Dungeons Online

"I can't believe you've done this," Claudia muttered as she followed closely behind Tom's back. Ever since the waking-up incident, she refused to match steps with him, instead opting to walk right behind him. 

"We overslept," Tom said in the same, monotone voice as countless times before. "We can't waste time like that," he added, refusing to elaborate any further. 

"What harm would an hour or two of shopping do?" Claudia asked, unwilling to drop the topic yet. Even though she continued to nag Tom about this for the past fewteen minutes, even though Tom's answer didn't change at all, she couldn't just give it up like that. "Wasn't that a great opportunity to learn what kind of equipment one can buy in this place? Maybe even learn something that would force us to return home posthaste?" she continued to speak, finding new and creative ways to put the shopping as an actual worthy way of using their time. 

"Listen," Tom turned around, finally reaching the limit of his patience. "I know that this world is all fun and new for you, but every moment we spend in it, something wrong might happen on the other end," he said, failing to control his voice. 

"Why is your voice so cold?" Claudia asked, taking a step back. Even though this wasn't the first time for the two of them to have varying opinions or something, it was the first for her to hear Tom use a voice without even a shred of emotion in it. 

It was as if... He didn't even consider her a partner to talk with at that moment. 

"Because all the decisions I made... No, all the decisions we made are still weighing me down," Tom replied while squinting his eyes. But instead of pushing the argument any further, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath before turning his head back towards the guild. "We can talk about it once we get to the dungeon. We wasted enough time already," he said coldly, once again picking up the pace. 

For some reason, Tom's cold words shut Claudia up. All the way to the guild, she didn't say a single word.

'I wonder if she is just following my request or overthinking things,' Tom silently pondered, pushing the doors to the guild open and walking in as if he owned the place. 

"Young master!" The guild servant that just so happened to be serving drinks near the entrance lowered her head with respect as soon as she noticed Tom. "It's a pleasure to welcome you in the guild today," she added before pointing her hand at the backdoor leading to the insides of the building. "The guild master is awaiting you," she informed before nodding her head again and returning to her duties. 

"I guess we will hear an earful from her now," Tom muttered, already depressed by the prospect. 

Ever since they arrived in the town, he was trying to build up a certain brand for the two of them. While the discovery of the news about his parents shook Tom's priorities and plans, changing his attitude for no openly announced reason would only confuse everyone else about how they should approach his group. As such, keeping the image he had already started to craft was of utmost importance. 

Yet, appearing several hours late to the meeting they had scheduled with the guild master wasn't a part of the image Tom hoped to establish!

"See?" Tom muttered as the two moved deeper into the guild. "This is one of the reasons why I was in such a hurry," he said as they moved through the same path that they did yesterday. The only difference was that this time they had no guide to tell them where to go. 

"You are finally here," the guild master said from behind a huge desk once Tom finally reached the room at the very end of the corridor. "I thought you were going to ghost us and just leave the city," she added, sending Tom quite an annoyed look. 

'Is she courageous, naive, simpleminded, or actually strong?' Tom asked himself, unsure how to take the woman's guts to look at him in this way. With yesterday's show he gave, Tom thought he had already established just how strong he and Claudia were. Yet, against all reason, the guild master didn't change her attitude towards them at all. 

"Anyway," the woman rolled her eyes before reaching for one of the nearby shelves. After sorting through the mess inside for a moment, she pulled out two leather folders only to pass them on to Tom a moment later. "Here you go, your licenses," she said, urging the man to open it up. 

Tom unveiled the small cord holding the shutting mechanism together only to find out that a folder contained a simple piece of paper with some marks on it along with a rectangular, metal piece. From a single look, the metal piece looked pretty similar to the credit cards that humanity used to use in the prewar era or actually the player cards that online hub distributed to literally every last user of its service. 

'What the fuck?' Tom thought, pulling the card out. Even with touch, it gave off the same feeling as the card that he used to register his party with Claudia when they first met or to log in to his account before entering the capsule. 

'Is this just a coincidence?' he thought, forcefully killing his own shock and raising his eyes on the guild master. 

"Why is it..." he attempted to ask.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Claudia shouted behind his back, unable to hold back her emotions as well as Tom did. 

"Eh," the guild master sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "It's just like I thought," she muttered before waving her hand. 

In an instant, the entire room was covered in bright light, blinding Tom and Claudia alike. 

'Haste!' Tom shouted, trained to keep his head cool in sudden situations like that. Thanks to his skill, he managed to sense some kind of force closing in on him. Sadly, his skills didn't allow him to detect what exactly it was nor to fight off the blindness. 

The force closed in at a breakneck speed, even when taking Tom's haste into account. He rushed to the side, hoping to dodge the attack, only for it to instantly adjust its direction, homing right for Tom's wrists and ankles. 

'I can't dodge it,' he thought, tightening his teeth as he pushed his body to its limits. In a desperate attempt at warding off against the attack, Tom burned the sack that held all the remaining stones underneath his clothes, instantly redirecting the energy of the grade six mana-stones into his own abilities. 

But that still wasn't enough. Whether it was his reaction speed or flexibility of his body, he had no time to react. 

'Come!' he shouted regardless, conjuring a set of five magical spears in each of his hands. 

Against an unknown, human opponent, he didn't dare to reveal his triumph card yet. After all, if the guild master could somehow snatch his weapons, losing his real spear would be the end of him. 

The attack finally reached Tom's flesh. In an instant, all four of the magical presences latched on to Tom's wrists and ankles...

Only for his guard skill to repel three of them with ease!

Sadly, the attack on his left ankle managed to surpass the three-attacks limit of his skill, latching on Tom's leg and forcing him to stay in place. 

But as swift as the attack was, the guild master didn't seem to be able to move just as quickly. And with his other three limbs free to move as he liked, Tom haphazardly threw all ten spears of his away.

'Whatever made you attack me,' he thought, already preparing another attack, 'I will make you regret doing so!' he exclaimed in his soul, directing all the spare mana he had into his spear domain skill. 

This ability was his absolute triumph card. Revealing it so early in the fight appeared to be a novice mistake... But with the magical attack still latched on to his ankle, Tom wasn't ready to risk it all just for the sake of vigilance. 

In unexpected scenarios like that, going all-in was the only option. 

'I will skewer you!' he shouted angrily in his thoughts, feeling the presence of the woman as his domain expanded...

Only for all of his skills to cease all at once when a sudden pulse of magic shook through the attack that latched to his ankle before.