighed, and rolled over and fell asleep.